The Foundational Principles
The foundational principles of #TKHC are ORDER, AUTHORITY, OBEDIENCE, PRAYER, HUMILITY, FAITH, and LOVE. We believe God is a God of order. He does everything in decency and order; there is no confusion in Him (1 Corinthians 14:40 1 Corinthians 14:33). Because we believe in a God of order, we adhere to the authority of Christ, exercise the authority of Christ, and lead by the power of Christ (Romans 13:1, Luke 10:19 ). Obedience follows order and authority. Operating through decency and order, establishes authority, which promotes obedience. We’re obedient to God’s Word, the Holy Spirit’s leading and the land’s laws. TKHC is a house of prayer (Matthew: 21:12-14). Prayer is our lifeline. We believe prayer is power. We pray corporately and promote the development of individual prayer lives through specialized training. The reward for humility and fear of the Lord is riches, honor, and life (Proverbs 22:4). The Lord bestowed expansive vision upon this ministry and we don’t take it lightly. We understand that what’s to come isn’t for us but for the liberation of generations. As Pastor Goggins once said, faith should be LOUD! And in this season of building, it’s screaming. Everything we ‘see’ hasn’t come to fruition yet, but it will (Hebrews 11:1). What good is the Christian life without love? What good is any life without love? God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son to die for it (John 3:16). Love, is the most crucial part of life (1 Peter 4:8). Without it, we are lost. We apply love through correction, service, laughter and truth telling. Our foundation is sure. The Chief Cornerstone supports it. We will not fail.
How the DMs Can Jeopardize Your Celibacy
If you’re reading this, congrats! You’ve transitioned to celibacy or already walking down the road. Kudos to wherever you are on the journey. This post is to shine a light on something small that could trip you up along the way. Something seemingly trivial and ordinary. Something harmless and unassuming… D.Ms. I heard this from radio host K.D. Bow a few years ago: what you’re willing to consume is what you’ll eventually be willing to consider. It’s stuck with me ever since. How many D.M. conversations have you had that ended up nowhere or left you in worse shape than you were before? Direct Messaging isn’t a new concept. We just get them quicker now and can receive them from all over the world, which means we always have access and everyone has access to us if we let them. I’m getting to the point; stay with me. You made a life-altering decision about your spiritual and physical health, choosing to be celibate. It’s worth being aware of the distractions that can derail you. So how can D.M.’s jeopardize your celibacy? The Stealthiness of it All You ever noticed how D.M.’s come at the most inopportune time? In the middle of heartbreak, anger, or frustration? The last person you need to be talking to at the moment is the first person who messages you, just sliding through to bother you. When you engage this person, you open a foothold to someone you already know isn’t good for you. But you go through with it anyway because you’re in your feelings, and the more you entertain this person, the lesser your celibacy commitment becomes. After Dark The ‘how u doin’, ‘hey’ and ‘hey queen’ messages frequent most after the sun goes down. Why can’t he message you at 12 noon on your lunch break vs. 12 midnight when you tryna sleep? You were two months into your celibacy journey, feeling good and feeling great, and then you heard that first Messenger ping. That was two weeks ago. Long story short, yall met up after a few late-night conversations, you realized what you already knew about him, and you’re trying to start the celibacy thing all over again. Prompted by the Pics We’re visual creatures that respond accordingly to what we see. A new profile pic or photo dump is the new catcall. A slew of friend requests from guys with weak flirtations like ‘hey baby’ probably does not have your best interest at heart. Mind in Wonderland Listen, you became celibate for a reason. You wanted different results from life. You cut old patterns to become a better version of yourself. You didn’t do it to fantasize about what life could be like with whomever but likely never will be. I know several people that met, dated, and married after meeting online, but those stories are anomalies; that’s not how it happens for most people. Remember the quote from earlier? What you’re willing to consume is what you’ll eventually be willing to consider? Consuming private messages will cause you to reminisce on the thing you’re trying to give up. Before long, you’ll be right back where you don’t wanna be. Heartbroken and alone. Whatever your reasons for becoming celibate, I imagine one of them was to focus on yourself and figure out your next steps in life. Whether you just exited a long-term relationship or have been single for a while, you decided that abstaining from