May 26, 2014
29 years ago today I started the church that is now CHURCH IN THE NOW...
Pentecost Sunday fell on May 26 that year (1985), and that's the day that I chose to have our first service...it comes later this year because Easter came late (Pentecost is 50 days after Easter), which is why we will be celebrating on June 8 (Pentecost Sunday 2014) this year, instead of on the actual date (today)...
In those 29 years we have been 'Word of Faith Assembly of God' (1985-1988), 'Word of Faith Christian Center' (1988-1995), 'Church In The Now' (1995-2011), and 'Church In The Now East/Church In The Now Midtown' (2011- present)...I haven't done the math to try to figure out how many sermons I have preached from 1985 to the present, not to mention all the songs I have sung and all the weddings, funerals, baby dedications, baptisms, pastoral ordinations, hospital visitations, counseling appointments, prison visitations, radio and TV programs, and prayers that I have prayed for the people in the congregation in those 29 years, but suffice it to say, it has been a lot...I have never been out of the pulpit for more than any 2 consecutive Sundays in those 29 years, and that was only on occasions when I was out of the country ministering...
In these past 29 years we have gone from being a small, storefront church, to being a bona fide megachurch with ministries all over the world, a successful television ministry, a Bishopric that covered 170+ churches and ministries, both foreign and domestic, and a global pulpit with far-reaching prophetic influence...we have also been in some kind of building program for nearly the entire 29 years, which eventually conceived, designed and created a 25 million dollar multi-building complex on 43 acres on I-20 on the eastside of Metropolitan Atlanta, GA...
In those 29 years we have been 'Word of Faith Assembly of God' (1985-1988), 'Word of Faith Christian Center' (1988-1995), 'Church In The Now' (1995-2011), and 'Church In The Now East/Church In The Now Midtown' (2011- present)...I haven't done the math to try to figure out how many sermons I have preached from 1985 to the present, not to mention all the songs I have sung and all the weddings, funerals, baby dedications, baptisms, pastoral ordinations, hospital visitations, counseling appointments, prison visitations, radio and TV programs, and prayers that I have prayed for the people in the congregation in those 29 years, but suffice it to say, it has been a lot...I have never been out of the pulpit for more than any 2 consecutive Sundays in those 29 years, and that was only on occasions when I was out of the country ministering...
In these past 29 years we have gone from being a small, storefront church, to being a bona fide megachurch with ministries all over the world, a successful television ministry, a Bishopric that covered 170+ churches and ministries, both foreign and domestic, and a global pulpit with far-reaching prophetic influence...we have also been in some kind of building program for nearly the entire 29 years, which eventually conceived, designed and created a 25 million dollar multi-building complex on 43 acres on I-20 on the eastside of Metropolitan Atlanta, GA...
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On this 29th anniversary I have much to be thankful for, and much to think about concerning my own future in ministry...of course I am profoundly grateful to all the many people who have helped me realize the dream that became Church In The Now, and believe that every single one of them will be rewarded for their efforts...
My life is in a very different place now, but I have no regrets...my hope is that my works, once tried in the fire, will not be burned up as "wood, hay, and stubble", but will come forth as pure gold...
Happy Anniversary, CITN...
"Therefore, my beloved brethren, be firm (steadfast), immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord [always being superior, excelling, doing more than enough in the service of the Lord], knowing and being continually aware that your labor in the Lord is not futile [it is never wasted or to no purpose]."
On this 29th anniversary I have much to be thankful for, and much to think about concerning my own future in ministry...of course I am profoundly grateful to all the many people who have helped me realize the dream that became Church In The Now, and believe that every single one of them will be rewarded for their efforts...
My life is in a very different place now, but I have no regrets...my hope is that my works, once tried in the fire, will not be burned up as "wood, hay, and stubble", but will come forth as pure gold...
Happy Anniversary, CITN...
"Therefore, my beloved brethren, be firm (steadfast), immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord [always being superior, excelling, doing more than enough in the service of the Lord], knowing and being continually aware that your labor in the Lord is not futile [it is never wasted or to no purpose]."
(I Corinthians 15:58 - Amplified Bible)
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