"The UNRELIABLE WITNESS: Are you a "VOLUNTEER" or a "SERVANT?"

"The New  Face of Prison Ministry"

The more progressive and proactive Prison Ministries have taken a more aggressive and results oriented approach to engagement and empowerment of the inmates.

The new face of prison ministry has a "new smell" to it. It is the smell of "burning flesh" (a biblical reference to a "sacrifice" that is appealing to God) and the ‘trail of smoke’ flowing from the life of the servant (or, in this case, the volunteer) should be evident to everyone involved.

As I have stated before, when the Lord God first visited me with the word that Mandate Ministries would become a vessel for Him in prison ministry, I was excited! The Spirit was quick to both remind me and admonish me that doing this was "going to cost me something personally

So we can conclude that the new face of prison ministry must be directed from the Spirit of God, it must involve a significant sacrifice from the individual(s), it most definitely must cost you something and it must be directed toward achieving a significant change in the lives of both the servant and the inmates.

"Prison Outreach in Real Time"

There are "diverse spirits" within the walls of any prison; no matter what the security clearance level might be. These spirits emanate from both the guards and inmates. Not everyone is happy that we are there doing what we do; this includes both guards and inmates. The spirits of resentment, apathy, perversion and judgment are evident. But I also witness the spirits of peace, love, grace, thanksgiving and redemption on a consistent basis as well. It all depends upon what spirits you want to submit to and serve.

The simple question on the floor is, "Are you a VOLUNTEER or a SERVANT?"

The "volunteer" is in peril if he is not careful. He is in peril because he is not protected by the Spirit of God. The volunteer has no investment in the lives of the men he has been called to serve. He is casual and superficial and is only in it for the short term. This might be hard to hear, but the volunteer cannot be trusted. The volunteer will implement a "program" that is a "one shot deal" with few redeeming qualities. Are you an "unreliable witness?"

The "servant" however, has a different agenda entirely. The servant is committed to the long term advancement and benefit of the inmates he has been called to serve. Servants have no regard for "recognition" or fame. Their total focus is centered on being "change agents" for God inside the prison walls. The servant will implement a "curriculum" with long term benefits and measurable outcomes. The servant is accustomed to adversity and can handle radical changes in the environment. Over time, he will be appreciated, respected and even loved.

This is the promise we have received from servitude. Being a servant is a spirit that reproduces itself in real time…

"The ANATOMY of SALVATION!"

When "Christians" hear the word "salvation", many of them mistakenly believe that it is the "end game" as a follower of Christ. In other words, they believe that they have "made it into heaven no matter what else they do!" This notion is foolishness! Only an immature Christian would believe this and it is obvious from observing the behavior of the overwhelming majority of Christians that they believe this to be true as well.

What about the "confession of faith" that is made in front of the entire congregation on Sunday morning after the ritualistic "altar call?" I believe there is a profound difference between a "confession of faith" and a "profession of faith" in the life of a "Believer." This is the place where the SPIRIT of the LORD arises!

A "confession" (confess = "exomologeo" in Greek #1843 means to praise and thank God) of faith is an intimate exchange between God and man. In this, God is not compelled to share with man initially. This is God's domain; as this relationship with His new son is a living organism on the spiritual level. Conversely, a "profession" of faith is a "public" encounter between a Christian and other people; both Christians and non-Christians. Salvation only gives the Christian "access" to the keys to the KOG; it does NOT guarantee his "title deed" in the Kingdom of God.

                                          The "Altar Call" is a dramatic event in church.

Salvation in the Greek is "soteria"  and is defined as deliverance, preservation, safety and salvation.
It also represents fourfold salvation: saved from the penalty, power, presence and most importantly, the pleasure of sin. In my opinion, it is not critical to confess your belief in Christ to another man in order to gain entrance into eternity. What can man do if he hears you? Can he save you or deliver you? The answer is NO!  Can man give you eternal life? Can man heal you? Again, I say NO!

Now, I am NOT talking about the ability of God to use a man to complete an assignment in the earth realm utilizing his gifts and talents to manifest one of the aforementioned gifts. That, of course, happens all the time. I am referring to the self-proclaimed "innate" ability man professes to do these miraculous things which ONLY God can do that man somehow seems to be taking credit for more and more these days. What I am saying is that SALVATION in and of itself is not ABSOLUTE. There are other requirements that Christians have to satisfy before they can claim permanent residence inside the "pearly gates."

                                               "Can You LOSE Your SALVATION?"

Those other requirements include living a holy and righteous life, dedicating yourself to a life of service to God's people in the marketplace (see Matt. 25: 31-46), acceptance of persecution without whining and complaining and "BAPTISM" by fire and water! Those last two requirements are a "killer." Most Christians don't want to have anything to do with persecution, hardships, trials and tribulations but it is the promise of the Creator for all Believers. Tribulation is the "rite of passage" into the Kingdom of Heaven!" These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33). Until we have been purged by the spirit of fire (which represents cleansing), we are not fit to minister the gospel of Jesus Christ (Matt.3:11-12).

