My Call pt. 4 "The Final Frontier?"

I never once dreamed that my sharing about my call into ministry would have brought me this far, part four to be exact; but it has also allowed me to share with you some of the more detailed and intimate side of who I am.

Those of you who know me, may see me as being very outgoing and sociable; but it wasn't always that way. I am very shy by nature and chose, rather ran into my shell because of what others have said about me either to my face or behind my back.

Words are very powerful in the arena of life. They can make or break you. Bring life or destroy life. I have always wanted the sense of belonging to something or someone. I mean, wanting to feel like I'm a part of something.

I can remember kids my own age at Bible School and how they acted, I sorta wondered why they were even there. Was it mommy and daddy that sent them? Was it the Lord? I hate to judge and this rant sounds like I am, but the call of God is a serious thing and that call carries with it a heavy responsibility. God is love!! God lives in us!! Love(God) is in us!!.........Without love, we are nothing but a bunch of noise.

Anyways, I came back to Rhema for my second year a different person. I came determined that I was going to be a friend, an ally, someone that could be trusted. After seeing how people acted, I wanted God to shine in me. I wanted His love to radiate from me to others. Slowly, my shyness started to melt.

Really, it took the combined effort of many people to bring out the best in me. They took me out of my comfort zone and taught me how to be the man of God I am today. I am by no means perfect, just crowned with dignity and worth. Just blessed and highly favored.

Second year at Rhema was a blast. I entered into it knowing what I was to do which was to be an Evangelist. How bout that, a shy kid called to Evangelize? School was easy for me because I was determined to learn all I could and put it into practice.

I was in the Evangelist group and not long after registration, God began to stoke the fire. I was sold out on God and I was ready to begin the path He had for me. As I mentioned previously, I got to know many well-known ministers and something I would do would do is when I had the chance, I'd ask questions. Questions about their call, how they prepare to minister, things like that. I wanted to know what I was getting into.

Something that has stuck with me is what Rod Parsley shared. I asked him, "What do you do the day your to preach? How do you prepare?" His answer rang in me and has brought many victories in my life. He said, "I get alone and just fellowship with my Father." It's that personal fellowship with Father God that will calm any internal storm and release that burden-removing, yoke-destroying power that abides in you.

Something I did regularly was to go to Rhema's park at night just to pray. I'd walk around the entire campus praying either in English or Tongues just to quiet my mind and get revelation. What I'm doing now was prayed out during those walks and things I haven't even entered into was prayed there as well. I called this my Gethsemane experience because it was just me and the Lord, no-one else.

During Second year I made it a priority to get to know the some of the First year students, just to prepare them for what to expect and to help out if needed. One instance that comes to mind is when my neighbor was having problems with his roommate. They lived in a 1/1 (one bedroom/one bath) apartment. Those things offered no privacy and so there was bound to be some problems. I know because I faced that two times. My first roommate kicked me out because I wasn't into the party scene and just having fun I was there to learn, not party. Second roommate fought with me constantly. Come to find out from his friends that he was jealous of me for some reason and just wanted to put me down. This happened during First year so by the time I came back to Second year I had my own place.

Getting back to my neighbor, he came by and asked how to get a stain out of the carpet and so I offered to show him how. When I walked into his apartment, the place was a disaster zone. It was a pig sty and there was food crumbs all over the place, not to mention it looked like 2 pack rats lived there. I asked him about this and that's when he mentioned about having roommate issues.

I shared with him about some of my experiences and advised him to talk to the roommate and settle the matter peacefully. Well that didn't work out too well and after having a meeting with the head of student housing, he was told that he could evict his roommate. The roommate was allowed to stay until the end of the school year. There is more to this, but I'd rather keep you guessing.

Also, because of my love for sports, I made it a priority to attend every home basketball game and travel to some of the away games. B-ball was a lot of fun and I got to spend it with a great friend who I keep in touch with to this day. Really, there was a girl on the team that I liked, but didn't have a chance with. I probably did, but no worries. It's all in the past.

The games brought great stories for me to use when I preach. Some stories have never been told because of things that took place. Plus I don't want to embarrass anybody.

