Reformation Reversed: Emergent Church and the Undoing of Faith
|
Posted:Mar 22, 2008 12:59 am
Last Updated:Mar 22, 2008 1:03 am 618 Views
|
By Brandon | January 20, 2008
“Christians are now the foreigners in a post-Christian culture… we need to view ourselves the way others on the outside see us.” ‒Dan Kimbal, They Like Jesus but not the Church.
“I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” ‒Jesus Christ (John 17:14)
I have heard many times that if Christianity is to survive, it must adapt to the changing world around it; Christians must “evolve” if they are to be accepted by those around them. Usually this means things like rejecting the Biblical record of creation, Biblical precepts on gender , etc. It also means that the underlying message of the Gospel – that Christ is the one and only Redeemer and that all men must believe on him for salvation – must be modified or adapted, or at least not held to as a fundamental tenet, to make it more palatable.
There is a movement – a strong movement – to “undo” the Reformation of 500 years ago and return Christians to a religion of mystical ecumenism, away from the doctrine of Sola Scriptura that so many believers lost their lives over those many years ago. Certainly there is no overt movement to bring back the Spanish Inquisition (not that anyone would expect it), but the desire to eliminate God’s word as the sole authority by which a Christian lives and believes is as strong as it ever was under the guidance of Ignatius Loyola.
|
|
|
0
Comments
|
|
A CRITIQUE ON THE MINISTRY OF RICHARD FOSTER.
|
Posted:Mar 22, 2008 12:34 am
Last Updated:Mar 22, 2008 12:51 am 631 Views
|
Wendy Howard, editor of Despatch magazine, Queensland, Australia.
Richard Foster’s books are in many churches today. His speaking tours have influenced a number of countries, including Australia. As Christians who love the Lord Jesus Christ, and obey God’s Word, we must speak out against the false and spiritually dangerous teaching propagated by this man. Many New Age teachings are present within the seemingly innocuous context of Foster’s preaching and writing. We shall consider, prayerfully, these matters together, before a Holy God.
|
|
|
0
Comments
|
|
A Christless Pentecost!
|
Posted:Mar 21, 2008 1:22 pm
Last Updated:May 9, 2024 2:1 pm 626 Views
|
Is Christ Becoming A Stranger In Our Midst?
By David Wilkerson
1982
__________
The following is a prophetic warning from Azusa Street 75 years ago, concerning the dangers of a Christless Pentecost!
Frank Bartleman was an eyewitness to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in 1907 at Azusa Street, Los Angeles. He has been characterized as the Reporter of the Azusa Street Revival. Nearly 75 years ago, during the outpouring, he wrote a tract warning of a Christless Pentecost.
He warned: "We may not hold a doctrine, or seek an experience, except in Christ. Many are willing to seek power in order to perform miracles, draw attention and adoration of the people to themselves, thus robbing Christ of His glory, and making a fair showing in the flesh. The greatest need would seem to be for true followers of the meek and lowly Jesus. Religious enthusiasm easily goes to seed. The human spirit so predominates the show-off, religious spirit. But we must stick to our text - Christ.
"Any work that exalts the Holy Ghost or 'gifts' above Jesus will finally end up in fanaticism. Whatever causes us to exalt and love Jesus is well and safe. The reverse will ruin all. The Holy Ghost is a great light, but focused on Jesus always for His revealing.
"Where the Holy Ghost is actually in control, Jesus is proclaimed the Head - the Holy Ghost, His executive. "
In another place, Brother Bartleman warned: "The temptation seems to be toward empty manifestations. This does not require any particular cross, or death to the self-life. Hence it is always popular.
"We may not put power, gifts, the Holy Ghost, or in fact anything ahead of Jesus. Any mission that exalts even the Holy Ghost above the Lord Jesus Christ is bound for the rocks of error and fanaticism.
"There seems to be a great danger of losing sight of the fact that Jesus was 'all in all.' The work of Calvary, the atonement, must be the center for our consideration. The Holy Ghost will never draw our attention from Christ to Himself, but rather reveal Christ in a fuller way. We are in danger of slighting Jesus - getting Him 'lost in the temple,' by the exaltation of the Holy Ghost and of the gifts of the Spirit. Jesus must be the center of everything."
I do not take Brother Bartleman's warning lightly. The danger of a Christless Pentecost is very real today. I say to you it is possible to gather Spirit-filled people in one place, praising and lifting up their hands - and still have Christ walking among them as a stranger!
It's true He said, "Where two or three have gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst." (Matt. 18:20 NAS But He can be in our midst as a stranger! Ignored, unrecognized - even by those who meet in His name! The Jews gathered every Sabbath in the synagogue to speak of His name, and to prophesy of His coming. They praised the name of the Father who promised to send Him. They spoke the Messiah's name with awe and reverence. Then, when He came and walked among them - He was not recognized! He was a stranger to them!
Christ, a stranger in the midst of a Spirit-filled congregation? A stranger in the midst of those who speak His name - who worship the Father who sent Him? A stranger to those who sing His hosannas who call Him "Lord, Lord"?
Yes! Absolutely yes! It is not only possible - it is happening among God's chosen people today!
Let me show you three ways in which we are making Christ a stranger in our midst! May the Holy Spirit take away our spiritual blindness so we can once again see Him as He really is - LORD OF ALL!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I. We Make Christ A Stranger -
By Giving The Holy Spirit
Pre-Eminence Over Him!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Christ, and Christ alone, must be the center of life and worship!
"And He is the head of the body, the Church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things He might have the pre-eminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell... " (Col. 1:18-19 KJV)
"That in all things He might have the pre-eminence... " That is - distinguished and spoken of above all others. Having first place in all things. Not even the Holy Spirit is to be exalted above that name! The upper room must never overshadow the Cross! We dare not think of Christ as simply the one who sent the Holy Spirit. In other words, "Thank You, Jesus, for sending someone better." Christ sent the Holy Spirit to reveal His own fullness within us.
When the Holy Spirit becomes the center of our attention, the church gets out of focus! The Holy Spirit descended upon Christ as He came out of baptismal waters, and the Father said of Him: "This is My beloved - in whom I am well pleased . . . " The Spirit descended bodily like a dove, but the focus was on the Lamb of God - who taketh away the sins of the world. Not the dove, but the Lamb!