It has to be that we as Believers must compel new Christians to confess their faith to Christ and not man. There are certain things reserved for the Lord God that man should not touch.What the new Christian says to God, how they say it and what God says to them is none of our business. The "Romans Road" profession of faith was constructed for public consumption to help the church "bean counters" who keep track of the number of salvation's "inside the church."

The true "litmus test" for Christians (immature relationship with God) and Believers (intimate relationship with Christ Jesus) will be always be rooted and grounded in the DEMONSTRATION of their FAITH! Finally, what comes upon the Believer is the SPIRIT of KNOWLEDGE and the FEAR of the LORD! I am not talking about reverential fear (respect, admiration, etc.), I am talking about being AFRAID of GOD with FEAR and TREMBLING! In short, are you terrified of God? If not; you might not be saved!

The faith of one truly connected to the Father will ALWAYS produce a viable and tangible result in the Kingdom called "FRUIT...and FRUIT that REMAINS!"

"CHOOSING SIDES: Are you a CHRISTIAN or a BELIEVER?"

"Are you a "Christian" or a "Believer"?Throughout recent human history (only the past two thousand years to be exact) the comparative analysis of the similarities and differences between Christians (C) and Believers (B) has surged. Both words appear in the pages of the bible; however, the evolutions of both words have changed dramatically in recent times in both form and function. Perhaps the most compelling change has been in the "demonstration" and "witness" of the faith. I believe there is a profound difference between the two associations. Below, I will attempt to distinguish the between them.

"What is a Christian?"

Simply stated, a Christian is a person who has submitted and committed their life to the teachings of Jesus Christ in the holy bible (Word of God, Holy Scriptures) having received His Holy Spirit, confessed his sins and reconciled himself to a life of faith by serving God’s people in the marketplace.

"What is a Believer?"

Simply stated, a Believer is a person who has submitted and committed their life to the teachings of Jesus Christ in the holy bible (Word of God, Holy Scriptures) having received His Holy Spirit, confessed his sins and reconciled himself to a life of faith by serving God’s people in the marketplace.

Wait a minute Brother Nick! You have given the same definition for both! I thought you said you were going to distinguish between the two. Well, my friends, I thought you’d never ask. You see, they both start out as the same person. The distinction doesn’t come from the titles; it comes from the "choices" the individual makes during his walk with Christ.

"Defining the Distinction between the Two"

The other and perhaps more important distinction is that Christians follow their pastors and Believers follow Christ! Did you hear that? A Christian will exalt and worship his pastor above God; to a Believer, there is NONE above God! I can’t make it any plainer than that!

Both words have the "designation" and "assignment or attribution" to Christ with regard to "affiliation." However, the Believer separates himself from the Christian in this manner; Believer’s have a profound presence in their assigned territory through their "demonstration" and "manifestation" of God’s glory through "service" in the marketplace. In the end, Believer’s serve God’s people faithfully. A Believer is one with the knowledge of who God is; he also understands and teaches His Word. He is not obedient to the tricks of the enemy and will not conform to the pressures of this world. A believer will adapt to his environment using the most powerful tool of evangelism which is LOVE.

Meanwhile, Christians are content with the status quo. They want to be comfortable on Sunday; to be "entertained" and distracted from the cares of this world. Christians are more concerned with pleasing their pastors and submitting to his authority than the spiritual authority of God. Christians have a tendency to be complacent and lazy when it comes to serving God’s people. I am not talking about being on the church choir, usher board or praise team. Those are all "internal activities." Real "ministry" occurs outside the four walls and in that regard, Christians are sorely lacking. Modern day Christians are conformists and lack influence in the marketplace. The only people who know their favorite celebrity preachers are the people in that particular church. The celebrity preacher (or that preacher who is seeking celebrity status) is only famous in his congregation and denomination. He is not a threat to any system or paradigm of darkness because that is not his agenda. His agenda is making as much money as he can before he gets exposed or retires; whichever comes first!

This DOES NOT include ALL PREACHERS, but it sure looks like the majority of them are "drinking the Kool Aid!"

    

"GOD: "Use ONLY In Case Of EMERGENCY!"

We are a nation of "revolutionaries" or "reactionaries" contingent upon the situation. As it relates to war, racism and international aggression against other nation's "beef's" under the guise of "matters of national security," the US is extremely aggressive and "revolutionary" in matter's of economic empowerment and maintaining the status quo. Democratic or Republican, it doesn't matter; the only thing that matters is money, power and greed.

