Make It Plain

quote accessed from http://izquotes.com/quote/281350  

Do you know someone who talks in riddles or is never clear in their communication?  You can have a thirty minute conversation with them and walk away wondering what you just talked about or better yet walk away with an assignment to complete something and you don't know what that something is?  Or how about following a leader that has it in their minds where they want to lead people but have not adequately painted the picture nor made it plain?  I write as that leader who has a vision, a goal, an expected end, if you would, but has not completely or totally written the vision nor made it plain.  The reason for not doing so is quite silly when I think about it.  It is the fear that the vision might not make sense to others or the fear that it would be ridiculed.  But even as I type this I think about all the inventors, civil rights activists, politicians, etc., that had a vision and made that vision plain to others.  Inventors like the Wright Brothers.  What if they felt like me and decided not to pursue their vision of traversing the land with a "reliable method of pilot control?"(taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_brothers)  Or what if Madam C. J. Walker didn't craft a vision to help women look their best? What if Dr. King didn't have a dream and cast a vision where his "...four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character?" (taken from http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/08/27/transcript-martin-luther-king-jr-have-dream-speech/)  Can you imagine our world today without the contributions of those individuals and others?  What if they were immobilized by fear and didn't share their vision or bring others along because they were afraid someone would laugh at them or ridicule the vision?  Some of our dreams or visions may look crazy to others...a black president, really?  Someone named Barack Obama will serve as our president, are you kidding me?  Yes, we can hear the naysayers already ridicule the vision.  You have a prominent church in Chicago?  Your conferences are world renowned?  Really?  Yes, really!  It is time to create a vision and make it plain.  Not generic.  Not general.  Not superficial.  Not vague; but PLAIN!  Create a vision and spell it out.  Create a vision and accessorize it with details.  What do you want to do?  Where do you want to be?  Write your vision and make it plain.  Fear and uncertainty will not serve you well as you work to accomplish your goals.  Follow God's Word to Habbakuk when God said:

2 Then the Lord replied:

“Write down the revelation
    and make it plain on tablets
    so that a herald[b] may run with it.
3 For the revelation awaits an appointed time;
    it speaks of the end
    and will not prove false.
Though it linger, wait for it;
    it[c] will certainly come
    and will not delay.

4 “See, the enemy is puffed up;
    his desires are not upright—
    but the righteous person will live by his faithfulness[d]— Habbakuk 2:2-4 NIV

If God blessed you with a vision, write that vision down and trust that it will come to pass at the appointed time.  Trust the fact that God is able to give you a vision larger than yourself. It may not make sense to others nor make sense to you but it doesn't need to make sense.  The Bible tells us that God uses the foolish things to confound the wise.  I want to encourage and challenge you to craft a vision today.  Write it down no matter how outlandish it may be.  Make sure to make it plain so that others can see it and run along side of you to accomplish it.  Finely appoint the details of your vision and watch it come to pass.

I learned this lesson the hard way but you don't have to.  Make your vision PLAIN!  Until next time.

~Dr. T

Try Again

A new year always brings excitement around the possibility of realizing new dreams, fulfilling long lost desires, setting new goals and striving to achieve them.  Possibilities present themselves and seem to be endless.  We develop our wish list for how we want to live our lives and include things like having slimmer bodies, making healthier food choices, being more organized and becoming more financially responsible.  We make a pact to visit/talk to family and friends more often and although all of the planning is nice I'm sure for many of us it is not the first time we've attempted to order our lives in such manner.  We've attempted these tasks once before but were just not as successful as we would have liked to be.  The beauty of a new year, or a new day for that matter, is that there is a new opportunity to start again; do-over; repeat, and simply, try again.  A new day, a new hour, and even a new minute brings with it enough grace and mercy to allow you to "dust yourself off and try again."  The beauty of being children of God created in the imago Dei (image of God) is that we have the power of God's forgiveness to give us momentum and propel us forward to success.  We have the right to receive forgiveness from past failures and disappointments and press forward to victory. If you have ever felt like you just can't "make it happen" or "get it right" I want to encourage you to try again.  I decided to pick up the proverbial pen and begin my blog again.  It has been more than a year since my last entry and although I cannot guarantee that I won't be distracted, won't carve out enough time to be consistent with it, or become detached from it, I can make a conscious decision that no matter what happens, I will be gracious enough with myself to not judge, to forgive myself, and to try again.  Life happens!  Stuff happens!  We get distracted and we get pulled away.  What we must remember to do is to be patient with ourselves and not give up on ourselves.  We have goals to achieve, successes to realize and challenges to overcome but it can't happen if we don't try again.  You deserve some success in your life so go ahead, try again.  Check out Aliyah's video below for motivation and read the scriptures below for inspiration (highlighting mine.)

