Real Faith Church...How it All Began

It is my distinct honor to write this blog post about my husband. I was fourteen years old when I first met Travis some 23 years ago. We were both members of the same church body, United Holiness Church where Overseer Aaron Snipes was Senior Pastor. Travis attended United Holiness Headquarters in Americus and I was a member of 2^nd United in Donalsonville, Georgia. Travis was a sixteen year old power house for the Lord. I grew up witnessing prophecy after prophecy being spoken over his life. I valued his friendship because he wanted nothing from me other than to see me grow closer to Christ.

Year 1995

 

Never in a million years did I ever think that I would eventually become his wife and the mother of his three children.

We were married in 1996 and even though God was always first in everything we did, the prophecies over my husband’s life as a future pastor were soon forgotten. Travis and I were comfortable serving God under the leadership of our then Pastors. We gave God our all and when we begin to have children, we wasted no time in teaching them the word of God as well.  In 2006, God called Travis and I into evangelism when we started GO Ministries, a nonprofit Christian performing arts team. As you all know, GO Ministries performs free admission stage plays written to uplift and bring families closer to God. We continued to serve our church family and GO Ministries relentlessly for the next seven years.

In early 2013, Travis started experiencing bouts with insomnia.

I can’t tell you how many times I woke up at two and three o’clock in the morning to find my husband in the living room face down in prayer. He kept saying “Baby, I keep feeling this sense of urgency from God but I’m not quite sure what he wants me to do.”  Deep inside I knew what was to come and to be honest, I didn’t want that responsibility. I didn’t know if we could handle the emotional strain this new call would entail. Our family had already been through a lot with sudden death of several loved ones. In spring of 2013, Travis walked into the room and said “Baby, God has called me to Pastor.” I took a deep breath. I really didn’t want to hear that. As much as I loved God, my faith in the church itself was beginning to dwindle because of recent bad experiences. I had also heard the stories about pastors who along with their families suffered emotionally and physically from leading their congregations. And I definitely did not want to be categorized with pastors who ran their churches like a business/cult rather than a place of worship.

Needless to say, Travis felt some resistance from me. Eventually he quit talking to me about it. (I would find out later it was because he asked God to step in and move upon my heart) And God did just that. God ministered to me in so many ways. If I wrote them all, this would become a book not a blog post.

A few weeks later, Travis was in the bathroom shaving when I walked in and said “God said June 30^th should be the last day at (our then church)”. Travis looked at me and said “I know that was nobody but God because June 30^th was the day God gave me too.”

Travis met with our (then) pastor and told him about God calling him to start a church. Travis and I were raised never to burn bridges and to always fulfill our obligations so he gave our (then) pastor a sixty-day notice. Travis promised to train up someone to take his place over the choir so there could be a smooth transition. Our (then) pastor gave Travis his blessing and even some advice on what was to come. One month later, we were told by this same pastor to leave his church and not come back. This pastor refused to meet with us; nor would he tell us why he wanted our family gone. (We were later told by a “church member” that rumor was the only reason why we gave a sixty day notice was because we were trying to steal members which is why we were told to leave) The allegations were hurtful, insulting and angering. The most difficult part of it all was trying to explain to our children why we couldn’t go back. Soon, people we considered to be close friends, fellow warriors for Christ, people who taught our children began to disassociate themselves from us and all because of a lie. I wanted to scream “THIS IS NOT TRUE! WE WOULDN”T DARE DO SUCH A THING. YALL SHOULD KNOW US BETTER THAN THIS!!! But God told us to hold our peace. What they didn’t know was, it was not our plan to immediately start a church, Travis and I had decided to evangelize with our family first.

All our life the church was our refuge. For the first time, it felt more like a war ground. Once again, I began to question whether or not I wanted answer this call. I was tired of dealing with “church folk”. I thank God for my husband because his faith never wavered. Through tears he said “Baby, we are going to do this. This ain’t nothing but the enemy.”

A few weeks later, God led Travis to his former co-worker and Pastor friend who he’s known for 14 years, Pastor Ronald Smith of Berachah Fellowship Church. Pastor Smith blessed my husband with words of wisdom and guidance. He and his wife called for a meeting with me also. They let us cry and then they dried our tears with the word of God. Pastor Smith took Travis under his wing and mentored him on what to do next. I am thankful to God for leading us to someone who was confident enough in his own ministry, he didn’t mind helping us start ours.

On August 11, 2013, my husband Travis Mack was ordained into office by Pastor Smith and the Berachah church family as the Senior Pastor of Real Faith Church.  It was a long time coming but well worth the wait. We are excited and we do not despise our small beginnings. We are thankful to God for every good and not so good experience we’ve encountered. We now understand and our children now understand; what was supposed to be the breaking of us was actually the making of us and for that we give God praise.

 

16 Days Until the premiere of Life Forever Changed!

Judgment Call

• Should I hire this person?
• Are they trustworthy?
• Should I join this church?
• Is this the right decision for me?

