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[Music] providing officer roles, messages, the National Baptist Sunday School and VCU Congress.

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We have endeavored to deal with methods of teaching in this session, giving attention to this theme,

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teaching techniques of the master teacher. Teaching techniques of the master teacher. Each year we have put the messages into print, and you may secure a copy of the messages

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delivered in the session in Mississippi. Directions for teaching at the close of the session section stays there from my wife to the left. The background for the message this morning,

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I invite our prayerful attention to a passage of Scripture which is recorded in the Gospel according to Saint Matthew, the 16th chapter, reading from 13 through the 18th verses.

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When Jesus came into the courts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples to say, "Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?" They said, "Some say that thou art John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah, or one of the prophets." He said unto them, "But whom say ye that I am?"

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Simon Peter answered and said, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." And Jesus answered him, "Blessed art thou, Simon, son of John, for flesh and blood have not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. I say also unto thee, Thou art Jesus, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against me. The theme for this message is "Brainstorming with Jesus."

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"Brainstorming with Jesus." Yesterday we considered the teaching method that Jesus used that we call the lecture method. Today we consider brainstorming as a teaching method. I need not to belabor the importance of teaching.

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Jesus came preaching, but he spent most of his time teaching. Yeah. All right. Well, do we recognize the primacy of preaching?

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Someone has said that preaching, seeking to persuade persons to a definite decision through the emotions, While teaching seeks to influence people primarily through the intellect, we need both to deal with the emotions and the intellect when we deal with people. Sometimes a person may be moved in an emotional way when a sermon is delivered.

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And they'll say, "Oh, how he did preach." And the question is asked, "Well, what did he preach about? What was his text?" Well, honey, I can't quite remember that, but he certainly did preach.

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So if we would have more lasting influence, we would relate teaching to preaching. All right. For where there is teaching, one outstanding teacher of teachers said to a class, "Young man, you may have whatever you desire in the church if you will take time to teach and train folks." On this occasion, Jesus uses a method of teaching that is called brainstorming. What is brainstorming? Here is the definition, which I shall deal with.

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In brainstorming, ideas are expressed in a climate of complete freedom. Any idea is accepted. No judgments are expressed about the idea. The subject matter is described.

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And everyone expresses any and all ideas that come to mind. A time limit is prescribed at the beginning, All the ideas are recorded by the secretary. Now on this occasion, Jesus uses brainstorming.

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It is an occasion where there is an atmosphere of complete freedom. Jesus is situated with his disciples on the coasts of Caesarea Philippi. They have withdrawn from Judea. They have come apart from the crowd.

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It's a time when there is growing hostility to the ministry of Jesus. The establishment had devised plans to put him to death. They were hot on your heels. Jesus was regarded by the establishment as a fugitive.

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He was considered on the run. Scribes, Pharisees, Saccharites, and Herodians were the hellhounds on the Master's trail. And it seems that Jesus goes into hiding in the hills of Caesarea Philippi. He has with him a small band of followers, a group that he has gathered around him, and he has them within this setting,

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and he conducts a training session in which he reveals the tactical strategy for the teacher. Even though things weren't going well with the group, they had been in training as students of the master teacher for some time. He wants them to know that they can be certain of the future. For there was a future in which tomorrow's needs were fulfilled in the pregnant woman.

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So, within this atmosphere, he submits to them a question on which they are permitted to do a little brainstorming to give the first answer that comes off the top of their head, both feet. You see, the master had an atmosphere of complete freedom in his classroom. The students didn't feel hemmed in, they didn't feel that they had to show their ideas. He asked them to be free and to tell it.

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What are men saying about me? And so they began to give the ideas they said now some say that you Elijah Some say that you are Jeremiah some say that you are John the Baptist

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And some say that you are another one of the prophets He didn't condemn them you don't do that in brainstorming you just get the person say what [laughter] You find out what's on their mind.

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That's brain stuff. And sometimes you can just put it on the blackboard and look at it. The student has a chance to express what he has in his mind. He said, "Well, he didn't give any judgment about it, no condemnation at all, he just received their answers.

