>>John Bradshaw:
This is It Is Written.
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I'm John Bradshaw.
Thanks for joining me.
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The prophet
Jeremiah was called by God
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to give an unpopular
message to Judah, which he did.
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Now, as a result, he
was accused of treason,
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and there were calls
that Jeremiah be executed.
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Jeremiah was imprisoned, placed
in the bottom of a cistern
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from which the
water had been drained.
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He was lowered down
into the mud and the muck
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that had accumulated in
the bottom of that cistern.
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Jeremiah 38, verse 6 says,
"Jeremiah sank in the mud."
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He was left there to die.
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But a man named
Ebed-Melech, an Ethiopian,
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approached the king, Zedekiah,
and interceded for Jeremiah,
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which was bold.
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It could easily have
cost Ebed-Melech his life.
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He said to the
king, essentially,
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"What has been done
to Jeremiah is not right,
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and he will die
in that cistern."
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So the king gave order to
get Jeremiah out of that filth.
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"Take...thirty
men," Zedekiah said,
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and get Jeremiah out
of there "before he dies."
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And they did.
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Jeremiah was
doing the will of God,
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and he met with
bitter opposition.
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He would have died in a dungeon
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unless somebody
stepped forward to help.
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Ebed-Melech realized
injustice was taking place,
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and that injustice wouldn't
allow him to remain inactive.
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He realized
something had to be done.
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This is Selma, Alabama.
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¤[soft dramatic music]¤
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In the 1960s, people came here
from around the United States
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because, in the
face of bitter injustice,
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something had to be done.
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What happened in Selma
reminds us of what happened
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2,000 years ago when Someone
came to this earth to help.
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¤[harmonica music]¤
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It was a very
different America in the 1960s,
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and those differences
were seen vividly in the South.
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In 1965, there were 12,000
African-Americans living here
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in Lowndes County.
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And in spite of a constitutional
guarantee that American citizens
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had the right to vote,
precious few of those 12,000
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African-Americans
were registered to do so.
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>>Joanne Bland: We only
had about 250 out of a possible
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15,000
African-Americans on the roll,
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and it wasn't just that
the African-Americans didn't go
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and try to register.
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They had to jump through hoops.
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You had a test
before the literacy test--
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um, such as "How many
jelly beans in a jar?"
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You know, "How many gallons
of water in the Alabama River?"
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And--uh, yeah.
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Um, and there was no way
you could pass these things.
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¤[sad music]¤
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Even if you got that far,
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someone who was
white had to come and say,
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"That's a good
Negro. Let them register."
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Meaning that, "I can
tell them how to vote,
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and they'll vote the
way I want them to vote."
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>>John: Understandably,
African-Americans protested.
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About 30 miles from
here in Marion, Alabama,
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late February of 1965, a
26-year-old Vietnam veteran
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named Jimmie Lee Jackson,
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after participating in a
peaceful voting rights march,
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he and scores of others fled
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when the marchers
were beaten by police.
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Then along with his
mother and grandfather,
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he sought refuge
inside Mack's Café.
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Jackson was shot--
twice--by a policeman.
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He later died.
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It was in response to the
shooting of Jimmie Lee Jackson
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that the now-famous march from
Selma to Montgomery happened.
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Or rather, didn't happen.
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On that day, hundreds of people
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left the Brown
Chapel AME Church,
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on what's now Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. Boulevard,
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bound for
Alabama's capital city.
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They made it 7/10th of a mile.
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They got to the bridge when...
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>>Joanne: I saw policemen
lined all the way across
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all four lanes, when suddenly
I hear gunshots and screams.
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I think they're
killing the people down front.
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Before we could turn
around, it was too late.
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They came in from both
sides, the front and the back.
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And they were
just beating people.
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You know what I
remember the most?
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The screams.
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People were screaming
and screaming and screaming.
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People everywhere bleeding,
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not moving, as
if they were dead,
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and you couldn't
stop to help them,
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or you'd be beaten too.
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The gunshots I heard?
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Nobody was shooting
bullets on that bridge that day.
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They were the teargas canisters
being shot into the crowd.
