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Editor’s note: This week's guest column was written by Pastor Paul Buntyn, founder of the Abundant Life Christian Church in San Marcos, where he has served for 27 years as Pastor-Emeritus. Buntyn has educational degrees from Manhattan Bible Institute, Incarnate Word University, and Oral Roberts University.
My journey takes me to my Brother in Christ, Paul Buntyn, who provided the following guest column. Born in New York City, he arrived in San Marcos in 1988 to pastor the Greater Bethel Baptist Church. In 1993, he was called to Found the Abundant Life Christian Church in San Marcos where he served the next 27 years and is presently the Pastor-Emeritus. He has educational degrees from the Manhattan Bible Institute, Incarnate Word University, and Oral Roberts University. Pastor Buntyn is a leader and a warrior---always looking for new ways to deal with old problems. His words:
“Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living person.” Genesis 2:7 (NLT) “We hold these truths
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” The Declaration of Independence, one may say, sets the standard for all who claim to be an American. Thomas Jefferson, the writer of these powerful words established from the Principles of the Bible, sets the impetus on the equality of all living persons. History informs us today that Jefferson felt this statement would eventually diffuse the trajectory of slavery---even though he purchased twenty slaves on his own which would be added to the 175 slaves registered to him from an inheritance.
As a Pastor, I have the responsibility to oversee the marriage covenant when a man and a woman decide to engage in Holy wedlock. I therefore have instituted a comprehensive format to reveal an especially important aspect of the union: that is, each are committing to marry everything they know about each other, as well as everything they do not know about each other. The latter is a paradigm that is too often overlooked by couples.
Consider the above as a parallel so I can emphasize a truthful dynamic of being born African American (preference to be called a Black man) in America. My American birth was into a system that is both favorable and not favorable. How so? The favorable part is that I am a living person, a citizen who has equal rights. The unfavorable part is that the original Constitution of the United States declares in Article One, Section 2 (the Enumeration Clause) that slaves were to count as only 3/5 of a human being. The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution did away with slavery and involuntary servitude in 1865 when it was formally adopted. Even now in 2020, a newborn Black baby is starting life lagging in the abundant life God gives us because of the ‘Powers that be.’ This is the first of my
This is the first of my writings, I hope, dear reader, that I will pull you into a journey that you will talk about and spread like Lays Potato chips--- (‘you can’t eat just one’!) as you peek inside of what it is like growing up Black in America. It would be simplistic to think that all blacks started out the same way, it would be true to state we have had one thing in common: we all started out a bit behind from the inception of this Great American democratic experiment called the United States of America!
Let me emphasize that I love this country; I fought for this country, I was wounded severely (two Purple Hearts, a Bronze Star) in the name of this Country, and I emphatically and spiritually pray for the promulgation of Her prosperity, of which I play a major part. I will address the systemic injustices in employment, economics, education, and society at large. (Tune in next week) I pray for San Marcos, my home, as we join with all people of all races in giving America a needed facelift.”
