Many of the popular news agencies are reporting that "Twitter says it’s taking steps to curb harassment on its platform — again."

Yeaaaa!! Right? I mean naturally everybody wants to be able to share their views without fear of being harrassed or bullied. Right?

The NY Post and the Los Angeles Times reported that new features will begin rolling out Tuesday. "Twitter said it will also identify and “collapse” tweets in users’ feeds and searches that are “low-quality” and "potentially abusive." That means the harassing msg won't even be seen by the "intended victim." Yaaasss! Right?

One might begin to wonder in a world that embraces the woes of Isaiah 5:20, where evil is being called good and good is referred to as evil, what will be the criteria of offense by which one will pronounce "harassment" and thus be "marked" for removal.

It doesn't take much wondering when we consider how silent those who have been called to "cry aloud and spare not" have become; those who have become as still as chameleons trying to blend in for fear of life and limb, when our new prime directive instinct, in Christ that is, is to GO and teach all nations..." (Matt 28:19-20) without fear (2 Tim 1:7).

My prayer of encouragement for us is that we would "continue to pray in the Spirit for all occasions, to be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. That whenever the servants of God speak, words may be given us so that we will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which we are ambassadors. Pray that we may declare it fearlessly, as we should" (Ephesians 6:18b - 20 - paraphrased). So make sure YouTube, Tweet, and remain LinkedIn the Kingdom as we Snapchat and keep our Faces in His Book...

For His Glory,
Pastor E.

SHOBC.org/Brooklyn
Bearing His Glory - Sharing His Story
​

Another blessed time together with the people of God in His presence. The Word of the Lord for His people is to Be Blessed from the 5th chapter of the book of Matthew.

We have rested in this chapter for the past couple weeks, and as God speaks to us through His Word we receive renewed hope, increasing faith, and refreshing vigor and strength for the journey yet before us.

Last week we had a Selah moment as the Lord illuminated the words "poor in spirit" to mean not poor, but poor in spirit. It means not humble, but humbled. The state one finds oneself in after they've tried everything they could in their own selves, and after coming to the end of themselves, "came to themselves" and emptied the rest of themselves to receive what God always intended for them (See Luke 15:17-20). It's time for us to empty ourselves as Christ emptied Himself (Phil. 2:7), and walk into the state of blessing that God intends for us.

Today we paused and reflected on ...those who mourn and will be comforted. How refreshing are the promises of God! Space and time don't yet allow me to share the volume of this wonderful download in the Spirit. I will remind us however that our God has afforded us a marvelous privilege to mourn when the trials and tribulations of life come our way, not as the world does, but as people of hope. A people who seek the Lord in our pain and despair, and thus find the blessedness of strength (com-fort: with strength) to continue the journey and strengthen others (See 2 Cor. 1:4).

For His Glory,
Pastor Emery
SHOBC-BK
Bearing His Glory, Sharing His Story
​

SHOBC Brooklyn invites you to join us at our next King's Table! King's Tables are small gatherings of men, women and youths that meet weekly for the purpose of growth, both relationally and spiritually, toward life-changing discipleship.

This allows us to engage the privilege of experiencing connection and life transformation in our church as we share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with others. Whether we meet in homes or support cafes in our community, you’ll find that each group is unique in nature, but all share a few key things in common.

Some groups will be more social and soul-care focused, some will be more study based, working through the Bible or book studies, and yet others will have topical focuses like marriage and families, or business and finance – all through the lens of scripture.

Join us this Friday @ Gerizim Cafe at 6:30 PM as we continue with topic on the King's Table: What is the Bible? Is it still relevant today?

Pastors Emery & Stephanie
www.shobc.org/brooklyn
Bearing His Glory Sharing His Story

More and more people nowadays are saying that everyone has the right to love who they want to love. But does everyone have the right to define or should I say redefine what love is? God is Love, and as such embodies and defines what love is. So the matter is not just what, but who is Love.

Now many of us know that the word love can be used to define a variety of ideologies. Eros, where we get the word erotica; Phileo from which we derive Philadelphia, "the city of brother love," and others, but the Word - Love is transliterated from the Greek word Agape. This is a Love without limits, such that the very grace of God is required to demonstrate it; such that one must be connected to Love to produce Love's fruit, because it is impossible to Love without Love.