Second year went by fast and so I accomplished a lot in just those nine months. I came out of my shell, made friends, did great in school and accomplished many other things by the grace of God.

I graduated May 18, 2002 with a 3.95gpa which for me was great. I was a C- student in High School. I left Rhema the following morning and never looked back. I miss Rhema to this day and look forward to the day when I can travel to my Spiritual home.

What do I miss most about Rhema, you may ask?

1. That strong corporate anointing
2. The love that permiated the campus
3. Exaltation (Tuesday morn prayer service w/ Miss Lynette Hagin)
4. Hearing Pastor Hagin Preach
5. Mom and Dad Hagin who both went home to be with the Lord
6. Friendships I made.
7. Zio's and China Star Buffet

This list isn't half of what I miss nor is it in any particular order. Rhema molded me into a man with an unshakable confidence in God and it developed a confidence in me that I can do anything with the Lords help.

Well, that about wraps up the story of my calling. I didn't do it justice by sharing all the details or share about what is happening with me to day; but if you just sit tight, maybe I will share with you some of what is happening in my life today.


Love ya,

Josh- Mark 9:23

My Call pt. 3

In the previous 2 blogs I shared about how I was called into ministry and what events led up to me applying to and getting accepted to Rhema. Today I would like to share with you about my experience at Rhema. The trip to Rhema all the way to my departure.

After getting my acceptance letter from RBTC, I continued to work at Interforest and sow seed towards my Rhema adventure. Finally on August 13th, I and my folks made the 1,050 mile trek from Monaca, PA to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. This was my first time driving this far of a distance and so I was not used to sitting so long in a car(ouch!!) We made the trip a 2 day event to save us the pain, agony and tiredness. A straight shot would have been 18 hours, but that wasn't about to happen. We stopped just outside of St. Louis Missouri after driving about 12 hours, I was sore and stiff, but hey, my first cross-country trip!! We took two cars and after driving 12 hours, my dad and I felt that we needed to stop. We found a Ramada Inn just outside of St. Louis; come to find out that a Six Flags was next door, thus making the price for a room astronomical. So we got back in the cars and drive some more. We eventually found a place 5 miles down the road which was reasonable. To be honest with you, I slept so well that night.

On Sunday morning, we finally arrived in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. I expected to see desert and cacti, I was so wrong. It was actually green. I won't bore you with details, but let me say that I was able to get a place in the Student-housing complex across from Rhema, which was a total blessing.

Living at Student-housing was a blessing because I met so many interesting characters. Some, I wondered whether or not they were called because of how they acted. For instance, there was an egg fight in the parking lot and some of the cars were hit. I had a knock on my door and the maintenance guy, told me that I had to pay for the damages done to his car because one of the kids who threw eggs actually lived in my apartment the previous year and was friends with my room mate. I told the guy (Dale Hayashi) that I wasn't paying a dime because I didn't even know the kid or even the fact that eggs were thrown. Actually, I insulted the guy because he made me mad.......That's how I was baptized into the apartment life.

Making friends was real tough for me because of my introverted nature. I was shy and really struggled mightily, what turned all this around was just people taking me under their wing (The Hagins, Wiggins and may others) and helping me to really open up. I eventually by the time I graduated, became a social butterfly and was the go to guy at student housing. What I mean by that is that I helped people out with their roommate problems and other issues. I had roommate problems too because I didn't get a long with them. It was a combo of both of us. When you live in a one bedroom apartment, you're bound to have problems.

Anyways, I started school in September and was blown away by the amount of knowledge that the instructors had. I had classes on so many different subjects and a mountain of books to read. The key to the books is (1) Read the books for Doug Jones's class first....these were usually due by midterm (2) Read the larger books and the boring ones to get them out of the way (3) Read the smaller ones which won't take too long.

After the first week, I was thrilled about the adventure the Lord had for me. I was enjoying school and meeting many, many people. The classes were not difficult if you'd just pay attention and do what the instructor wanted.

