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February 21, 2006
Restoration of God's True Justice
By William Ford
III
w.ford@verizon.net
www.willfordministries.org
First,
I want to thank everyone who, as a result of the article,
"Let's Ask God For The Rock," November, 2005, participated
in the 40 days of prayer for the Supreme Court. Who knew,
but God, that our time of prayer would end just before the
Senate hearings with Judge Samuel Alito! I honestly believe
that our filibuster of prayer averted a filibuster in the
Senate.
God is definitely on the
move, but the Lord also used Samuel Alito's process to
reveal something else to us all. On February 1st, the Lord
brought to mind interesting facts regarding Samuel Alito's
nomination, Senate confirmation, and swear in dates.
Interestingly, his nomination announcement was on Oct. 31st,
2005, the same day that recently deceased Civil Rights
catalyst Rosa Park's body came to Washington D.C. for a
memorial service and to lie-in-state at the Capital
Rotunda--the first honor of its kind for any American woman.
Judge Alito and President Bush even visited Rosa Parks'
casket together that same day.
Three months later, Alito
was then confirmed by the Senate and sworn in on Jan. 31st,
2006, the same date that Coretta Scott King died--the first
lady of the Civil Rights Movement and wife of patriarch
Martin Luther King, Jr. Neither of these events are
coincidences. Both Samuel Alito's nomination and his
confirmation dates were filled with media reports about
today's new "Justice", and yesterday's courageous matriarchs
who cried out for "justice."
Even the building where
the Senate Confirmation hearings were held for Judge Alito,
The Dirksen Building, was significant. This building was
named after Senator Dirksen, who was instrumental in ending
the filibuster that was blocking the Civil Rights Movement
in the 60's! Each step for Supreme Court Justice Samuel
Alito, called our nation to remember the fight for justice
for all in America.
Is God
Calling Judge Alito and the Judicial System Not to Forget
the Struggle of Those Who Have Fought for Equality,
Righteousness, and Justice?
Is God calling today's
Civil Rights Movement to look to the rock from which it was
hewn and the quarry from which it was dug?
(Isaiah 51:1)
News commentators, while
speaking of Coretta Scott King and Rosa Parks and their
legacies, connected past race issues with current race
issues. They did this by talking about racial turmoil in the
60's, leading up to New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina, and
how this disaster exposed our complicated justice issues
regarding poverty and race in America. Although racism
didn't create the fiasco of delays, regardless of our
perceptions, this situation did expose that we still have a
racial wound in America that God wants to heal. Though Alito
is seen as a ray of hope for "pro-lifers", God is reminding
us of the inter-relatedness of justice for the unborn and
racial equality for everyone born in America.
Undoubtedly, God is
calling us to remember justice and He is inviting the
praying church to take up a mantle drifting toward this
generation. (II Kings 2:13)
Whether the issue is abortion or racial injustice, God is
calling for a united offense in the house of prayer. Related
to this, God gave me a dream about the dreamer, Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr., in October 2003. Ironically, it was the
night before I was to speak at Dr. King's historic church,
Dexter Avenue Missionary Baptist Church, in Montgomery
Alabama, where the Civil Rights Movement began. I was there
to speak at the request of my dear friend Lou Engle.
In the dream, Lou and I
were driving in a SUV to the church, but we couldn't get
there without picking up Dr. King. As we pulled up to his
house, Dr. King came out with a white duffle bag with black
handles. He went to the curb and dumped out everything in
the duffle bag. Once it was empty, surprisingly, he threw
away the bag as well. Dr. King then walked over to our
vehicle, and opened the door to ride with us. In the dream,
I thought his bag would make a nice souvenir, but when I
went to retrieve it, Dr. King grabbed me and abruptly turned
me around. Staring intently into my eyes with his hands on
my shoulders, he said: "No! Do not go back and pick that
up." The dream ended.
When I awoke, I knew this dream was important. While praying
for the interpretation, the Lord had me focus on the
vehicle, which represents ministries or movements. Next,
emphasis was placed on the white duffle bag with black
handles. The black handles represented my race, African
American, and the white duffle bag represented my "white
baggage." The dream revealed how God wanted me, an African
American, to "handle" any unresolved white issues.
This was consistent with
anyone who desired involvement with Dr. King's organization
in the 60's. No one could be a part of the movement if they
had racial hatred or bitterness in their heart. The Lord was
saying to me, "Empty yourself of any residue of
unforgiveness, bitterness, and resentment. Get rid of your
‘white baggage', and ride in the new movement that will
bring revival and justice to everyone in America." God is
speaking to us through this dream. He is saying that none of
us who are crying out for justice in this hour can get where
we're going without picking up the justice mantle He gave
Dr. King, and we cannot get breakthrough on abortion,
poverty, educational disparity, and other injustices without
riding together!
"Are You
Carrying Racial Baggage?"
If you are carrying
racial baggage--get rid of it, so we can all ride together
in this new justice movement. We need each other! At Dexter
Baptist, I shared this dream, and we had a powerful time of
repentance and racial reconciliation. After our service, I
had in my hands a book called a "Testament of Hope," a
700-page book full of speeches and writings by Dr. King.
While there, without any page marks or folds to aid it, this
book suddenly fell open to the "I Have A Dream" speech!
Stunned by this, I went to the pulpit, and began to read
this historic speech as a prayer before the Lord. I was
moved to tears when I came across these words, "Let us not
seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the
cup of bitterness and hatred…." This of course reminded me
of my dream the night before.
He goes on to say, "…many
of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here
today, have come to realize that their freedom is
inextricably bound to our freedom. This offense we share
mounted to storm the battlements of injustice must be
carried forth by a bi-racial army. We cannot walk alone." If
alive today, I believe he would say a "multi-racial" army.
That day, in this
historic church, Lou and I, as White and African American,
made covenant together and exchanged coats, belts, and
shoes. Along with those present, we picked up a deposit from
the past, knowing that we represent others across this
nation that God is mantling with a zeal for His justice in
this hour. God is asking the church, "Who is willing to
forsake their agenda for My agenda? Who is willing to unite
to see justice break forth for everyone in America?"
The deaths of Rosa Parks and Coretta Scott King do not mark
the end of the Civil Rights Movement (as some hoped and
others feared), but rather the emergence of a new beginning.
They are seeds for a new justice movement that will build on
the sacrifice of these courageous women, and others gone
before us. (John 12:24)
This new justice movement
will galvanize Christians of all races like never before.
This emerging movement will not only fight against racism
and poverty, but will also fight for justice for the unborn.
This movement will be marked by purity of motives, and will
be void of alliances not born of God's spirit. This movement
will unite prophetic voices that God will use to turn the
courts of America. It will pick up the mantle of justice
from the past and move forward with those united in Christ
for His purposes.
Their unity will move God to shift heaven and influence
earth the same way He did in the Civil Rights Movement,
until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like
an ever flowing stream again in this nation.
(Amos 5:24)
William Ford III
w.ford@verizon.net
www.willfordministries.org
~~~~~~ Will
Ford's Itinerary:
February 23 -
25, 2006
St. Paul, Minnesota
www.willfordministries.org/dates.php
February 26, 2006
Indianapolis, Indiana
www.willfordministries.org/dates.php
March 12,
2006
Our Father's House
Lindale, Texas
www.willfordministries.org/dates.php
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