Offering Hope to the City's Unemployed

Pennsylvania, USA ----Community Life Coaches Chris and Carol Green, returned to the Pennsylvania CareerLink's Job Club to again uplift, encourage and empower the unemployed in their community.

"That workshop was incredibly awesome!" said Coach Chris Green. "At one point our dignity-restoring workshop was going so well that someone actually said 'amen' during the presentation."

Held just weeks before the holiday season, the workshop literally captured the group. Every example, anecdote, story, and word of advice seemed to hit home in every heart. At the beginning, it was a very melancholy group with lots of heaviness hanging in the atmosphere, but by the end, people were talking and engaging.

"There is definitely something special happening with this community outreach," explains Coach Carol Green, "We believe we've been given this open door to restore dignity, give wisdom and heal hurting people, desperately trying to find jobs."

This was the Green's third successful monthly workshop. The class was at maximum capacity, having seen its numbers growing monthly. 

"How awesome is that?" added Coach Chris Green, "We're just trying to do our part to lift up and encourage people who are in a very tough season of unemployment."

As the world's leading producers of CARE-Ready Life Coaches, Chris and Carol Green teach and train community, government and education leaders, human service organizers, business visionaries, and neighborhood dreamers how to be much more effective by embracing the principles of CARE (Compassionate Awareness with Respect and Empathy) in their professional and personal lives. 

If you want to be trained and empowered to coach or mentor with a purpose that's greater than yourself, explore the possibilities at https://www.candcconnections.com/responder-training


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Chris and Carol Green Receive Golden Rule International Award

 

Harrisburg PA ---Chris and Carol Green received the Golden Rule International Award (World Peace Ambassadorship) for living a life that exemplifies the motto of the Golden Rule International, “Treat others the way you want to be treated.” 

The Greens believe that every life is valuable and created for a purpose. They live their lives around this understanding and it is evident in their work. They are the Founders and Leaders of Fruitful Life Network, Inc, a community-focused community service initiative. Some of their accomplishments include, publishing 14 books, the production of over 150 songs, the creation of their Fruitful Living Online Courses, and establishing a Consulting and Coaching Business. They have chosen to partner with various organizations, groups, business and urban community outreach efforts in their region. Their lives are dedicated to helping others. They are also the recipients of the iChange Nations™ Community Ambassador Award.

Ambassador Rivers commented, “Since the value of life is so important to our organization, it is such a privilege to honor the Greens for all they are doing to help others. Their lives bear the fruit of the Golden Rule, ‘Treat others the way you want to be treated.’ They are a powerful force in the world and I believe will continue to encourage all mankind.” 

Ambassador Dr. Clyde Rivers is the Founder and President of iChange Nations™ a professional institution that equips, mentors and trains highly esteemed individuals who have the desire to change nations throughout the world. The organization is seeking to bring global awareness by strategically helping nations to educate, train and support the Nation Building Process designed to improve the dignity and betterment of human life. This international platform focuses on establishing effective relationships to help people understand the value of life and basic human rights.

Giving Hope, Restoring Dignity to the City's Unemployed

Pennsylvania, USA ---- Urban Community Ambassadors, Chris and Carol Green, were invited to EDSI - PA CareerLink® Capitol Region's Job Club in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania for the second consecutive month to host what the Greens call a 'Beyond the Resume' Life Coaching workshop. 

EDSI operates the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) program, serving the unemployed and underemployed populations of Pennsylvania. Their core services include job readiness workshops, job search, the Job Club and other career development topics. 

"We held our first workshop in October," explains Coach Chris Green, "We seized the opportunity to give hope and restore the dignity of those who were unemployed in our city."

"After that first workshop, several people said the presentation gave them a new way to view themselves as they face a very tough job landscape," added Coach Carol Green, "Most seemed to be very encouraged." 

Coach Chris Green said, "From our perspective, we were just thrilled to be able to move out beyond the walls of the church setting and reach people who needed hope in a time of great despair."