I can remember in N.T. Literature that for midterm we were to do either the maps of Paul's missionary journeys or do a written report of his letters (Prison, Pastoral, General). The teacher stated that she was grading the maps harder because everyone does them. so being the Einstein that I am, I chose to do a report on the Prison Epistles. A few weeks later we got them back and I got an A. It wasn't a 100% A, just an A. On the paper it said, "This isn't the oder in which I taught." So what? was my response, but still it was an A. A lady did the map and she got an F because the teacher couldn't see the lines. This woman bawled and cried and wined....hehehe.
This woman said a few weeks previous that she was going to doll her paper up, I mentioned to her to be careful and just do as was instructed, she didn't listen and so she received a big, fat F. F as in failure. F as in foolish.

As she was crying, I rubbed it in and said, "I told you, you dingbat!!!" The other ladies didn't like that too much, but so what. She was eventually allowed to do it over and received a C because she was late. As I mentioned earlier, we had many, many colorful characters at Rhema; including yours truly.

We had a guy that laughed all the time and at everything. We had a guy with growths all over himself. I have an interesting story on him, but if you want to hear it, just email me....LOL

One of the memorable highlights of my first year was the Christmas Banquet. The weather that morning was around 60 degrees and nice, four hours later, the weather turned south and it was 20 degrees and snowing like crazy. I picked up my date and drove to the NRC for the banquet. I couldn't believe the weather changing that fast. Later that night after having an awesome time, we were heading to leave when we were informed, "During the Banquet, it snowed 3.5" and had freezing rain to top it off." What a lousy night, it took me almost 40 minutes to drive her to her apartment which was about 4 miles away. The drive was hairy, but I got her there safely.

During my first year, I met so many wonderful people. I made it a point to go to ORU every week to sit in the audience during "The Hour of Healing", hosted by Richard and Lindsay Roberts. I was there so much that they eventually learned my name and even asked if I wanted to help by running a camera or something. I refused only because I wanted to focus on my studies. During this time, I met the cream of the crop when it came to TV ministers. Everyone from Creflo Dollar to Jerry Savelle to Jesse Duplantis and many others. Talk about having favor!!! That's what happens to a Kings kid...

The year just flew by and before I knew it, I was finishing up my first year. I had so many interesting things happen to me and so many opportunities to prove that the Word works.

All in all, I believe that I was at Rhema at the right time. If I only knew what would happen down the road, I would have been in doubt because God had a plan and it was His timing that made the difference.

Well, this is long enough so I will stop here. Sorry to disappoint you by quitting so soon, but my creative juices are finished for now.

Be blessed,

Josh

My Call pt. 2

Last time I blogged, I began to share with you a little about my testimony and how I ended up in ministry. Well, I skipped around a little bit so let me back track somewhat to when my dad and I went to Rhema's "Get Acquainted Weekend." This weekend was during my senior year of high school and I knew I was called but I didn't know how to begin. If you remember I had said as a kid that I wanted to go to Rhema. So here I am a senior in high school and my grades were the pits. I got by with C's, however it wasn't good enough to go to college to become a history teacher so that was out. Well, the Lord reminded me about Rhema and dropped it into my heart about going. So I spoke with my folks about this and we decided that maybe we needed to visit the Rhema to find out more; maybe I would get a leading or a witness about it.

So my dad and I registered to go to the Get Acquainted Weekend. As soon as we landed in Tulsa, I got a witness that I was making a right decision. What that decision was exactly, I didn't know. So here we are in Oklahoma, a place I knew not. In this weekend I was able to attend 3 classes as well as meet the Hagin's and as well as attend other functions. Sitting in the classes, the Lord began to speak to me again and I knew that Rhema was the place for me. It seemed that way because the favor of God was all over me. God was placing me into situations and opportunities to meet and speak with individuals that normally I wouldn't have had any contact with.

For example while in Tulsa, I attended "The Hour of Healing " that Oral Roberts Ministries televises from the Maybee Center. Dad and I were sitting way in the back when a gentleman motioned to us to follow him. We did and ended up sitting with him on the FRONT ROW. Come to find out, this man was the producer of the program. That night Richard and Lindsay Roberts(hosts) had their board of regents on (School and Ministry Advisors). This included: Creflo Dollar; Jesse and Cathy DuPlantis; Jerry Savelle and Marilyn Hickey. Talk about favor. Sitting within inches of these giants of faith.

