SITE IS STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION. I'VE LEFT SOME OF THE TEMPLATE LINKS AND FRAMEWORK AT THE BOTTOM WHILE I LEARN HOW TO EDIT THEM. SO THIS IS THE TEMPORARY PLACE FOR ALL THE BLOGS TILL I CAN GET EVERYTHING POINTED TO THE CORRECT PLACES...

Going Public!!!   Donations now being accepted.    4-16-25

          Please use Contact Us page to get address for sending Checks or other means which will be set up this week.

            As of today, I have only shared a few of the details of Isayah 61 Ministries with maybe 3-5 people total outside of comments like, "I believe The Lord has some awesome things for me to do/open here in GA and I'm waiting for Him to supply the funds to start." I felt that keeping this between God and myself was something He would honor. But, today something changed.
           Today, I received a call from another missionary near my area. He said that yesterday morning The Lord put me on his heart that I needed some encouragement to continue in the face of many hardships. I only see this man once a month at pastor's prayer gatherings in the next county over and have only spoken with him about 3 times over 7 months prior to today. So, he had no reason to think of me and no idea the level of heaviness I was going through yesterday and literally this morning when he called! I said almost nothing as he spoke about literally everything I'd been praying to God about for the last 2 weeks. The kicker was after he was finished with sharing what The Lord had sent him to speak... he started just talking randomly about specific topics and viewpoints that are written on the front page of this website... He did not know of this website, nor of my plans, not much at all about me aside that my new real estate career was not going well and that I am a local missionary who ministers to others in the area. Well, after the phone call I had a lot of praying to do in the midst of everything else going on. There is literally no way outside of the Spirit of God responding to my prayers line item by line item that I would get this phone call today!  

This was my response to The Lord reaching back out to me today: As I have been asking The Lord to just plop down several million dollars into my hands to launch this ministry for nearly 2 years, GOD DIDN'T DO THAT... I was hoping for a George Meuller type story from God where I just asked Him and people would start dropping off checks etc and then wham bam, we have an orphanage to open, venues and programs to open, and 3-6 months later the entire state of Georgia is running to Jesus in truth and full surrender! Then, all the surrounding states see what's happening in GA and turn away from worthless things in similar manner causing such a revival that the entire world takes note and follows suit... But that doesn't seem to be how He wanted to work here...

Today, after praying over this ministry and my new friend's random statements that curiously pointed back to this website; I felt led to write emails to a few denominations via their Contact Us pages. I shared some of the vision and simply asked if they had grants for startup capital for new ministries. I invited them here to learn more if they had interest (as of mid-May, none responded). So, I am adding this writing to give them and anyone who now hears of this ministry, information on what the financial need is. I will likely continue to reach out locally to pastors after I create some short printed presentation material of the general plan. This blog entry is an attempt to quickly reflect what the financial startup needs are and how I would spend the resources once they start coming in. I have not asked for any funds prior to today nor have I even opened a bank account. Today, I am asking the Church at large to fund the beginnings of this ministry so that I can go fully into this work.
I don't know how much any organization would be willing to send to some random new ministry, but I stand behind my faith in God that if He is calling me to do this, He will speak to those who have the means to support this to the extent that He wants them to contribute. He knows who He has already put in place for such a time as this!!! For whatever comes in, I will steward it for the glory of God and apply it in the general order below.
 

Here is the starting order of needs:

• $600 - IRS 501c3 APPLICATION FEE  (paid 5/1/25)
• An Office Space: This could be any space for 3 or 4 people to work, receive mail, host small meetings, and do some ministry.
   This  (4404) office space is for sale right now. Very few exist like this but open to any possibility!
  $400,000 plus closing costs or $80k (20% DP) with $3000/mo coming in for traditional mtg payment to buy 4404 Lawrenceville Rd Loganville - Commercial Office for IS61 startup Mission Office AKA "The NE GA Christian Mission." I believe the owners would rent it out per month for around $3000 and maybe give a better deal since we are a church ministry/charity. 
  Optional methods to obtain- if a donor will act as a lender for us and we make payments once our monthly support donations/ grants are sufficient or traditional financing can be obtained and fully repay the loan to the donor. I'm estimating $2400/mo @ 8%APR plus $500 for PITI for a No Income Ver loan with a traditional lender. Another option is that an Angel Investor would put up some substantial donation/loan and work with me to negotiate alternative financing options directly from the seller which is one of the bigger commercial realty brokers in the county. This was their former Real Estate office location and it has been mostly unused for likely a year or more at this point... 
  {Ideal salary is below but we are hoping even just enough to hire a Director 25hrs a week @ $12.50/hr for the first few months and another staff member for handling the phones and ministry relations networking. I will handle the assistant's role and my main roles while we gather in funds)
• $2400 per month for a Ministry Assistant for the director. (phones, receptionist, prayer minister, data entry for the church database) 
• $3200 month for a Full Time Ministry Director with business and ministry degrees to implement the initial ministries while seeking grants for ongoing ministry. Ministry Director would likely need to obtain credentials for licensed Social Worker and C.A.S.A..
• $1500/mo for general operating expenses - utilities, legal, office supplies, grant application/site membership fees, etc 

 ***   If this ASK results in donations of $100k, for example, of the $461k needed to fully obtain the desired Christian Mission property and hire staff, that is still great! It allows me to approach the owners of the 4404 property to see what terms they'd offer for our ministry to rent, rent to own, or owner finance the property, hopefully far below their asking price. If not an option, then we'd have the funds to find a temporary office space for rent. It allows me to place ads for the Ministry Director with confidence that I would be able to provide just compensation for many months till larger grants could be obtained. It would allow for the church database software to be created. It would provide for any needed office equipment, office supplies, training classes for running the ministry, legal fees and consulting, liability insurance, and needed licenses or certifications. It would allow us to begin gathering church leaders to share the fuller vision. It would allow us to start making legitimate connections in the community in order to bring connections among different church bodies. It would allow us to develop and train a team of street evangelists locally who can then train and disciple various church members who have a heart and time to go to the highways and byways (walmarts, gas stations, alleys, shopping ctrs) and minister to the populace and hopefully assist new believers into local church bodies for discipleship. It allows us to host a monthly pastor/leader breakfast at (possibly Cup & Saucer next door to 4404 property) an inexpensive donut/bagel/coffee establishment where "walls" are broken down by carbs and caffeine, It allows us to meet with seasoned and godly counsel to better implement the myriad of ideas involved in the whole plan into an actionable series of steps so that raising $10M in a timely manner to secure the Foster Care/ Orphanage properties is possible. It would also allow the hiring of a Ministry Assistant or Office Manager who would be the main person contacting every church and ministry in the area to pray for their needs and find out what services they're offering for the community in addition to helping the Director. ***
** $50k would allow us to rent a commercial office space, get phone lines, hire Director, part time Assistant or I act as the Office Mgr/Assistant till funds allow, likely hire unpaid ministry interns or slightly paid interns to help with the initial works, have funds for outreach and assistance, and begin operating using borrowed venues around the areas or buy some 10x10 event tents and folding tables to do open air outreaches. It is forward progress while we seek more funds. Possibly we could hire a Director who can temporarily work from home while I retain an inexpensive Executive Office lease to utilize as a business address and administrative meeting space. I have no doubt my home church or one of many churches or ministries in the area would allow us to use their facilities for our pastoral fellowship meetings... or the overflow section at the local IHOP even! This is about the minimum I can see we need to collect ahead of the big step of hiring the Director. That new Director's circumstance and level of commitment will be a determining factor on several other moves if we are indeed limited by minimal capital. **

Orphanage (Foster/Adoption) Program: 

• $3M to $5M. - Purchasing a currently for sale lake, forest, and beach property (shown on home page) on about 100 acres plus 4 houses on almost adjacent properties for the foster group homes. The property will allow for therapeutic horseback riding, recreation, serenity, outdoor hobbies, and more. There is potential to use it as a Christian campground (summer camps or church youth camps) a foster care resource center, build a Christian school, and use it for agricultural or vocational training and mentoring. Listed for almost $3M, needs other homes built on or adjacent to this parcel for Foster Homes. Current home on land is usable for one set of house-parents plus 4-8 children but we hope for smaller groups per home and at least 3 homes to start with, which can easily be added to one section on this land plus one available parcel 50ft away from this one has 8AC for building more. 
      
• $500,000 per year for the Orphanage program - licenses, social workers, training, house parent salaries, security staff, office staff, compliance, food, clothing, transportation costs, legal, utilities, and other itemized expenses. We are hoping that the children will still be granted the normal financial assistance from "the system" even if they are transferred into private Christian care. My full itemized costs from a year ago had this number at $2M needed for a yearly budget but with 3 other homes included which are no longer for sale around the main property. We will only grow as funds allow for the safe care of God's children.
• $1.5 Million - Office Warehouse currently for sale for $1.1M plus a box truck with liftgate for an Unskilled Worker Job Mentoring program and Specialty Thrift Store. This building will also act as the public address and shipping address for the orphanage's group homes and administrative office so the children's specific locations are kept unknown from former abusers. 

Adult Assistance Programs: 

• $5-$12 Million - Adult Group Home programs. Aged out of Foster Care young adults with mentorship, elderly and abandoned older adults, temporary family apartments for disaster or foreclosure assistance when other agencies are not able. Ideally, we'd look for an apartment complex, quadplex, or hotel to purchase for these programs. Since that is not likely an easy find, convert older larger homes on acreage to multi apartment buildings or homes within walking distance to grocery stores and employment opportunities. Program will facilitate licensed staff to look in on individuals and obtain church sponsorship and mentoring for each person or group home (financial, spiritual, relational, recreational). There is already a detailed outline of this program but for the sake of this initial ask, it seemed superfluous to expound upon the program details until the primary objectives are initiated. Program could be started when a specific need presents itself and a church or group of churches agree to say, buy a property together under a Trust to meet said need, and we simply facilitate the efficacy of the program and manage oversight of the program with our already trained and licensed staff. The residents will still need those partner churches for true care and fellowship to see them all the way back to their independence. Then, the space becomes available for the next need! For those interested in helping with this down the road as we grow into this ministry, please let us know of your interest after you see we are fully operational!

The above programs are what I believe James 1:27 directs the Church to oversee. I personally know that ministering in the above programs is designed for specific called, licensed, and highly trained individuals. I also have put very intense safeguards in place for those served in order to ensure the safety of staff and participants. My role is to launch these programs and ministries and to set in place safeguards, provisions, and long term guidance in accordance with the scriptural basis for performance of Christian acts of service and in specific context of the vision I have extensively written out for the Isayah 61 Ministries plan. My role is to facilitate the implementation of these ministries and steward God's resources into them. 

