Battling the Storm

© 2012 by Carlos Wingate. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 10/29/2012

ISBN: 978-1-4772-8304-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4772-8305-9 (e)

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Contents

Dedications

Acknowledgments

Introduction by Carlos Wingate

Chapter 1 Gods Preparation

Chapter 2 Understanding Your Purpose

Chapter 3 The Rise after the fall

Chapter 4 Gods Purpose For Man Revealed

Chapter 5 Choices

Chapter 6 Secrets of Heaven and Hell

Chapter 7 Internal, External, Eternal

Chapter 8 We All Worship the Same God

Chapter 9 Like The Father Like Son

Chapter 10 Facing Your Demons

Chapter 11 Unconditional Love

Chapter 12 Building Faith

Chapter 13 Misconceptions of Sin

Chapter 14 Recognizing Your Blessings

Chapter 15 Love Sustains Life

Chapter 16 The Devil Exposed

Chapter 17 Relieving Ourselves of Power

Chapter 18 Science and God

Chapter 19 Using Your Talents

Chapter 20 I Am Who I Am

Chapter 21 Under Gods Guidance

Epilogue

Dedications

First and for most I dedicate this book to my mother, the late Rosa Ann Wingate. Without her, I wouldn’t be the man that I am. This book is also dedicated to two families, the Wingate’s and the Finklea’s. Like any artist, I am inspired by my own life and by the lives of those who are close to me, therefore allot of my inspiration comes from these families. Just as Christ used parables to explain things that may have been otherwise unexplainable, God gave me insight through observation of my own life and the lives of others to better understand what it is that He conveys to me. A dedication goes to Veronica Wingate, for sharing part of her life with me. Although we decided to go our separate ways, I would not be a man if I did not give credit where it is due. I also dedicate this book to my son’s Rickey Crews, Carlos Wingate Jr. and Ja’Kari Finklea for showing me unconditional love. There are times that I must be dad to them and during those times they may not always understand the decisions that I may have to make but I always keep their best interest at hand. Because of my love for them, I am able to understand Gods love for us. There is a special dedication in order to Wanda Lee-Floyd who has become part of my rebirth with God as the head of my life.

Acknowledgments

The King James Bible

Thanks to Pastor Robert Porter of Mt. Lily Baptist Church, Pensacola Fl. for spiritual guidance and friendship.

G. Craig Lewis of EX Ministries.com for his Truth Behind HipHop series.

The Prophecy Club for their host of enlightening videos.

The Hollywood Insiders Series for shedding light on earthly wickedness Pimp B. for his The Industry Exposed Series.

R.I.P. Tupac Shakur whose spiritual struggles did not go unnoticed. The world saw a thug but those who listened with open ears heard a talented individual who was caught up in a struggle for his soul.

Introduction by Carlos Wingate

My wish is for everyone who reads this, to recognize that God resides within us all. We process information that we receive from this world and rationalize it to our own thinking and beliefs. We tend to do this without regards to its origins or the intent of its creators. Once we receive it, we absorb it and then make it our own. My intent is to liberate your thinking. For this reason, there is very personal information of myself and my experiences in this book. It is all designed to get you into a state of mind to where my thinking and rationalization comes from and to pull you into my world. By getting to know me, you may find out who you really are. Once you truly know yourself, you will begin to know who God is. You will be able to recognize and see the God in yourself so you can love Him as I do. God is not hidden or locked away in some secret place, He is inside of us all. Regardless of how happy and content we think people are. There will come a time in everyone’s life that they will have to bow a knee to Him. Once you arise from that knee He will then accept you with open arms. Many humble themselves but as soon as they are restored, they return to their past life as though they no longer need Him. This is an opportunity to know Him before its too late and to love Him and receive His love in return. To know when your time comes, you will already know where you’re going. To no longer have to guess and hope for the best.

