Tuesday, October 16, 2018

THE NON-PECULIARITY OF THE BODY OF CHRIST!


Praise the Lord everybody. As Christians, God has called us to be a lot of things. We are called to be Soldiers, Conquerors, and Holy, among other things. Today we’re going to discuss one of those things, and that is the non-peculiarity of the Body of Christ.
  1 Peter 2:9 “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:”
When God looks at us He sees a people constantly trying to be like the world and not apart from it. When you think of peculiar people you think of everyone but Christians. You think of the Jews, the Hasidic and the Orthodox, you think of the Muslim and Islamic faiths and so on. Christians, not so much.

The Christian Church and its members for years have been seemingly trying to be non-peculiar rather than peculiar. We have been guilty on many occasions of trying to integrate worldly practices into our churches, from dancing to Rap music and mimes. If we feel that the only way to bring in the lost to Christ is by offering them entertainment and a listener-friendly Gospel, then we are in for a surprise when Jesus comes back for His Church.
Peculiar means: 1. strange or odd; unusual.
"his accent was a peculiar mixture of Cockney and Irish"
2. strange · unusual · odd · funny · curious · bizarre · [more]
particular; special.
"any attempt to explicate the theme is bound to run into peculiar difficulties"
synonyms: distinctive · characteristic · distinct · different · individual
When people look at us do they say, “there’s something about those Christians, I can’t put my finger on it but there’s something about them I want.” Or do they say, “Those Christians, they aren’t so special, going to church with them is like going to a Broadway show, except on Broadway you only pay once as you enter.”
God wants us to not only win people over by what we say but how we live. The world is in darkness, and those of us who live in the light must show a distinct and attractive alternative lifestyle to those lost in darkness. When all the world is walking to the left, they must see us always walking to the right, not down the middle or leaning to the left, but to the right.
PRAYER: Father God, we thank you that you have called us out of darkness into your marvelous light. Help us to be the peculiar people you have called us to be, a Royal Priesthood, Lord help us to live lifestyles attractive to those that are lost. In Jesus name, we pray, Amen.
God bless you all, Brother Darrell, Speaking Off The Wall.

Saturday, September 22, 2018

CHRIST'S UNIBODY CONSTRUCTION


Praise the Lord everybody, let everything that has breath praise His holy name. I just finished reading the chapter entitled “The Task of Church Planting” from the book, “Global Church Planting Biblical Principles and Best Practices for Multiplication.” A book I wouldn't normally choose for myself but a friend recommended it to me. I found “The Task of Church Planting” to be great as a history of 20th-century church planting.

 As a historical article, I found it very well written, loaded with facts and information on what it takes to plant a Church, not only how to plant a church but how to keep it alive and growing. Even more importantly it was filled with Scriptural references to back up its most important points, like for instance scripture on what is a church (Acts 2:46-47) (Acts 5:42) (21:20,26 basically the whole book of acts). It talks about the importance of putting together a proper team to carry out the task.  It covers “the purpose of the Church” and even tries to answer the question, what exactly is “Church planting”?
This is a very ambitious project that supplies its readers with a comprehensive Guide to establish a God-pleasing Church.

Unfortunately, it all comes a little too late. Especially for the Body of Christ in America, and other modern countries across the globe. The whole dynamic of Church planting has changed in America where there is no shortage of churches. Some neighborhoods have as many as four. Except for some small isolated areas of the world the body of Christ is not in need of more Church planting teams, instead, it needs Church unification teams.

 If all the different denominations of the Church would come together and be one as God intended, the Church would easily spread the Gospel of Christ to every corner of the world. The Gospel of Luke does end with Jesus giving us the “great commission” and the Church has been trying to carry it out ever since, sometimes effectively and sometimes not so effectively.
Again, this article is full of great examples and ideas on Church planting, including, of course, Paul’s apostolic outline in 1st Corinthians chapter 3 where he states, What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So, neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building. By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it.

This scripture brings out an important point when Paul says, “I laid the foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it.” The time has come for the body of Christ to start building on, or perhaps rebuilding on what it has become. This is a well-written article that is rich in history and wisdom, but that is all that it is a history lesson.

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


Saturday, August 18, 2018

CAN YOUR FAITH PASS THE "SPIT" TEST?

Praise the Lord, everybody. Let everything that has breath praise His holy name!! The Lord has truly been moving in my life these days. I have been blessed in many ways and I can not thank Him enough for what He is doing in my life right now. God has been keeping me very busy these days, causing me to neglect this blog, and for that, I am truly sorry.

