Martin Luther King’s Acceptance Speech for  the Nobel Peace Peace Prize in Oslo, December 10, 1964

Your Majesty, Your Royal Highness, Mr. President, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen:

I accept the Nobel Prize for Peace at a moment when 22 million Negroes of the United States of America are engaged in a creative battle to end the long night of racial injustice. I accept this award on behalf of a civil rights movement which is moving with determination and a majestic scorn for risk and danger to establish a reign of freedom and a rule of justice. I am mindful that only yesterday in Birmingham, Alabama, our children, crying out for brotherhood, were answered with fire hoses, snarling dogs and even death. I am mindful that only yesterday in Philadelphia, Mississippi, young people seeking to secure the right to vote were brutalized and murdered. And only yesterday more than 40 houses of worship in the State of Mississippi alone were bombed or burned because they offered a sanctuary to those who would not accept segregation. I am mindful that debilitating and grinding poverty afflicts my people and chains them to the lowest rung of the economic ladder.

Therefore, I must ask why this prize is awarded to a movement which is beleagured and committed to unrelenting struggle; to a movement which has not won the very peace and brotherhood which is the essence of the Nobel Prize.

After contemplation, I conclude that this award which I receive on behalf of that movement is a profound recognition that nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral question of our time – - the need for man to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to violence and oppression. Civilization and violence are antithetical concepts. Negroes of the United States, following the people of India, have demonstrated that nonviolence is not sterile passivity, but a powerful moral force which makes for social transformation. Sooner or later all the people of the world will have to discover a way to live together inpeace, and thereby transform this pending cosmic elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood, If this is to be achieved, man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.

The tortuous road which has led from Montgomery, Alabama, to Oslo bears witness to this truth. This is a road over which millions of Negroes are travelling to find a new sense of dignity. This same road has opened for all Americans a new era of progress and hope. It has led to a new Civil Rights Bill, and it will, I am convinced, be widened and lengthened into a super highway of justice as Negro and white men in increasing numbers create alliances to overcome their common problems.

I accept this award today with an abiding faith in America and an audacious faith in the future of mankind. I refuse to accept despair as the final response to the ambiguities of history. I refuse to accept the idea that the “isness” of man’s present nature makes him morally incapable of reaching up for the eternal “oughtness” that forever confronts him. I refuse to accept the idea that man is mere flotsom and jetsom in the river of life unable to influence the unfolding events which surround him. I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality.

I refuse to accept the cynical notion that nation after nation must spiral down a militaristic stairway into the hell of thermonuclear destruction. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right temporarily defeated is stronger than evil triumphant. I believe that even amid today’s motor bursts and whining bullets, there is still hope for a brighter tomorrow. I believe that wounded justice, lying prostrate on the blood-flowing streets of our nations, can be lifted from this dust of shame to reign supreme among the children of men. I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits. I believe that what self-centered men have torn down men other-centered can build up. I still believe that one day mankind will bow before the altars of God and be crowned triumphant over war and bloodshed, and nonviolent redemptive good will proclaimed the rule of the land. “And the lion and the lamb shall lie down together and every man shall sit under his own vine and fig tree and none shall be afraid.” I still believe that We Shall overcome!

This faith can give us courage to face the uncertainties of the future. It will give our tired feet new strength as we continue our forward stride toward the city of freedom. When our days become dreary with low-hovering clouds and our nights become darker than a thousand midnights, we will know that we are living in the creative turmoil of a genuine civilization struggling to be born.

Today I come to Oslo as a trustee, inspired and with renewed dedication to humanity. I accept this prize on behalf of all men who love peace and brotherhood. I say I come as a trustee, for in the depths of my hear! I am aware that this prize is much more than an honor to me personally.

Every time I take a flight, I am always mindful of the many people who make a successful journey possible – the known pilots and the unknown ground crew.