Christ told His disciples of a coming Pentecost, when the Spirit would be outpoured for a single purpose: It was to be a power given to lift up the name of Christ! "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto Me . . . unto the uttermost part of the earth... " (Acts 1:8 KJV)
Jesus made it clear that when the Spirit comes He will not draw attention to Himself, but will focus on Christ's words. He will exalt Christ.
" . . . when He, the Spirit of truth, is come . . . He shall not speak of Himself . . . He shall glorify Me: for He shall receive of Mine, and shall show it unto you. All things that the Father hath are Mine: therefore said I, that He shall take of Mine, and shall show it unto you." (John 16:13-15 KJV)
Jesus said, "He will show you My glory, My power, My Kingdom. He will remind you of all My words." The primary work of the Holy Spirit is not fellowship, although He does bring believers together as one in Christ. It is not ecstasy. It is not simply to teach us an unlearned tongue. The Spirit has come to exalt Christ! To guide all mankind to the truth that Christ is Lord! It is not enough to say the Spirit has brought us close to each other - He must bring us closer to Christ!
The fullness of the Spirit is the fullness of Christ. If you do not have a consuming love for Christ, you do not have a Holy Ghost baptism! Christ, the baptizer, sent the Holy Spirit to fire our souls over lost humanity, to get us out into the highways and hedges to reach the unsaved. To shake up our lazy lifestyles and get us to doing His work. The blessed Holy Spirit will be grieved, and finally withdraw, the moment men try to exalt Him above the of God! He will not permit His power to be abused by those who want only the gift and not Christ, the Giver!
What is a true Holy Ghost meeting? Is it where people all speak with tongues? Or where people are healed? Where saints jump for joy? Where saints are prophesying? More - much more than that! It is where Christ is being exalted, where His holiness pierces the soul, where men and women fall before His holy throne, broken, humbled crying, "Holy, Holy." The moving of the Holy Spirit is a moving closer to Christ, deeper in Christ, with a greater submission to His Lordship!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
II. Christ Is Made A Stranger
When People Praise Him,
But Will Not Pray To Him!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We praise a Christ to whom we will not pray! We have become a praising people, but not a praying people. For many of God's people the prayer closet is a relic of the past. "Why ask God for what He has already promised? Just get hold of the promises and simply command deliverances!" We no longer want Christ as much as we want what He can do for us. We want an escape from pain and suffering. We want our troubles to vanish. And we are so caught up in our escape from pain, we lose the true meaning of the Cross. We refuse crosses and losses - no Gethsemane for us! No nights of agony! We don't even know this suffering, bleeding, resurrected Christ!
We want His healing power. We want His promises of prosperity. We want His protection. We want more of this earth's goods. We want His happiness. But we really don't want Him alone!
The Church once confessed its sins - now it confesses its rights.
How many of us would serve Him if He offered nothing but Himself? No healing. No success. No prosperity. No worldly blessings. No miracles, signs, or wonders. What if - once again we had to take joyfully the spoiling of our goods? What if - instead of clear sailing and problem-free living, we faced shipwreck, fears within and fightings without? What if - instead of painless living, we suffered cruel mockings, stoning, bloodshed - being sawn asunder? What if - instead of our beautiful homes and cars, we had to wander about in deserts in sheepskins, hiding in dens and caves? What if - instead of prosperity, we were destitute, afflicted, and tormented? And the only better thing provided for us was Christ?
Very few of God's people pray anymore! They are too busy working for Jesus to talk to Him! Ministers especially have become so busy doing kingdom work, they have little or no time left to pray. There is time to visit, to build, to travel, time to vacation, to attend meetings, time for recreation, reading, counseling - but no time to pray!
Preachers who do not pray become promoters. They become frustrated building contractors. When they lose touch with God, they lose touch with their people and their needs. Preachers who don't pray have egos that spin out of control. They want their own way. They substitute sweat for unction (anointing).
Evangelists who do not pray become stars, storytellers. They lack humility, so they manipulate crowds through emotional gimmicks. The cry of many pastors is, "Oh, God, where can I find an evangelist who doesn't care about money, or who is not promoting something? One who can bring heaven down and make Christ real! Oh, God - give me a praying man to bring my congregation to its knees! " The shame of this generation is that we have too many talented men of God and only a few who have touched God in prayer.
There is even less praying in the congregation! I'm 100% for getting prayer back in our public schools! But that's not God's real problem! His problem is getting prayer back in our homes! His problem is to get His own chosen people to pray! And you are a phony if you fight for school prayer and neglect secret-closet praying yourself!
Do we pray? Oh, yes! When we need something. We have the formula down pat - "in the name of Jesus." All we need Him for is to countersign our petition checks before the Father.
I am weary of hearing people say, "This is such a busy age - l have no time to pray. I'd like to, but I don't have time. " No! It's not lack of time; it is a lack of desire. We make time for what we really want to do. Look at our Christian young people! Wasting hours of time playing Pac-man, Galaxy War, goofing off, bored, restless, looking for some action! But no time to pray! No time for Jesus! Oh, God! Somehow! Some way! Get this generation on its knees. Not just the Lord's Prayer, but a daily communion with Christ.
Our Savior, who has the care and concern for multiplied universes, has the time to pray just for you! He takes the time to intercede for you before the throne of God (Heb. 7:25), and you say you do not have time to pray to Him!
We work feverishly for a Christ we ignore. We will go anywhere, do anything, in His name. But we will not pray. We will sing in a choir. We will visit the sick and the prisoners. But we will not pray. We will counsel the hurt and needy; we will stay up all night to comfort a friend, but we will not pray. We will fight corruption! We will crusade for morality! We will stand up against nuclear weapons! But we will not pray!
Most of all, we don't pray because we really don't believe it works. Prayer is a bloody battleground! It is where victories are won! A place to die to self! A place where a holy God exposes secret sin! No wonder Satan tries to hinder prayer! A praying man sends a shudder through hell. That man or woman is marked because Satan knows prayer is the power that crushes his kingdom. Satan is not afraid of power-hungry saints, but he trembles at the sound of a praying saint!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
III. Christ Is Made
A Stranger In Our Midst
When We Want His Power
More Than His Purity!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reader Harris, an Englishman and director of The Pentecostal League of Prayer, once challenged a congregation on this matter of power and purity. He said, "Those who want power, line up to my right. Those who want purity, line up to my left." The congregation lined up 10 to 1 - for POWER!