We find motivation and inspiration in many different things. Some of us are inspired by music and songs. Others are inspired and motivated by a moving speech or a sermon. You also have those that are inspired by progress. As long as they are able to witness their fruits, it motivates them to continue pushing forward. I am one who is inspired and motivated by understanding God’s will. God has given me a thirst to do so and I find myself constantly thinking about it. It doesn’t matter how much knowledge you gain, if you don’t find understanding it is all for not. You can read as many books as you wish in order to figure things out and still not gain understanding. You can read the bible from cover to cover and still be as lost as when you began. Experience helps you with your understanding. The more you experience the easier it is to understand situations. We also have the ability to learn from the experiences of others as well as our own. Experience gives you the ability to put things into perspective so that you can better relate. That was the reasoning behind Jesus as He spoke parables to those that He wanted to reach. As you read my words, please do so with an open mind and an open heart. This is my attempt to put things into a better perspective for you to either confirm what you may already know or to bring forth something new entirely. This book has truly been a labor of love and I, along with the help of a few others, worked extremely hard to get it together. I spent many sleepless nights and tiresome workdays in an effort to produce something presentable for God. If it were left to me, I would never be finished but there will be more to come. I hope it will be beneficial in your lives. As you will read; I never had any intentions on writing a book at all. God revealed Himself to me and presented me with a great understanding that I wasn’t even searching for. As He revealed them to me, I couldn’t help but to write them down because to me, there could be nothing more powerful than the word of God. He woke me out of my bed many a nights in the wee hours with this information so I was compelled to write them down in order to not forget them. These writings started as personal memoirs. Along the way they manifested themselves into a book and progressive thoughts that would not seem to stop coming to my mind. God has blessed me to be a conduit to bring forth this information to you. Take from it what you shall. This is my gift from God to you.

Chapter 1

Gods Preparation

Over the last four years my life has taken many twists and turns. Any of which could seem like major obstacles to most. After eighteen years of stability and constant growth, my life started experiencing dramatic hurdles. I have been unemployed three times over the last four years for a large portion of those years. My drive and ambition haven’t changed so it was hard to understand why my circumstances changed so much. A twenty year relationship to my spouse was brought to an abrupt end. My current living conditions have become uncertain. Once my marriage finally ended I decided to move back to the area I grew up with the youngest of my sisters Janette, who was going through a similar situation. I saw this as an opportunity to get my life back on track. My finances were in disarray and it seemed like the most logical solution to what was happening in my life. Shortly after returning home I hit yet another hurdle. My sister was going through marital issues of her own and had to leave her home in order to get her situation going in a positive direction for her own sake. Instead of it being a new beginning for me, it became yet another setback in my life so now she and I are going in reverse together. The only positive situation is still negative because I am no longer alone in my time of turmoil. Everything still appears to look bleak and now not just for me. All of my troubles seem to start once I seriously decided to follow Christ over four years ago. I was told that the walk would not be easy but I never expected it to be quite this hard. I know this may sound like a sad story but it’s quite the opposite. In this book I wish to show you Gods glory in the midst of all my troubles.

My self-worth, my family, and now my ability to provide for myself, are all currently in jeopardy. Any one of which would make the average person want to lose their sanity. The whole while these issues were unfolding, God was busy reconstructing me. The old me had to be completely removed before a new me could flourish. This is my testimony in life. I’m not even sure if I have hit bottom yet but what I do know is that I will rise again. I will rise even higher than I ever was before because I know, through faith, I will be redeemed. God has already revealed it to me and my current conditions are just the preparation for my glory to come. My faith is indestructible. I know it is through Him that all these things are happening to me and it is beyond my control. What I am concerned with is gaining understanding in order to continue to grow.

Your life is like a series of tests or tasks, depending on how you want to view it. Once we complete one thing, we start something new. It is in our nature to do so. That is why our troubles will never end as long as we are in the flesh. I also know that through Him, I will be renewed and repaired. Many would blame the Devil and say it is his works that I suffer. I refuse to give him the credit because I know that he is simply an instrument of God, whether he is willing to admit it, just as I too, am Gods instrument. I know that God deserves all the credit and all the glory, even when things happen in my life that are not favorable to me. His will be done and I will continue to follow all the way to the very end. That is how strong my faith has become through this journey.

A funny thing about faith is that it can be a useful tool to get you through life’s hardships. It is a crutch for you to lean on when it seems like the storms will never cease. Another funny thing is that through all of my own personal turmoil, all I want to do is inspire and assist others. I understand that my situation is only temporary. This may continue on for a few months or maybe a few years. I know that regardless of what may happen to me, with the exception of my own death, I will survive it. My entire life may be a series of ups and downs so it would be wise on my part to simply enjoy the good times when they are here and get through the tough times when they occur. I still am concerned for the welfare of all others who surround me. This is and always has been in my nature to be this way. There were times that I lived my life in abundance. I earned well above average relative to most of the people who surrounded me. I had more than I needed and currently I have very little. My faith and personality is as strong as it has ever been. I hold my head higher now than ever before in the midst of the worst times of my adult life. God prepared me for these times long ago when I was a