Yesterday, I was privileged to participate in a men's conference at Mt. Moriah Missionary Baptist Church where 5 young men gave their life to Christ. During the conference I sat and pondered on all of the dynamics surrounding this life changing experience for these young men. I paid close attention to all of the resources that were used to bring this about. For example, (1) we had a room full of men only, (2) we showed a one and half hour movie called "Courageous" and the movie challenged men to be responsible for everything that occurs in their life, (3) we had a former gang leader turned Pastor speak about his transformation from a life of drug dealing, attempted murder and self hatred to a life of changing the Hood for Christ and restoring men and women into their proper roles.
The other thing that I noticed is that grandfathers had brought their grandsons and mothers trusted us to minister to their sons with the hope that seeds of change would occur in their lives. This move required Faith and this Faith was borne from real concerns about their futures and concerns that if their sons and Grandsons did not get pointed into the right direction now, they could be in some real trouble up the road. I also pondered about the news reports I hear over and over again about the demise of Black Men. What role could the Church could play in reversing this highly destructive pattern of Black on Black male crime, the prison over population and destruction in the community? You rarely hear talk about using tax dollars and private investment to truly support work that can reach these young men and women with programs, prayers and guidance from ex-felons who have demonstrably turned their lives around. Unemployment is at an all time high and so is crime, so we have a big supply of servants and an abundance of need. Yet, we have not seen real effort in simultaneously bringing the resource to the need. Men who have overcome, helping men who are finding their way.
Just as an aside, I think about the Billions, that's right Billions, spent on campaigns for elected offices from the Presidency down to the local elected positions and I wonder what if just some of these funds were re-directed to support programs like what I have articulated here?
That begs the question? Why not spend taxpayers dollars and more private investments to improve the lives of people. Pay some of these ex-cons to participate in mentoring programs and even improve their own skills so that themselves can lead programs of change in their communities. They would in turn reach out to these young men an steer them away from trouble into a life of prosperity. Imagine the power of that dynamic whereby houses could be renovated, schools modernized, reading and math skills could be improved through non traditional teaching techniques, young men could gain more from the bible because they would know how to read it on their own using critical thinking skills. What a wonderful investment idea, the combination of tax dollars with private investment. How much our communities would change.
I know there are many excuses for why this couldn't happen, but as I said in a earlier blog, common sense does not blend well with Faith moves because Faith moves are uncommon moves. Someone just has to be willing to make a move.
There are already federal laws on the books that allow churches and non profits to apply for grants to do social programs. These programs can do many things, such as, after school education, provide health and feeding programs, to build affordable housing, to start small businesses. etc.. etc.. etc. (See Links Below for Resources)
http://www.dol.gov/cfbnp/grant.htm
http://www.hhs.gov/partnerships/
http://www.grantwatch.com/collection.php?cat=11
But it will take Faith, consistent effort and Patience to do these things. It will not happen overnight but someone has to grab the bull by the horns and say I am going to move out by Faith to first, set up a plan and second, follow the voice of the Holy Spirit and take steps to reach my goal of turning my community around.
I can tell you from jump, the devil is gonna send all kinds of negative pictures into your mind suggesting the impossibilities of going this route. But, if you can muster enough Faith to walk through these mental barriers, you will see some positive results that will keep you moving forward.
Don't be afraid, if you are not an ex-con, praise God. But I am sure you know someone who is and they are serving God with fervor However, they need an opportunity to let the inner change manifest into an outer world and that will encourage them even the more to do great and mighty things for the Kingdom of God. One thing I have noticed with working with ex-cons and that is they have no fear and they can speak a language that we couldn't begin to know because of where they have been and what God has brought them through. But that language resonates with our troubled youth. So we should try to create as many platforms as we can to let their light shine in our communities.
If we just start out with a little, God will turn it into a lot. I am witness to that fact. Looking forward to hearing your great reports about changed Lives and changed Communities.
Peace!!
Keeping the fire for a bold and courageous life burning.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Overcoming Depression
I am convinced that one the greatest weapons that satan uses to hinder us in our pursuits of happiness is depression. Not necessarily clinical depression or the kind that requires professional and medical treatment. But a more subtle kind that is akin to the blues. I have discovered that if this is left unchecked, it can move us into some devastating circumstances. These circumstances include doubt, fear, closing ourselves off from others, bitterness and anxiety. Any one of these things alone is enough to slow us down or impair our ability to move forward, but if they are coupled together, then we really have some problems.
When I read the bible' I find that many of the people that were greatly used by God had times of deep depression. Kind David was one such individual and the book of psalms points this out repeatedly. However, David encouraged himself and we can conclude that since he was a musician and a poet that he used the arts to help lift him from his depression. He clearly used the power of prayer because the psalms are a culmination of many of those prayers.
When I have been confronted with depression, I have used music and the arts to help me in my relief. We are so rich with music and art in our world and if we would just take some steps to go out and see a play, read some poetry, listen to some good soul stirring gospel music; and I won't just limit it to gospel music because I have been set free by soul music, jazz and at times even the blues. Music, its words and melodies can ease a burdened soul.
