Voice of Hope

Hello Brother McKinley, Hope you are doing well. We have a little emergency @ Empowered. We have a trip scheduled to Haiti Feb. 25- Mar. 3 and we are short 4 men. If we could get the word out, if anyone is interested we would love for them to accompany us on this work trip. The cost is $1250 and we would not need the money until the week before. Please call me asap if you are interested @ 615-557-4434. In Christ, - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Children's Ministry Training is coming to Your Area: February 25th: Knoxville Arrowhead March 24th: Campaign Church Registration begins at 8:30am. Training will be 9am to 3pm. $10 per participant. Please email: kim.batson@comcast.net to register. Hope to see you there.

Bishop Lew Allen Davis, Sr.   Visitation, Wednesday - January 25th  5:00 - 8:00 p.m. ET Grissom Funeral Home  3030 North Ocoee St. Cleveland, TN    Memorial Service, Thursday - January 26th  11:00 a.m.  ET   Peerless Rd. Church of God of Prophecy  (3301 Peerless Rd. - Cleveland, TN) Body will lie in state from 10:00 - 11:00 a.m.  

I am saddened to to announce the passing of Shirley Ann Spivey. Sister Spivey is the mother of our pastor at Dyersburg, Brother Jim Spivey. The arrangements are as follows: Chase Funeral Home in Huntingdon, Tennessee Visitation, Tomorrow from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Services Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. Please join me in prayer for this precious family.

I am saddened to share with you that just a few minutes ago, Bishop Allen Davis, former General Appointee passed away at his home in Cleveland, Tennessee. Most of our folks know that Bishop Davis is the father of our State CFO and Women's Director, Londa J. Richardson. We are so thankful for a life well-lived for the Lord and for the Gracious Presence of the Holy Ghost. He is now away from the pains of this world and in the Presence of the Lord. We will post arrangements when we receive them. Please join me in prayer for this family.

REJOICE! Again, I say REJOICE! Let everything that hath breath PRAISE THE LORD! You are special to God. In fact you are so special that He can't take His eyes off you. He woke you up this morning, allowed you to draw breath into your lungs...caused your heart to continue to beat! He has surrounded you with people who love you for who you are, not what you can do! As we draw the the close of the 21 Days of seeking, the truth is that we are only beginning! God bless you

The fellowship of the saints. Just what is it? I've heard it described like this; "Sometimes I feel closer to my church family than I do my own (biological) family." Such fellowship can be the sweetest thing you will ever experience. Why? Because it is not a fellowship that is forced and it is based totally on your decision. The Scripture plainly encourages us to experience fellowship. We need the like-minded faith of believers where we are. Though some people are bound by circumstances that does not allow their attendance to church, others make that conscious decision every time a church worship service is scheduled. As we see the day of the Lord approaching, Lets Fellowship!

What are your commitments? What are the values that drive you to make the decisions you make? Are they grounded in secular humanism and their world view? Are they driven by an idealogical political view? We all have a world view. We all have values that keep us ground, focused and on target. I would suggest that as a believer, our world view should be that of a believer of the Lord Jesus Christ, and our pursuit of Him. There is really on way to develop that world view. As we've already learned, we must repent, believe in Him and change the walk we are one. But when one is walking, a map is needed. For the Christian that is the Bible. We are not guided by doctrinal dissertations, creeds, or the traditions of men. We are guided by thus saith the Lord. If the Scripture says something is good to do, then we must do it. If the Scripture forbids something we must avoid it at all cost. The choice is yours...which will it be?

Who is my neighbor? That is a question as old as recorded time. Who is that person and what is my obligation toward him/her? Is it just the person who lives next door to me, or could it possibly someone I don't even know? I guess the simple truth is that your neighbor is whoever God places in your path on a given day. Who has the Lord brought to you for an encouraging word, a smile or a kind gesture?I am convinced that you will see them if you only look. On Day Eighteen of Seeking, we begin to look around and see who may need to hear the Gospel. You might not have to go far to find them.

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) As we continue our 21 Days of seeking, we recogniize that the church is completley unable to fulfil the Great Commission (see Matthew 28:19-20) Jesus gave apart from His help. After all, it was Jesus who said, "without me ye can do nothing.." (John 15) In the passage of Scripture we reference today, you can see that the Lord gave the power and ability to the church to complete the task. He promises, "you will receive power." A phrase that is often used by ministers to pray for the sick or to cast out devils. Unfortunately, some (mostly media-type preachers) will even use this phrase to generate funds, which in my opinion makes them no different than the moneychangers that Jesus drove from the temple. (Mark 11:17) The remainder of Acts 1:8 clearly states why we received the anointing of ...

I believe in evangelism. It all begins with the Great Commission Jesus gave to the church. You may read this commission in Matthew 28:18-20) and understand that at the heart of everything Jesus taught and did was to reach a world of men, women, boys and girls who are separated from God. We are separated from God because of sin, but we are restored by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, through His substitutionary death on the cross. For two-thousand-years God has always had a people who would remind the world of the payment for our sins. Yes, there were high times of revival, but there were also low times when entire nations turned their back of the Creator of everything. Whether high times or low times, these dedicated men and women shared the message of hope and the message of life; that God loves us so much. (John 3:16) As we continue our Days of Seeking we remind ourselves not only of the great price paid for the sins of the world, but also the need for people to take up the cause...

