Speaking @ First Goodwill BC, Los Angeles, CA

Hello Blog Family! I know it has been a long time since my last post, but a lot has been going on, both good and bad, but the good will always outweigh the bad. Since my last post, I have registered for school to complete my Bachelor's Degree at Thomas Edison State College of New Jersey. I am taking a full course load of 15 credits, as that's all I need to complete my degree. I need to let you all in on a little secret: this is very hard (LOL). My time has been off and I am struggling with sticking to a strict schedule. Please pray for me!!!!

This weekend, I had the privilege of preaching for our blog brother, Pastor Clinton Smith, to help him celebrate his 7th Pastoral Anniversary, and it was an amazing experience. Pastor Smith, has proven to be a brother beloved from a 3000 mile distance, and he solidified that characteristic, in the excellent manner he hosted me this weekend. His wife Tracey, children Cari, Aysia and Miles, and his grandson Jay, endeared themselves to me like they knew me for years. I am deeply overwhelmed by their graciousness and love.

I attended an anniversary concert on Friday, that was explosive in worship. The groups that participated all sang original material and they really blessed my socks off. There was one group in particular, One Voice, sent us on a journey of worship that was incredible. For the entire concert, I sat next to the mother of Pastor H.B. Charles, Mrs. Ellen Charles, who is also Pastor Smith's Mother in law, and let me tell you, she is an absolute joy to be around. I was extremely blessed to have this experience.

On Saturday morning, Pastor Smith gathered a vast collection of local pastors to come for a breakfast/meet and greet with me and these brothers were extremely hospitable and warm. Many of them are our blog brothers such as Pastor Ronald Saunders, Pastor Barry Severe, Pastor F. Demond Harris and Pastor Reginald Payne & others. What started out as simply a breakfast that should have lasted a couple of hours, turned into a powerful session of sharing, encouragement and prayer for the brethren that lasted well over 8 hours. God be praised for the fellowship of like-minded brothers.

Later that night, I ran into another blog brother who was on vacation with his wife Latonya, my friend and brother from Corpus Christi, TX, Pastor Kevin Pullam. It really made my heart feel good to see them. They were spending money all over the place, in a 5-star hotel and eating caviar (LOL). Seriously, they are extremely loving people and I am blessed to call them family.

Sunday morning we shared with Pastor Smith and the First Goodwill church, a message of encouragement from Prov. 3:5-6 entitled When Life Makes No Sense. In the afternoon service, many churches and pastors came to help celebrate and the Word was preached by Bishop Richard Sanders, who preached a powerful message from Phil. 4:19 labeled How To Get Your Needs Met. He preached his face off. Pastor Payne's Praise and Worship Team were powerful. All told, this was just a great weekend. Please pray for the continued growth and development of Pastor Clinton Smith and the First Goodwill Church Family.

I had a great time, but now I am glad to be home as I have schoolwork and a church to grow.

Preaching @ Friendship Baptist Church, Corpus Christi, TX

On yesterday, I had the express pleasure of preaching at the Friendship Baptist Church, Corpus Christi, TX where my blogging and adopted brother Kevin Pullam serves as the Pastor for their AWE 2009 Revival. All I can say is that the entire Pullam family know how to host a preacher. They made me feel like a son/brother from the moment I stepped off of the airplane on Tuesday.

Momma V was so happy and proud to have her new son in town that I don't know who was more happy to be there me or her. She introduced me to everybody that she saw, and made them call me her son. It was good to see her happy. Pops Pullam is a Pastor's Pastor. His presence and wisdom is something that I will cherish, as he was a blessing to me in both advice and presence.

Kevin was an outstanding host, who made certain that I didn't want for anything while I was there. His vision for this revival was evident in the excellent manner that the revival was promoted and the Friendship Church opened their arms to me to make me feel extremely welcomed. What I didn't know was that Kevin Pullam is a Pastor with many gifts. He sang I Won't Complain during the invitation and he flat out killed everything in the house. And to top it off, he got on the keyboard and played during the benediction. Wow what a gifted man of God. His wife Latonya and their children were very hospitible as well.

