Michael Jordan: The Sleeping Giant

By Author: Gloria Minatti
Total Articles: 2
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There has been so much controversy surrounding the private life of the image the public has set up as one of the greatest conglomerates in the world. I am sure that even this story will add to the scrutiny that is already vibrating in his life, but I have always believed in truth, and at times truth sets you free. My actions and words concerning Michael have been misunderstood and misconstrued. Not only from my own peers, but from his associates as well. I have been told in so many words that that my presence in his life is not welcomed. I was even pulled aside on my former job because of an untruth that I was following Mr. Jordan around as he worked out in a gym in Washington DC. I was threatened by the gym's management and human resource staff that if I didn't stay away from him that I would be fired on the spot. I had to literally sign a paper stating that I would remain aloof from Mr. Jordan while he was present in the gym. I questioned an associate of his about the matter, and in turn was told that he nor Mr. Jordan had anything to do with it. I was very offended when he told me that Mr. Jordan didn't even know my last ...
... name, and that I was insignificant to him. That was very disconcerting to say the least, when in all my interactions with Michael I have always been respectful and courteous. I am bringing this forth, not because of any vendetta or to receive an apology, but hopefully this will open the heart of Michael Jordan, the man I met and spoke with in 1998. The man that humbled himself in the presence of the Lord, and acknowledged His Word to him that day.

I was told by Mr. Jordan that he respected and trusted me, and in no uncertain terms would he ever do anything to hurt me intentionally. I cannot honestly say that this has been the case. I do not expect him to answer to my every whim, but I do expect him to be a man of honor, of integrity. A man is only as good as his word, and Mr. Jordan has shown that his word means nothing. I know the power of God, and I have witnessed in my ministering the Word of God for 18 years the tremendous impact on people that the anointing has. I know He is able to change the heart of any man or woman, so I do not question the Word that was spoken to Michael in 1998, and since then.

The actions of a man or woman do not dictate to God what He will or will not do, can or cannot perform in one's life. I have debated in my heart many times about telling the whole story behind our meeting and interactions since then. Of course many will take my motive wrong for doing so, but I cannot please people when I am striving to please God. There is nothing negative that can be said from the subject at hand except for I trusted when I shouldn't have. As was said of Madame Guyon, a great woman of God of the 16th century, Her only crime was that of loving God.

It is my only fault, if it can be labeled as such, that I love God so much that I left aside the persecution that I would receive, and the misconstrued ideas of a man that need what I have to offer to bring him the Word of God, to bring him life. As with anything great, it takes great pain to bring forth. This wasn't an easy task, nor will it get easier with time. I have set my face as a flint for what I know is right and true, and I know that one day God will take out Michael's stony heart and make it pliable for His use. In time, he will understand all that I have done has been out of pure love, the unconditional love that God has for every man, woman, boy and girl. So the story begins.
I met Michael in a little restaurant in Chicago in April 1998. It was a divine meeting for it was not planned by either of us, but it would truly be a day we would never forget. At first glance there was a tremendous surge of energy between us. Most would say that this was attraction, but I beg to differ because this was an energy unknown by either of us. We would like to blame it on the flesh, the bodily function, but the Lord brought us together totally by His Spirit to perform a miraculous feat. His plan was to bring a divine, holy union of the representation of Solomon and the mysterious Shulamite. This was not natural, therefore it was beyond reasoning, but Mr. Jordan was a reasoning, rational man. Surely there was a rational explanation for the meeting, for God would not dangle anything before him that would be a hindrance to the man.

As we talked for at least 45 minutes, we stared in each other's eyes as if we had known each other all our lives. We were comfortable and at rest with each other, and Mr. Jordan listened intently as I shared with him the things God had revealed to me concerning Him in the past year. He agreed with the things I said, and even wanted to hear more. I didn't pay attention at the time to the reason for his interest, only that he was willing to allow me to speak, and he was willing to listen. He had people waiting for him, some recognizable faces from the media. I told him that I didn't want to keep him from his meeting with the reporters, and he assured me that it was okay. I continued to speak when he put out his hand. I then realized that he wanted me to place my hand in his, and so I did. With this gesture God began to do something, and we both felt it all through us. We began to vibrate as if volts of electricity were pulsating through us. It was an experience I would never forget because it wasn't the idea of sitting next to him, or the fact that we were holding hands that made this occur. It was a pure act of God, for He promised me that He would confirm everything He showed me and told me up until that point.

Michael and I hadn't seen or spoken to one another for three years following that first meeting. Then God spoke to me in prayer, and told me that now was the time for Michael to come to Washington, DC. I told Michael in 1998 that he would come to DC, and that God would then reveal to him part two of the Word that was spoken to him. He would only know this by going through me, therefore he was to seek for me with all his heart, so that he may find me. When he finds me, then he finds God. He that finds his soul, finds a good thing, and obtains favor of the Lord. This is symbolic of Jesus saying, "When you see me, you see the Father." This is why God uses people, so that He may show Himself. God is a Spirit, He is invisible, so He must make it so He is able to be experienced by mankind. But why me? God knew Michael wouldn't receive the Word from no one else. It was preordained from the foundation of the world that at that specific time in space we would meet.

