Chris and Carol Green Endorse New Book That Unravels Shame and Rejection

We were honored to speak today at the official launch of Lisa Kessler-Peters' new book, How I Learned to Hide: Unraveling Shame and Rejection.

She featured our written endorsement of her book as the Foreword and this is what we wrote and what we read to the audience at today's event:

"Lisa is like an instrument in the hands of a skilled surgeon, in the way she navigates the fine line between education, experience and faith. She brings forth knowledge and wisdom for those who are struggling every minute of every day in the aftermath of trauma, neglect, addictions and so many other overwhelming issues that are destroying people today.

Her sensitivity to explain clinical terms minimizes any feelings of intimidation for those who will read this, and it brings understanding and hope for those who are living with shame and rejection. In the most remarkable way, she encourages and empowers those who are walking along side of family, friends or colleagues who are still in hiding.

We highly recommend this book for people-helpers in all professions, no matter how long they have been working in their field of expertise. It’s time for all to come out of hiding, even those of us who are in the daily work to guide, coach, counsel or console others. This book must be in your library, and it must be referenced often."

Chris and Carol Green

Learn more about Lisa at

https://lisaredeemed.com/about-lisa/

Purchase her new book from Barnes and Noble at https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1143941609

Purchase her new book from Amazon at

https://www.amazon.com/How-Learned-Hide-Unraveling-Rejection/dp/1960007106/

Honoring the Life and Legacy of Bishop Paul T. Veney, Sr.

Minister Chris Green gives the invocation at the funeral service
held at Life Center Ministries for Bishop Paul Troy Veney Sr., 82, of Harrisburg.
September 15, 2023. Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.com

Today, I was humbled and honored to be given the opportunity to minister the Invocation to begin a royal Home-going celebration of one the most regal and noble souls that we will ever meet in our lifetime.

Before lifting up words of prayer, I shared the following:

"Twenty years ago, in the summer of 2003, my wife and I were in the midst of a two-year preparation to plant a ministry in Harrisburg, PA. It just so happened that Bishop Paul T. Veney, Sr. was going to be traveling through our home city of St. Louis, MO. 

His daughter, Lisa was a good friend of one of the young women in our church, and this young lady, knowing that we were going to be moving to Harrisburg, contacted us to arrange a meeting with the Veneys. We shared a meal at a restaurant and this mighty man of God, without hesitation, welcomed us to Harrisburg a full year before we ever arrived.

Little did we know that God was making us part of, what I now call the Veney Thread. We’re all here today because of the way God used this great man and his family, like a thread that has connected people across ethnic, social, economic, denominational, and generational boundaries and barriers. 

Little did we know how God was going to use this great man to tie us in to, weave us in, sew us into this community the same way God used Barnabus to connect Paul with the elders of the early church.

If you look across this community, you will see the results of the Veney Thread and the powerful way that The Father has used this man to connect all of us in our various callings, appointings, anointings, giftings, and assignments in such a masterful orchestration of relationships."

Bishop Veney's legacy will be kept alive and well in our STEP Forward Life Institute. Two of his sermons are featured in our Personal Growth and Spiritual Maturity Courses.

The Invocation:

Father God, we stand here today in the name of Jesus Christ, and we give You all the Glory for the things You have done.

When we look across this auditorium, we see the true representation of what it looks like when Your Kingdom comes and Your will is done in the hearts and lives of the countless men, women, boys and girls whose destinies have been impacted by Your servant, one Bishop Paul Veney.

We thank You for his life! We thank You for pouring out Your love upon us through his life. We heard Your voice when he spoke. We were flooded with Your wisdom when he was teaching us. We felt Your heart when he embraced us. We even experienced Your joy when he smiled and laughed with us. 

Although we didn’t always recognize it, we look back and we recall Your love when he had to correct us. And we were amazed by Your presence when he would lift his hands in worship with tears streaming down his face.

God we thank You!

And as testimonies and stories are shared throughout the remainder of this gathering, we declare that You are welcome in this place, even as we honor Your servant whom You used to show us the Father’s Heart. 

Let everything that is said and done from this point forward bring honor to Your matchless name. 

And it is in that great name that we pray, In Jesus' name; Amen.

Our Hearts Were Broken: 9/11 Anniversary Tribute

 

Our Hearts Were Broken

9/11 Anniversary Tribute (Originally Written 9/11/2011)

Ten years ago today our hearts were broken.

