I am so excited that we have reached the end of 2011! Like me I'm sure that you've had a year of highs and lows, successes and failures, triumphs and defeats. I appreciate you for being a reader of Bernard's Word. It is a great blessing to have you visit my website and read about the things that concerns me and that I am passionate about.
I give God praise for 2011 and some of the incredible experiences that I had this year. Some of my highlights for 2011 are:
1. In March I visited the beautiful country of Nigeria for eight days preaching and teaching in the southern region of that country.
2. In June me and group of members from the New Mine Creek Church began learning about wealth building and successful strategies about money and finance from one of the greatest financial mentors in the country William V. Thompson, president of Dynamic Financial Training.
3. In July I celebrating twenty years of marriage with my beautiful wife Vantoria.
4. In August my son Bernard Quincy entered his senior year in high school.
5. In August I preached at the National Primitive Baptist Convention on the eve of the election that secured the presidency of Elder Bernard Yates.
6. In September I attended the African American Literary Awards in Harlem New York.
7. In December me and my family had an incredible Christmas vacation in Orlando Florida.
8. In October I connected with a group of writers in the John3:16 Marketing Network for a monthly prayer conference call.
I hope that 2011 has been an incredible year for you as well. Because they type of year that you had in 2011 should be a springboard for living with a edge in 2012.
A couple of weeks I was surfing through my television and I came across the Sports show First Take. First Take is a sports show that highlights two commentator who debate their opinions about what's happening in the world of athletics. One of the debaters is the straightforward Skip Bayless (I love it when he gives it to Lebron! I can't help it!) . On this particular show the other debater was the fast talking, take no prisoners Stephen A. Smith. Their topic of conversation was the Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow. The comment that struck me was when Skip said that Tim's faith gives him an edge and that was a great part of why he was having a successful year.
I have to admit at this point that I don't watch the NFL. And I knew nothing about Tim Tebow, but Skip's comment caused me to do some reading about this quarterback who was the source of conversation on First Take. And what I learned about Tim had left me amazed once again at how God uses people who are available to Him and makes them a declaration to the world about who He is..
When Tim Tebow walks out on that field to perform as a quarterback he walks believing that God is with him. He believes that as he executes his plays and leads his teammates that the presence of God is surrounding him. And Tim believes that God speaks to him and gives him peace under a tremendous amount of pressure to perform and conform.
Skip said that Tim's faith gives him an edge. In other words Tim has an advantage because of the God that he believes in and what he believes about himself because God is operating in his life. Stephen A. Smith said that Tim's faith was a force, wow! no greater words have ever been spoken about faith. Because that what faith is, it's a force!
When you live by faith it gives you an edge. I'm not saying that faith makes you better than others but it puts you ahead. Your faith gives you an advantage. If you have faith and operate by faith principles that's put you in the company of champions. Throughout 2011 the Holy Spirit has been saying to me that He's raising up a generation of Davids. David is the spiritual prototype of a people who have a edge because they believe God and they are willing to go into the valley and kill the giants that has created fear among the people of God. When all of Israel cowered before Goliath faith gave David an edge.
2012 is going to be a year of conquering giants because your faith is giving you an edge. Your faith will make you stand out and take hold of the opportunities that others will run from. You are going to do impossible things because you have an edge. You have a confidence that God has spoken to you and that God is with you. The Holy Spirit has set dreams and visions in your heart that you will accomplish because you have an edge.
I see you in 2012 WINNING, GAINING, POSSESSING! Declare to the giants that you have faith, you have an edge!
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Thursday, December 15, 2011
YOU ARE IN HIDING
How are things going with you? Can you believe that we have only seventeen more days left in this year? I hope that you had a great year. A year full of peace, purpose and prosperity. I can confess that 2011 was a remarkable year for me even with all the challenges that I faced. As I prepare to enter 2012 I have resolved to discard what is useless and keep what is useful for next year. I hope that you do the same thing.
This week I watched on of the most incredible videos I seen this year and I had to share with you this video and the impact that it had on me as it reminded me of God's dealing with me in another season in my life many years ago.
The video features Fred Hammond. Just in case you don;t know who Fred Hammond is, he is an incredible gospel singer and producer. He sings with incredible power and liberty in Jesus Christ. Fred is a native of Detroit and he currently lives in Dallas Texas. In this video Fred shares how his Mother attempted to abort him but the abortion failed. When Fred's Mother went back to the clinic they guaranteed that they would finish where they failed before and as she was lying on the gurney the fear of the Lord came over and she got dressed and left the clinic saving the life of her son Fred.
I was shaken emotionally when Fred said, "When I was supposed to be discarded. When the tools that were supposed to destroy me, the Lord took His hand and pushed me back." In my mind I could see God rescuing Fred from death because He had a great purpose for his life. I started celebrating the divine deliverance of God in Fred Hammond's life. I celebrated that God saved this gift that we know today as Fred Hammond, because He had a plan for Fred in this generation.
And as I was meditating on Fred Hammond's testimony my mind went back to a pastor's conference that I attended many years ago. It was during a dark season and I wasn't sure if I could keep going and doing what God had called me to do. In that afternoon session I sat in the auditorium of a hotel and the speaker announced his text. It was Isaiah 49:1-2 "THE LORD HAS CALLED ME FROM THE WOMB; FROM THE INWARDS PARTS OF MY MOTHER HE HAS MADE MENTION OF MY NAME. AND HE HAS MADE MY MOUTH LIKE A SHARP SWORD; IN THE SHADOW OF HIS HAND HE HAS HIDDEN ME, AND MADE ME A POLISHED SHAFT; IN HIS QUIVER HE HAS HIDDEN ME."
The Rhema Word of God spoke to me that day. I was assured that I was in the best place because God who knew me before my conception was hiding me in His hand. In God's hand I was safe as He fashioned me and shaped me in His image. I was reminded by the Man of God who spoke that day that the best place to be in was the hand of God. Because in His hand God was polishing me, shaping me and refining me to be a polished shaft. In the secret place of God's hand God was making me into a formidable instrument that would wreak havoc on the kingdom of darkness. God was getting me ready for the time that He would release me as His secret weapon against the kingdom of darkness .
As I look back over that time I can see how God was hiding me for this time and for times to come. So when I was watching Fred give his testimony and I heard him say, "God hid me." It brought forth that memory of the time when God was hiding me as well. And this may be where you are right now.
God may be hiding you, because He has some work to do in you before He sends you into the kingdom of darkness as his secret weapon. Rest in God's hands. Submit to His work in you in this season. God is getting you ready to bring the kingdom of darkness down. And when you show up bringing down principalities, running demons away because of the glory of God that shines through you the devil is going to say as I'm sure he said when Fred appeared as a mighty weapon tearing down bondage's and setting men free through his music, I thought I killed you.
Don't despair God is hiding you. He's keeping you in his quiver until He's ready to send you out as a mighty weapon. The best place to be is in God's hiding place. What He did for Fred Hammond He will do the same thing for you. Please share this video with others.
This week I watched on of the most incredible videos I seen this year and I had to share with you this video and the impact that it had on me as it reminded me of God's dealing with me in another season in my life many years ago.
The video features Fred Hammond. Just in case you don;t know who Fred Hammond is, he is an incredible gospel singer and producer. He sings with incredible power and liberty in Jesus Christ. Fred is a native of Detroit and he currently lives in Dallas Texas. In this video Fred shares how his Mother attempted to abort him but the abortion failed. When Fred's Mother went back to the clinic they guaranteed that they would finish where they failed before and as she was lying on the gurney the fear of the Lord came over and she got dressed and left the clinic saving the life of her son Fred.
I was shaken emotionally when Fred said, "When I was supposed to be discarded. When the tools that were supposed to destroy me, the Lord took His hand and pushed me back." In my mind I could see God rescuing Fred from death because He had a great purpose for his life. I started celebrating the divine deliverance of God in Fred Hammond's life. I celebrated that God saved this gift that we know today as Fred Hammond, because He had a plan for Fred in this generation.
And as I was meditating on Fred Hammond's testimony my mind went back to a pastor's conference that I attended many years ago. It was during a dark season and I wasn't sure if I could keep going and doing what God had called me to do. In that afternoon session I sat in the auditorium of a hotel and the speaker announced his text. It was Isaiah 49:1-2 "THE LORD HAS CALLED ME FROM THE WOMB; FROM THE INWARDS PARTS OF MY MOTHER HE HAS MADE MENTION OF MY NAME. AND HE HAS MADE MY MOUTH LIKE A SHARP SWORD; IN THE SHADOW OF HIS HAND HE HAS HIDDEN ME, AND MADE ME A POLISHED SHAFT; IN HIS QUIVER HE HAS HIDDEN ME."
The Rhema Word of God spoke to me that day. I was assured that I was in the best place because God who knew me before my conception was hiding me in His hand. In God's hand I was safe as He fashioned me and shaped me in His image. I was reminded by the Man of God who spoke that day that the best place to be in was the hand of God. Because in His hand God was polishing me, shaping me and refining me to be a polished shaft. In the secret place of God's hand God was making me into a formidable instrument that would wreak havoc on the kingdom of darkness. God was getting me ready for the time that He would release me as His secret weapon against the kingdom of darkness .
As I look back over that time I can see how God was hiding me for this time and for times to come. So when I was watching Fred give his testimony and I heard him say, "God hid me." It brought forth that memory of the time when God was hiding me as well. And this may be where you are right now.
God may be hiding you, because He has some work to do in you before He sends you into the kingdom of darkness as his secret weapon. Rest in God's hands. Submit to His work in you in this season. God is getting you ready to bring the kingdom of darkness down. And when you show up bringing down principalities, running demons away because of the glory of God that shines through you the devil is going to say as I'm sure he said when Fred appeared as a mighty weapon tearing down bondage's and setting men free through his music, I thought I killed you.
Don't despair God is hiding you. He's keeping you in his quiver until He's ready to send you out as a mighty weapon. The best place to be is in God's hiding place. What He did for Fred Hammond He will do the same thing for you. Please share this video with others.
Monday, December 12, 2011
TASTE AND SEE: A SAMPLING OF FIRST CHAPTERS BY THE AUTHORS OF JOHN 3:16 MARKETING NETWORK
Psalms 34:8 "O TASTE AND SEE THAT THE LORD IS GOOD..."
Lorilyn Roberts, the founder and president of the John 3:16 Marketing Network has compiled a series of writings from some of the authors that are members of the Network. In this compilation of works of varied genres you will see a impressive array of the artistic offerings. This particular work presents the talents of the enormously gifted and talented writers who make up this unique group of writers who are dedicated to the mission of spreading the love of Christ through our writings to the world.
The Sampling of first chapters is intended to stimulate your reading interest in the hopes that you will support these authors by purchasing their books. I am sure that among the fifty eight chapters presented in catalog that you will find many authors whose writings will enrich and encourage you during this holiday season.
