AllenPaulWeaverIII.com

“Delight yourself also in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37: 4)

Whoever said that dreams don’t come true? Two dreams since graduating from college in 1996 have finally come true! The first was to publish my first book, which I did last year in June. The second was to return to my alma mater and speak to the students about achieving their life’s purpose. This dream recently came to pass last month (January 25-26, 2007) when the Speech Communication and Theatre Arts department of Bethune-Cookman College invited me to be one of two speakers to address their student body in their 1st Annual Speech Communication and Theatre Arts Conference. The conference theme was: Linking Experiences & Opportunities. I was the plenary speaker, addressing the students in the afternoon. Actor and author Malik Yoba was the Keynote speaker, addressing the students in the evening. Little did I realize that my first dream of becoming an author would be the direct Experience that helped to open the door to a speaking Opportunity.

This is a reprint from the Daytona Beach News-Journalonline.com website

January 23, 2007

T.V. actor Malik Yoba to speak at B-CC
Staff Report
DAYTONA BEACH — Actor Malik Yoba, whose work has included regular parts on television’s “The Thief” and “New York Undercover,” is scheduled to speak Thursday at Bethune-Cookman College as part of a two-day conference.

The conference, “Linking Experiences and Opportunities,” is free and open to the public. It is sponsored by the college’s Speech Communication and Theatre Arts Department.

Yoba’s keynote speech starts at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Mary McLeod Bethune Performing Arts Center, 698 W. International Speedway Blvd.

PRESS RELEASE         CONTACT: Dr. Paula McKenzie
For Immediate Release             

SPEECH COMMUNICATION & THEATRE ARTS DEPARTMENT ANNOUNCES CONFERENCE
Malik Yoba Scheduled Key Note Speaker
Author Allen Paul Weaver III is Plenary Speaker

Daytona Beach, FL — The Bethune-Cookman College Speech Communication and Theatre Arts Department (SCTA) is proud to announce its first annual conference, Linking Experiences and Opportunities scheduled for January 25 and 26, 2007.

Where is your center? For at least a millenia it was thought that the planets, sun, galaxy and the universe revolved around the earth.  With humanity being the height of God’s creation, it made ’sense’ that the earth would be at the center of creation.  However, it was scientifically proven that, in fact, the earth was not the center around which the universe revolved.  Within our solar system, it was indeed the sun which was the center and its gravitational pull directed all the planets around it… including earth.

Star Wars Truth: Part 2

In the climatic ending of the first Star Wars movie, we find ourselves barreling through space, engaged in a dog fight of epic proportions!  We find our hero, Luke Skywalker in an X-Wing Fighter along with others from the Resistance.  They are battling to destroy the Republic, who has become an oppressive force, ruled by the Sith.  Explosions radiate from all around us!  Laser blasts streak by, our hero and his compatriots are fighting for dear life.  Lives are being lost while close encounters are being narrowly escaped.  Isn’t life like this at times?  Battles raging all around us, we feel like we’re surrounded?

Have you ever thought that your weakness is your strength?  Yes.  Your weakness allows for your strength.

Standard ‘Self-help’ philosphy says that we discover our strengths and build those up, while staying away from the areas where we are weak - even surrounding ourselves with those who have strengths where we have weaknesses.  As this way of thinking is true and very practical on many different levels, let us not use this truth as an excuse to run away from our weaknesses as we would from a plague.  Have you ever stopped to think that at one point in your past, you were weak in what you are now strong in? 

What do you want? Why don’t we have what we say we want? The Bible tells us that “we have not because we ask not… and when we ask our motives are wrong.” (check out James 4: 1-3) So on one hand, we’re too afraid to ask… or too ashamed, too prideful or too something. On the other hand we have selfish motives for the things we do ask for. But once we move beyond being too afraid to ask for what we want and asking with wrong motives, there are other reasons which mostly boil down to this - we don’t have what we say we want because we don’t do what is necessary to get what we say we want.