Lions from God in my dreams… Part 1

I remember about eight years ago having a dream were I was walking up a grassy hill at night. At the top of the hill was the beginning of a dark forest. As I was walking up the hill, I saw two very large male lions running out of it toward me. And, they were running fast. However, there was something unique about these lions; they had bright light coming out from their eyes that illuminated everything they looked at. It reminded me of headlights on a car. In the dream, I assumed they were coming to eat me so I did a funny thing. I started to fly up in the air. I assumed that if I was flying they would not eat me. However, interestingly enough I was only able to stay in the air briefly. So as I began plummeting toward the earth I had another idea. I will go under the ground. There is no way they can get me there—I thought. Unfortunately, just as I was not able to stay in the air long neither was I able to stay under the ground. And, as I began to ascend from up under the earth toward the two powerful creatures I awakened from my slumber.
Last week I had another dream. That’s eight years later. In it I was walking up a hill in the daytime toward what looked like an unfinished house. While heading toward it I looked back down the hill. And, what did I see running toward me? Two large male lions! As I reached the unfinished house I looked back and the Lions had caught up with me. However, an interesting thing happened. They did not run to me to eat me but they both ran to the opposite corners of the house from where I was standing. The side of the house I was on had no visible entrance. And, even though I could not see entrances where the lions stood, it seemed as though they were blocking the way in the house. It looked like they had strategically aligned themselves to keep me from entering the house. So I did what I normally do when I see lions in my dreams. I fly! I faked to one entrance. And, one of the lions on the far side of the house ran around it to join up with the other one to prevent me from entering it. Then I ran to the area where the lion had vacated and I started flying away. As I did in the previous dream I woke up. However, the interesting thing about this dream is I am currently staying with a Pastor in Minnesota until I can get on my feet and ready for the church plant. In this room where I am sleeping they have posted on the wall two Narnia posters. And, on both of the posters are pictures of Aslan the creator of Narnia. The lions are here…
Interpretations to come!

What will the church look like in 10 years.

I had a great time at the Start conference. I was able to meet Leonard Sweet @lensweet , who happened to be from West Virginia. And, I was fortunate to meet with Pastor Choco @PastorChoco again who is the Shepard of the largest church in the Assemblies of God. Choco always makes this one point that may be controversial but I wholeheartedly agree with it: He says, “I can’t sacrifice the mission to buy a building!” Interestingly, he has the money to buy a building in Humboldt Park, which is located in Downtown Chicago. But, he argues that when you have an urban church you need to build campuses to help people rather than investing in a single church building. What is more amazing was the day before Lenard Sweet basically said the same thing. Both men come from different sides of the “railroad tracks” so to speak, but it seemed that God was speaking the same thing through both men even though they expressed what he was saying to them in different ways. What they both agreed upon was that the future church would be the church of the community and not a church on an island. Pastor Choco called it being a Pastor of the community. He believes that a Pastor is the shepherd of the community whether the people in that community goes to their church or not. Lenard Sweet called this concept the Artisan church. He referenced the term Swiss cheese. He added whether people know it or not in Switzerland there are specific types of cheese for each town. The cheese itself, in his words, “represent the manifestation of the town itself,” he believes the church that is effective in the future will do the same. They also agreed in the empowerment of the body of believers. For instance, Pastor Choco has a ministry where members of the church can have their own ministry as long as it is summited to the training and instruction of the church there exists 400 some ministries in his church. Lenard Sweet likewise argued that the future church will have people in it who have a ministry to the church and a ministry to the world. Great stuff. This was just a tidbit of what was shared. It was awesome and I was encouraged. Check out @MacDwyer http://twitpic.com/76m252

I have discovered the purpose of this life!!

