What Do You Believe?

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Sunday, December 7, 2025

Covington Missionary Baptist Church

Scripture for the Day: 2 Timothy 1:7 AKJV For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

2nd Scripture for the day: Habakkuk 2:14  AKJV For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.

Sermon:  What Do You Believe?

Good morning! Let us lift our hands in praise to the Lord our God!  Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! Do you love your neighbor? Do you love your pastor? Do you love our Lord Jesus Christ with all of your mind, your heart, your strength, and your soul? Holy Spirit you are welcome here today Sir. Rise up in us and shine forth on us. Raise your hands in praise. Can you feel a tingling in your fingers running down your arms. For me, that is the presence of the Holy Spirit in me. He actually emanates from your belly.

Here is a prophetic word from Prophet Robin D. Bullock, whom I follow and like very much. He gave this on October 9, 2025, during his program called The 11th Hour.   Although it is addressed to pastors, I believe that it applies to all of us, and so I share it here. Here is the link to the full broadcast: https://www.youtube.com/live/VpE911M_uaw?si=Abfao0C-GMf5Wi8t.

A Message to Pastors:

The greatest weapon that Satan has that he uses on the church is that he believes what the church won’t. For instance, if the church does not believe in the nine gifts of the Spirit, he does. The devil knows it’s true, so he takes what the church won’t believe and starts a religion out of it, and with it he creates a form of godliness, but it denies the power thereof. Once Satan finds out what you won’t believe, then he believes it, and now he’s ahead of you. This fallen, dark being has gotten ahead of you.

On this side of the page, we must believe the full Gospel. We must believe the extremities of God’s power. In Matthew, Chapter 3, when Jesus was being baptized, the Father declared, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” To be the Son of God declared with power would have to come with a lot of wild looking power: power like stones commanded to be made bread, angels given charge over Him to bear Him up, lest He even dash His foot against a stone, all the kingdoms of the world being under His dominion. Wild beasts wouldn’t hurt Him. Wild power, authority that would look ridiculous to the average person. The enemy needed to do what he had done with every religious leader of Jesus’ day. He had to find something about his position that Jesus wouldn’t believe, so he could set up a false religion about the Masiah. Remember, the enemy will believe what you won’t. So let’s believe the power of the Holy Ghost and say on this side of the page—like Jesus said in Saint John, Chapter 14, verse 30: “Hereafter, I will not talk much with you for the prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me.” The Amplified says, “No power over me, nor anything that he can use against me.” Let’s believe it all. Shalom and Shalom.

My question to all of you is:  What exactly do you believe when it comes to the scriptures? When someone asked Franklin Graham whether he believed in the Bible he said, “Yes, every word of it.”  I join him in that belief. We must believe that the Bible is the anointed Word of God….It’s very simple: 1. The Bible is the anointed Word of God. 2. The Bible is the Word. 3. Jesus is the Word made flesh. 4. All that we know about God, we know from the Bible. 5. When we gave our lives to Jesus, we were anointed with the Holy Ghost. As is written in

1 John 2:27 AKJV
But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.

The Holy Spirit is your teacher by virtue of your having been anointed by him when you gave your life to Jesus. I know this to be true, having witnessed it many times, even in the preparation of this sermon.

Hallelujah! Let’s praise the Lord and give Him all praise honor and glory for the amazing God that He is. Let us begin our Sunday with a look at the first of the 37 miracles that Jesus performed, this one at Cana of Galilee. Under the Holy Spirit’s guidance, I am going to go through each miracle to understand what Jesus is trying to teach us. It might take me a while, if I preach one Sunday a month, and I am ever so grateful that you all are along for the journey. I know that whatever I uncover on this side of Heaven only scratches the surface of what I will come to know in eternity.

John 2:1-11 AKJV

2 And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: 2 and both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. 3 And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. 4 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come. 5 His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. 6 And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. 7 Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it. 9 When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, 10 and saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now. 11 This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.

“And the third day”…does not this wedding foreshadow the marriage supper to which all of us who are born-again, spirit filled Christians will be invited? Our Father in Heaven is showing us here at the beginning what will be in the end. Recall this scripture:

Ecclesiastes 3:15 NKJV

That which is has already been, And what is to be has already been; And God requires an account of what is past.

We who are alive now are closer than mankind has ever been to the marriage supper. Are you ready? Have you given your life to our Lord Jesus? If not, I’ll do an altar call at the conclusion of the service, and you can do so then. Just because you have sat in church all your life, does not mean you are saved.  You have to believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, only then will you be saved. See Romans 10:9-10. AKJV.

In thinking about Cana of Galilee where this marriage supper takes place, I am struck by what “Cana” means. The Greek definition is “reed.”[1] Reeds generally are hollow, and you can blow through them. You can use them to fill….This brings to my poetic mind the image of God filling man with His breath, known in Hebrew as Ruach, literally the breath of God. The word Galilee in Greek means “ring” or “circle”[2] and so you have the image of a smaller circle within a larger one—looking at the reed within the circle—recalling man literally within God—as we were before the dawn of time—and this miracle of turning water into wine foretells the purification of man through Jesus’ blood. Water within the stone pots—here we go with another circular container—most definitely can symbolize man before the sanctification and redemption by Jesus shedding His blood for us at the cross. The number six is significant here, six being the number of man.

Jesus’ mother Mary in this scripture not only tells us to pay attention to this miracle here at Cana, but to all subsequent miracles whenever and wherever they occur. In that sense, she is a herald for all the miracles to come.[3] By Jesus asking this simple question, “Woman, what have I to do with thee?” He is actually subtly imploring us to pay attention.  To use a grammatical analogy, His rebuke is not only a comma, but an exclamation point! Hallelujah! After all, who rebukes his own mother?  Certainly not the spotless, sinless lamb of God.

Moving along, let us consider the command “Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast.”  The drawing out is the day of judgment wherewith we all must be called to account for our lives, and only those who have given their lives to Jesus, who have been purified by the blood of Jesus, will be considered good. The governor is our Father in Heaven, the ultimate judge. Hallelujah!

Now we come to the servants who play a key role in this feast. They are the heavenly host, even guardian angels, who bring the stone pots now containing the wine to the ruler of the feast. We are told: “When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;)” this would make sense, because the Father, after we are saved cannot see our sin. He has no memory of it, but the heavenly host, especially our guardian angels, see everything from the moment of our birth to the moment of our death.

Continuing on, consider the sentence, “Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse[.]” Our Heavenly Father is telling us here what is the fate of all those who are not saved. We begin life as a child, uncorrupted by the sins of the flesh, but ultimately that corruption sours us as it is the nature of the sin in our lives to compound. Not so with those who give their lives to Christ. Our spirit man is purified and becomes exactly like that of Christ. After all, in 2 Corinthians 5:17 AKJV, we are told,

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

The challenge for us during our lifetime is to bring our soul and our body in conformity with our spirit man. None of us is perfect and we know there was only one perfect man. Every man is composed of three things: a spirit, a soul and a body. Our soul is where corruption enters in if we give Satan an entry point.

The marriage supper at Cana is the first of Jesus miracles. The 37 miracles comprise four different types: miracles of nature, miracles of healing, miracles of exorcism and miracles whereby the dead are raised.[4] I put this first miracle in the first category: changing one substance into another. I know from many of Robin Bullock’s sermons that the miracles Jesus performs grow more and more complex during the course of his life.

This sermon began as a post for this Tuesday’s prayer group.  As I began to analyze John 2:1-11, I could not contain my enthusiasm. It might have been the hot chocolate I drank after dinner, but I couldn’t sleep.  I hope what I have written here resonates with you. I think that what I have uncovered here is one of what Robin Bullock calls “mysteries hidden in God.” When I originally contemplated writing about this miracle, I saw it as a daunting task. I prayed in the Holy Spirit (tongues) for Jesus to show me revelations through the power of the Holy Spirit, and He surely did. Those of you who remain skeptical about praying in tongues, look at what the Holy Spirit has revealed here. I am truly amazed and ever so thankful to Him. Initially, I saw some clues in the Reformation Study Bible that I have cited below, but suddenly these scriptures just spoke to me. I couldn’t write fast enough. I am sure there is more here, I just don’t have the time to discern it now. More than ever, I understand what is meant by the scripture 1 John 2:27 AKJV,

But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.

Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!

