During a time in recent prayer, the Lord began to speak to Nichole and said “write this down”. She wrote it down as He gave it and then shared it with Pastor Dave. He, in turn, had her share this word with us Wednesday night, 1.17.18, after his sermon where He spoke about not judging others, being free from legalism and honoring God’s will and plans for our lives. Here is a word in season for our church:

When the shaking began many of you thought it was an attack from the enemy but this was My doing. I had to shake off the shell, the molding, the scaffolding, for I have been designing something new. There were those who were necessary for the beginning stages,who were necessary for the design, but they were not chosen for the movement. For what I have been building is for movement, and these were not equipped for moving they were only equipped to shape and mold. The shaking was to allow the life of what I have purposed, to breathe in Me and exhale Me. For inside the mold, a change took place; a metamorphosis. In this metamorphosis, you are going from what was to what is now – and what is to come.

You’ve only just began to scratch the surface of what I have done and what I am doing. Don’t fear the new thing or the unknown. The unknown to you is known to Me for I am eternity; I am in the past, present, and future. Your future is unknown to you but I am there and the steps of the righteous are ordered. Trust Me. Although everything feels different, it is time to to step out and MOVE! I have chosen you for this new movement – it’s not supposed to feel familiar! You are to be apart of the pioneers that will go first. Yes, it may feel like you are walking on water just keep your eyes focused on ME.

There are those who still love the molding- they cling to the molding. They will either have to let go of the molding or they will be shook off! You have grown beyond the molding. You no longer fit in the molding. You went from one thing, to a new thing with new purpose! No longer limited to what was and who you were before. So I say LET GO of the old LET GO of what was LET GO of what was familiar!! FAITH walk in FAITH not by sight! I will not pour new wine in an old wine skin! You want more…. you cry out for more? Do you not realize the depths of Me? The fullness of who I am are like the many waves that crash upon the shore that bring forth something new with each crashing wave. Again, I say keep your focus on Me, lock eyes with Me, we have MORE to do.

• Date - January 18, 2018
• Author - The Rock Parkersburg

Breaking the Curse of Generational Poverty

Last Sunday morning I ministered a message on “Being a Curse Breaker”. If you missed that message I would encourage you to go online and watch it, either on FB or on our youtube channel. I really believe there is more to breaking a generational curse than just praying a prayer of deliverance; it also takes a change in behavior. In the last couple of years scientific research has shown that diet and lifestyle (in other words, more than just genetics) play a role in generational disease. You eat what your parents ate and they eat what their parents ate and the curse rolls on.

Poverty works the same way. In the classic book “What Every Church member Should Know About Poverty”,(*see info below) the authors state that research in generational poverty teaches us that those bound in poverty have a common misunderstanding; failure to understand proper life planning and the discipline that requires. It goes like this:

If I cannot plan, I cannot predict.
If I cannot predict, I cannot identify cause and effect.
If I cannot identify cause and effect, I cannot forecast consequences.
If I cannot identify cause and effect, I cannot control impulsivity.
If I cannot control impulsivity, I will be prone to reckless and even criminal behavior.

A victim mentality will freeze you into the current state you are in. If you take the attitude “I can’t do anything about my current situation in life”, then you are done. I always ask myself why or what? What can I do to improve what I am experiencing? Where does the blame really lie for my current circumstance that I find myself in?

Years ago I had a leader cause a lot of problems and I was venting to my good friend Kevin Leal about it. He responded by telling me I needed to take the responsibility for what happened and move on. “Me?” said. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“You empowered him didn’t you?” Kevin answered.

Wow, that was some tough love, but it really helped me come out of the victim mode and move forward with empowering others.

There are a lot of “victim leaders” who have been burned and spend the rest of their lives afraid to trust again. We have to learn to identify cause and effect and make the changes necessary to move forward from failed places and efforts in our lives. John Maxwell has a book I liked called “Failing forward” it addresses some of the same issues. Breaking generational poverty is basically identifying the cause of the poverty. The victim mentality is a curse on our culture at this time in history, and every day certain achievers are breaking free from it. It IS possible!

