Featured Preaching Woman

Pastor Niki Brown: It's Time to Get In Position!

Faithfully submitted under the covering and leadership of her spiritual father, the incomparable Dr. David G. Evans, Senior Pastor of the Bethany Baptist Church in Lindenwold, NJ, Pastor Niki serves as the Pastor of Family Ministries, overseeing a large multi-faceted department which includes, but is not limited to the Men's, Women's, Couples, Seniors, and Single Parents Ministries.  Having been uniquely gifted to serve the body of Christ, in 2006, God expanded her vision and responsibilities and allowed Niki Brown Ministries to be birthed.

Traveling extensively throughout the region, Pastor Niki has become relentless in her mission to empower individuals, particularly women, to discover and embrace divine purpose and destiny.  Appearing several times on TBN alongside her Pastor (Dr. David G. Evans) sharing the message that God has given her, Pastor Niki believes and wants the world to know that God is positioning those in His Kingdom for 21^st Century success. The question is, are you in position?

PreachingWoman.com's founder, Nichelle Early (NE), seized the opportunity to speak with Pastor Niki (NB) as she shares from her heart God's desire to position and bless you!

NE: Amen! I agree! We have to be positioned for what God is doing. It's no more time for getting ready, it's time to "be ready!"

So, what are a few principles that you offer to people in order to help them get their faith into position in order to enter this shift?

NB:  Well first of all, because we often don't see the shift or sense the shift, it is important that we calibrate our faith perceive it. Perception is "the intuitive ability to be aware of things that exist that you can't see." I have learned that we can have expectation but not perception.  We can expect God to move, but struggle in perceiving how He is moving.   And when we can't perceive what God wants to do, we tend to become traditional in our approach towards destiny!  We will rely on what we have always done, rather than on what God wants to do now!  You can have the right calling, the right purpose, and right gifting, but if you lack the right perception, your dream will fail in the place of its assignment. 

Secondly, I believe our faith must prepare us for the shift.  Our problem is not with destiny, it's with time or timing.  Lining the fabric of every promise that God has ordained for our life, there's typically a season of delay that will threaten the intensity of our vision.   If we are not careful, we will get stuck in the delay instead of preparing to shift out of it.  Often times, we postpone our plans and ideas because we are frustrated with time.  But, when you are operating in a faith dimension you must live as if the promise is already here.  My Bishop [Dr. David Evans] has a wonderful quote, "Faith acts like a thing is so, even when it's not so, so that it can be so!"

NE: Wow! That is absolutely awesome! You are correct! This is a season that we must by faith "perceive and prepare!" I could just run right now! This is so good!

NB: Amen!

NE: Pastor Niki, speaking of perception,  when I look at you, I see a woman of God that is so passionate about ministry and people, especially women...what are some of the obstacles or struggles you've overcome and how have they fueled your passion for ministry and your ability to get see this shift we're talking about?

NB: Nichelle, one of my biggest passions in ministry is helping women walk in a sense of empowerment and victory so that they would understand the inherent sense of purpose that God has placed in them.  This passion was born as a result of me growing up with a sense of defeat on my life. As a young child and teen, I went through years of rejection, low self-esteem, and an incidence with molestation; and from that experience, I just never felt that I was good enough.  So, then came depression, extreme self -loathing, and the inability to even conceive that I had anything great within me worthy of offering to the world.  And of course, this lack of self-worth led to bad relationships, poor decisions and hiding behaviors.

NE: Oh My!...So how did you recover from this, or how did you get delivered per say ?

NB: Well, when you have a negative image of yourself, I learned that often times you will re-create or rebirth what you believe about yourself into everything that you do.  And, after going through years of a self-sabotage and seasons of failure, God sent some great female mentors into my life who helped me to see myself from Heaven's perspective and not from the perspective of those who had tried to damage me... In addition, my husband, whom I call my hero, has been a major force in my life helping me to reshape the image that I once had of myself. 

NE: How sweet...So, from there, how did you definitively know that you were called to preach the gospel and what was the process in which you embarked for that to be validated?

NB: When I graduated from my senior year of high school, I really went through an extremely depressing time.  And, it was during that time that I prayed for God to reveal His purpose for my life, because I had a small awareness that if I could just find my purpose, I would find my life.  Now, although I grew up in church all of my life, I never knew God for myself. I rode on my parent's faith and gifting to get me through. However, I returned back to my home church, at that time in a backslidden condition, and I began to reinstitute myself back into everything that had been my foundation when I was a child.  I started singing again, attending bible study, and started vigorously reading the word of God.  And, God sent me to Jeremiah 1:5 which states, "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations."  This brought such an illumination to my soul and helped to answer the question of purpose for me.  No prophesied to me or anything like that, however, the very Word of God alone shifted my whole paradigm and interpretation of myself and my future.

