The Celebration

Several people I know hate the monotony of life. If I’m being honest, waking up and knowing I have to do exercises each week doesn’t exactly thrill me either. But my mom said something to me this morning as I was working on interview questions that struck me. She simply said, “What if the adventure is right in front of you?” I thought about that and realized how true that is. Lots of times we are so busy complaining about something in our lives that we fail to see what we really have.

I don’t have to hop on an airplane to go visit California, New York, or England. I am fortunate enough to get to meet people from all over the world thanks to email! Since I have started my internship, I have had the opportunity to start building relationships with some amazing women without leaving my bedroom! What opportunities are you missing because you just want to get away from it all? There could be something wonderful right around the next corner if you’ll just hang on and have a little faith! When I request interviews with people, there’s a chance I won’t hear back from them. I have to at least try.

For example, I woke up kind of drowsy this Saturday morning.  I had emailed someone for an interview late Friday night, so I really wasn’t expecting a response until Monday.  To my surprise, the woman did email me back and was willing to be interviewed.  My spirit leaped with excitement!  My brain was firing off questions quicker than I could type them.  The thrill of pursuing something is a feeling like no other. Just the sheer possibility of what could happen was enough for me to quickly respond to the email.

I encourage you to ask God to let you see things from His perspective. He has given you everything you need to be a success, but YOU have to make the choice to act on it!

~Madison Sanders

 Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

There are days I wish someone would come along, take some things, or help me out so that things would be easier for me. These are the days where I wonder where God is. Have you ever had any of these days? I have and recently. Our circumstances can really scream at us and cause us to loose focus and start feeling sorry for ourselves if we let them.

Recently, I was meditating and a picture popped up in my mind of a seed popping up through the ground. Well, I pondered on that picture and wondered why it popped up. I have learned that things do not pop up at random for no reason. So I try to figure out if God was trying to tell me something or my body telling me to lay off the hot sauce for a while. Most of the time there is something that is being said to me for me and for me to write down for later use.

Going back to the seed breaking through the ground. I was taken back to my science class where we were taught how a seed begins to grow and form a plant. The seed starts with the roots first. The roots spread and anchor into the dirt so that the plant is stable. Then the seedling begins to push up through the ground. All the while the root system is still growing and expanding.

Have you ever seen a seed in a garden where it is barely up above the ground and it still has some dirt it needs to push away? I do every year when I plant all of my vegetables and flowers. I get so excited. I mark the day I plant and then when I should see seedlings popping through the ground. I go out everyday to tend to them and watch for them. When I see a seedling that is just barely above the ground I have to fight the urge to go and help it break through the ground the rest of the way. In trying to help that seedling out, I am actually hindering it and causing some harm to the plant it will be. It will continue to grow but it will not be as strong as it could have been if I had let it alone to push through the obstacle in its way. It is through this process that the plant becomes a strong plant that can stand on its own. I still go out and tend to it doing what I NEED to do. I just do not jump in where I am not NEEDED.

God was trying to tell me that He is still tending to me and helping me where I need but in order for me to become the strong person I need to be, I need to push my way through, trusting in Him to guide me all the way and to support me as I grow. Being bailed out, so to speak, is not helping me out in any way. It is actually hindering me from growing up strong in the Lord. I still have people who pray with me and for me to break through in the areas that are trying to keep me from sprouting and growing strong. We all need that. We just do not need to be bailed out when the going gets a little tough or rocky. We need to learn to trust in God and His plan for our lives. It is a process and like all processes, it takes time and patience. Eventually, we push through the obstacles and circumstances. On the other side is VICTORY!

~Ronda Sullivan

Let’s meet another one of God’s warriors as we continue to celebrate Black History Month…

Lucy F. Farrow

Lucy Farrow, niece of renowned black abolitionist Frederick Douglass, was serving as pastor of a holiness church in Houston in 1905 when Charles Parham engaged her to work as a governess in his home. She received the baptism of the Holy Spirit while working for his family. Farrow carried the Pentecostal embers back to Texas, on to Virginia, and later to Liberia. No evidence survives to tell us that she was a good preacher or a sound biblical expositor or even a caring pastor. But her aptitude for igniting the supernatural gifts among others was evident at a 1906 camp meeting near Houston when some 25 seekers stood lined up in a row in front of her. When Farrow “laid hands upon them…many began to speak in tongues at once.”

“The color line was washed away in the Blood.” – Frank Bartleman

Without a doubt, the United States has been the birthplace of the modern Pentecostal movement. As we continue our celebration of Black History month, it is important to note that our history, the history of the Church, has been shaped by the contributions of Black believers.

