Men's Meeting with Bishop Dale Bronner on 23 June 2017

(The following are excerpts with adaptation from what Bishop Dale Bronner had shared during a Men's Meeting held at City Harvest Church on 23 June 2017.)

Mistakes. All of us have made mistakes in life. However, your past failings do not define you or make you a failure in life. Your past prepares you for the future. The power to define is the power to determine destiny. Add a positive "yet" to your confession. Don't just say: "I have not done what I ought to do", but say: "I have not done what I ought to do yet." "I am not a millionaire yet." You are not done yet.

Truth be told, you are empowered by where you have been been -- in the difficult situations and circumstances of, say, pains and struggles. Failure teaches much than success will. Your power is from where you have been. That’s where you find, inter alia, Grace, Strength and Sanctification.

Moses was at the back of the desert before he had his burning bush encounter with God, and before he confronted Pharaoh. The past prepares you for the meeting with God, and your transformation after the meeting in your being a doer of the Word of God will revolutionise your life.

God gives seed to the sower. Measure the success of your day by the seeds that you sow. Success is not measured by the size of your harvest. After all, one sows, one waters, another reaps, but it is God who gives the increase.

Each of us is a seed. Until we are in the right atmosphere, nothing will happen. When men pray passionately, watch out. When you read the Word of God you will find that the Bible is the only book when you open it, the Author is present.

You charge and change the atmosphere by your prayers. Your power is in your place of prayer, pain, addiction. God works through you by where and what you have been through. Every thing you have experienced have prepared you for this season. You know what to do or not to do again; you have learnt. God won't make you do right, but makes you wish you had done right.

When you have been with God, He turns your pain into power. Your past is your ammunition. Your ministry comes out of your past. God never give a gift which is not needed; you just have to find where it is needed. Go where the hunger or appetite is. The ravens (from which come the word "ravenous") are not known to wanna share their food. But God commanded them to feed His prophet Elijah. 

STAY HUNGRY. Fast in your pursuit for God. There are people who are starving for Jesus but are not hungry for Him. Thank God for your appetite for the things of God. Stay hungry. Sick people don't have appetite. You are in danger when you loose your hunger. Are my associates stimulating or suppressing my hunger? Men ought always to pray and not faint. We never had to ponder "Why should I go to the grocery store?" Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

STAY HUMBLE. Humus, of the earth. Be on your knees. When you are on your knees it stabilises you. It takes humility. When you are under stress, anxiety and frustration, this is the call to prayer, humility and dependency on God -- the Higher Power. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

STAY HONEST. You don't know who people are really like until you give them power. Power reveals the condition of the man’s heart. The Shunnamite woman provided a room for prophet Elisha's use and furnished it with a bed, a table, a chair and a lamp.

These are the essentials which every man needs. Bed - place to rest. You make different decisions when you are tired. Table - place to eat and nourish the soul. Chair - place to study. Lamp - illumination of the Holy Spirit.

Stay true to your calling, your real identity. Live according to what you were made for. Take care of your H.A.T. where H = Habits, A = Associations and T = Thoughts.

HABITS. You are what you perpetually do. Your habits prophesy your future. The secret of success is found in your daily routine.

ASSOCIATION. Taking a leaf from Jim Rohn, "You are the average of the five persons you are closest to." Is God amongst  your selected 5? Direction determines destiny. The enemy will try to frustrate (to deceive) you. Associations are like an elevator. The right associations will elevate you.

THOUGHTS. As a man thinks in his heart (spirit), so is he. I am a new creation made in the image of God. One God-thought can change your life forever..

Jabez (he who causes pain) may have been one who caused so much pain to his mother when she gave birth to him. Yet, Jabez was eventually considered more honourable than all his brothers. You cannot give birth without pain. Sin entices with quick relieve and initial enjoyment, but ultimately seeks to enslave and dominate. Pain is necessary. Jacob intervened and changed Rachel's second son's name to Benjamin (Son of the Right Hand); she had call him Ben-Oni (Son of my Sorrow) just before she breathed her last while giving birth to him.