  Today I have a couple of questions to start off with. How strong is your faith? And, would you let someone spit in your eye?
Mark 8:23 King James Version (KJV)
23 And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought.
 Blind or sighted, it takes a special type of Faith to allow someone to spit in your eye and call it healing. To make matters worse, after He gave him the first “treatment” the man still could not see! Yet he allows Him to rub more spit in his eyes. Verses 24+25 tell us the results of the man’s faith,  24 And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking.
25 After that, he put his hands again upon his eyes and made him look up: and he was restored and saw every man clearly.
The man may not have known who Jesus was as far as His deity was concerned but he had enough faith in a man he heard could heal him of his affliction. How many times have we believers blown our healings and blessings because we wanted to control how God was going to heal us or bless us. How many of us today would let our Pastor or Church Elder anoint us with his saliva or “spit” today to obtain our healing? Most likely we would run out of the door, go home and get on FaceBook or Twitter and tell everybody how the Pastor or Elder has lost their minds, meanwhile, our pains and afflictions would continue. If Jesus himself came down to heal us personally, I believe some still would not believe, and we know who He is.

The blind man did not truly know who Jesus was and is, but we have no excuse.  If you read the Bible you know that God does not think like a man, His thoughts are not our thoughts. We must stop trying to assist God with His work. The blind man did not question God. He could have said “is that spit you’re about to put in my eye? You sure you want to do that? Why can’t you use water?” but he trusted Jesus, that He knew what He was doing. Today's believer has too many worldly options to choose from when something goes wrong in our lives. We run here and there, looking for help and answers, always turning to God as a last resort. God wants us to trust Him to the point where even if He asks us to let him rub spit in our eyes, we will say “whatever you will, Lord.”
   PRAYER: Father God, forgive us for our lapses in faith. Help us to trust in you in all things, for it was you who created all things. Let us not turn to created things for help but to the creator of all things that were created. We pray this in Jesus name, Amen.
                                God bless you all, Brother Darrell, Spaking Off The Wall                                                                       
                                                           

Friday, July 27, 2018

THE SELFISHNESS OF DISOBEDIENCE


Praise the Lord everybody. As a Christian, have you ever felt the Holy Spirit instructing you to do something, and you want to be obedient, but something does not quite make sense to you, trust God always because disobedience is a selfish act.

 1st Kings 17:8+9            8) And the word of the Lord came unto Elijah,  9) saying, “Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon and dwell there; behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.” 
 Elijah’s survival in this incidence depends on the obedience of two people, himself, and the widow woman. Imagine if Elijah had traveled all the way to where God had instructed and found that the woman had been disobedient. He would have found the woman and her son dead from starvation, because this is what she had planned, her and her son were down to their last bit of flour and oil, and she had made up her mind that they were going to make one last loaf of bread, eat it and then die, but out of obedience she gave her last to Elijah and we see what happens in verses 13+14  13 Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first, make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. 14 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’”   
There is a blessing in living an obedient life, but the blessing may not be just for you, so don’t be selfish, be obedient, and everyone will benefit. God Bless you.
PRAYER: Father I want to thank you for loving us enough to let us know how selfish we are in our disobedience to you. Father help us to have an obedient spirit reminding ourselves that our obedience not only blesses you can be a blessing to someone else as well
A little food for thought that the Lord gave me to think about and to share with you.
           God Bless you all, Brother Darrell, Speaking Off The Wall

Tuesday, June 19, 2018

SALVATION: WHAT'S IN YOUR WALLET?!!


Praise the Lord everybody!! Let everything that has breath praise His Holy name! The Lord is surely moving me into a different place in Him. In these last and evil days, and I am letting Him have His way, gladly, since He knows whats best for me. I am truly looking forward to where He takes me.

The Bible tells us in Job that Job gave sacrifices for his children just in case they forgot or were negligent.I often wondered what kind of believer they were, did they sit around thinking they were okay because their father had them covered, or were they working out there own salvation with fear and trembling.



Genesis 15:6      Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as
righteousness.

 Whenever I'm out witnessing for Christ I've noticed there are a lot of would be Christians out there with other peoples credit cards. I don't want to say they're stolen because they may have picked them up by mistake or maybe they thought it was okay to use them.
It all starts when I ask them this one question, "Are you a Christian?" They immediately replied "yes I am" and then they go on to tell me about how their mother has been a member of Mount so and so's for twenty-five years and is head of the usher board, volunteers twice a week to give out food at the food pantry. Or they tell you how their father has been a deacon at the same church for thirty years etc but when I ask them about themselves they start making excuses about why they themselves do not go to church nor do they feel the need to set aside a day to fellowship and to worship the Lord.

