2015: THE SECOND HONEY MOON!!

Praise the Lord everybody and a HAPPY NEW YEAR to all!! I pray you all had a wonderfully blessed Christmas. As this year comes to an end and I take stock of what God has done in my life this past year I realize He invested a lot of time in preparing me for His work in these last and evil days.
Things did not necessarily go the way I thought they would and proclaimed they would at last years Watch Night service. God has done a great work in me internally, that I expect will now show up externally this year in my ministry.

Again as I thought about what God has done in my life over the past year I couldn't help but think about what I did for Him this past year, was it just the same old song and dance or was there something in my walk with Him that was new and refreshing and showed Him my growth? It is so easy for our acts of love and worship to turn into hollow acts of Religious ceremony. We go from going to church to worship God, hear from Him and bask in His presence to going to Church because that's what Christians do. The programs we put together with love care and affection start to become so over done and by the book that all we have to do is get a copy of last years program, white out the dates and put in the current year and there you have it, this years program.

God is tired of our "left overs". In Lamentation 3: 22+23 God's word says  22 It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.

23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

God's mercy, grace and compassion toward is are "new" every morning, fresh and new and so should our love and devotion to Him be fresh and new every morning. I want to renew my vows to Him. I want this to be our second Honey moon. I love the Lord and I want that love to shine all over my face like a blushing bride. I want to get Goose bumps again every time I hear His name.

first I have to stop taking God for granted and take a daily inventory of everything God has done for me past and present. Stay and delight myself in His word. Stay before Him in prayer and meditation.
I must remain spiritually alert so that I can hear what the spirit of the Lord has to say to me at all times and then I must be obedient. There is a special joy that comes with being obedient to God and in the center of His perfect will. That is the place I want to abide in 2015 and every year after till He comes.
Psalm 27: 3-5 states  3 Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.

4 One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple.

5 For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.

       HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! and God Bless you all, Brother Darrell, Speaking Off The Wall

"COME ON IN, THE WATER IS FINE!"

Praise the Lord everybody!! Because He alone is worthy to be praised! I pray everyone is enjoying God's blessing. I must say that God has been more than gracious in showing His love for me and my wife lately and we can't thank Him enough for what He's doing in our lives. The only way I can think of to thank Him is to live in holy obedience to His will and to His way.  As you may remember I have been attending Wednesdays "HOUR OF POWER" service at my church instead of Sunday services because my sciatica cannot tolerate sitting through a full Sunday service. What God is building at First Church of Christ Holiness USA in Harlem New York is truly a blessing to be a part of. I can't wait to see what God is going to do next. Please keep us in prayer, especially our Pastor Elder Johnny Green as we endeavor to go forth in the name of Jesus.

 There was a time during my walk with Jesus I would find myself from time to time lagging behind, following Jesus from afar off. The same spirit of disobedience and lack of trust that hindered my walk back then is still hindering many in the Body of Christ today. We can find examples as far back as Peter in Luke 22: 52-57   52 Then Jesus said unto the chief priests, and captains of the temple, and the elders, which were come to him, Be ye come out, as against a thief, with swords and staves?
53 When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched forth no hands against me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness.

54 Then took they him, and led him, and brought him into the high priest's house. And Peter followed afar off.
55 And when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the hall and were set down together, Peter sat down among them.
56 But a certain maid beheld him as he sat by the fire, and earnestly looked upon him, and said, This man was also with him.
57 And he denied him, saying, Woman, I know him not.

Peter, who was always very zealous in His faith when he was with Jesus and the other Disciples suffered a lapse of faith after seeing "the Christ" taken away without a fight and even though Jesus had warned them that this had to happen so God's plan could be fulfilled, he like most of us did not understand God's plan and that lack of understanding led to a lack of trust. After everything, Peter had seen and heard he forgot it all when the pressure was on for him to stand on that faith.

We do the same things when are around our non-Christian friends and co-workers and the conversation sinks to a level where the Holy Spirit says "alright it's time to step away" but we linger until we are caught up in the flesh and Gods spirit is grieved within us. Or we do walk away and then we are asked by someone "why are you leaving? too much for your virgin ears?" and instead of using the opportunity to proclaim whose you are and whom you serve you just smile and say "no, I just have to get back to work." as you walk away basically doing the same thing Peter did, deny Christ
Peter also again while appearing zealous also suffered another lapse in faith and trust in God even before his denial of Christ. In Matthew 14:26-31    26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit, and they cried out for fear.
27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.

28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.

29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.

30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.

31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?

In these verses you see Peter do the same thing we all have done at one time or another, we hear God's voice, we know His voice but still, we ask "Lord, if it be thou..." Jesus said, "my sheep know my voice" still we don't trust Him enough not to "fleece" Him. Then after Peter knew it was Jesus he did step out of the boat on faith and began to walk on the water also but when things started to get a little rough he relapsed and began to sink. When Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, the living word by whom everything that is created was created says to you "come" whether it is water, fire, flood, mountain or valley, we ought to be able to step out in faith that He is not calling us to fail!

The Bible says God's will toward us is "good and perfect" and that "without faith, it is impossible to please Him" We also have to TRUST Him. We have to trust in His word and trust that He knows what is best for us. The next time God asks you to "COME" out of the "boat"(0ur comfort zone) don't be afraid, dive on in, the water is fine!

                         God bless you all, Brother Darrell, Speaking Off The Wall

BEFORE WE CAST DOWN OUR CROWNS!!

Praise the Lord everybody because He alone is worthy to be praised!! I pray you all are enjoying God's blessing. I know my wife and I are truly blessed and grateful every time we open our eyes in the morning, that's where we are right now. As our Pastor always says "I'm all in" for me to live IS Christ. For Christ I live and for Christ I die. Even though I have not been feeling well and just found out why from my doctor(keep me In prayer), I am "all in", I can't thank God enough for all He has done for me His grace and mercy toward me has been unbelievable!


I was reading 2nd Corinthian 10:3-6    3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:

4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

6 And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

As I was reading the chapter these four verses stood out and spoke to me. First reinforcing the fact that there is a war going on in the spirit realm that can't be fought in the flesh. Only God by His spirit can empower us with weapons that can reach up into the high places and pull down strongholds and high minded Imaginations. Where is the battle field? The battle field is the mind. Every time we are disobedient, every time decide not to wait on God every time we decide "I can handle this on my own, why bother God" we are building strong holds and high minded imaginations. We try and take the place of God in our lives. God delivers us from slavery to sin and before long we decide we don't need or trust Him either.

The day Satan questioned Gods authority and thought to himself that he would exalt himself above God and he did not repent, he sealed his fate. Jesus says in Luke 10:18  18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. We all know what is waiting for Satan yet we question God and His word everyday. When He asks us to do something that is out of our comfort zone or beyond our carnal understanding we either question God, or claim that there was "static" on the "main line" or just claim we never heard from Him at all.

Our father in heaven wants to bless us but first we have to trust in Him completely and turn our will over to Him. In a moment of anguish and weakness Jesus Himself asked His Father in heaven if He could complete His mission another way, a less painful way, then He repented of these thoughts and said "...nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.."(Mark 14:36 ) as He remembered all Gods ways are perfect as is His will. In order for us to successfully complete our missions we have to turn our wills over to God, trusting that He knows whats best for us and that He is more than able to take care of all our needs and solve all our problems.

