As 10:30 p.m. was fast approaching on Saturday, December 31, 2005, I pressed my way to the Triumph Church at the Allen Park Municipal Auditorium where others also wanted to bring in the New Year. As the search for a parking space began, the crowds had already arrived and the lines had formed at both entrances. The Triumph Church, under the pasturage of Rev. Solomon Kinloch, Jr., was in anticipation of the Supernatural Manifestation that night and continually as they build an edifice to accommodate their growing congregation. Their special guest was Pastor Smokie Norful, who not only sang to the glory of God, but preached a Word in between selections.
Some of the people gathered were not expecting to get into the auditorium and left before 11 p.m., but those of us who waited patiently on the Lord got not only seats in the auditorium, but seats that were close to the front. Because of the wait, we were only able to hear the Triumph Choir sing praises unto the Lord and see the liturgical dancers go forward, but we did enter the sanctuary in time for the introduction of Smokie Norful. He came out singing “He’s Worthy to be Praised” and preached a little on how Jesus does things for us and on how it was Him who brought us through 2005.
Pastor Norful said, “A mature Christian can praise God ‘in spite of’ what you are going through.” He stated that God is looking for those “in spite of” Christians that when they look back over their situations, where they should have been killed or where some type of harm should have befallen them, “I’ve been through in spite of” the circumstances rings true in their ears. Pastor Norful said it was time for us to come out of the hell and stress that we have been dealing with; we can let it go. He sang “One More Day,” “One Step” and later sang his signature song, “I Need You Now.” As he was singing the song, he told us not to sing it if we are not sincere about the words. We need the Lord for 2006, and Pastor Norful preached and ministered to prepare the saints for the entrance of 2006 – for our deliverance and spiritual-freedom. After another powerful testimony, Pastor Norful reminded us that “God is able” and “He won’t fail.”
Now the stage was set, and Pastor Solomon Kinloch, Jr., who did not waste any time with preliminaries, went straight into the Word of God. Coming from John 5:1-9, Pastor Kinloch read where the scriptures spoke of the man who was by the pool of Bethesda for 37 years and where the people who had infirmities waited patiently until the angel came and trouble the waters of the pool. The scripture tells us that whoever entered the water first after the angel had stirred it would be the one who was healed of their situation. Pastor Kinloch then preached “I Limped In, But I’m Leaping Out.”
Pastor explained that Bethesda means “house of mercy,” but he said it could be known as the house of misery with the people who were there having one bad situation after another. Those people were miserable, but came to the “house of mercy,” just like those of us in the crowd that night that were waiting for something supernatural to happen.
Pastor went on to teach that regardless of how great a Christian one professes to be, it is hard to see Jesus heal, promote or deliver those who are right next to us, but not do the same for us. He broke it down and said that Jesus zeroes in on the worst case scenario in any given crowd, but we miss the message He intended for us to get. God needs to let us see that if he can heal, promote or deliver the worst-case scenario, then He can truly handle our conditions, especially when they are not as intense as the one we just witnessed Him minister to. So though you “limped” into your situation, you can “leap out.”
Rev. Kinloch said that when Jesus asked the man, “Do you want to be made whole?,” he wondered why Jesus would ask the man something like that. Of course the man wanted to be made whole; he had been at the pool of Bethesda, but needed a man to help him into the pool. What he later realized, and what we need to know, is that Jesus wanted to know if the man was serious because some people really do not want to be made whole because they enjoy the attention they get by being sick or afflicted; the illness gives them a reason to stay in the state they are in so they can reap the benefits or the privileges they get from that position. Then he admonished the ladies in the congregation to “stop waiting on a man to ride in on a white horse through the projects to rescue you. Why are you waiting on a man to do what God has already done for many?”
Pastor Kinloch summarized the sermon when he stated that Jesus not only told the man to “rise,” but to “take up thy bed, and walk…” With that command, the man then had to carry the mat around on his back, but God did this as a reminder for the man to never forget who lifted him off of the mat; God did this! When people saw him with the mat on his back and asked him about it, this would give the man the opportunity to give his testimony of “the hell he has been through and how the Lord delivered him and brought him out….” Supernatural Manifestation can happen in your life if you remember who raised you up off the mat.
I would like to give special thanks and a shout out to Ms. Moimian Main, a sweet 9 year old girl who is a member of Triumph Church and one I sat next to during the service. She is physically-challenged, but her spirit and beauty reminds you of how much she knows God loves her and will use her to show others how God loves them, too, regardless of their challenges in this life. God’s continued blessing be upon you, Moimian – God loves you and so do I. We must remember, “I Limped In, but I Leaped Out.” Have a Happy and Prosperous 2006 from all of us at DetroitGospel.Com.