Peace and blessings-
Dr. T


Lamentations 3:22-26 NIV
22 Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24 I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him." 25 The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; 26it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.

2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

Philippians 3:13c-14 NIV
Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. 

Why ARISE!?

So for the past few months everyone has been hearing me talk about ARISE!  I have been on FB, Twitter, LinkedIn, and everywhere else talking about it.  I have a website for it, a FB page about it, and a phone line dedicated to it.  I am so serious about the message that I am shouting it from every place imaginable.  This message is so important to me that I want to share it with you, too.

So what is this, ARISE! stuff?  Well, as you may remember from a previous post of mine, God spoke to me at a time when my soul was cleaving to the dust.  I heard God call me forth to ARISE! into my purpose and destiny.  I took that message and like the Samaritan woman I ran to share it with everyone I could.  I wanted everyone to hear the call from God to ARISE!  I wanted people to know that God has a purpose for them, that God is concerned for them, and that God is calling them forth to greatness in Him.

So what does ARISE! mean?  ARISE! means:

1.

to get up from sitting, lying, or kneeling; rise: 

2.

to awaken; wake up: 

3.

to move upward; mount; ascend: 

4.

to come into being, action, or notice; originate; appear;spring up: 

5.

to result or proceed; spring or issue (sometimes followed byfrom): 

God is calling God's people to get up, to awaken, to move upward, to come into being and to proceed.  God is calling God's people to get up from a sitting, lying, or kneeling position.  I am excited about God's call to move forward, and upward.  I am excited about the call to come into being.  God is calling me and you to ARISE! God is saying that the gifts God has given us are the gifts God desires us to use for God's glory.  God is calling forth all God's people to ARISE!

The message, ARISE!, is for everyone.  There is a daily phone line dedicated to speaking about ARISEing over challenges.  We have ministers that speak a Word every Mighty Monday, Triumphant Tuesday, Worship Wednesday, Thankful Thursday, and Freedom Friday.  Every work day you can hear a message from 6:00 a.m. - 6:20 a.m. that speaks to getting up, awakening, moving upward and forward over your situation. Participants can dial (712) 432-3100 code 912375 to listen live at 6:00 a.m. or "like" our Facebook page to listen to the recordings.

Woman of God, ARISE! is our first conference that speaks specifically to women.  It is the second conference of the Women's Leadership Network, Inc. but the inaugural conference dedicated to the call to ARISE!  Women are an asset to the kingdom of God and it is our assignment to support and empower them to be all God has called them to be. Therefore we are calling as many women as possible to ARISE! in God.  Help support the mission and tell other women about ARISE!  If you are a woman, heed God's call to ARISE!  If you know any women, tell them that God is calling them forth to ARISE!  What's even more exciting is that we will have classes for children and teens from 8 - 20 years of age so they can learn how to ARISE! too.

