My Family

Here I am between two of the most important women in my life: my mom and sister.  Mama and Cooky got up to hear me when I did my first sermon 8:30 am.  They didn't have to come that early to hear me speak, but they did.  This was one of the most exciting days in my life, and I was truly honored to have shared it with them.

First Sermon

Yesterday I preached my first sermon since answering my call to the ministry.  It was a great experience.  I was so happy to see my family there, along with a few of my friends.  I talked about the Prodigal Son, and I must say it was pretty good.  I can't wait to do my next sermon.

God, is that you???

So I answered my call to the ministry.  I'll deliver my first sermon this Sunday morning.  Since I was told that I would be ministering, I have been trying to figure out what I would be speaking on.  At first I thought I was speaking on bribing God with our fake worship.  Then I was influenced by Psalm 139 that states 'I am fearfully and wonderfully made.'  Now I'm undecided.  Through all of this, I'm wondering if God really wants me to speak on these particular scriptures.  It's hard when you want to do a great job for God.  You basically want to do your best for your parent, ya know.  You don't want to let Daddy down, so you study and study until you fall asleep.  You try to memorize certain scriptures.  You think of what you want to say, yet you want it to sound fresh - not too rehearsed.

I need prayers people.  I'm about to study some more.  Love and peace to you - oh! HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!  GOBBLE GOBBLE!!!

Old Tricks, New People

Hey gang.  It has been forever since I posted.  The last post was on my dad's birthday; he would've been 55.  Although he's gone, I thank God for the time I did have with my dad.  He had faults, but he was a wonderful father.  I love and miss him everyday.

This praise & worship experience has its good and bad times, like life.  You have your highs and lows.  Last time I talked about how great the congregation has been responding.  This time is different.

I've been over the P&W team since February, and we haven't gone through a whole lot of changes.  We have become a bit lackadaisical, myself included.  People may or may not show up for one reason or another, and people wouldn't know until later on what happened.  I e-mailed the team to let them know that someone needs to know what's going on since we're very few in numbers; there are eight of us, including the musician.  I asked them to do two things: #1 - make sure that someone knows why they are not there, and #2 - don't sing unless I've heard from them, but come to rehearsal.  Are those problematic tasks?  I didn't think so.

Unfortunately, someone's feelings got hurt.  Instead of coming and talking to me about what's going on, they talked to everyone else after our rehearsal - which they did not attend.  I said loud enough for them to hear, "Come on over and talk to me sweetheart."  They kept walking.  I looked at our musician, and he looked at me.  We both laughed and talked about the situation.  At the end, we realized that satan is trying to pull some old tricks out of his bag.  This time, he's using different people to do his work. 

The devil was already mad when I decided to take on the leadership of the praise & worship team.  Now he's really angry because I have answered my call to preach the word.  I never thought that this person would have acted as immature as they did, but I'm not surprised that satan is trying to mess with my mind by using particular people in my life as distractions.  One thing I have learned is that an idle mind is the devil's workshop.  We have to keep digging into the word of God in order to protect our minds, hearts, and bodies from satan's terror.  It is important to read and memorize scripture so then you can tell the devil that "...No weapon formed against me shall prosper..." (Isaiah 54: 17)  and mean it.  You have to mean it, and show it in your daily walk.  Let satan know that he has no authority in your life.

Wake-Up Call

Since February, my United Methodist church has been practicing what is called Praise & Worship. The Praise Team consists of people ranging in ages 25-42. The congregation was somewhat receptive to us at first, but something has changed within the past two weeks.

Last Sunday, I came to church and found only one member of the praise team. I had to go through my mental Rolodex of songs to find one that he would know. Once we agreed upon a song, it was time for 'Meet & Greet', which is followed by Praise & Worship. I looked up and saw that another member arrived, and I was elated. As soon as our m&g song ended, it was time for us to start. I looked up, and there were only two of us in front of the congregation. Where was my other member? Turns out she got an extra person to help us. Praise God! As I continued to talk and exhort, my aunt came up and joined us. THANK YOU GOD! We started singing - as usual - but this time it was different. The congregation actually joined in with the singing... and praising!!! Even some of the youth got into it. The praise team was singing great; one member started shouting even. We had people shout in church from p&w, to the end of the service.