Remember your strength in your pain. Your past prepares you. It does not define you. People can put a label on you. Jacob's name means supplanter, deceiver, con artist, or trickster. Jacob wrestled with God all night and would not let Him, even when God had touched and caused the socket of his hip to be out of joint, till He blessed him. God then changed Jacob's name to Israel which means Prince with God. Jacob walked with a limp thereafter as a reminder of what God had delivered him from.

Your weakness is an opportunity for your testimony to be shared. God's grace is sufficient for you, for His power is made perfect in weakness. This is a sign of your turning point. Abracadabra is an Aramaic word for "I create why I speak." You shall eat the fruit of your lips. Life and death are in the power of the tongue. Have a tenacity to pursue God's best for you. We are creators unlike the magicians who are merely illusionists even though they say, "Abracadabra!" "I create while I speak." 

Remember what Jesus said in Mark 11:22-24 (NKJV): "So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them."

Jabez got sick of hurting people. He asked God to bless him indeed. God does a great work in you before He can do a great work through you. "God, make me a blessing. Lord, bless me. Put your power in me; empower me to prosper." Blessing does not mean exemption from persecution. Joseph went to jail. You are not defined by where you are. Ask God to bless your desires (so that they are in alignment with what He desires of you).

As with Jabez, ask God to enlarge your territory. We are in a shift now. Pray that God's Hand of favour and protection be on you. Pray that God will keep you from the evil. 

Do something great in me, O God, so that I can have homegrown food to export. Do something great in me so that You can do something great through me.

About Bishop Dale C. Bronner

Bishop Bronner is the founder/senior pastor of Word of Faith Family Worship Cathedral, a thriving interdenominational ministry with more than 19,000 members. He is a much sought after conference speaker and leadership trainer, whose travels have taken him around the world. An accomplished author, Bishop Bronner's message reaches millions daily through his international multi-media broadcast.  

Living The Dream (Broken Crayon Still Colour) by Bishop Dale Bronner

The following is a sketchy recollection, with adaptation, of LIVING THE DREAM as preached by Bishop Dale Bronner at City Harvest Church on 25 June 2016 for your refreshing.

"Soon Joseph had another dream, and again he told his brothers about it. “Listen, I have had another dream,” he said. “The sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed low before me!” Genesis 37:9 (NLT)

The sun, moon and stars are all sources of light (and in the context of this verse they connote Joseph's parents and his eleven brothers). Even before the sun, moon and stars were created on the fourth day, light already existed for God Himself is the true source of all lights. God called light into existence on earth on the very first day. "Then God said, "Let there be light'; and there was light." Genesis 1:3 (NKJV)

The Word of God gives us light for our path. "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." Psalm 119:105 (NKJV) 

You dream in living colours. Interestingly, a spectrum of light consists of seven colours: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet (ROYGBIV).

A dream is caught (not taught). When an idea or Word comes from God, we gotta pay attention and register it in our being. Moses took notice of the burning bush. Samuel heeded the Voice of God when he was just a boy. 

A dream is carried. Just as in pregnancy, there is a gestation period; your dream needs time to grow. You don't become successful overnight. That so-called overnight success is a result of hours and possibly years preparation. 

Don't skip (or despise) the carrying stage of your dream before it can be conveyed or delivered. Joseph kept his dream alive even when he was sold into slavery by his brothers. 

A dream is conveyed. The blessing of God is carried before it can be realised. It depends on your capacity to carry. If the blessing of God poured on you is all 3 litres and your capacity is 1 litre, you will retain that amount which you can carry. The problem is fixed in size, but you have the capacity to grow. Have a growth mindset; not a fixed mindset. You can improve with effort.

Dream preplays our future. Memory replays our past. Don't just live on memories and wake up to a nightmare. Live your dream regardless of your age. Catch a new dream. You are only as old as your last dream.

Preparation is the key to make your dream a reality. It's the idea that starts the money and not the other way round. Money follow vision. Tell it well to sell it well. You always sell from your heart. Tell it in such a way that prospects could see that you believe in the dream that you are articulating and be moved to support your dream.

Dreams are the substance of all achievements. God's answer to every problem is a person. That person is one who is at the right place at the right time doing the right thing.

