I had a great weekend with one of my best girlfriends. It had been a while since we were together, so we were looking forward to our girl time. The plan was to go to Asheville to the see the leaves change. All week, my girlfriend was asking me some specifics about the trip, and each time I never had an answer. I figured we could just be spontaneous. I enjoy a little spontaneity and plus it seems that lately whenever I make plans something always goes wrong. So perhaps there was a little bit of self-preservation going on too. Anyway, we embarked on this journey to Asheville and all of a sudden I see a sign for a Gorge.( I became enamored with gorges after a business trip many years ago where I saw my first gorge. It was so beautiful. If you haven't seen one definitely add this to your list of things to do.) I yell out, "a gorge!" My girlfriend looks at me and says, "wanna go?"...so off we went, taking a detour from our scheduled trip to Asheville to look at the beautiful fall colors of the leaves and for some shopping and lunch. Little did we know we were about to embark a great adventure, filled with all kinds of high jinks, amazing views, lots of walking, and experiencing the awesome wonder of God through nature. We had a great time! This was a planned detour, but a detour nonetheless. We really didn't know how it would turn out and as we started going further up the mountain and the roads became winding and narrow, we started to think "umm, was this a good idea?" Still, we pressed on to our new destination, sometimes laughing and sometimes in nervous silence. We tried to diffuse our anxiety on the mountainous roads with old school music and singing, but it was clear we were both a little afraid. However, getting to the mountain, traveling through the beautiful forest, and seeing water falls made it all worth it.

This trip reminded me of my life. It has been filled with some planned and unplanned detours. Like most people, as an adolescent I had a clear plan of how my life was going to go. I even remember filling out my Senior book and answering the questions, "where will you be in 5 years...10 years..20 years?" Let's just say, I am not where I thought I would be, but I'm still grateful because I know I am right where I am supposed to be. I've had some bumps and bruises, anxiety, ups and downs...but I've met some wonderful people along the way, made lifelong friendships, and had some great (and not so great) experiences. Like the trip, there have been moments when I wondered "What in the world was I thinking?" or where I felt anxious, nervous, or afraid. But, there have also been moments when I kept going towards my destination or goal and despite all it took to get there, it was all worth it. It was those moments that made me further appreciate the awesome wonder of God, because I knew he had a plan for me. If you really knew my story, you would really be able to appreciate where I am now, because of where I have been.  I pray that whatever detours my life may take that I can always see the beauty in the moment. I believe detours, planned or unplanned, can lead to roadblocks or great adventures...it's up to me! As the old folks say, "I wouldn't trade nothing for my journey."

I definitely wouldn't trade anything for the trip my girlfriend and I took this weekend!

Because you never know where life is gonna take you
and you can't change where you've been.
But today, I have the opportunity to choose....India.Arie

Another interesting tidbit about the "blue check" is that a User cannot simply REQUEST that Twitter verifies them. They can't go "Hey...look at me, I'm important, verify me!" No, it doesn't work that way. They state in their FAQs that if you meet their qualifications and fall under the categories they have already established, you will hear from them. They encourage you to continue meaningful use and when the time is right, they will reach out. They also make a special note that "follower count" has no bearings as to whether a User can be verified. Now I'm no preacher, but God has been speaking to me lately on not second-guessing my gift. Coming across that simple collection of tweets yesterday, and thinking about the whole "being verified" scenario really put it in perspective.


Simply put, when God gives you a gift and verifies you, there are no other steps that have to be taken, other than you continuing on in your gift. Also, just because you see this person over here doing the same thing and they have a multitude of "followers", it does not mean that they have a gift, it simply means that they are popular. Having grown up in the church, one of the things I have heard time and time again is that "God doesn't necessarily call the qualified, He qualifies the called." Time after time, I have downplayed my talents, talked myself out of situations, been self-deprecating, self-defeating and missed out on wonderful opportunities, simply because I didn't feel that I was good enough to do it. I felt that SOMEONE would "find me out" and say that I didn't deserve x, y or z because I haven't gone through the traditional steps or channels. I'm sitting out here waiting on all these other people to verify my gift, when their validation should be the least of my concerns! When God verifies you, He is telling you, "You are who I say you are. This is who you were meant to be, now go walk in your gift." WHO ARE YOU to second-guess that? WHO ARE YOU to diminish that? WHY would you allow any. body. else. to come along and challenge what you know to be true? What you know that has been placed in your life to help others? Don't allow yourself, your followers, or anyone else's followers, for that matter, seek to prove or deny your gift. Move forward with the confidence of that blue check mark, knowing that as long as you are connected under your VERIFIED account, your gift cannot be denied! 

Take Care!

