In The Eye of the Storm – Devotional

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.” —Acts 16:25

Great acts of faith are seldom born out of calm calculation. It wasn’t logic that caused Moses to raise his staff on the bank of the Red Sea. It wasn’t medical research that convinced Naaman to dip seven times in the river. It wasn’t common sense that caused Paul to abandon the Law and embrace grace. And it wasn’t a confident committee that prayed in a small room in Jerusalem for Peters release from prison.

It was a fearful, desperate band of ‘backed-into a corner’ believers.  It was a church with no options. A congregation of ‘have-nots’ pleading for help. And never were they stronger!

At the beginning of every act of faith, there is a seed of fear.

We are here today to share with you our journey with the Lord we have actually been on since the death of our oldest son, Branden. That journey began with a resolve that Debbie and I made that from that time on, we would say, “yes” to whatever Pappa asked of us. As most of you may know, by now, we have had a pause in the succession process. This pause has given us a moment to take a break from the business of preparation over the past three years and we have taken the opportunity to reflect on all that we have learned during this time period. Debbie and I have had some really amazing quality time with the Lord.

There are times in life that unexpected moments come and you aren’t sure how or why they came about. Initially, you are shocked, hurt, disappointed, saddened and maybe a little taken-aback. But, after you process your initial response to the jarring and you sit down and still yourself… forgiving others and forgiving yourself… you ask Poppa what to show you and to reveal His thoughts to you. That is what we have done over these past weeks. We have taken out all of our prophetic words and read, reread and prayed over them in the light of this season. There were some things that stood out to us that we could now see specifically as we talked and prayed about them. “Going Out… Getting some experiences… Some education etc.” We had a sense that Pappa was out in deep waters waving to us to come out where He was!

So, during the pause in the succession process we have (with much prayer, much counsel), decided to step back from the lead position at this time and go out to see what the Lord has for us. We have been here for 25 years. We have been taught and raised by the best. Bishop and Pastor Barbara have been with us through the thick and the thin! As a matter of fact, Pastor Barbara recently sat on our porch a few weeks ago and shared with us their journey. While she was recalling the experiences they had with the Lord, we felt a confirmation in our hearts as she spoke… that sometimes you have to make a move to see what the Lord has for you. You don’t know what that looks like but you have to do it!

We are going out, but we are not gone! This is our church and you are our family! If we are going to be part of this family of world changers, we will need to experience what the world needs; so we can grow more, learn more and be more!

We received a prophetic word in the late 90’s, when we were still at Wood St that the Lord was taking us on a great adventure! So far, that adventure has had all kinds of unexpected hills and valley’s. They have always been places of decision. We are now at another one of those places on the road. A place where we can’t see what is up ahead around the bend.  But, we want to keep going to see what He has for us. We could set up camp right here and be just fine, but the sense of adventure in us has been stirred and we don’t want to miss seeing what is up there.

There is something up ahead, and maybe there will be lions, tigers and bears, but we are well prepared now. These past three years have been the best three years of our lives! We were in the background before and ok with being safe, while serving Bishop, Pastor Barbara and our family here. God called us out then and we believe He is calling us out again. We love all of you so very much! We will always be a part of this family! We ask for your love and prayers as we put on our armor and backpacks to go out and see what the Lord has for us!

—Pastor Joey and Pastor Debbie