In horror we watched, no word could be spoken.

Time stopped, Could this be really happening?

My eyes can’t believe what I’m seeing.

Did the news flash really say what I'm hearing?

Sirens and screams in the background searing.

I cannot imagine what people are feeling.

As loved ones perish while thousands are fleeing.

Overwhelmed with grief, sickened by sorrow.

It’ll just be a nightmare when I wake up tomorrow.

How could something so evil be unleashed on the world?

Snatching the innocence of every boy and girl.

We’ll never forget the moment the second plane flew in.

The exclamation of the commentator,

"O my God, It happened again!"

And panic begin to set in as we learned

The terror plot wasn’t done,

Another plane had crashed into the Pentagon.

We’ll never forget the thoughts as we watched events unfold.

Is this the fulfillment of Biblical prophecies, foretold?

Is it just the random deed of some religious maniac?

Is it the start of world war three, is our nation under attack?

We’ll never forget the moment

When those towers came crashing down.

Our hearts were crumbling with it,

Knowing lives were being snuffed out.

I wanted to scream, I wanted to cry,

But I could only kneel down.

I prayed to God, 

In whom peace and solace could be found.

God alone can avenge the taking of innocent lives.

For the first responders who left behind

Grieving children, husbands and wives.

For the mothers, fathers, sons and daughters

Who faded away with no warning;

For the brothers and sisters

Who did not see the next day’s dawning.

It’s taken me ten years,

To put words on these thoughts.

Ten years of processing feelings

Of profound sadness and loss.

I don’t think I’ll ever be able to fully express

What happened to us that day,

Except that I know we came to understand

The tears on God’s face!

For ions of time

He has watched mankind destroy one another.

He stepped in from the beginning

After one brother killed the other.

What religious view is so important

That so many lives need to be shattered?

What political agenda means so much

That nothing else matters?

America, America, 

God poured out His grace on Thee

As crying and wailing rang out 

From sea to shining sea.

Ten years ago our hearts were broken,

But I have to wonder somehow.

Where will we be within our hearts

Another ten years from now?

Chris Green, 9/11/2011

In addition, Chris Green wrote this song three days after the tragic events of 9/11/01. The lyrics are based upon the prophetic words of Jeremiah Chapter 5 (Will I not avenge myself on a nation such as this?). 

This song intends no disrespect to those who died and have suffered since that day.  However, it is a sobering message to people of Faith, that still resonates to this day.

This song is addressing the American Church and its responsibility to follow the life and mission of Jesus Christ in ministering to a nation in crisis.

STAYING IN YOUR LANE

 

STAYING IN YOUR LANE - Is one of the most valuable lessons we have learned over the last few years. For a while, in our sincere efforts to help others, we said YES to almost everybody and ventured into other lanes beyond our calling. We found ourselves involved in organizational conflict resolution, business on-boarding, and well-intentioned trainings that only triggered people who were not ready for deep inner healing. Then Chris got really sick and we have had to take a few steps back to recover from blows that came within battles that we were never meant to fight. Now we're resetting and getting back on track with the original call and commission that was given to us. That has meant prioritizing and pacing ourselves to run the race (marathon) that has been set before us. We don't mean any disrespect to anyone else, especially to those organizations and ministries that we worked with over the years. But we have to stay in our lane, and if our paths cross with those who feel they may need us, we now have the wisdom to weigh our options, assess our availability and ability, discern if it's a good thing to do versus a God thing to do, set boundaries, and do what we can, if we can. We know when to say 'no', 'not now', or 'let us think about it first'. We know for sure that our best way of helping is to stay in our lane and defer to others who might be able to serve them better.

We can no longer allow the visions and dreams of others to pull us away from the call and commission that it upon us. Our priority is to equip Believers in the region where God sent us, to do the work of ministry and service in their families and communities. God gave us one business, one school and one mission: The renovation of hearts and homes. In the words of the awesome poem by Helen Steiner Rice, we’re no longer trying to light up the whole world; we’re just going to brighten the corner where we have been placed. It's actually a beautiful thing.

