Sister Trecinda Kinsey is walking us through this past convention in Connersville that gathered the church, inspired fresh hope, and equipped every individual to walk out and elevate.  It was an unforgettable meeting, and we by no means are slowing down.

Affect people’s Mondays . . . not just Sunday.

Perhaps the greatest compliment to Elder LaFleur, Brother Nobles, and our whole Ministry is how applicable their messages are to people’s daily lives.  What greater example is there that the truth and this way of life works than to see people doing well, growing, and moving to the next level in their spiritual lives, and all they’ve ever done is to take the Biblical principles that have been taught in church and put them into practice.

For when you don’t become a person until the coffee hits you . . . wake up, it’s happy Friday 🙂  Share this with a brother or sister who needs inspiration and tools.

#defeatthebully  #levelup  #reachperfection  #youheardright

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By Sister Trecinda Kinsey

The recent meeting in Connersville, Indiana was . . . well, to quote Sister Gail Black’s testimony, “Holy Cow!”.

Our instructions from the ministry were to leave this meeting elevated, and I think it is safe to say, that we were not only elevated, but we have no plans to come down!  The meeting started with Brother Nobles telling us, “Don’t hold back.”  Thursday evening, was full of wonderful (and I mean uplifting, encouraging, exciting . . . need I say more?) testimonies.  It was hard to get a chance to testify because the excitement was bubbling over and people kept popping out of their seats to speak.  I won’t say any more about that except to say, if you weren’t there, get the CDs or DVDs.

Friday Morning

The excitement only grew.  Brother John Shepard spoke about having confidence as we move higher because there is order to how we go up.  When a flight of stairs is designed according to building codes, you don’t even have to look down to watch where you’re going, because you already know what the placement of the next step will be.  We can have confidence in this ministry because they are not only building, but they are building according to the blueprint (Word of God).

Brother Nobles Spoke Next

Where do I begin?  He taught us that for God to elevate the church, we as individuals must move up higher. Our foundation has already been laid.  If anyone comes up with something new, they are getting off the foundation.  We don’t need anything new; we just need to do more of what we already know to do.  This is a continuous effort.  We should stay completely steadfast in our walk with the Lord.

One of our worst enemies is being complacent (that’s not the same as being settled.)  This gospel is a simple gospel.  We don’t need head knowledge, but knowledge that will defeat the old man.  We need knowledge that allows us to identify where the flesh is working, and then we can work to defeat it.  Once God has shown that to us; it is now OUR responsibility to fix it!

Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where in all things I am instructed to both be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.  Philippians 4:11-12

Contentment is not the same as complacency.  We have to PLANT (action verb) the mindset of Philippians 4:11.  It won’t just happen.

He continued:

As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:  Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.  Colossians 2:6-7

We shouldn’t be just getting by; we should be abounding!  I Corinthians 15:58 states that we should always be abounding; not just when we “feel like it”.  He said we should all leave this meeting a little higher!  (The testimonies from the saints after returning from the meeting showed that we did just that!)

A Moveable Spirit

The ministry can’t work with people who aren’t steadfast.  Ask yourself, “Am I unmovable?”.  If I am not, then I have work to do!  A movable spirit is a religious spirit (any thought or concept about God that doesn’t line up with the Scriptures is a religious mindset).  Am I established enough in this that I can’t be moved by something?  We are on the right foundation, and we are going to stand on that, and build!

We don’t need exciting things to stir up our emotions, we need something that will help us to change.

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.  Romans 12:1

We can be present in every service, and still be conformed to the world.  To change, we have to keep working at it; we have to be diligent at it.  What am I willing to start changing?  When I get a bad spirit, I have to DECIDE to transform my mind!  All of us need to KEEP WORKING!  Don’t get complacent!  Have a righteous ambition, looking for what God wants us to accomplish.  We will stand on righteousness and NOT compromise the foundation!  If we’ll keep working, we will find a peace that passeth all understanding!