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Teargas burns your
eyes, gets in your lungs.
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You can't breathe.
You can't see. You panic.
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All the time you were running
right back to the same people
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you were running from.
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It seemed like it
lasted an eternity.
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>>John: After the march to
Montgomery ended in beatings
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and blood, Dr. King
issued a call to clergymen
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to come to Selma and show their
support for African-Americans
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in their fight
for voting rights.
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The injustice of what was taking
place in the American South
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was clear for everyone to see.
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There were people who
came to Selma to help.
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Some of them paid
a very high price.
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The death of one
man in particular
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attracted the
attention of the nation.
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I'll be right back.
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¤[music]¤
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>>John Bradshaw: Thanks for
joining me on It Is Written.
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In response to the invitation
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issued by Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr.,
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ministers of the
gospel came here to Selma
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from all around the country.
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Their presence alone was a help.
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They wanted to do what
they could to show support
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for African-Americans who
were dealing with injustice
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and oppression.
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The message was, "We care.
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There are people outside of
this place who really do care
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about what's going on here."
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Although the tide was
slowly turning in favor
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of civil rights,
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there was still an
enormous amount that was wrong.
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Things could
have seemed hopeless.
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The governor of Alabama at
the time was George Wallace,
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famous for his cry...
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>>George Wallace: And
I say segregation now,
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segregation tomorrow,
and segregation forever.
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[crowd cheers and applauds]
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>>John: It was
Wallace who two years before
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stood in the doorway
of the Foster Auditorium
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at the University of Alabama
in an attempt to block the entry
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of two
African-American students.
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¤[soft sad music]¤
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The battle for equality,
the battle for justice,
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the battle for
civil rights was real,
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and it was necessary.
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Denying someone
their basic civil rights
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based on their race,
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denying someone their
constitutionally guaranteed
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civil rights on the
basis of their race,
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indiscriminate
killings sponsored by a system
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that steadfastly refused to
bring the guilty to justice--
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this was raw racism.
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This was bitter hatred.
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And one man who decided that
he had to do something about it
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was James Reeb.
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Reeb was a Unitarian
minister working on low-income
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housing issues in
Boston, Massachusetts.
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He was watching television
in his home when he heard
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Dr. King invite gospel
ministers to travel to Alabama.
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He left Boston that night.
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He felt that he had to help.
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The following evening Jim
Reeb and two associates ate
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at a café right there,
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a café that admitted both
black and white customers.
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After eating, they left
to go and hear Dr. King speak
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at Brown Chapel.
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But they didn't
make it very far.
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It was when they
got to the corner,
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just up the street
from where they had eaten,
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that they were approached
by four men, four white men.
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Frances Bowden was there that
night and witnessed the beating
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of James Reeb and his friends.
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>>Frances Bowden:
And they followed them
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around the building, and that's
when they started hitting them.
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They went up behind him and
hit him on the back of the head
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with a club.
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Then, once they
knocked him down,
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they just kept
hitting and kicking.
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Then the ambulance come and took
him to Good Samaritan Hospital,
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and they sent
him on to Birmingham.
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And, um, he died, I
guess, the next day;
00:10:09.60\00:10:13.74
I think it was the
next day that he died.
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>>John: The night
that, uh, James Reeb died,
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it was clear that there was
something big going on in Selma.
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People had come
from around the country.
00:10:22.72\00:10:24.29
>>Frances: Oh yeah.
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>>John: Did you or people
like you have a sense that,
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boy, this could be trouble, or
this could be a difficult time?
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>>Frances: Yeah, we all
knew it was going to be trouble.
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Sure did.
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Any time any bus come in
and dropped off a bunch of them,
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there's always going
to be trouble, always.
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Because they just,
the ones that lived here
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were the worst trouble of all.
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They're going to start it
and show you how big I am.
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So...but you didn't
have to guess at that.
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You already knew it.
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>>John: So when
Reeb died, or was killed,
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really that wouldn't
have been a big surprise
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that something like that
could have happened here?
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>>Frances: Nope, sure wouldn't.
00:11:01.39\00:11:03.19
They expected more
than that. They really did.