So before we can even think about going to heaven and casting our crowns, we must make sure we cast down those strong holds and high minded imaginations that prevent us from being in obedient relationship to God.
                   God bless you all, Brother Darrell, Speaking Off The Wall

HOLY GHOST REROUTE!!

Praise the Lord everybody, because He alone is worthy to be praised!! I pray every one of you are enjoying God's blessing. What God is doing with me right now is a humbling experience. When I think back over how much love, teaching, instruction, rebuking and chastening God has invested in me. My attitude of gratitude has grown immensely. It's all about me showing my love for God through my obedience. So let me be obedient by sharing with you what God gave me the other day.

The other day I was talking to my mother about an issue that is being played up big in the media these days and a hot topic on most talk shows. As she became more and more impassioned in her speech my flesh also began to rise up and I found myself ready to join her in the flesh and offer up a worldly view and solution to the problem. Just as I was about to open my mouth I could feel the Holy Ghost reroute my thought process from the flesh to the spiritual and the man of God in me took over. I remembered whose I was and whom I served.

I am a Holy Ghost filled man of God, called by God to be a "Watchman" on the wall. I can't let anybody turn me around, not even my mom. 1st Peter 1: 14-16 states 14 As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:

15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;

16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

The Holy Spirit will lead you and keep you if you let Him. Temptation can come from anywhere at any time and from anybody. The enemy knows our weak spots and sometimes he catches us off guard and we find ourselves, like I did, "getting into the conversation" our carnal minds coming alive, but if you are truly anchored in Jesus the Holy Spirit will act like rail road switchman and give you a Holy Ghost reroute back to the mind of Christ. David said in  Psalms 73:1+2 Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart.

2 But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped.

   This just shows you that it can happen to anyone, even David a man after God's own heart. He was tempted to envy the prosperity of the wicked, I'm sure just like me he found himself at times in conversation with ungodly people and almost slipped and said something he would later regret but as you read further down he had a Holy Ghost reroute as he states in verses 22-28  22 So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee.

23 Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by my right hand.

24 Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.

25 Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.

26 My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.

27 For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee.

28 But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all thy works.

I strive every day to draw nearer to the Lord so that when my feet almost slip the Holy Ghost will reroute  my mind and my feet back onto the right path.

                       God Bless You All, Brother Darrell, Speaking Off The Wall

  

STUPID MISTAKES AND CANKER WORMS!

Praise the Lord everybody!! for He is truly worthy to be praised!! I pray every one of you is enjoying God's blessing. I can't begin to tell you all how much God is doing in my life. Last week I was given the opportunity to preach the "Hour Of Power" service at First Church of Christ Holiness USA in Harlem NYC. It was truly a blessing to preach live again. It had been almost twenty years since I last ministered in my calling. Don't get me wrong I am a Watchman of God and God called me to write this blog but I was called to preach even before I knew what a Watchman was.

Writing is my gift but preaching the Gospel, that is my calling. When I look back over the journey I've been on in my walk with Jesus, from God saving me and raising me up to preach to Him sitting me down due to my disobedience and continued struggle with drug addiction, to Him finally raising me up again. I began thinking about one of my early anchoring scriptures Joel 2: 25+26  25 And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the canker worm, and the Caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.

26 And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed.

I held on to this promise of God as drug addiction and disobedience robbed me of my ministry and the life I felt I should have had. I held on to it and held on to it thinking like most people who are holding on to it even today that all I had to do was wait on God to do His thing. To me the devil was the canker worm, the locust and the Caterpillar all rolled into one. "The devil did it, he stole everything from me" that was my way of thinking for the most part. He tricked me, It took me years to admit my own part in my down fall, that I was overtaken by my own lust and desires and that if I really wanted God to restore the years the "canker worm" had eaten I needed to go back and read the whole of Joel chapter 2.

Joel 2: 12- 18 tells us  12 Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:  13 And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.
14 Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the Lord your God?
15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:
16 Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.
17 Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?

18 Then will the Lord be jealous for his land, and pity his people.

First of all I gave my years to the canker worm to eat and then I asked God to restore what I had forsaken through my own behavior and weakness. Then I just stood around waiting on God, but God said in verses 12 and 13 that we must turn from our wicked ways back unto Him with all our hearts and with fasting, weeping and mourning(Godly sorrow). Fasting, weeping and mourning are action words meaning you just can't sit around waiting for them to happen, you have to make them happen if you want God to make things happen.  

When I sought after God to the point where any sin in my life made me sick, yes I mean physically ill, that is when our relationship grew stronger and He began my restoration. Don't spend your time waiting on God to restore what you gave away to be eaten by various pest, you turn to Him, repent with Godly sorrow and fasting and He will incline His ear to you and begin your restoration. I know, He's doing it for me right now.

                        God Bless You All, Brother Darrell, Speaking Off The Wall

"RIGOR MORTIS!!:ANOTHER REASON WHY I HATE SIN!"

Praise the Lord everybody! Because He alone is worthy to be praised!! I pray everyone is enjoying God's blessing. God is truly moving in my life right now. I've been blessed to get out to Church on a regular basis these last few months, The Hour of Power at First Church of Christ Holiness USA has truly been a blessing to me and my wife. God is doing something special on Wednesdays at First Church and we want to be a part of it Praise the Lord!

I've learned just like David did that sin can effect your health and wellness. Any man seeking after God's own heart will find out that sin especially hidden sin will result in inward pain and discomfort, a disconnected and disjointed feeling that comes when spiritual death is imminent. David says in Psalms 38: 1-10   O Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure
2 For thine arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presseth me sore.

3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin.
4 For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me.

5 My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness.
6 I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long.

7 For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease: and there is no soundness in my flesh.
8 I am feeble and sore broken: I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart.

9 Lord, all my desire is before thee; and my groaning is not hid from thee.
10 My heart panteth, my strength faileth me: as for the light of mine eyes, it also is gone from me.

For many years after I received Christ as my Lord and Savior I continued to struggle off and on with drugs and I understand how David felt, he was in agony. At times I felt overwhelmed by my sin and the "wounds" I obtained because of my sins stank and were "corrupt because of my foolishness" and I would go before the Lord and cry out to Him for relief and deliverance. I was a "dead man walking", spiritually dead in my trespass and sin.

When a man dies he goes through a transition stage called Rigor Mortis which comes from the Latin meaning "the stiffness of death" that's how I felt, like I was in the grasp of Rigor Mortis. During those years I felt just like David, bones out of joint, sore, broken and ravaged by my sins which were trying to overtake me. Once you know the goodness of God and you fall short of His mark it makes you feel physically sick along with spiritually and mentally ill.
Thanks be to God that there is relief, a balm in Gilead for rigor mortis and our sin sick souls David cried in verses !5- 22   15 For in thee, O Lord, do I hope: thou wilt hear, O Lord my God.

16 For I said, Hear me, lest otherwise they should rejoice over me: when my foot slippeth, they agnify themselves against me.
17 For I am ready to halt, and my sorrow is continually before me.

18 For I will declare mine iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin.

19 But mine enemies are lively, and they are strong: and they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied.
20 They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries; because I follow the thing that good is.
21 Forsake me not, O Lord: O my God, be not far from me.
22 Make haste to help me, O Lord my salvation.

