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Note: The
pictures above are not representing Promised Land
Ministries alone, however they are from different recent
meetings of the International Eastern & Western
Church Leaders....THE EAST
& WEST HISTORICALLY CONVERGE...
PROMISED LAND
MINISTRIES & CHURCHES OF THE PROMISED LAND HISTORY
Earnestly Contending For
The Unity Of The Faith Through
CONVERGENCE!
The Journey begins…(Text)
Genesis 1:1”In
the beginning God created the heaven and the earth”.
Subject: “Breaking the Cycle Of Pain by
Beginning Again!”
The manifestation of this journey
began on September 27, 1968 when God gave life to
the warrior who would be the anointed Visionary
assigned to this great and powerful movement of
God. His name would be
“Joshua”.
The Lord God
loved his servant Joshua so much that he gave him to
United States Air Force Chief Master Sergeant
Abraham Logan from St. Louis Missouri, and his wife
Elaine Logan from Auburn, New York. The Logan family
traveled the world together settling down for a
season in Madrid Spain. Young Joshua eventually
attended a Spanish school and they established
friendships with those the Lord blessed the Logan
family to come in contact with. “Father Abraham”
eventually retired from the Armed Forces and the
Logan family returned to the United States to settle
down in Hampton, Virginia.
As we read the
Bible, we notice that there are blocks of time when
we hear nothing about the life of Jesus. Perhaps
during these silent times Jesus was going through a
period of development that only God would need to be
aware of. We can be sure that every step Jesus took
from birth until adulthood was ordered by God.
Every step was designed with purpose. The same is
true for each of us, the same was true for God’s
servant, Joshua Paul Logan. In March of 1990,
Joshua was baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ and
filled with the Holy Ghost evidenced by the speaking
in other tongues at the True Believers Glorious
Apostolic Church under the pastorate of then Bishop
Ernest Quick Jr., it was at True Believers that
Joshua ministered his first message and began
passionately working with the youth.
In 1991,
Joshua became Minister Logan under the leadership of
then Elder Dennis Jefferson (Pastor of the
Pentecostal Evangelical Church – P.A.W.). Minister
Logan served as the Youth President and Pastoral
Armor Bearer to Elder Jefferson in Palmer Park,
Maryland until 1995 when he was ordained as an Elder
in the World Assemblies of Restoration where His
Excellency, Bishop James D. Nelson Sr. is the
Presiding Prelate. It was this same year that Elder
Logan shared the vision of Promised Land Ministries
and the Church Of the Promised Land with his
spiritual mother, Queen Mother Laura Mae Henderson.
It was not until 4
years later in May of 1999 that the Lord instructed
Elder Logan to incorporate by faith “Promised Land
Ministries”, which God had assigned as one of the
venues for the reunification of the body of Christ.
In December of 1999, Elder Logan founded the
National Youth Ministries Alliance Community
Development Corporation while serving under the
leadership of His Excellency, James D. Nelson Sr.,
pastor of the Greater Bethlehem Temple Church. The
National Youth Ministries Alliance Community
Development Corporation (NYMA) would facilitate
Elder Logan’s unrestricted ability to cross
denominational and organizational barriers to pool
resources to save our youth. NYMA remains to be
active in 3 different states with a strong presence
in Hampton Virginia, Baltimore City, and the Prince
Georges County MD areas.
In February of
2000, Elder Logan began to dialogue with then Bishop
Floyd Nelson Sr., Pastor of the Lively Stone Worship
Center. They shared their visions, concepts and
personal goals for ministry over a period of time.
Elder Logan had been developing his vision for what
was known as “Promised Land Ministries”, and Bishop
Nelson was developing his vision for what was then
known as “The Fellowship”. In August of 2000 the two
decided to merge their visions and together they
became “Promised Land Ministries – The Fellowship of
Fellowships”. After 2 successful years of
partnering visions around March 2002, the two agreed
that their seasons were changing and the nature of
their original visions would require them to refocus
their attentions in different directions. Bishop
Logan is grateful for the time and learning
experiences shared with now Apostle Floyd Nelson who
is now the Founder and Prelate of God’s Vision
Ministry in Landover, Maryland.
May 26, 2002, it was a
beautiful, sunny, and warm Sunday morning. At 11:30
am (sharp) young Elder Joshua Paul Logan picked up
his bible, girded up his loins and set out to
lead God’s people to
“The Promised Land.”