 They are under the mistaken impression that their parents or spouses relationship with God is automatically accredited to them also. Then I have to pull out the word and give them the bad news. First I read Genesis 15:6  "Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to HIM as righteousness."
Not his son, not his wife, not his daughter or anybody else. Then I tell them about Philippians 2:12 12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
We must work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, then read to them Romans 10:9+10 9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

They have to make their own confession of faith with their own mouths and their own lips. Thank God for your mothers and fathers and spouses salvation, but you can't get into heaven using their credit cards. Most were surprised to find out that their salvation wasn't covered by birthright and allowed me to pray with them and start them on their way.
Check your pockets and see whats in your wallet.

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

                                                                        

                                                                     
                                                                        

                                                                     
                                                                                                                             

Wednesday, June 6, 2018

LET GODS WORD BE TRUE...

Praise the Lord!!! Everybody!! Let everything that has breath praise his Holy name!! As I've been saying all year, these have been challenging times for the body of Christ. I have been nudged to higher and higher levels in Christ by the Holy Spirit in recent times, ready or not, here it comes seems to be the theme this past year, and I thank God for the nudging.



Galatians 1:11+12     11) I want you to know Brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up.  12) I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.


While out witnessing I hear it all the time, “men wrote the bible” or “the bible was changed by men to fit their purposes.” Paul had to address the same accusations from the Galatians. People then and today don’t want to hear the truth. They want to soften Gods word by saying “God never said that! Men just put that in there because it was a popular idea at the time of the crusades.” A lot of homosexuals said that about scripture condemning homosexuality. The truth of the matter is, yes, homosexuality was an accepted practice among men pretty much since the beginning of time, especially during biblical times. So was prostitution, human sacrifice and a plethora of other unseemly practices, they were called SIN, and God Spoke against sin from the very beginning when Adam and Eve committed the first one allowing sin to enter the world. Even before God gave Moses the law He Gave man a sense of right and wrong, a conscience that’s how Joseph knew to run and not sleep with Potiphar's wife.

I’m sure back then just as today there were plenty of men who would have gladly taken his place. We, believers, have more than just a conscience we have the Holy Spirit indwelling us, leading us into all truth. Paul says “we have the mind of Christ”So I say to you “who is making up what?” The Bible tells us in 2nd Timothy 3:16 16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

Next time a nonbeliever tells you that the Man made up the Bible; just hold your head high and say “all scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” “ Gods word says it and I believe it. Let God be true and every man a liar.” Ever since it was written, people have tried to Question the authority of the Bible. It is an attack ordained by Satan to undermine God's plan of redemption cause once you start to doubt even one part of Gods word, it's only a matter of time before you doubt the whole thing, and the devil knows this, so he tries to plant that seed as early as he can.

2nd John 1:7-10 states  7 For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.
8 Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.
9 Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.
10 If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:


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

Tuesday, May 15, 2018

FLINT FACED MEN: FROM FLINT TO TIN

Praise the Lord everybody! let everything that has breath praise His holy name!! For God alone is worthy to be praised. I am so grateful to God that He exposes our shortcomings. He does not allow them to continue to fester like an old splinter, possibly leading to a major infection in our spiritual life. God gives us the opportunity to avoid having to amputate that part of our lives that are festering. He does this by showing us where it is, then Gives us the chance to heal, whether it be through repentance, or just stepping up, and reaching for the next level in Him.

The other day God began to deal with me about one of my shortcomings that had begun to fester in me. He started by reminding me of the following scripture.

Isaiah 50:4-7           4) The Sovereign Lord has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught.  5) The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears, and I have not been rebellious; I have not drawn back.  6) I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting.  7) Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame.

I once wrote an article called "flint faced" men. I was inspired by the above scripture. The article was about men such as Noah, Abraham, Daniel, David, Joseph, Isaiah, Job, Paul, and the list goes on and on. They were men who were determined to serve God. Were They perfect men? No, but they were fully persuaded that they were going to serve the Lord, in season and out of season. They were not influenced by environment or circumstance. I used to like to think of myself as one of them, but now, looking back over the past few years, I realize I've been more like Tin then flint.

Flint is a very hard stone that is not very malleable, which besides being used to provide the spark to start fires, some used it to fashion daggers from, it can take a licking and keep on ticking.
Tin is weaker and a lot more malleable, it can be easily molded to conform to different shapes. I find myself being influenced more and more by the distractions of the world, and anything that my flesh is attracted to. I have subconsciously let my relationship with Christ be shaped by my flesh and not by the Holy Spirit. Paul warned us in Romans 12:2 (NIV) Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.

It is so easy to allow the world to wear you down, and like a small drip, drip, drip, of water over years can lead to a large sinkhole, and also carve out grooves in rock. Paul lets us know that the best way to combat this is to have a renewing of our minds. David said in Psalms 119:11 - Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. We keep our minds renewed by Keeping Gods word fresh in our hearts and minds. The key word here is "fresh". Sometimes we find ourselves slacking off in our studies as the years go by, after the 5th or 6th times of reading the Bible from cover to cover you begin to think you can ease up a little now, or maybe you just memorized a couple of popular scriptures and feel they should be enough to see you through. To keep Gods fresh in our minds we have to continuously stay in it, not trying to remember some old bible study from years earlier where all the scripture kind of fades all together into a bunch of miss quoted scripture. How can you get any power out of that?

