Voice of Hope

Dear Friends, I am asking you to join me in prayer for Pastor Milton Gordon, the co-pastor at our Waverly, Tennessee church. He spent the night at Vanderbilt, but hopes are he will go home today.

This is the last day of 2010. This has been a wonderful year of growth for many of our churches and the people across the State of Tennessee. We are thankful for all of those who received the Lord through the ministry of our churches and ministers this year, and we are thankful for all the new members in our congregations. As we end this year, we look forward to even greater things ahead of us. My family and I love all of you so much, and we consider ourselves privileged to serve with such wonderful people. May God bless you.

The year of 2010 is drawing to a close and we will welcome in a year of promise and hope. Please remember that your contributions to the Church of God of Prophecy are tax-deductible, however to be claimed on your 2010 tax return, your checks and postmarks must be dated before December 31, 2010, even if your check is processed on or after January 1, 2011.

On January 1, 2011 we will begin a church-wide 21 day period of prayer and fasting. In this blog entry, it is my hope to share with you the guidelines for what has become known as the "Daniel Fast." This fast is taken from the life of the Prophet Daniel of the Old Testament, who was a witness to kings and nations. This list is not conclusive, but should give you guidelines of things to AVOID and things to EAT. FOODS TO EAT Whole Grains (brown rice, oats, barley) Legumes (dried beans, pinto beans, split peas, lentils, black-eyed peas) Fruits (apples, apricots, bananas, blackberries, blueberries, boysenberries, cantaloupe, cherries, cranberries, oats, figs, grapefruit, honeydew melon, kiwi, lemons, limes, mangoes, nectarines, papayas, peaches, pears, pineapples, plums, prunes, raisins, rasberries, strawberries, tangeloes, tangerines, watermelon) Vegetables (artichokes, asparagus, beets, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chili peppers, corn, cu...

Next month we begin our annual District Leadership meetings with the kickoff scheduled for the West Tennessee area. This first meeting will be in Jackson Tennessee on January 9, 2011 at the Double Tree Hotel. Services begin at 6:00 p.m. For a listing of all district meetings, please check out our state calendar by clicking here.

Harvest Fellowship at 237 Jack Exum Lane in Jackson, Tn. Saturday, January 8th from 9am to 3pm. Registration will begin at 8:30am Cost: $15 individual participants or $10 each if you have 3 or more from your local church attending. Lunch will be provided! There will be no charge for Pastors. There will be no charge for churches who currently do not have a Children's Ministry in Operation. Please email or call me to Register. Please let me know by 12/31 if you plan to attend. I need to know how many in order to plan for lunch. You will pay the day of the event. I am looking forward to a wonderful day together. Hope to see you there! Kim Batson 615-604-7484 Harvest Fellowship at 237 Jack Exum Lane in Jackson, Tn. Saturday, January 8th from 9am to 3pm. Registration will begin at 8:30am Cost: $15 individual participants or $10 each if you have 3 or more from your local church attending. Lunch will be provided! There will be no charge for Pastors. There will be n...

SIMULCAST EVENT PURSUING HIS SPIRIT SIMULCAST PRAYER EVENT Friday, January 21, 2011 – LIVE! 8:00 PM EST LIVE from the Sanctuary of the Peerless Road Church in Cleveland, Tennessee Join us for this LIVE worship and prayer event as we celebrate the close of our 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting. Sign-up below to be a part of this global prayer and praise event! Register your information using the link below. The webcast address will be emailed to you 48 hours prior to our starting time. BE A HOST SITE (at Your Church or Home) FIND A HOST SITE WATCH at HOME *Those participating in this prayer event in person will need to arrive at the Peerless Road Church by 7:30 PM for a period of introduction, instruction, and pre-event worship.

My family and I wish all of you a wonderful, Merry Christmas. We trust this will be the best you have ever experienced and remember, Jesus is the Reason for the Season! May God bless and keep you!

Great job guys!

