The Apostasy is Here. Aretha Franklin's funeral tells it all.

So the question is how does a worldly, ungodly woman like Aretha Franklin have the opportunity to have her funeral at an Apostolic Church? The whole thing is sickening to hear about (I have not watched the entire funeral, only clips) both secular and supposedly godly artists performing on stage, singing both worldly and Christian songs. This has nothing to do with denomination because Apostolic is not a denomination but is, was, and always will be the original true church that was established by Jesus Christ through his disciples/apostles. Jesus said upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Apostolics are supposed to be separated, unspotted from the world and the lusts thereof. That includes the world's music, fashion, lifestyles, and views. I am greatly disappointed in the fact that the Presiding Bishop over Pentecostal Assemblies of the World actually agreed, complied, and carried out this heinous idea to bring all this confusion into his church. But this is where we have come with the falling away of many. Real Apostolic preachers teach their flock against listening to worldly music along with not attending parties and such things that promote carnality. When sinners repent, are baptized in Jesus' name and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, they are new creatures in Christ and old things, old feelings, old worldly music, old fleshly lifestyles should be put away with to embrace a new walk with Christ Jesus. It's devastating how both the world and the church folks agreed that Arianna Grande was dressed inappropriately, which is totally odd because Apostolics have been generally known to judge and correct immodest attire from the front door. But at Greater Grace Temple, this young lady was allowed on stage to perform and was commended by the Bishop, hugged by the Bishop, and joked at by the Bishop. WOW!!! I can only imagine the comments that were posted all over Facebook about this. The reason I don't know for sure is because I deactivated my FB accounts FOR GOOD!!! The Cambridge Analytica scandal was just a bit too much for me, plus I was inactive on there anyway. Had lost my motivation for getting on there after I discovered that my life was actually a lot better and happier without using social media. However, I did read the comments from the videos on Youtube and anyone in their right mind knows that Ms. Grande was dressed inappropriately and whether the Bishop touched her in a lustful way or not, he never should have had her that close to him to begin with. When you don't let your good be evil spoken of by setting boundaries and staying in your lane, then there would be nothing to apologize for. I'm getting ready to close this out because there is just too much wrong with this whole situation on so many levels until it would take way to long to try to write about it. It is just sad to see how flimsy God's people are and how they celebrate with the DEAD, spiritually and naturally dead. When Michael Jackson died, saints went crazy reminiscing how he changed the world with his music....yeah changed it for the worse because of the evil spirits that eroded from that music. Same thing happened when Whitney Houston died, saints commemorating her for her talent.....talent that started out being used in church for the Lord but ended up being used for the devil and his agenda. Same thing when Prince died, saints losing their minds over the Pope of Purple Rain.....give me a break! Now that Aretha Franklin has died, they take it to another notch and have her funeral at an Apostolic church mixed and mingled with the ungodly and unsaved and the saddest part is no real message of the gospel truth was preached and sinners came in sinners and left out the same way. That goes to show that some people, whether in high or low positions are Apostolic in name only. If the Apostle Paul or Peter had that opportunity with that many unsaved and backslidden folks in a given setting, that place would have been turned upside down with a Holy Ghost shaking revival because they would have the attitude that "Let the dead bury their dead, Now who wants to be saved for real". Genuine Holy Ghost filled people who have a steady close walk with the Lord are too afraid to provide that much room for sin/sinners to come in without challenging it with TRUTH. But when the fear is gone, when the higher ups wanna rub shoulders with everybody in power no matter how they live or what they believe and preach, then you get the results of what took place at GGT. We are living in the last and evil days and it's time to take a stand against sin even if it comes in the form of music/singers. We must stand for holiness, lifting up that blood-stained banner of our savior Jesus Christ and him crucified, raised the third day, and operating in the power of the Holy Ghost that he gave us as a Comforter to lead and guide into all truth.