Great acting can draw us into the script, feel the joy and exuberance of the actors and help us to forget our own sorrows. Some plays I have watched through tear stained eyes because the person in the play was experiencing just what I was going through and at the depths of their pain I cried tears of pain and at the height of their success, I cried tears of joy. But the end result is, I walked away free.
So if today, you are feeling a bit depressed, don't sit there in it. If you are reading this blog you already have a window to a world that can assist in relieving your burdens. Go to You tube, go to God tube and listen to some good uplifting music. Google search: "beautiful stories of how people overcame great tragedies" and read some heart warming testimonies, Watch plays and programs right on your computer that will lift you. Write a friend on Facebook whom you have left unattended for too long.
But don't stay depressed. Life is too short and inside us all are pearls of great price waiting to be shared with the world.
This song below will help you understand that Someday We Will All Be Free!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cv1B0ejhFVE
Be Blessed.
When I read the bible' I find that many of the people that were greatly used by God had times of deep depression. Kind David was one such individual and the book of psalms points this out repeatedly. However, David encouraged himself and we can conclude that since he was a musician and a poet that he used the arts to help lift him from his depression. He clearly used the power of prayer because the psalms are a culmination of many of those prayers.
When I have been confronted with depression, I have used music and the arts to help me in my relief. We are so rich with music and art in our world and if we would just take some steps to go out and see a play, read some poetry, listen to some good soul stirring gospel music; and I won't just limit it to gospel music because I have been set free by soul music, jazz and at times even the blues. Music, its words and melodies can ease a burdened soul.
Great acting can draw us into the script, feel the joy and exuberance of the actors and help us to forget our own sorrows. Some plays I have watched through tear stained eyes because the person in the play was experiencing just what I was going through and at the depths of their pain I cried tears of pain and at the height of their success, I cried tears of joy. But the end result is, I walked away free.
So if today, you are feeling a bit depressed, don't sit there in it. If you are reading this blog you already have a window to a world that can assist in relieving your burdens. Go to You tube, go to God tube and listen to some good uplifting music. Google search: "beautiful stories of how people overcame great tragedies" and read some heart warming testimonies, Watch plays and programs right on your computer that will lift you. Write a friend on Facebook whom you have left unattended for too long.
But don't stay depressed. Life is too short and inside us all are pearls of great price waiting to be shared with the world.
This song below will help you understand that Someday We Will All Be Free!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cv1B0ejhFVE
Be Blessed.
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Zero to Millions Part 2- Making it Happen
Greetings
In my blog dated 9-18-2012, called "Zero to Millions Part 1", I left off discussing how I began with no money and proceeded to raise well over $6 million in funds for community development projects over a period of 10 years. Today I want to begin where I left off.
Visioning or seeing things as they will be is the first step. The next step in the Faith journey is to begin to identify the things that you need to bring your vision into reality. That is called planning and it requires some brain work. What were some of the things that I was going to need to bring this dilapidated home into a nice livable home for a family to live in? How could I best impact a neglected community and eyesore? The first thing we usually identify is money and that makes sense, but we need to understand that in many instances money may not be the first thing. You see, if you are doing something for the Kingdom of God money won't be the first priority, people will be. Allow me to give you an example.
In my town we have a federal prison and I discovered that they have a community based program within the federal prison that allows some of the inmates who are soon to be released, or who have demonstrated that they are no threat to society, to work with non profit groups on projects that uplift the community. This has a double benefit, first the non profit can obtain some badly needed talent that they cannot afford and two the inmate begins to get prepared for entering the world, establishing communication and other inter-personal skills that will help them to be a productive citizen in society. I immediately applied for this program, went through some training and shared my vision with the warden and explained how the inmates will work with me to rehabilate this home and make an example of a safe and affordable home for a low income family. The warden was impressed with this idea and approved our application to use up to 14 male inmates to advance our project. I now needed money to purchase the materials for the project and I went to the bank and explained to them what I was preparing to do and that I had a source of labor that would cost us nothing. The other benefit that God provided for me was that within this group I had very skilled people. One was a master electrician, one was a general contractor who had a very large business in a large city, the other was a master carpenter and some of the men were very good laborers. So these are the exceeding abundant blessing that come from a Faith walk. These men were so glad to get out of the confines of prison and they were on there best behavior. Moreover, I had a chance to show them the Love of Christ and give them a sense of community building.
Several of the men who worked with me wrote to me after leaving prison and told me about the impact our program had on their post prison life. One is now a church Pastor who has incorporated community development in his ministry, one opened up his own barber shop and is doing well as an entrepreneur. This is how God works, he allows your programs and Godly endeavors to help shape and build lives of people who you never knew or imagined. This is the part that I call "Above all that I could ask or think". You see in all of our works we are only going to see impart. We will never get the whole vision. But we can trust that the part that we do see in the Spirit will have far reaching benefit and blessings for us and others who the vision touches.
