Forerunners, Trailblazers, and Well Diggers: The 3-fold Power Chord

Forerunners, Trailblazers, and Well Diggers. These three terms are not synonymous. That was the first thing God impressed in my spirit. The second thing is that these three will become the 3-fold power chord of the Church. Let's take a look at these briefly:

Forerunner- someone or something that comes before another: a sign of something that is going to happen

Trailblazer- a person who makes, does, or discovers something new and makes it acceptable or popular; a person who marks or prepares a trail for others to follow

Well Digger- is the process of drilling a hole in the ground for the extraction of a natural resource;The earliest wells were water wells, shallow pits dug by hand in regions where the water table approached the surface. 

A water well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving, boring, or drilling to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The well water is drawn by a pump, or using containers, such as buckets, that are raised mechanically or by hand.

Wells can vary greatly in depth, water volume, and water quality. Well water typically contains more minerals in solution than surface water and may require treatment to soften the water.

God wants the operation of all three happening in the Earth. Apostles, Prophets, and Teachers are indicative of this coming move. We need trailblazers, forerunners, and teachers who can make sure that our wells are being filled with the pure and unadulterated Word of God. 

We pray for this Power Chord to be released into the EARTH. Pastors and Evangelists will continue to win and shepherd but we need all five fold functioning in this hour to mature the Body of Christ. 

Racial Reconciliation: Is There A Seat At The Table For Black Women?

I am under 40. Yet, I have experienced desegregation through busing Blacks from the ghetto into white neighborhoods and schools. I was one of them. I have experienced being blocked from opportunities during my middle school, high school, and college years regardless of my skills, gifts, talents, and willingness to learn. I have a gifted to genius IQ. That has meant absolutely nothing to some decision makers, and posed a threat to others. I have been told as early as 2014 that I have three strikes against me: "You're Black, you're female, and you're intelligent." Let me just say that is not just the sentiment of the secular world, but in some ways, it is also the sentiment of many religious circles as well.

Many are well aware of the minimized role of Black women in the Civil rights movement. I dare say that this attitude continues to pervade many areas (political, social, religious) today. But as I was seeking the Lord today, I heard this clarion call:
Until they invite Black women to the table and not just as tokens, they still have a ways to go.

A panel of Black men is great, but we are in this together. The Black family not just men has been decimated by racial systems and the residue of institutions of racism both in and out of the church.

Systems that left us with:

The government becoming Father in the home
The imprisonment of men for petty crimes or trumped up crimes
The promotion of abortion for Black women no matter the age, income, or marital status
The Black woman as the sole provider for the home
The deliberate effeminization of the Black male and push of the homosexual agenda in the Black community

It was Black women who lost husbands, fathers, brothers, and uncles. Who had to teach their sons and daughters that America had different rules and standards for them that continue to this day.

It was Black women that seemed to always wear mourning clothes. Dreams dying, children dying, economy dying, future narrow and limited.

It is Black women that were and are pushed to the forefront of careers and fortune 500 companies, even as she watched her Black man denied those same careers to drive a wedge in the family and flip the structure of the provider in the home, from male to female. She watches the unemployment rate skyrocket for Black men affecting their psyche and need to provide as well as their self worth and marriage potential in the eyes of Black women.

Rather than addressing the system that keeps Black men out ( unless they are gay like Don Lemon and pose no threat) many bought into the lie that Black men were just not up to par. Many have believed the lie that "there are no good Black men" and it is simply not true. The unemployment rate among men does not tell the full story. The illegal immigration issues will further suppress the potential of Black men in this country. But I digress.

It is Black women who continue to be marginalized even in Hollywood. Viola Davis, Gabriella Union,Monique, and Victoria Rowell are women who have recently spoken out about this marginalization and white power structure that limits roles and only promotes Black women as Whores, Slaves, Maids, Angry, Hypersexual, Mentally Ill or Lesbian. Those are the roles available, and if you don't play the game of "cooning for Hollywood", you are black balled.

But we are more. We are beautiful, intelligent, witty, kind, compassionate, nurturers. When was the last time you saw that portrayed? We are judges, ministers, mothers, teachers, congresswomen, officers, architects, not video vixens and basketball wives. When was the last time you saw a Black professional woman portrayed in a positive light with no shade?

I ask, "Are we really serious about healing the soul of Black America? Is there a seat at the table for us?" Racial reconciliation starts with healing the souls of Black folks. Our heart, our self- respect, our value to our own selves, not just healing with others.

Precarious Alliances

No one loves the story of a great friendship more than I do. One of the friendships that is remarked upon and drawn from over and over is the friendship of Jonathan and David.

There is one aspect that I have yet to hear about and that is the position of Jonathan in the midst of two extremes: love and hate.

David was the friend Jonathan loved, and yet on the opposite side was the intense hatred his own Father held for the person Jonathan loved.

What happens when your friend is deeply connected to your sworn enemy?

You tread very carefully, as David did. Though he loved Jonathan, he understood his alliance was precarious at best.

King Saul would use Jonathan's friendship to further his despotic plans to try to murder David. I dare say you've met some people like that.

Even Jonathan had doubts about the intensity of his father's hatred for David. But David was NOT making it up. And neither are you. Sometimes, you might be the only one who sees at first the enemy connected to your friendships. It takes an honest friend to assess the connections around them.

Jonathan was so convinced that he was right, that he put it to the test. When he discovered that his Father was indeed after David, he wasted no time informing David, giving him time to escape what was sure to be an assassination.

As a Leader, you must recognize when you have to disconnect or disengage, not only for your purpose, but for your safety. Jonathan and David, though covenant friends, continued to hold each other in esteem, though their lives took divergent paths.

What can we learn from their friendship?

Covenant connections can survive disconnection due to danger
Covenant friends don't always see the spear coming for you
Covenant friends can't always disconnect from your enemy
Covenant friends will protect, alert, and warn you of impending danger.
Covenant friends keep their words even to future generations.

For more on this friendship, read 1 Samuel 18

Next Generation leader, let God lead you even through precarious alliances and trust His voice in who you count as a covenant friend.