Take A Walk With Me

 I have often heard the phrase, “Born with a silver spoon in their mouth”. I knew what it meant, but growing up I never really met anyone who could fall into that category, until I lived in Long Island, NY. I came across many people whose lives had always been one of privilege and affluence.  I sometimes giggled to myself and would say that I had been born with a plastic spoon in my mouth. The majority of my childhood was a life of poverty. My birth mom had this gift of taking whatever was given from the food bank and making something delicious out of it. She could win a Chopped Kitchen contest with ease. I can recall walking past restaurants and seeing people eating food that I had never tasted and feeling my stomach rumbling from hunger. I know what it’s like to live in the car, to call drug motels home and to be thankful to move into an apartment that for once was quiet.  I know the inner pain from the sideways look people give you because your clothes are not as nice ...

 Every Sunday, the Praise and Worship team has been doing a dynamic job of paving the way for the presence of the Lord to flow. Bro. Walker preached a message to the church. Unfortunately, I did not take notes because I discovered my journal was full and there was no space to write. That being said, he had a visual for most of his sermon and I would have missed chunks of what was going on if I had been writing. You can listen/view it  here.  The title of his sermon was "Pour Out" and his text was from 2 Samuel 23:13-17. Bro. Walker had a table on the platform. On the table he had several water pitchers. There was also a cup with what looked like dirt and rocks in it. Two of the pitchers had water in them. At the beginning of his sermon, he had 6 young boys bring to him a glass of water.  He was giving a visual to when David lamented that he wanted a drink of water from a well in Bethlehem that was special to him. Some of his soldiers risked their lives and brought ba...

 The Kings from California are at Bethel this weekend for a marriage seminar. This couple has great insight to many things. Tonight, they spoke as a team to the entire church for Family Night. I did not take notes, thus I am not able to share with you everything they covered. They talked a lot about emotional intelligence. Several examples were given on various ways to handle a situation. They gave great insight on trying to contain your emptions when hearing what the other person has to say. Relationships are vital. Healthy ones are so important. When we are in a relationship, whether it is parental, sibling, friendship or romantic, there are two things we want to know. Do you love me? Am I safe with you? These two needs are vital and it's so important that we work to be this for the people in our lives. Boundaries, Validation and Empathy are necessary foundations for this to take place. We can all learn and strive to work on this. I appreciated their insight. Being a former Calif...

 Before I share the amazing sermon by Bro. Marvin Walker preached today at Bethel, I want to express my appreciation for the music ministry.  It's clear when those leading in worship are plugged in and moving in the spirit or when they are not.  Bethel has been blessed with an amazing worship/music team. I don't take it for granted. Today in particular was phenomenal.  Each and every song was in tune with what Bro. Walker was going to preach.  Their focused worship set an atmosphere for miracles to take place before the preaching even started. They paved the way for hearts to be good ground for the preached word to fall upon. Bro. Marvin Walker is special to RJ. He was the guest speaker the service that he received the infilling of the Spirit of God. As I most always suggest, watch the service for yourself. I pray it blesses you as you listen to the worship and The Word that was put forth. You can do so  here.   Bro. Walker preached on "The Biblical Te...

 This past Sunday, Bro. Tom Trimble preached a phenomenal sermon entitled, "The Devil's Day Off". I did take notes, but I can't find my notebook. I will do my best to give you a brief summary from my memory. I highly recommend that you watch/listen to the sermon. It was a powerful word. You can find it  here.   The main text read was 2 Samuel 18:6-8.  In this text we read that there was a battle going on.  What stands out is that more people died by the woods than they did by the sword. Even Absalom, his initial cause of death was not due to being in battle, it was due to his hair getting caught in a tree. More men died that day because of the woods. Many times, it's the cares of life that catch us and become our downfall. It's not so much what we are actually facing as it is all the other pitfalls that can come our way. It's so important to make sure that we don't allow the cares of this life to pull us down. The devil can be coming after you and you ...

Bro. Robert Cattani did an excellent job teaching Bethel's Thursday night Discipleship Series on Stewardship. I like it when he teaches. He's probably one of the nicest and funniest people I have ever had the privilege to know. As in the past, I will pull portions of the lesson directly from the Bethel App and paste it on to my blog.  1 Peter 4:10 – “As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” 1 Corinthians 4:1 – “Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.” Luke 12:42-46 – “And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath. But and if that servant say in his heart, My lo...

 It's been three years since, Bethel has had their Move The Missions Picnic. We come together after church, to eat delicious food and give a sacrificial offering to support Move The Missions, which is money for many things, but most of all to supply vehicles for missionaries.  Bro. Tom Trimble preached an outstanding sermon today and I want to devote a different blog completely to his sermon. For today, I want to focus on the picnic that took place. Even though it rained on and off, we still came together. The food was put under tents to keep dry. The Davis Fellowship Hall was open for people to eat inside and stay dry. The beauty of Bethel is the diversity of cultures. The food spread was literally from all over the world. We had a hamburger station and a sausage with peppers station as well. Delicious drinks and an ice cream truck brought the perfect completion to food portion of the day. The children participated in The Amazing Race which was a type of obstacle course. The ...

 For Bethel's Bible Study Part 2 of the Discipleship Series, The Gifts Of The Spirit was taught by Bro. Jonathan Walker. As I have done in times past, I will share portions of the lesson directly from the Bethel App where the entire lesson is posted.   The gift of prophecy – An anointed utterance from God that can be either a foretelling or a forthtelling. 1. Forthtelling is to proclaim, exhort or announce a message under the inspiration of God. When we preach, teach, or witness and testify to others, we are in essence forthtelling or prophesying. 2. Foretelling, on the other hand, is to proclaim or announce an event that has not yet occurred. This type of prophecy is to foretell and prognosticate future situations. 3. In Acts 21:9-12, we read of a prophet in the church named Agabus who foretold by the power of the Holy Ghost what would happen to Paul if he journeyed to Jerusalem. 4. The gift of prophecy, in both its foretelling and forthtelling manifestations, is spok...

 Today for the Sunday service, Bro. Jonathan Walker preached on "Building & Battling Together On Top Of The Wall".  My notes are limited, and I think it would be best if you watched/listened to the sermon for yourself.  It's a great sermon to encourage the strengthening of the families in the church. You can watch it  here.  Be blessed as you go into the school season. May God keep your children safe. May God bless your homes. May the peace of God carry you through every season of life. God is good.

Tonight, Bro. Jonathan Walker taught part one of the Discipleship Series on The Gifts Of The Spirit. The content in its entirety can be found via the Bethel App. I will share portions of it with you here on my blog and it will come directly from the App.  Thursday Bible Study is so important, make it a part of your lifestyle.  1 Corinthians 12:1-31 – “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. 2 Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led. 3 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. 4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. 6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. 7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit w...