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Chosen City Church
13925 Erwin Rd.
Charlotte, NC 28273
Chosen City Church Sermons
It's In The Word: Testify! | Revelation 12:11 | Pastor Walter Bowers Jr.
We examine the concept of testifying about our faith journey and how our personal stories become powerful spiritual weapons against the enemy. The blood of Jesus and our testimonies work together to defeat satanic forces in our lives.
• Revelation 12:11 shows believers overcome through the blood of the Lamb and word of their testimony
• God doesn't personally battle Satan because they're not equals – our enemies are lightweight to Him
• 1 John 5:4 promises that everyone born of God overcomes the world
• Sin exposes us but the blood covers us, starting in Genesis with Adam and Eve
• Our testimonies demonstrate God's faithfulness despite our failures and shortcomings
• Changing your circle can dramatically alter your spiritual trajectory
• Personal struggles become powerful testimonies when shared authentically
• Romans 8:28 proves all experiences work together for good in God's hands
• Survivor's guilt can be healed through understanding God's purpose for your life
• Parents' prayers have extraordinary power to protect children in spiritual warfare
The enemy is defeated by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony. Don't be ashamed to share what God has brought you through - your story is a weapon that will help defeat the enemy in someone else's life.
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Intro and outro created by Joe Anderson Jr. of Truflava Productions
God, thank you for your holy and righteous presence in this place. God, we need a word. We need a word from you. Speak, lord, like only you can Deliver, like only you can Transform, like only you can. And, oh, lord, when it's all said and done, on today, we'll be careful to give your name all the glory, honor and praise. It's in the powerful name of Jesus we pray. Let the people of God say amen, amen, amen To God, be the glory to God, be the glory to God, be the glory, amen, listen, family.
Speaker 1:We have been in a sermon series simply called it's in the Word and we've been dealing with concepts that are in the word that I believe that the body of Christ should focus on more intentionally if we want to experience God's power in our life. The first week we dealt with it's in the word and we just literally dealt with the power of the word and reminded everybody that the word is clear, that Jesus is the word of God made flesh, and part of that reminder was that I said I want to encourage everybody that I serve to get back to the point where you're bringing your paper bible uh to church, because it's just a simple reminder that I need to carry Jesus with me everywhere that I go. And then the next week we talked about it's in the word prophesy, and we were reminded that if, as the Holy Spirit has filled all of us who believe and those who have been filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, we ought to be able to hear from God and then be able to speak life in the dead situation. As a matter of fact, here's a pop quiz. Let me hear you just prophesy about your future. Go ahead, open your mouth out of your belly. Just say something good, as God has given you utterance. See, y'all got scared right there. Come on now. I got to be something that out. Somebody will say I'm gonna live and not die. Somebody will say I'm the head and not the tail. Somebody will say I'm coming out of this. God is not done with me. Yet prophesy, speak to this atmosphere. Y'all gonna help me today.
Speaker 1:Just go open your mouth on a memorial day weekend, because you have been waiting on the preacher, but when the reality of your deliverance is that it's in your belly, it's in your mouth. Try that one more time. I want you to say something that comes from the Bible, something that you feel from the spirit about your family. Let's try it one more time on the count of three One, two, three. Out of your mouth now. Yeah, there it is Out of your mouth. Yeah, you got to teach the children. Out of your mouth. There it is mouth, there it is out of your mouth, out of your mouth. Out of bernard, out of your mouth. Man of god, out of your mouth, or out of your mouth. Look, I see you and your son at the same time. Look at god. Both of them right, right, out of your mouth, out of your mouth, right now. Out of your mouth. Out of your mouth, amen, amen.
Speaker 1:And then we dealt with deliverance, because we talked about the fact that it's in the word that god is a deliverer, and uh, but there's another word for for today that I'm so excited about, and the word is going to take us to the book of Revelation, the 12th chapter, verse 11. Revelation, the 12th chapter, verse 11. We're going to read the word of God out loud together, ready, set, read, and they overcame him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony. And they love, not their lives unto the death. And I would just like to use as a sermon topic today. As the Holy Spirit would allow, it's in the word testify. Can you say that real loud? Say testify, yeah, yeah, yeah, we all got a story. You may be seated in the presence of our Lord.
Speaker 1:The book of Revelation is a powerful book that is sometimes hard to understand because the language is somewhat coded and it's sometimes hard to follow. The book of Revelation has a lot of imagery, has imagery of animals and imagery of statues and imagery of culture that is not ours, and so sometimes it's hard to understand the book of Revelation and, as we have been studying a systematic theology and Bible study, that it is God's will for the scripture to be clear. One of the things we talked about last week is that the scripture, the clarity of scripture, and as we gave points about how to understand the scripture with clarity, we also were reminded that the Holy Ghost is the teacher of all things, and so that's a reminder that when I, when my academics and when my education is taking me far as I can Now, here comes the Holy Ghost to fill in the gaps, and and I want to encourage each and every one of you to study your bible with over the fresh lens, not from your own intellect, not from the greek, not from the hebrew, but with the help of the holy ghost, so that can be a fresh understanding of what God is trying to say to you. But then, even still, you got to ask the question why is the book of revelation so, uh, coded? Why is the language? And? And part of it is that to allow it to pass the test of time. So it helps us to understand what God was saying is true, but there's also a belief that in part it is coded because John the Revelator was writing from a place of oppression. He was writing from a place where he had been sent to, uh, an island called pat moss. He's still there. It's interesting because he sent the way to this island, because he is a follower of jesus and uh, the the they they're facing religious persecution and they said his death sentence would be. They would send him to this island to die.
Speaker 1:The emperor at the emperor by the name of Nero at the time was anti -Christianity. He was anti-everything related to God. He made up stories about the Christians being responsible for a massive fire at the time. He did everything he could to come against the move of God. Don't y'all know what that feels like for someone to be doing everything that they can to come against what God is trying to do in your life. And what does God do with John when he's trying to do what God has called him to do? He sends him to a desert island.
Speaker 1:And I said, god, that doesn't sound like deliverance for me. But what God says, joe, is that sometimes I got to get you away from everything that's trying to kill you and everything that's trying to harm you. Somebody. I say I thank God for my island. Has anybody ever been in a season where you felt all alone? The enemy would have you to think that was for your, for your, for your defeat. But God is up to something. How do I know? Because the revelator says that I was in Patmos, I was away from distractions and I was in the spirit, in the spirit, in the spirit which suggests that he had an encounter with God. That's our prayer.
Speaker 1:Chosen city, every time you come here, is that. It's that's not check the block church that you have an encounter with the Holy one. And the only way you're going to have an encounter with the Holy one is not based on what it comes out of my mouth, it's not based on what comes out of this praise team. We got to be amazing, oh my God. But the praise team can only take you, but so far. If you really want to have an encounter with the holy one in church, you got to be in the spirit. Matter of fact. I pray that every last one of y'all can receive everything the rest of this day in the spirit, because in the spirit he'll show you stuff that's beyond the natural. In the spirit he'll show you stuff that other people don't understand. In the spirit he answers unanswered questions. In the spirit he calms the savage beast. I thank God that when I come into his presence I'm not coming in the flesh, I'm coming in the spirit.
Speaker 1:And John was in the spirit on the on the Lord's day. The Lord's day, anytime, where I clear my calendar and say I'm going to lay prostrate before the Lord on the Lord's day. Anytime I elect to get down on bended knee on the Lord's day, when I turn off my cell phone and I talk to God on the Lord's day. This was a good day to have a Lord's day experience. I was in the spirit on the Lord's day and then God started to talk. That's why I'm trying to get you to understand that it's not until you get into the right place and not until you get into the right posture that the Lord will speak to you. Did you hear what I said? I gotta be in the right place, I gotta be in the right posture, and then the Lord is gonna speak to me. He said, john, I need to talk to you about some stuff. I need you to write Now, john, understanding that Nero may get a hope to this letter.
