Music to our ears – Our Name – to hear the Spirit Speeking in a Dream:

Does anyone here, hear the Lord Calling you by name, while you are awake or in your dreams?  Can anyone see the light of truth in our nation’s crises?  Does anyone have an answer to the mess?  Be faithful to Jesus’ message of repentance and believe in the good news.

Martin Luther Kind:  I have a Dream:

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.”

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.  I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.

Fulfillment of a Dream of Hope:

The inauguration of Barack Obama, as President of the USA, marks the fulfillment of hope of Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream.  While our heads are high up on the mountain top with the clouds of promise we find our feet standing deep in the valley of turmoil.  This great nation is in the midst of a great economic crises, caused by human greed in almost every sector of our society and a lust for power that blinds the spirit.  These sins have built up a mountain of anxiety and made us vulnerable to American quick fix we see on TV.  Do we recognize the evil that has creep into our nation and it’s vulnerability to corruption?  The FOCA is upon us.  Will we lose our way, will we lose our freedom of conscience?

A War / Rebellion against God’s Plan:

Today we hear of the conversion of Saul. Paul’s persecution of the Christians did not sit well with the Lord.    Resistance and rebelling against God doesn’t work.  What’s it going to take for each one of us to begin to cooperate with God’s plan?

Saul was blinded by a great light and thrown to the ground.  A blinded Paul made an about face, he turned around, he made a 180 degree turn as if he hit geese in mid air and needed to make an immediate emergency landing to get his feet back on solid ground.  Paul made a radical decision that broke with the past.  We need to stand up to change our nations’ course!

Are our Eyes Open and Do our ears work?

Are our spiritual eyes open as we depart on the new road we are traveling to our destination?  Are we ready for a ride we have never experienced before in our history?  Our hope rests on embracing the blinding light of the spirit and the message of the Lord as we work to regain our footing as we embark on this new journey.

The message of scripture today is clear.  As we and our nation embark upon this new journey do no ignore God.  Jesus promised us abundant life!  Abundant life is not about waiting for the current storm to pass, it’s about learning the proper spiritual dance in the midst of the lightning, thunder and the driving rain!

Do not be deceived by the Lures, Eloguence and Image:

Live in the spirit of Paul’s message to the Corinthians.  Can you hear the Lord calling?  We are called to act like Christ’s second coming is imminent.  One must literally run away from the lures of the world.  One must begin to filter through the eloquence of words to discern the truth through observance of the action of the deliverer.  Oh Lord open our ears to your words from 1 Corinthians.  One with a wife must act as not having a wife, those weeping as not weeping, those rejoicing as not rejoicing, those buying as not owning.  Paul’s word today for us is wisdom.  Do we get it?  Do not be deceived by the lures, the eloquence and the images the world provides.  Instead, be faithful to Jesus message of repentance, believe in the good news and courageously engage and fill the world with abundant life.

Have Courage Brothers and Sisters – Use His Name:

In the Gospel of Mark we have a powerful promise.  Do we have the courage to live it?  Do we have the courage to even consider trying it?  Those who believe and are baptized will be saved.  These signs will accompany them by using my name.  They will cast out demons, they will speak in foreign tongues, they pick up snakes, and if they drink any deadly thing it will not hurt them, if they lay hands on the sick they will recover.

We have the promise.  The question is will we but try!