EDSI - PA CareerLink® invited Chris and Carol Green back again in November. 

"It was just before Thanksgiving, so it was kind of tough for the participants," Coach Carol Green explained, "That month, we had a wonderful, engaging conversation as we explored various workplace personality profiles and offered tips on how to work with conflicting personality types and how to improve one's own responses to others."

The session came alive with conversation, questions and comments. During their sessions, the Greens introduced their Life Coaching website and offered the opportunity for participant to attend to their weekly small group sessions.

The Career Link site-administrator sat in on part of the November workshop and later proposed that the Greens return to conduct a session for her staff. Afterwards, the Community Life Coaches were placed on the PA CareerLink regular monthly schedule, establishing another step in their CARE-Ready approach to uplifting lives in the urban community.

As the world's leading producers of CARE-Ready Coaches™, Chris and Carol Green teach and train community, government and education leaders, human service organizers, business visionaries, and neighborhood dreamers how to be much more effective by embracing the principles of CARE (Compassionate Accountability with Respect and Empathy) in their professional and personal lives. 

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Reaching the Lost in the Urban World

Chris and Carol Green are the founders and leaders of Urban Life Family Center, a faith-based, family-focused life coaching center with an extensive internet outreach.

As urban family advocates, marriage consultants, and family life coaches, they established Urban Life to equip and empower urban people to fulfill their God-given purpose. 

They launched the Family Center, which began as a local church, in September of 2004, and through the years they found themselves coaching women in the aftermath of divorce, navigating families in crisis, and guiding individuals searching for ways to break unhealthy lifestyle cycles and patterns. They have provided personal consultation and online courses for couples preparing for marriage and for couples in the midst of marital conflict.

They bring a unique hope-centered approach, specifically in their guidance, encouragement and coaching of young women and young men who are seeking to build a better future for themselves and their children (trying to break out of the welfare system).

Students, clients, and online seekers meet with Chris and Carol in a multi-media suite or online for practical instruction that teaches them how to invest their time, talents and treasure into the fulfillment of the Great Commandment (Love God, Love yourself, Love others) and the Great Commission (Go and change the world).

The Urban Life strategy is to simply follow the model already established in the Bible, where the goal wasn't to build a religion, but to bring such change in a person's heart, that they develop a desire to help others also discover the right paths in life.

For the last 10 years, Chris and Carol haved worked full-time jobs and volunteered all of their services to help people on weekends. They received no salary and no special compensation. During those years of small beginnings, they gave away the recordings of their sessions via DVD's and CD's, as well as ALL of their books and printed materials to those who attended the sessions.

While equipping attendees weekly from their media suite, this couple constructed a solid, new-generation internet outreach that connects with and brings healing to families through an online video channel for couples, an online channel for men, an online channel for women, free daily-inspirational book downloads, on-demand podcasts, and various social media initiatives (i.e. weekly e-Newsletters, Google+, Twitter, Facebook and Skype); all designed to equip people of the 21st century urban community with hope-centered teaching and training that will build their faith and families.

Their only call today is: Who will unite with us to reach the lost in the urban world?

Chris and Carol Green Release Compilation Book, Empowering and Equipping Hearts and Homes

 

Chris and Carol Green have produced an assembly of prayerful strategies and purposeful applications that can help families rebuild, restore and renew their hearts and homes in spite of the relentless challenges that they face everyday in these evil and perilous times. 

Chris and Carol write: 

Where do our families fit in the grand scheme of the emerging American Social and Political Revolution? 

We are caught in the cross-fires of economic, social, political, educational and religious wars; while standing on the brink of despair due to neighborhood crime, domestic violence, drug abuse and child trafficking; along with overwhelming outbreaks of mental illness, an epidemic of multiple STDs, the diminishing of parental rights, systemic racism, critical race theories, and an endless list of politically-correct agendas that are buried within current human service and education programs. 