Speaker 1:He's understanding that the oppressors may get a hope of this letter. He understands that those that were responsible for religious persecution may get their hands on it so it wouldn't get destroyed and so it would get to his intended recipient. It is believed that is written in this coded language and he starts to tell him and show him imagery. He tells him about the church. He says that there are some churches that do it good and there are some churches that do it bad. He says to the church that's doing it bad, you need to return back to your first love. He gives a warning to the church that has lost their way that it's not too late to turn around, but he says that it's getting late in the evening and the sun is going down.
Speaker 1:There's a lot of warning in the book of Revelation about the past, the present and the future, but for the sake of the time that is ours together, I want to highlight revelation, the 12th chapter. Because the revelation, the 12th chapter, uh, he starts talking about spiritual warfare. He starts talking about the, the end times. He starts talking about the things that we that was happening, but the things that were going to happen. And in revelation, the 12th chapter, if you go home and read it on your own, you'll see a lot of imagery, uh, you'll see, uh, that there's an image of a woman, and we now know that woman to be a representative of Israel. There is an image of a child to be born, and we know that that child would be Jesus. And there's an image of a dragon, and we know that that dragon to be Satan.
Speaker 1:And he talks about that. That, in the midst of chaos, there comes this woman and, and this woman is going to go through a lot. Meaning that Israel would go through a lot, meaning that you and I, as heirs of Abraham, would go through a lot. He says Israel, they would go through a lot, but as they are going through a lot, I'm still going to protect them, because in the imagery the woman is taken away to a desert place where she is kept safe, even though she is going through. I want to talk to somebody that's been going through a difficult time. I know it's been difficult, but you still safe. I know it's been hurting, but God's hand is still on you. I know it doesn't look good, but he's still providing, and you ought to thank God for the fact that I may be going through, but I'm still safe. And and in the middle of this imagery, he talks about a baby to be born and the baby would rule with a rod of iron and we know this to be Jesus.
Speaker 1:And as he's talking about this, he says oh, by the way, there was a fight that broke out in heaven. At one point we talked a little bit about this fight. Because there was a fight in heaven because Lucifer the dragon had gotten beside himself and he thought that he was. As Lucifer the dragon had gotten beside himself and he thought that he was as fine as God. He got beside himself. He thought that he should be the one sitting on the throne. He got beside himself and thought he was the one that should be worshipped.
Speaker 1:And there was a fight in heaven, and the Bible says that the dragon was able to persuade a third of the angels in heaven to team up with him in an attempt to fight against God. Can I tell you the rest of 2025, you better be careful who you team up with. I don't care how they look, I don't care how they smell, I don't care what they drive. You better be careful who you team up with. I don't care the promises that they make to you. You better be careful who you team up with, because if you team up with the wrong person, when they fall, you fall. And a third of the angels decided to team up with with with the dragon, tried to decide to team up with Satan. And the Bible says something interesting and I and I want y'all to have that same look on y'all face at eight o'clock crowd.
Speaker 1:I said, as I'm looking at this and studying this afresh, I saw something that I was reminded of. The Bible says that there was a war in heaven, but I noticed something. God didn't show up for the fight. I said wait a minute. There was a war in heaven, but when you look at the fighters. Michael the archangel was, was there and his boys, satan and his crew was there. It was just like meet me outside. This ain't what you want, pull up. But God didn't show up for the fight.
Speaker 1:And the more I thought about it, minister Brandy, you know what I saw. I saw this there's not a place in scripture Watch this Going to mess with your theology a little bit there's not a place in scripture where you see God fighting the devil. Oh yeah, this is good. I wish it was in Bible study. I said get the mic, you want some smoke.
Speaker 1:Chapter and verse. You can't find a place in scripture where God versus the devil. That's Looney Tunes, that's Cartoon Network, that's Universal Studios. You see, if God versus the devil, like Superman versus what's his bag, superman versus one of his folks, right, lex Luger, they're equal. Right, superman versus Lex Luger. At least Lex Luger got something that he could bust Superman head with. It's called kryptonite. But in the Bible you never see God versus the devil because they're not equal. I need you to understand something they're not equal. I need you to understand they're not equal. They're not equal, they're not equal. So that means whatever devil you dealing with is no match for God. Do y'all know how bad God is? Let me tell you what God did. Look at the Bible. Look at the Bible.
Speaker 1:When God got ready to defeat the devil, he looked down and said hey, michael man, go down there and handle my light weight, because if I go in, the room ain't going to be no room. So, michael, before I get mad, get a few of your boys, go on in there and handle it. I'm so glad that we serve a God that whatever I'm dealing with is a lightweight to my father, and I wish I had 100 people that would give God some glory because he's going to handle my lightweight. My depression is lightweight. Demonic influence is lightweight. It ain't nothing I don't deal with. It's not a lightweight to my heart, thank you God. Thank you God. But he allows the battle. He allows the battle to happen so that we could learn how to fight. And in his text he gives us something, a few things, to help us to learn how to fight.
Speaker 1:Revelation 12, verse 11 we look at that. It first talks about the fact that for whatsoever is born. Revelation 12, verse 11 we look at that. It first talks about the fact that's for whatsoever is born and they overcame him by the blood of the lamb, by the word of their testimony. But I want to highlight the first part. And they over came. Look at first john 5, verse 4. And they overcame. Look at first john 5, verse 4.
Speaker 1:This is you, for whatsoever is born of god overcometh the world, and this is victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Can I help you to understand this? That for everyone that is born of god, that means for everyone that has made a confession with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus Christ is the son of God and that he's died of your sins, you are born of his spirit and you are washed with his blood. And first John five verse four declares that your victory is assured. And I want to encourage somebody right now to let you know that the word declares that you will overcome and that you will be victorious. Sometimes, when I prophesy, all I'm doing is prophesying what God has already put in his word. And he has already said in his word that if I'm born of him, I shall win. If I'm born of him, I'm going to see a victory, for the battle belongs to the Lord. I need some people in the room to understand that the Lord has already declared your victory. He's already declared that you are going to overcome. All you got to do is stay close to him. All you got to do is stay obedient to him. All you got to do is stay submissive to him. All you got to do is follow him, because your victory is already won.
Speaker 1:The only thing the enemy can do is attempt to deceive you, to get you off the right track. Everything that's coming at you is a deception to make you believe that you have not won. Somebody say the devil is a liar. That's his business. His business is to lie to your spirit, to make you think that you can't win, to make you think that it's not going to get better, to make you think that it's not going to get better. His objective is to lie to your mental, to lie to your heart, to lie to your soul, to lie to your spouse, to lie to your children, to lie to your parents, until the point you start believing the lie.
Speaker 1:But we have come today to declare that the devil is a liar and God be exalted. Why? Because we'll never be defeated. I wish I had some worshipers in here. The devil is a liar. God be exalted. Never be defeated. The devil is a liar. God be exalted, never be defeated, never be defeated, never be defeated. I feel the Holy Ghost oh, y'all came to worship today. Never be defeated. So the Lord says, says we will overcome, and I want to declare that this in jesus name. I declare this in jesus name. This is a season of overcoming for you. This is a season of overcoming for you. Your business will overcome. It's only the, it's only demonic to make you think otherwise.
Speaker 1:You just gotta to hold on and run on a little while and see what the end is going to be. Somebody say hold on, hold on. Encourage somebody right, that's encouraging me. Say hold on, so hold on, say hold on. Just tell them hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, that's all. Just tell them to hold on if they don't hear nothing else. Today they heard hold on, hold on, hold on. You know why they can hold on? Because we go back to the text.
Speaker 1:Revelation 12 and 11 says that we overcome what you look at here by the blood of the lamb. The revelator is telling us that we win our fights through the power of the blood, and I need to remind some people in here that the blood still works and the blood will never lose its power. Um, god has ordained it, that blood is going to be the solution for everything that we are dealing with. The blood is necessary because without the blood there is no filling of the Holy Ghost. Without the blood there is no Pentecost. Without the blood there is no prophetic. Without the blood we can't defeat demonic influence. Without the blood we're not safe, set free and deliver. The blood still works and it'll never lose its power. The first time that we see blood on assignment is in the book of Genesis.