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Brainstorming is alright, but be sure that when you use it in your classroom, be sure that you use it to teach Christ." [Audience chatter] He said, "Well, what do you say? Who do you say that I am?" [Audience chatter]

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And you see, this is a very pertinent question. [Audience chatter] If we are going to fulfill our mission, if the Church is going to educate for mission, we have to be right on this matter of Christ.

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Yes. Whom do you say that I am? We have a great number of churches, we have a great deal of affluence in our society, but there's something radically wrong with our personality.

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We have a question here. I have you here gathered around me in this atmosphere, And I'm concerned about you as teachers that will go out to proclaim my will and my way. I want to know what you think about me.

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Whom do you say that I am? And you see, one of the troubles of our world is we have been mixed up about Christ. When we look at it, we have pictures that we have made of Christ. And we have given him Aaron features, and we have created some sentimental Hollywood-looking character, and we have pointed to this, and we said that this is Christ.

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And many people find it very difficult to identify with that. But you see, Christ is not made of some kind of namby-pamby character. He is the Eternal. And that he cannot be limited, we can't schedule him, and we can't put him on canvas, but we can feel him in our hearts. What faith do you give Christ?

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Well, they had received some ideas that they had passed on to Jesus about Moses and Elijah and Jeremiah. Now, they were wonderful people. Good prophets. But to me, Jesus has a group of his followers here, and he has them here within the hills of Caesarea Philippi, and he is dealing with a kind of revolutionary strategy and mission that he wants them to be able to grasp, that they are to carry on the work when he becomes king. [laughter] Moses, you see, cried out against Pharaoh as the enemy of freedom.

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And he led the people out of Egypt with the hellhounds of Egypt on his trail. He came to the Red Sea and cried out to God, and God enabled him to lead the people through on dry land. Elijah cried out against the mistreatment of Naples. He became afraid when Jezebel sought his life and he ran. God appeared to him and said, "Go back." But what do you think of Christ? Well, this is a group of soldiers, a revolutionary band, and when Peter says, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God," he says, "Now, Peter, that's a good answer."

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[Audience laughter] [Audience laughter] He published the Sufi, but you couldn't have given an answer of yourself! [Audience laughter]

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You had help from him! [Audience laughter] It was revealed to you who I am, and that's a good answer. He said that now the recording angel of heaven, the secretary of heaven, has taken note of this answer!

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[Audience laughter] I want you to know that you, Peter, you are a rock, but I'm the eternal rock. And upon this rock, the profession of faith that you've made, upon this rock I will build my church. And the gates of hell will not prevail against it.

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Now, uh, this is a good thing if you're going to be students of the master teacher, to be a piece of the eternal rock, to be a part of it. There's a popular slogan that one insurance company uses,

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"to hold a piece of the rock." And we ought to be sure that we are a part of that rock. "Upon this rock I will build my church." In other words, he's saying, "Upon this profession of faith, I will establish my revolutionary troops."

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"And the gates of hell shall not prevail against me." Now you see, these are some words that are addressed to a revolutionary band. These are persons that are to be participants with Jesus Christ in carrying on a revolution in the world. Now this is a training session, and in this training session, Jesus is addressing these words

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to those who are to go forth and do better. And so if the church fulfills its mission in our time, we as teachers must be revolutionary. We must be revolutionary.

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No mistake about it. We live in a time of revolution. This is a time when we look around and we see that men are going to the moon, and we have been able to delve into the deep mysteries of science, and everywhere around us we see signs of the fact that we are living in a time of revolution. It's a revolution in the way we think. It's a revolution in the way we see the world. It's a revolution in society. Some call it a sex revolution.

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Others talk about a kind of scientific revolution, but in every strata of life we see that we are living in the midst of a revolution. But I want to talk about the kind of revolution that we must be engaged in as teachers. Now, you see, the nature of this revolution is important. Well, you see, the kind of revolutionary character that is most meaningful in history is the kind of character that we call the radical man.