This book may surprise you because it does not give a list of ways that traditional families can fight for their survival through rallies, politics,  protest or marches. Instead, it is a marvelous diary of profound, God-ordained experiences and lessons, that have equipped and empowered believers with knoweledge and wisdom to navigate today's challenges from their own homefront, literally. 

Over the span of a decade, the Greens worked to convey a Kingdom message, even though it went against the pervasive tide of the 21st century views, perversions and philosophies that have been embraced by many in society.

You might think of this book as a collection of their most significant downloads, or the best of their Internet letters, because this compilation truly reveals the heart of God regarding family, and gives you precisely what you'll need to launch an internal revolution that will rebuild, restore and renew your heart and home. 

"You don’t have to read the chapters in any particular order," the Greens advise their readers. "Just allow God’s Spirit to lead you through the writings. We are certain that these messages will speak directly to your heart and build your faith as you seek God about your family's purpose and Kingdom destiny."

Available on Amazon Books at https://www.amazon.com/dp/1514299828

Our Time Has Come

After our monthly Unite to Restore meeting, this group of people gathered around us and began to talk and encourage us. We took this picture to commemorate a powerful move of God in which a mighty travail fell upon Pastor Carol as she gave birth (spiritually) to the twin ministry we have been carrying since moving to this area.

It all began when the woman (Rania Sayegh) standing in front of us, started asking me questions about the African-Americans and the disconnect with Israel. She is an Arab Believer who founded a prayer ministry in Nazareth called HOPE (House of Prayer and Exploits). She is a well-known speaker and intercessor from that part of the world. She took out her mobile device and recorded my answers and responses to her questions. The Spirit fell upon me as I talked and the whole group gathered around us. They prophesied and prayed over us for about 30 minutes.

The other woman (Jillienne Beaver) standing in front of Carol, leads worship in a 24/7 house of prayer in Jerusalem and is an intercessor in the HOPE prayer ministry as well. The couple pictured on our left is from Pittsburgh, PA. They brought the women to the meeting that night. Pictured on our right is Abby Abildness, who you guys already know and standing next to her is a woman who is a Nigerian Bishop.

For some reason, God has included us in this elite group of world-class speakers and intercessors.

While praying for us, Jillienne said, "I don't know if you realize who these people are that are praying for you, but I'm honored to meet you. This is a historic moment."

They spoke out many powerful things. They spoke of things that are too humbling to mention. Just know that our time has come to walk away from our government jobs and move forward into the next level of ministry.

As we drove to this meeting, we asked God to speak to us and HE met us; He overwhelmed us. It was such a powerful moment that we all felt we should take this photo because it was a very important, historic moment. We just feel that years from now, we will look back at this photo and be blown away at how God brought us together.

The Nigerian Bishop has already invited us to come to her country to minister there in October. Rania Sayegh has invited us to come to Nazareth.

Abby is begging us to not move away from this region because, as she said it, "Harrisburg needs a Father and Mother, too."

We have another invitation back to Cumberland Valley, PA to minister at the end of this month and we just received an invitation to St. Louis, MO in September.

God is moving. Our time has come.

We're asking all to join us in praying about this. We're at a crossroad. I've even been told by my boss, that my job is coming to an end.

We certainly don't have the finances to go to these places, but we have the Word of the Lord.

This is the moment we've been waiting for, all of lives.

It's all for the harvest!

Roll with the Remnant

MIDWEEK CONNECTION

  

All over our nation and right here in Harrisburg, we are watching church attendance drop as people either walk away from church membership or leave one assembly to connect with another one across town. However, many of the places to which they shift, are experiencing a decline in attendance as well.

For ten years, we have held steady, hovering between ten and twelve people per week, month in and month out, year in and year out; as many different people have come and gone over time.

Just like the Lord told us, we have been more like a hospital or a medical clinic, where people, injured in their life’s journey, have stopped in just long enough for recovery and restoration. Afterwards, most of them have moved on to larger settings, where other needs can be met beyond what we have to offer.

For several years, we were discouraged by this assignment and role in this community, but now we have learned to accept it simply because it’s the assignment and role that God has given us.

