Sunday Sunday

Greetings,

I greet you in the name that is above every name, Jesus! I hope that this finds you doing well. Today has been a very good day. God has been faithful toward us at BBC. Our day started with Early Morning Prayer service. I know that I say it often, but this service really inspires all who attend and sets the atmosphere for the corporate worship experience.

New Members class today was awesome. It is amazing to see new lives in Christ being shaped and transformed by the word of God. The students pondered and promised to spend some time in prayer to discover their God given purpose.

I was extremely happy to have my mother and grandmother, who came to visit for the weekend in church with me on today! Today we were blessed with selections from our Male Chorus and their ministry of music lifted the hearts ad minds of the people and prepared everyone for the preached word of God. I preached a message from Ephesians 6:10-13, entitled, "The Invisible Battle". There's a war going on with opposition that we cannot see with the human eye, stand against with our own power, or fight with carnal weapons, so to fight this invisible battle:

1. There is a Charge of Power (v.10)

2. You must have a Commitment to Prepare (v.11)

3. You have to Clarify the Problem (v.12)

4. You must Carry your Protection (v.13)

God blessed the exposition of the text! Thank God for this awesome privilege to carry His Word! My day ended with my family and I traveling to Believer's COGIC for a musical. Our choir was invited to sing and they did a wonderful job in song ministry. I'm really excited about the future of our Music Ministry and the direction it is taking. To God be the Glory!

Pray for me on this week as I prepare to preach the eulogy of Pastor Albert Miller, pastor of the St. Matthews MBC of Buchannon, Michigan who went home to Glory on Saturday morning. This is a very humbling task as well as a hard task because preaching in front of a group of preachers can be uneasy to say the least. I am honored to preach a eulogy of someone who lived so well and pastored for over 25 years! He was my son in the ministry and I will miss him greatly.

I want to close by saying that God will answer prayer! We have been praying for specific at BBC and today God gave me a sneak peak of how He's going to work it out! I can't tell you what it is yet, but when it happens, I will be more than happy to share it with all of you!

Until we meet again, may God bless you and keep you is my prayer!

Sunday Summary

Greetings,

This is a day that The Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it! I hope that this finds you doing well. We had a great corporate worship experience this past Lord's day at BBC. Our day started as it always does in prayer. Thank God for a group of people that have dedicated themselves to the ministry of intercessory prayer. I truly believe that prayer is the life blood of our church.

I have the wonderful privilege of teaching our New Members Class. I believe that this gives the new member a direct contact with the pastor and the relationship can bloom and blossom from there. It was also amazing to see the faces of the new converts light up as their understanding of faith in Christ begins to grow and they begin to develop an appreciation for the Word of God!

Corporate worship began with believers baptism. I always smile during baptism because it reminds me of my conversion experience and the mothers of the church sing those old baptism hymns that remind me of good old fashioned church! We were truly blessed by songs from our Mass Choir. I was excited and ready for preaching! I preached a message from Lamentations 3:21-23, entitled "It could be worse". The passage lets us know without hesitation that no matter how bad things are, if it was not for the Sovereign hand of God, they would be worse. It could be worse if:

1. His Mercy didn't Manage our Misery

2. His Compassion didn't Cancel our Completion

3. Not for the Longevity of the Lord's Loyalty

God blessed the exposition of the text! I truly thank God for what He is doing in the life of our church. I truly look forward to what the future holds! My day ended with friends and family watching the Super Bowl. Congratulations to the Baltimore Ravens, who overcame "Light Gate" and defeated the San Francisco 49ers to win their 2nd Super Bowl. After all of the food that I ate, it will be a must that I get in the gym today! However, we are supposed to get between 4 and 6 inches of snow, so we'll see how that goes.

Well that's enough for now. I have a busy week of teaching, sermon preparation, and preparing some of our football players to compete at the Nike Sparq Combine on February 16. God Bless and keep you until we meet again!

Sunday Summary & Monday too....

Greetings,

I hope that finds everyone doing well! All I can say about this past Lord's Day at BBC is wow! Our day started off at 8am with Early Morning Prayer. I always enjoy hearing the people of God offering up their petitiions. After prayer meeting was over, I figured that we were in for a grand celebration at corporate worship.

After prayer meeting I received some news that really shook me to my core.  One of the most faithful men in the church, Bro. Ocie Richie made his transition from labor to reward at about 9am. I was very saddened by his passing as he was always very supportive of his church and his pastor. Please keep his family in your prayers as they prepare to funeralize him and for me as I have to eulogize him.

Sunday served as our Officers Installation Day. Its the day where the congregational leaders are installed to their office, given the charge of leadership, and discharged to their duties. Normally I would bring a guest pastor in to preach this service, but my leaders said that they wanted to be preached to and installed by their pastor. This was a very humbling experience for me.  Our Mass Choir really blessed us in their ministry of song and we all were very surprised when one of our young ladies came out of the choir choir stand and got on the organ to play, "We Worship You". I thank God for the young people at BBC, they never cease to amaze me!

By it being installation day, I wanted to preach something specific to encourage and strengthen the leadership for the upcoming year of service. The Lord led me to Philippians 2:5-11.  The sermon was entitled, "Serving with the mind of Christ". To serve with the mind of Christ, you must :

1. Have the Correct Psyche

2. Be Content with your Position

3. Exhibit a Charitable Performance

4. Then you'll receive a Celebrated Promotion

God truly blessed the exposition and the people rejoiced in the Word! If that wasn't enough we really rejoiced as people came to give their lives to the Lord! God be praised for the converts and additions to the fellowship.

I was truly exhausted after such a powerful worship service. However I did watch the football games, and I'm looking forward to the "Harbaugh Bowl".

