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Charleston Church Shooting Effect

In Agape Love, Anger, Anxiety, Apostasy, Bible, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, Courage, Depression, Encouragement, End Times, Exhortation, God, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Grief, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Loss, Love, Persecution, Prayer, Prophecy, Prophet, Prophetess, Religious Freedom, Remnant, Renewal, Revival, Rhema Words, Spiritual Activism, Spiritual Activists, Spiritual Remnant, Spirituality, Suffering, Truth, Uncategorized on July 3, 2015 at 4:09 pm

I was in Charleston, South Carolina on June 25th and June 26th during the services for the Christians that were shot and killed on the evening of June 17th 2015 during their regular Bible Study at Emanuel AME Church. In attendance were President Obama who spoke on Friday, June 26th 2015 and Rev. Jesse Jackson who arrived the evening of Thursday, June 25th to a large crowd of Christians present paying their respects to their fallen family members, family members many of us had never met but family they were nevertheless.

Family and effect is what I want to address in this piece in the wake of the mass shooting that took place at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in downtown Charleston where nine people were shot and killed, including the senior pastor, state senator Clementa C. Pinckney; also where a tenth person was shot yet survived.

I did not go to Charleston originally because of this event. Our trip was previously planned by my spouse as a birthday trip but in the end it turned out to be much more – it became a moment in history and an opportunity to see what drives Christians.

Our hotel was just a few blocks from the Emanuel Church and it was the first place we headed for upon arrival and check in at the hotel. It took only minutes to walk the few blocks and encounter the street barricaded and filled with police officers and media. Yet, there was also an overwhelming Christian presence, God’s people where there in heavy numbers.

We made our way down to the front of the Church about the time the Rev. Jesse Jackson arrived and as I looked at this now aged gentleman I could not help but recall that as a young man he had stood on the balcony with Dr. Martin Luther King at the moment when Dr. King was shot. Now Rev. Jackson was here in his advanced years to give aid and comfort for yet more men and women of God who had been shot and killed out of anger and hate. My heart went out to Rev. Jesse Jackson as I ponder all he has seen and endured through the years. Both a reverend and an activist, as many of us are.

Spiritual Christian activism on the part of Bible Believing Christians is very important. As our beliefs and our rights to believe as we desire are coming continually under fire we need more Christians who are willing to stand up for and fight for their rights both as Americans and Christians combined. A Christian is not merely an American and an American cannot give up his or her Christian rights and beliefs as our country changes and becomes more and more ungodly. I wonder if we have enough Christian people who are willing to be inconvenienced, let alone killed for their beliefs, like Rev. Jackson and Dr. King.

Which leads me to my next point. What did I see and sense there in Charleston, among those people gathered there? How did the family react? What effect did this shooting have on the Christian family?

Christians are a family and we function like a family when tragedy strikes. Families disagree, they argue, they even fight. They might not talk for months but they are family. They might live in different towns and attend different churches but family is still family. We, the family, can talk about each other all we want. We can argue and perhaps even hurt each other more often than we might like. However, let an outsider come in and hurt the family or a family member and watch how we react. No, no, no – no one messes with the family.

That is exactly what I sensed in Charleston, South Carolina. A place filled with people who had never met, who came from different denominations, of different cultures, different races, different social and economical backgrounds but all part of one whole, one family – one Body, The Body of Christ. There was a comfort and an ease among the people. The family had been attacked and the rest of the family was rallying to give their support through their presence and prayers. Every hotel in the area was booked solid from what our hotel concierge told us.

Banners hung on the neighboring churches with Scriptures on them, one of which had 2 Timothy 1:7 on display.

2 Timothy 1:7 (NKJV)

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

I assure you there was no fear in that crowd. These people were not afraid they were there to show how faithful they were to the family.

There was no disunity found on that street as people from every denominational background, color, culture, economic class, and race stood side by side talking and praying. As I talked with a fellow Christian, an African American Woman, I am Caucasian, we spoke about how this young man had messed with the wrong group, Christians are not easily frightened and when attacked they pull together and offer their support to one another. When Christianity is persecuted it flourishes and grows it does not shirk back or diminish. Courage defines the Christian experience both past and present. We pull together during persecution and find courage and strength through the support and prayers of our brothers and sisters in Christ. As the young woman put it so well, ‘He will not make us afraid.’ No, persecuting Christians does not result in fear; it results in faith and a fierce infusion of courage. That is exactly what I sensed and felt coming from the crowds of Believers in Charleston, South Carolina.

The people of Charleston, South Carolina both Christian and non-Christian handled themselves with such dignity and poise during a difficult and terrible time and under such tragic circumstances. There were no riots or protest there, no uprising of any type. This in my view is a result of both the Christian faith at work and southern manners. Having been raised both in the south and in a Christian home, I know firsthand there are certain expectations regarding how one handles themselves during a crisis. Bravo to Charleston, they honored the south and southern manners superbly!

Effect according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary is defined as follows:

5: power to bring about a result: INFLUENCE

The effect this young man and his actions had on Christians, Charleston, and the south was to give us an opportunity to display our unity, courage, love, compassion, manners, hospitality, grace, and FAITH. The enemy sought to bring harm but God’s end game was to bring good [Genesis 50:20] and in Charleston on June 25th and June 26th 2015 He certainly did that. If you want to see a Christian community rise up and become even stronger persecute the people.

Genesis 50:20 (NKJV)

But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.

As I prayed on June 25th at Emanuel AME Church I asked God, why He allowed this to happen. He did not cause it but He most certainly allowed it since our God is sovereign and able to control anything He wishes to control. He did not tell me why He allowed this to happen but He did tell me that He intended to bring something MAJOR out of this incident. That it would have an effect on the Body of Christ like nothing else has in a long time. I continue to pray and seek Him for more information about His Plans for this event as He, and if He sees fit to reveal them to me according to His Will.

 

 

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

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Grief – Suffering All Will Endure – Conclusion

In Advice, Agape Love, Anger, Anxiety, Apostasy, Bible, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, Courage, Depression, Devotional, Encouragement, End Times, Exhortation, God, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Grief, Jesus, Loss, Love, Persecution, Prayer, Prophecy, Prophet, Prophetess, Remnant, Renewal, Revival, Rhema Words, Spiritual Fruit, Spiritual Remnant, Suffering, Truth, Uncategorized on May 8, 2015 at 7:23 am

A personal moment of grief…

One of the longest running sources of grief in my lifetime has been the deterioration of the corporate church I have watched over the last twenty years. There is no way I can describe for you the pain it has caused me to watch churches and spiritual leaders who I believe once loved Jesus and were fully devoted to Him become apostate churches and apostate leaders.

I have been accused many times of speaking out against the church and against the brethren, yet, it was never my desire to hurt either, it was my desire to honor God, speak what He told me to speak, and bring warning against the deterioration of the corporate body in an effort to turn the tide back to true unadulterated devotion to Christ. I never wanted us, The Body of Christ and the corporate church, to be where we are today – churches emptying and closing and with attendance of churches at a record low in America. I have cried many tears over this problem, still do, and the mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual pain has been almost unbearable at times over the last twenty plus years.