A "flint faced" man does not conform, he is constantly in touch with who and what he is in Christ, and he remembers what Apostle Paul taught in Philippians 4:8 8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Gods word is all of these things. The word of God is alive and active and because it is alive it has the ability to appear to mature as we mature, revealing it’s deeper truths to us as we become mature enough to receive it. We can’t stand on our early revelations of Gods word. We must continue to study to show ourselves approved as He guides us to the levels we are called to be in him.

So if your Flint Face is starting to turn you into the "Tin man." Or whatever your shortcoming is, remember that God wants to bring you up, not take you down.

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







Tuesday, May 1, 2018

THE CONSECRATION OF BROTHER DARRELL

Praise the Lord everybody. Let everything that has breath, praise His holy name!! God is great, and greatly to be praised! I will bless the Lord at all times and His praises shall be continually in my mouth.

This has truly been a time of reflection and introspection for me. God has been dealing with me about a lot of things lately and I've had to make some painful admissions. One of those admissions is the fact that I have begun to slip recently when it comes down to our special time together.

For years, every Tuesday and Friday I have been fellowshipping with God, which I have been calling "consecrating," but God has been dealing with me about my so-called "consecration." To me, fasting means just turning your plate down and mortifying your flesh as unto the Lord, but you continue to do your normal daily routine.
In my opinion, consecrating meant more, It meant not only mortifying the flesh by observing some sort of fast but also ceasing all your other activities of daily living and spending quality time in the presence of the Lord. The dictionary says the act of consecrating is; dedication to the service and worship of a deity. I was dedicating that day to the service and worship of God, but now I find myself doing more "fasting" and less "consecrating". I find myself more and more carrying on my usual everyday routine and spending less and less time in prayer, meditation, and worship.

God began to Bring back to me the words and life of Jesus who said in Luke 9:23+24  23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
24 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.

Jesus was telling His disciples and us today that to be His followers we have to commit our lives to Him daily, daily forsaking our old lives and living every day in consecrated service to God. In truth, we can not pick and choose which days we will be consecrated and which days we will not. God was letting me know that the things I do when I call myself "consecrating," I should be doing every day. Does that mean we have to be walking around all day looking stern, trying to convey a pious attitude, no, The Bible tells us in 1st Peter 1: 7,8,9  7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:
9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

Yes, the joy of the Lord is our strength. But our joy should be in Him always, we need to stop trying to replace it with worldly joy when we feel the world is having what seems like more fun.       jesus was living a consecrated life every day. Jesus tells us in John 4:34 34 Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. Jesus said this to His disciples after they saw that He appeared tired and hungry, and they had been emploring Him to eat. I'm sure Jesus was tired and hungry, but I'm also sure that even in that, Jesus found joy and contentment. Paul states in Philippians 4:11-13(NIV)  11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.  

Part of our daily consecration should be that as soon as we open our eyes in the morning we should give thanks and determine to do God's will that day, that should be our sustaining force throughout the day, fasting or not. I am determined to daily live my life "consecrated," in service and in the worship of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. PLEASE KEEP ME IN PRAYER.

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






Monday, April 9, 2018

THE YOUNG LIONS DO LACK!

Praise the Lord! Let everything that has breath, praise His holy name. God is great and greatly to be praised. In this time of resurrection and Pass over, I have been reflecting on Gods grace and mercy in my life. I look at myself and I see a man so unworthy of it. I would really like to live my life more like a living sacrifice like I once did many years ago when I first believed. I'm sorry to say I'm not as committed as I used to be. I've become too comfortable in my flesh, making it harder and harder for me to keep Gods spirit as the strong man in my house, meaning my body. Again I am recommitting myself to strengthening my spiritual man and cutting off my flesh.

One of the things I am doing toward staying spiritual is participating on a prayer line at night. It really has been a blessing to me to be able to pray and look into the word of God together with my fellow saints. The other night we were going over Psalms chapter 34, and as we read verses 9+10 the spirit of the Lord started showing me some things concerning the young lions, verses 9-10 state: O fear the Lord, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him.
10 The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing.

I was stuck on the phrase "the young lions," Why only the young lions I asked myself a few times before the Lord began to show me in the spirit why the young lions "lack" and "suffer hunger." When the young lions were born, they were cubs and they depended on their parents for everything, for food, shelter, and for protection. As they got older they got stronger, making them bolder and more independent. They began to gain a little knowledge and they ran with it.