Thank God for the inauguration of our President as well as the celebration of the life and legacy of the Rev.Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. we at BBC spent our King Day celebrating at the St. Joseph Regional Medical Center, Mishawaka Campus. I am grateful for our choir who sang out of their souls and the opportunity that I had to say a lil something.....

With such a big kickoff to the week, I am really looking forward to this upcoming week of meeting, teaching, and preaching. may God Bless and keep you is my prayer.

Sunday Summary

Greetings,

I pray that everyone is doing well.  I want to start off by wishing everyone a very happy new year! I pray that this year be the best year of your life this far.  I am truly excited about all of the possibilities that 2013 hold in store for all of us.

Today was a wonderful day of corporate worship at BBC. Our day begins at 8am with prayer. This has great value in the life and vitality of our church, especially since I have been led of God in this season to draw the church closer together in the area of prayer. I've clearly heard the Lord say that all that we desire as individuals and as a body of believers according to the will of God will happen as we seek after God.

I was very eager to preach this morning but also somewhat hesitant. As many of you know, I am a competitive weightlifter amd while training for a competiion that I have on March 9th, I seriously injured my lower back. It has been difficult to walk and at times even to stand, but after a week and a half of therapy and much prayer, I felt as though I could preach. Our Male Chorus graced us today with the music for the day. It always does my heart good to see men leading in the worship service.

I preached a sermon from Psam 127:1-2, entitled, Lord, build us a house! I argued that it is better and we obtain greater results in trusting the Lord rather than exerting oursleves in tireless labor. We want the Lord to build our house because:

1. God will produce

2. God will protect

3. God will give us peace

Thank God for the exposition of the text and the response as a result of the preaching. There were members that came to rededicate their lives to the Lord, and one even desired to be baptized again. 

I look forward to this week of meetings with our new ministry leaders. I also look forward to resuming Bible Study on this week. We will be studying Daniel chapter 2.  I ask that you would pray for my continued healing and hopefully I can return to the gym soon. I look forward to sharing with you again real soon! Until then, peace!!!!!

6 Years and what a year 6 has been!!

Greetings,

Thursday begins my 6th year Pastoral Anniversary as the pastor of the Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church of South Bend, Indiana. During this time I usually reflect on the past year of ministry as well as family events and other things.

The thought that permeates my mind the most is the passing of my grandfather, Alston Witherspoon. My grandfather was an impeccable individual. He grew up in the depression, served in World War 2, and worked in the mill for 37 years while working other jobs as well. He was married to my grandmother for 64 years and raised 3 children. If that wasn't enough, he also raised his grandsons like they were his own children.  I grew up without my biological father, but did not miss a beat because Granddad was always right there. I am the man that I am today because of him.  As a matter of fact, I cannot recall one major life experience that he was not there to guide me, scold me, encourage me, congratulate me, and love me through.  This anniversary celebration will be the first major event that he will not be present for other than the birth of our new daughter Elyssa, who was born minutes after his burial. Words cannot express how much I miss him.  Now more than ever I proudly carry the name "Spoon". I only hope and pray that I can be half of the man that "Spoon" was.

We have a new addition to our family, Elyssa Nicole Witherspoon. She's truly a blessing from the Lord! Her whole journey here to us has been nothing but a testimony to how good God is. She had to overcome so much just to be born healthy and now 2 months later she is very healthy and doing well. She has brought  youthful joy to our hearts that we thought  was long gone.  Pray for me as I have to raise another beautiful little girl.

Our oldest son, Derryll has graduated high school and is now in college. Praise God! There were times that Nicole and I didn't believe that he was going to make it. It seemed as though he wanted to travel down the wrong road, but the Bible is true, if you train them in the way that they should go, when they are older they will not depart from it! To God be the Glory! Deonne is now in high school and that brings on another set of issues. Erynne is in 7th grade and is growing into a young lady at a rate that is way too fast for me! As she is growing i have made sure that my NRA dues is paid and everything is in well working order if you know what i mean, lol.

As far as ministry goes, there is so much that I can say. I have seen growth and development, I have also wrestled with thoughts of my effectiveness and relevance.  As I toss between the two, several things have gone through my mind that have pushed, stretched, and tested my faith beyond where I thought it could go. I can gladly and truthfully say that God has been faithful through it all. I believe that I'm better as a result of what I have experienced. I guess I can say like the songwriter, "After all I've been through, I still have joy!"

Well I believe that enough for now. I won't make any grand promises on blogging on a regular basis, but I will say that this won"t be the last time that you hear from me!

Motivation for Ministry

Greetings,

This past Lord's day at BBC was a wonderful worship experience!  I am always blessed when I attend Early Morning Prayer Meeting. As always, I was lifted and inspired as I watched and heard the people of God make their requests known.  There is power in prayer, and God's power is always present at prayer service.

Morning Worship for the past few week has been very high! I am elated to see God's people with a spirit of expectation. When we come to church, we should expect God to do something transformative in the lives of His people.  Our Mass Choir really ushered in the presence of the Lord, after a very inspiring devotion by our Deacons Ministry.  I really feel like the choir sometimes tries to set me up for failure by singing so well.  Nevertheless, I approached the preaching moment with great anticipation. We continued our 2 Corinthians series, and I preached a message from chapter 4:1-6.  The message was entitled, "Motivation for Ministry". Here's the outline:

1.  Value of Mercy (1)

2.  Validity of Ministry (2-5)

3.  Victory of the Master (6)

God really blessed the exposition of the text!  I thank God for the wonderful privilege and awesome responsibility of preaching His Word.  I am already excited and anxiously waiting for next week, so I can preach again!

Well, its time for me to go for now. I must start sermon preparation and Bible Study.  I also have a few meetings on this week as well as my coaching responsibilities for the Washington High School Track Team, who are preparing for their 1st meet of the season on this Saturday.  They are well prepared and they work very hard,s o I know they will do well. God Bless you and keep you is my prayer!