I watched a special news cast regarding the continuation of the television series “The Bible” which is currently airing the second part, the New Testament, “A.D. The Bible Continues” on Sunday nights. This television program is the most watch show in television history. This means people are interested in the Bible and drawn to God, perhaps even seeking faith, yet it has been proven recently and made known in the media that church attendance in America is at an all time low. I write about why that is and have been warning about it for years – you can find the writings on this blog [GodsTruthInLove.org] in the achieves under “Spiritual Remnant” – Believer are leaving the corporate churches in droves.

During this news special I watched, they interviewed the pastor of the largest church in America, with some 33,000 plus people in attendance weekly – Andy Stanley of North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, Georgia. They asked him why he believed church attendance in America was at an all time low despite the fact that people are obviously interested in the Bible and seeking faith. Sadly, this man’s answer was right on target and what I have been exhorting churches to stop for years, the pastor stated that the reason was because people had been hurt so badly by churches that they were leaving churches but not their faith.

We must learn to disagree without wounding or killing one another. Jesus never killed or wounded those He disagreed with; He merely gave them the truth and then walked away from them.

Spiritual leaders more than anything or anyone else have been the cause of the deterioration of the corporate church – may God forgive them, forgive us, and heal the grief caused while at the same time restoring His Church to what He always intended it to be.

 

 

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

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Grief – Suffering All Will Endure – Pt. 10 Stages of Grief / Stage 9

In Advice, Agape Love, Anger, Anxiety, Bible, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, Depression, Encouragement, End Times, Exhortation, God, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Grief, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Loss, Love, Persecution, Prophecy, Prophet, Prophetess, Religious Freedom, Remnant, Spiritual Activism, Spiritual Activists, Spiritual Fruit, Spiritual Remnant, Suffering, Truth, Uncategorized on April 8, 2015 at 12:46 pm

In stage nine of grief the griever begins to see hope emerge from the ashes of loss.

Isaiah 61:3 (NKJV)

To console those who mourn in Zion,

To give them beauty for ashes,

The oil of joy for mourning,

The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;

That they may be called trees of righteousness,

The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.”

In stage nine the person grieving begins to realize that the painful memories they are experiencing are part of the healing process and therefore must be integrated into their life. There is an acceptance of the fact that life has changed and the person begins to embrace completely all that has happened. They begin to reach out to life once again with less fear and more confidence.

The speed of this return to life will vary for different individuals but nevertheless they begin once again to find their emotional equilibrium. They begin to realize and accept that life must change if it is to continue and continue it must.

For Christians this is a time of returning to, waiting for, and/or drawing closer to their Lord, the Author of their salvation.

Lamentations 3:22–26 (NKJV)

22 Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed,

Because His compassions fail not.

23 They are new every morning;

Great is Your faithfulness.

24 “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,

“Therefore I hope in Him!”

25 The LORD is good to those who wait for Him,

To the soul who seeks Him.

26 It is good that one should hope and wait quietly

For the salvation of the LORD.

The mercy of God is great, nothing can compare to His mercy, and He reaches out to His children each day with new mercies. The word “new” in verse twenty-three also means “fresh” in the Hebrew. Each day there is a fresh supply of God’s loving-kindness also known as mercy. For those grieving that freshness becomes fresher and fresher with each passing day.

For a Christian the Lord is our portion. The words “my portion” in verse twenty-four in the Hebrew means “smoothness” and “inheritance” which is exactly what God is for us and to us. He smoothes the rough places and gives us a “part” or our “allotment” of Himself, our daily allotment. Both the words “part” and “allotment” are found in the definition of “my portion” according to the Hebrew language. The language also indicated that He will “deal” and “distribute” that portion of Himself that is needed by us, as we have need of Him. What a wonderful Truth to know that our God is there for us during our time of need, and for that matter, at all times.

In order to sense our Lord’s presence during the difficult times in life, we must not allow ourselves to become so overwhelmed that we do not seek Him during our hour of need.

To “seeketh” [KJV] found in verse twenty-five in the Hebrew language means “to tread or frequent; usually to follow for pursuit” and by implication it is to “ask” and more specifically “to worship” doing both “diligently” as we “inquire” of the Lord for our help. As one heals from loss and grief be mindful to worship God and to take your questions to Him in prayer.

One must not let their pain keep them from talking to God about their questions regarding all that has happened to them. To “hope” in verse twenty-four means to “say” and “be pained” but then in verse twenty-six a layer of meaning is added, it evolves to also means to be “expectant” of something. Therefore, what happens between verse twenty-four and twenty-six? … Waiting and seeking the LORD.

When we do not understand something we wait with faith and trust in our Lord that as His children He only has our best interest at heart, for He always wants our ultimate good. In verse twenty-six “and quietly wait” [KJV] in part means “to be dumb” in the Hebrew language. There are times in life when we cannot know what we desire to know, we cannot obtain the needed knowledge to understand why something happens; at times we remain “dumb” to the whys of life. It is during this time of not knowing, our season of denseness, that our trust, faith, and reliance upon our Lord grows – all of which is needed to obtain salvation from our grief and pain.

There is the Eternal Salvation, which Jesus provided through His death on the cross and resurrection from the dead for those who would trust in Him, then there is the daily salvation He provides for us here on earth. In healing from grief or loss that daily salvation is applied to our lives as we seek Him and allow Him to apply that salvation.

In verse twenty-six “for the Salvation” [KJV] in the Hebrew means to “rescue literally or figuratively” and to rescue both in the natural and spiritual. It means to bring about our “deliverance, help, safety, salvation and victory” ultimately. It also means to make us “to be free” and that means “freedom from some trouble” we are facing.

To whom is this type of salvation given? To those who wait for the LORD. What does it mean to wait for the Lord? According to the Hebrew language “unto them that wait” [KJV] in verse twenty-five means “to bind together perhaps by twisting” and “figuratively to expect” something. Expect what? Expect the Lord to act on our behalf, expect the salvation of the LORD. The Hebrew meaning also indicates we are to “gather [ourselves] together” and “look patiently” while we “tarry” in expectation of the Lord’s actions.

Are you twisted up in your grief or are you intertwined, twisted, and bound to The Spirit of God that is healing you? Are you accepting and enduring your grief in expectation of God’s salvation from its pain? Are you making room for your salvation [the victory and deliverance from grief and sorrow] to come by patiently enduring what you do not understand, what you do not want, while staying bound to Christ in full trust of His love for you?

In the next part of this series, part eleven, we will examine the final stage of grief, the second healing stage.

 

 

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

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Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993

In Advice, Agape Love, Anger, Apostasy, Bible, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, Devotional, End Times, Exhortation, Fruits of the Holy Spirit, God, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Love, Persecution, Prayer, Prophecy, Prophet, Prophetess, Religious Freedom, Remnant, Revival, Rhema Words, Spiritual Activism, Spiritual Activists, Spiritual Fruit, Spiritual Remnant, Truth, Uncategorized on April 1, 2015 at 1:40 pm

Do not allow people to walk all over you just because you are a godly person.  Understand when the time has come to stand up and in a godly way push back against the tide of society. 