Step out in faith and stand on the Word of God. The faith is worthless without the faithfulness to stick it out! "But Jesus quickly spoke to them, “Have courage! It is I. Do not be afraid.” Peter said, “Lord, if it is really you, then command me to come to you on the water.”  Jesus said, “Come.” And Peter left the boat and walked on the water to Jesus." Matthew 14:27-29 (NCV) 

Hope is the blueprint (big picture of your dream) and faith is the building materials. People may steal your building materials, but you can replenish them. Don't let anyone steal your blueprint; guard it well.

There are three types of dreamers:

1. Those who wish for it.

2. Those who wait for it.

3. Those who work for it.

Has God asked us to do anything that was easy?

God brought life out of frustrated womb. Consider Sarah giving birth to Isaac, Hannah giving birth to Samuel and Elizabeth giving birth to John the Baptist. These were miraculous births made possible by the spoken Word of God. Don't let your dreams frustrate you; hold on to your hope.

The Word of God came in a vision to Abraham and proclaim that God is his shield, his exceedingly great reward. "And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.” Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness. Genesis 15:4-6 (NKJV)

According to scientists, there are about 10 sextillion stars and 5 sextillion grain of sands. God showed Abraham the full magnitude of his promised son in the heavens as well as down here on earth.

Faith is the vision of God. You show what you are waiting on by what you are working on. Dream requires risk; risk requires faith; faith requires the Word of God; and the Word requires your undivided attention. Dream in living vivid colours; the clearer the dream the better so that your whole being can align with it. Your mind cannot differentiate between a dream and reality. When we are asleep, the unfolding events in a nightmare is as if they are real to our brain.   

Bishop Bronner drew two revelations from his granddaughter's broken crayon. Firstly, you got nothing to share unless you have been broken. Secondly, there is still as much efficacy in a broken crayon; broken crayon still colour. 

Jesus is the Author and Finisher of our life of faith. Let's keep our hope, our dream alive in vivid colours. It may have been broken along the way, but broken crayon still colour the same. Keep standing on the promises of God and work with Him as you keep pursuing your dream.

[Feel free to check out The Ink Room, if you are interested to purchase a CD copy of this sermon.] 

Man-Up! with Bishop Dale Bronner

(The following message is a recollection and adaptation of what Bishop Dale Bronner had shared during a Man-Up! meeting held at City Harvest Church on 24 July 2015)

Bishop Bronner shared so many nuggets upon nuggets of truth that it is not easy to catch them all with a pen and notebook.

Hence, you may wish to get hold of a copy of his message in full from The Ink Room (http://www.theinkroom.com.sg)

Noting that Singapore is known as the Lion City, he proclaimed that Singapore belongs to Jesus -- the Lion from the tribe of Judah. He has some Asian roots and identifies with the same blood type which is the most common among Asians -- B+ (i.e., Be Positive!). 

Then, he took some digs at the differences between man and woman. For example, when a woman says she doesn't have any clothes to wear, what she meant to say is that she has nothing new to wear. On the other hand, when a man says he has nothing to wear, he is saying that he does not have anything clean to wear. He quipped, "Your wife doesn't always hear what you say; she interpretes you."

When a man is fulfilled, his wife and his children will also be fulfilled.

Every man has 4 needs (at least):

1. A need to be LOVED.

2. A need to be UNDERSTOOD.

3. A need to be VALUED.

4. A need to be REMEMBERED (in a positive way).

God's answer to every problem is always a person -- the right person at the right time in the right place doing the right thing.

Men are called to be leaders in their home. The LEADER is a path finder where, ethymologically, LEA = path; and DER = finder

God puts a vision in us, but man as a leader has to find the path. LEADERSHIP is leading yourself in such a way that inspires others to follow. God gives us a hunger to find our path. Get up and go on a journey with God. You will find God the most outside of your comfort zone.

The greatest lessons are learnt on a course (of life) and not in a course (of study). Always remain teachable.

God fills us to fulfill the Great Commission.

According to Luke 12:47 (NKJV), "And that servant who knew his Master's will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes." You don't get what you want in life, but you get what you prepare for. BE PREPARED!

How To Prepare Yourself:

1. Assessment

Be aware of not only your strengths but also your weaknesses. Do not be like the job interviewee who only spoke of his strengths and was dumbfounded when asked for an assessment of his weaknesses. He was not honest with his assessment of himself since everybody has weaknesses. God gives you direction based on where are you. "Adam, where are you?"

