The Selah Project

03/18/2021

As Christ followers, the sentiment goes without question. But, moreover we are indeed our brother and sister’s keeper. Church! When one member is hurting, are not all members are hurting? Research indicates that Asian Americans are the LEAST likely of marginalized groups to speak up when oppression confronts their door. Please, reach out to your Asian members. They’re hurting.

03/02/2021

Is your ministry having trouble navigating diversity and inclusion efforts? Sometimes, heading in the right direction means asking the right questions.
Diversity asks, “Who’s in the room?” Equity asks: “Who is trying to get in the room but can’t?
Inclusion asks, “Has everyone’s ideas been heard?”
Justice asks, “Whose ideas won’t be taken as seriously because they aren’t in the majority?”

If your question stops at, “who’s in the room?” There is work to be done! We’d love to help!

02/25/2021

Hey church family! As we close out this month in celebration of Black History, it’s important to understand that Black History Month is meant to celebrate the accomplishments of blacks in the areas of science, literature, politics, art, technology, engineering, theology, etc. and it’s NOT meant for highlighting the historic oppression and dehumanization of blacks from American Chattel slavery nor the Civil Rights movement. Oppression should be preached about and studied all year. In the context of church, let February be a time where we teach about the incredible accomplishments of black men and women of faith in American history such as William Seymour and Reverend Jarena Lee.

As a general rule: Christians shed light on oppression year-round. We celebrate folks that are often overlooked in our history in February as a reminder to see our history through alternate lenses.

10/12/2020

Remember which Kingdom we represent, family.

Phil 4:8

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue and if there be any praise, think on these things.

10/03/2020

We all grew up in a certain cultural context which means it is much more comfortable to just fellowship with people that look, think, and act like you. We call this affinity bias.

One of the things that separates “Christians” from those who are “Christ-like” is the evidence of intentionally stretching and challenging our own proverbial comfort zones and actively building relationships with those different than ourselves.

Without the cultivation of genuine relationships, church diversity is dangerous.

Run from optics.
Run from tokenism.
Run from bias.
Run to your neighbor.







people

10/01/2020

Thomas Jefferson’s writing seemed to change tone during his latter years of life. Perhaps after considering his lifetime of personal involvement enslaving more than 600 men, women, children and infants, he began to both fear the outcome of his own salvation, along with God’s likely judgment of the United States for its sins. It’s almost is if he knew that we would face today as a result of our history.

This year, we tremble as consider how our God of Grace and Mercy is also a God of Justice.

09/29/2020

Confirmation Bias is the tendency to over-emphasise information that confirms one's pre-existing beliefs or world-view.

You can imagine how news outlets and marketers are experts at using confirmation bias to influence our beliefs and decisions.

So, what happens when believers allow confirmation bias to influence our Cristian Worldview?

We wanted to offer this graphic to stress the importance of reading scripture to CHALLENGE our worldview rather than picking and choosing scripture to JUSTIFY our worldview.

May our hearts give the Holy Spirit complete access to challenge our worldview as we read scripture.

09/26/2020

Over the course of recent events shedding light on racism, many of our Christian siblings have begun to ask questions like:

How do I support my diverse church family?
What can I do to end racism?
Am I complicit?
What’s the role of the church?

Sometimes, our questions lead us to anti-racist literature that stresses allyship - and this is really a great thing to learn!

However, one thing we do stress in our workshops is how Jesus calls His body to be much more than allys to those who are being oppressed. We are called to become ONE as He is ONE with the Father. We are all adopted into the same family - a family given the ministry of reconciliation. This means that, if my siblings are being oppressed, whether spiritually or physically, I have a responsibility to them.

The most notable difference between an anti-racist ALLY and GOD’S FAMILY is that an ally is AGAINST what you are AGAINST and/or FOR what you are FOR. As soon as your common enemy or common goal is dissolved, so is the relationship.

As members of ONE body, we are called to be FOR each other by bearing one another’s burdens. This means that even if we don’t agree:

I love you
I mourn with you.
I rejoice with you.
I co-labor with you.
I pursue peace with you.
I fellowship with you.
I honor you.
I reconcile with you.
I welcome.
I value you.
I uplift you.

Remember, allyship is temporal, but the family Of God is eternal. Don’t grow weary of well-doing, saints!

09/21/2020

It has been an absolute pleasure conducting our virtual workshops with The Vineyard Church of a Houston this month.

We help churches navigate diversity efforts by providing biblical experiential learning workshops - including virtual workshops!

Many complex variables come with cultivating diversity in the church. The Selah Project can help. Contact us @ [email protected]

09/18/2020

It starts with what’s inside of you, it’s a state of mind that we must acquire. Unity is something where our purpose and potential line up. We must fight to stop the division that plagues our country. We must come together to learn, listen and ultimately love who God created each of us to be for HIS kingdom. Our unity in the body will attract the world because it will confound the world.

Here is a leading question that we as the Selah Project consistently ask ourselves:

How might our pursuit of unity benefit our relationship with Christ and everyone in the body of Christ?

We would love to help you and your staff, community or even your family tackle this question.

08/28/2020

08/24/2020

Just Ask Randi, had an incredible time with Next Generation Minister’s across the Nation last night. Tonight, we will talk about mirrors, windows and sliding glass doors in Next Gen ministries. Just Ask Randi is one of several virtual workshops that The Selah Project uniquely offers.