If you would like to come to the altar and give your life to Jesus, now is the time.  Simply repeat this verse with me:

Romans 10:9-10 AKJV

9 that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

And now let us say this simple prayer: Lord Jesus, come into my heart and cleanse me of all unrighteousness. Live in me. I give you my life. Take my life and do something wonderful with it to further your kingdom.

Now go forth and let the light of the Lord shine through you. Remember the anointing that Jesus gave you through the Holy Spirit is on you now and you can transfer it to through your every word, deed and action. You can pick up a glass at the restaurant where you are going to eat this afternoon and anoint it in the name of Jesus Christ. The anointing will stay there—no matter if the glass is washed 1000 times.

Thank you all.

[1] Bible Gateway

[2] Ibid

[3] The Reformation Heritage KJV Study Bible, p. 1512

[4] Ibid p. 1513

The Prodigal Son

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Sunday, November 16th, 2025

Covington Missionary Baptist Church

Scripture thought for the day: 2 Corinthians 5:7 (for we walk by faith, not by sight:) AKJV

Additional scripture: Psalm 37:4Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. AKJV

First, a little story. When we lived in Summit, we had a maid (That’s what they called a woman who worked as a housekeeper back then.) named Sadie Carter. After she died, I learned that she was from Troy, North Carolina, and at least in later years she attended Troy Missionary Baptist Church. She’s buried here in Troy, and if time permits, I hope to visit her grave. She was a lovely woman, filled with love for Jesus, and she had a deep love for all of us four children in the Bristol family. She never complained, and to my knowledge, she never missed a day due to illness. As a small boy, I distinctly remember her singing softly, “Je-sus, Je-sus, Je—sus” often while she worked. I needed a lot of care and attention when I was growing up, including multiple weekly visits to physical therapists and doctors some as far away as New York. Sadie took care of me as if I was her own—often accompanying me to the physical therapist. She was a true gem of a person. I cannot wait to meet her in Heaven.  Sadie’s memory and my love and respect for her has led me here to Covington Missionary Baptist Church.

Pastor Hewett and I have been talking on the phone for a number of years. I liked him from the first conversation. Yours is a small church, but a faithful one, and that’s what counts.  As is my custom, I’ll ask any in the congregation if you want to come forward and give your lives to Christ. In my experience, far too few churches give altar calls anymore, which make no sense to me. After all, everything begins and ends with Christ. Wouldn’t you agree? Recall this scripture:

Matthew 10:32 AKJV

Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.

On a profound, yet simple level, isn’t this what Sadie was doing every day when she would softly sing “Je-sus, Je-sus, Je—sus” while she was working? On any given day, she could be ironing, dusting or making lunch for me to take to school.  (Remember I was 5 years old.) I can show you the cut on the side of my right index finger I received when I tried to peel an apple. All the while, she was confessing His name before me and ensuring that Jesus would confess hers before His Father in heaven. I also like to think she was sowing a seed within me, one which would later sprout to the benefit of so very many whose names I don’t even know yet. Hallelujah!

“Before I get too far along, let me invite the Holy Spirit to be here with us. Holy Spirit rise up in me. Come out on me. Let me be a witness to Your glory. Holy Spirit you are welcome here today, Sir. Praise the Lord!”

Are you a Prodigal Son?

I don’t know about you, but my answer to that question would be a resounding yes.  I would have to admit my guilt. Caught red-handed. Guilty as charged. No use hiding my catalogue before God. I’d rather not go through the Ten Commandments.  I’ve broken every one, except maybe murder, unless you count horseshoe crabs and earthworms. My God knows me. He watched in horror as I committed every sin. Every single one.  My guardian angels probably had to turn their faces and cover their eyes innumerable times. To be sure, I am not proud of my blemished record. Only by Jesus’ grace given to me at the cross am I even able to stand before you and preach. In 2 Corinthians 5:21 the Word says, For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (AKJV) Can I get an Amen and a thank you Jesus on that?

Shall we explore The Parable of the Prodigal Son? Turn in your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke 15:11-32 wherein you might see yourself as one of the two sons. I most definitely find myself in the person of the younger son, the one who wasted his inheritance on riotous living. (Ask me what I was doing in Colombia, South America.) It’s only by the grace of God that I have anything now upon which to live. Thank you Jesus!

11 And he said, A certain man had two sons: 12 and the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. 13 And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. 14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. 15 And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. 16 And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. 17 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, 19 and am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. 20 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. 21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. 22 But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: 23 and bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: 24 for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.

25 Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing. 26 And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. 27 And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. 28 And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him. 29 And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: 30 but as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. 31 And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. 32 It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.

Here Jesus tells us about “a certain man.”  Those words always connote a specific historical reference. Most people assume that this reference refers to God the Father. I am no different. From there, I see the younger son as the current church, the Body of Christ in this day and age. Look at how we have squandered the gifts we were given! There have been at least six revivals  in the 20th Century; one of the last in the 1970s happened when I was younger. It touched me when I was 13 or 14. I remember a former sailing instructor named Trip who was caught up in that revival. The young girls followed him around, which made me quite jealous at the time. Looking back on him, you might say that he was a Jesus Freak. Now, I am one! I also remember a young man who approached me in a country clothing store Saniterian’s in Bucks County, Pennsylvania to tell me about Jesus. An imposing white concrete structure, it was the only local place to buy blue jeans and corduroys. Confused for a minute, I thought he was a friend of my next-door neighbor, Roger. I so remember his eyes. It’s like he knew me, and I knew him. I now realize that the Holy Spirit was in him and he had the anointing from Jesus.  I know, because I have that same anointing. I suspect that many of you have it also; although, you may not have known it until today. See 1 John 2:27: But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. (AKJV)  You can transfer this anointing permanently to any surface you touch. It’s in your speech, in your emails, in your phone conversations. Can I get an Amen on that?  Your touch can work in an unbeliever’s heart. Wow! That’s power directly from the Lord himself. Prophet Kat Kerr taught me about the anointing.  Back to the Prodigal Son.

Can’t you just see the younger son squandering the wealth he was given? He fell right into Satan’s trap, as I myself did. As the Bible reminds us in 1 Timothy 6:10 AKJV:
…the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.  Armed with his inheritance, the younger son abandoned his father, his brother, his family, thought only of himself and his pursuit of pleasure as he delved into reckless and loose living. His older brother didn’t mince words when he said, “he devoured your estate with immoral women.”  In polite conversation, my late father used to call them, “ladies of the evening.”  Not that either one of us ever visited with one; although I did have lunch with one without knowing what her profession was when I was in Colombia, South America. She kept saying, I have all afternoon. “Great, I thought, but I only invited you for lunch.”

Look at what the modern churches have done! They have abandoned the Holy Spirit, forced Him out and in a sense journeyed into a distant country, distant from the Father, almost like Hell, but not quite, as we still can repent and receive forgiveness. Meanwhile, the elder son who I think represents the Jews has continued to abide by the father’s teachings. Just like the Jews whom The LORD refers to in Exodus 32:9 as “a stiffnecked people.” (AKJV), the elder brother “was angry [with deep-seated wrath and resolved not to go in. Can you say stubborn? His father had to come out and to “plead with him.” Here we are in the last days and the Jews in Isreal have yet to recognize Jesus as the Messiah.

The essential lesson of the Prodigal Son is one of God’s mercy, of God’s forgiveness. We see the father as overjoyed that the son whom he thought was dead has returned. The son is repentant, and his father forgives him. When we gave our lives to Christ did not we repent of our sins and ask forgiveness of our Lord and Savior? Are we not told that the angels rejoice in heaven over the saving of one soul? Luke 15:10 Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth. (AKJV)

As I am an evangelical minister of the gospel, I would like to ask those of you who are not yet saved to come forward and give your lives to Christ. Before I do, let’s do something. Turn to you neighbor on the left and tell him or her that you love him or her. Do the same thing on the right. Now speak to the person behind you and tell that person that you love him or her. Last, but not least, lean forward and tell that person that you love him or her.  Since we have all just told each other that we love one another, none of you should have any fear about coming forward. If you do, you fear your neighbors’ judgement more than you fear Hell. Imagine that. Does that make any sense? Remember, “If the living knew what the dead know, every person on earth would be a follower of Jesus Christ.” I wish I could tell you who taught me that, but I don’t remember. The pastor who led me to Christ has a more memorable way of saying it, “When you die, you either fly or you fry.”