2. Alignment

Have everything set up properly. Align your values with the Word of God. Taking an analogy from the game of golf, your posture and swing must be in alignment for the ball to reach the goal.

3. Attitude

Attitude is a frame of mind. Be positive. Be allergic to negative people. Whatever frame your mind will frame your world. An attitude is an external sign of an inner emotion.

4. Action

Be ready to take the first step when the time comes.

Have a SYSTEM -- a system simplifies the various aspects of your life such as family, business and finance. With a system, you Save Your Self Time Energy and Money.

WISDOM is knowing what to ignore.

HAPPINESS is determined by genetic set point (50%), intentional activity of thoughts and actions (40%) and outside circumstances (10%). Inspite of the least percentage of influence, outside circumstances can mess up our happiness.

Some Outside Circumstances That Stress You Up:

1. Living out of sync with who you are (your core values).

2. Saying "Yes" when you should say "No". Make a decision to cut off from a state of being, where De = off; cis = cut; and ion = state of. A decision gives us powerful scissors.

3. Trying to control things that are out of your control.

4. Having an unreliable team member.

Be wary of the company you keep. These are the categories of people in your life:

1. Coaches (experts who need very little from you; 90% of the time they are imparting to you while you give them your 10%)

2. Comrades (buddies)

3. Casuals (associates; acquaintances)

4. Care (people we care for)

5. Chronics (hardheaded people)

6. Contaminants (evil, wicked and destrutive people who distract you from your purpose and God-given mission)

Spend more time with your Coaches, Comrades and Casuals.

There is a WORK that God has ordained for man:

1. HARD WORK

Be diligent. Work hard. Dysfunctional = not working. An indolent person is a lazy person who is avoiding pain and, in so doing, creates pain for others. Romance without finance is a nuisance.

2. HEART WORK

Keep your heart clear of offence, resentment, unforgiveness. etc.We control our reactions to others. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." Matthew 5:8 (NKJV)

3. HOME WORK

Maintain your home as Prophet, King and Priest. No amount of success can compensate for the failure at home. Family = Father's house. Husband = houseman.

Build your house on a solid rock of hearing and doing the Word of God (God's principles).

About Bishop Dale Bronner

Bishop Dale C. Bronner is the fourth of six sons of the late Mr. Nathaniel Hawthorne Bronner, Sr. and Mrs. Robbie Bronner. He began ministry in his local, public high school as president and founder of the Praise the Lord Club. Bishop Bronner is a graduate of Morehouse College, where he finished as the top student in the field of religion. Since that time, he has been the recipient of countless accolades. He became a member of the Martin Luther King Board of Preachers at Morehouse College in 1999. In 2001, he earned his Doctor of Ministry degree from Christian Life School of Theology. In 2003, he was consecrated/installed as Bishop by the International Communion of Charismatic Churches, which is a network of more than 16,000 churches.

He serves on the Board of Directors and is part owner of Bronner Brothers Manufacturing Company, a multi-million dollar family-owned corporation which has been in the hair care business for over sixty years.

Currently, Bishop Bronner is the founder/senior pastor of Word of Faith Family Worship Cathedral, an interdenominational ministry, founded in 1991, thriving with more than 19,000 members. Many regard Bishop Bronner as a leader’s leader. Consequently, he is a much sought after conference speaker and leadership trainer, whose travels have taken him around the world. He is an accomplished author, with several books to his credit: Get A Grip (1996), Guard Your Gates (2002), A Check Up From the Neck Up (2003), Treasure Your Silent Years (2004), Home Remedies (2005), and Pass the Baton (2006). Bishop Bronner is co-author of Planning Your Succession (2008). He is also a contributing writer for the books, Man Power and Failure: The Womb of Success. Bishop Bronner’s message reaches millions daily through his international multi-media broadcast.

Bishop Bronner resides in Atlanta with his wife, Nina. They are the proud parents of four daughters and one son. Additionally, they are blessed to have two beautiful granddaughters. Bishop Bronner lives with a mission to reach the lost and teach the found. His passion is to know Christ and to make Him known as well as to bring maturity to the Body of Christ.