From now until the end of the year you can download a copy of Taste and See in ebook format from Smashword for free. Go to Smashword now http://www.smashword.com/books/view/104475 and get your free copy. You can also purchase a copy at Amazon for .99. Go to Amazon now at http://www.amazon.com/Sampling-Chapters-Marketing-Network-ebook/dp/B006H9TJAA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=13237660633&sr=8-2
I am a proud member of this incredible group and it was my privilege to write the forward to this project. Please support and make it a success by getting a copy today. God bless you and I appreciate you for your support.
Pastor Bernard Boulton
Friday, December 9, 2011
GOD'S SKELETON KEY
I love it when the Holy Spirit confirms a word that He has placed in my spirit. The confirmation of a word means that God has given us this word to be fixed in our hearts. Once the Word is fixed in our hearts it moves throughout our spirit establishing this truth on the inside of us. This confirmed word is God's instrument that He uses to make something in us and to bring something through us. That something is God's will, God's way and God's wisdom. Let me explain this, the word of God on the inside of us is God working His will in us. God works His will in us so that we can walk in His ways. As we walk in His ways His wisdom is strategies that answers he situations that arise in our lives.
Last week God gave me this word from St Matthew 6:10, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it in heaven." I preached from this passage last Saturday but since last Saturday and before I've meditated on this verse and feed my spirit with it as I considered this part of the prayer that Jesus gave to His disciples as a model of prayer. However when God confirms a word to me He will give me the same word from a different source in a short amount of time. It is then that my spirit is alerted that God is bringing a word into my life to establish it for that season. When I know that my heavenly Father is doing this in me it always excites me because I know that He is setting me for a new experience on the journey of faith that I'm on.
On Monday I received a book in the mail. The book was written by Don Nori Sr. the founder of Destiny Image Publishers. It is titled YES! THE PRAYER THAT GOD LOVES TO ANSWER. I won a free copy of this book after I entered a contest. In this book Don talks about the humble beginnings of his publishing house Destiny Image and how God led him to form this unusual house that would fulfill God's will in the publishing world. Okay so I'm reading my copy, along with three others books and manuscripts as well as writing my second novel and I get to Chapter two and Don talks about how his grandfather sent him into the house to get a skeleton key from his grandmother. Now I've never heard of a skeleton key but anyway it's a key that can open any lock. And then Don calls St Matthew 6:10 the skeleton key secret.
At this point after reading what Don Nori calls the skeleton key I sense the Holy Spirit calling me to a teaching sessions. I know that He wants to connect with this principle and pattern. As I continued to read chapter 2 of Don's book I see the confirming of this principle and where God is calling me to operate. And I wanted to share this with you. This prayer will open every closed door that has stopped or slowed you down this year. It will open and release heaven into your life every time you pray these words.
"Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven." God wants to answer this prayer in your life. Can you already imagine the kind of year 2012 is going to be for you because you used this prayer as a skeleton key to open every door and bring down heaven into your earth? Start using this key and let me know what happens for you. I'm already anticipating what God is going to do in my life in 2012 as I use this skeleton key to open doors that the devil closed in my face. Let me know what this key is going to do for you.
Last week God gave me this word from St Matthew 6:10, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it in heaven." I preached from this passage last Saturday but since last Saturday and before I've meditated on this verse and feed my spirit with it as I considered this part of the prayer that Jesus gave to His disciples as a model of prayer. However when God confirms a word to me He will give me the same word from a different source in a short amount of time. It is then that my spirit is alerted that God is bringing a word into my life to establish it for that season. When I know that my heavenly Father is doing this in me it always excites me because I know that He is setting me for a new experience on the journey of faith that I'm on.
On Monday I received a book in the mail. The book was written by Don Nori Sr. the founder of Destiny Image Publishers. It is titled YES! THE PRAYER THAT GOD LOVES TO ANSWER. I won a free copy of this book after I entered a contest. In this book Don talks about the humble beginnings of his publishing house Destiny Image and how God led him to form this unusual house that would fulfill God's will in the publishing world. Okay so I'm reading my copy, along with three others books and manuscripts as well as writing my second novel and I get to Chapter two and Don talks about how his grandfather sent him into the house to get a skeleton key from his grandmother. Now I've never heard of a skeleton key but anyway it's a key that can open any lock. And then Don calls St Matthew 6:10 the skeleton key secret.
At this point after reading what Don Nori calls the skeleton key I sense the Holy Spirit calling me to a teaching sessions. I know that He wants to connect with this principle and pattern. As I continued to read chapter 2 of Don's book I see the confirming of this principle and where God is calling me to operate. And I wanted to share this with you. This prayer will open every closed door that has stopped or slowed you down this year. It will open and release heaven into your life every time you pray these words.
"Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven." God wants to answer this prayer in your life. Can you already imagine the kind of year 2012 is going to be for you because you used this prayer as a skeleton key to open every door and bring down heaven into your earth? Start using this key and let me know what happens for you. I'm already anticipating what God is going to do in my life in 2012 as I use this skeleton key to open doors that the devil closed in my face. Let me know what this key is going to do for you.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
PLANNING FOR THE NEW YEAR: SETTING GOALS
I've been reading EntreLeadership by Dave Ramsey. Chapter 2 is titled, "Start with a Dream, End with a Goal." In this chapter Dave talks about the importance of setting goals to reach your dreams. Setting goals appeal to me because I love seeing progress in my life and I can't proceed if I don't have a signpost, which is what a goal is to me.
Dave talks about how important it is to have goals for every area of our lives. The areas of my life are:
1. Spiritual.
2. Health.
3. Relationships.
4. Finances.
5. Ministry.
6. Business.
After reading EntreLeader I felt pretty good about setting my goals for 2012. It is my practice to work on my plan for the next year during the month of December.
On yesterday I listened to Dr Amos Johnson on his video talk about having unfinished goals. Amos confessed that he set some goals this year that he didn't complete. He talked about how he missed those goals and how he wouldn't make the same mistake next year. Amos Videoblogs always has great information that is rich in application.
So I want you to join me in setting your goals for next year. I'm not talking about New Year Resolutions but goals that's going to get you to the dream that's going to change your life. And if you have any uncompleted goals roll them over to next year. That's what I'm doing.
Check out Amos Video blog at http://amosjohnsonjr.com/vblogs.php?=64
Goals are the road map to your future. Your future starts the day you start planning. Make it today.
Dave talks about how important it is to have goals for every area of our lives. The areas of my life are:
1. Spiritual.
2. Health.
3. Relationships.
4. Finances.
5. Ministry.
6. Business.
After reading EntreLeader I felt pretty good about setting my goals for 2012. It is my practice to work on my plan for the next year during the month of December.
On yesterday I listened to Dr Amos Johnson on his video talk about having unfinished goals. Amos confessed that he set some goals this year that he didn't complete. He talked about how he missed those goals and how he wouldn't make the same mistake next year. Amos Videoblogs always has great information that is rich in application.
So I want you to join me in setting your goals for next year. I'm not talking about New Year Resolutions but goals that's going to get you to the dream that's going to change your life. And if you have any uncompleted goals roll them over to next year. That's what I'm doing.
Check out Amos Video blog at http://amosjohnsonjr.com/vblogs.php?=64
Goals are the road map to your future. Your future starts the day you start planning. Make it today.
Friday, November 18, 2011
ANOTHER VISIT TO MY PRAYER JOURNAL
I was meditating today on what I should blog about and I was led by the Holy Spirit to revisit my second prayer journal. It covered the period of the fall of 1994 when me and my family moved to Danville Virginia from Beckley West Virginia after I was called to be the pastor of the New Mine Creek Church.
On November 22, 1994 I wrote in my journal a thanksgiving to Holy Spirit who had revealed to me that the enemy was setting a trap for me by bringing a lot of activities into my life that would cause me to put on the back burner the time that I daily spent with God in prayer. I made a covenant with God not to fall into the trap of busyness but rather to continue to seek Him every morning as I had been doing for more than a year.
I asked the Holy Spirit to continue to give me alerts when the enemy was trying to steal this most precious time from me and thus render me ineffective in the ministry that God had called me to.
I also prayed concerning my dream of becoming a published author. I had not yet buried that dream. I asked God to get the glory from my writing and that He send me another agent to secure a publishing contract for my first novel.
As I read the words in my prayer journal it struck me that I was able to perceive the devil's scheme to fill my time with activities that would steal my time with God but I couldn't see how he was stealing something else from me, my dream to become a published author. I caught the devil coming in the front door but didn't see him coming through the window.
I didn't realize how my enemy eventually caused me to give up dreaming until I read these words seventeen years later while I'm writing this blog. But what was a victory for him became a knockout when my first novel was released in December 2009. What he stole God restored and is continuing to restore as I write my second novel.
I wondered why did the Holy Spirit warn me about his scheme of making me walk away from pursuing God in daily prayer but not warn me about the dream that he was stealing concerning my writing and just as quickly the answer came from the Holy Spirit. The devil could steal my desire to write because I didn't value it enough. In the pastorate I had become satisfied and comfortable being a pastor of a congregation and I told myself that pastoring was all I needed to do. I'd talked myself out of my dreams and made it susceptible to the devil to come right in and steal.
It would take almost a decade for God to resurrect the vision that had died and show me that He had given me many gifts and I would never be fruitful until I used all of them.
My prayer for you is that you recognize what the enemy is trying to steal from you so that you will guard the precious thing that God has given to you. And if the enemy has stolen your dreams I believe with you that God restore it sevenfold
On November 22, 1994 I wrote in my journal a thanksgiving to Holy Spirit who had revealed to me that the enemy was setting a trap for me by bringing a lot of activities into my life that would cause me to put on the back burner the time that I daily spent with God in prayer. I made a covenant with God not to fall into the trap of busyness but rather to continue to seek Him every morning as I had been doing for more than a year.
I asked the Holy Spirit to continue to give me alerts when the enemy was trying to steal this most precious time from me and thus render me ineffective in the ministry that God had called me to.
I also prayed concerning my dream of becoming a published author. I had not yet buried that dream. I asked God to get the glory from my writing and that He send me another agent to secure a publishing contract for my first novel.
As I read the words in my prayer journal it struck me that I was able to perceive the devil's scheme to fill my time with activities that would steal my time with God but I couldn't see how he was stealing something else from me, my dream to become a published author. I caught the devil coming in the front door but didn't see him coming through the window.
I didn't realize how my enemy eventually caused me to give up dreaming until I read these words seventeen years later while I'm writing this blog. But what was a victory for him became a knockout when my first novel was released in December 2009. What he stole God restored and is continuing to restore as I write my second novel.
I wondered why did the Holy Spirit warn me about his scheme of making me walk away from pursuing God in daily prayer but not warn me about the dream that he was stealing concerning my writing and just as quickly the answer came from the Holy Spirit. The devil could steal my desire to write because I didn't value it enough. In the pastorate I had become satisfied and comfortable being a pastor of a congregation and I told myself that pastoring was all I needed to do. I'd talked myself out of my dreams and made it susceptible to the devil to come right in and steal.
It would take almost a decade for God to resurrect the vision that had died and show me that He had given me many gifts and I would never be fruitful until I used all of them.