For two weeks now we have focused on our personal walk with the Lord. We have, in a sense been rebuilding the altars of our own life and taking a deep inward look at our relationship with God and others. Now, we must begin to look outward. One of the men of influence in my personal walk and ministry passed away less than a year ago. Bishop Harper Hunter was a leader in the Church of God of Prophecy who served in a number of capacities. He was a State Overseer, Field Secretary to the General Overseer but at his heart he was an evangelist. In the early years of my ministry, I clearly remember his love for people who were unconverted and the revival work that he promoted. He would ask, "what is the value of a soul?" A devout man of personal prayer, he was often overwhelmed with the "lostness" (as he would say it) of men and women away from God. He described having a soul-burden for people...sometimes saying, "when you get under the burden for lost souls, y...

Persistence is today's thought as we continue our focus on seeking the Lord's face. As a child, my parents made the opportunity for me to attend summer youth camps sponsored by our church. It was a full week spiritually-driven activities and worship services. The campground was located in a small town in Southern Indiana, out of the way geographically and out of focus of the other 51 weeks of the year. To be surrounded by so many people dedicated to the Christian faith helped me forget about the struggles of daily life in my small world. Each year, I would be overwhelmed by the Presence of the Lord and nothing else would matter...but as with everything else, there was an end to it and I went back home. While I don't talk about it often, my home was dysfunctional...even though I didn't even understand what that even meant...it was my life. Ultimately, the glow of the week at camp faded into memory and the daily dysfunction set in again. A cycle that was oft repeated...

It's time to get real! As we have walked through the process of repentance and restitution, the next thing that is imperative is truth. It's time that we understand the only way to walk in continued cleansing before the Lord is to be honest with that person you see in the mirror. After all, at the end of the day, we MUST be able to feel good about what we see. Not too many years ago, our nation was reeling with accusations against one of our leaders. The accusation, if real was unfaithfulness to marriage vows on the leader's part and would be grounds for divorce in most courts. However, as shameful and debase as the act was, the lie that followed it was worse. There on the television, the leader was denying a sexual act, first outright denial, then a parsing of words...after all "the answer to that question is that depends on what your definition of "is" is. It was foolish to believe that parsing words would be okay, but even worse was all of those who ...

There is a little known story of a tribe in Papua Guinea known as the Ku Waru warriors. This tribe had a tradition practiced on the night before battle. A large feast would be prepared and all of the warriors would eat until full. Then, they would begin to confess the wrongs they were guilty of to each other. They would confess to stealing the property of each other, and often if they had coveted another warriors wife, they would plainly "fess up." You see, this tribe believed that if they did not confess to the things done wrong in their lives, they would not have the strength to fight their enemies. Only when they were completely honest with each other, they had the strength to fight.Those of us in western culture might think, "well, that's a quaint story about people who probably don't understand life....but the truth is, they know a lot more than many of us. They understand a principle that we would do well to think about...the principle of confessing ...

As our minds are renewed by the Word of God, we begin to see subtle changes in our behaviors. There are some things that just don't seem right to us anymore. Maybe places we used to go don't seem as interesting, or activities we have participated in seems to have lost some of its appeal. Our spirit within us is become alive again to the Voice of God as He speaks to our conscience. We know that there are just some things we cannot do and places we cannot go because it would displease our Lord. With these subtle changes, we begin to notice the friction between us and others. We pretend we don't know why, but the truth is that an offense has taken place at some point or another. This is not your mind playing tricks on you, it is the Word of God taking root in your life. You are a changed person. The Fire of God that fell on the altar you built has had a lasting affect on you. Because the Holy Spirit is now touching our hearts and our minds, we know things need to be co...

As the Fire of God's Presence saturates our lives, we begin to recognize the small changes that will take place. At first it is the thought or realization that something wrong needs to be made right. When we experience of God's Presence in our lives, the more we will want to know about Him. There will be a sudden thirst for His Word and for knowledge about His ways. We will want to please Him, so we MUST know what He want sin our life. This thirst is satisfied when we begin to read His Word and hide it in our hearts (Psalm 199:11) so that we will not sin against Him. There will be a desire to be around His people. We live in a day when commitment seems to be a thing of the past. People changes relationships on a regular basis, whether in their marriage, their employment or their church. They are looking for something to satisfy, but the only thing that will satisfy them is to be in the company of committed, dedicated followers of God. (Hebrews 10:25) We will want to know...

What does it mean to present your whole self to the Lord? Our nation is filled with church buildings. Some are so small that you don't hardly notice them, and some so large you are forced to marvel at the vision of whomever created such a large ministry. There are not only church buildings, but there are para-church ministries. These are groups that have a stated foundation of Jesus Christ and His teachings, but model it through things such as small groups for athletes, prayer meetings for prisoners or food and clothing ministries. No one in America can justly say that a church is not available to them, for they come in all shapes, sizes and philosophies. Unfortunately, church attendances and baptisms are decreasing in these churches. For whatever reason, the church is not growing as we would all like to see. Her influence on society is waning in North America and if things don't change, you will see many flounder and fail. So what do we do? Get a new pastor or leader? M...