The Content of our Confidence

Greetings,

It is always a pleasure of mine to communicate with you in this fashion.  The past 2 weeks have been incredible!  On last Friday, we traveled down to Bloomington, Illinois for my youngest son Deonne to compete in the AAU National Indoor Tack and Field Championships.  I am pleased to announce that Deonne finished 5th in the nation in the 400m dash and 7th in the nation in the 200m dash! I forgot to mention one important factor. He ran injured and still did very well! I am very proud of him.

The meet was not over until Sunday, so I was not able to attend any of our Sunday Morning services. I was told that they went very well.  I want to thank Rev. Terry Tate for preaching in my stead.  I was also told by some of the congregation that I was missed. That made me feel good to know that there are some people who genuinely care about you.  We rushed back to South Bend because we had a Deacon Ordination service at 4pm. It was a very close call but we  made it!  The Ordination service went very well and the candidate passed with flying colors. Congratulations Deacon Cory Brazier. He is a young man on fire for God and has a passion for the youth. I look forward to working with him in ministry. 

This past Lord's Day was a day of rejoicing! I was unable to attend Early Morning Prayer Service, but I know it went very well.  I taught the New Members Class while Sunday School was going on and it was a treat for me to teach our new members. 

Morning Worship started out with a bang! Our Deacons really ushered in the Spirit of the Lord in the Devotion Service.  The Music Ministry kept the fire going and Rev. Derick Buggs added another log in the fire during Altar Prayer.  It was getting close to preaching time and all I was thinking was, " I hope I don't mess this up." I approached the preaching moment with great anticipation.  I preached a message from 2 Corinthians 3:1-6, entitled, "The Content of our Confidence".  Here's the outline:

1.  Confidence cannot be based on Human Approval (v. 1-3)

2.  Confidence cannot be based on Heartfelt Ambition (v.4-5a)

3.  Confidence can only be based upon a Heavenly Appointment (v.5b-6)

God blessed the exposition of this passage! I feel as though preaching and teaching in the same passage on Sunday and Wednesday is helping to strengthen our congregation. 

Well, it's about time for me to go for now. I'm in preparation for our Wednesday in the Word Services.  I look forward to talking with you again real soon! God Bless and keep you is always my prayer.

The God of all Comfort

Greetings Everyone,

It has been over a year since I have posted a blog entry. This past year has been a season of severe tests, trials and ministry challenges that have taken me through the full range of emotions from extreme depression to overflowing joy. I can honestly say now without a doubt that trials not only come to strengthen you, but they also come to strip you!  Sometimes there are some things in our lives that God wants to move in order to make us more like Him, and sometimes He uses chaos and calamity to achieve those ends.  I am now living the words of the famous song by Marvin Sapp, "I'm stronger, I'm wiser, I'm better, so much better!!!  Thank you Lord for bringing me through!!

This past Lord's Day proved to be a great day of corporate worship at BBC.  Our day started at 8am at our Early Morning Prayer Service.  I  really love this service.  The saints that participate in this service play an integral part in setting the tone for the entire day.  I am always encouraged to hear the people of God praying for the well being of their pastor.  the service was very warm as the people of God offered up their petitions.

Morning Worship was well attended in spite of the snow that started falling that morning.  We were blessed our Music Ministry. There have been some changes to our Music Ministry that has really help to lift the overall quality of the music ans well as the choir.  I may be biased, but we have one of the best choirs on earth and it is a joy to hear them sing!  They make the preaching moment easier to approach.  I was excited and ready to preach and the people were ready to hear a word from the Lord.  I am experimenting with something new for me, and that is teaching on Wednesday and preaching on Sunday from the same book.  I preached from 2 Corinthians 1:3-9.  The message was entitled, "The God of all Comfort".  Here's the outline:

1.  God comforts us because it is His Divine Character (3).

2.  God comforts us so that we may be Devoted to our Commission (4-7).

3.  God comforts us so that we may Develop Confidence in Him (8-9).

God truly blessed the preaching moment!  I am truly amazed at how God orchestrates corporate worship to send out a single message.  Throughout the day at BBC, from Early Morning Prayer through 11am worship the focus had been on people being comforted! Praise God for people being sensitive to the voice and move of God!

Later on, I would need some of that same comfort.  I am a die hard Chicago Bears fan! The only thing that was worse than watching them lose to the Green Bay Packers was watching the win the Super Bowl!  As a football fan, it was a very good game.

Well it was good communicating with you on today and I look forward to blogging again real soon!  I promise it wont be another year before you hear from me again!  I want to thank all of my readers and those from "The Blogging Bunch" for encouraging me to continue in this avenue of ministry and for praying me through my season of storms!  God Bless You!!!

Sunday Summary

Greetings Blogosphere!!

This is the day that the Lord has made! I will rejoice and be glad in it!! This past Lord's Day was an awesome experience in the Lord! I was not feeling my best at all, but the saints at BBC prayed me through. Our topic for Early Morning Prayer was "Walking in Love". The service was very high and there was expectancy in the air! I got a real good feel that the people of God were expecting God to do something great!

From devotion to the benediction the saints worshipped the God of their salvation. The choir really blessed our hearts with songs of Zion! As I stated earlier, I was not feeling my best, but I was really expecting God to use me in a mighty way. God desires to get the glory out of our lives and sometimes He has to move us out of the way so that He can use us.

