I just got back from the Christian Community Development Association’s annual conference (www.ccda.org), and it was one of my favorite CCDA’s ever. I still feel like I am living in the afterglow!
There is a major plenary each night, and one of the sessions that really impacted me was Thursday night, when Dr. Marshall Hatch (New Mount Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church) spoke. Dr. Hatch is a pastor in the West Side of Chicago, and someone that I admire greatly. He casts a long shadow in our city, and I’m thankful to have him as a mentor and friend. I was therefore doubly excited to see him headlining one of the major sessions at the conference.
Dr. Hatch didn’t disappoint, and shared one goldmine quote after another. Here are some of my very favorites:
“The identity of Jesus is wrapped around the pronouncement of good news for the poor. Read Luke 4. Read Matthew 25. Read Galatians 2.10.”
“When the Spirit of the Lord comes upon us mightily, Christ is King and the poor are centered.”
“We live in a day where the spirit of the ages despises the poor.”
“When the spirit of the age idolizes materialism, the poor are despised because they don’t have what society values most.”
“In 1964 we had a white president from the South declare a war on poverty. 50 years later, and now neither party talks about the poor.”
“We have made poverty a dirty work. We are allowed to talk about the middle class, but not the poor.”
“We cannot talk about poverty without talking about racism. Racism is in the very core DNA of our institutions.”
“Many white people tell me they are tired of talking about race. If you are tired talking about it, then guess how I feel?”
“In America, racism always makes a comeback.”
“Race is a social construct used to subjugate and oppress black people and deceive white people (and/or people who want to be white).”
“Our world is changing, and we will soon be a majority/minority culture.”
“Without a maximum investment in children of color, America does not have a future worth having.”
“What if God has designed America’s future destiny to rest on the rejected stones?”
“What if God’s intended purpose is to use the children of the incarcerated & the unaccompanied minors to shape America’s future?”
“What if the only way to save the environment is to see our land through the eyes of the first nation people?”
“Here are three ways that we move forward within God’s plan:”
“First, we have to put the kingdom of God at the center (not class, creed, or culture).”
“Second, we must repent of racism with fruit that demonstrates true repentance (And repentance is not just words that you say but a life that you demonstrate. True repentance always costs something.)”
“Finally, we must unite evangelism with activism.”
—
drdanielhill.com 
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