The people marched,
faithfully following this young leader, singing
“There Shall Be Light In The Evening Time” as
the opening processional. Elder Logan was about the
same age that Jesus was when he sacrificed himself
to obtain for all mankind, access to eternal life.
The
Church
Of
The
Promised
Land
had its first Sunday Morning Worship Celebration at
7711 Allendale Drive, in Palmer Park, Maryland. The
first message was
“It’s High Time”!
The scripture text came
from the thirteenth chapter of the book of
Romans:
10“Love
worketh no ill to his neighbor: therefore love is
the fulfilling of the law.
11
And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time
to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation
nearer than when we believed.
12The
night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us
therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us
put on the armour of light.”
Our first year would be full of joy and a challenge
for the people of God. However, thanks be unto God,
for he anointed the Visionary with the courage to
stand before the people and show them how to
stand strong and see the salvation and the Glory of
God.
In September 2002, NYMA
opened the long awaited Residential Therapeutic
Group Home for boys ages 13 to 17 (The House of NYMA).
The House of NYMA is eternally grateful to the
efforts of Evangelist Gena Warfield who followed
through and endured when all others gave up,
(believing that the vision would never come to
past), the 3 years of obstacles and delays with the
proposal and implementation process that ultimately
led to the successful opening of this from the heart
mission assigned to then Pastor Logan.
During this first year of the
Church
Of
the
Promised
Land
our leader established structure and a plan of
action for moving the ministry forward. According
to God’s word, he wrote the vision for the people to
see. Leadership Training Classes, taught by Pastor
Logan began. Pastor Logan baptized in Jesus name,
the first of the sheep (yours truly). We
experienced the birth of our first babe in Christ.
Pastor Logan was installed as Pastor of
Church
Of
The
Promised
Land
in November of 2002 by the World Assemblies of
Restoration.
Beginning on May 31, 2003, we kicked off a week of
celebrating the close of the first year and the
beginning of our second year of ministry. Many of
the ministry’s 1-2 year goals had been accomplished,
including; the establishment of Auxiliaries and
Auxiliary Leaders, Community Computer Lab,
Conference Room, Church Banner, and a Tutorial
Program working in partnership with the National
Youth Ministries Alliance an extension of the
Promised Land Ministries.
On May 30,
2004, yet another celebration and the beginning of
year number three. This year would see us reach
more of our goals including; The establishment of
our “Freedom Fund”, and the launch of the first new
Church Ministry under the spiritual covering of then
Pastor Logan - United Church of Deliverance COPL
#2, in Chestertown, Maryland where Pastor Ronald
Rochester is the Pastor . This year would also be
God’s time of elevation for our Pastor. October 22nd
& 23rd of 2004 would be the historic
defiant resurgence of “Promised Land Ministries,
Inc. – Cross Denominational Ministerial Alliance
and Leadership Empowerment Zone” and the birth
of our annual “Empowerment Weekend
Celebration”. We together defied the
gainsayers who prophesied the demise of the vision
and the visionary, as we celebrated the elevation of
two individuals to the Sacred Office of Bishop (His
Grace, Bishop Julian M. Johnsons and His Excellency,
Bishop Billy R. Wilson), and the elevation of our
own Pastor Joshua Paul Logan to the Sacred Office of
Overseer. The Consecration Service was a powerfully
anointed experience, one I will long remember.
Certainly the Visionary met and exceeded the primary
objectives: The reunification of the infrastructure
of the “Body of Christ” and enhanced collaboration
between Christian Leaders. There came together a
wonderful and anointed mix of Apostles, Presiding
Bishops, Bishops, Overseers, Elders and Ministers
from across the country and across denominational
boarders. The message preached by the Homilist His
Beatitude, Timothy Paul (Metropolitan Arch Bishop
and Primate for the International Communion of the
Holy Christian Orthodox Church) was
“Powerfully Predestined”,
which in turn became the theme for the next two
years.His Excellency, Bishop Logan is honored to
have his friend, big brother and mentor, His
Excellency,
Marshal
L. Thomas (Presiding Prelate of the Pentecost
Fellowship Churches and Chairman of the Board of
Bishops and Prelates for Promised Land Ministries)
who served as the Chief Consecrator. Bishop Thomas
was a part of the initial launch of Promised Land
Ministries – “The Fellowship of Fellowships” and
remained as a committed covering, source of
encouragement, and key senior spiritual authority in
the transition to the PLM Alliance. On behalf of our
Visionary and CEO His Excellency, Joshua Paul we say
to His Excellency Marshal Thomas, with great love
and adoration, “Thank You” for standing with us
while many others anticipated our demise.
