It's Time for Our Voice to Rise

My Ekklesia Family

I know it's rare for me to write you in the evening. But a lot is going on in our world these past few months. And many of you are seeing people who you work with, live in communities with for who they really are.

I was just sitting here thinking about my father and those like him — men and women who fought for civil rights.

They fought for freedom.

They fought for decency.

They fought for love in the name of Christ, so that all of us might be one.

That voice cannot be silent.

Now, a new voice must rise — our voice — to speak out loud with conviction.

God is still God. He has never failed us, and He never will.

But injustice must be addressed.

Oppression must be abolished.

Because no one is truly free until all of us are free.

The Civil Rights Movement was not just history — It is a road map, it was a testimony.

And that testimony still echoes:

Justice rolling like waters (Amos 5:24).

Peace proclaimed by peacemakers (Matthew 5:9).

Unity in Christ that transcends division (Galatians 3:28).

Perseverance through suffering that produces hope (Romans 5:3–4).

Faith that calls things not as they are, but as God has promised (Hebrews 11:1).

And the reminder that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against powers and principalities of darkness (Ephesians 6:12).

So today, let us rise as one body, one people, one voice.

For in Christ Jesus, freedom is not selective — it is universal.

And until all are free, our mission is not complete.

Why We Shift –

For Ekklesia, this is why we shift.

This is why we are moving from one phase of living, thinking, and speaking to another.

Because God commands it.

Because the time demands it.

We cannot stay where we were.

We cannot keep silent when God has called us to speak.

We cannot remain comfortable when He has called us higher.

The Civil Rights generation fought so that freedom could be heard.

Now God calls us to fight in faith so that His Kingdom can be seen.

We shift from silence to speaking.

We shift from comfort to courage.

We shift from just surviving to fully thriving in Christ Jesus.

The Word says: “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” (Isaiah 43:19).

And so we rise, Ekklesia, not because change is easy — but because God is faithful, and His Spirit is moving.

This is not just our decision.

This is our destiny.

We shift… because heaven requires it.

“Ekklesia, let’s be the generation that not only remembers the struggle — but also carries the torch. Let’s pray, speak, march, and love until the Kingdom of God is revealed in justice, unity, and freedom.”

LoveUmorethanUknow,

Stephän Kirby, Pastor, Ekklesia Christian Life