God didn't send me to speak a Word to Michael on April 26, 1998 because He had nothing else to do, but He had a great love for this man. A love so great, that He led me to him totally by the Spirit in order to let him know that in spite of his faults, God saw his need. His need is to be delivered from the snare of the world, and its devices. To deliver him from the lie . What is the lie? It is that which he believes is true to his nature, believing that his puny existence as what he is in the flesh is all there is to life itself. Believing that if he concentrate hard enough, focus hard enough that he will stop all the things he is doing that are bad or as we say sinful. Sorry to say, but it doesn't work that way. No man is able in and of himself to stop sinning, no matter what he does. If Michael really saw the truth, he wouldn't desire half of the things he has now, nor would he even care to chase after the things that out of his reach as of now.

He wasn't chosen by God after he became a great basketball player, or a multimillionaire. He was chosen before the foundation of the world, and now is the appointed time of the Lord that he shall be set free. The people of this world idolize this man, this body of flesh, therefore God put Michael before them as a symbol. A symbolization that no matter how deep in sin, and no matter how far one has moved away from God, He is able to bring him back. It is giving the people of God hope that if God can penetrate a man so entrenched in the world and the lust of it, that He is still in control of this world, and never for one moment lost that control. But like the world and its inhabitants today, God is shunned and denied on every level of humanity. When a man is willing to sign a document just to make money, and states a person cannot stand or endorse God, and His Son Jesus Christ shows the detriment of our society. When a man cannot be a friend to a person who believes in the Lord because he feels it will disrupt his career in some way is sad and grievous to say the least.

When there were times that I asked to speak with him concerning what was said to him in 1998, he just shunned me. He out rightly ignored the Word and its messenger time after time. He never seem to have time to hear what God wanted to say to him, and his view of the messenger was tainted by sin and carnality. His own view of himself, and the upkeep of his image continued to be a hindrance in his submission to the Word. He had time for everything else, including "scratching an itch," and play basketball again. He had time for golf, parties, clubs, women and booze, but never time for God. Yes, he is a true example of society as a whole today. This mindset deludes itself that it can hide from others what is taking place, but the heart never lies. God sees when no one else can. I know that God allowed the negative things to come forth about Michael in order to get his attention. To remind him of his word that he spoke before God, and even though he felt that no one else heard it but me, God heard it, and this day God is requiring his life.

No matter how much money he accumulates, no matter where he may go in the world, no matter who he may meet, he will never find fulfillment in any of it until he seeks for the Lord with all his heart. The same way he has sought after everything of the world, so God requires him to seek for Him this way. King Solomon fell because he ran after other gods through the foreign women he married. He started out by marrying the daughter of Pharaoh, an Egyptian. She and her kind didn't serve the one and only true God, and therefore, Solomon was caught in a web of destruction that would eventually bring forth the loss of the kingdom. God made a promise to David that He would not forget him, and that he will have an heir upon the throne. When God told Michael that he was Solomon and that he would finish what he didn't, He wasn't speaking in the natural as if Solomon was reincarnated in Michael Jordan. He meant that the wisdom, power, peace and authority that came with Solomon's rule would be evident again in a people, starting with him.

He didn't realize the cry of his heart at the time, but yet I knew because the Lord showed it to me on those nights that I stayed awake praying for him. He showed me the times of Michael as a child, and the times in college. The uncertainties of life and his career. The fear of losing everything, but yet knowing deep in his heart that he still did not possess everything. In reality it possessed him, and God came to release him from that bondage; but just as a man may walk up to an animal or even a person who has been enslaved for so long and has grown accustomed to its environment. So it is with those who God comes to set free, but never walk away from the chains because it knows nothing else.
When it does experience something else, even if it is only for a moment, it is frightened of what it feels because it feels foreign. It brings forth a feeling that this can't be right, because I do not understand it. It is this feeling that we run from every time only to be running in circles. When the time is right, God stops us in our tracks and shows us the way to freedom, to peace.

God's plan for Michael's life will eventually outweigh his plans, but only when it is God's time. We can plant and we can water, but God must give the increase. As God increases, so shall he decrease, and then the world shall give praise to God for what He has done. Michael may deny every word written in this article. He may even deny me, but he can never truly deny God, because to do so would be to deny himself. We are held accountable for every word that proceeds out of our mouths no matter who we are. There are many that say, There is no god, but God will show them not by mere words of men that are empty puffs of smoke, vapors that are here and then vanish away. He will reveal His glory and power through action, through effect. He is the Cause of all things, and the effects are enormous!


About the Author
She is founder of Beyond the Veil Newsletter distributed around the world, also Founder of Man's Restored Image Ministries Inc.. She is an ordained minister with 18 years of experience in spiritual studies. Ms. Minatti's spiritual journey directed her to minister to basketball legend/entrepreneur Michael Jordan. She has a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology, and a licensed Fitness/Nutrition Specialist.
www.mansrestoredimage.org