In the book of Acts, Pentecost was synonymous with purity more than power. Peter told the council at Jerusalem what God did at the house of Cornelius, "God...giving them the Holy Ghost, even as He did unto us...purifying their hearts by faith... " (Acts 15:8-9 KJV)
Who is the man or woman of God who has power? Is it the one who can heal the sick and raise the dead? Is it the one who can best talk in tongues and prophesy? Is it the one who draws the most people and builds the greatest church? No! The one with the power - is the one with the purity! "... the righteous are bold as a lion.. " (Proverbs 28:1 KJV)
The prophet Malachi prophesied of a supernatural purge coming to God's house.
" . . . the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple. .. but who may abide the day of His coming? And who shall stand when He appeareth? For He is like a refiner's fire, and like fuller's soap. And He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness." (Malachi 3:1-3 KJV)
This is a dual prophecy. He speaks of Christ's first coming, and also of His second! He will come again suddenly, as a thief in the night. But first, He will purify His Church.
We are not ready for the coming of Christ! Is this the Church triumphant? Covetous. divorcing, depressed, worldly-minded, grasping for materialism and success, competitive, lukewarm, adulterous, rich and increased with goods, unaware of spiritual blindness and poverty, pleasure-loving, recreation-minded, consumed with sports, politics, and power - is this the Church Jesus is coming for? Simply coping, filled with fear and anxiety, satisfied only to have good health and happiness?
My Bible says He is coming back for an overcoming Church! A Church without spot or wrinkle! A people whose affections are on things above! A people with clean hands and pure hearts. A people who are looking for His coming! A people with a "new Jerusalem state of mind."
The question is no longer, "What can my faith get me? What miracle will He perform for me?" The question now is - "How shall I stand before Him? How shall I make it at the Judgment?" " . . . who shall stand when He appeareth?" (Malachi 3:2 KJV)
The question is no longer, "How do I feel - how do I get happiness? How do I get the desire of my heart?" The question is - "Can I withstand that moment when I stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ? How can I withstand when I've lived so carelessly, so selfishly, so neglectful of His great salvation?" The central issue now has nothing to do with this world at all. At issue is - "HAVE I NEGLECTED CHRIST IN THIS MIDNIGHT HOUR?"
The purge is going to begin in the pulpit! " . . . He shall purify the sons of Levi... " (Malachi 3:3 KJV) God is going to accomplish that by "turning up the heat." God is going to make things so hot, so fiery, so intense, God's men will be driven to their knees! This is the fire of the Holy Ghost! It is the fire of persecution. It is the fire of tribulation. The fire of unbelievable hardships, ridicule, gossip, financial problems. He is going to shake everything that can be shaken! He is going to shake, and scrub, and burn, and purge - and purify!
No man or woman of God will escape the purging! God is determined to get all the dross and filth out of us. The purge will spread from the pulpit to the pew! Get ready, saints! God is getting ready to expose all sin, all adultery, all foolishness! The Holy Ghost is going to reprove us of sin. How can you play games when God puts you in His crucible and turns up the fire? Your Holy Ghost baptism is going to have some fire put to it now!
Malachi said - "...the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven: and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up..." (Malachi 4:1 KJV)
God also promises to bring down the strongholds of the enemy! He is going to once and for all let the devil and the world know who has the power!
If God is about to do all that the prophets predicted He would - WHAT A GLORIOUS FUTURE JUST AHEAD!
A purged, purified ministry!
A Church that God is calling back to repentance and holiness.
A people washed, cleansed - offering praises in true righteousness.
A revival among our young people! Drug strongholds coming down! Alcohol and divorce no longer prevalent among God's people.
The sound of prayer - intercession!
A people of God who will discern between the holy and the unholy!
Everywhere, God's people turning again to the Word.
A tested, tried people, once again devoted to the Person of Jesus Christ!
His Person being lifted up to draw all men to Him!
Christ no longer the stranger in our midst, but CROWNED - PRE-EMINENT!
A Pentecost that truly exalts the name and power of Jesus Christ, the Lord of all.
|
|
|
0
Comments
|
|
Toronto Blessing Pastor Repents
|
Posted:Mar 21, 2008 1:18 pm
Last Updated:Mar 21, 2008 6:44 pm 640 Views
|
amen and good!
The Toronto Deception
By a former Toronto Vineyard Pastor
It has taken me nine years to actually come to the place where I would write this story. Part of the reason was because I was not fully convinced that it is appropriate to speak out against weaknesses in the body of Christ publicly. Another reason is because it has taken years of soul searching to become convinced that what happened in the Toronto Airport Church was actually all bad or at least more bad than good!
For the past number of years I have called it a mixed blessing. I think James A. Beverly called it this in his book Holy Laughter and the Toronto Blessing 1994. Today I would call it a mixed curse concluding that any individual good that came from this experience is far outweighed by much harm and satanic deception. I suppose that therein has been my dilemma. I have tried to live my life in the fear of the Lord and Jesus told us that the unforgivable sin was the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. Attributing to Satan what was in fact a work of God. If pressed as to whether or not the Toronto blessing is all God or all Devil I will still be hedgy, but I am convinced that Satan has used this experience to blind people to the historical doctrines of God, to produce fruit in keeping with repentance, to failing to test and discern the spirits and failing to test prophecy.
After three years of being in the thick of the Toronto blessing our Vineyard assembly in Scarborough ( East Toronto) just about self destructed. We devoured one another, with gossip, backstabbing, division, sects criticism etc. After three years of ‘soaking,’ praying for people, shaking, rolling, laughing, roaring, ministering at TACF on their prayer team, leading worship at TACF, preaching at TACF, basically living at TACF we were the most carnal, immature and deceived Christians that I know. I remember saying to my friend and senior pastor at Scarborough Vineyard Church in 1997 that ever since the Toronto Blessing came we have just about fallen to bits! He agreed!
My experience has been that the manifestation of spiritual gifts mentioned in 1st Corinthians 12 was much more common in our assembly, before January 1994 (when the Toronto blessing started.) than during this period of supposed Holy Spirit visitation.
During 1992-1993 when praying for people we would experience what I believe was genuine prophesy, deliverance and much grace and favour from the Lord. After the Toronto Blessing started, all ministry time changed, the only prayers were ‘More Lord MORE ’, the shouting of ‘Fire’ the jerky shaking of the body with the ‘ooh ooh OOH WOOOAAH’ prayer. (I you not!)