Amanda Berry Smith

Born a slave in Maryland in 1837, Amanda Berry was the daughter of a slave who was able to buy his freedom and that of his wife and five children. The Berry family moved to Pennsylvania where their home became a station on the Underground Railroad. After her first husband was killed while serving in the African Regiments in the Civil War, Amanda remarried and moved to Philadelphia. There, she was born again, joined the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and received her call to preach. In 1869, she began preaching in churches and at Holiness camp meetings in New York and New Jersey, becoming a popular speaker to both black and white audiences. By the end of the decade, she was known as far north as Maine and as far south as Tennessee. Although she was not ordained or financially supported by the AME Church or any other organization, she became the first black woman to work as an international evangelist in 1878. She served for twelve years in England, Ireland, Scotland, India, and various African countries. She emerged as one of the A.M.E. Church’s most effective missionaries and one of the most remarkable preachers of the age. In the process, she opened the way for more black women to preach in the A.M.E. church.

I was thinking about our lives like Jack in the box. When Jack is out of the box he is all smiles and happy go lucky. We are like Jack in the box. It seems like out of nowhere our head gets squished by our circumstances and the cares of this world. Our box is closed and the crank is going. You remember how it works. The music plays and the crank gets tighter and tighter untill Jack pops.

For me personally before I knew about praying in tongues and its transforming power, if what you said came against what I believed I would snap in a heartbeat. Now I can truely say I’ve been transformed into a new person and will continue on the path that God has for me.

I’m thankful for God sending me to Gateway so I can be equipped with the proper tools to handle all life has to throw at me. Even though we have the tools, we don’t always use them. People are turned off by Christians because we are so wound up.If we would ever pray in tongues long enough, we would become a whole new person. Then people would be attracted to us.

Matthew 12:34 says, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”

 

~Tammy Sanders

Recently, I have been going through some troubles with myself. Trouble with school, family, church, and relationships. It was like everything was becoming very overwhelming, almost to the point where I was becoming depressed. I became very emotional and rude to the people very close to me. You know most people would say in a situation like mine, ” Well, sweetie, pray about it and let God help you through it” or  “You should take a deep breath and know everything’s going to be ok”. Well, if you’re like me that’s very hard to do! I am a very hard headed stubborn person who likes to try and work things out by myself. If I can not succeed at controlling my problem by myself,I usually give up and think it’s impossible to handle.

Unfortunately, you can’t solve problems on your own, you need the help of a greater power. God, of course! How do I know this? One Sunday night there was an altar call for anyone who has been hurt or heart broken. Hearing this from Apostle David, I got an immediate tug on my heart to go up. Well, my flesh was telling me other wise.  My mom came to where I was and asked if I needed to go. I followed my flesh like usual and said, “No, I’m fine”. People proceeded to go up, and I continued to get a pull on my heart. Finally, I told myself, “Ok God, if somebody asks me again, I will go up there”.

A few minutes later not really thinking anything of it, Tim Hanley asked someone beside me if they need to go. The person declined and Tim walked on. All of a sudden he walked back and asked me if I needed to go. Yep, there it was. Somebody had asked me again! Darn, my flesh really didn’t want to go at all. But, finally I made it go. Waiting to be prayed for I began to pray in tongues telling God what ever he has for me I am ready to receive. Apostle David finally approached me, I started weeping. It was almost like I was releasing all of the stress and overwhelming feelings I have been having. He confirmed to me things that I had been dealing with and he had Anessa pray with me. She comforted me and told me that I was not alone. I can’t do it all by myself! Shocker right, oh my! Anessa, you’re telling me I can’t do things by myself? I need help to deal with things?

She was definitely right. No matter how hard we try, you can never do anything by yourself! I don’t care how big or little it is. Your problems may be very overwhelming for you, but they are not too overwhelming for God! He is always there whenever you need Him. You just have to be willing to allow Him to help you!

~Monica Guzman

I do not know about you, but during this seeking time I have had to deal with a lot of emotions and things that I thought I had taken care of years ago. Boy, was I wrong!

Going down the road the other day, heading to Walmart, the craziest thought came across my mind about an event in my life that happened years ago when my boys were in elementary school. I was engaged to a man who was a Christian. He attended this church as a matter of fact. He was a godly man, and I really thought he was the one God had chosen for me. I had a check list that I told God about years ago after my divorce. I wanted someone who went to church, was committed, loved God, believed the Word, did not give up and quit when things got tough, was faithful, and had a job. Well, I started to mentally go down my checklist. I was able to check off a lot of things. I had decided that I was not going to settle for anything less than the BEST God had! That is why I developed my checklist.