Join me and a host of women as we encourage, empower, and motivate women to ARISE! on Saturday, October 29, 2011.  We will be in the Banquet Hall of Apostolic Church of God, 63rd and Kenwood.  Ladies can register online at www.womanofGodARISE.com.  Take a moment and purchase a registration for someone you love.  The cost is $59 per person, $45 for seniors 55 and older, $49 for groups of 10 or more, and $25 for youth and teens 8 - 20.  We have dynamic women of God to talk about ARISEing over singleness, in marriage, over financial struggles, over health challenges, over unhealthy relationships, in faith, and in worship.  God has assembled a great team of powerful and anointed women of God positioned and poised to help you ARISE!  Don't miss the opportunity to do so.

As I close, I pray that you will heed the command, heed the Word, and heed the call to ARISE!  I pray that you see yourself as worthy of answering the call to ARISE!  Woman of God, it is your time to ARISE!  I hope to see you on the 29th.

Blessings-

Rev. Dr. Tasha M. Brown

Relax, and Breathe

I have been off the radar for several months because I have been working to put the pieces of my life back together.  I went back to work early February and have been going full steam ahead ever since.  In addition to going back to my 9 - 5 I was blessed to be asked to serve as the acting pastor of a church on the west side of Chicago.  I started that assignment in February as well so my hands, as well as my plate, have been full.

Bitter Sweet
My return to work was a bitter sweet moment for me.  I was not mentally ready to go back and still had procedures that needed to be performed.  But if you have ever had to take an unpaid leave of absence you know that it can be a biting and challenging experience for you and your family.  The payments to keep my insurance active were almost double my mortgage!  It was putting too much financial strain on my family so I returned to work.  I was healing extremely well physically but mentally I could have used a little more time off.  I was not fully present or prepared to handle some of the stressors brought on by my job.  I would show up physically but I was not focused on the task at hand.  Thank God for supportive employers.  Over time things improved and I thank God that it took only a few weeks before I began to operate at roughly 80%.  God was awesome and blessed me to get through it.

New Day
Well today is a new day for me.  In the four months since my last post today is the first day I am able to relax, and breathe. I am not going to work today.  I am not doing too much of anything other than taking care of me.  I was blessed to complete my doctoral program earlier this year and participated in the commencement service this past Saturday.  I am officially the Reverend Dr. Tasha Monique Vinson Brown.  How nice.  The outgoing president of McCormick Theological Seminary, the Rev. Dr. Cynthia Campbell, was our commencement speaker and shared a profound message on visioning.  She encouraged us to catch the vision God has for our lives.  And I know for me, in order to do that, I have to relax, and breathe. I am doing just that today.

External Pressures
It never fails that whenever there is a transition people instinctively ask, "what are you going to do now?"  I blame a lot of this on Disney World.  Remember how a reporter would stick a microphone in the face of a popular athlete after they had just won a championship?  The first thing they would ask is, "So what are you going to do now?"  And the answer would be...."I'm going to Disney World!"  Couldn't the athlete just relax and breathe?  My goodness.  I would think the first thing they would want to do would be to shower, get dressed, hug the family, celebrate, RELAX...I don't know.  As much as I know that it is just a marketing campaign it reveals the fact that people ALWAYS have an expectation that you would know exactly what you are going to do and would proceed to do it right away.  But that does not have to be your story.  Sometimes you have to just relax,and breathe. You have to stop. Even when people are forcing you to continue on.  You have to stop for you. And when you stop, you have to breathe.  Take in the moment.  Take in the experience.  Take in the accomplishment.  This is coming from a person who instinctively moves from one thing to the next without a thought.  I am ashamed to say but even over the past few weeks I have had a difficult time living in the moment.  The week before commencement the seminary had a special celebration for the minority students.  I was present in the moment for half of the service but the remaining half I was thinking about the meeting I had to attend for the denomination the next day at 8 in the morning and how I was going to take care of everything I needed to take care of with the limited time I had.  I also began to think about the sermon I needed to preach for that Sunday.  And wouldn't you know that even for commencement I was present 80% of the time but the remaining time was spent thinking about the weather and the little reception I was having at the house that evening.  We live in a time where multi-tasking has become the order of the day but today I stop and say, NO!  No more multi-tasking, no more running from here to there. No more (no mas!)  Today, I am going to relax, and breathe.  I am going to fight against the external pressures to use my time doing something else and I am going to relax, and breathe.  I am going to breathe in the joy of being in the service of the Lord and breathe out all the negativity I have soaked in over the past few years. I am going to be kind to myself.  I am going to "give myself permission" to relax.  I deserve it.  I want to encourage you in this; many people have their ideas, expectations, and opinions of you.  Do not let other people's stuff become the measuring stick or beat of the drum by which you live your life.  The world will not give you your moment to relax and breathe.  You have to take it.  No one is going to give you a vacation.  You have to take it.  When the time is right, take a moment to relax, and breathe.  Stop moving so much, too soon, and too fast.  Slow down, relax and breathe.  Let all the beauty and treasures of God's Word and God's plan for you rise to the surface as you get quiet.  So my brothers and my sisters, take a moment to take care of  yourself and relax, and breathe.  I'm doing it. Stop making excuses for why you can't do it and just do it. You owe it to yourself.  Even if you cannot give yourself a full day or even a full week, that's ok.  Fifteen minutes would do the trick.  Whatever you can do, do it.  So go ahead, relax and breathe.  You'll be glad you did.

