Originally posted on Facebook on Sunday, February 21, 2021.

In Week 8 of 52 Weeks of Gratefulness, I give thanks for Ed Hardy.

I don't believe I've ever had a conversation with Ed Hardy. But, his life spoke volumes to me.

Ed Hardy and I both attended Mississippi State and though I'm not sure we even had one class together, he was somehow always on my radar -someone I took notice of around campus and watched from a distance for years.

This was during a time in my life when I was utterly lost, worldly and grappling with my own identity. While I was floundering, deeply insecure and pathetically trying to live out some fantasy I had seen in BET music videos, Ed was anchored. I observed him to be purposed, diligent, studious, friendly and honorable in all his dealings. There was a firm "uprightness" about him that was seemingly apparent to everyone, so much so that there was a widespread rumor that he and a young lady who were allegedly "talking" parted ways because he refused to have sex before marriage. As people talked about that, they laughed. I laughed. But for reasons I couldn't explain then, I deeply respected him. I wanted to be like him but simply lacked the Strength and courage to do so.

What I've come to understand, is that Ed Hardy's extraordinary walk, resolve and strength come directly from his relationship with Jesus. I don't have to talk to him to know that. To this day, I admire how he lives out his faith as a husband and father. (There's a lot of things you can fake but the countenance of your wife and family aren't among them.) Since before I had a relationship with Christ, when I was in sin, Ed Hardy modeled a more excellent way. God used his life to demonstrate to me that by His grace, better was possible. I'm thankful. #52WoG

Originally posted on Facebook on Saturday, February 13, 2021.

In Week 7 of 52 Weeks of Gratefulness, I give thanks for Pastor Johnny Buckner.

It was the largest interracial gathering I had ever seen in Starkville besides a Mississippi State football game. And there I was, at the podium of First Baptist Church giving the commencement speech before hundreds of high school graduates and their families. As a youth minister, I was in my element speaking to young people. But leading up to the event, I wondered, no -worried, whether I would resonate with white youth in the same way as blacks. It was then that I was reminded that what mattered was not their reception of me but of Jesus and He is universal.

So by the grace of God, I focused on lifting Him up, sharing how in the midst of very difficult challenges I faced after high school, it was Jesus who helped me through. I tried to share God's heart for them and encouraged them all to develop a personal walk with Jesus, closing by leading the audience in the hymn, "What a Friend We Have In Jesus." As I began to take my seat, I remember Pastor Gregory Jones sitting on one of the front pews with a straight face and a smile in his eyes, motioning a silent fist pump the way a father would celebrate a child's winning performance. It still warms my heart to this day.

I share this because the real story is this was but one of many times where Dr. Gregory Jones and Pastor Johnny Buckner had been partners in crime for the betterment of our community. See, Dr. Jones was supposed to deliver the commencement. Johnny Buckner had used his influence and platform to arrange it in an effort to bring the disparate and fractured parts of our community together. They later jointly decided that Dr. Jones would step aside to allow me to deliver it, having an eye toward handing the baton to others who could carry their vision into the future.

Decades before the George Floyd marches or Black Lives Matter, Pastor Johnny Buckner was working across racial and denominational lines with intentionality to bring mountains low and valleys high so that we all might share equal footing at the cross. He sought unity in Christ unhindered by worldly schisms.

Further evidence of this were the "youth nights" Pastor Buckner would organize at the old Coca Cola warehouse off Hwy 12. It was a place where youth groups from different churches, different denominations and different races from all over Starkville and beyond would come together. When I was the Youth Pastor at Greater Ebenezer, I loved taking our youth group there. It opened whole new worlds of fellowship and function in the body of Christ. We had some of our best Bible studies and discussions after these events.

I also remember when Pastor Buckner planted a church in, what was then, the old Burger King log cabin. I and Jannie Thompson often liked to take the Greater Ebenezer kids off campus because our group was teenagers and it was helpful to have a space that the kids could call their own, if only for a short time. Pastor Buckner opened the building to us, giving complete and unrestricted access to the facilities. It was one of the first times I had seen a Christian act like the church wasn't theirs but Christ's. Moreover, it was the first time as a black person I had gone to a "white church" and been treated as though the church was just as much for us as for them, rather than being told to sit at someone's footstool.

I am led to say how discouraging it must be to dedicate yourself, to give so much, to suffer loss (that by the Spirit I know that he did) and then to endure accusations such as "All white people are devils and racists," as though your work was for nothing and went completely unnoticed.

Well, I noticed.

And, for this reason, I can never go down the path of categorically condemning an entire group of people. Because of his life and ministry I know that the color of one's skin does not make them an enemy. "We wrestle not against flesh and blood.." It does not determine who they are. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." -II Corinthians 5:17

The life of Pastor Johnny Buckner is proof.

He is not my enemy. He is my friend. I am grateful. #52WoG