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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  

I ASKED FOR FORGIVENESS: I LIVE IN APPRECIATION

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

MUSCLE MEMORY: NO WAY TO PLEASE GOD!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

THE ROOTS OF ALL EVIL!!!

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

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

8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:

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

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

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

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

Then you ask God "where is my axe?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  

DON'T BE ALARMED: BRUISES COME WITH THE JOB

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

THE STANDARDS OF GOD

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

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

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

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

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

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