Instead of staying in the "pride" or family group with the older more mature lions who have learned over the years how and when to hunt, and how to lead and protect himself and his family. The young lion starts to feel that self-confidence that comes with youth. They stop trusting in the wisdom of the older lions who blazed the trail before and know the way, and they trust only in themselves. They do not know God nor fear him, for they count themselves as King of all they see, they are reckless and proud. They rush after their prey with no plan or structure at all and usually come up empty-handed, lacking any success for their effort. Then they go hungry.

Then God showed me His Church, the Body of Christ. He allowed me to see that the body of Christ is full of young lions. They get saved, they are new converts, babes in Christ. They come in as cubs and depend on the church elders and those seasoned saints who know the way. They begin to get a little word in them and before long they are not satisfied with just sitting and learning, they want to minister and preach, and teach. They are full of new ideas and visions, then, because they know better, they want to break away and start their own church.                                             
They have yet to learn the fear of God, and their faith is in their youth and their own strength. The young lions of the body of Christ split churches, and challenge their elders. They strike out on their own and they often suffer lack, their ministries fail. Verse 9 of the 34th Psalm again states  O fear the Lord, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him. The Bible tells us that there is no "want" to them that fear the Lord. This is why it is so hard for the young to give their lives to Christ and serve and follow Him. Ecclesiastes 11:9+10 states 9 Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.
10 Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity.

Here King Solomon was reminding us basically the same thing, that the young, or young lions follow their own minds and the way they see things. He makes a point to say that it is all vanity. This is why God calls us His sheep and not His lions. Sheep never change, young or old they follow their leaders. Psalms 100: 3 states 3 Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

And we all know what David said in Psalms 23, "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want..." When the Lord is your shepherd you will never be in want or lack because He promises to supply all our needs. God wants to protect us from the "Young Lions," He doesn't want us to be young lions. There is only one lion in the body of Christ, and that is the head, Jesus Christ, the lion of the tribe of Judah!
So, are you going to be a young and foolish Lion? Or are you going to be a wise young Lion that is obedient and lives to be a wise old lion? Remember "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."

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

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

KEEP YOUR ARMOR POLISHED!!

Praise the Lord everybody!! Let everything that has breath praise His holy name!! God is great, and greatly to be praised!! I can truly say that I have been tested these first few months of the new year. Most recently was when my wife had surgery. We had one vicious attack that really put us to the test. It took a lot of prayers to get to this point where I can even share it with you all.

Actually, I'm going to share what God taught me concerning this incident, and that is the importance of keeping your armor polished and not to let it get rusty. The devil is constantly on the lookout for holes or soft spots to get in. Of course, I'm talking about the full armor of God. Paul talks about it in Ephesians 6:11+12 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 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.

We see here Apostle Paul telling us about the importance of putting on the Armor of God so that we will be able to stand up to the many tricks of the enemy. He stresses the point of putting on the "whole" armor of God, not half or two-thirds of the armor but the 'whole" armor, because when your dealing with the enemy you can't face him half-naked, you must be fully covered.

It is not only important that we put on our armor but that we also take care of it. We must keep it polished and clean because as with most metals they tend to get rusty and become easily compromised. The enemy is constantly probing our armor for weak spots, so we must not let our armor fall into disrepair. "How do we keep our armor polished?" you might be asking yourself. First, we must make sure we have a "whole" set of armor on. Paul goes on to tell us what that is in Ephesians 6: 13-18  13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

The first thing Paul mentions is the belt of truth, and how we keep it polished up is by keeping ourselves bound about with the truth. The truth must be with us and in us always. We can never take it off because everything else is held together by the belt of Truth. Ephesians 4:25 states 25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another.
Truth is one of the pillars of our faith. Jesus says in John 14:6  6Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. He also states in John 4:23 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.

The next piece of armor mentioned is "The Breastplate of righteousness". This piece of armor guards the chest and abdominal areas on a soldier. It guards the heart and other vital organs against the fiery darts of the enemy and the finality of death. Proverb 11:4 states 4 Riches profit, not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivereth from death. What is righteousness? It means to be living holy, according to divine law, justified, free from guilt or sin. In order to stand against the enemy, we must be living a righteous life, righteous does not mean perfect. We must be walking upright before the Lord, confessing our sins and repenting with Godly sorrow whenever we fall short of the mark. That is how we keep our Breastplate clean and polished. Matthew 6:33 states 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Self-righteous destroys, Gods, heals and delivers.
 Psalms 34:15 also tells us 15 The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.

The next piece of armor mentioned is the footwear, "the preparation of the Gospel of peace." There is a saying in the world that "an army travels on its stomach" But the army of the Lord travels on its feet. The bible states in Isaiah 52:7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!