00:11:03.22\00:11:06.23
They expected more to be
killed than what was killed,
00:11:06.26\00:11:09.00
because they all
were toting guns.
00:11:09.03\00:11:10.73
I mean, they go home every
day and put the gun in their car
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or their truck, sure did,
and bring it to town with them.
00:11:13.60\00:11:16.40
I don't care if you
going to the grocery store--
00:11:16.44\00:11:17.94
you bring your gun.
00:11:17.97\00:11:19.47
>>John: Now, nobody was
ever brought to justice.
00:11:19.51\00:11:23.41
There was a trial; the
three men were acquitted.
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Did other people around the
town know that it was these men
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who'd done the crime?
00:11:29.82\00:11:30.95
>>Frances: They knew it
was Doug, Stanley, and Elmer,
00:11:30.99\00:11:32.69
but they didn't know
who the fourth man was.
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I was the only one
that knew the fourth man.
00:11:34.29\00:11:37.09
But like I said,
00:11:37.13\00:11:38.16
I stand there looking
out the window at them, so.
00:11:38.19\00:11:40.73
>>John: If a number of
people knew who at least
00:11:40.76\00:11:43.33
three of the men were
who committed the crime,
00:11:43.37\00:11:46.00
explain to me what it was
about the time where people
00:11:46.03\00:11:48.50
were prepared to say nothing
00:11:48.54\00:11:49.67
where they might
have said something.
00:11:49.70\00:11:52.37
>>Frances: Well, they could have
said something all the time,
00:11:52.41\00:11:53.91
baby, but they wouldn't do it.
00:11:53.94\00:11:55.28
>>John: Yeah, why was that?
00:11:55.31\00:11:56.38
>>Frances: They stuck
together. They stuck together.
00:11:56.41\00:11:59.48
And that was a
different race of people.
00:11:59.51\00:12:02.42
What you got to
what you deserved,
00:12:02.45\00:12:04.05
you deserved it, or
you wouldn't have got it.
00:12:04.09\00:12:06.82
That's the way they felt.
00:12:06.86\00:12:09.06
And I know that was
the wrong way to feel,
00:12:09.09\00:12:12.03
but I couldn't do
nothing about it then.
00:12:12.06\00:12:13.60
But I did about myself.
00:12:13.63\00:12:15.33
>>John: Would people around
the town be more inclined to say
00:12:15.36\00:12:17.33
something today
than they were back then?
00:12:17.37\00:12:19.70
>>Frances: I think
they would. I really do.
00:12:19.73\00:12:21.74
¤[sad music]¤
00:12:21.77\00:12:23.00
>>John: Three men
come to Selma to help,
00:12:23.04\00:12:25.44
and they're brutally attacked.
00:12:25.47\00:12:27.28
They're punched and
kicked and beaten with a club.
00:12:27.31\00:12:31.18
James Reeb was taken to a local
clinic before being transferred
00:12:31.21\00:12:35.35
to a hospital in Montgomery,
where he died two days later.
00:12:35.38\00:12:39.75
Martin Luther King spoke
at a memorial service for Reeb
00:12:39.79\00:12:43.09
held at Brown Chapel.
00:12:43.12\00:12:45.66
The four men who
murdered him--right there--
00:12:45.69\00:12:50.30
were never brought to justice.
00:12:50.33\00:12:53.10
Ebed-Melech could
have simply said nothing.
00:12:54.80\00:12:58.41
He risked a lot when he spoke
to King Zedekiah and interceded
00:12:58.44\00:13:02.44
for a man that the ruling
classes thought was a traitor.
00:13:02.48\00:13:06.98
James Reeb risked a
lot when he came to Selma.
00:13:07.02\00:13:10.15
Of course, he couldn't possibly
have known that this was going
00:13:10.19\00:13:12.45
to cost him his life.
00:13:12.49\00:13:14.09
Didn't know that the last
time he would ever see his wife
00:13:14.12\00:13:16.89
and his four children
was that night he left Boston
00:13:16.93\00:13:19.83
to come down here to Alabama.
00:13:19.86\00:13:22.36
James Reeb was simply committed
to doing the right thing.
