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The Certain Ones Magazine: Prophetess share with us information on your upcoming Women’s Jamaican retreat.
Prophetess Tera Carissa Hodges: June 13th-15th
2013, we are going to be in Jamaica to worship and praise God. I call
it worship on the water. We get to worship God in tropical place. We so
often think we can only worship the Lord in a traditional manner, in
the four walls of our local church. That’s not true; you can worship and
praise God anywhere. I preach in my singles ministry, whether you are
married or not I tell them, “Girl you better get a life!” A part of
getting a life is getting on a plane, going somewhere you have never
been, going somewhere fun and relaxing and enjoying God while you are
there.
The Certain Ones Magazine: What advice would you offer young women who desire to one day to get married? Prophetess Tera Carissa Hodges: There is nothing
wrong with desiring to be married. That is something that singles in the
Lord will have, is that desire. I tell people that if they don’t desire
marriage, what are they supposed to desire? I minister this a lot; and I
would invite you to visit my YouTube page at
Youtube.com/TeraCarissaHodges. I have a snippet where I minister the
sermon “Come out the cave.” For so many women their life is just work, home,
and the grocery store; and they are wondering why they are not being
found.
Now God can do anything, He can send your husband to your front door,
there is also a huge chance that He is not. Everyone talks a lot about
Ruth and Boaz, understand that Ruth left her home Moab and went to a
different country called Judah. We are not saying move to Russia or
Kenya, He is saying add more to your life to increase your chance to be
discovered.
The Certain Ones Magazine: Salvation should not be boring, it should be fun! Some folks are just too wrapped up in church alone.
Prophetess Tera Carissa Hodges: Absolutely! I say
this a lot as I minister, that some women just don’t live life. Go to
the movies, to the spa, go bowling, and go to 5 stars Restaurant. There
is no sin in living; we think if our life is not church then everything
else is a sin. That’s not true. I implore people to understand, there is
so much more to you than what you’ve done. There is a big world out
there. Take some cooking classes, go the museum, and art gallery. It is
a whole life out there that awaits you.
The Certain Ones Magazine: How do you differentiate the woman and the prophetess and your ministry?
Prophetess Tera Carissa Hodges: I found my identity
through Christ. Through personal prayer, worship, Bible study, and
conversation with the Lord. I implore people all the time to build
their relationship with God; because that is how you’re going to find
out who you are – and why He designed you the way that you are. When I
say that, I mean that it’s not by happenstance you have the parents you
have and that you had the life experience that you had.
I know it might feel like someone else is in control of your life but
you have to understand that God is all knowing and there are
something’s that He allowed because it was tied to your spiritual DNA,
who He was fashioning you to be because it was linked to your ultimate
purpose and destiny.
When I started out in ministry I confessed to God, that I am human.
One thing that God told me was “Do not allow the people to make you an
idol.” So for those who follow me on twitter understand that I just
don’t teach scriptures only. I tweet that I am getting my hair done or I
am at the Atlanta Hawks Game. I am not going to allow people NOT to
let me be human.
People fall because they act so different from others, we all have a
call, and my call may be different. God doesn’t just expect holiness
from the leaders but from the saints as well. I surround myself with
people who don’t pull on my gifts. I have some pretty strict perimeters
that I don’t allow people to cross.
The Certain Ones Magazine: Congratulation on your article in Essence Magazine!
Prophetess Tera Carissa Hodges: Thank you very
much! Sophia Nelson, the author of that piece reached out to me because
of this phenomenon taking place in the body of Christ right now: which
are single women wanting to marry Pastors. They want to marry Pastors
because they are seeing the glitz and the glamor of “being the first
lady”, but don’t understand that what it takes to walk in that position.
I tell women, you don’t want a man with a title, you want a peaceful
marriage.