If you have not given your life to Christ, today is the day and now is the time.  How much time have you got? In the words of Johnathan Cahn a messianic jew, “One heartbeat.” If your heart should fail in the next minute or even later today, you’re lost, not just lost, but eternally lost. So come forward. If you don’t want to come forward, then stay in your seat and repeat this scripture with me:  Romans 10:9-10: that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (NKJV) If you’re not sure if you’re saved, then you haven’t given your life to Christ. If you want to be sure, then you come forward and give your life to Christ. If you’re worried about what other people will think if you come forward, then either you or the people who are watching you are concerned about the wrong things. Perhaps both! Once you’ve said that scripture, then say this simple prayer with me: “Lord Jesus! Come into my heart. Cleanse me of all unrighteousness. I repent of my sins. I make you the Lord of my life. Take my life and do something wonderful with it.” If you said that prayer and you meant it, then congratulations, you are a born-again-spirit filled believer in Christ. Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! The Holy Spirit has led you to Christ and now the Holy Spirit lives within you. The Holy Spirit, the Man of Fire, lives within you.

Before we close, let’s do one more thing. Why don’t you recognize the Holy Spirit who came to live inside you when you gave your life to Christ?  The Holy Spirit is literally the Spirit of God. The fact that He doesn’t have a voice, is because you haven’t yielded to him to give Him one. His language is that of tongues. Maybe you have relatives who can speak and pray in tongues. Maybe not. I’ll give you an example: (Pray in tongues.)

Repeat this prayer: “Lord Jesus I love you and I want to pray in the Spirit with the evidence of praying in tongues as the Spirit so moves me.” Now just open your mouth and move your tongue as you feel the Spirit rising up within you. Each of you will sound different. There is no right or wrong.  Hallelujah! That’s it!

Let me leave you with this scripture:

1 Peter 3:18 AKJV

For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit[.]

If you don’t yet know Him, if you haven’t given your life to Christ, I invite you to come forward. If your still nervous, see me after the service.

Thank you profoundly for this opportunity to share the gospel with you.  I feel like Sadie would be pleased that her little boy has finally come home.

May God richly bless you all!

Pirates

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With the advent of Pirates Weekend here on the island, I would like to comment.  It used to be a yearly tradition: About this time of year, hundreds of people bring their children to take part in the fun and festivities of this weekend. Toy swords and all sorts of pirate gear are sold. A real pirate ship usually sails over, guns blazing, and the pirates come ashore dressed in full regalia. I used to think that it was a wonderful event, but since I have come to Christ, I have a much different view. If you disagree, that’s your right, just consider what I have to say.

A while back, I saw the Jolly Roger hanging from the corner of the roof of a friend’s house, and I just want to point something out:  You’re certainly free to display that flag, but I’ll give you some reasons why you probably should take it down, burn it or throw it away.  If you see a skull and crossbones on a bottle, what does that mean?  “Poison.” If you were foolish enough to drink it, it could potentially harm you or even kill you. Dead. What do pirates do? They steal other people’s provisions, gold, ships, and more often than not, they imprison or kill the crew.  Pirates did this in the past and they do this now. Off the cost of Africa, they have been harassing shipping for centuries. The skull and crossed bones means something and it’s not warm and fluffy.

Take out your Bible and read John 10:10.  What does it say? Satan came to steal, to kill and to destroy:  The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. John 10:10 AKJV.  We might also add that unless they have any particular use for the ship that they plunder, pirates generally scuttle it: set it on fire and sink her. This is what they have done in the past; now, they just hold the ships for ransom. If your child wants a hero from days gone by, how about the brave unsung Marines who fought against those dangerous pirates?  

I know children think it’s cool to be a pirate, and they look up to them in some form, or at the very least, they are fascinated by them. The problem is this: When you fly a flag like the Jolly Roger, which is a symbol, you are essentially opening a demonic portal into your house where demons can enter and cause havoc and sickness in your life, even, ultimately, your death or the death of a member of your family.  Don’t believe that? What abut the American flag? Isn’t it a symbol of honor and pride in America? Men and women have fought and died for it. I would argue that men and women have not died for the Jolly Roger, but because of it. Some, and I am one of them, would say that the American flag is divinely inspired. Can you say that about the Jolly Roger? So if I were you, I would take the pirate flag down. It’s more than fantasy, it’s dangerous. Afterward, you might want to anoint your house with oil and raise the name of Jesus in the form of a flag.  Jolly Roger or not, you might want to anoint it anyway. The Bible says, lift up the name of Jesus and he will draw all men to him: And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. John 12:32 AKJV Our Lord Jesus would be an excellent role model for a child. Wouldn’t you agree?


Brown’s Chapel

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Welcome to Brown’s Chapel in Southport, North Carolina. It’s easy to find, almost directly across from the Ace Hardware store. This little church has a long and storied history, having been here in one form or another since 1879. Stories are told of grandfathers huddled around a pot bellied stove for warmth in winter and of the mighty presence of the Holy Spirit elevating congregants off the floor. Rest assured, the presence of the Holy Ghost still lingers.

I had driven by this church hundreds of times on my way to and from the Bald Head Island Ferry. I had seen a few cars with people often getting in and out of them both before and after services–always impeccably dressed– in the parking area and always wondered who went there and what services were all about. It’s an AME Zion church, a branch of Methodism, and you might say a close cousin of the Global Methodist Church. My ministry has kept me from being a regular attender, but whenever do drop in, I am always warmly welcomed as a member of the church family. They consider me one of them. I’ll take that compliment, thank you.

Hurricane Isaias was a relatively small hurricane as hurricanes go, but don’t tell that to the congregants of Browns Chapel. That nasty little storm, a category 1 hurricane, packed winds from between 74 and 95 miles per hour. According to the town of Oak Island, during that storm, the anemometer recorded a maximum sustained wind of 85 mph and gusted higher, evidently more than the steeple of Brown’s chapel could withstand. Driving by the church days after Isaias, I remember wondering what the strange wooden structure in the parking lot to the right of the church could be. It looked like a kids’ fort of some kind made of very old boards. During one of my passes, I looked up at the church and then I realized: The steeple! I was staring directly into the base of the steeple, which was lying alongside the church with the top pointing into the woods behind the church. As I recall, i drove around the block a few times at one point thinking about the tragic damage I had seen. The Holy Spirit was on me to help, and that I resolved to do.

Time was then the church, not the football stadium or the ballpark was the soul of the community. We looked to pastors–not Hollywood or television stars–for our spiritual guidance. God was our source and the Bible was His Word. We knew the Bible from our infancy, had it memorized. Many even learned to read from the Bible and no other book. Every home had a Bible; it was cherished and ever present. Go back a generation or two in my family and you might be asked to recite a Bible verse in front of your aunt or mother. Time was then the entire community would rally round Brown’s Chapel to make sure that their steeple would be put back in place and the church made good as new. Whatever the effort to resurrect Browns Chapel was, I knew that I wanted to be part of it, even lead it if need be, because I knew that this little church was the soul of the community that it served, and I wasn’t going to give the victory to Satan. He thought that he had scored a knock-out punch with Browns, but our Lord Jesus has a much bigger fist. To cite scripture for my inspiration, this passage has come to mind: Matthew 22:36-40:

Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (AKJV)

I put myself it their shoes. They confronted sheer devastation. The church fathers and mothers needed immediate help. Did they have insurance? Insurance we know is never enough. Who would come to their aid? I didn’t know whom to contact. If the church even had a phone or electricity, I was pretty sure the storm had knocked those out. Through a friend, I was eventually able to reach out to the pastor, Avery McAllister, and we met. A humble man, I liked Pastor Avery from the first. A short tour confirmed my worst fears: the steady rains of hurricane Isaias had thoroughly soaked the church and destroyed almost everything inside. Everything compromised had to go: carpets, pews, ceiling, even the floor was ultimately replaced. Examining one of the pews that was left behind in the fellowship hall, I could see that the water had delaminated the particleboard to which the upholstery had been fastened. Clearly this was going to be a long and major recovery for Brown’s Chapel.