Encouraging, Right?  It Only Gets Better.

Next, Brother Patrick continued to speak about elevation.  He said that we are called to elevate.  We can’t just say, “I’m moving up to another level.”  That statement is meaningless without action!  He asked us, “Do you know where you are?”  You can’t move to the next level if you don’t know where you currently are.  If you don’t believe you are going to the next level, you can’t get there!  When the ministry moves up to another level, we as the church need to Level Up!

Spoken in true Brother Patrick fashion, he told us that when it comes to meeting time, say, “Yes, I’m going” and work out the details later.  We can’t have preconceived notions of what God is going to do.  We can’t program God and figure Him out; so stop trying!  The church is moving to the next level, whether I personally go or not.

Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of them.  Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools.  They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God.  Psalm 84:5-7

We strengthen one another; we can’t just keep this to ourselves!  It’s not just for me; it is for the next generation.  I can’t just be satisfied where I am.  I can be happy and thankful for where I am, but I must keep moving forward!  LEVEL UP!

A Lot Like Elder LaFleur

Brother Wright is so much like Elder LaFleur in his ability to make things so simple and relatable.  He spoke about “The bully between our ears”.

He told us that sometimes when we go up, it is a gradual incline instead of an obvious step.  Part of how we go from “strength-to-strength” as Brother Patrick spoke about, is by being strengthened by our brothers and sisters.  Laziness is something that God doesn’t “get with”.  (Sounds like Brother Wright, doesn’t it?)

This ministry is not a, “Do as I say, not as I do” ministry!  They lead by example.  They don’t require anything of the people that they haven’t done or aren’t willing to do themselves.

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.  Hebrews 12:1

Hypocrisy in any form is terrible!

He told us that there has to be a beat down in order to go up.  You need to exert energy to go up; to elevate, you have to overcome gravity.  (He said that we were hovering on that day, and we definitely were!)

Back to bullies.

Adam was the first bully, a heavyweight, earthy bully (the bully between our ears).
A bully has several characteristics that we can all recognize:

• Does not like someone who is honest; someone who is not afraid of them.
• Is self-righteous. (If we don’t receive the word of counsel we are hearing, the bully is winning.)
• Does not like the truth.
• Will not take responsibility for their actions.
• Is riddled with fear; they have insecurities.  They operate on their “bigness”.
• Thinks he’s the supreme, the cream of the crop, sovereign.
• Stays mad; it has no mercy on itself or anyone else.  Ecclesiastes 7:9, Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools.
• Is unapologetic because they are “always right”.  They talk trash; they like to embarrass you.
• Is full of pride and arrogance.  God hates pride, Matthew 19:17-23.
• Is full of bias; partiality, James 2:1-4.
• Gets with other bullies and works together (in packs).  You will have opposition when you rise up, Nehemiah 2:17-20.
• Operates on the principle of intimidation.  We can beat the bully in us!
• Is lazy.  Part of us doesn’t want to work on the old man.  It makes more sense to work on maintenance than repair.  Beat the old man down every day.  Keep beating him down; he will submit eventually, Proverbs 24:30-34.
• Has priority issues.
• Is self-righteous.
• Says you’re beyond your productive years; you are well beyond your prime.  (The bully may be 6,000 years old, but there is a 2,000 year-old woman who is still productive!)

There is no bully that God can’t beat, but WE have to choose to beat our own bully.  Is there room for improvement in all of us?  YES!  When we elevate, we must keep going up; this is NOT a one-time event.

Friday Evening

All the precious seeds that were planted in the early service were watered with an abundant outpouring of the Holy Ghost!

Saturday Morning:  It Just Keeps Getting Better!

Brother Gavin got up and as always encouraged all of us.  He was followed by Brother Bean.  Brother Bean stated that we are a group of overcomers that are overcoming.  We are elevated!

We have a little sister, and she hath no breasts: what shall we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for?  Song of Solomon 8:8

Our “little sister” has the same Holy Ghost that we have.  There is a time when she will be grafted in.  Our doctrine is not what will get the attention of the world, but the spirit that we have!

