Coretta Scott King's 'dream'

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries

On Monday, Jan. 16, 2012, we are celebrating Martin Luther King Day here in America and this yearly event has brought memories flooding back for me.

Coretta Scott King by a picture of her late
husband, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

For it was back in 1969, when I was sent out on one of my first interviews as a new journalist with Billy Graham's London newspaper, The Christian. It was with Coretta Scott King and it took place many months after the murder of her husband on April 4, 1968.

Dr. King was cut down by a bullet from the gun of James Earl Ray, as he was standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Ten.

We talked in the home of Canon John Collins of St. Paul's Cathedral just before Mrs. King was about to become the first woman to preach at a statutory service at the massive cathedral.

As I watched her four children scamper around the house – just like any other children of their age – I thought of the pain they must all have been through.

I looked at Mrs. King and asked if she was worried about suffering the same fate as her husband.

"I have lived with the threat so long now I hardly think about it," she said her eyes ablaze. "I must do what I must do!"

She glanced across the room at her four children, and added, "My children are with me in this."

Shortly after the interview, Mrs. King stood in the same carved pulpit in St. Paul's Cathedral where her husband preached five years earlier.

"Many despair at all the evil and unrest and disorder in the world today," she preached, "but I see a new social order and I see the dawn of a new day."

Mrs. King continued with the work of her late husband until her death on Jan. 30, 2006, at the age of 78. She had worked tirelessly for racial equality after he was assassinated and fought successfully for a national holiday in memory of him. She also founded The King Center in Atlanta to preserve his legacy.

Speaking in 2003 on the 40th anniversary of her husband's best known speech, Mrs. King urged the crowds to follow the peaceful path that he preached.

Just like her husband, she also had a dream!

American churches prepare for National Back To Church Sunday

'reDiscover Church' booklet, community-wide coordinators help church members invite millions to Sept. 18 event

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries 

With six weeks left before the nationwide event, already more than 6,000 churches have extended a half million invitations to National Back to Church Sunday (NBTCS), set for Sept. 18. American Churches are utilizing tools, such as the "reDiscover Church" booklet and the assistance of more than a hundred community-wide coordinators, to draw their friends and neighbors to attend.

 

"It is the privilege of every Christian to invite someone to church," said Philip Nation, LifeWay Research's director of ministry development. "By taking part in National Back To Church Sunday, believers can introduce the hope of the gospel to their communities by welcoming people into their local congregations." 

According to a news release, church members, using the "reDiscover Church" booklet, can give others at least 10 reasons why they should return to church. The 37-page evangelistic booklet from Outreach also discusses the top 10 reasons why people leave the church in the first place. The booklet can be customized with the contact information of the local church and a personal letter from its pastor. 

Outreach is also offering a new online assessment tool to aid churches in developing their individual strategies and gauging their readiness for NBTCS. Churches may take the questionnaire http://outr.ch/assessment and download free resources that specifically fit their needs. In addition, a church kit including a campaign planning guide, sermons ideas, graphics and widgets for church websites or social media, promotional materials and much more is available at http://backtochurch.com/store. 

Some 10,000 churches are expected to take part this year in NBTCS. Coordinators will facilitate cooperation among churches and denominations for greater impact on communities. A citywide coordinator guide and a NBTCS specialist are available to give direction and support to these leaders at http://backtochurch.com/participate/city_groups. 

NBTCS was launched three years ago in response to a survey of 15,000 adults in the United States. LifeWay Research found that 82 percent of the unchurched are likely to attend church if invited by a family member, friend, co-worker or neighbor, yet only 2 percent of church members ever extend personal invitations. 

Since its inception, NBTCS participants have invited more than 3 million family members, friends and neighbors to their churches. Last year, 3,800 churches signed up and reported an average 26 percent increase in attendance. 

Churches that would like to take part in NBTCS may register on a free online roster at http://backtochurch.com/roster. Visit the NBTCS Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/backtochurch.

Christian NBA players pay solidarity visit to Israel and visit Shimon Peres

They were led by Bill Alexson, former chaplain for the Boston Celtics

By Dan Wooding

Founder of ASSIST Ministries

LOS ANGELES – Bill Alexson, a pioneer in the NBA Chapel Program and former chaplain for some 20 years with the Boston Celtics, thought he had seen and experienced everything in basketball - until he went to Jerusalem last year with an all-Christian team of NBA stars.

