Powerful lyrics radiated the big screen; tunes blazed throughout the congregation, and PBC's worship leader, Wes Koontz, took center stage, doing what he knew best to do on Sunday mornings. He rocked out the microphone. Koontz's voice permeated the crowd with Casting Crowns' song, Glorious Day, and, as he lifted his voice in praise, the most awesome thing happened.
A little girl, sitting two rows ahead of me, stretched both arms to the air and praised God like no one was watching. As she bobbed her head, swayed her arms, and bounced her feet to the melody, I whispered to my mom, "That girl, for sure, has the Holy Spirit in her."
I tried to concentrate, but her spotlight captivated me. Joy glowed through her fingertips. Her hot pink flower, clipped above her right ear, coordinated with the soft pink stripes that flowed down her dress. "What a special girl," I gushed as she swung her arms in her button-down, white cardigan. Her boldness caught the eye of the older man standing to her left. Her father, along with a rack load of other kids, and mother were standing to her right, but she alone stood out. She was set apart: Quite different from the rest.
Something unique was in this girl; I knew that I was in the presence of greatness. This little girl, I sensed, would be used mightily by God at the right time; the appointed time.
Her zeal drew me in, and her innocence and love for Jesus brought an intense excitement to my eyes, forcing me to hold back tears. After services, I felt led to talk to her dad.
Forgetting to introduce myself, I got straight to the point: "Is that your daughter?"
He grinned and responded with a sharp, "Yes."
"Your daughter is special! I love that she's on fire for God."
His smile widened as he mouthed a big, "Thank you."
It takes guts to twirl about and sing aloud to Jesus, publicly. Well, not for everyone, but at PBC, you don't come across a lot of individuals like this one. She reminded me that I needed to focus my attention on Jesus and not worry about how others may perceive me whenever I choose to express my love for Him. She caused me to change one of my prayer points. Now, I'll be asking God for the boldness of an elementary school kid. And most importantly, she brightened up my Sunday, encouraging me to start praising Him like no one is watching. Thanks, little girl.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Friday, March 9, 2012
Spiritual Warfare...
Drove west and attended an awesome conference last weekend. Met business owners, publishers, best-selling authors and writers, and mingled with several others who own their own ministries. The event ended on a high note when my name was announced as the door prize winner, which was a first.
Interesting tidbit: One of the authors confessed to me that she was dealing with intense "spiritual warfare" the night before. That stuff is too real. Just saying from experience.
Friday, February 24, 2012
The Gist Of The Hour...
Just your typical morning shine. Again, the sun beamed through my window blinds. Again, I struggled to roll out of my queen-sized Sealy. And, yet again, I dozed off, having woken up ridiculously early (according to my standards) to preach, exhort, and share the good news on Pastor Uche's prayer line. When the sluggishness wore off, I popped open my Sony Vaio and searched the news events for the gist of the hour.
I briefly scanned through the pages of MSNBC and Google News, clicking its links in search for something inspirational, hoping to strengthen my eyes from sealing shut again for another good moment.
Just a quick read and the first couple of titles--"American Idol Semifinalists Named" and "Sacha Baron Cohen Is Making Oscar Trouble"--reminded me of a time when I would drain the entire day fixing my eyes on television programs such as The Bachelor, The Bad Girls Club, and Jersey Shore to name a few.
Catching up on reruns consumed my time, increasing my habitual need for more tele as the Brits would say, instead of using that energy to read books, work on my craft, learn new skills or even strengthen my spiritual life. As the saying kind of goes, one woman's junk is another woman's treasure, so um... to each their own.
I skimmed over a headline about Rihanna and Chris Brown collaborating on music together, again. Didn't I write a story about these two a few years ago? I remembered. That's right, back in 2009 I wrote a piece, "The Perpetual Cycle of Violence," highlighting the previous lovebirds whose relationship went kaput after pictures of Rihanna's face surfaced the web looking as if she somehow fell inside of a UFC ring with Chuck Liddell. I skipped the article and refrained from commenting.
And finally, there it was--the story of the hour. My insides boiled as I read the headline: "8-year-old girl critically wounded in Washington state school shooting."
Random assumptions consumed my thoughts. "Drive-by shooting?" or maybe she was shot by a "depressed child or an adult even." Nope. Apparently another student's gun accidentally went off. As he plopped his backpack on his desk, the gun ripped a bullet through his bag, pinpointing the young beauty, Ms. Amina Bowman.
Painful reports of suffering among children and youth continue to burden my heart. From the sinful secrets hidden in buildings disguised as churches where child predators who claim to be pastors freely roam to the imprisoned kid jailed because he or she lacked real parental guidance, stories of neglect, abuse, child homelessness, and molestation among our young generation infuriates me to the core.
