I Have a Dream

(A re-write of Martin Luther King “I have a Dream”)

I have a dream for my generation. I am happy to join with you in what will be the biggest fight in history for change in the mindset of my generation.

2000 years ago, a great man, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, gave his life so that we can be free and no longer bond to our sins. This momentous act came as a great beacon light of hope to all enslaved to sin that had been seared in the flames of Satan. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the eternal captivity of sin and hell.

But 2000 years later, my generation is still is not free. 2000 years later, the life of the world is still sadly crippled by the manacles of sin and the chains of the world. 2000 years later, my generation lives on a lonely island of worldly pleasures in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. 2000 years later, my generation is still languishing in the corners of society and finds themselves an exile in the world, not discovering the true joy of Christ. 2000 years later, my generation is still enslaved to sin. So I have come here today to dramatize a rising and critical condition.

In a sense we have come to live life to only to cash a check and focus on material gain. When the architects of the bible wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Jesus Christ, they were only enforcing a love letter inspired by God to which every human being was to obey. This love letter was a promise that every human being, of every race and ethnicity, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of salvation, eternal life, the pursuit of happiness, and heaven on earth.

It is obvious today that my generation has ignored and abandoned the words of God. Instead of honoring this sacred and spiritual obligation, the world has given us a bad check with no value; a check, which will come back, marked “insufficient funds.” But we refuse to believe that the bank of world is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of material wealth of this nation. So we have come to cash this check – a check that will give us upon demand the riches of the world, neglecting the spiritual wealth and ultimate gift of salvation. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now accepting Christ. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of Jesus Christ. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of sin to the sunlit path of righteousness. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of the world to the solid rock of Christ. Now is the time to make eternity a reality for all of God’s children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of my generation discontentment will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of obedience and faith. 2013 is not an end, but a beginning. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in the world until my generation is granted their citizenship in the family of Jesus Christ. The whirlwinds of crime and a troubled society will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of Jesus Christ emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold of Christ, which leads into the palace of heaven. In the process of gaining our lost generation we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for change by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred of a lost generation.

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline, without judgment. We must not allow our spiritual protest to degenerate into physical or mental abuse. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting mental pushbacks and resistance with the soul force and word of God. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed my generation must not lead us to a negative view of a lost generation, for many of our brothers and sisters, as evidenced by their presence and acknowledgement of God, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with the destiny and plans of our father. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

As we walk the narrow path, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead setting the example for those that are lost behind. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking Christians, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as our generation is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of spiritual brutality. We can never be satisfied, as long as our bodies and our hearts, our heavy and broken by the things that break Christ. We cannot be satisfied as long as our generation focuses only on worldly gain, neglecting the wealth and contentment of Christ. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by learning “CHASE WEALTH AND SUCCESS, NOT GOD”. We cannot be satisfied as long as there is one lost soul in the world that suffers from a lack of knowledge. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until the love of Christ rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of worldly expectations and staggered by the winds of Satan’s breath. You have been the veterans of spiritual suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to North America, go back to Africa, go back to Asia, go back to South America, go back to Antarctica, go back to the slums and ghettos of our sinful cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair and a lost of hope.

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 dream of Paul and many great disciples of the past and present.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of life: Where my generation understands that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set them free from the law of sin and of death.

I have a dream that one day my generation, lovers of the world and flesh will be able to understand that they must come as they are and change through Christ.

I have a dream that one day even in the major city’s of sinful living, locations sweltering with the heat of sin, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and life in Jesus Christ.

I have a dream that my generation will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the choices they make but by their acceptance of Christ as their personal lord and savior.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day, around the world, with its lack of spiritual awareness, with its leaders and role models having their lips dripping with and a lifestyle exemplifying the opposite of Gods word; one day right here in the world, that the lost and unsaved will be able to join hands with Christian as sisters and brothers in Christ.

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 Miami with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our Generation into a beautiful symphony of Christian brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to heaven together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we are all free today.

This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with a new meaning.

And if my generation is to be a great generation this must become true. So let the light of Jesus Christ shine from the prodigious hilltops of the world. Let the love of Jesus Christ be shown from the mighty mountains of the world.

And when this happens, when we allow Jesus to reign over our lives, when we let his presence be known from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, my generation is free at last!”