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And this radical person is a peculiar person. He's unique. He's an individual that really believes what he says. I'm talking about a radical man. For him, the common good is the greatest personal value. He genuinely believes in mankind. He really believes and he's willing to share injustices and sufferings involving all mankind in order that all people might be free. That's a radical person. Now, the radical person is a person who's really concerned about freedom so that he wants freedom, not for himself, but he wants freedom for everybody.

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He wants people to be free economically. He wants people to be free mentally. He wants people to be free educationally, politically, and religiously. He wants people to be wholly free. Now, he believes that people ought to have food and housing and health and all of that, but the radical man places human rights above property rights. He believes in freedom and you see he's so concerned about these things that he's willing to put his life on the line. That's what makes a radical man. St. Francis of Assisi was a radical man. He renounced his wealth and became a beggar to establish what he believed.

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And doing this he demonstrated to the world that he's a radical man. Now, the radical person, now teachers must be radical. The kind of revolution that I'm really talking about, you see, the radical person provides fuel for the fires of revolution. But you see the radical person is a rad person.

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Somebody says, well, you may be radical at 21, you become a liberal at 31, and then you become a conservative at 40. And some say, well, the older we get, the more conservative we get. When you get old, you say, well, you have the three hours that you think they have more wrinkles, and you get more rigidity, you want things to just stay like they've been, and then you get more righteous. [laughter]

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But the liberal person, the liberal is the person who has the idiot head, but he doesn't have it in his heart. He's that person that would listen, he'd say, "Well, now, I'm for school desegregation. I'd like to see all people go to school together of all races. I'm for that, but I love negros. [laughter]

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But I don't want my father to marry one. [laughter] In other words, the liberal person will vote for it, but he won't act on it. [laughter]

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And the conservatives want things to remain just as they are. Now there are some conservatives in our churches. We even have a few liberals in our churches. They have it in the head but not in the heart. But if we would be students of the master teacher, we must be radical. And we must not only talk the talk, we must want the want. We are radical people.

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And so these words here are addressed to radical people. Men who are to participate with the master teacher in being the means of revolution in society. They are revolutionary troops and the commander-in-chief says to them, you don't have to worry, that even the very gates of hell shall not prevail against them.

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Now when we talk about the gates, we're talking about something stationary. talking about a church that's on a corner somewhere with a beautiful edifice and the people have a wonderful choir and an eloquent speaker and everybody just comes there and you have a mutual admiration society. See, this is talking about a revolutionary band that goes out, and they go out and they find the gates of hell, those stationary gates, and they slam down the very gates of hell so that the gates of hell shall not prevail again. [audience laughter]

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You know, if you're going to be good teachers, witnesses for Jesus Christ, you must not only have a good defense, but you must have a good offense. When I was a boy, I remember the football teams, well, you didn't have it like it is today, The coaches will send in one team that will be the defense to protect the goal that they have so that the other team can't get it.

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That's the defensive team then. Then when they get the ball, then the offense team comes in. But Jesus never had it separated like that. That the mass defense is a good army.

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[laughter] And that the church isn't sitting someplace, it isn't set here somewhere to just be there and wait until people come to it, but it goes out into the community. That is against the evil entrenched forces of the establishment. as a revolutionary movement.

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So it's just these words addressed to radical men. Now, the style of this revolution that Jesus is talking to this little group about is different from the style to which they had been addressed to. Now Jesus grew up in Galilee,

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And in Galilee, that was a hotbed for revolution. - Yeah, yeah. - You read the history there, you find they always had some revolutionary activity.

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Someone was rising up to try to liberate the Jews from the Romans. It was a hotbed. Jesus was there.

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He was acquainted with the revolutionary tactics of the Galilee. - Yeah. - All right.

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- But he said, "Now my kingdom is not of this world." (audience laughing) Now, now, now, Peter, you've hidden a sword here, "Put up this sword because my kingdom is not of this world."

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In my kingdom, men beat their swords in supply chairs and their spears and their pruning hooks. My kingdom is not of this world. I couldn't understand her.