That is why one is bankrupt without Love. Because one would be fruitless, as it relates to Love without Love. So can one call love what Love says is the opposite of Love? If our greatest ideal is to embody Love, to walk in Love. How can we do so without demonstrating Love? Jesus the very embodiment of Love says that His disciples will be known by their Love. His disciples will be known by their Love. Jesus is the disciples Love. So how can one demonstrate Love while rejecting Love.

God so loved the world that He GAVE His only begotten Son (Love), that whosoever believers in Him (God's Son - Jesus - who is Love) shall not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16 (Emphasis and explanation added). Everybody has the right to love. To do so is to be a disciple of Love. To be such necessitates ones faith in, ones belief in Love. To do that is to make the decision to love. And yes God has given everyone the right to love through Jesus Christ our Love, our Lord, our Savior. So are you ready to Love for the sake of the Love that was given, that died, and rose with all power for you to live in Love?

If so reach out to an agent of Love to make the decision to Love today.

In His Love,
Pastor Emery
Bearing His Glory - Telling His Story

In the 25th verse of the 15th chapter of 1 Chronicles, King David, with the elders of Israel and captains over thousands, went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the house of Obed-edom. What a marvelous privilege to bear the glorious presence of the Lord! Several thousand years removed, it seems as if we have lost sight of the wonder and urgency of this experience.

The ark - the vessel that represented the presence of God amongst His people, pointed toward and has been fulfilled in Jesus Christ! He is the Emmanuel, God with us, who would reveal Godself to us, in us by the outpouring presence of the Holy Spirit, and through us as witnesses to a world desperately in need of His light and love!

Our call to "bear the glory of God" has been refreshed with a renewed sense of purpose and urgency. With Joy, King David and Israel brought the Ark to a tent that he pitched for it. King Jesus brings the glorious treasured presence of God, and places it in earthen vessels! He sets it in the midst of a tent, a tabernacle, a house that He is building unto Godself! It is made with living stones!

God has placed His presence in the church that He is building whose foundation is Jesus Christ Godself, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it! As we prepare for Christ's return, we have been given a great commission to carry the knowledge of this divine reality to the nations!

How do we do it? We do it with joy! It is with joy that SHOBC accepts the charge of our new beginning to bear the glory of the Lord throughout Brooklyn. We do so with a shout and a dance - in celebration that God is with us, and will be revealed in us when we choose to accept the gift of His presence! We do so as we GO to all the nations that the Lord has brought to Brooklyn! We go to the homes, the cafes, restaurants, and marketplaces to share the love of God that never let us go.

Join us SHOBC Brooklyn, as we engage this wonderful Kingdom call to Shabach Brooklyn!
May the glory that is within us, be seen in 2017!

For His Glory,
Pastors Emery & Stephanie
www.shobc.org/brooklyn

13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 2 Peter 3:13-14

My, how the God-inspired words of Solomon ring true to this moment, "What will be has been, and what has been done will be done. There is nothing new under the sun." Eccles. 1:9

Like the people that Peter is talking to in his time, the people of our day are communicating more and more a lethargy towards the things of God; a haphazard lackluster approach toward their soul salvation.

But in this season of Advent, this season of expectation, we are reminded that Christ has come - as was promised ages before His coming. Christ dwelt among us, and established a standard by which we are to live and serve on this side of Zion. Christ died to satisfy our sin debt; paid a debt that He didn't owe, to satisfy a debt that we could not pay. A life lived perfectly, for lives drenched in sin. But not only that, Christ rose on the third day with all power to justify us - to declare us not guilty.

All that would be enough for most of us, but then Jesus assigned His disciples with a mission, and declared that the power and authority that was given Him as well as His continual presence is ours to fulfill it! He ascended to the right hand of the Father and intercedes for us. Through Christ we have access to the heavenly throne room, to the government of all creation! His Love is so awesome and so amazing that I can hardly continue sharing with you without taking a praise break! Hallelujah!!!