Just because a man has a title, that doesn’t mean that’s who he is,
when he is not functioning in that title or office on Sunday. I tell
women to build their own life, so you are not looking for a man to give
you a life. When you can take your own self on a shopping spree, and
driving a nice car because God has blessed the fruits of your hands,
when you can take yourself out to a 5 star restaurant, so that when a
man comes along; who can or cannot do that for you, you’re not easily
moved. Because you are not checking him out for what he is driving, but
what is driving him and that is his character, which is the most
important. Everyone can have a great life if they put their trust in the
Lord, and not running behind a man.
The Certain Ones Magazine: One of the most key
issues that women has a problem with is time tables. The waiting process
can play havoc on the emotions on many of women. They are advancing in
age; their biological clocks become overwhelmingly loud. So, now their
want has become greater than their need. In the middle of this all is
the lack of identity. They don’t know who they are and often times seek
validation in the arms of a man.
Prophetess Tera Carissa Hodges: I would reminder
women that your husband is designed mate is design to be that your mate
and not you’re God. You should have an identity before you get married.
Your purpose and life should be figured out. A marriage is not a rescue.
Too many people are looking for a rescue not a relationship. You have
the power to work on your own life.
How can a woman know if he is the one? Well number one is he
pursuing you? In the Bible (Genesis 2:23) it was Adam who made the
declaration “”This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she
shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” What kind of
declaration is he making over you? Because a man who is in love with
you, who is ready for you, and is ready to be your husband, he will make
a declaration over you; without you having to prompt him to do so. Boaz
was the one who inquired after Ruth immediately “Who is she? Who does
she come from?” He began to make provisions for her, leaving extra for
her in the field as she was gleaning.
When a man loves a woman, he protects her; number two what provisions
has he set up for you? What safety net has he put over you? So often
women get caught up in the fantasy and illusions they’ve created in
their own minds. The Bible says to cast down all imaginations that
exalt itself against the knowledge of God. Part of the knowledge of God
has it relates to marriage is that you don’t get all these spiritual
confirmation without some natural affirmation. Because marriage although
it is heavenly designed is an earthly institution that has to walked
out in the earth realm.
The Certain Ones Magazine: It is a unique dichotomy so I
have to ask you this burning question. Some may not know that you”re
also a college professor at Texas Southern University. How did you come
to be one of the co- hosts on the phenomenal Yolanda Adams Morning
Radio Show? Marcus D. Wiley: Well
um, she owed me some money! Just kidding. I got hooked up with Yolanda
actually, as she was being honored at show here in Houston; in which I
was hosting. I had no idea at the time the morning show was looking for a
comedian for her radio show. They had one, but something happened. So,
they were searching, she remembered me. I at the time had no idea she
had a show. I auditioned for three straight days and I eventually got
the job.
The Certain Ones Magazine: How did your alter-ego “Bishop Secular” come to life?
Bishop Secular “He’s a G for Jesus”
Marcus D. Wiley:
Growing up a preacher’s kid, I never aspired to be a preacher. My dad,
grandfather, and great grandfather, were preachers. To me traditional
preachers didn’t look happy. They didn’t have the perks that they have
today. These new Pastors today, — they’ve got it going on! Things have
changed, there’s no knock on it.
Bishop Secular came from that, it’s the
new look in the church. Secular is not a bad word, it means not sacred.
There are sacred people who do a lot of non-sacred things. Pastors are
good looking, are looking good, and they are looking like entertainers.
The Certain Ones Magazine: Standup comedy you are good at that and we definitely appreciate your clean dialogue.
Marcus D. Wiley: I can
do stand up at a church or club, sometimes it is better when I do it at
a club. When I come up behind someone who has been cussing, with my
clean presentation, I get the response “Man, you don’t cuss?” It has a
stronger effect. Some people just grow up in a cussing household; I grew
up in one too. I was just blessed to be able to change.
The Certain Ones Magazine: What’s on the horizon for you?