The Holy Spirit revealed to a friend and me the other day while he was preparing for a debate what I believe the purpose of this life is. This same friend developed this idea and used it to defeat the head of the Minnesota Atheist Association in a debate. This truth I am about to tell you about, in my opinion, will revolutionize the church. And, I am not even joking. This truth, like salvation, ties the entire bible together. It is so simple, yet I believe if God reveals this truth to you, everything you have ever went through in life will make sense. It may be the biggest theological discovery in the last 100 years. This truth answers the one question skeptic’s use in their attempt to debunk the idea of a loving God. “How can a loving and all power God let evil exist? This truth gives purpose to pain and suffering. It answers the question of why sometimes God does not answer our prayers: Why we are not healed, or get the money we need, or the job we want. This truth even gives us clarity on why we have to turn the other cheek. It makes the beatitudes make sense. It even gives us clarity on why God allowed Adam and Eve eat the apple. It even gives clarity to why we have to obey Christ’s command even to the point of death. It even explains why Job had to suffer, why Joseph had to be betrayed, why David had to struggle before becoming king. This truth is depicted in every single story of the bible. Here is how my friend Pastor Marty Bownik interpreted what God said.

"Martin Bownik
God is more interested in our Character Development then He is our comfort or convenience. The tools He uses for it are the same tools Satan meant to destroy us with. Pain, suffering, and loss. God turned them around on Satan, and used these things to show that His followers how they can remain faithful in the midst of all these. He showed the pattern to follow. His Son Jesus Christ. How great is our God!!!"

What is the point of life? Character Development!!! Whose character? Christ’s. Everything in the bible points to this one truth. God wants to develop our character in this life so that we will be responsible to handle our obligations in the next. This is my mission in life.

Mary's Place

Things are going well in Minnesota. I have been putting job applications in everywhere. The economy is tough even for a fella with a MBA. I have a couple of leads: one at North Central University and the other at Minnesota Teen Challenge. While I am waiting on those to come through, I will have to find something to bring in revenue. I am staying with my great friend, Pastor Marty Bownik, Senior Pastor of the Edge Christian Fellowship in Rodgers MN-- http://www.edgecf.org/ I am on a Sabbatical from Ministry until January—that means I am on a break. I will start ministering again early sometime in January. It is interesting how many people remember me playing football for the Vikings. It’s been 11 years since I last played. I was asked at the gym to do a radio promo and an autograph session for a discount for a gym membership. It’s all good because it’s the first time in a while I have been able to associate with nonbelievers. If I am successful at getting them to come to church, I am going to try and hit every Anytime Fitness in the area and get people more people to come. I miss Dawniqua and I miss my kids. I will be seeing them this weekend, thank God. This morning, I was able to serve the homeless and transition shelter called Mary’s Place, which is located in Downtown Minneapolis right behind Target Field-- http://www.sharingandcaringhands.org/MarysPlace.htm. This ministry is amazing they serve three meals a day feeding 1,000 people daily. They also give out food clothes, and they also serve as a transitional home for single mothers. The place is awesome. What stood out the most was 94% of the donations they receive goes directly to helping people. WoW! Dawniqua and I have been discussing a similar ministry, but it will be specifically for women and children enslaved to sex trafficking. This will be a ministry “Endurance Church” will provide in addition to the normal kingdom expansion business. It is time to get busy. What is interesting is Minneapolis has the best social services programs in the country. And, during the recession people are moving in from all over the country because of them. However, they are afraid. Why? Because if we begin cutting back, as a country, social service programs may be the first to go, and these homeless people are thinking, “who will help us?” Help us Lord!
I am living life. I am a believer and I am stepping out in faith. I pray that God allows me to minister to the people of Minneapolis for years to come. Oh, Dawniqua met a lady at Regent who is from Minneapolis. She is in the divinity program. She is about to get married to Ron Henderson they call him Mr. Fitness. It is interesting how God is bringing all of these Athletes together…I wonder what He is up to…?

Crushed dreams and answered prayers!

