God's Grace And Mercy Covers Me!!!!

Time to write.

I'm sitting here waiting to continue my busy life and what will be a very busy weekend.  Tonight I will take those of our church that will go over to another local church to help push their service of revival this week.  A great ministerial mentor of many of us in our country, Rev. Otis Blackshear, will be preaching.  I'm praying for a great message and move of God through the Word tonight.

Tomorrow night starts our Men's Conference.  If everyone comes who has claimed they would be coming, we should have great participation and, prayerfully, a great praise, proclamation and power worship experience!  Again, I'm looking to hear from God supernaturally through Pastor Terence Gray of Orlando and other local pastors of our  area.  This will be Pastor Gray's first time to our pulpit.  I hope it will be unforgetable!

The Men's Conference continues Saturday morning and concludes with a noon worship opportunity.  After a full morning and afternoon Saturday, I'll do my best to come back home and put finishing preparations on Sunday's preaching presentations.  After preaching twice Sunday morning (be prayerful, I've struggled with a cold and haven't had my full voice all week), I will go up to Ft. Walton Beach to board a plane to Dallas so I can attend the National Baptist Convention of America's Winter Board Meeting.  It's been a quite a few months since I've flown, so I'm a little antsy about the experience again. 

I do all this busy ministerial work and preach, serve and represent the congregation the Lord has assigned to me with full knowledge that the devil isn't happy with me.  I have people in our church that have developed hate for me and are presently seeking ill, evil and wrongdoings information about me.  I'm fully aware of it yet not worried about it because I know God has me covered even though there are those who would not care for me to succeed.  I am constantly asked "why don't you do something about them?"  Here is my answer.  God can do more with them than I ever could or would.  I'm just grateful God supercedes anyone or anything.  And when your enemies think they're getting over on you or hating your every move and being, God's unmerited favor and merciful hand covers and protects us through it all.

I hurt, yet I shout.  I struggle, yet I shout.  I don't understand, yet I shout!  I'm broke, yet I shout!  I need a change and a shift, yet I shout!!  I bless those who I know don't give a care about me, and I shout!  (Even in their face, amongst their camp and campers.)  Why?  Because God keeps and covers me through all of this!!!  It could definitely be another way!  But if God let's strife and struggle come our way, He knows we have the strength to deal with it; He's just checking our trust.

(sigh)...... Oh God I Trust You!! 

Neglecting Prayer Yet Grateful

God and I have really been spending a lot of quality time together lately.  I'm glad that my life has attributed so many more reasons to get even closer to my God.  During this time and this season I find myself thinking, praying and trusting God more.  And it causes me to experience unanticipated and unexpected praise fests.

Sunday started out as my usual 1st Sunday of every month.  I pull myself out of the bed around 6:30am (after the alarm has gone off at 6:15), and start my rituals for rising.  If I don't plan on "robing up' for the 1st Sunday communion services, I pull out the clergy shirt and a black suit as to be in uniform with the rest of my on staff ministers who may, or may not be in uniform themselves. smh 

I'm off to church (usually slightly late, but thank God for deacons and a minister of music who can get things started knowing I'll be in shortly) where I'll preach only two times this particular Sunday.   The Spirit of our church is really warm and worshipful these days; I'm loving it!! 

This month is Black History month, so with the Lord's supper observance and the black history presentation from our youth ministry, that they will present every Sunday this month, I expected longer preparations before preaching, so I planned to give a "brief Word."  This month's preaching emphasis at our church is praise.  At both of our services I labored to present what I called "The Induction of Worship."  I did my best to inform the people that praise induces our worship which therefore makes it very necessary within any worship service or experience. 

Once again, in the preaching presentation, my emotions and exuberance got the best of me.  I really don't know how I feel about all of my gyrations.  I wish I could be more polished and professional as a preacher.  But it's comfort and consolation to me to know that every preaching attempt of mine is sincere, genuine and for the glory of God. 

Our church is getting ready to be involved in what can be viewed as a period of intensed intimacy with God.  This week we have been summoned to pray everyday at noon.  Today was our first meeting at the church for this week of prayer.  The main sanctuary was still being cleaned from Sunday's activities, so we moved over to the chapel.  (Thank God for space and room!)  There were 8 of us in the actual prayer time; eight.  2 were me and my wife, Susan, and 2 more were the office staff who would have been at the church anyway.  Another 4-6 were on the campus, but they didn't deem it necessary to pause for 30 minutes to 1 hour of prayer.

Prayer is essential to our presentations in life and a privilege of the saints that shouldn't be taken for granted.  When the church gets back to recognizing and realizing just how important prayer and praise is to her existance, the much better off we will truly be.  It's heartbreaking to see the neglegence of the church to fulfilling her duties to prayer, but I sincerely feel even though we neglect prayer and praying, we are still a grateful people.

This month let's be grateful for where God has brought us from and where God has brought us to.  But at the same time, let's spend more time with Him in prayer and, even, meditation; He expects us to and is waiting.  "Men ought to always pray."