 David in a moment of clarity realized it was time to "declare mine iniquity", confess his sin with Godly sorrow( verse18). When we do this the "stiffness of death", "Rigor Mortis" will be lifted, for Gods word says in 1st John 1:8- 10   8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

I am a witness, Don't hide or hold on to your sins or you may suffer and pass through "Rigor Mortis" on your way to death in your sin and tress pass, but if you hold on to your sin and hide it and you don't become "sin-sick" you better check yourself before you wreck yourself.

                      God bless you all, Brother Darrell, Speaking Off The Wall

  

I ASKED FOR FORGIVENESS: I LIVE IN APPRECIATION

Praise the Lord everybody! For He alone is worthy to be praised, I pray everyone is enjoying God's blessing. I am feeling truly blessed today just to be alive. No matter what I'm going through God is good, period. I'm alive by His grace and He is alive in me, giving me what to say and write. I am His Watchman like it or not. God blessed me to get out to the doctor yesterday. The devil tried to get involved and I never got to see a Doctor but God allowed me to get my medication anyway, Praise God!

You know I remember when I first asked God to forgive me of my sins as one of the church Mothers led me through the sinners prayer and I broke down and cried for a week because I could feel Him forgiving me. He lightened my burden. I hadn't even come to church that day to get saved, my mission was to try and get some money from the helps ministry to pay bills after I had spent my pay check getting high. But God had another plan. God's word says in Romans 4: 6-8        6 Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,

7 Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.

8 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.

Some times I have to remind myself of how blessed I am. When I first received Christ as my Lord and Savior I didn't know how to show my appreciation and all I could do was cry every time I thought about who I was and how I had been living and how God had forgiven me for all of that.

As I look back I realize I haven't always lived a life of appreciation towards God for all He has done for me. I was hard headed and disobedient at times and now I thank God that He chastens those that He loves. I have always been one who liked to call my own shots, do things my way, God had to break me of some bad habits. He had to strip me of the layers of iniquity that had attached themselves to me like barnacles to the hull of an old boat. Even as God began His painstaking restoration of my life I sometimes lost sight of what He was trying to do in my life and often times found myself kicking against the "pricks".(Acts 26:14)

I've learned over the years to let God have His way, His will not my will be done. Next I always try and show my appreciation for what He has done and what He is doing by trusting Him and living Holy, the way He would want me to live. No more spoiled little child who is given a gift, takes it and runs off to play without saying "thank you". and acknowledging the gift and the giver.      

Romans 1: 21 + 22 says      21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

I intend to acknowledge God in everything I do in appreciation for what He has done and is still doing for me. I was a fool before Christ came into my life and changed me and I refuse to become one now. Thank you God! and thank you Jesus!! All Glory Honor and Praise belong to you!!

              God Bless You All, Brother Darrell, Speaking Off The Wall 

"we've got to hold our water!!"

Praise the Lord everybody! for only He is worthy to be praised!! I pray you all are enjoying God's blessing. In these last and evil days signs are everywhere for those of us who can see. I thank God for the ability to see the things that He See's and weep over the things He weeps over. But even in all of that the Joy of the Lord is still our strength. his name is still a strong tower into which I can run and be saved. I don't fear the arrow that flies by day or the pestilence and stray bullets that roam through the night. God's word says in Psalm 27: 1-3  The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.
3 Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.

I believe God's word, one of my former pastors, Bishop Cummings, used to say "I ain't got no better since than to believe God's word!" and neither do I.

These are the "Perilous times" the bible speaks of in 2nd Timothy 3: 1-3  This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,

this chapter goes on to mention many other signs of the times we are now living in but for now let's just focus on these few. As I was reading this passage I noted that it was chock full of nuggets but one word kept coming across my mind from verse three, incontinent. As an old nurse when I think of the word incontinent I think of Depends undergarments and old people. Then I asked myself what exactly is God saying here. As I researched the word for other meanings I found that it could also mean "lacking in restraint or control especially sexually"

Now my eyes were wide open. It can be seen everywhere you look, men and woman showing a lack of restraint or control in their lives from how they dress to how they play sports and especially sexually with the Internet bringing pornography into every home and making the sex trades a worldwide multi-billion dollar industry. Child pornography, sex slave trafficking, you name it and it is out there. Young woman and men "hooking up" on college campuses all over the country without shame, they don't even consider oral sex to be sex. Grown men "sexting" young girls, young girls posting nude "come and get its" on Instagram and twitter. Sex is nothing more than a bargaining chip and Homosexuality is generally accepted and legal in this country.

   Where is the Church in all of this? Like a voice crying out in the wilderness we raise our objections with our mouths but who will listen when our so called "Leaders" continue to fall due to their own sexual misconduct, lust and greed. Our young people claim to be "saving" themselves for marriage but find nothing wrong with oral sex or a little mutual masturbation. God desires a Holy people but for the most part it's our testimonies that are full of holes. God has called us to be vessels from which rivers of living waters flow but we too have become incontinent, we can't hold our water, we've sprung a leak and when someone thirsty comes along we can't give them anything to drink. When Paul wrote second Timothy he was not talking about believers, he was letting the man of God know what was waiting for him in the world as went about preaching the Gospel of Christ. How can we be a light in darkness if darkness also be in us. How can we preach to the incontinent if we too have become incontinent.

We have got to hold our water, hold on to God's word and His precepts. We can not be "incontinent" in any form. It's time to plug up the leaks, consecrate our minds, sew up the holes in our testimonies and become that Holy people God has called us to be.

             God Bless you all, This is Brother Darrell, Speaking Off The Wall.

MUSCLE MEMORY: NO WAY TO PLEASE GOD!

Praise the Lord everybody! for He alone is worthy to be praised. I pray everyone is enjoying God's blessing. I know my wife and I are truly this time of refreshing God has bestowed upon us. I can not describe how good it is to wait on the Lord.

The other day I experienced something I have experienced many times before but this time it had special meaning because God opened up something to me. I wonder if this has ever happened to you. Have you ever began to do something like making a phone call for example, a call you often make and when you reach in your wallet for the number you can't find it no matter how hard you try. You sit there trying to remember the number and all you can remember is the area code. Finally just before you give up you start punching in the area code and all of a sudden your finger develops a mind of it's own and dials in the rest of the number seemingly without your help. That;s called MUSCLE MEMORY.

Muscle memory is associated with motor learning, which is a form of procedural memory that involves consolidating a specific motor task into memory through repetition. When this behavior or movement is repeated over time, a long-term muscle memory is created for that task, eventually allowing it to be performed without conscious effort decreasing the need for attention. according to Wikipedia.
When I first read this I said to myself "this is a good thing" but God corrected me saying to me by His spirit "This is not a good thing for my people" and He began to show me churches filled with people going through empty religious ceremonies, singing empty songs and praying empty prayers. Jesus said in Mark 7:5-7King James Version (KJV)

5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands?

6 He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

Some of us have been in The Way so long, doing the same programs year after year, singing the same songs speaking the same cliche's that it doesn't take a conscious effort anymore they are on auto pilot, muscle memory. They are no longer in The Way they are in the way, potential stumbling blocks for new believers and hindrances to ministry.

