Living in Harmony

Psalm 133:1-3

How good and pleasant it is when brothers can live together! It is like oil on the head, running down the beard, running down Aaron's beard, on his robes. It is like the dew of Hermon falling on the mountains of Zion. For there the Lord has appointed the blessing--life forevermore. (HCSB)

Last night we took the family to the Community Transformation Celebration with special guest Mandisa. It was a great event. Mandisa's performance and ministry through song was fantastic! But as inspirational and encouraging as the concert was, to me the most uplifting aspect of the evening was the unity there was among believers. There was over 80 churches represented from all over north Louisiana including all Christian denominations. Pastors from Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal, Church of Christ, Assembly of God, Church of God, International House of Prayer and other congregations gathered together and prayed for each other and their churches and communities. There was also a community mass choir made up of volunteers from the various churches that led us in worship. It was a glorious atmosphere of unity and praise and worship where we focused on what binds us together: Jesus. It was kind of like getting a glimpse of what heaven might be like. Instead of looking and concentrating on the trivial issues where we disagree, we zoomed in on what we all agree on--Jesus, the Son of God, shed His blood for all of us so that we could be reconciled with Father God by putting our faith in Him. As pastor Rece Tucker from New Jerusalem Baptist Church commented to the best of my recollection: "You may not like it, but if Jesus is your Lord, then you're my brother!" It doesn't matter what name is on our church sign or what color we are--what matters is what we believe about Jesus. It reminds me of the classic song by Russ Taff, "We Will Stand". Look at some of the lyrics:

Sometimes it's hard for me to understand
why we pull away from each other so easily

even though we're all walking the same road
yet we build dividing walls between our brothers and ourselves
but I don't care what label you may wear
if you believe in Jesus you belong with me
the bond we share is all I care to see
it will change the world forever
if you will join with me, join and sing


You're my brother, you're my sister
so take me by the hand
Together we will work until He comes
There is no foe that can defeat us
when we're walking side by side
As long as there is love, we will stand

I know Jesus was smiling down on us last night at the Civic Center in Monroe. Probably the only one who really didn't like it was the devil himself. He doesn't want us to unite and to live and serve together in harmony. Just think of what we could accomplish if we always had that kind of unity and brotherly love and fellowship. Is there anything that the church couldn't accomplish?

Singing His Praises,
Joey C.