Speaker 1:Adam and Eve, the first humans that God made, were given liberty over the garden. Do what you want to do, however you want to do it. I got some simple rules. Number one there's this tree Don't touch it. There's some fruit on it. Don't touch it. Family, y'all help me understand why, god. Let us say y'all do whatever you want to do, but don't do that one thing, and that's the one thing that we just got to do.
Speaker 1:Well, that defeated enemy, because even though he's defeated, he's a deceiver. He comes in the form of a serpent and he encounters the woman by the name of Eve and he started whispering in Eve's ear. You know, and it was a side point Y'all shout out, if you can relate to me, that it that your life went left and it started with a whisper. Oh we, good God almighty, maybe, maybe today y'all don't I know I get it. Today y'all don't talk to each other because y'all don't know how to do that in social media world. So maybe it didn't start with a whisper, maybe it started with a DM. Oh Lord, started with. If I could just delete that one or leave that one DM on unread, if I could have just left that one message on unread, good god almighty, so, so, so, so he, he whispers in the ear.
Speaker 1:You do know that the reason that god doesn't want you to take a bite of that fruit is because you would have the same knowledge of good and evil. See, there's an interesting thing about the enemy he mixes the truth with a lie because, you're right, they would have knowledge of evil, because guess what they was about to do, evil. So he mixes truth with a lie and it sounds so good. And you got to be careful of these mixed bags that we find ourselves in today, even with our spirituality. We gotta be careful that that we ain't mixing stuff in with the word of God looking for deliverance. We got to be careful. There's a danger in the mix, elder Colleen, so he, she hears this. You know this would great.
Speaker 1:We just had an amazing marriage retreat, pastor Chris, I don't know. I wish I had asked. Maybe that wasn't the point of the marriage retreat, but I was going to say what happened next. Who fought? Was it the wife or the husband? Because all I know is Eve go to Adam and whisper in his ear. All I know is Eve go to Adam and whisper in his ear. Now, the reality of it is ladies, y'all got superpowers that I'm not ashamed to acknowledge, because, to thine own self be true, and Eve used them, doggone superpowers on Adam, and what Adam would not have done, he ultimately ended up doing up doing it, and he said she whispers in his ear. You know, we ought to take a bite of this. And he did, does, and suddenly sin enters the environment, sin enters humanity. This is known as.
Speaker 1:This doctrine deals with the, the original sin. And now, because of that original sin, we all deal with sin. Every son of Adam, every daughter of Eve, we all deal with sin because of the original sin. That's why the Bible says we are born in sin and shaped in iniquity, because it's in our DNA. You know why you do what you ain't supposed to do. Because it's in your DNA. You know why your mind tell you no but your body tell you yes, it's in your DNA. You know why Flip Wilson said the devil made me do it? Because it's in your DNA. And so they take a bite.
Speaker 1:And now they discover something instantly. The first time they realize that they don't have no clothes on, they discover that they are naked. Because you all know I've told you all this before before there's something that sin does sin exposes us. Good god, almighty, y'all, can we be real and say, yep, I've been. I need some real people. Let me pull the crowd. This is a good memorial day, worship atmosphere.
Speaker 1:How many people in the room have been exposed by sin? Let me, let me hold, let me hold up two hands, lord Jesus, because sin will expose you. And now they've been. They've been exposed by sin. And then they're trying to cover up with leaves and stuff. And here comes God about to ask them a question. He already know the answer to what you've been doing, what's going on, and they honestly, ultimately get to the point where they tell God the truth.
Speaker 1:It's interesting, though Adam's response didn't call me, because he says this woman that you gave me. She whispered in my ear uh, can I talk to all the leaders in the room? Leadership requires accountability, and every last one of y'all are leaders, and a leader can't point the finger at the teammate. A leader can't point the finger at the and a leader can't point the finger at the teammate. A leader can't point the finger at the spouse. A leader can't point the finger at the church member. A leader has to point the finger right here and say that's on me.
Speaker 1:But he didn't do that. He was learning, he was a budding leader and even though that, there were consequences associated with their sin, meaning that they could no longer live as close to God as they did, because God and sin could not coexist in that capacity. And let me say this right here y'all, how much longer I feel the Holy Ghost are you going to allow sin to keep you separated from God's perfect will for your life? How much longer? Five more minutes, two more days, two more weeks, or maybe today will be the day where you say I'm not going to allow sin to separate me any longer. And he said uh, so there will be some separation and there are some consequences. Uh, eve, uh, because of your sin.
Speaker 1:The Bible says that going forward, when you, when you birth a child, it's going to be painful. That's in the Bible, genesis. That's why women to this day still deal with pains in birth. But he says I'm still going to use that pain to produce promise. Help me, holy Ghost. He did, he did. He said I know it's going to be painful for you to produce birth, but I feel the Holy Ghost today, jamal, y'all pray good, I know it's going to be painful for you to have a produced birth, but that same pain is going to produce a savior. He said, because from the womb of a woman he said it in Genesis 3, I'm going to produce the rescue. I'm going to send myself down through the pain of the birth canal. I'm going to send myself down through the pain of nine months of labor and after a while, everybody's going to get rescued, everybody. Months later, and after a while, everybody gonna get rescued, everybody. But to get there, he said I got to deal with your sin right now and I got to deal with your nakedness right now, because God said I can't leave you exposed. I want you to know that your God does not want to leave you exposed, so he does something.
Speaker 1:There is an animal of an animal with fur nearby. He slays the animal. Y'all know what I mean. To slay an animal, that mean he has to kill it. And when you to kill the animal, there had to be bloodshed. Y'all walking with me. So we see the power of the blood, not just in the new testament, we see it as soon. We see it as soon as sin enters. Good god, almighty, as soon as I'm exposed, I need the blood. As soon as I sin, I need the blood. So he slayed the animal. Blood was shed. He took the fur from the animal and wrapped them on.
Speaker 1:Adam and Eve, watch this y'all. I hope y'all see it like I see it. He says to Adam and Eve I know you messed up, but y'all are still my children, so I got to cover you. I know you made some bad choices, but I still got to cover you. I need some people in the room that thank God for the fact that you made some bad choices, but you're still covered. But you're still covered. We overcome. Thank God, I'm covered. I'm covered, elder Mark. My past is forgiven, I'm covered and I rebuke everybody and every tongue that comes against my future. I'm covered.
Speaker 1:This week don't you dare engage in any conversation with anybody that want to bring up your yesterday. You just say I'm covered in the blood, said I'm covered, I'm covered, I'm covered. Shut they mouth, you ain't got to argue too much. Sometimes you got to go. I'm covered in the blood, said I'm covered, I'm covered, I'm covered, they done. Shut they mouth. You ain't got to argue too much. Sometimes you got to go I'm covered, I did it and I did it twice. I'm covered, I did it and you don't even know the half of it, but I'm still covered.
Speaker 1:You may see my child as a YN in the street, but my baby is covered, covered. You may see my daughter in the worst stage of her life, but guess what? My baby is covered. You just don't know. Unless you've been out there, you don't understand what it means to be covered. Hey, the blood. Hey, the blood still works.
Speaker 1:The blood covers and the blood washes away our sins. What can wash away our sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make away our sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again, nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, how precious is the flow that makes me white as snow. No other help I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Speaker 1:I'm so thankful to be in a church that can get excited about the blood. That means that you have enough understanding to realize that some things are spiritual and the world can't catch this concept. But you caught it that because you're covered in the blood whenever my mind is not right, I have to plead the blood on my mind. Whenever my heart is broken, I have to plead the blood. I have to ask god. God, give me the heart that you have in the name of jesus. Saturate our insides with the blood. Lord, until there is no room for demonic influence, fill the empty places with your spirit and fill it with your blood. We overcome by the blood of the lamb and by the word of of their testimony. By the word of their testimony. In other words, after they defeated the dragon and his, the third of the angels that supported him, they had a testimony.