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She said, "Now, you say you're a king. "Where's your kingdom?" She said, "It's not of this world." It's a different kind of kingdom.

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And you see, we can't get all mixed up as teachers, as Christian teachers, we can't get all mixed up with the kind of revolution that someone else is going to put in our hands. We have our own revolution. And the orders have been given to us. A young man was sitting with a girl on a bench and she heard a nightingale singing.

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She said, "Oh, don't you release that song, the nightingale is singing." He said, "Well, before I answer that question, I have to know who wrote the melody." [Laughter] So before we get all wrapped up in a lot of the revolutionary activity and strategy of the world,

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We ought to ask, who wrote the melody? [Audience shouts] [Audience shouts] [Audience shouts]

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Some have revolutionary tactics that are not quite in keeping with the kind of melody we are asked to sing. [Audience shouts] Paul Alinsky suggests that the poor and oppressed should stage rent strikes and bring greedy landlords to their knees.

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Others say that you ought to burn up the black ghetto. And some have tried to have a revolution by burning up their old homes. Some years ago, the revolutionary action movement in New York City said, "Well, the first thing we want to do is to kill some of the black leaders." And the first ones at the time they had on the list were Roy Wilkins and Whitney Young and Martin Luther King.

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But the kind of revolutionary activity that we are to participate in, we have a revolutionary model in the New Testament. It's for the radical man. And this radical man says to us now, "Foxes have holes, birds of the air have necks, but the son of man has not where to lay his head." This is a new kind of revolution.

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[audience laughter] New kind. My revolution is different. And except you eat my body and drink of my blood, you can't participate in this kind of revolution.

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[audience laughter] Here they are. They've had their brainstorming session with you. his revolutionary troops in the hills of Caesarea Philippi. And he tells them now, "Well, you understand the nature of it, but you're going to have to wait until something has really happened to you before you will be prepared to go out and teach.

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I want you to carry that Jerusalem." You see, you see, not only are we concerned about the nature of a revolution, not only are we concerned about the strategy of revolution, but we have to have a revolutionary experience. And one of the problems that we're suffering from in our Christian teaching is that we have a great deal of strategy. And we have a large number of people that are masters of strategy when it comes to revolutionary strategy, but they haven't had a revolutionary experience.

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And to really be participating with Jesus in this new kind of revolution, you've got to have a revolutionary experience. It's something that really happens to you on the inside. It's something that uproots you.

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It's not something that just gets you on the outside. You see, if you're a radical person, something has happened to you at the very root. It has shaken you at the very root of your existence. Something has happened. God has lifted you up and transplanted you.

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You're no longer what you were. Something has happened at the very root. You see, I like to talk about this radical experience because it happened to me. It happened to me.

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It happened to me. It happened to me in a little church when I was a boy, nine years of age. It happened to me. It was something radical.

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Something that really shook me in my roots. Something radical happened. It was a radical happening. Oh, I had been there many times before, like Isaiah had been to the temple many times before.

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I've been there many times before, but back Sunday morning, something happened that was radical. You know, very radical. Shook me in my very roots. That old preacher, that angel of God stood there, and he proclaimed the good news of the gospel.

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And he reached out his hand, and he said, "Come to Jesus." Come to Jesus. Just now. All those were the sweetest words I've ever heard. Come to Jesus. Just now. I can hear it now. He will save you. He will save you. Just now. little boy I was, just a little boy, nine years of age, when I got up out of my seat, and I gave the preacher my hand, and he was bowed. That was a radical decision. For over the years I've kept calm since then, but everything along the way I can trace back to that hour. It was a radical decision. There's something wonderful that's happened. It's truly wonderful, it's truly wonderful.

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Oh, what a wonderful thing. In my life taken wrong, since Jesus came into my heart. It's wonderful.

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And I've seen from my wandering heart, going astray, since Jesus came into my heart. It's a wonderful thing.

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Oh, I'm I'm I'm possessed with the hope that is steadfast and sure since Jesus came into my heart. And no dark clouds can doubt my mind. Have left you since Jesus came into my heart. [shouting]

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[shouting] [crowd noise] [crowd noise] What a wonderful change in my life!

