Bishop Ellis to address millions of viewers

BY VANESSA C. ROLLE,Guardian Staff Reporter

Tonight, 70 million people from all over the world will get the opportunity to share in a unique form of worship when Mt. Tabor Full Gospel Baptist Church opens up a Bahamian religious experience to viewers of the Word Network.

The Week In the Word Conference got underway this week with power-packed messages for a full house. The daily sessions were filled with persons who spent their lunch hours "getting their praise on" and receiving significant breakthroughs in their lives.

This last night of the conference will be aired on the Word Network - making it not only the network's first live broadcast church service outside of the U.S., but also the first church service to be aired live on the network.

Host pastor, Bishop Neil C. Ellis, will deliver the sermon for the live broadcast; and Prime Minister Perry Christie is also slated to speak.

The telecast will be shown from 8-10 p.m. on number 373 on the Digital Satellite System as well as on ZNS T.V. 13. The broadcast is also historic for the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas as it will be used to transmit signals throughout the world via the Word Network based in Michigan.

The success of the historic Walking in Victory Conference hosted by Neil C. Ellis Ministries in Greensboro, North Carolina, in June which also aired on the Word Network, and was broadcast live to The Bahamas via the technical expertise of the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas, has spurred the Word Network to accept this new challenge.

The WIV Conference has also augmented The Bahamas' religious tourism market.

Pastor Arthur Duncombe of Household of Faith Ministries delivered the spoken word Wednesday afternoon on the topic "The Butler and The Baker."

Bringing the congregation to its feet in a fervent spirit of praise, Pastor Duncombe encouraged them to use whatever they have for good service and allegiance to God.

He said one has to have an attitude of servanthood like the butler. When the butler has a dream or vision for great things, and the baker cannot support that vision and wants to lag behind, that alliance has to be cut loose he said. He advised his listeners to work their way to the top.

Complainers will never be blessed he said. He stated that one's best day is someone else's worst day.

"God is about to do wonders," he said. "Before he gives you the position, He will give you the anointing. And you wonder why people on your job don't like you? That's because they can see that the anointing is on you. Someone's got to leave to make room for you," Pastor Duncombe said.

"There is going to come a time of separation. There's going to come a time when God is taking you to the next level. So the butler and the baker, they've been friends from primary school, from kindergarten, high school - they've been friends in college and in church, but I hear the Lord say, you're the butler, and I'm calling you to the next level. The butler asks to baker to go with him, and the baker said not now. I'm not ready to go. I don't know about ya'll but I've been broke for too long. I've been sick for too long. Anybody ready for the next level in Week In the Word? God is going to anoint you to break some ties, some religious ties; he's going to anoint you to break some family ties. What separate us from other people is our dreams," Pastor Duncombe said.

"Does anybody in here have a big dream?" he asked. He said that God is about to put a tailwind on those dreams of His people to push them ahead of schedule.

He said that birds of a feather flock together, and in this life, no matter if you have grown up with someone, gone through high school and college with that person, sharing everything with him or her, if your friend is not fully supporting your dream, you have to leave him or her behind.

He told them not to bury their dreams with personal perceptions of their imperfections.

"We all have messed up. We are not perfect. When I come to church, I say Lord, I'm sorry. I am not perfect, but come before you grateful. I am grateful you chose me and grateful that you have anointed me. Don't come here acting like you've always been good," he said.

"What God is doing for you, He's not doing for everybody. I've found out that God uses people in different ways. What God is doing for you...you've got to understand that you are special. So tell your neighbor, 'Be careful how you treat me because I'm special. God restored the butler but he didn't he restore the baker. So my question was why he didn't restore the baker. Now we have all done wrong before. But I'm not worried about what I am going to do. I worrying about how I can I get better," he said.

"I don't worry about my past because it's over. I'm worry about my future. Another thing - the butler was a servant. A lot of us want to come to church but we don't want to serve. There are people who don't understand servanthood and don't have the right spirit saying, 'Oh, you're the bishop's boy...or you're the bishop's pet now.' They don't want to serve but people who are connected and understand servanthood, they will see the benefits. God said He is restoring His servants. I will tell you one thing - 2005 can't come until you get what you suppose to get in 2004," Pastor Duncombe.