At the same time, God has given us a core group who have committed themselves to helping us fulfill the calling that God has given us in this community.

There was a time when we were very disappointed because it seemed we would never establish the minimum capacity of people that we needed to carry this work. Now we realize, God took us through the Gideon process, at least internally, and today we are willing to roll with a remnant. Gideon started out with a vast number, but after God’s weeding-out process, he was reduced to less than 1 percent of his initial army. God showed Gideon that HE didn’t need a large number of people to complete the task. He just needed a remnant.

We believe that this process is spreading throughout our country. God is weeding out churches and ministries, reducing their numbers, reassigning many of His people into different assemblies. HE is setting up pockets of His true army so we will be in strategic positions as He launches forth a tsunami-like revival, sweeping across this nation.

That’s why we are still HERE and that’s why we’re still meeting each week. God told us to stop TALKING about the coming revival and the ripening harvest and to start BEHAVING like it's already here. That's why we changed the entire design and setting of the Urban Life assembly space. That's why, last Sunday, WE WENT FOR IT! We changed our meeting space to make it a lot more accommodating for ministering in a safe and intimate environment. It's an atmosphere in which the Holy Spirit can literally overwhelm us in the love and power of God.

So, from now on, feel free to invite family, friends, coworkers or neighbors to the Table of the Lord. A wonderful banquet awaits them. We believe God will meet people in a special way. They can come to the Family Center on any given Sunday. We don’t have an agenda from week to week. We’re just going to ROLL WITH THE REMNANT.

One Shall Become a Thousand

As the Lord continues to guide us into this new phase of the ministry, we’re receiving confirmation everywhere we turn. Sunday's prophetic message from Abby Abildness was the absolute most profound word we've ever received.

Abby was given a word for us while she was in Iraq. While ministering with the pastor who requested for her to come to his town, she observed many similarities of that pastor there and Pastor Chris here in Harrisburg. The similarities were so profound that she had to come and share it with us.

That church of 15-25 people had gone 10 years with little growth or change. For 10 years, that pastor had been praying for a million souls. His first 3 converts were killed by ISIS, ten years ago when his church first started. That left him almost afraid to lead any others to Christ. For ten years he has had this prayer in his heart, for a million souls.

Meanwhile, back here in America, in Harrisburg, PA, we have been holding to a prophetic promise that came to us in our first year that thousands and thousands would be touched by this ministry.

Like me, the pastor in Iraq also works in the government. He's also a technical specialist. He also moves in the prophetic. He also has been waiting a long time for the promises of God to be fulfilled.

Due to the onslaught of the Islamic Jihadist known as ISIS, a million refugees have been forced into the town of this only remaining Christian church in that dangerous region. That church has suddenly gone from 15-25 attendees to, thousands of people almost overnight. That pastor and church are stationed only 30 miles from the headquarters of ISIS and they refuse to flee.

Abby came to share our prophetic destiny, which is very similar to that church in Iraq. God is preparing us to be a safe haven and a refuge during a time of crisis that is coming to America. Abby confirmed what we have been telling you for many months.

Islamic Jihadist, like ISIS, are now in America. Just this week, ISIS sent out an audio message for their followers to begin blowing up roads and bridges in the United States and to begin attacking American citizens in their homes. I think it's time for us to get ready for whatever is about to happen in this nation and right here in this city. It's time for us to prepare for thousands.

The prophetic word through Abby was this:

"A little one shall become a thousand, And a small one a strong nation. I, the Lord, will hasten it in its time.” ----Isaiah 60:22

She gave us several exhortations and prophetic promises this past Sunday:

• Chris and Carol Green were sent to reach more than Harrisburg. God is going to take them and this message to the nations.

• This ministry is like the principle of the Kingdom of God and the mustard seed. It started off very small and has been growing undetected until one day it sprouts forth and the tree grows and the branches extend.  And it will provide shelter for many. This ministry is a place of refuge and a safe haven.