I approached the preaching moment with great anticipation and expectancy! We continued in or series on "The Word of God" taken from Psalm 119. This week, the message was from verses 9-16. The message was entitled, "Washing with the Word". I only had 2 points but here's the outline:

1. Delight in the Word
A. Heed (9)
B. Hold (10)
C. Hide (11-12)

2. Duty to the Word
A. Tell (13)
B. Treasure (14-15)
C. Try (16)

God really blessed the exposition of this passage!! This series on the Word of God has breathed new life into our church family. I believe that a serious spirit filled revival of the saints has started and I look forward to watching God transform the lives of many!! I was very elated to see a young man that had been visiting for several weeks, give his life to the Lord as a Candidate for Baptism!! God is truly worthy to be praised!!

Well now I am off to a week full of meetings and readings, along with all other pastoral preparations. I will ask for your prayer for CURE. It is the organization that I help to oversee. We are engaging ourselves in study circles to see what God wants us to do about institutional racism. I know this sounds like an impossible task, but we believe that " We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us!" Be Blessed!!!

Sunday Summary

Greetings all in the Precious Name of Jesus the Christ! We had an awesome time in the Lord at BBC this past Lord's Day. Our Day started as normal with our Early Morning Prayer Meeting. Our Hospitality Ministry is in charge of prayer for the month of January. The topic was endurance. The prayers were fervent and much appreciated! This ministry of prayer has really been the glue of our church and I thank God for the diligence of the prayer warriors. I stand to tell you that a few people can really make a difference.

We were blessed this past Lord's Day with songs from our Male Chorus and they really ushered in a spirit of praise. I was really excited about preaching this series on the Word of God. I believe it will once again prove God's Word when He said that His word will not return to Him void, but will accomplish that for which He sent it! I am excited about the fruit that will come as a result of a people falling in love again with His Word!!

I approached the preaching moment with great enthusiasm! I preached a message from Psalm 119:1-8, entitled, "The wonder of the Word" Here's the outline:

1. The Word will make you Delightful

2. The Word will make you Devout

3. The Word will make you Diligent

God really blessed the exposition of this text! This will prove to be a busy week as I have made the decision to finish my education! I had 3 classes on yesterday and they were delightful, but I have tons of homework to do, so off I go. Pray for me as I try to find balance to my schedule again! I will begin posting Wednesday in the Word again hopefully on tomorrow!!

Sunday Summary

It was a pleasure to be in the Lord's presence this past Lord's Day. Unfortunately for me, I did not make Early Morning Prayer Service, due to the fact that my grandparents were in town. It brought me great joy to bring the New Year in with them.

I am always excited about the 1st Sunday of the year. To me in represents the start of a new opportunity. There was so much excitement and expectation in the atmosphere that you could almost cut it with a knife. Our numbers were down due to over a foot of snow, but the spirit was high!

The choir blessed us in song and I was really ready to preach. I approached the preaching moment with great anticipation! I began a new series entitled, "Building on the Word of God". I introduced this series from the book of Nehemiah 8:1-6. The sermon was called, "We want the Word". Here's the outline:

1. Hunger for the Word (V.1)

2. Hearing of the Word (V. 2-4)

3. Honoring of the Word (V.5)

4. Heeding to the Word (V.6)

God really blessed the exposition of this passage and I was encouraged by several of our members that this is what will get us to the place that God has for us. Several of them told me that their prayer for the year was that they would get into the Word of God more this year. God always has a way of confirming His Word for His people. I can't wait to preach the next sermon in this series. This Sunday we will be sharing from Psalm 119:1-8. I ask for your prayers for this series. God Bless and keep you.

Sunday Summary

Greetings Everyone!!!

I want to start this post off by thanking everyone who has contacted me about my absence from the blogosphere. Names are too numerous for me to call and I don't want to leave anyone out, so thank you all! I really am overwhelmed about the concern for me and my well doing from people all over this country who have only met me through this venue. I am glad to be back with the "Blogging Bunch"!!

Today we had wonderful worship in BBC. This day started off with our Early Morning Prayer Service. For the month of December our youth are in charge of prayer meeting. It is truly a joy to see young people engaged in prayer meeting. I believe that we are building a foundation with these young people that will hold them and make them mature Christians. The prayers were fervent and faith filled as the people of God poured out their hearts to Him.

Today being 2nd Sunday, we were blessed with songs of Zion from our Male Chorus. I was lifted by seeing these men sing praises to God! I was very excited about preaching today and could not wait to get the message that the Lord gave me out of me. Today, I understood what Jeremiah said when he described God's Word being in his heart as a burning fire shut up in his bones! Don't get me wrong, I love, cherish, and am excited EVERY opportunity I have to preach, but today, I was really fired up about speaking on behalf of God. I preached a message today from Isaiah 9:6 entitled, "The Gift that keeps on giving". Here's a brief synopsis of the message:

The Gift that keeps on giving was:

1. Sensible

The text says, "For unto us a child is born". This made it a sensible gift. Our Messiah came to us and lived among us as a real human being. He felt pain, rejection, frustration, headache, heartache, and everything else that we feel. What good would it be to have a Messiah that could not identify with what we go through everyday? This is why it is a sensible gift. The Bible say in Hebrews 4:15, "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin."

2. Spiritual

It goes on to say, "unto us a son is given." In normal Hebrew dialect when a son was introduced, he was introduced by the name of his father. In this instance, it was left out, not by accident, but to let us know that this Son is the Son of God! John records that we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth. He was given to us, or should I say He was given for us. The bible declares that Jesus was a Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. Jesus came to fix the spiritual problem with man. Our sin alienated us from God and Jesus became the propitiation or intermediary between sinful humanity and a Holy God. Romans says that He came for sin and condemned sin in the flesh. Jesus did not come for our creature comforts; clothes, cars, cribs, and cash, He came to rid us of sins penalty and power, and when He comes back, He will remove us from sins presence!! Glory to His name!!

