Friday, January 25, 2008
The Dream Shall Live On
A little over 40 years ago, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., shared his dreams with the rest of the world – dreams that continue today. “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self evident: that all men are created equal.” The words of MLK. People kept dreaming; even though racism still remains in the world, equality no longer has to be fought for, his dream shall live on. “I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down at the table of brotherhood.” The words of MLK. We kept dreaming; so many others, including me, have sat down and broken bread with individuals who were white, around a table of brotherhood and sisterhood. His dream shall live on. “I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.” The words of MLK. We never stopped dreaming. Today Mississippi stands as a diverse state with African-Americans and whites living side by side. His dream shall live on. “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” The words of MLK. We are still dreaming; not only have the children of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., been able to be judged on the content of their character and not their skin color, but the whole nation has also had the opportunity. However, yes, we as minorities continue to face adversities because of our skin color, but his dream shall live on. “I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.” The words of MLK. People have not stopped dreaming; I have traveled to Alabama myself as a witness. I have seen little black boys and little black girls holding hands with little white boys and little white girls. His dream shall and will live on. “I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.” The words of MLK. We are still dreaming; people of different races are able to hold hands and pray under the house of the Lord. His dream shall live on. A little over 40 years ago, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. shared his dream with the world, and the world gave King its undivided attention. A little over 40 years ago, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spread the salt to the nation and he left the world, expecting the world to continue to spread the salt. 2 Kings2:21: “Then he went out to the spring and threw the salt into it, saying, ‘This is what the LORD says: ‘I have healed this water. Never again will it cause death or make the land unproductive.’ “ As Martin Luther King began spreading salt over the nation, his ambitions were to make the nation productive in gaining the ability to love. As Christians we have been spreading the salt only when we feel like it. I see it everyday. “yo, you ugly so I’m not going to show you any love.” “Hey, you have no money; so I’m not going to talk to you.” We are only spreading salt (Gods Love) to people who are like us or people we choose to love. That’s not what Martin Luther King did, he wasn’t selective in who he choose to spread his unconditional love to. If we are not spreading salt everywhere, how do we expect to keep the dream of Martin Luther King alive? I just want to thank Kelloggsville High School’s Mrs. Gloria Williams and Mr. Drew Lokatos . It’s educators, like you all that make it possible for his dream to live on. You all are instilling the dream in the younger generations. I want to thank you all for continuing to acknowledge the great things Dr. Martin Luther King has done by allowing the students of Kelloggsville to participate in the silent march at GRCC each year. If it were not for the man who gave his life for equality, the man who fought with peace and love not hate, I wouldn’t be allowed the voice to talk to you all through this newspaper. I wouldn’t be able to get God’s word out to you. For everyone who does have the salt and is hoarding it for themselves, just remember that you are killing the little voices we do have. By holding salt hostage, you’re killing the dream that Dr. Martin Luther King worked so hard to begin. You are stopping his dream from living on.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated 40 years ago on April 4, 1968.in Memphis, Tennessee. His birthday is being celebrated on Monday, January 21, 2008, also known as the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday. A common theme for celebrations is “Keeping The Dream Alive.” He wanted to see peace and harmony among all people and equality and justice for all. He dream of the day that all of God’s children could say, “Free at Last. Free at last. Thank God Almighty, I’m free at last.” Is Dr. King’s dream still alive? Has it been realized? Is it dead? Comment on this.
Teens Talk - Some Tickets Buy A Future
Have you ever experienced a time when you felt your whole future was riding on an answer that you were waiting to receive from someone?
I’ll admit, even though I put all my faith in God, I still find myself doing this.
I still worry myself with things that I have no control over, things that are in God’s hands. Luke 12:25-26, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?”
I know that I can speak for everyone when I say that at some point in our lives we all have wished that we could buy a ticket into success. Right now, I wish that I could buy a ticket into the University of my choosing, but there isn’t a ticket for sale.
You may also be sitting on the edge of your seat waiting for an acceptance or rejection letter from the school of your choice. As the letters come in, remember it is God’s plan, not yours.
Like so many others, there are numerous materialistic items that I wish I could buy, unfortunately there aren’t any tickets for sale.
Life isn’t like a video game where someone can choose the controller they want to play with because the only controller in life is God. Life isn’t something to play with because it’s only given to you once.
If you do decide to buy tickets in life, and go with the easy way out; sometimes you are unable to return those tickets; and you have to play the hand that you are dealt. Buying a ticket for anything in life is not the way to go.