Kraig Pullam made the 3 1/2 hour trip from Houston down to Corpus Christi to come and fellowship with me, he too is a gifted preacher who is doing a great job at the Cornerstone Church there in Houston, please keep them in your prayers as they are headed towards a great new move in their ministry.

I also had the pleasure of meeting a great preacher and Pastor, Arthur Lane, of the St. Matthew Baptist Church and he has a powerful ministry and historic congregation there in Corpus Christi. I am greatly looking forward to this developing friendship and fellowship between Lane and myself.

The Lord really blessed the exposition of the Word, as I dealt with a message from my series on the book of Ezra, chapter 9 entitled A Prayer For Revival. Please keep the rest of the revival in your prayers, as they have Dr. Ralph West coming next week, and Pastor Kraig Pullam the week after.

Speaking @ Mt. Carmel Missionary Baptist Church

Today, I had the expressed pleasure of preaching at the Mt. Carmel Missionary Baptist Church, Waterloo, IA, where my good friend Rev. Frantz T. Whitfield serves as the Pastor. Rev. Whitfield is a new pastor, who succeeded Dr. Thomas as Pastor after he went home to be with the Lord towards the end of last year. Pastor Whitfield is a young and energetic preacher who is experiencing many of the same growing pains that most young preachers face at their first church. However his is a little more pressing that others I know because he is a "son" of the church and often times it is more difficult for a "son" to enjoy a period of success at a church when many of the members remember him as a little boy.

What I truly like about this church is that there is a good core group of people who really love and respect the office of Pastor and they seem to have latched on to Pastor Whitfield's leadership for the church to be very protective of him.

I was invited to Mt. Carmel for their Family and Friends Day Celebration, and I was really unsure of what I would preach on today. I thought I had landed on a text found in II. Corinthians 4, while I was waiting for my connecting flight in Minneapolis, MN, but last night when I came back to my room to go over the message, the Lord led me to another text that really hit the nail on the head for the congregation. A famous story in the scriptures found also in II. Corinthians 12:7-9, which deals with Paul's thorn in the flesh, in which I tagged the messge, Handling the Hard Times. I argued basically that Paul teaches us in this text that when we change our perception of hard times, we will be able to experience all of the benefits that hard times will bring. The people seemed really receptive to my attempt at biblical exposition, to God be the glory.

Please keep Mt. Carmel and Pastor Whitfield in your prayers as he attempts to lead them to greater heights in Jesus Christ. Also, please pray for First Mt. Zion, because before I left on Friday, a building that we were looking at as a new location, accepted our offer to purchase and I must get back early in the morning to finalize the contracts and allow our contractor and architech to see the inside so that we can determine the total cost of both the purchase and the renovation. I am both excited and cautious, so please keep me in your prayers. God be praised!!!

Speaking @ Macedonia Baptist Church, Trenton, NJ

Today I was blessed to preach @ the great and historical Macedonia Baptist Church, Trenton, NJ where my good friend and brother Rev. Keith A. Marshall is the pastor, for their Hour of Power noon-day service. Pastor Marshall is a nationally known revivalist who preaches at various venues across this country as well as at the National Baptist Convention, USA Inc.

Pastor Marshall has been, throughout the years, one of my best friends and mentors who has opened his pulpit to me before I began pastoring, while I was in between churches, and when I was in dire financial situations. I do not preach for money, but the Word of the Lord tells us in I Corinthians 9:14...even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel, so whenever I have been in trouble, Keith Marshall has been there to be a blessing to my family and my ministry.

I am forever grateful for the Spirit of God that permeates out of the lifestyle of Pastor Keith A. Marshall and I praise God for his ministry. Please pray for both Pastor Marshall & the Macedonia Church Family.