Church Assistance Program:

 A Long Term Goal- When I was 20 years old, on my move from Michigan to Florida, I was detoured off of i75 somewhere south of Macon. On the backroads  I navigated to reach a road that would place me on i95, I passed a run down old church building that I'll never forget. It broke my heart that God's house was in disrepair. The scene is still in my head of a church with obvious need of roof repair. Since that day in 1995, I have had a desire to be the man of God who visits unsuspecting churches in lower income areas (or storm damaged areas) and by virtue of the blessings of God in my hands, cause the needed repairs to be made for those beloved people of God who meet there. This desire has never faded and I hope to be a conduit of REBUILDING for congregations who are facing structural issues that inhibit their safety and even a bit of comfort if the heat or AC has ceased to function. This goal should be funded by the increase from the below retail sources but I would also love to start a Church Assistance Fund supported by local churches and other organizations which has the funds on standby for whatever emergency comes where we could meet the need as it comes up and then specifically fundraise to replenish the funds or to finish the job (contractors need a deposit to book the work, so we make the deposit, then raise funds to cover the rest or the total) And there will be no need for any receiving church to pay it back unless their insurance company does cover something. We just meet the need of our family in Christ and The Lord will take care of how He wants the funds to settle. I also would be collecting donations of sound equipment and other items that larger churches are done with which we could simply give to a church in need. I've already started this aspect just by making phone calls and asking ministers whose churches were remodeling if they had anything salvageable for a church in need. I've also contacted Home Depot, Lowes, and Ace to get donations for a church. It doesn't always take having extra funds. It just takes someone with a phone or 2 legs and ministry letterhead to advocate for a ministry in need. I did outline a plan also for assisting churches with substantial memberships where our CPA would offer to help them with an emergency need they weren't expecting but with a repayment plan at 0% interest as the Bible directs us to do as lenders in my opinion. This assures that we are letting those members of the body in need, actually sacrifice for and work for their fellow members. Those churches who sat for months during the winter with coats on because the AC would cost more than their budget could cover, would be gifted with a new unit (or salvaged in good order) for no charge and installed by our licensed partners who'd do the job at cost (we hope). 

Angel Investors and Christian Business Partners:

Now, the fun part is the retail establishments. The thrift store program falls under allowable fundraising for charities but the other establishments will not likely qualify but will donate profits to specific IS61 ministries programs which by that time will all have their own FEIN and 501c3 autonomy underneath Isayah 61 Ministries. Also, when any ministry launched here grows to have its own staff and board of elders, I hope to release that ministry unto itself (with heavy safeguards and failsafe clauses to ensure no predatory future leadership can compromise the venture) and replicate something similar where needed in Georgia. 
For any Angel Investors - I have comprehensive plans to open a chain of Christian toned Family Recreation venues (FECs) with comprehensive ways to reach the populace for Christ. I also have plans for opening a discount church resource distributorship to enable all churches to access the items we all regularly use (technology, instruments, printing, t-shirts, media, grape juice and better tasting communion bread... etc.) at barely above cost while offering the excess inventory to the public at around 15% lower than they'd pay at any retail place. I can't stand the greed in the marketplace so this is my response. It still makes money but this is a church resource for the most part. I also have media and print retail plans, a full Christian media production studio to launch new artists and 2 TV shows plus a Christian streaming app. Those are the top ventures I had time to plan while recovering from cancer. 

From Angel Investors, I'd need to partner with you for minimum of $15M for the first FEC location and likely another $30M for the entire 16 AC plaza filled with the rest of the retail and ministry establishments. I only add this part because if this whole plan is truly from The Lord, then He will bring those who have funds and maybe some expertise in building an entire shopping plaza alongside. While I am tangentially versed in commercial real estate from years of Residential deals and also from owning my own businesses and working with investors, I would greatly benefit from seasoned commercial development investor's wisdom!!! 

[NOW DONT GET SHOCKED AS YOU READ BELOW... THIS IS THE LORD'S WORK, IT WILL BE PROVIDED AS HE MOVES ON HEARTS]

    In total, my minimum budget to pull off the entire Isayah 61 Missions plan for just the North East Georgia region is $45 Million. Most of that is land acquisition for the ministry locations. The one retail plaza is around $8M and the build cost will be around $25M on top of that. On the ministry side, the  minimum budget to open as I desire to is around $10M but preferably some extra because there will truly be a need to build a Christian school and recreation facilities on the main 100AC parcel once that ministry grows beyond 20 or so children. I also have plans to open parts of that land up to all foster children and families in the system for recreational and social services if deemed wise by a board of elders. These things will only be ascertained by the future directors, elders, and social workers but it is part of the main plan. The number to do this without skimping is upwards of $55M which hopefully can cover building an actual school and multisport recreation facility on the property. I've done cost per sq. ft. analysis of my amateur blueprints but prices keep going up and an actual architect would be needed to design these buildings. (Gabriel, why put this on the website?!?! Because, if you do not ask, you do not have. The Lord can bring heads of corporations here, people who need massive tax write-offs, lottery winners could wake up in the middle of the night and hear the Lord say, "isayah61.org" and they google that to find us, a minister who knows the other ministers of mega-churches or needs to close a 501c3 church and has to divest the funds into another 501c3 charity may see this site. I have no idea HOW the Lord will provide but if He is in this, it will be provided. How will they know of the need or work if no one tells them. This site may be the only way some will find Isayah 61 Ministries.)

This ask is for phase 1a which will likely be titled "The North-East Georgia Christian Mission." This is a comprehensive plan to UNITE churches in a local area, replace failed and inadequate government services with true Christian care for those in need, and provide jobs, training, mentorship, discipleship, and recreation to the populace at large. As stated on the main page, the intent is to stop the cycle of complacent cultural belief in "god" and show the community what living life for Jesus actually looks like from Noon on Sunday to 9AM the next Sunday (or whatever non-church service hours look like for you). This is the revival for the state of Georgia. Dead and dwindling churches will grow as many souls are brought to Jesus through all these enterprises. While we won't be focusing on growing any specific body or denomination, The Lord Himself will draw sheep in to sheepfolds as He knows that those sheep will be well cared for in those folds! The highest focus of the this first Mission office is to create the Orphanage & Christian Adoption Center program and create venues for the Christ followers in the area to have impactful opportunities to share Jesus with others in our area. 

    In summary, I am officially making these plans public and asking individual churches, missions organizations, denominations, businesses, and persons of financial ability to fund Isayah 61 Ministries, LLC for the purposes of launching new ministries starting in Walton, Rockdale, Barrow, and Eastern Gwinnett counties in Georgia. I am asking for assistance to receive grants from anyone offering grants to be used for this charitable purpose. I am asking for Christian Angel Investors who will partner with me for the sake of the Gospel at an equitable ROI, understanding that the retail side is the enduring funding source for missions and for expansion of missions around GA. My sincerest hope today is that The Lord will put it on the hearts of His people to read through this website and stand with me financially and also with good counsel from their professional ministry development staff as I begin a literal war in the state of Georgia for the souls whom Jesus sacrificed Himself to save. I am hoping that the initial ask here can cover acquiring an office space for 3 persons plus meeting room and storage area, 6 months of salary for myself and a Ministry Director, and the first 6 months of operating expenses and the needed business licenses and 501c3 application.  [Approximately $463,000 to buy the Mission office property (4404 Lawrenceville Rd) plus 6mo expenses, or $63,000 to rent the 4404 property with 6mo. expenses, or $52,000 to rent a temporary space with 6mo expenses. If someone would lend us funds to purchase the 4404 property ($418k or so) at equitable terms for repayment and we received $43,000 to cover 6mo. of expenses, this would also work well. All costs are estimates to the best I can calculate and rounded up to the nearest 100. I've prepared this writing simply to give an idea of the need and will revise cost estimates once donations or pledges start coming in. It may be possible to hire staff for less or maybe a qualified Director will require a higher salary. It may be possible to negotiate a lower price on the desired office space if seller's are on board with our purpose. As noted, the future goals are much more costly than the starting goals; I had to start with some defined numbers to ask for. ]

I will not stop working on the IS61 Mission till the orphanage is placing children in to Christian adoptive homes monthly and has been turned over to it's own board of Directors, till there are at least 3 Missions offices (North-East GA, Coastal GA, Central GA) in Georgia functioning independently and together to Amplify, Shine, and Build for God's Kingdom, till drugs and dysfunction are no longer prevalent among church cultures, and till my body can no longer handle the work of ministry and all these ministries are prayerfully passed on to the next generation of torch carriers... or till Jesus returns!

REFINING 10-27-24

       I've started filling out the official 501c3 application on the IRS website and there are a lot of great questions on the application which are helping me to refine the main scope of what IsaYah 61 Ministries is all about. So, I thought I should write about that here.
     Our main motto is, "Uniting the Church to Amplify Jesus, Shine His Light, and Build God's Kingdom." So, the main questions that will follow that statement are the "How" questions. It's very easy actually; all that needs to happen is that every born-again Christian unites and gets involved in living out the entire Bible which will mean that we'll all be perfectly discipled and equipped and then everyone will "get saved" and in 6 to 9 months or so, that Table at the Great Feast will have all the invitations RSVPed and I guess we're all done here. Easy.
        Hmm, well it might take a little work to get there so I guess that will remain the long term goal. So, we're opening a "church" body. For the sake of the definition of a Church, we'll have church meetings filled with pastors, elders, and missionaries from local churches. For the general populace, we will relate to them as a para-church ministry. It will be simply a platform which facilitates opportunities to serve the community in the Name of Jesus. This is about starting regional big C Churches where the only thing that matters is that they love Jesus and want to serve their community with others who love Jesus. We won't actually have "members," IsaYah 61 Ministries is simply a structure being put forth to give broader outreach opportunities to churches as well as establishing means of support for local churches and ministries. Is61 is a connection hub and an extension of any church's outreach plans. FYI, the name IsaYah61 Ministries will not be well known to the general public. We'll be launching Christian Missions which will be quite generic. We are not building a "brand" here, just a tool for reaching Georgians for Jesus! 

     So what does that look like? It looks like 3 ladies from church A, 2 teenagers from church B, 4 men from church C, couples from churches A & D-J, the singles ministry from church K, and 12 pastors from various churches meeting with us for a brainstorming gathering and then go out to downtown Monroe or Dacula to share Jesus with passers-by and waitstaff etc. It looks like some of those participants got to talkin' (as southerners tend to do...) and someone shared how their church wanted to do some event but didn't have the space to pull it off, finances for food, or staff to make it like they envisioned; then the other participants shared the need at their home churches and in 3 weeks, the food was provided for, the volunteers stepped up, and one of the bigger churches offered their old fellowship hall for the event and they all worked together to pull off this event. This is part of the Uniting the Church aspect.

     One of the most important things I am seeing in our current culture is the fact that there are many in our community who will not step in to a "church." So, Isayah 61 is going to bring "church" to the people in the streets and in the places where humans just happen to already be circulating. This means open air meetings at public park amphitheaters. This means developing a semi-related but autonomous Christian recreational venue which attracts the public broadly and having an Auditorium in the building or on the property where we have services going on regularly with various church bodies hosting the space at regular and irregular times of the day and week. The space will be used for Christian Comedy nights, Talent shows, special speakers (like Tim Tebow?), marriage seminars, and things that the community will benefit from. The hope is that those hosting the space informally will be able to develop long term relationships with the general public in a non-threatening or imposing environment and over time earn the right to share their faith and even offer discipleship opportunities. There are even many Christians who have been hurt in the context of rule oriented churches or by a minister who hurt them; our very informal format and ambience will allow these displaced children of God to fellowship with other Christians while the hurts are being mended. Maybe they'll even want to get involved. To this end, we'll be raising up pastors who can preach or teach at certain times where we will call it a service. Our service times will be NON-CHURCH times- Noon on Friday, Saturday evening, Monday evening, and other random times. I personally don't like Sunday morning church, but I go to my church's services on Sunday morning cuz that's when the service is. But, I am way more alert and involved at the revivals around Georgia I visit which are all after 5pm. I love getting back home at 1am or later after spending time with God's people! So, there's gotta be some other weirdos out there like me who just don't Fit In with how the modern church is operating. By the way, that's not why I'm working to launch this ministry; I have seen that this is what The Lord is asking for; to reach those who don't fit the mandated Southern Church Culture parameters. 

