My Testimony

As I finished ministerial school and in preparation for taking my final exam, I had to complete a spiritual gift test to assess and determine my top 5 spiritual gifts and turn in an essay sharing my testimony. I recently completed these tasks and thought it would be useful to some to share my testimony essay. 
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How do I know I am called

​I believe we are all called to ministry based on the principle stated at Matthew 28:19-20. No one is excluded from this responsibility. The challenge for many Christians is finding where in the scope of ministry they best fit. For most of us, it takes us a lifetime (approximately 30-plus years) to discover where we best fit, and I am no different from most.
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called to ministry

I’m trying to think of the shortest way to share my journey since I am known to be long-winded. The easiest way to answer your question, “How do you know that you are called,” is by sharing two significant points in my life. There are other events that are more significant than these two, but I believe these two events in my life answer your question more effectively.

As far as sharing my personal testimony, well, it is too long to share here. In fact, my testimony is such a valuable testimony to the Bible of Christ that the LORD had me put it in a book on which I have received some great positive feedback from pastors, laymen in the Body, and others.
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A major part of my ministry has become a spill-off from this testimony I revealed in my first book. However, my testimony is best shared in a group setting, one-on-one with individuals and or families who can relate to my testimony, in Bible study groups, and or training for leaders. I also have a blog as well as a Vlog where I have talked about my testimony as GOD leads me. 
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major events

​The two events took place on April 2, 2016, and January 8, 2019.
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april 2, 2016 Encounter with christ

​That morning, I was worshiping in my bedroom, when I felt a shift in my room – the Spirit of GOD filled the space. As I sat still, the LORD took me to Romans 1:1 and had me read it. The word ‘apostle’ leaped off the page and appeared to hoover in front of me. Then I heard the voice of GOD say the following to me.
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“Apostle! You need to understand it. You need to understand what it is and why GOD has chosen to assign you as an apostle. Go study apostleship.”
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To be honest, at that time, I didn’t know what an apostle was, yet along, I wasn’t familiar with the term fivefold ministry. I was quite ignorant of church lango back in those days. At any rate, this took me on a journey of spiritual growth and understanding the principle stated at 1 Corinthians chapter 12.
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I came to realize that GOD was calling me to a unique office in the Body of Christ. And it would take me another three years to fully understand it. This leads me to the encounter I had with Christ on January 8, 2019.
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january 8, 2019

I was lying in bed communing with GOD when, suddenly, I had an out-of-body experience. I won’t go into the details of that experience and what I saw. But I will share that it involved a golden scepter, the earth, and a hammer (a sledgehammer in particular).

During this encounter, I was given three instructions. (By the way, the number 3 seems to play a significant role in my ministry).

1. To go learn about the scepter and how it is used in GOD’s Kingdom.
2. To go research and learn about all the different kinds of hammers and how they are used – their purpose.
3. Then I was reminded of a prophetic word a prophetess spoke over me, where she declared Jeremiah 23:29 over my life, which has become my theme scripture for my ministry.

There are a lot of takeaway points I learned from my research about the scepter and hammer and their proper use. But what I came to understand was what GOD was saying specifically to me concerning my calling.

1. The Scepter: HE (GOD) has marked and granted me favor. HE has positioned me in a high rank in HIS Body to serve a specific purpose HE has for mankind and this earth. HE has vetted me, my heart, and my motives, and considers me pure, which HE often refers to me as. (Compare to 1 Samuel 16:7; Jeremiah 17:10; Hebrews 4:12). Therefore, HE has assigned me a very difficult assignment that most in the church have failed to manage properly.
2. The Hammer: Jeremiah 23:29 reads. “Is not My word like a fire?” says the LORD, “And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?”

For me to fully understand how this scripture played in my life, I had to read Jeremiah 1:10 as well. Which says, “See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant.”
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Once I understood the spiritual symbolism of a hammer (based on my research). Not only did I finally understand what GOD was calling me to, but I finally came to fully understand my identity in Christ – who I am, why I am the way I am, and where I am going. This revelation cleared up so much for me. And for the first time in my life, I had a sense of purpose – what it is and what GOD called me to do. 
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I AM GOO’S HAMMER. Just as it says at Jeremiah 1:10, GOD has brought me here for the sole purpose of uprooting some things, to destroy some major misconceptions in the Body of Christ, and then rebuild what was torn down on a better foundation – that is, the heart of GOD concerning a matter that the church has missed and mismanaged. This is the usefulness of a hammer. It is used to both tear things down or apart as well as to build things.

I often find this part of my ministry extremely difficult and painful at times, and too often I want to quit because it is a difficult assignment. In fact, there are times I can truly relate to the words the prophet Jeremiah spoke at Jeremiah 20:7-9. “… You are stronger than I and have prevailed. I am in derision daily; everyone mocks me. For when I spoke, I cried out… Because the word of the LORD was made in me a reproach and a derision daily. Then I said, ‘I will not make mention of Him, nor speak anymore in His name….’” I don’t know how many times I have felt like that because of this ministry that the LORD has given to me. But Jeremiah continues in verse 9. “…  But His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, and I could not.”

Despite the difficulty of my calling, this ministry the LORD has given me, I find that I can only be truthful to what the LORD has given me to care for. This has helped me to better understand and appreciate that scripture God’s prophetess spoke over me some years ago – Jeremiah 23:29. Now, I understand its significance to my ministry success and my endurance whenever I want to give up. 
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​Is not My word like a fire?” says the LORD, “And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?