Speaker 1:I'm here to declare that you have a testimony that is developing because you stayed in the fight long enough to defeat the dragon Shaw. You have a testimony for your children because you stayed in the fight and even when you left the fight for a minute, you got back in the ring and the Lord is saying you got a testimony for your sons and your daughters. You got a testimony that that's the, that's the lord. I see you in a, in a, in a. I see you in like a vision, you, you. You got a testimony. Stay on the wall. I matter of fact, I need everybody in the room to point over to the woman of god. Tell her to stay on the wall, tell her to stay on the wall. Stay on the wall, because god is about to do something great for her, great for her children. I see him. She keeps inviting, she keeps loving them. Stay on the wall, woman of God. You're about to have a testimony that's going to help somebody else's family. I need some people that can give God some glory for the testimony of this woman of God. Hey, stay on the wall.
Speaker 1:They had a testimony after they won the fight. They had a testimony after they won the fight and I said what's the I? I kept asking, just like y'all do, what is the power of our testimony? Well, uh, testimony shows that I realized where my help comes from. I really legitimately realized that if it had not been for the lord god who was on my side, I wouldn't have won this fight.
Speaker 1:Uh, testimony uhimony makes me realize that God sees something in me in spite of me, because if I was useless, if I wasn't worth God's time, if I wasn't worth saving, he would not have come to change my life. And testimony is a reminder that God sees something in me. And testimony is a reminder, elder Jamal, that God is not done with me yet, that in the midst of it all, my god is up to something. Testimony is a reminder that a perfect god has a habit of using imperfect people like you and me. So when I testify, I'm also putting the enemy on notice, that my God is greater, that my God is stronger and there is no power higher than him. And I thank God for a testimony.
Speaker 1:Oh, this week was a week that was overwhelming in a positive way. I thank you all, all for the, for the support, the overwhelming support and prayers as we announce what the Lord had done in my life as it relates to, uh, making me the director of the governor's office, charlotte in the 17 counties in this area, and I thank you for it, but. But. But also. The Lord said and I was, it was such an overwhelming week. I said, lord, all these great prognosticators of the gospel, that's in the room, I'm gonna pass the mic to him this week because I'm tired. And the Lord said no, you got to open your mouth first of all, so there'll know, ain't nothing changed? He said, seconds, you got to open your mouth if you don't do nothing but testify, so that they will know that your journey didn't start with the director of the governor's office of nothing. Yeah, you say you got to testify because we defeat the enemy by the blood of the lamb, and the word of our testimony Spent.
Speaker 1:The week went up to Raleigh to onboarding stuff. Very intense week, awesome, a lot of stuff going on. But then, in the middle of that, my nephew that we baptized here a couple of months ago. He said, hey, you coming to my graduation. I said, yes, but I didn't know that this was going to pop up when it did. And so I was telling my, his dad, my little brother, hey, man, I don't know if I'm gonna be able to make it and I don't know if my little nephew was filled with the Holy Ghost or my little brother snitched. All of a sudden I started getting text messages. No words, just pictures of graduation caps and gowns. And I was like, for real, that's how you going to do me, little nephew, that's how you going to do your uncle. All right, all right. So now I got to find a way.
Speaker 1:So I run up to Raleigh and then I come back briefly. I go up to Raleigh by train, come back briefly, fly from Charlotte to Atlanta, get a rental car and go to Bessemer, alabama. Get there on Wednesday, go to Alabama. That's home. And I'm in my home. And the first place I had a chance to stop was a Miles College. That's where I went to school, undergrad, home of the Golden Bears. And I'm at Miles College and and I'm just looking around and I'm just taking it all in, looking at my old dorm and saying, man, it's a, it's a long way from from, from from where I come from. And then I I'm walking around and then I go to the football field, right, because football field. The gate was open and I started walking on the field and I said to myself this is the place where the coach didn't see the superstar that I actually am. But I walked by the 30-yard line, because the 30-yard line, my claim to fame was when I knocked out the number one receiver in practice, on the 30-yard line I did. I knocked him out. He was talking trash and then they got more mad because they're, like, he's going to play on Saturday. You ain't. Why did you hit him like that?
Speaker 1:I'm having my flashbacks and and one of the alumni uh, two of the alumni. First, a young lady comes up. She says hey, I know you because we just posted your story on the um, on the school's uh Facebook page congratulations on elevation. And another individual, like the president, would have loved to have met you. She's here, but she's in a private meeting with a donor that was given a significant amount of uh of money and they were having a private lunch. I said, oh, I'm just walking through having flashbacks, I'm good.
Speaker 1:And, uh, as I'm leaving, an individual walk up to me he said, hey, bro, congratulations, I'm over alumni affairs, I'm going to give you something gave, gave me a nice little package. And then he said I need you. The president would, I know she want to see you. I said, man, they in there and somebody writing a check bigger than what I can write, so I ain't going to mess with that. He said no, no. He said she would love to see. And you know I'm not. It ain't talking about no little money. Y'all you know what I'm talking about. It ain't talking about no little money.
Speaker 1:She comes out of the meeting and she started asking me questions about the position, which led me to know that she actually read it. And then she started asking me about my journey at Miles College. I thanked her for coming out of that meeting and she was so interested. I interested. I said, madam president, you've been talking to me for nine minutes, ma'am, that that brother writing a check that I can't write yet, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I want thank you for coming out and and talking to me. And she was very encouraging and she was very powerful and it was awesome.
Speaker 1:But then I started to have a flashback. I started to think about how I got to miles, just because I come from Bessemer, which is down the street, and I go ride in Bessemer y'all. And on the way to Bessemer I stopped by my brother. My youngest brother just got a job with the radio station. It's the radio station we used to listen to back in the day WJLD gospel, the way it's supposed to be. And he just got a job and that's a blessing in and of itself because he's went through so much and he had children at a young age and both of his children graduated from high school and both of them are going to the University of Alabama. Isn't God good? And a roll tide for all of them. If you know, and I'm riding and I'm looking at my young brother and what God is doing in his life and the tears in his eyes because having children with two different mothers at a young age, all the stereotypes was against him but the hand of God has been on their life.
Speaker 1:And I go back, I get to Bessemer, y'all, and when I get to Bessemer I see my grandmother's house. It's my mama's mama house. They had torn that down many years ago, but sometimes I got to just ride back because that's a spot that I was raised in. You know what I'm talking about. I ride by there and I see the spot and then I see where my dad, my dad's mother's house, was a shotgun house. Y'all too sadistic, y'all too bourgeois to know about a shotgun house. Yeah, it was a shotgun house. You could open the front door and shoot through the front and around, go straight through the back. It was a shotgun house. You could open the front door and and shoot through the front and around, go straight through the back. It was. It was a shotgun house and and.
Speaker 1:But they had torn the shotgun houses down that my daddy was raised in, but the other ones was right there, and they gave me a chance to flash back and, and in my flashing back I go back a little bit further and I run into an individual that used to teach electronics at my high school and he, he said I remember you, you was there, I remember you, you was a good kid. And in that moment I had a flashback because I said you may remember me, but did you know my real story? Did you know that I graduated high school with a 1.9 GPA? Did you know that? Because I did not do anything, they told me to do my senior year that I thought that I was going to be able to talk my way out of some stuff. There are some people in the room that you've talked your way out of a whole lot of stuff, but after a while, god going to say your lips ain't going to be able to open this door because I'm going to have to show you some stuff. And they kept telling me to do my work and I wouldn't do it. And when it came time to walk across the stage, I hadn't finished my algebra two and my trigonometry. Then Miss Carvin said you ain't walking this year, baby. And y'all just don't know what it feel like when your friends are graduating and your family is waiting on you to graduate and to be able to tell the news that you can't walk across the stage. And I'm flashing back like a man. I remember how my family made me feel because it was at that point. You know it's a man, raw and real, straight. No, chaser, I love him. But you know I'm gonna tell the truth. It's all amazing how they love on your boy right now, but I remember when I couldn't walk across that stage with that 1.9 GPA, my mama named Anita. About Anita, what you gonna do with him. You need to put him out, anita. He didn't tow up your car, I did, and he ain't pay the insurance. It's true, you need to put him out, anita. He gonna tear up everything that you got. God ain't pleased with him. Rebuke him, anita, get rid of him, anita. But I'm so glad that my mama didn't get rid of me. I need some people in the room that say you glad that somebody didn't get rid of you. Yeah, yeah, I love your family. But you know I ain't lying and I'm in a spot now where it was dark and sometimes it seems like it gets worse before it gets better.