It can happen so fast, I often have to catch myself, I have had to repeat prayers over two sometimes three times because I said the first one without thinking and can't even remember what I just prayed or if I prayed at all, so I pray again until I give God a proper focused prayer from my heart and not my muscle memory. Jesus said in John 4: 23+24  23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

God does not want us to just go through the motions when it comes to worshiping Him. He wants spirit and truth and you can't do that on muscle memory. So when you find yourself going through the motions in church or in prayer shake it off and give God something real, Amen?

          God bless you all, this is Brother Darrell, Speaking Off The Wall

THE ROOTS OF ALL EVIL!!!

Praise the Lord everybody, because He alone is worthy to be praised!! I pray everyone is enjoying God's blessing. I was blessed just to get up this morning but I was especially blessed to attend the "Hour of Power" service at my church yesterday for the second time this month. Pastor Green allowed God to use him to bless us with a powerful word and the spirit flowed. It felt great to be able to get out and fellowship. My sciatica which I have come to believe is my "thorn", reared it's ugly head but I was able to push through the pain long enough to enjoy the service by God's grace.

The other day I was reading The Word and began to think about something John the Baptist said in Matthew chapter 3 verses 7-10   7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:

9 And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.

10 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

The key words here for me were "The Axe is laid unto the root." As many times as I have read this passage of scripture it was like I was seeing it for the first time. I thought about how when we are gardening we use weed whackers to chop down weeds and a few weeks later they grow right back as big as day, mocking us. Why? because we did not deal with the real problem, The Roots!!

John the Baptist was letting the Pharisees and the Sadducees know that God was about to deal with the "root" of His peoples problem, which was them, and that they would have to repent or be cut down. God is also telling His people today that it is time for us to take the axe to the root of our sins. But first we must realize there is a root cause for our sins and we must examine ourselves and identify that root. Are we harboring unresolved Anger, jealousies, pride, forgiveness and lust issues to name a few. If we do not remove these "root" issues from our lives they will continue to pop up disguised at times as all types of sinful behaviors. You may cry out to the Lord "Where is my deliverance?" Your problem may be that you are using a weed whacker when you need to take an axe to the root of the problem.

Then you ask God "where is my axe?"

Jesus once told His disciples in Matthew !7: 16-21   16 And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.

17 Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.

18 And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.

19 Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?

20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.

Sometimes we try all kinds of superficial means to rid ourselves of our besetting sins but sometimes just as Jesus said we have to fast and pray, turn down our plate and starve our flesh so that our spirit man can thrive and be able to pray with power and authority. We need to deal with those deep seated issues that are the root cause of our behaviors. First we must submit ourselves to God and be led by His spirit and then He will lead us to forgive those we need to forgive, make amends to those we must make amends, show love towards those we hate and to those who hate us and pray and believe God for deliverance from those desires and compulsions that go against God and what He requires of us.

Brothers and sisters let us search for our roots, not to embrace them but to put the axe to them.

        GOD BLESS YOU ALL, BROTHER DARRELL, SPEAKING OFF THE WALL

  

DON'T BE ALARMED: BRUISES COME WITH THE JOB

Praise the Lord everybody! because He alone is worthy to be praised! I pray you all are enjoying God's blessing. My wife and I are still experiencing a time of refreshing, praise God. He has opened some doors and answered some prayers, Hallelujah! allowing us to start making some plans for the first time in our marriage, like looking for an appropriate size apartment on the first or second floor. We need so many things and God is providing for some of those things and what He is not providing for I guess we don't need it right now. God knows what we need and when we need it.

In the past three or four months there has been much unrest in the world especially in America. there have been protest and riots due to the rash of young black men being killed in what appear to be unjust shootings by police. People are angry and crying out for justice. Even the Church in America is divided in what it's roll is in these volatile times. Should we be praying or should we be marching? or should we be marching and praying?

I have been vilified by other Christians for being more concerned for one victim's soul rather then the manner in which he was killed. My one question is why is everyone so surprised by the events of these last and evil days? Are these things new? People are being murdered unjustly everyday in other parts of the world. was not our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Himself unjustly killed? Yet the word says "It pleased the Lord to bruise Him..." read Isaiah 53. Why was God pleased? because these things had to happen and still have to happen to fulfill His word and His plan.

When Jesus knew his time was near He told Peter that after His death to "feed my sheep," not stir them up to fight and rise up against Pilate and the government including the religious leaders of that time but to realize the problem is not that we wrestle against flesh and blood but against Powers and spiritual wickedness.   Ephesians chapter 6 states 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.

God's word also says in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5King James Version (KJV)

3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:

4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

So yes prayer is a very important part of what the church should be doing in these times. We need to pray that God's will be done in all these things, ask God what He would have you do and If He says march then march. We are to be seen as a peculiar people, when the world gets hysterical and paranoid we must be at peace, sober minded and even tempered. Jesus said in
John 16:32-33King James Version (KJV)
32 Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.

33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

So we who have the mind of Christ should have that peace because Christ has over come the world and so have we, through Him.

                  God bless you all, This Is Brother Darrell, Speaking Off The Wall

THE STANDARDS OF GOD

Praise the Lord everybody, for He alone is worthy to be Praised!! I pray you all are enjoying God's blessing. My wife and I are now in a season of refreshing. God has opened the windows of Heaven and poured out a blessing and relieved some of our burden, has the storm completely passed over us? No, but God has reminded us that  He has heard our cry and that He will see us through to the other side. Praise His holy name,

the other day I was meditating and the Lord brought to mind one of my favorite scriptures, Isaiah 59:19 So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him. 

This is a scripture I turn to a lot when I'm going through a particularly strong attack from the enemy. I often ask God to "raise up a standard for me against Satan as you promise in your word. When I feel I've been waiting too long for Him to move Sometimes I wonder "where is your standard Father?" In His time He would answer me by delivering me out of the hands of the enemy. This time when I asked "where is your standard oh God?" He revealed to me that He had raised up standards for me throughout my life in Christ and that I had just finished speaking to one on the phone, my Pastor, Elder Johnny Green.

God began to show me that the "Standards" being raised have been the men of God He has put in my Life. True, uncompromising men of God who I could look to in the time of trouble as living examples in order to gain strength and hope to help carry me through my "flood."
These men not only upheld the standard, they were the standard.
The Dictionary says a "Standard" is a flag or emblematic figure used as a rallying point for an army, fleet, etc. The "standards" God has raised and placed in my life over the years let me know just how much He loves me. They were and are men of integrity, gap standing men, men whose one desire in life was and is to live in holy obedience to the Lord. 

Even in my struggles with addiction they taught me how to trust God and never give up, no matter what. When the storms come I think of their testimonies, the testimonies that allowed me to create my own testimonies. Paul once said "Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ."( 1st Corinthians 11:1) He was a "standard" raised by God, an example for the Church's he planted among the Gentiles and even for us today. He endured many trials and indignities yet he remained steadfast and immovable in his faith walk with God. 
God wants to raise us all up as a "standard" of strength and victory over the enemy, a person other Christians can rally around as a visible example, proclaiming " If God can carry me He can carry you through too!" Let's not just be standard bearers but standard bearers and "standard" all rolled into one, worthy representatives of Christ who can be viewed as a role models by those in need.

