I am an OVERCOMER...
Briefly, describe a trial you went through and what you learned that can inspire others.
Hello Everyone!
Thanks for your sharing your testimony here with others. We really do overcome by the word of our testimony and the blood of the lamb!
Here's an excerpt from my published testimony. Be inspired as you read.
"There was a time when speaker and recording artist Alvin Slaughter didn't think God could use a guy like him. From his days as an insecure youth growing up in Brooklyn to his rollercoaster start as a struggling husband and father, Slaughter came to a point in his life where he knew he needed to return to the God of his childhood.
“Worship is contagious and I'm not ashamed to dance,
shout, or sing before the Lord exuberantly. If others
see my genuine passion to love, obey, and glorify the Lord,
they might want to do the same.”
IN NEED OF REDEMPTION
Slaughter gave his heart to the Lord at the age of 12 and almost immediately began singing in the church choir. At 14, he met his future wife, Gloria, in a prayer meeting. Shortly after meeting her, he pursued a rebellious lifestyle, so that by the time he married Gloria at the age of 23, he had two kids and no good job.
From there, things went from bad to worse. “The longer we were together, the worse it got,” he says. “After having another baby a few years later, here I was, young and irresponsible, trying to support a wife and three kids. We spent most of our time with the phones turned off, lights turned off, twice evicted from our apartments...we had nothing.”
Soon the troubles in their marriage split the couple apart. Gloria moved in with her sister and Slaughter moved back with his parents. “I bailed out. I left the church. I left my wife. I quit my job. I hated black churches. I hated white churches. I hated everybody, including myself,” he says. “I lived like a recluse. I remember walking down the streets of Manhattan with balled fists saying to God, ‘I hate you. I can't stand you.’ I’d speak to Him right in the streets. I must have looked like a nut job.”
THE TURNING
At the urging of his sister, Slaughter decided to attend a concert at the Brooklyn Tabernacle. “I sat in the last row of the balcony,” he says. “But as I sat there. I heard songs that I'd never heard before. Choir members would then come forward and give short testimonies. When I returned home that night, I couldn't get the church service out of my mind. I realized then that God was pursuing me.”
Slaughter returned to the Brooklyn Tabernacle every Sunday but would leave before the sermon. Over time, God was softening his heart. “Listening to the music and the lyrics caused me to let down my defenses,” says Slaughter. “Gradually, a heart of stone became a heart of flesh and the Word became alive in my heart.”
It just so happened that Gloria decided to visit the Brooklyn Tabernacle about the same time as Slaughter. Unbeknownst to the other, both filled out visitor cards. One of the church's elders, Brother Byrd, noticed the cards and decided to inquire about the coincidence. He called Slaughter at work to ask if he knew Gloria; reluctantly, he admitted that she was his estranged wife. Then to his own surprise, he agreed to Brother Byrd's request to meet at the church for counseling.
Slaughter hung up the phone and immediately called Gloria. “I yelled and cursed at her because I thought she told Brother Byrd to call me and force me into counseling,” he admits. “I told her, ‘If I was going to take you back, I'll never take you back now!’ ”
Despite that troubling incident, Slaughter showed up for his meeting with Brother Byrd. And God showed up for Slaughter. Convicted at his unbelief, he rededicated his life to God right there in the church office.
After that meeting, Brother Byrd began discipling Slaughter and instructed him to reconcile with his wife. The couple found an apartment six blocks away from the church. “Whatever Brother Byrd said to do, I did,” he says. “For a year, I treated Gloria as though I loved her, but I didn't. As we worked through our problems, I eventually fell head over heels in love with her all over again.”
Next, Brother Byrd told Slaughter to “get in the choir.” Slaughter didn't want to; besides, there was a yearlong waiting list. The very next week, to his amazement, the church started a second choir and he was in. Shortly after joining, director Carol Cymbala gave Slaughter a solo on “I'm Clean,” a song communicating his testimony. From there, he went on to become the renowned choir's lead male vocalist.
