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    Finished Things: The Promise of Completion
    Finished Things: The Promise of Completion
    Finished Things: The Promise of Completion
    Ebook103 pages1 hour

    Finished Things: The Promise of Completion

    By Rev. DeBorah Coleman

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    About this ebook

    Life is a continuum we must traverse from our beginning until our end. We experience many stages during this journey, and they are all a part of the process of enhancing our development and allow us to experience our destiny and purpose. Despite lifes ups and downs, ins and outs, and good and bad, we must learn to hear and understand our purpose and remain steadfast until the end.



    In Finished Th ings: Th e Promise of Completion author and pastor DeBorah Coleman uses Philippians 1:6 to provide encouragement to stay on the path that God has set out for us. She interweaves Scripture and biblical figures and ideas with her own insights, personal stories, and modern-day elements to show the importance of persevering, despite the obstacles, to reach the pinnacle of our faith.



    Coleman communicates the importance of concentrating on our goals and staying in the game to fi nish the course. Get ready for some things to change. Get ready for people to change. Get ready for our own change. We are on the course that leads to completion. God promised to complete what he began in us.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisheriUniverse
    Release dateJan 12, 2012
    ISBN9781462073382
    Finished Things: The Promise of Completion
    Author

    Rev. DeBorah Coleman

    Rev. DeBorah Coleman is a native of Kansas City, Missouri, and began her pastorate in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. She founded Victory Through Praise Christian Fellowship, first in Mesa, Arizona, and then in Kansas City, Missouri, where she pastors today.

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      Book preview

      Finished Things - Rev. DeBorah Coleman

      FINISHED THINGS:

      The Promise Of Completion

      REV. DEBORAH COLEMAN

      iUniverse, Inc.

      Bloomington

      Finished Things: The Promise of Completion

      Copyright © 2012 by Rev. DeBorah Coleman.

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

      Cover design by Caressa Caressa

      Cover photo by Brian Carline

      All scripture references are from the King James Bible

      iUniverse books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

      iUniverse

      1663 Liberty Drive

      Bloomington, IN 47403

      www.iuniverse.com

      1-800-Authors (1-800-288-4677)

      Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

      Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

      Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

      ISBN: 978-1-4620-7340-5 (sc)

      ISBN: 978-1-4620-7339-9 (hc)

      ISBN: 978-1-4620-7338-2 (ebk)

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2011962690

      Printed in the United States of America

      iUniverse rev. date: 01/04/2012

      Contents

      Acknowledgements

      Preface

      Introduction

      Chapter 1 Where to Begin

      Chapter 2 The Architect

      Chapter 3 Deliberate

      Chapter 4 Distractions

      Chapter 5 Direction

      Chapter 6 A Sure Word

      Chapter 7 En Route

      Chapter 8 Performance Art

      Chapter 9 Surviving the Pitfalls

      Chapter 10 Trust God’s Process

      Chapter 11 Time for a Change

      Chapter 12 No Time Warp

      Chapter 13 Surround Yourself With Possibilities

      Chapter 14 Press Past

      Chapter 15 Aesthetically Dangerous

      Chapter 16 Traveling Time

      Chapter 17 Level Complete

      Acknowledgements

      I must first thank God for Clarice and Joseph, my parents, whose love gave me life. I then give thanks for Leona B. and Virgie Owens, my maternal grandparents, whose understanding of the Holy Spirit gave root to my life-long drive of pursuing His presence. I want to thank Brian Carline for the picture portrait he produced for me for just a thank-you. I am extremely grateful to Caressa Caressa for the cover she envisioned. I finally want to thank all of my family and friends who believed in what I had to say and encouraged me to write in spite of myself.

      Preface

      This book has been over nine years in the making. But it was God’s divine desire for me to experience His truth in His proclamation of completion. When I received the inspiration for this work it was on the heels of a tremendously painful time in my life: the separation from the ministry I had known and been a part of for almost 50 years and the untimely death of one of my brothers. This was a time when The Father was reordering my steps and my life. The original hard copy of my manuscript was lost to me in transition. My computer locked down and I was unable to retrieve the work over which I had so diligently labored. The friends who knew my intent and my heart continually encouraged me to go back to it, but I was discouraged by what seemed to me to be an irreconcilable set back. God, however, did not release me. The work still had to be done.

      Though I don’t perceive myself to be profound, in any since of the word, I have every confidence in the power of my Father to use any vessel He so chooses for whatever purpose He so desires. So I relinquish my will to His and pray for the mind of Christ as I attempt to share with you what God has so indelibly imprinted on my heart.

      DeBorah

      Introduction

      The premise of this work is based on Philippians 1:6, Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. The knowledge that we are created in God for a purpose that He alone started and will see through to completion. The idea that it is not about us but all about Him is seen here as Paul expresses, God is responsible. He is responsible for my being, for my salvation, for the work I put my hands to and for the completion of that work. That leaves little room for me to take any credit for anything.

      This book is more than a completed work; it is also somewhat of a catharsis. I have been reluctant to attempt writing since a very young girl. Though in retrospect this doesn’t seem to be as traumatic an incident as my youthful mind and heart labeled it, it did serve to impair me for many years. You may be tempted to say what’s all the hoopla about, but allow me to remind you that we each receive and process varied occurrences in our lives in our own discriminate way.

      When I was in Junior High School I was selected to do an assignment by my favorite English teacher, whose name, gratefully, I have long since forgotten. Because only a select few were chosen throughout the entire school, I felt extremely honored. The competition was between the students that the English staff thought to be the most promising, worthy or competent. We were to write an essay about the person who most impacted our lives.

      At the tender age of 12, most children would choose a parent. I chose my mother. My mother was a single parent raising five children, of whom I was the eldest. At that point in my life she was the center of my being. And though she had many flaws, all I could see was the tremendous love she had for her children. So I wrote. I wrote a descriptive, passionate, heart-wrenching narrative that depicted my mother as just shy of being a saint. I elaborated on all of Mother’s finest qualities and greatly detailed her most minor attributes. At the end I used the letters in MOTHER in a poem to painstakingly produce what I felt had to be the best submission of all time. I watched my teacher read it and cry.

      The day came when the essays would be judged and the winners announced. My teacher came to me and told me she had edited my essay before she submitted it to the committee, because it was lengthy and very emotional. She had left the first few paragraphs of introduction and the end where I had used MOTHER as a poem. I was uncomfortable with that, because I felt they really wanted to have my innermost thoughts and feelings, but I trusted my English teacher. After all she was the one who selected me in the first place. I was tense beyond anything I could have imagined. I was one of the finalists! But, I wasn’t the winner. Another young lady with an essay much like my original essay won. Hers had been submitted just as it was and she won. As she stood on the stage of our high school auditorium reading her essay I looked at my teacher and she looked at me. There was a pact of silence between us and we never spoke of it, but we both knew she had made a mistake; however, the even greater error was my shattered confidence. The teacher I trusted didn’t trust me. This created a lack of trust I had in my own ability to express my feelings. The fear of having my feelings rejected as unworthy stifled my gift of self-expression and impeded even my desire to try.

      As I sit here now, some 50 years later, I realize that God doesn’t waste anything. Everything in our lives is accounted for in His plan. The most minute incident or event is equated to bring about the Divine Purpose intended for your life. When we can’t see or understand, God is working out the Plan He assures us of in Jeremiah 29:11, For I know the thoughts I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

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