Thankfully – and I give all honor praise, and glory to the Lord Jesus Christ – through the generosity of many, many people from all walks of life in Southport and beyond, the church was able to recover. It’s beautiful inside and will warm your heart to sit within. In the process of watching this recovery, I became friends with many of the congregants and enjoyed spending Sunday services at Brown’s Chapel on a regular basis, including Christmas and Easter, which church I found to be full of the light, life, joy, and the Spirit of the Holy Ghost. I would often have lunch with the pastor after services at Jersey Mike’s and on one occasion, we sat and talked for an hour or more about all matters gospel on a park bench by the Cape Fear River in Southport. I think we would have spent more time, had it not been for the necessity that he had to go home to his wife. I remember him saying to me, “My time here has been well spent.” It wasn’t my words, it was the presence of the Holy Ghost in our conversation. He always made time for me, even if that meant that he would meet me after serving communion to the shut-ins or be having two lunches on Sundays, one with me and one with his wife. He’s since been moved to a larger church and been given more responsibility. Pastor Corine Brown has taken the reigns at Browns, and she is both a firebrand and a delight.

The Holy Spirit has quickened the parable of the Good Samaritan to me in connection with this story of the resurrection of Brown’s Chapel. This is not to say that “I am great and look what I have done.” No. No. No. This is simply to say that there are times when we will confront the deep wounds that Satan has inflicted upon a person or a community and we must stop and with the help of almighty God assist in making things right. God is great and look what He has done.

Here is the parable in Luke 10:30-35: And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.  And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.  But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,  and went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. (AKJV)

As I boy, I spent my summers at an idyllic place called Point O’ Woods on Fire Island and many a Sunday staring at the beautiful stained glass window in the church at POW, as it is known, depicting the parable of the Good Samaritan, based upon the painting by that same name by the painter French painter Aimé Morot. If I remember nothing from any of the many children’s and adult sermons I heard, and I do not remember a word, I vividly remember that magnificent stained glass window in the front of the church. I would like to think that God had a plan for me way back then, and that He used the Holy Ghost present in that striking imagery to influence me throughout my life and all all these years later. If you’re looking for powerful place to worship, stop by Browns. You’ll love it.

Disciple Letter 2024-2025

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Cordial greetings at the start of this New Year. Bible Gateway in its Verse of the Day reminds us in 2 Corinthians 5:17: Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. Robin D. Bullock has prophesied that 2025 will be the “Year to be alive.”  Rest assured the mere fact that you are still alive means that you were born for such a time as this.  You made it! Do you ever wonder how many people went to sleep last night taking for granted that they would arise today and they didn’t? How many thought they would surely go to heaven when they died and came face to face with the instantaneous reality that they were bound in Hell for all eternity? Imagine the shock and disbelief. Psalm 9:17: The wicked shall be turned into Hell, and all the nations that forget God. Underscore of the word Hell is mine. (Original text in the AKJV is simply bolded here.)

I write to check in with you and to ask you to question yourself about your discipleship. As the one who led you to Christ, I have a duty to keep up with you to the extent that I can. In 2024, you made the most consequential decision you will ever make when you gave your life to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Before you did that, as you now know, you were on the road to Hell. That is the unvarnished truth. Recall John 14:6: Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.  I carry this verse with me both in my head and on my business card to remind myself that Jesus is the only way to the Father and to the glory of heaven.  It is succinct and clear: There is no other way to heaven than by Jesus Christ.  Most people who know even the bare minimum about the Bible are familiar with John 3:16: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  Yes, of course.When God gave His only son for our salvation, this was the greatest act of love, act of charity, that ever was or ever will be.  Perhaps that is why some translations translate love as charity in 1 Corinthians 13, which I will cite here: 1 Corinthians 13:13: And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. In the NKJV, the word love is used in place of charity. While we are talking about translations, how many different translations of the Bible do you own? Do you ever read the same passage in a different translation to clarify it in your thinking?  Among mine, I have the AKJV, the NKJV, the NET, the AMP, The Message Translation, and The Passion Translation, just to name a few. Lately, I am fond of handing out the New English Translation, (NET) to new believers. Of all of the translations with which I am familiar, the Authorized King James version is still the best, because that is what Strong’s Concordance uses, but the others are great for figuring out what a given scripture really means. Other translations can add color and depth to the Word, making them valuable. If you would like another translation, ask me and I will buy you one.

You are walking with Christ. When you let Him in your heart in 2024, He gave you the Holy Ghost to abide with you all the days of your life.: 1 Corinthians 3:16: Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? Do you hear His voice? Do you know whose voice you are hearing? 1 John 4:2-3: Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: 3 and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. 1 John 4:1 invites us to “try the spirit” to make sure that the voice we hear is not the enemies voice: Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Make sure the voice you hear is the Holy Spirit’s voice. Any doubt, immerse yourself in the Word. Remember, Jesus is the Word made flesh. John 1:14: And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.  When you hold the Bible in your hand, you’re holding Jesus in your hand. As Robin D. Bullock says, “The Bible is the breath of God in written form.”

Do you read the Word every day? If not, you should. You weaken yourself. Thereby giving Satan an open invitation to take you back into his realm. Faith is like a muscle, the more you read the Word, the stronger your faith will become. In so doing, you are inviting the Lord to transform you, just as repeated exercise transforms sagging muscles into firm ones. He cannot do it if you lock Him out through inattention. Recall Romans 10:17: So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (I left it in it’s original font so that you could see the emphasis. If you are not in the Word every day, get back in the Word. According to Robin D. Bullock—I am paraphrasing here, the devil, your adversary has outlived every generation of your family that every was. Look closely at Ephesians 6:12: For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.  Those are four classes of demonic spiritual beings. What makes you think you can defeat them or the devil unarmed? Each one has a specific purpose in the war to take you out.

Your job is to preach the gospel. You may not be called to be a preacher like I am—how will we know if your faith is weak—but you still have a job to spread the good news, to further Christ’s kingdom here on earth. For all you know, you might be the one who saves that homeless person from hell or that depressed friend of yours from committing suicide. Do you know what is meant by “The Great Commission?” Matthew 28:18-20: And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.  Maybe your world is six square miles. Maybe it is the whole earth. Who knows? How will you know if you don’t do what you are called upon to do? God told me to stay on Bald Head Island. What I don’t know is how long, but He was very clear with me.  When I asked if I should move to Saint James, He said, STAY HERE! I know because I asked him if I should move and that was his terse reply.

Recall The Parable of the Sower. Matthew 13:1-23.  I have shared it with at least one of you; although, I am reasonably sure that I have shared it with more than a few of you. After you have read it, ask yourself where you see yourself.  Herewith:

The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side. 2 And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore. 3 And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; 4 and when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: 5 some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: 6 and when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. 7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: 8 but other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. 9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? 11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. 12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. 13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. 14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: 15 for this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. 16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. 17 For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

18 Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. 19 When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side. 20 But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; 21 yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. 22 He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. 23 But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

When you read this parable, where do you see yourself? On rocky ground with no root, or perhaps choked out by the cares of the day?  You must apply yourself. You must soak in the Word to understand it. You need time: Isaiah 28:10: For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little[.]   A good way to do this is to read the scriptures daily aloud. Better yet, if you can read them and pray in tongues at the same time, this will increase your understanding exponentially, 1 Corinthians 14:4:  He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church. Rest assured,It is possible to pray in tongues and read scripture at the same time. This is because the voice of the Holy Spirit comes from your belly, not your head.  Go back and read lines 16 and 17. How lucky are you that the Lord loved you so much that he gave you the ability to understand the parable He wrote to you. Think of the prophets and righteous men throughout history who “desired to see…and hear,” but were not given this ability. Honor your Lord and Savior. Use the gifts He gave you. Remember, Romans 11:29: For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. He won’t take them back, but He also won’t force you to use them. He gave you free will. As it says in Galatians 5:13: For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.

Do you pray in tongues? I do. I cannot teach you to pray in tongues, but I can lead you. Praying in tongues is the first step to accessing the supernatural in the kingdom of God, but you can only have this ability if you have a passion for God. You must demonstrate that passion to the Lord before He will trust you with His prayer language.

Have you found a church? An excuse I often hear is “I don’t have time. I have to work.” Make time. Rearrange your schedule. You know that if you wanted to go on a date, you’d ask your boss for time off, offering to switch with co-worker and work extra shifts; in short, you would do whatever it took make that date happen. Remember, Jesus will be your intended one day. How do you think God feels when He sees your priorities?  Churches meet at other times, not just on Sundays. If the church you like doesn’t meet at a time convenient for you, meet with the Pastor and ask him or her to consider a Bible Study or starting a service that is more convenient to you and your group of friends.  Be proactive.   Frustrated by a lack of progress in other churches I attended, I started Holy Spirit Church here in my house. Holy Spirit Church meets every Tuesday from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m., other times by appointment. You can come here and pray with me and take communion. There is power in corporate prayer. I have also started a prayer group. All you need is an iPhone, and I will sign you up. Church can be wherever you are: Matthew 18:20: For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. That said, the more of you there are, the more power there is to come against Satan. Teaching and learning take place as well. Iron sharpens iron: Proverbs 27:17: Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.  Your friend will hone your understanding of the Word and you will do so for him.

