Subscribe via RSS Feed

Keep Advancing the Dream

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. giving his “I Have a Dream” speech during the March on Washington in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963.
Image: Wikimedia Commons

Today is an important day in history. August 28th, 1963, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” Speech on the on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. during the “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.”

We’ve come a long way since then; and, we still have work to do. Amidst our collective stride toward freedom, it is important that we pause a moment and in the words of that ole song, “Look where He brought [us] from!”

As we experience today’s nagging systems of injustice and sustained hate and bigotry, we must not ignore the gigantic needs for far more progress.

God did it. God is doing it. God will do it!

God uses human beings to advance God’s mission in the world. The Church is key mechanism for God’s work in the world.

For this reason, God summons the Church to fight the good fight of faith. Nothing flies in God’s face more than injustice and unrighteousness. We must engage spiritual warfare to advance God’s mission for His world.

Scripture bears record to God’s desire for our spiritual, personal, communal, and social wholeness. As we see this more clearly, we catch a hold of the divine depth of Dr. King’s dream as delivered in 1963.

Let’s remind ourselves and others of Dr. King’s dream. Let’s try to help others to catch hold of it. Then, in Dr. King’s own words, “We must remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism.”

It is important that ask ourselves each day, “What can I do to help move the needle a little more to advance toward freedom and equality?”

Many blessings,

Dr. Antipas

Pin It

Tags: ,

Category: Church History, Summer 2018

About the Author: Antipas L. Harris, D.Min. (Boston University), S.T.M. (Yale University Divinity School), M.Div. (Emory University), is the president-dean of Jakes Divinity School and associate pastor at The Potter’s House of Dallas, TX, and the founding dean of the Urban Renewal Center in Norfolk, Virginia. He is the Criminal Justice System Director for the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference (NHCLC) and president of the Global Institute for Empowerment & Leadership Development, known as GIELD. He has additional experience as an educator, academic lecturer, itinerant preacher, pastor, youth director, motivational speaker, and Christian musician. He is the author of Is Christianity the White Man's Religion?: How the Bible Is Good News for People of Color (IVP, 2020), The Holy Spirit and Social Justice: Scripture and Theology (2019), Holy Spirit, Holy Living: A Practical Theology of Holiness for Twenty-first Century Churches (Wipf & Stock, 2013) and Unstoppable Success: 7 Ways to Flourish in Your Boundless Potential (High Bridge Books, 2014). AntipasHarris.com | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

  • Connect with PneumaReview.com

    Subscribe via Twitter Followers   Subscribe via Facebook Fans
  • Recent Comments

  • Featured Authors

    Amos Yong is Professor of Theology & Mission and director of the Center for Missiological Research at Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena. His graduate education includes degree...

    Jelle Creemers: Theological Dialogue with Classical Pentecostals

    Antipas L. Harris, D.Min. (Boston University), S.T.M. (Yale University Divinity School), M.Div. (Emory University), is the president-dean of Jakes Divinity School and associate pasto...

    Invitation: Stories about transformation

    Craig S. Keener, Ph.D. (Duke University), is F. M. and Ada Thompson Professor of Biblical Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. He is author of many books<...

    Studies in Acts

    Daniel A. Brown, PhD, planted The Coastlands, a church near Santa Cruz, California, serving as Senior Pastor for 22 years. Daniel has authored four books and numerous articles, but h...

    Will I Still Be Me After Death?