In 1993, I was a graduating senior at South Charleston High School, which is a public school in South Charleston West Virginia. At that time, I was the West Virginia High School Football player of the year, and I was also nominated a blue-chip High School All-American by national sports reporters. I received a full football scholarship to Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach Florida where I played four years and eventually dominated my competition. I played so well I caught the eyes of many professional football scouts. I was projected to get drafted in the fourth round of the NFL draft to the Pittsburgh Steelers. At the mid-point of my senior year, only 4 quarterbacks had thrown the ball in my direction; I intercepted all four of them. Going into the second half of the season we were facing the best quarterback in our league, Howard University’s Ted White, who was eventually drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs. He held numerous records in our conference. Not only that, the year before he had thrown 7 touchdowns against us in a 63 – 13 rout. (None of those touchdowns where on me by the way) At the start of the game, the question of the day was how many touchdowns would Ted throw that day? Well, I am happy to say that Ted had the courage to throw my way, but like the other Quarterbacks that year who had dared to throw my way, I had picked him off just the same and revealed in the glory. Ted White was not simply a courageous man, but he was a determined one as well because his draft status was being judged based upon his performance in this very game. Thus, not to be shown up Ted threw another long bomb in my direction, yet this was my day, my year, my time, and I intercepted this record-breaking quarterback for a second time that day. Ted decided after the second interception he would not throw the ball in my direction again. So the test of wills had ended, and I had come out victorious. However, an interesting thing happened following the second interception, after extending my body to dive and snatch the ball out of the air and away from my opponent I stood up in the end zone to celebrate my victory with the traditional end zone dance. It was there in the middle of my celebratory dance my future was forever altered. As my body was gyrating and contorting I stretch, strained, and finally tore my groin in two pieces. Believe it or not, I was unaware I had injured myself until the next Monday in the training room. When I became aware my groin was ripped in two, a million questions came to my mind. But, the number one was Why God? I was a young Christian then, and I did not understand why God would do this to me. I barely finished out the rest of the football season, and as a result of my injury, my draft status plummeted. On draft day my name was not called. Fortunately, my agent made a couple of calls, and I was picked up as a free agent by the Minnesota Vikings, even though I was rehabbing intensely, my groin was still not healed. My situation looked beyond hopeless. I was called to tryout to make Minnesota’s 53 man roster even though they had drafted three other people who played my same position and picked up two other veteran players who also played my same position one of them being former Super Bowl MVP Larry Brown. Like I said, my situation was hopeless. Interestingly, I impressed the coaches more than any other player that year except for Randy Moss that is. There I was with one leg and trusting God that He would follow through on His promise. Do you know what happened next? I was cut. Yep, I was the last man cut on the roster. But, even though I was cut something inside of me would not allow me to trust my circumstances more than I was trusting in God’s promise. As soon as I return home from Minnesota I received a call from my agent that the Green bay Packer wanted to pick me up. Off I went to Green bay. I was the last man signed to the practice squad. I was there on the squad for two days when the unthinkable happened. The stating linebacker tore his ACL. When it happened I did not think anything about it. But, I soon realized because I was the last person to be picked up, I was the first person to be cut. The next day I was back in West Virginia. It was there that my mother reaffirmed to me that God told her that I would make it in the NFL. So, two weeks into the season who do you think called my house? The Minnesota Vikings called me back and asked me to play on their team. And, for the next two and a half years I did just that, starting the last six games of my career and even being named most valuable player for one of them.

How he saved me!