If you have a church, do you give to it? Do you tithe?  Do you know that these scriptures mean, the power of them, and how you can use them to get out of debt and to become prosperous? The first one is Luke 6:38: give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.  This is a giving scripture based upon the immutable law of seed, plant and harvest, which governs all of the universe. Recall Galatians 6:7: Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.  Note here that Luke 6:38 does not just refer to money. (Robin R. Bullock) We could be talking about grain or grapes or wine. Joy or grief. Pain and sorrow. Get into the habit of giving, not just to your church, but to those in need and even just people you meet. You’ll be surprised at the smiles you engender and the new friends you make. You can change a strangers day and give him or her a new outlook upon life. Best of all, you’ll be demonstrating kingdom principles in action.

How about tithing? Do you tithe? When the subject of tithing comes up, I have observed that people get nervous. “A tenth you say?” “10% to the church?” “That’s a lot.” “I don’t know if I can afford it.” “This church is just about money.”  “All they want is money.” Really? Buildings and salaries cost money. Pastors have bills too. One church with which I am familiar has a budget between $300,000 and $400,000. When I first discovered this, I was astounded. That’s what it takes to run a church with a congregation in excess of 300 people. Name one institution in which man is involved that runs without funding.  No one is forcing you to give. Let’s be clear about that. There are benefits to tithing and I will venture to say that you never thought about some of them.

Malachi 3:8-12 is the tither’s scripture: Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. 9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. 10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. 11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts. 12 And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts.

Here we have God pointing out that man has not kept up his end of the bargain.  Man has not tithed and sufficiently given to the kingdom and that this parsimonious behavior is not just limited to a few, but to the whole nation of Isreal. Thankfully, God proposes a remedy by which individuals and the nation can avoid a curse—Tithing. Amazingly, Tithing is the one and only place where God says in effect, “If you don’t believe me, test Me.” I have been tithing for years and God has continued to bless me. Since I support many different ministries, I like to think that I am tithing to the Kingdom of God.

Unfortunately, Satan has done a very good job of talking people out of tithing, using all kinds of excuses: “I cannot afford it.” is the one that comes most easily to mind. “Yes you can would be my answer.” Tithing teaches financial discipline. If you tithe first and then set your budget, you’ll find that your financial house will come quickly to order. Tithing is giving 10% of your income. Try it! Let the Lord bless you. You will be amazed at the results.

As the one who led you to Christ, I can tell you that I consider it to have been one of the greatest honors of my life to have done so. The Pastor who led me to Christ Bill Bakkeby told me that to the extent that I can I should try to stay in touch with as many those whom I have discipled as I can. Sometimes this is not possible, but I want you to know that my door is always open.  As I am sure you are finding out, life is full of challenges from the devil. He never sleeps and is driven by a fierce hatred of God and all that He stands for. Satan covets the position that we have in the Kingdom of God. Before you were saved, he considered you his property. Make is clear to him by your words, deeds and actions that you belong to Jesus Christ.

The Holy Spirit’s Voice

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This is the day which the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24.)  Are we glad to be here this morning? Before we start today, let’s invite the Holy Spirit into this house of worship:  Holy Spirit Sir, You are welcome here today. Fall afresh on us that we may come away refreshed in the word and with a new understanding of the work Lord Jesus would have us do to further the Kingdom of God.

When we speak about the Holy Spirit, we’re talking about the Spirit of God, literally the Spirit of God, and when we give our lives to Christ, the Holy Spirit comes upon us, and the Holy Spirit—I’m searching for a way to say this—the Holy Spirit touches us when we invite Christ into our hearts, To be clear, it’s the Holy Spirit that has touched us. And once Christ is in our hearts, the Holy Spirit then lives inside us. The fact that the Holy Spirit does not have a voice is not because God didn’t give us the ability to speak in tongues. The fact that the Holy Spirit doesn’t have a voice in us once we receive Christ is solely because we have not yielded to the Holy Spirit. People often make the mistake of saying something like this, “Well, if God wanted me to have the ability to speak in tongues, then He would have given it to me.” Wrong. Rest assured, I myself made a similar mistake in judgement. 

When blessed the Holy Spirit blessed me with faith in Christ, the pastor who led me to Christ Bill Bakkeby was after me to speak in tongues, and I didn’t fully understand what he was talking about. I thought that God would actually move my tongue. (He didn’t.) I thought God would move my tongue; I remember driving home one night after visiting the Bakkeby’s, and I was literally in my car at a stoplight in the dark with my mouth open, and much to my chagrin, nothing would happen.  (Had anyone seen me, I would have looked like must have looked like a fool to the car next to me.) Then one day I was on the phone with Pastor Bakkeby, and I said to him, “Well, sometimes I speak to my cats, and I say things, and it’s just, nonsense.” Looking back, I’m not sure I used the word nonsense, but words, unintelligible words or silly things. I remember now: (I said, “Sometimes I speak to my cats. and it doesn’t make any sense.”) And so he said to me, “Well, pretend you’re talking to your cats.” And so I just opened my mouth, and I uttered some syllables: [Speaking in Tongues].  They didn’t sound like those, but I’ll give you an example: [Speaking in Tongues]. It was less complex than that, because I had just demonstrated the ability, and with time your syllables become more complex as your vocabulary increases. Pastor Bakkeby said, “Do that again. So I repeated myself: [Speaking in tongues]. Pastor Bakkeby wanted to make sure it wasn’t a one-time phenomenon. I was elated that I could now speak in tongues.

Speaking in tongues  is the beginning of your journey into the Christian supernatural—when you yield to the Holy Spirit, you can speak in tongues. It is truly a blessing from God, because Satan can’t understand a word you’re saying when you speak in tongues. It’s called praying in the Spirit. Satan is utterly dumbfounded. He can stand right next to you perplexed and madder than heck. (Isn’t that a great place for Satan to be.) When you start speaking in tongues, Satan has no idea what you’ve just said, nor does he have any idea what the Almighty replied to you, Now, you’re going to say to me, “Great Sandy, I don’t have any idea what I just said either.” That may be true; however, you can interpret your own tongues, but that’s a lesson for another sermon, another time. The first time I tried to interpret my own tongues using a method taught by Richard Roberts, Oral Roberts’ son, I came up with “Hello God or God Hello.” Looking back on that momentous occasion, I believe I was just greeting God or He was just greeting me. That was years ago, and I have been so busy for the kingdom, I haven’t pursed self-interpretation. The important take-away is to understand that when you speak in tongues, you are in direct communication with God the Father. The Holy Spirit literally searches the mind of Christ. I’m almost quoting Prophet Robin D. Bullock as opposed to his wife, Pastor Robin R. Bullock, but I’m quoting in saying that the Holy Spirit searches the mind of Christ for the answer to your prayers. Imagine for a moment what is in the mind of Christ. Are we talking about the knowledge of a trillion supercomputers? More! After all, He created the world, all life, whether plant or animal, us and everything that surrounds us. Not only that, but every law that governs the operation of the whole kit and kaboodle.

Sometimes when you pray in the Spirit as it is known, you are just lifting praise to the Lord. Other times when you speak in tongues, you may be praying for someone in Afghanistan or Sri Lanka, or maybe your next-door neighbor or somebody who just had a car accident on a highway that you’re unfamiliar with a few states away from you. Your prayers—you are aligning your prayers with the wishes of God, trusting him with your prayers. And that’s a beautiful precept to grasp. Praying in tongues is true intimacy with God. You are in his mind, and He is in yours.

To more fully understand this idea, we must understand that we’re co-laborers with God on this earth. So, when people say things like “God is in control,” well that’s true. God is in control, but God is in control in heaven: He’s the pilot up there, we’re the co-pilot up there. (Think of the cockpit of an airplane.) While we’re here on the earth, during this time, we are the pilots and God is the co-pilot. In the Words of prophet Robin Bullock, “God is in control where God is put in control.” He’s the one who taught me the pilot-copilot analogy. I ask you to make that last statement a revelatory part of your understanding, so whenever you hear somebody say, “Well, God is in control,” make sure that you make them understand that “God is in control where God is put in control.”  If we say, “God is in control,” that means every single thing that happens on this earth is ultimately His responsibility. Well, that conflicts 100% with the idea that “God Is Absolutely Good.” (Also a quotation from Robin D Bullock.) He wrote a book by that same title based upon a revelation that God imparted to him.  For scriptural authority, let’s go to the first book of Genesis. You can read it for yourself, but let’s sum it up in the Words of the Almighty himself:  “And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.” Genesis 1:31 AKJV) God who is absolutely good made everything and all of what He made was good.