My prayer for you is that you recognize what the enemy is trying to steal from you so that you will guard the precious thing that God has given to you. And if the enemy has stolen your dreams I believe with you that God restore it sevenfold
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Elder Bernard Yates Visits the North Carolina/Virginia Primitve Baptist Convention
The delegates of the North Carolina/Virginia Primitive Baptist Convention was thrilled with the news that Elder Bernard Yates, the newly elected President of the National Primitive Baptist Convention was coming to the state convention to preach the final service on Sunday November 6, 2011 at 3:00 p.m.
The sanctuary of the State building was full as the delegation waited with great anticipation to hear the Word of God from Elder Yates. The pulpit was full of Elders, Preachers, and Pastors. The music was provided by the praise team of the Kings Mountain View Primitive Baptist Church,Westfield North Carolina pastored by Elder J.R. Strickland who is in his 55th year as pastor of that congregation.
Elder Timothy Lyons, the Vice President of the State Convention and Pastor Elect of the St John's Chapel Primitive Baptist Church of Charlotte North Carolina introduced Elder Yates in his rhmytic and eloquent manner. And then Elder Doctor Thomas W. Samuels, president of the North Carolina/Virginia State Convention for 35 years, took the podium to raise a love offering for Elder Yates. Following the offering Elder Samuels led the congregation in the hymn, "Father I Stretch my Hands to Thee," sang in the distinctive style of North Carolina. One of the unique distinction of the Primitive Baptist Church is the richness of the hymns sang in that region's manner. And Elder T.W. Samuels is a master of Primitive Baptist hymnology with his sonorous baritone voice. In a few moments most of the conventioneers were on their feet singing and giving God praise as a couple of hundreds voices blended in song.
After much rejoicing and praising the Lord Elder Yates took the podium as the members of the convention stood to give him an enthusiastic greeting. Elder Yates expressed his thanks to the North Carolina/Virginia Convention for their support of him and the convention. He stated, "I recognize that the North Carolina/Virginia State Convention is a force to be reckoned with." Elder Yates announced his text from Galatians 1:10-12. His preaching subject was "The Hurdles of Pleasing People."
Elder Yates is a dynamic preacher with a unique presentation. He expounded the text and explicated it in a serious and insightful way. He strongly exhorted the congregation to please God as he closed in his thunderous style of preaching that is uniquely Bernard Yates.
Elder Yates deserves the support of this entire convention as we move forward into the destiny that God has set for this branch of the body of Christ. I encourage you to pray for Elder Yates as his success is our success.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Letters to God on a Prodigal Son-Overcoming Addiction through Prayer
Bernard's Word Presents Anita Estes
Today is my pleasure to introduce to you Anita Estes. Anita has written a personal story about the perils of addiction and how the prayer of faith has the power to destroy the plans of the enemy. I'm asking all the readers of this blog to purchase Anita's book today at http://www.anitaestes.com/landing-page.html
1. Tell us about your newest book, Letters to God on a Prodigal Son-Overcoming Addiction through Prayer? This power packed journal and guide was birthed from the painful passage I experienced while navigating the minefield of my son's addiction. I kept a diary that contained many insightful prayers, letters and scriptures that I thought would help others navigate the turbulent waters of a prodigal's addiction, so I worked on transforming it into a book.
I added two sections, Lessons Learned and Suggestions that I thought would further help others to avoid the same pitfalls I experienced, while offering a lifeline of hope. At the time that my son was going through this terrible ordeal, I couldn't find any Christian Books on the subject that gave spiritual and practical, not textbook advice
2. What are some of the pitfalls you experienced in dealing with your son's addiction and in writing this timely and powerful book? It is sometimes very difficult for a parent to recognize the warning signs of an addiction in their teenager, especially in this culture today when drinking is so accepted. This was my downfall. I kept thinking my son was going through a stage, especially because he would repent when something bad happened, like losing his license for a year or failing out of college. He would turn back to God and do what was right for a while, but then he would fall again.
One of the pitfalls in writing the book was trying to figure out a way to take my personal experience and help others learn from it. I didn't want to offer just another informational book or book of advice on addiction, so I kept it in a journal format. I wanted others to see that God held me through this very difficult time and that He can do the same for them. I also wanted to be very honest and real because as Christians we sometimes think we need to cover up our pain and even try to keep it form God and fellow believers. I wanted to show people that you can show God your pain, cry out to Him and go through different stages with Him right alongside. The last thing you should do in a crisis is stay mad at God and stop talking with Him.
3. What did you learn from this experience? I learned that God is faithful, even when we're not, even when we get mad at Him and don;t understand what He's doing. God wants us to draw near to Him and cast all our cares, concerns, worries and anxieties to Him. He has very big shoulders to carry our burdens and for us to lean and even weep upon. I also learned that God is true to His word. You can believe His promise as long as you understand them, have faith and continue to trust God for the outcome. I also learned that it's very important to surrender your prodigal to God. That's the best place for them.
You can find Letters to God at www.anitaestes.com and at http://www.anitaestes.com/landing-page.html Anita is offering a lot of great gifts with your purchase today.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
SUCCEEDING IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PRAYER
One of the most fruitful and successful groups that I have had the privilege to be affiliated with has been the John3:16 Marketing Network. We are a group of writers and authors from all over the world. Our mission is to combine our marketing efforts to promote each others work. The moderator and visionary of this group is Lorilyn Roberts, author of Children of Dreams. God gave the vision to Lorilyn to create this place and she has been tireless in leading and helping us.
John3:16 is unlike any group that I've ever been connected with. God led me here in answer in to my prayers. The love of God connects us and the Holy Spirit has released gifts, creativity and favor on the members. I sense God raising up this group to represent Him well in the years to come.
Of course experiencing favor and pursuing the will of God has not come without a price. Many of us have been been under relentless spiritual attacks from the enemy throughout the year but it seemed to have escalated in the month of October. I don't use these terms spiritual attacks and warfare lightly but this has been the case for the members of John3:16. Many of us have had computer issues. Some of us have seen attacks on our families and there has been other challenges with spiritual oppression and on and on.
As I read what everyone was going through, as well as dealing with the enemy in my life the Holy Spirit lead me to call our group to prayer. In obedience to Him I did with the support of our leader Lorilyn.
On this past Monday night seven of us met via telephone to pray over John3:16. What an experience! The Holy Spirit filled the phone lines as each of us petitioned God for self and others. I know that hell was dealt a great blow by the coming together of God's children.
I can't attest how this prayer gathering affected everyone else but after I got off the prayer call I was revived. I had so much energy that I stayed up to one o clock that morning working. And I was back up at six that morning to enjoy an incredible day in the presence of the Lord.
Our partnership went to another level on Monday night. It only remains to see how God will use these burdens from the enemy and the blessings from praying together to affect a great future for John3:16. I sense 2012 being an incredible year for this group. And our prayer gatherings will be an essential key to the future that God has already prepared for our group as we war in prayer to bring God's purpose for this group to pass. .
I hope that my blog today will encourage you to connect with praying believers. Especially for you who are pursuing your dreams and other business endeavors. Jesus said and it is recorded in St Matthew 18:19. "Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven."
Jesus teaches us this vital key to success. AGREE TO ASK THE FATHER.
All partnerships are founded on the principle of agreement. But when you bring the God of the universe, your heavenly Father into your partnership by asking Him to do what your partnership can't do the sky is the limit to what you will achieve. With God on your partnership team there are no boundaries to what you can accomplish. With Him providing you all the resources in heaven success is yours.
A partnership that includes prayer is a winning a partnership.
John3:16 is unlike any group that I've ever been connected with. God led me here in answer in to my prayers. The love of God connects us and the Holy Spirit has released gifts, creativity and favor on the members. I sense God raising up this group to represent Him well in the years to come.
Of course experiencing favor and pursuing the will of God has not come without a price. Many of us have been been under relentless spiritual attacks from the enemy throughout the year but it seemed to have escalated in the month of October. I don't use these terms spiritual attacks and warfare lightly but this has been the case for the members of John3:16. Many of us have had computer issues. Some of us have seen attacks on our families and there has been other challenges with spiritual oppression and on and on.
As I read what everyone was going through, as well as dealing with the enemy in my life the Holy Spirit lead me to call our group to prayer. In obedience to Him I did with the support of our leader Lorilyn.
On this past Monday night seven of us met via telephone to pray over John3:16. What an experience! The Holy Spirit filled the phone lines as each of us petitioned God for self and others. I know that hell was dealt a great blow by the coming together of God's children.
I can't attest how this prayer gathering affected everyone else but after I got off the prayer call I was revived. I had so much energy that I stayed up to one o clock that morning working. And I was back up at six that morning to enjoy an incredible day in the presence of the Lord.
Our partnership went to another level on Monday night. It only remains to see how God will use these burdens from the enemy and the blessings from praying together to affect a great future for John3:16. I sense 2012 being an incredible year for this group. And our prayer gatherings will be an essential key to the future that God has already prepared for our group as we war in prayer to bring God's purpose for this group to pass. .
I hope that my blog today will encourage you to connect with praying believers. Especially for you who are pursuing your dreams and other business endeavors. Jesus said and it is recorded in St Matthew 18:19. "Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven."
Jesus teaches us this vital key to success. AGREE TO ASK THE FATHER.
All partnerships are founded on the principle of agreement. But when you bring the God of the universe, your heavenly Father into your partnership by asking Him to do what your partnership can't do the sky is the limit to what you will achieve. With God on your partnership team there are no boundaries to what you can accomplish. With Him providing you all the resources in heaven success is yours.
A partnership that includes prayer is a winning a partnership.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
YOUR ASSIGNMENT EXPELS THE DARKNESS
In the first creative act of God He said, "Let there be light." And then God gave light an assignment. He called the light Day, day was the assignment that God gave the light. And light has been fulfilling its assignment every since. Like the light that fills the universe and gives us energy that causes us to live everyone of us has been given an assignment. We were created to do what God has called us to do. And when we operate in our assignments we are living as God intended us to live.
The creation of light was God's answer to darkness which always existed on this planet. The fulfillment of your assignment is God's answer to the darkness that prevails in our world. The darkness that I refer to is not the physical darkness that governs the night, the darkness that rules most of the day at this time of year but I am speaking of a more pervasive form of darkness.
All around us is spiritual darkness. It exist in our communities, our schools, our governments and sometime even in the houses of worship where many gather weekly. People live in darkness because they live lives of misery. How many people got up today and got dressed and went to a job that will leave them miserable at the end of this day? How many people are trapped in relationships with people that leave them feeling miserable. They are living in the darkness of misery.
How many persons have bought the lies of the enemy. Lies that tell them that God doesn't love them and they are too far beyond His redemption. Lies that condemn them and tell them that God will never forgive them for what they did. Lies that tell them that they will never be successful, never prosper and never live an abundantly happy life. Any time a person accept a lie as truth they are living in the darkness of lies.
Your God assignment is the answer to the darkness in this world. As you embrace the call of God for your life and walk out that call daily you become the force that expels darkness from the world.
