Inauguration Day, 2009
January 20, 2009 (Tuesday)
I attended the Baptist Jubilee in Atlantic City in 1964 with Gene McCombs and W.D. Broadway. Several Baptist conventions were meeting simultaneously in separate sections of the convention center. One morning the three of us slipped away from the Southern Baptist Convention and went to the American (“Northern”) Baptist Convention meeting instead, to hear Martin Luther King, Jr. speak. When we looked around the theater, we saw many Southern Baptists who had the same idea. Harold Stassen was the president of the American Baptist Convention, and presided. We heard a stirring message from King. As I recall, it was based on the story of the Prodigal Son in the Gospel of Luke, but applicable to us. He was indeed a compelling speaker. It seems fitting that Monday was MLK Day and Tuesday brings the Inauguration of Barack Obama, the first African American President of the United States of America. Many of the ceremonies surrounding the main ceremony have taken place at the Lincoln Memorial, also perfectly fit to the occasion.
My strongest memory of the convention in 1964 was standing near the father of Martin Luther King Jr. as he engaged people in conversation in the lobby. He was different from his son; he was more of an old-fashioned Baptist preacher. He had a strong presence and I overheard some very interesting conversations between him and a Convention Messenger from Arkansas. He also had a sense of humor.
Our new president has an agenda to tackle the many problems he is facing as the leader of the free world and president of the world’s greatest nation. He needs our prayers. We as Christians are told in the Bible to pray for our leaders. This is not optional; it is our Christian duty and privilege.