I'm glad he had a dream...

Why do so few churches do anything special the weekend of MLK's birthday? OK, I agree, celebrating Christmas and Easter is more important, and some churches don't even do much on those days. But I'm curious how many churches celebrate America's Independence Day, and say nothing on MLK's birthday.

Which day should we be more excited about? On Independence Day, whether in a church or at a cookout, Christians celebrate the religious freedoms that we have in America. Even though, many freedoms we celebrate, have often been dispensed in accordance with skin color.

I believe a major aspect of missions is that God desires, not just a quantity of people, but a diversity of people. That's why the church is told to not just go to nations that are responsive; but all nations. The song that is sung in Rev. 5:9 is not that a specified quantify of people have been bought by the blood of Christ, but that people from every tribe, language, people and nation have been bought by the blood of Christ.

Diversity matters!

We should all be thankful to Dr. King because he fought for diversity, and also, the way he fought. Dr. King's "I have a dream" speech includes the line, "Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force."

So, on this day, I am thankful for ones like Dr. King who have taught me the value of diversity, the value of having dreams, and pursuing dreams the right way. If you've never watched his "I have a Dream" speech, it's worth it.