DECATUR, GA -- Four-year-old Marquel Peters was killed by a stray bullet last New Year's. His community is doing its best to make his memory last. The Church of God of Prophecy in DeKalb County held a vigil Friday evening, at which county officials announced their intentions to bring new legislation against reckless gunfire. "I have drafted legislation calling for an addition to the homicide statute -- reckless homicide," said William Miller, public safety director for DeKalb County. "Other states have it. It would give us another avenue to prosecute these kinds of crimes." Currently, reckless gunfire results in a misdemeanor. Even if police had found the person responsible for the bullet that killed Peters, that person would have received a maximum sentence of 12 months in jail. DeKalb officials want to be able to enact harsher penalties. Meanwhile, hard times continue for the church community of which Marquel Peters was a part. "It's very hard," ...

Debra and I were privileged to be with Brother and Sister Huff at the Liverworth church for their annual Christmas program. Everyone did a wonderful job and the fellowship was rich. The service was followed by a nice dinner prepared by the ladies of the church. Thanks to everyone at the Liverworth church for such a warm welcome. Merry Christmas!

Hello Everyone, I just returned from Haiti, and I wanted to give you an update. Progress continues to be made on the orphanage. The wall is almost complete around the property, a new $50,000.00 generator has been purchased and donated by an outside group, and the generator is on site. Two of the bungalows have been renovated, and they are now adequate to house workers. Forty-six of the children have been moved back to the property. Also, the school at the orphanage is now functioning with about two hundred children in attendance each day (most of these children are from the community). Plans are being made for the rebuilding of dorms and the church. (See some of the pictures below) Nine of us (Tim McCaleb, Ted Cooper, Rhonda Cooper, Curtis Sutton, Gigi Byrd, Joyce Miller, Lenda Gunter, Jim and Paulette Ramsey) carried Christmas to the orphans. It was a great party! We ate, gave gifts, and the children sang and performed skits for us. We were told that the children had never...

Gene Dasher Thanks for prayers for mom, she was sitting with Pam wacthing TV went to get up and couldn't Pam noticed drawn face etc she is an RN and called 9ll, massive stroke, afib etc, 24-48 hrs will be needed we are told, this is all I know, Mark, Quillie, Pam, Stella and Pastor are with her

Lakeside Church Presents Bethlehem Inn Dinner Theatre Playing on Saturday, December 18, 2010 at 7PM Tickets are available and on sale now at Macon Bank and Trust in Westmoreland, TN Adults-$7.50 Children-$3.50 Doors open at 6:15 pm (First Come Seating Preference) Please come and enjoy an evening with us! Lakeside Church is located at 5584 New Highway 31 East Westmoreland, TN 37186 615-644-3373 (Office)

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” (Ephesians 6:12) This year is my 30th year in ministry. An accomplishment if you consider those who openly stated that my conversion wouldn’t last two weeks. Of course we all recognize this was not accomplished through my own staying power or abilities, but rather by the grace of God. (Ephesians 2:8-9; Jude 1:24) Yet, we all understand the necessity of keeping our fellowship with Christ fresh by “walking in the light,” (1 John 1:7) in order to do that. In these 30 years I have seen my share of battles, and to be honest with you, I have the scars to prove it. Most of the battles come from “out of nowhere,” and are not only unwanted, but often come at the most inopportune time. There is a reason for this; we are at war with an enemy who wants to destroy us. (1 Peter 5:8) This enemy will do wha...

Dear Friends, Prior to accepting the appointment to serve as a Presiding Bishop, I was involved in accounting and income tax preparation, working in C.P.A. firms and serving clients of my own. During my three pastorates I worked to supplement our income in this field which covered a period of about ten years. During this time, I had the privilege of working with some good accountants who demonstrated integrity, and among some who did not. I was always irritated by the tactics some of the accountants used. Instead of calmly and deliberately following the law to complete proper tax returns, they would use fear to retain their clients. As I began to near the time of my retirement from tax work, a lot of my friends and clients would say, "who am I going to get to help me with this now?" I would honestly explain that if a tax preparer does not continue their education, and stay up-to-date with changes in the tax law, they are not doing anyone a favor. I was often asked who I...

