It’s Not the Title, It’s the Testimony

By: Pastor Marvin Moss

Published: July 22, 2010

The time has come for the church, church folk, the children of God, Christians to realize that it’s not the title, it’s the testimony. It’s the story that we tell with the way we live our lives. It’s the story that we tell by the way we execute the word of God. It’s in the execution that one recognizes another as a child of God or a child of the devil.

It’s what people see you do that makes all of the difference in the world. When you’re trying to get a job, it’s good to have the degree relative to the position you’re applying for, but you still have to undergo a battery of tests. Then there are interviews, more tests, and more interviews. That degree, diploma, and certificate are good but you still have to prove that what you’re saying is true.

They may call you Doctor, but are you board certified?
They may call you Attorney, but have you passed the bar?
They may call you Reverend, but is there anything about your life that would testify to the fact that you’re anything other than a Reverend?

It’s not the title, it’s the testimony.

How are you living? What kind of report would your family give about you? Is there a good report on you outside of the church as well as in the church?
It’s not the title, it’s the testimony.

Peter. Bold, big mouthed, boisterous Peter, has just allowed himself to be used by God to perform a miracle. You know the story, Peter and john were heading to the temple one afternoon to take part in the afternoon prayer. As they approached the temple, a man lame from birth was being carried in. Each day he was put beside the temple gate so he could beg from the people going into the temple. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for some money.

Peter looked at the man intently and said, “Look at us! I don’t have any money for you. But I’ll give you what I do have, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!” Up until this point, Peter and John were just like everybody else. They were two people who could meet the beggar’s need or what the beggar thought his need was. All too often, we think that it’s us meeting the needs of those whom God has trusted us with. This is where the ego comes into play; where we begin to wear our feelings on our sleeves. This is where we want to take credit for everything that only God can do.

God uses us as instruments to fulfill His purpose. We are called and the call has more to do with God’s divine purpose. It’s not about you! We’ve all been called to be leaders. We’re to lead the lost to the lamb. We’re to lead the left out to the One who can let them in.

God calls us to lead not by title but by testimony. How can you tell somebody else about the goodness of God if you’ve never experienced it for yourself? You might be able to tell them what you’ve seen happen to somebody else. You might be to tell them what somebody else has told you. But oh, there’s nothing like a firsthand account. Isaiah said in the year king Uzziah died, “I saw the lord.”

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, walked through the fiery furnace with an angel of the Lord. Somebody has been walking with Him all week. Somebody called on Him the midnight hour. And when they called on the name of Jesus, He answered them.

He turned their midnight into morning.
He turned their sorrow into a shout,
He turned their problem into praise.
He turned their worry into worship.
He gave them a testimony.

It’s not your title, but it’s your testimony.

Scripture Of The Day: " ...And why look at us as though we had made this man walk by our own power and godliness? For it is the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God of all our ancestors who has brought glory to his servant Jesus by doing this..." - Acts 3:12-13v (NLT)

Pastor Marvin Moss is senior pastor of Cascade United Methodist Church, located in Atlanta, Georgia. Pastor Moss is extremely active within the Atlanta community, and serves on the Board of Trustees at Gammon Theological Seminary.

For more information about Pastor Moss, log onto http://www.cascadeumc.org.

Training Up a Child

By: Pastor Andre Butler


Let’s say that you are training your body to run in a marathon, or maybe you’re training yourself to play well on the basketball court. Well first, you have a goal that you’re trying to accomplish. There’s some result that you want, whether it’s being able to make a jump shot every time or being able to run a mile in five minutes.

Second, you have some type of training curriculum. In other words, you have a plan that you’re following to reach that goal. This of course then involves repetition. You have to do it over and over again so that you’re trained to do it. So now let’s apply this to what the scripture is saying. Well, there’s obviously a goal you’re trying to reach with your children. There’s a result that you want, which is for them to be Godly, mighty, and blessed seed in the earth. And the curriculum that you need to use in training them is the Word of God.

This of course involves the need for repetition.

I’ve learned with my own daughters that what this scripture is really talking about is similar to programming a computer. What you’re doing is programming their spirits. You’re teaching them the Word of God so that this becomes a part of their own spiritual programming. As a parent you need to keep giving the Word of God to your children so that the Word abides on the inside of them, becomes a part of their programming, and eventually they can automatically make the right decisions.