DEPOSITORY – JUSTICE DEPT. LIBRARY

PUBLIC LAW 103-141—NOV. 16, 1993

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM RESTORATION ACT

OF 1993

DEPT. OF JUSTICE

MAR18,1994

MAIN LIBRARY

Pg. 2

107 STAT. 1488 PUBLIC LAW 103-141—NOV. 16, 1993

Public Law 103-141

103d Congress

An Act

Nov. 16, 1993 To protect the free exercise of religion.

[H.R. 1308]

Religious Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of

Freedom the United States of America in Congress assembled,

Restoration Act

of1993. SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

42 USC 2000bb

note. This Act may be cited as the "Religious Freedom Restoration

Act of 1993".

42 USC 2000bb. SEC.2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS AND DECLARATION OF PURPOSES.

(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—

(1) the framers of the Constitution, recognizing free exercise

of religion as an unalienable right, secured its protection in

the First Amendment to the Constitution;

(2) laws "neutral" toward religion may burden religious

exercise as surely as laws intended to interfere with religious

exercise;

(3) governments should not substantially burden religious

exercise without compelling justification;

(4) in Employment Division v. Smith, 494 U.S. 872 (1990)

the Supreme Court virtually eliminated the requirement that

the government justify burdens on religious exercise imposed

by laws neutral toward religion; and

(5) the compelling interest test as set forth in prior Federal

court rulings is a workable test for striking sensible balances

between religious liberty and competing prior governmental

interests.

(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—

(1) to restore the compelling interest test as set forth in

Sherbert v. Verner, 374 U.S. 398 (1963) and Wisconsin v.

Yoder, 406 U.S. 205 (1972) and to guarantee its application

in all cases where free exercise of religion is substantially

burdened; and

(2) to provide a claim or defense to persons whose religious

exercise is substantially burdened by government.

42 USC SEC. 3. FREE EXERCISE OF RELIGIONPROTECTED.

2000bb-l

(a) IN GENERAL.—Government shall not substantially burden

a person’s exercise of religion even if the burden results from

a rule of general applicability, except as provided in subsection

(b).

(b) EXCEPTION.—Government may substantially burden a person’s

exercise of religion only if it demonstrates that application

of the burden to the person—

Pg. 3

PUBLIC LAW 103-141—NOV. 16, 1993 107 STAT. 1489

(1) is in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest;

and

(2) is the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling

governmental interest.

(c) JUDICIAL RELIEF.—A person whose religious exercise has

been burdened in violation of this section may assert that violation

as a claim or defense in a judicial proceeding and obtain appropriate

relief against a government. Standing to assert a claim or defense

under this section shall be governed by the general rules of standing

under article III of the Constitution.

SEC. 4. ATTORNEYSFEES.

(a) JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS.—Section 722 of the Revised Statutes

(42 U.S.C. 1988) is amended by inserting "the Religious Freedom

Restoration Act of 1993," before "or title VI of the Civil Rights

Act of 1964".

(b) ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEEDINGS.—Section 504(b)(1)(C) of title

5, United States Code, is amended—

(1) by striking "and" at the end of clause (ii);

(2) by striking the semicolon at the end of clause (iii)

and inserting ", and"; and

(3) by inserting "(iv) the Religious Freedom Restoration

Act of 1993;" after clause (iii).

SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 42 USC

As used in this Act— 2000bb-2.

(1) the term "government" includes a branch, department,

agency, instrumentality, and official (or other person acting

under color of law) of the United States, a State, or a subdivision

of a State;

(2) the term "State" includes the District of Columbia,

the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and each territory and

possession of the United States;

(3) the term "demonstrates" means meets the burdens of

going forward with the evidence and of persuasion; and

(4) the term "exercise of religion means the exercise of

religion under the First Amendment to the Constitution.

SEC. 6. APPLICABILITY. 42 USC

2000bb-3. (a) IN GENERAL.—This Act applies to all Federal and State

law, and the implementation of that law, whether statutory or

otherwise, and whether adopted before or after the enactment of

this Act.

(b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Federal statutory law adopted

after the date of the enactment of this Act is subject to this Act

unless such law explicitly excludes such application by reference

to this Act.

(c) RELIGIOUS BELIEF UNAFFECTED.—Nothing in this Act shall

be construed to authorize any government to burden any religious

belief.

SEC. 7. ESTABLISHMENTCLAUSE UNAFFECTED. 42USC

Nothing in this Act shall be construed to affect, interpret, 2000bb-4.

or in any way address that portion of the First Amendment prohibiting

laws respecting the establishment of religion (referred to in

this section as the "Establishment Clause"). Granting government

funding, benefits, or exemptions, to the extent permissible under

the Establishment Clause, shall not constitute a violation of this

Pg. 4

107 STAT. 1490 PUBLIC LAW 103-141—NOV. 16, 1993

Act. As used in this section, the term "granting", used with respect

to government funding, benefits, or exemptions, does not include

the denial of government funding, benefits, or exemptions.

Approved November 16, 1993.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—H.R. 1308 (S. 578):

HOUSE REPORTS: No. 103-88 (Comm. on the Judiciary).

SENATE REPORTS: No. 103-111 accompanying S. 578 (Comm. on the Judiciary).

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 139 (1993):

May 11, considered and passed House.

Oct. 26, 27, S. 578 considered in Senate; H.R. 1308, amended, passed in lieu.

Nov. 3, House concurred in Senate amendment.

WEEKLY COMPILATION OF PRESIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS, Vol. 29 (1993):

Nov. 16, Presidential remarks.

21 states have a version of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act enacted by their legislature:

Alabama (state constitution amendment)

Arizona

Arkansas

Connecticut

Florida

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Mississippi

Missouri

New Mexico

Oklahoma

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

South Carolina

Tennessee

Texas

Virginia

States with RFRA-like provisions – provided by state court decisions—rather than via legislation:

Alaska

Hawaii

Ohio

Maine

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Montana

North Carolina

Washington

Wisconsin

 

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

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Grief – Suffering All Will Endure – Pt. 3 Stages of Grief / Stage 2

In Advice, Agape Love, Bible, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, Encouragement, Exhortation, God, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Grief, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Loss, Love, Prophecy, Prophet, Prophetess, Remnant, Suffering, Truth, Uncategorized on February 20, 2015 at 9:16 am

In stage two of grief people begin to feel the impact of their loss this is the emotional release stage.

During the emotional release stage of grief, people begin to come out of their state of shock and the emotions that have been building up inside of them begin to emerge. These emotions can emerge in both a verbal and physical manner. The release of the emotions in both manners can be healthy but most assuredly care should be taken to ensure the safety of the individual grieving, other people, and/or someone’s personal property. People’s reactions emotionally can vary widely therefore, they must be carefully monitored during this period.

The griever during this stage is beginning to feel the dreadful loss they have suffered. Expressing or releasing these feeling is far better than trying to repress them.