So you honor the dedicated pilots of our struggle who have sat at the controls as the freedom movement soared into orbit. You honor, once again, Chief Lutuli of South Africa, whose struggles with and for his people, are still met with the most brutal expression of man’s inhumanity to man. You honor the ground crew without whose labor and sacrifices the jet flights to freedom could never have left the earth. Most of these people will never make the headline and their names will not appear in Who’s Who. Yet when years have rolled past and when the blazing light of truth is focused on this marvelous age in which we live – men and women will know and children will be taught that we have a finer land, a better people, a more noble civilization – because these humble children of God were willing to suffer for righteousness sake.

I think Alfred Nobel would know what I mean when I say that I accept this award in the spirit of a curator of some precious heirloom which he holds in trust for its true owners – all those to whom beauty is truth and truth beauty – and in whose eyes the beauty of genuine brotherhood and peace is more precious than diamonds or silver or gold.

This is a powerful spoken word piece by David Bowden, produced by my friend and fellow unity advocate Scott Williams, author of Church Diversity. What thoughts or emotions does this video stir in you?

This is a powerful spoken word piece by David Bowden that I came across on my friend and fellow Unity advocate Scott Williams, the author of Church Diversity. Check it out and tell us what you think.

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We celebrate the 48th anniversary this year of Martin Luther King’s Aug. 28, 1963 speech about his dream for America, delivered to hundreds of thousands on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

Four years prior to that speech, on April 18, 1959, King had argued to the Youth March for integrated schools that committing “yourself to the noble struggle for human rights” makes you “a greater person yourself” and makes “your country” a “greater nation” and “your world … finer.”

King was not the first to speak of human rights to Americans, although he was perhaps the most compelling. Fifteen years prior to his “I have a dream” speech, global leaders, including Eleanor Roosevelt, gathered at the United Nations in New York to draft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which called for equal rights for citizens around the world. In 1948, it was adopted by the majority of U.N. member states.

Today, in the 21st century, King’s dream is still only partially met here at home in the “land of the free” and around the world.

But perhaps a step we can take to come closer to fulfilling the hopes for equal rights is to think more positively about the value of diversity. In this nation, the United States of America, we are all immigrants. That fact has made us stronger as a nation, both historically and still today. People of all races, cultures, and nationalities come to our country for our ideals — ideals that are embedded in King’s dream and in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Today, as much as 48 years ago, we need to promote diversity, because in the “global village” that we live in, our differences are what we have in common.

Talking about diversity issues through the medium of animated video allows me to communicate across all kinds of divides, in ways that traditional reporting and photography do not. Teenagers of my age, or adults who have little interest in politics, may not be willing to sit down and read a serious story or watch a depressing slide show, but they may be drawn to watch an animated piece. People relate well to animation because when they think of cartoons, they have pleasant recollections of them. Animation is fun; it’s vivid, it’s playful.

Animated videos about social justice are like political cartoons: they trigger the imagination of those who watch them. Viewers are intrigued because they don’t know where the drawing is going to go, because the artist is not constricted by real-world limitations. That brings the viewers into the story… and it is my hope that that makes the “message” of an animated video especially compelling.

To draw the scenes of this video I used Facebook’s Graffiti application. I filmed myself drawing using the application’s replay functionality and edited it all using Apple’s iMovie.

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What thoughts and feelings surface when the topic of Ethnic Minority Ministry is broached?
This PDF download is written by three  Caucasian leaders, all members of the majority culture, who have personally
wrestled with what it means for Caucasians to minister in ethnic minority contexts.

I was given this PDF by a good friend of mine, Corwin Anthony, that was taken from Destino (a ministry that provides resources for reaching the Latino and Hispanic community).  Corwin is the director of Pro Ministries for Athletes in Action.  AIA brought me in last year to work with them on a year long project to help them dynamically address the issue of diversity and the increasing divide that was taking place between their ministry staff, that was predominately Caucasian American the athletes that represented a wide array of cultural diversity.

I help them contextualize what “change” and “impact” really looked like within their organization, and together we came up with a doable plan that would help them achieve diversity throughout their leadership team, organization, and field teams.  Achieving diversity is an organic process that must be intentionally supported by the how you administer your ministry.

