Blessings over Students and Teachers

We believe that ministers have been given the authority to bless God’s people so that they may be successful in the accomplishing of His will and purposes (Numbers 6:23-27). And because of this the following blessings (to bless means to ask the favor of God over a person or a thing) were pronounced over our students and educators during our Back to School Sunday Service held on September 18, 2011. As you face challenges during this school year, know that you are blessed (favored) of God.  And no matter what you’re going through, you can speak these words over your life.  For example, you can say out loud, “God has blessed me to go out, befriend the lonely and hurting, give hope to the hopeless…” And whether you’re a student or an educator, this will be one of the best school years of your life. Back to School Blessing over Students As you start this new year of school, we send you out with our blessings. We want you to know that along with God, Pentecostal Tabernacle is walking with you in prayer. You are not alone. When you walk down the halls, remember that you are on mission together with God. In the midst of friendships, classes, games, performances, and events, may God remind you that He created you for His glory and to be His light in the earth. We bless you to go out, befriend the lonely and hurting, give hope to the hopeless, and rise above the popularity contests that have trapped so many. We bless you with the ability to give your best effort in the classroom, always seek the truth, ask your teachers, your fellow students, and yourself hard questions, and never settle for easy answers. We bless you to take every thought that will destroy your life’s purpose, capture it, and make it obedient to the way of Christ who wants the very, very best for your life. We bless you to go and have fun, to live lightly and enjoy this school year such as you have never done before. We bless you to not spend too much time looking forward to the next quarter, next semester, next trimester, next year or even next week. We bless you to live in the now and not to worry about tomorrow. We bless you to be free to be your true self, the self you were created to...
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Identity Theft

Genesis 28: 16 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” 17 He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.” 18 Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. 19 He called that place Bethel… (NIV) Last week I began my new season in the Lord for the first time with a personal retreat. For a portion of three days, I spent my time with the Lord in a building appropriately named “Bethel”. God opened my eyes to some wonderful things He was doing in my life. And though this was a great experience where I truly met with the Lord, I find that too many people tend to be like Jacob. They may be having an actual experience of God moving in their lives but yet they are unable to identify that it truly is the Lord. How sad it is to observe those from whom Satan has stolen their ability to identify where God is actually at work in their lives. And this is precisely why this evening we will have a discussion on Chapter 6 of the book “Experiencing God” entitled God is at Work Around You. Jacob’s experience was the beginning of an identity change which was completed in Genesis Chapter 32. And if we cannot identify where God is at work in our lives, then we will never attain the true identity of who we are in...
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You are a Profit of God!

1 Corinthians 12:7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: (NKJV) Every Labor Day Holiday, one of my favorite things to do is to watch some of the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament held in Queens, New York. And if you are familiar with the scoring procedures in the sport of tennis, you have to win by two points in order to win a game. If both players reach the score of 40, then the score keeper no longer uses numbers to inform the spectators as to who is winning the game. The score keeper uses the word “advantage” and attaches that word to the person who is winning the game. Chapter 6 of the book Experiencing God is a discussion on how God is at Work around You. It focuses on the pattern regarding how God uses His chosen vessels: God gave an assignment to a person. The Holy Spirit was given to that person to equip him or her for the assignment. The proof of the Spirit’s presence was that the person was able to complete the assignment effectively through the supernatural enabling of the Holy Spirit. And the final result? The result God is looking for is that the entire Body of Christ, or at the very least, the local church, would benefit and profit from the Holy Spirit’s manifesting Himself through that person’s life. The Greek definition of the word profit in this Scripture means to the “advantage of; benefit of; making one the favorite”. God gave us His Holy Spirit and the gifts which the Spirit uses through us, so that the Church universal as well as your local church could get an advantage and be favored to win every battle. Thus, wherever you are (job, school, home, shopping, dorm, apartment, vacation, etc.), God’s Church and Kingdom should be profiting from the Holy Spirit’s presence in your life in that place God has assigned to use you. Yes, you are God’s profit today. You are His advantage point right where you’re located. Just believe...
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1000 Points of Death