Erika Jewel

Pray to be self-less

The Sanctuary will embark on our 40 day Lenten Journey, Breaking the Chains: A Season of Giving on Ash Wednesday, February 13, 2013.  Mardi Gras ("Fat Tuesday")  and Carnival ("Farewell to Meat") precede Ash Wednesday and Lent around the world. Everywhere Lent has ceasedto have much religious meaning. How can we give this day before Ash Wednesday some meaning for us?

Almsgiving has always been an important part of Lent. Almsgiving is the act of giving. As a little girl I remember my Father distributing gleaners before Ash Wednesday to the congregants in our Baptist Church. The nickle gleaners for the children and the quarter gleaners for the adults. We would be responsible for 40 days to filling up those gleaners with our loose change. We  would return the gleaners on Easter Sunday. I remember feeling so accomplished when I placed my $2.00 in that collection plate. It was our sacrificial offering. It was surely a small sacrifice  compared to that which our Savior made on the cross.

As I reflect back on that time I realize as an adult that Lent is a wonderful time to practice self-less, sacrificial giving. What I have learned is that it is important to give ourselves the experience of sacrifice and generosity. Generosity is not simply giving my excess clothes to a place where poor people might purchase them. It's not even writing a "generous" check at the time a collection is taken up for a cause that  benefits the poor. These are wonderful practices. But generosity should be an attitude, a way of life. It  is a sense that no matter how much I have, all that I have is gift, and given to  me to be shared. It means that sharing with others in need is one of my personal  priorities. That is quite different from assessing all of my needs first, and  then giving away what is left over. A spirit of self-less giving means that it is necessary to share what I have with others.  This kind of  self-sacrificing generosity is a divine experience. It joins us with Jesus, who gave himself completely, for us. Establishing  new patterns of giving will give real life and joy to Lent. Today, let's pray that our hearts become more self-less everyday of our lives.

◊INTERCESSION PRAYER ◊

Dear Lord, we come to you as your humble servants with thanksgiving and praise. Lord God of  all  creation, it is from your goodness that we have this day to celebrate as we are on the threshold of the Season of Lent.  Tomorrow we will begin our journey of giving.

We thank you for the abundance of gifts you shower upon us. As we give you thanks, we are mindful of those who have so much less than we do. We commit ourselves to greater generosity toward  those who need our support. Prepare us for tomorrow. May our  sacrifice make us more alert and may it heighten our consciousness so that we might be ready to hear your Word and respond to your call. Place in us a deeper desire and an attentiveness to be better steward of our resources and that we hear the cry of the poor and the less fortunate.

May our self-denial of the pleasures of this world turn our  hearts to you and give us a new financial freedom so that we may be generous sower to others and into your kingdom. By faith we call our finances restored, prosperous, and full of God’s  abundance according to the Lord Jesus Christ’s plan for my life (Psalm 1), in Christ  Jesus’ Name! We  bind Satan, the ruler spirits, every principality, power,  ruler of the darkness, wicked spirit in high places, the spirits of poverty and  python and all of their underlings, all territorial spirits, all above, around  and below them, and all spirits not of the Holy Spirit manifesting against our finances. We loose ourselves and the desire to spend frivolously and unnecessarily. We shall be good stewards of the resources you have blessed us with.

We ask you fill our hearts full of  delight and with readiness for the journey ahead. We ask all of this  with confidence in the name of Jesus the Lord. Amen.

Happy Soul SONday Sanctuarians. We are coming up to a sacred time of the year, Lent. And we are drawing near Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent, and it is February 13,  2013. Lent is the Christian season of preparation before Easter. Ash Wednesday  marks the first day, or the start of the season of Lent, which begins 40 days  prior to Easter (Sundays are not included in the count). Lent is a time when many Christians prepare for Easter by observing a period of fasting, repentance, moderation and spiritual discipline. The purpose is to set aside time for reflection on Jesus Christ - his suffering and his sacrifice, his life, death, burial and resurrection. Lent offers us all a very special opportunity to grow in our relationship with God and to deepen our commitment to a way of life. In our busy world, Lent provides us with an opportunity to reflect upon our patterns, to pray more deeply, and to be generous to those in need. Last year for  Lent, The Sanctuary performed 40 Days of Action and Reflection. We focused on praying, forgiveness and reconciliation. It was a powerful experience.  This year as Lent draws near, we announce that The Sanctuary will honor Lent 2013 with Breaking the Chains: A Season of  Giving. At the beginning of this year we declared that in 2013 we are discovering God's divine providence and plan for our lives so that we may live and walk in His favor so that we may be sowers into his kingdom so that He can receive the glory out of our lives. To be able to be true sowers we must walk in financial wealth. However, many of us are dealing with financial pressure that is hindering us from being able to be true sowers unto the kingdom. This is not God's plan for his children. His word says that we should live in prosperity and in abundance  and the path to prosperity begins by breaking the yoke of bondage over our finances. Therefore, for the next 40 days  (February 13th - March 29th) we will  pray, meditate and give to break the financial chains that have had us bound. We will follow the example of our Lord and Savior who sacrificed his life for us, we will commit our lives to be of service in our time and resources. We invite you to embark on your own Lenten experience. If you would like to join us for powerful movement just visit the 40 Days of Lent: A Season of Giving for more details.