Speaker 1:I met a young lady. See, y'all say oh boy, some of the fellas say uh-oh. I met a young lady and I'm not interested in disrespecting anybody, it's just a fact. I'm not being a nice young lady. She had a one-month-old. We both Seniors in high school. She was one all and my daddy said it like this. He said it like I'm going to say to my boys Because, daddies, you got to be direct, mommas, you got to be direct. It's crazy out here. My daddy said it like this Boy, you ain't never had your number four. And what's going to happen? You're going to go out there and your hair going to be in the clouds and a few months later you're going to be calling telling me that you got a baby. And I ain't trying to hear that nonsense. Well, a few months go by, hey, dad, such and such got a baby. Click up Because I told you son. So now 19 years old, with one that wasn't mine and one that's just got here and at 19,.
Speaker 1:It was a really dark time and I remember y'all going to church and I'll never forget this fam. I'll never forget walking in the church, 19 years old, with a baby face. So I look like I'm about 13. With two children not married of course and the look on the church people's face. Can I talk to some of y'all in the room and say you need to watch your face. You just never know what somebody going through I don't care if they come in here with pink hair, I don't care if they come in doing sashay and whatever. I don't care what they do. You better watch your face Because your face may be the one to turn somebody away from God and you're going to have to give an account for your face may be the one to turn somebody away from God and you're you gonna have to give an account for your face.
Speaker 1:And I just remember in 19, feeling like man, this can't be for me, because I feel so embarrassed to be here. Y'all, let me say it like this you should never feel embarrassed to come into the presence of God. It's not to say that we come in and stay the way that we are. We don't leave like we came, but we come as we are. I come with babies, I come high. I come with sexual issues, I come with abuse issues. When you come into his presence, you come just as you are, and we got to have an atmosphere that would allow people to come just as they are, with the prayer that God will deliver them just where he delivered you.
Speaker 1:And I didn't feel comfortable. Now, some of it could have been my fault, because I was convicted, because I was living in a way that I knew that God had greater for me. So it could have been. Some of it could have been me and I want to tell somebody the mistake I made at 19 was that I allowed people's faces to turn me away from God. Can I talk to somebody in the room and say you better stop letting people's faces turn you away from God. You better stop letting church people turn you away from God. You better stop letting religious people turn you away from God. Got to be very careful. The enemy can use anybody at any time to turn you away from God. And then I'm going and I'm like man, I'm 19 and I got this situation in my mama and I said I would pray for eight.
Speaker 1:Y'all, pray for my mom, pray for our health, in Jesus name. Um, can't quite put our finger on it, but I keep saying it publicly because I believe in the power of prayer. Yeah, I ain't sweeping nothing under the rug. That's some of y'all problem. Y'all want to sweep everything under the rug. I ain't sweeping nothing. I'm talking to the prayer warriors in the room right now.
Speaker 1:Would y'all let's intercede for Anita Lanise Bowers right now, in Jesus name, would y'all just start interceding till her strength comes back to her mental health comes. Y'all start interceding, because I believe that she on the stream right, she ain't ashamed either, because she's the one that taught me how to pray. She ain't ashamed of nothing. Hey, when my mom and daddy went through the divorce, she's the one that taught me how to pray. She's the one that said baby, it's going to be all right, your daddy good, I'm good and you're going to be good. I don't care what it looked like when the lights got turned off and we was in the front room sleeping all together because there was no electricity and it was easier to be warm. In the front, it was my mama. That's why I say you come and look at her. You got a problem on your hands, but back when she was stronger, she was a force to be wrestling with. Yeah, that's the mama that didn't play.
Speaker 1:When my brother that's an attorney up in DC got beside himself, he was a big boy. Then he was playing defensive tackle. After she threw the frying pan at him one time because he told my mama what he wasn't going to do. Oh yeah, this is testimony time, we'll be out in a minute. She threw the frying pan at him because he said he wasn't going to wash dishes. Come on, I ain't washing no more dishes. I don't be dirty in a month. I ain't washing them no more. And by God's grace he's still here. But you know what she did in wisdom. She said this can't be no more. Call my daddy on the phone, all I know. She told my brother to get his stuff. She put him in the car and next thing, you know, he was at the Greyhound bus station in Birmingham and the last stop was Dothan, alabama.
Speaker 1:When he got off the bus, my middle brother was trying to explain to my daddy what my mama had done. My daddy jacked him up quick. So I'm going to tell you right now the last thing you're going to ever do is disrespect your mama. I don't care if we're even together or not, you ain't going to disrespect your mama. I need some men in the room that say the last thing you're going to let that young boy or that young daughter do is disrespect their mama or their daddy.
Speaker 1:We got a soft-batch generation. Y'all let everything go. I thank God their mind didn't play no games, even after they were divorced. They was a tag team. I was more afraid of them after the divorce because I didn't know who was going to pull up. I didn't know where I was going to have them. My daddy pulled up on me one time in a Dodge Laser out of nowhere, snatched me off the streets in Bessemer, alabama and that jungle boy would have been three and a half hours away.
Speaker 1:And people say how in the world did your life get so turned upside down with the kind of daddy that you had? Y'all was here, y'all preached, he had a great time here. But Elder Jamal said man, I ain't see him smile. I said he smile, he like to have a good time, but you know he's a Marine state trooper, old school Baptist preacher, so he don't play. He, he don't play. And I said how did you get to this pot with your, with a daddy like that? Watch this family.
Speaker 1:I got there and then you hear this in the spirit I got there because I rejected my father. Need y'all to understand this. I got to where I was because of the young man. When he was telling me stuff I didn't want to hear, I rejected my father. Y'all got it. My dad was telling me hey, man, you need to chill, that ain't the one for you as far as that female. Hey, man, you need to get yourself together as far as your grades. But I rejected him because I didn't want to hear it. And then he talked to the people in the room and said the reason you are struggling watch this this was me rejecting my father. But this is you rejecting your father. Y'all walking with me.
Speaker 1:The more you reject your father if you ain't caught it the more you reject God's perfect will for your life, the more that the enemy is going to have run hell and hide high water your way. And the Lord is saying I need some people in the room to say he's saying this stop rejecting me. You may not like the medicine, you might not like how it tastes, but I know what's best for you. Stop rejecting me, because I want to cover your life.
Speaker 1:Can I tell y'all that it was at this time that that same father, when I was going through, I was cleaning, I was doing all kinds of stuff, and my mama told me you're going to do two things You're going to work and you're going to go to school, or you ain't going to live here. I need some of y'all to get some gahonas. Can I say that at church? Can I say that? Is that a safe word? I need some of y'all to get strong with some of these grown kids. They got to work, they got to go to school or they got to go somewhere else. You are here slaving and they over here looking at you eating your Cheerios when you come home. We got to get back to a place where we hold people to some standards and hold people accountable, because the same tough love that made you, they need that same tough love to build them. But a father? I thank God for my father because whenever I needed him, he was always there.