Social Media Detox Works Wonders

So the heading of this blog is self-explanatory. I have been purging from social media through these 10 and 1/2 months of 2017, basically Facebook and Youtube. I don't really get into Instagram, Snapchat....and whatever others are out there. It's always been my tradition to not get on Facebook during the month of January because that is my time of fasting and consecration for the new year, not exactly a resolution but a devotion. So starting back in January/2017, I did not open my Facebook account to see likes, comments, my timeline, or friends' timelines or anything until February 1, 2017. Even after I got on in Feb., it felt kind of awkward, but in a good way. I mean I literally felt like I had been cleansed from something but just wasn't really sure. So after a few days of scrolling and posting some daily devotionals, doing some encouraging videos, and responding to comments, I learned what that "thing" was that I had been cleansed from.....how inauthentic social media makes ALL OF US!!! For the longest time I always wanted to figure out why I get a slight bit of reluctance to post something, share something, converse with my family, or respond to friends on Facebook, but I would generally ignore that feeling and just keep right on going with my communication. I can give some credit to the month of fasting and just focusing on the Lord, but ever since the Live Streaming of anybody and everybody with their phone posting things in real time that made absolutely no sense in most cases (just attention-seeking), I came to realize that we have gone a bit too far with this "Look At Me, Look At Us" thing. There was a season in my life where I posted videos of church services, private music sessions, singing, outdoor activities with the youth, and so forth because I really thought many of the viewers who watched/listened would enjoy and could gleam from it in some way and I wasn't exactly wrong in my perception. But I did learn a valuable lesson from it that many people might not understand nor want to accept. Someone made a comment to me in person rather than on SM that "you're going to mess around and blow up". Well, we all know what blow up means....get famous, rich, popular....etc. I took that with a lump in my throat almost like I had failed the Lord by giving people what they wanted to hear and see without being assured that God was getting the glory and not me. For example, Smith Wigglesworth was a dynamic preacher who once said that if he ever reached the point to where people was patting him on the back and giving him praise out of the ordinary, and were talking more about him than they were about the Lord who had blessed him to get to where he was, then he wanted the Lord to take him home before he allowed pride to set in and separate him from his true God-given purpose and mission. It was said that after receiving much glorification from people about "him", he died shortly. So thankfully, the Lord heard his prayer and did not allow him to remain on this earth and get consumed by the praises of men. Over the past years during my sermons, teachings, scriptural devotions, singing, and music-playing, I noticed that the sermons, teachings, and scriptures got the fewest views, likes, comments, and NO shares whatsoever. But on the flip side, my singing and playing music would nearly always always make my sermons and teachings look like ants in comparison. The likes and comments would come flooding in about "how beautiful your voice is" and "I love that song" and requests to sing/play this or that song. The problem is not that I disagree with them enjoying the singing and music but the problem is people show their love and worship of the gift more than the Giver. They readily worship the creature more than the Creator. If you give them a devotion with Psalms 23, they don't hunger and thirst after it, which is God's Word. But if you give them a Psalmist with a well-sounding voice who is coming from miles out of town/state into a huge building that seats thousands and put them on stage, the parking lot would be full and the inside would have standing room only. People in both low and high positions crave attention, applause, and approval, and those in middle places are not exempt either. It is this craving that the Lord wanted to purge me from and gut and root out of my system, beginning with social media.....that's just the START but he had to start somewhere. All too often we see people in humble positions and they are the nicest, sweetest, almost cutest folks you ever did want to meet but just as soon as they get a position, a following, a title.....they get hard to deal with and turn down-right ugly on you. Believe it or not, there are so many ugly people in ministries today that they do not even realize how bad of a condition they are in. Why? Because if they were pushed to the limit and had to make a decision about whether or not they are going to serve God for God or be served by people who say they love God, they would undoubtedly choose the latter. People will attach servant to their name when in all actuality, they want to be served (opposite of Christ). The real Christian walk is not a popular one and when Christians are acting and being treated like Celebrities, then that taints the real picture of our faith and it is a very ugly picture. Now back to the originality.....Social Media. Social media has succeeded at creating and maintaining some of the biggest hypocrites, liars, and thieves than any megachurch building could ever hold. I have the time but I don't have the energy to go down the list of all the things that people put online to look bigger, more important, more righteous, more transparent, and any other word that could fit more into it just so their status can go viral, because bigger is better right? If it's ego, then no, bigger is not better.  