            God Bless you all, Brother Darrell, Speaking Off The Wall

  

LEST WE FORGET: GOD WANTS TO REMIND US OF SOMETHINGS

Praise the Lord everybody! because He is worthy to be praised! I hope and pray you all are enjoying God's blessing. God is truly moving in my wife and I's life right now. He just blessed us after much prayer, trials and tribulations by opening the windows of Heaven and sending down some financial relief, Praise God. No we did not hit the Lotto or anything but at least we will be able to pay our monthly bills. Now we are waiting on our physical healing to manifest.

Over the past few years God has used me to bring forth some challenging and timely messages for the body of Christ Here in America. They truly blessed me and moved me at the time being the first partaker of the fruit. I like many others, was moved to promise to make changes in my life, and I did, but as time passes the messages and the feelings fade. The commitments we made wane. The Lord says it is time to look back and revisit some of those messages that blessed and moved me and I am asking you to do the same thing.

For me all of them touched me but some really stood out like: "The Weight", "love for god vs legalism", "AT PEACE IN BABYLON", "THESE ARE THEY",  "THE ICHABOD" PARTS 1+2, "THERE WILL BE BLOOD", "DON'T LOOK NOW BUT YOUR SHEEP ARE SHOWING" and so many others. There are well over one hundred life changing messages are available for review on our archives. Go back and re visit those that have blessed you or read something that you may have missed and be blessed.

             God bless you all, Brother Darrell, Speaking Off The Wall

"...HIS CHILDREN", PART 3: TALKING THE TALK AND WALKING THE WALK

Praise the Lord everybody!! because He alone is worthy to be praised! As always I pray everyone is enjoying God's blessing. God blessed me and my wife last week. We were able to go to church last week for the first time in six months. We  went to Wednesday afternoon's "Hour of Power" because it is a Short service and that is all my sciatica can tolerate right now, it may have only been an hour but God showed up in full power. We were truly blessed and we are believing God for a healing that allows me to go and enjoy a full Sunday service without pain.

In my last post "I know why God calls us His children, part 2: Bar Mitzvah" I talked about coming into the age of accountability where I had to learn there was a price to be paid for disobedience and sin. I talked about how God saved me and cleaned me up and discipled me and gave me a hunger and thirst after His righteousness. He also gave me a love for His word and a gift that allowed me to have knowledge beyond my years in Christ. But some things have to be LEARNED by experience.

As a babe in Christ I studied the Bible all day long at Timothy House, there was no television or movie watching allowed not even the News. I carried my Bible everywhere I went and even studied while eating meals and I loved it. I could quote scripture and "scripture whip" with the best of them. Raining down scripture on anybody who happened to "step out of line" in my presence. bringing down my own instant judgement. I knew how to talk scripture but had trouble walking scripture.

In Hebrews 5: 8+9 it says,     8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;

9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;

This scripture is talking about Jesus, how He "learned" obedience by the things He suffered. You might ask "Why would God who is all knowing and who made everything have to learn anything?" Jesus says in John 8:29  “I do always those things that please him,”  and He never had to be chastised for disobedience as a child as the verse seems to be saying on the surface, but He had to become obedient through actual experience. He “became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:8). That was the ultimate act of obedience and is past our human understanding yet even in this Jesus said  “nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done”(Luke 22:42)

In the same way I had to learn what obedience and living holy meant by actually walking this walk . In theory I had vast knowledge but in practice I had none. It took me twelve years after I got saved to learn how to put the drugs down for good after many falls, recoveries and restorations. I learned quickly to stop judging people and stick to judging sin. Not only recognizing other's sin but also my own sins. In the eleven years since then I have continued to "learn" obedience in what I know will be a life long education.

I was a child who was trying to run before I could walk. Like most children I learned "talk" first but I learned "walking" is more important.

         God Bless you all, Brother Darrell, Speaking Off The Wall

  

I KNOW WHY GOD CALLS US HIS CHILDREN, PART 2: "BAR MITZVAH"

Praise the Lord everybody!! God alone is worthy of all glory, honor and praise. I pray everyone is enjoying God's blessing. He is truly blessing my wife and I. He is healing our bodies and strengthening our faith. I'm beginning to lose the weight I gained during the months I was bed ridden, I'm exercising and last week I went out for the first time in six months. I saw my doctor and had blood test and physical. I am waiting on test results please keep me in prayer.

In my last post (I know why God calls us His children) I told the testimony of how I first heard of God and from God. How I turned away from Him and went my own way thinking I knew what was best for me. As I said in my last post I was running again toward the edge of my "roof" chasing what I thought was important to me but this time instead of "commanding" me to "stop" God allowed me to fall off the edge and face the consequences of my disobedience. It was time for me to come of age.

The Jewish people have a ceremony called a Bar Mitzvah when a male child reaches the age of religious accountability. Before this the child is not obligated to follow the Commandments even though they are encouraged to do so so that they will be prepared when they have reached the appropriate age. before that they can not be involved in leading or being a part of a religious ceremony.

I started doing drugs because of my disobedience, I refused to come when God called me. I felt this hole in my soul and instead of filling it with God I chose to seek love in all the wrong places, bars, even though I did not smoke or drink and sought after woman and sex. To the world and my family it looked like I had it all, education, great career and money. Something was missing though and I could not figure it out. Soon I was drinking and hanging with the wrong crowd.

Over a two year period I went from appearing to have it all to having nothing but a title, R.N., a title that I thought would fix everything. I lost my apartment, my job and the respect of family and friends. I slept on park benches and in the Staten Island ferry terminal. I knew nothing about the streets, I came from a stable lower middle class family with both my parents and three siblings, we ate dinner every night together while my father would entertain us with funny stories about his job. I had a stay at home mom who was strict and made sure we went to school and did our home work, she even tried to get us to establish a relationship with Jesus even though she barely knew Him herself.

Still Here I was, in the street, homeless and still I did not call on God for help, I thought that at any moment I would be able to pull MYSELF together if I just put my mind to it. Like a rebellious child I chose to go down my way rather than admit I needed help from my Father. God allowed me to stew in my own juices as I made a wreck of my life. I had reached the age of accountability and a day of reckoning was coming, I was either going to be my father in Heaven's child or a child of the devil.

No longer could I skip through life oblivious to the the spiritual warfare going on around me I was being drafted by both sides. The word of God says in Proverbs 22:6   6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it
I Thank God for a mother who loved us enough to drag us to Church on Sundays when we were young because one day in the midst my self inflicted trial and tribulation I remembered the Lord and I cried out to Him. That day the Lord heard me and brought to my remembrance all the things He had done for me that in the past I had taken credit for. He broke my heart and my will and I cried for what seemed like a month.

During that time God sent true believers my way who prayed with me and blessed me with Bibles and words of testimony. I opened up God's word for what felt like the first time and suddenly the same book I had found unreadable as a child now I could not put it down. God then opened the door for me to be discipled at Timothy House, a ministry of Times Square Church in New York where I was set apart and cleansed through prayer and His word for full time ministry. It was a blessing I will be forever grateful for. That was twenty years ago and I have been pressing toward the mark ever since. Has my walk been perfect? No, I have made mistakes, bad choices and I have paid dearly for them but God has been faithful in that if we confess our sin and repent He will forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness and I will continue to serve Him until He calls me Home.