Speaker 1:I remember when my mama told me you're going to work or go to school or you can't live here. I remember I was doing a job for a lady that had a rental house. She needed them pictures taken. Y'all remember them old apartment books. She took some pictures, needed some pictures taken because she was going to put it in the air and I go over there to clean it up, because she was going to pay cash money. So I went to school, like mama said, I had my job because I was not going to get it put out and then I was going to make some extra money cleaning the house.
Speaker 1:And I was in there cleaning the house and this man came up on us. This was in Birmingham and he said hey, how you doing? We said good. He said no, I said what you doing? And he got a 9 millimeter pointed at us, me and my boy, phil, and we're like hold up, bro. We just here cleaning up the house. And he said I'm tired of you. You know what's breaking in the house. I said sir, I ain go to school and I'm just here working. He said yeah, that's typical. He kept talking and, uh, I told him. I told him I'm from Bessemer. He said you from Bessemer and I said man, I got a.
Speaker 1:I got a cousin that worked for the police department and I told him what my cousin name was and he, ultimately he put the gun away and said well, I can't make yall leave, but I wouldn't stay around here much longer if I was you Say less, my boy, because I've never been to the other end of a pistol like this before. And we leave and I should have said something to my parents. I didn't Any young adults in the room, anybody man. You got to tell somebody when something crazy going on, I didn't say nothing. He go back and he tell my cousin. I think he was trying to flirt with my cousin. That's my conclusion. He's going to tell her. You know what I want you to know?
Speaker 1:Last night I saved your little cousin. I caught him breaking into a house and if it wasn't for me he'd be locked up or dead because I almost shot him. Little cousin called my grandma and when she called grandma, grandma called great-grandma, great-grandma called mama Everybody don't have a phone and they said I know you ain't out here breaking into no houses. I know that's the last thing I said. I promise I was just cleaning up. Well, your cousin said that you were breaking into houses and that little man on the police department saved you. I said, like that.
Speaker 1:I called my daddy. I said hey, dad, this is what happened. He said hey, boy, let me tell you something. If you lying to me, you'll never have another chance to do it. He said but if you ain't lying to me, be sitting on your mama couch with a button up shirt on and some jeans, and I'll be there at eight o'clock in the morning. I'm going to honk the horn one time and you better come out that door. 730. 7.30. I'm waiting. I don't mind waiting because I ain't going to be late. I don't even think he had a chance to honk the horn. I heard the car pull up and he pulled up. My dad at the time was a state trooper. He pulled up in that Crown Vic. Y'all remember them Crown Vics. My daddy pulled up in that Crown Vic, had that big trooper hat on. I got in. I'm like do I supposed to get in the back or do I supposed to get in the front? Whatever you say, sir, I get in.
Speaker 1:We go down to the police station and my son said hey, listen, my son had this incident and we need to handle it. And they were like, well, I need to talk to the chief. And they were like, well, the chief ain't no appointment. He said appointment happened last night when they put that gun in my son's face. He said so we got two ways we gonna handle this. Either either you're gonna go find the chief or I'm gonna go find the mayor. Suddenly, magically, out of nowhere, the chief comes out of the coffee room and we go into the room and my dad said everything that y'all did was against the law. First of all, that wasn't in his jurisdiction. Second, if he had, he had an issue, he should have called somebody. And third, he appointed a gun at my young black son and threatened to take his life. And before his life is taken, somebody in here, life gonna go first.
Speaker 1:And they concluded with Mr Bowers, we apologize, does your son want to press charges? And Elder Jamal, I promise I'm looking at the dude and he's looking at me. I'm looking at him, he's looking at me. And I said man, I'm good. I just didn't want my family to think worse of me than they already did, because at that time, remember, I'm running around here with two kids and now my whole family talking about. I'm breaking into houses. Y'all understand what I'm talking about.
Speaker 1:And the reason I told my dad is because I was just tired of people just looking at me as if I was nothing. I was tired of people saying stuff about me. You know what I mean. That hurt me because I knew it. I want to talk to somebody in the room that's tired of somebody saying I always got something to say about you. I feel your pain. I know what that feels like, but the Lord is going to justify you. The Lord is going to vindicate your name. He is going to do what only he can do.
Speaker 1:Um, as I, as I hasten to try to wrap this thing up because the lord just told me to testify a little bit today and let y'all enjoy y'all memorial uh day weekend, um, I, I, I go a little bit further and I'm in college now. And, and, um, when I'm in college, I always I did high school rotc. I always had a definitive for the military. I I joined college ROTC and my dad helped me to be uh, to make sure that that happened. And I'm in there and now I'm getting exposed to new people, which is also a reminder that sometimes y'all, y'all, literally. I know we say it, but it's so powerful in changing your circle. There is power in changing your circle. Can I say this how I feel it?
Speaker 1:Some of y'all, even in church, y'all, need to change the circle that you are in in church. So you came to the church and you accidentally they're set next to the one that got a problem with everything. You accidentally set to the one that complain about everything. But I want to tell you that there's a whole nother crowd and that ain't they experience. There's a whole, not a whole. At the family reunion you sit by the cousin. They got something to say change your circle. Somebody said change the circle, change the circle. Yeah, at the marriage retreat I met some couples that I didn't even know. Uh, had that much holy ghost and that much power and I said, good, god, almighty, I need to go hang out with these folk. They so excited and they so positive. Somebody said you got to change your circle. At college.
Speaker 1:My circle changed and then I had an opportunity because I was doing well in ROTC, I had an opportunity to watch this to go to West Point as one of our military academies. To go to West Point you got to have a 4.0, you get most likely a valedictorian or salutatorian. You was usually an all-star athlete and you have to get a senator to sign or a congressman to sign off, saying that this person is worthy. Did y'all remember what I told y'all? I left high school with 1.9.
Speaker 1:I forgot to tell you that my first semester in college, when my mama made me go by force, she got that letter at the house and she called me and she said you think I'm playing, don't you boy? Because that first letter of my GPA was 0.3. Somebody said how you get a 0.3? Well, it's simple. I went to volleyball. I got a 3.0 in volleyball and I didn't go to no other classes 0.3. Y'all walking with me? I'm trying to help somebody in this testimony. We'll get back to the Greek and the Hebrew next week, but I'm just trying to help somebody with this testimony. So the dude with a 1.9, a 0.3. The first semester at Miles College I got his transcript to prove it because the hand of God was on my life and he saw something in me that I didn't even see even myself.
Speaker 1:I now end up training at West Point with the best and the brightest for eight weeks and I'm at West Point. I'm like how in the world did I get here? I want to declare that in somebody's life right now. You about to have a moment and I see this in the spirit what you gonna say how in the world did I get here? I finished that training at west point and I realized that I got a future in the military, as a military officer. And at this point me and the young lady we had broken up and I was I lived down the street from her so I would go and see my kids and or and do all that kind of stuff the one that wasn't mine and the one that was. But when she realized I was about to become a second lieutenant in the army and one of her friends said hey, girl, you know, the army will give you your own check. Yeah, they'll take it out of his and they'll pay you. Every time he get paid, you get paid. So she's like I want to put you on child support.
Speaker 1:I said hold up now why we got to bring a man in the middle of this. I do what I'm supposed to do. I see him, I do what everything is supposed to do. Well, my friend said I can get my own check. So we because my name wasn't on the birth certificate, I go down there and we had to go to her grandma drop her off. I go over there, we do the little thing is quick. I'm leaving. She look at me and say, hey, you got to take me home. I said hold up, take you home. You brought me here to take everything I got and I got to take you home. Well, she's got a little girl. What am I supposed to do? She's just walking to the car with straight confidence. I ain't got no choice. I take her home and drop her off. I get commission.
Speaker 1:Shortly after I get commission, before I go, I get a letter in the mail and the letter says that, mr Bowers, we want to inform you that there's a 99.999899% chance that you ain't that baby's father. Now, check this out. Y'all. Reaction was just like mine and just like 8 o'clock, I think I'll dance like David danced Until Somebody say until, oh, the reality of your sins catch up with you.