sex would help you achieve this goal. Protect your decision. So what should I do? By all means, keep using them if they work for you. Keep at it if you use D.M.’s for business and connecting with family and friends. Direct messages are, after all, a communication tool. However, set boundaries if/when you need to. Ignore or mute messages, delete conversations. Keep your block game strong. Use common sense. You know what you’re strong enough to handle. Who knows, maybe you will meet your husband or wife online, but in this case, the initial conversations will feel more genuine, and they won’t all occur in the wee hours of the morning. Lastly, for my faith friends out there, D.M.’s can interrupt your reconnection to God. If you’re unmarried and became celibate to honor your rekindled relationship with God, know that you’ll be challenged in this area until you can master it. Entertaining direct messages or anything else that adds no substance to your life is a foothold to destruction. It’s the little foxes that destroy the vine (Solomon 2:15). _______________________________________________________________________ Chassidy is an administrator, marketer, minister, and youth leader within Thy Kingdom Has Come International Ministries, a non-denominational church in Mableton, GA. As a bona fide “church kid,” she’s practically done everything there is to do in church, from cleaning bathrooms, volunteering, teaching, event planning, leading field trips, and more. Chassidy loves Jesus more than anything else and is committed to doing her part of the Great Commission with excellence, innovation, and laughter. In addition to ministry, she works professionally as a marketing director in metro Atlanta. She has a bachelor’s in Mass Communication, a Master’s in Practical Theology, and is currently pursuing a doctorate degree in educational ministry.
4 Things to Fast From Other Than Food
The fresh start of a new year is looming. The feelings of “I can do anything” and “This will be my best year yet” have only weeks of shelf life left before they expire. Ces’t la vie. We run fast, going nowhere. Not all of us, but many of us experience this. We have all the intentions of doing things differently in the new year but can’t grasp how to switch gears. For one, lifestyle changes require more than intention. They need action, a total commitment of the mind, body, and soul. You can’t declare change without following it with the unction to change. Second, lifestyle changes require us to sever old patterns. One way to clear the mind of old habits and ways of thinking is fasting. By definition, to fast means to abstain from food, or a limiting of one’s food, especially when voluntary and as a religious observance, but the principle of fasting can apply to anything. As a ministry, TKHC believes in the biblical teaching of fasting because it promotes spiritual growth. Fasting coupled with prayer helps train one’s spirit to hear God more clearly. Overall, fasting helps to narrow the mind, focusing on what’s most important to us and helping us to identify everything that’s not. With that in mind, I’d like to share four other areas where fasting can be beneficial. Social Media I love social media. I work with it every day, but like everything else, too much of a good thing can become a bad thing. Social media is oversaturated with opinions and opportunities, marketing and madness, triumphs and tragedies 24/7. Everyone has a license to use it, and very few people get it revoked. But most importantly, it’s not real…not 100% anyway. Taking social media at face value, taking in every comment, status update, and challenge, consumes our thinking patterns in ways we may not realize. Fasting from social media will pull your mind away from everyone else’s thoughts so you can develop your own. It will force you to find another outlet to pass the time besides scrolling through Facebook or watching endless TikTok videos. Try it for 30 days and take note of how it went. Did you miss it, or could you go a little longer without it? If you found the break helpful, try to limit your time on social media as you go throughout the year. Television We’re in a weird problem where watch options are better, but the content is a hit or miss. I’m sure you’ve noticed the television/movie remake obsession over the last few years, plus all the ways we can watch TV besides cable. Streaming services are exceptional and convenient, but when binge-watching starts to stifle functionality, we’ve got to rethink some things. If you have a resolution of running two miles every Saturday but spend each weekend watching Netflix instead, it’s not farfetched to say you may be shy of reaching your fitness goals. If television/streaming services are a sore spot for you, try going without them for a short period. Don’t forget to document any changes you experience after your time of fasting. Music Music affects your mood. I imagine this is why music lovers often claim “music is life.” Let’s think