THE SPIRITUAL DNA OF THE DELTA DEEP IN THE SOUTH
Every piece of fruit we chew, every piece of beef we eat, and every leafy vegetable we consume, including the birth of every child, happened because of a seed. Nearly all that helps us survive in this world begins with a seed planted, and the rest is history. And yet, it seems that all too often, where a thing begins is less likely to be the thing we will remember while enjoying the benefit of it all.
One hundred and fifteen years ago, a little Baptist preacher from Mississippi set off on a trek to Los Angeles where a Pentecostal revival had extended into months. Little would he know how that “fire” would consume him, and like an eternal flame, through him, set the world on fire! Hard to look anywhere, nowadays, and not see the evidence of a spiritual DNA (a seed) embedded in the late Bishop C. H. Mason that isn’t evident in ministries, far and wide, large and small, past and present! Bishop Mason’s influence reaches in and around the CHURCH OF GOD IN CHRIST as a surrogate spiritual leader to persons whose movement now reaches more than a billion people around the world. All it took was the seed to produce a vineyard of mammoth proportion! We cannot write church history without acknowledging the indelible and impactful imprint of the late Senior Bishop and Founder of the CHURCH OF GOD IN CHRIST.
The fervor of his baptism in the Holy Ghost carried with it a flame powerful enough to burn out humanity’s dross and let stand the purity of gold found in the soul of the converted and the Spirit-filled life of believers! The synthesizing of unabashed culture, biblical truth, and Holy Ghost unction was used to bring new life to a Pentecostal teaching, vibrant worship, and charismatic gifts that have transformed preaching, praying, deliverance, worshiping, and evangelizing! All it took was the embedding of a Saved, Sanctified, and Holy Ghost-filled seed to spread the righteous fruit of Holiness. A single seed!
ALL OF THIS STARTED IN THE DEEP SOUTH OF THE DELTA
Tennessee, Arkansas, Alabama, and Louisiana became the arteries of a heart set ablaze in Mississippi. Like a root system of Pentecostal Holiness, with the evidence of “tongues of cloven fire” the power of God caught on–spreading in every direction, every state, every continent, and every people. The DELTA WAS THE EPICENTER of what has remained for more than a century, a power source, a beacon of light that casts out darkness, frees from the shackles of oppression, and has given the Christian faith a much needed “shot in the arm” for revival.
With every great move of God that shakes the foundation of the world, great leadership is at its helm. In the Kingdom of God, a seed of divine supernatural power, embedded in the soul, is a force from God that turns the world upside down. This is said with great humbleness of heart, and a great sense of honor that every Chief Apostle of this grand ole Church of God in Christ has the DNA of the Delta!