By this shall all me know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.  John 13:3

The Spirit of God that is emanating from us is what people will see.  When you come to the Body of Christ, you will find a spirit of charity.  Why are we here?  So that our spirit can be made perfect.  Where is Jesus going to be lifted up?  In us!  Let’s lift Him up!

And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.  John 12:32

We need consistency, not complacency.  If we put God in His proper place, He will put everyone else in their place.  The Body of Christ is a secret place.

You will find certain things in the Body of Christ:

• In the Body of Christ you’ll find a ministry.  If it is of God, He will work on both ends, Acts 10.
• You can’t force your conviction on anyone.
• The Body of Christ comes by a revelation.
• You can’t assess the Body of Christ by numbers and size, but by the Spirit.

We in the Body of Christ need to know who we are.  It doesn’t matter what others may say we are, Matthew 16:13-17.  If you haven’t heard recently that there is something different about you; you need to check yourself!  We should be recognizable as being different, no matter our title or where we are.  The Word of God should be down in us.

I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh when no man can work.  John 9:4

This is Our Time!

Still Elevating

Next to their feet to elevate us was Brother Suggs.  He told us that the weapons that we possess to help us to overcome are not new weapons; we just need to dust them off.  One of our primary weapons to use is:  LOVE.

By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to
another.  John 13:35

I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.  Proverbs 8:17

Are you still seeking Him?  If you want to go up higher, Love Him!

It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother’s house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me.  Song of Solomon 3:4

Don’t let Him go!  We need to perfect this love and get it right. Is the “bully” keeping you from divine love?  If we let God’s love have its way, not only will we elevate, but our churches will burst forth.

It’s All About Love

This elevation of the church is about love.  If I love God, I’ll do right.  If I love the ministry, I’ll do right.  If I love the Lord, I’ll love His people, His Word, and His order, and I’ll elevate!  This love penetrates you!

And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.  Luke 10:27

If I am not loving Him with my whole heart, the bully has me.  I can’t hold anything back. I have to love him with my ALL.  Are you ready to go back home and elevate?  Then you have to make a change!

According to Matthew 22:37-39, I need to get myself out of the way to love others. Someone poured out their love into me, and now its my responsibility to pour my love into others.  We have to love the Lord right before we can love each other.  This love is real!  What we are doing is real!  Don’t be a “do-gooder”, just to be seen; actually do things right.  Once your spirit is broken, God can touch you.  If we love God and His ministry more that ourselves, we WILL increase!

We are all familiar with this scripture by now:

Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.  Romans 8:7

I you are not participating in God’s love, it is because of the carnal mind.  In this meeting, don’t you feel that we have elevated?  Yes!

Saturday Night Fellowship

Saturday night, with a little help from our GPS, we all enjoyed a wonderful fellowship at Brother Gary and Sister Sharon’s home.  Their hospitality was so beautiful, and we all blended our spirits, ate, shared testimonies, ate, sang songs, ate, played games, and (you guessed it) ate some more.  We had a marvelous time!

Ending on a High Note

The final day of the meeting, we ended on a high note.  Brother Gibbs opened with:

And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain.  1 Kings 18:41

It is time to eat and drink.  What are you eating and drinking?  He told the story Elder used to tell about an old water pump he was trying to get water out of.  Being a city fellow, he didn’t understand why no water came out, until on overall-clad gentleman showed him how to prime the pump.  We have to prime our pump.  We have to put something in to get something out!

This is a time to build up!  I don’t need to tear anyone down to build myself up.

You can’t join the Body of Christ.  You have to be called to it, and God will give you a revelation.  We need to be builders, but we need to build according to the pattern:

Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.  Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 2:4-5

It is always sad to see the final day of the meeting, but it’s not over.  I’ll see you all again when we reconvene on October 17th in North Carolina.

In the meantime, let’s continue to elevate!