During our engagement period, I started thinking about how in the world could we get married and spend the rest of our lives together when he never had time to spend with me. The only time we really saw each other was at church on Sunday mornings. A good, solid, and Godly relationship is something that needs to be built. You cannot build it if you do not take the time to lay the foundation that it will be built upon. He worked two jobs most of the time. I was praying and kept sensing that our engagement and upcoming marriage was not what God had in store for me. The only thing was, I really did not want to listen to the Holy Ghost and break it off. I had just brought home my wedding dress and the wedding was just a few weeks down the road. Maybe we could make it work? No…God had different plans.

Four days after bringing home my dress, trying it on, and dreaming of the wedding that was going to take place, God spoke again. This time he spoke to both of us. It hurt us both to do what we knew we had to do, but we obeyed. I was devastated! Plus I had a reminder of what could have been looking at me every day: the dress. Not too long after that, I had the opportunity to sow that dress as seed into another couples life at the church.

During this time in my life, I was part of a prayer group that consisted of five people. I remember going to our regular scheduled prayer meeting after my break up. One of the ladies, whom I considered a good friend, talked to me privately. She told me that I did not need to come to the prayer meeting anymore since God did all of His talking through my ex-fiance. Again, I was devastated!  I already had a hard enough time stepping out in prayer and learning to listen to my spirit man. This did not help me one bit! Actually, the more I think about it, this is probably when I did start shutting down in my prayer life. I did enough to get by but I would not push in to where God wanted me to go. I had been kicked in my gut when I was already down by Christian friends.

The more I thought about all of this I realized that I was shutting down not only in my prayer life but in trusting God and in myself to be able to hear from God. I also began to get a better understanding of how important our words are. Not just in our own lives but also in the lives of those we come in contact with everyday. We have the power in our tongue to build up or to destroy, not only ourselves, but others as well. This New Year, I made some resolutions, like so many of us do. I am going to focus a lot more on what I say to people as well as how I say it. I do not want to be someone who destroys others or prevents them from their breakthrough. I want to be someone who helps to build them up so that they can fulfill the destiny that God has for them. What words will you use this year? Will they be ones that will build or destroy? The choice is yours.

~Ronda Sullivan

Reblogged from The Celebration:

William Seymour William Seymour’s connection to our Pentecostal roots began when he became the interim pastor at Lucy Farrow’s Houston church when she went to work for the Parham family. When she returned to Houston, she shared her testimony of speaking in tongues with Seymour who promptly left Texas to sit outside Parham’s all White Bible school classes in order to learn what the Word had to say about the infilling of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. Seymour’s hunger grew, …

Reblogged from The Celebration:

CH Mason Charles Harrison Mason organized the largest black Pentecostal denomination in the United States, the Church of God in Christ (COGIC), now based in Memphis, Tennessee. Born to former slaves, Mason grew up intending to be a minister. In 1897, when Mississippi Baptists ordered him to vacate his pulpit for the offense of preaching holiness doctrines (sanctification), Mason received permission to use an abandoned gin house for a revival. Like other early Pentecostals, he sought and later found a …

Recently we got a call from some of our friends saying they would like to come by for a visit. They were coming for the weekend from out of town. We were excited about them coming to see us! My wife and I began to prepare with anticipation. We desired to make their visit a good one. We were going to try our best to see that it was enjoyable and relaxing for them! They were to arrive Friday and stay untill Sunday evening.

Thank God my wife is a good planner. I, on the other hand, am a fly by the seat of my pants kind of guy. She got out a piece of paper and began to make lists. She made lists for meals, activities, and of course house cleaning. 

Did I mention my wife made lists? One of them was “house cleaning.” You know how it is. We let clutter stack up. Clothes are in a pile in the corner. The refrigerator has all kinds of leftovers to be tossed out. Bed linens are to be changed. Guest bath is waiting to be cleaned. The list goes on. We get comfortable and let things slide untill there’s a mess we don’t desire company to see. 

As I reflected on what we had done to get ready for our friends arrival, Holy Spirit ministered to me about clutter in my personal life. There were things I needed to “clean up.” 

It’s a good feeling when you are all prepared. It relieves all pressure or stress. Everybody loves a clean house. with everything done and in order, all you have to do then is sit and wait for the doorbell to ring and invite your guest in.

Jesus is coming. Eph. 5:27 tells us He is coming for a glorious church, not having wrinkle or any such thing. But that it should be holy and without blemish. It’s time for us, the church, to live in anticipation of His coming. We need to live each day with our house in order, ready for His habitation. 