But on this, the 12th anniversary of the attack on the Twin Towers in NYC, I am reminded of an entire nation that mobilized for the first time, perhaps in human history, against what we perceived at that time to be a common enemy. For the first time we displayed the God-like capacity for compassion and abandoned our crippling biases and "isms" and got down to the business of being our brother's keeper.

Who can forget the horrific images of fire and noxious fumes and the ensuing carnage of human flesh, rubble and FEAR that permeated not only the lower part of NYC, but the entire nation. We were, and still are, to some degree, paralyzed with that same FEAR! Only a few of the 1% really knew what went down on that fateful Tuesday morning and still only bits and pieces of the truth have been revealed to the masses! But, true to form, our nation "reacted!" Every church, synagogue, temple and mosque was filled to capacity after the towers fell for weeks.

A "Godless Nation" sought answers from the One they had ignored. Imagine the audacity to petition a God, the same God, who had been voted out of our schools and government buildings and public meetings because we didn't want offend the public. Keep in mind that 84% of AMericans contend that they are Christians, yet these same people voted God out of the public eye. I call this the Nicodemus Spirit. Look it up if you want to know what that is! Sinners and agnostics and atheists all banded together in FEAR for relief from their emotional, physical and spiritual pain.

We are a  nation of hypocrites who seek after the Lord God ONLY in CASE OF EMERGENCY! The is the "reactionary spirit" I was referring to. It is an example of our typical mass response of religiosity and NOT spirituality because the action, or reaction in this case, is driven by FEAR and NOT FAITH! Isn't it amazing that after 400 years years of cohabitation, that we still can't stand one another. That we have abandoned the course of love and peace in lieu of hate and war. That the ONLY sound GOD's hears from our mouths is "HELP!" Why is it that we have to experience calamities like Hurricane Katrina or Columbine or Sandy Hook or Oklahoma City or Trayvon Martin before we engage one another in love?

                                               Hurricane Katrina ravages New Orleans

                                                             Trayvon Martin Tragedy
   
That the ONLY time we can find time for God is when our collective "butts are in a sling" or one of our psychotic sons or daughters enters into a rural or urban school and tries to kill everybody or our government facilitates the flow of semi-automatic weapons into South Chicago black neighborhoods precipitating gang wars resulting in the mass murders of black youth. That our nation has been anesthetized to foreign war and that the irony is that our quest for peace has always been inextricably connected to war.

It is sad to report that this is what we, as a nation, have been reduced to. We are cavalier in our actions, ruthless in our antagonism, thoughtless in our relationships and heartless to the things that matter. We are callous to suffering, indifferent to spirituality, tolerant to perversion and resistant to inclusion. We are revolutionary to FEAR and reactionary to FAITH. We are, as a collective, a mass incarnation of soulless wanderers waiting for the next bad thing to happen before we do something to help somebody else...I have to say it; people are AFRAID of EVERYTHING else OTHER than GOD! I really believe we have got it twisted!

When will you break the glass? Before or after it is too late.....

"The BABYLON SYSTEM is the VAMPIRE!"

How much does it cost for an individual to be able to "lay hands" on the Great Bishop (Wizard of Oz)?

Tyler Perry did something I never saw Eddie Long, Creflo Dollar, Paula White or even Juanita Bynum do as friends, and spiritual sons and daughters under their Babylon System!

All references to Babylon in the Word of God are directed toward the devil and his minions. Of course, the devil has kids...and lots of them! These evil doers propagate the pulpits and temples and mosques of the world. They do not adorn "red tights" or have horns coming out of their skulls. They don't have pointed tails or wield mighty pitch forks!  No. no, no...their weapon is far more cunning than that!  As hard as it is to believe, the enemy only has ONE TRICK!

His ONLY TRICK is DECEPTION! I mean, why change something that keeps on working!  Like the old saying goes, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

I have a few observations about this catastrophic stage play enacted in "real time" in front of millions of viewers! You see people, I hate to break the news to you, but Tyler Perry didn't give TD Jakes HIS money, he gave him YOUR MONEY! That's right! YOUR Money! Tyler Perry is the same man as TD Jakes. The only difference is his platform. One is in the pulpit, the other is on the silver screen!

You can't possibly think for one second that the "$1 Million Dollar Donation" was a surprise and that the corrupt Bishop had no previous knowledge of this...do you? If so, you need to have your head examined! This is "collusion" on the highest level. These warlocks fully understand that "GIVING" or "tithing" is an "emotional" NOT "spiritual" decision for Christians! Jesus is the "carrot" that they dangle in front of the "hopeless" Christian horse. People...GOD DOES NOT NEED YOUR MONEY! Keep in mind, they have worked together before on several stage plays and movie projects. This, my friend, was just another well orchestrated stage play for your entertainment; and guess what, it worked!