After acquiring the labor, I went to the local bank and explained to them how I planned to begin "Rebuilding the Walls Around The City" and the banker was moved to provide me with a small loan of $5,000 using the dilapidated house as collateral. I then wrote a grant to a foundation and I explained to them that we wanted to improve the neighborhood and that we wanted to use this one house as a demonstration model to show what could be done by the community with just a little help. Through the power of God I was able to convince the foundation to give us a grant in the amount of $40,000 and a smaller local community foundation gave us a grant in the amount of $2,500 because we explained to them how we were going to use young men from the community to help us rebuild this house and learn some home building skills. One of these young men happened to be my oldest son, who went on to receive his college degree and works with me today as my housing director. Another, blessing that I could not see when I began the visioning process. We now had the money needed to complete the task but to my point, the people came first.
After several months of working on this project many community residents, local elected officials and outside observers visited our work in the community heard our story. You see, it is very important to be able to tell your story and demonstrate your story while you are building. It's the story that compels men and women to participate, pray and cooperate with you. We had church Pastors stop by and admire our work and invite us into their churches to explain to their members how community development could be done. The newspaper came by and did a story on our work and how it was helping keep young men busy during the summer months and off the streets. I was asked to participate on radio talk shows and at conferences held by very important groups like the Kellogg Foundation and the Clinton School of Public Service. These entities also wanted to participate. We had very talented, young bright college students come in and provide free services to us. We also demonstrated to other potential investors that we were serious about what we were doing and that we had the ability to attract the things we needed to make something good happen in our community. Everybody loves a story of people organizing around a need and working to address it.
I remember mid-way through our work we had an out of town visitor come by to see what we were doing. He was a member of a family that were billionaire's. Yes, really, each of the family member were worth billions. They had gone beyond the millionaire status and were worth billions. It so happened that they were looking for a community based non profit to invest in to do community development projects and their representative had been watching us over the years and invited the family members to come to our site and visit our work. I had never walked among billionaires but the bible tells us that "Our Gift Will Bring Us Before Great Men". Our story and the demonstration of our work so compelled these billionaires that they gave us a grant in the amount of $500,000 toward future developments. Clearly, this investment has gone a long way in helping us do more housing developments. One other noticeable attribute of this investment was that we didn't have to pay the money back and when other investors found out who had given us this large sum of money, they wanted to contribute too. Some invested $100,000 and others invested much more. Even as much as $2,000,000. I could have never imagined that this one house that I had a heart to improve for a low income family would have this much compelling power. But that is what God does through us. He works in us both to do and to will his good pleasure. Also, he strengthens our hands to do the work that God has called us to do.
Well, there so much more to say about this story, but you just can't tell it all in one blog. So, I will be sharing more in the days and weeks ahead and my hope and prayer is that these real testimonies will advance your desire to move into action. First with a vision, and then take the steps to make it happen. It will be so rewarding and much more than you could ask or think. I assure you of that.
:-)
Enjoy the journey!
Visioning or seeing things as they will be is the first step. The next step in the Faith journey is to begin to identify the things that you need to bring your vision into reality. That is called planning and it requires some brain work. What were some of the things that I was going to need to bring this dilapidated home into a nice livable home for a family to live in? How could I best impact a neglected community and eyesore? The first thing we usually identify is money and that makes sense, but we need to understand that in many instances money may not be the first thing. You see, if you are doing something for the Kingdom of God money won't be the first priority, people will be. Allow me to give you an example.
In my town we have a federal prison and I discovered that they have a community based program within the federal prison that allows some of the inmates who are soon to be released, or who have demonstrated that they are no threat to society, to work with non profit groups on projects that uplift the community. This has a double benefit, first the non profit can obtain some badly needed talent that they cannot afford and two the inmate begins to get prepared for entering the world, establishing communication and other inter-personal skills that will help them to be a productive citizen in society. I immediately applied for this program, went through some training and shared my vision with the warden and explained how the inmates will work with me to rehabilate this home and make an example of a safe and affordable home for a low income family. The warden was impressed with this idea and approved our application to use up to 14 male inmates to advance our project. I now needed money to purchase the materials for the project and I went to the bank and explained to them what I was preparing to do and that I had a source of labor that would cost us nothing. The other benefit that God provided for me was that within this group I had very skilled people. One was a master electrician, one was a general contractor who had a very large business in a large city, the other was a master carpenter and some of the men were very good laborers. So these are the exceeding abundant blessing that come from a Faith walk. These men were so glad to get out of the confines of prison and they were on there best behavior. Moreover, I had a chance to show them the Love of Christ and give them a sense of community building.
Several of the men who worked with me wrote to me after leaving prison and told me about the impact our program had on their post prison life. One is now a church Pastor who has incorporated community development in his ministry, one opened up his own barber shop and is doing well as an entrepreneur. This is how God works, he allows your programs and Godly endeavors to help shape and build lives of people who you never knew or imagined. This is the part that I call "Above all that I could ask or think". You see in all of our works we are only going to see impart. We will never get the whole vision. But we can trust that the part that we do see in the Spirit will have far reaching benefit and blessings for us and others who the vision touches.
