Fresh Bread: God’s March in Orders for Our Consecration

On the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times in the same manner, except that on that day they circled the city seven times. 16 The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the people, “Shout! For the LORD has given you the city! 17 The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the LORD… 18 …keep away from the devoted things.19 sacred to the LORD…” 20 When the trumpets sounded, the people shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the people gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so every man charged straight in, and they took the city. 21 They devoted the city to the LORD… (Joshua 6:15-18, 20-21, NIV) Many of us are familiar with the battle to take the City of Jericho. Jericho was the first city the holy (separated/different) people of Israel encountered after they had crossed the Jordan River in order to enter into the place God had promised them. Where they entered was more than simply a place, for God was transforming them from slaves to landowners and from being nomads to becoming a nation. However, if this transformation was going to occur, they would have to fight for it, and do so God’s way. Just as God brought them into the land by allowing them to cross the Jordan River unconventionally (Joshua 3:15-17), their first battle was also going to be fought unconventionally (read above). Joshua was already an accomplished warrior, yet, if he was going to fight battles for the promises that the Lord had given him, Joshua would first have to receive his “march in” orders. The word march means “to advance in step in an organized body; to proceed; to go forward.” The etymology of this word means “to mark, pace out (a boundary).” Thus, when a soldier is marching, his objective is to: · Advance, not by himself, but within an organized body. · Proceed and move forward, not backward. · Mark out a boundary for the territory his armed forces plan to take over (1 Chronicles 4:10) The 21 Day Daniel Fast Consecration for Pentecostal Tabernacle begins on March 10th. It is during this month of March that I believe God, through His Holy Spirit (John 16:13), will provide us individually and as a Church with His...
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Have a Successful February!

Blessed are those…who delight in the law of the LORD and meditate on His law day and night. They are like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither — whatever they do prospers. ( Psalms 1:1-3, TNIV) Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Joshua 1:8, TNIV) The above Scriptures indicate the importance of daily reading God’s Word in order to attain godly success. As we enter a new month, I want to help you to meditate on God’s Word day and night. How? In the morning, read one chapter from the Gospel of St. Mark. And in the evening, read a chapter (sometimes two) from Proverbs. Use the following reading schedule as your guide for a successful February: 1. Mark (1); Proverbs (1-2). 2. Mark (2); Proverbs (3). 3. Mark (3); Proverbs (4). 4. Mark (4); Proverbs (5). 5. Mark (5); Proverbs (6). 6. Mark (6); Proverbs (7). 7. Mark (7); Proverbs (8). 8. Mark (8); Proverbs (9-10). 9. Mark (9); Proverbs (11). 10. Mark (10); Proverbs (12). 11. Mark (11); Proverbs (13). 12. Mark (12); Proverbs (14). 13. Mark (13); Proverbs (15). 14. Mark (14); Proverbs (16). 15. Mark (15); Proverbs (17-18). 16. Mark (16); Proverbs (19). 17. Mark (1); Proverbs (20). 18. Mark (2); Proverbs (21). 19. Mark (3); Proverbs (22). 20. Mark (4); Proverbs (23). 21. Mark (5); Proverbs (24). 22. Mark (6); Proverbs (25). 23. Mark (7); Proverbs (26). 24. Mark (8); Proverbs (27). 25. Mark (9); Proverbs (28). 26. Mark (10); Proverbs (29). 27. Mark (11); Proverbs (30). 28. Mark (12); Proverbs...
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It’s Over! Now What?

When Jesus died on the cross and rose again on the third day (just like He stated that He would), the disciples were probably getting ready to go back to their former careers. They had so doubted that He would rise again that when it was reported to them that the resurrection had actually occurred, they still were in doubt (Luke 24:6-11). These men had a tremendous three year journey with Jesus. How could they possibly go back to their former lives? We’ve just completed a ten day consecration in which God spoke to us individually and collectively. Collectively, He informed us through Rev. Verna that we need to quiet our minds and emotions, and awaken our spirits toward the things that God considers important. On last Sunday, God informed us that this was the season of our coming back from adversity or failure to His place of success. In addition, those who participated in the fast lost weight and/or started eating much healthier. The question is: Now that the consecration is over, now what? Are we going to go back to our former lifestyles of being directed by our minds and our emotions as if God never spoke? Are we going to go back to living with an attitude of defeat, feeling like we’ll never come back from adversity? Are we going to go back and put on the weight we’ve lost by returning to our unhealthy eating habits from the last decade? How the next two months unfold for our lives will be entirely up to us. Our next consecration will be a little longer: 21 days to be exact. It is scheduled to begin on Wednesday, March 10th and will take place during the Lenten Season. In the meantime, would you kindly post your thoughts and testimonies on how the ten day consecration has impacted your life? I believe your experience will be an encouragement to...
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Wednesdays