Our feet carry us and we carry the Gospel of Christ, as we prepare the world for His coming. The Gospel will take you places you never dreamed you would go, I am a witness. To keep our feet in good shape, clean and healthy we must always be ready to bring the good news of Christ to people everywhere we go, always remembering we are Ambassadors of Christ, always prepared, in season and out of season. We might be the only Jesus some will ever see.
Next is the "Shield of Faith." Paul says "above all" to take up the shield of faith because it quenches every fiery dart of the enemy. What is faith? some might ask. The bible tells us in Hebrews 11:1 - Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. It also tells us in Hebrews 11:6 - But without faith [it is] impossible to please [him]: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and [that] he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

The bible also says in Romans 10:17 17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. We must keep our shield polished by staying in Gods word and trusting in it, living it, and hiding it in our hearts. Like it says, "without faith, it is impossible to please God," and if we don't please Him, what can we expect from Him? 

Next is the "Helmet of Salvation and the Sword of the spirit, which is the word of God." The Helmet protects the brain/mind. Our brain controls our thought process, our decision making, and our bodily functions, and our salvation should do the same thing. The word of God tells us in Philippians 2:5 5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: It also says in 2nd Corinthians 10:5 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 
That is how we keep our helmet polished and fully functional. The main battlefield is the mind, and our minds should be in sync with the mind of Christ at all times. Lastly, we have the "sword of the spirit" which really is the only part of our armor that acts as an offensive weapon. we know from Gods word that says in Hebrews 4:12   For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

The word of God can "cut you down to the white meat" as they used to say back in the day when it was used to bring about repentance or change. Jesus used the word of God against the Devil while He was being tempted by him in the desert for 40 days and nights when He told the devil in Matthew 4:1-4 1Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. 2And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungered. 3And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. 4But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.


The word of God has power and as Jesus pointed out, it is just as important that we live by it as it is important for our daily bread. Paul also states in  2 Timothy 3:16 states- All scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

Finally, I leave you with this from Isaiah 55:11  11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
God wants us to know that He says what He means and Means what He says, and by faith, so should we. There is so much more to be said about keeping your armor polished that I could go on forever but let me just say this one last thing, Keep all your armor buffed and shiny with Prayer.

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

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

WHAT GOD WANTS FROM US.

Praise the Lord everybody! Let everything that has breath praise is holy name!! Because He has done great things!It is amazing to see what God is doing these days in His church, He is exposing everything that is not like Him.The time has come for the Church to "put up or shut up!" I know it is for me anyway and for a lot of other believers out there.

I guess we have all heard about the High School shooting that happened the other day in Florida, 17 lives were lost and many injured. These things are happening too often in this country. What bothered me also is that our President, Mr. Trump, got on T.V. to address the issue, he began by saying all the things that Presidents say at times like these, and then he decided to throw in some scripture, I'm paraphrasing (I'm sure he was too) but basically, he said "God said, I have heard the cries of the people, and I will heal them." It struck me right away because first he never said where it came from. Second I felt in my spirit that God wanted to Hear something else from him and from us. I believe God wants us to be thinking more like this.

2nd Chronicles 7:14  14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

You see God has heard the cries of the people when things don't go our way. What He has not heard is our cries of repentance. What He has not heard is our cries to draw closer to him, God has not heard us forsake our wicked ways. What God has heard is Him being blamed for every tragedy, every disappointment, and every evil thing that happens in some of our lives. He has heard us demand that " in God, we trust" be removed from our money. He has heard us demand that prayer be removed from our schools, and He has seen His son's name become an offense and a curse.
If we want healing for our land we must Begin to humble ourselves before God, confess our sins and turn from our wicked ways and seek His face with all our hearts, mind, and strength, Then God will hear our cries and heal our land. Trump left out the most important parts of God's word, he only spoke about what we expect from God, and left out what He expects from us! Once again we have fallen short of the mark. Time is short, and even if Jesus does not return in our lifetime, we have to realize that time is definitely getting short in our personal lifetimes. So If the whole country has gone off and lost its way, we, the household of faith must stay the course and carry on the faith. A little food for thought.
               God Bless You All, Brother Darrell, Speaking Off The Wall






Friday, February 9, 2018

TRUE OBEDIENCE: TRUSTING GOD ON A HIGHER LEVEL

Praise the Lord everybody!! Let everything that has breath praise His holy name, for He alone is worthy!! God has been so good to me and my wife over the years, with this year shaping up to be the best year of all. We believe God is going to move in a special way in our lives this year, as long as we hold on.