Refocusing back on Amina, the first idea that came to mind was to pray using Ezekiel 37 where God commanded Ezekiel to prophesy unto dry bones that they may live again. And that I did, along with several personal pleas concerning this girl's life. By faith, I decreed healing upon her wounded flesh: "Amina Bowman, I prophecy life unto your dry bones!" and "Amina, you shall live and not die and declare the works of the Lord all the days of your life" (Psalm 118:7).
Looking in, this sounds crazy. But I've noticed over the years that my crazy prayers have produced many awesome results, and still does. So, for all those who believe in the power of prayer (whether general or radical), please take the time to pray for this little girl.
Amina did the trick for me. Along with opening my eyes, she caused a fistful of adrenaline to charge my mind. I arose from my bed energized, contemplating on the promising changes this world has yet to see.
I briefly scanned through the pages of MSNBC and Google News, clicking its links in search for something inspirational, hoping to strengthen my eyes from sealing shut again for another good moment.
Just a quick read and the first couple of titles--"American Idol Semifinalists Named" and "Sacha Baron Cohen Is Making Oscar Trouble"--reminded me of a time when I would drain the entire day fixing my eyes on television programs such as The Bachelor, The Bad Girls Club, and Jersey Shore to name a few.
Catching up on reruns consumed my time, increasing my habitual need for more tele as the Brits would say, instead of using that energy to read books, work on my craft, learn new skills or even strengthen my spiritual life. As the saying kind of goes, one woman's junk is another woman's treasure, so um... to each their own.
I skimmed over a headline about Rihanna and Chris Brown collaborating on music together, again. Didn't I write a story about these two a few years ago? I remembered. That's right, back in 2009 I wrote a piece, "The Perpetual Cycle of Violence," highlighting the previous lovebirds whose relationship went kaput after pictures of Rihanna's face surfaced the web looking as if she somehow fell inside of a UFC ring with Chuck Liddell. I skipped the article and refrained from commenting.
And finally, there it was--the story of the hour. My insides boiled as I read the headline: "8-year-old girl critically wounded in Washington state school shooting."
Random assumptions consumed my thoughts. "Drive-by shooting?" or maybe she was shot by a "depressed child or an adult even." Nope. Apparently another student's gun accidentally went off. As he plopped his backpack on his desk, the gun ripped a bullet through his bag, pinpointing the young beauty, Ms. Amina Bowman.
Painful reports of suffering among children and youth continue to burden my heart. From the sinful secrets hidden in buildings disguised as churches where child predators who claim to be pastors freely roam to the imprisoned kid jailed because he or she lacked real parental guidance, stories of neglect, abuse, child homelessness, and molestation among our young generation infuriates me to the core.
Refocusing back on Amina, the first idea that came to mind was to pray using Ezekiel 37 where God commanded Ezekiel to prophesy unto dry bones that they may live again. And that I did, along with several personal pleas concerning this girl's life. By faith, I decreed healing upon her wounded flesh: "Amina Bowman, I prophecy life unto your dry bones!" and "Amina, you shall live and not die and declare the works of the Lord all the days of your life" (Psalm 118:7).
Looking in, this sounds crazy. But I've noticed over the years that my crazy prayers have produced many awesome results, and still does. So, for all those who believe in the power of prayer (whether general or radical), please take the time to pray for this little girl.
Amina did the trick for me. Along with opening my eyes, she caused a fistful of adrenaline to charge my mind. I arose from my bed energized, contemplating on the promising changes this world has yet to see.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Not A Ministry But A Movement...
In the midnight hour we arrived.
There, an assembly of fresh new faces greeted us with a few familiar smiles mixed into the crowd. A young lady whose beautiful attire flowed a multicolored African print from head-to-toe welcomed us as she handed over the agenda for the meeting scheduled to end at 3am.
That's right. My mother and I pulled a "Paul-and-Silas" on a Friday night (Acts 16:25) among other Jesus-junkies who came ready to receive a fresh slice of His bread (John 6:35), while anticipating for that new thing (Isaiah 43:19) to occur, absent the shackles and prison bars.
My eyes searched the room for a comfortable spot to pray, hoping for my own personal corner to covertly seek His face. But I learned quickly that this was no ordinary night vigil.
As I seated my Bible next to my chair, I glanced over the sheet of paper that was given to me. Four words stood out: "Not a ministry but a movement."