What is the sense of wasting money when God has a free ticket waiting for you already? Philippians 4:19, “And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”
Why should you buy a ticket into a life as a drug dealer or drug user when a you can get an all time high with God?
It’s sort of a cliché to say that we are selling ourselves out to the ways of the world but it’s the truth.
We have been buying tickets since Adam and Eve. Some of us have brought tickets right into prison. Some of us have brought tickets into an early grave.
I don’t know about you all, but I am fed up with losing loved ones because of ticket buying.
If you have bought tickets already this year, it is not too late to return them; but there is only one person that you can return them to, and that person is God. Don’t think that you are alone because already I have had to return a few tickets that I didn’t mean to buy.
As Christians, we have to remember that we are always going to have to return tickets because the devil is always lurking at our heels. We just have to keep our heads up. Everyone doesn’t receive blessings from God at the same time.
I’m going to leave you all with this, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.” 1 Timothy 4:12
I’ll admit, even though I put all my faith in God, I still find myself doing this.
I still worry myself with things that I have no control over, things that are in God’s hands. Luke 12:25-26, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?”
I know that I can speak for everyone when I say that at some point in our lives we all have wished that we could buy a ticket into success. Right now, I wish that I could buy a ticket into the University of my choosing, but there isn’t a ticket for sale.
You may also be sitting on the edge of your seat waiting for an acceptance or rejection letter from the school of your choice. As the letters come in, remember it is God’s plan, not yours.
Like so many others, there are numerous materialistic items that I wish I could buy, unfortunately there aren’t any tickets for sale.
Life isn’t like a video game where someone can choose the controller they want to play with because the only controller in life is God. Life isn’t something to play with because it’s only given to you once.
If you do decide to buy tickets in life, and go with the easy way out; sometimes you are unable to return those tickets; and you have to play the hand that you are dealt. Buying a ticket for anything in life is not the way to go.
What is the sense of wasting money when God has a free ticket waiting for you already? Philippians 4:19, “And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”
Why should you buy a ticket into a life as a drug dealer or drug user when a you can get an all time high with God?
It’s sort of a cliché to say that we are selling ourselves out to the ways of the world but it’s the truth.
We have been buying tickets since Adam and Eve. Some of us have brought tickets right into prison. Some of us have brought tickets into an early grave.
I don’t know about you all, but I am fed up with losing loved ones because of ticket buying.
If you have bought tickets already this year, it is not too late to return them; but there is only one person that you can return them to, and that person is God. Don’t think that you are alone because already I have had to return a few tickets that I didn’t mean to buy.
As Christians, we have to remember that we are always going to have to return tickets because the devil is always lurking at our heels. We just have to keep our heads up. Everyone doesn’t receive blessings from God at the same time.
I’m going to leave you all with this, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.” 1 Timothy 4:12
Friday, January 11, 2008
Teens Talk - Leave '07 Behind
We are approaching a New Year, so pack your belongings because it’s time to take a road trip.
Before we began our journey, we must give the car a complete tune-up. The oil has to be changed; the mileage must be checked; and all the components of the car have to be tested to see if they are operating appropriately.
We are now ready for our road trip. Not quite, we are forgetting one thing. The car has to be filled up with gas in order for us to take off.
There is a problem. The car is already filled with unleaded gas that we put in before the New Year, but we want to fill the car with premium gas. This dilemma is keeping us from taking our trip into the New Year.
The only way to put the premium gas in the car is to overfill the car with more gas.
Now, we cannot enter the New Year. We must stay in the past with our overfilled cars and endure Double “07”.
From the great words of Reverend Howard Earle, Jr., my senior pastor and mentor at New Hope Baptist Church, “Don’t bring the past into the future with you, because you’ll be carrying nothing but baggage.”
Our cars that are overfilled with gas resemble our lives when we don’t let go of the past and carry it with us into the future. We must drive out our past to put our cars back on empty before we can refill them.
When you give your life to Christ, all of your sins are forgiven. Meaning before we can enter into the New Year we must leave all ofthe drama of “07” behind us.
Proverbs 5:21; “the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord.”
God already knows of your sins of 2007 and he will forgive as soon as you give your life over to him, so it is time to take that road trip.
2 Corinthians 5:17; “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old has gone the new has come!”
If you brought damage to God’s image, your body, in 2007, well, it’s time to empty the gas tank and roll into a New Year.If you didn’t practice abstinence in 2007, well, it’s a New Year; let’s take this road trip.
If you haven’t gone to church this year, well, it’s time to find a church family; let’s take the road trip.
