On a lovely autumn morning, pastors and church members from around the New York metropolitan area gathered in Hempstead, Long Island, at the Church for the Art of Living, for our October prayer breakfast meeting. Pastor Miller and I, co-hosts of this event, extended a welcome to all.

After opening remarks, Mrs. Suzanne Tadokora, a Long Island Family Church member, set the spiritual tone of our meeting, as she sang "This is My Song, O God of All the Nations," with Reverend Miller accompanying her on the piano. Reverend Miller gave the invocation and invited everyone to enjoy breakfast graciously prepared by Mrs. Corley and two of our Japanese missionaries.

Our program resumed after breakfast with the reading of the ACLC statement of purpose, offered with conviction by Rev. Raymond Dyer, pastor of the Church of Illumination, located in Harlem. In preparation for our keynote speaker we shared two additional readings, one from Romans 12: 1-3 by Bishop Thomas Walker of Coram, Long Island, and a second taken from the ACLC founder's words on True Love by Bishop James McEwen of Brooklyn. Bishop McEwen recalled from his youth that the song "Stand Up for Jesus" had left a strong impression on him throughout his life.

Our keynote speaker this month was Rev. Kennard Davis, Pastor of the Truth Center for Higher Consciousness, also located in Brooklyn. He was introduced by Reverend Miller, who shared how he had been present at Reverend Davis' ordination 18 years previous. Reverend Davis began by telling us it was his mother's birthday and how he felt his mother's presence. In a prayer at the beginning of his sermon he asked for the Holy Spirit's anointing that it might help transform those present.

Reverend Davis stated that the book of Romans should have a special place in all our hearts. He testified that about three days before his ordination, the entire book of Romans was read to him and how it had laid the foundation for his journey towards perfection. He said, "My thought today is transformation," as he again read Romans 12: 1-3.

He continued, "I am going to make a statement and then leave it for a while. I want to see who is bold enough to make this statement with me. My statement is, 'I am God!' After a short pause, he explained, "You are not looking at God in the physical but looking at the nature of God that is in me.

In order for us to be transformed, we have to know what we are. We are not what we appear to be. I am not this physical form you are seeing. Jesus asked his disciples, who do people say I am? Then he asked Peter, who do you say I am? Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the son of the living God!" In other words, he continued, "Are you looking at the costume I am wearing or are you recognizing who is in the costume?" Jesus said to Peter, flesh and blood did not teach you that -- we have to come from an inner understanding of spirituality in order to recognize our divinity.

"When it says in Romans 12: 1 to offer yourselves as living sacrifices holy and acceptable to God, what is acceptable to God? Is love acceptable to God? Is joy acceptable to God? Is kindness acceptable to God? Is understanding acceptable to God? If we want to make our bodies instruments of love and peace, we have got to sacrifice them. Make your bodies holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service, because that is what is required from God....

"You see, what I want to bring out here this morning is transformation, but in order to transform, we have got to sacrifice. There is no transformation without sacrifice. Jesus taught us that no greater love hath a man than to lay down his life for his friend.... What is important is the journey. If I walk in the direction where heaven is, I don't have to worry about where heaven is. Heaven is a state of consciousness where we see each other as God sees us, a state where we can love each other and not look at the color of our skin....."

"The physical form that we are using is not the life we should be loving. It is only for taking us to where we ought to be, that is, to perfection. You see, I'm talking about transformation.... There are enough people who can quote the Bible front to back, but their lives have nothing to do with the Bible. The Bible says you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. It's not knowing the truth that will set us free. It's applying the truth that will set us free from the things that hold us in bondage...."

"So when we talk about our physical body as a sacrifice holy and acceptable to God, we have to think about Abraham. God gave Abraham a blessing and then asked him to sacrifice that blessing: are you going to believe in the blessing or the blessor? If you choose the blessing you may lose it. When God saw Abraham's faith he could bless him even more. This is why we must make our body a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to God. Be not conformed to this world -- I am not concerned with heaven. I must express the nature of Christ as it was expressed by Jesus. My salvation is in Christ telling me that what I have in me you have in you."

"Paul said that the Christ in you is your hope and glory. We have to come to the consciousness of the Christ that is in me and then we will understand what it means when Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the light; no one comes to the Father except through me. No man can come to the Father unless he comes to the consciousness that is in him, as Jesus came to the consciousness of the Christ in him. Because of this, he, I and the Father are one, and that is why Paul said it is the Christ in you."

At the conclusion of the sermon I (Rev Corley) gave a short explanation of the blessing ceremony and guided all present in participating. A framed United Federation of Churches flag was presented to Reverend Miller, and he vowed to hang it in a prominent place in his church. Announcements were made about the year-end banquet, which will be held on Dec 7th at the Yonkers Polish Center, and about the upcoming Middle East Peace initiative trips. Participants at the Ocean City convocation were recognized, and Reverend Miller concluded our meeting with the benediction.