I must introduce some of you to the radical idea that there must be no doubt in your mind that God is absolutely good. We can all agree that Satan is the father of lies, and Satan is absolutely evil. See John 8:44 in the AKJV: “He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” Well, the converse of that verse is Robin’s statement “God is absolutely good.” And that means that there is no evil in God. God doesn’t say, “You know what, I’m going to trip Sandy today, because I think he needs to prove to Me that he can make it through that obstacle. He, God, doesn’t do that; He never does that. What a cruel God He would be if He did; wouldn’t you agree? Imagine if we had a friend, and again I’m loosely basing this on Robin Bullock’s teaching, but what if we had a friend and we were walking with that friend and suddenly for no discernable reason our friend stuck his foot out in front of us so that we would fall and hurt ourselves. Would we walk with him again? No. Trust him, No! We would not; if we walked with him again, we would be on our guard whenever he was around. Well, so keeping that thought in mind, how ludicrous is the idea that God is in control and responsible for everything that happens on the earth?  All the bad? What about us? A criminal robs a bank, and you want to blame God? Back to our analogy: You can see Satan or one of his demons tripping you. Remember, Satan is the one that is the father of lies. He’s the author of all mischief, mayhem, malfeasance, and murder on this earth. He’s responsible for every single death on this earth. In a war, pestilence, famine, God does not kill people. People will often say, and again, I’m going to base this on Robin Bullock’s teachings,  Let’s say, you have a funeral for someone who died, and then right after that members of that family come to Jesus. Well, you can’t say, “Well, it’s because it’s, you know, God, God took so-and-so in order to lead the rest of the family to Christ.” No, God did not do that. Jesus died on the cross for our sins. He was the only one, was, is and forever will be the only one. Your friend was not one of the thieves on the cross. That’s totally wrong. The correct way to look at people coming to Christ after your friend’s death is that his friends and family were devastated by his death, their hearts were open, and they yielded to the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit coming into them, and they gave their lives to Christ. They saw what happened to their friend, and they began to worry about their own eternal lives, their own journeys. So, I want to make this clear to you because there’s a lot of misinformation, and you really have to start to look at the Devil for the rascal that he is—capital D only to distinguish him from minor devils or demons—and the mayhem and the mischief that the Devil has caused in this earth. The Forever Loser, as Apostle Tim Sheets calls him, has us thinking backwards. We say things like, if there’s a tornado that takes out a house, we say, “Well, that was an act of God,” “No.”  A ferry boat sinks in some port in a faraway land, “The sinking was an act of God!” “No.” Satan’s fingerprints are all over these two acts and billions, perhaps trillions or quadrillions of others. Only Satan and Elohim know the true number.  Will there be justice for all these acts of evil? Yes, and this leads me to my next teaching.

Now we must make this distinction between Elohim and Jehovah. Elohim is God the Father. God Supreme. Jehovah is really a manifestation of Christ; He is God in His system of seed, plant and harvest. In other words, if I sow for good, then I’m going to reap good. If I bless people and I bless people, and I bless people. I visit hospitals; I visit the sick; I go to prisons; I send bibles into prisons; I help little old ladies cross the street. My life is totally composed of acts of selflessness, then, I’m sowing for good.

On the other hand, if I sow for evil; if in fact I am so far from The Lord that I don’t even recognize what I am doing, I am sowing for a bad harvest. Here are just a few examples of bad seeds: I mistreat my cat or dog. I’m cheating on my wife, or I’m cheating on my girlfriend, or I’m shacking up—I’ve lived with somebody but I’m not getting married. I haven’t brought the woman under a covenanted relationship with the Lord. Then, There is no marriage covenant blessed by God. When I go to raise a family with her, I’ll find out I have problems. (If I can even raise a family.)  Perhaps I suddenly get into a car accident or a string of car accidents. Perhaps, I find I can’t keep a job. I mean, there are all these different ways people screw up. (Have you ever met someone whose life is just one calamity after another?) See, I’ve sown evil into my life. I’ve sown bad seed into the earth. So when that comes up, then it’s going to be harvested. Jehovah is the LORD L-O-R-D of harvest. Because of this, Satan has a perfect legal right. to come into my life and make things worse for me. This is a concept people don’t understand and they need to understand it.They need to understand this scripture and to live by it: Galatians 6:7-8:  “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.”

People are always, well I shouldn’t say always, and that’s another  we precept have to worry about, be very careful when you use absolute words like always and never. Make sure you use them in the right context. If you say something like, “Things never work out for me,” then guess what? Things are never going to work out for you because you’ve declared to the universe, you’ve declared to the universe that you don’t have any luck, or God’s not in your life. Satan takes notes and he uses your own words against you in the Court of Heaven. God doesn’t sit there and say, “You know what? I want to make things hard for Sandy. I really want to make it tough on him, because he’s a slacker. He doesn’t say that. Sandy makes things tough on Sandy because he doesn’t follow God’s Ten Commandments, and he doesn’t sow blessings. He sows the opposite; He sows misery and grief, and he reaps a harvest of misery, grief and sometimes premature death, a harvest of evil. I’m just giving you a hypothetical example, but one that’s very important for us all to understand.

 I hope this sermon has blessed you, and if you have any questions, please feel free to ask me now or later on. My calling is as an evangelistic pastor, and I delight in leading people to Christ.  I have met people who say who are lost because they don’t know Christ, but on top of that, they have no idea how to be saved. They think that just attending church will gain them a place in Heaven. If you are in this crowd, I’m going to help you understand what your responsibilities are. So, if you turn in your Bibles to Mark 16:15-18 These are the words of Jesus: ”…[H]e said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” (AKJV)

These are the Master’s own words, Jesus’ own words, so let us take them to heart. So that’s Mark 16:15 through 18, if you’re taking notes. Then just to follow it up: “So then, after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven and sat on the right hand of God.” Mark 16:19.  Those were the last words he spoke to His disciples. He charged them to go and make disciples. “And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.” (Mark 16:20)

We, my bothers and sisters in Christ, have work to do for the kingdom. So you’ll say to me, “That’s wonderful, but what do I do? What do I say? How do I do that?” Well then, of course, we move to Romans 10, 9 and 10. And here is the prescription, and what I recommend is read this yourself and make sure you understand it. You might want to read it in the English Standard version or a simpler wording just to  imprint it in your mind. But I’ll read from the Authorized King James version. Romans 10:9-10: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10For with the heart, thou shalt be saved. man believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Now what I usually do if I meet somebody in the street and I’m not sure of their ability with the English language I’ll read definitely from a simpler version of this scripture. Basically you have to confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and that He— that is that the Father—rather raised Him from the dead that we might have eternal life. Now notice I said might and it’s not an absolute guarantee. If you say these words and you don’t believe them in your heart, then it’s a false confession. You must believe them in your heart, and let Christ come into your heart. You believe unto righteousness, as it says, and you confess out loud unto salvation. After the person has said this, what’s known as the sinner’s prayer, then I will ask them to pray a prayer. To me the prayer consecrates this act completely and I usually will say a prayer or something that says words along these lines. “Lord Jesus, come into my heart. Cleanse me of all unrighteousness. Lead me on the straight and narrow path that leads to you, to salvation. Lord Jesus, Forgive me of my sins. I repent of my sins. Wash me clean of them. Pour out your precious lamb’s blood over me that I might be a holy and living sacrifice to your glory. Thank you. From this day forward, I give you my life. Take my life and do something with it. In Jesus’ name. Amen.” Thank you. So once I have done that, now I think it’s important to add this prayer when you’re talking with someone whom you are leading to Christ, a prospective believer.