I have a friend who refers to Wednesday as “Hump Day.” In using this term, she is indicating that Wednesday is the middle of the work week. If she could simply get past this day, that is, over the hump, the rest of the week would go downhill right into the weekend. How often have we stated the days of the week without even understanding what the name of each day actually means? The word Wednesday is derived from an Old English word called Woden’s Day. The word “woden,” though it refers to the name of a heathen god, also means spiritual arousal. The Hebrew word for this day is translated as Fourth Day. The number four, in the Bible, is the number of Creativity (Proverbs 30:24; Mark 2:3). The Quaker religion, in an effort not to call this day of the week by its heathen god’s name, also refers to Wednesday as Fourth Day. Whether it’s spiritual arousal or creativity, I believe God wants to use this day as a time for our congregation to pause, refocus, and recalibrate our spirits towards His Holy Spirit. Prophet Kathleen Verna stated that we must quiet our human minds and emotions, and awaken our spirit toward God. FASTING during the middle of the week arouses our spiritual man in order that we might receive creative ideas from the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 58:8-11). It’s these creative ideas that will help us to accomplish our life purposes (Jeremiah 29:11) as well as our individual kingdom assignments (Matthew 6:33). So, let’s put God to the test! For the next three months, we will reinstitute Wednesday as the official Day of Prayer & Fasting for Pentecostal Tabernacle. I want each of you to keep a record of what God says and does in your life on this day or in direct correlation to this Day of Fasting. I believe that at the end of this three month period, we will see tangible results from our dedicating this day to seeking God as a...
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The Bishop’s Blessing for 2010

As we have entered not simply a new year but a new decade, I felt compelled by the Lord to bless (favor, provide preferential treatment, promote, support) His people in His name (reputation). Therefore on December 31, 2009 at 11:45PM, after anointing everyone, I declared the following blessing on each person who attended that service: Then the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron [the Priest] and his sons to bless the people of Israel with this special blessing: ‘May the LORD bless you and protect you. May the LORD make His face [i.e., His Presence] shine on you and be gracious to you. May the LORD show you His favor and give you His peace.’ For whenever the Priest blesses the people of Israel in My name, I, the LORD, Myself will bless them.” (Numbers 6:22-27, NLT) “If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully keep all his commands that God has given you in His Word, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the world. You will experience all these blessings if you obey the LORD your God: Your [professional] fields will be blessed. Your children and your [harvests] will be blessed. Your fruit baskets and breadboards will be blessed. Wherever you go and whatever you do, you will be blessed. “The LORD will conquer your enemies when they attack you. They will attack you from one direction, but they will scatter from you in seven! “The LORD will guarantee a blessing on everything you do and will fill your storehouses with prosperity. The LORD your God will bless you in the [promised place] He is giving you. “If you obey the commands of the LORD your God and walk in his ways, the LORD will establish you as his holy people as he swore he would do. Then all the nations of the world will see that you are a people claimed by the LORD, and they will stand in awe of you. “The LORD will give you prosperity in the land he swore to [the ancestors of Pentecostal Tabernacle] that he would give you, blessing you with many children and abundant [harvests]. The LORD will send rain at the proper time from his rich treasury in the heavens and will bless all the work you do. You will lend to many nations, but you will never need to...
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Fresh Bread: New Decade, New Friends

Many will say they are loyal friends, but who can find one who is truly reliable? (Proverbs 20:6, NLT) Four days ago, the Associated Press named Tiger Woods their “Athlete of the Decade.” By now, almost any person who keeps up with current events is well aware of the problems facing Tiger as he enters the next decade. I am certainly not writing this article to further bash Tiger. My real thought is who will be his real friends as he moves into a new year and a new decade. I am convinced that part of his problem in this decade was those whom he considered “his friends.” There is a saying that goes, “Association brings about assimilation”. In other words, we will become similar to those with whom we regularly associate. Show me who your closest friends are, and I will have a good idea as to the direction in which your life is heading. Thus, over the approaching holidays, you and I may want to take a year-end inventory as to who and what type of close friends surround us. Over the next month and a half, I want to help you not only to evaluate and choose good friends, but also to be a good (God) friend. As believers, we all should be friends who have been sent to people from God. Thus, in these articles, we will study the Book of Ruth in order to discover what a God Friend looks like. Why Ruth? Because the meaning of the name Ruth is simply one word: Friend. As we are now eleven days from entering a new decade, I will simply challenge you to begin your new year by asking God in prayer: Who are the friends You want to give me for this new decade? Trust me. He will answer and you will be glad that He...
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