"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.