It Was A Set-Up!!

That's right...it was a set up, and boy, did He set me up good! I'm not talking about a friend or a relative, I'm talking about God. And believe me when I tell you that there is no better "setter upper" than He! Every time I think that I have fulfilled His order as it relates to I Shall Not Die, He points out an unfinished area of the puzzle, and then points me in the right direction to help me create the piece that will fill the slot. There's a popular saying that states: "The will of God won't take you where the grace of God won't protect you." I have found that to be very true throughout my life and certainly throughout the process of birthing I Shall Not Die. What started out as what I thought would only be a book has evolved into more. Much, much more.
I've shared the story behind the I Shall Not Die book throughout this blog. Faithful followers of this online journal are aware that when I embarked upon the mission of writing this book, that task alone was intimidating. I had my moments of doubts and disobedience. Getting beyond the fear to reach the point of taking God at His word and trusting Him to not only walk with me, but lead and guide me through the process was fourteen years in the making. But even as I moved beyond the lurking shadows of fear into the lighted path that faith provided, I had no idea of where this walkway would lead. I thought I knew, but I have come to the realization that I hadn't the slightest notion. And in the process, I also now realize that this is just the way God planned it. He set me up!
God knew that if He allowed me to see the entire view from the onset, I would have frozen in place. It's quite possible that the writing of the book would still be on the back-burner if I'd known then what I know now. So instead of giving me a panoramic view of what He had planned, God showed it to me in snapshots that He knew I'd be able to handle. That allowed me to complete the I Shall Not Die manuscript in five months after fourteen years of procrastination. When God revealed that the I Shall Not Die book was actually a puzzle piece of a larger platform that was to be the I Shall Not Die Motivational Ministry, I was somewhat taken aback, but it wasn't an assignment that paralyzed me. However, when another puzzle piece turned the ministry into a movement that God inspired me to title The I.S.L.A.N.D. (I Shall Live And Not Die) Conference, I was like...WHOA!! It took me totally by surprise, and the reveal of it all momentarily overwhelmed me, but there was no turning back, and God gave me the reassurance that if He assigned it to me, He would equip me with the wherewithal to carry it out. And I wouldn't have to do it alone because he promised to put people in place who would recognize it as a vision that He'd given and be willing to assist in making it a reality. And so He did. Every phone call I made...every email I sent out requesting the involvement of others were answered with an unquestionable "Yes."
God is so faithful. His mandate (the book) broadened into a ministry (the motivational ministry) and then into a movement (the conference)....and it all happened before the book was even sent to the printer for production. He...set...me...up!! But what a blessing and an honor to be used of God to bring about a change in someone's life, someone's heart, someone's soul! The official launch of the ministry in it's entirety (including the book) is scheduled for Saturday, October 2, 2010. Join me in Valdosta, Georgia for The inaugual presentation of The I.S.L.A.N.D. Conference where our keynote speaker will be Bishop Q.S. Caldwell, Chief Apostle of Celebration of Praise Ministries, and our featured music guests will be Stellar Award recognized, national recording artists, Lowell Pye (of Men of Standard) and Marcus Cole (formally of Commissioned). The evening of glorious celebration and radical worship will be hosted by Pastor Bernard Robinson, the voice behind the mic of the Bernard Robinson Morning Show on WJEM-1150 AM gospel radio station in Valdosta. Admission is FREE and the public is urged to attend.
I am trusting God to do mighty things through the movement as a whole. That is my most earnest prayer. The book, the ministry, and the conference - I want it all to be to man's edification and to God's glorification. I speak it in faith and in Jesus' name that it is already done. To God be the glory!
To obtain more information about the mandate, the ministry, and the movement, visit the official website by clicking HERE. The book that started it all will officially release on October 1, 2010. Orders can be placed now through the ministry website. Shipping is free for advance orders, and the books that are ordered in advance will be shipped in the month of September.