    So refining the huge and immense offerings we're going to launch, I am going to focus on steps in the launch. In writing the paragraphs for the IRS, I realized that they would have a hard time understanding the scope of what is planned because it truly is so immense that only God could even come close to pulling this off in North Georgia. So, we will open a church as described above, a Christian Mission for meeting various needs in the community, and collaborative venues to reach the lost. That seems way more simple for everyone to grasp than how I've shared things in the past. I'm not at all limiting the scope of what is actually planned but everything else can be summed up in those things. There is a foster and adoption ministry planned but that could fall under the Christian Mission programs. There are venues planned which will be owned under the Isayah 61 Ministries corporation as For-Profit LLCs and managed under the same criteria and statement of faith as a church; meaning that the employees will be fully trained to share the Gospel with the guests and customers every day. No, no bonuses for conversions but as most of you know, seeing someone's heart come alive for the first time is kinda addicting so there's their bonus right there! Obviously that staff will come through the local churches and there will be auditoriums in each venue where those para-church services can take place and be facilitated by those staff and volunteers from the local churches. Oh, by the way, as alluded to in other writings, the churches will grow because their members will be supported by the rest of our staff and encouraged in Christ as well as the fact that those members will likely be meeting new believers who need to get plugged in to a local church for discipleship. After the initial round of hiring from the ranks of local churches (and we know not everyone who attends a local church is actually born again...) we'll start hiring from the general public as Chik Fil A does and trust that our culture of Christianity in our daily practices will help those new employees to know the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And, all these blogs will disappear at some point so remember all this now for later understanding of our intents.

This site is really just a primer for future endeavors. I plan to turn over this whole website to the Director of Ministry after we can hire one and they will make this whole thing look simple and professional for public consumption. Till then, everyone (mostly me and maybe my wife if she gets curious about why I'm up typing at 3am tap tap tapping in her ear furiously!!!) gets to read these posts in all their current flair. 

So, we're opening an Undenominational Church, a Christian Mission, and hopefully launching some venues to benefit our communities where Christians can be fully employed daily in the business of sharing Jesus and praying for strangers in our midst. <--- I guess I just could have written that and called it a blog post. But my way was more fun! Be blessed! 

Isayah 61 Ministries is Officially Founded
9-9-24 @ 9:09PM 

    I just thought that the date/time looked pretty interesting! I've officially submitted our Non-Profit Corporation filing with the State of Georgia. Up next... Applying for the 501(c)3 designation with the IRS. It may have been mentioned elsewhere but I have been asking The Lord to supply the funds to launch the ministry so that I would know that He was in it and that it isn't just some hair-brained scheme I came up with so I could create the world's most awesome evangelical entity the world has seen since about 1500 years ago (based solely on my truly biased opinion of these ministry plans). Well, I had done some volunteer work for a church a month ago or so and that church decided to give me a "thank you" check since I help out there at times. They know I didn't expect anything and since it is truly my heart to help in service to my Savior, I didn't really even want to accept it. Since times are very tough and in all reality I don't have any expectation of any income personally for about 2 more months when commissions from my new job should start rolling in... I did appreciate their gift. However; yesterday I was listening to a service from one of my favorite ministries and the minister quoted a scripture which convicted me to use that gift for Kingdom purposes. It ended up being the exact amount needed to register IsaYah 61 Ministries. So, here we are. May Jesus receive all the glory and honor for what He has founded today in Georgia! Amen

    Additionally, I just want to state it here that in these blogs and posts about progress, I share personal testimonies of what God has and is doing in my life. BUT... as this ministry or "church" actually unfolds, there will be many elders and administrators appointed over this whole work. My role is simply to share what I believe God is asking the church in Georgia to do and roll out methods, strategy, infrastructure, systems, analytics, safe-guards, and accountability for the carrying out of this work long-term. I am gifted with seeing a path forward and also being able to analyze strengths and liabilities. There will be several administrators hired to replace all my roles within a reasonable amount of time. They will carry out this ministry. I will turn as much of this whole endeavor as possible over to those appointed to be the Hands and Feet in the local area. After which, I will move on to replicate the same infrastructure in the next major area of Georgia and so on till the entire State of Georgia has interconnectedness among the various bodies of believers and each area is systematically and comprehensively reaching people in the streets and highways for Jesus. I'm literally nobody special and I am pledged to remain rather unknown that my own ego will remain in check. I also understand my limitations and liabilities so I am placing myself under the watchful eye of several independent pastors who have the right to call me out on anything that does not line up with God's Word. Why, because we're all prone to fall or become puffed up if anything in life gets either too successful or too stressful. Ask me how I know. To God be the glory because He has deeply humbled me for my former failures and pride and then He strengthened me through trial after trial and has brought forth in my life now, a refined servant who seeks only the will of The Lord and hopes there will be ice cream involved (that will make more sense when in a year). 

I must decrease that He may increase! Thanks for reading and praying for this work. May it accomplish only the absolute Will of God and nothing of vain imaginings! Amen

Who is the Founder and why?

My name is Gabriel Edwards.

At age 13, I was told by the pastors at my school that I was called to be a pastor. That didn't seem correct to me at the time because I just couldn't see myself wearing robes and special collars based on my teenage identity. Fast forward to 1998 when I walked in to an Assembly of God church in Florida and felt the overwhelming presence of God. I went back for more the next week and surrendered my life to Jesus. Just after that a man I'd never met tells me many personal details about myself as he heard it from God. When he was finished speaking, I heard the very voice of God declare, "I CALL YOU..."

Beginning that evening, my life was forever wrecked! I eventually left my secular college and enrolled in Bible college. I spent 8 years earning that 4 year General Theology Degree with my new wife (who I met halfway through on mission in Ecuador one summer) auditing some classes by my side. I focused on Biblical Counseling and Cults & Movements as well as Creation Studies and Apologetics as my passions. I spent a few years volunteering my way through a mega-church's youth ministry in various positions and stepped down from worship leading to marry my wife (Calvary Chapel policy was leaders take a year off service upon marriage so they can focus on the more important ministry of Marriage). During that year, I sold my high mortgaged house and moved to my new wife's rented house which was an hour away from my home church. Since her home church's theology was... religious and kinda dead we hopped around several churches for a good year trying to see where we fit and could serve as youth ministers. This led us to visit a small embattled Christian & Missionary Alliance church. One night after our bedtime Bible study, after my wife drifted mostly off to sleep, I had a new experience: I saw a vision in my head of her and I holding up this pastor's arms to keep him from giving up in that battle. So we jumped on board and it was surely a roller coaster ride. 

My giftings there were fully employed (exploited actually) where they gradually hired me as a lead youth minister, then worship leader and youth pastor, then added associate pastor which actually meant that I had to do everything the senior pastor didn't want to do even if it led to exhaustion... which it did. There wasn't one aspect of running a church except the young children's ministry/nursery that I didn't do, likely because I was on stage at the beginning of every service. My common phrase to my wife when asked to slow down was, "I'll sleep when I'm dead!" Well, that led to burn out and depression etc. I stepped down from leading worship because my heart was geared for youth ministry and I only took the worship leading responsibility because it meant full time pay and I could leave my real estate career behind. Since I was hired to do multiple jobs and left what they considered the most important, they hired a new worship leader who could also do the youth ministry also and asked me to stay as a volunteer. Within weeks of this man's arrival, he wanted to change it all to a progressive "sinner friendly" church. One morning right after church a student came up to me saying an inappropriate song was playing in the sanctuary. I thought it was a mistake so I clicked on the computer to a normal post-service song. Woops! It was intentional and I was no longer allowed to push buttons. What he didn't know was that I had spent 3+ years discipling the youth to lead set apart lives for Jesus. Now that one moment of switching a song on the system had turned into a church splitting event. I came there to help and the tension that was festering was about to cause the entire youth group and their families minus one family... to leave the church and follow me to wherever my wife and I would settle. Wow, pressure! No thanks. I did leave that church and in fear of being a divider, I just refused to join any church or accept the reassignment opportunities from the CMA overseers who were amazing by the way... there was a pattern of issues at that church they were already aware of. Anyway, this is important in my story because this situation was so deep and cutting, caused so much distress and confusion, and festered into a mind bending root of bitterness, that it was the hardest lesson I would have to endure in the fight to live for Jesus. 

There was much fallout from the Root of Bitterness situation that I generally speak about when I see a need to warn others of what comes from Burn-Out and Bitterness and Church-Hurt if one does not have balance and order in their lives. The road back to trusting God to keep me from devastating heart-break and willingness to serve by self sacrifice has been long. Serving good deed by good deed was no issue; it's who I am. But, allowing myself to love "people" again? But, God did not force me to do it. He led me to open successful businesses and ventures and invariably I ministered daily in the secular realm and still to the point of becoming exhausted too! My wife learned that if I didn't come home right after I closed our store, I was likely in some conversation about Jesus with a customer. Boy could I tell some stories! God is good! Gradually, the Lord would bring person after person to me in order to ease me back to reclaiming my confidence as a child of God and beloved warrior in His army. He made me a very notable person in the city I just moved from because of His fingerprints all over my life. My store thrived, customers went far out of their way to promote us and make sure we were successful, and strangers would help me do things to grow my shop that I could never have done. It was all the Hand of God!

Now, I'm skipping so many important details that shaped who I am today. There were many Book of Acts miracles happening both here and in Ecuador that were pretty amazing. There was a coffeehouse and open mic night and a 14 song album I used for evangelism. Beach worship, church hopping, concerts, online ministry, street ministry, and many painful experiences too. At a certain point, my mission in Florida was finished and The Lord found it good to cause me to move to Georgia.

Upon arriving back at our house from a trip to the mountains of GA for a family event, we found our house to be filled with toxic mold from an ongoing leak. The house was unlivable. Simultaneously, the Lord worked some miracles out for us that basically made it an obvious sign that we should move to GA!!! Yay. Well, I'd already found an amazing church in Dawsonville that I'd been watching online for a year or two at that time. I loaded up my SUV and rented a trailer to cart my junk to a storage unit near Dawsonville/Cumming and meet a realtor to see some homes. This is the launch of ISAYAH 61: On the front page of this website are a Megaphone, a Light, and a Tool icon. I parked my SUV at a Cubesmart in Cumming, GA which would be my first rented space in GA. They emailed me the unit number and said the lock and paperwork would be inside since I was arriving after hours. Upon exiting my car, I grabbed 3 items that were loose in the back seat since I'm all about maximizing my movements and might as well take some stuff in hand on my way in... I opened the garage door on the inside unit and began contemplating the space as to how I'd organize it. I placed the 3 items in the corner on the floor and paced around in the unit till I'd envisioned exactly where to place my junk (literal junk mind you). As I started to exit to start unloading I caught the scene out of the corner of my eye and stopped. I stared at these 3 items on the floor. The first 3 things I placed on MY rented "land" in the state of Georgia were a Megaphone, a Light fixture, and my old Ryobi power drill. I stared at this scene and said, " I don't know what that means, but that means SOMETHING." I later called my wife and shared about the weirdness of that moment. I KNEW it was something and had meaning but there was no clue as to what that could mean.  These are the items on display today. WHY WOULD I GRAB THESE THINGS???