For those monitoring a grieving person they must realize that this is a process the individual must go through and attempts to keep them calm or distract them from their feelings is not helping them. When one Christian watches another Christian release the anger, frustration, pain, sorrow and/or distress inside of them, perhaps blaming the person who has been lost or people attached to the loss, this can be a very difficult thing to watch. Someone may find himself or herself watching an individual they have always known to be godly now perhaps blame God, yell, scream, or simply appear to fall apart emotionally. Please know that your godly friend or loved one is still inside that person and that what you are watching is emotional pain and nothing more.

The best thing a godly person can do for someone in this stage of grief is to allow them to vent their emotions provided they are not hurting themselves, others, or someone’s personal property. Be nearby and avail bile but allow the individual to go through this process. This emotional process may require a series of emotional outburst over the course of time. One single emotional outburst most likely will not mean the end of this stage of grief for most people. Be as patient, kind, and loving as possible while also taking care of your own safety and emotional health.

Emotional release is so important that some hospitals have now provided what they call “screaming rooms” which offer a person in grief somewhere safe to go and vent their feeling.

In the next part of this series, part four, we will examine stage three of grief.

 

 

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

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Grief – Suffering All Will Endure – Pt. 2 Stages of Grief / Stage 1

In Advice, Agape Love, Bible, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, Devotional, Encouragement, Exhortation, God, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Grief, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Loss, Love, Prophecy, Prophet, Prophetess, Remnant, Rhema Words, Spiritual Remnant, Suffering, Truth on February 13, 2015 at 8:04 am

There is one school of belief that states there are five stages of grief and there is another school of belief that maintains there are ten stages of grief. I believe ten stages to be much more reasonable and realistic.

The first stage of grief is shock, that sense of disbelief and bewilderment.

During the “shock stage” of grief, much of the mind, soul, and emotional functioning shuts down to a certain degree to insulate itself from something it finds too unbearable. While in the stage of shock the mind and soul is able to comprehend slowly the reality of the situation with which the person is faced. This slow process is in my belief a form of God’s protection as He adjusts the person’s spirit and overall being to their new circumstances. God created mankind’s bodies and He knows there is only so much emotional (soul) pain a person can endure without becoming mentally derailed completely, so He provided the state of shock.

Shock happens regardless of whether or not someone expected the loss to take place, such as in the case of the death of a loved one who has been ill for a long time with a terminal illness or in the case of a divorce that one has known was inevitable for a long time. Just because someone has the knowledge that something is going to happen does not mean his or her minds are prepared for the reality of the loss once it actually takes place.

Denial kicks in pretty quickly after a loss takes place and can last for a long period of time. It is hard for someone to grasp fully that a relationship is over, a dream is gone, or someone they have loved dearly is dead. This is when the sense of unreality takes place and the person begins to feel numb or numbness about the situation. This emotional and mental numbness can last for hours, days, weeks, or sadly, in some cases it drags on for years, which is very mentally and emotionally dangerous.

Not being able to fully grasp or face the full enormity of a loss is God’s anesthetic against the pain of overwhelming loss. Therefore shock is a stage of grief people should welcome and allow other individuals to fully experience in order to process their loss in a healthy manner. The best thing a godly person can do for someone in the early stages of shock is not to overwhelm them with questions, requests, or smothering comfort. Being close by, available, keeping an eye out for the person to assure they do not wonder into danger, and praying for the person, for them not with them as they might not be equipped or prepared to pray initially, is the best course of action in these early stages of shock.

As stated earlier long-term shock can be very unhealthy mentally and emotionally. Therefore, in the case of long-term shock or mental and emotional numbness that has gone on for months or years the best thing a godly person can for an individual in this situation is to urge them to seek godly counsel so they can deal with their unhealthy state of denial and move on.

In the next part of this series, we will address stage two of grief.

 

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

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Grief – Suffering All Will Endure – Introduction

In Advice, Agape Love, Bible, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, Devotional, Encouragement, Exhortation, God, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Grief, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Loss, Love, Persecution, Prayer, Prophecy, Prophet, Prophetess, Remnant, Revival, Rhema Words, Spiritual Fruit, Spiritual Remnant, Suffering, Truth, Uncategorized on January 31, 2015 at 12:03 pm

People often have a singular view of what grief is and why it manifests. Grief more often than not is associated with the death of a person. Grief however, can manifest over the loss or death of anything or anyone significant in a person’s life.

We suffer grief when someone we have cared for or loved dies. We suffer grief when a relationship that has meant a great deal to us ends. We suffer grief when we realize that long held hope, dream, or goals are not going to come to pass. We suffer grief when we have something meaningful to us, taken away from us through theft, fire, flood, loss, or destruction of any sort. We suffer grief when we lose out on an aspect of childhood we should have had. We suffer grief when through injustice, we are cheated out of an opportunity, a promotion, or the ability to be all God meant for us to be.

There are so many forms of grief that most assuredly should we live very long we shall all endure grief in some form. Sadly, too many people do not recognize that they are going through grief, especially if it is a situation where the grief is caused by something other than someone death. People who are dealing with a death often fall into the trap of believing, they should be getting better long before they actually will get better. However, the deepest waves of grief often come long after the loss.

Through this series we explore what grief actually is, how it manifest, some myths about grief, tips for managing grief while it works its way through its natural process, the stages of grief (some believe there are five stages other ascribe to the idea there are ten stages), and how to recover from grief and press on with life in a healthy way.

How we respond to grief and how willing we are to deal with our grief appropriately will determine to some degree how long it will last. I have seen people linger in grief over things that have happened to them for years and years without dealing with the grief. I have also seen people who have lost someone dearly to them embrace their grief wholeheartedly and plow through it in little time at all, comparatively speaking.

I will leave this introduction brief and in part one we will explore the actually meaning of grief according to the Bible, psychology, and other sources.

 

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

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Life Choices

In Advice, Agape Love, Bible, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, Devotional, Encouragement, Exhortation, Fruits of the Holy Spirit, God, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Love, Prophecy, Prophet, Prophetess, Remnant, Revival, Rhema Words, Spiritual Fruit, Spiritual Remnant, Truth, Uncategorized on January 1, 2015 at 4:12 pm

Proverb 5:15 –

"Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well."

Thoughts shared by another…

This seems to be about drawing from one’s own prosperity and not letting one’s resources be drained by sin – whether that is spiritual, physical or other kinds of resources.

Good thought.

The earlier parts of the chapter are about listening to instruction and correction so as to not be dragged away by immorality, the immoral woman, and to avoid having one’s life and prosperity eaten away.

Yes, the wisdom of those who have gone before us can help us learn so we do not have to make as many mistakes in life.

So it seems to me the message is about keeping one’s livelihood intact.

Yes, it is in a way….but one must ask what is a person’s definition of livelihood – we would find many different answers.

…vitality and prosperity follow obedience.