This PDF download is well worth the read. Again this article is written by three white leaders who minister to ethnic minorities with Epic, Destino, and Impact ministries. Brian, Tommy, and Eric are sharp and have plenty to teach leaders about how to effectively engage an American culture that is being changed dynamically by rapid diversity.   Processing this type of content opens, broadens, and reshapes the thinking of ethnic majority ministers and makes us more effective at evangelism and discipleship – building movements. To be effective movement builders, it would benefit leaders of all ethnic backgrounds to embrace this perspective.

It’s a very good read.  Enjoy!

Click This Link to Download the PDF report.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Have you RSVP’d yet for our FREE breakfast at the NACC?
click here:
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Scott Williams is our guest speak. Please join
us Thursday July 7th
8:15 am
Millennium Hotel Bronze Ball Room B

Click here to view the embedded video.

This Video was done for the Destiny Leader Online Conference. Dudley talks about his heart for diversity and the 5 Star program that empowers churches to make diversity an intentional effort.

Stay tuned! There are more videos to come!

Jesus was taken into the wild by the Spirit for the Test. The Devil was ready to give it. Jesus prepared for the Test by fasting forty days and forty nights. That left him, of course, in a state of extreme hunger, which the Devil took advantage of in the first test: “Since you are God’s Son, speak the word that will turn these stones into loaves of bread.”

Matthew 4: 1- 3 The Message

Perhaps it seems strange that Lent is my most favorite season in the Church calendar. Lent has always been such a powerful part of my faith journey.  My birthday is often in Lent ( this year was a notable exception) so whilst pancake parties have abounded, Lent provided time for reflection. I got married during Lent, and I loved the fact that a day of festive celebration and  joy filled loud parties was juxtaposed with  a season of  intense devotion to God. Lent provided a fitting backdrop in 2008 when bereavement and loss left me gasping for breath, as people I loved became memories. Grief wrapped around my heart and mind, but it offered no warmth.  And then there were the Lenten years  where I look back and remember  when wars were waged in my heart,  battles raged in my soul… and were settled.

Such a Lenten legacy can leave me feeling a bit intimidated at times, even legalistic.  I love the discipline and intensity of it all,  so if I’m not careful I find myself competing with  spiritual disciplines of years gone by. How can I top the year when I gave up X for Lent? Maybe I’ll try giving up Z… As though the power and mercy displayed in my life ever had anything to do with my austerity achievements.

Humbled, I still long to make room for God. To be with Him, to listen. To slow down, to be available, you know. For Him to be Himself in my life and me just get on with receiving and obeying. So rather than feeble attempts at a repeat performance of Lenten glories of yesteryear, I’ve been thinking about this verse and considering how to respond. Today.

The Spirit  led Jesus into the desert. As I reflect on challenges and adversity ( more posts to come on that), I  sometimes wonder how I got here. Sometimes its life; sometimes its Him. But Jesus embraces what is to come, he prepares for it, he engages with it, even though it brings him to the end of himself, acutely hungry.

This Lent my emphasis is not what I’m going to give up; its about engagement.  Its a time to respond to the promptings of the Spirit, to be led, yes, even into the desert. Even if its to the very end of myself.  And none of us want to be there, but He’s there. And for that reason alone I am confident of this, whatever challenges  and battles we’ll encounter  during this season, we will meet our God.

(this is a re-post by Jo Saxton from her personal blog)
As the college pastor at St. Thomas Church, Sheffield, Jo planted missional congregations amongst college students and young adults. Now as Director of Pioneer Communities with 3dministries, Jo works alongside church leadership teams seeking to build missional churches in today’s culture. She’s married to Chris, a Lutheran pastor and they have two amazing daughters, Tia and Zoe. They lead a church in inner city Phoenix. Jo’s also an author – Real God, Real Life. ]]> http://new.dreamofdestiny.org/blog/2011/03/29/phenomenal/feed/ 0 http://new.dreamofdestiny.org/blog/2011/03/29/who-am-i/ http://new.dreamofdestiny.org/blog/2011/03/29/who-am-i/#comments Tue, 29 Mar 2011 17:16:36 +0000 admin http://new.dreamofdestiny.org/?p=611

(This is a re-post by John Ortberg from Leadership Journal)

I often do not understand who I am or what I do.