Wave after wave God keeps saying, "I love you! I want to be with you! I promise I'll be right there by your side, and I'll never leave you nor forsake you!" Next wave - God keeps His promise of a Comforter who would come and teach us and remind us of everything Christ taught us. God keeps His promise of providing an outpouring of His Spirit on all flesh, every kindred, every nation that would, but accept His marvelous gift. He thus empowers us to be holy as God is holy, to have power over sin and death, to live life victoriously, and as Christ said, "more abundantly." John 10:10

So we are reminded in this season and everyday that God IS a promise-keeper. His Word will not come back to Him void, but it will prosper in the thing for which He has sent it. Jesus said that He is coming back again. Peter reminds us in the 3rd chapter of 2 Peter that the length of time He has taken is only evidence of His patience for us to accept the gift of salvation, but He is coming back again. My grandmother, and I believe even my great-grandmother has said, "We're living in the last days!" Of course we were. But now even more it becomes more evident that we are living in the last of the last days.

And as I expect that Christ will really return any day now, I expect that He will find many carrying about without a care for His return; heaping every carnal indulgence to satisfy their sinful nature. Yet there will be a remnant who have heeded the signs, declarations, the very shaping of expectation for that blessed moment, who have consecrated there lives unto God and decided to submit to the empowerment and leading of the Holy Spirit to live lives of holiness to the glory of God and the good. of others. Fully anticipating the return of the King.

So as you reflect upon the Advent of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, is your lifestyle reflecting one who is expecting Christ's return or rejecting every notion of it? Are your thoughts, attitudes, actions, and behavior consistent with one who has received an Amazing Love, and is awaiting His marvelous retun? If not, please know that it is not too late to take a position and make a decision to say yes to the King.  Yes to His free (but not cheap) gift of salvation. Yes to the gift of the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit in your life to live a holy - set apart life of service unto God for His purpose. Yes to the hope of His return, the peace of rest in His midst, and the joy of eternal relationship with an awesome God.

So in keeping with Christ's promise, we are looking forward with great expectation to a new heaven and a new earth, where the very King of Righteousness dwells. "So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with Him. 2 Peter 3:14

So what are you expecting?

Scripture Reflection: Deut. 8: 7-18  In a few days, people all across America will celebrate Thanksgiving.  If you ever travel during this season, particularly in the country, you will see signs of harvest. This is the season when farms, houses, and churches are filled or decorated with squash and pumpkins, multi-colored leaves, stalks of corn, wheat, grapevines and other produce, including jars of all the good stuff like pickles, jams and jellies.

Families will come together and sit down to bountiful feasts! Tables filled with turkey with all the trimmings, some rice and peas, arroz con pollo, some will have roast pork and others jerk pork, callaloo or collard greens, macaroni and cheese, with sweet candied yams! And don’t forget the apple cider, the pecan pie and pumpkin pie.  We will indulge ourselves - those of us who can - with the bounties and fruit of the harvest all in the posture celebrate Thanksgiving!

This is a season when we will even remember those less fortunate than ourselves.  We will hold dinners at shelters and soup kitchens and we will have given a little extra to the food banks.  And we will be satisfied.

The word of God has declared this is a good thing, because it is right that we should feast, but there is a growing trend to forget that we are also to thank God for what He has given us; that it is right to celebrate our God, and to share the fruit of our labor, and the blessings of the earth and sea, it's good to express appreciation and to rejoice over the goodness of God.

In the book of Deuteronomy we find a declaration or a pronouncement that after all the trials and tribulation, after all the hardships and subjugation that the people of Israel had experienced, the Lord was going to bring them out! Hallelujah! The Lord speaks to us by application of His wonderful promises, you may have experienced some trials, you may be dealing with tribulations even now, but we serve a faithful God who can bring you out. Isaiah declares in the 43rd chapter that when the people of God were to face floods they would not be drowned, when we walk through the fire we would not be burned, because God is with us! And for that we ought to say, “Thank you God!” If we were to take a closer look at the contemporary approach to this marvelous privilege, however, we would notice a steady decline, and a falling away from the commands given to through scripture.

If you were to turn on the TV today, you would see that the world sees Thanksgiving through a different set of lenses. For much of the popular culture, Thanksgiving is a foregone conclusion (America is "over it" before it even begins). It has become a parade of pageantry and idolatry. Sponsored by big business, it has become a precursor to what many call Black Friday. Thus it has been diminished to loading up on proteins and carbs for the big race; for the marathon at the malls. Under the guise of getting the best deals and bargains of the year, people amass more trinkets and idols to feed their flesh and their passions to sear. And in doing so we push away the God we say we hold dear – the one we want near.