Abba Father I am not worthy to be called your child but you have overlooked my shortcomings and saw my needs. You have given me eyes to see and provided me with a vision, provided me with ears to hear and an obedient spirit. when I was a child I thought as a child but when I came of age you helped me put away childish things and I thank you. Lord continue to mold me and shape me into the image of your son Jesus and I will be careful to give you all the glory, honor and praise, in Jesus name I pray, Amen.  It's "Bar Mitzvah" time for the body of Christ!!
          God Bless you all, Brother Darrell, Speaking Off The Wall

I KNOW WHY GOD CALLS US HIS CHILDREN

Praise the Lord everybody because He alone is worthy to be praised! I pray you all are enjoying God's blessing. My wife Ruth and I are slowly but surely being led out of the wilderness by God as He gets us ready to takes us to another level in our physical and spiritual renovation. Our foundations are solid but we needed to have our framework and plumbing rehabbed. For myself I know there had been corrosion and dry rot caused by years of riding out storms and ship wrecks without going into Holy Ghost dry dock for repairs during those quiet periods in between.

While God has me in "dry dock" as He scrapes the barnacles off my hull, I have had time to reflect back over the years of our relationship. I remember the first time God spoke to me, I was about 8 years old and on the roof of the old five story walk up I grew up in in the Bronx. I was up there flying one of my home made kite's when the string broke and I took off chasing it without a thought for my safety. All I could think about was all the work I had put into this kite and as I ran just before running right off the edge a voice said "stop" just like that, and just like that I stopped just in time to see my kite slowly float down to the court yard seven stories below.

I did not know God or His voice then but He knew me. It all could have ended right there for me but God said "stop", it was not one of those commands you hear but you don't obey. God said "stop" and just like He said "let there be light" and there was light with that same authority He said "stop" and I had to stop. God had a plan for my life.

As a child my mother made me go to church and I sang in the Children's Choir and went to Sunday school and yet after years I still had no idea who my Father in Heaven was. Like most children in the beginning I knew who my mother was because she was always there for me, feeding and caring for me and dragging me to church but I had trouble making a connection with my Father God. I had no time for Him. I attributed that voice that said "stop" and saved my life to MY subconscious mind and did not put the God at church and the voice on the roof together. But like a true father God had patience with me. He knew the plans He had for me.

When I reached 14 years old my mom gave me a choice on weather or not I had to go to church any more and I chose to stay home. Like the Prodigal Son I decided it was time for me to move on from my Fathers house, the fact that He was the reason for my very existence and had provided for my every need meant  nothing to me at the time. As the years went by I piled up accomplishments including writing and producing records to gaining college degrees and becoming a Nurse. I thought I could accomplish anything I put my mind to. I was the center of my own universe I gave no thought to God's favor or grace. I ignored my Father because I felt I didn't need my Father. Soon that would all change.

God gives us all free will and like children when they first discover they have the ability to say "no" we want to exercise that ability as much as we can. Just like earthly fathers God allows us some leeway by convicting us and gently prodding us in the right direction until we go to far bringing chastisement our way. That is what happened to me. God began calling me back home to Him in the late 1980's, I felt Him drawing me. All of a sudden after many years I had the desire to  go to church. I kept making plans to go every Sunday, even talked to my mother about it but every Sunday morning I couldn't get myself out of bed.

Here I was rushing toward the edge of the roof again with God saying "stop" again but now as an adult with free will He allowed me to run off the edge. As I "ran" through God's stop sign I stepped off the roof and fell head long into the abyss of crack addiction. I could feel God saying like many fathers have to "this is why I was calling you, drawing you, I knew where you were headed. Now you must face the consequences of your decisions." He sent me to my room, the crack house, to think about what I had done.

In the eyes The Great I Am, The Alpha and the Omega we are nothing but a quick glimpse out of the corner of His eye, to call us children is being generous.

I was a spoiled, disobedient child taking for granted my Fathers love and favor. When He allowed me to "fall" into drugs God gave me a wonderful gift, A Testimony. TO BE CONTINUED...

    Till next time, God Bless you All, Brother Darrell, Speaking Off The Wall        

TAKE HEART: THERE IS A RIGHTEOUS BRANCH!!

Praise the Lord everybody! because He alone is worthy of all praise! I pray you all are enjoying God's blessing. He is truly a wonder to my soul, a strong tower that I can run into and be safe. With so much going on in the world, shootings almost daily in schools, murders, kidnappings, sex crimes and "mental illness" ever increasing, it is comforting to know we have a savior that is more than able to keep us even when the cares of this world try to disrupt the peace of mind that God has provided for His people.

As we look around and see the body of Christ being watered down by weakened Christians who are bringing in ideas and doctrine infected with worldly values. it is easy to wonder where are the "true worshippers" Jesus mentioned in John 4:23. Some seem to think the word of God is like the Constitution of the United States in that if enough people vote for something it can be added as an amendment to God's word. Some are pushing for an amendment that makes homosexuality no longer a sin. once you do that you might as well throw the whole book away.

It is easy to feel like Elijah these days who after being used by God and living zealously in His service and battling the prophets of Baal began to feel all alone after Jezebel threatened his life and the world clung to evil instead of good. In 1st Kings 19: 14  14 And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.

The body of Christ is under attack from without and within and it is easy for a "true worshipper" to feel persecuted and alone. But God said to Elijah in verse
18 Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.

God wanted him to know that he was not standing alone and that his labors were not in vane. God is saying the same thing today to all the uncompromising holy men of God preaching and Pastoring in little store front churches, on street corners and around the corner and in the shadow of dead dry mega churches that are turning out dead dry "faux" Christians. This may sound harsh to some but this is life and death and I pray we are not all to far gone to see that!

As evil abounds everywhere despite your efforts to be a holy light unto the world, don't worry about who is standing with you and who will ascend unto God's holy hill if you fall. You just stand! Stand knowing that God has set aside others that He can put his trust in at such a time as this. God spoke in Jeremiah 23:1-6 Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the Lord.
2 Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the Lord.

3 And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.
4 And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the Lord.

5 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, The Lord Our Righteousness.

Keep living holy, Keep preaching holiness and the full council of God, keep fighting the good fight and take heart you are not alone!

                     God bless you All, Brother Darrell, Speaking Off The Wall

WHEN THE DEVIL COMES KNOCKING: LET JESUS ANSWER THE DOOR!!

Praise the Lord everybody!! All glory and honor belongs to Him, He alone is worthy! God is surely moving by His spirit in my life and I need to tell somebody about His goodness and mercy.I wrote in my last post, that I was consecrating until God moved on my wife and I's situation and It worked. After seven days of consecration God Has answered our prayers concerning insurance for my wife, Giving her favor concerning her disability claim and granting us increases in our other financial income, hallelujah!! He also did some life changing work in me concerning my personal walk with Him, God cares and is long suffering, I am a witness.

"WHO IS THE STRONG MAN IN YOUR HOUSE?" A question I felt God begin to deal with me about recently when I continued to struggle with something I had been asking for deliverance from for the past few years. Every time I appeared to be delivered I would fall back into that old behavior and then have to  start all over and try and put that thing back in it's grave where it belonged.