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I am in love! I am in love! Oh, hallelujah! I have my new home!

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[chanting] [chanting] [chanting] [chanting]

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[chanting] [music] [chanting] [choral singing]

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♪ I love you, dear old man ♪ ♪ It is true, my heart loves you ♪ ♪ I love you, dear old man ♪ ♪ I can't say it's true ♪

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♪ Say it's true, my heart loves you ♪ [Music] [MUSIC] [Music]

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(men laughing) [music] [Music] (singing)

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[MUSIC] [MUSIC] (chanting) [MUSIC]

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[MUSIC] [MUSIC] [music] [crowd noise]

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[ball bouncing] [gym noises] ♪♪ [low rumble]

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[Music] [laughter] I have introduced Dr. Griffin a number of times, and I've suggested to the audiences that I've presented to that very few men in our generation are as curious in these matters as is the man that you've just heard.

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[laughter] We're of our best trained minds and I think you can agree, a man with a prepared heart. [laughter] And how marvelous that God is using him.

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[laughter] I wanted to take advantage of this moment to say that God can use men who have been highly trained, you know. I think one of the things that we've got to emphasize so much, and we talk about it so much, is that people who've been to school are almost ashamed to tell us, tell you.

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[laughter] Amen. [laughter] But not many people in my life have more intellectual than Marvin Griffin.

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[laughter] And I think you have experienced it in these messages. [laughter] He said something wonderful, and he said it like somebody who meant it.

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This man is doing this that he talks about. I know that many of you may not know that this man is the chairman of the board of trustees, the largest institution of its kind in our state, Texas Southern University. This gives you an idea that this is the way that Duran was talking to us.

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He is highly regarded and highly respected. He is on many important commissions and boards, directly affairs of men. He does what he's talking about here. and the religions of the heart and all. He's also writing the words that you read in our commentary.

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And we're grateful that God has blessed us with men like John Griffith. And these messages are built, and I'd like for Wilson to come and tell us how we can get copies of his message. You know, we don't read enough of what our people write. right and that we want to be sure that we take advantage of it.

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Thank you, Dr. Rowe. I know that all of us want to say a word about this preacher and about this message, and I will not take advantage of you there, but I just have to say that to hear Father Griffin is to know you're hearing a man who has both been studying and praying. That's a peculiar combination of power

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that will reach your heart and your mind. It'll make you think, and it'll make you shout. You don't think when Marvin Whitten speaks because you haven't got anything to think with.

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You don't feel like shouting when Marvin speaks because you don't know anything to shout about. I just want to thank God for such a man amongst us. Now I tell you what I also want to emphasize.

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I do not believe that when a man prepares himself and allows God to use him like this man does, and then likes so that we can have something. You see, we've had too many great preachers down through the years who haven't written a single thing. You can name riches who've been great in our midst, and you can't find a thing after they're gone that our children can read.

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We've got to find something that the white people are writing. I'm not prejudiced. I don't mind reading a thing if they write what's good, but I don't want them to think they don't want to get it right. And Brother Griffin is writing these messages, the ones that he delivered last year at Jackson, "Directions for Teaching." I have copies here in my hand. They're over here on the platform to my left.

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His wife is over there with him. And they're only $1. And I'll tell you what I feel. I just feel like we ought to not only take one, but we pastors ought to take one for each of our departmental superintendents. I'm going to do that. They could get to the Congress. They could read the messages.

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You know, we can learn not only by what we have, but we can read and study and learn even more. And then we ought to be willing to encourage the man who takes the time, who has the ability to fix this so we can have it. Now, we don't spend money for everything else we want. And we're in a hurry when we close, but take a moment and go by over there and get you a copy, get you some copy.