My thoughts…

Proverbs 5:15-20 to some degree must be taken together and most definitely in context to those verses and the chapter. We will focus in on verse 15 and 16 together. Those two verses fall in the category of Scripture with the Law of Double Reference, which means it has a spiritual and literal meaning and/or can apply to more than one person or group of people in more than one way.

Proverbs 5:15–16 (NKJV)

15 Drink water from your own cistern,

And running water from your own well.

16 Should your fountains be dispersed abroad,

Streams of water in the streets?

Verses 15 and 16 are about:

a) covetousness [When taken with the verses that follow.]

b) reaping what one sows [When taken with the preceding verses.]

c) consequence of sin or ungodly actions – tarnished fruit [When taken with both the previous and later verses as well as the overall context of the chapter.]

Looking deeper into the meaning of the Hebrew words involved in these two verses, you can see the tone and intent of their meaning.

You will find my notes in [brackets] woven within the definitions.

Vs. 15 – (KJV/AV) “Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.”

“waters” = water [meaning the outpouring or flow]; by euphemism urine, semen: — + piss, wasting [with implications for two different application 1 – martial adultery and 2 – the disgusting results of sin and ungodly actions.] course [course of life], flood [problems of life], spring [results of actions, the outpouring of our actions.]

“out of thine own cistern” = bore [Many of the holes we find ourselves in throughout life we dug for ourselves.] a pit hole – espec. one used as a cistern or a prison: — cistern, dungeon, [Our own choices build our personal prisons in life.] fountain [The foundation of our life is based primarily upon the choices we have made.] pit, well.

“and running waters” and “thine own well” [Both share the same meaning in the Hebrew.] = to drip, or shed by trickling: — distil, drop, flood, cause to flow or a flowing, gush out, melt, pour down, running water, stream. [That flow of life choices day in and day out that make up our lives – choices that are either godly or ungodly, God’s Will or not God’s Will.]

Vs.16 – (KJV/AV) “Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.”

“Let thy fountains” = as a denominative in the sense of a spring; a fountain also collect, figuratively a source of satisfaction [The truth is people derive personal satisfaction from good and evil, godliness and sin, positive and negative actions, doing God’s Will and doing their own will.] :— fountain, spring, well.

“be dispersed” = a prim. root; to dash in pieces, lit. or fig. espec. to disperse: — break, dash, shake into pieces, cast abroad, disperse selves, drive, retire, scatter abroad, spread abroad. [We can often choose to destroy the ungodliness in our lives or have our lives destroyed by the ungodliness as we are dashed to pieces upon the destructive rocks of our own life choices.]

Therefore in these verses we are told to desire what we have and be content with what we have, either relationally, materially, position-ally, etc. and not covet what another person has because that will only lead us to sin and that sin will bring havoc into our lives.

It also tells us that we will reap what we sow, that sin leads to consequences, personal imprisonment, and a flood of problems in life, that our choices make up our lives, and that it is primarily our own choices that dig the holes we find ourselves struggling to get out of in life.

We lose what really satisfies us when we begin to go after what another has, our own will, the things of the world, and sin.

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

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Discipleship

In Advice, Bible, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, Encouragement, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Prophecy, Prophet, Prophetess, Remnant, Revival, Spiritual Remnant, Uncategorized on December 15, 2014 at 1:52 pm

Monday, December 15, 2014

At various times I have been approached by various people who have sought to understand the things of God in a deeper way and learn to apply those things specifically to their everyday life. Helping someone to do this is call discipleship. I was reminded yesterday of the importance of this spiritual discipline. I had scaled back on the number of people I disciple/mentor over the last year after some trying experiences.

Nevertheless…People are hungry for someone to give into their lives and if it is within a spiritual leader’s power and ability through Christ to give, we should.

This blog has been an avenue through which people have been able to connect with me for help and instruction in the things of God. I also ride around in a car that has the website’s address to this blog on the side and the trunk of it, which God has used to has prompt total strangers to walk up to me seeking help with the things of God. Therefore, once again, I wanted to allow God to use it to reach those individuals searching for someone willing to walk the godly spiritual road with them.

Due to some current and upcoming changes in my ministry schedule at the turn of the new year I will have five opening for new people seeking someone to disciple/mentor them. Whether you live locally or far away, we can manage it together. If you live locally, we will handle things via email, phone calls, texts, and in person meetings. If you live far away, we will handle things via email, phone calls, and text. Either way together, we will make the time to learn how Christ wishes us to live our lives, His Will for us, and explore His Purpose for you specifically.

If you are seeking someone to help you in this manner, through discipleship/mentoring, then I encourage you to contact me and we shall see if we are a godly fit as a disciple/protégé and teacher/mentor. You may send me a comment through the comment link below or if you are someone who reads this blog regularly and sought me out in the past, when I did not have the availability, I encourage you to email, text, or call me – this may just be the right time now.

 

 

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

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Man and the Prophet / Part 8

In Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, End Times, Exhortation, Fruits of the Holy Spirit, God, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Persecution, Prayer, Prophecy, Prophet, Prophetess, Remnant, Revival, Rhema Words, Spiritual Activism, Spiritual Activists, Spiritual Fruit, Spiritual Remnant, Truth, Uncategorized on November 7, 2014 at 3:12 pm

Throughout this series if the solitary word Prophet is used it is meant to include both the male prophet and the female prophetess whose roles as mouthpieces for God are interchangeable.

Bottom line, the prophets felt I presented how they are without presenting the other side of the coin – how people treat them and why. Therefore, through this series, I am addressing those concerns and the questions associated with those concerns.

Question Summary:

I carefully considered whether or not to include this question in the series. I personally know the individual who posed the question. Having personal insight into their heart and their spirit I know their motives come from a pure place therefore, I have chosen to include their question for it is a valid one.

The essence of the question was, ‘What is a prophet to do when their church leadership is less spiritually mature than they are? This does cause problems for the prophet.’

Response:

Actually this is more common than people tend to realize because most people view the Pastors, Deacons, and other various members of leadership as more spiritual than the people within the congregation. However, this is often not the case at all. I do not even believe most Pastors try to present the situation as such. Godly Pastors know there are people within their congregation who are more mature than they are. That the leadership is more mature than everyone else in the congregation is simply one of those assumptions people make based solely on the fact that the individuals have positions of leadership within the local congregation.

Yes, it can cause problems for the prophet. However, how the prophet handles themselves can go a long way toward making those problems worse or better.

Leadership is always to be respected as long as they are not sinning against the people. The prophet, or the person upon whom a prophetic spirit rest, who is more mature than their local leadership should go out of their way to respect that leadership even more. When sin is not involved you never usurp the authority of, or undermine, spiritual leadership.

If your leadership is less spiritually mature than you are then come along side of them and help them, reach out to them and be a blessing to them. If they are quality leadership, they will welcome the input, insight, and help. If they are not quality leadership, you will receive either a negative reaction or no reaction, which at that point you have to realize that they are not secure in their leadership and you may need to go back to God about what to do. Secure people seek people who can help them further the agenda of the Kingdom of God.