00:13:22.40\00:13:26.63
And that commitment to
doing what he believed was right
00:13:26.67\00:13:29.80
ended with his life
being viciously taken away
00:13:29.84\00:13:34.14
here on Washington Street.
00:13:34.18\00:13:36.85
The Bible calls Jesus "the
Lamb slain from the foundation
00:13:39.08\00:13:42.82
of the world."
00:13:42.85\00:13:43.72
That's Revelation 13, verse 8.
00:13:43.75\00:13:45.92
So, did Jesus know ahead of
time what He would be faced with
00:13:45.95\00:13:50.16
when He came to this earth?
00:13:50.19\00:13:51.83
Well, yes, He absolutely did.
00:13:51.86\00:13:53.90
The prophet Isaiah wrote about
Jesus' ministry in great detail
00:13:53.93\00:13:57.53
in the 8th century B.C.
00:13:57.57\00:14:00.24
He wrote in the
53rd chapter of his book,
00:14:00.27\00:14:02.97
"He is despised
and rejected of men;
00:14:03.00\00:14:06.21
a man of sorrows, and
acquainted with grief:
00:14:06.24\00:14:10.01
and we hid as it
were our faces from Him;
00:14:10.05\00:14:13.15
He was despised, and
we esteemed Him not."
00:14:13.18\00:14:15.88
Jesus knew what
He was walking into.
00:14:15.92\00:14:18.99
Isaiah goes on: "Surely
He hath borne our griefs,
00:14:19.02\00:14:23.19
and carried our sorrows:
yet we did esteem Him stricken,
00:14:23.22\00:14:27.86
smitten of God, and afflicted.
00:14:27.93\00:14:31.03
But He was wounded
for our transgressions,
00:14:31.07\00:14:34.04
He was bruised
for our iniquities:
00:14:34.07\00:14:36.91
the chastisement of
our peace was upon Him;
00:14:36.94\00:14:40.21
and with His
stripes we are healed.
00:14:40.24\00:14:43.48
All we [who] like
sheep have gone astray;
00:14:43.51\00:14:46.85
we have turned
every one to his own way;
00:14:46.88\00:14:49.88
and the Lord hath laid on
Him the iniquity of us all.
00:14:49.92\00:14:53.99
He was oppressed,
and He was afflicted,
00:14:54.02\00:14:56.99
yet He opened not His mouth:
00:14:57.03\00:14:59.56
He is brought as a
lamb to the slaughter,
00:14:59.59\00:15:02.43
and as a sheep
before her shearers is dumb,
00:15:02.46\00:15:05.37
so He openeth not His mouth."
00:15:05.40\00:15:07.94
There's a time when
people need to stand up,
00:15:07.97\00:15:10.61
when people need to speak up.
00:15:10.64\00:15:13.17
Isaiah wrote in Isaiah
chapter 59, the next chapter,
00:15:13.21\00:15:17.25
and said this:
00:15:17.28\00:15:18.95
"None calleth for justice,
nor any pleadeth for truth:
00:15:18.98\00:15:23.52
they trust in
vanity, and speak lies;
00:15:23.55\00:15:26.55
they conceive mischief,
and bring forth iniquity."
00:15:26.59\00:15:30.43
He wrote, "And judgment
is turned away backward,
00:15:30.46\00:15:33.86
and justice standeth afar off:
00:15:33.90\00:15:36.83
for truth is
fallen in the street,
00:15:36.87\00:15:39.47
and equity cannot enter."
00:15:39.50\00:15:42.50
It's hard to imagine
God didn't have 1965 in mind
00:15:44.64\00:15:49.18
when He inspired the
writing of those words.
00:15:49.21\00:15:52.21
More often than not, justice
never came in cases like these.
00:15:52.25\00:15:56.55
In fact, it's
more accurate to say
00:15:56.58\00:15:57.92
that justice was
very rarely served.
00:15:57.95\00:16:00.89
Four little girls were killed
in the bombing of a church
00:16:00.92\00:16:03.26
60 miles from here, and no
one was prosecuted for 12 years.