Now that they’ve given their life to Christ, Christ’s going to come into their heart, but they might say, “Well, what does He expect of me?” People often express a thought similar to this,  “The 10 Commandments, they’re so hard; who can keep them all? I just can’t do it.” Well, as with any endeavor in which you want to succeed, you have to say that you can do it. You have to believe you can do it. A beautiful way of living your life is to take the word of Matthew 22:37-46 to heart. Consecrate them:  “Jesus said unto them, again, the words of the master:  “Thou shalt love the Lord, thy God with all thy heart. And with all thy soul and with all thy mind, this is the first and great commandment, and the second is like unto it thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself on these two commandments, hang all the law and the prophets.”(AKJV) And this was in response to a question posed by one of the Pharisees. He was a lawyer, and he asked the question—the Bible infers he was tempting Jesus—so we know Satan was involved. “Master, which is the great commandment of the law?” He was expecting a recitation, and he got one. Thank you. As we ourselves live our lives, it’s much easier to follow the Ten Commandments if we keep these two commandments, I call them Jesus Two Commandments in our hearts. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy self. Think of it. Think of it. This precept of the first two commandments obviating the others is something I learned from Pastor Bakkeby: If we love our neighbor as ourself, then we wouldn’t commit adultery and steal our neighbor’s wife, right? If we keep that commandment in mind—we love our neighbor as ourself—we don’t have to remember thou shalt not commit adultery because it’s covered by this commandment. And in addition it’s covered by the first commandment. If you love the Lord your God, and God is absolutely good, you’re not going to break any of the commandments because you don’t want to displease the Lord.

I hope this sermon has helped you to clarify things in your own mind as to just a little bit of what the Lord expects. If you have any questions, I’d certainly be glad to answer them, or if you want to talk further about what I’ve discussed here, I’m happy to do so by phone or by email. I want to wish you all a blessed day. Let us keep the Holy Spirit in our hearts and let us give Him a voice. Let us walk humbly with our God the Father and always have respect for our Lord Jesus Christ, for our neighbors and let us keep the Father in our hearts. In Jesus name, go in peace. Amen.

Scriptural Citations in this lesson:

Psalm 118:24
Genesis 1:31
John 8:44
Galatians 6:7-8
Mark 16:15-20
Romans 10:9-10
Matthew 22:37-46

Originally given November 17, 2024 at Servants’ Tabernacle Ministries from notes preached July 31, 2024.

Bridge to Destiny

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Tuesday the 26th of March 2024 will forever be etched in my memory as the day when the opening salvo in one of the greatest periods of spiritual warfare was fired by the enemy, Satan. At approximately 1:30 a.m., the Francis Scott Key bridge was destroyed when the container ship Dali—powerless and rudderless—crashed into and took out one of the main supports of the bridge. Thankfully, I had left New Jersey one day earlier and routinely used Interstate 895 and the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel during the day, so I was never in danger.  I cannot imagine what traffic though the city of Baltimore is like without that key bridge.

From the moment I heard about this horrendous accident, my mind entertained thoughts that this was an intentional, terrorist act. Not only was this a vital bridge in the heavily travelled north-south Interstate 95 route, but it was also a symbolic bridge, one named after Francis Scott Key, the author of the Star-Spangled Banner, our national anthem, dare I say freedom’s anthem.  It was a key bridge in more ways than one…. Then there is the name of the ship, Dali, registered in Singapore with its crew of 22. If the name of the bridge was symbolic, then might the ships name be also? As I drove south, I kept thinking about Dali. What did it mean? Perchance, might it be a Hindu word? An Indian dialect of some kind? Bingo.

Exodus 20:3 declares: “Thou shalt have no other Gods before me.”1 Hence, Hinduism is a false religion, the worship of a dead god, actually an ancient evil spirit. The god Shiva is the god who destroys. Turns out that Dali in Sanskrit means to split or to divide. Sanskrit is an ancient language associated with Hinduism. And what was the name of the bridge that was destroyed?  The Frances Scott Key Bridge. Key.  What scripture concerns keys? The verse Isaiah 22:22 came to mind as I reflected upon the word key: 

And the key of the house of David
will I lay upon his shoulder;
so he shall open, and none shall shut;
and he shall shut, and none shall open.2

The modern day prophets such as Dutch Sheets and Robin D. Bullock have promised a revival, a reformation. See Mark 16:15-18 and Matthew 28:18-20. How can it begin in such turmoil? And yet, it must. What we have here is no less than the opening act in a period of intensified, spiritual warfare, make no mistake about it. Never forget John 10:10: “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”

Do you think that any of the men who came to fill potholes on that bridge thought that they would lose their lives that night? Hard to think of a more routine occupation than filling potholes with macadam, day or night. You might have to worry about cars and trucks running you over, but a ship colliding with the bridge support? Can we say that most workers would think that might be a freak accident, one less probable than being struck by lightening while walking down the street. My heart goes out to the families of these workers and I asked Holy Spirit to comfort the families in their time of sorrow.  I think too of the motorists who drove off the bridge. Plunging off the bridge in the dark, you might have a slim chance of surviving if it were summertime, but only if you could break a window or open a door as you sank, and there are all sorts of variables in how you might sink. Fear would certainly grip you and the water pressure and temperature this time of year would be against you. Most people couldn’t react fast enough, even if they were trained. Horrifying to think about. My question is did those who died know Christ?

You never know when your life will end, and for this reason you must be prepared as Matthew 24:43-44 advises us:

 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. 44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. 45

If you haven’t made Jesus Christ the Lord of your life, don’t wait. Someone once asked Johnathan Cahn how much time he had to give his heart to Christ. His reply, “One heartbeat.” Your life could literally end in an instant.   Thankfully, the Bible gives us a great way through Paul’s writings in the Book of Romans, Chapter 10:9-10:

that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

If you speak these words aloud and believe them in your heart, you shall  be saved. Simple, and yet millions of people sit in church this very day and will go to hell because they never knew that they needed to give their lives to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Are you one of them?

Prayer Life

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As the song says, ”Are you prayin’ hard or hardly prayin'”?

Just curious. How much do you pray? How often? Daily? Whenever you get around to it, or maybe when someone you know, including perhaps yourself, is facing a crisis, such as impending surgery or a bad diagnosis of cancer? Someone might even ask you to pray for them—and you promise—only to be interrupted by the next task on your daily to-do list or maybe even a wave from a friend.  I have found that the best time to pray when someone asks is right then, right in front of them, if possible. This way, Satan cannot distract you. In 1 Thessalonians 5:17, the Apostle Paul encourages us to “pray without ceasing.”  The word prayer is mentioned no less than 128 times in the Bible. The word worship 188 times and the word praise 259 times, just for comparison.  Along with praise and worship, prayer is key to how we experience God and incorporate Him into our daily lives.  

So, how is your life going these days? Did you get through Covid-19 without getting sick? Did you take the jab? Did you get sick anyway? I thought it was a vaccine. When I was growing up, vaccines prevented disease. In the case of small pox for instance, you were injected with dead form of pox virus—a close cousin to small pox—and you thus became immune to small pox. The Center for Disease Control  changed the definition of a vaccine to reflect the fact that one could still get sick with Covid-19 even after getting the initial shot and boosters. Almost everyone whom I know who got the shot or shots later came down with Covid. Some more than once. So much for protection.

How’s your job? Is it challenging? Rewarding? Do you think you have a safe position? Love your boss? How about those co-workers? Do they respect you? Treat you well? In line for a raise? You could be stuck in a dead-end job without the possibility of promotion.   The handwriting is on the wall….Or maybe you just lost your job. Fired. Phased out. Kicked upstairs.

How is your car or truck? Is it brand spanking new, or a over five or 10 years old, in need of paint parts or body work? In the county where I live, it’s not uncommon to see a lot of older cars and trucks that need work. I know people who have a few vehicles in various states of dilapidation. The struggle is always to get one of them running to go to work. Recently, I bought some tires for a friend. He was driving on tires that were less than safe. I was taught that at any one time you had approximately 20 square inches of tire between you and the road, and they had better be the best 20 inches of tire out there, because your life depends upon it.

How about your house, if you have one? Are you keeping up with your mortgage payments? Keeping up with repairs? If you rent, is rent easy or is it a struggle for you? Do you find yourself playing a form of musical chairs with the bills to make sure that you are never behind on your rent. Sometimes, you go without in one area of your life just to make ends meet. Maybe you spurge on something you know you cannot afford, just because you figure, “What the heck! I am so far behind anyway.

For you, whether it’s your health, your job, your car, your house or apartment, you feel like you’re always running behind. You never catch up, let alone get ahead. You look back on your life and often wonder:  How did I get here? Why do I have to work so hard, just to see it all vanish in a never-ending cycle of bills and debts. The term debt slavery is one new to me. You might feel like a debt slave.