If you haven’t respected your elders this year, well, check your attitude; we are going to take this road trip. Strap on your seat belts because together we are rolling into the New Year.
If you smoked some weed or did an illegal drug just the other day, dude, get off your high because together we are rolling into the New Year.
If you have dropped out of school, don’t give up; go get a GED, there is still a college education before you. Get it together because we are going on a road trip.
Your teenage boyfriend beat up on you? It’s time to stop hiding the bruises; drop the zero and find you a hero in Christ. Seek help; nobody’s going to be left behind. We are going on a road trip. If in 2007, your teen parenting skills were off, well in 2008 we are going to learn how to be a parent under God’s watch. We are going on a road trip.
If you are a teen and an addition of a “gift”, not a burden of a new born baby has become a part of your life That’s alright. We can’t change the events that happened in 2007; and we don’t want to relive a double “07”, so strap the newborn in a car seat and let’s get to rolling. We are going on a road trip.
This week everyone in the world needs to hop in their cars and go for a drive until their tanks are empty; and then head to the nearest gas station to refill so that they can take this road trip into the New Year.In other words, before we can all enter into the New Year we must find church families to help us get rid of the baggage of 2007, in order to fill our lives with the gas of God’s word. We must also equip ourselves with the fuel of the Bible as the road map.
As in the words of Pastor Howard Earle, “Teens don’t forget your Bibles.” You never know when you are going to get lost on your road trip.Everyone, we need to get it together because it is time to take this road trip.
Before we began our journey, we must give the car a complete tune-up. The oil has to be changed; the mileage must be checked; and all the components of the car have to be tested to see if they are operating appropriately.
We are now ready for our road trip. Not quite, we are forgetting one thing. The car has to be filled up with gas in order for us to take off.
There is a problem. The car is already filled with unleaded gas that we put in before the New Year, but we want to fill the car with premium gas. This dilemma is keeping us from taking our trip into the New Year.
The only way to put the premium gas in the car is to overfill the car with more gas.
Now, we cannot enter the New Year. We must stay in the past with our overfilled cars and endure Double “07”.
From the great words of Reverend Howard Earle, Jr., my senior pastor and mentor at New Hope Baptist Church, “Don’t bring the past into the future with you, because you’ll be carrying nothing but baggage.”
Our cars that are overfilled with gas resemble our lives when we don’t let go of the past and carry it with us into the future. We must drive out our past to put our cars back on empty before we can refill them.
When you give your life to Christ, all of your sins are forgiven. Meaning before we can enter into the New Year we must leave all ofthe drama of “07” behind us.
Proverbs 5:21; “the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord.”
God already knows of your sins of 2007 and he will forgive as soon as you give your life over to him, so it is time to take that road trip.
2 Corinthians 5:17; “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old has gone the new has come!”
If you brought damage to God’s image, your body, in 2007, well, it’s time to empty the gas tank and roll into a New Year.If you didn’t practice abstinence in 2007, well, it’s a New Year; let’s take this road trip.
If you haven’t gone to church this year, well, it’s time to find a church family; let’s take the road trip.
If you haven’t respected your elders this year, well, check your attitude; we are going to take this road trip. Strap on your seat belts because together we are rolling into the New Year.
If you smoked some weed or did an illegal drug just the other day, dude, get off your high because together we are rolling into the New Year.
If you have dropped out of school, don’t give up; go get a GED, there is still a college education before you. Get it together because we are going on a road trip.
Your teenage boyfriend beat up on you? It’s time to stop hiding the bruises; drop the zero and find you a hero in Christ. Seek help; nobody’s going to be left behind. We are going on a road trip. If in 2007, your teen parenting skills were off, well in 2008 we are going to learn how to be a parent under God’s watch. We are going on a road trip.
If you are a teen and an addition of a “gift”, not a burden of a new born baby has become a part of your life That’s alright. We can’t change the events that happened in 2007; and we don’t want to relive a double “07”, so strap the newborn in a car seat and let’s get to rolling. We are going on a road trip.
This week everyone in the world needs to hop in their cars and go for a drive until their tanks are empty; and then head to the nearest gas station to refill so that they can take this road trip into the New Year.In other words, before we can all enter into the New Year we must find church families to help us get rid of the baggage of 2007, in order to fill our lives with the gas of God’s word. We must also equip ourselves with the fuel of the Bible as the road map.
As in the words of Pastor Howard Earle, “Teens don’t forget your Bibles.” You never know when you are going to get lost on your road trip.Everyone, we need to get it together because it is time to take this road trip.
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