3. Substantial

The last part of the verse says, "and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. All of the earthly kings whether good or bad could not handle all of the responsibility of ruling and reigning. They would forget some things or let some things go undone, but Jesus ca "shoulder" all of the responsibility!! This means that there is nothing in your existence that Jesus cannot handle!! If I were preaching now, I would say, "Is there anybody here that knows He can handle it? Have you any rivers that seem uncrossable? Have you any mountains, that you can't tunnel through? God specializes in things that seem impossible, and He can do what no other power can do!!!" I closed the message on the last part of the verse describing His name or His attributes.

God really blessed the exposition and presentation of this text. I thank God for giving me the power and passion to preach His Word!!

If I don't communicate with you anymore before Christmas, I want to wish from my family to your a very Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year. May God richly bless you is my prayer!!!!

Wednesday in the Word

We witnessed a wonderful Wednesday in the Word!! Both of our Bible Study classes were well attended and the saints were eager and excited to learn! Our Sunday School Teachers Meeting went very well. I am excited about this teaching setting because the teachers are so excited about learning. The lesson was entitled, "The Promise of Life", taken from Deuteronomy 30:1-10. This was a very interesting lesson the showed the sovereignty and graciousness of God.

In the first 5 verses we see RESTORATION. I found it interesting that Moses was speaking of God restoring them to the land God had promised them before they actually inhabited it. Even with repeated warnings and promises of blessing for obedience and cursing for disobedience, the Israelites still did not follow the commands of God. In spite of their inadequacy and inability to follow God, God still had a plan for them! I get joy every time I think about this, because there are times why I don't do right, but God doesn't forfeit His plan because I have flaws in my person!! God tells them that if they return, He will restore them! What I really like about this is, God says that He will go as far as it takes to bring them back! Someone other than me has that testimony, that He came a long way to rescue me! Glory to His name!! God is in the restoration business. I don't know why we want god to be mad all of the time and get everyone as soon as they mess up. Do we forget that we mess up as well? God is looking to restore us.

Next the lesson talks about REPENTANCE. The section speaks of loving God with all of their being. To repent means to turn from sin and turn to God. I believe that many only have one step down. It's not enough to turn from sin, you must turn to God. A turn from sin without a turn toward God, creates legalism. Unfortunately, we have many in the church that are loyal to legalism, but not in love with the Lord!

The last section talks about REPLENISHMENT. Once God restores them and they repent God said that He would bless everything that they touched, their family, food, and farm would be blessed and plentiful. He also says that He would take pleasure in doing so. God loves to bless His people and do good to them!! Who wouldn't serve a God that loves to restore and to replenish?

In Bible Study we covered verses 16-21 of chapter 10 in Romans and verses 1-10 in chapter 11. This was a great lesson for our church . This lesson deals with God's dealing with Israel, Israel rejecting the Gospel, God extending the Gospel to the Gentiles, and God's future plan for His chosen covenant people. Where we really dropped anchor last night was in chapter 11 :1-4. Paul clearly states that God has not cast away Israel. Can I ask a question? If God has not cast away Israel and he still has a plan for them, how can the church be New Israel as I have heard it called so many times?

Paul gives 2 examples of why God is not through with Israel. First is a personal example. Paul says I know that God is not done with the Jews because he is one. Paul says, if Jesus can save him, He can save anyone! We need to apply this truth to our existence. No one is so good that they don't need to be saved and no one is so bad that they cannot be saved! If God saved me, He can save anyone!! The next example is one from a prophet. After a great victory on Mount Carmel against the prophets of Baal, Elijah receives word that Jezebel is going to kill him and he takes off running for his life. God asks him what is doing here. Elijah's answer is both anxious and arrogant. Look at what he says. 1 Kings 19:14 (KJV) And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away. God responds by saying. 1 Kings 19:18 (KJV) Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him. He tells Elijah that he is not the only one who is still serving. We need to take this to heart. Many people have the idea that if they don't do it, it wont get done. If you prescribe to this idea, I tell you what I want you to do, die and see if things continue to roll on. This is why I say it is a privilege to be in the service of the Lord. God don't need us, but Thank God that He chooses to use us!! God Bless!!

Sunday Summary

This past Lord's Day is one that we at BBC shall not soon forget!! The power of God was manifest from beginning to end. I was not at Early Morning Prayer, but I am positive that the intercessors played a significant role in happenings of Sunday. I know that they bathed all of us in prayer and it was definitely felt.

Morning Worship started off on fire. Our Deacons Ministry really set the tone in the Devotional Service. The Mass Choir really blessed us with their ministry and took the service even higher! We felt the Glory Cloud fall in the place!! At this point, I pondered whether I should preach or should we just continue to praise. I was compelled by God to preach and I am so glad that I obeyed the command of God!

I preached a message from Psalm 91:1-3. The message was entitled,, "A story worth Telling". I argued that for too long many of us have been telling the wrong story. We have been telling about our mistakes, mess ups, and mis haps, instead of our miracles and makeovers! The story that we should all be telling includes these few things:

1. Devotion
A. Presence
B. Protection

2. Declaration
A. Provision
B. Praise

3. Deliverance
A. Power
B. Peace

God truly blessed the preaching of this text! I believe this is just what our church needed and I feel the winds of change beginning to blow on the hearts of the people. There was great celebration over the Word of God!! Bless His Holy name!!!