As we moved to Georgia, I prayed that the Lord would use me greatly and make my dry bones alive in Him again. I scouted some churches and in the process had another open vision during worship at a big church near my house. It could be summed up as, "these people honor me with their lips but their hearts are far from me." The worship team on stage was right there with Jesus on that stage. Then there was this gulf at the end of the stage where essentially, I had this understanding that God's Spirit was accepted on the stage but not in the hearts. He simply could not get past that first row. I went back to another church for a 2nd try and the open vision happened again. This time, The Lord was allowed to move a few rows into the congregation before the resistance "wall" was there. God doesn't force Himself in to people's hearts. As I visited or watched local church youtube channels, to try to find a new church home, I had an understanding that The Lord desires to do something in the Loganville Georgia area. He is focusing on this area for a WORK... What on earth did that mean? I've pondered this now for years and I'm beginning to see something... Now that I've been in the streets and rubbing shoulders with ministers and servants of The Most High God, I have a better understanding of what all these things were revealing even back then. In training for missions work many years ago, I learned that when a missionary goes in to a new land, they do not just start blasting the citizenry with the Gospel. They learn the customs and over time they become a member of the society; accepted as one of them. I knew I was on mission that day getting out of my car at the storage unit, I still feel my foot hitting the ground on this soil. That's why that scene stuck in my head a few minutes later. I did not know how it would play out and had no agenda. As I walked the streets and stores of mostly Loganville, there was not the openness I'd expected. I tried to share my faith and it fell flat. Some stores had Christian radio playing but there was no joy. Maybe once a week, someone would engage me about my Christian Tshirts or hats, but still they didn't want to really talk about it. Could it have been that I was not yet, one of the locals? Okay, a few people actually did tell me that was likely why. outsiders aren't really that welcome here with all their "city" ways... Anyway, time would make me more like those I want to serve. A change did come.

A year to the day after closing on our new home in GA, an hour south of where I'd planned to move for 2 years, I went into the hospital with cancer and heart failure basically. Don't worry, I am still alive! (added note: a few days before going into the hospital, my friend from 8th grade called me after not hearing from her for 20+ years because she had a feeling she needed to. She was the first person I shared Jesus with which was in 1988 and she was the tragic inspiration for many parts of my life's calling as to why children need to be protected... She also told me that she needed to remind me that I was on earth to help other girls who have been abused and to not forget that. She had no idea how I'd been walking in that calling many dozens of times since I last saw her in high school. As I lay in the hospital before and after the surgery, that phone call being so random and perfectly timed was something God used to give me hope for the future!) The recovery from them removing the tumor took more that a year and a half. I've passed all my health checks since and my heart function is almost perfect now! While laying in bed for most of that 18 months or so, The Lord used that time to prune off the dead parts and help me focus on writing what is now called the Isayah 61 Mission. Revision after revision over many many months, refined all of the Gabriel off of the plan and left only the Yahweh Elohim parts. About a year in to writing this plan, I remembered how I had written a prayer in 2010 regarding my calling and that The Lord would need to redo a LOT of things to put me back where I am supposed to be, and since I had work to do for Him I knew He would. I went and found that declaration writing and also found my plans for" Isayah 61 Ministries." Well, what do you know, I wrote the outline or heart of this plan in 2010 or so. Now, this plan had an official name! I looked over many of my soul searching writings from that time period and it foreshadowed all of this that I'm doing now. As I prepared an official business plan for funding in 2023, I suddenly remembered the storage unit scene and it literally all clicked together. That sent me for a loop and shortly after that the Isayah 61 mission became not just a plan to do something good for God with my life, it became an awareness that this is the calling of my life. The Isayah 61 mission is simply to continue what Jesus's mission was which He Himself declared as He began His public ministry. The only modifications from 2010 are that this plan is adapted to reach Georgia specific communities and also greatly enhanced by 15 years now of wisdom, experience, and refining. By the way, after I completely understood that Isayah 61 was a work of God, I ceased from seeking business loans to start the work. I went back to the prayer room and laid it all before God for funding. That was in 2023. In that time, I've watched Him put person after person in place whom I believe will be key players in several aspects of the ministry locally. I've been quite careful to keep this work between The Lord and myself. I'm writing this as I bring the plan to a select few trusted ministers for their counsel and advisements and also as this plan goes public! The Time is NOW. I believe I have The Lord's Green Light so that means He has provisions in place to carry out His Will!!! 

Supernatural? My God is! The things I've seen Him do to lead me? Miraculous and almost at all times, annoyingly slow! But, as annoyed as I am at how sloooowww God does things, I still have to say, He is always on time. 

So, WHY did I found Isayah 61 Ministries? Because, my mission is not to go reach every person in the state of Georgia. My mission is to create a well thought out and comprehensive framework by which the Church can work through to have platforms to reach nearly every type of person in nearly every type of life circumstance in Georgia. Yes, this plan will work in N. FL, SC, NC, TN, AL and many other places. I have a specific understanding that I am here for Georgia for such a time as this. The writings on the main page of this website are the best I think I could ever do to explain the WHY. For me, this was not a choice to do. This is a calling. I was made for it. It's also a chance to show the Lord that I've learned from past mistakes of trying to do too much in my own strength. This plan is so enormous that it is inconceivable to embark on it without amazing and godly fellow workers whom The Lord brings to this work. 
To do this work, there needs to be structure. Structure ensures protections for people, finances, and integrity. The hope is that most of the normally expensive aspects of maintaining this type of work year after year will be done by professional volunteers. By having a structure that allows inclusion of trusted and vetted volunteers from local churches to do the work of ministry, it allows those workers to walk in their specific callings where that "anointing" just goes with them instead of trying to accomplish the same task with 4 people who are doing it because it needs to get done and no one else is there to do it. That person with the calling and God's natural favor on how they minister moves easily in their calling and it bears fruit. It will be amazing to see how The Lord brings together many people from many fellowships to do a thing here or there. The greatest part will be that "Isayah 61" starts something by creating the opportunity and that The Church in general just continues it naturally and maybe our staff just checks in on them and takes notes so we can move our focus to that same work elsewhere where there is a need. Again, I think the concise writings on the home page truly reflect my heart in all of this. But, I love details and sharing information so here we are.

Thanks for reading my little life stories. Be blessed.

- Gabriel 

BLOG ENTRY 1

PRE-LAUNCH UPDATE AND SCOPE OF THE MISSION
Summer 2024

Currently, we are building the infrastructure to open a comprehensive system of interconnected ministries starting in Walton, Gwinnett, and Rockdale Counties- located about 45 minutes East of Atlanta. As of Summer 2024, we have located a small office property to open the "Walton County Mission," an amazing 100 Acre+ location (partially pictured above) for multiple ministries, and several other properties for the supporting and ancillary ministries. 

 This site, as seen right now is simply intended to relay the general scope of The IsaYah 61 Mission to people I (Gabriel) meet and for other ministers in the area who hear of this work. 

In short, the mission is to unite God's people in this mission field to reach people for Jesus in order to destroy the works of the devil in our community, bring people in to fulfilling fellowship with God and others, and to stand against the carnal culture of religious "Christianity" by installing a harmonious network of interrelated ministries and not-for-profit businesses to comprehensively meet and exceed the physical, emotional, spiritual, and recreational needs of local residents while simultaneously bringing church bodies together to work as one body in Christ, thereby reaching ever expanding communities around Georgia for the Gospel.
The problem: A Lukewarm, divided, & un-discipled populace who believes that God is an accessory to life rather than the very fabric, purpose, and destiny of life itself. These "cultural" christians have a "form of godliness but deny its power." Additionally, a culturally flawed paradigm in "christian leadership" where we segregate from one another based on preferred niche doctrines; some of which are intentionally "hyped up" doctrines being used by God's enemies to keep the Church in a state of powerlessness, hypocrisy, and often blasphemy against the Holy Spirit -Acts 5:38-39... Jesus Himself criticized the religious leaders face to face for passing down their pet traditions as if they were indeed God's Word -Mark 7. Pastors are falling into temptation or are being outed as predators because the sway of our christian sub-culture produces a lonely, isolated, and toxic environment for church leaders. Leaders seldom have true friends who can ask the hard questions.

 The solution: Be the Church that Jesus intended us to be as laid out in Isayah 61:1-3 (which Jesus proclaimed at the very inception of His public ministry as His mission -Luke 4:18). In all things, this points to fulfilling the Great Commission with no personal agendas. We specifically aim to collaborate with all people who believe in Jesus the Christ as their Lord and Savior and install Gospel-Centric businesses, outreaches, social events, and assistance programs among bodies of Faith. This means that volunteers and employees can be from a variety of denominational backgrounds and join together as The Church body to reach and serve our community! Romans 12 clearly teaches that we (born again believers) are all members of ONE body (in Jesus) and have DIFFERENT gifts, talents, & assignments. God Almighty has purposefully placed us individually into our communities in order to do a complete work for His purposes in that community. If there was a perfect church model for all humans... wouldn't we all have gravitated to that one by now?!? Exactly; God meets emotive people in their emotions, intellectuals in their mind, stoics in their pragmatism, dreamers in their creativity, the traumatized in their need for refuge, "hippies" in their desire for non-conformity, and so on.
So, we endeavor to create holy atmospheres of service to God and the community where believers from all walks of life (leaders & laity) can take part in the Great Commission using their specific style of operation and gifting. Our work will also endeavor to help inter-connect two or more church ministries who have the same outreach plan/assignment in an area but are not working together yet. More fruit comes from more workers in the field.
This is MISSIONARY WORK. Missions exists where true worship does not. Missionaries don't go into a foreign nation where cannibalism and perversions are in the culture and speak against those specific sins. They simply introduce people to Jesus (after learning the culture/customs/language), teach the village leaders, and let the Bible and Spirit of God take care of those cultural practices that The Holy One desires to prune of the entire people group. This method has proven successful worldwide for decades; why alter it for our hometowns! Missionary work also considers denominationalism irrelevant to the work. The mission is Salvation. If one denomination or another supports the work or adopts it, it makes no difference (not cults of course) what name is then associated so long as they continue the work biblically. It's never about more "butts in the pews" but aims to put more "spiritual butts in those chairs at that Great Feast in Heaven." Preach the Gospel, Baptize (as a public declaration), and Make Disciples, who make disciples, who make disciples... Again, we never leave a new system of believers without support and care so that is where the local churches in Georgia communities that we plant outreaches in come in to play. We want to get all the butts of all the citizenry into all the local churches where they can grow and thrive and help everyone else grow and thrive as well. We want to see the nefarious establishments, movements, cults, secret societies, and sources of sin pack it all up and move out. And when we find where they moved to, we'll start another outpost of prayerful church leaders there and begin again; never giving up any ground we've already taken for Jesus! 
We will start with some good church leaders who will help foster a Kingdom-minded fellowship for church leaders and local ministries. We'll agree to ignore our non-essential doctrinal preferences and join with each other fighting for the salvation of our local community! As those leaders unite to reflect the true Gospel & accurately teach those things that Jesus taught, lives will be transformed as the community encounters the real Jesus. 
So, we're not setting all this up to cause any divisions but simply work with every bit of common ground we have with everyone; and that is discipleship lesson number 7 or 12 or... it's somewhere after baptism and communion and before tithing. We all can agree Jesus is Lord & God, His sacrifice on the cross as God in human flesh is sufficient (as intended), and we all need God's grace while we are being sanctified which will be completed right about the moment we lock eyes with Jesus on the other side of eternity. While we are here we study the Bible, pray, give, sacrifice, forgive, and literally seek to live lives that reflect the sentiment, "What Would Jesus Do if He were in my shoes right now?" We will find ways to meet the needs of those around us and use every bit of ground as a means of being the hands and feet of Jesus to a lost and hurting world. Whether it is invisibly ordering a pallet of canned meat for the FISH or Shepherd's Staff food pantries because we heard they ran out or funding wasn't there, finding a local church body to look in on an elderly widow and be her advocate & surrogate family/fellowship, or walking around the Mall of Georgia with a prayer team asking strangers if they need prayer; this is what it looks like to be the Great Commission Church in 2024!