The last few weeks and maybe months the Lord has been dealing with me, and with us about obedience. He has called us to a higher level of obedience in these last and evil days. And while God is calling us to obedience, the enemy is calling us too. The devil is pulling out all his tricks to cause our disobedience. His job is to make us fall, and sometimes we make it easy for him. We keep going back and forth into enemy territory, flirting with disaster, letting fear and anger, the devil’s calling cards, creep in and out of our lives. We allow time for all kinds of distractions, while slowly slipping away from spending quality time with God.
Today God is saying “enough is enough!!”

He is not just speaking to the Church, He is speaking to the whole country, a country that continues to call itself “God-fearing” even as it stands on the precipice of being totally backslidden. The words He spoke to His people centuries ago in his word, He is speaking again to us now. 

Proverbs 1:24-31 tells us 24But since you refuse to listen when I call and no one pays attention when I stretch out my hand, 25since you disregard all my advice and do not accept my rebuke, 26 I, in turn, will laugh when disaster strikes you; I will mock when calamity overtakes you- 27when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind, when distress and trouble overwhelm you. 28Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me, 29since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the LORD. 30Since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke, 31they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.

This is a hard saying, but as I look around this country and the Church, I can understand it. We need to get ourselves together and fast. God has plans for us, He tells us in Jeremiah 29:11 11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
If we want to remain in those plans we have a lot of work to do. We need to be more obedient, to His word and to His voice. Jesus tells us in John chapter 10 that His sheep know His voice, and another voice they will not follow, That being true, if we really are His then we have no excuse for not being obedient. Even tonight, I put this together along with the Holy Spirit out of obedience to Him.  God said to do it, so it is done, to the glory of God. We have to trust God more. The reason we don't just listen and obey Him a lot of times is because we don't trust Him enough. We are afraid that God could be wrong, imagine that, God wrong. We need to stop holding back our trust and start being obedient on another level than the one we are on. Just a little food for thought.

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



Tuesday, January 23, 2018

RENEGADE CREATION PART 2: WHY GOD ALLOWS WHAT HE ALLOWS

Praise the Lord everybody!! Let everything that has breath praise His Holy name!! Even though the new year has started off with a test for my wife and me, I am still looking forward to what He has in store for us and our marriage and in our ministry. We love the Lord and we wouldn't have it any other way.

Jesus tells us John 16:33  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.
Jesus doesn't say we may have, but that we will have trials and tribulations in this world. In my last post "Renegade Creation: part 1" we talked about the fall of man and how this led to sin and evil entering the world and how that affected the World when it came to something called "moral evil", the evil that comes about because of man's inherent sin. We must remember, God is not the Creator of suffering and evil.
We will be discussing something called "Natural Evil" and it's effect on the tragedies that the world likes to blame God for, These are things like wildfires, earthquakes, tornadoes, and hurricanes that cause suffering for people. These things are also an offshoot of man unleashing sin on the world. When Man turned "renegade" and went his own way, God for all intents and purposes let us go, and to a certain extent removed His hand from over us. All of Nature was thrown out of kilter, set free from its original constraints.  The earth was cursed. Genetic breakdown and disease began. Pain and death became part of the human experience.

The bible tells us in Romans 8:18-23 18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
  19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

In other words, nature, and all creation longs for redemption to come and set things back to its natural order, until that happens there will continue to be chaos and disorder in this world. Think about it, all earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis, and climate changes are groanings of God's creation, longing to be freed. Let’s make this crystal clear once more: God did not create evil and suffering. Now, it’s true that he did create the potential for evil to enter the world because that was the only way to create the potential for genuine goodness and love. But it was human beings, in our free will, who brought that potential evil into reality.

Why doesn't God intervene against evil? you might ask.
Because God loves us and wants to have a true and real relationship with us, one that includes freedom of choice, He had to allow evil to exist.

We may say that God could still give us free will while at the same time preventing the consequences of evil. This becomes a question of degrees. We may want God to intervene in the case of murder or rape. But do we want God to intervene in the case of our own idolatry? Sin is not graded on a sliding scale. All sin is an offense to God, and it all separates us from Him equally. An unsaved person whose worst sin is that of gossip is just as unsaved as a nonbeliever who is a serial killer. If God were to intervene and prevent evil, He would have to remove us from the picture. Plus, if God were to prevent all the negative consequences of our actions, would we really have free will?

Because God desires a relationship with us, and we are sinful people, our sinful natures lead us to do sinful things. But praise be to God He has redeemed us! We need not live in slavery to our sinful inclinations (Romans 6:16-18), though we still battle against our sinful desires (Romans 7:14-25). Yes, we live in a sinful world over which Satan has been given dominion (1 John 5:19). We as Believers are not immune to the consequences of evil. But Jesus has overcome (John 16:33)! God is faithful to redeem the evil that happens in our lives just like He did for Joseph after he was sold into slavery after by his brothers, read Genesis chapters 37-50.
Romans 8:28 states 28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

God allows evil, but He also restrains it. He does not allow too much evil, only that which can be redeemed and can lead to good. Sometimes we think it's more than we can bear, but God is faithful and will not give us more than we can bear. God is a God of justice and love, and evil will not go unpunished, nor will saints who suffer evil at the hands of others go without His help. In fact, the bible is constantly telling us to avoid all evil that comes our way, and avoid sin and to live in righteousness. We are called to help the needy and the victims of evil.