In September 2010, 10 past and present NBA basketball players belonging to the Christian athletic foundation Power Sports International made a week-long pilgrimage and solidarity visit to Israel, putting on clinics and exhibition games and meeting with dignitaries to express their support for the Jewish state.

Organized by former Boston Celtic chaplain Bill Alexson, the tour featured former New York Knicks Allan Houston and Anthony Bonner, former Toronto Raptor Jerome Williams, ball-whiz Charles Smith of the Harlem Globetrotters, as well as Dwight Howard Sr., father of Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard.

Israel President Shimon Peres receives a basketball from the
Christian NBA delegates. Bill Alexson, right, and
Allan Houston, left, look on.

The 23-member delegation was hosted by President Shimon Peres at Beit Hanassi in Jerusalem, where he was presented with an NBA shirt.

The players were a big hit with youths from basketball leagues in the Jerusalem area on Tuesday as the NBAers dazzled them with trick passes and alley-oop dunks at a skills clinic. The team then played a friendly in the evening against Bnei HaSharon of the Israeli national league.

So how did event take place? In an interview after this year's NBA Chapel service in Los Angeles and before the 2011 All-Star Game at the Staples Center, Alexson talked about the visit.

"I'm the president Sports Power International (http://sportspower.org) and our mission is to take both current and former Christian NBA players around the world, including to Liberia, sharing the gospel. The NBA's been marketed like Coca Cola, so it's very impactful," he began.

"The purpose was for Christian NBA players to show their support for Israel and the Jewish people," he explained. "As we told the crowd at half-time, we were there because we believe what the Bible says; that the Jewish people are God's chosen people and the God who gave them the land is going to allow them to keep the land.

I then asked Bill Alexson how he ministers to people who have everything including fame and money.

"Good question," he replied, "but I have a better answer. Many people say, 'Wait a second. How do you get these rich and famous athletes in a locker room before a game to listen to you?' Well my answer is that because they're rich and famous and because they have everything that the world has to offer, that won't touch their inside. It's not going to help them with their marriage and it's not going to validate who they are.

"They're very frustrated. They're at the top rung of the ladder and they can't get any higher. Everyone wants to be in their shoes, but they are still looking for answers. So I tell them, 'You're special, not because you put a ball through a hoop and make money. You're special because God says you are. The Gospel is not about you getting yourself right; it's about believing in Christ what He did for you on the cross, and if you're smart you'll trust him and listen because He's got a plan that's way better than you can even imagine.'

What does an NBA star do when his career is over?

He replied, "I say, 'Come on and do something significant with me; use your athletic platform that you have.'

"If I can take famous football and basketball players from America overseas the people there don't care who they are. I'll take a second-string NBA guy that you've never heard of and millions will watch us and we'll meet with heads of state. And when that ball player reads a comment card that says this on it, 'I was going to take my life, but after listening to you speak today, it changed my life,' that ballplayer's life is also changed for eternity.

"And it's fun. We're playing basketball and they don't care who we are, but we're revealing who Jesus Christ is. He's the Lord of Lord's and King of Kings. He's coming back to this planet and smart people need to put their trust in Him."

Can promoting Easter church services land you on the 5 o’clock news?

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries



Mike Fabarez



At a time when movie theaters across the country are featuring blockbuster hits promoting murder, drugs, sex, corruption, and the like, is there anything “too controversial” to be shown on the big screen? Compass Bible Church, in Aliso Viejo, Calif., found out first-hand that indeed, promoting Easter on the big screen proved to be too controversial.

This was reveled in a story released by PR Web that went on to say that the 30-second ad produced by the church features short one-liners about what some conspiracy theorists believe may have happened to Jesus Christ some 2,000 years ago, and ends with “find out what we believe about the resurrection at Compass Bible Church.”

It wasn't the conspiracy theories, or controversy with the actual spot that threw red flags for the theaters, but the fact that religious deity was promoted and the name of Jesus Christ was used, according to story. Using completely subjective terms, since there are no official written policies about such usage, the agency for the national theater remarked that their constituents might be offended by such an advertisement.

"We were told we could promote our Easter services with a commercial that featured the date, time and place with some fun bunnies and eggs thrown in," said Mike Fabarez, senior pastor of Compass Bible Church. "But for us, Easter isn't about springtime fun, it's the most important day in Christian history, and we won't water that message down. It's unfortunate that what our country was founded on has now become 'too controversial.'"

Compass Bible Church was promoting its Easter At The Bren services, an annual event that hosts more than 5,000 attendees at the Bren Center on the campus of UC Irvine, on Easter Sunday, April 24.