Category Archives: EvangeliCrat

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Civil Rights Movement: Stop Violence with the gun and with the tongue

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 the Dream lives

This was my first year going to the Dr. Martin Luther King Unity Breakfast in Birmingham, Alabama to support the Civil Rights Movement.  I have no clue to the reason of why I did not attend this wonderful event.  My son William V wanted to go and was pleased to get up early.  I asked why he wanted to go and he said, “so I can be with you dad.”

 

When we walked in we heard the wonderful voices of the choir that transformed the convention center into a Baptist Church. This 27thh Annual event lived up to the high standards of the SCLC.  The first thing that was evident is that this was a celebration of the past triumphs of Dr. King and the people of the Civil Rights movement and boost towards the future of possibilities.

The Keynote speaker was Dr. Charles Steele, SCLC President and CEO, his presence demanded attention.  His commitment to the organization and people of all creeds showed in the first few sentences of his speech.  He mentioned “Birmingham to Bethlehem” which is a campaign to bring nonviolence to Bethlehem and Jerusalem. He said he was in a meeting where a Palestinian man thanked him for holding the banner of nonviolence because, before their encounter the man did not realize that there was an alternative to violent conflict resolution.

Mr. Steele also mentions a “Poor Peoples Campaign “in Paris, France due to the overwhelming unemployment in that country.   This interests me because I set and marched with the original leader of the Poor Peoples Campaign, Hosea Williams.  Mr. Williams was a pioneer of the Civil Rights Movement and to watch him work was masterful. His network of dignitaries and homeless was immense.  I think the SCLC should involve Jay Z and Kanye West as well as the down trodden.

 

In his meeting with President Gorbachev, Mr. Steele said the President asked him, “If the Dream was realized,” I just want you to pause there and ask that question that yourself.  If Yes, then celebrate and get back to work. And if No, just get back to work.

 

He told of his fundraising prowess and how he steered the organization to receive 20 million dollars in a 3 year period which led to the erection of a new office building.  It also set a secure foundation for the SCLC’s future in the Civil Rights Movement. This is a long way from the days of Dr. Fred Shuttlesworth. I wrote a post “Standing on the Shoulders of Giants.” When Dr. Steele met Roland Martin, CNN analyst, Mr. Martin congratulated him and said “the building is good, but what are you doing for the people?” This question adds to the question from President Gorbachev and should make all of us who live the Dream focus on actions.

 

I have a more definitive answer to why I have not attended the Unity Breakfast.  The answer is that I was enjoying the Dream and now I need to help others fight for their Dream.

 

How will you help the Civil Rights Movement? How are you helping others achieve the dream?

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What is Consistency?

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What’s the most consistent thing that you experience?

 

Consistency:  steadfast adherence to the same principles, course, form, etc.:

I know I need work in this area, so I decided to do a bit of research. The first word of the definition is steadfast? If I use steadfast I think of never letting go.  Imagine a baby kangaroo holding on to its mother or a stream that flows forever constantly providing life. To be steadfast is to be strong and mortally committed to achieving your goals.

What do we admire about the character of Consistency?  Who is consistent and how did they get that way.  Consistent people do not allow outside influences to disrupt their thought pattern. If you are committed to an idea, that causes you to have a short sided view of the world, this is powerful.  Those that think short sided, ignite innovation.  Rebel against the trend, if it causes destruction.

Consistency, madam, is the first of Christian duties.
Charlotte Bronte

Three Actions that will increase your consistency

Forgiveness

You have to forgive your inconsistencies. Forgiveness allows for patience to stick, it acts as the glue on the tape of life.  Forgiving yourself opens your heart to explore the world.

 

Reflect on your core values

What legacy do you want to leave? Make your feelings a reality.  If you are true to what keeps you centered then you will not go astray.  Copy your goals and say them more often than you think you is necessary.

Change your routine to enhance your dreams

Let go and develop a consistent routine that includes the pursuit for your dreams and goals.  If your routine is not working alter your approach, but keep the same dream.  Expect greatness and use wisdom to consistently achieve your dream life.

 

Tina Turner’s song “Let’s Stay Together” strikes a tone for steadfastness.  If you can keep your commitments to relationships and values; you are counted among the consistent. Hang on to those things that are dear to you. As long as your hands don’t move you are consistent. Patience will support your consistent nature.

What traits do you possess that show your consistency?

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First Lady Michelle Obama: Moving Forward…with patience and wisdom

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Our First Lady Michelle Obama delivered a wonderfully moving personal message in which she named patience and wisdom as core values for success. To be
specific she was referring to the character and Patient Leadership and Clear Vision of her husband President Barack Obama. I believe she was also calling on the character of our entire nation. In the short excerpt below there are numerous keys like “Barack never lets himself get distracted by the chatter and the noise” that demonstrate what it takes to have success in life.

Here’s a link of some speech highlights.

And I love that even in the toughest moments, when we’re all sweating it – when we’re worried that the bill won’t pass, and it seems like all is lost – Barack never lets himself get distracted by the chatter and the noise.

Just like his grandmother, he just keeps getting up and moving forward…with patience and wisdom, and courage and grace.

And he reminds me that we are playing a long game here…and that change is hard, and change is slow, and it never happens all at once.
But eventually we get there, we always do.

She adds to the core values, “courage and grace”, these traits of Patient Leadership are the part that make it look easy. Like politics, in life we are “playing a long game” and by remembering this we can keep your heart rate low and reduce stress over small issues. The United States of America is stronger now than it was four years because of people like the Obama’s and those that lead before them. I am stronger now because have more time to spend with my wife and children.

I am grateful to the Father for this time to bond with my family it has blessed me in areas that a booming personal economy can not provide. In 2 Peter 1:5-7 the Bible says

5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.

All of these character traits point to Patient Leadership and make us better all around. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama are an American success story and now we see at the heart of this success is patience and wisdom.

I know if you add “patience and wisdom and courage and grace to” to your endeavours will you have an abundantly fruitful life in four more years?

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EvangeliCrat: Evangelical and Socially Responsible

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EvangliCrat(tm) is an Evangelical Christian who first believes the Bible and trust in the Holy Trinity. An EvangliCrat is socially responsible and in tune with the needs of God’s people. These ideologies promote unity by following the teachings of the Bible. There is a new Commandment:

John 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

It is possible to support all the tenets of the Bible and still protect the rights of those with different beliefs. It is possible to love your neighbor and disapprove of their actions. It is possible to rely on the Father to supply your needs and then support those in need by feeding, housing and clothing them. Here are two scriptures that speak to that:

1. Deuteronomy 8:18 But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.

2. Matthew 25:35-36 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me

This is a free country founded on equality for all, let’s live that way. A political system that celebrates only two options does not speak to freedom. There is an opportunity to make another voice heard. A voice that is meek but powerful. Evangelical Christian values are not exclusively for the Republican Party and Socially Responsibly citizens are not exclusively for Democratic Party. There is a voice that must stand up for justice by following moral principles that are founded in truth, protect Civil Rights without compromising principles and thinking with a socially conscious collectiveness that promotes achievement.

Join the movement that will shift our country back to the people.