Photo credit: my wife, taken of our boy years ago.
This morning I am reminded that the mystery and wonder of the eternal God of love declares some truths that can be known and some that must simply be accepted and claimed. One of the divine mysteries that can be known, but must be accepted and claimed, is that long before you were born you existed in God’s heart and were loved. Before anyone else loved you, admired you, or believed in you, God did. God sees you with the eyes of infinite love as possessing unfathomable beauty and holding eternal value.
The voices that come from this land of broken promises, with all its fear, violence and hate, would have us believe differently. Sadly, sometimes these voices have come from pulpits that speak of God. Yet, in all this, there is something that speaks to us from depths of our inner being and stirs within us a lingering hunger for what is true, good and beautiful. That something, I believe, is the voice of the God who knows us best and loves us most. That something, I believe, is the voice of eternal Love.
Accept and claim the mystery of God’s love revealed in God the Son.
Fred came to serve greater Williamsburg and WCC as lead pastor in October of 2010 and is grateful to be a part of the family. He is a husband, father, certified trauma professional, S.T.A.R. (strategies for trauma awareness & resilience) practitioner, community organizer, TEDx alum, founder of 3e Restoration, Inc. and co-owner of Philoxenia Culture LLC. He received his B.S. in Ministry/Bible at Amridge University and his Master’s of Religious Education in Missional Leadership from Rochester University. Currently he is a candidate for a Doctorate of Ministry in Contextual Theology in at Northern Seminary in Chicago. Fred has also served as an adjunct professor for Rochester University and Regent University where taught courses in philosophy, ethics, leadership, pastoral care, intro to Christianity, and ethnography. He has also served as a guest lecturer on the subjects of racialized cultural systems, poverty, and missiology at various universities, such as William & Mary and Oklahoma Christian University. Fred has authored on book (Racialized Cultural Systems, Social Displacement and Christian Hospitality) and several curriculum offerings, including The FloorPlan: Living Toward Restoration & Resilience.
Fred enjoys hanging out with his family anytime, anywhere. He is deeply grateful for how God graciously works through the Church in all her various forms, despite our brokenness. He is passionate about seeing the last, least, and lonely of every neighborhood, city and nation experience God’s in-breaking kingdom, and come to know Jesus as King. Oh, and his favorite season is Advent and Christmas.
Fred is a founding member of the board of directors for Virginia Racial Healing Institute, a member of the leadership team for Williamsburg's local chapter of Coming to the Table, and a member of Greater Williamsburg Trauma-Informed Community Network's Racial Trauma Committee and Training Committee.
Through Orange Colored Glasses
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