At the conclusion of this weekend I told my dad that I felt that I needed to be at Rhema. Well, he still wasn't sure and he wanted to talk to mom about it. Anyways they felt that I wasn't ready and told me to wait a year. I was disappointed, but I waited the one year. In that year I worked and was miserable. I ended up around people and places that were so ungodly that my heart was grieving. I had 3 jobs and no I wasn't fired from any of them. The first one I had was doing construction with my brother. I hated it simply because I did all the back breaking qwork while he stood around smoking doing nothing. I understand that I was the grunt, but he bossed me around. He wasn't even the boss, he thought he was. So I quit, qhy bust your but when you aren't making much and there's no room for promotion. My next job was at a grocery store which wasn't bad, but it robbed me of even attending church, my spirit man suffered because of it.

Just to let you know: construction lasted from June '99-August '99. Grocery Store lasted from August '99- October '99. In the grocery business I hated it because I was paid peanuts while doing the job of the whole store, whenever there was a problem in frozen foods, call dry stock(me). What does dry stock and frozen foods have in common? NOTHING!!! So I left there only making $6.35/hr. I'm not a quitter, I just knew that these two previous jobs where taking me nowhere. Really in my heart I knew the Lord didn't want me at these places. I only was after the money. Yes, I missed it.

Finally I ended up at a place called Interforest which makes veneer for counters and whatnot. I got the job just a few days before my 19th birthday. I was here from November '99-July '00. Interforest wasn't a bad place to work. I got along with my co-workers even though they ribbed me for my faith. I was here for a purpose and I feel that I fulfilled it. I worked in the warehouse doing everything from loading trucks; to working in the showroom as well as working mainly in the warehouse doing other jobs. I started to gain favor with my bosses as well as the big muckety-mucks of the corporation. I did the job to the best of my ability and I was rewarded for it. I received loads of overtime plus many benefits not normally given. This my friend is the favor of God in action. I started at $7.25/hr and finished up making $8.60. Not long after I left, the corporation started to face hard times and of the many factories all over the globe, the one I worked for closed.

While working at Interforest I sent in my application to attend Rhema. All those months of waiting I was nervous and worried that maybe I wouldn't get accepted. One day after coming home from work on a Saturday, mom handed me an envelop from Rhema that was addressed to me. this was in April of 2000. Inside was a letter from the dean informing me that I was accepted. Hallelujah!!! I was on cloud nine after that. So here I am, a 19 year old young man with a call on his life and an acceptance letter to attend the greatest Bible School in the world.

I continued to work and work hard all the way up to my final day. They were sad to see me leave because of the influence and joy that followed me. So I left Interforest just a few weeks before my trek to Oklahoma to go to Bible School.

I wrote enough for one day.....I thought I would have finished!!!! lol....maybe next time

My Call pt.1

Some of you have asked me to share my testimony and how I received my call into the ministry. To begin, let me take you back a year or so before I was born. My folks were unable to have kids and so my older brother was adopted. Now not long after they adopted him they became saved and filled with the Holy Spirit. They learned about the promises of God and what the Word has to say about children. So in 1979, just 3 years after getting saved, they attended Kenneth Hagin Ministries yearly campmeeting that was held in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In one of the afternoon sessions, John Osteen (Joel Osteen's dad) was ministering on "Having An Unshakable Confidence In God." As he was ministering, he had a Word of Knowledge about women who were unable to have kids; mom being one of them. Anyway, to make a long story short, she received that Word for herself and believed for a child. I was born November 12, 1980 the following year.

I was raised on the Word. I heard it night and day because my parents have a hunger for the things of God. I heard preachers such as Kenneth Hagin, Fred Price, Kenneth Copeland and many others preaching about faith and how to act on the Word. This didn't register with me, but I heard it. I can remember my parents receiving "The Word of Faith " magazine from Kenneth Hagin ministries and inside it would talk about Rhema Bible Training Center. I would often tell my parents, "Someday I will go there." I was little at the time and ended up forgetting about that. I ended up with one foot in the Church and the other foot in the world. This wasn't a good thing, but it's what drew me closer to the Lord.