Thirty years ago, I brought my two brother-in-laws to America from South Korea. They were penniless when they came, and had only a High School education. To this day, they don’t speak much English. They both lived in a one-bedroom apartment with their Mother in Los Angeles and worked in a convenience store. Within three years, they saved $20,000. And with $10,000, each they began a small business. Within three more years one was worth close to a million and the other was not far behind. They didn’t come as victims they worked, they saved and broke the curse of generational poverty from their generations! Now their children are prospering and becoming the next generation of successful Americans!

I refuse to be a victim! How about you?

Love ya,

Pastor Dave

* What Every Church Member Needs to Know About Poverty

• Date - January 17, 2018
• Author - The Rock Parkersburg

This month I am focusing the messages on Poverty to Wealth and Sickness to Health! The Kingdom of God is so large we have to appropriate it in bite size chunks. I try to seek the Lord and listen to the pulse of the body, to choose topically what to teach and when to teach it. As a senior pastor of a church, I desire to see every member to experience God’s richest and fullest blessings and to teach the whole counsel of God for the whole man; spirit, soul and body. I have seen too many Christians stop short in their pursuit of their full potential. The scriptures are personalized by the Holy Spirit in our hearts because He knows our hearts as well as the mind of God for us! (1 Corinthians 2:11)

Years ago, when I was trying to discover God’s design for my own life, I was attending an outreach training meeting at our Church. There was a requirement for my Bible College; that I be involved in a weekly outreach ministry. So, I sat there and looked at a sheet of paper with about twenty different ministries on it, clueless about what to choose. A lady named Sue was teaching the training session and she looked at me and quoted a verse from the Book of Psalms.

Psalms 37:4-5 Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass. NKJV

The minute she said those words they exploded inside me! I looked back at the paper and saw the words “prison ministry.” I just knew that was what I was supposed to do. So for the next three years I became an Associate Chaplin at the Tarrant County Jail in Ft. Worth, Texas. It was there that I learned to preach and pastor people. The funny thing? I was really nervous about trying to minister to inmates in a jail setting. However, the first time I began to teach them it was like I was designed to do it.

“Delight yourself in the Lord” means to become soft and pliable so that you can be molded. Over the last 35 years I have watched some of the most peculiar matches in ministry assignments. Paul, an educated Jew was sent to the pagans and heathens and Peter an uneducated fisherman was sent to the Doctors and Lawyers of his day and culture. That’s why I believe it is a discovery process to find your ministry gifts and calling. I have purposed in my heart since this time, to be in the will of God and to be faithful in what I have been directed to do. In other words, I commit my way to Him. This means I don’t quit what I start, and believe me that takes the grace of God!

See, our provision is in our vision or where God guides He provides. He will not ask you to do something he will not equip to do. Over the years, I have watched many make attempts at doing something for God that they wanted to do for a wrong motive, and then when there is no provision they blamed others and even God. To me, absence of provision is evidence that you are in the wrong vision. This is not to say we won’t have famines or have to live by faith, but there comes a point in time where you have to say, “God is not in this.”

I have lived by the philosophy, “do what you CAN do and God will do what you CAN’T do WHEN you are in His will.” If God is not helping, then we must discern when we have launched out into self-deception and not the will of God.

A lot of believers live beneath their potential and a lot of believers try to live outside or above their potential. We need to discern the difference. Don’t go to a yes man to get a no answer. Many surround themselves with those who, out of mercy or fear, will not tell them when it is obvious that they are missing their mark. On the contrary, find yourself a trusted spiritual person who will be honest with you regardless of what you want to hear, a person or friend you trust hears from God.

Proverbs 27:5-6 Open rebuke is better Than love carefully concealed. Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. NKJV

I have had a lot of people over the years ask for my opinion on a matter and then I have watched them walk away in offense, and not heed or really even think about the counsel given. I hate to say this, but nine out of ten usually go into some form of failure at what they attempt to do. Believe me, I can miss it, but I will try to be a confirming voice one way or another to those who ask. Prosperity does not suffer fools for long and the earth doesn’t give up her wealth easily. Therefore, it is vital that we discern the will of God for our lives and then walk in His blessing and grace upon that which He has called us to do!

As we dig into the Word this month, I pray that you are encouraged to pursue the Lord concerning your wealth and health! It’s time again for some new beginnings in both of these key and important areas!

Be Blessed!
Pastor Dave

• Date - January 10, 2018
• Author - The Rock Parkersburg