Let’s get back to your prayer life. Time to give it a booster shot. When you start your day—when you first get out of bed—what’s the first thing you do. Do you read scripture? Do you pray? I do. I try to pray and decree scripture for at least 15 minutes, sometimes at least a half an hour. I have my favorite scriptures, but also some suggested by Holy Spirit., even events from the day before. I start my day by saying, “Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit, thank you for the blessings of today, the blessings of the days gone by and the blessings of the days yet to come.” (Thank you, Johnathan Cahn.) Then I say the Lord’s Prayer. After that, I As forgiveness for my sins, repent of my sins, and even ask the Lord Jesus to forgive me for actions on my part that I don’t necessarily recognize as sin. I start with a clean slate which I immediately fill with prayers for friends and family—decreeing the blood of Jesus over them and their families. You should try this if you’re not doing it already. Then I move to scriptures, beginning with Psalm 91.

Praying Psalm 91 daily confers divine protection over you.  It is known as The Soldiers Psalm. It was made famous in World War I when an entire brigade, the 91st Infantry Brigade of the U.S. Expeditionary Army was advised by their commander to pray Psalm 91 daily. Miraculously suffering no casualties, they fought battles some of the toughest engagements of WWI: Chateau Thierry, Belle Wood, and the Argonne. Chalk one up for the Lord!   

Praying Ephesians 6:10-20 is another form of divine protection. This scriptural passage is known as The Armor of God.  Praying and decreeing this scripture over yourself every day suits you up for battle against the slings and arrows of The Enemy. You have both defensive and offensive weaponry: “the shield of faith,” “the breastplate of righteousness” and “the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”   Within this scriptural passage, God has equipped you will everything you need to go into spiritual battle against the devil and to come out victorious.

I have given you my prayers and my list of scriptures I pray each day. Since the Covid-19 lockdowns, I have suffered no colds, no flu, no Covid-19. The only vaccines I have had have been the MMR vaccine (Measles, Mumps, Rubella) flu shots, but not this year, and I am never going to get another vaccine in my life.  After the Covid fiasco, I don’t trust big Pharma. I have traded my man-made assurance for divine protection. Divine protection.

Romans 8:2 is another gem, so short that you can memorize it and repeat it at will: “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” When I am rushed, I will often just decree this verse over myself until I have the chance to pray or decree the others two.

We all should be praying 2 Chronicles 7:14 everyday. It’s a way of humbling ourselves before the Lord and asking him to forgive us and to heal our nation. I pray it every day. In fact, I consider myself part of the remnant of believers that have helped maintain America as a Christian nation during these turbulent times. I take this responsibility seriously.

It reads: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” I think Johnathan Cahn first introduced me to it during one of his gatherings in Washington, D. C.

Last but not least, I like to pray John 14:6:. “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” Indeed, it is the one verse I have placed on the back of my business card, which I always hand to people backwards, explaining to them that the back is more important than the front will ever be. It is my way of leaving them with Jesus. I may never see that person again, but they, if they keep my card will have one of the essential messages Jesus came to deliver. It is my way of planting a seed which may lead that person to explore the Bible and to give his or her life to Christ.

I could go on. I have so many scriptures that I like to pray and to decree. Find your own. Go through the Bible. See which scriptures resonate with you. There may be one in particular that defines your life. For me that scripture is Ezekiel 37. When I read Ezekiel 37, God for me became three dimensional. Look for another blog on just that subject.

Rev. Sandy

Cordial Greetings in the Name of our Risen Savior, Jesus Christ.

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Welcome to the Holy Spirt Church Online Blog! Glad you stopped by. Hope you will stay and learn a little something about Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Mario Murillo in his excellent book, Vessels of Fire and Glory tells how neglected the Holy Spirt feels. Mainline churches may catechistically repeat the Apostles Creed in which He is mentioned, but you had better not pray openly in tongues—either in an attempt to heal someone in the congregation or motivated rise from your pew to address the congregation. To do so is to invite the wrath of the pastor, maybe even be asked to hold your peace or not come back to that particular church. I know, because on at least one occasion, I was castigated by a pastor. In that case, I was attacked and told that I was bring Satan between us when I suggested that the pastor had the ability to pray in tongues. When I thought about naming my church, I chose the name Holy Spirit Church precisely because I wanted to pay homage to Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost as He is also known. After all Holy Spirit is one third of the Trinity.

Before I get too far, I want to pay tribute to a portion of the pastors and prophetic pastors who have helped me along my spiritual journey: First and foremost, Pastors Bill and Elaine Bakkeby who together led me to Christ back in 2012. Pastor Robin R. Bullock and Prophet Robin D. Bullock whose Church International online services I rarely ever miss. (I am behind a few.), Pastor Timothy V. Dixon, Johnathan Cahn, Jane Hamon, Johnny and Elizabeth Enlow, Dutch Sheets and his incomparable Give Him 15 daily posts, Tim Sheets and Oasis Church. Prophet Barry Wunsch, Amanda Grace, Hank Kunneman Kent Christmas, Kat Kerr. The late Kenneth E. Hagin and Lester Sumrall. I am deeply indebted to each of them for how they have fed me during these troubled times. If you should read my blog and think, “That reminds me of Robin Bullock, you’re probably right. I have tried wherever possible to give each of these people credit for his or her inspiration.

Rev. Sandy

Kindness

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(published 3/25/2018


“Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.”- Mark Twain

I routinely go up to the altar to pray in church after I have listened to Pastor Eddie’s sermon and as the congregation is signing the last hymn. I use the time to pray for family and friends, Pastor Eddie, and the congregation, as well as to confess sins and ask the Lord for forgiveness. Often, my confessions and prayers lead to tears, as they did today. I am not embarrassed about my frailty in the moment; it is cathartic. I let the Lord lead me, as I did this afternoon.

For the past few months, I have been walking up to the altar feeling an uncomfortable weakness in my legs, a result, I am sure, of my having sat too long—months at a time—and exercised too little, not daily as I should have. Others may not notice it, but I feel it most definitely. My footfalls are increasingly tentative. Time will tell if I can rebuild my strength. For now, I will leave the situation in the Lord’s hands.

As I was walking up to the altar this afternoon, a bright young lady—in all senses of the word— arose from one of the pews across the aisle with the same idea in mind that I had. For whatever reason, she wished to take my hand and to travel as a pair until it was time to kneel. At first, I was taken aback by this most unexpected gesture on her part, not knowing what to make of it. I knew it wasn’t a romantic gesture as much as a courtly one. Be that as it may, the epitome of kindness will forever be represented in my mind by her simple desire to take my hand at that moment.  I will forever remember her smile and the contagious joy she radiated.

Sandman’s Fifth Rule of Chivalry: If pretty girl takes your hand, let her. (I’ll pass on the first four rules, as soon as I have written them down.)

Unbeknownst to her, I had wrestled with feelings of abject loneliness throughout the night, spinning in my bed from side to side all night long with Raleigh to the right of me and Georgia on a pedestal at the foot of my bed. Both cats, it seemed, were doing their level best to make sure that I knew they needed me. To be clear, this feeling wasn’t despondency, nor even close to what Pastor Eddie refers to as “the dark night of the soul.”  I just have to feel, and if I do, I am going to feel with an intensity which scares most, but not me.  I am glad I do. Feeling even profound sadness proves to me that I am still very much alive, and that I have a soul.shutterstock_633766673Photo credit: salmon-negro/Shutterstock

As the day began, I honestly didn’t know how I was going to make it through church without falling asleep during the sermon—as I had embarrassingly done last week.  Throughout the service, I sipped some iced tea, hoping the caffeine would provide enough of a lift to get me through to the end. Thankfully, our church secretary had asked me to read scripture, Mark 14: 32-42, and the fear of wanting to do it well also contributed to keeping me awake. (You can Google the scripture.)

I was struck by this beautiful young lady’s kindness toward me this afternoon, and I have thought about what she did ever since I left church. She made my day a happy and fulfilling one by shifting my focus. The first thing I wanted to do after church, if I had the chance, was to thank her, which I did.

How often do we go through our days so wrapped up in our own lives that we never stop to be kind to someone whom we don’t know or don’t know well enough?  How often do we bless others with our words and actions?

Thank you, my dear friend, for bringing joy to my heart today.

Rev. Sandy

(Photo credit at op of page-holding hands: lightpost/Shutterstock)