How do you know what your assignment is? First you have to have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the way to God. Second you have to submit to the Holy Spirit in your life. The Holy Spirit reveals your assignment. He speaks to your heart and then confirms through others what God has gifted you to do.
Your assignment will always answer the question, What can I do to make things better? What solution do I bring to the problem? What can I do to empower people?
You were born to drive darkness out of the world. What are you waiting for?
The creation of light was God's answer to darkness which always existed on this planet. The fulfillment of your assignment is God's answer to the darkness that prevails in our world. The darkness that I refer to is not the physical darkness that governs the night, the darkness that rules most of the day at this time of year but I am speaking of a more pervasive form of darkness.
All around us is spiritual darkness. It exist in our communities, our schools, our governments and sometime even in the houses of worship where many gather weekly. People live in darkness because they live lives of misery. How many people got up today and got dressed and went to a job that will leave them miserable at the end of this day? How many people are trapped in relationships with people that leave them feeling miserable. They are living in the darkness of misery.
How many persons have bought the lies of the enemy. Lies that tell them that God doesn't love them and they are too far beyond His redemption. Lies that condemn them and tell them that God will never forgive them for what they did. Lies that tell them that they will never be successful, never prosper and never live an abundantly happy life. Any time a person accept a lie as truth they are living in the darkness of lies.
Your God assignment is the answer to the darkness in this world. As you embrace the call of God for your life and walk out that call daily you become the force that expels darkness from the world.
How do you know what your assignment is? First you have to have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the way to God. Second you have to submit to the Holy Spirit in your life. The Holy Spirit reveals your assignment. He speaks to your heart and then confirms through others what God has gifted you to do.
Your assignment will always answer the question, What can I do to make things better? What solution do I bring to the problem? What can I do to empower people?
You were born to drive darkness out of the world. What are you waiting for?
Saturday, October 22, 2011
THERE'S TREASURE INSIDE OF YOU
Hello everyone. I hope that you had a phenomenal week. I know that I did. I was on vacation this week. Last weekend I was in my hometown of Cleveland Ohio to celebrate with my family the 90th birthday of my grandmother Lottie Mitchell. It is an incredible blessing to have my maternal grandmother in my life. Being in her presence is evidence of God's goodness resting on her life. My grandmother has been an great influence in my life and I count her as one of the many gifts that God has given me.
This past week I sat in presence of God and listened to Him speak to me concerning the present and future. On my drive back home from Cleveland I drove through the Blue Ridge Mountain, what a testimony to he creative genius of God, meditating and worshipping God. This entire week has been one of rest in the presence of God as I reflected on the seasons that I have passed through and am currently in.
I wanted to write a blog yesterday but I didn't have anything to write. And so I rejoice that the Holy Spirit deposited this word in my spirit to write here today. I believe that these words will really motivate you to take some time to discover what God has planted in your heart that is now ready to come forth.
Do you know what treasure lives inside of you? Are you aware of the value that has been placed inside of you by God? Have you ever taken inventory of the wealth that lives in you?
If you don;t know what I'm talking about I want to give you the five-fold treasure that lives in you.
1. Purpose: You were created in the image of God to be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion in the earth. These descriptions are given to us in Genesis 1:28. Every human being on the planet Earth was given this purpose. And even though our image was broken by sin in Jesus Christ we have a restored image to accomplish our purpose. Your purpose is the treasure in you.
2. Vision: On my Wednesday's blog I talked about living with Vision and so I won't repeat myself here. But I will say that the Vision in you is treasure because it is the gateway to your future. Purpose is who I am to do what I was born to do. Vision is what I see to do what I was born to do. Your vision is the treasure in you.
3. Ability: God placed Adam in the garden to tend it and keep it. God gave Adam a place where he could demonstrate his ability. God put Adam in an environment to succeed. God has given each one of us a place to demonstrate our ability. It can be your home, your job or business, your church or your community. Ability has to have a place to express itself. Your ability is the treasure inside of you.
4. Intelligence: God gave Adam intelligence. Genesis 2:19 says that God brought every animal to Adam to be named. God gave Adam an opportunity to express his intelligence by giving him a situation and then watched how he handled it. Intelligence is the ability to find solutions to any matter. God challenges our intelligence not by what we know but by how we are able to answer situations. Your intelligence is the treasure inside of you.
5. Recognition: When God brought the woman to Adam he immediately recognized her. Adam knew who she was. He knew that she was created for him. Adam had what I call INTUITIVE RECOGNITION. Adam knew who the woman was although God never said who she was. There are times when you don't have information but you know when God is bringing someone into your life for a certain purpose. You perceive that God is bringing someone into your life for a divine connection. Recognition not only applies to people but it also applies to situations. Recognition is the treasure inside of you.
With all of this treasure in us why are we not living at our full potential? Why are we not living incredible lives? Because the treasure inside of us has been buried by all the junk inside of us. The treasure has been buried by years of fear, doubt, unbelief, mental limitations and sociological messages. To discover the treasures that God has deposited in you you have to go dig for it. You have to reject everything in you that says to you what you can't do and you have to keep digging until you reach what God has placed inside of you. And then you bring the treasure to the surface by speaking it, meditating on it and doing it.
I pray that you find everything that God has deposited in you. Everything that God has placed in you is the keys to live an incredible life!
This past week I sat in presence of God and listened to Him speak to me concerning the present and future. On my drive back home from Cleveland I drove through the Blue Ridge Mountain, what a testimony to he creative genius of God, meditating and worshipping God. This entire week has been one of rest in the presence of God as I reflected on the seasons that I have passed through and am currently in.
I wanted to write a blog yesterday but I didn't have anything to write. And so I rejoice that the Holy Spirit deposited this word in my spirit to write here today. I believe that these words will really motivate you to take some time to discover what God has planted in your heart that is now ready to come forth.
Do you know what treasure lives inside of you? Are you aware of the value that has been placed inside of you by God? Have you ever taken inventory of the wealth that lives in you?
If you don;t know what I'm talking about I want to give you the five-fold treasure that lives in you.
1. Purpose: You were created in the image of God to be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion in the earth. These descriptions are given to us in Genesis 1:28. Every human being on the planet Earth was given this purpose. And even though our image was broken by sin in Jesus Christ we have a restored image to accomplish our purpose. Your purpose is the treasure in you.
2. Vision: On my Wednesday's blog I talked about living with Vision and so I won't repeat myself here. But I will say that the Vision in you is treasure because it is the gateway to your future. Purpose is who I am to do what I was born to do. Vision is what I see to do what I was born to do. Your vision is the treasure in you.
3. Ability: God placed Adam in the garden to tend it and keep it. God gave Adam a place where he could demonstrate his ability. God put Adam in an environment to succeed. God has given each one of us a place to demonstrate our ability. It can be your home, your job or business, your church or your community. Ability has to have a place to express itself. Your ability is the treasure inside of you.
4. Intelligence: God gave Adam intelligence. Genesis 2:19 says that God brought every animal to Adam to be named. God gave Adam an opportunity to express his intelligence by giving him a situation and then watched how he handled it. Intelligence is the ability to find solutions to any matter. God challenges our intelligence not by what we know but by how we are able to answer situations. Your intelligence is the treasure inside of you.
5. Recognition: When God brought the woman to Adam he immediately recognized her. Adam knew who she was. He knew that she was created for him. Adam had what I call INTUITIVE RECOGNITION. Adam knew who the woman was although God never said who she was. There are times when you don't have information but you know when God is bringing someone into your life for a certain purpose. You perceive that God is bringing someone into your life for a divine connection. Recognition not only applies to people but it also applies to situations. Recognition is the treasure inside of you.
With all of this treasure in us why are we not living at our full potential? Why are we not living incredible lives? Because the treasure inside of us has been buried by all the junk inside of us. The treasure has been buried by years of fear, doubt, unbelief, mental limitations and sociological messages. To discover the treasures that God has deposited in you you have to go dig for it. You have to reject everything in you that says to you what you can't do and you have to keep digging until you reach what God has placed inside of you. And then you bring the treasure to the surface by speaking it, meditating on it and doing it.
I pray that you find everything that God has deposited in you. Everything that God has placed in you is the keys to live an incredible life!
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU EXPEREINCE
The idea of having a vision that would transform my life and create a future was first introduced to me in the mid 90's when I read THE POWER OF VISION by George Barna. George challenged me to believe God for bigger things that would change the church that I was pastoring and affect the community in a profound way.
As I got older I started to embrace this concept of Vision not only for the churches that I have pastored but also for myself and for my family. I embraced the belief that having Vision meant that I had a future. I had a mental sketch that was formed in my mind that was calling me to a destiny that was unlike my present and my past.
Whenever I meditate on the Vision for my life, my family, the church that I pastor and my business it stirs something in me. It gives room to my inner voice that says all things are possible when you believe.
Everyone needs a vision. Vision is the foundation of the incredible life that God wants to have. Everyone needs to be a part of a organization that has vision. Everyone needs to be a member of a family that has vision. Vision empowers, encourages and elevates.
The second time that God spoke to man God invited man to have a vision. When this revelation came to me I determined then that I would never again live without vision. The first time that God spoke to man is given in Genesis 1:28. God told male and female to take dominion over the earth. And the second time that God spoke is given in Genesis 1:29 He said, "See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food."
Let me repeat this. The second time that God spoke to the human race He said to them SEE. After mankind was equipped and called to establish ownership over the earth then mankind was called to embrace vision. Where God has set you to rule, oversee and complete God has also set you to see what He has given you and for what purpose.
Because we don't see where we have been set we don't experience the results of what we see. Your vision calls you to see the provisions that God has placed in your view. Your vision calls you to recognize the potential of what is before you. Your vision makes the place where you are significant and meaningful. Your vision reveals God's purpose for what He is inviting you to see.
Can I make a suggestion to you that I am totally convince will change your life if you follow it? I hope you said yes. Spend the rest of this year, there are seventy three days left in 2011 and accept God's invitation to SEE, to receive the vision that is going to take forward in 2012.
First take a look at what God has set before you. What ideas keep coming to the forefront of your mind? What plans keep rising up in your imagination? Who is in your life that God has set there to help you move forward with your vision?
Second, identify the potential of your vision. What does it have the power to do? What will change because of your vision? What impact will it have on others?
Third, look at the place where you are. Is this where God wants your Vision to manifest? Are you committed to staying there until the vision comes forth? Are there limiting situations that would keep your Vision from growing and expanding? Will you have to move to bring your vision to pass?
Fourth, know the purpose of your vision. Why does your vision exist?
I pray that you will hear God say to you today SEE!
As I got older I started to embrace this concept of Vision not only for the churches that I have pastored but also for myself and for my family. I embraced the belief that having Vision meant that I had a future. I had a mental sketch that was formed in my mind that was calling me to a destiny that was unlike my present and my past.
Whenever I meditate on the Vision for my life, my family, the church that I pastor and my business it stirs something in me. It gives room to my inner voice that says all things are possible when you believe.