I was raised in the church. However at age 17 when I developed into an elite athlete my popularity led me away from what I knew to be true. The more popular I became the more distance grew between God and me. I eventually received a full scholarship to Bethune-Cookman College after Notre Dame denied me one. It was probably pride, but I refused to accept a scholarship from all the other FBS schools that offered me a one. Anyway, at Bethune I completely fell into a sinful lifestyle. However, during my dark days God sent a man named Brian Faircloth to try and bring me back to his love. Every time I would leave my dorm up to no good I would see Brain there telling me that, “God had a plan for my life.” I did not want to hear it. I wanted to sin; I felt that I needed the pleasure to alleviate the pain. However, God’s love is relentless. Brain would not leave me alone. It got so bad that when I was on one side of the campus Brain would see me and call out my name and all my friends would laugh and joke me. One day I had had enough. Brain came up to me again trying to win me back to God, and I cursed him out. Brain got the message and left me alone for about two weeks. One day as I was in my dorm playing video games he called me and told me that something was about to happen to me so he called to pray for me. During his prayer he began to speak in tongues. It was the second time I had heard them. And, for the first time in my life I heard God speak to me. He said, “Listen to him he is praying for you.” That night I went to a club. At the club a brutal fight broke out during the fight eight players were stabbed. One of them was stabbed to death. His name was Eric Samford. Ironically he went home a week before this event to see his mom and his daughter. While he was home his mom asked him why he had come home. And, he responded to his mom, “I don’t know? I just wanted to see you.” Sadly, Eric and all my teammates were injured because they followed me into the fray. I was a leader of the team. And, they were just following their leader into battle. As a result, one of them died and two others would never play football again. The interesting thing was that I was the one who was supposed to die. The killer was coming after me. I was fighting his friend. As we were fighting at the front of the club I heard gun shots screaming. My friend grabbed me at pushed me outside. As I looked around at the chaos I saw blood everywhere. But, the killer never made it to me. God spared my life. And, I believe it was Brain’s faithfulness and humility that God used to spared my life. That night I feel to my knees after hearing about Eric death and said to God, “Lord whatever you want from me, I will do.”

Preparation

I slept until almost 10 last night. I needed the rest. I need more; nevertheless, I will be looking for employment starting tomorrow. I am believing God for a variety of things right now. But, foremost among them is that my relationship with him will be the primary focus of my life from this point on. I know there are a lot of things I have to accomplish. But, none of them matter unless like Moses said,"If Thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence." I am not doing any Ministry for about three months. I need the time. I was told that I am currently facing 4 of the 10 most stressful things a person can face; my score fell into the range of sickness, death, suicide. And, as you can see I am still breathing -thank the lord for that. I am not sick-thank the Lord and Dawniqua Linyear for that, and I am not foolish enough to commit suicide. I have to much to do for those whom God loves. I am in a place of healing, a place of refuge. I am in no condition to give; I only need to receive. Being a Pentecostal I believe the Holy Spirit works through me an communicates with me. I will be writing everything that I believe God is telling me. Whom I will marry, What will be the name of my church, what denomination I will be under, how I should pray for my kids, Where I will be employed, How I will survive the winter, How I will get around with no car. I need God to move for me in all of these areas and more. I think the next Blog I will start with my testimony and the dream I had that changed my life forever.

Endure

Missions Support

February 18, 2011

Dear Friends:
I hope and trust that this letter finds you well. I wanted to share two exciting opportunities I have been afforded by my local church, Calvary Revival Church, to serve on the mission field.
This summer, I will be embarking on a missions’ trip to The Dominican Republic from June 20th-June 27th 2011. I will work very closely with Pastor Ruben M. Dominguez Sr., and his wife Vickie. Pastor Dominguez is the president of H.O.P.E Dominican Republic, a ministry geared to Help Others Pursue Eternity through evangelism, training and benevolence. He is also the Pastor of Iglesia Evangelica Vida en Cristo and the overseer of a village church and an inner city church in the Dominican Republic. While in the Dominican Republic, we will have the opportunity to conduct leadership training with the staff of Iglesia Evangelica vida en Cristo as well as helping out with their Vocational Bible School (VBS) camps throughout the week. We will also be involved in their main worship services during the week and looking forward to see how God will use the team as we labor with the DR church family.
I also will be embarking on a trip to Bosnia, a country that still remains a multi-religious, multi-ethnic, war torn, impoverished and broken land. I will be working alongside Minister Vanja Bule, Director of the National Camps, called EMEK BERAKA. For two months each summer, this camp ministers to all age and social groups (children, teens, youth, adults, leaders, and poor people). Emek Beraka normally hosts about 400 campers, an average of about 50-80 participants per camp. It is worth noting that Bosnia and Herzegovina have fewer than 400 evangelical believers in the whole country. Most of the people that come through the camps are unchurched and have not heard the Gospel of Christ. While in Bosnia, we will have the opportunity to help Minister Bule, along with the Emek Beraka staff in whatever capacity they need for us to serve. Our end goal is to share the Gospel with the teens and youth that will attend these camps.

