BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

"My dad." Jay took the phone. "I'm tired of you calling and making Michelle cry," he said. "Your problem isn't with her, your problem is with me. Why don't you talk to me?" Michelle's father had told her they shouldn't get married because their different races meant they were unequally yoked, Jay said. That was a belief, Jay learned, that many churches taught. "Sir, take a look at that passage," Jay told his soon-to-be father-in-law, directing him to 2 Corinthians 6:14. "If you read it, you'll see that it isn't talking about race. It's clearly talking about saved and unsaved people marrying. Believers marrying unbelievers. Michelle and I won't be unequally yoked because we're both believers." Once Michelle's father understood, and accepted the true meaning of the scripture, Jay said he no longer objected to the marriage. Neither did anyone else in Michelle's family. It wasn't as easy with Jay's side of the family, however. Neither Jay nor Michelle expected the hardest resistance to come from his mother. "As long as Jay and I attended his mother's church, she seemed OK about us being a couple," Michelle explains. "The church didn't welcome teachings on the Holy Spirit. For that reason, we decided to attend a nondenominational church, which happened to be predominantly white. "His mother assumed that I had pushed Jay to go there. That wasn't what happened, but her mind was made up. She was angry, and that attitude spread to the rest of his family." Despite objections from Jay's family, he and Michelle were married in 1997. No one expected the marriage to last. "That's when we became Partners with KCM. We wanted children, but we'd come from such different backgrounds that we needed to learn from the Bible how to raise them. KCM shaped how we wanted to train our children in the Word of God. We studied Commander Kellie and learned how she taught children to be victorious at an early age. "We decided that we wouldn't teach our children to believe in Santa Claus, but to believe in and have faith in Jesus. We learned to live without fear and wanted our children to live that way. We wanted our family to live in the blessings of God." When Michelle got pregnant with their first child, Jordan, they dedicated their son to the Lord while still in the womb. They prayed and confessed the Word over him each day. They declared him healthy, and they forbade complications. In the Day of Trouble In March 1998, Michelle went into labor. After a while, the doctor explained they were going to do an emergency C-section. When the child was born, immediately the nurse realized there was a problem. "I need help!" the nurse called out. The baby was blue, and he wasn't breathing. Feeling helpless, Jay began to pray. After about 10 minutes, he was allowed to see his son. Jordan's skin color was now pink, and he was breathing on his own. For a moment, Jay couldn't help but think about his mother and that she was not present to see her grandson being born. "The fact that my mother wasn't there had a sting to it," Jay admits. "To be honest, it was worse than a sting. It was very hurtful. She's the one who brought me up in church, but her offense at my marriage kept her away from her grandson. "The rest of my family showed up—my grandmother, aunts and uncles. Michelle's parents, who lived an hour away, came when she went into labor. It was three days before my mother came to the hospital. The only thing that got me through that painful time was the Copelands' teachings. They taught the power of forgiveness. "They taught that forgiveness wasn't a feeling. It was a decision, an act of faith. No matter how I felt, I had to renew my mind and emotions to God's Word. I couldn't hold Old Testament New Testament APRIL READ THROUGH THE BIBLE Tue 1 Deut. 1:1-2:15 Luke 21 Wed 2 Deut. 2:16-4:14 Luke 22 Thu 3 Deut. 4:15-5:33 Luke 23 Fri 4 Deut. 6:1-8:10 Luke 24 Sat 5 Deut. 8:11-10:22 Sun 6 Ps. 42-44; Prov. 9 Mon 7 Deut. 11-12 John 1 Tue 8 Deut. 13:1-15:11 John 2 Wed 9 Deut. 15:12-18:8 John 3 Thu 10 Deut. 18:9-21:9 John 4 Fri 11 Deut. 21:10-23:18 John 5 Sat 12 Deut. 23:19-26:15 Sun 13 Ps. 45-48; Prov. 10:1-17 Mon 14 Deut. 26:16-28:32 John 6 Tue 15 Deut. 28:33-29:29 John 7 Wed 16 Deut. 30:1-32:14 John 8 Thu 17 Deut. 32:15-33:29 John 9 Fri 18 Deut. 34:1- John 10 Josh. 3:8 Sat 19 Josh. 3:9-6:11 Sun 20 Ps. 49-50; Prov. 10:18-32 Mon 21 Josh. 6:12-8:23 John 11 Tue 22 Josh. 8:24-10:27 John 12 Wed 23 Josh. 10:28-12:24 John 13 Thu 24 Josh. 13:1-15:12 John 14 Fri 25 Josh. 15:13-16:10 John 15 Sat 26 Josh. 17:1-19:16 Sun 27 Ps. 51-55; Prov. 11:1-23 Mon 28 Josh. 19:17-21:19 John 16 Tue 29 Josh. 21:20-22:34 John 17 Wed 30 Josh. 23:1- John 18 Jdgs. 1:15 B V O V : 2 3

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