ANSWERING THE CALL
In 1990, God began dealing with Slaughter's heart about going into full-time ministry. “I fought the call,” he says. “For almost 10 years, I had been active in Brooklyn Tab's choir, as well as other areas of church ministry and I was busy pursuing various business interests.”
God had other plans. In November, 1990, Slaughter failed in business and his family lost everything. “We were heavily in debt,” he says. “The house, the car...everything was gone.”
In the midst of financial upheaval, Slaughter told Gloria he felt God was calling him into ministry. With her blessing, he left his job and shortly thereafter accepted an invitation to sing at an Italian-Catholic wedding reception. “A pastor approached me at the reception and invited me to sing at a pastor's conference,” he says. “Little did I know that the conference would be attended by over 1,500 pastors! Overnight I began receiving invitations from other ministries.”
By the end of December, just one month later, God had restored everything. Slaughter moved his family into a house in Warwick, New York, and bought the newest car he had ever owned.
“After heeding God's call, the floodgates opened and I immediately started traveling all over the country,” he testifies. “Within two years I was totally out of debt, but most importantly, I knew I was pursuing my life's call.”
“My calling is that of a music minister, and leading worship is a large part of what I do,” says Slaughter. “I perform songs that proclaim or ‘preach’ the Gospel, as well as songs that lead us into His presence through praise and worship.”
In May, 1991, Slaughter began singing at national evangelistic crusades and major Christian conferences. Today, he is a regular on the Trinity Broadcasting Network and travels all over the world singing, testifying, and exhorting Christians to live passionately for God."
Keep stopping by. There's more to come! By the way, tell us your story.
Thanks for your sharing your testimony here with others. We really do overcome by the word of our testimony and the blood of the lamb!
Here's an excerpt from my published testimony. Be inspired as you read.
"There was a time when speaker and recording artist Alvin Slaughter didn't think God could use a guy like him. From his days as an insecure youth growing up in Brooklyn to his rollercoaster start as a struggling husband and father, Slaughter came to a point in his life where he knew he needed to return to the God of his childhood.
“Worship is contagious and I'm not ashamed to dance,
shout, or sing before the Lord exuberantly. If others
see my genuine passion to love, obey, and glorify the Lord,
they might want to do the same.”
IN NEED OF REDEMPTION
Slaughter gave his heart to the Lord at the age of 12 and almost immediately began singing in the church choir. At 14, he met his future wife, Gloria, in a prayer meeting. Shortly after meeting her, he pursued a rebellious lifestyle, so that by the time he married Gloria at the age of 23, he had two kids and no good job.
From there, things went from bad to worse. “The longer we were together, the worse it got,” he says. “After having another baby a few years later, here I was, young and irresponsible, trying to support a wife and three kids. We spent most of our time with the phones turned off, lights turned off, twice evicted from our apartments...we had nothing.”
Soon the troubles in their marriage split the couple apart. Gloria moved in with her sister and Slaughter moved back with his parents. “I bailed out. I left the church. I left my wife. I quit my job. I hated black churches. I hated white churches. I hated everybody, including myself,” he says. “I lived like a recluse. I remember walking down the streets of Manhattan with balled fists saying to God, ‘I hate you. I can't stand you.’ I’d speak to Him right in the streets. I must have looked like a nut job.”
THE TURNING
At the urging of his sister, Slaughter decided to attend a concert at the Brooklyn Tabernacle. “I sat in the last row of the balcony,” he says. “But as I sat there. I heard songs that I'd never heard before. Choir members would then come forward and give short testimonies. When I returned home that night, I couldn't get the church service out of my mind. I realized then that God was pursuing me.”
Slaughter returned to the Brooklyn Tabernacle every Sunday but would leave before the sermon. Over time, God was softening his heart. “Listening to the music and the lyrics caused me to let down my defenses,” says Slaughter. “Gradually, a heart of stone became a heart of flesh and the Word became alive in my heart.”