As you have rebuilt the altar in your search for God, there must be a moment in time when you place the sacrifice on it. But what is that sacrifice? In the Old Testament the people would place a sacrifice as the Lord had commanded. That was the whole purpose of the altar. The altars were literally covered with the blood of animals that were slain to cover the people's sin. In modern times, I've often heard ministers say, "come to the altar and receive from the Lord." But the truth is this; an altar is not a place to receive, but rather is a place to give. But what can I give? What is the acceptable sacrifice for me? That answer is found in Romans 12:1-2, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and ACCEPT...

It has now been seven days, one complete week of seeking the Lord's face. Yesterday, we spoke about the hindrances to prayer answered from Isaiah 59:1-2. As we continue to seek, perhaps it's time for us to rebuild the altars that have been broken down. Do you remember when you first accepted Christ into your heart? Do you remember the freshness that came from spending time in His Presence? Do you remember how you longed for those times of refreshing to come? Of course you do...you just don't want to admit it. What is it that breaks altars down? I think there are several factors, among them the daily cares of life. When we gave our heart to the Lord, the load of sin was lifted and we experienced peace with God...and in many cases peace with everyone around us. But them came temptation...then came tribulation...then came the every day grind of life. Perhaps you thought this new feeling you had would never subside...you thought this was going to be an easy proposition...

One of the timeless questions asked to ministers is this..."Why doesn't God answer my prayers." The common answer given by ministers is, "He always answers your prayers..He says "Yes" or "No" or "Wait." Yet as we are in the sixth day of seeking, I want to posit another thought. Isaiah is one of the major prophets of the Old Testament. God used him to warn, inform and correct a nation. Isaiah is mostly known for the prophesies of Jesus Christ that he recorded. In chapter 58, God is once again using Isaiah to inform his people that they have failed and tells them of their sins. Then comes chapter 59...a reminder and then a truth. For the sake of this post, lets take them one at a time. 1. The reminder: "Behold the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear." This verse is reminding His people that God DOES HAVE THE ABILITY TO ANSWER PRAYER. He is no less able to mo...

We live in a twisted world. It seems as if all logic has turned backward, and in spite of the efforts of so many, peace and safety are elusive commodities. As we continue to seek the Lord, we must learn to trust Him for peace. We need peace of mind. It's hard enough sometimes to just get through the day with peace of mind in tact. I remember many years ago when working in the secular world, there were constant rumors of layoffs, cutbacks and outright job elimination. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't ignore what I heard. After all, I was a young man with a wife and child to take care of. When the layoffs would eventually come, I was amazed that God always had another job for me....in fact, all I had to do was call the owner of a local company and he would put me to work without missing even a day, or one paycheck. I had learned that my substance came not from man, but from God. David is famous for saying, "I was young and now I am old, but I've never seen...

  “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done.” (Matthew 6:10) This is often said easily, but more difficult to practice.  We say that we want what God has for us, but this task can become extremely difficult when it takes us on a path we don’t want to travel…or requires of us something we just don’t want to do. As we continue to seek His face, we understand the total inability to save ourselves, and we understand there is no help for us outside of the Lord.  We want His help, we crave His Presence and we desire to be better people…but oh the struggle we have!  I find that even when I would do good, evil is present (Romans 7:21). Recognizing our total dependence on His grace…our total inability to save ourselves…our lack of ability to live the life, we must submit to the arrival of His Kingdom in our life!  We must submit ourselves much like the drowning person submits to the strength and skill of the rescuer. When His Kingdom comes and His will is done, it will in...

As we begin to see ourselves through God's eyes, a certain humility is forced upon us. Suddenly we realize how small we are in relation to time and eternity...we realize the utter helpless state we find ourselves. Outside of God's grace, we cannot save ourselves (Ephesians 2:9-10). We suddenly recognize that are own righteousness is like a filthy rag (Isaiah 59-1-2) good for nothing but to be thrown away. We recognize that even when we would do good...evil is present. Alone and without the ability to saves ourselves...we turn to God with our whole heart....Lord save me, for I cannot save myself...and I am lost without You.

As our hearts have been humbled by the Presence of the Lord, we begin an inward search for anything that displeases the Lord. Is there an attitude of ungratefulness, or even bitterness? Am I doing all I can to walk in daily fellowship with Christ? Today we ask you Lord, "allow us to see ourselves through your eyes...change us into the image you desire."

As the Church of God of Prophecy enters 21 Days of Seeking around the world, we look forward with anticipation to the change that will come to our hearts and lives. We humble ourselves before a Holy God recognizing we are but flesh, and unable to change ourselves. We MUST have His Presence and He will not share His glory with flesh. So on Day One we repent of anything that affects our fellowship with Him or one another.