We will prayerfully add more details to this site as the plan is advanced. The greatest part of all of this plan is that it is 100% rooted in and worked out through the Bible. It will not lead to financial gain, fame, or ego for any individuals involved because the work is so comprehensive, multi-faceted, and God-dependent that ONLY God gets the glory. This isn't even one of those "follow me as I follow Christ" situations. It is more simply, some guy yelling "LOOK WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS TO DO... LET'S GO DO IT, I've got some resources and a working knowledge of business and ministry techniques we can apply."  The local ministries are being set up to eventually pass on to local groups of elders with failsafe clauses, so that I can move to the next area and replicate with the same successes, learning from any challenges and miss-steps. That being said, through unselfish evangelism, discipleship, and helping each other accomplish God's Great Commission, we expect to see all Christian church bodies expand greatly, becoming more healthy and on-fire for God and less full of whiney carnal christians...

That's the goal. Lets go be fishers of men and let God's Holy Spirit transform each one's life while having a great time doing it. I am looking forward to revealing the actual details soon. For now, please be in prayer with me for God's provision for the initial costs of launching. 

Blog Entry 3 - 8-20-24

Urgency of The Mission

   A few weeks ago I met a woman who lives outdoors. We'll call her "B". As it seems, she has escaped a situation which is quite predatory. I do not know much but she is over 50, has suffered at the hands of family or "family", has no car or means of support, and she is fearful of people tracking her down. After seeing her and introducing myself, I tried to offer help which was resisted. She does not ask for money but would be thankful for help to be able to sleep indoors. So, I left that shopping center and called my church. My church supports two other ministries who have the methods and means to help those in need. I was told to start there and if the woman needed help to fill out the application, the person at my church could help with that. I stopped by the chopping center a few extra times to try to find her and relay the message. Last week, I happened to stop at the shopping center while taking a break for lunch from painting a room at the church with a brother in Christ who is on staff there. B was standing in the parking lot nearby the place we were going to eat. I took the opportunity to try to share the information I had learned and found out more of the story. I offered to do more to try to help and it was also met with resistance. The reality is that there are some deep fears that I may not be able to overcome. So, I've been praying for her almost every day for three or so weeks now. I began praying for a woman of God to come find her and look after her. It was likely about 1am on a stormy night when I asked God to send someone to her even if He has to wake someone up... or maybe first thing in the morning. 

      Well, today after arriving home from an appointment, I tried calling the second ministry I was informed about just to see what options they might have. They didn't answer so I left a message. I then headed back down to the store I met her at in order to return a defective product. Upon leaving, two ladies who were talking outside the store called me over and asked if I had a ministry. Strange question to ask a complete stranger right? Well, for me it isn't that out of the ordinary. When I leave my house, I wear generally the same Tshirt everywhere I go as well as my John 3:16 hat. My shirt has a short Gospel presentation in bright yellow standing off a black Tshirt. I had the shirts made for a youth event I was leading many years ago and ended up with about 10 leftover shirts. I rarely ever wear anything different because once I leave my driveway, I am on the mission field. So, I replied that I don't have one now but I am literally trying to start one here right now. She was a bit surprised at that and then began to share that there was a woman she was trying to help who lived in the parking lot there... I said, "Oh [B]?" Now she stepped back in complete surprise and we began to talk. We likely both met B around the same time. She was indeed the woman of God I'd asked God to send to B. Her name is "T" for short. T informed me that she had come from the exact ministry I had tried to call 30 minutes earlier and was there to find B. T was hoping that I was involved in a street ministry where she could get help for B! Is this a coincidence? There was way more involved in how all this played out than JUST coincidence. Only God could be the One behind the scenes!

      So, to keep this short, T and I are trying to find any ministry who will come to B's aid. It is not easy. I am new in town and my knowledge of local ministries outside of church buildings i pretty low. I tried calling a ministry closer to Atlanta and left a message and called some bigger churches and nobody answered. T had also been trying to find churches to help and food banks and no one has what B needs. T had gotten B a hotel room a few times but expressed that she cannot afford to keep doing that. B is very guarded and has been through some things T could not elaborate on but based on what B shared with me, I have a general understanding of why she can never go back from where she escaped from. By the way, the first time I spoke with B, she was sheltering from 90 degree heat inside a cafe of a grocery store. I believe The Lord highlighted her to me upon entering the store with a knowingness of God's Love for her. So far as I have sought to minister to people on the streets, I always ask God to have the other person make the first move. So, this was the first time I can think of where I saw a person in need and moved to be the hands and feet of Jesus. It was simply the obvious response in the moment, to God's glory. Anyway, the Lord is at work here! 

     So, my BIG PROBLEM with this whole situation and I FELT it that day I met B... is that there are all of us followers of Jesus living in The Bible Belt... and people have had to have seen her and sometimes daily but she is still out there. This is someone's mother. This was someone's daughter. She could very well be a grandmother also. She has a relative out of state who she is afraid to contact due to the idea that she could be tracked down through whoever places a call to her relative and I kinda think T mentioned that B believes that it could also put the person who makes the call under some threat. So, for this woman, she as far as she knows is completely and utterly ON HER OWN.

    Not on my watch! Better said, Jesus is likely saying NOT ON MY WATCH! He does have her. I believe that T and I are just two of a few that Jesus has sent into this situation. However for me, it is more tangential now since T can be the frontline minister, thank God. I will focus on trying to find resources and relay them to T and also make it a point to drive by there with waters in my cooler and I literally just realized I can give her a solar powered flashlight for her safety among other things as I pray and ask God what I can give of my resources since cash is not in any surplus for my family at the moment. But, my bigger goal is to work toward establishing the people power kind of resources in the family of God to help B get off the pavement and into an enclosed and hygienic environment where she can start to heal from the things of the past. Now, the main point of writing all of this is as follows:

To underscore the need for the Isayah61 Mission to open its doors I wanted to write this entry and share this story. The MAIN function of the IS61 Mission is to unite churches to carry out the works of Jesus here. The building I have my eye on is about 1.5 miles from the shopping center at the center of this story. B is not the only one living out there. My friend who took me out to lunch there that second time I saw B was able to help a well known homeless man he met there and subsequently shared with his church the need, to the point that they raised enough money to pay for 4 months of lodging at the inn across the street 4 years ago when the world was shutting down. That man still lives there and was able to apply for Social Security and food stamps. Amen and HalleluYah! I'm new in town and B is the person whom The Lord has put on my heart to help. I'm very limited in my own personal resources at this moment and my knowledge of local helps for such people in need outside of the Co-Ops and ministries I've volunteered for (general labor/stocking/cleaning during closed hours not the up-front public facing stuff). There is no central hub for THE CHURCH in the area. So, I'll just share what would be different if this Mission was open and operational with the staff I have planned.

     Day 1 of the Mission: I begin networking to find a prayer warrior type Ministry Director who can work full time to develop the dozen or more ministry vanes and be devoted to leading daily prayer with the rest of the staff for the needs of the local churches and ministries and any specific prayer needs we know of. We then hire the Ministry Assistant to implement the plans and handle much of the public facing side of the ministry such as contacting every church body in the area starting in close radius and expanding outward, to find out each one's needs, strengths, ministries, openness to gather with other believers and pray or do outreaches or help the other churches etc. We will be building out a database where we can quickly cross-reference data for meeting the needs of individuals or families and even other churches who have a need. Additionally, our staff will be calling those churches who've shared needs to check up on answered prayers or need for more prayer. We'll actively pray for each church while on the phone and in some cases may meet with church staff to pray with or to give or receive counsel on various matters. One of our core verses is James 1:27- "visit orphans and widows in their trouble." One of the ministries a future full time staff member will oversee is the implementation of a network of churches who already have or can develop an Elder Care ministry focusing on all those of a certain age who are in need of "family" to look out for them. If meeting someone like B after this network is established, we would be able to go through a list of ministries who would be likely to assist a woman in need to the fullest capacity. What would Jesus do if He met B in that shopping center? Yes, well knowing we all can't just take a stranger home like Jesus would be able to do with His awesome full knowledge of everything... But, we can start out paying week by week for lodging at the inn while the ladies of the assigned group visit and start a process to help the person to become self sufficient. 
Okay, now some of you have already thought of all the red flags and dangers of working with those we come across living in the streets. Well, yeah, there are some inherent dangers. Last week, the house across the street from mine was set on fire by a mentally challenged young adult son who woke up in a bad mood, while everyone else was asleep. Everyone got out and they are safe and living elsewhere (son went to jail). And I would not put any type of guilt trip on anyone for not rounding up homeless people and putting them in your living room while you sleep. But, as a community of believers, we can do SOMETHING. It starts with talking with the person in need. If there is a need that the Lord allows us to know about, where it is right in your view, (not say a need for baby formula in a small village in Central America) that is His invitation to do His work in the matter. I can find as many excuses as I want every day to not help a person in need. I can tune my ears away from anything that looks like I may have to rise up and do God's work if I choose to. I have personally chosen a different way to look at things and I hope to share that with those around me.

   Jesus shared a story; when we have a party we should invite those who cannot invite us back to their house for a party thus returning the favor. We should invite those who are in need. He taught this to illustrate that it is of little value to give to those who already have. We are truly to give it all away. In giving we find the greatest joy of all. In giving, The Lord meets the other individual through our actions. Knowing that Jesus provided through us is the happiest feeling I can think of right now. I am often in admiration of my father in law. When he comes to visit, there is now way I can get my wallet out and pay for anything we do. I have for years tried to find ways to sneakily return the favor; he makes it hard. The reality is that he is modeling the Lord's joy of giving. He is so proud to share with us since we do not get to go out to eat unless someone else is paying. This is the heart I hope we all can adopt. I was in tears the other night praying for B and the story of the Starfish came to my mind. Go find it online if you don't know it; the main line is "It matters to this one, and this one, and this one" as said by a little boy who was told that "he can't save them all so why try..." I actually have been told that by a few people in my time. Whoever God puts in my path to help is going to get all my help until they are either helped or they are no longer in my ability to help (like they move away/ get fed up at the mean christian who keeps trying to help them when they don't want it...) 

     So, my goals for the first three Mission Houses (Walton County, Savannah, Macon) is to unite churches in local areas to do the work of the ministry across denominational lines, know each other ministry well enough to know who can help for any specific need or situation, and allow the Spirit of God to have a body of believers in a broad area to go do that Rescue work through which He is so famous for doing in the Bible. When the Body of believers is ONE in Christ, the community will be changed. It's so simple. Why are we not joining hands to do The Work?!?