Jesus said in Mark 3:27  27 No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.
The reason why the devil had been able to come into my life( my house) seemingly at will and disrupt what God was trying to do in my life was the fact That at times I have relieved God from his position as the strong man in my life and replaced Him from time to time with my self. Let me tell you the flesh is no match for the devil. If God by His spirit is not the strong man in your "house" then you can be sure that your house will not be able to stand when the enemy comes around huffing and puffing trying to blow your "house" down.

To make matters worse every time The enemy gets put out and then is allowed back in things get worst. Jesus said in Luke 11:24-26    24 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out.

25 And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished.

26 Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. 

A lot of times when we find ourselves in sinking sand with no apparent way out it is because the lamp that guides our feet, God's word, has been turned off. We decide to walk by what we see and not by faith, it's no wonder we wind up in a ditch.
I had to learn that God doesn't need any down time to get recharged, He is always on duty. I had to remember not to keep trying to beat Jesus to the door every time the doorbell rang. When I was a child I would do the same thing and my father would snatch me back and scold me, reminding me about the dangers and that he was the man of the house. When the enemy brings temptation to your door, relax and let Jesus, the strong man, answer it. He can't fail.

                     God bless you all, Brother Darrell, Speaking Off The Wall

"KEEPING IT REAL!" IN THE BODY OF CHRIST.

Praise the Lord everybody The Lord our God, the Lord is one! He alone is worthy to be praised! I pray you all are enjoying God's blessing. My wife and I are counting our blessings and trusting God as He deals with us each in different ways. I am currently on a consecration that I am modeling after Jacob because like him I'm not letting go until God blesses us. I'm prepared to consecrate as long as it takes for Him to move concerning our situation. I'm asking everyone to keep me in prayer as I seek God for relief from our trials.


"I'm just keeping it real!"
I hear Christians say that all the time after they use vulgar language or say something to somebody that they had no business saying, something meant to hurt rather than heal, something non edifying and sinful in God.s eyes. I have heard Christian parents tell their children, " your going to be tempted by many things and if you can't help yourself when exploring your sexuality then use protection if you have sex, and if your going to smoke weed or drink do it here in the basement with your friends so I can keep an eye on you." I've even heard Christians condone abortion saying "what if the girl or woman had no visible means of support, is in school or was raped?" I've even heard some say "I'm not supporting or raising no more babies so you better go get it taken care of, the last thing the world and you need is another welfare mother!" "I'm just keeping it real!" they say when confronted by another Christian. This is their excuse for condoning sin. "I'm just trying to face reality" they say "just keeping it real!"


To the World all these things sound reasonable, like the homosexual argument, they say "surely if two people love each other regardless of what sex they are God will understand, doesn't the word say that love conquers a multitude of sin?" they ask as they take God's word out of context and misinterpret it. God is a loving God but He is also a JUST God. The Bible says in Romans 6:23   23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.  THAT IS REALITY!
When we tell ourselves or our children that sometimes it's alright to sin depending on the circumstances we are condemning them and ourselves to death.

Jesus said "I am they way the truth and the light" that is keeping it real, God's word also says in Proverbs 16:25   25 There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

"Keeping it real" is just another way of compromising and diluting God's word and laws. God's word has suffered 2000 years of erosion by man and the world, let's not add to it. We don't have to change God's word to fit the times, we have to change the times to fit God's word.

          God bless you all, Brother Darrell, Speaking Off The Wall

LIVING WITH THE ENEMY: THE FLESH, THE DEVIL AND ME

Praise the Lord everybody! For He is worthy to be praised! I pray you all are enjoying God's blessing. I know I am blessed just to be writing this in the comfort of my own home and not from the Public Library or some shelter and Like the "old timers" like to say "Clothed in my right mind and all my faculties in order" yet I know the reason I am not enjoying all the things God has for me is because of my other worst enemy, Myself!

a comic book character once said regarding the environment "WE HAVE MET THE ENEMY AND HE IS US!"  Some times we must look at the man in the mirror, some times we are our own worst enemy. The devil didn't always make me do it. I have been in rehabs and programs fourteen times before God brought me out but the trials I'm going through now are on that level. They are on that level because the problem is not an outside force, it is me, my flesh. My flesh has always been with me. From a child crying out for food and attention to an adult seeking to satisfy it's unending demands. It can be an epic struggle, our flesh against the Holy Spirit of God. Jesus said "... the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." in Matthew 6: 41

Paul speaks often about the burden of the flesh and in Romans 8:1-13 states  8 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:

4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.

13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

If we want to live in Christ we must die to our flesh. We can't kill it because as long as we are alive we have to carry it around with us, no we must die to it so when the flesh comes knocking at your door with sin as it's companion the Holy Ghost will answer and say "The person you are looking for no longer LIVES, here.
My flesh has been my cross that I must take up daily throughout my life, it dragged me through pornography, fornication and drug addiction and that was before I knew it even existed. Once I Got saved and found out what I was up against I realized it was not only the devil that I had to be aware of.

God has delivered me and continues to deliver me each and every day. God has fortified my house to keep out the enemy but I must make sure all the windows and doors are locked. When my flesh tries to open up a window and let the enemy in so it can be satisfied I must call on Holy Ghost maintenance to come and check the locks.

My Brothers and sisters the flesh is not your friend, it is a burden we must carry until that day we receive our glorified bodies, feed the spirit of God in you and not your flesh. I will continue this in my next post.

          God bless you all, Brother Darrell, Speaking Off The Wall

ECCLESIASTES 4: 5       

"PASTOR CAN YOU TONE THAT DOWN A LITTLE!!"

Praise the Lord everybody! everybody praise His holy name! I pray everyone is enjoying God's blessing, Oh taste and see that the Lord is good. his praises shall forever be in my mouth! I'll tell you why, because He has done great things in my life. He has gotten me back on my feet and even though I'm not totally back to where I was I am well on my way. By the time you read this I hope to have ventured forth from my home for the first time in almost four months. My wife and I both appreciate your prayers concerning us and some of the trials we have been experiencing this past few years.

Through it all God has been faithful regarding His ministry, Speaking Off The Wall. Giving me eyes to see and giving me what to write concerning the Body of Christ. Lately I have seen Preachers and Pastors like my own Pastor who preach about living holy and forsaking sin, no matter if that sin is homosexuality, fornication, lying or stealing. They are preaching Holy Ghost messages straight from the Throne and heart of God. Yet their Churches are not thriving, people are leaving and going where they can hear a more "user friendly" message just like the children of Israel in Deuteronomy chapter five.

Deuteronomy. 5:22-27    22 These words the Lord spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me.

23 And it came to pass, when ye heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, (for the mountain did burn with fire,) that ye came near unto me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders;

24 And ye said, Behold, the Lord our God hath shewed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth.

25 Now therefore why should we die? for this great fire will consume us: if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more, then we shall die.

26 For who is there of all flesh, that hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived? 27 Go thou near, and hear all that the Lord our God shall say: and speak thou unto us all that the Lord our God shall speak unto thee; and we will hear it, and do it.

They could not stand before God and His Holy glory because in their hearts they knew that they were carrying with them the idols and sin they picked up in captivity and they were not willing to forsake them. They knew that no flesh could stand before God and live and they wanted to continue to feed their flesh and not die to it. They were hoping that the shear holiness of His glory would get lost in translation. "You speak to God and then you speak to us for Him so that we don't have to die!" meaning die to their sin.