Calvin said that it is impossible to know myself without coming to know God—and impossible to know God without coming to know myself.

Yet I find in some ways the older I grow, the more a mystery I am.

I talked with a man recently who has attended our church for a long time, someone I respect and admire. He said that sometimes he got the feeling that I cared more about trying to get people outside our church to start attending than I care about the people who are actually here. And I found this pricked something tender inside me in ways that other criticisms might not.

Am I a visionary, an innovator, a leader boldly calling people on an adventure of change and mission? Or am I selfishly ambitious? Do I want to be pastor of a large church so I can feel successful and significant? Or am I both? And if I am—what are the percentages?

Paul said once, “I do not understand what I do.” Many of Paul’s teachings elude me, but not that one.

I find myself a tale of three persons, kind of an anti-Trinity.

There’s the public me. I prepare talks, and lead meetings, and say words that I want others to hear. This public me isn’t deliberately false. But I am always aware, when I am in the presence of other people, of how they will hear what I say. This awareness is a kind of filter that I cannot put away. This public me will always be gauging other peoples’ responses and adjusting accordingly. I often do not like this dynamic. But I cannot flip it off as if it were a switch.

There is the private me. This is the me who watches and listens and feels. I sometimes avoid this me, especially in seasons of great busyness. When I slow down, and bring the private me before God, I often become aware of my inadequacies or sense of lack. I sometimes can slow down to a level of deep peace, or of awareness of my longing for God. This private me often seems surprisingly conflicted—moved some times by genuine desires to serve and grow, and other times by reflexive habits of greed or resentment.

There is the real me. This is true person who inhabits my life; the mixture of what is admirable and what is squalid and what is small. This me must exist, and must be fully known if justice is to prevail.

But I do not know this real me. I often do not know what my real motives are. In some ways, the other people in my life see the real me better than I do.

The formation of real souls is the one process going on in the universe that really matters. The sanctification of my own soul is the primary task with which I am charged by God.

One of the ironies of church ministry is it can cause me to neglect what matters most, in the name of doing what matters most.

I have just finished reading Eric Metaxas’ biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer; one of the most challenging books I have read in a long time. I found myself asking myself questions repeatedly as I read it. Am I becoming someone like Bonhoeffer? Would I make the thousands of small and large choices he made that led to his martyrdom at Hitler’s hands? Or would I be like the many pastors who could smoothly rationalize their collaboration with evil rather than risk failure, disgrace and death?

Is our church producing people like Bonhoeffer? Really? Or are we just aiming to have more and more people come to more and more events?

Shortly before he was martyred, Bonhoeffer wrote a poem that has haunted people ever since. It gives voice to the struggle of a sensitive soul grappling with the tension between the public and the private and the real self. It is a gift to all of us who aspire to follow in the steps of the One who went before us.

Who am I? They often tell me I would step from my cell’s confinement calmly, cheerfully, firmly, like a squire from his country-house.

Who am I? They often tell me I would talk to my warden freely and friendly and clearly, as though it were mine to command.

Who am I? They also tell me I would bear the days of misfortune equably, smilingly, proudly, like one accustomed to win.

Am I then really all that which other men tell of, or am I only what I know of myself, restless and longing and sick, like a bird in a cage, struggling for breath, as though hands were compressing my throat, yearning for colors, for flowers, for the voices of birds, thirsting for words of kindness, for neighborliness, trembling with anger at despotisms and petty humiliation, tossing in expectation of great events, powerlessly trembling for friends at an infinite distance, weary and empty at praying, at thinking, at making, faint and ready to say farewell to it all.

Who am I? This or the other? Am I one person today, and tomorrow another? Am I both at once? A hypocrite before others, and before myself a contemptibly woebegone weakling? Or is something within me still like a beaten army, fleeing in disorder from victory already achieved?

Who am I? They mock me, these lonely questions of mine.

Whoever I am, Thou knowest, O God, I am thine.

This is a re-post from Leadership Journal