• These flags on your walls represent the many nations where God is going to send you.

• God has used you and the emphasis on family to show His order and desire for families. You have been modeling it all these years. I was blessed that you were moved to tears while talking about your wife. Your sons have been with you in ministry. You have lived out God's desire and plan for families in practical everyday life.

• I thought when I met Pastor Chris that he was a powerful man of God, but when I met his wife, then I saw the power behind the man of God. God is calling the women to step forth in your royal (Queen) authority.

• As I watched you on the platform with all the equipment, I saw you broadcasting. Somehow God is going to have you broadcasting.

We can’t procrastinate and wait until the crisis hits and we can’t start getting prepared AFTER a thousand people show up. We need to get ready right now.

Is your household ready to minister to people who are desperate? Are you ready to give sound Biblical guidance to someone who needs Christ? Are you ready to serve, even when it is totally inconvenient for your lifestyle and future plans? Are you ready to serve others even when you feel like you need someone to help you?

If whether you answered yes or no to any of these questions, it’s time to get ready to become a thousand. That’s the word God gave us and that’s how we’re going to respond.

You see, Carol and I don’t take a “wait and see” attitude when it comes to God’s word. When God gives us a word (a command or a promise) we start preparing immediately. We adjust our plans, change our plans, or we rearrange our time to accommodate God’s agenda over our own.

Unless you do that in response to God’s word, then you’re still just playing church. You’re still operating in unbelief or rebellion. There’s no other reason in God’s eyes. There are only three responses to the word of God: obedience, unbelief or rebellion. Only one is acceptable in His sight.

God says we will become a thousand, so Chris and Carol are going to prepare this ministry to handle a thousand. We’re preparing now.

One of the things that keeps Harrisburg floundering in debilitating mediocrity and sloth, is the “wait and see” attitude when it comes to responding to God’s word. Wait and see simply means, you are like Doubting Thomas. You won’t believe it unless you see it first. Well, faith doesn’t wait. Faith responds to God like His promises have already come forth. Faith says, YES LORD. I OBEY YOU, RIGHT NOW!

As Bishop Raphael Green said in his anniversary video greeting to us on Saturday night, “Men and women, brothers and sister, ladies and gentlemen, you are involved in the greatest work on this planet; it’s the work of the Lord!”

Celebrating 10 Years of Service

Ten years ago we launched a ministry with a mission to rebuild, restore and renew hearts and homes in the Harrisburg community, across the nation, and around the world.

When we started in September of 2004, in a renovated warehouse on Seventh Street in uptown Harrisburg, our hearts were filled with excitement. We spent six months in prayer and strategic preparation before we opened our doors to a full house on Good Friday on March 25, 2005. It was a celebration of praise and worship. Then on Resurrection Sunday, March 27, 2005, we held our first Sunday service.

Six months later, in September of 2005, our overseers, Bishop Raphael and Pastor Brenda Green, came to Harrisburg to officially install us as the Senior Pastor and First Lady over the church. Little did we know, that just like Jesus was acknowledged by His Father during His water Baptism and led into a season of trial and testing, we were about to walk the same path.

However, today we can proclaim, ‘To God be the Glory for the things He has done!’ God gave us grace after our failures, wisdom to navigate treacherous passages, favor to overcome opposition, comfort for our seasons of mourning, consolation for our process of grief, light in our darkness, joy  in the midst of disappointments, and a new closeness with the Holy Spirit that we could never have imagined if we had not crossed through the wilderness.

In spite of attacks from the evil spiritual forces that seek to control the hearts and homes of this region, the Lord our God still caused our paths to cross with each of you. All that was intended for evil, God has used it for our good.

From chance meetings on our jobs, to unexplainable connections on the internet, God has brought people in and out of our lives and brought this congregation together, one person at a time. We have met in hotel conference rooms, a local church’s classroom, the pastor’s living room, and now we meet in our own space in the United Church Center. It never really matters WHERE we meet. It’s all about the wonderful experience that we share WHEN we meet.