00:16:03.29\00:16:07.23
One of the murderers
wouldn't be prosecuted
00:16:07.23\00:16:09.10
for nearly four decades.
00:16:09.13\00:16:11.17
The man who killed Jimmie
Lee Jackson wasn't convicted
00:16:11.20\00:16:13.70
until 45 years later,
00:16:13.74\00:16:16.10
and then served just
six months in prison.
00:16:16.14\00:16:18.54
This was a decades-long,
carefully orchestrated campaign
00:16:18.57\00:16:22.61
of domestic terror waged openly,
00:16:22.64\00:16:26.21
a campaign in which justice
only made brief appearances.
00:16:26.25\00:16:30.95
That's also true in
the plan of salvation.
00:16:30.99\00:16:33.39
The cross on which Jesus died
00:16:33.42\00:16:35.52
was a carefully
designed instrument of torture.
00:16:35.56\00:16:38.93
It was engineered to cause
maximum pain and suffering.
00:16:38.96\00:16:43.06
And yet because of the
cross, the tide would turn,
00:16:43.10\00:16:47.24
not only in Selma, not
only in the United States,
00:16:47.27\00:16:50.77
not only for African-Americans,
but for the world.
00:16:50.81\00:16:55.41
I'll have more in just a moment.
00:16:55.44\00:16:57.95
¤[solemn music]¤
00:16:57.98\00:17:00.08
¤[music]¤
00:17:00.12\00:17:06.12
¤[soft piano music]¤
00:17:09.19\00:17:13.60
>>Man 1: What does the
Bible say about astrology?
00:17:13.63\00:17:16.60
>>Man 2: Why do bad
things happen to good people?
00:17:20.74\00:17:23.84
>>Girl: What color is Jesus?
00:17:29.21\00:17:31.41
>>John Bradshaw: If
you have a question,
00:17:31.45\00:17:32.75
we'd love to find an answer
00:17:32.78\00:17:34.02
for you from the Bible.
00:17:34.05\00:17:35.35
Line Upon Line
00:17:35.38\00:17:36.42
from It Is Written TV.
00:17:36.45\00:17:38.42
>>John: It was
like a ticking time bomb
00:17:39.42\00:17:41.39
just waiting to explode.
00:17:41.42\00:17:42.99
And when it did, a
city was plunged into chaos,
00:17:43.02\00:17:46.90
a town was completely destroyed,
00:17:46.93\00:17:49.40
more than 300
people were left dead,
00:17:49.43\00:17:52.07
and thousands left homeless.
00:17:52.10\00:17:54.47
It remains one of the
nation's least-known atrocities,
00:17:54.50\00:17:58.07
yet it was one of the
most destructive race riots
00:17:58.11\00:18:00.81
in United States history.
00:18:00.84\00:18:02.14
¤[harmonica music]¤
00:18:02.18\00:18:03.45
Join It Is Written on
location in Tulsa, Oklahoma,
00:18:03.48\00:18:07.18
for "Black Wall Street,"
00:18:07.22\00:18:09.32
as we look at
the problem of evil.
00:18:09.35\00:18:12.42
We'll investigate the
destruction of a community
00:18:12.45\00:18:14.82
and ask some
searching questions:
00:18:14.86\00:18:16.96
¤[ominous music]¤
How can this happen?
00:18:16.99\00:18:18.96
And who would do such a thing?
00:18:18.99\00:18:20.83
How do "good people"
commit truly wicked acts?
00:18:20.86\00:18:24.20
"Black Wall Street"
will take you there,
00:18:24.23\00:18:26.13
to the very streets
where evil reared its ugly head
00:18:26.17\00:18:29.57
in a way not often seen.
00:18:29.60\00:18:31.57
Don't miss "Black Wall
Street" on It Is Written TV.
00:18:31.61\00:18:37.41
>>John Bradshaw:
In the year 2000,
00:18:39.85\00:18:41.65
Selma, Alabama,
elected its first black mayor.
00:18:41.68\00:18:45.82
Within 12 months, a bust
of Nathan Bedford Forrest
00:18:45.85\00:18:50.16
was erected in downtown Selma,
00:18:50.19\00:18:52.99
before being relocated here at
Selma's Old Live Oak Cemetery.