Skipping ahead, it's now May of 1997, I am 16 years old and my life is slowly turning around. I had been saved as a kid and so I rededicated my life and eventually got filled with the Holy Spirit in 1996. During May of '97, I was at a youth retreat with my church's youth group and the last night of the service, the minister had a call for those that felt called to ministry. I wasn't one of them, at least I didn't think so. Many kids went up and I was happy for them. My plans were to go to college and get a degree in history and become a teacher. Notice I said, "MY PLANS".

As the speaker was laying hands on the kids, I heard and audible voice say, "Go to the platform and have him lay hands on you." I thought I was hearing things and so I ignored it. Maybe it was my friend trying to be funny. A minute or so later, I heard the voice again, "Go and have hands laid on you." I looked at my friend and said, "That isn't funny, I'm not called to ministry and I don't want to go." He looked at me like I was nuts and said, "I didn't say a word." Maybe I was nuts. I heard the voice a third time, this time it was more direct and forceful, "Get your butt to the platform." I knew that couldn't be my friend and so I went. (1) because I was scared and (2) What did I have to lose? As I was walking I was questioning myself, "Why am I going, I'm not called?" I reached the platform and heard these words, "I called you and I've anointed you to be a voice in the last days." I wasn't stupid and so I figured it had to be God.

Why me Lord? Why not? was the answer I got. From that day my life began to change for the better. I got hungrier for God and His Word and things began to fall in place. I graduated from high school near the bottom of my class and so, I didn't go to college. I went straight to work making a little above minimum wage doing manual labor; Yes, I was a ditch digger...lol

Before I forget, let me add that during my junior year in high school and even in my Senior year, Rhema Bible Training Center kept rising up from my heart. Was I to go there? So during my Sr. year, dad and I traveled to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma for Rhema's "Get Aquainted Weekend." I sat in on 3 classes and got to meet the instructors. During this visit, I knew this was it. I was to go there. Like I said earlier I worked a year to save money. During this year, I worked in a factory making 8.60/hr which isn't much, but counting the favor I had with the company plus working overtime a lot, I managed to save enough to pay the whole tuition my first year. Not only that, but money came rolling in from many different avenues.

God had a plan for me and He knew what it would take for me to get there. The training aspect of the plan, that is.

Ok, it's getting late, I'll continue this soon......

Don't Stress Out: Trust God!!

Have you ever had one of those moments where you were working on something and yet after you put it together, the thing wouldn't work; so you take it apart and put it together according to the instructions and still it wouldn't work?

Well, something like that happened to me last night. I was putting my ministry packet together and all that was left was to print right on the cd and yet the Express Labeler wasn't working. I kept getting a message saying that the Data Execution Process has shut down this program. The program was working fine before and then all of a sudden!! I was getting pretty annoyed and rather stressed out over the whole thing. I contacted Dell who created my computer and I contacted the publisher that made Express Labeler. I got nowhere. really what I got was a headache and stress.

Late last night I went to the Lord about it and I said, "This is stressing me out, help me!! Give me the wisdom to figure out what I'm doing wrong and how to get this to work." I then reminded Him of His Word and then I reminded myself about what God has to say about wisdom and how to deal with stress a.k.a. "Casting Your Care Upon Him".

Well I went to bed and said, I put this into His hands, I need sleep and I can't afford to get uptight about this. So I woke up this morning and after checking my emails and whatnot, I said, "Let's give it another shot." My printer is an HP which prints directly unto the disk. I have the ink jet kind. So what I was going to do was contact HP about the matter and when I clicked onto the Program, the Express Labeler came up and to make a long story short, I got the cd's printed.

Don't ask how it happened, God fixed the problem and He gave me the wisdom to go through this problem another way which resulted in finding the answer... Hallelujah.

So, are you a little stressed about something going on in your life? Maybe it's something more serious than a computer glitch. Whatever it is, be assured that God is on your side and He wants so desperately to help you. He'll give you the wisdom and skill needed to rise up victorious and to come out on top.