People reveal the secrets of their hearts by the things they post, like, and share. If a person cannot maintain a holy profile, then you best believe they are not maintaining a holy lifestyle. It's the little foxes that spoil the vineyard and gossip, gluttony, greed and gullibility are just as bad as any other sin. Facebook provides the platform for many people who have it together in some areas but are totally out of sync in others to show the World. Therefore, as I took those days in Feb to review my FB account, I noticed feelings coming back that had left and they are as follows: a) being overly concerned about what others are doing in their life, b) getting angry at certain posts and posting on my timeline hoping the target poster would see it and "know" that I meant it for them, c) feeling like my conversations with my family was way too shallow than what it would be if we were talking in real life or on the phone, d) wanting to deactivate my account several times after deleting about 1/2 dozen friends for profanity and nudity, e) scrolling and rescrolling and rescrolling again only to see the same things and just wasting precious precious time, and f) just getting frustrated over things that I disagree with but can't change. So those are some of the things that put me in check as to why I needed to take a break from SM. I still have my accounts open but I rarely and I mean rarely get on FB. I go days sometimes weeks before even opening the app on my phone and I turned off all notifications about who has gone Live, whose birthday it is, who's going to this Event, who messaged me. The only thing I can't prevent is the friend suggestions and the mutual friend requests, but I usually just do not respond so their requests just hangs out there. I am an introvert to the core and living many days/months without social media is not only healthy and energizing for me mentally and physically but it's rewarding in so many other areas of my life. I don't know if I will ever totally deactivate my accounts like forever but I know for sure I will not go back to using it like it did in years prior (posting as many as 10-15 statuses a day, scrolling, reading, commenting for at least 3 hours in a given session, posting selfies several times a week, etc). No, those days are gone. I am free of what others think about me whether it be positive or negative. I am free of what others are doing or not doing in their lives. I am free of worrying about why this person or that person does not go to church or if they will ever believe and obey the gospel. I am free of seeing automated videos of show-offs in every kind of form (which I quickly unfollow). I am free of competition. I am free of seeing posts that frienemies intend for me to see with a smile on their face but malice in their hearts. The bible teaches us about stirring up strife and emulations (jealousy) in others and we as social media users have all been guilty of doing just that for one reason or another. In a world where just being out of the limelight is so not cool for church or worldly people, I realize my journey of humility will never be "praised". But I'm ok with that because this break has really helped me develop better social skills with people out in the general public, whereas I lacked that before. I notice that I talk and smile differently to people in stores or restaurants. My patience level with people is getting better, although not perfect, but getting better. These are attributes that God wanted to instill in me because although I might appeared to be a Spiritual-Giant to my facebook friends, in real life I would have been pulled apart if I had not been shown my ways. These are the kind of lessons that most church folks run from because it puts an end to the show case and brings one into reality of themselves. And let the truth be told, many Christians probably would not go to church or perform in church if they knew the service was not going to be recorded, streamed live, or publicized in some way about how "good" things went. I don't have to pray for the days where there were no cellphones or cameras during worship because this is how we have service now and the presence, peace, and glory of God is real and felt among his worshipers. I am grateful for coming into the knowledge of what I need to do to better myself and become more like Christ each and every day.