This did not conclude our day of worship. We traveled to Dowagaic, Michigan to Second Baptist Church to celebrate in worship with them for their 142 Church Anniversary! This was a blessed occasion for a church that has such a rich history and I am honored to have been asked to be the preacher. I preached from their theme which was, "A foundation that cannot be moved" Luke 6:48-49. Here's the outline:

1. Advantage of Selection

2. Assurance of Storms

3. Ability to Stand

4. Abruptness of Shattering

God blessed this preaching moment as well. Thank God for His Word!!! However, my day ended on a very sad note as I had to travel to Gary for a wake of one of my childhood friends, Lewis Eldridge or "Two Ton" as we called him. On last Tuesday he was brutally murdered in front of his home washing his car. I cannot express how tired I am of burying young men and women due to gun violence! THIS HAS TO STOP!!!! This is why I am so passionate about our Gun Buy Back! I am really looking forward to doing the next one, but in the mean time, let's strive to make our communities safer places!

Well, that's enough for now. I have really enjoyed my off day today to refresh and refuel for this busy week ahead filled with preaching, teaching, and meeting!! I am off to do tomorrow the same thing I do everyday, try and take over the world for Jesus Christ!! God Bless!!

Wednesday in the Word

We had a wonderful Wednesday in the Word. Both Bible Study classes were well attended. I really enjoy the teaching ministry of our church. It is truly a joy and a privilege to teach people that are hungry for the word of God!

Our Sunday School lesson was taken from Deuteronomy 6:1-9,20-24. The lesson was entitled, Obeying God's Commands. This was a very good lesson with valuable insight for us on today. The lesson begins with the TARGET. Moses stated that the Lord wanted to tell them some things before they went into the Promised Land. The 1st target or the aim of this is that the children of Israel might fear the Lord. This word fear does not mean to cower, but to have reverential respect or to be in awe. I believe that one of the problems with our worship is that there is no more awe of God We have relegated God to formulas and He is so much more than that!! The 2nd aim was so that the children of Israel may have long days upon the earth. Long life is a blessing from God. Obeying His commands causes us to make proper choices in life which is one step to long life. proper choices along with the Power of Christ guarantees us long life!!

After the target was given, the next step was to TEACH. They were instructed to teach their children and their grandchildren. The instructions were to teach them at every available opportunity! This is a lost art today! Most families don't sit down and enjoy a meal together anymore where teaching time could occur. Some children are being raised by X Box, PS 3, My space, Facebook, MTV, BET, VH1, or some other media source. We as a society need to be more involved in the upbringing of this next generation, especially those of us who are the Body of Christ! Someone once said that the church is only one generation from extinction. We must return to teaching the younger people the ways of the Lord!! It is the only way that they will be saved!

The final step in this lesson was to TESTIFY. One day someone will ask about the reasons that we do what we do. This is testimony time!! We need to be able to tell them what God has done for us and as a result of what He's done, this is what we do!! I challenged the class about the meaning or purpose of some things that we do in our house of worship. I told them someone is going to ask them and they need to know and if none of us know, then why are we still doing it?

In Bible Study we continued our series in Romans 10. We looked at verses 5-19. This was a powerful lesson! Being that I am trying to move the church into an evangelistic methodology, I really hammered in on verses 14-15. The context is Israel, but we made relevant application for us today. We know from our own experience that if we call on the Lord, He will save us. This is true for anyone. However, how can someone call on someone that they don't believe in? How can they believe in someone that they haven't heard about. How can they hear about Him of we don't tell them? How can we tell them, except we have been given a commission to do so? We all have a commission to tell people about the Good News of Jesus Christ, Matthew 28:19-20!!

That's enough for now, because my soul is getting happy!! Got more work to do here at the office, so I will blog later!! God Bless!!!!

Wednesday in the Word

Today we had a wonderful Wednesday in the Word!! The day started off with our Noon Day Bible Class. Class was well attended and the dialogue was dynamic! I taught the same lesson in both classes, so I will give you a synopsis shortly.

These past few Sunday School lessons have really been a blessing to both the pastor and people of BBC! Today's lesson was taken from Numbers 20:1-13. This is a great story with valuable insight for leaders everywhere. Moses and Aaron had led the people to Kadesh. When they arrived there, the congregation of the Lord began to complain and criticize the leadership because of a lack of water. You would think that after all of the miracles the people experienced, they would not have complained, but this is exactly what they did. In essence they blamed their lack of faith of Moses and Aaron's ability to lead. Why do people put their inadequacies on you?

Moses really blessed me with his next move. Remember, not only is Moses frustrated because of the murmuring of the people, but he is also grief stricken over the death of his sister. However, I like what he does, verse 6 says, "And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they fell upon their faces: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto them." When things got too much to bear, they removed themselves from the situation. This is good advice for all of us. There are times when we need to remove ourselves from the presence of the assembly to get a fresh perspective on what is going on. Now they didn't just remove themselves from the assembly and take a break. When they left, they went into the tabernacle and fell on their faces. Getting into God's presence gives us a renewed spirit and a refreshed mind.

God tells Moses to take the rod and gather the people and speak to the rock and it shall give water to the people and their beasts. Moses takes the rod, gathers the people and then makes mistake #1. He begins to speak to the people. God did not instruct him to tell the people anything. He tells them to listen up and calls them rebels and then makes mistake #2, he suggests that he and Aaron are the the ones that are performing this miracle, and then he makes mistake #3, he strikes the rock not once, but twice. Moses allowed his frustration to get the best of him, and that caused him to act out of the will of God. How many of us, have allowed our feelings to make us act contrary to our character and the codes and conduct of Christ? The amazing thing is, even though Moses acted wrong, the people still got the water that they desired. Thank God that our problems don't prevent God from providing for His people!

God then tells Moses and Aaron that because of their disobedience and their failure to sanctify God in the presence of the people that they would not be permitted to enter into the Promised Land. You mean after all they had been through with these people grumbling, complaining, murmuring, challenging, disrespecting, and lack of faith and trust in God, that it was Moses and Aaron that didn't get to go in? This tells us that we cannot be driven by our emotions and feelings because they can cause us to miss out in the very thing that God has promised us. What is an even bigger slap in the face is that the people who caused all of the emotions still got to go in. We are to be God driven and not emotion driven!!