Micah 6:8 8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
One day God is going to eradicate all evil, but until then, we must learn to accept what God allows, because number one it was us/man who started the evil ball rolling, and number two God allows evil because he loves us and wants to commune with us, but Praise be to God, for our redemption draweth nigh, and order will be restored to God's kingdom.

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


Tuesday, January 9, 2018

RENEGADE CREATION: WHY GOD ALLOWS WHAT HE ALLOWS. part 1


Praise the Lord everybody!! Let everything that has breath praise His holy name!! Happy New Year!! to everyone out there, I am believing God for a wonderful and blessed new year in Christ, and looking forward to what He gives me to share with you all.

Today I want to share with you something God revealed to me while I was talking to a friend of mine about witnessing to nonbelievers and how to answer some of the Questions they always seem to ask when the concept of whether there is a God or not comes up. A lot of times I've heard it said "there is no God, how can any God allow so many bad things to happen to innocent children and people? What kind of God is that?" they ask me and when I try and take them to the Bible, they begin to point to how the God of the bible had people and even whole cities wiped out, women and children, everything, put to the sword or drowned by floods or burned up by fire. "what kind of God would do that?" they asked.
As my friend and I began to discuss how to answer these questions, God began to tell me that they needed to begin to see those situations and this world the way that He saw it, and He brought me back to the beginning, to Genesis and the creation. God's word tells us in Genesis 1:26-31 26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.
31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth days.


As we see here God created everything, including man. The man was special in God's eyes because He created man in His own image, and gave him dominion over all His other creations. God was pleased with the man and saw that he was "very good."
When God saw man He saw a reflection of Himself, the man walked naked before God at that time because there was nothing between man and God, he was pure, clean, and holy unto his creator. When the man disobeyed God and sinned against his creator, that was no longer the case. That sin became a barrier between the two, now when God looked upon is creation He no longer saw a reflection of himself but a lawbreaker, not worthy of his current position, a covenant breaker who God could no longer see as His finest creation. So God covered man in the skins of dead animals, one reason I believe God did that was that at that point I believe He saw the man on the same level as the animals, as He angerly drove him out of the Garden and into the world controlled by the prince of the air, Satan.

As time went on and man began to multiply throughout the Earth, they reflected God less and less and their sinful nature became more dominant until God tells us in Genesis 6:5-8 5 And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
6 And it repented the Lord that he had made the man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
7 And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

When people ask me about the existence of "God," or the God of the Old Testament and how could He allow certain things to befall so-called "innocent" men, woman, and children, I tell them they must learn to see things the way God sees them. When God looked at man all He could see was a renegade creation that was mutating into something He could not recognize.

The dictionary describes a Renegade as 1. One who rejects a religion, cause, allegiance, or group for another; a deserter.
2. An outlaw; a rebel.

In God's eyes, we were deserters, outlaws, and rebels, who had bitten the hand that fed them in order to go their own way, do their own thing. When God disowned man He cursed His creation. in Genesis 3:14-19  14 And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow, thou shalt bring forth children, and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou has taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

God gave man free will, but here he lets him know there is a price to be paid for the sin of disobedience. He turned us over to our own devices and choices, thus the evil that befalls the so-called "innocent" is, for the most part, the direct result of man's choices.

First let me say that there are two types of evil, Moral evil, and natural evil. first, let us begin with "moral evil.  Moral evil is the immorality and pain and suffering and tragedy that come because we choose to be selfish, arrogant, uncaring, hateful and abusive. Romans 3:23 says “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

 So much of the world’s suffering results from the sinful action or inaction of ourselves and others. For example, people look at a famine and wonder where God is, but the world produces enough food for each person to have 3,000 calories a day. It’s our own irresponsibility and self-centeredness that prevents people from getting fed.
In other words: look at your hand. You can choose to use that hand to hold a gun and shoot someone, or you can use it to feed hungry people. It’s your choice. But it’s unfair to shoot someone and then blame God for the existence of evil and suffering. Like that old cartoon said: “We have seen the enemy, and he is us.”

God tells us in His word that "my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge" see Hosea4:6. God is not only talking about believers but also about His creation.
I'm going to end here, but next time we will pick up with "natural evil" and a few other things connected with God and His "Renegade Creation."

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