Marcus D. Wiley: We
are looking over television scripts; we think we are ready now. There
is a book hopefully coming soon titled, “Haven’t had a bad day yet.” It
is basically writing itself. This is what we are working on. We just
want to be successful, whatever that is.
Gospel singer, Beverly Crawford is co-Pastor with her Husband, Todd
Crawford of Gainesville Family Worship Center in Gainesville, Florida.
The Certain Ones Magazine: Your women’s conference is five year strong, congratulations! How did Calling All Women 911 come to fruition?
Pastor Beverly Crawford: Right now the Lord has
blessed us with five years. In January we started our church seven years
ago. And the Lord told me to start a Women’s conference. I was like
‘Lord wait a minute you want me to start an annual women’s conference
and we are starting a church? God said “yes, because women all over the
country will have an opportunity for this call of fellowship time.”The Lord told me to name the conference Calling All Women 911, to
come together no matter what color you are, where you live, or what car
you drive in. It’s about healing. God wanted me to be the first
speaker to open up the conference, He had given me a sermon titled “In
the waiting room”.
Here is an analogy. While waiting to be seen at the hospital, it
seems like everyone name is being called except your name, you forget
there are other people in the waiting room who are hurting also. The
question is: what do you do while you are waiting? Stop complaining and
start praying. I am excited about what God is doing; in this conference,
we have it every year in the month of September.
The Certain Ones Magazine: How did you morph from singing on The Bobby Jones Gospel Show to where you are today?
Pastor Beverly Crawford: My husband Todd Crawford, I
was in a group with my sisters, we would perform in surrounding areas.
One day we performed at a small church and someone had filmed it. They
gave a copy of the VHS tape to my husband, who then made several copies
of it, after sending it out to several radio shows, it was a year later
Dr. Bobby Jones (who was the only one) responded back to us. He
requested that I along with my sisters and brothers come to Nashville.
We did the Gospel explosion showcase, Dr. Bobby Jone at the time, was
looking for a singer for New Life; I went that year and ended up staying
for six years. Through that the doors were opened up at Warner Brothers
Records.
I then moved to Nashville for almost eight years, when that door
closed, the Lord told me to move to Dallas. Once their I connected with
Bishop T.D Jakes, and signed under his Dexterity Record Company, I did two albums with him, — then I signed with JDI Record
Company out of California. I then moved from Dallas to Florida to help
my father out with the ministry. I thought my career was over! It was
so hard, that was a hard period of transitioning for us. But God
provided. And this is where we are today.
The Certain Ones Magazine: You’ve mentioned earlier
about waiting for the appointed time to be seen. What would you say to
someone who is, as you stated “In the waiting room.”
Pastor Beverly Crawford: Don’t give up, while you
are in the waiting room, make sure you are in the right place; so when
your opportunity comes, you will bloom. Sometimes, it doesn’t feel like
you are in the right place. Your blessings are in the right location,
you just got to get there to get it. Keep praying and believing. What I
went through, I now have a peace. The baby is coming, because your
water has broken!
The Certain Ones: J. Moss, please tell us about your
album V4…The Other Side. Imma Do It! Is my favorite track, tell us about
how that song come to fruition.
J Moss: PJAM always trying to do things! It’s just
us. We like to bang. Keep it street. There are a lot of albums people
put out in my genre and it sounds the same, and PJAM doesn’t like to do
that. I think there needs to be more versatility on the radio and in
live concerts. We want to give our young people alternatives, so they
won’t allow other stuff into their spirit. We give them that rumble or
beat that they need and at the same time, giving them a pure message.
The Certain Ones: Did you do all the vocals on your album?
J. Moss: PJAM and I produce them together… me and
Paul Allen. We produce ideas and concepts
together, and “Imma Do It!”,
Is a product of our coming together. We have been doing it together for
over twenty years. We wanted to bring one out for the streets.
The Certain Ones: You certainly did put the fire to
this album. It is motivational and galvanizing. It also good to listen
to when participating in Zumba classes! Where can we purchase our very
own copies?