This was an event organized for passionate youth and young adults zealous for the cause of Jesus (Luke 4:18), unwilling to "leave the same way" once the meeting had concluded. Just one encounter with these folk promised a spiritual shift in the hearts of those eager and willing to receive. For many enter the house of God unprepared and full of bristles and thorns that crave to choke the "seed" that God intended to use for fruitful breakthroughs (Matthew 13:1-16).
One after the other through the early-morning hour various speakers stood before the congregation and shared testimonies, exhorted messages, and interceded powerfully on behalf of the youth and other attendees. The atmosphere's warm comfort stirred up my spirit as I listened in on the words delivered by His spirit. I did not want to leave.
Before I knew it we were all ripping up the Church floor and "freestyling" our cares upon the Lord (1 Peter 5:7) with a good beat and tunes sung by three feisty ladies: songwriter, Pastor Uche, worship leader, Alphina, and another young and overly enthusiastic churchgoer. Lifting our hands in praise, we serenaded our thanks unto the Lord and embraced His love with each dance move.
Though the clock had reached four and we were over an hour from our home, and though my mother had to drive another 45 minutes to work that same morning, the entire experience was well worth our sleep and time. Not everyone is worth it, but there is just something mysterious about a Man who knows how to penetrate the heart with nothing but a simple whisper.
That's right. My mother and I pulled a "Paul-and-Silas" on a Friday night (Acts 16:25) among other Jesus-junkies who came ready to receive a fresh slice of His bread (John 6:35), while anticipating for that new thing (Isaiah 43:19) to occur, absent the shackles and prison bars.
My eyes searched the room for a comfortable spot to pray, hoping for my own personal corner to covertly seek His face. But I learned quickly that this was no ordinary night vigil.
As I seated my Bible next to my chair, I glanced over the sheet of paper that was given to me. Four words stood out: "Not a ministry but a movement."
This was an event organized for passionate youth and young adults zealous for the cause of Jesus (Luke 4:18), unwilling to "leave the same way" once the meeting had concluded. Just one encounter with these folk promised a spiritual shift in the hearts of those eager and willing to receive. For many enter the house of God unprepared and full of bristles and thorns that crave to choke the "seed" that God intended to use for fruitful breakthroughs (Matthew 13:1-16).
One after the other through the early-morning hour various speakers stood before the congregation and shared testimonies, exhorted messages, and interceded powerfully on behalf of the youth and other attendees. The atmosphere's warm comfort stirred up my spirit as I listened in on the words delivered by His spirit. I did not want to leave.
Before I knew it we were all ripping up the Church floor and "freestyling" our cares upon the Lord (1 Peter 5:7) with a good beat and tunes sung by three feisty ladies: songwriter, Pastor Uche, worship leader, Alphina, and another young and overly enthusiastic churchgoer. Lifting our hands in praise, we serenaded our thanks unto the Lord and embraced His love with each dance move.
Though the clock had reached four and we were over an hour from our home, and though my mother had to drive another 45 minutes to work that same morning, the entire experience was well worth our sleep and time. Not everyone is worth it, but there is just something mysterious about a Man who knows how to penetrate the heart with nothing but a simple whisper.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
For Such A Time As This...
While digging through my Bible, I discovered a good chunk of scripture focused on miraculous breakthroughs and blessings that would always occur at just the right moment or "the appointed time." From Esther's boldness to react courageously on behalf of her Jewish people to King David's opportune time to shine through a "Goliath-total-knock-out" as a young shepherd boy, "time and chance" (Ecclesiastes 9:11) happen to all who wait earnestly and faithfully in preparation.
Preparation is the key. Take Jeremy Lin for instance, the 23 year-old is flying high on top of the world right about now, and mounting up with wings like eagles as the bible verse states (Isaiah 40:31). The media craze has birthed out nicknames for Jeremy such as "Lin-sanity" and "Lin-credible" because of the God-given skills Lin uses to impress his viewers on the courts, contributing to his team's six-game winning streak. But none of this would have come to be if Lin allowed his setbacks to keep him stagnant.
Stagnancy has the ability to overpower our predestined paths. Unexpected situations have plagued many with such deep heaviness and depression that they were not able to reach the destination God had purposed for them. The Israelites did not cross over to their promised land filled with milk and honey because of their lack of faith. "Take it, it's yours!" God promised. But Giants kept His children from conquering and overtaking what was already theirs. Now back to Lin.
Dude ran into several roadblocks but he pressed on regardless. Jeremy's ball playing success led his high school team to the state championships but for some reason the top college basketball programs showed no interest, so he pressed on and joined the prestigious academic ranks of the Ivy League, choosing Harvard University. Disappointments continued to follow Lin after completing his education. The NBA draft came and left with Lin excluded from the pack of new recruits.