Until next time,

T-

Finding My Voice

It has been more than one month since I last posted a blog and so much has happened.  December was a busy month for me.  My two children were born in December so we had their birthdays to celebrate.  We then had my Savior's birthday to celebrate (Merry Christmas) and finally we had to usher in the New Year.  With the dawning of a new year I knew I could not take all that had happened to me in 2010 and go into 2011 the same way.  I began to seek God earnestly about my next steps.  I wanted to find my voice.  I wanted to find the very reason why I was gifted the way I was and why I went through all the hell I went through.  I wanted to know my purpose and destiny.  It was in this "crisis" moment that God led a friend to text me a scripture; Psalm 119:125.  When I got the text I only saw Psalm 119:25 and I went to it and read it.  This is what it said:


"(DALETH) My soul clings to the dust; Revive me according to Your word." 


I was so amazed because that scripture spoke to where I was at that very moment.  My soul was in the dust.  I felt "spent" like I had nothing left.  I went to text her back to thank her and realized I had misread her text.  I saw the 1 and then turned to the scripture she forwarded.  This is what it said:


"I am Your servant; Give me understanding, That I may know Your testimonies."


After meditating on both those scriptures and after reading the entire 119th division of Psalm, I heard God tell me to ARISE!  God was calling me forth from the dust to ARISE!  He was calling me to get up and work.  He was calling me to get in His Word and continue my walk of faith.  He was calling me to a better way of living for Him. He was calling me to ARISE!


During that time I was propositioned with many opportunities to use my gifts and talents for the furtherance of other agendas.  I pursued some until God brought me back to ARISE! I realized ARISE! was the ministry God was giving me to share with others.  Not only was it a ministry to call me from the dust but also a ministry to call others forth in the use of their gifts, and to absolute faith, trust, and conviction in God.  


I went into 2011 with a mission; to use my voice for the furtherance of God's kingdom.  I purposed to use my time, gifts, talents, energy and resources to help others ARISE! to who had called them to be.  I was absolutely tired and disgusted with living below my birthright.  I had a right to have peace.  I had a right to trust God.  I had a right to live prosperously and in good health.  I had a right to use my gifts for the kingdom of God.  I had a right to lift up the name of Jesus and be concerned about the living conditions of my brothers and sisters.  I had a right to be concerned about them not living in the fullness of what God had for them and I had the right to give them what they needed to accomplish that.  I had a right to dismiss all the wicked things the enemy said to me to keep me quiet.  I had a right to pursue peace.  I had rights and I purposed to exercise my rights.  The devil was happy with me sitting along the sidelines but I had the rights to get out in the field.  I had the right and now I was going to see what God could accomplish in and through me.  I decided to ARISE!