After acquiring the labor, I went to the local bank and explained to them how I planned to begin "Rebuilding the Walls Around The City" and the banker was moved to provide me with a small loan of $5,000 using the dilapidated house as collateral. I then wrote a grant to a foundation and I explained to them that we wanted to improve the neighborhood and that we wanted to use this one house as a demonstration model to show what could be done by the community with just a little help. Through the power of God I was able to convince the foundation to give us a grant in the amount of $40,000 and a smaller local community foundation gave us a grant in the amount of $2,500 because we explained to them how we were going to use young men from the community to help us rebuild this house and learn some home building skills. One of these young men happened to be my oldest son, who went on to receive his college degree and works with me today as my housing director. Another, blessing that I could not see when I began the visioning process. We now had the money needed to complete the task but to my point, the people came first.
After several months of working on this project many community residents, local elected officials and outside observers visited our work in the community heard our story. You see, it is very important to be able to tell your story and demonstrate your story while you are building. It's the story that compels men and women to participate, pray and cooperate with you. We had church Pastors stop by and admire our work and invite us into their churches to explain to their members how community development could be done. The newspaper came by and did a story on our work and how it was helping keep young men busy during the summer months and off the streets. I was asked to participate on radio talk shows and at conferences held by very important groups like the Kellogg Foundation and the Clinton School of Public Service. These entities also wanted to participate. We had very talented, young bright college students come in and provide free services to us. We also demonstrated to other potential investors that we were serious about what we were doing and that we had the ability to attract the things we needed to make something good happen in our community. Everybody loves a story of people organizing around a need and working to address it.
I remember mid-way through our work we had an out of town visitor come by to see what we were doing. He was a member of a family that were billionaire's. Yes, really, each of the family member were worth billions. They had gone beyond the millionaire status and were worth billions. It so happened that they were looking for a community based non profit to invest in to do community development projects and their representative had been watching us over the years and invited the family members to come to our site and visit our work. I had never walked among billionaires but the bible tells us that "Our Gift Will Bring Us Before Great Men". Our story and the demonstration of our work so compelled these billionaires that they gave us a grant in the amount of $500,000 toward future developments. Clearly, this investment has gone a long way in helping us do more housing developments. One other noticeable attribute of this investment was that we didn't have to pay the money back and when other investors found out who had given us this large sum of money, they wanted to contribute too. Some invested $100,000 and others invested much more. Even as much as $2,000,000. I could have never imagined that this one house that I had a heart to improve for a low income family would have this much compelling power. But that is what God does through us. He works in us both to do and to will his good pleasure. Also, he strengthens our hands to do the work that God has called us to do.
Well, there so much more to say about this story, but you just can't tell it all in one blog. So, I will be sharing more in the days and weeks ahead and my hope and prayer is that these real testimonies will advance your desire to move into action. First with a vision, and then take the steps to make it happen. It will be so rewarding and much more than you could ask or think. I assure you of that.
:-)
Enjoy the journey!
Friday, September 21, 2012
83 Year Old Couple Purchase Their Home By Faith
Good morning, I am sitting here with my first cup of coffee, my grey sweatshirt and baseball cap on and I have a determined spirit to get this blog out today. My mother, one of my biggest fans is holding me accountable for getting my blogs out consistently and timely and I praise God for her.
The delay for the last two days was related to a closing on a miracle. You see since I operate in the business world and people always talk about closing the deal, I like to put my Holy Ghost spin on the term and call it closing on a miracle. In short, a couple who I will call the Johnson's and are 83 years old had been trying to purchase a brand new house and they came up against some serious opposition because in the natural world the only real estate you should be looking for at that age, so people think, is in a fenced in, well manicured lot with plenty of ornaments, flags and flowers around. In short, you should be preparing for the grave. We started working with the Johnson's two years ago and they came into my office and told us of the deplorable living conditions they were living in and that they heard we help people get into new homes, especially people with limited means. I had 4 houses that I had just completed building and they were waiting for nice people like the Johnson's to purchase and move into. The thought did cross my mind ever so briefly though, that they seemed much older than my usual home purchasers, but nevertheless, this is the Kingdom of God and all things are possible if you can believe. (That's bible Y'all).
Well I asked the usual due diligence questions such as are you employed, how's your credit, etc.. etc.. etc and they told me that the only income they received was social security and it was about $1,200 per month. I said okay, let's go out and look at some houses. Now mind you $1,200 per month on a fixed income doesn't go very far these days so I could have sad right there that chances are slim to none that you will qualify for a house but you can get a Section 8 HUD voucher to live in subsidized apartments somewhere. But No, I knew in my Spirit these people were looking for homeownership and nothing less. Now, that's Faith y'all. I want this and I ain't settling for nothing else because my God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think.
So out the door we go and I notice that they are in great health, sound mind and they jump into their 1983 Buick and said they will drive themselves to the home sites and follow me. I was like, alrighty... We get to the house sites and Momma (Mrs. Johnson), begins looking in each of the four houses and she has a poker face out of this world. She looked, emotionless except for one house she saw and she said Hhhmmmphhhh. You Southerner's know that when the church mothers and family matriarchs say hhhmmmphhh, that is not a sign of a good endorsement LOL. But the very last house we walked into, no sooner that we got into the living room she stopped and with the most enthusiasm I have seen her display all day, she said very direct and firmly. This is the house. I was like Mrs. Johnson, do you want to see the rest of the house? She said that's fine, but this is the house. I said I wonder if Mrs. Johnson know that there is some buried treasurer in the back yard or something, lol. But, in all truth, I realized right then that these were very Spritual people and that while I only saw the two of them in the room, they came in with another person, the Holy Spirit. And years of walking in the Spirit has shown them how to hear his voice. "My Sheep hear my voice" (Bible).