Everyone needs a vision. Vision is the foundation of the incredible life that God wants to have. Everyone needs to be a part of a organization that has vision. Everyone needs to be a member of a family that has vision. Vision empowers, encourages and elevates.
The second time that God spoke to man God invited man to have a vision. When this revelation came to me I determined then that I would never again live without vision. The first time that God spoke to man is given in Genesis 1:28. God told male and female to take dominion over the earth. And the second time that God spoke is given in Genesis 1:29 He said, "See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food."
Let me repeat this. The second time that God spoke to the human race He said to them SEE. After mankind was equipped and called to establish ownership over the earth then mankind was called to embrace vision. Where God has set you to rule, oversee and complete God has also set you to see what He has given you and for what purpose.
Because we don't see where we have been set we don't experience the results of what we see. Your vision calls you to see the provisions that God has placed in your view. Your vision calls you to recognize the potential of what is before you. Your vision makes the place where you are significant and meaningful. Your vision reveals God's purpose for what He is inviting you to see.
Can I make a suggestion to you that I am totally convince will change your life if you follow it? I hope you said yes. Spend the rest of this year, there are seventy three days left in 2011 and accept God's invitation to SEE, to receive the vision that is going to take forward in 2012.
First take a look at what God has set before you. What ideas keep coming to the forefront of your mind? What plans keep rising up in your imagination? Who is in your life that God has set there to help you move forward with your vision?
Second, identify the potential of your vision. What does it have the power to do? What will change because of your vision? What impact will it have on others?
Third, look at the place where you are. Is this where God wants your Vision to manifest? Are you committed to staying there until the vision comes forth? Are there limiting situations that would keep your Vision from growing and expanding? Will you have to move to bring your vision to pass?
Fourth, know the purpose of your vision. Why does your vision exist?
I pray that you will hear God say to you today SEE!
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
LIVING AFTER FAILURE
As much as I hate to admit I have failed I have had those experiences where I didn't win. I have experienced the feelings that followed being beaten either by a person; of course I was a child!. or by a situation.
When you have failed in an enterprise that you had so many hopes that it would succeed because of your time, concentration and energy the emotional feelings of failure can be as traumatic as watching a love one die. In a sense failure is like death. Because when failure becomes your reality something in you does die. It may be your hope. Your vision. Your plans. It could be a relationship or a business.
I've never dealt well with failure. Many years ago I wrote my first novel. It was the year that my son Quincy was born. The novel was autobiographical as I drew comparisons between myself and the protagonist in the novel. He was a teenage boy who fell in love in a girl. The boy was a Christian, the girl was not. In a desire to be with the girl the boy compromised on what he believed. Months later the girl broke his heart and the boy spent the rest of his high school years pursuing meaningless relationships. (That really does describe my high school years).
A year after writing that novel I secured the services of an agent. He spent an entire year trying to get me a publishing contract but he didn't close the deal. The day I received my manuscript from the agent I conceded that my first novel was a failure and I didn't have a story worth publishing and I didn't write anymore for more than ten years.
My reaction to that failure was to walk away from the novel and the desire to see it published. I decided to cut my losses and move on. I didn't believe in fighting for what I believed in and what I dreamed could be.
But since then I have learned how to live after a failure. I have a different mindset now than I did then because I've still had some failures but what I know now is that you can have a new season after a failure and you can even have a new beginning after failure. This is what I have learned:
1. MINIMIZE THE EVENT AND MAXIMIZE THE LESSON: After you've gotten over the hurt of your failure stop concentrating on what happened. Give yourself a couple of days to reflect and mourn on what happened and how it affected you, then take a seat, take a breath and review what you learned from your failure. Take my word for it, the lesson is greater than the failure. If you can extract a lesson from your failure than you can turn your failure into success!
2. RECOGNIZE THE CAUSE OF THE FAILURE. When my first novel wasn't published I made myself believe that I was the failure. But it wasn't my failure, it was the agent's failure. I blamed myself for someone else inadequacies and that caused me to stop writing for more than a decade. In taking a look at what caused the failure you should rightly take responsibility for what you did to cause it but then you should refuse to take responsibility for what someone has done.
3. KNOW YOUR LIMITATIONS: Sometime we fail because we try to do too much on our own. We try to execute plans that we are equipped to carry out. When you recognize what you can't do then you will seek the help of others. You will seek the help of those who are skilled in areas where you are not. We often fail when we don't have a team. When we don't have support. Failure is often the result of pursuing private concerns without partners. Everybody who wants to win needs somebody who can help them win.
After you've failed you can live again. Let the words of Psalms 73:26 challenge you. "My flesh and my heart faileth; but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever."
Life after failure is living where you trust God to give you the strength to continue on. I didn't do that after my novel wasn't published. I sought meaning in other things. I replaced my calling to write with my pastoral calling. I was in God's will, because he had called me to be a pastor but I wasn't in God's perfect will because a big part of my destiny was in my writing. Every now and then I would sit at my desk in my office at the church and the desire to write a story would speak softly in my spirit. But I wasn't strong enough to seek God for His strength to empower me to do what I was born to do.
And then living after failure is knowing that God is your portion. If you didn't receive what you wanted then you have to recognize that God has assigned you something else. And sometime we find that something else after failure. Because God is your portion he has a place for you. He has a plan for you and he has people for you.
Confucius said, "Our greatest glory is not in ever falling, but in rising ever time we fall."
Today I am including the link to the free chapter in my novel DO YOU WANNA BE MADE WHOLE? http://www.bernardboulton.com/books/dywbmw_excerpt.html In this chapter two characters in the story are trying to find life after they experienced failure in their marriage. Read and enjoy if you haven't haven't already read this novel.
When you have failed in an enterprise that you had so many hopes that it would succeed because of your time, concentration and energy the emotional feelings of failure can be as traumatic as watching a love one die. In a sense failure is like death. Because when failure becomes your reality something in you does die. It may be your hope. Your vision. Your plans. It could be a relationship or a business.
I've never dealt well with failure. Many years ago I wrote my first novel. It was the year that my son Quincy was born. The novel was autobiographical as I drew comparisons between myself and the protagonist in the novel. He was a teenage boy who fell in love in a girl. The boy was a Christian, the girl was not. In a desire to be with the girl the boy compromised on what he believed. Months later the girl broke his heart and the boy spent the rest of his high school years pursuing meaningless relationships. (That really does describe my high school years).
A year after writing that novel I secured the services of an agent. He spent an entire year trying to get me a publishing contract but he didn't close the deal. The day I received my manuscript from the agent I conceded that my first novel was a failure and I didn't have a story worth publishing and I didn't write anymore for more than ten years.
My reaction to that failure was to walk away from the novel and the desire to see it published. I decided to cut my losses and move on. I didn't believe in fighting for what I believed in and what I dreamed could be.
But since then I have learned how to live after a failure. I have a different mindset now than I did then because I've still had some failures but what I know now is that you can have a new season after a failure and you can even have a new beginning after failure. This is what I have learned:
1. MINIMIZE THE EVENT AND MAXIMIZE THE LESSON: After you've gotten over the hurt of your failure stop concentrating on what happened. Give yourself a couple of days to reflect and mourn on what happened and how it affected you, then take a seat, take a breath and review what you learned from your failure. Take my word for it, the lesson is greater than the failure. If you can extract a lesson from your failure than you can turn your failure into success!
2. RECOGNIZE THE CAUSE OF THE FAILURE. When my first novel wasn't published I made myself believe that I was the failure. But it wasn't my failure, it was the agent's failure. I blamed myself for someone else inadequacies and that caused me to stop writing for more than a decade. In taking a look at what caused the failure you should rightly take responsibility for what you did to cause it but then you should refuse to take responsibility for what someone has done.
3. KNOW YOUR LIMITATIONS: Sometime we fail because we try to do too much on our own. We try to execute plans that we are equipped to carry out. When you recognize what you can't do then you will seek the help of others. You will seek the help of those who are skilled in areas where you are not. We often fail when we don't have a team. When we don't have support. Failure is often the result of pursuing private concerns without partners. Everybody who wants to win needs somebody who can help them win.
After you've failed you can live again. Let the words of Psalms 73:26 challenge you. "My flesh and my heart faileth; but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever."
Life after failure is living where you trust God to give you the strength to continue on. I didn't do that after my novel wasn't published. I sought meaning in other things. I replaced my calling to write with my pastoral calling. I was in God's will, because he had called me to be a pastor but I wasn't in God's perfect will because a big part of my destiny was in my writing. Every now and then I would sit at my desk in my office at the church and the desire to write a story would speak softly in my spirit. But I wasn't strong enough to seek God for His strength to empower me to do what I was born to do.
And then living after failure is knowing that God is your portion. If you didn't receive what you wanted then you have to recognize that God has assigned you something else. And sometime we find that something else after failure. Because God is your portion he has a place for you. He has a plan for you and he has people for you.
Confucius said, "Our greatest glory is not in ever falling, but in rising ever time we fall."
Today I am including the link to the free chapter in my novel DO YOU WANNA BE MADE WHOLE? http://www.bernardboulton.com/books/dywbmw_excerpt.html In this chapter two characters in the story are trying to find life after they experienced failure in their marriage. Read and enjoy if you haven't haven't already read this novel.
Monday, October 10, 2011
ARE YOU LIVING YOUR DREAMS?
What makes your life incredible? What sets you apart from every other person that inhabits the planet earth? It is your dreams that are formed in your imagination. A dream is the outward expression of your hope. It is the seed from which your future springs. It is a goal that you must reach to have something that you don't have.
Last week the world mourned the passing of Steve Jobs. Steve had a dream to produce a personal computer. With $1300 he started Apple. Today we have the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad, all the results of Steve Jobs dreams. Your dreams are the gateway to your future.
God gave a dream to Abraham. The Almighty found Abraham in the country of his ancestors and showed him another land and then God told Abraham that I want you to go and live there and I will make you a great nation. A couple of hundred year later God gave a dream to the great grandson of Abraham, his name was Joseph. God showed him that he would be a great man. God is the giver of dreams. Matter of fact this incredible planet that we live on called Earth is the result of one of God's dreams.
Your dreams are what puts passion in your life. It is the energy that causes you to rise every morning ready to live and pursue what God wants you to experience. Your dreams are what gives you focus in the midst of distractions. Your dreams rescue you from living a mediocre life.
So I want to tell you today. DREAM! If your dreams have died resurrect them. How do you do that? Start talking about your dreams to your dreams. That's what I said, talk to your dreams. There was a prophet named Ezekiel who God sent to a valley that was full of dead bones. Those dead bones are your dreams that were slaughtered and decimated by your pursuit of an mundane existence. God asked Ezekiel can these bones live? And then God told Ezekiel to speak to the bones. Ezekiel did what God told him to do and something miraculous started happening. The bones started to move, a sound was heard from the bones that were dead.
That's what you have to do with your dreams. Start talking to them. Start telling your dreams to live again. And then start speaking your dreams to those whom you love and trust. Write your dreams on paper and place them on the wall of your house. Write them down on a card and keep it in your wallet or purse. Pull it out several times a day and take a minute to meditate on it.
