The Reverend Clark Minors, pastor of the New Testament Church of God Miracle Temple, is staking a claim to substantial shelf space at The Bookmart with his new book Stakes in The Ground.

A set of three books packaged in one consists of “decrees and declarations” intended to “unlock the authority of the Bible” in the lives of those who read.

The first page of Stakes in the Ground came to be on October 25, 2020, when Dr Minors and his family led a Zoom prayer meeting service during the height of Covid-19.

“Just as I began the meeting, out of me came what we would call in Christian circles an utterance, a spewing forth of words that was not planned.

“They were words dictated by the Holy Spirit through me, so the actual words I spoke are Day 1 of the book, and I have been writing them ever since. I have three years of material of what we have called decrees and declarations,” Dr Minors said.

The imagery on the cover was meant to be as powerful and impactful as the content inside.

“The stake in the ground, if you think of a posting that people put in the Earth that cannot be removed,” Dr Minors said. “The letter ‘T’ in stakes on the book’s cover represents the Cross of Jesus Christ. I believe in the power of the Cross.

“I believe the Cross upon which Jesus died is a shelter where people can hide. I believe the Cross of Jesus Christ is the emblem of the church. It is an emblem of suffering and shame that Jesus went through.

“So when you consider making a declaration such as, I am called by God, I am a child of God, I have worth, I have value, I have a destiny, I am a child of promise, from God Himself – then, those declarations are stakes in the ground.”

He added that V-shaped edge of the emblem on the cover, represents goes in the sharp end of a stake that drives into the ground and does not come out.

Dr Minors quoted a passage from Job 22:28 that has been his inspiration for the project: “You shall decree a thing, and it shall be established unto you.”

He added: “I think people need to understand the power of their words. The Bible says death and life are in the power of the tongue. The Bible also says that a man shall be satisfied by the fruit of his mouth.

“I believe we often bring death or life to circumstances we go through in life; we bring death or life to it by speaking. So, the premise of stakes in the ground is to put it in and not let it come out. It is a stake that is immoveable,” said Dr Minors.

Writing the book was a process of “refinement” for Dr Minors. “The Bible says the labourer must be the first partaker of the fruit,” he said. “So, getting the downloads from the Spirit of the Lord, I believe, brought these thoughts to my mind as I wrote them on the computer.

“You have to re-read and edit; when that happened, it also became transformational for me. Discovering new things about myself – strengths, weaknesses — getting tips from the Word of God on how to handle these weaknesses to make them stronger.

“There are things about my personality that the Lord had to refine and chisel away so that I am not just someone who writes a book, but lives what’s in the book.

“That is very important; it’s one thing to say something, and it's another thing actually to live what is said. As a Christian, I need to have a belief that behaves. In other words, I behave according to what I believe."

Dr Minors hopes the book will impact readers, just as it impacted him to write it.

“I am hoping people can find strength, courage, empowerment, enablement in things that they do, based on the Word of the Lord, the Bible that we believe,” he said. “People can find what they need to be successful. Many of the declarations speak to the personal application of the Word of God in an individual's life.”

• Stakes in the Ground is available for purchase at The Bookmart, where the Reverend Clark Minors will hold a book signing on November 18 from noon to 2pm