2008-01-21

MLK

Here is Martin Luther King Jr's famous I Have A Dream Speech. The famous pat begins around 12:20, but in light of today the whole should be watched.

Three thoughts from this video:
1. This was almost 40 years ago, and while we've made improvements, we have to continue to ask and evaluate whether or not racism is still an issue in our society. These past few years would tell us it is. With Mel Gibson, Don Imus and Golf Digest making headlines, I think we have to say yes. And it's not just a black and white issue anymore.
2. MLK's speaking abilities are amazing. His cadence, his vocabulary, his passion and his building of tempo (using the repetition) is incredible. This has to be one of the greatest speeches ever.
3. I heard someone say that it should only take you 18 minutes to say what you need. Any longer and you've gone on too long. And I don't mind long sermons. Driscoll and Bell preach just around an hour each week. I know Robin Sigars preached almost two hours one time, and I was engage throughout it. But if you can't say it in under 18 minutes you really should try and think through what you need to say. MLK's speech here is under 18 minutes, and it changed a nation! Amazing.

Click HERE for his final sermon, I Have Seen The Promised Land. Powerful and prophetic! He was killed the next morning.