<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8515348399102984147</id><updated>2011-04-21T11:21:00.642-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Angels among us</title><subtitle type='html'></subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://denisecoc.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8515348399102984147/posts/default?max-results=100'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://denisecoc.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><author><name>Denise Dorsey</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09064636283652396355</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_duRlYL9X-TU/R8yxjUppxOI/AAAAAAAAAAM/6jq1L4TCJuU/S220/DSCN0739+edited.jpg'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>1</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>100</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8515348399102984147.post-8349210207144917041</id><published>2008-03-03T19:29:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2008-03-03T21:33:37.424-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Looking for a Miracle</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-family:arial;"&gt;I&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:georgia;"&gt; came to Nashville Tennessee in the winter of 2005. And as a young &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"&gt;Afro&lt;/span&gt;-&lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"&gt;American&lt;/span&gt; woman, new to the city, it was important for me and my family to find a church home that was diverse in preaching, teaching, worship and people. And to add to the challenge a church home that was truly Affirming. Now i know what you are &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"&gt;thinking&lt;/span&gt;. I was looking for the impossible. I &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"&gt;guess&lt;/span&gt; in a sense i was . I had always grown up, and even in my adulthood, after i had committed my life to Jesus Christ, attended churches that were completely &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"&gt;Afro&lt;/span&gt;-&lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5"&gt;American&lt;/span&gt; so that was not what i wanted. On the other hand i didn't want to attend a church that was completely &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6"&gt;Caucasian&lt;/span&gt; either. It has always bothered me to see how this country, that has come so far, by the heroic efforts of individuals such as Martin Luther King and John F. Kennedy, Malcolm X and Virginia &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7"&gt;Durr&lt;/span&gt; to end racism and segregation but, still has not found a way to end the segregation &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8"&gt;that's&lt;/span&gt; occurring in our churches among the family of God. So i longed for something different. Something that was more of an example of the type of unity Jesus Christ prayed for in His final prayer for all &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9"&gt;Christians&lt;/span&gt;. &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10"&gt;Jhn&lt;/span&gt; 17:20-21&lt;span style="color:#ff0000;"&gt;......&lt;em&gt;that they all may be One, as you Father are in Me and I in You; that they also be One in Us.&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;I &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11"&gt;guess&lt;/span&gt; it was not the impossible i was looking for but rather a miracle. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:georgia;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:georgia;"&gt;I must be honest when i first attended Covenant of Cross i was skeptical. I wasn't sure this was what i had been looking for. In &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12"&gt;alot&lt;/span&gt; of ways it met the standards i set but i still wasn't sure. But i continued to attend and worship, fellowship and serve until something began to happen. I started to realize that while i said in my mind that i wanted diversity and unity in the family of God, my heart was still stuck in the frame work of segregation that i had become accustomed to. And it was only through the growing unity, diversity love and acceptance that i experience week after week at Covenant, that brought me to that realization and began breaking down the walls of doubt, guilt, and fear of change built brick by brick through years of hurt &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13"&gt;disappointment&lt;/span&gt;, sin and shame. I had found my miracle.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:georgia;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:georgia;"&gt;So how would i describe Covenant of the Cross? Its a diverse &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14"&gt;Affirming&lt;/span&gt; Church that has its door open and arms wide for sinners and saints, men and women, gay, and straight, lost and found, broken and whole, &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15"&gt;Afro&lt;/span&gt;-&lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16"&gt;American&lt;/span&gt; and &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17"&gt;Caucasian&lt;/span&gt;, &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18"&gt;Hispanic&lt;/span&gt; and &lt;span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19"&gt;Asian&lt;/span&gt;. There's room for all at Covenant of the Cross.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8515348399102984147-8349210207144917041?l=denisecoc.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://denisecoc.blogspot.com/feeds/8349210207144917041/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8515348399102984147&amp;postID=8349210207144917041' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8515348399102984147/posts/default/8349210207144917041'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/8515348399102984147/posts/default/8349210207144917041'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://denisecoc.blogspot.com/2008/03/looking-for-miracle.html' title='Looking for a Miracle'/><author><name>Denise Dorsey</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/09064636283652396355</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://bp0.blogger.com/_duRlYL9X-TU/R8yxjUppxOI/AAAAAAAAAAM/6jq1L4TCJuU/S220/DSCN0739+edited.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry></feed>