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Directions for teachers, Dr. Griffin delivered down at Jackson. Now you might feel maybe that little extra tug that comes out of here and the log moves on and when you read this like you did when you heard it, but it'll still be good for you. [laughter] [inaudible]

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I'd like to make one observation. Even though I was not on the platform when Dr. Brinkley was talking, I was still listening to him. But it came back to my mind a year later. Dr. Smith told me that this would be his last year at the Congress, and I asked God, "Who could we put in the place of Dr. Smith?" Dr. Griffin was just assisting in that department. He never taught in the conference at all until Dr. Smith retired.

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Something said, "Get this man here, Marvin Griffin." I don't know where it came from. You see, Bob always got a man to do a job. And I'm so proud of him. I don't know of him, but some of these other leaders

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who have in this conference dedicated men that preach God's Word and live the life. And that's what we're here for, to preach God's Word and to teach God's Word.

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Not to play, demonstrate, or have fun, But to say, Lord, I want to thank Dr. Whitney perfectly and tell her she's doing a good job. That's right.

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And there's another one I want to say something about. There's Miss Davis sitting there. I was with Miss Cora, the young Jew, a little sick. And she says, "G.B., I don't think I can make it."

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I said, "Oh, what am I going to do?" You know, love is so good to me. Somehow I don't worry about things. It just comes to me. And to the day, just around that, you weren't doing nothing, just around that.

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Just like the old prophet said, "Lord, I'm the last one living." And God moved back to Greece at the time and said, "Oh, no. I got a lot more here. I got a few more." But God's got a lot more, so prove you're the only beautiful one. I don't need to tell you this. I got a lot more.

00:48:41.680 - 00:49:02.680

We've got the best talent in the country. We're going to produce for you some of the best books ever written for you to read at the National Baptist Publishing Board, written by black men, funded by a black institution. God bless you. God bless you.

00:49:02.680 - 00:49:10.680

Thank you, Chairman. [inaudible] You know, while everybody was bragging, Dr. Greta and I,

00:49:10.680 - 00:49:18.680

I'm so grateful now, a preaching nurse chairman today, I always like to tell you he was my pastor 18 years

00:49:18.680 - 00:49:26.680

ago. I'm so grateful. I'm so grateful for

00:49:26.680 - 00:49:37.680

this opportunity now. I was about to say, we will will be going to our departments at one trip.

00:49:37.680 - 00:49:50.280

Some of the departments have their schedule time set. Let me ask those of you in here to help us pass the word on to the others. The Congress is not held in the halls and corridors.

00:49:50.280 - 00:50:00.020

(audience cheering) Amen? There is a department for everybody who comes to the Congress.

00:50:01.060 - 00:50:14.820

Please, sir, and I discovered yesterday that some people were registering in one department and going up and down all busy. Now please, let's not do that.

00:50:14.820 - 00:50:29.500

Let's put in a full day's work and be back for the night session. Dr. Wilson mentioned the sermons available from last year. But some of you were not in here

00:50:29.500 - 00:50:41.380

when he mentioned the National Convention. If you go down in the exhibit building, which is the room next to this one down the hall, you'll find a table where you can get any information

00:50:41.380 - 00:50:51.100

regarding the convention. And another thing he did not say was that at that same table you'll find some messages delivered by Dr. Robert H. Williams.

00:50:51.100 - 00:51:10.620

On record, I'm sure that's still some available. And I might say this, that a number of our preachers are outstanding and have recordings out and you'll find some of them there, let's take them home. If you're going to listen to somebody, let's listen to our own. And I hope that you would do that.

00:51:10.620 - 00:51:34.620

I want to ask Dr. Griffin to come back and offer a closing prayer for the National Convention. For the National Convention, Dr. Wilson tells me that there's somebody who's told me to delete the Commission regarding the National Deaths Convention. I want to offer that to those who are moving out now to stop reverently and stand for a closing prayer led by the speaker, which is a man.

00:51:34.620 - 00:52:29.760

Take your stand and give us a closing prayer. "Gracious God, our Father, may we, motivated by a radical revolutionary experience, go forth to proclaim thy will and thy word. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord cause His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up the light of His countenance upon you and give you peace. Now and forevermore. Amen. [Sounds of congregation] [ Silence ]

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[ Silence ] [ Silence ]