In the same year 2004,
COPL #3 & #4 opened under the care of Overseer
Logan, “On Purpose Ministries in Hampton, VA (Pastor
Renee’ Williams Pastor), and COPL – Baltimore City
(then Overseer Logan - Senior Pastor). In 2005, the
end of the third year on the battlefield would prove
to be extremely fruitful for the Lord.
Church
Of
the
Promised
Land
was now the
Churches
Of
The
Promised
Land
and had grown to 10 ministries and now reached into
4 of the United States. In early 2006, Promised
Land Ministries’ “Prophetic Company - School for the
Prophets” opened. The Crisis Hotline is being
prepared for implementation, and the
PLM\COPL
newsletter is in circulation.
PRAISE THE LORD!
May 25th in the awesome year of our Lord
2006! A bitter, sweet celebration. A very special
4th Anniversary. Thursday, April 13,
2006, Overseer Logan and the
Church
Of
The
Promised
Land
family bid farewell to Minister Antonio Williams.
Minister Williams, who faithfully served as Armor
Bearer to Overseer Logan, would be our first
Home-going Celebration. Some say it was the best
sermon yet delivered by our Pastor entitled “Well
Done”! Fueled, I would say, by the intense love
in his heart and his passion for seeing each and
every one make it into heaven. It was a grand
celebration. “We Love You Minister Williams”!
Without a doubt, the
highlight of this year was the anointed, God
appointed consecration of our beloved Overseer
Joshua Paul Logan to the Sacred Office of Bishop
with unbroken lines of true “Apostolic Succession”
on June 2nd in Springfield, MA. We say
thank you to His Beatitude Timothy Paul,
Metropolitan Archbishop of the International
Communion of the Holy Christian Orthodox Church for
finding favor in our leader and bestowing with the
help of the Lord and the Holy Synod members this
tremendous honor.
Wow! Although we
realize we have not arrived at our place of Destiny,
this has certainly been a “Journey”
thus far. The people of God have come and some have
gone. We have cried, prayed, mourned, and praised
together. We have been lead with courage, and
love, to new levels of faith, knowledge, and love
for ourselves and others. We have been empowered by
God’s word concerning his will and purpose for this
corporate body as well as our individual & uniquely
designed callings. Our Pastor would say, “IF you
are here…it is not by accident”. It’s not by
accident that he was called and assigned to this
place and this time. He is truly a great and
anointed man of God. As Jesus is the perfect
example for Christians to follow, His Excellency,
Bishop Joshua Paul Logan is an example of the
process of the perfecting power, and the effects of
the Holy Ghost in action. His courage, faith, love
and humility are constantly on display, so for those
of us who love the Lord, all we need do is look to
the leader assigned to us by God, and follow him as
he follows Christ.
I was asked to condense
the events of the first leg of this journey onto
these few pages. Let history record that the
selfless labor of love taken on by this man called
Joshua is changing lives. This Ministry may not
look like others; these pages of history may not
sound like the norm. However the Lord Jesus made it
known to our Visionary…that his would be a church
without walls, a Ministry Out-Of-The-Box, NO MORE
CHURCH AS USUAL!!! This self and God proclaimed
“Warrior” is not building a Church roster but he is
raising an ARMY!
The
Churches
Of
The
Promised
Land
and
Promised
Land
Ministries
Families are honored and blessed to share with you
this monumental moment and pit stop, on our
“Journey
To The Promised Land”.
The World Bishops
Council, World Federation of Churches
&
Promised
Land
Ministries
Honors
Bishop Joshua Paul
Logan’s
Installation as
Presiding Prelate of the
Churches
Of
The
Promised
Land
&
Inauguration as
United States President of the World Federation of
Churches
The Visionary and
God’s people that he is assigned to lead, are
walking on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan,
and WE are well on our way to the PROMISED LAND!!
Humbly and respectfully submitted,
Missionary Debra Johnson
Church Of the Promised Land #1, District Heights,
Maryland
www.ConvergenceMovement.org
www.The-Promised-Land-Ministries.org
www.The-Christian-Church.org |