00:18:53.03\00:18:59.37
The timing and symbolism
cannot sensibly be thought of
00:18:59.40\00:19:04.21
as a coincidence.
00:19:04.24\00:19:06.98
Forrest was a
general in the Civil War.
00:19:07.01\00:19:09.21
Many historians hold him
responsible for the massacre
00:19:09.24\00:19:11.95
of almost 300 black soldiers
00:19:11.98\00:19:14.25
at Fort Pillow
during the Civil War.
00:19:14.28\00:19:17.65
He then became the first
grand wizard of the newly formed
00:19:17.69\00:19:22.22
Ku Klux Klan.
00:19:22.26\00:19:23.53
In fact, Edmund Pettus,
after whom the bridge was named,
00:19:23.56\00:19:28.60
was a grand dragon in
the same terror organization.
00:19:28.63\00:19:33.20
¤[sad music]¤
00:19:33.23\00:19:35.47
James Reeb was, in all honesty,
00:19:35.50\00:19:37.61
only a minor actor
in this national drama.
00:19:37.64\00:19:40.94
He wasn't Rosa Parks, he
wasn't Martin Luther King Jr.,
00:19:40.98\00:19:45.71
he wasn't John Lewis,
he wasn't James Farmer,
00:19:45.75\00:19:49.68
but he did what he could.
00:19:49.72\00:19:52.05
There are only ever so many
luminaries, as well as leaders.
00:19:53.05\00:19:57.63
Movements need people
who are motivated to help
00:19:57.66\00:20:01.03
in whatever way they can.
00:20:01.06\00:20:03.73
Sometimes it means walking
instead of riding the bus.
00:20:03.77\00:20:06.87
Thousands did that.
00:20:06.90\00:20:08.67
Sometimes it means
participating in a march.
00:20:08.70\00:20:11.54
Sometimes it means coming
to Selma to show your support.
00:20:11.57\00:20:16.38
James Reeb did that.
00:20:16.41\00:20:18.55
History saw to it that
his small deed was transformed
00:20:18.58\00:20:22.78
into a great deal more.
00:20:22.82\00:20:24.79
¤[soft music]¤
00:20:24.82\00:20:28.22
Jesus came to this earth
00:20:28.26\00:20:29.72
because He knew it
was in desperate need.
00:20:29.76\00:20:32.69
Truth had fallen in the streets.
00:20:32.73\00:20:35.20
The leaders of the church at
the time had a warped conception
00:20:35.23\00:20:38.20
of the character of God,
and people both then and now
00:20:38.23\00:20:41.20
needed to see what
God was really like.
00:20:41.24\00:20:44.04
In order to
represent God to the world,
00:20:44.07\00:20:46.54
Jesus would have
to come to the world,
00:20:46.57\00:20:48.54
live as a nonconformist,
00:20:48.58\00:20:50.05
find Himself on the
wrong side of public opinion,
00:20:50.08\00:20:53.42
and ultimately give His
life in a brutal, painful way.
00:20:53.45\00:20:57.59
But if He hadn't
done that, what then?
00:20:57.62\00:21:00.96
Can you imagine this world
if God had simply allowed evil
00:21:00.99\00:21:03.96
to run its course?
00:21:03.99\00:21:05.29
Can you imagine
evil unrestrained?
00:21:05.33\00:21:08.46
I really don't think you
can. I don't think anyone can.
00:21:08.50\00:21:11.90
The civil rights movement
wasn't just about Dr. King
00:21:12.90\00:21:15.44
or Rosa Parks--all
leaders and no followers.
00:21:15.47\00:21:19.27
And modern Christianity
isn't just about Jesus.
00:21:19.31\00:21:22.38
Here's what I mean.
00:21:22.41\00:21:23.55
All Jesus and no followers,
and what do you have then?
00:21:23.58\00:21:27.48
Jesus said to His disciples,
00:21:27.52\00:21:29.28
"You are the
light of the world."
00:21:29.32\00:21:31.29
"You are the salt of the earth."
