First, I would like to greet my Christian brothers and sisters with “Grace and Peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,” and to my Muslim brothers and sisters “Assalamo Alaikum” (peace be upon you).
The subject of this post was the result of a book I read during summer break titled “Faith And the Marketplace” , Written by Dr. Bill Winston; the Pastor of Living Word Christian Center located in Forest Park, Illinois, a community of Chicago. An interesting fact about Living Word Christian Center is that it was founded by Dr. Winston in a shopping mall, which was purchased for the church and still functions as a mall. The mall also houses the Joseph Business Center, additionally founded by Dr. Winston. The center trains business leaders and operates in 17 countries on 5 continents, including India and Africa.
The starting of The Joseph Business Center by Dr. Winston is reminiscent of one of his heroes Booker T. Washington, the founder of the Tuskegee Institute. An interesting note about the Tuskegee Institute is one book cites that in 1905 is that Booker T. Washington turned out more “self-made” millionaires than Harvard, Yale and Princeton combined out of ex-slaves by 1915. It could be said that Dr. Washington and Dr. Winston were on a Kingly mission.
Thus far, I have mentioned two Kings and Priests, Dr. Winston and Dr. Washington, and to this point I have left out some of the most important people being you and I. As believers, you and I are Kings and Priests as it is stated in Revelation 1:5-6:
” 5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.”
This very book was inspirational to Dr. Winston when he was a seminary student at Oral Roberts University . I believe that Jesus’ first ministry was about the kingdom of God, and that we should first seek the kingdom of God and all these things would be added to you, which I believe that the things of God and his kingdom are far superior than the things of the world . And as it was spoken in Isaiah 48:17:
“Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am thy Lord which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thy shouldest go.” It is the follower of the Lord of whom this book was written.
Further concerning Dr. Washington , Henry Ford, the founder of Ford Motor Company became a personal friend of Dr. Washington after becoming fascinated with his method of deriving rubber from milkweed. He tried many times to convince Dr. Washington to join him in business, but Dr. Washington was committed to Tuskegee, Alabama, and helping his people in the south. Thomas Edison offered him a position with a six figure income, but Dr. Washington turned it down. I believe that Dr. Washington was committed to the plans of his creator.
I believe that Dr. Winston and Dr. Washington were two men who believed in themselves and God who could do anything with any one and this was shown in their accomplishments. This brings me to another reason for reading this book and writing this blog. First, as mentioned in a previous post that it is an axiom of mine, that if we improved 1% a day by the end of one year we would have improved 365%, and wow what could that do for you; only God knows. Secondly I was inspired by title of Dr. Winston’s book, Faith & The Market Place and the numerous examples of how we must use our faith everyday in every way. I was also inspired by both men having attended seminary schools and crediting much of their accomplishments in having done so , and I thought that maybe my faith journey may take me in a similar path.
In closing we must revisit slavery and its effects on us today. Yes, there are many effects that still exist in today‘s society; among them are human trafficking, drugs, the prison industrial complex, poverty and the list can go on and I guess you could say what one person does with such a large problems as this. Probably not a lot alone, but with the power and blessings of God a lot can be accomplished. This brings me to another discovery I made while writing this post, which is the similarity between Christianity and Islam. This could be summed up in one name which is Abraham and Ibrahim. Yes, I said two names with different pronunciation one being English and the other being Arabic. I also found that there are many similarities and the differences are negligible, as an example I have included two writings from the Quran and the Bible.
Blog site showing Man’s justice to his brothers
the Bible says :
| Exhibit 1 QURAN
“C.1 – Glory to God Most High, full of grace and mercy; He created all, including Man. To Man he gave a special place in His Creation. He honored man to be His Agent, and to that end, endued him with understanding, purified his affections, and gave him special insight; so that man should understand Nature, understand himself, and know God’s through his wondrous signs, and glorify Him in Truth, reverence and unity. “ _________________________________________ C. 117_ Revelation leads mankind from the depths of darkness into light. It comes To every age and nation in its Language. So was it before; so is it Always. The apostles were doubted, Insulted, threatened , and persecuted, But their trust was sure in God. It is Evil that will be wiped out. God Truth is as a goodly tree, Firmly established on its roots, Stretching its branches high and wide, and bearing good fruit at all times.
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Exhibit 2 BIBLE
Genesis 12:1-3 New International Version (NIV) “The Call of Abram 12 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. 2 “I will make you into a great nation, ___________________________________ Genesis 22:17 17I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, |
From these writings and verses, I believe God is telling us that we can do something about any problem we may face.
insh’Allah — if it be the will of God
This brings me to a revelation I had while in Sunday service, when our Pastor Fredrick A. Davis mention the church should take some more action in our community, that being the West End of Durham more action, seeing that the church has purchased a former school and converted it into the Lyon Park Family Life and Community Center which now offers various programs. My thought is that after an investigation of the Joseph Business Center operations we should find out whether it would be a good fit for the Lyon Park Center.
After getting this revelation, I devised an action plan which involved taking into account the resources in the community which includes the Lyon Park Family Life and Community Center. The Center was purchased by First Calvary Baptist Church, and operates as a nonprofit 501c3, and can be supported with a tax deduction and in some instances with some employer providing employees matched contribution. Additionally Golf tournaments are also a major source of support, as well space rental. Ms. Oates can be reached by phone at (919) 536-4207 or by website www.thewecf.org. What will follow will be an interview conducted with Ms. Rebecca Oates, Executive Director of the Center.
Secondly, a major source of community support I felt necessary to address was the
Ar-Razzaq Islamic Center, The West Durham Masjid. I attended the Jumu’ah Prayer and explained the nature of my blog to and was granted a moment of the Imam
Dr. Gray’s time as seen in the following video.
And you have invited by the Imam to attend the Masjid.
Finally, I Pray that my Muslim brothers and sisters and my Christian brothers and sisters will not find any offense in any part of this blog post, and if so that they would charge it to my head and not to my heart
New feature of the blog
Word of the day as taken from Merriam Webster. The first word is MAGNANIMOUS
The Book of the day -_I Am Not Your Negro by JAMES BALDWIN. INSERT BOOK FRO M AMAZON
An excellent blog was written by Associate Minister William Booth of First Calvary Baptist Church his blog address Williambooth.wordpress.com. where I am a member and let me be the first to invite you to attend our church service at any time. The times are published in the hyperlink above.
overcomingspeechobstacles 