‘Just Be Kind’ movement is much-needed
By Bill King
Tuskegee-Lee Baptist Association
I was driving north on I-65 when I saw it for the first time — a simple black and white billboard with only three words on it. They were big, bold letters that read, “Just Be Kind.” I was immediately struck by the simplicity of the billboard but even more so by its message.
It’s a message that is greatly needed in our society.
After a little research, I learned that there is a kindness campaign taking place across the country. Billboards and signs have popped up in many places.
The small town of Plainfield in central Indiana claims to have started the movement back in 2015. The “Just Be Kind” (JBK) group there began with a group of kids as an afterschool club. They made signs, t-shirts and key chains with the slogan on them.
Soon after that humble beginning, the JBK movement began to spread to other cities and states. JBK signs and apparel have popped up across the nation and even in different parts of the world.
Almost every day we hear of horrific acts played out all around us. We stand in need of a revival of kindness. If we would “Just Be Kind,” modern problems like bullying, road rage, mass shootings, hatefulness and simple rudeness might be held a little more in check.
Jesus told a story about some mean men, two apathetic men and one kind man. The mean men robbed and beat a lone traveler and left him to die. Two men passed by the injured man on the roadside, a priest first and then an assistant to the priest. Both passed by without helping.
Finally a man we know as the “Good Samaritan” was moved with compassion and acted with kindness. He cared for the man’s wounds, put him on his own animal (which meant he walked), took him to an inn and took care of him. When he left, he even paid the innkeeper to take care of the stranger and promised to come back and pay anything else that was owed.
While the first two men went out of their way to not show kindness, the Samaritan went out of his way to be kind. May we follow his example and the admonition of modern sign-makers and “Just be Kind.”
EDITOR’S NOTE — Bill King is associational mission strategist (AMS) for Tuskegee-Lee Baptist Association.
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Blessed to be a blessing
Numerous times each day the familiar question comes my way: “How are you?” My sincere response is most often, “Blessed!”
The world of social media may define “blessed” as success when life is good. Good job? #Blessed. Great family? #Blessed. Financial abundance? #Blessed.
But for the children of God, to be “blessed” means far more than life is good or successful by the world’s standards.
We are “blessed” in Christ every moment of every day … even when treading through the treacherous waters of life. Not stress or problem free but rather “blessed” in Christ.
We are “blessed” to be called the very children of God (John 1:12; Rom. 8:15–16). We are “blessed” to live our lives on mission with Jesus every day (Matt. 28:18–20).
As I watch Alabama Baptists serve with gospel intentionality I see a “blessed” people being a blessing to others, often in and through difficult circumstances.
Through our state missionaries, entities, directors of missions, local pastors and precious lay people, the love of Christ is impacting lives.
We are “blessed,” so let’s be a blessing to others!
—Tim Cox
EDITOR’S NOTE — Tim Cox is pastor of Liberty Baptist Church, Chelsea, and president of the Alabama Baptist State Convention.
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Letters to the Editor
The promise of millions for a dollar adds up to a first-class, unadulterated, shady scam on the Alabama people.
Why oppose the lottery?
- Who can afford to throw money down a black hole? Lower income citizens spend more on lottery than others. Their fuel is the prospect of a better life that doesn’t come with lotto.
- Lottery produces collateral damage. Tickets are purchased with grocery, rent and utility money. The damage? Hungry children, homelessness and cold nights.
- Local churches and helping agencies are called on to take up the slack. Police investigate more robberies. Community resources go only so far.
- The craving for wealth dishonors God. “The love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith” (1 Tim. 6:10).
As someone said, “Lottery is a tax on optimism.” Promoting false hope, encouraging addiction and propping up government on a revenue stream that declines yearly. That’s no way to run a state.
We’ve no reason to give in yet. Truth and right can prevail if Alabamians stand fast on the moral high ground. Let your voice be heard.
Darryl Wood
Liberty Baptist Church, Chelsea, Ala.
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There is something incredibly reassuring and comforting … about confessing the Christian faith as Christians have confessed it for two millennia.
Albert Mohler
Author, “The Apostles’ Creed: Discovering Authentic Christianity in an Age of Counterfeits”
You’ve got to have a Nehemiah moment in your own life to find your mission.
Pastor Randy Overstreet
The Church at Liberty Park
The government may not discriminate against religion generally or against particular religious denominations.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh
U.S. Supreme Court
Bitterness eventually destroys you.
Ed Stetzer
Executive Director of the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College
Time is a great healer but it doesn’t come fast enough.
Rusty Sowell
Pastor, Providence Baptist Church, Opelika, Ala.
Sadly, many people in the Bible Belt are haunted by the idea of Christ, while not understanding His love for them. The judgment of God lingers in their minds. Believing the gospel would allow them to understand that it is the kindness of God that can actually lead them to repentance (Rom. 2:4).
Dean Inserra
“The Unsaved Christian: Reaching Cultural Christianity with the Gospel”
Historic norms of “evangelize the unsaved and disciple those who embrace the gospel of Christ” are now confused. It is true that, in most situations, to evangelize without relationship can be limited in its benefit. But the answer isn’t to invite the unsaved to “belong to the church” before they embrace the gospel.
Brad Buser
Co-founder, Radius International
We see Jesus as a revolutionary, as a healer, as teacher and so much more. No one snapshot of His life captures all that He is. The Messiah demonstrates that human beings are complex and need to be judged by God in His time.
Pastor David Gray
FBC Garrettsville, Ohio
“The 23rd Pastor: Pastoring in the Spirit of Our Shepherd Lord” by John McCallum is a book that should be required reading for every person in ministry and for everyone considering ministry. It is practical, challenging, theologically sound and transformational.
Pastor Clay Hallmark
FBC Lexington, Tenn.
Even if all humanitarian appeals were fully funded, it is likely that many millions of people would still be left behind. [The 2018 World Disasters Report] should shake the entire international humanitarian sector into actively seeking out those left desperate and hidden in the shadows.
Elhadj As Sy
Secretary General, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent
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From the Twitterverse
@ronniefloyd
To everyone, thank you for your blessing, encouragement, and prayer support. May the will of God be done today. We need God’s favor, wisdom, peace, power and love in every way.
@WarrenColeSmith
Christian apologists have produced an amazing amount of material in the last few decades tackling almost every tough question there is. The answers are out there, but those answers haven’t always made it in to Christian discipleship and study.
@richardaross
In your church, lots of dads who love the Lord are heartbroken over online secrets. Some moms are sad over chatroom flirting. Some young ones are confused about their affections and gender. Is it time for families to embrace holiness and purity?
@DrMigEchevarria
Diversity is not just allowing minorities into your spaces; it’s empowering minorities to reshape them.
@pastoremase
We have had in the vision of our church since its inception to develop a crisis pregnancy center because of those cross-ethnically in our community who don’t see birth as an option.
@BethMooreLPM
Do not give up. We’re not just struggling against flesh & blood but against demonic powers & principalities. Some of the things we’re fighting against have had a strong hold in our environments for generations/centuries. They will not let go easily. Do not stand down. Stand FIRM.
@ERLC
“Christianity’s robust vision of human dignity is one of the best gifts we have to give to the world.”
—@dandarling
@Rgallaty
We haven’t become disciple makers until the disciples we’ve invested in replicate their lives into another person.
@isaiahyoder18
“Jesus never said these things [loving everybody] would be easy. He just said it would work” @bobgoff on the money with that one.
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