Brighten the Corner Where You Are

~ Helen Steiner Rice ~

We cannot all be famous

Or be listed in “Who’s Who,”

But every person great or small

Has important work to do,

For seldom do we realize

The importance of small deeds

Or to what degree of greatness

Unnoticed kindness leads—

For it’s not the big celebrity

In a world of fame and praise,

But it’s doing unpretentiously

In undistinguished ways

The work that God assigned to us,

Unimportant as it seems,

That makes our task outstanding

And brings reality to dreams—

So do not sit and idly wish

For wider, new dimensions

Where you can put in practice

Your many “good intentions”—

But at the spot God placed you

Begin at once to do

Little things to brighten up

The lives surrounding you,

For if everybody brightened up

The spot on which they’re standing

By being more considerate

And a little less demanding,

This dark old world would very soon

Eclipse the “Evening Star”

If everybody brightened up

The corner where they are!

Chris and Carol Green Earn Board-Certified Mental Health Coaching Credentials

Chris and Carol Green (BCMHC)

Today, Chris and Carol Green officially became Board-Certified Mental Health Coaches (BCMHC) upon completion of the 'Dare 2 Care' Mental Health Coach - First Responder Training program administered by the American Association of Christian Counselors through Light University. 

“We've seen a lot of indifferent, cold and callous responses from many Christian leaders and their congregations regarding the mental health crisis in our country,” stated the Greens. “Many of them have been misinformed and still approach this issue from ignorance, stigma, fear, and very bad theology. Many still believe that all people need to do is just quote a scripture, say a prayer, and God will take care of the mental health issue by giving them peace in their minds, which will settle it all with one sweeping motion of His divine hand. In response to this errant mindset and theology, we just wanted to get educated, trained and empowered to address this crisis by learning from other, more knowledgeable and experienced Christian organizations and institutions who bring a balanced and holistic approach to helping individuals and families who are struggling with mental health challenges. We wanted to immerse ourselves in proper education, so that we could better understand the mental health crisis in our own families and communities."

 This rigorous training program included:

 1.) First, the completion of a 14-session course called Foundations of Mental Health Coaching - This introductory course was designed to provide students with an orientation to the field of mental health coaching. Topics covered included the role and scope of mental health coaching within the local church, ethical guidelines and professional standards in coaching, crisis intervention techniques, and the integration of faith and biblical wisdom in coaching.

 2.) Next, the completion of a 14-session course called Mental Health Coaching Skills -The purpose of this course was to provide students with the fundamental theories and skills of Christ-centered mental health coaching. Key elements of the coaching process, included methods of change, listening, effective communication, giving hope, operating small groups, and counseling theory.

 3.) And finally, the completion of a 13-session course called Mental and Behavioral Health Disorders - This course introduced students to the fundamentals of mental and behavioral health disorders. Particular emphasis was placed on factors that cause mental disorders, as well as conventional treatments. Conditions discussed included addiction, anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, eating disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

As Board Certified Mental Health Coaches, backed by the International Board of Christian Care (IBCC), the Greens have earned a voluntary global credential that trains and charges its recipients to maintain the highest clinical, ethical and biblical standards of practice.

“We are very pleased to have earned this credential," concluded the Greens. “Now we are better prepared to assist people through our coaching business and ministry. We're also able to become a more successful connection and liaison between those who need help, and very capable mental health professionals. We are part of an army of mental health coaches that are being trained and deployed across the United States. It's a new day for those who have been suffering in silence in our families, neighborhoods, church pews, classrooms and office cubicles."

Chris and Carol Green are the creators of the CARE-Ready Life Coaching® model of inspiration, education and certification, and the founders of the STEP Forward Life Institute™, an online community service preparatory platform. Through their business and school, they empower people to become the change they want to see, and to become the kind and caring light this world so desperately needs.

Chris and Carol Green Release New eBook: Processed for Success

A catalyst and a compass for your future.

Using excerpts from their book, "Rest, Retreats, Revival and Other Comedies", Chris and Carol Green compiled and produced a scaled down 42-page publication to continue to push their 'You are Success in Process' campaign.

 

• This 'eBook' compilation is for that person who is sick and tired of projecting a brave front while hiding their deep disappointment behind spirituality.  

​

• It's for the person who is no longer looking for a typical self-help manual, filled with inspirational stories and motivational meditations. 

​

• Both of these books are for that soul who is ready to challenge their core beliefs about why their life keeps going off the rails, to stop blaming 'the devil' for everything that goes wrong, and truly desires to finally break FREE from the unending cycles of dead-ends, defeat and discouragement.

​​

• These books aren't for everyone, but they are for those who are ready to embrace the reality that, "Your Life Matters to God."