Before the comments come in about the five-fold ministry and the priority of those ministries, let me address those Scriptures. Yes, the prophet is listed as the second position of ministry on that list. Yes, it comes before pastor and secondary leadership such as deacons are not even on the list. However, the list is not meant to qualify ranks for the sake of qualifying ranks. The list is meant to exemplify the functionality of the Body of Christ. Let me explain by breaking the list down.

Ephesians 4:11–13 (NKJV)

11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;

Spiritual leader’s primary purpose.

· Apostles – build churches and ministries.

· Prophets – minister to the needs of the Body of Christ as a corporate whole first, the local congregation second, and the personal individual third for the purpose of communicating God’s Will and Divine Direction, explaining what is to come for God’s people, et cetera.

· Evangelists – preach the Gospel in order to build the Body of Christ in numbers.

· Pastors – care for the practical everyday needs and spiritual wellbeing of the members of the Body of Christ.

· Teachers – disciple (educate) people in the Word of God.

One must keep in mind that some pastors are teaching pastors, which means they are called as teachers as well as pastors. Some prophets are also teachers and apostles. Some apostles are also prophets. Some evangelists are also prophets. A combination of callings and certainly multiple spiritual gifts is quite common among those called to the five-fold ministry.

The Scripture below in Ephesians makes it clear we are to submit ourselves one to another for the over good of the Body of Christ and out of reverence to (fear of) God.

Ephesians 5:15–21 (NKJV)

Walk in Wisdom

15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, 20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another in the fear of God.

One must always keep in mind that it is the more mature person’s obligation to defer to the less mature person because they are weaker in their faith. Romans 14 teaches that we are to do all we can to ensure we are not the cause of another person stumbling in their walk with God. Therefore, if we must defer to them or curtail our actions, a mature Believer will do that and a prophet should certainly be mature. A mature prophet, or a person upon whom the spirit of prophesy rest; will always attempt to be a blessing to their local godly leadership not a hindrance.

This will be the last question I will answer publically during this series. If your question was not, or is not, answered via a posting or via private emails then I have elected not to address your specific question. Thank you for understanding and respecting my choice.

I would like to conclude the two series on prophets and their relationship with their fellow man with the following thought. In the end what people must remember is, Prophets primarily apply God’s Word to the corporate people of God, meaning the Body of Christ, more often than to specific individuals.

There may be a larger break than normal between the ending of this series and the beginning of the next or the restarting of the Q&A series. I have a number of pieces for publication that need my attention and I am a bit behind schedule at this time. I appreciate your dedication to reading the blog and your patience. As always, I welcome your input regarding the topic of the next series.

I wish to remind the readers that these are not simply my own beliefs this series is a collection of agreed upon beliefs by many respected servants of God, highly versed in this topic.

 

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

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Man and the Prophet / Part 7

In Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian Living, Exhortation, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Prophecy, Prophet, Prophetess, Remnant, Revival, Rhema Words, Spiritual Activism, Spiritual Activists, Spiritual Fruit, Spiritual Remnant, Truth, Uncategorized on October 31, 2014 at 4:46 pm

Throughout this series if the solitary word Prophet is used it is meant to include both the male prophet and the female prophetess whose roles as mouthpieces for God are interchangeable.

Bottom line, the prophets felt I presented how they are without presenting the other side of the coin – how people treat them and why. Therefore, through this series, I am addressing those concerns and the questions associated with those concerns.

In this piece, I will address two questions, as the answers for each should be brief.

Question Summary:

Are those who prophesy all prophets?

Response:

No, just because someone speaks prophesy on occasion does not make them a prophet. Speaking prophecy and having the gift of prophecy is not the only requirement for being considered a prophet.

There are various characteristics, spiritual gifts, and a consistent spiritual presence of the manifest evidence of the Holy Spirit that must be present for a person to be considered a prophet or prophetess. The individual must also exhibit certain passions for the Word of God, Truth, and the progression of the Body of Christ into God’s Will for the time period in which the prophet lives.

Question Summary:

Would you elaborate on what you meant when you wrote, ‘Prophets are use to acceptance without explanation…’?

Response:

The comment the reader is asking about is the following statement. "Prophets are use to acceptance without explanation, aka faith, their relationship with God is based on that Truth."

Prophets and people upon whom a prophetic spirit rest are faith people. They know God, they hear God, and they are use to interacting with God just as though He were a person standing beside them.

This type of relationship builds great trust in God, which in turn produces faith by the grace of God. Therefore, when God tells one of these individuals to do something, to say something, or to go somewhere they do what God instructs without asking God to explain to them why they need to do so or why they should say something, et cetera.

Prophets accept God’s Word and God’s Directions without explanation for two primary reasons. One, because they reverence God and understanding that He has every right to request anything of them He would like. Two, they have learned over the course of time that God is faithful and that when He leads them to act it is never without a reason even if they do not know the reason before they act, at the moment that they act, or even for some time after they act. These individuals know God will eventually show them why He had them do as He instructed.

I wish to remind the readers that these are not simply my own beliefs this series is a collection of agreed upon beliefs by many respected servants of God, highly versed in this topic.

 

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

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Man and the Prophet / Part 6

In Christian Living, Christianity, End Times, Exhortation, Fruits of the Holy Spirit, God, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Holy Spirit, Prophecy, Prophet, Prophetess, Remnant, Revival, Rhema Words, Spiritual Activism, Spiritual Activists, Spiritual Fruit, Spiritual Remnant, Truth, Uncategorized on October 24, 2014 at 3:00 pm

Throughout this series if the solitary word Prophet is used it is meant to include both the male prophet and the female prophetess whose roles as mouthpieces for God are interchangeable.

Bottom line, the prophets felt I presented how they are without presenting the other side of the coin – how people treat them and why. Therefore, through this series, I am addressing those concerns and the questions associated with those concerns.

Question Summary:

This question was quite simple. ‘Why do they, which references prophets, seem so angry, negative, and pessimistic?’

Response:

The answer to this question is just as simple as the question but very difficult to fully comprehend. The answer – It is because prophets, prophetesses, and people upon whom a prophetic spirit rest are actually extremely hopefully about how things could be.

The majority of individuals sell themselves short, sell people short, and sell mankind in general short. Their bar of expectation and/or standards is very low; their hope is fleeting at best. For the prophet the ideal is always a possibility with God and their frustration with mankind, which is mistaken for anger, is because mankind sells themselves short and even sells God short. This reality is always present with the prophet because the prophet’s knowledge of what could be and their hope for the manifestation of what could be is always present.

As far as their perceived negativity, they believe in Truth and only through the acceptance of Truth can mankind reach their full potential. The prophet’s battle to combat every untruth with God’s Truth is perceived as being negative but in Truth is the highest form of optimism because the prophet wants everyone to live in Truth and thus live in godly victory, godly fulfillment, and godly satisfaction.

Lastly, the prophet or those upon whom a prophetic spirit rest have a very pessimistic view of sin – as they should. Typically when someone talks about a prophet being pessimistic it relates to them addressing the matter of sin, which a group or individual does not wish to view as sin. Well guess what folks, just because the majority thinks it is okay does not make it okay, just because the majority thinks it is normal does not make it normal or godly in God’s view, just because the majority thinks it is right does not make it moral or right, and just because the majority thinks something is so does not make it Truth.