We have laughed together, cried together, danced together, worked together, had our moments of disagreements or misunderstandings, and managed to keep moving forward. We are not a large gathering, but somehow, that really doesn’t matter. We’re doing more than building a big ministry. We’re building people who will do big things for God.

Back in 2012 we took a poll and asked our volunteer team at that time, “What is the one thing that Urban Life is really good at doing? What is the one hallmark of this ministry? The response was unanimous. It’s RELATIONAL. People matter. People feel welcomed. They feel that they belong.

So after ten years, the foundation has been set. The standard of God’s unconditional love has been cemented in our church family. WE have become an assembly where the atmosphere is safe for those who are searching, thirsting and longing for more than what religion has to offer.

In the Bible, the number TEN signifies testimony, law, responsibility and the completeness of order. We believe that as we come to the end of ten years of service, God is calling us to reflect upon and reveal the testimony of the Lord in our lives. We are called to keep His commandments in this new season. We called to a new level of responsibility. We’re being called into the completeness of order. We have been a ministry of order and balance from our first day and this anniversary is a landmark of the completeness of that order.

As we prepare for this weekend of celebration and impartation, the Lord gave us Luke 16:10 as our theme scripture. It reads: He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.

They may sound like a very harsh and strong word for an anniversary theme, but we see it as a promise from God when we are faithful to serve Him, with the right motivation in our hearts.
 

As we move into another year of obeying our assignment in Harrisburg, we are preparing our hearts and homes for more responsibility.

We’ll begin the weekend with a special dinner this Saturday evening at 6:30PM. We’ll meet in the dining hall of the United Church Center. That night will include wonderful fellowship, testimonies, music and a special greeting from our Bishop via video.

On Sunday, God has directed us to invite Abby Abildness to share the word with us. Abby is the executive director of Healing Tree international and the visionary of the Unite to Restore America movement. You don’t want to miss this very special woman of God as she pours out a wealth of wisdom with us to help us in the journey that is ahead of us.

We’ll be getting started promptly at 11:00am in our Ministry Suite (144B), so we can have her standing before us by 11:30AM. She has a flight to catch and we want to give her plenty of time.

We’re very excited about this year’s anniversary gatherings and we look forward to celebrating together!

Responding to the Cry for Help

Two nights ago, I attended a town hall meeting in Harrisburg. It was organized and hosted by Harrisburg Hope, an initiative from the office of Representative Patty Kim. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss some of the ways Harrisburg can avoid becoming the next Ferguson, MO. The meeting had a panel which included several key players of the Harrisburg landscape.

One the panelist was a young minister from St. Louis. Of course I was pleasantly surprised. He graduated from the same high school as the police shooting victim, Michael Brown. It is the same high school where one of my sisters-in-law teaches. This minister graduated from there in 1998 and came to Pennsylvania for college.  After his college graduation, he moved to Lancaster, PA.

His comments, during the discussion, kept taking the conversation back to the realities of an American system in which our nation profits from the poverty of the least of its citizens (minorities, children, elderly, disabled, etc). I was very impressed with him and I was also impressed with Representative Kim because she boldly called out and challenged the Dauphin County leadership for how they have treated African American men and boys.

Up until that meeting, I have always wanted to learn who are the people that genuinely have the best interest of Harrisburg in their hearts.  That night I discovered some of them. In the midst of the typical posturing and rhetoric, these two stood out, head and shoulders, above the group. I must admit that I don’t know these people and I have never been involved in their organizations, so I cannot make a judgment concerning any of them. But from the comments that were made in that meeting, I have a much clearer understanding of Harrisburg.

The largest portion of the meeting was given to allow comments and questions from the audience. Obviously, there was a lot of frustration and anger expressed from most of them. They challenged the unfair treatment of community by the police and the horrible practices within the school system that includes drugging the children and criminalizing the behavior of the Black male children in particular.