Download your FREE eBook HERE

109 Certified CARE-Ready Life Coaches Across 11 States

Pennsylvania, USA --- Professors Chris and Carol Green, the founders of the STEP Forward Life Institute™ and owners of C and C Connections, LLC, hosted their final online CARE-Ready Life Coaching®  Certification graduation ceremony for 2023, in a powerful and impactful live virtual event.

The newest CARE-Ready® Life Coaches are: Karen Renee Johnson, Christine Quinn, Danelle Wolfe and Timothy Wolfe. They completed weekly coursework, submitted reflection presentations to express how they were each going to meet the challenges of implementing their unique coaching models, created personalized life coaching field manuals, and successfully passed an online exam. 

"This class was incredibly motivated, hanging in there when sessions went over the time limit," the Greens observed. "They scheduled additional office appointments with us, and quickly developed comaraderie with one another."

The online ceremony featured congratulations and encouragement from Licensed Professional Counselor and National Certified Coach, Amethyst Roberson (CARE-Ready graduate of Fall 2021).

"The most important thing is to be the kind of coach that people can rely on,"  exhorted Counselor and Coach Roberson, speaking virtually to the new coaches. "Discover your niche and find out who you work best with; whoever you resound with and whoever you can share your heart with, reach those people. Be the mentor you needed one year ago, or perhaps the guide that you needed when you were a child trying to navigate and comprehend the world. 

Be the life coach who is authentic and transparent, and be true to yourself. You don't have to be like the next life coach. There's so much in social media that can pull on you, but don't compare yourself to anyone else. Be who God has called you to be.

Show people that you are human and that you have weathered hard times. When people realize that you are genuine and sincere, they will be more inclined to trust you and open up to you. 

Maybe you're going to be a pit stop, maybe you're going to be a train, or maybe you're going to be a support, or maybe you're going to be just a good listener. Some of you are going to be a launching pad for someone's life."

With the successful graduation of this class, Master Life Coaches, Chris and Carol Green have now trained and launched 109 CARE-Ready Life Coaches and 38 CARE-Ready Responders, who are disbursed and embedded in 40+ organizations, businesses, agencies or ministries across 11 states including: Alabama, California, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.

Student course survey quotes included:  

"This was a fantastic experience and I did find out more about myself that I had known before. Thank you!"

"This has definitely been life changing! Care Ready Life Coaching is a hidden gem! We are so grateful that God led us to this course."

"The facilitators where very encouraging and positive. They are a power couple that know how to present and motivate a class. This has been a great experience and well worth the time and investment. I highly recommend this Life Couch Certification program for anyone with a interest to help others to reach their potential and develop in areas that can increase success in life."

The Greens, through their online institution and coaching business, partnered with United Graduate College and Seminary International (UGCSI), I Change Nations™, and Fruitful Life Network, Inc. in 2017 to offer this accelerated, ministry-accredited life coaching certification program. Their collaborative purpose and mission has always been, to equip leaders, working in under-served communities, with high-quality tools that empower them to be more effective in their humanitarian efforts. 

“Congratulations to our new CARE-Ready Life Coaches," commented Chris and Carol Green, whose coaching and consulting business has served as the organizer and facilitator of the training. "This ceremony was bitter-sweet because this will be our final live training and graduation in this format for a while. Moving forward, we will offer this program exclusively as an on-demand-video course."

However, the Greens are making plans to possibly launch an annual CARE-Ready Conference in which Coaches and Responders from all over the country can meet, network, and gain more tips and tools on how to bring the CARE-Ready mindset into their fields and industries of expertise.

"We're looking to expand into more professional development for our coaches," Chris Green explains. "So keep a watch out for more exciting breaking news with CARE-Readiness."

Editor's Note:
Watch the full online ceremony HERE

Learn more about CARE Ready Life Coaching® and its Certification Program at
https://www.candcconnections.com/life-coach-certification

Chris and Carol Green Launch Spiritual Wellness Support Group

Fruitful Life Educators, Chris and Carol Green officially launched a Spiritual Wellness Support Group as part of their overall commitment to provide a safe space where people of faith can share their struggles in mental, emotional, physical, financial, occupational, social or spiritual health issues with others who will listen to, offer support, and pray with them. 

Their ministry, known as the Fruitful Life Learning Community, also resources participants through an online teaching platform; providing what is called FRUITFUL LIFE EDUCATION: which is practical instruction, Biblical wisdom and spiritual insight for participants to receive healing within their own hearts, and then the ability to share their extraordinary transformation with the rest of their family or friends.