The Alicia Keys Movement

So I just had to tag this one....not that I'm a fan of Alicia Keys. God knows I don't listen to worldly music, R&B or whatever she sings. But I just so happen to run across this so-called movement from doing a google search and you know the engine pulls up all kinds of irrelevant stuff. The capturing moment was that the headlines said Alicia Keys "No-Makeup Movement". For a moment, I thought I was being punked while in my home. I couldn't help but read what this caption was all about. I mean, Really? A No-Makeup Movement? Is it really a movement or is it a choice? Hmm for some women, it's a choice to wear or not to wear make up. For others, it a constant drilling and grilling of their brains thinking they will be viewed as a slut, whore, Jezebel or whatever crazy image that has been imprinted in their minds by other women who were forced not to wear it and so the list goes on. To honestly say, Alicia Keys is a beautiful woman regardless of whether she wears make up or not. But the question is, Do all women look like Alicia Keys? Do all women have the finances to get their pimples and blotches smoothed out so they can feel comfortable with a bare-face? Do all women believe that wearing make up makes them glow? I'll let you answer that. First of all, there are just as many unfair-skinned women as there are fair-skinned women, and Alicia is one of the fair-skinned women who can go without make up. For others, there are women who have lifelong scars from bad relationships, freckles, or other marks that they CHOOSE not to put out on front street. When I saw AK facebook page about the no make up, there was the all too common comment about Apostolic ladies. Well, not every Apostolic lady glories in being plain from head to toe. For the Apostolics who have CHOSEN to enhance their appearance, they can tell you it has nothing to do with having low self esteem or feeling ugly. It has everything to do with not believing a lie that a woman is in sin or hiding something because she powders down a little. And again, not every woman wears colorful make up, but wear the natural tone colors. The thing about this is that when I first got into the Apostolic church, make up was considered taboo, a thing that makes a man want to get in your pants. So we were shunned from wearing so much as lip gloss. Make up was rejected as evil and all the sisters were encouraged to ditch theirs. But nobody could ever explain why the plain-faced unmarried women were coming up pregnant quicker than the ones who wore make up. Nobody ever explained why plain-faced women struggled with lust in their own hearts. Make up had nothing to do with these sins because it was taking place inwardly and outwardly by those who didn't wear it. So what has changed over the years? I'll tell you what has changed. Apostolics could not prove that make up was a sin in itself or that women who wore light, minimum make up were in sexual sin or trying to entice males, so they put a twist on the reason why not to wear it. Instead of demonizing make up, they now say, "you don't need it because you're beautiful without it". They now make it seem as though if you put make up on, that means you feel ugly or have low self esteem or are scared of what other people think. But if the first reason that make up is a demon is not true, then why should women believe that they should not wear make up because they should feel naturally beautiful? (I'll wait for the answer to that) There are a lot of NATURAL things that work against us more so than work for us. Women who died in "natural" childbirth might would have been spared had they gotten an "artificial" epidural. Natural disasters kill whole cities, so we shouldn't do anything about them because they're .......Natural....you guess it, huh? The thing is, people in general, want a portion of the world that they can control, whether in the church, in politics, in the workplace, in the marriage, or in society at large. When religious folks cannot find a scripture or hard facts in a person's life that they are flat out wrong for something, then they will change it up to make the person feel even more inadequate about what they do that is contrary to the "tradition". With all that, I must say to all women as well as my Apostolic sisters, you should never feel like you have to wear make up or not wear make up to please anybody. If you got a few pimples or just want to keep that big forehead from shining like new money (lol), it's ok to put on a little powder that matches your tone. Last thing I want to say is when I worked at the hospital, there was this lady who had been in a car accident and she had scars all in her face. I felt so bad for her and all I could do was pray for her. She was lying on the stretcher with eyes closed (sleep from sedation) and had probably not looked in the mirror yet. Underneath the scars and blood, I could see she was a very pretty lady, but that did not give me a right to think that she will not need make up because she's naturally beautiful. That's plain foolish. I pray that she heals and do whatever it takes to get herself looking and feeling confident. But if she just so happen decides to wear her scars from a wreck, then that's her business. The purpose is for women to make the choice that befits them and not force people to do what you believe or want them to do. Many people might follow AK's movement simply because she is famous, but take her down out of the lights and give her a simple, plain life to match the look, and they will revert to what makes them feel happy, to wear or not to wear it as their choice.

The Church of the Living God will Prevail

When you hear the word "Church", what is the first thing that comes to mind? My first thought is the blood washed Holy Ghost filled saints of the living God who hold up the light of Jesus in this dark world. Maybe that sounds awkward but that's exactly what the Church is....God's people. A church building is only a facility that facilitates the church people who attend. In these last and evil days we must be sure that we Be the church and not just go to church. The Lord will never forsake his church (people ) but will always lead and guide us until the day is done. He is our only true friend, source of reliability, and way to true meaning in life. The saints of God may go through fiery trials and different tests but God will be there when seasons change. God is faithful and he promises to bless his people as long as we stay connected to him.

