I've noticed several things happening in twos this week. For example, Gustav hit the same week Katrina hit several years ago. Because of the utter chaos that took place after Katrina, the local community & nation made lots of changes and efforts in case another storm hit. So when Gustav showed signs of trouble, people were evacuated. FEMA was ready. Crews were in place. First responders were ready to go. When Gustav hit, Louisiana was ready and even though great difficulty came, affliction did not rise up a second time. What Katrinas have you faced? What difficult situations have you encountered? Did those difficulties prompt you to make changes in your life, your marriage, your diet, or your lifestyle? Did you cry for a week, and then do nothing, hoping that nothing would happen to you? Whatever situations we have faced, let them serve as warnings to us. Let us use them as an opportunity to put things in order.

Along those same lines, I have also been pondering over how a little sin can cause a world of problems down the road. One little conscious mistake. One thing we avoid. One thing we intentionally overlook. One law we break. The more I spend time helping people deal with difficulty, the more I appreciate the truth and necessity of the scripture in Hebrews: throw away everything that hinders, and the sin that so easily entangles. Sin is sin. Everthing wrong, is wrong. Anything God says not to do shouldn't be done. Make a conscious effort to do away with little sins. Don't let God's patience, grace and mercy in the midst of it convince you that it is okay. Don't let the permissiveness of our society make you callous to sin.

This weekend promises to be a powerful time at HOW as we are blessed by Rev. Yemi Adefarasin and challenged to take our prayer to a new level. See you on Friday at 8pm, Saturday at 5pm and Sunday at 1030am. And remember our expansion project! Make every effort to donate regularly in person at House of Worship, or online on our website. Bring your friends and family to our upcoming fundraisers: Sponsored Walk on Saturday October 25th, and our Concert & Silent Auction on Saturday November 8th at 5pm.

Most importantly, be committed to PERSONAL EXPANSION. There are 4 more months before 2008 ends. At the end of this year, may your life be better than it was in January!

Last Friday night there were amazing miracles in our midst during our Hunger & Healing Service. The presence and power of God was just beautiful and we thank God for the sweetness of His presence. We will seek Him again this Friday night at 830pm at House of Worship and again on Sunday morning at 1030am. This Sunday we will conduct a consecration as leaders take a stand to be separated unto God for His service. Also new this week is our new church website! It is still under construction and you will notice new features as the days go by.

Destiny Seekers & Snatchers - that was the title of the sermon this past Sunday at HOW. What an amazing thing when people GRAB their God-given purposes by the horns and turn the world around! This week, for the first time in American history, an African American was nominated as a candidate for President of the United States. On Thursday August 28th, the 45th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech, Sen. Obama will accept that nomination. Regardless of political or Christian views, this is an historic occasion that forces me to ask myself these questions: Have I accomplished my dream? Have I snatched my destiny? Has the world experienced me? And now I ask you to ask yourself those questions too.

The world needs more than marches on Washington. The world needs Christians walking in the fullness of our calling and destiny. We can't just go to work, come home, feed our families and attend a service on Sunday. We can't afford to love God one day and not be sure the next. We can't afford to slow down our walk with Him because of difficulties or demands of the workplace. The world needs men and women to take a stand and BE THE LIGHT of the world. We need light in the LEGAL SYSTEM, light in the HEALTHCARE SYSTEM, light in SCHOOLS, light in GOVERNMENT, light in COMMUNITY PROGRAMS, light in the MALL.

There were all kinds of counselors and encouragers along the way, but one day Sen. Obama himself had to make a decision to run for presidency. A decision that has now resulted in history. Let me take you to Bible days when Zelophehad's daughters realized they were losing out on inheritance just because their father didn't have any sons. So they made a decision to approach Moses and plead their case. And guess what? GOD WAS ON THEIR SIDE!! As a result the law was changed, and they obtained their inheritance. Glory to God! During this historic week, make a decision. Make a decision to have an impact. May your workplace change because of you. May your family change because of you. May your church never be the same because of you. May the world around you FEEL YOU this week. Let it start with a decision today. Amen!

This past week was a tremendous one at House of Worship! We focused on worship during our worship conference with Papa Billy Lubansa, Rev. Mitchell Warren, Ps. Keith Childress, Ps. Thurlow Foy, Min. Michael Reed, Min. Jocelyn Richards, Sue Edmonson and Derrell Owens. We studied how to be Levites - people separated unto God to prepare His chosen place for worship. With teachings on the correlation between praise and strength, understanding the journey to worship and what it requires of us, as well as workshops to improve our skill in singing, playing instruments, dancing, and drama productions, we were set on a path to worship God in a manner that is pleasing to Him. Just like a ram was prepared on the other side of the mountain as Abraham went to worship, so has God made provision for us to provide PERFECT PRAISE to Him! The teaching CDs for this conference are available by calling (410) 902-0060 or sending an email to admin@houseworship.org.

We continue to work towards our move in February 2009. House of Worship is a source of life to people, families and to the very land in Baltimore County, and we are committed to staying in this community and bringing a message of hope, and opportunities for people to prosper. We encourage EVERYONE to be part of this incredible move of God in House of Worship. Call your family and friends and encourage them to donate towards our move. Donations can be given online at www.houseworship.org You can also obtain donation envelopes and pledge cards for you and everyone you know. Stop by House of Worship and pick up some envelopes. Be the one to raise the most money for HOW!!!