You have to keep teaching them the Word of God and making sure that they understand the boundaries that the Word has given them. If you don’t give your children boundaries, they will absolutely ruin their lives. They have to learn about boundaries in the home before they’ll really be able to stay within the boundaries outside of the home. You have to teach them about things that they can and cannot do, and then you have to repeat it over and over.

Training requires constant attention. Sometimes we can get so caught up in regular life—and in many cases just surviving--that we forget about training. And before you know it, your child’s all grown up and you never really trained them, and then you wonder about the result that you see. One of the most important things that you will ever do on this planet is train up your own children.

Doing that should be a high priority in your life. So ask yourself: what kind of job am I doing in training my children so that they can be the type of person that God wants them to be and therefore a person that will be blessed?

Scripture Of The Day: "Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it." - Proverbs 22:6 (NKJV)

Pastor Andre Butler is a young man anointed and commissioned by God to spread the Good News of Christ. A 1996 graduate of Rhema Bible Training Center, Pastor Butler serves as Co-Pastor of Word of Faith International Christian Center in Southfield, MI.s. For more information about Pastor Andre Butler, log onto http://www.andrebutler.tv.…

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Freedom In Christ

Pastor Olu Brown

John 8:36 "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."

In a society that values freedom, it is amazing to know how many of our fellow citizens live in bondage. I am not talking about the bondage most of you think about as it relates to jail cells, handcuffs and security personnel. I am referring to the lower security bondage that is uneasily detected but equally, if not more, confining than most traditional jail cells.

My heart goes out to those who have suffered a misstep along the way and never fully recovered. Maybe it was growing up with an absent parent, poverty, divorce or the painful loss of a loved one. When the event happened it rocked their world and for some reason or another they never fully recovered. The event happened but they are still in bondage. Though they may not be in physical bondage, they find themselves in emotional, spiritual and/or mental bondage.

I can recall so many days in my own personal life when I found myself deep within the emotional cells of fear and anxiety. I looked free, I talked free, shopped free and even pretended to worship free. Deep down I was still in solitary confinement. I unfairly convicted and sentenced myself to hard labor. It was only until I found the power of Christ and the hope of John 8:36 that I was reminded of the wonderful hope in Christ and being "free indeed!"

This hope I now have in Christ is my fuel for life and the power to refuse the open invitation of my jail cell. Each new day, I am reminded of my freedom to live, love and hope through Christ.

Today is your day and Christ has freed you. I know it is tempting to stay in your prison, but I dare you to receive your release agreement through the power of Christ and walk away a free person!

Is Your Testimony A Secret?

Tanya James

As a pastor's kid, I naturally grew up in church and was taught at an early age Biblical principles. However, like many over time I strayed away from those morals and values and thought that I was in control of my own life. And being in control meant I thought I could pick and chose which principals I applied to my life and which ones I ignored.

While trying to do things my way, I made some very bad decisions especially in the area of sexual immorality. I completely made my own rules in that area - yet I proclaimed to be a saved and sanctified Christian. You could find me serving in various ministries and I was in service every week both Sunday's and mid-week. Yes, I was living two completely different lives.

Overall, I was able to keep my double life under wraps. Most people had no idea how caught up in sexual sins I was. So when the day came that I finally fully committed my life to Christ and decided that I was going to live a life of abstinence until marriage ...I was delighted that I had been successful in keeping my sexual sins private.

Sponsor AdAnd now, that I was going to follow God's word as it related to that area ... no one ever had to know about my past.
Through prayer and truly seeking God, those sexual strong holds and addictions were broken in my life. It wasn't an easy journey by any means...BUT GOD.

I definitely had a testimony but one NO ONE could dare know about ...so I thought.

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord." Isaiah 55:8

God had a different plan. He gave me an assignment ... one that I ran from for YEARS! I was to pen a book about both my struggle and my testimony.

A BOOK?? God, are you serious? Not only am I putting my business on the street but in PRINT for people to see and read for years to come. I was horrified until I realized sharing my testimony would not only help someone in the same struggle, but also could keep someone from making some of the same mistakes I made.

You too have a testimony. It may not be in the same area as mine, but if God has healed you, delivered you, redeemed you, saved you...do not be afraid to share your story. If we remain afraid of what someone else may think of what we did, or where we once were...people around us will remain in their cycles of destruction.

Be willing to show your scars, so someone else doesn't have to get those same scars. You may have done those things people will learn about; but you are no longer that person!

"Therefore, of anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." II Corinthians 5:17