First you need to recognize that the enemy first of all may be satan or it could just be your mind which needs renewed, Secondly, instead of worrying, ask the Lord to give you the wisdom needed to solve the problem; He'll do it do.. :-) Finally, cast all your worries and anxieties over on Him, He can handle things better than we can.

1. Recognize the source of your stress
2. Ask God for wisdom
3. Cast your care over on Him
4. Get into an attitude of thanksgiving

The Blessing of God

The month of October has been filled with many twists and turns. After August my schedule started to lighten up a great deal, something that I am not used to and don't like. I usually like to stay busy when it comes to ministry because the more I preach, the hotter I get and the hotter I get the more refreshed and relaxed I become. Early on when I had huge gaps in between speaking engagements, it seemed as if I regressed instead of progressed. I would get nervous and flounder around until I got in my groove.

The more I minister, I enter into a God Zone where I become unstoppable and unphased. Most Christians refer to this as the Anointing. I thank God for the anointing because without it, I'm in trouble. It's an awesome thought to realize that I minister under that burden removing yoke destroying power that cannot be stopped. With God working in me and through me, I can do more things than I ever thought possible.

Getting back to the blessing of God, outside of getting more preaching opportunities, I have been receiving larger and larger offerings. So that (1) I can continue to do what I've been called to do. (2) I can bless more people. The more I bless people, the more God has been blessing me.

Proverbs 10:22 "The blessing of the Lord maketh rich, and he adds no sorrow with it."

I'm not blessed because I'm rich, I'm rich because I'm blessed. Because of simple obedience, trust and diligence; God has shown Himself strong and poured more of Himself into my life.

I was in McConnellsburg last Sunday for 2 services. I never met the Pastor before or his people, but they are wanting me to come back next year and hold a larger meeting. I was only there to cover for a schedule conflict and look what the Lord has done.

I anticipate that 2009 will be unlike any other year I have ever encountered. I expect to double and maybe triple my itinerary, as well as have more money flow through my ministry to touch a generation and to touch the world.

My next goal is to preach in every state and to travel internationally......Hallelujah!!

Called in season and out of season

Today I leave for another opportunity to prove that the Word works. I have always said that a travelling minister needs to be instant in season and out of season and so far, I've been right. I received a call Wednesday morning from a Pastor who was in a bind regarding his church. This Sunday he was supposed to have a guest minister come and speak for "Pastor Appreciation Day", however, the guy called and said that he was sick or something and wouldn't be able to make it.

That's why I got the call; sort of last minute, but hey, I had the weekend off and I didn't mind going back out on the road. I also look at it this way, I'm sowing seed into good ground with this church and its' Pastor. I could have pulled out an old sermon to use, but sensed that I needed to prepare fresh Manna.

Paul instructed Timothy to be instant in season and out of season and so I wonder what the Lord has in store for not only this Church (I've never been here), the Pastor and even myself.

I have also entered a season where it seems as if the Lord has really opened the flood gates in my life. I have been busy all year and I'm still getting more and more opportunities at every turn. I close this month by speaking at my churches "Healing School" on October 30th. The staff at the church I attend are all Rhema grads and have had successful ministries prior to coming on staff. My Senior Pastor: Rev. John and Michelle Nuzzo have done it all. They were Children's Pastor's; Travelling Ministry as well as serving on the Mission field in Africa. All of this before founding Victory Family Church in 1993.

Victory is now on a 12 million dollar campaign to begin phase 2 of the building program. I have seen the Lord move mightily here and I'm glad that I have a part in it. We are touching a generation and God is getting the glory for it. I encourage anyone to check us out @ www.lifeatvictory.com and see for yourself all that is taking place.

It's now 10 to 9 and I need to get packing so that I can leave on time. I practically live out of a suitcase and so this shouldn't take too long. I plan on ministering on Knowing Your Identity In Christ. I have no idea what will take place or even what will come out of my mouth, but if I step out boldly speak as led, he'll fill it.

My first blog on blogger

even though I picked a stupid title for this blog, it's so named because I just learned that I actually had a google account to set this thing up. I can now blog with joy and happiness.


-Josh