I keep a copy of Dr. King's "I have a Dream" speech over my bed. I turn every morning and read a bit of it just to keep myself in the right state of mind for what I have to accomplish. I wanted to take this opportunity to share my favorite part of that speech with you today. It really defines for me what we are trying to do.
"But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.
We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone."
I do not think I can add anything to that to help it resinate with anyone. I hope you take this day to remember where we have come from and where we are still headed.
Dream big my friends!
Yours freely,
Tennessee James
1 comment:
It seems to me in reading your blogs that maybe, just maybe, you are repeating the mistakes those you are writing about are committing. Where is your tolerance for a different opinion? It seems in reading all your blogs on blogspot that you are trying to get people to come to your way of thinking, which is what you are saying they are wanting you to do. If we all thought the same way, what a boring place this earth would be. I think God gave us all the ability to think and make decisions for ourselves. Right or wrong. I am a Christian. I believe the Bible to be the Word of God Himself, I believe the Bible to be true in every word, sentence, phrase, idea, place, event etc. Scripture is very clear about some things- very clear. Scripture says we are to love each other, scripture even says this is number 1- to love each other as Christ has loved us- that means unconditionally. The Bible also says that God abhors sin- all sin- there is no big or small sin as all sin is huge in God's eyes. The Bible says that men are not to lay with men and women are not to lay with women. It also tells me that God so hated what was happening that He destroyed Sodom and Gomorreha(sp.) It is known that homosexual activity was wide spread in those areas at the time of their destruction. Again, we are to love all people as God loves us- unconditionally. Did your parents ever tell you- I love you, i don't love what you did. My parents have said that many times. They love me they just don't love the things I have done. I think God is like that and the reason I think that is because of his word- He loves us- everyone- gay, straight, bi,etc. He just does not like the things we do- homosexual relationships included. As for how we are to treat people- we are to love them- not because of what they do or don't do- who they vote or don't vote for but just because they are here. Gay, straight,deaf, mute smart, not so smart- we are to love everyone, BUT we are not to love or like everything people do- including homosexual relationships. At the same time we are not to give honor to things that God finds sinful- we don't legalize theft- it is wrong and the Bible says it is wrong. Why would we think that God would honor homosexual relationships anymore that He would honor murder, including abortion? As a Christian, I cannot pick and choose what of God's word I want to follow and apply to my life. No Christian has the right to do that. To be a Christian means to follow Christ- denying oneself- and taking up the cross. In your blog you say you asked the person if they were a Christian and when they replied yes, and you responded with a no I don't think you are because you were not there when they accepted Christ. Nor was I there when you accepted Christ, that was between you and Christ. The best test I know of if a person is a Christian is by the way they live their life- does Christ shine through in every part of their life. No one can be "perfect" 24/7 and we all fall down- we all make mistakes and if we confess those mistakes we are forgiven the sin and it is remembered no more. However, I think God takes a dim view of those living in sin trying to convince others that it is ok to live in sin and that God will even accept it. He will accept the person- not the sin. Remember we all have to answer for our actions before God at some point. Will he say to you- Good job my faithful servant or will he say to you- why did you promote sin in my name? I love you in the name of Christ.
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