Then develop a plan to make your dream happen. What do you need to do to make this happen? What resources do you need to make your dream happen? Whose help do you need to make your dream happen? How long will it take to make your dream happen?
And then you pursue your plan daily. Give yourself daily and weekly goals and monthly goals. At least once a week spend a hour with yourself or with a team if you need one and evaluate your progress.
Ask God to give you a mentor. A person who can teach you in the area of your dream and can reduce your time to see the manifestation of your dream.
I'm excited for you as you find the dreams that is resident inside of your imagination. If you need more help I have written a report titled RELEASE THE DREAM IN YOU AND LIVE AN INCREDIBLE LIFE. You can have this free gift when you go to my Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pabernardboulton and visit my welcome page where you can click on the report. And please LIKE me on my Facebook page.
I'll be praying that you find your DREAMS!
Last week the world mourned the passing of Steve Jobs. Steve had a dream to produce a personal computer. With $1300 he started Apple. Today we have the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad, all the results of Steve Jobs dreams. Your dreams are the gateway to your future.
God gave a dream to Abraham. The Almighty found Abraham in the country of his ancestors and showed him another land and then God told Abraham that I want you to go and live there and I will make you a great nation. A couple of hundred year later God gave a dream to the great grandson of Abraham, his name was Joseph. God showed him that he would be a great man. God is the giver of dreams. Matter of fact this incredible planet that we live on called Earth is the result of one of God's dreams.
Your dreams are what puts passion in your life. It is the energy that causes you to rise every morning ready to live and pursue what God wants you to experience. Your dreams are what gives you focus in the midst of distractions. Your dreams rescue you from living a mediocre life.
So I want to tell you today. DREAM! If your dreams have died resurrect them. How do you do that? Start talking about your dreams to your dreams. That's what I said, talk to your dreams. There was a prophet named Ezekiel who God sent to a valley that was full of dead bones. Those dead bones are your dreams that were slaughtered and decimated by your pursuit of an mundane existence. God asked Ezekiel can these bones live? And then God told Ezekiel to speak to the bones. Ezekiel did what God told him to do and something miraculous started happening. The bones started to move, a sound was heard from the bones that were dead.
That's what you have to do with your dreams. Start talking to them. Start telling your dreams to live again. And then start speaking your dreams to those whom you love and trust. Write your dreams on paper and place them on the wall of your house. Write them down on a card and keep it in your wallet or purse. Pull it out several times a day and take a minute to meditate on it.
Then develop a plan to make your dream happen. What do you need to do to make this happen? What resources do you need to make your dream happen? Whose help do you need to make your dream happen? How long will it take to make your dream happen?
And then you pursue your plan daily. Give yourself daily and weekly goals and monthly goals. At least once a week spend a hour with yourself or with a team if you need one and evaluate your progress.
Ask God to give you a mentor. A person who can teach you in the area of your dream and can reduce your time to see the manifestation of your dream.
I'm excited for you as you find the dreams that is resident inside of your imagination. If you need more help I have written a report titled RELEASE THE DREAM IN YOU AND LIVE AN INCREDIBLE LIFE. You can have this free gift when you go to my Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pabernardboulton and visit my welcome page where you can click on the report. And please LIKE me on my Facebook page.
I'll be praying that you find your DREAMS!
Friday, October 7, 2011
THE CLOCK IS MOVING, ARE YOU?
I have had a long and productive week. But the first week in October usually is a very busy for me. It is busy because I have been preaching at the Beulah Baptist Church since Monday night. In an era where most churches revival are held for three nights or less, Beulah under the leadership of the Rev. Jerry Wilson continues to hold their annual revival for five nights.
I started preaching yearly at Beulah in 2000 when I was the conference preacher for their Men's Conference. After a few years doing the Men's conference Pastor Wilson then asked me to preach the Church's annual revival and I've been doing it ever since. It has been an incredible blessing in my life to go to this church every year. Beulah is a loving congregation and Pastor Wilson is one of my best friends in the world. I am extremely proud of him and the great job that he is doing at Beulah after 20 years as their pastor. And alongside being pastor of Beulah he is also serving as the Moderator of the Cedar Grove Missionary Baptist Association, an association of over 50 churches in North Carolina. As moderator Pastor Wilson is a visionary and he's calling this mighty army of churches to rise to it's God given capability as kingdom people.
The first three nights of the revival I preached a series of messages on Living under an open Heaven, Getting an vision under an open Heaven and Receiving Provision under an Open Heaven. If you are interested in getting these messages on CD let me know. I really believe that they will teach you the principles of living under an open heaven which is living in the supernatural presence of God where heaven fills our lives with the goodness of God.
Today is Friday October 7 and we have eighty five days left in this year. A week and a half ago I informed you that I was resolved to work on and finish the projects that I was lead to pursue this year. God is giving me grace to do what I need to do to finish. Since Oct 1st I have been writing my second novel, which is a sequel to my first novel DO YOU WANNA BE MADE WHOLE?. The story is shaping up quite well. The characters are coming to life and one of the main characters is slowly moving toward a relationship with Jesus. Another one of the main characters is also moving toward danger. I have high hopes for my second novel REST IN A WEARY NOVEL.
As I have been praying for direction the Holy Spirit is giving me direction about my teaching schedule for New Mine Creek for the year 2012.
And I am focused on completing some business concerns that must be completed by December 31st.
I hope that this blog will encourage you to finish what you need to finish before January 1, 2012. You an do it if FOCUS and then PERFORM. Maybe you don't know what to do or what you need to finish then in that case ASK GOD FOR HELP! When you pray, according to 1 John 5:14-15 God hears you and God will give you what you ask for.
So the Clock is moving, are you?
I started preaching yearly at Beulah in 2000 when I was the conference preacher for their Men's Conference. After a few years doing the Men's conference Pastor Wilson then asked me to preach the Church's annual revival and I've been doing it ever since. It has been an incredible blessing in my life to go to this church every year. Beulah is a loving congregation and Pastor Wilson is one of my best friends in the world. I am extremely proud of him and the great job that he is doing at Beulah after 20 years as their pastor. And alongside being pastor of Beulah he is also serving as the Moderator of the Cedar Grove Missionary Baptist Association, an association of over 50 churches in North Carolina. As moderator Pastor Wilson is a visionary and he's calling this mighty army of churches to rise to it's God given capability as kingdom people.
The first three nights of the revival I preached a series of messages on Living under an open Heaven, Getting an vision under an open Heaven and Receiving Provision under an Open Heaven. If you are interested in getting these messages on CD let me know. I really believe that they will teach you the principles of living under an open heaven which is living in the supernatural presence of God where heaven fills our lives with the goodness of God.
Today is Friday October 7 and we have eighty five days left in this year. A week and a half ago I informed you that I was resolved to work on and finish the projects that I was lead to pursue this year. God is giving me grace to do what I need to do to finish. Since Oct 1st I have been writing my second novel, which is a sequel to my first novel DO YOU WANNA BE MADE WHOLE?. The story is shaping up quite well. The characters are coming to life and one of the main characters is slowly moving toward a relationship with Jesus. Another one of the main characters is also moving toward danger. I have high hopes for my second novel REST IN A WEARY NOVEL.
As I have been praying for direction the Holy Spirit is giving me direction about my teaching schedule for New Mine Creek for the year 2012.
And I am focused on completing some business concerns that must be completed by December 31st.
I hope that this blog will encourage you to finish what you need to finish before January 1, 2012. You an do it if FOCUS and then PERFORM. Maybe you don't know what to do or what you need to finish then in that case ASK GOD FOR HELP! When you pray, according to 1 John 5:14-15 God hears you and God will give you what you ask for.
So the Clock is moving, are you?
Monday, October 3, 2011
DAVID vs. GOLIATH; Pittsylvania Board of Supervisors sued by ACLU over Prayer
A few weeks ago the Danville Register and Bee reported that the ACLU had filed a lawsuit against the Pittsylvania Board of Supervisors because the Supervisors opens their meeting with prayer that specifically acknowledges Jesus Christ. The lawsuit accuses the Board of Supervisors of promoting one set of religious beliefs over others.
The lawsuit comes as no surprise to the citizens of Pittsvlvania County because it had been previously reported by the Register and Bee that the ACLU had sent a letter to the Board threatening them with a lawsuit if they did not immediately stop praying in their meetings. In response to the threat from the ACLU hundreds of citizens filled the chambers of the Board on Tuesday September 6 to support the Supervisors decision to continue praying in spite of the threat from the ACLU.
As dismayed as I am by the actions of the ACLU against the government in the county where I have lived and pastored for 9 years, my dismay has turned into acrimony toward the hypocrisy of the ACLU. This same group who has championed a secular agenda to remove God from the public venue. This same group who has threatened Christians and Christians across America is currently DEFENDING THE RIGHTS OF MUSLIMS TO PRAY IN SCHOOL.
That's right. I read this shocking news on WWW.BLACKCHRISTIANNEWS.COM It appears that Muslim students were not allowed to pray at the Carver Elementary School in San Diego and the ACLU has threatened the school district with a lawsuit for violating the constitutional rights of those students.
So in a world ruled by the ACLU it is alright for Muslims to pray to Allah but Christians can't pray to Jesus. That's right in the eyes of the ACLU Islam is okay but Christianity is not.
You may not live in Pittsylvania County Virginia but if you read this blog would you join me in praying for the right to pray for Christians in South Virginia. Please pray that God will give us victory in Pittsylvania county against this repressive organization that has positioned itself against all patriotic Christians in America.
This is the fight of David, the Board of Supervisors against Goliath, the ACLU. I believe that the prayers of the righteous will produce God honoring results.
The lawsuit comes as no surprise to the citizens of Pittsvlvania County because it had been previously reported by the Register and Bee that the ACLU had sent a letter to the Board threatening them with a lawsuit if they did not immediately stop praying in their meetings. In response to the threat from the ACLU hundreds of citizens filled the chambers of the Board on Tuesday September 6 to support the Supervisors decision to continue praying in spite of the threat from the ACLU.
As dismayed as I am by the actions of the ACLU against the government in the county where I have lived and pastored for 9 years, my dismay has turned into acrimony toward the hypocrisy of the ACLU. This same group who has championed a secular agenda to remove God from the public venue. This same group who has threatened Christians and Christians across America is currently DEFENDING THE RIGHTS OF MUSLIMS TO PRAY IN SCHOOL.
That's right. I read this shocking news on WWW.BLACKCHRISTIANNEWS.COM It appears that Muslim students were not allowed to pray at the Carver Elementary School in San Diego and the ACLU has threatened the school district with a lawsuit for violating the constitutional rights of those students.
So in a world ruled by the ACLU it is alright for Muslims to pray to Allah but Christians can't pray to Jesus. That's right in the eyes of the ACLU Islam is okay but Christianity is not.
You may not live in Pittsylvania County Virginia but if you read this blog would you join me in praying for the right to pray for Christians in South Virginia. Please pray that God will give us victory in Pittsylvania county against this repressive organization that has positioned itself against all patriotic Christians in America.