Speaker 1:Here it is, a year later. I'm second lieutenant, got money, bought me a brand new red Explorer. It was awesome, y'all. I'm, I'm doing the thing. Finally. Get listen, think about it.
Speaker 1:My whole life I'd never had money for real. Um, listen, think about it. My whole life I've never had money for real. From the time I left high school, I'm dealing with being a dad to two kids. The whole time my college experience was so different than the norm. So this is the first time I'm free. So if you ever hear about me doing some while when I was in the army, y'all, y'all, y'all just say he's saved now, because that was the first time I was free and I had some money, which y'all think I did. I did not go to church. I didn't. I'm sorry I should have Boy, I could have saved some money if I did, but I was everywhere else.
Speaker 1:But I come home and I see her aunt and the grandma and I said, uh-huh, look at her, look at you now, look at you now. I said I'm going to go speak. So I go and see the aunt. And before I could speak, the auntie spoke. She had a smart mouth for me. Oh, I didn't think you was one of them. Type Are you going to see your child while you're here? And I said see my child. Oh, I got a smart mouth too. I said did you not get the memo? I ain't gonna lie y'all.
Speaker 1:I used to carry the results in the glove box of my red Explorer. I flipped that thing. Look, no-transcript Boy, you can't mess with a grandma. Grandma looked at me and said well, baby, that's good and I'm sorry that you went through that. She said it explains a lot, though. She said, because I never thought you'd be that type of young man.
Speaker 1:And then she said you know, I'm the one you know that still take them to church. And she you know, they still take them to church. And she said I'm gonna have to change my language. I'm like oh yeah, what you mean? She said when I pick, pick them up and pick up the one you know that I thought was yours, she said every sunday I say did you hear from your daddy this week? And she would always say I don't know, he just went away. And that broke me because she was the innocent one in the middle of all this. Y'all hear what I'm saying. When we operate outside of god's will innocent people get hurt. And it broke me. And I didn't have the wherewithal at the time to understand that there was this thing called mental health counseling available. I didn't do any of that, I just tried to thug it out the best way I could but it, but it, but it, but it broke me and I had to deal with that and it's something that I continue to pray for, that, for that situation, as I go forward in Jesus name.
Speaker 1:And then I get to Iraq and we're wrapping up family. I get to Iraq and it is uh, it is in Iraq where I accept my calling on my life to the gospel, because God had to do something. Just like John, he said I've been. I tried to talk to you when you was 14. I tried to talk to you when you was 22. You had your little red explorer and a few dollars. You didn't want to listen. So now I've isolated you from everybody and everything. And now you're over here in a strange land and I'm going to keep you here until you give me a yes.
Speaker 1:And it was at that spot that I surrendered to the Lord and I gave him a yes. But it was in that spot that I also realized that God's hand was on my life. Then he was on my, he was hand was on my life now, because this is Memorial Day weekend and part of my assignment in Iraq, I was sent there by God, I believe, to him a yes, but I did have a military responsibility as well and we were training Iraqi army and police and we had a large battle space and people would go through the battle space and the dangerous part was it was not old school fighting force on force, it was mostly guerrilla warfare where people were hiding bombs and it was terrible because it messed with your head, because you couldn't see your enemy. Anybody know what I'm talking about. It's bad to be fighting, but when you can't see what you're fighting, that's a scary thing. I mean, it creates a paranoia when you can't see what you're fighting. I want to talk to somebody. I hope you're hearing this in the spirit. I see you right now in the spirit. You were just like me, your mind was in the natural, but you can't see what you're fighting. And that night I never forget it was September 2000, 2006.
Speaker 1:One young lady, second lieutenant, look her up. I need you all. Look her up. This is your homework for today Emily Perez. If you look for her on YouTube, you probably got type in Emily Perez Army or Emily Perez West Point, and there's a 22 minute documentary that I challenge you to watch every year at Memorial Day 22 minutes. It's life-changing documentary. I watch it every year every Memorial Day because I was there that night.
Speaker 1:She was an amazing woman of God. You'll see it in the documentary. She one of them kids that came here worshiping God. She led the choir at West Point and then when we got to Iraq, she, she was leading the gospel choir over there. She loved some Jesus, she was a praiser, she was a worshiper and a brilliant, brilliant, academically brilliant and everything in her life.
Speaker 1:But on that night she was riding through our battle space and they got hit by improvised explosive device. Everybody was able to get out of the vehicle except for her, and when they tried to go back and rescue her because there were, uh, the amount of ammunition that was in the vehicle and the 50 caliber rounds that were in the vehicle when the fire kicked up, they started to cook. And when they started to cook, and when gunpowder gets hot, what does it do, y'all? It explodes. And so now all of these rounds are cooking off and everybody's screaming because everybody loved her and everybody wanted to rescue her, but nobody could get to her and she and she lost her life that night and I just remember thinking to myself God, why did this happen to this woman of God? She, she, she didn't deserve this God. I don't. If it had to happen to me, I could have accepted it, but why did it happen to her?
Speaker 1:And that's sometimes part of the things that you deal with as a survivor. There's some things that you have survived and you have survivor's guilt because you're trying to figure out why God kept you and it didn't and didn't and allow somebody else to transition. But maybe it's because, when you look at this story, her testimony lives on her. Her friends and her and her relatives say, uh, that she was such a worshiper that they imagined that as she worshiped, uh on her way into Iraq, they imagined her worshiping on her way, uh, from this side, crossing over the river Jordan, and and they realized that, even though she she made the ultimate sacrifice, that her life is still worth the living.
Speaker 1:We talking about her in Charlotte, north Carolina, as a woman of God who made the ultimate sacrifice, but she did not lose her praise. Her family did not lose their praise. And I want to talk to somebody in here and say that your testimony is going to be I went through the fire, but I did not lose my praise. I went through the storm and I did not lose my praise. I went through the storm and I didn't lose my praise. I went through a struggle and I didn't lose my praise. I went through depression and I didn't lose my praise. God did not save him. I did not lose my praise.
Speaker 1:I want to talk to somebody in the room. The Lord is saying and I wrap up the testimony part by saying come back, me and my brother, we in Iraq together he's in the defense intelligence agency and I'm an officer in the army we walk around Baghdad like knuckleheads. One time I was not stationed there but I went up to see him and we walk around and talking about something. Right now, in war, my parents was praying for me and my brother and I want to talk to some parents right here in the room and say I know your child, your adult child, may be in spiritual warfare, but your prayers is what's going to keep them. Yeah, your prayers is going to keep your children. Your prayers will keep your husband. Your prayers will keep everybody connected to you.
Speaker 1:There is something about what the saints pray. I know it because I'm still here. I know it because my brother is still here. I know it because his hand has been on my life. We come back and it's my middle brother that said man, I want, I'm going, we got to go to law school. We gotta do something different. I don't know, but he went first and naturally me and the older brother I can't let that rascal outdo me I go and I wrap all it up to say all of the things that God allowed me to do run a successful law firm for 10 years and work for the city and do all these things.
Speaker 1:It started when I look back over my life and I see what the Lord has done for me, that anybody else testimony in the room. I need some other people in the room that say now this is your turn. I see this prophetically that the Lord is saying that everything that you have gone through is not just because the reason I told your pastor to sit here and testify so that you have gone through, is not just because the reason I told your pastor to sit here and testify is so that you'll know that it all is about to work together. Because romans 8 and 28 says and we know that all things good, god almighty, somebody say all things. Yeah, the divorce, all things the, the medical diagnosis, all things, the, the abuse, the lies, the critics, all things. Somebody say all things. All things work together for hope, for the good of those who love the lord and are called according to his purpose. I want to speak to your purpose right now that your testimony is attached to your purpose.
