Take A Walk With Me

 For this Sunday's service we had guest speaker, Bro. Raymond Woodward. As I have said before, I really enjoy hearing him preach, so I did not take notes. I strongly suggest you listen/view it  here.  The title of his sermon was, "The Church's Secret Weapon". His main text was taken from Romans chapter 8. He talked about how when the church truly believes and walks in the knowledge that all things work together for the good, we will make it. He gave four examples of how we can be overcomers. There are four major things that happen to us in our life. Trials are situations in our life that God allows. He doesn't do these things, but He does allow them to come into our lives. The key to overcoming it is to make the choice to allow it to make you better and not bitter. To grow from it and trust God to bring you through. Trouble comes from decisions that we have made. These are things that we need to repent from. When we do this, we are forgiven and able to move on.  T...

 Today Bethel had a guest speaker, Bro. Bob Costa. He covers a lot of things when he preaches, so I did not take notes. I can't write fast enough to get it all down. He preached on "Confidence Is Not Careful". You can listen/view it  here.  It was an encouraging sermon on going beyond faith, that God is going to come through for you. That you trust Him beyond what you can see or feel. You believe God will take care of you even when all our senses are telling you otherwise. I appreciated the sermon today. God is good.

 If you are like me, you do your best to keep your home "clean". What I mean by that is you are careful on what you watch.  I can pretend that all I do is watch preaching videos all day, but that would not be telling the truth. I have a filter I use called Clear Play others I know use VidAngel. I just don't want things coming into my home and having a negative influence on my son. I have lost count of the times; we turned something off because it just was not something we wanted to hear or see. Today FOWNTN was released. Thier site calls it a streaming platform that you can trust. Currently you can subscribe via their website online and soon they will have an APP released. I just finished watching their live Instagram that gave insight on what is to come. Presently, there is not a lot, but as time goes on, there will be more added. The plan is not just to have music and preaching, but also entertainment that is clean. This is made by Apostolics. You won't need to worr...

 Tonight Bro. Jonathan Walker taught part 2 of the Discipleship Series on the topic of "Your Pastors and Leaders".  I enjoy hearing him teach and he did a great job of covering a subject that many do not want to hear and that's submission. As I have done in the past, I will copy directly from the lesson that can be found via the Bethel App.  Due to the length, I will only share portions onto this blog. This is part 2 of last week's portion of this lesson.  THE FIVE-FOLD MINISTRY WITHIN THE BODY A. God has placed a specific five-fold ministry of leadership within the church. This five-fold structure is His blueprint for the operation, administration, and government of the church from its beginning until now. • Ephesians 4:11-12 – “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.” B. Each of these offices has ...

 She walked into the sanctuary with a smile that caused her eyes to twinkle. I was in my teens and the church had just voted her husband in as the new pastor. In a flash a little six year old boy ran from his hiding place behind her skirt and made a mad dash down the church aisle to the front where his dad was standing. She greeted me with a warm embrace, not having met me yet. In that instant, I knew that I was going to love my First Lady.  Over the years, she went from being my pastor's wife, to my friend. We would sit together in church and she would tell me how she longed for the church to be like Bethel. I remember thinking in my mind, what is Bethel. Little did I know she was speaking of a church that would one day become my church home. Sis. Butler was not afraid to tell you like it was. She would tell you exactly what she was thinking and why. One day I told her I felt that I was going to marry a minster. She looked me square in the eyes and gave me an education on wha...

 For Bethel's Thursday night Bible Study Class, Bro. Jonathan Walker taught on a portion of the Discipleship Series on the topic of Your Pastors & Leaders.  He was given the daunting task of talking about summitting to those in authority. Before he went into depth of the lesson, he did make a reference to Daniel Chapter 3 which is in reference to the time when you do not submit to authority and that is if it's against God's word and law. As I have done in the past, I will pull a portion of the lesson directly from the notes that are posted on the Bethel App. Bro.  Walker did not get very far into the lesson. I will share a small portion of it with you here. Romans 13:1-7 – “1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. 2 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. 3 For rulers are not a terror to ...

 I love going to church. I am thankful for moments like this Sunday during worship, where there is such a freedom of the presence of the Lord. We were given a treat, Bro. Byfield started us off with prayer. His faith is great, and I believe because of his walk with God, his prayers started the service off in the direction that it went. That is a topic I will blog about on another day. Your walk or lack of walk with God can have a huge impact on what flows from the platform. Bethel had a guest speaker, Bro. Joe Rapaglia. The Rapaglia family are family to RJ and I, thus we were excited to hear him preach. This family has something special about them. Their faith comes through, and God does mighty things in the services that they minister at. I highly recommend you have them come through your church. I took notes and will share what stood out the most to me. I suggest you watch/listen to it for yourself. You can do so  here. Bro. Rapaglia preached on "Holy Expectations" and his...

 A few weeks ago Bethel had their Vacation Bible School. The theme this year was The Faith Race. Sis Angela Crowder led an amazing team from set up, to teaching to taking it all down. RJ and I worked it together this year and had an absolute blast. It was so good to see the kids come in super excited and ready to see what the day was going to bring. Every teacher/helper shone bright in their areas of expertise. We wanted the kids to have fun and learn about Jesus. Kids today are dealing with so much stuff. It was great to watch them cut loose and just be a kid. My favorite part of the night was watching the staff and kids break out in song and movement under the direction of Dematrai Tate. He did an outstanding job teaching them the words and movements. In those moments there was such freedom. At the end of the night, the kids left with a sparkle in their eye and the hope of God’s love in their heart. It was a blessing to be a part of something so wonderful and by the end of the la...

For Bethel's Thursday night Bible Study, the Discipleship Series was continued. Bro. Tony Miller did a great job teaching on Spiritual Warfare. I also enjoy it when he teaches.  As I have done in the past, I will pull the lesson covered directly from the Bethel App. Due to the length of the lesson, I will only use portions of it in this blog.   The first part of our spiritual warfare is an inward battle – against our old, carnal nature. • Romans 7:23 – “But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.” • Galatians 5:17 – “For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.” 1 Timothy 6:12 – “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.” Ephesians 6:...