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