 ~Ricky Robinson

 

Reblogged from The Celebration:

Dr. George Washington Carver George Washington Carver was born the son of a slave during the Civil War. By the time of his death on January 5, 1943, this orphaned boy had become an internationally renowned chemist who discovered over 300 uses for the peanut in addition to hundreds of uses for many other southern crops. Many historians credit Carver for helping turn southern agriculture around after the Civil War. Through the Tuskegee Institute, Carver educated southern farmers about the need to grow plants …

An attitude of prayer is not prayer. Singing praises is not prayer. Prayer is prayer.  A few months ago, Holy Ghost began to deal with me about this.  As I examined myself, I realized that I was spending plenty of time singing and praising God, but I wasn’t actually spending quality time actually praying.

This seeking time I have devoted my ride to work, which is usually filled with the tunes of MercyMe or Casting Crowns, to spending this quiet time in prayer.  The first day was exciting; however, by the end of the workday, I had decided that I needed the ride home to be devoted to prayer also.  I am fully aware that the enemy comes to steal and destroy, but I was in total distress over the things the enemy had thrown at me, and it was only the first day!  As seeking time has continued, so has my morning commute prayer time.  Each day brings a new challenge, but I am taking it one battle at a time.  I cannot win every battle with the enemy on my own, but I can give it my all and God will take care of the rest.

 

~Christi Duncan

Reblogged from The Celebration:

Mahalia Jackson was born to a Baptist minister in a small town in Louisiana. She started singing in her church choir at the age of 4 and went on to become internationally known as the First Lady of Gospel Music. Always mindful that her ability came from God, she was driven to use her gift to spread the message of His love to the nations. Mahalia’s faithfulness to God opened doors of favor for her. Her career spanned 45 years and included 4 Grammy’s and over 30 albums. Her hit song, Move on Up a Little …

Mahalia Jackson was such an inspiration…Enjoy revisiting this great post about an amazing woman of God!

Reblogged from The Celebration:

• 
• 
• 
• 

“The color line was washed away in the Blood.” – Frank Bartleman a Without a doubt, the United States has been the birthplace of the modern Pentecostal movement. As we celebrate Black History Month, it is important to note that our history, the history of the Church, has been shaped by the contributions of countless Black believers. Here are a few remarkable men and women of color who helped forge the foundation of the modern pentecostal church. a a Amanda Berry Smith Born a slave in Maryland in …

We have some awesome articles on The Celebration in honor of Black History Month. We will be “reblogging” them over the next few days so that our new readers can find them more easily! Enjoy and Celebrate!!!

Reblogged from The Celebration:

• 

I love Jesus and hope my life is a reflection of His life every day of the year… but I stop to celebrate His birth on December 25th. On that day, the whole world celebrates Him…even those who may not know Him or who may not know Him well. If it hadn’t been for the fact that Christians AND non-Christians celebrate Christmas, I would never have come to know Christ myself. I never knew Him, nor did I understand Him, but at Christmas my heart stretched out to try to find out more about Him. Eventually, …

We have some awesome articles on The Celebration in honor of Black History Month. We will be “reblogging” them over the next few days so that our new readers can find them more easily! Enjoy and Celebrate!!!

Q: How were strongholds breached?

A: Tearing down a stronghold was no easy task. Many strongholds from the ancient world still stand today, their walls slowly crumbling. It was nearly impossible to get through the walls, so conquering armies had to find another way. They might try to get in through the gate using a battering ram and slamming it repeatedly against the gate in an attempt to break it down. They also might try using ladders or a siege tower to scale the walls. Undermining, also called “sapping”, is a method in which soldiers or workers would dig under the walls enough to weaken and eventually collapse them. Many times, an attacking force would use deception to overtake a stronghold. They might send a spy in some sort of disguise to slip into a stronghold. Under cover of darkness, the spy would open the gates, allowing the army to flood through. Another method of infiltration was having soldiers climb over the walls. They would dress in dark clothes and go at night, silently slipping over the wall and to the gate.  Once controlled, a stronghold may conform to the desires of the one controlling it.

Q: So, it sounds like a stronghold could be a good thing…depending on who is controlling it.

A: Yes, holding strongholds meant you had a strong foothold into the kingdom. So, depending on which kingdom the stronghold is serving, it could be a good thing. Remember, strongholds were to be respected, not only by the enemies but by the members of the country as well. When enemy kingdoms or organized groups came into the land, they wanted to capture the strongholds there because they gave them authority in the kingdom. To defend a stronghold meant to hold your place in the kingdom. Losing a stronghold meant losing bits of the kingdom.