On January 20th 1994 about 15 people from our church traveled over to Toronto Airport Vineyard in order to listen to Randy Clark, a Vineyard pastor from the USA. John Arnott had called our senior pastor to invite us. He communicated that Randy had been to the Rodney Howard Browne meetings and that the stuff had broke out in his church in the following weeks. John was hoping that something might break out with us too. We were only too happy to travel over. We were a church plant out of the Toronto Airport and we started in 1992. In those days there were three Vineyard Churches in Toronto. One Down Town church, Scarborough vineyard church to the east and the Airport Church. We were one big happy family. Because we were small in number we did special meetings, conferences etc, together.
The year before most of our leadership teams joined and had headed to Nicaragua for a short term missions trip. We had genuine love and fellowship with each other. Since leaving the Vineyard churches I have read a fair bit of analysis from the critics. Some make out that the Toronto Blessing was one huge conspiracy to lead the body of Christ into heresy. Heresy and apostasy I suspect may well be the result, but none of these destinations were intentional. I am honestly convinced that the leaders in the Vineyard churches are genuine born-again Christians who love the Lord, but have fallen into deception. They have not loved the Lord enough to keep His commandments. They have failed to obey the scriptures and have been led astray by our longing for something bigger and brighter and more exciting and dynamic. I am guilty of this sin also. I have preached renewal in Korea, the United Kingdom, the USA and here in Canada. I am genuinely repentant and in writing this story I would ask you the bride and body of Christ to forgive me. Especially the Pentecostal / Charismatic Christians among you, for you are my immediate family theologically. I am an evangelical Christian, I always have been but I do not believe in the cessation of the spiritual gifts at the end of the apostolic era. I believe that it was my evangelical roots (my family are Baptists and I was born again in the Presbyterian Church.) that started to open my eyes to problems with this so called renewal. In hind sight I look back and think how could I have been so blind? I laughed at people acting like dogs and pretending to urinate on the columns of the TACF building. I watched people pretend to be animals, bark, roar, cluck, pretend to fly as if they had wings, perpetually act drunk and sing silly songs. How I thought that any of this was from the Holy Spirit of God amazes me today. It was loud irreverent and blasphemous to the Holy God of the Bible. I suppose in my mind I reasoned that as long as they did not teach any thing in direct violation to scripture then it was what we called the exotic. This is a buzz word for manifestations that could not be justified from a biblical perspective. I was taught from the pulpit that we had two options. The order of the nursery full of life and messy or the order of the graveyard, very orderly but dead! As a young immature pastor I wanted life with mess. I failed to remember that God wants us to become mature and grow up in him. I became disconcerted by the prophetic words that came forth especially one by Carol Arnott in which she had her bride experience where she was taken into the very presence of Jesus and said that the love that she experienced was even better than sex! I was shocked in my spirit and thought how can one compare the love of God with sex? When we suspected that demons were running riot in our services John Arnott would teach that we should ask are they coming or going. If they are leaving then that is ok! John would defend the chaos by saying that we ought not be afraid of being deceived, if we have asked the Holy Spirit to come and fill us then how could Satan come and deceive us? This would make Satan very strong and God very weak! He said that we needed to have more faith in a Big God to protect us than in a Big Devil to deceive us. This sounded very convincing but was totally contrary to scripture for Jesus and Paul and Peter and John all warn us about the power of deceiving spirits and especially so in the last days. Again we did not love God enough to obey His Word and the result was that we opened ourselves up to lying spirits. May God have mercy upon us!
Finally the penny dropped for me as I was rolling around one night ‘drunk in the Spirit’ as we would say. I started singing and as I rolled around the floor the Nursery Rhyme ‘Mary had a little lamb its fleece was white as snow.’ came to mind. I sang this in a mocking spirit and instantly my heart told me this was a demon. Instantly I repented and was in total shock. How could a demon get into me? Did I not love God? Was I not zealous for the things of God? Was I not nuts about Jesus? I knew that an unclean spirit had just manifested through me and I was guilty of great sin. After this experience I stayed away from TACF. I did not go back there any more. I did not possess the conviction to denounce the whole experience but thought that we where failing to pastor the Blessing well enough.
Even after I stopped going over to TACF, I had to pastor the fruit of it. One example was when some of our people returned from a meeting there asking us if we had all received the golden sword of the Lord? I asked them what they were talking about thinking that it was some prophetic reference to the Holy Scriptures but they said, ‘no, its not the Bible, it’s an invisible golden sword that only the really pure can receive. If taken in an unrighteous fashion then the Lord would kill you. But if you are holy enough to receive it then you can wield this sword and it will heal aids, Cancer etc. and bring salvation. How one wielded this sword was by pretending to have this invisible sword in your hand and motioning to strike people with it when in prayer! I thought while even in deception at this time that the TACF had become Looney bins! This was purportedly first received by Carol Arnott and then given to the ones holy enough to receive it! Another thing was the golden fillings in the teeth. We had people in our assembly peeping down one another’s throats looking for the gold fillings that God had placed there to show how much he loved them! In all my time there I only heard one message on repentance given by a visiting speaker from Hong Kong named Jackie Pullinger. It went over like a lead balloon. We were not there to repent, we were there to party in the Lord! After one year into the blessing I spoke out at a pastors meeting and said ‘guys we have shaken, rattled, rolled, laughed cried and bought the tee-shirt. But we have no revival, no salvation, no fruit and no increased evangelism so what’s the deal?’ I was soundly rebuked - who was I to expect to see fruit when the Lord was healing his broken people? We had been legalistic long enough and God was spending this time restoring his wounded and freeing us from legalism I was told not to push the Lord and the harvest would come in his time.’
I knew this was wrong because the Lord had commanded us to go into all the earth and make disciples! Not, that everyone should take a sabbatical for who knows how long, while God does some strange new thing! Ultimately I left over something as controversial as the ordination of women. Personally I believe from scripture that women should not be pastors/ elders in a local assembly. I could be wrong on this and there is much debate in the Church today but that is my conviction and in the Vineyard churches they were ordaining all the pastors wives to co pastor with them. I am certainly for women in ministry but believe that the Elder/ pastor role in a local assembly has been reserved for men. I did not write scripture but God willing I will have the grace from now on to obey it.