“Smaller-sized gatherings don't work for everyone,” concede the Fruitful Life founders Chris and Carol Green, “but they might work for some or just a few. But this smaller percentage does not mean that these Believer's journey to healing and fulfilling their purpose does not matter. We must make room for them as well. And we have been called to dedicate our time and energy for those precious few.”

Before there was a religion called Christianity, there was a movement known as THE WAY.  Participants gathered primarily in their homes for centuries; long before religious and governmental leaders persuaded them to congregate in massive buildings. 

Chris and Carol Green launched the Fruitful Life Learning Community as an intentional effort to help people of Faith and Christian leaders return to some of the original simple lifestyles and the mission that demonstrated God's love and healing daily in hearts, homes, neighborhoods and cities.

“We know that our participants were simply looking for relationship, first,” the Greens explain.  “That's why our ministry seems to identify best with people who seek a non-traditional faith practice. Yes, we are still part of the Church-at-large, but we are connecting with those who were missed, skipped over, passed over, or they simply slipped through the cracks of congregational settings.”

The Spiritual Wellness Support Group meets on Wednesday evenings at 7:00PM Eastern Time, on Zoom

Learn more at https://www.fruitfullifelearningcommunity.org/spiritual-wellness-support

CARE-Ready Life Coaching® Receives USPTO Registered Trademark Approval

Community Life Coaches, Chris and Carol Green received an official Notice of Acceptance of Statement of Use from the U.S. Patents and Trademarks Office (USPTO), for their nationally and internationally recognized Coaching model known as CARE-Ready Life Coaching.

"This has been a long time coming," the Greens commented. "We started this process in June of 2021. We began to recognize very soon after we implemented our new model in our local community, that we had something special. When it extended to other states, we knew we had to go through the necessary steps to protect our coaching model idea and the brand."

According to the USPTO, in accepting the Green's Statement of Use documents and verification, which were filed as part of a series of steps that eventually led to the final submissions in the trademark application process, "The mark will now register and the registration certificate will issue in due course barring any extraordinary circumstances."

The official certificate arrived today!

Celebrating CARE-Ready Life Coaching®

     

Still Expanding: Over 100 Certified CARE-Ready Life Coaches Across Ten States

 

Pennsylvania, USA --- Professors Chris and Carol Green, the founders of the STEP Forward Life Institute™ and owners of C and C Connections, LLC, hosted their second and final CARE-Ready Life Coaching® Certification graduation ceremony of 2022, in a powerful and impactful live virtual event.

“Congratulations to our new CARE-Ready Life Coaches," commented Chris and Carol Green, whose coaching and consulting business serves as the organizer and facilitator of the training. "This was one of the most engaging and interactive groups that we’ve ever had. These women were absolutely amazing."

The newest CARE-Ready Life Coaches® completed weekly coursework, submitted reflection presentations to express how they were each going to meet the challenges of implementing their unique coaching models, created personalized life coaching field manuals, and successfully passed an online exam. They worked through personal challenges, participated in extended class conversations, scheduled additional office appointments with the instructors, and encouraged one another in their individual journeys of process and discovery.

The newest CARE-Ready Life Coaches are: Tracy Boldin, Vikki DeClue, Jasmira Hunter, Audrey Swann, and Ilecia Voughs.

The online ceremony featured congratulations and encouragement from Licensed Professional Counselor and National Certified Coach, Amethyst Roberson (CARE-Ready graduate of Fall 2021).

"The most important thing is to be the kind of coach that people can trust."  said Counselor and Coach Roberson, speaking virtually to the new coaches. Find the niche that represents clients that are like you, Be the person you needed one year ago or ten years ago. Be who you needed as a kid, fighting to survive and understand the world. Be a life coach that can be real, be raw, and be you! 

People need to know that you are human and have been through tough times, too. Let them know that you are willing to help them; be there for them and guide them. When people know that you are authentic and genuine, they will be more likely to open to you and trust what you have to say! 

Take time to understand their way because the truth is, if they made it to you, then maybe you are a pit stop, a listener, a lifter of someone’s head, and a launching pad for the down and out. In this role, you will have the opportunity to help others decide, delete, delay, delegate, and diminish what no longer serves them."