Well I might as well outline a few of the planned ministries here if I haven't elsewhere on this site yet.

WEEKLY PASTOR/LEADER FELLOWSHIPS IN CENTRAL PLACES (Every Friday breakfast at CFA in Winder, Lunch at Mall of GA food court every Tuesday, Prayer at UGA campus restaurant at 8am 1st Monday of each month... etc) We will cater/host a few to get them started and promote/advertise every gathering so pastors and leaders can bond and vent and NOT make the front pages of tabloids for "moral failures" because they had no actual friend to call and get supported for their human issues before they got out of control... (UPDATE- We just found 2 groups already doing something similar monthly!!! So, it's already working and we'll partner with them to get more churches involved!)

MEDIA OUTREACH AND PRODUCTION

SOCIAL AND RECREATION OUTREACH VENUES

FOOD BANK SUPPORT AND FARMING

STREET WITNESSING AND PRAYER TEAMS WITH TRAINING

COMMUNITY GOSPEL SATURATION UTILIZING EVERY WILLING LOCAL CHURCH BODY

These are some of the ministry vanes but not all. There are a few more big outreaches I don't feel a green light to release to the world yet. 

All of the ministries flow out of John 17, Isayah 61, and James 1:27. Of course 400+ other verses are intertwined but the main verses follow around Preaching the Gospel (to the poor and broken mostly but we don't mind the rich folk getting saved while we're at it!) caring for orphans and widows in their trouble, keeping Christians out of the snares of our culture, and uniting ourselves as the CHURCH in oneness and in concert with the Spirit of God. Every other application flows from there on how to actual walk it out. To God be the glory! 

The LORD is at Work!

8-25-24

     Last night I visited a local revival going on in Monroe, GA. What a blessing to be in a room full of hearts longing to be closer to Jesus! The story of how I got there is related to the previous post regarding meeting a woman living out in the streets. The amount of intricate meetings that had to occur in order to get me to this revival during the past week cannot be explained as coincidence. The Lord orders our steps in Christ!

     So, regarding The WORK: The folks at this church in Monroe had spent the earlier part of the day doing street ministry toward Atlanta. I attended the previous nights' revival meeting also and was aware they had an outreach planned so I was privileged to pray for them during the morning hours. As I found out last night, they were down in Decatur, GA which is about 30 minutes away from their fellowship. This morning as I woke up I had a thought. I had never asked them if they had a game plan for referring those they ministered to regarding assimilation into a body of believers. Now, my assumption here is that they were just sharing Jesus with people they encountered and likely the more needy of our populations. In my imagination, the people they ministered to would not likely travel from the outskirts of Atlanta to the "sticks" of Monroe for fellowship and discipleship. So, I just had the thought to write a little blurb about how IS61's Kingdom focused church database could be helpful for such outreaches. Here we go!

     While the beginning database (for the Walton Mission) is primarily going to focus on Walton, Gwinnett, and Barrow counties adding out by radial proximity to where the main IS61 office will be, we will also be looking for major and obvious bodies further from home who we network with others to find as we call the ministers and ask which other like-minded believers/bodies we should contact. I truly hope that we can have a GO-TO List of ministries to call first when there is a need and then work the phones down the list if the primary need is not met by the GO-TO ministries. So, for an area like Decatur, I would want to see a way to connect bodies like the group from Monroe to a like-minded body IN Decatur so that the residents IN Decatur could have a place close to home to get connected in Christ at. My solid belief is that the biblical model of "The Church at Ephesus" or "The Church in Thessalonica" is a good model. There was a local body called "The Church at Winder" who just changed their name but I liked that idea they had. The community in any given area should be united. Even though we will likely not ever see a trend of "The Church in Monroe" and "The Church at Grayson" become popular we should think on those lines concerning the WORK of ministry in an area. Last night there was also a revival in Gainesville at Lake Lanier. Many churches in several counties joined forces to put this event on, using the lake to baptize people and evil facebook to promote the event en-masse drawing unchurched folk from far and wide! Amen and Hallelu-YAH! So, they already have a great network up that way. Down here we have yet to unite. When a street team from The Burbs has a heart to reach those in The City, it would be great to have a few more City oriented bodies to funnel the fruit of outreach into... for blending (Sorry, smoothie reference and I just couldn't stop myself!) This way the homeless or car-less person can walk to or easily be picked up by the local body and find community. Similar to the fact that I get to see the homeless lady standing at her post every day now and I can relay messages to the food pantry staff for her because she is in my everyday path of travel, she is better served by those of us who frequent that shopping center than the ministries in Snellville or Lawrenceville who are more difficult to reach for her. With the Church Ministry database we'll proactively put together, the Monroe church could either call our office or access a ministry side version of the database to contact the other partner ministries directly. The database will include information about what ministries each church offers and a short description. For example, Church A lists its top 7 most focused ministry programs such as: Hospital Visitation, Weekly Service Times, Pastoral Counseling, Celebrate Recovery, Prison Ministry, Benevolence, & Food Pantry. Under each Program listed is a short description as given by the church. This may include specifics or even limitations such as For Members Only or Must live nearby. Then Church B who is planning an outreach at the local prison but Church B is very novice on how to visit or plan a service in the context of a State run facility can see Church A's info and either get some 1 on 1 coaching or enlist Church A's ministers to help start something new or add workers to the event. I'll even put it this way, Church C is kinda... "country" in personality. They're all of one shade of skin, have country accents, work on farms, and drive pickup trucks... and they have a heart for the needy in the downtown area of the closest major city. They've tried to go out with extras from their farms to distribute to the city folk who are all of a different shade of skin, speak in more urban slang, have been hardened by the struggle and the constant political divisive rhetoric that the media uses to keep the idea of racial oppression and sins of the past fresh in their minds, and are very resistant to the outsiders coming to them to offer pity offerings or guilt offerings to them... Yes, this can happen in certain areas especially where there is a delineated line of separation between where "we" live and where "they" live. So, Church C call IS61 or just logs into their portal on our database of ministries and sees 2 churches in that downtown area listed. They can call one or both of them and let them know that they want to bless the needy in their town. The first church offers to collect the food and distribute it themselves. The other church offers to send some of their members out with Church C's country yokels and be the bridge so that the city folk see that people like "them" are working hand-in-hand with "those other folks." Either way, some good work gets done and hopefully some healing. At some point, maybe a year later the ministry team from Church C no longer needs chaperones to go out to the city to love on the citizens there. They just come, laugh, share, love, and Jesus can use the situation. Maybe, those 2 city churches who helps will be over filled because of the food source from Church C. Maybe tensions will ease and some of the city folk travel 15 minutes out to Church C to show some appreciation and find out that Church C needs some help with their music ministry and their talent pool is pretty lean due to the focus on agricultural pursuits... Maybe Church C now has a drummer who can keep a beat and a lead guitarist to give a little pep to the Sunday morning gathering. Maybe 10 years down the road, Church C is full of members from the entire community with needs being met and schemes of the enemy no longer being used to keep people apart. 

    Getting the CHURCH connected to itself is paramount as we begin to wage war for the Kingdom of God in the State of Georgia. A divided church is not healthy. A divided church is not powerful. A divided church will not stand. So, we aim to get a system in place to connect church bodies and ministries. Lastly, I'll just add here that I already know that some traditional churches will be hesitant to partnering with other bodies (ya know we don't want to partner with those tongue talkers because we'd be taking part in their blasphemy...) because of doctrinal differences. That is ok. Either we will keep them on a private database and continue to pray for them or just try to specifically connect them to like-minded bodies (there are many stuck in that type of isolationism) for greater work in the community. Work is still being done. Maybe they'll read some testimonies on our monthly Email Newsletter of things The LORD is doing through IS61's various programs and be touched... or jealous of way God is working in other bodies who refuse to let the devil have place in their community. 

    God will be glorified by His CHURCH acting like HIS Bride. 

Meeting & Exceeding
8-26-24

     So, I was just reading over the Home Page and came to a part where it lays out the Core Purpose of IS61 Mission. Pretty good stuff ay? Anyway, I thought I'd pre-answer the question of what does it mean to Meet and Exceed the Physical, Emotional, Spiritual, and Recreational NEEDS of the community; before anyone actually asks. These are all just ideas that I have but our future Director will be tasked to develop the plan and get things rolling. I have a sense of what The Lord desires to do in the State of Georgia but this entire plan revolves around the whole body of Christ rising up to run these ministries after their launched. 

To meet the physical needs is to provide food, shelter, clothing, or hygiene items. By the way, who else hates the way we spell hygiene??? 
To exceed the physical need is to go beyond that and not just give people the daily needs but to make it personal. We could do this by having an approved ministry affiliate with our credit card take out a foster child and their parent or social worker to Marshalls or JC Penny (etc) and buy the child an actual wardrobe that doesn't look like they had to shop at the Thrift Store. We of course try to develop some discounts from major retailers to lessen the cost but in the end, we give them more than the bare minimum to show them the joy of God's heart to bless them. It also helps to ensure that the child in need actually receives all that was intended instead of trusting the foster parent to give a cash donation 100% to the child in their care... (if you know how the system actually works... yeah)

To meet the emotional need is to provide fellowship or comfort to those who are in a time of need. 
To exceed the emotional need is to provide a way for people to become part of a fellowship and community of believers where they can organically develop close bonds. This may include hosting gatherings for different life issues or situations or stages of life in an area till all attending are assimilated into a local body of believers.

To meet the spiritual need is to introduce people to Jesus whereby they may be made whole in the New Birth - Faith.
To exceed the spiritual need is to disciple or hopefully, funnel new believers into legitimate and ongoing discipleship groups at local churches. If none exist in an area where maybe we did a major outreach, then we get to plant a church! Wait, are there truly places in Georgia where finding a Bible based discipleship purposed group is hard to find??? Sadly, yes. But part of our network database will focus on finding them all and then finding eager young preachers and Bible college students to facilitate something in an area that is in need and we will help provide the meeting space through the network. 

To meet the recreational needs is to provide opportunities for people to enjoy a life in Christ with their family and friends. Wait... did you not think that was an actual need? Aren't we supposed to just be Kingdom Worker-bees serving God and others for 16 hours a day and sleeping the other 8? Nope. We are supposed to enjoy Earth as God intended at creation and to the best of our ability to given its current state. So, we do need to have fun and be thankful to God for every moment of enjoyment. He enjoys dwelling with us in those moments of recreation.
To exceed the recreational needs is to BRING IT! It means bring the Christian comedians, bring good clean food that doesn't kill you and create diseases, bring wholesome family entertainment, bring game time, bring Christian concerts/events, and bring a community gathering place that isn't full of corrupted music and media... All that and more! One part of the BIG picture for IS61 is creating a social and fun place for entire families to enjoy their family time where all the above is interwoven into every part and also saves them more than half of the going rates for such entertainment...