Well that part of the miracle is completed, now comes the serious stuff. The house was selling for $85,000 and as I stated earlier, $1,200 in joint monthly income from social security does not seem to be enough to cover family living expenses, home maintenance and repairs, principal-interest-taxes and insurance. However, I am not one to stop a Faith endeavor, I proceeded with completing the application and submitted it to the government lender.
Oookaaaaayy.. This is when the war starts. You see people who only walk by sight look at things far differently from people who walk by Faith. Faith people see in 4 dimensions not just 3 and they believe the fourth dimension has far more possibilities, resources and benefits then what is seen in the natural 3 dimensional world. Well the government agency folks are only trained to see things in the three dimensional world, not the fourth. And here is what they saw. A couple who was 83 years old, strong bodies and minds but in their mature stages of life. Secondly, they saw an income that did not appear to be enough to handle the expenses associated with homeownership and lastly, how many couples at 83 years owe have the audacity to seek a 30 year mortgage. They are usually ready to ride things out, prepare for the end or getting on a waiting list for a nursing home. But no, not the Johnson's, they are living fully and have no plans to cut their blessings short. Furthermore, they want to leave their family an inheritance. One of them most noble acts of a father is to leave an inheritance for their children. They wanted their blessing and they were willing to do what it takes to obtain it.
Well, the government was finding reason after reason to reject the loan application but federal law prevents age discrimination so they could never use that reason. However, the used the credit score, we overcame that, then they used monthly income, we overcame that, then they said the house that I built was not built according to their regulations. That's when it got personal because all my houses are built in accordance with state, federal and local laws and I had documentation and inspections to prove it. However, this is where the government get's many people stopped. They wear the people down and then they find some obscure reason to put the last nail in the coffin. However, thanks be to God, I had already been down this road before so I knew exactly how to fight, what weapons to use and how to make the government pay me for all of the pain and suffering associated with a 2 1/2 year battle for this house. The question that I had however was; could the Johnson's hang in here with me? Mr. Johnson and I was having a conversation one day and I asked him if he could hang in for the long battles that may occur. He shot back with all confidence and said in all the years he has been serving the Lord, one thing he has found to be as true as the air we breathe:
So, in summary, I have to finish Part 2 of my previously posted blog and I assure you that is to come soon. But It was temporarily disrupted due to the closing of a miracle.
Try the Faith walk; it only get's gooder and gooder.
The delay for the last two days was related to a closing on a miracle. You see since I operate in the business world and people always talk about closing the deal, I like to put my Holy Ghost spin on the term and call it closing on a miracle. In short, a couple who I will call the Johnson's and are 83 years old had been trying to purchase a brand new house and they came up against some serious opposition because in the natural world the only real estate you should be looking for at that age, so people think, is in a fenced in, well manicured lot with plenty of ornaments, flags and flowers around. In short, you should be preparing for the grave. We started working with the Johnson's two years ago and they came into my office and told us of the deplorable living conditions they were living in and that they heard we help people get into new homes, especially people with limited means. I had 4 houses that I had just completed building and they were waiting for nice people like the Johnson's to purchase and move into. The thought did cross my mind ever so briefly though, that they seemed much older than my usual home purchasers, but nevertheless, this is the Kingdom of God and all things are possible if you can believe. (That's bible Y'all).
Well I asked the usual due diligence questions such as are you employed, how's your credit, etc.. etc.. etc and they told me that the only income they received was social security and it was about $1,200 per month. I said okay, let's go out and look at some houses. Now mind you $1,200 per month on a fixed income doesn't go very far these days so I could have sad right there that chances are slim to none that you will qualify for a house but you can get a Section 8 HUD voucher to live in subsidized apartments somewhere. But No, I knew in my Spirit these people were looking for homeownership and nothing less. Now, that's Faith y'all. I want this and I ain't settling for nothing else because my God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think.
So out the door we go and I notice that they are in great health, sound mind and they jump into their 1983 Buick and said they will drive themselves to the home sites and follow me. I was like, alrighty... We get to the house sites and Momma (Mrs. Johnson), begins looking in each of the four houses and she has a poker face out of this world. She looked, emotionless except for one house she saw and she said Hhhmmmphhhh. You Southerner's know that when the church mothers and family matriarchs say hhhmmmphhh, that is not a sign of a good endorsement LOL. But the very last house we walked into, no sooner that we got into the living room she stopped and with the most enthusiasm I have seen her display all day, she said very direct and firmly. This is the house. I was like Mrs. Johnson, do you want to see the rest of the house? She said that's fine, but this is the house. I said I wonder if Mrs. Johnson know that there is some buried treasurer in the back yard or something, lol. But, in all truth, I realized right then that these were very Spritual people and that while I only saw the two of them in the room, they came in with another person, the Holy Spirit. And years of walking in the Spirit has shown them how to hear his voice. "My Sheep hear my voice" (Bible).
