Tony Evans keynote speaker at Ferguson rally, urges a 'march on behalf of God'
ST. LOUIS, MO. (Christian Examiner) -- Tony Evans, founder and president of the national organization The Urban Alternative, is calling out believers from all races, cultures and class to join in unity and tackle the issue of racial tension in America with biblical truth.
Evans, who will deliver a keynote message of unity, oneness and race at the "We Are One" rally Jan. 25 at a Ferguson, Missouri church, told radio host Harold Hendrick during his Bott Radio Network program that only the church can ease the increasingly racially-charged climate in America.
"God has a very clear statement on race in scripture -- how we are to approach it, how we are to address it, and why we are not to back down from it," Evans noted.
"If we can bring God's view to bear on not only what has happened in Ferguson, but the atmosphere that's all over our nation, it's time for us to change it. The church can change it. Leaders can change it. So let's begin to see that."
Evans said the disunity within America is understandable when considering that "satan wants to keep us divided (because) he wants to keep the glory of God at bay to keep His manifest presence from showing up."
"Right now the glory of God is not being fully displayed through the fog of what's happening in the culture," Evans said. "Well the job of the church is to clear up that fog so the S-O-N can shine through."
Emphasizing that it is God's presence, not politics, that can turn the climate, Evans said, "We need Christians to call on God and then march on behalf of God" to resolve the race issue.
"This issue takes three minutes to solve, not 300 years -- that is if we are committed to the authority of Scriptures," he said.
Plans for the locally planned "We Are One Rally" were motivated by events sparked in the aftermath of the shooting and death of Michael Brown by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson.
The rally, coordinated by First Baptist Church in Ferguson, will be held at Faith Church in the Earth City region of St. Louis, and will spotlight the "Ferguson Declaration," a one-page statement of repentence and seeking God and ongoing relationships in Biblical Unity as is referenced in John 17:20-24, according to Hendricks' website.
In addition to Evans, featured speakers include former St. Louis Ram Aeneas Williams who now pastors a Ferguson-area church; and a representative of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.