Applied Strengths Ministry™ – Where We Believe Working Together in Our Strengths is the Effective Working Out the Will and Calling of God in Our Lives.
Deep Waters In Studio
On The Fly With Debbie & Kenny
Podcast Preacher In The House
An Experienced Bible Teacher Perpetuating Excellence
Not Qualified but Used by Him Nonetheless
So if you have read my bio, you could think that I have done everything needed to launch such a teaching ministry. In truth, I have acted more like a child throughout my Christian growth process toward God than, no doubt, most. If you don't believe me, just ask God. Qualified is a term only used in secular activities, and even at this, we miss it on almost all accounts daily. We run into trouble when we think we are qualified for God's work, which is why He has chosen me to carry on such a work. I bring nothing to the table; it is He, after all, You, who prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies…(Ps 23:5).
Get to Know Me
I would say that I was and remain to be one of God's most difficult cases. And the strangest thing is that it wasn't and isn't because I had a bunch of arguments against His existence. For me, the number one hindrance and reason I waited for 34 years before I stopped running from God and allowed Him to help me was that I believed "it" would get better. The "it" I am talking about is life and everything that represents it. By the time I hit 34 years of age, all in my life that could be upside down was, in fact, upside down.
Consider this, I have been saved since December 1996, and I am just now feeling like I am doing what I was created to do. Oh yes, you should know the thousands of hours I served in the house and streets of God while concurrently seeking my specific calling and ministry. But in seeing a trail of failures, including a couple of churches closing their doors after heroic efforts to win the lost and, to a lesser degree, make disciples that remain, and that can be found standing when all of every bit of the demonic world turns its head your direction, I was sure I was unusable for the work of God. You see, after 19 years of ministry, I discovered something. Yup, Jesus was right when He said you must die for everything that is not of Him. Wow, so this took like two decades of my life to understand – talk about a long, slow, and painful death. Was my youthful efforts while I was dying to my avatar self to no avail? Did my sustained immaturity and resistance in giving it all to God cancel 19 years of effort? Nope. When you prune a tree, you don't cut the whole tree down; you remove the unnecessary and fruitless branches as the tree is able to sustain the removal. You see, if God tried to bring us about to His standard all at once, His plan would have surely failed beginning bout 2,000 years ago.
So why this ministry and why online with no physical address to congregate at? Wow, Ken, so many questions, but surely you might be ready to throw some words into the solution by now. As difficult as my process has been, I did go through it with my eyes open, and I noticed some things that had happened that had helped to facilitate the closing or the shutdown of some of those churches and ministries that I was a part of.
Jesus states that the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. How could this be? If the harvest is taken from the population of laborers, then it would seem that there should be plenty of authentically born-again believers to do the work. Well, in fact, if the following statement is true, which was found using Google, then what's the problem? Was Jesus wrong in His "few laborers" statement?
"Christianity is the most prevalent religion in the United States. Estimates from 2021 suggest that of the entire US population (332 million), about 63% is Christian (210 million) – 12/27/2022
Well, based on the current condition of the Church today, a condition with which it is or should be all too familiar, someone is lying, and it's not Jesus.
A Web-Based Ministry
Welcome to Applied Strengths Ministry™ (ASM). I am very encouraged that you have found your way to this web-based ministry. It is my hope that you are here because you long to know more of God, yes, even the deep things of the Lord. It is embedded in my heart that you have an exceptional God experience with me.
So the lack of laborers, in my opinion, and experience, is due to two things. Now because the ministry is focused on speaking to and equipping those who are already authentically born-again, I won't discuss Satan's kids or those who permanently fall away and choose the fat path leading to destruction (Matt 7:13-14). The first is that the laborers are few in the Christian body because they don't take any responsibility for their relationship with God. They represent the 5-virgins that did not make it on the spaceship with Jesus (Matt 25:1-13). They represent those who practiced unrighteousness. Both stories are discussed in Matthew (Matt 7:21-23).
So who are the others who cannot seem to get out of the world long enough to make it to the Church to do the work assigned to them specifically by Jesus? Yes, who are you? Well, I take partial responsibility for your growth and development. Yes, I am a teacher who has been gifted with the gift of teaching, and according to my all–over–the–place life, which includes some education and reading of books, I have also been so equipped (Eph 4:11-16). This is why this website, the Podcast "Deep Waters", and my YouTube Channel @PodcastPreacherTM exist.