    So, I guess I'll hint strongly at this last area. Last year a neighbor gave us free admission tickets to a roller skating rink in Lawrenceville. Great. Thanks. All is going well till the music changed. Now my homeschooled children with pure ears are hearing lyrics with super catchy beats that got into their heads. You know how "everybody (should) clap your hands"... well it got them repeating some lyrics that were not age appropriate to say the least. Then, we met some people from church at the local bowling alley. Same song different verse but literally, the same songs were playing! So, that got me thinking... People are willing to pay oddly high amounts of money to expose their children to adult music and atmospheres that are not family friendly. Christian people and people with higher morals, maybe even devout muslims or other religious people either have to either abstain from interacting with normal public recreation venues or be forced to expose their young ones and themselves to things they don't agree with. If I never go back to either of those places, no loss for me. But my family would disagree. They WANT to do fun things. So, what if there was a place people could go where all the things we enjoyed back in the 80's were not tainted by horrid music and had an appropriate price tag for a family night out every once and a while? So basically, I put together the entirely coolest venue on the planet which accomplishes all these goals and only costs a nominal fee. Why? Value. If given the choice to go have an amazing night out with your spouse and children and you can go to the nationwide chain and pay $125+ plus food and cheap plastic toys for just one or two types of recreation or go to another smaller chain that costs $55 for the same amount of people, has less marketing and junk trinkets but you have to endure the oddly upbeat K-Love radio station music (or similar) but there are many different draws to that location, which would most people pick in todays economy? My main point is that Christians are paying the world to indoctrinate their children with the world's ideologies and filth which in many ways promotes those ideologies by supporting them. Many of us do not want to do that but have that pressure to provide a lively and fun experience for our children. There needs to be a place where we can go that shelters the whole family from ungodly things. But way more than that, what if such place was a beacon of the Gospel in a community! Not only is it a safe place... but purpose built from the ground up to evangelize the entire community without the community realizing that the entire point of the establishment is to further the Gospel in the area. There was a retail store called C28 many years ago whose employees actively prayed with patrons and shared their faith. They were trained and hired to do so. It was great. I went to the mall just for prayer a few times! Then there's CFA... a joke online was that "they really want yall to read your Bibles." So, kinda going right between those, there will be no question about where this establishment stands on faith and morality. It will literally be in everyone's face but not in a way that when the muslim or other non-Jesus-friendly person walks in that they will immediately want to walk out. Fortunately where we are in the Bible Belt, many establishments openly play Christian radio stations or songs. There will be areas where those who do not want to view or hear it will be generally unaware of it's presence. But they will come back over and over again because of the value of the service and goods they receive. For such patrons, we're playing the long game. The spirit in the music will work on them and our trained employees so that if they are regulars then our relationship evangelism will be employed to build a relationship. If not, they just keep getting to enjoy the benefits of a Christian based establishment. 

    This plan in replicable in Savannah, and Macon as well as every other small city in Georgia. I truly hope to be able to turn over the Walton County mission and also disconnect some of the other ones from each other after the main staff at each one is running them effectively and with little need for help from the main Mission. I have the task of disconnecting because this work cannot be of one person. I am here to start it. Once each part is able to fly solo, I am to pass it on to a board of elders for long term ministry with stipulations so that they can never leave the charter mandate without the properties reverting back to the control of the head organization. This ensures accountability and honorable conduct as well as my hopes that the whole church takes part in ministering to the whole community through each endeavor. The recreation establishment and the media establishment will likely remain as part of my own life mission for decades because they are so vital to protect as the source and distribution heads of the Gospel. I do not want anyone creeping in and introducing sin or compromise. These two aspects will be under the most target from the enemy for sure! 

     Wrapping up: I've intended to cultivate a new culture in Georgia through Gospel-centric community evangelism utilizing every evangelical minded follower of Jesus through a variety of ministry and retail or service establishments. It has been far too easy for The Church to just "meet" people's needs and go home and feel good. This is a burden. This isn't just my burden. This is the heart of many but it is far too big of a task in most people's minds to undertake a dramatically methodical re-interpretation of Bible-Belt Christianity to include the idea that we can all work together to literally change an entire state! I'm positive that 99% of people who ever might read this lengthy writing would be thinking, "impossible." Fortunately for me, this is IMPOSSIBLE. That's why it is the perfect thing for God Himself to get involved in so that it  becomes GOD-POSSIBLE! I do not think inside the box of the possible when asking God what He wants to do. I do not think of what I can do in my own strength. I wrote or assembled more than a dozen ministry plans based on how I saw God wanting to move in the general Walton County area. Then it seemed like God was showing me a much bigger harvest field and ministry need. He showed me a war-front where He is seeking battle ready missionaries (missionaries pray a lot and take ground through discipleship). Recently, I'm being surrounded by Kingdom workers and contacts where I'm daily in awe of God working out this whole plan in front of me, while I wait for the startup funds. As many times as I ask God to take this burden from me, it keeps getting stronger and more detailed in my business models and applications. If you think this blog is lengthy, you should see the individual plans for each ministry or business. This is what I do. I come up with plans. What does God do? He ordains my steps! Amen and Thank You Lord!  - Not going to go back and proof read at the moment so please excuse my typos! 

Gathering for the Whole Body

9-2-24

       There's this little amazing chapel I've been frequenting for the last couple weeks and I've fallen in love with the entire body of believers even though I barely know the individuals. They are a beautiful and simple group of people whom God is drawing closer to Himself while also sending them out to touch lives in Jesus Name. Well, yesterday I had to drag my family over there after our church's service to catch the end of theirs so I could introduce them to some of the people I've met there. I'd say that if I could draw a picture of what I envision a small country church would look like, I'd end up pretty close to the scene I saw as we left the property yesterday.
      Well, as I've gotten to know them, I can look back on their social media photos at how slowly the usable facility has been transformed from a little wooden chapel to a basic steel building and in the midst of adapting upward to being functional and somewhat "complete." The youth minister showed me how to turn things off and on in case I ever wanted to use the building when no one was around and well... I think that because what they are now utilizing is an improvement from the meager beginnings, it's just normal to use the actual circuit breakers to turn things off and on... instead of properly installed power switches or switching equipment. There are many unfinished areas and what I might think of as possible code violations or safety hazards... But the main purpose I am writing this is to illustrate what COULD be different if Isayah 61's Mission was currently in operation. Actually, this is helping me get my feet wet... This week, I've pledged myself to start contacting local churches to see if any of them have unused or un-needed Acoustic Padding for the walls. The current issue is that the drum set on the stage just echoes all around, the Bass guitar speakers are rattling the drum snares and shaking the whole building to the extent that the police show up semi-regularly because of neighbor complaints...
       So, my quest is to help this body to become less annoying to the local residents while also improving the sound quality of the people who've come to worship God there. By the way, I've possibly never heard a more talented group of worship leaders in one place, and I'm pretty sure they are all barely out of high school and some may even be younger. In fact, most of the people I've seen there are under the age of 25. So, the leaders there are doing what they can do and what they are supposed to do but they don't have the resources to do much else. This is where I come in. The Isayah 61 Mission has a planned purpose to open a wholesaling retail program to offer churches and their affiliates all music gear and related items at cost. That cost is literally whatever it takes to get the items to them including shipping and if we have a per-diem consultant on hand for say a whole system and facility upgrade. But, the average church can also just call and say they need 20 acoustic panels so that the people in the seats can distinguish the lyrics over the sound of the guitars and drums. We'll get them those panels at cost which is usually about half of retail. My current church is fundraising slowly to replace the acoustic panels to the tune of well over $100,000. In fact, just for my own basement recording studio, it would cost around $13,000 for me to get the panels I'd like. Fortunately, I can use egg crate bed toppers and old packing foam squares and generally achieve the same effect. But church buildings have to have Fire Code rated and properly mounted attachments which are also not easily damaged by the Youth Group playing dodgeball in the same church meeting space as the "sunday" church space. The cool thing I want to establish is a way for those big budget churches to help those smaller ones when they have opportunity to upgrade. So, our program will allow the church with steady resources to buy items at cost and we'll hope that they will donate the items being replaced to our Blessing Warehouse which will be made available to lower income churches, brand new church plants, and emergency church establishments where a body is displaced by flood, fire, or storm damage and our other division goes out to provide a temporary space. The retail program will also offer the items at great discounts to students and worship staff for their personal use. Anything extra can be sold to the public which just helps with operating costs. 

     The main point is that Isayah 61's programs are needed NOW in the local body to help provide resources for every church. Today, I'm looking to meet the needs of a small chapel in Monroe. Last month, I was looking to find a support network or help for a homeless lady. Next month, The Lord may show me another need for which the already written IS61 programs could be a benefit for. I've been in ministry for about 26 years and have included programs and plans to comprehensively carry out the Great Commission utilizing the entire willing church body in the current planned community and then expanding throughout Georgia. Once the network is established, I fully believe that the Kingdom minded workers will come alongside and sustain the work to unite the body and give and share resources across denominations so that the entire community is blessed and can reach out to anyone in need. It just needs to start. The amazing thing is that I know that there are so many lovers of God out there who will even just give their time to help the struggling body get over a small hump. I do know that many of my calls will turn up nothing toward finding some sound absorbing material but I also know that it could lead to some really great things whether relating to getting the padding or even some help for their other needs. I'm actually laughing as I type this because it just occurred to me that I never even ran any of this by the pastor at the church and I don't even know that I've met him yet. I did hear that he lives with his family in the church basement or possibly in the tiny mobile home behind the original wooden chapel next to the old burial plots... Yea... I'm pretty sure I've been sent to help them and it all started by God showing me a homeless lady whom He loves. I'm possibly going to pop a gasket when I look back at just how many things in my life and for this ministry and then for the entire state of Georgia were directly started because of one lady who lived in a parking lot in town. Praise God! 

      If IS61 was fully operational right now, I could either go to the warehouse and grab some hand-me-down supplies to have installed at this chapel or know which churches in the area have those items still unused. If they needed to sell them instead of donating, we would have a quick audit policy and procedure in place to validate a church's actual level of need financially and then provide a subsidy or even just buy the resource from the other church to give to the one in need. Where does that money come from? Grants, donations, and fundraising. Possibly another church or two in the network could be called and they have benevolence funds for supporting other ministries and would contribute a hundred or two hundred dollars to the effort. Maybe we'd also know of a tradesman from a local body who has the acoustic meter already who'd come over and actually show us where to place the padding for maximum efficacy. As I shared a small plan to fix the immediate need with the youth minister I asked if they had about $100 to buy the supplies where I can do a nice looking acoustic set of pads using some wood, egg crate mattress toppers, and whatever cheap covering fabric we can find to hide the egg crate foam. The answer was less than confident. Awesome because this now pushes me to start this work before IS61 is actually launched! So, is this God actually sending me to the work without the SEND ($$$) I've been asking Him for to start the work? That thought just popped in my head so I have some praying to do! Blessings! 

The Mission Begins!

9-6-24

    Welcome to the new era! What a week I've had in Christ! This week I was able to begin to do the work of this ministry while still the ministry is un-funded. Earlier this week, I began calling local churches to find the acoustic panels for this little chapel. The church body whose ministry I watch online twice weekly was the one that had the resource for this chapel!!! I called and left messages at several churches and was surprised when one actually called me back! I talked to many nice church secretaries/office assistants and even received a Word fitly spoken (word of knowledge) from one which was the 4th time in about 3 weeks someone brought up this seemingly random word as related to waiting for God to fund this ministry... Anyway, I made calls and now by next week the little chapel will be able to go pick up pretty much enough sound panels to cover every wall to likely about 80% of the total need. Plus, the panels are pretty close if not perfect in color to blend in with the paint already on the walls! Perhaps another body will come across some other resources and call me or them with the other 20%. I will actually say that these panels are actually sufficient to make nearly everything about their sound issues vanish once installed. So, The Lord had the needed resource sitting in an outdoor storage area which upon the need to show them to me yesterday was found to have been burglarized and vandalized. But the panels were intact! So, the church which had the blessing now has more storage space and discovered a security breach and the church in need will receive a big improvement to their service quality and hopefully less complaints from neighbors. 