No Personal Questions Please

So I finally had to tell one of my coworkers to STOP asking me questions about my personal life . She got the craziest look from me when she asked me does my husband massage my back.....OMG!!!!!!!!! I about flipped out and wanted to really tell her "none of your business" but I just pushed out a little unwelcome yeah and went on about my business. Then about twenty minutes later she says,Tamika, can I ask you something and that was the straw that broke the camels back. I replied, "No, don't ask me anything personal". I mean I'm a very discreet person and extremely introvert and discussing my personal life is TOTALLY OFF LIMITS!!!!!! I don't put anything about me and my spouse in detail on my facebook page or talk about him to other people not even my mama. The most I will do is post pictures of us on an outing or in church and that's about it. As far as all this every other post talking about how he rubbed my feet or cooked dinner no it's not happening. I mean as a minister, I feel the responsibility to show compassion for my other sisters in the Lord who are single and are still waiting for God to send them their Boaz. I think it's very inconsiderate for married couples to publicly toss their love weight around whether in church or on social media and continually rub it in the faces of those who are single or heartbroken. I can't understand why some people lay out the details of their marriage about how good their spouse is to them on social media. Majority of it are lies anyway because they are doing it just to rub it in their ex's face or trying to make another person jealous who wanted their man or woman. I saw something the other day where the folks just went overboard with love stories of their marriage on Facebook and I said to myself this is a set up for the devil to attack them because they are putting out too much of their business. Forget that!!!! Whatever I got to say about my husband I will say it to my husband when I am with my husband and keep it just between me and him. I only use my facebook page for ministry purposes anyway. My marriage and personal life is none of folks business and that's why I'm not too fond of marriage class and seminars in the church because everybody starts telling their business and revealing their spouse's secrets and weaknesses. Come on now if you having problems that's what marriage counselling with a spiritual leader one on one is for. But I know that even if I wasn't married, I still wouldn't talk to people about my or their personal issues because that's an easy way for people to fall into sin. I just keep it 100 in the Spirit and the only way the public will know anything about me is when God gets ready for me to release it. Other than that the only thing they need to see is my praise and me serving the Lord with all my might.

False Prophets on the Loose

Me and another family member had a phone call conversation last week and they basically told me that they don't believe the bible is true. Well that just turned my insides out. What has happened is they have been listening to some so called prophet who, as they said, has been explaining away the truths of God's word by using the bible to prove their points. Now doesn't that sound like Satan, he did the exact same thing in the garden of Eden with Eve. I made up my mind to wash my hands of it because people are being deceived and when you try to show them the right way to go, they take it as a personal attack. I tried and tried to convince them that this lying prophet was false and just taking their money. The individual even confessed that they were tired of sending the prophet money but still wanted to hear the"good things" that he had to say. WOW, UNBELIEVABLE!!!!! They even said that the prophet told them something that didn't come to pass within 3 days like he said. So how much evidence do you need to discover that this person is a wolf in sheepclothing. But like I said people are willingly ignorant because they don't want to make the required sacrifices that it will take to diligently serve the Lord. So me and this loved one haven't talked for over a week but I still love them and pray that they repent and turn to Jesus in faith and obedience to his word before it's everlasting too late.

So You Say You're A Prophet/Prophetess?

Why is this particular title one that people want to be called so badly? They really don't know the severity and sincerity of this position in the ministerial government of office. God deals with prophets(men and women) on a totally different level than anybody else in the five-fold ministry because they are the direct mouthpiece for God himself and what they say that God said BETTER BE truly what God said or else they will be heavily dealt with. Prophets are not supposed to shoot marbles and roll dice but they are held responsible for being accurate in the Spirit and not adding to or taking away from what the Lord has instructed them to speak. It really takes years even decades for an individual to mature in the gift of prophecy. Most people who say they are a prophet in this modern day do not hold the office of a prophet but they are prophetic. Anybody can be prophetic as long as they utter words unctioned by the Holy Ghost either by speaking in tongues and an interpretation given or by prophesying in their own native language. That doesn't make them a prophet but it just means that God used them at that particular time to relay a message to the Church or to an individual or group of individuals. On the flip side, an actual genuine prophet (man or woman) must have a lifestyle of closeness to God and be very keen in the Spirit. Most prophets spend majority of their lives in solitude because they are always praying and seeking God for a word for a congregation, an individual (maybe even for themselves) or for an entire nation. Prophets cannot afford to just live loosely in fornication and excess, or worldliness and chaos because a lifestyle that is contrary to God's holiness can easily contaminate their gift and turn what used to be a godly thing into something that is clairvoyant (evil). The devil has prophets too. Some of his prophets were originally ordained to be of the satanic kingdom to prophecy lies, release demons into the atmosphere, and promote soothsaying and witchcraft. Other satanic prophets are those who have backsliden away from the truth of God either in lifestyle, doctrine, or both. Be warned that just because a person prophesies something and it comes to pass, that doesn't mean they are sent by God because the enemy deals in the spirit world too. A real prophet will be known because they have a certain conviction and standard that they carry about themselves and you can feel it when they walk into the room. In other words, a true prophet will NEVER have to introduce himself or herself as Prophet So and So or Prophetess So and So because  the power of the anointing working in their life will speak volumes and make those who hear them turn their focus and attention to God and the Lord Jesus Christ, not the individual.