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FWMBC Members and Friends,
This past Sunday we had a great Valentine Service when over 25 couples renewed their wedding vows. The longest married couple was celebrating 50 years and there was a couple that could still be considered newly-weds. Thank all of you who joined us in that celebration.....In Harris County, early voting has started for the primaries. It is inappropriate for me to suggest to you who you should vote for. But it is appropriate to tell you to vote. It is a right as a citizen that we should never take for granted. Many individuals marched, fought, and died that we may have the opportunity to say who we believe should be serving in government. I hope you will avail yourself of this opportunity.
Remember to pray for our sick and shut-in Brothers and Sisters in Christ.
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| Weekly Message
THE COST OF FREEDOM!
Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils of the city, in perils in the wilderness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness...
( 2 Corinthians 11:25-28)
Dr. Martin Luther King's first book , "Stride Toward Freedom," was published in May of 1958. While autographing copies of the book in a Harlem department store, he was attacked and stabbed by a crazed woman who plunged a letter opener into his chest. Of course that experience was only one of many that tested his ability to suffer at the hands of others. In a speech on April 3, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee he stated: "In a few weeks a few of us are coming to Washington to see if the will to meet those challenges still lives among us. We're not coming to engage in any histrionic action. We are not coming to tear up Washington. We are coming to engage in dramatic, nonviolent action, We are coming, and we will stay as long as we have to ... We will suffer and die if we have to. For I submit, nothing will be done until people put their bodies and soul into this."
As we compare the statement made by the Apostle Paul above, and the statement by Dr. King, it is clear that they accepted the fact that there is a painful cost to pay for pursuing what you believe in. Others will cause you bodily harm, and kill you if they can. They will speak unfavorably of you even though you are trying to accomplish something that is right and will probably benefit them in the long run. The lady that stabbed Dr. King was Black. She, like other Blacks, had much to gain as a result of his efforts. The Apostle Paul said that even his own countrymen put him at peril. Yet in both cases, neither Dr. King nor Paul gave up and stopped working toward those causes that they deemed important. For Dr. King it was freedom and equality for Black people. In Paul's case, it was the freedom that only comes through acceptance of Jesus Christ.
Are you suffering for righteousness sake? Dr. King once said that unearned suffering was redemptive. In other words, when you experience hardship at the hands of others and you did nothing inappropriate to them to cause such treatment, God will reward you. All of us have been treated unfairly at times. However we must not stop doing good. We must continue to stay focused on truth, justice, and freedom. Of course there will be a cost. But in the final analysis, it is worth it. As Dr. King said, "nothing will be done until people put their bodies and soul into this."
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News Update:
February 18, 2010 - Guest Lecturer at First Shiloh Baptist Church...B.H. Roberts Institute (7:00) All are invited.
February 20, 2010 - Pastor's Workshop (9:00 am - 12:00 noon) Everyone invited....
February 21, 2010 - I will preach morning service at New Pleasant Grove Baptist Church...... FWMBC as usual.
February 21, 2010 - Black History Program (11:00 am)
February 21, 2010 - Fellowship at East Park Baptist Church (3:00 pm)
March 7, 2010 - SUPER SUNDAY We are asking for pledges to be made and for a special offering to be given toward the Multipurpose Center expenses!
March 14, 2010 - PREACHERS MEETING (9:30 am)
March 14, 2010 - "SEVEN SAYINGS OF CHRIST" (3:30 pm)
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