With the successful graduation of this class, Master Life Coaches, Chris and Carol Green have now trained and launched 105 CARE-Ready™ Life Coaches and 38 CARE-Ready™ Responders, who are disbursed and embedded in 40+ organizations, businesses, agencies or ministries across ten states including: California, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.

“The C.A.R.E. Ready Life Coach Certification Program has been one of the best courses I have taken," newly certfied coach Ilecia Voughs shared. "I have been able to learn new skills , relate what I’ve learned to my own life, put it into practice, and create my own meaning out of what I gained from the course. I started the course curious and unsure, but I am leaving the course with a confident knowing and blueprint of what I feel God has placed in me to do.

I value the insight and experiences of all the ladies that I was in class with, and look forward to seeing how God continues to move in their lives going forward. I want to thank Toni Green for her support, assistance, and friendly reminders when we needed them.  I would also like to thank our instructors, Chris and Carol Green for their guidance, wisdom, and leadership throughout the class, as well as during individual coaching sessions. We did it! Congrats to everyone!"

The Greens, through their online institution and coaching business, partnered with United Graduate College and Seminary International (UGCSI), I Change Nations™, and Fruitful Life Network, Inc, to offer this accelerated, ministry-accredited life coaching certification program. Their collaborative purpose and mission has always been, to equip leaders, working in under-served communities, with high-quality tools that empower them to be more effective in their humanitarian efforts. 

Editor's Note:

Watch the full online ceremony HERE 
Learn more about CARE Ready Life Coaching® and its Certification Program at
https://www.candcconnections.com/life-coach-certification

Called to the Ministry of Reconciliation

Christopher G. Green (D.Hon.Causa)

I wrote the following 6 years ago after Donald Trump was elected President of the United States of America. Now that we have just come through the midterm elections, I still stand by these words today:

As I have written and warned in previous blogs, many in the American Christian Church were choosing sides. Millions of Believers were voting based on issues of liberty (religious, civil, moral, etc.). On the other hand, millions were voting based on issues of justice (economical, social, political, etc.). 

Please don't be duped. Get out of your feelings and emotions and really listen to what I’m saying. We cannot win this battle by seeking one or the other (liberty or justice). In our pledge of allegiance, the quote is "liberty AND justice" for ALL. If you fight for liberty at the expense of justice, there will be an uprising from those who are not getting justice. If you fight for justice at the expense of liberty, the entire country will pay the price, falling under the tyranny of the majority.

So how do we get both liberty and justice for all?

I believe both are found only in one government and that is the Kingdom of God. I'm talking about the governance of God in every heart and home.

Now let me make it practical for what is happening in America today. The ugly giants of racism and class-ism are rising and Christian Believers will not be able to ignore them any longer. In today’s world, silence is approval of the suppression of liberty or justice. We must recognize it in our own hearts and expose it in our own Churches. We must deal with the -isms, but joining with or simply ignoring the protests, even in your own heart, is not the way.

The slumbering giant (the True Church) is waking up. It is waking to its mission to win and disciple the nations, to take care of the poor and widows, and to walk and live in unity and love. 

We are Ambassadors of Christ, called to the Ministry of Reconciliation. We are not called to merely fight for liberty, but we must join the fight for justice as well. We can no longer leave these battles to the government or radical activist groups.

A violent overthrow of President-elect Trump and the White Supremacy mindset that is often attached to many of his supporters, will not bring Peace, liberty or justice.  If that were to occur, people would not unite. Instead, such action would only release another set of protests; perhaps a major revolt. 

I'm not a Republican. I'm not a conservative (many people's code word for racist).  I'm not a Democrat. I'm not a progressive (many people's code word for socialist). I’m another one of those registered Independents who has, through the years, sometimes voted for write-ins at the Presidential level, while voting according to my understanding of Biblical priorities at the state and local levels of government. So I have no allegiance to any earthly parties. I ‘m not writing from those perspectives.

Let me start here. 

My government is within me: Righteousness, Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost. On the earth, I can vote for a president, but in reality, I have a king. He is the God of the universe. He told Pontius Pilate, "My Kingdom is not of this world."  

So our role, in this emerging racial and class war, is to promote reconciliation. Specifically, reconciliation to God, and then to one another. That's what the Word of God declares. It’s not an opinion. It's the command of God.

Reconciliation is about bringing opposing forces and enemies together. Every one of us, in the True Church, is called to THIS. God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. His word declares that He now pleads to the world through us. 