Well that part of the miracle is completed, now comes the serious stuff. The house was selling for $85,000 and as I stated earlier, $1,200 in joint monthly income from social security does not seem to be enough to cover family living expenses, home maintenance and repairs, principal-interest-taxes and insurance. However, I am not one to stop a Faith endeavor, I proceeded with completing the application and submitted it to the government lender.
Oookaaaaayy.. This is when the war starts. You see people who only walk by sight look at things far differently from people who walk by Faith. Faith people see in 4 dimensions not just 3 and they believe the fourth dimension has far more possibilities, resources and benefits then what is seen in the natural 3 dimensional world. Well the government agency folks are only trained to see things in the three dimensional world, not the fourth. And here is what they saw. A couple who was 83 years old, strong bodies and minds but in their mature stages of life. Secondly, they saw an income that did not appear to be enough to handle the expenses associated with homeownership and lastly, how many couples at 83 years owe have the audacity to seek a 30 year mortgage. They are usually ready to ride things out, prepare for the end or getting on a waiting list for a nursing home. But no, not the Johnson's, they are living fully and have no plans to cut their blessings short. Furthermore, they want to leave their family an inheritance. One of them most noble acts of a father is to leave an inheritance for their children. They wanted their blessing and they were willing to do what it takes to obtain it.
Well, the government was finding reason after reason to reject the loan application but federal law prevents age discrimination so they could never use that reason. However, the used the credit score, we overcame that, then they used monthly income, we overcame that, then they said the house that I built was not built according to their regulations. That's when it got personal because all my houses are built in accordance with state, federal and local laws and I had documentation and inspections to prove it. However, this is where the government get's many people stopped. They wear the people down and then they find some obscure reason to put the last nail in the coffin. However, thanks be to God, I had already been down this road before so I knew exactly how to fight, what weapons to use and how to make the government pay me for all of the pain and suffering associated with a 2 1/2 year battle for this house. The question that I had however was; could the Johnson's hang in here with me? Mr. Johnson and I was having a conversation one day and I asked him if he could hang in for the long battles that may occur. He shot back with all confidence and said in all the years he has been serving the Lord, one thing he has found to be as true as the air we breathe:
Luke 21:19
King James Version (KJV)
19 In your patience possess ye your souls.
That's exactly what he said to me and he said if we fight, we fight all the way and we fight together. I was like, YESSSS, I got a soldier with me on the field. So fight we did. It took 2 years of research, paperwork and then finally we had an appeal hearing with the Government which closely resembles a court trial without all of the cost of lawyers etc..etc.. I had to defend my client the Johnson's and I knew with the Faith that the three of us possessed we would be victorious. And indeed we were.
So yesterday I was at the real estate closing signing papers and passing the keys to the new home to Mr. and Mrs. Johnson. Today they own a brand new 3 bedroom 2 bath brick home with a house payment of only $392.00 per month. Now tell me where you gonna get a newly built brick home for that kind of money these days. (Miracle 1). I got compensated way more than I thought I would have for handling this transaction (Miracle 2), and the person at the government whom I had been battling with gave me a congratulatory hug after the transaction was completed.(Miracle 3). My son Andre Stephens Jr. was with me from start to finish on this transaction and he now has witnessed how Faith produces miracles and if you want to win the Kingdom of God, you have to be willing to use your faith and fight for it.
Try the Faith walk; it only get's gooder and gooder.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
From Zero to Millions (Part 1)
Let me first start off by saying that this is not about using the gospel to enrich myself or you. Nor for me to tell you some real sweet story then at the end ask you to send me a check for a prayed over cloth. When I discuss money here it is money that I raised by faith and used for the building up of my community, not money that went into my personal bank account. Having given that disclaimer I can now move on and say with all humility that I was simply the tool that God used to make this happen and all the GLORY goes to him. Everything I report here in the blog is true and verfiable and I purpose to help people understand that "God is able to do exceeding, abundantly above all we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.
Some of what I will be sharing today comes directly from my personal journal which I began about 10 years ago. The journaling began as a result of me attempting to understand my purpose and to clarify my call at a very tumultuous time in my life economically.
Excerpted from Journal entry 3-4-2003
Today, the executive committee of my board would make a decision that would be the foundation block for a major faith move in community development. About one month ago a community resident came to me to discuss a grave concern she had with a house where she and her siblings had grown up in. It was in total disrepair and the city was in the process of condemning the property and tearing it down. She was grieved because there were so many memories and emotional attachments to the house and her parents, now deceased, left that property to the children; all whom have abandoned it except her. She asked if there was something that I could recommend to help her save the structure from destruction. I agreed to visit the property and see if there was something that could be done.