J Moss: Thank you very much! The ringtone to the
song “Good Day” is on ITunes and Ringtones. These are good witnessing
tunes. It is a perfect opportunity to witness to somebody. It is about
spreading the word, getting people to heaven.
Pastor Bridget Hilliard is the on-site Pastor of New Light Christian
Center Church Beaumont; co-founder and wife of Bishop I.V. Hilliard.
Bishop I.V. and Pastor Bridget Hilliard are the co-founders of the
dynamic New Light Christian Center Church (“One Church, Multiple
locations”) in North, East, West and South Houston; Beaumont and Austin,
Texas.
Their passion to take God’s Word to a hurting and lost generation has
resulted in a current church membership of over 20,000 and counting.
New Light Christian Center Church is not only recognized around the
country as a Mega-Church, but in September 2007 it was honored as one of
the Top 50 Most Influential Churches in America. This Mega-Church has a
nationwide television ministry, a satellite network, an Aviation
Division, Light Commerce Credit Union, and an early childhood
development center known as Light Christian Academy.
The Certain Ones: Women Who Win is your conference
that you host annually. Why did you feel there was a ‘need’ to form
such a conference as this? I had the pleasure to attend your Women Who
Win, conference. Not in person but, via Streaming Live. This was a
wonderful idea for those who wanted to attend but could not. Will there
be a 2012 Women Who Win, conference and will it be Streaming Live
again? And what can attendee’s expect when they attend?
Pastor Bridget: Well um, years ago, when I first
started learning the word of faith, which now it has been almost thirty
years. I would go to conferences and women meetings. People would always
give you the problem; nut never gave you the solution on how to get the
answer. About four years ago, the spirit of God dropped in my spirit;
that I should do something to be a blessing to women and how to live by
faith. That don’t just talk about the problem, but how to get the answer
to their situations, and so that was the inspiration from the spirit of
God to start Women who Win, in 2008. It has been quite successful and
my whole goal in life is to see people win, by faith we can overcome any
situation in life and by faith we can always win!
The Certain Ones: You streamed Women who Win
conference this year. The spirit of God was extremely prevalent, that it
transcended through Televisions and computers, as these strong women of
God, shared their testimonies. Bishop Rosie O’Neal, Dr. Irishea
Hilliard, – whom of which is your daughter, preached about “Mercy”, Dr.
Charisse Gibert, and of course closing it out was you. The Bible states
that “we over come through our testimonies.” These ladies, yourself
included, where not afraid to get raw before the masses. What was the
feeling actually like for you, to actually be there live?
Pastor Bridget: It was just as powerful being there
of course. We made the decision to go live and streaming which we never
done before, we had upward of 16,000 to 20, 000 people viewing it, every
session, so it was powerful, it was absolutely incredible and looking
forward to 2013, we already have theme and we are excited.
The Certain Ones: Pastor Bridget what do the body of Christ has to look forward to in the year of 2013?
Pastor Bridget: 2012, has been a lot of challenging year for those who are in the body of Christ. The theme for 2013 is connecting for restoration. Restoring and
revival. It’s going to be a time of refreshing and restoring so many
people has lost a lot of things in 2012. We believe for the restoration,
and the reviving in 2013!
The Certain Ones: New Light Christian Center is one
church in several locations, in September 2007 was honored as one of the
Top 50 Most Influential Churches in America. You and Bishop I.V.
Hilliard do great work for the community. What makes your ministry so
unique, that it continues to compel people, — not just a certain group,
but people from all walks of life, ages, and gender? Your youth
membership is impressive!
Pastor Bridget: Well I think it is because my
husband (Bishop I.V. Hilliard) has made a commitment to teach the word
of faith, when we started off twenty- eight years ago, God gave us
specific instructions that we were to build people purpose, power, and
praise. When they understood this they would praise God for the victory
in their lives. We have been consistently dong that for twenty-eight
years. A lot of people say my husband’s style of teaching, (and I
believe he is one of the greatest teachers today) I think his
simplicity for everybody to get the understanding of how to get the word
of God to work in their situation is the catalyst in our church. All
our extension churches teach the same thing that Bishop as taught at every location.