Each local church is urged to set a parsonage allowance for the pastor. This must be done prior to January 1, 2011 because parsonage allowances cannot be retroactive according the Internal Revenue Service. This form may be used to estimate the amount and have the church set it accordingly. REMEMBER, RETAIN A COPY FOR YOUR PERSONAL RECORDS AND FOR YOUR LOCAL CHURCH RECORDS. In the event of an IRS audit, this form will be required. CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO ENLARGE AND PRINT A COPY

I am sharing information about a minister with a powerful testimony. All of the contact information is listed in this post: Hi Brother McKinley, Here is the info for the guest speaker I was talking to you about. Danny Wallace was physically and sexually abused by his father when he was young, and Danny spent most of his young life struggling with homosexuality. When he contracted AIDS, the doctors never expected him to leave the hospital. However, Danny had a powerful encounter with God who not only healed him of AIDS, but set him free from the homosexual lifestyle. Danny is an experienced speaker. His full-time ministry helps others find freedom from abuse and homosexuality. He has a powerful message of forgiveness. Danny is a former Brentwood recording artist. He plays keys and can lead a worship service as well. The 700 Club just aired his story. I've included a link to the program so you can watch it. Here are some links to some Danny Wallace promo videos, his website, etc...

On Saturday morning, Debra and I were privileged to meet with a majority of the pastors and leadership of the local churches in upper-east Tennessee for the annual Christmas breakfast. As always, Bishop Denny and Ruby Ledford did a wonderful job of planning and preparation for the event. We enjoyed slide presentations of last year's banquet as well as a short presentation of a recent trip to Israel by many of the pastors in that area. Special thanks to the Ledfords, for the great cooks, and to Pastor Terry and Sharon Barnwell for hosting the event at the Arrowhead church. We are truly blessed to have such gifted leadership in our state.

Well that time is here again, Tennessee Marriage Retreat in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Please click on the image to download and print a flyer for your local church, and to forward to all your friends. This one is going to be a great retreat and we are looking forward to seeing you in the Great Smokey Mountains. CLICK ON IMAGE TO DOWNLOAD AND PRINT POSTER

Harvest Fellowship at 237 Jack Exum Lane in Jackson, Tn. Saturday, January 8th from 9am to 3pm. Registration will begin at 8:30am Cost: $15 individual participants or $10 each if you have 3 or more from your local church attending. Lunch will be provided! There will be no charge for Pastors. There will be no charge for churches who currently do not have a Children's Ministry in Operation. Please email or call me to Register. Please let me know by 12/31 if you plan to attend. I need to know how many in order to plan for lunch. You will pay the day of the event. I am looking forward to a wonderful day together. Hope to see you there! Kim Batson 615-604-7484 kim.batson@comcast.net

Dear friends, Today I am asking for your special prayers for one of precious pastor's wife. Sister Caruthers from the Campaign church has suffered with physical sickness for quite-some-time. She has also undergone multiple surgeries, the most recent one about four weeks ago. I am including a portion of her email in hopes you will join me in prayer for her and Pastor Caruthers as well... "My surgery was four weeks ago today, and I am doing very well (other than "over-doing it"), considering my history of seven hip surgeries, ruptured discs in back and neck, etc. However, last night I fell in the bathroom, and fell and hit the side of the sink all the way down, and hit the floor square on both knees. Needless to say, it's REALLY swollen today. I would just ask for prayers from the pastors and members all across the State and beyond that check the Blog, and would appreciate your including my name again (if you've included it before)." Thanks for your ...

Debra and I take this opportunity to extend our heartfelt thanks to Londa Richardson, Jill Mandrell, Michelle Brooks-Young and Kim Batson for all of their hard work and preparation for the Pastor's wife/Lady pastors retreat held this last weekend in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. It was a weekend of good food and good fellowship. We did all we could to spoil the pastor's wives and the lady pastors in attendance. The weekend was filled with shopping, eating, games and a special party and a special dinner at the Apple Barn Farmhouse restaurant. Imagine the fun as we awoke on Sunday to a fresh-fallen snow and a morning devotion in a beautiful mountain-side chapel with a panoramic view of the Great Smokey Mountains. We had to force the ladies to go home.

