Jan. 31, 2012
For Immediate Release
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| Dr. Bruce Williams, senior pastor of Bates Memorial Church in Louisville, discussed Dr. Martin Luther King’s dreams at CU’s annual MLK Worship Celebration. (Campbellsville University Photo by Joan C. McKinney) |
By Tori Banks, student news writer
CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. – The statement “I have a dream” spoken boldly by the famous Martin Luther King Jr. is perhaps one of the most well-known phrases in the history of America. However, Dr. Bruce Williams, senior pastor of Bates Memorial Church in Louisville, Ky., said King wasn’t the world’s first dreamer.
“The Bible has people in it who had dreams and visions long before King,” Williams said at the Martin Luther King Jr. Worship Celebration at Campbellsville University recently.
One such dreamer can be found in the book of Genesis through the story of Joseph.
“Like King, Joseph had a dream,” Williams said. “Even though the Bible said Joseph had a dream, the dream wasn’t his, it was God’s. We say King had ‘his’ dream, but technically the dream wasn’t Kings. He was not the author of the dream; he was the deliverer of the dream. It did not come from the mind of King; it came from the heart of Jesus.”
Williams said, “People hated Joseph’s dream, as they did Kings. But what caused the hatred was not that they had a dream; it was not even that they articulated the dream; it was the realization of the dream.”
Williams said that the aspirations of both King and Joseph were so greatly despised that they were forced to endure persecution from many.
Joseph dealt with animosity from his own brothers, and King eventually paid the ultimate price by sacrificing his life in an attempt to achieve the realization of his dream.
Williams said that despite the oppression these men fought against, “Joseph and King never stopped.”
In the words of King, “The only way to deal with hatred is to love someone.” Both Joseph and King understood persecution and the price they must pay to see their dreams become reality.
“It’s not what you go through, it’s how you go through it that really matters,” Williams said.
“Joseph was a dreamer that did the best he could and King inspired many and still inspires others to carry his dream,” Williams said.
“But there is somebody greater than Joseph. There is somebody who is greater than King. His name is Jesus. He who was rich became poor so that those who are poor may become rich.”
“Life may put you at the bottom, but if you are faithful, God will put you at the top,” Williams said. “Whatever you do, do it so well that neither the living nor the dead can do it better than you.”
Campbellsville University’s United to Praise, a gospel singing group, performed for the event that was in Ransdell Chapel.
Campbellsville University is a widely acclaimed Kentucky-based Christian university with more than 3,500 students offering 63 undergraduate options, 17 master’s degrees, five postgraduate areas and eight pre-professional programs. The website for complete information is campbellsville.edu.