Tyler's "SEED" (to fund the Potter's House Children's Center) is just another gimmick to get the children of perdition to "sow" into the Babylon System. This is called a "sustainable system" in the Kingdom of Darkness. As long as the people have something to support (a vision, dream or paradigm), albeit FALSE... the Babylon System will thrive! I wonder how many members of the Potter's House who have tithed faithfully for 25 years would ever have a chance to "lay hands" on their beloved Bishop?

The legendary Reggae songwriter, Bob Marley said it best:

The Babylon system is the vampire, yea! (vampire)
Suckin' the children day by day, yeah!
Me say: de Babylon system is the vampire, falling empire,
Suckin' the blood of the sufferers,
Building church and university,
Deceiving the people continually,
Me say them graduatin' thieves and murderers;
Look out now: they suckin' the blood of the sufferers (sufferers).
Yea-ea-ea! (sufferers)

Tell the children the truth;
Tell the children the truth;Tell the children the truth right now!
Come on and tell the children the truth;
'Cause we've been trodding on ya winepress much too long:
Rebel, rebel!
And we've been taken for granted much too long:Rebel, rebel now!

(Trodding on the winepress) Trodding on the winepress (rebel):
Got to rebel, y'all (rebel)!
We've been trodding on the winepress much too long....

Yes sir, brother Bob; we been troddin' on the wine press much too long! We (the Believes) have got to REBEL! How can ANYONE take this seriously? I can't get this picture out of my mind:

The answer to the question is $1 MILLION DOLLARS...and rivers of blood!

"MegaFest, "Madea" & Other CHEAP MAGIC TRICKS!"

I don't know about you, but I am sick and tired of these religious freaks playing games with the things of God. I have written several books and dozens of articles on various aspects of Christendom and the Kingdom of God. I have hosted dozens of radio shows and television interviews. I and my team have conducted many seminars in community centers, prisons, schools and churches over the years about the Belligerent Christ and His Incredible Marketplace Ministry of reconciliation and redemption.

Needless to say, as a black man it is particularly precarious to target the "Black Church" or have the audacity to indict the venerated "Black preacher" or implicate him/her in any scandal, perversity or unscrupulous behavior. Specifically, I and my partners in Mandate have been ostracized for being "too hard" on the church and berated that we "need to get over it" and leave their beloved "Mant of Gawd" alone! The Amazing Kreskin, Blackstone, David Blaine, Harry Houdini and Penn & Teller have nothing on these "fake healers!"

Never mind the seemingly incessant barrage of news feeds from all over the nation about pastoral abuse, rape, pedophilia, extortion, bribery, adultery and fiscal irresponsibility. All the "Christians" want to do is "pray" for their pastors' deliverance and sit back passively and allow him/her to continue in their sin without reprimand, reprise or removal. Not so with the "Believers" who are desperately seeking truth and integrity in the ministry and are "calling the demons out" and have waged war against the devil and his kids (many of whom where collars and pastor mega churches)!

Some of these "witches and warlocks" are your favorite celebrity preachers. Just because they have a cable TV show on TBN or INSP, they have been given the "green light" from the religious folk to operate without impunity! I have often been a major critic of these "MegaFest", Baptist Conventions and Christian Conferences held specically for the "hopeless poor" looking for a financial blessing from an imaginary ATM in the sky!

Look at this foolishness here:

This photo was taken recently at the MegaFest 2013 at the Potters House in Dallas, TX hosted by TD Jakes. If you look closely, you will notice three strange things:

1. TD Jakes is NOT preaching or sweating!
2. Tyler Perry aka "Madea" is "laying hands" on the Bishop!
3. Tyler Perry aka "Madea" is "laying hands" on the Bishop! (This is NOT a misprint!)

Can somebody please tell me what in the world is happening here? The ONLY reason why there was more than ONE person still sitting in the audience during this fiasco is because they were being entertained. You can't think for one second that the Lord God was present during this madness! These folks were more interested in encountering MAN than GOD!

So people, just think about your favorite magician growing up. The rabbit in the hat, sawing the lady in half and disappearing doves all dumbfounded us as little children. As we grew older, we understood that there was no "real" magic happening on stage. The magician was skillful at creating a diversion by having us focus on something other than the place where the real trick was going down. We came to learn about the secret compartments and body doubles and hidden pockets and double-lined sleeves to hide the birds. Hopefully, the same trick that fooled you at age 5 doesn't still "get you every time!"                                                                   

                                                  A "magician" saws a woman in half!

 

The institutional church has become a "safe haven" for every manner of snake oil salesman and huckster looking to sell their wares to a naive, forgiving and amnesiac congregation. The people are extremely comfortable with giving away their fortunes to these charlatans. The sad thing to me is that the people "NEED" to do it!

At the end of the day, this is the mess that we have created and the people love it that way!