It just so happened that Gloria decided to visit the Brooklyn Tabernacle about the same time as Slaughter. Unbeknownst to the other, both filled out visitor cards. One of the church's elders, Brother Byrd, noticed the cards and decided to inquire about the coincidence. He called Slaughter at work to ask if he knew Gloria; reluctantly, he admitted that she was his estranged wife. Then to his own surprise, he agreed to Brother Byrd's request to meet at the church for counseling.
Slaughter hung up the phone and immediately called Gloria. “I yelled and cursed at her because I thought she told Brother Byrd to call me and force me into counseling,” he admits. “I told her, ‘If I was going to take you back, I'll never take you back now!’ ”
Despite that troubling incident, Slaughter showed up for his meeting with Brother Byrd. And God showed up for Slaughter. Convicted at his unbelief, he rededicated his life to God right there in the church office.
After that meeting, Brother Byrd began discipling Slaughter and instructed him to reconcile with his wife. The couple found an apartment six blocks away from the church. “Whatever Brother Byrd said to do, I did,” he says. “For a year, I treated Gloria as though I loved her, but I didn't. As we worked through our problems, I eventually fell head over heels in love with her all over again.”
Next, Brother Byrd told Slaughter to “get in the choir.” Slaughter didn't want to; besides, there was a yearlong waiting list. The very next week, to his amazement, the church started a second choir and he was in. Shortly after joining, director Carol Cymbala gave Slaughter a solo on “I'm Clean,” a song communicating his testimony. From there, he went on to become the renowned choir's lead male vocalist.
ANSWERING THE CALL
In 1990, God began dealing with Slaughter's heart about going into full-time ministry. “I fought the call,” he says. “For almost 10 years, I had been active in Brooklyn Tab's choir, as well as other areas of church ministry and I was busy pursuing various business interests.”
God had other plans. In November, 1990, Slaughter failed in business and his family lost everything. “We were heavily in debt,” he says. “The house, the car...everything was gone.”
In the midst of financial upheaval, Slaughter told Gloria he felt God was calling him into ministry. With her blessing, he left his job and shortly thereafter accepted an invitation to sing at an Italian-Catholic wedding reception. “A pastor approached me at the reception and invited me to sing at a pastor's conference,” he says. “Little did I know that the conference would be attended by over 1,500 pastors! Overnight I began receiving invitations from other ministries.”
By the end of December, just one month later, God had restored everything. Slaughter moved his family into a house in Warwick, New York, and bought the newest car he had ever owned.
“After heeding God's call, the floodgates opened and I immediately started traveling all over the country,” he testifies. “Within two years I was totally out of debt, but most importantly, I knew I was pursuing my life's call.”
“My calling is that of a music minister, and leading worship is a large part of what I do,” says Slaughter. “I perform songs that proclaim or ‘preach’ the Gospel, as well as songs that lead us into His presence through praise and worship.”
In May, 1991, Slaughter began singing at national evangelistic crusades and major Christian conferences. Today, he is a regular on the Trinity Broadcasting Network and travels all over the world singing, testifying, and exhorting Christians to live passionately for God."
Keep stopping by. There's more to come! By the way, tell us your story.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Na-Na on -
'06-'07 I went through a legal battle that lasted a little over a year in which I lost everything. My name and character was slandered and some mornings I could barely get out of bed because of the emotional stress. I prayed night and day for God to get me out of it. But in the midst of it, I learned something from a Rabbi I should I learned 29 years a ago when I got saved, don't ever pray for God to change the situation, pray for him to change you. Always pray for favor instead of money, wealth, materials and so on. Well, I kid you not, the moment I began to pray for favor, everthing changed. My legal battle instantly turned in my favor, I gotta new job, started school back up and I'm just about done. Things are perfect but I have a new perspective. Thank you Jesus! Phew! :-)
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Permalink Reply by Alvin on -
This is an amazing story and a powerful lesson! I believe the "lights will come" for many who read your story. I has spent a lot of effort and a lot of years praying for the wrong thing. Thank God that he will bring a revelation through people or something we read or see, to help set us free.
Thank you form sharing!
