NO MORE BRICKS WITHOUT STRAW FEBRUARY 2010 Ric Steele Ministries | 43422 West Oaks Dr. Suite 310, Novi, MI 48377 | ph: 248.960.8063 | fax 248.692.5007 RIC STEELE MINISTRIES One of the prophetic words spoken of Due Season and our covenant partners through Prophetess Kathy, was that there would be “No More Bricks Without Straw.” We must stand on this word with faith and understanding. Apostle Ric tells us that as God builds his Spiritual House, the global and local church, He uses us as bricks along with precious and lively stones. We are those bricks that build the House of God. This spiritual house must be made of bricks that will not crumble, break or erode over time. Bricks that do not have straw have been found to erode and crumble. Only bricks that are made with straw endure. What is straw and why is it so important? The bible says that all flesh is grass. Straw is nothing other than discarded or dead grass. Straw represents the failures and the mistakes that we have made in our life. All of your failures in life and even areas that you thought were failures; God knows how to work those things together for your benefit. In Romans 8:28 it 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.” It is those failures in life that work throughout your life to give you added strength. The kind of strength that can only come through failure and the wisdom gained from it. Consider those that never learn anything from their failures They are doomed to repeat their mistakes. When you fail in the world, your failures are simply failures and there is no benefit. When we trust God, He takes all of our failures and turns them into victories. He takes our weaknesses and makes them strengths. Apostle Ric tells us that God didn’t call you to forget the worldly or fleshly endeavors of your past or to forget your failures. Rather, He has called us to understand that those past endeavors and failures are what gives you experience and add to your strength. This becomes the ‘straw’ to our brick. God makes and molds our character the same way that mud bricks are made. So for us to really understand what God is trying to do with our life experiences, let’s examine the process of making mud bricks. NO MORE BRICKS WITHOUT STRAW Apostle Ric & Prophetess Kathy Steele GOD WANTS TO GIVE YOU STRENGTH FEBRUARY 2010 “GOD MAKES AND MOLDS OUR CHARACTER THE SAME WAY THAT MUD BRICKS ARE MADE.” First, in order to make an mud brick, the clay must be mined. It has to be dug out of the ground. God, the Father came to dig you out of your situations, your past and anything that hinders the Will of God in your life. The clay is mined in the Spring. The winter cycle of freezing and thawing helps breakdown the clay so that it can be worked with more easily. Just like the clay, the Lord allows us to go through cycles of freezing and thawing. These are cycles and seasons where nothing appears to work out. Then there are seasons when things work out effortlessly. It is through this process that our will and personalities become more manageable. There is nothing like failure to humble the spirit of pride in a person’s life. Unfortunately, it often takes hard times to get many people to stop and listen to the Lord. Next the clay is filtered. Impurities and rocks are taken out. The stony places of our hearts are removed. Next is the process of mixing the clay with water to get the right consistency. Water represents the anointing. God has to work with us and mix His anointing into our lives whereby we have the right spiritual consistency. God wants us to learn to trust and rely upon His Word and ways and not our own strength. The next step is to place us in a mold. God places us in a local church or under an overseer that causes God’s shape to be formed in us. Once God’s basic shape is formed, He gives us a ‘drying out’ time. Drying out time gives us time to experience life and ministry God’s way. It gives us a chance to gain experience where we are not so “wet-behind-the-ears.” RIC STEELE MINISTRIES Ric Steele Ministries | 43422 West Oaks Dr. Suite 310, Novi, MI 48377 | ph: 248.960.8063 | fax 248.692.5007 A time when we are inactive and unable to participate in certain activities or ministry. Through this drying out period we learn how sit, grow in patience and learn to retain our Godly character. The final process of kiln firing happens next. Bricks are then superheated for weeks on end. This superheating causes the raw materials in the clay of sand, iron, zinc and whatever else to be fused together into one solid material. When God makes His people, he allows them to go through times of extreme heat for extended periods of time. God doesn’t want us to be a collection of random experiences but rather a saint of God with solid Christian character and fiber. No one likes going through this process, but it precisely this process that makes the brick impervious to decay, weather and casual chipping. It is this process of learning how to stand on the Word of God day-in and day-out through extremely heated and uncomfortable situations that teaches us to not bend, break or change shape. It is the heat that causes the fleshly thinking in our personalities to burn up so that only faith remains Apostle Ric tells us that bricks are used as the master builder sees fit. Strong bricks are used to build the building and help protect it from the elements. They help support the weight of the building. People with strong Christian character that have successfully withstood the kiln firing process help support the weight of ministry. Not every brick makes it. Some are flawed. However, even weak and broken bricks have a place. The weaker or broken stones are used as pavers in the walk areas. Upcoming Events & Important Info • Join Apostle Ric & Prophet Kathy at New Wineskins Ministry on February 12th at 7:30 at 16204 13 Mile Rd. Roseville, MI Contact Due Season For Additional Information. • Youth Rap Night on February 19th. • Make Travel Plans & Preparations For Shreveport, LA. Apostle Ric & Prophet Kathy will be Overseeing prophetic training and activations at Rivers of Life Christian Church in Shreveport, LA on June 23,24 & 25. If you can attend, this will be a powerful time of prophetic impartation, training and activation. • Contact Due Season For Additional Information. AREYOU A BRICK WITH STRAW? Somebody may have to walk over you to get into the House of God. Somebody may just simply know someone who’s life is broken but they are still able to point them to the House of God. As bricks, we are never to become offended because someone may have to walk over us trying to get saved. When we understand this we are not easily offended. Some interesting properties of bricks are as follows: First, Bricks don’t move. Bricks stay in the place where they have been set. As bricks, we must stay in the place where our leader, the architect and builder of the House of God sets us. Next, bricks don’t change their shape from where they were formed. We make sure that as bricks, we don’t tell the master builder of the House of God, that we don’t like the role that we have been set. We must make sure that we don’t complain about the task that we have been assigned. Finally, bricks don’t tell the builder how to build the house. Let’s make sure we are not trying to tell our leaders how to run the church. Apostle Ric wants to exhort you today. Allow yourself to be flexible enough for God to put you into His shape and mold you into His image. Allow God to make you into the person that He wants you to be. Allow the wise master builder of your local assembly to set you in place. Be encouraged, if you have not been set, perhaps you are still in the process of being made. Wherever you are in your walk, know that God will take your failures and work it out for your good. Know that there is a place for you in His House if you are willing and obedient. A place of value and honor. RIC STEELE MINISTRIES MARK YOUR CALENDERS!! Ric Steele Ministries | 43422 West Oaks Dr. Suite 310, Novi, MI 48377 | ph: 248.960.8063 | fax 248.692.5007 FEBRUARY 2010 Pearl Of The Orient Ministries, Intl Reverands Mike & Rowena Hall have helped conduct salvation and healing crusades and revivals in churches throughout the Philippine Islands, Manila, Cebu Island, General Santos City, Iligan City and Pagadian City. They have a heart and a true passion for souls and children. We welcome them and are honored to have them as part of Ric Steele Ministries Covenant Churches. WELCOME! NEW MINISTRY PARTNERS COVENANT WITH RIC STEELE MINISTRIES Pastors Mike & Rowena Hall Ric Steele Ministries 43422 West Oaks Dr. Suite 310 Novi, MI 48377-3300 Faith /Excellence /Integrity /Unity RIC STEELE MINISTRIES 43422 West Oaks Dr. | Suite 310 | Novi, MI 48377 ph 248.60.8063| fax 248.692.5007 Email: Destiny@DueSeason.Org www.RicSteele.Org