They [early Christians] were too God-intoxicated to be “astronomically intimidated.” By their effort and example they brought an end to such ancient evils as infanticide and gladiatorial contests. Things are different now. So often the contemporary church is a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. So often it is an archdefender of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church’s silent–and often even vocal–sanction of things as they are.<\/p>\n
But the judgment of God is upon the church as never before. If today’s church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century. Every day I meet young people whose disappointment with the church has turned into outright disgust.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
If I have said anything in this letter that overstates the truth and indicates an unreasonable impatience, I beg you to forgive me. If I have said anything that understates the truth and indicates my having a patience that allows me to settle for anything less than brotherhood, I beg God to forgive me.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the spirit of today’s holiday in honor of one of the greatest men of the twentieth century, I thought it might be good to post a few brief quotes from Dr. King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” written April 16, 1963. These words are no less powerful (and needed) today than they were when…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2136,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,16,4],"tags":[66,722,194,210,212,269,270,307],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Brief thoughts from Martin Luther King, Jr. - Jason Staples<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n