Here is my request:
•Your prayerful consideration of giving financially to help meet these needs:
A. The estimated budget for the Dominican Republic trip, which includes airfare, transportation while in the DR, accommodation, and meals, is $1500.00. Checks can be mailed to me but made payable to Calvary Revival Church and in the memo section, if you could write my name and the mission, e.g., Jane Doe-DR Contribution. Our deadline to have money turned in is April 15th.
B. The estimated budget for the Bosnia trip, which includes airfare, transportation, and meals, is $2000.00. Any support from you will be greatly appreciated. Checks can be mailed to me or CRC, but made payable to Calvary Revival Church and in the memo section, please write my name and the mission, e.g., Jane Doe-Bosnia Contribution. Our deadline to have money turned in is April 15th.

• Should you desire to mail the check directly to the church, please see details below:
Calvary Revival Church
Strategic Outreach Ministries
5833 Poplar Hall Drive
Norfolk, VA 23502
Attention: Dr. Towera Nyirenda

• Your prayer for traveling mercies, ministry opportunities, and good health as we get ready for the trip and while in each country.

In the event that I raise money above the estimated budget, I will make a contribution to any needs the VBS camps or Iglesia Evangelica Vida en Cristo may have to help offset some of their expenses.
If you have any questions or would like more information about the trip, please feel free to contact the Director of Outreach, Dr. Towera Nyirenda at tnyirenda@crcglobal.org or (757) 321-9711.
Thank you for affording me this opportunity to share this letter with you.


Grateful,

Some pics from the past!!!

If God can turn a Shepard into a king, then he can use me for anything he wants...

PHd @Regent

I am trying to get back into the PHd program at Regent University. Keep me in prayer. I had to drop out of the program to deal with family issues the week before the first day of residency last spring. Please pray that I can glorify God through this process. ant Ecclesial Leadership Major Designed to advance the academic study of organizational leadership in ecclesial contexts, the Ecclesial Leadership major explores the past, present and future of organizational leadership in ecclesial contexts through a multi-disciplinary study combining the fields of leadership studies, organizational research, exegetical analysis, philosophy, theology, sociology, historical criticism and futures studies. Even though this major includes the historic disciplines of theology, the focus remains on the unique and particular contexts that ecclesial leadership and organizations face. Students will be prepared to teach organizational leadership, and in particular ecclesial leadership and organizational design at the university level or conduct research in association with ecclesial groups, seminaries, non-profits and missional groups. The Ecclesial Leadership major uses a cohort model that incorporates interaction with an instructor and other students. Major Specific Outcomes Ph.D. students enrolled in the Ecclesial Leadership Major will: conduct and report research on ecclesial leadership and organizational contexts demonstrate a doctoral understanding of historic, present and emerging models and approaches of ecclesial leadership design curricula for the furtherance of ecclesial leadership education

What God is doing...

Wow, I wish I could put into words what God is doing...Not now...not yet. But, the stars are aligning. I would ask you to pray for me that what ever obstacles the enemy has placed in front of me that I would trust God to remove them and that I would leave no blessing on the table. Man, I feel like I am at the precipice of walking into my destiny, but I need God to move majorly for me so that it can happen...