I received word today that retired minister, Bishop Waleed Bakar Ajamu passed away on December 4, 2010 in Nashville. Bishop Ajamu had served congregations in Tennessee and other states. Please join me in prayer for his family.

iMPACT! for Children's Ministers is available to all of our churches and related ministries. We believe that children's ministers make an eternal impact on the lives of the children they serve. That's why we have developed the IMPACT! on-line training series. The first training series identifies ten competencies of an effective children's minister. A training course including video instruction, pre-and post-assignments, as well as downloadable resources provides practical instruction and hands-on learning activities for each competency: COURSE: The Pursuit of Intimacy. COMPETENCY: Minister to children out of an intimate, daily relationship with God through prayer, study of the Word, and other spiritual disciplines. WRITER AND PRESENTER: Kay Horner COURSE: Build a Bible Lesson COMPETENCY: Critique, select, and adapt curriculum so that it is a useful tool in accomplishing ministry objectives. WRITER: Melissa Minter, PRESENTER: Kathy Creasy COURSE: Making Your ...

This week, two of our pastors are undergoing surgery and are in need of a special touch from the Lord. While you are praying about all of the needs in your personal time and during your church services, will you please remember: Pastor Geneva Carter Livingston, TN Pastor Rick Brogden Cleveland, TN Also please remember Pastor Milton Gordon Waverly, TN Pastor Gene Gouge Madisonville, TN I believe with all of my heart that God is interested in the difficulties we face, and He wants us to prayer together, believe together and work together to see His fullest in our lives.

I am pleased to announce the FIRST semester of the School of Practical and Advanced Studies has been scheduled in Tennessee. This FIRST semester will be at Camp Hickory Hills near Dickson, Tennessee. Classes are scheduled for February 23-26, 2011 and will be taught by the CBL staff from Cleveland, Tennessee. This will be a great time of fellowship and substantive training for anyone who desires to attend. Every pastor, youth minister, teacher or other minister needs to make plans to attend. This class will be invaluable to the lay minister, those at different stages of credentialing, and for those desiring to seek Bishop ordination in the future. More information will follow.

Nov 18, 2010 Fields of the Wood Celebrates 70th Year Category: Press Release NOVEMBER 18, 2010, is the 70th BIRTHDAY of Fields of the Wood. Only Heaven knows the wonderful happenings at FOW during these 70 years! Many people have been saved–some praying at the large altar, others atop Ten Commandment Mountain, some in the Assembly House, others watching baptismal services, etc. Hundreds of thousands have visited the Park since l940 and still, every day several are coming though for the first time. We hear people say “It’s so peaceful here,” “you feel God here!” “It’s the most beautiful place they’ve ever seen!” Many have come saying, “I haven’t been here since I was a child.” They’re bringing family and others with them. Recently, Bro. Allen was making his rounds late in the day. As he walked up Prayer Mountain, he saw a large Ziplock bag with drug paraphernalia in it–cigarettes, drugs, needles and other items. A hand written note was included which reads, “Holy Father, please hear ...

Today I left Hendersonville early in the morning and traveled to Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga, Tennessee. On of our pastors, Rick Brogden was scheduled for a medical procedure in advance of a kidney transplant next week. I was able to spend a little while with Rick and his wife, Martha and they were both in good spirits, and we believe the procedure turned out well. Next Tuesday, Rick will be undergoing a kidney transplant operation at Erlanger. He has been sick for quite some time and his sister who lives in North Carolina is donating one of her kidneys for Brother Rick. It goes without saying that this is a wonderful gift of life that Brother Rick is receiving from his sister. I am asking in advance of this surgery that you will join me in prayer for the Brogden family...that the kidney will be accepted by Rick's body and that there will be a speedy recovery for both. We are a part of a big, wonderful family and I am thankful for you.

In this video, Bishop Adrian Varlack shares the history recorded in the fourth book of the Foundations Course. This is not only a nice refresher for the ministers in our church, but tells the story from our own perspective. Others have written about the history of the Church of God of Prophecy from the outside (primarily the last twenty years) and were not direct witness to the history as author Adrian Varlack has been. I highly recommend this book.