00:21:31.32\00:21:33.29
God said through
Isaiah, "You are my witnesses."
00:21:33.32\00:21:36.86
When Moses came back from
being with God on the mountain,
00:21:36.89\00:21:39.66
his face glowed.
00:21:39.69\00:21:41.53
God is looking for someone
to glow because they've been
00:21:41.56\00:21:44.00
in His presence,
00:21:44.03\00:21:45.27
so other people can
see Jesus in that person
00:21:45.30\00:21:48.27
and be drawn to the God
who's at work in that life.
00:21:48.30\00:21:51.51
Missionaries have
been sharing the gospel
00:21:51.54\00:21:53.48
and paying with
their lives for millennia.
00:21:53.51\00:21:56.28
And while you don't have
to go to another continent
00:21:56.31\00:21:58.71
or to a remote island in
order to be a missionary,
00:21:58.75\00:22:01.68
God is asking every one of
His children to be a missionary
00:22:01.72\00:22:05.75
to someone somewhere.
00:22:05.79\00:22:08.79
The world is drowning in sin.
00:22:10.89\00:22:13.36
God is being
crowded out of society.
00:22:13.40\00:22:16.43
What does that society look like
00:22:16.46\00:22:18.90
if someone doesn't
do something to help?
00:22:18.93\00:22:22.34
There's someone in
your circle of influence
00:22:22.37\00:22:24.14
who needs to hear the gospel.
00:22:24.17\00:22:25.64
There's someone you're going
to bump into who needs to know
00:22:25.67\00:22:28.34
something about the love of God.
00:22:28.38\00:22:30.41
Society today
commonly depicts God as aloof,
00:22:30.45\00:22:34.08
as out of touch,
judgmental, irrelevant.
00:22:34.12\00:22:37.85
Well, He's not.
00:22:37.89\00:22:39.85
But unless people see evidence
of that in the life of someone,
00:22:39.89\00:22:43.36
they might never
believe otherwise.
00:22:43.39\00:22:45.43
¤[soft piano music]¤
00:22:45.46\00:22:49.16
Ebed-Melech was
moved to do something,
00:22:49.20\00:22:51.93
and he saved the
life of the prophet.
00:22:51.97\00:22:54.60
James Reeb was
moved to do something,
00:22:54.64\00:22:57.34
and five months after his death,
00:22:57.37\00:22:59.84
the Voting
Rights Act was passed.
00:22:59.87\00:23:02.08
Now, I'm not saying the
Voting Rights Act was passed
00:23:02.11\00:23:03.91
simply because of James Reeb.
00:23:03.95\00:23:06.11
A lot of things happened,
especially here in Selma.
00:23:06.15\00:23:09.42
Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. preached here;
00:23:09.45\00:23:12.12
he was jailed here.
00:23:12.15\00:23:13.59
The Bloody Sunday
march took place right there
00:23:13.62\00:23:16.62
on the Edmund
Pettus Bridge behind me.
00:23:16.66\00:23:19.63
But it was what
happened here in Selma, Alabama,
00:23:19.66\00:23:23.10
that moved the government
of this country to act,
00:23:23.13\00:23:26.63
to finally act.
00:23:26.67\00:23:29.07
Something you do or say or
demonstrate in your life can be
00:23:29.10\00:23:33.58
used by God to move someone to
surrender their life to Jesus.
00:23:33.61\00:23:37.81
Of course, you want
to be careful in how
00:23:37.85\00:23:39.61
you represent Jesus, be careful
in the method that you employ,
00:23:39.65\00:23:43.22
but make sure you
do represent Jesus,
00:23:43.25\00:23:46.22
because the world is
looking for a demonstration
00:23:46.25\00:23:49.42
of what Jesus is really like,
00:23:49.46\00:23:51.76
of what God can do
in a person's life.
00:23:51.79\00:23:54.73
According to the
book of Revelation,
00:23:54.76\00:23:56.40
before this thing is over,
00:23:56.43\00:23:58.07
the world is going to be
lit up with a manifestation
00:23:58.10\00:24:01.14
of the character of
God in God's people.
00:24:01.17\00:24:04.47
If you'll let it be so,
then that will happen in you.