So there is my story. I could go on and document much excess, folly, sin and latter day reign teaching that manifest from the prophetic end of this Blessing but others have already done that. We sang about Joel’s army and the billion soul revival as if it were one of the Ten Commandments, and as always it was just around the corner. Next month, next year etc. Jesus said that when the of man returns will he find faith upon the earth? And if he does not return when he does no flesh would be saved but for the sake of the elect he comes. This is a far cry from the dominionism that is being taught all through the vineyard / prophetic/ spiritual warfare movement. I honestly think that they think they are going to take over the whole world! While in the Vineyard I embraced a life verse from the Apostle Paul the phrase do not go beyond what is written!
To finish I just want to say sorry for the damage, that I have personally done by teaching things that are not correct biblically. I repent before men as I already have before God. I will not excuse my falling into deception. I did not bother to test things when the scriptures commanded us to do so. Everyone who was there when this thing started knows that what I write is true, they would just come to different conclusions especially if they are still promoting the ‘river!’
To those in the river I would say swim out, there are things living in the water that will bite you real good! I love the people of TACF and the Vineyard movement but I think that we have much to answer for and may the Lord open your eyes sooner rather than later. I suspect that when this letter goes online I will get bombarded by emails from both camps, some damning me for still believing in the ministry of the Holy Spirit and still walking in deception and some old friends damning me for exposing dirt or being negative about the Lords anointed! Well, the Lord knows my heart and by his grace he will guide me into all truth as I seek to know Christ and him crucified! If you believe that I walk in sin and error please pray for me that the Lord would forgive me and open my eyes. I will study the word to show my self a work man approved! I would call on all who read this to pray that the Lord would open the eyes of all who have been involved in this deception. Whether leader or follower, we are loved and the Lord is a forgiving God. He says if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. I believe we are like the church in Laodicea, we think that we are rich, have prospered and need nothing, we do not realise that we are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind and naked. We must take the Counsel of Jesus and buy gold refined in the fire (which is his suffering, not a false spirit!), white garments to clothe our shameful nakedness and salve for our eyes that we might see again. Jesus is calling us to repentance and thank the Lord that he is, for it will lead us to true restoration with our Father! If God has forgiven me and opened my eyes then he can do it for all those caught in deception too. I will finish with a warning from Paul, he says if you think you are standing firm be careful lest you fall.
Sincerely Paul Gowdy.
|
|
|
0
Comments
|
|
David Wilkerson on the Toronto Blessing
|
Posted:Mar 21, 2008 1:08 pm
Last Updated:Mar 22, 2008 12:53 am 1850 Views
|
Greetings in the exalted Name of Christ our Lord!
I have been receiving a number of letters asking my opinion about certain "revivals" in Canada and the USA. I have been told, "Brother Dave, your name is frequently used in the ---- revival. Times Square Church is named often. Does this mean you approve of that movement?"
I have never endorsed any so-called revival. First of all, I do not consider my opinion as being that important - and secondly, I can neither help nor hinder any true spiritual movement. I have not been to any of these meetings so I have no personal involvement. I have been so busy ministering to multitudes of hurting people here in New York-and shepherding a ten-year moving of the Holy Spirit in this great metropolis at Times Square Church.
Do I believe any of the "revivals" represent the last-days outpouring - the last great revival before Jesus comes? No! Not at all. We should rejoice in every work of the Spirit that results in true conversions -but any "revival" that purports itself to be "the great revival" and is promoted and "spread" by its leaders must be immediately discounted. When the last great outpouring comes, it is prophesied to come "upon all flesh." It will not be isolated in just a few areas. No one will be counting numbers. Hungry seekers will not be falling backwards-but frontwards, on their faces, humbled and broken. The preaching of the cross will be central. There will be no fundraising, no introducing of star visitors. The meetings will be times of wooing by the Holy Spirit, because He never drives people to altars - He woos them. No one will have to defend such an outpouring. All manifestations will focus on Christ, not flesh. Weeping, brokenness, a lifting of holy hands in thankfulness for God's mercy and grace will produce a true spirit of joy.
Local revivals usually have a life-span of five to six years, or less. Even the Azusa Street revival that gave birth to modern Pentecostalism lasted less than six years. People flock from around the world to see the "new thing." Good reports and evil reports go throughout the land. Theologians and preachers either bless or curse it. Some who attend are blessed and changed, others leave wounded and confused. So it is today-nothing changes. I have heard from some of our readers who visited a revival and were greatly touched. Others write telling us they left emotionally wounded and convinced it was mostly flesh. God be praised for all who have repented and are changed. For others, I grieve. Tides that come in must go out. The Toronto tide is fading fast - it's tide going out. Soon it will be only a memory. So with all other localized revivals. The excitement ebbs-the crowds leave-and suddenly it is all over.
My recommendation? Get your own revival! You will find it in Isaiah 58:10-11. You need no airline ticket, no travel. I have found the springs of water that never fail!
"And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day: and the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water. whose waters fail not."
Thank you, beloved friends, for your regular support. We actually exist on Holy Ghost inspired giving from caring, praying friends.
His bondservant,
DAVID WILKERSON
|
|
|
0
Comments
|
|
TheoPhostic counselling
|
Posted:Mar 21, 2008 11:03 am
Last Updated:Apr 11, 2008 11:47 pm 1205 Views
|
I was once an accuser as a result of these victim mentality therapies, then became a retractor and broke free of the mind altering techniques involved and became a TRUE VICTIM who lost everything." - A mother who has suffered from inner-healing therapy under the name, Theophostic.
"I know that having been sexually abused in my past has caused me all kinds of problems. But God promised me that He was going to fix everything. He didn't say, "Go revisit that sin, dwell on it, pick it apart, and admit that you believed lies, then I'll fix everything." He had already convinced me that I had been lied to, and that I was helpless to break free from the bondage of sin unless I applied the Blood of Jesus in faith, as per His Good Advice." - A mother of three young concludes Theophostic is wrong.
|
|
|
0
Comments
|
|
March 20, 2008 mass in the Sudan
|
Posted:Mar 21, 2008 9:08 am
Last Updated:May 9, 2024 2:1 pm 588 Views
|
United Nations: Sudan carried out mass- in Darfur
David Byers
The United Nations today accused the Sudanese government of being directly involved in the mass- of girls and women in the crisis-hit region of Darfur – a damning indictment of the part played by the country's Islamist dictatorship in the humanitarian catastrophe.