Some people stood and expressed desperate pleas for funding and volunteers in their individual efforts to provide activities and programs for youth and children. All throughout the session, I kept hearing a consistent theme: We need someone to help us!

After the event, I made my way to meet the young minister and to meet Representative Patty Kim. I expressed to both of them how much this was needed. I asked one of the panelists if this meeting was the first one with true intention to bring everyone to the table for solutions and he confirmed that my assessment was true. I told Representative Kim that if this kind of meeting had been offered in St. Louis, then the Ferguson incident might never have happened.

I didn’t hand out my business cards to anyone that night and I made no political or religious contacts or connections. My purpose in going was to watch and observe. I came away from that meeting with clear vision. It gave me an understanding of our times and the wisdom to know what we must do.

I heard a community crying out for help. I saw disconnected and disjointed efforts by many individuals to provide help. I saw all kinds of people with all kinds of strategies to meet all kinds of needs. Each one, in his own way was saying, come over here and help me provide the help. 

However, not one person said, "I will connect what I’m doing with what you’re doing." Not one person said, "I’ll connect my program with your program and pool our resources to make a bigger impact." 

Instead I observed the continuation of the problem in which everyone wants to be the boss, but no one wants to follow. Some call it the Messiah Syndrome because each one wants to be the savior for Harrisburg.

So now I have a better understanding of why God has us here in Harrisburg at this time. God has allowed my hometown to become a central theme of major problems in our country and right here in Harrisburg, people are crying out for help to try to avoid a similar social upheaval. Now we're all faced with the one question: How will we do it?

OUR first order of business is to seek God for the way He wants us to respond to that cry for help. 

I don’t know when we’ll be able to make connections with the various people on that panel. I certainly desire to do so. In the meantime, we are getting ourselves prepared. We are doing what we can for now.

We’re going to do our part in the upcoming street outreach in south Harrisburg and we’re going to prepare ourselves for harvest. We’re going to prepare out nets for a great catch of fish. We’re going to be ready to serve and minister to others in these perilous times and we’re going to fulfill God’s purpose for our ministry in this community, in this nation and in this world.

Are you ready to respond to the cry for help?

Be a Sermon: My African American History Moment

Chris Green, PA Dept of Education

Today, I was asked to MC the African American History Month Luncheon Celebration for the PA Dept of Education. Due to the weather, none of the guest, including the keynote speaker, was able to make it. Soooooo, I was asked to fill in and give some remarks....

...It's funny how God will set you up for those Once-In-A-Lifetime-moments.... I'm sitting at home in a snow storm one day. I'm standing in front of my peers at a podium the next day. Boy, I sure didn't see that coming.

Well, I MC'd the event from start to finish: Trivia questions: I introduced the Secretary of Education who greeted everyone and gave a short speech; I read the Governor's official proclamation and played a special video clip. Then came the moment to give the closing remarks.

I thanked the Secretary and the Executive Deputy Secretary for the opportunity to work for the Department. I cited Dr. King's "dream" speech and thanked them for hiring me based upon the content of my character and for not judging me based on the color of my skin.

I explained that Faith is always a part of the African American celebration because even though there is discussion about the separation of Church and State, there is no separation between FAITH and State.

I gave a brief history of my ancestry (which included the founding of a school in Mississippi) and said our faith brought us through and that is what was instilled in me... to be a person of character and faith. When I was hired by the Dept of Education to work in the press office, they were not only looking for a person of skill and education, but they were looking for a man of character.

I almost got choked up and emotional as I looked around the room and expressed my gratitude for getting to know many of the people as friends and colleagues. I told them that this has been one of the best experiences of my life, to get to know and work with them. I received a very nice ovation.

Afterwards, there were several compliments and even a hug. A couple of emails of thanks came later on in the day. This was one of those special moments, set up by GOD. For 4 years I've just gone to work and tried to be an example as a husband, father, co-worker and friend. I never tried to be PASTOR Chris. Then in one day, I was given an opportunity to share my heart with the people on my job. I'm still amazed.