00:24:04.51\00:24:08.18
>>Announcer 1: As we
look around the world,
00:24:09.18\00:24:10.85
it appears this planet is
spinning wildly out of control.
00:24:10.88\00:24:14.82
The world now is a far cry
00:24:14.85\00:24:16.95
from the world of
even just a few years ago,
00:24:16.99\00:24:19.25
leaving many people
wondering if there's hope.
00:24:19.29\00:24:21.99
Our free offer today is
"Hope for a Planet in Crisis."
00:24:22.02\00:24:25.83
To receive this free guide,
00:24:25.86\00:24:27.50
call 800-253-3000
00:24:27.50\00:24:31.13
or go online at iiwoffer.com.
00:24:31.17\00:24:35.10
Get "Hope for a
Planet in Crisis."
00:24:35.14\00:24:38.47
>>John Bradshaw: Thank you for
remembering that It Is Written
00:24:39.54\00:24:41.54
exists because of the kindness
of people just like you.
00:24:41.58\00:24:44.68
To support this international
life-changing ministry,
00:24:44.71\00:24:48.15
please call us
now at 800-253-3000.
00:24:48.18\00:24:52.35
You can send your
tax-deductible gift
00:24:52.39\00:24:53.82
to the address on your screen,
00:24:53.86\00:24:55.32
or you can visit us
online at itiswritten.com.
00:24:55.36\00:24:59.16
Thank you for your prayers
and for your financial support.
00:24:59.19\00:25:02.03
Our number
again is 800-253-3000,
00:25:02.06\00:25:06.20
or you can visit us
online at itiswritten.com.
00:25:06.23\00:25:09.40
>>John Bradshaw:
God is looking to you,
00:25:10.57\00:25:13.07
and if you'll let Him, if you'll
make yourself available to Him,
00:25:13.11\00:25:16.88
God will use you
to bring salvation,
00:25:16.91\00:25:19.68
to bring freedom
to somebody else.
00:25:19.71\00:25:23.65
And it'll be worth it,
because when Jesus comes back,
00:25:23.69\00:25:26.89
we are going to say together,
00:25:26.92\00:25:28.82
"Free at last, free at
last, thank God Almighty,
00:25:28.86\00:25:34.93
we are free at last."
00:25:34.93\00:25:37.23
Let's pray together now.
00:25:37.27\00:25:38.77
Our Father in heaven,
we thank You for the hope
00:25:38.80\00:25:40.94
that we have in Jesus,
00:25:40.97\00:25:42.57
for the freedom that
we have through Jesus.
00:25:42.60\00:25:46.81
We thank You
that when He returns,
00:25:46.84\00:25:49.54
the injustices and the hardship
and the sin of this world
00:25:49.58\00:25:52.31
will all be gone forever,
00:25:52.35\00:25:54.48
and that we're going
to enter into a kingdom,
00:25:54.52\00:25:56.55
an eternal kingdom, where
everything has been made new.
00:25:56.58\00:26:00.96
Friend, as God
speaks to your heart,
00:26:00.99\00:26:03.63
will you experience the
freedom that He offers now?
00:26:03.66\00:26:05.89
If you would, open
your heart to Him now,
00:26:05.93\00:26:08.26
invite Him in, and tell
Him, "Lord, I choose Jesus.
00:26:08.30\00:26:12.03
Give me a new heart, a
new life, eternal life."
00:26:12.07\00:26:16.60
We thank You for it today.
00:26:16.64\00:26:18.94
We pray
gratefully in Jesus' name.
00:26:18.97\00:26:22.48
Amen.
00:26:22.51\00:26:24.05
Thanks so much for joining me.
00:26:24.08\00:26:25.28
I'm looking forward to
seeing you again next time.
00:26:25.31\00:26:27.35
Until then, remember:
00:26:27.38\00:26:29.62
"It is written, 'Man
shall not live by bread alone,
00:26:29.65\00:26:33.62
but by every word that proceeds
from the mouth of God.'"
00:26:33.66\00:26:38.29
¤[solemn music]¤
00:26:39.63\00:26:45.93