A report by the UN high commissioner for human rights says it has evidence that the Sudanese Army was involved alongside Arab militia in looting at least three towns, girls and women and killing at least 115 people.
The attacks on Sirba, Sileia and Abu Suruj on February 8 by helicopter gunships and aircraft caused 30,000 to flee their homes, Louise Arbour, the UN high commissioner for human rights, said in her report.
The study is the latest authoritative UN report, based on eye-witness testimonies and evidence from aid workers, suggesting that President Omar al-Bashir's administration is providing help and support to the brutal Arab janjaweed militia, who have reportedly robbed villages and murdered, or displaced their residents.
Last year, a UN report produced photographic evidence that the Sudanese government was carrying out secret bombing raids by disguising its jets as United Nations aid planes. Sudan denies the claims.
The UN says that the crisis afflicting the wartorn Darfur region has so far killed up to 400,000 people, and displaced a further 2.3 million, and campaigners have called on governments worldwide to isolate Mr al-Bashir's regime for its involvement.
“The scale of destruction suggests that the damage was a deliberate and integral part of a military strategy,” the nine-page report on the said.
It added that its concerns were ignored in discussions with the Sudanese-appointed governor of West Darfur. Other government officials denied collusion between the army and militias.
Most of Abu Suruj and much of Sileia was burnt down when militia on camels and horses joined the Sudanese army in attacking the towns, the report said. Some residents were burnt alive inside their homes, including a 75-year-old blind woman and a disabled girl, the report said.
Ms Arbour’s report added that there were also “strong indications" that members of the Sudanese Armed Forces, or SAF, committed of women and girls in Sirba, located 30 miles north of West Darfur’s capital, El Geneina. “One eyewitness reported that she witnessed four girls being escorted to an abandoned hut and at gunpoint by a group of soldiers belonging to the SAF,” the report said.
It said armed men on camels and horses shot indiscriminately at Sirba’s residents and systematically torched and looted homes. Government troops did nothing to stop the atrocities, the report added.
In Sileia and Abu Suruj, eyewitnesses told UN investigators that Sudanese Armed Forces also took part in the pillaging.
“I witnessed SAF and janjaweed looting houses, shops and NGO offices,” an eyewitness was quoted as saying. “They would load the stolen goods in their cars and on their camels and horses and take them away.”
Human rights groups have long claimed that the oil-rich Sudanese government should be internationally isolated to punish it for its role in the crisis. However China, its biggest international investor, has refused to do so, despite threats of sanctions led by Britain and the United States.
The issue has led to Steven Spielberg’s withdrawal as an artistic adviser for this summer's Olympic Games, a decision which was heavily criticised by China.
|
|
|
0
Comments
|
|
A Poor Widow's Experience
|
Posted:Mar 21, 2008 8:47 am
Last Updated:May 9, 2024 2:1 pm 595 Views
|
Mercy's Favor
Introduction
Told through the eyes of her , Roy Okonkwo, "Mercy's Favor" is the story of a poor widow who was falsely accused. Her late husband's relatives fraudulently sold her house without her consent or knowledge. She fought the court case with no money, a house full of , and only God to defend her. But God was the only defense attorney she needed. For 12 years the battle dragged on, but eventually God granted victory in Mercy's favor.
Mercy's Favor - A Poor Widow's Experience
Be encouraged by this very short form of a long true story. It will help you appreciate how God goes all out to fight on behalf of his .
Here in Africa, precisely in Nigeria, there was a poor widow whose husband left a house for her and her . After the man's death, his brothers and some other male relatives fraudulently sold the house to a man who came from a neighboring country called Cameroon. The man was a Nigerian, but lived in Cameroon. This incident happened just after Nigeria’s civil war in 1970.
The widow was still living in her late husband’s house when her husband’s relations illegally and dishonestly sold it to the man without her consent or knowledge. The new “landlord” asked her to leave the house. But she refused, saying that the house belonged to her late husband, and she would stay there to look after her .
At The Legal Courts
Well, the matter became a court case. The man from Cameroon took the widow to court.
The evil and dishonest relatives (there were some who were good and truthful, though) of the widow's husband, were witnesses in favor of the Cameroon man. Why? Because they sold the property to him and had collected his money and spent it.
The Cameroon man bribed virtually everyone, including the of the man that originally sold the land to the widow's late husband.
The widow was very poor. As the case dragged on in the court, she could no longer afford the cost of legal services.
Where is Your Lawyer?
During one of the hearings, the presiding judge asked her, "Madam, where is your lawyer? Who is defending you against all these accusations?"
She said that she had no lawyer, and that Jesus Christ would stand for her. He would defend her and give her victory over those who wanted to rob her of what her late husband left for her and her .
Jesus stood for the widow and actually defended her.
In Matthew 10:19 and 20, Jesus said to his disciples when they were arrested and brought before the authorities, that they shouldn't worry about what to say or how to say it, because, at that very time, God would give them what to say. They wouldn't be speaking, but the Holy Spirit would be the one speaking through them.
The widow narrated to the court about the history of the house. She told the court how her husband purchased the land and who he purchased it from. She spoke about how her husband and she had built the house, and how they moved into it in 1953 with their .
She told the court that her husband’s brothers couldn't even afford to look after themselves. It was her husband who cared for their welfare, put their in schools, and paid their school fees. She spoke many other things which space won’t allow me to state here.
The case dragged on. It lasted for about 12 years. It went from magistrate to high court levels.
Christian Testimony
The Enemy's Tactics
Her enemies unsuccessfully used diabolical means to attack her. There was a time when they brought a "juju man" to the court. (A juju man is an occultist who has devilish powers to kill and cause other harm to people.) This man came to the court premises with a big earthen pot that was filled with charms and other items. He recited incantations, but nothing worked positively for him and the people who sent him. The Lord Jesus was in total and perfect control of the situation.
It was at that stage that the widow told her to stop coming around the court premises during the case. She said to her , “If you want to catch a hen that has babies and it proves difficult, then get hold of the babies and the hen would come after you and aggressively follow you any where you go.
When that happens, you can get hold of the mother hen.”
She said that her enemies found it difficult to harm her. So they could try to go after her . If they succeeded, that would be a devastating blow on her.
The stayed away from the court premises while the war raged on.
