CHURCHES: Follow in southern footsteps

How grounded are your religious beliefs?

After experiencing the trauma and viewing the carnage, the predominantly black congregation of the Emanuel Church of Charleston, S.C., came together to sing praises to God and to forgive the white racist assailant for what he had done. Their faith that someday God would reunite them with their friends and relatives and that God is the ultimate judge, let them place hatred aside. Without saying a negative word, these beautiful people notified their assailant that he had failed to diminish their faith and that they would go on with their lives. The Bible is the foundation for many southerners. They have a message to proclaim.

Elsewhere, many churches seem to be mired in uncertainty and only worry about how to hold their members, pay their pastors, and maintain their church facilities. I doubt that 10% of their budget is devoted to evangelism, missions and aid in third-world nations whose citizens survive on $3 to $5 a day. Part of the problem is that many of their members are spending far more on tattoos and various baubles, which are seen, and gifting less to God, which is of the heart and goes unseen.

LEONARD BRANT

Post Falls