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How Should I Pray for New Birth Augusta?

March 2, 2010 by Gil Allensworth

I have been asked the question, “How should I pray for NBA?” more than a couple of times. Let me fill you in on a little secret…

THAT QUESTION NEVER GETS OLD!!!

I love that people want to go before God in their prayer time and and ask God to bless New Birth Augusta.

Here is a quick list of prayers I offer up for NBA:

  1. I ask God to give Bishop Long the vision, stregth and endurtance to lead all of New Birth
  2. I ask God to anoint Pastor T and give him the vision, strength, endurance, courage and favor he needs so that he can be the leader that God wants him to be.
  3. I ask God to supply a super natural amount of favor in all of NBA’s dealings
  4. I ask God to prepare the community for NBA
  5. I ask God to start working on people that are far from Him that will come into contact with NBA. I ask God to prepare all of us that will call NBA home to be prepared to love and walk with those that are in need of a relationship with Jesus.

These are just a few prayers I pray.

If you would, I would appreciate it if you would join with me in praying for NBA.

What are some of the prayers that you are praying for NBA?

Posted in Jesus, NBA | 1 Comment »

How Did I End Up at New Birth Augusta?

March 1, 2010 by Gil Allensworth

I texted Jennifer, my wife, today asking her how I ended up here. Two and a half years ago I met Elder Tommy Powell for the first time as I sat in his office at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church completely oblivious to what God had planned.

Yesterday, I sat in the sanctuary of New Birth in Lithonia, Georgia and celebrated Bishop Eddie L. Long’s announcement of Pastor Tommy Powell, the Pastor of the new and soon coming New Birth Augusta.

Two and a half years ago I could not imagine yesterday. I could not imagine being a part of something so exciting, so new, so fresh, so… God.

New Birth Augusta, or NBA as Pastor T is calling the church, is going to be amazing. Yes, Bishop Long and Pastor T are working diligently to make sure the church is all that it can be, but above all, NBA is going to be amazing because God has chosen this time for NBA.

Ecclesiastes 1:11-14

11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. 13 That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God. 14I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him.

Posted in Hearing from God, Jesus, NBA | 2 Comments »

New Birth is coming to the C.S.R.A

January 17, 2010 by Gil Allensworth

You have no idea how excited I am about this:

The Offices of Bishop Eddie L. Long
Senior Pastor

Dear Neighbor,

I GREET YOU IN THE NAME OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST!

I am Bishop Eddie L. Long, Senior Pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, GA. … I would like to invite you to a meeting for people interested in seeing a continuation of this vision of New Birth in the Augusta area. This meeting will take place on January 19, 2010 at  the DoubleTree Hotel at 2651 Perimeter Parkway at 7pm.

At this meeting, you will meet Pastor Tommy Powell, one of my faithful sons who has served me here at New Birth for nearly 21 years. As he and I have talked, he has a compelling vision that reflects my heart that I want him to share with you for your consideration. Originally from Washington D.C., raised in Atlanta, and having spent a few year at Paine College in Augusta before returning to Atlanta to finish his degree at Georgia State University, Pastor Powell is one of my most seasoned sons in ministry.

I believe this is a time like no other in the Body of Christ and the history of our nation. This is a time of oppurtunities, of being stretched to beleive God for more than you ever thought possible. This is a time for the body of Christ  to get into a new dimension in our relationship with God so we can see things as God sees them (Revelation 4:1-2). It is my sincere prayer that you will meet us on January 19th and hear about this exciting opportunity to advance God’s Kingdom.

…May God continually take you “up higher” to receive all that you need to bring to pass His Kingsom purposes in and through your life!

Amazed by His Grace,

Bishop Eddie L. Long, Senior Pastor

New Birth Missionary Baptist Church

I originally met Pastor Tommy Powell over two years ago. When I met him, he was serving Bishop Long and New Birth as New Birth’s Chief Leadership Officer (an office he still holds today). Over the past two years Pastor Tommy and I have become friends as he has walked me through some very difficult situations in my life.

I am honored to be a part of New Birth Augusta, or NBA, as Pastor Tommy so loving calls this new ministry.

Come out Tuesday night to hear Pastor Tommy’s heart. I promise you will not be disappointed!

Posted in Jesus, NBA | 4 Comments »

My Enduring Coach Bowden Memory

December 1, 2009 by Gil Allensworth

November 13, 1993.

The game ended about 15 minutes earlier. I was not happy. Some other guys were visibly upset. Some were cussing. Some were crying. Some appeared as if they wanted to get in a fist fight. Some looked like they were going to throw up.

I sat in the visitors locker room at Notre Dame Stadium in a state of disbelief as our team, the #1 team in the nation, lost to Notre Dame. We weren’t just a “good” team. We were the best. ESPN, Sports Illustrated and all the other college football media were debating if we were going to go down as the best team in college football history. We were quarterbacked by the sure-to-win Heisman Trophy winner. Our defense outscored our opponets offense all by themselves in 3 seperate games. We were unstoppable… that is, until 15 minutes earlier.

We lost on the last play of the game, to the #2 ranked team in the country, on their home field.

The entire Florida State team was distraught… but not Coach Bowden. He sat in that locker room, surrounded by 100 or so devastated young men, and explained that this wasn’t the end of the world. Coach Bowden smiled, laughed and explained we were going to go home, work hard and win again. He promised us that we weren’t out of the National Championship picture… and he was right… as he usually was.

This was a dark day for Florida State, but Coach Bowden rose above the pain, he rose above the anger, he rose above the sadness, he rose above everything and somehow got his team to believe we were still going to win the National Championship.

We won the National Championship that year, just as Coach Bowden told us we would.

Words don’t do my memory justice as I could write more and more, but that afternoon in South Bend, Indiana will always be my enduring Coach Bowden memory.

Posted in Just Gil | Leave a Comment »

Overpromotion

November 13, 2009 by Gil Allensworth

I don’t know if overpromotion is a word or not, but lets just say it is.

I have followed sports the majority of my life and I have noticed that great teams are normally led by great coaches.

Great coaches come in many different shapes and forms. Often you will see a team make a former player their coach. Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn’t.

Logic might tell you that if a team takes a great player and makes him a coach, he will be a great coach. This coach, being a great player, knows what it takes to be great, so logically he should be able to coach his team to be great.

Logic would also tell you that if you take a marginal player and make him a coach, he will be a marginal coach. This coach, being a marginal player, doesn’t know what it is like to be great, so logically he shouldn’t be able to coach his team to be great.

Funny thing about logic in this case, it is wrong. Rarely does a great player become a great coach. However there are plenty of cases where a marginal player becomes a great coach.

Now slow down, I am not saying that all marginal players will make great coaches, or that great players will make horrible coaches, I am just saying that I recognize a trend.

I wonder if this trend exists outside of the sports world?

When I worked in retail jewelry, great salesmen were often rushed into management positions. I always wondered why this happened? If someone is great at sales, why take them away from the sales process and have them manage people who aren’t as gifted in the sales process? Unfortunately when the great salesman became manager, the store usually suffered. The sales went down and the manager was replaced.

When a marginal salesman was promoted to manager, the store normally benefited. Yes, a valuable member of  the sales team was removed, but the great salesmen were still selling. These marginal salesman usually became very good managers.

I wonder where else this trend might exist? The medical community? Industry? Politics? Churches?

Posted in Just Gil | 1 Comment »

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