Author: Solid Rock Christian Center

Would I ever bring this nation to the point of birth and then not deliver it?” asks the Lord. “No! I would never keep this nation from being born,” says your God. –Isaiah 66:9 NLT

What is God saying in His word; He is asking who understands the complexity of birthing and planting? Who understands the miracle of birth? He is responsible for the birth and delivery of his promise. He will always bring forth in you the promises and purposes He has planted in you. God has the power to speed up or slow down the process of His promise, but the breakthrough is guaranteed.

God says, what I have birthed in you; I will bring it to pass. That seed you are carrying—that vision, revived dream, that knowing you can’t put your finger on, that prayer you’ve been praying—is my seed inside the ground. It shall produce and you shall experience your breakthrough.

Try not to confuse your ability to endure the pain of your breakthrough with your worth as a person. God has ordained this process. When God has planted the seed of promise in you, you can’t stop it until it is complete. When you prayed for deliverance, God spoke to the seed inside of you. When you asked God to take you higher in Him, He increased the capacity of your seed. When you asked God to reveal the deeper meaning of His word to you, He multiplied the fruit of your seed. When you asked God to make your life better, your seed died to live and break through the ground. All of these processes requires pain and endurance.

Your release is in the birth canal. God says your breakthrough is imminent, just around the corner. Your breakthrough is at hand. In a moment, I will lift your burdens and release your blessings. God is not a respecter of persons when it comes to people, so is it also with His blessings. Blessings of the Holy Spirit include wisdom, knowledge, understanding, finance, career, increase of spiritual gifts and different types of healings.

God was stating he would never bring Israel to the point of receiving all that he had promised her and never allow Israel to experience it. God does not start something and leave it unfinished. For Paul stated, in Romans 4:21, that, Abraham being fully persuaded that what God had promised and started, He was also able to perform.

This is a cause for rejoicing in the midst of the pain of your patience. This pain is caused by pressure that is being exerted through the Word of God that must produce what it has spoken. I lift my hands in praise and give Him glory because nothing can hold back my promise, not even the hardest concrete.

Ben and Wanda Anderson
Pastors, September 2015

Annnually, in July and August, the National Association of Buffalo Soldiers & Troopers Motorcycle Clubs hit the road to celebrate our club history in a city across the US. During the week of July 19th we met in Albuquerque, New Mexico to honor our tradition and to provide charitable donations to some of the city’s organizations. I would like to introduce you to the history of Buffalo Soldiers Motorcycle Club.

The history of the National Association of Buffalo Soldiers & Troopers Motorcycle Clubs (NABSTMC) began with a dream; in this case, the dream of Ken ‘Dream Maker’ Thomas. Believing that it was time to establish a modern progressive motorcycle club whose focus was to promote a positive image among Blacks that would be respected in the community and throughout the country, Thomas founded the Buffalo Soldiers Motorcycle Club of Chicago in October 1993.

The name “Buffalo Soldiers” was initially selected to pay homage to and ensure the legacy of African American military contributions in the post-Civil War era. The NABSTMC which currently consists of seventy-nine member chapters throughout the United States and internationally with additional clubs petitioning for membership. The NABSTMC is now an active participant in numerous charitable functions including supporting senior citizen homes, student scholarships and food and fund drives for charitable organizations, i.e. The March of Dimes and Toys for Tots. The NABSTMC has also taken the responsibility of mentors to area youth and educational programs, which share enlightenment of the heritage that African-Americans have played in the United States.

We are also actively involved in recognizing the accomplishments and sacrifices of the Tuskegee Airmen. NABSTMC encourage a positive image and behavior of our members and affiliates. We believe that we are role models and share a responsibility and a positive value system to our respective communities. All members ride various styles of motorcycles and all support a local charity as embodied in the purpose of the NABSTMC. The member chapters do not discriminate against race, religion, gender or ethnic origin. We are an organization majority comprised of minority members and accept those who share our values and support our cause.

Pastors Ben and Wanda Anderson
June, 2015

In the past month, our country has undergone an enormous amount of upheaval. From ongoing displays of murderous racism jeopardizing the safety of African Americans even in houses of worship to relentless court battles over marriage equality for those who are seeking to have their love legitimized once and for all, our individual presuppositions and our world views have come under attack. How are we to navigate through the quagmire of injustice, discrimination and inequality? How are we to conduct ourselves in the valley of the shadow of death? How are we, as God’s image bearers, to sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?

Ezekiel 33:10 (NIV) – “Son of man, say to the Israelites, ‘This is what you are saying, “Our offenses and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away because of them. How then can we live?”

We find ourselves bombarded with images of protests, riots and demonstrations. Billboards and cardboard signs reflect the growing numbers of disenfranchised people groups fighting for basic human needs: the right to love; to live and to matter. Only 152 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, we are still singing ‘freedom’ songs. We are still marching for civil rights; we are still enduring voting rights discrepancies. While technically, we are free from the bondages of institutionalized slavery and we have won the right to vote and to love who and how we want, there are still vestiges of captivity which impinge upon human rights.

The days of Jim Crow, by way of the modern-day confederate flag, have experienced a new resurgence of glory. White men and women are fighting for their right to protect ‘the symbol of the old South’ and all of its dehumanizing practices which resulted in the lynching, torture, bombing and shooting of its African American citizens.

The offenses and the sins of historical and present-day racism and discrimination are weighing us down and we, as a nation, are wasting away because of this. How then can we live?
It is only through the Spirit of God that we can rid ourselves of the ‘bitter chastening rod’ of anger and despair when we see our nation succumbing to the lure of hate crimes and domestic terrorism with increasing fervor. But God has given his reply to the question of devalued life in Ezekiel 33:11, where He says: “Say to the House of Israel (to my beloved people): ‘As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his evil way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O House of Israel?’”

Our hearts’ cry should mirror that of God’s when he begs His people to turn from evil and wickedness; turn from the murderous spirit of generational racism; turn from stone-throwing and name-calling; turn from political polarization which leads to a divided nation; turn from gender and sexual orientation discrimination; turn from bitterness and hatred; turn from embracing lies about yourselves and others; turn from only giving God lip-service but not heartfelt worship; turn, turn from your evil ways. For why should we as Christ-followers die as a result of our sins, when Jesus was the atonement for the evils of mankind? How shall we then live? Through the power of Jesus Christ, we live. And it is only by Him and through Him that we can truly demonstrate complete love for all.

Wanda G. Anderson
Pastor

We are, this month, focusing on depression, a chronic disease that afflicts millions, including our family, neighbors and friends. We don’t talk much about depression in our churches, and many feel as if admitting to suffering depression occasionally or chronically (ongoing) is also an admission of a lack of faith in God. It isn’t. God knows and loves us. We are wonderfully and uniquely made by Him and in His image.

Like every other disease or disability, suffering—emotional and physical—is part of our human experience. But God’s grace is sufficient to help us overcome life’s challenges (2 Cor 12:7-10).

Our friend and designer, Rev. Christopher Priest, has posted a moving testimony about his own battle with depression at PraiseNet.Org.

We have posted some key symptoms of clinical depression on the back of this bulletin. You can find more information here. If you or someone you know are experiencing these life conditions, please seek help. Please talk to somebody, please call us.

Ben and Wanda Anderson
Pastors, September 2014