Prayer Summit Results

I spent Monday through Wednesday at the Prayer Summit in Toccoa, Georgia, sponsored by "Mission Jesus" (soon to be known as "UNITE! Atlanta Southwest", as we attmept to broaden the scope of the organization.) It was a Great time with GOD and with 19 other brothers, many of whom are pastors and ministry workers in the Fayette County area. We spent three days praising God in song, studying selected passages of Scripture, and praying. The fellowship was terrific, once again confirming for me what Promise Keepers co-founders Coach Bill McCartney and Dave Wardell frequently said, "When men get together in the Name of Jesus Christ, something special happens."

I do not remember a time when I personally felt so close to God, which brings me to my next point. It is important to deliberately carve out time in your schedule to spend some quality time with God.

I'm excited about the relationships that were established and fortified during the Prayer Summit and the commitments that were made, notably to increase our efforts to build unity in the body of Christ in this area.

News from Promise Keepers

I spent last Friday and Saturday at Camp Kaleo near Forsyth, Georgia with Hal Taylor, the Eastern Regional Filed Director for Promise Keepers and some of the other Ambassador Field Directors and Ambassadors from Georgia.

I have two very important important pieces of information to pass on to you:

1. It's official. Atlanta will have a 2008 Promise Keepers Conference on August 1-2. Details about times and speakers will be forthcoming but registration is now available on the PK web site -- www.promisekeepers.org.

2. As Promise Keepers continues to expand its field ministry, Georgia is about to be the first state in the country to fill the position of State Field Director. Our soon to be official Director is Glen Wise from Warner-Robins. Glen has been serving as an Ambassador Field Director (AFD) for that area. State Directors and AFDs will soon be added to the PK website to make it easier for churches and men to contact the PK volunteers nearest to them.

Revival tonight and tomorrow night at Little Vine Baptist Church

Little Vine Baptist Church (Reverend Steven Coleman, Pastor) in Tyrone will hold a new year "Restoration" REVIVAL, (tonight and tomorrow night) Thursday and Friday, January 24th and 25th at 7:30 PM.

Thursday's Revivalist is Pastor Dudley of Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church.

Friday's Revivalist will be Pastor Walker of Just Jesus Word of God Church.

DIRECTIONS: Little Vine Baptist Church is located at 115 Handley Road., at the corner of Tyrone Road, just east of the BP station which at the corner of Tyrone road and GA Highway 74. The church phone is (770) 487-4686.

Little Vine is a welcoming African-American church. Reverend Coleman and his congregation are eager to build relationships with other churches in this area. Come get revived and help us Build Biblical Bridges of Brotherhood!

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Questions

Today is the day set aside to honor the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. Whatever your personal view of the man, I believe that we could ask a number of questions.

How would Dr. King himself like to have been remembered? Founder and first President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Noble Peace Prize winner, Civil Rights Leader, Medal of Freedom recipient, great orator, Congressional, Gold Medal recipient? I remember seeing Andrew Young interviewed a few years ago and he said that, first and foremost, that Dr. King thought of himself as a Pastor.

Have you ever Googled Martin Luther King, Jr.? If you haven’t, I highly recommend it. As a mentioned in a previous blog, the I Have a Dream speech is not to be missed.

After all these years don’t we wonder if things would be different if Dr. King were still alive? Would we be better off?

Is Dr. King's dream still alive? I think it is and one of the reasons I think that is the number of observances that occur each year in many locations across the nation.

Can we really get along? If we concentrate on our past I fear we will despair. If we look at the present, we may very well become discouraged. However, if we look at the glorious future we have together in Jesus Christ, we just might find the hope we need. I mean regardless of your skin tone, as Christians our Lord and Savior gives us the very sure hope of reaching Heaven. Can you imagine anything other than complete harmony among all we meet there? Don’t you think that our Father in Heaven wishes that we would get along in the here and now? We may have changed the laws (and rightly so) and politics, but our best hope for unity always has been and always will be Jesus Christ!

What price are you willing to pay for unity? Dr. King used to say that the 11:00 o’clock hour on Sunday morning was the most segregated hour in America. Almost forty years after his death, that has not changed much. So what can you do? You can get out of the box you are in, that’s what. For all of us this means stopping stereotyping groups of people. For some Whites, it will mean repenting of the institution of slavery and a history of injustice. For some Blacks, it will clearly mean letting go of your anger and stopping trying to hold all white people hostage for what happened in the past.

