First service Sunday morning, July 24 Liza had a word from the Lord about preparation time being over, she had no idea that while that word was coming through her it had great meaning for me.

The Tent of Meeting Prayer Ministry is an in-person prayer ministry open to all on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of every month at 7 pm.We believe that when you encounter God, you encounter the Kingdom of God and His Love. We know that the Lord God in Heaven is the Healer and He is a Good and Loving Father who hears prayers and moves to meet prayer needs no matter who you are or your religious background. The Lord Jesus Christ, God’s Son, not only came to proclaim that the Kingdom of God is near but also to demonstrate the Goodness and Love of the Father by healing through the Power of God.  The Lord Jesus Christ commanded His disciples to proclaim and demonstrate that the Kingdom of God is near as well.  We encounter the Kingdom of God when we encounter God by faith through prayer in the name of Jesus.  It is then, through His Power, that sick people are healed, and relationships and finances are restored; miraculously.In Person Ministry: Location:  River Church of Auburn Hills | 255 S. Squirrel Road Auburn Hills, MI 48326If you are not able to come to the tent in person, please contact us by phone or email and we will arrange a day and time for prayer either over the phone or by Zoom.Phone:  1 (248) 853 - 1524 and leave a message for SusanEmail: TentofMeetingPrayer@gmail.com  ​

This week has been one of encounters with God which has set me on a course of reflections. Several weeks ago now the Lord woke me up with the image from Exodus 12, when Moses put a bronze snake on a pole to stop the snakes from killing the Israelites in the desert. The thing the Lord was highlighting to me was not the snake or how to stop the snakes but the fact that they were told to fix their eyes on the snake on the pole, not the snakes biting all around them and if they would do that, they would be saved.So my personal journey began as He led me back to Himself, back to the beginning. Over the last several years I lost my focus, we have had lots of major life events happen during the last 10 years that seemed to pile on. Interestingly, none of them happened directly to me but they were happening to people I love and they were happening all around me. Not all of these events were negative but they were major and they were distracting. We have had weddings, babies being born, funerals, travel, shifting of positions and people who I have known for decades move out of my life and in looking back over these events, very slowly, without my consent, pieces of me were falling away. I began a new normal which was not normal for me at all.My husband trains people in Critical Incident Stress Management. I have sat in on his classes and heard him discuss how stress has an effect on people but I did not realize how it was affecting me, until that morning when God began to peel back the layers and reveal what was going on in me. With each major life event I began to retreat. I realized that my focus was shifting. We talk often about what is in our tool boxes, what tools we grab that are familiar to us, knee jerk reactions to circumstances, whether they are the best tool for the situation, we grab what is familiar. I did the same when life was throwing me curve balls. Some of my tools were not working. Jesus was my first love. I met Him when I was 9 years old when 2 women came to my neighborhood and held a 5 day vacation bible school for the kids on my street. Meeting Him truly changed my life. I began talking to Jesus every day, I believed He was with me all the time and I told Him everything. He walked me through new schools, adolescence, first crushes and high school graduation; He came with me to MSU and spring break and led me to ministry school when I was only 18 years old. He introduced me to Oz and attended our wedding; He walked with me in ministry giving me courage to face my first pulpit, my first mission trip, my first time leading worship and every counseling session along the way. He was in the delivery room when each of our children were born and walked me through their adolescence, their marriages and now the blessings of grandchildren. He was there when we began this church, bought this property and the day we laid my mom to rest. He is my closest friend and for a while I lost my focus. I allowed my disappointments to cloud my truth. There is only one Truth and His name is Jesus. I have tremendous grace and empathy for people of all races, backgrounds, beliefs and genders. I love people and I understand better today, the human condition. What is happening in our world leaves us full of questions that have yet to be answered but I have a renewed focus, a reset, reconciliation with my first love. My eyes are on Him not on the snakes, He is my answer, He always has been and He always will be. I invite you to shift your focus back to your first love with me and if you don’t know Him yet, allow me to introduce you to the only answer, Jesus. ​

Choosing Life:
Do you buy the lie that you are a victim of your circumstances? The bible says that we overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony, Revelation 12:11.

 Be Patient?! HOW?!Never have I considered the importance of legacy until recent years as I have been introduced to this mindset through varies teachers that have been brought into my life. And then recently my son said something to me that really stuck…in pondering his own life goals he determined that his life would be well invested making a place for his future generations. Then it really struck me and has stuck with me that I am truly not here on this earth right now just for myself and my own self-centered goals and passions, I am truly here for a greater purpose and a greater destiny that I will never attain. I am here for those that follow after me.Pastor Oz and I received a prophetic word long ago before we were married that we have carried with us all these years. This prophetic word had everything to do with our marriage, our ministry and our children. Our dreams were always tied to our children and their destiny. We truly believed that we would never see the fullness of what the Lord had in store for us until we saw it through our children. We have witnessed so much of this dream already but we truly believe we are about to see so much more. The Lord is faithful, never late and never in a hurry. He has perfect timing and He is long suffering, waiting for us to realize who He has called us to be and working alongside us to see this come to pass. He is more interested in our journey than our final destination. I have read Hebrews 12 many times and hear the testimonies of great men and women of faith who often left this earth before seeing their promise. Focus, putting things in focus is so important because when I begin to take off my glasses and try to put on God’s I begin to see just slightly how He sees things. His time is not like our time. His ways are not like our ways. Usually I want what I want when I want it. God is not that way, His fruit is not that way either. The fruit of His Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, kindness, long suffering and self-control. Meditate on that.  This fruit is a result of our relationship with Him. We bear much fruit as He is in us and as we are in Him. Living with the mind set of legacy changes our focus, broadens our horizons, causes us to think beyond our finite perspective. The bible tells us to live for today, but that has to do with problems and worry, not to pick up what doesn’t belong to us and to live in the moment, be present. Living from sustainability gives us pause to consider that my actions have reactions and my decisions have consequences, I am not just here on this earth to accomplish my dreams and my passions, I have a greater purpose and so do you! ​