When I got up from the dust I made a decision.  I decided to stop listening to the voice of the enemy and to believe the report of the Lord.  I decided to stop believing the enemy's lies about me and to ARISE!  I received God's healing of my body and my mind.  They are both cancer free.  God blessed me to transform my way of thinking.  Satan would no longer control my thoughts or steal my voice.  I found my voice and it is in ARISE!  I found a place where I can help others ARISE! to a new way of living in God.  I have found my voice and you will hear it from now until the day God draws breathe from my body.  So my brother and my sister, I was cleaving to the dust, but now I am up.  I made a decision to ARISE! and let the light of Christ shine through me.  I want to encourage you in 2011 to find your voice.  Find the thing that God has given you to do and do it well.  Execute it like your very existence depends upon it because it does.  We are all waiting on you to share with us what God has given you to share.  I will use my voice to encourage you to ARISE! and bring your best forward.  I am here to help any believer achieve their very best in Christ.  The body of Christ is waiting on you to find your voice.  What are you going to do?  I hope you will ARISE!

God bless,

Tasha

Be Still

I haven't written for a while because I was actually being still.  God had been talking to me about being still and quieting my spirit so I finally decided to answer the call.  I took time for me, away from the madness, away from the pain, just away.  I relaxed myself and took time to be still.  No I didn't sequester myself for days or weeks inside a monastery.  I still had familial duties and doctor visits but what I did was let go of all that worried me, i.e., bills, going back to work, my future ministry, next steps, treatment options, etc.  Even though I was going through a reconstruction process and discussing treatment options with my doctor, I still wanted to remain busy.  As you know I would rush to share a revelation in my blog, that God had given me.  I would rush to get and share the lesson so I could move on to the next.  I didn't like waiting.  I didn't like the notion of  being "in process" so I often looked for ways to be busy.  I acted as if I was in a relay race waiting for the baton to be handed to me so I could run the next leg of the journey.  But that all ended.  I decided to let it all go and just "be."  I decided to be still and know that God is God.

In Psalm 46:10 the phrase "be still" is defined as follows:
 (accessed from  http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H7503&t=KJV)

1) to sink, relax, sink down, let drop, be disheartened

a) (Qal)

1. to sink down
2. to sink, drop
3. to sink, relax, abate
4. to relax, withdraw

b) (Niphal) idle (participle)

c) (Piel) to let drop

d) (Hiphil)

1. to let drop, abandon, relax, refrain, forsake
2. to let go
3. to refrain, let alone
4. to be quiet

e) (Hithpael) to show oneself slack

Being still means more than stopping movement.  It means letting go.  I had to let stuff go.  I had to abandon some thoughts and forsake a way of being.  I had to refrain from bombarding God with the same stuff as if God didn't know about it or didn't hear me the first 100 times.  I had to relax and enjoy the moment.  I had to withdraw from people and busy-ness.  I had to sink down, abate, and be quiet.  I had to be still.

I realize that as women most of us do not have the luxury of being still.  Our lives are so hectic and every minute of the day is scheduled and regimented.  I want to encourage you, though, to be still.  Even while driving, turn off the radio and be still.  As Jodeci used to say in a song, "don't talk, just listen."  Listen for God.  Listen for that still small voice.  At home find a quiet spot and just be still.  Sit in silence and do nothing.  Even if it is just for a minute or two, do it. 

I had a friend tell me once that when she didn't have time to establish a full blown devotional with God (because of her two small children) she would just ask God to sanctify the one or two minutes she did have.  Another woman shared that while at work, she would go to her closet to pray and be still so she could center herself for the rest of the day.

