Repent or Perish
Luke 13:1-5
Whether a person dies by a tragic accident or miraculously survives is not a measure of one's righteousness. Because we are all a human, each of us will have to endure death. Each of us we have to give an account of our own lives and the last thing on our mind will be what our neighbor has done. Remember, whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. The question for all of us is, "Will you repent or will you perish?"
QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“Some often repent, yet never reform; they resemble a man traveling in a dangerous path, who frequently starts and stops, but never turns back” - Bonnell Thornton
BLACK HISTORY TRIVIA:
Congratulations to Valarie Mason who has scored her second right answer this week and second day in a row with yesterday's correct response, Arthur Ashe and Bryant Gumbel. Here is today's question: first, read the following excerpt from a speech that was given one year ago today:
"Why do we celebrate Black History Month? When we celebrate Black History Month, we celebrate the legacy of a people who made the most of their time. The danger today is that the generation to come afterwards is not making the most of their time. We are not given an eternity to live. We are only given enough time to attempt to make an eternal impression. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. only lived 39 years. But in those 39 years, he made an eternal impression. He made the most of his time.
One of the most popular shows on television is '24'. This show captures a whole hour in one episode, a whole day in a season of shows. Time is an investment God made in us. When it yields fruit, it speaks in years, decades, and millenniums. We are enjoying the things we are enjoying today because those who came before us made the most of their time. Dr. King, Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X, Dr. Benjamin Banneker, Madame C. J. Walker made the most of their time so that this generation could enjoy the fruits of their struggle.
The question you should ask yourself and anybody under the age of 25 should ask is, "In the second, minutes, hours are have, what am I doing that my great, great, great grandchildren will speak of? What fruits am I yielding that the next generation will benefit from?" Young people must understand that they are going to struggle. Just because others struggle for us, does not mean that we are immune to the struggle. We need to be thankful for the struggle because in our struggle, the next generation will benefit from our struggles today. Every generation must struggle. You must learn to pay it forward. The only thing people owe you is forgiveness and the love of God.
The amazing thing about time is that no one can take it from you unless you give it to someone. No matter your skin color, no matter your social economic status, no one can take time away from you. Once time is given away, you can not get it back. Our youth today spend so much time on myspace. They need, however, to get in His space.
In the past, music was used to convey a critical message to the world. The beat of an African drum and the dancing of those sisters who would move their bodies so eloquently was to capture the attention and address the consciousness of those in power. Today, we have been captured by a beat and in the process, the music has been perverted. Our young minds are being arrested and, as a result, it is inhibiting our lineage to the greatness we are connected. We are kings and queens. Many of us are settling for a legacy of trash. We are a generation that has long been minimized and we are buying into it. The music today is a front designed to create an illusion for other people to buy into. We must elevate and raise our consciousness.
We were injected in to time for a purpose. Everybody was born to solve a problem or answer a question. If you are not seeking the problem you were supposed to solve or the question you were supposed to answer, then you are squandering your time. You can not get disconnected from where you come from. I comes from a blood line where it is expected that I carry on the work that Martin started. You may say, 'There is no one like that in my blood line.' The solution, you must reach farther back and study your history. When you find out who you really are, you will tap in into the bloodline of Christ and get a new bloodline and a whole new DNA. The reason there are problems in the world is because there are so many people who have not discovered the question they are supposed to answer or the problem they are supposed to solve.
You will retard your legacy if you allow negative emotions to take charge of your life. The brothers and sisters that came before us took a negative situation and turned that situation into a positive, constructive situation. The next generation is in danger of leaving a legacy of silence, where no one will be able to speak of the their fruits."
From reading this speech, you should be able to infer that one of about four individuals from a certain family delivered this speech. This gives you about a 25% chance of getting it right. I know that is not giving you much information, but you have to read closely and take the tone in consideration. Today's question, who delivered this speech a year ago today?
Posted By: Alban Burney
Thursday, February 7th 2008 at 10:07AM
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