Prophets and those upon whom a prophetic spirit rest are some of the most ideal, hopeful, godly-positive people you ever want to meet but their hope, their beliefs, their foundation for all that idealism, hope, and victorious thinking is based in Christ Jesus and His Word not the worlds ideas.

I wish to remind the readers that these are not simply my own beliefs this series is a collection of agreed upon beliefs by many respected servants of God, highly versed in this topic.

 

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

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Man and the Prophet / Part 5

In Bible, Biblical Principles, Exhortation, Fruits of the Holy Spirit, God, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Persecution, Prophecy, Prophet, Prophetess, Remnant, Revival, Rhema Words, Spiritual Activism, Spiritual Activists, Spiritual Fruit, Spiritual Remnant, Truth, Uncategorized on October 21, 2014 at 6:20 am

Throughout this series if the solitary word Prophet is used it is meant to include both the male prophet and the female prophetess whose roles as mouthpieces for God are interchangeable.

Bottom line, the prophets felt I presented how they are without presenting the other side of the coin – how people treat them and why. Therefore, through this series, I am addressing those concerns and the questions associated with those concerns.

Question Summary:

‘As a prophet I find myself surprised that people fear me. A prophet wants the will of God, which should never be feared. I have friends who have had similar experiences. So, why do the people fear the prophets?’

Response:

I touched on this lightly in the first series but I will elaborate a bit more. I want to make it clear that the fact that people fear prophets or those individual upon whom a prophetic spirit rest is not because the prophet has done anything wrong in God’s eyes or done anything of which people should be fearful.

First let me state what should be obvious to a prophet; not all people want God’s Will. People seem to fear God’s Will but they do so because they lack understanding regarding how much God loves them and how His Will for them is their “ideal” life, even if they do not recognize it as such at first glance. Prophets always point people toward Jesus and God’s Will therefore to be in the presence of a prophet is to be confronted with God’s Will, which we have established that people often fear, thus they associate the two, the Will of God and the prophet, this equals fear of the prophet.

Prophets and those upon whom a prophetic spirit rest are very humble but they are also very passionate about the things of God, they are headstrong (in a good way) when it comes to God’s Will, and they are vocal about sin, God’s Will, life, et cetera as God leads; put all of that together and you have a dynamic in your face passionate fireball for God and that kind of passion scares some people. Hence, this can also cause people to fear prophets.

Generally speaking, it is almost impossible to hide things from a prophet. They often do not talk about or confront a person with the things they know about them, their life, or their circumstances – they tend to pick their battles, so to speak. This knowledge, given by the revelation of God, becomes evident if a person is around a prophet enough and that scares people.

Taking that a step further, people fear prophets because of their own wrong motives for engaging them. As I wrote in another piece in the previous series, ‘A prophet can see into the spirits of people most of the time and therefore, he or she is often aware of the wrong motives of people.’

This leads me to my next point. People fear prophets because people know that prophets can see into their spirits. Honestly, who wants his or her spirit laid bare for someone to see? Not many. Therefore, the fear produced by this aspects of the prophet’s revelatory gifts is, for lack of a better way to put it, a natural consequence of the calling and the gifts associated with the prophets or those upon whom the spirit of prophecy rest.

Lastly, if people have engaged prophets or those upon whom a prophetic spirit rest in the past and not responded to them appropriately there might have been some less than pleasant consequences to their behavior, I wrote about this in part four, and therefore this can produce fear for the person when they interact with prophets or those upon whom a prophetic spirit rest. This is not the fault of the prophet it is the fault of the person who chose to respond, or not respond, as they should have responded.

This should have given you more insight into why prophets, prophetess, and those upon whom a prophetic spirit rest are unjustly feared.

I wish to remind the readers that these are not simply my own beliefs this series is a collection of agreed upon beliefs by many respected servants of God, highly versed in this topic.

 

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

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Man and the Prophet / Part 4

In Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Exhortation, God, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Persecution, Prophecy, Prophet, Prophetess, Remnant, Revival, Rhema Words, Spiritual Activism, Spiritual Activists, Spiritual Fruit, Spiritual Remnant, Truth, Uncategorized on October 18, 2014 at 6:18 am

Throughout this series if the solitary word Prophet is used it is meant to include both the male prophet and the female prophetess whose roles as mouthpieces for God are interchangeable.

Bottom line, the prophets felt I presented how they are without presenting the other side of the coin – how people treat them and why. Therefore, through this series, I am addressing those concerns and the questions associated with those concerns.

Question Summary:

I will be using very similar language as was used when the question was submitted. Please do not be offended.

Why don’t you be honest, explain how the prophets are regularly “used” by people, “mistreated” by people, and how they are “blamed” by people with ungodly motives who have suffering negative consequences from their own actions and treatment toward the prophet? Try explaining what that does to the prophet. Why are you avoiding this topic?

Response:

It is my belief that I already address this question in the previous series but I am more than willing to do so again.

These were my words in an earlier piece. – ‘People do regularly seek prophets out so that the prophet will seek God for them instead of seeking God for themselves, thus the people attempt to misuse or inappropriately use the gifts and callings of God; not to mention they “think” they can blame the prophet if things do not work out. What they forget is that God will deliberately confuse their steps if they attempt to seek a prophet’s counsel with ill motives. Yes, there are people who in general attempt to use the prophets.’

What is presented in the content of the question above is true. Prophets are used and blamed very often without cause and unjustly by people who associate their contact with a prophet to negative events in their lives without examining their response to the prophet or how they treated the prophet. You, me, or anyone else cannot engage or be confronted by a prophet or a person upon whom a prophetic spirit rest, then not respond or respond inappropriately and expect that things will just go well for us.

Here are a couple real life examples:

I once confronted a woman who was tired and seemed to have a cold. God revealed to me that it was much worse, thus I told her she needed to go home and get some rest, that day. She literally jeered at me and indicated she was too needed in the ministry she was doing to leave and take the time to rest. She thought my Words a foolish distraction from what God wanted her to do, when in fact the Word was meant to bring life. Within twenty-four hours, this woman was in the hospital at deaths door with heart issues.

Another time I had a mild disagreement with a woman over information and once I left the room this disagreement was discussed between another woman and her. Within the next few days, the one of the women had stroke like symptoms and the other took a bad fall and injured herself significantly.

I had nothing to do with any of these women’s injuries but one chose not to listen to the counsel of God and the other two touched God’s Property with their mouths. Is that my fault? No, not at all. Have they associated these negative events with me? Very possible, if not probable, based on the knowledge I have and their future behavior.

You simply cannot use a prophet, mistreat a prophet, unjustly accuse, or unjustly blame a prophet or a person upon whom a prophetic spirit rest and get away with it because God will not allow it to happen. What God did for His anointed ones and prophets in days past He does for them today.