Where do we go from here? How about visiting a church with a congregation that’s different than your own? Sure, it may seem uncomfortable at first, but I know from firsthand experience that it’s worth it. Watch the Faith page and the Happenings page on http://www.fayettefrontpage.com/ as well as local newspapers for special events at area churches. Plan to attend.


Show yourself faithful. Don’t be afraid to be different. After all, you are representing Jesus Christ and His unifying love (See JOHN 17). Let’s try to get to know more of our brothers and sisters in Christ!

Why Should You Go to the MLK Parade?

Why Should We Go to the MLK Parade and Program This Saturday?

There is a Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Observance scheduled for Saturday, January 19, 2008 in Fayetteville. The Parade begins at 11:00 AM from Fayette County High School on Tiger Trail. The Program follows in Sam’s Auditorium.

Here are some good reasons why I think we should attend:

1. Rev. Dr. King’s I Have a Dream speech delivered in August 28, 1963. (To see the full video of the speech, please go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbUtL_0vAJk&eurl=http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm

Key excerpts from that speech:

“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 that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

“I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and 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’."


(Almost 45 years after the speech and nearly 40 years after Rev. King’s assassination on April 4,1968, in spite of the of the gains that have been made, we still have not fully realized his God-given vision for brotherhood in America. I pray that each of us will examine ourselves and see what we can do to make it a reality.)


2. Reverend Ed Johnson, Senior Pastor of Flat Rock African Methodist Episcopal Church, the Chairman of the MLK Parade, and my good brother in Christ. Let me add the following Pastors and their congregations: Reverend Jerome Drakeford, Pastor at Flint Ridge Baptist Church and President of the Fayette County Christian Fellowship; Reverend Eddie Thomas, Senior Pastor of Edgefield Baptist Church and President of the Fayette Area Ministers Alliance; Reverend Melvin Ware of Mount Olive Baptist Church, Reverend Deborah Turman of Merrill Chapel United Methodist Church, Reverend Belinda McCastle of New Hope United Methodist Church, Reverend Milton Reeves of Rising Starr Baptist Church, Reverend O. L. Wood of Hartford United Methodist church, Reverend Eyvonne Whitman of Holly Grove African Methodist Episcopal Church, Reverend Dwight Elder of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Reverend W. Anthony Guthrie of Wilk’s Grove Baptist Church, Reverend Steven Coleman of Little Vine Baptist Church, Reverend Elbert Jenkins of New Song Community Church, Reverend Smith Atwater of Unity Christian Church, Reverend Jerome Dukes of Community Fellowship Christian Center International, Reverend Howard Creecy, Jr. of Olivet Baptist Church of Christ, and Reverend Fred Downing of The Branches Community Church. (I know each of these Pastors personally and I can tell you that they all are eager to build unity in the Fayette area body of Christ. You can make a statement of agreement just by showing up!)

3. PROMISE KEEPERS' Promise #2 which states that “A promise keeper is committed to reaching beyond any racial and denominational barriers to demonstrate the power of Biblical unity.” (In the Fayette area we are calling this effort Building Biblical Bridges of Brotherhood. Wouldn't you like to be part of it?)

4. The local NAACP activities are more like church services than political events. (I've attended three of the last four MLK Parades and the past two Freedom Fund Banquets. I was pleasantly surprised to hear how many times the Name of Jesus Christ was lifted up!.)

Once again, Reverend Fred Downing of the Branches Community Church (www.thebranchescc.org) has provided a poem; This time, to celebrate the start of another God-given year (colors added for emphasis). May we all see 2008 as the gift it is!

HAPPY NEW YEAR © Frederick D. Downing


Happy New Year is the annual cry
As the New Year says hello
And the old year says goodbye

Most people are grateful to see another year
Some face it with hope
Some face it with fear

What will you do with this divine gift
Will your life be Christ centered
Or will your life simply drift

Is God pleased with the things you do in this life
Do you share joy and love
Or cause misery and strife

God desires that we grow more like Christ each year
That’s why He gave us power, love and a sound mind
And not a spirit of fear

Let’s honor the Lord with holy boldness, not fear
If we are obedient to His Word
It will be a Happy New Year


Frederick D. Downing