-This week has been a tough week for me. I have been inundated with this relocation project with every aspect of the project from soup to nuts and I never would have imagined that this would so time consuming and stressful. But that is the price that one has to pay in order to do things different for God than what has ever been done before. I have been on conference calls with the architect 3 different times today, just to schedule a date for next week to finalize all of the plans for how the new facility is going to look. I must admit though, I am very excited about this project and the fact that we will be able to shape this new building to look exactly like we want it to look, God be praised!
-I have also been drafted to serve as the Chief of Staff for a former Newark Councilman's campaign to retake the seat which has been vacated by a New Jersey District Court Judge, due to a legal matter regarding the person who took his seat during the last election. I need to be honest, I am just learning the ins and outs of an electoral campaign, so this is taking a little bit of an adjustment for me. I will say that this Presidential Campaign has made me more interested infinitely in the election process, not so that I could possibly run for election (I don't believe Pastors should be elected officials), but so that I can have influence and access when it comes to politicians and their role in our city and for my church. Our city is at a critical state as is other cities. Our new Mayor, has failed to exhibit any intent to make this city better for the residents who are presently here, but rather there are outside forces that desire to have control over the vast resources that the City of Newark possesses. Please keep our city in your prayers.
-Please pray for one of my sisters, Laure Brock, she was diagnosed with Leukemia a couple years ago, which is now in remission, but her doctors recently discovered that she has an aggressive form of breast cancer. The doctors have scheduled surgery for Friday, but they said the cancer has still spread. Our family again is in need of your prayers. These are trying times for the faithful believers of Jesus Christ, please pray our strength in the rich blessings of the Lord.
-Pastor Joe A. Carter of The New Hope Baptist Church, Newark, NJ, lost his older brother Henry yesterday. He still is feeling the lost of his other brother Pastor Ron C. Carter a few years back, and now this happens. Please call his family's name out in prayer as they must have a home going service for Henry on Monday.
-I have to preach at the Metropolitan Baptist Church, Scotch Plains, NJ tonight for their Fall Revival. I have been doing this revival for the last 5 years, and I always look forward to this time of year where I can share with Pastor Clement Griffin and the sweet people of the Metropolitan Church. I am only doing tonight's service, but please pray for the revival as a whole.
Showing posts with label Mid-week Notes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mid-week Notes. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Mid-Week Notes
This week is a real stressful one that seemingly has me gripped with an overwhelming feeling of not making things happen fast enough when it comes to the purchase and renovation of our new location. It seems like every time we make some headway with this second phase of our project, red tape, politicians, contractors and stuff after stuff keeps us running in sand with the appearance that we are further and further away from our finish line. All of this has made this week one very difficult one. I am trying to finish a lot of leg work and meetings and agreements before the end of this week because for the next couple of weeks, I will be out of town with my teenage sons in Florida and on vacation with Penny. But at this rate, I will be running up a wall before then.
What I have discovered is that I believe that God is trying to teach me through my experiences the truths of that phrase of the model prayer that I preached this past Lord's Day found in Matt. 6:10, when Jesus taught his disciples to pray, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. The point of that is that our plan is not God's plan and things will be much easier to handle when they don't go the way we want them to go, as long as we come to grips that we must make God's agenda our agenda. So I trust that whatever obstacles are standing in our way this week, the words of Paul will ring true, all things are working together for our good, because we truly love the Lord and are called to his purpose. Please keep our work this week in your prayers.
Speaking of my sons, I cannot wait to get to Orlando on Monday to see them. I have not seen them since last August, and there has been a hole in my heart ever since. They are teenagers and they are at the point in their live when they need me more and I will spend more time in Orlando for the rest of this year, a couple a days every other month. I am truly asking for your prayers for Marquis and Devante (D.J.) and pray for Penny who has to deal without her Honey for a few days, I don't know what she will do without me (LOL).
My best friend, Pastor Keith D. Witherspoon, pastor of Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church, Sound Bend, IN has become the newest member of the blogging fraternity on yesterday. I have been trying to get him "blogged in" for the last year and it has finally worked. When you get a chance, stop by his blog at www.kdwitherspoon.blogspot.com and read his passions and convictions about Jesus Christ and his opinions about the condition of the world today.
