tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69495138784775846292012-02-15T23:59:47.132-08:00As Christians we are all faced with spiritual warfare within our lives. But the good part is we are not in this war alone! We are equipped with the armor of God to help us through the tough times! Here we discuss best practices to help get us through our daily walk with Christ.Steffon Vannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02206781685688511940noreply@blogger.comBlogger21100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6949513878477584629.post-66610481760776518042009-03-26T10:32:00.000-07:002009-03-26T20:19:06.210-07:00What are some of the Biggest challenges of being a Man and how have I learned to over come those challenges?<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6949513878477584629-6661048176077651804?l=steffonvann.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Steffon Vannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02206781685688511940noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6949513878477584629.post-5207270191414909822008-04-03T18:44:00.000-07:002009-03-26T10:23:07.440-07:00<span style="font-size:85%;">I thank you for allowing me to share my testimony! I truly feel as though we all have a foundation that you can build a ministry on! But unfortunately, in many cases we create our foundation without first seeking God’s guidance. We end up becoming distracted from the MAN or WOMAN God wants us to be. God already had a calling on my life, but because I didn’t have a relationship with Him, I didn’t know it! It took me almost a decade to discover my true purpose in life. The sad part is that some people never realize theirs.<br /><br />As I said before yes, I grew up in the church. But as we all know some of the most devilish people are in the church! Satan himself was in the choir! No Offense Choir members, But he was!! I chose to hang out in the streets with people who didn’t have goals or dreams. I then allowed this environment to be a distraction from becoming the man God wanted me to be. Being in this kind of environment caused me to be blinded to my full potential of God’s calling for me, my path at that time was dictated by the decisions that I made.<br /><br />June of 1989 while playing basketball on a local basketball court, I was arrested for several bad decisions that I made! My sentence was 366 days, which if you do the math works out to a year and a day. Even though that may not seem like much time to many, at the tender age of 18 I felt like my life didn’t have purpose anymore. I was in a cell no bigger than your standard closet. There were 4 walls, a hard concrete bed and one very thin mattress. I had a handkerchief sized sheet which didn’t even reach my toes! I had a plastic pillow which made noises that along with my thoughts kept me from falling asleep at night. I had to wake up when they told me to wake up, eat when they told me to eat, even shower when they told me to…no matter how funky and musty I might’ve been! I was truly out of my comfort zone.<br /><br />HOW MANY OF YOU BELIEVE GOD CAN TURN YOUR MESS INTO A MESSAGE! YOUR MISERY INTO A MINISTRY!<br /><br />God can take a negative in our life and turn it into a positive! The same way he took Joseph, If you remember in the Bible - Genesis 37:18 when his brothers tried to kill him, they threw him in a pit to die, that didn’t work. Then they sold him as a slave; Then he was locked up for several years in a prison in Egypt. Who knew that one day Joseph would become one of the most powerful men in Egypt, second in command to Pharaoh himself! Genesis 41:41 GOD KNEW!<br /><br />From the Pit to the Palace!!<br /><br />God wants you out of that pit, and in your own Palace that he has for you! God is so powerful and has so much mercy that whatever negative situation your in, he already has an answer to it!<br /><br />One of the Keys is to TRULY … accept Christ as your Lord and Savior! Then as Proverbs 3:5 says – Trust in the lord with all thy Heart! And lean not unto thy own understanding! It may not make sense to you but you still must trust!<br /><br />In me, the Lord took an 18 year old kid, who was locked up in a closet sized jail cell, sleeping under a handkerchief sized sheet on a concrete bed, with tears in my eyes and my heart crying out for God’s help and God said…“I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Weeping may endure for a night but JOY cometh in the morning!<br /><br />Even at that point God had a plan for my life, despite my efforts to ruin it! He allowed me to suffer to get me to the point where He knew I needed to be so I could truly hear His calling for my life. For me, I had to almost lose my life to get to the point where I was ready to be born again.<br /><br />In my Life…. Who knew that God would use the very same environment like a playing basketball and how earlier that had brought me PAIN in my PAST, now brings SUCCESS to my FUTURE?<br /><br />Who knew that on a Basketball court where my life lost its purpose several years ago, that the rebirth of my life would be found! God took that same environment and allowed me to play ball against a guy who was a comedian. A guy who eventually challenged me to get up on stage for the first time, and receive a standing ovation…and fall in love with comedy!! The very gift that I now use as a ministry for God! Who knew? God knew!!<br /><br />Yes, God has truly turned my life around and blessed me! He has allowed me to perform at many of the places I’ve always dreamed about…<br /><br />Philippians 4:4... “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.” There I am on BET’s Comicview!<br /><br />Proverbs 3:6… “In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy path.” There am I on stage at the Essence Music Festival.<br /><br /><br />Ephesians 3:20… “Now unto Him that is able to do exceedingly, abundundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.” Lord you want me to do what? MegaFest? In front of millions people?<br /><br /><br />No matter where you started you can have a great finish! God still has a purpose for you! Trust God! Don’t stay in that pit, go claim your palace!<br /><br /><br /><br />Love Life &amp; Laugh!<br /><br />~ SV</span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6949513878477584629-520727019141490982?l=steffonvann.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Steffon Vannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02206781685688511940noreply@blogger.com1