Philippians 2: 5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus… 7 … taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men… 8 … He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him… (NKJV) Acts 13: 1 Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said,… (NKJV) “I have spoken of a thousand points of light, of all the community organizations that are spread like stars throughout the Nation, doing good. I will go to the people and the programs that are the brighter points of light, and I will ask every member of my government to become involved. The old ideas are new again because they are not old, they are timeless: duty, sacrifice, commitment, and a patriotism that finds its expression in taking part and pitching in.” – President George H. W. Bush, 1988. Chapter 4 of the book Experiencing God is entitled Being God’s Servant. As Philippians chapter 2 mentions, becoming a real servant of God involves dying to “self”. Though President Bush’s speech was made almost a quarter of a century ago, for me it still remains the most memorable phrase from a presidential speech. It was here that President Bush put forth the idea of encouraging individual contributions to society. However, these thousand individual contributions cannot occur without a thousand deaths to personal self interests. Through the book Experiencing God, God is calling Pentecostal Tabernacle to go on a mission with Him and fulfill the assignment He’s given to our church. And one of the best ways I can think of to produce death to self is the discipline of ministering to (serving) God with fasting. Therefore, beginning on Sunday, September 11th (911) and ending on Sunday, October 2nd, Pentecostal Tabernacle will be in fasting and consecration unto God. Let’s look forward to seeing Pentecostal Tabernacle being one of those points of light for the Kingdom of God (Matthew...
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Our Daily Nutrition

“If you were to do everything that Jesus tells you one day at a time, you always would be right in the center of where God wants you to be. Can you trust God to guide you that way?” (Experiencing God). Chapter 3 of the book Experiencing God is entitled Doing God’s Will. John 4:34 states, “Then Jesus explained: ‘My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work.’ “(NLT) The word “nourishment” is derived from the Latin word nutrio which means: to feed, nurse (breast feed-1 Peter 2:2), foster, support, preserve, build up (resources), feed (a fire), raise (crops), treat (a wound). From that word “nutrio” is derived our English word “nutrition.” These are the things we can expect in our lives when we immerse ourselves in doing God’s will and finishing His work. When Jesus taught us to pray “Give us thisday our daily bread,” I do not believe He was only talking about natural food. I believe He was also referring to the nourishment that only comes from daily doing the will of God. So are you feeling famished? Do God’s will! Are you feeling unsupported? Do God’s will! Are you lacking in resources? Do God’s will! Do you lack fire and passion for life? Do God’s will! And if you’re feeling so wounded that you cannot go on? The answer still is for you to daily do God’s will! God’s will was Jesus’ daily nutrition. Don’t you think it ought to be...
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Playing the Field

Greetings! Haggai 2: 23 “‘I will take you, O Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, as my personal servant and I will set you… as a sign of my sovereign presence and authority. I’ve looked over the field and chosen you for this work.'” The Message of God-of-the-Angel-Armies. (Message Bible) When I was younger, a person who did not want to settle down with one girl friend or boy friend was called a person who was “playing the field.” A person who was “playing the field” in essence was a person who wanted to leave his or her options of love open just in case (s)he discovered there was a better choice than the person (s)he was currently dating. I am glad God is not like us. Here, God tells a man whose name means Seed, that is, product, of confusion that He has looked over His entire field of options and has decided to choose Zerubbabel. Wow! That’s us! How empowering it is to know that God looked at our confused lives, then looked over His entire field (the whole world) of options, and He still chose us. In John 15: 16 Jesus stated, “You didn’t choose me, remember; I chose you, and put you in the world to bear fruit, fruit that won’t spoil. As fruit bearers, whatever you ask the Father in relation to me, he gives you.” (Message Bible) Once this consecration’s been completed, let’s make sure we become the kind of field that will produce an abundant harvest for our Lord (Mark 4:8,...
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