about that for a second. If something is affecting your mood, then it’s affecting your thoughts, and if something is affecting your thoughts, it will eventually affect your actions. The best example I can use for the context of this blog is being a part of the music ministry in your church but not spending enough time listening to or creating music that ministers to others. If you sing lead in the choir on Sundays but spend Monday-Saturday listening to everything but a gospel or Christian song, it will be challenging to center your mind and heart on Jesus. You’ll sing with your lips, but your heart will be far from the song you’re ministering. Why not try the opposite for 30 days? Try fasting from your regular music and only listen to Gospel or Christian music for a month and document your experience. Friends I’m glad I’ve got my girls, too, but I know the importance of taking time for myself. I’ve never been the friend that calls every day or that you hang out with every weekend, but I am the friend that shows up when no one else does. I’m the friend that prays, and I’m the loyal friend. My real friends know this about me, which is why we’re still friends. We love our friends because they’re great company. They get us when others don’t, and they’re the family we choose. But sometimes, our loved ones distract us from what we need. We’re content with having good times with them and forsake the state of our personal lives outside of their presence. Who is the person staring at you in the mirror when no one is looking? What does that person need to thrive? I’m not telling you to drop your friends by any means. I’m suggesting that you accept fewer invitations and evaluate the relationships of those closest to you. Do they only offer you a good time? Are they considerate of your well-being? Do you feel like they hinder you more than help you in any way? Again, fasting helps us to see things more clearly. Sometimes we miss the obvious, like who’s really ‘for us’ because we’re too distracted to look. If you’ve gotten to this point in the post, you should know that all of these fasting alternatives are intended to strengthen your faith walk. As Christians, we must remember Jesus. We can’t claim a life of service unto God when we never make time for Him. We get distracted like everyone else. Our lives are whole, and sometimes they’re full of things and people not good for us. Fasting from food and other areas of our lives that grip our attention help to realign our mind and heart
The Requirements to Build
Building requires patience. The ministry was founded in 2007. We did not acquire land to build until 2021. Yet, the promise remained the same: “You will build from the ground up.” We endured the trials of commercial leases, poor building management, and countless other valley moments along the way for 15 years. The promise remained: “You will build from the ground up.” We moved from building to building. We kept renting spaces. We kept servicing the community. We kept doing ministry, remembering the unchanged promise: “You will build from the ground up.” As thousands of other churches did, we maneuvered to online worship services. We realigned internally; we sought God sincerely. God doesn’t always perform when we think He should. He doesn’t consistently deliver instantly (though He can). He doesn’t always open doors when we feel ready to walk through them. We’re encouraged to wait patiently on the Lord. He strengthens us to hold on as we wait until the promise is fulfilled (Psalm 27:14). We’re always waiting for something; in lines, for promotion, for a spouse, news, etc, but waiting for God, waiting patiently for the manifestation of promise, is always worth the time it took. Building requires supervision. We are not building haphazardly. We are not careless with our tools. We have not negotiated shady deals. All partners, construction, and design teams are building according to the vision and strategies given to us by God. As the Lord leads, we lead the people. As God shepherds the process, our leaders supervise the people. No area is uncovered.No plan is left undone.No promises are left unkept. Building requires vision. Write the vision and make it plain (Habakkuk 2:2). We’re not making up plans as we go. God downloaded ideas for a custom sanctuary, men’s vocation school, women’s transitional home, senior care facility, after-school program and more from day one. Vision requires seeing without sight. The blueprint comes before the build. Some #TKHC blueprint points include: 🔹International music for worship services (for future members from other nations)🔹Training in prayer and leadership (for the many pastors, ministers, and community stakeholders that will develop here)🔹Visiting nursing homes and engaging with the senior population (so that Cobb County residents will know a safe place for the elderly care is coming) Do you see what we see?Take a moment to support the vision by giving here https://tkhcministries.com/give/