In the process, God removed many of those false witnesses who ganged up against her.
Mercy's Favor
On the day the high court judge passed judgment concerning the case, he strongly condemned those who rose against the poor widow and gave judgment in her favor.
They took the case to the Court of Appeal, but God still defeated and disgraced them there.
Praise our living and eternal Father. He is a Father to the fatherless, and the defender of widows. (Psalm 65:5) He fought on behalf of the widow and gave her victory. In 1985 God called her home to heaven for a well-deserved rest.
That widow was Mercy Okonkwo. She was my mother, and this particular incident started in 1970 when I was 17 years old, and went on until about 1982.
of God, don’t be afraid when Satan brings false accusations against you or uses people to do so. Remember that the Bible says that he is the accuser of the people of God. He is actually doing what is natural to him.
His servants have accused many people of God falsely. He used Potiphar’s wife to accuse Joseph falsely (Genesis 39:17, 1 . His servant Haman brought false accusation against Mordecai in Esther 3 and 4. Many people raised their tongues against Jesus Christ and killed him on the cross. The early disciples experienced the same thing, and it still continues today. Our Lord Jesus said that no servant is greater than his master, and that if the people of the world persecuted Jesus, they would likewise persecute all who belong to him. So, we shouldn't be surprised.
But remember that the Lord will never leave you, and neither will he forsake you. He has said, "When you pass through the waters I will be with you and when you pass through the rivers they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze." (Isaiah 43:2 NIV)
|
|
|
0
Comments
|
|
From Crack Addict to Successful Business Owner
|
Posted:Mar 21, 2008 8:43 am
Last Updated:Mar 21, 2008 10:12 am 636 Views
|
Peter's Deliverance
Introduction
Peter was recovering from drug addiction and living in a half-way house. There he decided to turn his life over to God. When he bought his first computer, he unknowingly purchased a stolen one. This was God's opportunity to test Peter's faith and obedience. Peter passed the test and later went on to become a successful business owner.
I was in a half-way house, fresh out of a treatment center for drug addiction of the absolute worst form.
While in the treatment center, I was literally loosing my mind. Desperate, I asked God - the first time I ever prayed, "If you are real, reveal yourself to me and help me, because I am losing my mind." He did. That part of the story is a testimony for another time.
While in this half-way house, I was so broke that it was a good thing the company I work for provided uniforms. I had no clothes and I owed the government a lot of money. For eighteen long months I rode the bus to work and took home only $75 a week. The half-way house got $50 of it. Somehow I managed to save about $200.
A man that I worked with asked me if I wanted to buy a computer. He was a Journeyman machine builder and I worked under him as an apprentice. I thought the computer would be a nice gift to my two whom I had abused badly during my years of drug use. I went to the man's house and picked it up. He charged me $200, all the money I had at the time.
The computer didn't look like much. I brought it back to my room at that half-way house, where normally I did nothing but read my Bible and other spiritual material all day and night. I plugged it in and ... nothing! Long story short, I figured out how to get it going. I saved more money and bought some nice accessories, an external drive, printer, etc.
Fast forward to some months later. I was in a computer store and picked up a MacWorld Magazine for the first time. I saw my computer advertised in the magazine for $3000+ dollars.
Whoa!
I also learned that the man who sold me the computer worked at a strip bar as a bouncer in the evenings. Having been in the life of stolen property and hustling most of my years on the meaner streets of Boston, I quickly put two and two together. I had purchased a stolen computer. I went to this man and asked him about it and he actually turned on me, making threats. That was hard to swallow since in my former life I was known as one not to be messed with. This guy was in terrible physical shape. I could dust him up in nothing flat.
Doing the Right Thing
I was devastated and faced with a decision. I wrapped the computer and all the trappings in a big trash bag and it sat in a corner for a week or so. Finally I was convinced and determined I had to do the right thing. I went down to the police station. I sat outside for a while praying again, since I remembered that the police always ask where you got the stolen stuff from. I also remembered that if you bought it, you were considered just as guilty as the thief.
Many thoughts flashed through my head, including, and not the least of which was, I loved this little Mac. I gathered my courage and went inside the station. When I placed the computer on the counter at the police station, I thought I knew what Abraham must have felt like when the Lord asked him to sacrifice his only . But just like Abraham, I was delivered from putting the love of the gift before my love of the Giver.
The officer behind the counter asked, "What is this?"
I said, "It's a computer. I think it's stolen."
"Where did you get it from," he asked.
"I bought it," I answered.
"Hmmm!" The officer said, "We don't get people doing this!"
Then I heard the devil saying, "You fool, you could have kept it, or sold it to someone else."
Then from behind the counter a sergeant sitting at a desk said, "Yeah, but you're doing the right thing."
What relief I felt.
God put that man there, I thought. Anyway, the officer who had written down the serial numbers, came out from behind the counter with a sheet of paper and told me, "We don't see it here on the hot sheet. But you go home and we will get it back to who it belongs to."
I felt great. I was going to get out of there without being asked who I had gotten it from. Better yet, they didn't arrest me. I had never been a "good guy" before and I didn't know how it worked. However, I felt so sad because I had lost my computer.
As I walked across that long floor and was starting down the stairs, I heard someone call out, "Mr Alves!" I turned to see the officer waving me back to the counter.
"Look," he said. "You paid for the computer. Why don't you take it with you. I will just sign my name to the hot sheet and write a note saying you came in to try to get it back to it's owner. You can use a copy of this as a receipt."
A Ram in the Bush
By the way, I still have that copy of the hot sheet, laminated and yellowed with age. I kept it as a sign of how doing the right thing and trusting God is always best. Not that I always do. I fall short time and again. But, I think I know a little bit of how Abraham felt when the Lord provided a ram in the bush, and he got his back. He loved his so much, but now with a different love, and not more than the way he loved the Lord. Thank you, Jesus, for being my ram in the bush.
I'm writing this seventeen years later. The Lord has taken me from a small room in a half-way house to a fully paid for, ten room, five acre home. I have a successful computer business, but it's a ministry first and a business second. God is awesome! My company specializes in new and used computer sales, repair, service and consulting.
Eventually I served on the board of directors at that same half-way house where I lived. Me, a delivered wretch.
|
|
|
0
Comments
|
|
Issacs amazing Change
|
Posted:Mar 21, 2008 8:37 am
Last Updated:Mar 21, 2008 8:38 am 580 Views
|
Isaac's Amazing Change
From Isaac Snuffer, Follower of Christ!