So he waited.
Still, he practiced. Still, he honed his skills. Still, he prayed to his God. Still, he remained faithful until that very day when his breakthrough would finally come. The New York Knicks took a chance on the first Taiwanese-American basketball player to grace the courts of the NBA, and even though Lin's coach nearly dropped him from the team before his chance arrived. Instead of warming up the bench, Lin's coach finally gave Jeremy the opportunity to prove himself on the courts. And that he did.
Imagine if Jeremy allowed depression to ruin the time that he needed to prepare for this "appointed time." His divine opportunity would have come and gone with Lin unprepared, missing out on the breakthrough meant for his promotion (lack of preparation leads to demotion).
As my friend and pastor, Uche, would say, "Arise and shine!" Walk in the light (Isaiah 60:1-3). Cast away the darkness and move forward!
In the past I allowed my failures to hinder me. Instead of moving forward like Lin, I remained stagnant for a near-decade! That's just ridiculous! By faith we must move forward regardless of the difficulties that may come our way. So again I say, "Arise and shine!"
Procrastination, depression, anxiety and their evil friends may want to hold you back but the appointed time has come today! Arise and shine!
Preparation is the key. Take Jeremy Lin for instance, the 23 year-old is flying high on top of the world right about now, and mounting up with wings like eagles as the bible verse states (Isaiah 40:31). The media craze has birthed out nicknames for Jeremy such as "Lin-sanity" and "Lin-credible" because of the God-given skills Lin uses to impress his viewers on the courts, contributing to his team's six-game winning streak. But none of this would have come to be if Lin allowed his setbacks to keep him stagnant.
Stagnancy has the ability to overpower our predestined paths. Unexpected situations have plagued many with such deep heaviness and depression that they were not able to reach the destination God had purposed for them. The Israelites did not cross over to their promised land filled with milk and honey because of their lack of faith. "Take it, it's yours!" God promised. But Giants kept His children from conquering and overtaking what was already theirs. Now back to Lin.
Dude ran into several roadblocks but he pressed on regardless. Jeremy's ball playing success led his high school team to the state championships but for some reason the top college basketball programs showed no interest, so he pressed on and joined the prestigious academic ranks of the Ivy League, choosing Harvard University. Disappointments continued to follow Lin after completing his education. The NBA draft came and left with Lin excluded from the pack of new recruits.
So he waited.
Still, he practiced. Still, he honed his skills. Still, he prayed to his God. Still, he remained faithful until that very day when his breakthrough would finally come. The New York Knicks took a chance on the first Taiwanese-American basketball player to grace the courts of the NBA, and even though Lin's coach nearly dropped him from the team before his chance arrived. Instead of warming up the bench, Lin's coach finally gave Jeremy the opportunity to prove himself on the courts. And that he did.
"The 23-year-old has arrived at the perfect time: into a post Super Bowl void and a social media world captivated by his unlikely rise." -"Jeremy Lin: New York Knicks' Cinderella Story," CBS This Morning
"...Here's a guy who's labored, being ready at the right time and he's capitalized on it fully." -"Jeremy Lin: New York Knicks' Cinderella Story," CBS This Morning
Imagine if Jeremy allowed depression to ruin the time that he needed to prepare for this "appointed time." His divine opportunity would have come and gone with Lin unprepared, missing out on the breakthrough meant for his promotion (lack of preparation leads to demotion).
As my friend and pastor, Uche, would say, "Arise and shine!" Walk in the light (Isaiah 60:1-3). Cast away the darkness and move forward!
In the past I allowed my failures to hinder me. Instead of moving forward like Lin, I remained stagnant for a near-decade! That's just ridiculous! By faith we must move forward regardless of the difficulties that may come our way. So again I say, "Arise and shine!"
Procrastination, depression, anxiety and their evil friends may want to hold you back but the appointed time has come today! Arise and shine!
Monday, January 16, 2012
Friday, January 13, 2012
Healing From His Word...
"Mommy, I can hear!" Shouted a child after freshly receiving a miracle last night through the Shadow of the Almighty Ministries. God sent His powerful Word. Then Pastor Solomon proceeded by speaking the Word to the masses, and once the mother of this child keyed into the prayer points, breakthroughs occurred with immediate manifestation, delivering this kid from delayed-onset hearing loss.
"He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions." - Psalm 107:20
Last night's prayers focused heavily on delay, and I thank God that He moved mightily on this child's behalf by healing his hearing loss. What a testimony! And a great way to start off the day. All things are possible through God, and for all those who trust in Him. Believe, then receive.
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