Over the last week I’ve had to tell myself to get back in focus. Get back to the reason God saved me. Get back to the place where I kept my eyes on the Lord our God.  Let’s seek first the Kingdom of God and get His strategy to reconcile the fight for liberty with the fight for justice. He will do amazing things in the hearts of people.

God says in His word: “Why do the nations rage, imagining a vain thing?” God laughs from the heaven because He has already installed His king. His king is installed in the hearts of His people and they already have a government. They already have a purpose because GOD already has a plan.  His plan is Reconciliation. He desires to reconcile ALL people to Himself and to one another. 

So, before we try to fix America, let’s allow God to work IN us, so He can speak through us to bring reconciliation.

Christopher G. Green

Fruitful Life Network of Ministries, Inc.

After You Cast Your Vote

"They can get my vote, but God alone gets my heart."

I wrote the following six years ago, and on this midterm election day, it still holds true.

Like millions of people in America, I was engaged in a texting conversation about the upcoming election and what it will mean for American Churches and various Religions in our country. My conversation was with a gentlemen that I highly respect and whose views and opinions are very important to me. While many political conversations are leaving people conflicted, I tend to focus on what we’re going to do on the day after the election; the day after casting my vote and my candidate has either won or lost.

Since I’m a husband, father, life coach, ordained minister, and an overall nice guy (at least my wife of 35 years still thinks so), I must say that the various issues surrounding this election have left, in my humble opinion, millions of people of faith very anxious about this year’s outcome.  

There are various camps, denominations and groups who are vehemently opposed to one another’s political views, even to the point of questioning the legitimacy of the other’s Faith. This level of hostility is very dangerous and the day after the election will simply drive the various fragments of the various Faith camps even further apart.

If we allow this division to fester, it will prove to be a critical mistake. After the election, regardless of the outcome, people of faith will need to rally together like never before. That’s because, many American Christians, who are leaning towards a Conservative as the President, see a loss as the signal to Progressives that they can launch overt attacks against religious liberty in America. However, they see a Conservative victory as, at least, a postponement or pushing back against that tide. 

While all of that may be true, there is another thought that I’d like to throw into the mix of outcomes. The way I see it, no matter if whether Conservatives win or lose this election, there will still be overt assaults on religious freedom. 

In my view, the soil of this nation is so saturated with anti-Christian hatred that Church leaders need to be preparing their leadership teams and congregations for some major public push-back, regardless as to which side wins the election. This is not the time to just sit back and wait to see what happens on November 8th. I believe many Church Leaders will need to have a plan of action in place for November 9th and the days, weeks, and months that follow.

I realize there are those, from certain camps, who feel I’m just inciting fear and speaking negativity that can be used to bring panic upon many in the Church. Actually I’m just asking Church Leaders to implement Proverbs 27:12 which reads, “A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.”

Yes, I say this with great caution. I know this can sound alarmist and overreaching, but we need to realize that this election is not about winners and losers. This is about the way that our society will view the Church on November 9th and beyond.

I want you to consider this; that no matter who wins the election, the Church will be in the middle of a battle. So we must do more than raise the level of our people’s excitement and interest to vote. Don’t give them the impression that everything will be okay if their candidate wins. Like Jeremiah of old, when he was warning Israel of what God said was coming upon them, I’m saying everything won’t be okay. 

Finally, I believe we need to be preparing our church to pray and I mean daily prayer; around the clock prayer; and ‘even if we don’t do anything else on our agenda’ prayer. If we move to this level of prayer, we can actually be setting the stage for the Spirit of God to move upon the Church and even those who may publicly come against it. This could be the beginning of true revival in our country.

When you go and cast your ballot, do not place your confidence in that person. Do not cast your hopes and dreams on that person. They can get my vote, but God alone gets my heart. We are bowing to the will of God. After you cast your votes, I ask that you pause for a moment and say, “Lord, thy Kingdom come and Your will be done on Earth, as it is in heaven.” 

In this act of submission, you will be surrendering your life as an ambassador of Christ that He can work through in the ministry of reconciliation. That’s because we will need the release of the ministry of reconciliation on the day after the election.

I believe November 9th will be Day-One of a new level of spiritual warfare for the Church in America as it returns to its primary assignment of declaring and demonstrating the Kingdom of God in every day life.

Christopher G. Green
Fruitful Life Network of Ministries, Inc.