This is the fight of David, the Board of Supervisors against Goliath, the ACLU. I believe that the prayers of the righteous will produce God honoring results.
Friday, September 30, 2011
HOME AGAIN NOMINATED FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN LITERARY AWARD
It was a tremendous thrill for me to join Wanda B. Campbell in the flagship project of her new publishing house, micah68books.com last year. Wanda the visionary and founder of Micah68books was assembling a team of authors to write stories that described the range of broken human relationships restored by the power of reconciliation. When Wanda had completed assembling a team together nine authors would join rank to produce HOME AGAIN: Stories of Restored Relationships.
This anthology of fine tuned stories was released in November 2010 and one of the pinnacle of its continued success was being nominated for a Literary Award given by the auspices of the African American Literary Award Show. This star studded event took place on Thursday September 22, 2011 at Melba's Restaurant 163 West 125th Street & Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard in Harlem New York.
The African American Literary Award Show is the culmination of the vision of Yvette Hayward who has produced this unique venue for the last seven years. It is the only awards show that recognizes African American authors in America.
I had the honor to attend this event along with Wanda Campbell and many others who had been nominated in a certain category. Home Again was one of three anthologies to make the final round for Short Story/Anthologies and was the only Christian anthology competing for the award for the year 2011.
Some of the highlights of this Show was the opening song performed by Abby Dobson. Abby is a tremendous artist in the Neo Soul genre and I thoroughly enjoyed her acapella performance. The Award Show host was Napiera Groves, a contestant in Miss USA pageant in 1997. She was comical and entertaining throughout the night.
I was inspired by the acceptances speeches of Hip Hop power couple Danyel Smith & Elliott Wilson. Kimberla Lawson Roby who won the Author of the Year Female gave impassioned remarks as she dedicated her award to the memory of her Mother and recognized the support of her husband.
It was a thrilling evening and I was equally impressed to be in the company of so many famous authors and media personalities such as Mikki Taylor of Essence, Tara Dowdell and Dr Michael Eric Dyson. At my table was another author whose book was nominated in the field of Children/Young Adult. Her name was S.Dodson and she is the author of Teen Girls Need Love. It was great meeting and talking with her.
Home Again didn't win but I think that Wanda and the Home Again Crew can be very proud of this nomination given to us ten months after we were released. Congratulations to the assembly of outstanding writers who combined efforts produced Home Again:
This anthology of fine tuned stories was released in November 2010 and one of the pinnacle of its continued success was being nominated for a Literary Award given by the auspices of the African American Literary Award Show. This star studded event took place on Thursday September 22, 2011 at Melba's Restaurant 163 West 125th Street & Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard in Harlem New York.
The African American Literary Award Show is the culmination of the vision of Yvette Hayward who has produced this unique venue for the last seven years. It is the only awards show that recognizes African American authors in America.
I had the honor to attend this event along with Wanda Campbell and many others who had been nominated in a certain category. Home Again was one of three anthologies to make the final round for Short Story/Anthologies and was the only Christian anthology competing for the award for the year 2011.
Some of the highlights of this Show was the opening song performed by Abby Dobson. Abby is a tremendous artist in the Neo Soul genre and I thoroughly enjoyed her acapella performance. The Award Show host was Napiera Groves, a contestant in Miss USA pageant in 1997. She was comical and entertaining throughout the night.
I was inspired by the acceptances speeches of Hip Hop power couple Danyel Smith & Elliott Wilson. Kimberla Lawson Roby who won the Author of the Year Female gave impassioned remarks as she dedicated her award to the memory of her Mother and recognized the support of her husband.
It was a thrilling evening and I was equally impressed to be in the company of so many famous authors and media personalities such as Mikki Taylor of Essence, Tara Dowdell and Dr Michael Eric Dyson. At my table was another author whose book was nominated in the field of Children/Young Adult. Her name was S.Dodson and she is the author of Teen Girls Need Love. It was great meeting and talking with her.
Home Again didn't win but I think that Wanda and the Home Again Crew can be very proud of this nomination given to us ten months after we were released. Congratulations to the assembly of outstanding writers who combined efforts produced Home Again:
This is the nominated group of authors who contributed stories to HOME AGAIN.
 |
Wanda B Campbell at the African American Literary Awards Show, Founder and Publisher of Micah68Books, author of Blood Redemption.       Tyora Moody author of Birthing Pains  You can get a copy of Home Again on my website, at http://www.bernardboulton.com/books/homeagain.html BUT WAIT BEFORE YOU PURCHASE YOUR COPY! Visit this page and read an excerpt from my story JAKE AND ERIC, http://bernardboulton.com/books/homeagain.excerpt.html Congratulations HOME AGAIN CREW! I could use your support on Facebook. Visit my fan page at http://www.facebook.com/pabernardboulton and give me a Like. On my welcome page you can download a free e-book that I have written titled "Releasing the Dream in you to Live an Incrdible Life!" |
Monday, September 26, 2011
WHAT ARE YOU DOING FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR?
At the end of this week we will enter the first day of October. There will be 92 days left in this year. I always get hyped at the beginning of October because I know that I have three months left in the year and if I have any unfinished projects I want to be sure that I finish them by December 31st. But also during the last three months of the year I start to plan and write visions for what I will be doing next year.
Do you have any unfinished projects that you are determined to finish before this year is over? Have you begin to form a vision for what you what to accomplish in 2012?
Whatever you have to finish before the year is over if you do these two things you can make it happen, FOCUS and PERFORM. Determine the amount of time that you need to give to your project so that on the last day of the year you can celebrate your accomplishment.
Is what you have to do too big for you to accomplish? ASK FOR HELP! What I have to finish doesn't require human help, at least not yet but it does require divine help so I've started today asking God to give me the grace to finish my assignment. Who ever you need go to them and ask for help. Success with the aid of another is still success.
Write down the tasks that you need to perform to finish what you have to finish. Some things you will need to do daily. Some things you will need to do weekly. Chart your course and follow it.
Now that I am giving you some principles on finishing your projects for this year I'm sharing with you what I need to finish by December 31st.
1. I need to finish my second novel. It is the sequel to my first novel, DO YOU WANNA BE MADE WHOLE?
2. I need to write my teaching schedule for WORD IN AN HOUR, the Tuesday morning and evening Bible studies at the New Mine Creek Church for 2012.
3. I need to finalize some urgent business concerns regarding my publishing company.
4. I need to write my marketing plan for 2012. I plan on releasing two books next year.
Please drop me a line and tell me what you need to finish this year. Let's share and encourage each other.
Do you have any unfinished projects that you are determined to finish before this year is over? Have you begin to form a vision for what you what to accomplish in 2012?
Whatever you have to finish before the year is over if you do these two things you can make it happen, FOCUS and PERFORM. Determine the amount of time that you need to give to your project so that on the last day of the year you can celebrate your accomplishment.
Is what you have to do too big for you to accomplish? ASK FOR HELP! What I have to finish doesn't require human help, at least not yet but it does require divine help so I've started today asking God to give me the grace to finish my assignment. Who ever you need go to them and ask for help. Success with the aid of another is still success.
Write down the tasks that you need to perform to finish what you have to finish. Some things you will need to do daily. Some things you will need to do weekly. Chart your course and follow it.
Now that I am giving you some principles on finishing your projects for this year I'm sharing with you what I need to finish by December 31st.
1. I need to finish my second novel. It is the sequel to my first novel, DO YOU WANNA BE MADE WHOLE?
2. I need to write my teaching schedule for WORD IN AN HOUR, the Tuesday morning and evening Bible studies at the New Mine Creek Church for 2012.
3. I need to finalize some urgent business concerns regarding my publishing company.
4. I need to write my marketing plan for 2012. I plan on releasing two books next year.
Please drop me a line and tell me what you need to finish this year. Let's share and encourage each other.
Friday, September 16, 2011
A NEW SEASON IN PRAYER: PRAYER JOURNALING
Most of my Christian Life I have pursued God in prayer, but in 1994 I started a new form of prayer by writing my prayers in a journal. As I was contemplating what to write today I was led to pull out my first journal and share with you where I was in my prayer life seventeen years ago.
I first start journaling in 1994. I was pastoring a church in Beckley West Virginia. Me and my wife Vantoria had been married for three years and our son, Quincy was two years old. That was a challenging season for us on many fronts.
In my journal on August 3, 1994 I praised God for His righteousness and faithfulness.
I asked God to help me trust Him without reservations.
I meditated on Psalms 37:4, "DELIGHT YOURSELF IN THE LORD AND HE SHALL GIVE YOU THE DESIRES OF YOUR HEART."
I wrote these principles to apply to my life that day:
1. Expect God to act on your behalf.
2. Get as close to God as you can.
3. Follow God today.
In those days I kept my prayer journal in a Composition Book purchased at Rite Aid Drugstore. Today I write my journal on my Microsoft Word program on my desktop personal computer. Back then I struggled to write my prayers, now it's as easy as breathing.
I have twenty five volumes of prayers written in the Composition Book and I have twenty volumes on my computer. These journals describe my journey with God for the last seventeen years. In them I have penned my failures and successes. My concerns and fears. I have shared with God on paper my heart and I have written what I have believed Him saying to me.
If you need a new season in your prayer life I recommend prayer journaling, it's worth it.
I attended a prayer meeting in Lagos Nigeria with my host Pastor Gabriel Ojunjobi to my left, next to him are my two traveling companions, Deacon Henry Law and his wife Deaconess Vicky Law.
I led the congregation in the final prayer of the meeting. It was an incredible week to prayer journal.
I first start journaling in 1994. I was pastoring a church in Beckley West Virginia. Me and my wife Vantoria had been married for three years and our son, Quincy was two years old. That was a challenging season for us on many fronts.
In my journal on August 3, 1994 I praised God for His righteousness and faithfulness.
I asked God to help me trust Him without reservations.
I meditated on Psalms 37:4, "DELIGHT YOURSELF IN THE LORD AND HE SHALL GIVE YOU THE DESIRES OF YOUR HEART."
I wrote these principles to apply to my life that day:
1. Expect God to act on your behalf.
2. Get as close to God as you can.
3. Follow God today.
In those days I kept my prayer journal in a Composition Book purchased at Rite Aid Drugstore. Today I write my journal on my Microsoft Word program on my desktop personal computer. Back then I struggled to write my prayers, now it's as easy as breathing.
I have twenty five volumes of prayers written in the Composition Book and I have twenty volumes on my computer. These journals describe my journey with God for the last seventeen years. In them I have penned my failures and successes. My concerns and fears. I have shared with God on paper my heart and I have written what I have believed Him saying to me.
If you need a new season in your prayer life I recommend prayer journaling, it's worth it.
 |
| Pastor Bernard Boulton, Pastor Gabriel Ojunjobi, Deacon Henry Law, Deaconess Vicky Law. |
Monday, September 12, 2011
NATIONAL PRIMITIVE BAPTIST ELECTS ELDER KENNETH DUKE AS VICE PRESIDENT
After the announcement had been made on Thursday night that Elder Bernard Yates had been elected President of the National Primitive Baptist Convention I was having a conversation with a fellow delegate later that night.