But the Word of God declares in Romans the 12th chapter that “we are not to be conformed to the world, but we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds that we may be able to prove what is that good, and acceptable and perfect will of God.”  So God is calling us to a higher place of praise, a Kingdom mind set, where our overall attitude and approach to life and to what God has done for us, and continues doing for us.

God calls us not only to a day of thanksgiving, God has called his people, as we have read in the book of Deuteronomy - from the time of Moses, to a life of thanksgiving. And that is what we will discuss for  a few more moments – Thanks Living.

The difference between celebrating Thanksgiving Day and Thanks Living might seem like a short matter of semantics, but we are called to live a life of gratitude.  Thanksgiving Day is a temporal event.  Thanks living is a way of life. Thanks living is worship – when we acknowledge God in gratitude just for who God is! Thanks living is praise when I continually bless and thank God for all HE’S done for me, my family, my community, our world!

Now don’t get me wrong, I realize that if we didn’t have Thanks Giving Day, some of us would never gather together with our families and friends! Some of us would never extend a helping hand to another if God had not set aside a “time to pluck up what was planted.” Thanks Living is Love! But when we allow short tempers and unforgiveness to separate us from one another we are also separated from God, because we are not operating in the essence of the One whom we say we serve – that is God, who is Love! John asked the question, “How can you say you love God, who you can’t see, when you don’t love your brother? By this we know Love, because Jesus – who is Love, laid down his life for us! Saints thanks living is being postured in that same love to lay down our lives for others in need.

We allow the hustle and the bustle of life to keep us apart from one another in spite of all our technological advances. We’re still too busy to text someone and say I love you, email somebody and say I miss you. Tweet someone on Twitter and say, “Jesus loves you and so do I”, much less just call somebody and leave a message… that says, “I’m so grateful to God for you. You have meant so much to me in my life… call me when you can. I love you!”

God blesses us everyday! How can I say thank you once a year! The marvelous part of it all is that God is so awesome we have can’t use the same excuses NOT to talk to God! He’s omniscient - so God knows what’s on your mind, even before you say it. He knows if you don’t even want to talk to him! He’s omnipresent so you can never say, “I tried to call you, but you weren’t home!” God is everywhere! He’s omnipotent so you can never say, “I tried to send you a message, but you weren’t able…” He’s got all power in His hands! And God is able! Hallelujah!

Giving thanks is important.

When we give thanks as a community, as a family, we are reminded of all the good things and all the good people embedded with good and perfect gifts from the Lord. In fact if we just take a moment to inhale the gift of fellowship, and witness the very imprint that has been made on our lives by those around us we can’t help, but acknowledge that every good and perfect gift comes from the Lord!

We remember that we have been blessed, we remember that there is a greater good than ourselves - if only for a moment or a day.  Thanks Living is living a life of praise to our God, worship of our God, of Love and fellowship through the grace of our God.  We begin to "live thanks" when we open our lives up to God and give God the first place. 

As we do this - as we humble ourselves before God and acknowledge that he is the source of every good and perfect thing, our awareness of our blessings increases, our joy is made full, and we find ourselves in an attitude of gratitude -state of experiencing God’s grace.

Thanks living is the divine enablement of the Holy Spirit to go forth into the world to fulfill our calling as the people of God, the Body of Christ, blessed to be a blessing to others, and living in thanks for the life and provision we have received.     

As you give thanks this Thanksgiving Day, remember your calling to be joyful always, to pray continually, and to give thanks in all circumstances. As you engage this practice may you, as St. Francis of Assisi prays, “hear God more clearly, be drawn to him more nearly, and love God more dearly.”

Through Jesus Christ Our Lord.  Amen

Not just a holiday. It's a lifestyle. Have a blessed Thanks Living!

"In the power of the Holy Spirit, we now go forth into the world to fulfill our calling as the people of God, the Body of Christ blessed to be a blessing, and living in thanks for the life we have received." 

​Find more creative media for your edification here!