    Additionally, I did attend the revival service last night and found more needs that they had... My initial impression was that the stage was dark during worship because they were de-emphasizing the people on stage (which is a new trend for awesome houses of worship). However; I had to take notice that there was a conspicuous absence of lights on the ceiling or anywhere else. Then I heard that still small voice that said, "you have extra lights." A year ago, I was helping one a church work day where my church was cleaning out junk and as I saw sound equipment and lighting in the big dumpster, I retrieved them and took them home. I was able to fix some of the broken lights and it seems that 4 of them were brand new and just not needed for some reason... Well, after the service I asked the pastor what was going on with the lights and he said they were all failing (there's one section over the seats where only the Red LEDs are lit up and others where it's Magenta, or Green/Yellow so there aren't more than 2 or 3 out of 12 lights that are working). So, I asked how many he needed and he said 6. I gladly already had the answer prepared that he'd have them the next day. That is how many I have of the 4 brand new lights plus the 2 biggest lights I found. I have a few more that were the ones I repaired but we'll see what they end up needing. He also explained that the 2 main spotlights had also failed. These are motorized so it will be a big undertaking to repair but I offered to try after I work on those other 6 failing lights to hopefully find enough working LEDs to bring back 4 or 5. The lights I dumpster-dived for are not likely going to give off the same brightness but they will work while I try to fix up the others. Freely I received so basically, they were just in my care to re-allocate to this church as God set up this amazing connection!

     I only share here as a testimony of God working all of this out as I simply made an attempt to start fulfilling the vision of helping churches share resources and blessings. My hope is that when the pastor calls the church with the sound panels, that a connection can be formed between the two bodies. The pastor of the giving church said 2 nights ago that he didn't really know many (or any?) of the local pastors in the area as was still new to ministering in this section of town. These 2 bodies of believers are approximately 25 minutes apart by car and both are Kingdom minded ministries. Both are charismatic and full Gospel type style with and outreach mentality. This could be a great connection for the local Church as a whole. I'll begin to pray for this!!! All of this comes about by simply doing the simple things for God. I made some calls and shared a need. It didn't take money minus the gas to go preview the panels. It was just time. I also did share the church unity goal aspect of Isayah61 Mission to the ladies who answered at some of the churches as a prepper for when we have actual staff calling them monthly to get prayer requests and share needs or news. I'm super excited about what The Lord is working out here. If all goes well this week, I will take the leap of faith and file the LLC organization papers next week and then apply for the Public Charity 501c3 designation. So this week, the mission work began and was blessed! Next week, IsaYah 61 Ministries or Mission will be "founded." Blessings to you!

What Does it mean that God is JEALOUS for us?

       So there's this passage in the 10 Commandments section that goes like this:

^{Deuteronomy 5:8} You are not to make for yourselves a carved image or any kind of representation of anything in heaven above, on the earth beneath or in the water below the shoreline — ⁹ you are not to bow down to them or serve them; for I, Adonai your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sins of the parents, also the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, ¹⁰ but displaying grace to the thousandth generation of those who love me and obey my mitzvot.

 Why on Earth is God... JEALOUS??? 

       Well, just imagine if you had 10 children. They were your pride and joy. You showed pictures of them to everyone and told stories about how amazing each one was to everyone you could... You love them and work two jobs plus a side-hustle to be able to give them a great life. You listen to every little story they tell and play little games with them until you are exhausted from the day, and sometimes even stay up late with them when they are sick or scared. A few years later, they are teenagers... One by one, those beautiful and amazing little humans start testing boundaries and then your oldest one leads a rebellion and soon enough even your elementary school aged children are sneaking around doing harmful or inappropriate things and boldly lying about it all to cover it all up. How did all this happen? One day the police bring one of them home from a house party down the street. They inform you that this particular house was known to be a hangout for all the neighborhood children and provided all the rebellious opportunities that any teenager could ever want to experiment with. It turns out that the parents just love to give their children anything they want and love watching all the young people partying and have been under suspicion of taking advantage of the youth while they were under the influence of certain things; but no one has yet stepped forward to prove it so there is nothing anyone can do. Caught and looking for a way out, the child spills the beans on all your other children that the oldest had gotten involved there and started bringing the others to that house and they all got a little money from those parents every time they brought a new young person to the house to party and have some fun. How would you feel? 

       Now imagine that you drive down the street wanting to confront those parents and upon knocking at the door, you are greeted by two large men who tell you the parents aren't able to come to the door and they call for some others who end up standing behind you and ask you to leave. You can see that these men are wearing matching gang related clothing and understand it's time to leave. You confront your children and they deny it all. The next morning, your house is ominously quiet. You call to you children and no one answers. Going up to their rooms, there are clothes and backpacks missing along with everything of value from their rooms. The police tell you to wait 48 hours and call back if they don't show up. You drive by that house suspecting the worst and its surrounded by thugs with weapons in their belts and even some in the open. 48hrs later, the police tell you that without any evidence they can't access that house to see if the children are there. Something deep within tells you they are there but there is truly nothing you can do with that army outside. Every time you drive by you see more and more empty cases of beer and vodka crumpled on the lawn. You smell the stench of drugs in the air as you pass by. Your heart breaks for your lost children.

       One day you get a letter in the mail. One of your children wrote a letter just to tell you how they all agreed that it was way more fun to go party at the house down the street and how those other parents gave them everything they wanted. You child wrote that those other parents loved them more than you ever did. You didn't give them anything to get them high or show them the adult movies and give them money like these new parents. You child wrote that their new parents are setting them all up as models, actors, and getting them recording contracts so they'll all be powerful and famous in just a few years. Then your child ended the letter by telling you that they all had left the area with some of the other families like their new parents but youngest of your children wasn't careful enough with some of the drugs and died a week ago; but she died happy on the best trip of her life. You child just thought you'd want to know. The End.

      Now looking at the verses before the, "I am a jealous God" part shows us a very similar story. Humanity as a whole up and decided that another god was giving out better treats and throwing parties that were more fun than the God who actually made all humanity. God is telling us not to go creating our own gods to go and serve in verse 8 & 9a. People actually can and do serve real and made up gods and have done so from the very beginning. Our generation is nothing new. The punishment in vs 9b isn't to take vengeance on the disobedient children and great great grand children, it is to limit their ability to continue to move away from God and draw others away with them just like the older child in the story above. God desires to break those sins off of people and limit their further rebellion. It is a containment strategy not hatred. God feels sorrow over every soul who is lost without Him. Even Judas Iscariot was loved by God, right?!?

    So, back to the JEALOUS part: In the illustration story, we are presented with a good parent, lets go with a good father here... This good father knew how much he loved his children. He knew how he had planned good lives for them. He made sure all their needs were met. He knew that no harm would come to them INSIDE his home which he provided for them. He didn't withhold any good thing from them. They chose to leave anyway because someone else offered them things which excited their sin nature. We all have a sin nature. Our bodies crave things that bring pleasure. Our minds desire to have money, power, and influence. The world we live in, the evil spirits (gods), and those that seek to use and control others are very willing to provide others all those pleasurable things but it all comes with a cost. It all comes with hooks imbedded just under the surface. 

    God can claim perfect love and perfect care for us if we choose to be in His house with Him. He is jealous for us against the gods of our world whether they be pleasures and gods we've heaped up for ourselves or actual spirits who do have limited abilities to impress us with parlor tricks, lies, and tangible things in this world. He is jealous because He alone is Good. He is the very essence of Good. He has only Good plans for us. He has only Love for us. He sees us falling for lies and tricks and things that start out well but ultimately end in our demise and misery. He is not limited by a gang of thugs with scary weapons unlike the dad in my story. He came and literally went in to that evil house and arrested the source of all our illicit activities. He even rescued everyone who was still trapped in that house. Yet not all of His children were there anymore. They are truly all around the Earth. Those He has rescued are now sent out to go find the rest of God's children and help pull them to safety under God's authority. Those thugs are still leading many of God's children and making sure they're too busy with the cares of this world to remember that they came from a different one. Some of those thugs are treating their captives quite brutally. They will not escape. But, currently God is working on a different level than we fully see to continue His rescue effort. He sees His beloved children trapped and needing rescue and His anger and rage are so furious against the evils of our world that if He executes even a small portion of His wrath, being so powerful, it would destroy the fabric of our time-space continuum; before the full number of His children have been rescued. At some point later I may come back and add all the supporting Bible verses but I just wanted to get this story out for today. 

    Yahweh Elohim (God's Name and Self description in Hebrew) has a right to be jealous. He did and still does everything Good for us and we often settle for the things that are easy and most pleasure inducing. I could have also made the illustration as simple as relating a Good parent who feeds their child only veggies and healthy food and then the children go next door to the bad parents house who serve sugar and junk food exclusively and even send some back with your children in their pockets so they can binge all night too... It's basically the same. We humans like sugar, salt, and fat. As much as I don't like to admit it, I cannot survive and thrive on a constant diet of bacon & root beer floats. The devil offers humanity everything we could want to bring pleasure to our flesh at the cost of our spirit and soul shriveling up. God offers everything that pertains to life and godliness with the only possible complaint that it doesn't always make our flesh happy to live like our savior Jesus... until it actually does. That is how Good God actually is. Once we have truly given Him our lives, it actually turns out that He changes us so deeply that it actually does make our flesh resonate with even higher highs than drugs can produce, more personal and fulfilling relationships that give us the warm fuzzies inside, and even the ability to have joy and pleasure while experiencing painful things. The people who are still stuck in their sins and their rebellion cannot FEEEEEEL the things of God in their flesh. They have to settle for the devil's fake and temporary versions... The people of God get to know real Truth which frees them from the fakery and temporary desires which then gives us the FEEEEEELS for REAL! If I can think of a way to explain that, I'll edit this later. But, mainly it is a deep a resolute knowingness of God's un-dying Love and care for us. God is jealous for you and wants you all to Himself from the systems and destruction of the world. He hates everything that keeps you from knowing Him and from feeling His Love for you. He is jealous that you spend so much time chasing after things that will never satisfy you like He can. 

      God wants your heart. He doesn't care about what you wear. He doesn't even care that some bad words fly out of your mouth all that much unless you're supposed to be a pastor or deacon. He doesn't care about presents or sacrifices. He does not demand anything for you to do in order to be His child. He loves you already whether or not you acknowledge Him as God or Savior or Lord or the One who gave you life and answered prayers. He will bless you whether you know it or not and also whether you ask or not. He loves to shower you with good things to the level that He can without you using the good things for bad purposes. In fact, you may even find out that He gave you the perfect spouse and you still abused them and it ended horribly. You may find that He got you that promotion or financial blessing but you used the extra money to buy drugs or something that caused harm in the end. He might even bless some people just so they can find out just how empty riches, fame, and power really are. All this is working toward God's desire that you wake up from this daze and find Him and choose Him over the things/gods of this world. He loves you and loves you and loves you. After He loves you, He then hates everything that is standing between His heart and yours. His jealousy is justified by His awesomeness and perfect ability to meet every need we have while no other thing ever created or imagined can compare to just how Good He is for us and toward us.