Pastor's Message August 14, 2016
I was blessed this past week to attend the 55th Annual session of the Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc. (PNBC) in New Orleans, LA. PNBC is the church denomination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the convention home of our church.
It was appropriate that this year's convention was held in New Orleans because 11 years after the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina, in which over 1,300 people lost their lives, New Orleans remains a microcosm of all that ails America. The problems are pervasive: Too many displaced, disenfranchised and lacking housing; too much poverty and joblessness, too many schools that are segregated and under-performing, and too much police brutality and poor police/community relationships.
To address these and others problems, the message from the PNBC convention is that we as Progressive Baptist need to be progressive! In particular, we must engage in the upcoming November presidential and general election. PNBC has made a call for every church to engage in voter registration, voter education and voter mobilization efforts. We must get involved with the election because there are candidates who seek to turn back the clock on many of the social policy gains that have been achieved over the past several decades including the provision of health care for every American that was enacted by President Barack Obama.
PNBC President Dr. James Perkins addressed the convention on Thursday evening in a sermon entitled "The Moses Predicament" based on
Exodus 2:11-15. In this sermon, Dr. Perkins brought the convention's message home by saying that just like Moses we must: 1) Come to The Rescue of Our People; 2) Think Us and Not I; and 3) Put Ourselves in a Position to Be used by God.
Indeed, just as God turned Moses from a fugitive of justice to a prophet of God, the Lord is calling us as well to get on the battlefield and to spread His light and love so that all of His children might be free!
Peace and Blessings,
Pastor Kip Banks, Sr.
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