The Words of the Farrakhan Family
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The Words of the Farrakhan Family |
(L-R) Bishop Ki Hoon Kim, Rev. David Rendel , Pastor T. L. Barrett, Jr., Min. Louis Farrakhan, Rev. Michael Jenkins and Rev. Carlton Pearson. Photo: ACLC
CHICAGO (FinalCall.com) - The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan spoke to a group of spiritual leaders about their God-given responsibility to act as shepherds and watchmen over the people and to resist the "wiles of Satan" during these perilous times as they work to establish the kingdom of God.
"We are not going to establish the kingdom of God without trial and tribulation." said Min. Farrakhan, addressing the monthly pastors' prayer breakfast of the American Clergy Leadership Conference (ACLC-USA) at the Harambee House Banquet Hall on the city's far south side April 24.
Prior to Minister Farrakhan's message, Bishop Ki Hoon Kim, special advisor to the ACLC-USA who has worked in cooperation with the Nation of Islam for a number of years, said when Min. Farrakhan is the keynote speaker at the prayer breakfast, you can always count on a packed house.
"Whenever we have Minister Farrakhan, we have an overflow of pastors from across the city of Chicago," he said.
Then, longtime friend, Pastor T.L. Barrett Jr., of the Life Center Church of God in Christ, told the crowd how many calls he received from pastors around the city vying for the honor and privilege of introducing Minister Farrakhan once it was made known that he would be there. As a compromise, Dr. Michael Jenkins, ACLC national chairman, delivered a passionate introduction saying, "God's messenger is about to speak to us, and this is an occasion that will be recorded throughout history."
The ACLC-USA is a broad-based inter-religious and interracial coalition of some 20,000 ministers and pastors across the United States focused on rebuilding the family, restoring the community and renewing the nation and the world.
The Minister said a few weeks ago, God placed on his mind and his heart a message that he wanted to deliver to the clergy, this message was a message of guidance, admonition and warning.
Minister Farrakhan said many spiritual leaders are powerless to solve the problems of the world because even they have been deceived.
"If the whole world has been deceived, deceived about whom and about what?" the Minister asked.
"For those of us who are scripturally sound, we know that the time that we are living in was foretold, but now the thing that was foretold, we are beginning to experience," Minister Farrakhan said. "We are living at the end of this world's life and this world's power to dominate the lives of the human family with evil."
"The kingdom of God must come in, but it doesn't come in with ease, it comes in with great trial and great tribulation," the Minister added.
Referring to comments reported in the media after his message delivered at the United Center for Saviors' Day 2010, that he said the word "prophet" is "a little too cheap" a term to describe him and his value, the Minister added clarity saying that it is a cheap title for anyone who claims to know Jesus The Christ.
"God did not come to make you prophets, He came to make you into Himself," said Min. Farrakhan. "Prophets cannot defeat the god of this world, it takes a god to deal with a god that is why (Satan) has turned the prophetic communities of the prophets upside down because a prophet could not deal with the god of this world!"
Instead, he said, with their knowledge, the spiritual leaders still "see darkly."
"Where is your light?" Minister Farrakhan asked the members of the clergy.
"If the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light and you know that light and you have been baptized in that light, why is darkness covering out communities, death in the streets, death in the homes, destruction of family, destruction of marriages -- if you have the light? What are we doing with it, or have we been deceived?" he asked.
"The Jesus that I know about, which is the same Jesus that you know about, he is the one that God anoints to end Satan's world, so if we are disciples of his, apostles of his, prophets in his house, then our mission is to end Satan's power and dominance over the minds and hearts of the people of the Earth," the Minister said as the crowd stood and cheered.
"He (Jesus) overcame Satan," said Min. Farrakhan. "How come we are victimized by Satan?" he asked the spiritual leaders.
The Minister also chided those who are more concerned with the size of their churches than the substantive reformation of the lives of the people they are responsible for shepherding.
"Our kingdom work is more vanity than substance," Minister Farrakhan told the pastors. "It's not the number, it's the quality of what you make with that word."
Minister Farrakhan then talked about the identity of Jesus, explaining that Jesus was a name and Christ was a title, which in Greek means, "One anointed with power to crush the wicked." While Jesus walked among the people, he made himself of no reputation because he was the teacher, healer, and guide during his earthly mission. Because of his suffering, he became worthy to be elevated by God to the level where he would become Jesus The Christ with power to execute God's judgment.
Many pastors, the Minister said, lack the courage and discipline to go through the suffering and pain because many "want the crown, but flee from the cross." Minister Farrakhan pointed out even those whom Jesus taught and healed were not with him at the cross when he was crucified.
"You want to be with him but you don't want to walk like him because if you walk like him you're going to be hated of men, persecuted, lied on, brought into court and some will be killed!" Minister Farrakhan said.
However, using the words of the Apostle Paul, Min. Farrakhan said all is not lost if the spiritual leaders are faithful preachers of God's word and servants of His people.
"We are joint heirs with Christ," said Min. Farrakhan. "But we have to be worthy."
The Minister's message reached receptive ears on this Saturday morning, and as a special bonus, the Minister gave every member of the clergy a copy of the DVD to take for reflection, and study.
Community activist Kublai Toure of Amer-I-Can called the message "profound" and said the Minister made the scriptures relevant, and this is particularly useful in bringing the youth and the elders together.
"When you can get somebody to take the scriptures and articulate the scriptures (and bring them) to the present date, that is the key because the objective is to reach the entire people," said Mr. Toure. "The only way you can do that is by keeping it real and you have to speak from heart. Right now, (the youth and elders) are disconnected, so you have to take the elders and either bring them to the young people and bring the young people to the elders because we both need each other. There are a lot of things that the youngsters need to know about this structure of this system."
Rev. Dr. Booker J. Person, whose 9-year-old daughter Brooke sang a beautiful song to start the program, said the message was "tremendous, very informative and inspirational."
"I think he was vintage, that means he is wise," said Rev. Hycel B. Taylor. "His life has taught him so much, as myself, we are similar in age. The wisdom he brings transcends all denominations and all religions. He's absolutely what we need right now," Rev. Taylor added.
Ishmael Muhammad, Min. Farrakhan's national assistant said it is "marvelous to behold" watching Minister Farrakhan keep up such a tremendous schedule day in and day out, in fact, directly following his message to the ACLC-USA, Minister Farrakhan was headed to Washington, D.C. for another engagement.
"I don't know if I can put it into words because it's marvelous to behold. It is a wonder that we are all witnessing," Mr. Muhammad continued. "To be anointed with that kind of spirit, that comes from a God that in the Holy Qur'an it says 'It tires Him not, the maintenance of His creation.' That same spirit and energy that dwells in the one God is now poured into this one that is among us. He is moving by that everlasting spirit and energy of life and he is focused, he has a mission and he is not letting anything keep him from what he has been appointed and assigned to do and accomplish in the very small window of time that he has left among us."
It is Minister Farrakhan's love of God's people that drives him, said Minister Muhammad. "Someone that loves us and sees that we are in harm's way is doing everything that he can possibly do to save us. We are grateful and hopefully we will heed the message and carry the words of the anointed into practice. That is the key," he said.