My Tribute To Dr. Myles Munroe & Dr. Richard Pinder

My introduction to the ministry of Dr. Myles Munroe happened over thirty years ago.

At that time I was a member of a traditional denominational church, which did not believe in speaking in tongues. I had recently given my life to the Lord Jesus Christ at the age of thirteen, and was a part of the youth department. We met on Friday evenings. On one particular Friday evening when I did not ride the church bus home, my sister came in and told me that they had stopped at a meeting being held at a hotel. She said that people were falling on the floor and speaking in tongues. Believe me when I say that this got my attention.

So when they decided to go to another of the meetings at the hotel, I went with them. Now the reason I went was because many of our youths looked up to me for an example so I wanted to make sure they were not getting into something that was not of God.

Well, we got there and as the service progressed, a gentleman was introduced who was one of the guest speakers from the United States of America. And I guess he spoke alright, but I cannot tell you one thing that he said, because I had come there to see the “falling down” side of the service. That’s what I was waiting on.

Sure enough, after he spoke, he invited people up who wanted to receive the mighty infilling with the Holy Spirit to come to the front. I went up along with my sister and  others. As I watched, he laid his hands on the first person, and they fell under the power of God. In my mind I thought, “Well look at that.”

When he reached my sister who was standing next to me, as he laid hands upon her, she went down. He then touched me (not pushed me, but touched me gently), down I went as well. When I opened my eyes, my sister was lying on the floor speaking with tongues.

This experience of falling under God’s power got my attention. Perhaps there was more to life in Christ that I knew. (Thank God there was). I went over to the book table and saw a little mini-book on falling under God’s power, and after seeing that the experience was very Biblical, I went on my knees and asked the Lord Jesus to fill me with the Holy Spirit. He did and this mighty experience changed my life.

At that time I did not realize that the man of God responsible for the meeting was Pastor Myles Munroe. He had recently returned from attending school at Oral Roberts University, and had started a work called, Bahamas Faith Ministries, along with his friend, and co-laborer, Pastor Richard Pinder. And during this meeting of which I speak, Dr. Munroe was actually playing a guitar and leading the praise and worship (something else we did not do at our church either). I did not know that after the meetings with the guest speakers was over, they were still having church on Sundays and Fridays.

However, one of the sisters who attended our local assembly knew. She invited me to attend the service with Pastor Myles on Friday nights. And I went.

This changed my life forever, for Pastor Myles taught the principle of the Word of God in a very understandable manner. This was not what I was used to. But my spirit was hungry for the Word and the more I stayed around Bahamas Faith Ministries, the more I actually learned what it meant to live for Christ.  This humble and strongly anointed man of God taught is truth and brought us into what it really meant to worship and praise God. Oh, he could lead a praise and worship service. We would worship for an hour. And God always ministered to us through tongues with interpretation and prophecy during those times. It was so powerful and precious to be able to lift my hands and tell the Lord how I loved Him and worship Him. WOW.

During this time, I once went to Pastor Myles and said to him, “Pastor Myles, I am having problems with my flesh.” He did not condemn me. He did not rebuke me. He did not say, “Well, you must not be saved.” Instead, he pointed to a series of teaching tapes.. (Yes, cassette tapes. That should show you how long ago this was).  He encouraged me to get them. Actually, he told me, “You need to get those tapes.” Being a teenager, I told him that I did not have the money for them. He said, “You will get them.” And sure enough, would you believe that someone brought that series for me. Praise the Lord.

This was when I learned a valuable truth from God’s Word that I had not learned from the church I attended. I am not blaming them by the way. When you don’t know, you simply don’t know. Through this series of teachings Pastor Munroe explained that I was more than just flesh and blood. I was spirit, soul and body. And when I gave my life to Jesus it was my spirit that got recreated and became a new creation in Christ Jesus. But nothing happened to my mind, or my flesh. I had to do something with my mind. I had to get it renewed with the Word of God. And I had to do something with my flesh. I had to offer it to God as a living sacrifice and bring it under control, and make it obey God. This precious truth has literally revolutionized my walk with God. All of a sudden everything became clear. And I have never let go of this truth of God’s Word. As a matter of fact, I have taught these precious truths which I have learned through Dr. Munroe for over thirty years now, helping people understand how to practically live for Christ in their every day experience. Knowing these truths ended my confusion.

Since then, I have fed repeatedly from God’s Word delivered through His servant, Dr. Myles Munroe and also through Dr. Richard Pinder and I owe a great debt of gratitude to both of them. And even to this day, as a pastor and minister of the Gospel, I hold their example as a model of how I should conduct myself as a servant of Christ.

I will miss Dr. Myles Munroe, and Dr. Richard Pinder. But I know that they are with the Lord, which is far better than being on this earth. And one day, I will join them. I look forward to that. Their impact for the Kingdom of God will never be diminished. The fire will never go out. God bless their families and the wonderful saints at Bahamas Faith Ministries and all who have been wonderfully impacted by the Word and power of God through these two humbles servants of God.