How This Ministry Started
This ministry was born out of an extreme desire to see the authentically born-again Holy Spirit-filled saints of God be equipped for the work of ministry and learn how to be disciplined and how to make disciples in and through the Church by the called and anointed five-fold ministers and church leaders to constantly grow and mature in the Lord. Learning to set hearts on knowing and obeying God so that the application of the knowledge and examples from the bible and church bear fruit that remains.
ASM believes that every authentic born-again believer is called to serve at some level in the Church and world as ministers and preachers of the Gospel, demonstrating to others and confirming what they preach by the power of God through the application of their God-given natural talents, personalities, spiritual gifts, and spiritual offices if called to that specific role. ASM believes that heroes of faith only exist because the majority of us are not equipped to perform at our highest levels as so few do. ASM believes in resolving this weakness and error in thought through this ministry by effectively teaching babies, young persons, and the old and wise sages through a biblical process known as milk, bread, and meat.
ASM will provide teaching content in various learning formats and use the widest range of platforms to solve the spiritual immaturity problem people are now witnessing worldwide in the Christian body. While growing through the application of the bible-based, Holy Spirit received, and in many cases, very deep water messages, we will turn the tide of what represents a dormant and ignorant Christian to actively involved kids, youth, and parents who have the singularly focused heart for and heart of God, and an overwhelming desire to launch out into their calling and purpose to effectively change the course and destiny of the lost, ignorant, or backslidden souls (Ezek 47:3-6).
The Mission of This Ministry
The mission of this ministry is to perpetuate excellence through willing individuals who are equipped for the work of ministry. Who, after they have received what is necessary for change, will equip others also and go and make disciples reproducing in them, with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, Christ-likeness and behaviors which will set the stage for the preparation of the bride of Christ (Rev 9:7-8), a type of Joel chapter 2 army (Joel 2:1-11), and the manifestation of the kingdom of God (1 Cor 4:20/ on earth going out into all the world preaching the Gospel in and through every nation (Mark 16:15-20) in the demonstration of power and the manifestation of every spiritual gift available to mankind through the Holy Spirit (John 16:7).
This ministry is a teaching ministry in manifestation after more than two decades of preparation and excruciating anticipation that my purpose and calling would come about before I return home. In my 24 years of study and reading, I have discovered some key components to being extraordinarily successful as a Christian. Now, if you asked for existing examples of what this looks like, I would be hard-pressed to point you to that model. However, that is the driving force behind what God has called me to shout from every electronic device in the world, which is that we can do better, should want to do better, need to do better, and are expected to do better, and will be judged on the potential we left on the table for whatever sorry reason we hosted in our minds (Matt 24:14).
Whom shall you blame for a mediocre life, for a lackluster performance in most if not all areas of your life? My list of failures is no doubt longer than yours, but failure is the pavers that lead to successful outcomes, and I have a few of those as well. But only if you get up when you fall and continue to fall forward (Eph 6:13-14). As you link arm in arm with this ministry, you shall see with your own eyes what God can do with one of the greatest sinners (Luke 18:10-14).
But now, this is not about me. None of what I have achieved in my life is worthy of mentioning if I cannot take you from a "C" level individual and train you to consistently strive to build upon your "A" level you, that you would, could, and should consistently be producing excellence in your life both in your natural vocation and especially in your very active walk with God. I am anointed to do this. You will not fail if you listen and apply; if you are a hearer and a doing individual (James 1:22), you will live a significantly different life (Dan 1:19-20). God never intended you to be average which in my mind is an achievement that warrants a lukewarm response (Rev 3:14-21).
The greatest cost to you will be you allowing yourself to be led to greater achievements; that is, to be a disciple. You can call it being coached if it makes you feel more relevant or hipster, but in truth, no matter what you call it, we are in this mess because most of us do not want to be led by anyone, not even God. Currently, you represent the sum of all your past decisions, and if you think you are right where you need to be, then great, I have no doubt this ministry can help, and if you think you are not where you should be, the same thing applies.