What I have discovered is that I believe that God is trying to teach me through my experiences the truths of that phrase of the model prayer that I preached this past Lord's Day found in Matt. 6:10, when Jesus taught his disciples to pray, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. The point of that is that our plan is not God's plan and things will be much easier to handle when they don't go the way we want them to go, as long as we come to grips that we must make God's agenda our agenda. So I trust that whatever obstacles are standing in our way this week, the words of Paul will ring true, all things are working together for our good, because we truly love the Lord and are called to his purpose. Please keep our work this week in your prayers.
Speaking of my sons, I cannot wait to get to Orlando on Monday to see them. I have not seen them since last August, and there has been a hole in my heart ever since. They are teenagers and they are at the point in their live when they need me more and I will spend more time in Orlando for the rest of this year, a couple a days every other month. I am truly asking for your prayers for Marquis and Devante (D.J.) and pray for Penny who has to deal without her Honey for a few days, I don't know what she will do without me (LOL).
My best friend, Pastor Keith D. Witherspoon, pastor of Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church, Sound Bend, IN has become the newest member of the blogging fraternity on yesterday. I have been trying to get him "blogged in" for the last year and it has finally worked. When you get a chance, stop by his blog at www.kdwitherspoon.blogspot.com and read his passions and convictions about Jesus Christ and his opinions about the condition of the world today.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Mid-Week Notes
-I returned this past Monday night from a wonderful experience at the Messiah Temple Missionary Baptist Church, Chicago where my friend and brother Dr. Keith McGee serves as the Pastor for their 43rd Church Anniversary. Dr. McGee and the Messiah Temple Church treated me fabulously and the worship was outstanding. Whenever I visit a church for the first time, I am a little uneasy about what to say to the people, but the Lord directed me to an exposition that I preached at the First Mt. Zion Church some time ago, found in I Kings 18:17-21 which I tagged When Standing Up Means Standing Alone. The crux of that text is that if a people is willing to stand boldly for God even if they must stand alone, God is willing to bring a great victory into their lives. The Lord showed up and blessed the meeting. Pastor Romell Williams preached an outstanding message out of Matthew 21 regarding Jesus overturning the tables of the temple when we rode into Jerusalem which he tagged When Jesus Came to Church. I am convinced that Romell is one of the best in this country and I am proud to call both he and Keith McGee my friends.
-While I was away, one of the prayer warriors of the First Mt. Zion Family, Suzie Williams, went home to be with the Lord on Sunday Evening. Miss Suzie was a great soul who always let me know that she was both keeping her eyes on me and praying for me at the same time. She had no problem telling me when she didn't agree with a decision that I had made, but on the flip-side, she told me as long as I said that my decision was God-directed, then she would support me. I am truly appreciative for her honesty and her support and I will miss her greatly. This will be the most difficult homegoing celebration that I had to do at the church since I have been there, when we send her home on Monday. Please pray for the Williams Family, the First Mt. Zion Family and for me.
-I want to raise a couple of issues that I would really love to hear some feedback from the blogging community. These issues have been brought to me this week and they are the idea of reincarnation and the idea of voting in new members into the church. I want us to begin a rich dialogue about both of these ideas.
-I am looking forward to continuing our new series on the Model Prayer this Sunday which I call God's Blueprint for a Prayer-Filled Life, with our attempt at exposition of the first phrase of this prayer, Our Father in Heaven, found in Matthew 6:9. Please pray for the series and for me that I remain faithful to biblical exposition, sound doctrine and my calling to preach the word with power and conviction.
-While I was away, one of the prayer warriors of the First Mt. Zion Family, Suzie Williams, went home to be with the Lord on Sunday Evening. Miss Suzie was a great soul who always let me know that she was both keeping her eyes on me and praying for me at the same time. She had no problem telling me when she didn't agree with a decision that I had made, but on the flip-side, she told me as long as I said that my decision was God-directed, then she would support me. I am truly appreciative for her honesty and her support and I will miss her greatly. This will be the most difficult homegoing celebration that I had to do at the church since I have been there, when we send her home on Monday. Please pray for the Williams Family, the First Mt. Zion Family and for me.
-I want to raise a couple of issues that I would really love to hear some feedback from the blogging community. These issues have been brought to me this week and they are the idea of reincarnation and the idea of voting in new members into the church. I want us to begin a rich dialogue about both of these ideas.
-I am looking forward to continuing our new series on the Model Prayer this Sunday which I call God's Blueprint for a Prayer-Filled Life, with our attempt at exposition of the first phrase of this prayer, Our Father in Heaven, found in Matthew 6:9. Please pray for the series and for me that I remain faithful to biblical exposition, sound doctrine and my calling to preach the word with power and conviction.
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