Bible Class was really off the chain! Today we looked at Romans 9:30 - 10:4. This was a very interesting portion of scripture. I was always used to hearing this Romans 10 passage read during revival services, but never took the time to do an in depth study on it. Wow, I've been really missing out! This passage is packed with powerful and pertinent points! Israel did not have full understanding of God's provided righteousness through Jesus Christ. As a result of this, they went about to establish their own righteousness. This is where many Christians find themselves today. God's provided righteousness requires nothing of us but to believe it. This confuses many people as they seek a works based religion that will allow them to have badges of honor on their chest. When seeking your own righteousness, you cannot or will not submit yourself unto God's righteousness.

The last verse we studied says that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness. The Law did not and could not of itself provide righteousness before God for us. But Christ fulfilled the Law by keeping it perfectly during His sinless life and then gave His life in payment for the penalty of sin and the broken Law. The Law then pointed to Him as the Source of the God-provided righteousness it could not supply. So in closing, ITS ALL ABOUT JESUS!!! It got real hot in church right then and I had a Sunday Morning felling on a Wednesday night!! It is our job to lift Jesus up for all to see. How to reach the masses, men of every birth. For an answer, Jesus gave the key. He said and I, if I be lifted up from the earth, I'll draw all men unto me!!

I forgot to add one thing to my laundry list for the week. Yard Work!! UGH!!!!!! God Bless!!!

Sunday Summary

Today was a great day of worship! I arrived at church right before Sunday School. I had the opportunity to visit all of the classes on today. I was encouraged and strengthened by most of what I heard. As I viewed one class, I was troubled by a spin that was put on the lesson that was not there, but encouraged because the teacher addressed it very well. This means I must work harder in teacher's meeting. The Lesson today was from Numbers 14. This was a fantastic and an encouraging lesson for me. I really like how Moses in spite of all of his opposition by people who had not too long ago sang his praise, prayed for them as God wanted to eliminate them for their rebellion and their wanting to get a new leader to go back to Egypt. I really enjoy Sunday School, especially teaching it.

Today, we were blessed with songs from our Male Chorus. I have some men that have really stepped up their role in corporate worship! To God be the Glory!! I did not preach today. We were blessed in the preaching moment by Rev. Jordan Key from Michigan. He is an associate minister of Christ Temple Baptist Church and the son in law of one of our most faithful and dedicated members, Sis. Daisy Barnes. It was a blessing to hear him preach and he did an awesome job! He preached from Jonah 1:1-3. The message was entitled, "A ship headed in the wrong direction". This was a timely message that was a blessing to the people of God.

This was about it as far as worship went on today. I ask for your prayers as this week will prove to be a busy one. I have meetings that begin on tomorrow, there is a revival that I wanna support at Macedonia MBC, hosted by Pastor Ray E. Owens, where the guest evangelist is Pastor Rickey Harvey, Bible Study and sermon preparation for this coming Sunday, as well as an IMA meeting this weekend. My mind has been flooded with various thoughts that I've been meaning to write down. Unfortunately many of them have since escaped me, but on this week, I will attempt to blog about some of these discussions. Be Blessed!!!

Sunday Summary

This Lord's Day has proven to be one that I won't soon forget! Has anyone ever had a day of worship that seemed to be tailor made to your needs? At Early Morning Prayer Service, the topic of today was forgiveness. The prayers were fervent, the spirit was high, and it really helped to lift me up. I thank God for this time of corporate prayer. I feel like the songwriter when he said, "What a privilege it is to carry everything to God in prayer!

I really needed God to show up in a mighty way in worship today. Sometimes we all can get in a routine where things become mundane and stale. I needed to feel a move of God on this morning, and God did not disappoint. Our mass Choir did a tremendous job of setting the tone for worship. The last selection that they sang was, "Incredible God" and this really lifted the congregation into a spirit of praise. It was prime preaching ground now.

I preached a message from 1 Peter 5:10. This is a favorite passage of mine that has brought me through many of the storms in my life. However, this was the first time that I preached an entire sermon from this passage. The message was entitled, Reasons for Rejoicing. Here's the outline:

1. Commission

A. Sufficiency of the caller
B. Station of your calling

2. Condition

A. Severity of your suffering
B. Span of your suffering

3. Cause

A. Service
B. Shape

God really blessed the exposition of this passage! I thank God for His Word. This passage once again has moved me from looking at my circumstances to looking at my Christ! To God be the Glory!

This evening, our Mother's and Deaconess Ministry celebrated their Annual Day on today! Our special guest was Pastor H. Gregory Haygood and the Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church of South Bend. Pastor Haygood is a writer for the Sunday School Publishing Board and a tremendous preacher! I was excited for him to be with us on today!

It's amazing how the Lord works, especially when He wants to confirm or establish a Word in His people. You've already read what I preached, Pastor Haygood came this evening and preached from 1 Thessalonians 5:16, which simply says, "Rejoice Evermore". He entitled this message, "A short message that goes a long way". I wont post his outline, but let me be the first to say that his sermon was a walk off grand slam!! I thank God for his ministry! He serves as a mentor to me and several other young pastors in the area, and today he really encouraged me.

I have great anticipation about this upcoming week. My youngest son, Deonne and the rest of the family are traveling to Des Moines, Iowa to watch him run in the AAU Nationals! I am really happy and proud as a father because this is only his 1st year running. God has really blessed him with great ability. I ask for your prayers this week for him and our safe travel. I am also asking for prayer for BBC as this week is Vacation Bible School.

