Today we celebrate a man who was cut down too soon. We take the day off. So many don't know what he did. So many don't know what he stood for.
As history goes on, fewer and fewer people will know all that he did and died for. It will be simply a few paragraphs in a history book. One of the first times I think i heard about Dr. King was in a U2 song on the Rattle and Hum album.
We need to tell the story. We are not too far from segregation. There are still reminders of it all over the place.
In the courthouse in the county I work it, if you go to the top floor near the library, if you look you can still read "white men restroom."
In my home town when I grew up there was "the campus." It was the black school until integration in 68 ( i think). It was still there as I grew up in the late 70's and 80's. We would pass by it and I remember it being pointed out as "the black school."
It is torn down now. I don't know if that is good or bad. Maybe we need reminders of the ignorance that divided our society. Maybe we don't. It is a fact of history. It is one thing to read about it in a history book, it is another to be able to walk up to it and touch it.
"early morning, April 4, shot rings out in the Memphis sky, free at last, they took your life, they could not take your pride......"
Monday, January 18, 2010
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Doves - the return
This morning I started to get frustrated. I was looking through some things and some feelings of anger, resentment...etc...etc...
Out of no where The Doves that were such a blessing in mine and Liz's life return. They sat outside our window and sang to us.
God knows our need, before we need it. God knows how to reveal Himself to us in ways we will understand.
I have had some awesome encounters with God that I understood, though others may not. But I think God can and does reveal Himself in diverse ways so that we understand and will not miss the Message.
The Message of a Redeemer. A Message that He goes before us and is our rear guard. A Message that He owns the Cattle on a thousand hills.
Thank you El Shaddai....
Out of no where The Doves that were such a blessing in mine and Liz's life return. They sat outside our window and sang to us.
God knows our need, before we need it. God knows how to reveal Himself to us in ways we will understand.
I have had some awesome encounters with God that I understood, though others may not. But I think God can and does reveal Himself in diverse ways so that we understand and will not miss the Message.
The Message of a Redeemer. A Message that He goes before us and is our rear guard. A Message that He owns the Cattle on a thousand hills.
Thank you El Shaddai....
Friday, November 13, 2009
Grand Torino
Today I had the day off and watched the movie Grand Torino.
As I watched the movie (which is Rated R) I began to draw a spiritual lesson from it. I did not start out my day to come up with a sermon illustration or devotion point....but there It was.
It is the story of an old soldier (Walt), who hates what his world has become. He is grumpy. He is a bigot. He is a widower. He is basically pissed at how things have become.
He is pursued by people who care for him before he cares for them. His priest goes after him non stop. His neighbors who are Hmongs go after him. They reach out to him to care for him. He does everything he can to offend his priest and his Hmong neighbors.
He sees his Hmong neighbors being hurt. Walt gets his rifle he carried in the Korean War and stands up for them. He begins to have a crack in that hard exterior and starts to care for them in his own way. As the story goes on his new found friends are hurt further. They are unable to stand up for them selves.
Walt decides he must stand in the gap for those who can not defend themselves. He goes to his priest who has never given up on him and seeks comfort. Walt then goes and gives his life to protect the weak.
St. James wrote that pure religion in the sight of God is to defend those who can not defend themselves (my paraphrase).
I think as Christ followers we have to be the people that pursue the Walt's in our lives. We also need to be the Walt's who lay down their lives to help those who can not help them selves.
As I watched the movie (which is Rated R) I began to draw a spiritual lesson from it. I did not start out my day to come up with a sermon illustration or devotion point....but there It was.
It is the story of an old soldier (Walt), who hates what his world has become. He is grumpy. He is a bigot. He is a widower. He is basically pissed at how things have become.
He is pursued by people who care for him before he cares for them. His priest goes after him non stop. His neighbors who are Hmongs go after him. They reach out to him to care for him. He does everything he can to offend his priest and his Hmong neighbors.
He sees his Hmong neighbors being hurt. Walt gets his rifle he carried in the Korean War and stands up for them. He begins to have a crack in that hard exterior and starts to care for them in his own way. As the story goes on his new found friends are hurt further. They are unable to stand up for them selves.
Walt decides he must stand in the gap for those who can not defend themselves. He goes to his priest who has never given up on him and seeks comfort. Walt then goes and gives his life to protect the weak.
St. James wrote that pure religion in the sight of God is to defend those who can not defend themselves (my paraphrase).
I think as Christ followers we have to be the people that pursue the Walt's in our lives. We also need to be the Walt's who lay down their lives to help those who can not help them selves.
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