Speaker 1:Now, what you got to do is be willing to testify about what you have gone through, and that's where we are right now. Family is that there are too many people in the house of god. You keep sweeping what you went through under the world because you ashamed of it, but I'm here to tell you I ain't ashamed of nothing. I learned from it, but I ain't got no shame because God hadn't given me a spirit of fear. I don't have any shame. It's where built me if. If they asked me how did I get there, I would say it started at the bottom, but now I'm here. I I need some people that gotta. I started at the bottom, but now I'm here. I need some people that gotta. I started at the bottom, but now I'm here. I started at the bottom and I may still be at the bottom, but I got a testimony that I'm on my way up. You gotta open your mouth and testify. You gotta open your mouth and tell your story. You gotta open your mouth and be unashamed of what you went through, because it does not define you but it helped to build you and that's why this season can't break you, because you have been through 10 times worse. You've been through ugly, you've been through homelessness, you've been through heartbreak. You've been through economic downturns before, but the hand of God was on your life.
Speaker 1:Now. I need about 17 people in the room. I don't need that many. Today is Memorial Day. I need about 17 people in the room. They got a testimony. All I need is 17 of y'all in the room. They got a testimony for real.
Speaker 1:I said Pastor Warren, I'm going to tell somebody my story. I need about 17 of y'all in the room. They got a testimony for real. Come on, y'all in the room that got a testimony for real. Come on y'all. One of my folks that got a testimony for real. I need about 17 of y'all that. Don't mind, just step out in the aisle. You ain't even got to come to the altar. You say I got a testimony for real, I got to share it. So they don't go through what I went through. I got to share it so they'll know that God is with them, just like God was with me.
Speaker 1:I see some people that got a testimony coming in the aisle right now. I need some people that got a testimony for real that you ain't ashamed of nothing. You ain't ashamed of nothing. I ain't got no shame, you ain't got no heaven or hell to put me, in no way. And where was you when I was at the bottom? Where was you when I was struggling? Where was you when I was crying? Where was you when I was by myself? Where were you when I thought about taking my life? Where were you when I got the bad news? But now I got a story and I got some people in the room that said and now, if you got a testimony and you can look back over your life, the holy ghost is giving you a flashback right now. He just brought in your memory something you forgot about. Yeah, he just gave you a holy flashback right there. You having a flashback, you having a flashback Now, when God show you what he brought you out of, when God show you how he kept you.
Speaker 1:I need all y'all that's in the aisle to put a praise on this thing. I need you to put a praise on it. I need you to put a praise on it Because the Lord is saying I'm about to elevate you. That's why your testimony is so strong. I'm about to lift you up. That's why you went through what you went through.
Speaker 1:Now y'all help everybody that got a testimony. Give God a Shabbat. Give God a Shabbat. Give God a Shabbat. Hey, hey, give him a Shabbat. Give him a Shabbat. Give them a Shabbat. Yeah, hey. Sometimes say, right there, chris, sometimes we got to do it like they did at the old church. Sometimes you got to do it like they did at the old church. Anyway, hey, shout out to Mama Stella.
Speaker 1:She moved to Mississippi, but down in Mississippi, them Canton spirits used to say when they tell their testimony they say I come from a poor family. Oh, come on, hit me right there. Come on, come right there. I come from a poor family. I didn't have much, but the Lord has been good to me. Let's hear it again I come from a poor family. I didn't have much, but the Lord has been good to me. Is that somebody else's legacy that you come from a poor family, didn't have much, but the Lord has been good to you. Come from a poor family, didn't have much, but the Lord been good to me. This is everybody in the room that for real come from spiritual poverty or financial poverty. You know you come from some stuff.
Speaker 1:Come from a poor family Maybe it was the generation before yours but didn't have much, but the Lord been good to you. Come from a poor family, didn't have much, but the Lord been good to me. Come from a bullpen didn't have much, but the Lord been good to me one more time. Come from a bullpen. Didn't have a lot of money. A lot of my friends thought that was funny, but I can truly say that God has made a way and the Lord has been good to me One more time. I come from a poor family. Didn't have much, but the Lord has been good to me. I come from a poor family. Didn't have much, but the Lord's been good to me. And I didn't have a lot of money. A lot of my friends don't have any money, but I can truly say that God has made a way and the Lord's been good to me. Hey, he's been good, he's been good, he's been good, he's been good.
Speaker 1:I wonder if I can get a witness If God's been good to you. I wonder if I can get a witness If God's been good to you. Let me see you wave your hand. Let me see you do your dance. Let me see you wave your hand. Let me see you do your dance.
Speaker 1:It's talking about the Holy Ghost. It's talking about the Holy Ghost. It's talking about the Holy Ghost. It's talking about the Holy Ghost. It's talking about the Holy Ghost. I wish I could get one with us. The God's been good to you. I wish I could get one with us. The God's been good to you. The God's been good to you. I could just wave my hand. I could just do my dance. I could just one witness that God's been good to you. I could just wave my hand. I could just do my dance. I could just sing His praise, that God's been good to me.
Speaker 1:Hey, I come from a poor family.
Speaker 1:I didn't have much, but the Lord's been good to me. Y'all sing it with me one more time. Come from a poor family, didn't have much, but the Lord's been good to me One more time. I come from a poor family, didn't have much, but the Lord's been good to me. Y'all give God some glory in this place. Hey, hey. The enemy is defeated by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony. Listen, family. We're about to go home, but the Lord is saying I'm going to bless you, but you've got to open your mouth and testify. You've got to open your mouth and no longer be ashamed. Open your mouth and testify and no longer be ashamed. Tell your story, family, unashamedly. Tell everybody about the goodness of the Lord in your life. Yeah, yeah, come on right there. He's been good. He's been good to me. He's been good as they are singing.
Speaker 1:God has been so good to some of you all that he brought you here because you needed a church home. You needed a place of covering. The door to the house of God stands open. Somebody's gonna walk with you right now and meet you in the aisle. We're gonna walk with you and we're gonna welcome you to the family. He's been good. That's why he's kept you. His hand is on your. He's kept you. His hand is on your life the whole time. His hand is on your life. The door to the house of god stays open. God has brought you here today. He's just waiting on you to give him a yes. I'm a witness that he'll be with you. Go ahead, little buddy. How you doing, little buddy? Keep worshiping big. How you doing, buddy? How you doing buddy. He said uh-oh, how you doing, little buddy. Come on, let's keep worshiping. He's been good. Come on, he's been good.
Speaker 1:Every time I think about him, every time I think about him, every time I think about him, every time I think about him. He's been so good. Oh, he's been good, better to me than I've been Been to myself. He's been so good. I gotta give him glory. I gotta give him praise. I gotta give him glory. I gotta give him praise. I gotta give love to the Lord. I'm making a way. He's been good. He's been good. He's been good. He's been good to me. He's been good.
Speaker 1:Somebody else today may want to give him a yes, online or in person. Somebody today may want to give him a yes online or in person. Somebody today may want to give him a yes. Out of all the things that we've done in life, the Lord has been good to you and all he says is I just want you to give me a yes and I'm going to keep you. You give me a yes, I will show you. You just got to be bold enough to give him a yes on today. Glory to God. Hallelujah, hallelujah you. You just got to be bold enough to get my yes on today.
Speaker 1:Father, in the name of Jesus, thank you for this amazing woman of God that is at the altar.
Speaker 1:Thank you for all your sons and daughters that are in the room.
Speaker 1:I think you're reminding us, god, you've been good to us in the room. I thank you for reminding us, god, you've been good to us in spite of ourselves. I thank you for reminding us, father, god, that you see in us what nobody else can see, and we don't have to be ashamed of anything that we've gone through. You're going to use what the enemy meant for evil and turn it for good. Thank you, master. Thank you, master. Thank you, master, for the testimonies that are birthed in this place. Thank you, master, for the lives that are being delivered in this place. Thank you, master, for the transformation that has hit this house today. Lord, as we prepare to leave this place whenever your presence, we're ever careful to give your name all of the glory, to give your name all of the honor and give your name all of the praise. It's in the powerful and undisputed name of Jesus we pray. Let the people of God say amen, amen, amen. Y'all, let's ride out on that. Take us out on that, brandon.
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