Alvin
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Permalink Reply by Leesha Hall on
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I have been saved since the age of 6. I grew up in church and had a good head knowledge of Jesus and was beginning to develop my real relationship with Him. Nothing prepared me for what happened on December 17, 2004. On that date at 5:43pm, I was raped. For all the Jesus I knew, I didn't even want to talk to him at that point. All the "saints" could do was tell me to pray or shout over it or whatever antics church folk use...none of which I wanted or needed at that time.
I was broken emotionally trying to figure out why God would allow this to happen. I was hanging on my a thread off a cliff with the strands breaking. During that time, the people around me were telling me it was my fault somehow. My friends thought I was lying to cover up having sex. It was a very difficult time for me. I knew I had to come back to God, but I didn't know how.
Upon the advice of a friend, I went to a Christian counseling center. My therapist bridged the practical with the biblical, allowing me to understand the process I was going through. She helped me not only get my emotions back in check, but she also helped me see God in the process.
Let me backtrack here for a second...before I started going to Ephesians Life Ministries and less than a month after the incident, God told me I needed to be real: the facade I was putting up in church wasn't the real me and that front wasn't fooling Him...that's why I crumbled in that time of crisis...I wasn't whole in Him. He gave me an acronym for REAL: Restoration, Elevation, Affirmation, and Liberation. He showed me the process to becoming whole.
Now, God has released me to host the REAL Conference, helping people achieve balance and become whole in various areas of life: spiritually, financially, emotionally, and physically. I thank God that I am free from the stigma of the rape after going through my own emotionally REAL process. I am now better equipped to deal with women who have been through a similar situation. And now utilizing the people with whom God's connected me, I am able to assist people in that process in other aspects of life.
Because of Christ, I am an overcomer! I thank God for the process. As horrible as it was, God used it to birth something within me...and now it's coming to pass!
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Permalink Reply by Na-Na on
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Leesha,
Thank God for you and thank God for you having the courage to share this testimony. What a ministry tool. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Wuv you ladybug!
Na-Na
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Permalink Reply by Alvin on
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Hi Leesha,
I am so sorry about what happened to you...in and out of the church.
I so respect and admire you so much for taking control of your life. You made a conscious decision to not let circumstances destroy the beautiful woman God made you to be.
I LOVE the fact that you founded the REAL conference. I encourage everyone who to find out more about it and go if you can. You are the quintessential OVERCOMER!
Leesha definitely has something to say!
Alvin
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Permalink Reply by Louise on -
I teach little ones from one and a half to two and a half years of age. I love each and everyone of them so dearly as if they are my very own!! I also deal with office issues, so one morning, I was called to the office (The headmistress was late that day), and what I found out was truly devastating for me. One of my little girls was bleeding from her private parts. My two class assistants and I had to write statements and give them to the headmistress.
I truly thought that I would lose my job, but God came through for me in the most amazing way!! Since that day, the issue has never been discussed again, and the little girl's parents have no ill feelings towards me!! (She is now in another class)
I learned to leave everything in God's hands, to believe and trust Him completely that He will work things out. Whatever fearful situation you go through, just move with God towards it, and just see what He will do!!
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Permalink Reply by Alvin on
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I'm so glad everything worked out. Your good works will always speak for you. Stay positive, stay prayerful, and always give and receive love. I'm proud of YOU!
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Permalink Reply by Louise on
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I have a little girl in my class who was adopted by the Administrator at school. When I went back to work on 7th May (after recovering from my operation), I couldn't reach out to her as much as I tried to. She would always shout back at me and push me away! It broke my heart so much, but I had to find out what happened to her before the adoption. Her family mistreated her. The most amazing thing is that she doesn't act that way with the other teacher or class assistant. It's only with me!
God surprised me today! I managed to do the class activities with her! She also let me play with her and tickle her! The only time she didn't let me touch her was when she wanted to go to the toilet.
She will be moving up to the next class in September. I pray that she will learn to trust me completely one day, know that I love her so very much, and that I would never, ever hurt her in any way!
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