The Importance of Mobilizing the Christian Church as a Family Preparation Center for Daily Christian Living

            I believe one of the greatest task the church faces today is how to become a preparation center for daily Christian living.  In some cases we have been competent in the soul-saving of some families and communities, but more is needed.  We need to mobilize and challenge our congregations to get involved in educating people on the economic principles that govern our country, and the role the church must take to help work for economic justice.  We must raise the consciousness of our congregations to the need for ministries that address the struggle for togetherness in the African-American community as well as the community at large.  The church must be a training center for outreach, drug prevention, family enrichment, and biblical marriage counseling just to name a few.  The church must also address the troubled relationships that exist between children, parents, husbands, wives, and ethnic differences between races.        

            These problems can be reduced if the church of Jesus Christ is willing to network together and use there resources to implement ministries such as, mentoring programs for the youth, marriage enrichment classes for parents, singles classes, drug and alcohol addiction classes that addresses the cause and the treatment, money management classes that deal with investments, and long and short range financial planning.  It is time for the church to evaluate the kinds of ministries it has, and to justify their existence on the basis of New Testament principles and purposes.  The New Testament principle of the early church was to reach out to those in need with the life changing power of Jesus Christ.  The New Testament purpose of the early church was to model a concept of sufferers reaching out to fellow sufferers, i.e., a concept very consistent with a theology of the cross.  Reaching out must be inclusive.  Men, women, and children suffered equally; so the church reached out comprehensively.  Single mothers, orphans, widows, and widowers were all sought out to come as they are to the church.

            Most black Baptist churches of America are called Missionary Baptist Churches.  It is through this strong sense of reaching out that black churches have historically touched families. The inclusiveness was possible because of the family paradigm.  Evangelism in the biblical context was not just a church growth scheme; it was the adopting of someone from some other family into the family of God. The point I am making here is that the very freedom that has allowed us to develop the forms and structures we have today has been silent by allowing what we are doing at the present time to become the only way of life.

            The time has certainly come to reestablish the critical necessity of family and church cooperation by working together.  We must go back to the root of our success.  We must go back to what brought us out of darkness into the light.  Togetherness has always been our strength and God is our peace in the mist of uncertainty.  Caring and sharing has been our trademark during our struggle for freedom.  The Bible is our road map to victory; the Holy Spirit is our guide to success; and Jesus Christ is our King who will lead us to the promise land!  

            “In the blink of an eye,” says Dr. James Dobson, “this next generation will inherit the businesses, institutions, and governments of the world.  On their shoulders will soon rest the burdens of leadership and authority.  “They will pull the wagonload of humanity behind them.”  This is why we can’t afford to wait any longer; the next generation is just around the corner.  They will pull the wagonload of our failures and successes.  Regardless of color, diversity, and our own personal presupposition, we must be willing to change.  Change does not come without cost.  In some churches if you dare change the order of the morning worship service, you get the distinct feeling you are tampering with the Scriptures themselves.  The kind of change that I’m talking about is not dealing with modernization of buildings and technology, but reconstruction of attitudes, behavior, and culture.

             But books don’t do that; people with visions, ideas, and an appetite to make a difference do.  However, with your help, we can make a positive change within and beyond the boundaries of our community.  This book is arranged around three themes.  The first is an examination of the African-American Family History.&