We should not wait for moral perfection before we represent Christ.

What a beautiful statement. It accurately depicts my beliefs before coming to the truth of Gods’ word. I thought about this statement and began to realize there are thousands of men and women who have kept silent because they don’t believe they are ready to tell someone about our Lord. But when we open up and began to share the gospel with all of our hurts and pains, others see that we too are human and have found away around the problems we face, that being Jesus.

When we kindly share the reality of being sinners saved by grace, they began to see that we are touchable, and that they too can have what we have (a relationship with Christ). We leave our comfort zone and enter into their world, the world in which all of us began; sowing seed of hope and love.

Minister Patrick Williams Sr.  has been in ministry for over twenty one years. He has attended The
Online Bible College, Signs and Wonders School of Ministry and Ames Bible College. He has also attended Central Texas College and has a B.S. degree in Biblical Studies with a concentration in Pastoral Leadership at Ames Christian University. Currently he is working toward a masters degree in biblical studies.
He is also a martial arts Instructor having studied the Korean art of Hapkido for over 22 years. He is a 5th Degree black belt and member of The International Hapkido Federation under Myung S Kang and Jin O Kang and a life member of The Christian Black Belt Association.

www.hapkidousa.com




Minister Marilyn D. Williams is the Administrator of Bread and Wine Ministries. She is a former Army Traffic Management Specialist and has a B.S. degree in Business Administration from Columbia Southern University. She is also a graduate of The International Business College and the North American School of Bookkeeping and Accounting.

                                                 Spiritual Warfare

     

We've all been in it one time or another in our lives. Everything around us seemed like it came crashing down on us. Crashing like wild waves in the ocean during a hurricane. Waves that not only shook and pounded your being, but that also shook the inner peace that you had and made you wonder about God's current status. "God? Umm... I'm in a storm here and I really can use your help right now. Are you around?" I recall asking this question so many times. Once, while I was in the military, I found myself in a 'fox hole', a spiritual, emotional 'fox hole' that I just couldn't get out of. My life was upside down. I called upon God in my moment of adversity but he never answered. What was the problem? Why wasn't the God that I served responding? I found myself thinking that I didn't deserve to be here because of all that was happening to me. So, I stood up, climbed up to the window that was in my 4th floor barracks room, and jumped. What happened next changed me, not only that day, but for the rest of my life. As I jumped, in mid air, I felt a hand grab my chest and push me back into the window. I was already out of the window, but I felt that hand. A supernatural hand that pushed me back in and I fell on the floor. I got up really quick to see if my roommate had entered the room at that moment and had caught me at that moment, but there was no one there. Suddenly, I felt a breeze come into my room and the peace of God brought me to tears. Not tears of shame, but tears of joy, because at that moment he told me that he knew who I was. Folks, I've never heard my name called the way that I AM called it.

Till that day, I've learned that in times of storms, negative thinking, negative speaking, God asks us to thank him constantly. Why? Because it's thanksgiving and love towards our Creator that brings that peace. It's not the kind of peace that the world attempts to offer, but the peace that surpasses even the understanding of the highest intellect on the face of this earth. Check it out...

Philippians 4:6,7 - Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

I love what The Message says - Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

AMAZING! The God of the universe can give you peace in the midst of your storm. All you have to do is Praise him. Because why? This shapes your worries, it rebuilds, it forms... It molds your worries into prayers. Once we've learned how to praise in our moment of lack, God's wholeness fills that emptiness, and then some... And then some.... And then some. Come on! Some one praise him!

Hallelujah! What a mighty God we serve!

Marcos