As I walked through the house and assessed the situation, I thought to myself, this house is beyond repair and it would cost a fortune to bring it up to livable standards. I went back to the community resident and shared my sentiments and our conversation evolved into some creative methods to save the property and to relieve her from an obligation to the city to either bring the house up to code or pay $5,000 to tear it down. Up to this point my non profit community development company had not done any housing projects and I thought, boy this would be a huge undertaking but it might work. I prayed about it and asked God to show me what it could be versus what I saw. You see in order for our faith to work we have to see through a whole different set of lenses. We have to see things as they will be versus what they are. It's called walking by faith and not by sight. In any case over a few weeks I began to see a four bedroom house with a nice lawn, painted interior, new roof, etc. etc.. But how in the world would I go from seeing something in the spirit to bringing it into manifestation.
More to come in Part 2 of my blog tomorrow.
Some of what I will be sharing today comes directly from my personal journal which I began about 10 years ago. The journaling began as a result of me attempting to understand my purpose and to clarify my call at a very tumultuous time in my life economically.
Excerpted from Journal entry 3-4-2003
Today, the executive committee of my board would make a decision that would be the foundation block for a major faith move in community development. About one month ago a community resident came to me to discuss a grave concern she had with a house where she and her siblings had grown up in. It was in total disrepair and the city was in the process of condemning the property and tearing it down. She was grieved because there were so many memories and emotional attachments to the house and her parents, now deceased, left that property to the children; all whom have abandoned it except her. She asked if there was something that I could recommend to help her save the structure from destruction. I agreed to visit the property and see if there was something that could be done.
As I walked through the house and assessed the situation, I thought to myself, this house is beyond repair and it would cost a fortune to bring it up to livable standards. I went back to the community resident and shared my sentiments and our conversation evolved into some creative methods to save the property and to relieve her from an obligation to the city to either bring the house up to code or pay $5,000 to tear it down. Up to this point my non profit community development company had not done any housing projects and I thought, boy this would be a huge undertaking but it might work. I prayed about it and asked God to show me what it could be versus what I saw. You see in order for our faith to work we have to see through a whole different set of lenses. We have to see things as they will be versus what they are. It's called walking by faith and not by sight. In any case over a few weeks I began to see a four bedroom house with a nice lawn, painted interior, new roof, etc. etc.. But how in the world would I go from seeing something in the spirit to bringing it into manifestation.
More to come in Part 2 of my blog tomorrow.
Monday, September 17, 2012
Practical steps to Increased Faith
This morning is pouring down rain and I am loving it immensely. Drinking a fresh cup of coffee, sitting as close to outdoors as I can without getting totally drenched. Well, let me be honest, I am sitting in my RV with the windows open and watching and smelling the rain. That's about as close as I am getting. But a very compelling thought occurred to me as I was going through one of the most important morning exercises. I call it pondering and it usually occurs after morning prayers and meditation. It's when I let my mind relax and open myself for whatever the Holy Spirit introduces to me at that moment. Today, I felt compelled to discuss the more distinct elements of using Faith and how important it is to have ourselves in position to activate our faith.
I have found that the best way to exercise your faith is to first know who you are. What is the call that God wants you to respond to on earth. What impact are you to make during your short time on earth and in what environment should it occur. I contend that many people who begin the Faith journey do it as a result of a testimony that they heard about someone getting a new car, house, job or something else material. And that's all well and good. However, our Faith has a far more supreme roll on earth. We are to build the kingdom of God. Houses, cars and jobs are a very small part of that agenda and they are only to be used as a means to and end. The bigger purpose is building the kingdom of God.
Now, you may ask, what is the Kingdom of God. Without getting into a theological mind numbing explanation I will simply say serving you brother or your sisters needs and letting the light of Jesus shine through you. So, Brother, you may ask, can you break it down a little more than that? Sure I can. It means having a safe place for children to be nurtured and cared for after school, it means, creating safe neighborhoods, protecting God's environment, providing provisions for the poor and hungry, advocating for laws that provide for social justice, engaging people in life long learning, spending time with young men who want to find themselves but don't know how. Teaching parenting skills to single parent moms. Showing people how to access free government programs that will help them get their needs met. etc. etc.. etc..
In short, the kingdom of God is meeting needs and spreading the love of Christ throughout the world and facilitating the spreading of the gospel so that people can become Christians and then begin their own journey in Kingdom Building.
But one thing is very important in making this a reality and it relates to this following scripture.
1 John 3:21
My prayer for you today is that you obtain all that you need to live a prosperous and satisfying life in Christ.
Enjoy the journey and live stress free
I have found that the best way to exercise your faith is to first know who you are. What is the call that God wants you to respond to on earth. What impact are you to make during your short time on earth and in what environment should it occur. I contend that many people who begin the Faith journey do it as a result of a testimony that they heard about someone getting a new car, house, job or something else material. And that's all well and good. However, our Faith has a far more supreme roll on earth. We are to build the kingdom of God. Houses, cars and jobs are a very small part of that agenda and they are only to be used as a means to and end. The bigger purpose is building the kingdom of God.