The Certain Ones: Thank you for joining us today, Pastor Bridget.
Pastor Hilliard: I thank God for people like you and
your commitment to getting the word of God out for and to the body of
Christ. We are looking forward to a new year. My husband has declared by
the spirit of God, that 2013 is the time for accelerated favor. For
anybody not just the body of Christ that has ears to hear. The favor of
God will show up mightily in a speedy way. It is the year for the body
of Christ to shine!
Goldwire McLendon began his musical career at the early age of 9
years, in Jacksonville, FL. and moved to Philadelphia at the age of 17.
For over 40years, he has ministered in word and song in the city of
Philadelphia. Goldwire (Pop, as he is affectionately called) has been a
soloist and a lead singer for “The Savettes Choral Ensemble” since its
inception.
He has also been a featured artist with “The Brockington Ensemble”
& “Victory Choral Union”. His voice has taken him to prisons,
churches, concert halls, television, radio and many organizational
functions. For many years, he and his family ministered to “the
streets”. Many souls have been won to Christ through his vocal prowess
and the ministry of the Living Christ. In 1978, Pop was ordained as an
Elder and assigned as pastor to the Saint James Holy Church, located in
Tennille, GA. After completing a successful pastoral assignment of
sixteen years, Pop and his wife Ruth (of 59 years~ Mom) returned to the
“Philly” area to be reunited with his entire singing family (children
& grandchildren included), known as the McLendon Family.
Along with family ministry & his individual call as a minister
and psalmist, his voice has been heard across the United States and even
on foreign soul. In 2009, he was honored as “A Philadelphia Living
Legend” along with other Philadelphia musical notables such as; Chubby
Checker, Bunny Siglar, Pastor Rosie Wallace Brown, Billy Paul, Dee Dee Sharp and many others.
The Certain Ones: Why did you audition for the hit BET Reality Show Sunday Best?
Elder Goldwire McLendon: Yes, it is awesome how the
Lord orchestrated my life in this direction. I am still overwhelmed that
there are over a billion people on this Earth, and He picked me out to
bless. I didn’t know there was a Sunday Best until my daughter in the
Lord, called me. That Thursday, before the end of March in 2010. I said
me? 79 years old? I was reluctant to comply with that. She begged me.
And that is how I got down there.
The Certain Ones: Did you deal with any insecurity while auditioning?
Elder Goldwire McLendon: I knew that God was with me. He told me to step into your new season. He revealed he had something in stored for me.
The Certain Ones: You stated that a person has to live in order to fulfill God’s request. to answer.
Elder Goldwire McLendon: It’s all God’s doing. He is
real just as you are talking to me. In order to get where I am, it
takes constant prayers and meditation. God wants reverence and respect.
If you’re faithful to God and his word, He will be faithful to you. God
is real to me and I am so grateful to Him.
The Certain Ones: How do you feel about modern music and traditional? You are not outdated at all, as your style of music ministers to everyone.
Elder Goldwire McLendon: It is very important to
live a life so God can use you. I’ve seen people standing and clapping
their hands; and some sitting singing. There is a difference when a
person is anointed by God. The Bible lets us know we can’t straddle the
fence. When it comes to me, I don’t sing to entertain, but to praise
God, and in turn it blesses you.
The Certain Ones: What are you feeling in that “moment” when you are ministering to your audience?
Elder Goldwire McLendon: In that “moment”,
I just begin to praise Him. When I finish, I just go into a little
small area and begin to magnify the Lord in the worship and praise. And
when I do this, I feel satisfied that the Holy Ghost; has touched me and
used me for His glory. Many times I keep on… I get back to the Hotel
and do the same thing.