These are questions people everywhere face on the daily basis. In order to get an answer, some make pro and con lists, others pray to God for answers while most do a combination of them both. Whatever your preference may be, making judgment calls is a part of our daily lives. What tickles me is somewhere along the line satan has managed to take our right to make judgment calls away from us as children of God.

Our ability to teach, preach and live the word of God has been hindered by the fear of being called the overly religious judgmental Christian. While we have NO right to condemn a person to Heaven or Hell, we are obligated as Christians to warn people of actions that could lead them to Heaven or Hell. Satan has managed to twist God's instruction and the meaning of scripture by influencing the world to do the exact same thing our children do whenever they are confronted with the wrong they have committed. He has taught them to "pout" and his book "Satan's Excuses for Sin" is quickly becoming a number one seller in the world.

• You're judging me.
• Jesus hung with the sinners. Why can't I?
• It's a process. I'm still working on some things.
• Don't Trip. He Ain't Through With Me Yet (I hear this one even made it to the movies)
• That rule is in the old testament so I don't have to agree with that one.

Christians are ignorantly falling for this snare of the enemy. It is important that we continuously stay in our word for instruction on how to deal with these poor excuses.

The following scriptures require that we make judgment calls based on characteristics and the actions made by our personal selves or the person(s) we've been assigned to minister.

I Thessalonians 5:14
Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men.

I Thessalonians 5:22
Abstain from all appearance of evil.

I Timothy 6:3-5
3. If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to the wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness;
4. He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings,
5. Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.

It is time for children of God to reclaim their God-given authority to effectively and unapologetically minister his word boldly in spirit and in truth. Yes, God is love but never forget his love isn't always filled with milk and honey blessings. Sometimes, God shows us his love with hard core discipline and instruction. Remember God chastens those he loves. (Hebrews 12:6) God knows that by exposing the worst in us, he is actually bringing out the best in us.

Know your God. Know your Rights and operate in them both whole heartedly!!!

Ten Rules to Live By

So here I am. It's the wee hours of the morning and God woke me up just so that I could reflect on some things. A lot has changed for my family over the past three years starting with us moving from my husband's hometown to a new city. While we have no regrets about the move, we've lost a lot since we made that decision.

From the outside looking in, you would think everything that has happened would be the breaking of us but actually it was the making of us as family. Our ability to persevere comes our spiritual roots and the good ground in which they are deeply planted. Travis and I grew in a church were our parents, leaders and church mothers worried about our souls first and our feelings second. Their tough love and two-edged words of wisdom prepared us for the harsh world and the tough times to come. And believe it or not, our toughest times wasn't in our finances, marital issues, health scares or after the death of our loved ones. Our darkest hours came when those who we thought would love us forever decided they didn't need us anymore. Growing up, we were prepared for the persecutions that would come from the enemy's camp but when some of those from our church world turned their backs on us...we hit our breaking point.

But God.

God is notorious for always having that "ram in the bush" and for us, he had several. In the recent weeks, God reunited us with spiritual mentors from our past and introduced us to new ones for present day. Their words of wisdom, love, prayers, support has helped us to generate ten rules to live by. And here they are:

1.      When you don't know what to do, seek God. When you are in need, ask God. When you don't know what to say, be quiet and listen to God.

2.      Christians don't keep their friends close and their enemies closer. They keep their friends close and their enemies confused. Why? Because the enemy will never understand love.

3.      If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, be careful, it might be a wolf in sheep's clothing.

4.      Their "no" is God's not yet. Never lose heart.

5.      Remember Jesus didn't say a mumbling word while being persecuted. You'd better not either.

6.      Vengeance belongs to God and if you take action, he won't spare the rod....(against you that is).

7.      The battle is not yours but the spoils of war is if you let God fight it for you.

8.      Never cry over spilled milk or the "friends" that stole your cookie. Let them have it. God has better in store for you.

9.      You can't be a child of God and a punk too. Stand firm on his word no matter what.

10.  When the day comes to forgive those who have lied, betrayed, back stabbed, rejected, neglected and spat on you..do it quickly and with much sincerity of heart.

Please understand, this post was not written for pity. The post was written in praise. I once had someone to say, "Bridgett, you don't have to write about your bad experiences." To which I respectfully replied "Yes I do. This is my testimony"

My life is not picture but most of the time, it feels that way. If it had not been for the testimony of others who had gone through and overcame, we probably would have given up. I know that if God can do for them, he can do it for me too. I hope our testimony encourages those of you who reads this. Always remember, just because life may not always give you the roses you asked for, doesn't mean your blessings can't be found in beauty of daisies.

B

Saints...We've Been Punked By the World

I didn't know about Emmanuel and Phillip Hudson until I watched their "Still Getting Whoopings" video about a year ago. To be honest the video was funny but it didn't make me a die hard fan. Our kids found them to be hilarious and continued to watch their other videos on YouTube but it wasn't long before Travis and I put a stop to that. The more popular they became, the more (in their own words) ratchet they became with the video topics and music.