God is raising up a remnant of Holy men of God, Holy Ghost filled and uncompromising to preach to his people. Preaching with power and authority and the convicting power of the Holy Ghost. Now just as then there are those who count themselves as part of the body of Christ, Christians, who when they hear the anointed word of God coming from the pulpit with conviction and power they refuse to die but rather they say " Good word Pastor, that's telling them!" and continue on in their sin, or they say "Pastor can't you tone all that fire and brimstone down God is a God of love." Others just up and leave saying "It doesn't take all that, God knows my heart." 

Even though the Children of Israel said they would do everything that God would tell them through Moses God knew better and said in verse 29, 29 O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!

News flash! We must be willing to forsake our flesh and die to sin, God has called us to that. Paul said "I die daily" The things that Paul went through he could not do in his flesh. He had to die to self
 We must not run from the Holiness and majesty of God and the convicting power of his spirit and word but embrace it, asking God to deliver us from our secret sin, to help us mortify our flesh and appreciate the Godly sorrow we feel when we fall short of the mark.
You Holy Ghost Pastors keep preaching Holy Ghost fire until that day when God closes your mouth and says "well done".

             God bless you all, Brother Darrell, Speaking Off The Wall

I AM SIMON OF CYRENE

Praise the Lord, I first posted this at this time the last two years and I was blessed by the response. During this time of prayer and reflection I was moved to re post it this year. To God be the glory.



Praise the Lord everybody! I pray everyone is enjoying these holy days leading up to Resurrection Sunday. These are days of wonder, days to look back in retrospect at what Jesus did for us. The other night I was watching the "Passion of the Christ" and as I watched I was again appalled by the brutality of His death. I also was intrigued by the plight of Simon of Cyrene who helped Jesus carry His cross. As I meditated on it I was moved to write the following account as seen through Simon's eyes. Luke 23:26
26 As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. 27


I am Simon of Cyrene and a heartbreaking but wonderful thing happened to me on a  Friday many years ago as I entered the city. There were crowds everywhere and as I neared the via Dolorosa I heard the sound of woman weeping and wailing mixed with the shouts of men.I could not see to whom or to what all this emotion was directed, so I pressed in closer to get a better view.

It was then that I saw this large wooden cross that seemed to be dragging itself down the stone covered street surrounded by Roman soldiers. I said to myself "how is it that the cross moves?" Then I saw Him, half  hidden by the cross bar a bowed and bloody figure stumbling under it's burden. Blood was pooled in his every foot print as He grunted and groaned with His every step. Every part of him I could see was ripped and bruised, His flesh hung in ribbons.

As I detachedly watched, the agonizingly slow procession I was suddenly thrust into the surreal scene when I heard a voice loudly growl "YOU!! YES YOU! COME HERE AND HELP HIM CARRY HIS LAST BURDEN!" as the soldiers laughed, I hesitated and started to protest, then I thought about running but thought the better of it.
As I approached this poor soul I could feel his pain and anguish, it was weird. I sped up to avoid the lash and arrived at his side just in time as he fell into me placing all his weight and that of the cross on me. I summoned all my strength and somehow kept us both upright.

Just like that I found myself going from onlooker to the eye of the storm, surrounded by a whirlwind of emotions. As I joined in this obvious death march I was conflicted as I looked upon Priest and Pharisees and other devout men cursing this man yelling "blasphemer!! Crucify him!!" as they spit at us as I now shared in his shame. I thought to myself "my God what has he done to deserve this?"

At that point he lifted up his eyes to me and I saw tears, not tears of anger or pain but tears of compassion FOR ME!! FOR ME! OF ALL THINGS!  he was concerned for me even as he was suffering in what was undoubtedly his final moments. He looked at me and never said a word but that look said it all.
He then righted himself and continued on ahead of me leading me and his cross toward Golgotha the hill where hey liked to crucify and leave them hanging to be seen by everyone as an example. He could barely carry his own weight and as we drew nearer stumbled again and again, finally I dragged Him, myself and the cross to the top of the hill.

"OK you can go on your way now!" barked the Centurion as they began to unload the hammers and the nails. They grabbed him out of my grasp and though I wanted to turn and run away I reached out to Him and asked "Who are you?" but He did not speak but again I felt his compassion as I finally turned and walked away covered in his blood. One of the soldiers cried out "YOU SHOULD BE HONORED, He CLAIMS TO BE A KING! KING OF THE JEWS!"

As I walked away I tried to wipe his blood from my person but I am glad I was unsuccessful, even though you can't see it anymore it is always there and the man whose name I did not know, three days later rose from the dead, I know Him now as Jesus the Christ my Lord and my Savior.
                     God bless you all, Simon of Cyrene

     I KNOW IT WAS THE BLOOD!   BROTHER DARRELL, A WATCHMAN

ROLLING IN THE DEEP : OURS IS NOT TO QUESTION WHY

Praise the Lord everybody! because He alone is worthy to be praised! I pray everyone is enjoying God's blessing. God has blessed me these last few days, after months of sciatica pain to the point where I could not sit up to eat. The pain is sixty percent better and I can actually get up and walk around and exercise a little. Praise the living God! My legs are a little weak after months of inactivity and weight gain but I have begun to rehab them now by God's grace.

I am still having to fight for my home and my pension, my wife is still ill with an undiagnosed illness and still needs insurance and Disability to come through but our faith and trust remains in the Lord. When everyone including my wife thought I should go to the hospital I knew it was only a matter of time before God would raise me up off my bed of affliction. Hallelujah!!

I have in the last three years been faced with many afflictions, trials and tribulations, Some were brought on by myself. There is a price to be paid to earn God's trust in ministry and there is a price to be paid for disobedience. I am paying for both. Like Jonah there were assignments given me that I did not finish and some I did not start. There were doors opened I did not enter and doors closed I tried to go through. There were gifts given and ministries ordained. I like Jonah even in my chastening remembered the Lord chastens those He loves and I like Jonah cried out to the Lord.

Jonah 2: 1-9
Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish's belly,

2 And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.

3 For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me.

4 Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.

5 The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.

6 I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God.

7 When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple.

8 They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.

9 But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord

I know what it is like to be cast into the deep because of my own shortcomings. Then swallowed up by situations beyond my control. I know how it feels to have your friends and family start to look at you funny because they cannot comprehend how or why God has allowed these things to happen to you. Yet my hope and my trust remains in Him. I know I can call upon Him and He will hear me. I do not ask Why this has happened but ask "What must I do on my part?" and He instructs me and guides me and leads me out of the deep.

When God plants my feet back on solid ground I am a stronger, wiser man with a testimony that is even stronger than ever. When things were at their worst and it looked like I might need back surgery or worse I consecrated unto the Lord. I asked Him to heal me one more time and if He did, this time I would do my part and take better care of my body through diet and most importantly proper exercise to strengthen my legs and back. Since then my back is sixty percent better and improving every day and His spirit has led me to find some new sciatica exercises on line that have been a great help, God is faithful!

I am looking forward to going to church next week and being back in the thick of things where God wants me to be, better equipped and ready to do battle.
Next time you find yourself Rolling in the deep remember the words of Jonah, cry loud and don't ask why, ask "What would you have me do Lord?"

          God bless you all, Brother Darrell, Speaking Off The Wall