The meticulous handiwork of God is praiseworthy, but what does that mean to you? Many of us love to quote Psalm 139:14 -" I was fearfully and wonderfully made by God...," but the context of such is that because God has done this, created us fearfully and wonderfully, God is worthy of our praise. The questions for our consideration are as follows: What does it mean that we are fearfully and wonderfully made? Are we praising God in light of this awesome gift? If so how? If not why not?

The Creator of the Universe who created the Earth, sun, moon, and stars. The Logos who made every thing that is had you in His minds eye in the creation process. The Alpha and the Omega - the One who stood at the beginning and waits at the end, watches over His intention for your life from thought to fruition! The word "fearfully" in this psalm is transliterated from the hebrew word Yare', which means to reverence, honor, or respect. This helps us to understand that every aspect of who we are and how we are built was designed with a level of meticulous care so as to exhibit the wonder, intelligence, and splendor not of the creation, but of the One who created it.

We are the meticulous handiwork of God! This is not to our glory, but to the glory of our wonderful, masterful creator!
But how are you exhibiting that glory? You were created with the power and ability to do marvelous things for the glory of God. When we use the meticulous handiwork of God in line with His will for our lives we bring glory and honor and praise to a glorious God!

Today, this moment and every moment, use your gifts to praise our awesome God. Stop doubting that you have what it takes to do what you were created to do! Seek God at His Word, then trust Him and step out on faith by exercising and using your gifts for His glory and the good of others! You are the Meticulous Handiwork of God! Praise the Lord, not by dwelling on the wonder of who you are, but the wonder of the Great Manufacturer that has provided everything you need for life and godliness through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ.

For His Glory,
Pastor Emery B.

In the 9th verse of the 3rd chapter of the book of Genesis, God asked Adam and Eve the question: Where are you? After creating the Earth and all of its inhabitants, God gave them dominion over this extension of His heavenly domain.

As the Triune Presence of God culminated the creation with the assignment of regents to subdue the Earth, endued with power and privilege to be fruitful and multiply, God established order for creation, as well as His regents. God told Adam and Eve that they could partake in every area of the paradise called Eden, but of the tree in the midst of the garden they could not partake under penalty of death.

The Word of God says that they were naked and not ashamed. After the beguiling of the serpent they experienced a paradigm shift that caused them to question the trustworthiness of God, the overall character of God, and thus the Love of God. To think that the Creator of all they had come to know as good; that the one who had the power and authority to give them dominion and power to subdue the creation of God, could be trusted less than a serpent seems unthinkable.

Yet they partook of the fruit of that tree and encountered the catastrophic aftershock of their actions - the penalty of death.

• Their eyes were opened. Opened to what? Open to their transport from life to death, from spirituality to carnality, to separation from God - the Life-giving Source of all that is!
• They realized they were naked. They perceived that they were naked - meaning they no longer experienced the covering of God. They always had skin, but now they were separated from God, and had lost their spiritual connection and thus their spiritual covering!
• They were ashamed of their nakedness. They felt shamed and vulnerable without the covering of God.
• As a result of their shame, they attempted to cover what they had become; cover what resulted from their disobedience; cover what they allowed to come between them and the Loving, Wise, Counsel of God - themselves!
• Not only did they attempt to cover themselves, they attempted to hide themselves from the one who they were now separated from. When the heard God coming through the garden in the cool of the day, they hid from God's presence.

God responds to their behavior with the question, "Where Are You?" That is the question we must deal with in this dispensation of Grace. After all that God had decreed would take place through Jesus the Christ, salvation has been given, captives have been set free, the divine empowerment of the Holy Spirit is available for us to experience a New and Living Way! And if God was to come down your aisle in the cool of this day would God feel you? Would you feel God? Would you experience the joy of sweet communion with the King? Or has the New Order of Grace eluded you?

Have you not said yes to God, who loved you so much that God's Love was expressed to you and because of you? While you were yet sinning and rejecting Love, Love was dying for you. Yet Love made a way for Loving Power to fill you, and enable you to walk in a manner worthy of Love!

And the remaining question on the table is: If God came down your aisle today, and yes God is coming, would God have to ask: "Where Are You?"

For His Glory,

Pastor Emery B. Barber

​Find more creative media for your edification here!