  

As Christians, we have to be very careful who we support. The world is making light of the church, scripture, God's Holy name, speaking in tongues and the use of Hallelujah( the highest praise). People joke about it on TV, in stage plays, movies, church parking lots and the pulpit. And what do we do....we laugh. We say it's all in good fun and we laugh. The sad thing is, we are too foolish to realize the joke is on us. The world is laughing at us right in our faces and we are too ignorant to see it. Strong words you say? I know they are but it's the truth and I'm preaching to myself as well.

  

Some things shouldn't amuse us. In world where we Christians are being told to lighten up. God is saying "You'd better TIGHTEN up." While we were laughing, innocent children were getting killed while sitting at their school desk. While we were laughing, people searching for God passed right by us because they couldn't tell the difference between us and the world. While we buying tickets to see the shows and concerts to laugh some more, a family went hungry and lost their home because there no help available. While we laughing someone took their life because they couldn't find anything to laugh about.

  

Look at the video below and watch. This video was shot in a house of God.

  

 The world laughs at us because they no longer feel threatened by us. They have us riding along with them. The sad thing is, their ride ends in hell. Some things just aren't funny.

 

 

The Mack Kids: From K4C to Driven

I wanted to take the time to give honor to our family. Travis and I are the blessed parents of three beautiful children who have a sincere passion for Kingdom Business. Shortly after we started GO Ministries in 2006, our oldest daughter, Brianna, approached us and expressed her desire to start a ministry for kids of her own age.  She, her sister MaKayla and brother TJ decided name their ministry Kids 4 Christ (K4C). Their first act of ministry was to deliver stuffed animals to the sick children on the pediatrics unit at Sumter Regional Hospital. As our children have grown older so has their love for God and their passion for the arts. They recently changed the name of their evangelistic youth ministry from K4C to DRIVEN.

  

They just finished their first dramatic dance skit to one of their favorites songs "Dear Adam" by V. Rose.  This dance is dedicated to every person young and old who have yet to realize God's love covers a multitude of sins. Please watch and show our children some love as they pursue Kingdom Business.

 

 

(PS. The best part about this is...they are not interested in becoming a well known dance team...they simply want to spread the word of God)

The Pursuit of Ministry

 

I write this for those of you in ministry who are beginning to feel weary and discouraged.

My husband and I were called into ministry long before we met. Kingdom business was one of the key principles instilled in us growing up by our parents and church leadership. Travis and I both inherited a hefty dose of spiritual boldness and endurance. We continued to actively serve our church after we got married and began to have children. God refueled my passion for writing and Travis’ gift of exaltation.  In the Spring of 2006, he called us into evangelism through the performing arts.

With a combination of nervousness and excitement, Travis and I obeyed God by taking our ministry to the next level. We were excited about what God was about to do through our call. Naturally we expected for “others” to be excited as well. Instead, we were met with much skeptism. While “the others” felt we were a blessing to the congregation, they expressed concern about us “setting ourselves up for failure” outside the four walls of the church. One family member said to us “What you are about to do is entertainment, not ministry.” This person forgot about Jesus and how he is known for ministering through parable (illustration). It didn’t take long for God to refill our “busted bubbles” by saying “It is not what they say. It is what I say. Now GO!”  

And now you know where the name GO Ministries came from J

 

The “others” couldn’t ignore the numerous testimonies we began to receive over the years; including that from a young man who was finally able to forgive his estranged father after seeing our stage play “When Momma’s Gone”. They couldn’t ignore the testimony from the woman who served her husband with divorce papers prior to seeing our stage play “No Weapon I” only to reconcile with him right after. They couldn’t ignore the cries of the young girl who was finally able to release the pain from her mom’s passing during the same play. They couldn’t ignore the testimony of the woman and her daughter who came to Christ and joined the church as well as our performing arts team after attending “He’s Been Good”. The testimonies we’ve received over the years are innumerable.

Sometimes people will reject you because of intimidation, fear and concern. Yes, I said concern. Here’s why..

We were in the process of planning our MAD Explosion when my sister suddenly passed away. My family was worried about my mental and physical health. They suggested we cancel the production and take some TLC time after the funeral. But I felt an inner press to keep going. And I thank God that we did. As you can see from the picture, many lives were changed that day.

Sometimes life won’t even give you lemons.. but God….God will give the seeds you need to plant your own. With those lemons, you can make as much lemonade as you want. Never depend on man because he will fail you every time. Depend solely on God and he will put the right people in your path. There will be times when God even allow the wrong people to come into your life just so that you will see firsthand what you should never become. Ministry can be very lonely. God has a way of removing the distractions and stumbling blocks we call friends and business partners so that we won’t get off course.

Travis and I have learned to trust God on a whole new level. For everything he removes, he replaces one hundred fold.

I know a lot of people who have given up on God and the pursuit of Kingdom Business because man said no. Remember, Jesus wasn’t accepted by his own; they saw him only as Joseph’s son. (Luke 4:20-30). Jesus encouraged his disciples to shake the dust off their feet and continue to the next town. (Luke 9:3-5)

I encourage those you who are on the brink of succumbing to your weariness, to HOLD ON!  Ministry is for the tried and true. It’s takes a lot of fasting, prayer, study time and patience. If a door is slammed in your face, straighten that tie or shake the wrinkle out of your dress and move on to the next.