Yesterday wasn't too different. We sang 'Here I Am to Worship' for p&w. It's something about the bridge, "I'll never know how much it cost to see my sin up on that cross..." I shiver when I think about it. Then for the song before the sermon, we did a song & dance collab on 'That Name'. Talk about powerful! Man, we were both shouting after that. So were people in the congregation. I don't know. It seems like the people are finally waking up to new additions to the service. I just know that I love it!

So what is it exactly? Part 1

Praise is defined in Merriam-Wester's Dictionary as to express a favorable judgment of; to glorify (a god or saint) especially by the attribution of perfections. When praising God, we speak well of Him. We physically and vocally express our appreciation for all the great things and the many blessings He has provided for us. It is important for us to do this in our everyday lives in order to keep an open relationship with the Father. God loves for his creations to praise Him (Psalm 150:6).

Some people wonder when is a good time to praise God? The answer: ALL THE TIME! We should praise God when we're happy and peaceful. We should also praise God when we're upset and going through problems of everyday life. It's important of praise God especially during the hard times. Think about how many times you've gone through problems, yet God continued to bless you in other ways. You may not have gotten the promotion that you desired, but God still provided - you weren't fired. Maybe you can't get a car at this time, but God still provides with the bus line, and/or family and friends that gladly take you where you need to go.

Another thing about God: He's a jealous God. Exodus 20:2-4 states, "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below." God is the only true God, and He wants us to remember that He's the only one that we pray to, and give praise to.

We need to take time and smell the sweet scent of our mighty Rose of Sharon (Song of Solomon 2:1). God is so good to us; how dare we not take time to praise Him, when He takes time to think of us (Psalm 139:17-18)? Not only should we take the time to praise God, we should not be ashamed of how we praise Him. One person may shout, another person may cry, another may even wave their hands. However way you praise God, it is pleasing to Him as long as it is a real, genuine praise. So the next time you feel the urge to stand up in church and just shout to the top of your lungs THANK YOU GOD, do it! Don't worry about whose looking at you, or if the person next to you doesn't shout with you. God wants to hear from you, so go ahead and praise Him.

Life Reflections

How has Praise & Worship affected your relationship with God?

Praise & Worship

I was born and raised in a United Methodist church. I learned about the Apostle's Creed, what Communion is all about, and I learned some of the most meaningful congregational hymns. When I was about 24, I received my calling to be a Missionary. I told my former Pastor about it, and he tried to insult me by calling my assignment a 'vocation'. After my meeting with him, I went home to look up the word 'vocation'. Could you believe that he called my 'calling', and 'calling'? It was at the moment that I realized that the man that I looked up to, really didn't know what he was talking about. I decided that I can't be under the leadership of a man who didn't think before he spoke, and I joined a Baptist church.
Under new leadership, I was introduced to Praise & Worship. I was used to singing with the congregation at the beginning of service, but this was different. For me, I felt like I was getting closer to God. I was taking an opportunity to tell God how I feel, regardless of what other people were doing. It was my time with God, and everyone around me felt the same way. I stayed at the church for four years, then I went back to my United Methodist church to work with the music ministry.
I ended up joining the church again, and I was welcomed back with open arms. Although I was coming home, I was still feeling empty. I missed that 'me time' with God. I missed standing up with my hands stretched up to God. I missed singing worship songs, and openly expressing myself without the congregation staring and figuring out what's wrong with me. I got to a point where I would sing myself to worship, then leave the sanctuary and go to the chapel so I can openly worship without people's stares. Don't get me wrong; I'm at a point where if you want to look, go ahead and look. At the same time, I miss the moments where the whole congregation would just fall into worship; I miss when we would just let go and not worry about time constraints. That's when I decided to go worship in the chapel alone, and let the congregation get what they want from the service. As time passed, the Holy Spirit came to me and told me that I should share my worship with the congregation. I also realized that there were church members my age who were ready to receive something different from the services. Praise & Worship has been a part of our church services since February of this year, and I am the Praise Team Leader. I knew that it would be a lot of work, but I feel that I was finally ready to take the responsibility. Besides, Praise & Worship is my true 'vocation'. lol