However, before we observe this Lent Season, we must understand what Lent is and what it represents. On this Soul SONday feed your soul with, "Understanding Lent"!

"Worship is a Weapon to Conquer the enemy"

Praise is a part of worship but did you know that praise defeats your enemy? You have three enemies: Satan and his imps, your own flesh/desires/nature and the world. And your praise actually helps you defeat all three enemies. It helps you  defeat your own selfish nature because it is hard to be selfish while praising  God for how wonderful He is. The world is always trying to fill us with lies and half-truths that are against God and His Word. So spending time in God’s word  helps us to get to know Him. When we do this, we can’t help but want to praise God. Praising God helps us keep things in perspective and our focus on God and His truth instead of the lies the world tries to make us believe.

In 2 Chronicles 20 the Moabites, Meunites, and Ammonites were going to attack and destroy Israel. King Jehoshaphat gathers Israel to fast and pray and seek God’s help. He prays, pleading for God’s help and admitting their helplessness, “We are powerless against this vast army.  We do not know what to do — "but our eyes are on You”  (2 Chronicles 20:12). Then God speaks through a prophet — “Do not be afraid.  The battle is not yours, but God’s” (2 Chronicles 20:15). So they went out to battle.  What happened? “When they began to sing and praise, God caused the enemy armies to fight each other, and they destroyed each other (2 Chronicles 20:22-23). They used worship as a weapon. Notice — it was when they began to sing and praise that God conquered their enemies. In the same way, when we worship Jesus Christ and by the Spirit’s work see and feel His all-satisfying glory, God conquers our spiritual enemies. God says praise silences our enemy, the avenger.  The  avenger is one of the names that the Bible calls Satan. Satan is an avenger, accuser, deceiver and destroyer.

So take a few minutes right now.  Ask for God to increase in you the work of  His Spirit.  And set your heart on becoming a CONQUEROR over the avenger!

Change is inevitably hard, but God. I always knew I had to be in his will however, I made choices and decisions contrary to His will. 

Growing up both of my parents were absent due to their own issues. My maternal grandmother raised me and loved me unconditionally. She always kept me in church and taught me all I needed to know about salvation. I had  everything I could ever want. However, I still yearned and searched for the love that my parents didn't give me. I had my first child at the age of 19.  May 2001, I walked across the stage four months pregnant determined to do what some said I couldn't do was to graduate, raise my daughter and enjoy life. I felt like I owed my daughter what my parents never gave me. But, my relationship with my daughter’s father didn't make it a year after her birth. I was so hurt and bitter I told him that, “I would never be with another man.” My words really didn't have much meaning to me when I said them. At least that’s what I thought.  But as Proverbs 18:21 says, “Life and death are in the power of  the tongue." As I look back, I realize what I spoke into my life.

As Christians, we must be careful what we speak into our lives. What I spoke quickly came into existence. I begin to reach out and change my circle of friends. I started going to alternative clubs and seeking any and every thing to numb my pain. I begin to  date women. I got so deep into this lifestyle I avoided some of my family. I particularly avoided my paternal grandmother who was a Pastor. I knew she would love me despite my lifestyle choices, but I also knew she wasn't going to play any games and she was going to bring to me the unadulterated truth. December 5, 2008, changed everything for me.

I received the official call that my paternal grandmother was called home to heaven. I knew how hard she worked to get there, however, I was sad and extremely hurt. Words will never explain the pain. When I came home from Miami, where my grandmother closed her eyes; I knew my life had to change. I knew that all that I was taught and believed was not displayed in  my lifestyle. And the woman I had been dating almost five years was right by my side. I had to pray and build courage to tell her I could no longer be in a relationship with her. I could not only hear my grandmother, but see her. She didn't haunt me, but she spoke into  my life more than she ever had while she was living. At the time, I felt like I had everything to lose and so much to gain. I ended the romantic relationship with that young lady, but I maintain a platonic and friendly relationship with her. In this decision I broke a generational curse. You see my mother also experienced an alternative lifestyle. I saw her living this when I  was younger. By letting go of my pain and the hurt and letting GOD become the center of my life, I broke a generational curse over me, my daughter and my future seeds.

I encourage anyone who is living and doing anything that keeps them bound to pray, seek God, and most importantly develop your own relationship with him. He will be your mother, father, friend, lover, your all and all; only if you let him.