HALT AND CATCH FIRE!!

Praise the Lord everybody! Because He alone is worthy to be praised! I pray you are all enjoying God's blessing. The weather here in New York has kept me pretty much home bound this month so far. But my wife and I are looking forward to the coming Revival at our church, First Church Of Christ Holiness USA, from Feb. 25th through the 27th. I know God has something special planned for us. Feel free to come and worship with us at 1935 Madison Ave. between 124th and 125th streets in Harlem.

There was a T.V. show last year on cable called "Halt and Catch Fire" about the emergence of the personal computer, kind of nerdy but I enjoyed it. As I sat down to write this the title of that show kept flashing in my mind until I realized that is what God wanted ME to do. "Halt and Catch Fire", It is time for me to stop doing what I have always done and like Skittles says "catch the Rainbow" God is saying "it's time to catch that Holy Ghost Fire!" I need to burn like the "burning bush" of Moses so that others will see and want to know how they can "get some of that". Matthew 5:14-16 states  

 14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

There are two ways that I know of to create light. One is by electricity, by flipping a switch and the other is by starting a fire. Starting a fire requires some flammable material and a spark. I want the fire of the Holy Ghost to be the spark that sets ablaze all the dark, dry places in me that have accumulated over the years. I want it to burn out all the impurities that have dimmed my light. The word of God says in John 1:1-9    1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2 The same was in the beginning with God.

3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

Verse nine lets us know that God puts a little bit of His light in all of us when we come into this world, and it is our job to make it brighter and brighter or let it get snuffed out by the cares of this world. I am tired of my Bonn fire looking like a girl scout camp fire! I want there to be no doubt Who's I am and Whom I serve. There is a fire shut up in my bones that wants to come out and make me a Holy Ghost flame thrower. Not to hurt people but for them to see the light of Jesus shine through me brightly while burning away the fog and smoke of sin and the world.

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

"LIVING JUST ENOUGH..."

Praise the Lord everybody!! because He alone is worthy to be praised. All glory and honor and praise belongs to him! I pray everyone is enjoying God's blessing. This is my struggle every day, to live my life in a way in which I can accept God's blessings and not feel ashamed. At the same time I hope I never reach the point where I feel worthy of these blessings He has bestowed upon me. time and time again God has delivered me from snares I put myself in, even before I knew Him, He knew me.

I have often heard myself as well as other Christians when asked "how you doing?" reply "I'm holding on." or "I"m living everything I know how." The other day God began to deal with me about those answers. Was I really living everything I knew how? or was I just holding on? Like the song writer once wrote "living just enough, just enough for the city" Just enough to be noticed by people but not enough to be noticed by God. For those of us who claim to have studied and shown ourselves approved, rightly dividing the word of God, living all we know how is a very strong statement. Apostle Paul a man of God who I am pretty sure was trying to live everything he knew how said in Philippians 3:12-15 12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.

13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,

14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

15 Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.

Paul never said "I'm living everything I know how to live." He knew there is always a "higher calling" to attain in Christ, an open invitation to "come up a little higher" in Him as he leads us from victory to victory. Paul knew that prize he was pressing toward was waiting for him at the finish of the race. No Paul never said "I'm living everything I know how to live." but he never said "I'm holding on" either. Paul knew that just "holding on" was not enough.

I have said it myself many times, "I'm holding on" when I was asked how I was doing. It sounded good to me, mature, something the old time saints would say. Then I realized God did not call us to just hold on. He called us to press on. Then God brought that Stevie Wonder song back to me where the chorus says "living just enough, just enough for the city" and that is just what a lot of Church folks are doing, living just enough Jesus to appear holy and be noticed by men but God is going to say "depart from me I never knew you." We cannot allow ourselves to be satisfied with just appearing holy. We have to run this race like we want to finish it, as Paul states in 1st Corinthians 9:24+25  24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.

25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.  

So from now on when somebody asks me "how're you doing" I'm going to think about where I am and where I need to be in Christ before I give a thoughtless answer. Just to remind myself I have not reached perfection yet and I'll never get there by "living just enough..."

Hebrews 12:4 states   4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT.

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

CONSECRATING OR JUST KILLING TIME?

Praise the Lord, everybody, because He alone is worthy to be praised! As always I pray everyone is enjoying God's blessing! What can I say but God has been good to me, and His mercies and His Grace are new every morning. The year 2015, the year of higher heights and deeper depths in Christ and already I have received a "D" on my first report card from the Lord.

Every week I set aside a personal day of consecration to the Lord, a day of fasting, prayer and quality time before the Lord. The other night after one of those consecrations I was lying in bed reviewing the day when I heard the spirit of the Lord ask "were you consecrating or just killing time?" Immediately I was convicted because I knew the answer was "killing time" especially the last two weeks. I have said this before and I'll say it again it is so easy to slide from true worship into an empty religious ceremony.

It all starts with what time I get up on those mornings. Recently I found myself getting up later and later, finding every excuse I could because the later I got up the less time I had to spend denying myself that day. It was subconscious but it was there. It is the beginning of a spiritual disconnect with God. God says in His word,  Matthew 15:7+8    7 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,

8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

It's a wonderful thing being in God's presence, spending quality time communing with Him in fasting, worship and prayer just because you love Him but at times I find myself reluctantly calling myself into a consecration only because I need God to do something for me and I know this is a way to get His attention. What good is it though to get God's attention and then end up getting rebuked by Him?

Just as God is a jealous God our flesh is jealous also, but not in a loving way. Our flesh demands all our attention and needs to be fed all the time and it doesn't seem to want anything good, anything that would be edifying to the body. This is why we must deny our flesh(ourselves) so that the spirit of God within us can thrive. But talking about it does not equal getting it done. Just because I scheduled a consecration does not mean I achieved it. Clock watching and rushing through prayer and scripture does not equal quality time with the Lord. God is saying it's time to wake up and smell the coffee or at least drink some coffee, "WAKE UP!! Brother Darrell, this is the time of the great awakening ."

Jesus spoke it 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.

There is no flesh in true worship, you can't bring your flesh when you want to spend quality time before the Lord. God chastens those He loves according to His word so even though it stings I'm going to take this "love tap" and learn from it, and I pray if any of you out there are experiencing the same thing will do the same.

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