Seasons

Summer happens to be one of my favorite seasons. I love to hear the children playing, see people riding their bikes, and others just out enjoying the weather. As delightful as summer is, there are also some negative aspects, such as heat stroke, an increase in crime and violence and those dreaded mosquitoes!

i guess it is safe to say that every season has some ups and downs that accompany it. Solomon said in Ecclesiates 3:1-8 ESV "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace. Whatever the season is, you will experience both aspects of it. You cannot truly know peace until you've been in war!

Recently, the Lord has placed me in a season of promotion. I don't want to list all that has happened at the risk of bragging or sounding arrogant, but I can sum it up by saying that God has been good to me! He has done much more that I deserve, can take credit for, or even expected, and for that I am truly grateful! However, I failed to remember that there are 2 sides to every season. With advancement comes adversity. What is so troubling about this is that sometimes the adversity comes from those you expected to be happy with your advancement. This is the place that I find myself in today. I know some of you reading may be experiencing similar struggles such as I am, so that's the reason I am writing , to encourage you as well as myself. We can become so frustrated in these times that we feed our haters and give them more fuel with which to fight us with.

When Sinbad and his sailors landed on one of their tropical islands, they saw high up in the trees coconuts which could quench their thirst and satisfy their hunger. The coconuts were far above the reach of Sinbad and the sailors, but in the branches of the trees were apes. Sinbad and his men began to throw stones and sticks up at the apes. This enraged the monkeys and they began to seize the coconuts and hurl them down at the men on the ground. That was just what Sinbad and his men wanted. They got the apes so frustrated that the apes would gather their food for them. So many times, we feed our foes when we fall into frustration!

Many times when we face these things, we tend to look introspectively and try to find a reason for the present predicament. However, I have come to discover through the Word of God, that many times, you will suffer adversity just because God has advanced you. Joseph didn't get thrown in the pit until his father gave him a coat and he had a dream that he would be advanced. David didn't have problems with Saul until he was anointed the next king of Israel. Nehemiah didn't have problems with Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem, until he was given authority to go and rebuild the wall. Daniel didn't have problems until he was promoted as one of the administrators over the kingdom, and the list goes on and on.

So the question becomes, what do you do?The answer is simple, but often times does not seem sensible. You continue to do what God has advanced you to do! Success or even perceived success has enemies. You can't stop being successful because you have people that don't like it. Don't throw away God's appointment for man's approval! If God has placed you somewhere or in some position and you are facing opposition, continue to do what God placed you there to do. Joseph went on through adversity to become prime minister of Egypt. David went on to become Israel's great king and the apple f God's eye Nehemiah finished the wall. Daniel went on and laid down on a lion!!

You must always remember that some people are haters and there is absolutely nothing you can do to change that. Actually you must let people be who they are. Haters must hate, just like preachers must preach, and singers must sing. It's who they are. Like a popular Gatorade commercial, I must ask, "Is it in you?"

God has advanced you for a reason. He didn't place you where you are for the haters to take you out or make you give up what He has blessed you with. He placed you there because He knew you could handle the haters and ultimately He wants to advance you THROUGH your adversity!

So in this season, I encourage you to stand strong, and always remember, seasons come and seasons go! God Bless!!!!

Sunday Summary

Greetings Everyone

It has been a very long time since we have communicated in this fashion It has been an extremely busy season for me. Let me try and catch you up on a little bit. The Gun Buy Back was a tremendous success! There were 175 guns collected. Many of which were illegal to own. There are some who say that these don't work, but I beg to differ. Most of the weapons used in violent crimes are weapons taken from home invasions from people who have not properly secured them. This was not and was never intended to be an anti gun movement, but it is an anti violence movement. We even had parents to bring guns that they found in their sons room. There were guns turned in that were taken from people who were intoxicated at the time. There were guns that were taken from underage children, so this was a much needed step in the right direction to help bring an end to violence in the community.

This past week, I was privileged to attend The National Baptist Convention Congress of Christian Education, that was held in Detroit, Michigan. This was a wonderful congress! I had an opportunity to learn some valuable information that will be a blessing to our church and community. I attended the Moderator's Workshop. This class was taught by one of my mentors, Dr. Cato Brooks Jr. as well as Dr. Clifton Rhodes, and Dr, Green Davidson.

I was also fortunate to attend, "Generation Next". This was held at the historic New Bethel Baptist Church, where Dr Robert Smith is the pastor This was 3 nights of preaching by some of the country's finest young preachers such as; Rev. Sedric Veal, Rev. Clinton McFarland, Rev Marcus Davidson, Rev Clifford Mayes, Rev. Elliot Ivey, and Rev. Bertrand Bailey! These men of God really preached out of their souls. I was blessed to witness such a plethora of proclamation!

After all of that preaching including day time sessions and Late Night, it is needless to say that I was ready to preach at BBC on this morning! I arrived at Early Morning Prayer early this morning. I could not wait to get this day of public corporate worship started. This morning's topic was obedience. The prayers were fervent and filling and we felt the power of God come down and rest in the place!

I attended a portion of the adult Sunday School class and it was on fire as well. I could not wait until 11:00am worship started. Service was very high on today and I could not wait until the preaching moment. I approached the pulpit ready to tell anyone that would listen that Jesus can change their life! I preached the final message in the series, "You made a believer out of me". I preached today from John 11:39-45. The message was entitled, "A testimony from the tomb". Here's the outline:

1. Requirement for the miracle
A. Priority
B. Preparation
C. Protest

2. Raising by the Master
A. Prayer
B. Proclamation
C. Proof

3. Release of the man
A. Position
B. Pardon
C. Partnering

God really blessed the exposition of this passage on today! I thank God for His power and presence! It looks like I get a breather on this week and I plan to take full advantage of it. Pray for us as we refuel for the next phase of the " Conquest for Christ".