Now, you may ask, what is the Kingdom of God. Without getting into a theological mind numbing explanation I will simply say serving you brother or your sisters needs and letting the light of Jesus shine through you. So, Brother, you may ask, can you break it down a little more than that? Sure I can. It means having a safe place for children to be nurtured and cared for after school, it means, creating safe neighborhoods, protecting God's environment, providing provisions for the poor and hungry, advocating for laws that provide for social justice, engaging people in life long learning, spending time with young men who want to find themselves but don't know how. Teaching parenting skills to single parent moms. Showing people how to access free government programs that will help them get their needs met. etc. etc.. etc..
In short, the kingdom of God is meeting needs and spreading the love of Christ throughout the world and facilitating the spreading of the gospel so that people can become Christians and then begin their own journey in Kingdom Building.
But one thing is very important in making this a reality and it relates to this following scripture.
1 John 3:21
21 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God 22 and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. 23 And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. 24 The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
First, we can receive from God anything we ask, if we believe in the name of Jesus Christ, keep his commandments and do what pleases him. Does that mean we will need to be perfect to get our Faith working, Absolutely not, just read the bible and you will find fault in every person who exercised faith. But, you endeavor to do good and each day you have a heart to improve and make a difference in someones else life and show good toward humanity. If you follow after Jesus then your desires are focused on his kingdom. Not cars, houses, money etc etc.. but people. Those other things will come as a Result of focusing on the needs of other first (The Kingdom).
Matthew 6:33
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Enjoy the journey and live stress free
Peace!
Friday, September 14, 2012
The Power of Quiet
In quiet and confidence is you strength
Today I awoke very early just to sit still and ponder. Thinking is something I have grown fond of and it helps me to sort out the many twist and turns of life, the challenges, and the rewards. I thought about the many times that I struggled with fear and new ideas. Then one day I came upon a biblical scripture that spoke of strength that comes from quiet and confidence. This seemed at first to be a silly notion but it came from the bible; Isaiah 30:15 to be exact.
Hmmm. I thought to myself, what would happen if I would just learn to sit still and be quiet over my problems, versus thinking that I needed to solve every single problem with a mental solution. Why must 1 + 1 always equal 2. Many of my problems require resources that I do not have readily available today. Which means that a miracle will have to happen for the answer to manifest.
Well, at first I wasn't exactly very quiet because my mind was filled with noise. But soon I was able to quiet it down and eventually I focused on a particular promise. You see it was a simple problem, but one that was very vexing to me. My riding lawn mower had blown its engine and it was destroyed for sure. I have several properties and my company owns several properties and rather than paying for a lawn care service, my son and I usually do the lawn care ourselves. It is relaxing to me, especially since I am riding. But now with the mower broke, I was watching grass growing higher and higher and my concern was that if something doesn't happen soon I am going to need a BIG John Deere tractor to bush hog this grass. (Bush Hog) a large cutting apparatus that cuts tall grasses, usually acres at a time.
The other problem that I faced is that if I paid someone to cut and get this grass under control, then it would have cost in excess of $500.00 and that would be a nice down payment on a new riding mower. In any case, I did not have the $500.00 so it didn't matter. Again, 1 + 1 did not equal 2. So I decided to put my new found scripture to the test. I sat still and didn't do anything. Well, I did have a few fleeting thoughts about how to solve the problem, but, it wasn't like worrying about it at all. There was a peace that came with it and a confidence that even though I don't know where this is going to come from, this problem will be solved.
Sitting still is not easy y'all.. (as I smile to my hyperactive middle aged self). The world and everything around us demands movement all the time. The more we move the more we need to sustain that movement. The more you need to sustain it, the more you need to spend. It's all part of a plan to keep the economy bumping along but, I digress, more on that later.
But here is the real miracle. Yesterday, after going to the site where I have four homes that were covered with grass I made up my mind that something had to be done. As I was driving back to my office my mind began to race and as I was coming through the city I passed a lawn and garden dealership and there was this bright, clean John Deere mower sitting in the parking lot. I thought it a bit strange because it was not a John Deere Dealership but boy did that lawn tractor look good. I went inside to inquire about it and the very nice sales lady gave me details on the mower and said that it could be mine with no money down. Wow, just the kind of deal I needed because 1 plus 1 wasn't equaling 2. We talked about it a little more and I found out it was a well kept used mower. I was like who cares about it being used, I got grass growing up to the roof lines of my houses, all I want to know is can it cut grass and a lot of it.
Well anyone who knows about lawn tractors knows that John Deere is the best. So she has someone start it for me, did some paperwork and by the end of the day I was cutting grass with my new (Used) lawn tractor. Miracle!!! Yeeeaaaahhhhh!!!
This may seem so simple, but it is proof enough for me that there is power in quiet. It may not manifest itself immediately but somehow it drives out fear and develops confidence. So I cleared the way for my faith to work and indeed it did.
So in summary, (1) I got quiet (Prayer), (2) I drove to the site and saw the condition of the properties and saw a need (Visual), (3) I had a made up mind for a solution (Action) and God brought in the answer and directed my path to the source of my need.
I hope and pray that this makes sense to you but even if it doesn't, step out on your faith and take the time to discover the Power and Confidence gained from Quiet.
Peace!
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