Friday nights continue to resound with the message of our call as priests & kings. We must stand in our places of authority and rule. If you aren't yet functioning in full capacity as a priest and king, then this special Friday night training on Priestly Royalty IS FOR YOU! Come out at 830pm this Friday night.  

Upcoming life-giving teams that will serve our community include our Teen Ministry, development of our Food Distribution Center, creation of a support system for the International Missions projects we are involved in, as well as more Growth Groups in the various communities in Maryland. Anyone interested in working on any of these life-giving projects is encouraged to call our office for more information. Also coming up on September 5th, 6th and 7th is our Prayer Conference with Ps. Yemi Adefarasin.

When the people of God sought to leave Egypt to worship God, many plagues were sent to Egypt but Pharoah refused to budge. He was in denial living in his palace in apparent prosperity, even though the plagues hit him too. After much suffering, his servants said to him "Do you not yet know that Egypt is destroyed?" There are areas in our lives that are being destroyed because of things we choose to keep in us and our refusal to allow real worship to flow out of us. This week, make a commitment to release anything and everything that is promoting destruction in your life. Release fears, thoughts, hurts, offenses, mindsets, cultures, ways of doing things, likes, dislikes, sin in all its shapes & sizes, and anything that hinders the flow of worship from you. Yes, the "worship team" left for the promised land, but Egypt was plundered and its people left dead on the seashore (Exodus 14:30)  while the people of Israel WALKED ON DRY LAND and were greatly saved by Jehovah. Now that's the power of praise!! And they funny thing is, they hadn't even started praising God yet! They just decided to go and started walking!! Ah!!!! May God bring mighty deliverance to you just because you decide you're gonna worship Him with everything in you!!

Pastor Fiifi and I were in London for a day of meetings with singles and also with married couples. We were joined by Pastor Nathan Byrd from The Worship Center of St. Albans in New York. What an incredible time we had! First of all, London is a beautiful city, characterized by old quaint buildings that represent strength and stability. Like any other major city in the world though, there is a clear need for God. We stood under the Marble Arch in London (a gateway that was built for the entrance of the queen) and called on the name of the Lord for the city. We also recorded some TV interviews for a program called Against All Odds. The conferences were wonderful. It was our first time having a singles seminar on the same day as a marriage seminar and it worked out very well. We talked about purpose and destiny in marriage, being healed from wounds, and understanding the process by which Adam was prepared before Eve came on the scene. The time of prayer was empowering, especially for the singles. The feedback was encouraging. When asked "What impacted you the most?" one person responded "What didn't?"

While it was great seeing God bless His people in England, it is good to be back home and on assignment in Maryland. The Hunger & Healing sessions at House of Worship on Friday nights have focussed on our role as kings and priests unto the Lord. We have been talking about establishing altars along our journey, just like Abraham did. That is exactly what we did at the Marble Arch in London. As priests we must walk the length and breadth of the land and claim it for God. As kings, we must rule. We must sit in our places of authority.

This week I am so reminded of how Moses failed to reach his own destiny in the process of helping others reach their destiny. He was frustrated, in fact, those people literally drove him crazy! But the calling on Moses' life was great. The expectations were great. The requirments were great. So for him, smashing a rock instead of trusting God was simply not acceptable. We must never lose the connection to our source, and our commitment to our assignments. The honor of serving God is awesome, but the blessing of obeying Him is profound. This week, choose to obey. Don't hit the rock because of the pain of ministry. Choose to do His will every step of the way.

Hello everyone!

This is a great opportunity to share our hearts with you, and tell you what we are doing in this season to equip people to live victoriously through the power of the Word of God. When we say, "I'm a Chrisitan" or "Jesus loves me" we often have no idea the power that stands behind those statements. When we choose to follow Christ, then Christ chooses not only to follow us, but to give us purpose in each day of our lives. He equips us and empowers us with eternal purpose. What an incredible thing!

We have been quite busy this summer. We started out with our family reuinion in Detroit. It was a special time of blessing our family and being reminded that God sets us in specific families for divine purpose. Don't be frustrated when you see the imperfections in your family. God put you there for a reason! Then off to Tampa for training on a mental health outreach we are working on. More on that later on. This was followed by a quick hiatus to Cocoa Beach Florida to cheer on the Randallstown Ballers, our son Jason's basketball team. It gave us a great opportunity to be involved in our community. House of Worship also recently hosted Revs Emmanueal and Martha Kure from Throneroom (Trust) Ministry in Northern Nigeria. What a tremendous time of prophetic teaching! If you don't have copies of the teachings, you can get them by calling (410) 902-0060.

We are preparing right now for marriage and singles seminar on Saturday Aug 2 at the Marriott in Marble Arch, London. It is going to be a powerful time of challenging couples and singles to walk in their destiny. There is more information on these seminars on the website.

Enjoy your summer! 

Make a difference in your family, church and community.

Fiifi & Sybil