~By Andrew and Linda Frederick

There is a lot to meditate here about the design and purpose of strongholds. Think about the fortresses your flesh has built to withstand the purpose of God for your life. Allow the forces of your spirit to infiltrate and overtake these strongholds, turning them into seats of authority for the Kingdom of God!

Many strongholds were not designed to keep enemy forces out, but rather they were built to keep valuable things in. Kings built tombs, memorials, and shrines in the center of some strongholds to prevent them from coming to harm or from being stolen. These treasures would have large vaults and high walls built around them to prevent the riches from leaving the kingdom and falling into enemy hands.

Q: How are strongholds built? A: One stone at a time, of course. The foundation was dug deeply into the earth, followed by the building of massive outer walls from carefully aligned bricks. These walls were very high and thick with no gaps, making them nearly impossible to scale from outside. Once there was a secure outer wall, they began inner fortifications such as the inner wall, gatehouses, guard posts, and the keep. So, basically, they were built from the outside in. The bigger and stronger the outside walls, the more complex and detailed the inside could be.

Q: So, how was the inside of the stronghold laid out? A: Well, it depended on the culture and purpose of the stronghold, of course, but they all had places for the inhabitants to live comfortably. The most important part of any stronghold was the keep. The keep was a strong defendable structure, able to last long against enemy onslaught. If the keep was lost, then the stronghold was lost. They were generally built from stone with high walls and thick gates, deep within the center of the stronghold. The keep held the food storages for feeding the soldiers. If the outer walls fell to the enemy, soldiers would retreat inside the keep as a last stand.

~Andrew Frederick

Keep in mind that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers and rulers of this wicked age. Strongholds built to keep you isolated from the rest of the Body of Christ essentially wall you in with the very thing that keeps you from your victory in life. Consider building a stronghold of faith in your life instead. This stronghold would be built out of those relationships the Lord has sent to strengthen you as you grow in faith. Which kind of stronghold do you have?

Stronghold: a well-fortified place; fortress; a place that serves as the center of a group, as of militants or of persons holding a controversial viewpoint.

What images are popping into your mind right now? Are you thinking of scenes from Lord of the Rings or The Kingdom? We don’t really have a reference for a stronghold here in America, which makes dealing with spiritual strongholds a little more difficult than we would think. How can we identify a stronghold? What do they look like? What is their purpose? How are they built? How are they torn down? Are they good? Bad?

As we address spiritual strongholds, we thought it would be beneficial to gain some background knowledge that will enable us to have a clear understanding of what we’re up against… or inside, depending on your perspective! We turned to our resident expert on ancient and medieval warfare for a crash course. Here’s what we’ve learned:

Q: What was the purpose for a stronghold? A: Strongholds were defensive structures designed to ward off enemies. Kings, Lords, and Warlords would construct strongholds to defend their kingdoms from harm. They were not places of luxury or entertainment, but were places of war and hard work, often serving as a military base. An army leaving for war may stop by a stronghold to restock supplies, or they may gather in a stronghold when the country was under attack. Often times, a kingdom had several strongholds placed strategically around its borders for security. If those borders fell to the enemy, the soldiers in the border strongholds would retreat to a well-protected fortress deep within the center of the territory. These strongholds were much more difficult to reach, well stocked for long-term sieges, and equipped with tunnels and escape routes for those inside.

~Andrew Frederick

We’ll look at more aspects of strongholds tomorrow. In the meantime, consider your own life. What kinds of defensive structures have you built in your life that keep others out? Are you protected or are you isolated behind those walls?

DNA might stand for something scientific to you, but for me it always stood for “Daddy Not Available”!

See, I wasn’t raised by my mom and dad, so I didn’t look much like the people I lived with. Because of this, I was often asked the question,”Who do you favor?” This always made me feel uncomfortable, and I didn’t know how to answer. I never really favored anyone in my family.

I have heard when a couple has been together for a long time, they begin to resemble one another. I’m not sure if you can really start to look like someone over time, but have you ever been around an older married couple (like my husband and myself!) who finishes each other’s sentences? As a Christian, that question, “Who do you favor?” no longer irritates me, but challenges me to become more and more like my Heavenly Father. I have a long way to go, but I am believing that the more time I spend with Him, the more I will “favor” Him. Of course, I can spend time with Him because, unlike my natural father, my Heavenly Daddy is ALWAYS available!

All of us, intentionally or not, reflect someone or something. Wouldn’t it stand to reason, then, for us to make a conscious choice as to who or what that is? I choose to strive to be more like my Heavenly Daddy!

As I continue to spend time with Him, I am changing my D.N.A. to stand for “Daddy Now Available!”

~Connie Robinson