NE:  What a testimony! Now today, serving as a Family Ministries Pastor and Counselor, I'm sure you've seen people that are where you were...But, overall what are some of the greatest issues you see with people, or particularly families in ministry, or in the Body of Christ at large?

NB: Some of the greatest issues that families are facing right now are the high level of divorce and separations that are occurring. Right now, I am counseling so many couples that are going through a divorce or thinking about a divorce.  The reality is this: society has undervalued marriage to the point where it is no longer seen as a sacred covenant.  Many enter into marriage with a thought and understanding that divorce is an option!   In addition, many couples struggle with getting connected to the right Godly mentors that can help them begin to deal with the issues that our parent's generation typically didn't have to contend with. 

NE:  So, how do you believe the church should prevent or respond to these issues?

NB: To be honest, the church has a tremendous amount of voice and influence in the life of marriages and families.  Biblically speaking, in Genesis, the first church was the marriage of Adam and Eve. The first conflict occurred in the family of Adam and Eve, and the church had to deal with it.  When families are hurting, the church hurts as well. Having said this, it is the church's responsibility to help marriages and families find and understand how they fit within the paradigm of Gods kingdom. Secondly, the church has been tasked with building "Koinonia"[Christian fellowship or communion with God].  It must build a community of help and support that families can turn to when they are unable to manage and solve the conflicts of the family on their own.  I strongly believe in preventative care, and therefore believe churches should institute a strong family infrastructure which includes, pre-marital  programs for couples who are dating, and or engaged ; marriage and family workshops; counseling; events;  and classes. In addition, we can begin to address those subjects that have been historically taboo in the church such as: men living on the down-low, HIV/Aids, homosexuality, internet porn and the list goes on.  When we face our enemy head on the fight becomes offensive, instead of defensive...I believe that you will never be healed from what you don't speak about. Silence has always been the enemy in the African American Church and family. 

NE: Amen! So, how can effective counseling impact the direction of the church and the Body of Christ at large and prepare us for the coming shift that we must enter by faith?

NB: Effective counseling brings the ministry aspect of the church "full circle." In the corporate church setting, the word hits everyone, however, everyone does not get the same revelation.  Some have to go through a personal process of healing.  Many will need to wrestle and work introspectively at how the message has impacted them.  Thus, the counseling ministry helps those walk through the process of healing, deliverance, and life change that they may not ordinarily receive from just sitting in the pew. 

NE: Well, before I let you go, let's talk a little bit about your family and the role they play in your life and ministry.

NB: My family plays an important role in my life and ministry. My family, especially my husband, helps  bring balance to all that I do. There is absolutely no way that I could travel, preach, teach, and lead in all the capacities that I do without his help and support. He is my biggest cheerleader and guide, but I had to learn the delicate art of balance. I used to believe that achieving balance meant that you were able to get everything done.  However, I have learned that the true definition of balance is "the equilibrium or the adjustment between two opposing forces!"  My family is one force and the ministry has been another force. There have been times when it felt like I was being pulled in two different directions, trying to fulfill the role of wife and  mother on the one hand, and  minister, pastor, and counselor on the other hand.  The weight felt enormous!  I believed that I had to choose between my life as a wife and mother and my ministry. However, the reality is, I had to learn to adjust between the two. The only way to describe this is with the example of a scale. When you step on a scale, the scale is at 0 until weight and pressure is put on it. Once the weight and pressure is put on the scale, the scale begins to balance itself out.  The scale understands that the weight and pressure will not destroy it, because it was built to handle it.  So too, the Lord has shown me that I have been built to handle all that has been put upon my life.

NE:  Amen! We can handle it! ...So, before we close, what do you believe God is saying in this hour?

NB: I believe God is talking to us in terms of kingdom blessing.  Matthew states "Seek ye first Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you [Matthew 6:33]."  Now, what's wonderful about that passage is that He also said in Luke 17:21 "Don't say "Look here it is... Look there it is, for the Kingdom of God is within you!"  Many of us are looking for the kingdom to show up, when it is already here!  What I believe the Lord is trying to shift our attention to is that we have within us hidden potential, gifts, business ideas, dreams, and more that the recession or economic downturn can not hinder. More importantly, there is a level of Kingdom power that goes beyond the church experience that as believers we have yet to shift into. 

NE: Now that's true, it's time for us to walk in Kingdom Power!...Last but not least, what is it that you would want the world to know about Pastor Niki Brown?

NB: I want people to know that I Love God.  And, in spite of my experiences, the purpose of God is greater than where I've been.