If God sent us to Harrisburg to simply live the life, then we could pack up and leave tomorrow, and we would feel totally fulfilled and at peace. We would know that we didn't fail in Harrisburg.

Today showed me that it has never been about becoming the pastor of a church, but about bringing the life of Christ into the real world. Anybody can preach a sermon, but it's far more important to BE A SERMON.

Closure

Yesterday we got together with Dave and Geri Parker. As a background reference, they are the special people we are connected to at the Worship Center in Lancaster, PA.

How wonderful it is to talk to people who understand and know what you’re going through. From ministry to parenting, they knew what we were talking about.

In so many ways, they related to our feelings and frustrations. This was indeed a great moment of settling some issues in my heart and mind.

As we sat and talked at the restaurant table, I was reflecting back on our first years in Harrisburg when “mom” as we like to call her said to me, “It was not a mistake and it was not a failure. You had to find out and see what would not work here.”

All I could was just say, “Yes, ma’am…you’re right. I receive that.”

With just those few words of encouragement, the past two years of feeling like a failure and fraud, were wiped away. It was like the final page of a chapter in a book was turned for me. I cannot put it in words right now, which is unusual, but it was as if though God used her to turn the page for me. I had become so trapped by the outcome of all that happened, that deep inside, that page of the story was still open.

Even though a lot more has been written, and a lot more has been said and done since that time, it’s been like having a bookmark set in that one place, so that every time I come to the book, the story always opens up to that page.

God used mom Geri to remove the bookmark and turn the page. That chapter is closed. I told her, Carol has always told me the same thing to which she said, “God has sent confirmation.” Then Dave told me a couple of stories of his own both concluding with, “lesson learned.”

I feel like I’ve been set free from a heavy steel ball that had been chained to my leg. Over the past few months, some of my blogs have been filled with venting, ranting and crying. It was basically because this page had never been turned.

God is doing something special in Fruitful Life right now. Carol and I are ministering to an expressed need in this community. People are actually asking for help regarding relationships and marriage. When it happened and we realized God had literally placed a legitimate ministry in our hands, it was like the V-8 commercial where the person is popped on the head because they should have realized what was available to them.

For us, this is our "aha" moment. But before I could venture too far down that path, Dave told me, “But you weren’t ready to receive this ministry at that time.” And he was so right. I was so focused on ministering to the community from the church and the pulpit that I was not ready to address the real need that God was going to bring before Carol and me.

So God took us totally out of the church world, gave us secular jobs, and let us live a typical life and lifestyle of a citizen of Pennsylvania. He let us experience their frustrations, disappointments and pain.

After we came to KNOW AND UNDERSTAND, God released people to come and receive what He has for them, through us.

Everything is new. Everything is fresh. I’m writing again and the text is flowing like never before. I’m literally writing four books at the same time. There is not as much music coming, as in times past. I feel some songs stirring within me, but they will come forth as we get into the flow of ministering to those that come on our Friday night sessions. O’ how we look forward to that.

Carol and I are video taping teaching sessions and re-writing materials. All I can say is that by the grace of God, “WE’RE BACK!”

God has just been so faithful to us. Everything is not what we’d like to be, but we’re so thankful that it’s not what it used to be and certainly not as bad as it could be.

In every way, we can just sense that the new thing has already begun. Our main focus is to stay in the place of rest. God is doing this, so we’re just staying out of His way. As mom Geri told us yesterday, we just need to be available to Him.
She said, “Now God has your ear.”

When she said it I thought to myself, “You got that right, mom. I don’t want to make a move unless I hear from Him.” Then I also thought about making sure I don’t get too busy. Even though we’re writing, and teaching, the point is for us to stay open and available to the Lord. We have to minister from hearts and lives that are connected to a fresh resource and supply of His spirit.

I just thank God for yesterday. It was such a closure that when I woke up this morning, it was the beginning of not just a whole new chapter, but a whole new story. This is the beginning of a new book in this on going journey with the Lord.