I have been back in the USA for a few days now, and I am not sure why, but I have this overwhelming urge to continue to report what is going on. Since I have accepted the role that God has placed me in, the sense of urgency has ensued. The details that I will begin to reveal will either show I am another fraud seeking the spotlight, or a messenger from God. I use that term very carefully and I do not want any misconception about it. At the present time, I have been directed to put certain individuals in specific roles as prompted in my spirit. As I mentioned in the last report, I am somewhere in the chain of command. The location has no bearing on anything. What does have significant bearing is my willingness to do the job I have been assigned to with the utmost sincerity in serving God. This I will do with great vigor and intensity. That is a characteristic that has been part of me for many years. The problem is, most of that time, it was dedicated towards selfish behaviors that were driven by all the wrong motives.
Now these characteristics are used totally for serving Jesus. God is actually training me faster than I comprehend at times. I have a significant example to share with you. Kelvin, one of the young men that is part of the Echo Africa team, has been blessed mightily with scriptural wisdom. He has stored in his memory banks an unbelievable number of verses. Not only that, he has the ability to recall many verses in an interconnected fashion. Many times, I would sit and listen to a 10 or 15 minutes dissertation that was worthy to challenge a PhD in theology. But I assure you this, his teacher was not of this world. Now I will explain to you why God’s teaching is sometimes faster than I can comprehend.
When we were at the airport getting ready to depart, I had talked with Kelvin privately. I love this guy and I put my arm on his shoulder. I looked at him eye to eye and told him this: “God has granted you great wisdom in biblical understanding. Be bold and trust what he has given you." At the time I did not think anything of it. The remark was genuine and I did not do it to boost his ego or impress any bystanders. No one was close enough to hear anyway. The message flowed out seamlessly without any real thought. At the time, it just seemed like a passing comment given to a brother that I appreciated greatly. The thought did not linger with me beyond that point, but when it was resurrected later, it had significant importance.
The point of decision that God put me at halfway across the Atlantic was very pointed and direct- I must either take the responsibility that I have been given, or I lose it. As it turns out, this had been a significant turning point. God has made it clear to me that I am a commander of a special spiritual forces team. Everyone has specific roles to fill, and giftedness to exercise. In addition to this, it was revealed to me that I rarely will be called to operate in any of these areas of giftedness. My tendencies towards pride and ego pretty much eliminate me from such service. Praise be to Jesus, He has surrounded me with individuals that are masterfully gifted in the degree that He wants them to be. None of them have fallen into the clutches of the bottomless pit of pride as I have. Only by the grace of God, I was rescued from the filth that trapped me so deep within myself.
One of my first orders of business after we landed was to send a text to Kelvin. I told him that I would be bringing important decisions to him (asking a 24-year-old man to advise me on what to do.) Specifically we would talk about God’s word because now I completely believed in the prophecy that I proclaimed. I do not even like saying those words because it draws attention to an individual. My hesitation is however overpowered by the sense I get in my spirit that is the word I am to use. When Kelvin received this message, he told me of the vision that he had nearly a week earlier. Before all of you disengage and think “yeah right,” just hold on a minute... Kelvin and Tony are meek and humble individuals that do not do things to draw attention to themselves. I have personally witnessed several of these visions with these young men come true. So after seeing these visions become reality, it is evident they are true.
In the vision, I had lined up everyone from Echo, just as a commander would be inspecting the troops. In this vision, I was declaring to the soldiers their areas of expertise. When I got to Kelvin, I told him that God had granted Him wisdom and biblical understanding. This was roughly 5 days prior to the words I spoke to him at the airport. I was oblivious to the fact of God fulfilling His vision at this point. Most likely Kelvin did not tell me this at the airport because it was one of the last things I said to him before we departed. I sense that I never would have known that had I not taken my job assignment seriously at 40,000 feet above the Atlantic. God used that as confirmation for my assignment as a commander. Hopefully I have made the timeline clear enough for everyone to understand this is impossible except for God.
There were a few other situations; one involved my friend Erwin. I am to rely on him for decisions involving the facility in Michigan. He is a meek and humble man with great insight. This marks the beginning of him coming out of a shell that he has found difficulty breaking through. There are great strengths that lie in his warrior heart, and he will begin to see them more clearly. Almost always, I take his advice and act upon it. Now pertaining to the Michigan facility, the Lord will speak through him to me. As I have been making these decisions and empowering others around me with greater roles, I am gaining peace and strength in the Lord. Trusting Jesus working through the body is much better than trusting myself.
My good buddy pastor Rick is another person that will end up with a significant role. God has not yet given me a direct answer, but because of Rick forwarding an email to me, all of this has begun. Neither one of us had a clue at the time that God would launch us on a journey of biblical proportions. Most of the time I feel like a scribe recording a story as it unfolds in front of me. I am so humbled to witness such events, that it seems dreamlike most of the time. Rick came and visited with me a few days ago. He is inquiring about a trip back to Africa. Before even praying about it, I more or less gave him the green light. The Holy Spirit then waved in the background... Right away, three questions came to my mind:
Do you have any selfish intents?
Can you give without showing favoritism?
Will you do anything that the Holy Spirit asks?
These are the three questions that popped into my mind. In addition to that, I would need to tell Rick, “Good job on taking the courage to take such a journey being the lead person.” That was pretty much the instruction I got concerning pastor Rick. Shortly after he arrived, I asked if he had bought his tickets yet. He kind of tilted his head and looked at me with a questioning look and asked why. I then informed him that I had missed a very important step. I did not ask God what he thought about Rick returning to Africa. After telling him the questions the Holy Spirit gave me, he asked for a little bit of clarification. He seemed quite intent on going to God with the answers, because I certainly was not the one asking the questions, or should I say initiating the questions. I know that many would view this as being far-fetched and ridiculous but there is one little caveat I have not mentioned.
Near the end of our conversation, I told Rick one more thing. “By the way, the Holy Spirit says ‘good job,’ because he knows how hard it is for you to take a journey like this as the lead person.” That almost seemed like the key that confirmed in Rick’s heart that the words that were spoken were in fact emanating from the spirit of God. The reality is, any time we speak truth from the Bible, we can count on it as the Word of God. Later on, before Rick left, Erwin had entered the building. The three of us had a brief conversation and then Rick was on his way. When I talked to Erwin later, he told me of the profound feeling that he had. He said that when he saw Rick, he saw a huge role that he is going to play in what is to come. This is significant and I believe it can be counted on as prophecy. Erwin will never admit it because of his humble nature, but there is something mighty that is stowed away within him. Whether he wants to admit it or not it is about to be unleashed.
