Have you watched a shift change in a restaurant lately? All the ending shift employees leave their post to go home. While the next shift employees came in to take their place as servers, hosts, cash register and waitresses. I painted a picture of a shift change that happens every day in not only restaurants but all kinds of other businesses. Well, did you know it also happens by the spirit?

In this season of my life I have seen a shift in the body of Christ. In the church that I attended for a couple of decades, my wife and I operated as senior leaders. It’s like a shift change happened, like on a job that I just described to you. Watching it from my own perspective, it seems like the Spirit of the Lord has said, it’s time for some that are ready, prepared and matured to go and do what I have called them to do.

I have seen at least a dozen be launched to go and start their mission of the Lord. It is exciting to see! In this shift, myself included, I’ve noticed a new level of authority being released in my personal life. It’s also a beautiful thing to see! That’s where my title, ‘God Honoring our Words’ comes into play. For the last several years in my life, my wife and I have noticed a new level of authority being released to mature people of God.

And it’s answered prayer, not only just answered prayer, but different levels of it in operation. We have always believed in the power of agreement in prayer and received from this kind of prayer. You know, ‘Where two or more shall agree, it shall be done.” The Lord has taken it up a few levels for us in this time and season. Like the Lord showing us things then praying and seeing it come to past. Or we speaking it and seeing it come to past the next day or the next week.

I had this big personal question in my mind for a few years now. How does it work with answered prayer? Now, when you see God answer your prayers immediately, it gets your attention. So you know I’m not bragging, to be honest sometimes it can get a little scary. I know you say, “Scary?” I say it like that because you know we live in the flesh and it can make you a little afraid. With questions like, Lord what if I pray the wrong thing, or give the wrong word of the Lord. And you ask the question that Bishop Garlington says often, “Lord, how does it know?” He’s speaking of the Spirit of the Lord.

Well, I sought the Lord and this is what He revealed to Earma and I.

The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the Lord. —I Samuel 3:19-20.

Through the Lord’s Holy Spirit training we are molded by his Spirit to do his bidding. In serving the Lord, I remember the beginning of our (my wife and I) preparation. We first started in our church’s jail ministry; we would go to the halfway houses. When men were released from prison they would have to go to this halfway house for a stay of several months before they were released back to the public.

We would go and minister to them every Thursday. We did it for nearly a decade. My first job was to get the men to come downstairs to hear the word of God. In the midst of this I would take men aside and pray for them to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. They would be leaving rejoicing and speaking in tongues.

So, the prison ministry was where I first found my calling to preach. And Earma re-discovered her calling to teach. Then we faithfully preached and taught in the local jails and prisons. In the local jails every Saturday, I went to the men and Earma to the women. On Sundays we preached. Even on holidays, we went to the jail infirmary section. We did it for a decade. I’m speaking of this because it was the preparation the Lord gave us to get where we are now.

After this season the Lord changed our direction and called us to a greater focus in our local church ministries and departments. We served in just about all of the helps ministries and eventually as Armorbearers to our senior Pastors. Boy did our life change. It’s like we were catapulted into another dimension. We served them for almost two decades In latter years, I would do a lot of special projects for Pastor Mike. I would say to myself, I always do the hard jobs that no one else could do or wanted to do.

After this season our ministries were birthed: Armorbearers International, Nasa Ministries and Butterfly Press. My wife has been a Christian author for many years and later I became one. Our four book Armorbearer book series was birthed out of our service toward our Pastors from the team we helped establish in our local Church. Churches are using these books all over America and in some other countries. Praise the Lord!

Now, this season we have entered in as I speak is like none other than I’ve ever seen. The Lord has stretched us like never before. Our life has always been about going from faith to faith and being led by his Spirit. It has come to a “Such-A-Time-As-This” moment and we have embraced it. God has called and commissioned us to birth a new ministry and we are very excited about it.

With the Lord’s help, we are birthing a church called Grace Covenant Church in Marianna, Arkansas. Our plans are to raise up a boys ministry to help the upcoming generations. Earma and I are from the city of Marianna. The Spirit of the Lord has been preparing us for this mission all of our lives. We said yes to the commission, quite some time ago. So, it is exciting to be in full force preparations. Pray for us. Consider seeding into our mission in the near future. If you want to know more about us and track our progress, sign up for updates.

In ending this, now we know the reason the Lord has graced us with such an intensity and a passion of service toward the people of God with its special gifting. It’s all about yielding to the will of God and allowing Him to work through us in achieving the impossible building the Kingdom of God and making Disciples of Christ. For it’s not by our power or our might but by the Spirit of the Lord. –Zechariah 4:6

Making Disciples of Christ,

Rev. Varn E Brown, Sr

REFERENCE:

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. —Romans 8:14

It’s not by power or might but by the spirit of the Lord –Zechariah 4:6