SPIRIT OVER MIND, NOT MIND OVER SPIRIT

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It was the summer of 1994 and the spiritual atmosphere was electric. We had just launched the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship (FGBCF), and held our first annual conference at the Louisiana Superdome with twenty-five thousand people in attendance. God had spoken clearly and definitively: This sovereign move of His Spirit was for such a time as this.

Not long after, things started to change.

We built a dynamic team of ministers who contributed greatly to the success of this new endeavor. As time passed, however, differences of theological opinion arose in our council meetings. By and large, we were working through them and coming to an agreement; but some members couldn't get past certain church traditions. I had to stand firm because I knew what God had called me to do. God's assignment for the FGBCF was to change forward, not to retreat back into what we had always known.

About two years after starting the movement, God shook the ranks of leadership. Some of my close associates left our fellowship. I started doing damage control to avoid losing other colleagues when I realized that leaving people in key roles who I knew didn't fully support the cause would ultimately result in more problems.

I realized the issue was that I didn't immediately see God's process. He had put certain people in place for a period of time to validate the movement and help get it started. It was never God's plan for everyone who was there in the beginning to remain.

Changing forward challenges our thinking. It requires a process of putting the truth of the Spirit over what might seem right at the time. This might be difficult, but it is a biblical concept—a spiritual mindset. In one of my favorite sermons, called "So That," I explain this. The premise comes from Matthew 16:25: "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it."

Years ago I ran across a poem that flows perfectly within this premise. God gave me a strong utterance whenever I communicated it to others. Somewhat paraphrased, it says:

I asked God for strength, that I might achieve. I was made weak, that I might learn humbly to obey. I asked for health, that I might do greater things. I was given infirmity, that I might do better things. I asked for riches, that I might be happy. I was given poverty, that I might be wise. I asked for power that I might have the praise of men. I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God. I asked for all things that I might enjoy life. I was given life that I might enjoy all things.

God adds a "so that" to our process. God permits certain things to happen in our lives "so that" we may gain insight and change forward. By the time I founded FGBCF, I had learned this well. It was time to change forward. I'm so glad that I did.

You really can't see what God wants you to see until you go through His "so that" process. Romans 8:28 clearly says: "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose" (KJV). Nothing in this life takes place by accident. God knows everything that's going to happen before it happens. He works out the "so thats" in our lives for His purpose and for our good.

Through the years, God has worked His process in me "so that" I would be prepared to step into and maximize every destiny assignment. I am humbled when I think back to where God has brought me and I can see now how God has worked all things together for my greater good.

Now, let's walk through my story. As we go, I pray God gives you clarity and victory in your own "so that" process.

I continuously give thanks to God for the blessing of my three children. Jasmine, my oldest daughter, really loves the Lord and became one of the greatest church administrators a senior pastor could have. She was always focused and had finesse in dealing with people and handling the business of church. My only son, P. J., is a gifted musician and singer and has an uncanny drive for perfection. Christiann, my younger daughter, is so special to me. Her creative mind and technical use of graphics has positioned her for greatness in several areas. Each of them has continuously been a blessing to our family.

Jasmine is married to Elvin Ross, a musical producer for many of the Tyler Perry plays and films. They have two sons, Elvin Jr. and London Paul, and evidence is clear that I love them more than words can say. P. J. is married to Kortni and they have two sons, JaKai and Paul Morton III. Christy is unmarried but would probably tie the knot immediately, if she didn't know that her allowance would be discontinued. I think she's almost ready but I still consider her my "spoiled baby."

We have a solid and stable fun-loving family and because of the combination of my seriousness about things and my wife's humor, the family has balance. Much of that family stability and balance were shaken in March, 2003, after my Wednesday Night Bible Study in New Orleans. I received a call from Jasmine and Elvin, who were residing in Atlanta with my precious granddaughter, Kai. At eighteen months old, she was my only grandchild. She was just beginning to talk. When they would visit New Orleans or we went to Atlanta, she would always jump up in my arms, calling me, "Papa" and calling my wife, "GiGi." She was my heart. She made herself at home in our house and knowing where our bedroom was located, she would push the door open without knocking. With her, we were on top of the world and we always had the expectation of getting a call from them at night, telling us about what she had done that day.

The call that night from Jasmine was alarmingly different. We were already in bed and I could tell something was wrong from her voice. Her words are imprinted even now in my mind: "Dad, Dad, pray! I'm in my car, taking Kai to the hospital. She's not responding. Daddy, her lips are turning blue. Pray, Daddy, pray!" Her frantic pleas for my prayers and my desire for God to intervene literally collided. With them at the Atlanta hospital emergency room, my wife and I walked and prayed and prayed and walked, determined to remove the effects of what we would have rather believed to have been a bad dream. It wasn't a bad dream.

It was too late to catch a commercial flight to...