"I don't think that Yates should nominated Duke as vice president. Some people are complaining about having the two top officers from the same state." The irony of this statement is that for the last six years the top two officers were from the same state.
The person to whom I was speaking with said, "Yates should nominate Rainey or some one from Alabama." Rainey is Elder Jeffrey Rainey from Mobile Alabama, a prolific and poetic preacher who thrills the constituency of the convention every year with his impassioned Bible expositions/messages as the convention's Bible Expositor.
I replied, "Yates is going to nominate Duke tomorrow. That's his choice."
"But people are saying...." I interrupted him.
"It doesn't matter what people are saying we need to hear what God is saying." I said. "Those two are anointed by God for this time. We need to stop looking at this from the wrong perspective, the choice of Kenneth Duke is not about geography, it's about what the Spirit is saying to this convention."
The conversation was over and the person I was speaking with agreed with me.
On Friday August 26, 2011 Elder Bernard Yates nominated Elder Kenneth Duke as Vice President of the National Primitive Baptist Convention. Elder Duke was overwhelmingly elected to the office.
One of the visitor to the convention told me that you could sense the change in the atmosphere that week. What was felt in the atmosphere become manifest on Thursday and Friday of the convention. To this national body change has come.
Who is Elder Kenneth Duke? He is the dynamic pastor of the New Jerusalem Primitive Baptist Church in Miami Florida. When Elder Duke was called to the New Jerusalem Church in 1985 this congregation numbered forty persons. Today it is a congregation of seventeen hundred people with a plethora of community ministries that is meeting needs throughout the populace of Miami and Dade County. Elder Duke is a dynamic pastor/evangelist who preaches through out the United States and for the last year and a half he has traveled to and given support to a congregation in Petit Guave Haiti.
With the election of Elders Yates and Duke there is an excitement in the National Primitive Baptist Convention, much as it was in the United States in 2008 after the election of Barack Obama. With this sense of renewed hope and unbridled optimism news days are in the horizon.
I ask you to pray for Vice President Duke as you pray for President Yates. Pray these petitions for Elder Duke as you are led to:
1. That God will anoint Elder Duke as he partners with and supports President Yates.
2. That God will give Elder Duke the ability to hear His voice as he counsels Elder Yates and that the two will always walk together in agreement for the unity of the convention.
3. That God will send His angels to protect Elder Duke, his wife Julia, their children Kenneth, Kelon (Tina), Aheisha, granddaughter Kennedi
4. That God will cause Elder Duke to prosper and New Jerusalem to prosper.
5. That God will cause Elder Duke enemies to fall before him.
6. That God will increase Elder Duke's wisdom that he will successfully navigate his duties.
7. That God will protect Elder Duke's health as he travels and ministers in the country of Haiti.
Friday, September 9, 2011
FICTION FRIDAY
TOM BLUBAUGH
AUTHOR OF NIGHT OF THE COSSACK
Bernard's Word welcomes Tom Blubaugh. Tom is devoted to the art of writing and Night of the Cossack is his first published novel.
1. Tell us when did you first know that you would be an author? This is an interesting question. I didn't know I would be one- really. I've been a writer for over fifty years (can it really be a half of a century?), but it wasn't until my unintentional novel was published that I knew I was an author. I say unintentional because it wasn't my intent to write a novel. I was creating a heritage for my children and grandchildren since both of my grandfathers died before I was born. I was simply taking a handful of facts about my maternal grandfather and was creating his character.
2. Who are your favorite authors? Louis L'Amour is one of them. I have always liked westerns and he has kept them clean. There is always a good guy, a bad guy and a girl. You'd think that it would get old, but it doesn't. The team of Jerry B. Jenkins and Tim LaHaye for their Left Behind series.
3. What are your favorite books? The Left Behind series; Island of Saints, Breach of Promise.
4. Share with us your journey to publication? I wrote poetry at the age of fifteen. There were always ads in comic books about turning poetry into song lyrics. I was really into rock and roll, sideburns and duck tails. I had a dream of my poems becoming lyrics for Elvis, Conway and others. I would always get a packet back with a letter telling me if I'd send money, etc. I didn't have money so the dream died. My writing stopped until I was twenty eight, when I became a Christian. I began writing nonfiction and I self published a book for my ministry in 1974 and sold it at seminars. A few years later, I was published by two denominational magazines and a business magazine.
In business I wrote newsletters and and then text for websites. It wasn't until my mother passed in 2005 that I started writing fiction. As I stated earlier, both of my grandfathers died before I was born. I became a grandfather in 1998 and I didn't have a role model to follow. The hole my grandfathers would have filled kept getting bigger. I didn't know much about either of them, but one thing I knew-my maternal grandfather was a Russian Cossack soldier. This intrigued me enough to start me on a path of research. The Russian history of the Cossacks grabbed my interest and I started creating my grandfather for myself and my heirs. I joined an online Christian writer's group and as encouraged to pursue publication. I found a local critique group and joined. They agreed I was on to something. When I was close to completing my manuscript, a friend called me and wanted help with a website. He and his wife was starting an independent Christian publishing company. I didn't think anything about it because I wasn't writing a Christian novel. My grandfather was a Jew. During the process of developing their website, they read the first chapter of my book which was on my website. They wanted to read more and decided they would like to publish the story. This, of course, is not the unusual process, but it was God's way.
5. What advice do you have for aspiring authors? There are several things that I could say about writing, but if you want your book read by readers other than your friends and family, work diligently to build a platform. Not after you've written your manuscript, but from the very beginning. People need to know who you are before they will want to read what you have written.
6. Have you explored interracial themes in your writing? Not unless you consider my novel where my grandfather is a Jew. Being a Jew includes both nationality and religion.
7. What are the keys to success for a writer? Have a passion other than making a name for yourself and money. Never give up on your story. Everyone has one, but most don't write it. If it doesn't ignite your passion, it won't excite others.
8. Tell us about your future projects? I'm thinking about now. Everyone who has read my novel asks about a sequel. I will continue to build my author platform. I enjoy public speaking so I'm working with elementary, middle and high school creative writing groups and classes. When it turns cold, I'll stay in my office and probably work on the sequel.
You can find Tom at http://tomblubaugh.blogspot.com.
http://nightofcossack.com (read the first chapter for FREE)
Thursday, September 1, 2011
NATIONAL PRIMITIVE BAPTIST ELECTS NEW PRESIDENT
The ballroom of the Four Seasons Hotel in Greensboro North Carolina was silent as the delegates of the 104th annual session National Primitive Baptist Convention watched the members of the Election Committee walk into the ballroom solemnly to announce the results of the 2011 Presidential election. You could feel the apprehension and concern in the air as Elder Robert Crocker of Nashville Tennessee walked to the podium to announce the election results.
Clearing his throat Crocker said, "four hundred and eighty six votes were cast. For Elder Oscar Montgomery one hundred and thirteen votes. For Elder Ernest Ferrell one hundred and eighty three votes. For Elder Bernard Yates one hundred and ninety votes. Elder Yates has the majority votes."
Shouting erupted from the back of the ball room where many of the young persons of the convention were waiting with anticipation. One woman screamed out, "Recount!" Another pastor was moaning, "Oh no, Oh no." The supporters of Elder Yates wanted to shout in jubilation but they did not. In spite of the fact that the man they supported and prayed for had won they were concerned about those who were hurt over the fact that the men they had supported had lost. However throughout the ball room you could see a few delegates praising God for an upset victory for Elder Yates.
On Thursday night the National Primitive Baptist Convention celebrates what is considered high worship in the church, the observation of the Lord's Supper and Washing of the Saints feet. The election announcement was read at the end of the worship.
To settle the range of emotions that were being felt in the ballroom Elder T.W. Samuels led the convention in prayer. Elder Samuels served as the president of this convention from 1995 to 2005. He is the oldest member of the convention having attended for more than seventy years, from his childhood.
God heard the prayers of many members of the National Primitive Baptist church by giving victory to Elder Bernard Yates who had served the convention faithfully as the vice president for six years. When he made the decision to seek the presidency after much prayer and counsel he was commended by many for having the courage to do so and he was vilified by others who perceived his actions as that of betrayal to the current president who was still eligible to serve for one more term.
Elder Yates recognized the times and the seasons of transition that is not only in the National Primitive Baptist Church but in the universal body of Christ as well. And he understood months ago that the times demanded of him to make himself available to the will of God in this role of national leadership. Believing that he had heard God and knowing what God wants to accomplish in this church Elder Yates said yes to God.
Bernard Yates did not run a campaign. He did not make promises to his supporters. He did not jockey for position. He did not praise himself for his accomplishments, although they are many. He did not make himself the center of attention. When he was attacked and criticized he did not retaliate. He simply prayed and asked those who supported him to pray.
Bernard Yates was not ruled by ambition or agenda. He submitted to the Holy Spirit and believed that God's choice would assume the mantle of leadership in August. And God's choice did.
From the time that Elder Yates informed me that he would offer himself to be the president I earnestly prayed that his win was the will of God. I prayed daily that Bernard Yates would succeed to become the next president and that through him the Holy Spirit would usher Fresh Wind and Fresh Fire into the hundreds of churches that make up this convention. But a month ago the Holy Spirit caused me to shift in my intercession for Elder Yates and Elder Duke who became the vice president the next day. My intercessions became faith spoken declarations that Bernard Yates and Kenneth Duke would become the president and vice president of the convention. The Holy Spirit changed my prayer agenda, I stopped asking God to make it happen and I started, as the Holy Spirit led me, to declare that it would happen. And it did, as the Holy Spirit revealed it to me, and I'm sure to others.
Who is Elder Bernard C. Yates? He is a dynamic preacher of the gospel who travels throughout the Body of Christ in America proclaiming a prophetic Word of God. He is the pastor of the Zion Hope Primitive Baptist Church in Pensacola Florida, a vibrant congregation that numbers two thousand members. He is the husband of Vonda Yates, his faithful partner for thirty years and father to LaBrea. For a number of years now he has preached the closing message in the National Convention always accompanied by his dynamic choir that ministers in the Shekinah Glory of God.
This is the man that God has chosen for this time. I challenge every member of the National Primitive Baptist Church to pray for our leader. I ask every member of the Body of Christ to pray for our leader. Pray these petitions as you are led to.
1. That God will anoint Elder Yates with wisdom so that he will know how to skillfully lead this convention in the seasons that are ahead of us.
2. That God will make Elder Yates spiritually sensitive to hear His voice and move accordingly.
3. That God will give Elder Yates discernment to choose a team around him that will bring success to the Primitive Baptist church for His glory.
4. That God will send angels to protect Elder Yates, his wife Vonda, and daughter Labrea from satanic attacks.
5. That God will cause Elder Yates to prosper and cause Zion Hope to prosper.
6. That God will cause Elder Yates enemies to fall before him.
7. That God will usher a new beginning into the Primitive Baptist Church through the presidency of Elder Yates.
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