I want to encourage you to just take a moment to be still.  Be quiet.  Let go, let drop, refrain and abandon those things that distract you from the awesomeness of God.  Forsake that which causes you to view God in ways that is uncharacteristic of God, i.e., thinking God doesn't love you because your prayers haven't been answered, thinking that God doesn't know how you feel, etc.  God is love.  God knows all, sees all and is everywhere at all times.  God knows your thoughts afar off and before you were even born God knew all about you.  You are chosen by God so rest in God.  Rest and relax.  Thank God for what God has done in your life.  Thank God for what God has kept you from (that's why some of your prayers haven't been answered because God kept some stuff away from you that would harm you.)  Be still and know that God is God.  Choose the one thing that is needful (Luke 10:38-42) and that is to be still.

I know it is not easy but it is necessary.  So my sister, Be still and know that God is God.

 

Until next time,

Shalom

Tasha

Read Luke 10:38 - 42 (Mary and Martha) and Psalm 46 (emphasis on verse 10)

Will All the Hormonal Women, Please Stand Up!

I love being a woman.  I love looking good, smelling good, and being a lady.  I think women are fierce.  I think we are forces to be reckoned with.  I think we are stronger than men not only because of our ability to take the physical pain of child birth but also because we bear the load of being used, overlooked, mistreated, abused, etc., and still are able to walk with our heads held high.  We are marginalized and subjugated to roles and rules that are man-made and not God ordained and yet, we rise.  We really have it going on.  There are a few things that challenge me the most in being a woman though, and they are, my hormones.  I HATE my hormones.

My hormones are not reliable and they are very crazy.  I can go from 0 to 10 in .0008 seconds flat!  PMS is real for me and I hate it.  I am dealing with this hormonal thing right now very heavily and going to my appointment yesterday did not help.  I met my medical oncologist for the first time yesterday.  She is a really nice lady.  We had a consult where she shared with me that she is looking to treat my cancer with chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, or a combination of the two.  She wants to have more testing done on the breast tissue before she decides but because of my age and my positive genetic mutation she wants to minimize the chances of the cancer showing up distally as much as possible.  I did not know that  my cancer could show up distally even though the cancerous tissue had been removed.  I knew the cancer could SPREAD to other places but I didn't know that even with the infected breast tissue being removed that it could still show up somewhere else.  This piece of news rocked my world.  I have to admit, I shed a few tears.  But before I cried, what did I say to the doctor Liz, "I am on my period so I am just a little emotional right now."  Did I say that because I was supposed to handle the news differently?  Did I say that because as a Christian I am supposed to look at these challenges and scream in the doctor's face, "Devil you are a liar" but didn't?  Did I put out that disclaimer to let the doctor know that under normal circumstances this piece of information would not have phased me?  Did I rather blame my behavior on a force that I could not control (PMS) instead of admitting that the news was a little more than I could bear?

The subject of hormones is a really difficult one for me primarily because I am a woman of faith.  Being a woman of faith in some people's minds mean that I do not  have down days and/or I am not impacted by life's issues.  But that is not the case for me.  I have some good days, bad days, and weary days.  I have days I want to shout and dance for joy and days I want to curl up in a ball and cry.  I have days I want to laugh and  days I want to fight.  I have days I want to sit in solace, and days when I want to have company.  My emotions cover the spectrum of the human condition.  But does that mean I am ungodly and do not have faith in God because of my emotions?

Hormones are real, they are not imagined.  Estrogen and progesterone are real.  They have a function.  Unfortunately at times though, they are out-of-balance and out-of-whack.  You may produce more estrogen than normal and vice versa.  So what do you do when that happens?  How do you put your hormones under subjection?  Do you put your period under subjection too? Do we curse the natural functions of our bodies when they cause us discomfort?  I would really like to know how you handle it.  Outside of prayer, chamomile tea, and time and distance from people, I don't know any other way to handle my hormones.  This is especially disconcerting for me because the doctor is talking about having my estrogen producing ovaries removed in order to minimize the production of the hormone in which my type of cancer feeds.  With removing or suppressing my hormone production I run the risk of having my emotions REALLY be out of whack!  MAN!  So ladies I ask you, how do you deal with your emotions and what has been your experience with God in this?  I would really like to know so will all the hormonal women, please stand up?

T-