The winter of 1955-56 was a significant time for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. December 1st, 1955 marks when Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white person on the public bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Before long, the Montgomery bus boycott was organized and the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) came into being. The 26-year-old Dr. King, the pastor at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, was chosen to become the president of the MIA. What would happen in the next few months would propel Dr. King into the national spotlight and world history. Continue Reading
Why preaching? Why is (or should) the preaching ministry of a local church be an essential part of your life? Continue Reading
I’ve recently taken to enjoying strolls through our local Barnes and Noble. In just the past few months, I’ve been surprised at the kinds of books that jump out to me – books I wouldn’t have ever though to check out on my own. You never know what you’ll find when you’re not looking for anything.
Today was one of those days where I found a real gem. As I walked past the store’s section for Black History Month, I saw some of the books which one might come to expect today; The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson, memoirs of Rosa Parks, books by or about Dr. King. One book stuck out to me – March by Congressman John Lewis and Andrew Aydin (illustrated by Nate Powell). Continue Reading
Last night President Trump gave his first State of the Union address. It was clear that one of his goals was to convince his audience that his administration has made our country safer and stronger. But in one of the high points of his address, it wasn’t the strength of his administration that he appealed to, but the strength of the American people: “The state of our union is strong because our people are strong.”
Strong, safe and healthy. It’s what we all want to be. While these things are fine for us to desire, what happens when we as a society become a little too obsessed with becoming strong and prosperous? Continue Reading