Psalm 105:13–15 (NKJV)

13 When they went from one nation to another,

From one kingdom to another people,

14 He permitted no one to do them wrong;

Yes, He rebuked kings for their sakes,

15 Saying, “Do not touch My anointed ones,

And do My prophets no harm.”

Most godly people readily acknowledge it is unwise to talk negatively about or in any way attempt to harm a prophet or God’s anointed ones. However, what I think people fail to realize is that they harm prophets and those upon whom the spirit of prophecy rest through their attempts to avoid them – avoidance is harm or when the prophet is not received that is a form of harm, harm that God will judge and for which He will bring retribution.

As far as explaining what these types of treatment do to, or how they affect, the prophet, it depends on the prophet. They are human beings with feelings and of course, they get hurt at times, frustrated, angry, sad, lonely, ill-tempered, etc. often a result of all they have to face day in a day out. However, I see no real benefit to the readers to go into all that – the prophets know their struggles and their inner circle of people with which they can share those struggles is small.

I am not trying to be mean with my next few statements, only honest. My daddy was a wise man and looking back, he obviously knew, or God had shown him, a great deal about what my life would entail. He had a few of simple statements, he would repeat many times over the years, but the truths that they held are real and lasting. He would to say, ‘You have to toughen up or the world will destroy you.’ He meant you had to be a strong person internally, not aggressive externally. He also would say, ‘Don’t be so thin skinned.’ He meant being overly sensitive would only hamper your abilities in life. Lastly, he always walked around with a notepad in his pocket and every month or so he would pull it out and write something down on the pad. Once he had written his statement, he would approach you and ask, ‘Do you know the key to life?’ To which one of us might reply correctly if we remembered. Then he would lower the pad to our eye level, he was a tall imposing man, and on the pad would be one word, “humble” – he would then tap the pad and say, ‘Be humble, in every situation no matter what your stature be humble and you can handle anything life brings your way.’

Now I realize that for godly people most over sensitivity is a distortion of godly sensitivity, which is born out of compassion for people. Nevertheless, I would say to all the prophets, those upon whom a prophetic spirit rest and/or those with the gift of prophesy out there who wish to function as God desires them to, just what daddy use to say; you have to toughen up and you can’t be so thin skinned or the world and/or the Body of Christ will destroy you. Also, remember to be humble, in every situation no matter what your stature be humble and you can handle anything life brings your way.

I wish to remind the readers that these are not simply my own beliefs this series is a collection of agreed upon beliefs by many respected servants of God, highly versed in this topic.

 

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

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Man and the Prophet / Part 3

In God, God's Voice, Godly Counsel, Holy Spirit, Persecution, Prophecy, Prophet, Prophetess, Remnant, Revival, Rhema Words, Spiritual Activism, Spiritual Activists, Spiritual Fruit, Spiritual Remnant, Truth, Uncategorized on October 13, 2014 at 6:28 am

Throughout this series if the solitary word Prophet is used it is meant to include both the male prophet and the female prophetess whose roles as mouthpieces for God are interchangeable.

Bottom line, the prophets felt I presented how they are without presenting the other side of the coin – how people treat them and why. Therefore, through this series, I am addressing those concerns and the questions associated with those concerns.

Question Summary:

Why do the people gravitate to or flee from the prophets? Why does it appear to most of the prophets and prophetess I know (the reader knows) that people’s reasons for doing both are selfish, misguided, or protective? What about how that affects the prophet? Why is the people’s reaction to the prophet the prophet’s fault?

Response:

First, let me state clearly that the way people react to the prophet or prophetess is not his or her fault whatsoever. The prophet’s responsibility is before God to do as God directs and the responsibility to man is secondary. If the prophet forgets this Truth, they will become misguided themselves in their actions.

People flee from prophets because being around them makes the individuals feel exposed. The prophets can discern a person’s motives as well as see into their spirits and people can sense those revelatory gifts. When those gifts are sensed by someone who is trying to hide things or who is deep in sin they find it extremely difficult to stay around the prophet for very long, if at all.

Often people do in fact find unjust fault with the prophet, try to hurt the reputation of the prophet, etc. to detract from their own fears about what the prophet will do or say to them or about them. This even happens with spiritual leaders, they will reject a prophet because they have things in their lives or ministry they are not ready to hand over to God, to be done God’s Way. However, as previously mentioned, defaming a prophet will cause a person serious trouble with God.

A mature prophet has come to realize that they can aid in this situation. It is when we lay down our rights for our brothers and sisters that we have shown them true love. If they are willing, prophets can, not mingle so much among the congregation when it is not necessary. The prophet can realize how their presence will make people feel and choose only to be in a group setting when absolutely necessary. There will be time for the prophet to hang out with likeminded people that have similar gifts and equally yoked spiritual maturity.

There are so many reasons why people are drawn to or attempt to be around prophets. Some of those reason are selfish and misguided, I agree. However, the prophet has the option of how they will respond once they have spiritually discerned the person’s motive for being around them or attempting to befriend them. The prophet must do as God directs and allow God to deal with the person’s wrong motive. He will I assure you!

Two of the most common reasons people attach themselves or attempt to attach themselves to prophets are, 1 – They seek to advance themselves on the backs of the prophets or the skirt tails of the prophetess. 2 – They are people who seek to hang out with, be around, or befriend prophets in order to elevate their perceived spiritual status in the eyes of other people.

If you are a prophet or a person with the spirit of prophecy who has been used by people in this manner, that you thought sincerely cared about you, you have my compassion I have been there myself. It does affect the prophet or prophetic person and can cause them to become guarded. Try not to allow that to happen to you. Just realize there will be those individuals who will do this, try to recognize them quickly, and move on from them.

Regarding point number one. These people do this type of thing because they lack the spiritual depth, calling, and/or gifting to obtain God’s advancement. Therefore, they seek to get it through or byway of attachment to someone else.

Regarding point number two. Again, people who pursue prophets or those with the spirit of prophecy with these wrong motives lack spiritual depth of their own. By being considered a friend of the prophet, they can move in circles with other prophetic people, or so they think and if they do not get to they get really upset, and by association, they think people view them with greater spiritual depth. Some individuals even try to insert themselves into the prophet’s life to such a degree that they hope they will be viewed as the “go to” person for getting information to or about the prophet.

Once again, of course both of these things are very hurtful for the prophet, prophetess, or the individual upon whom the spirit of prophecy rest, once they realize that such a person has entered their world. You cannot forget they might be quite spiritual but they are just human beings with feelings just like anyone – people forget that.

If you are a prophet, prophetess or a person upon whom the spirit of prophecy rest you have my deepest sympathies if you have been a victim or wounded by people like this. Whether they chose to reject you out of hand because their own sin made them uncomfortable around you or if they attempted to use you in order to advance their spiritual standing and ministry, I know it hurt you and it was unjust, as does God. God will deal with them allow Him to do so. We must pray for them, for they are very spiritually weak individuals.

I wish to remind the readers that these are not simply my own beliefs this series is a collection of agreed upon beliefs by many respected servants of God, highly versed in this topic.

 

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.