I was raised, and am still being raised, in a Christian home with good parents. We go to a good church. My parents taught me right from wrong as a little , and they taught me about God and Jesus. In essence, I believed them. So everything in life was going well until I was about 12. Then, during a period of 3 years, Satan got quite close to claiming my soul.
At age 12, my friend introduced me to pornography. And I have to say, I enjoyed it. For the first time, my image of right and wrong was shattered, as Satan got that foothold he needed to pervert my life with sin. It was a slow-working process. I went on like this for about a year. Then it got worse.
Depression
At 13 I started to get depressed. It happened for normal, young-guy reasons ... girl trouble. And honestly, looking back, it was nothing to even get close to depressed over. I liked a girl, but she didn't like me back. Nonetheless, I got depressed.
Then started that always-fun-for-parents rebellious phase of my life. I'd yell at them and get ticked-off at everything. I'd flip them off behind their backs. I had started cussing pretty bad about this time too. Because of their reactions, I honestly thought they hated me. I thought that nobody loved me, and that I was hated by everyone except my friends.
I decided I had to do something, so I started skateboarding in January of 2006. It was supposed to be an outlet for my depression, and it worked at the time. When I was skating, I'd forget about my troubles entirely. But not even skating would work completely, just as the enemy had planned it.
Turning Away from God
By the time I was 14, during the summer before my freshman year of high school, I had pretty much denounced Christianity. I went so far as to flip God off at times. I remember one time I had just gotten up off the bathroom floor from crying my eyes out, because I was so depressed, and I flipped him off saying, "F*** you, God!"
So, obviously I was in pretty bad shape. But, instead of turning to God, who I thought hated me, I started looking into drugs. I didn't get my hands on any for a while, but I started trying to get one substance in particular. Over the summer, I'd searched to get it, but couldn't get any. After that summer, I "came back" to God, but still hanging onto terrible liberal philosophies to simply justify my sin. My reason for coming back was honestly to get a girl to like me. Then came the worst few months of my life.
Experimenting with drugs
I was a freshman. It was November 2006. I was still 14, and I even more depressed than ever. One night when my parents were away, I started looking up information about the drugs I found in the medicine cabinet. Soon I found something that would make my drug-dreams come true. It was an over the counter medicine, but I won't give the name, to keep others from temptation. It was a hallucinogen and a deliriant.
I started taking the drug occasionally, until my parents bought a full bottle of pills. I was stoked. And because they bought them for me, since I was having a problem that the medicine was meant to treat, I took them a lot, in larger doses than was recommended. I loved getting high, because when I was high, I had no depression. The only problem was, when I would come back down, I was much more depressed than before.
Stealing
Then I got the wild idea to steal some. So I went to the store one day, walked to the pharmacy and, not going into detail, stole it. I got away with it very easily. Now I had a full bottle of the stuff that nobody knew about but me. Big mistake for me.
After that, having not succeeded in hallucinating yet, I decided one Sunday after church that I would pop pills until I hallucinated. I was home alone because my parents had a wake to attend. After dinner, I popped pills, 4 every 15 minutes, for 2 hours and 15 minutes. That's 36 pills! And I had the weirdest trip.
Even though I had been scared to death, Satan convinced me that this was fun and just what I needed. So, I started getting high all the time. I rarely took big doses, just moderate ones.
drug Addiction Christian Testimony
Then I met another stoner at my church youth group, and we started talking some. I got bored with just the drug I was taking, and started also taking the drug I had searched for almost 6 months earlier. I ended up doing it 3 times.
I started smoking every now and then, cigarettes that I stole from my mom. Then, getting desperate, I stole a prescription drug from my aunt who had had surgery a few years back.
Thoughts of Suicide
I used the drug without feeling a bit of guilt. Yet every Sunday, when the pastor gave the alter call, I'd feel God pulling at my heart. I didn't heed the call, but instead, I ran. Soon enough, thoughts of suicide came alongside the depression.
Then, in March 2007, came the weekend that would change my life forever.
It is called by my youth group, "Winterfest Weekend." We all pack up early Friday morning and head down to Winterfest in Knoxville, TN.
So, my friend and I went, mainly to get away from our parents and get out of a day at school. Little did I know how my life would be changed that weekend.
The first night, I played "Christian." To quote from a Jentzen Franklin message called, "Keep Your Underwear On," I looked like a Christian on the outside, but on the inside, I didn't have my underwear on. I was faking it. I truly was worshiping God, but I had no intention of letting go of my sinful lifestyle. My friend and I were planning to go the next day and rob the Knoxville Mall of our preferred drug and get high in the service.
Thank Jesus, we had chaperones at the mall, so we didn't do it. (Although we did buy itching powder at Spensor's and put it on people in our youth group. But, that's beside the point.)
Crying Out to God
That night we went to the service. I listened, worshiped God and all, just like the night before. Tommy Bates was preaching on the Holy Spirit, and how Satan wants to destroy us. I didn't agree with him at the time on some points, like that drugs are sinful, but still God tugged at my heart, as usual.
At the end of the message, when he called for anyone who had not been filled with the Holy Spirit to come, three others went: my friend, and two other guys from our youth group. Because I wasn't alone, I went down and called out to God. I honestly don't know where the words I cried came from, because I surely wasn't thinking them. I guess it was from my spirit.
To summarize, I cried, "God, I'm tired of giving you only part of me. Lord, take all of me and fill me with your Holy Spirit!"
So, I kept praying like this for about 10 minutes. Then a girl, who looked to be about 12 years old, with bloodshot eyes from crying, came up to me and said, "The Lord said to tell you, he's going to fill you with the Holy Spirit tonight." That touched me. There was no way she could have heard me. The music was so loud I couldn't even hear me. I knew her words were from the Lord. I knew he must have heard my plea for salvation, and that he would do as he said. So she prayed for me.
Finding Freedom
Within about 5 seconds, I couldn't stop shaking and was having trouble standing. In that instant, my drug addiction, my depression and suicidal thoughts, my porn addiction, all of it had vanished! I was free!
I lay on the floor for about 20 minutes praising the King of Kings! This was even after Tommy dismissed the service. Eventually some of the adults came and helped me up. I was walking like I was drunk. It was the best "high" I'd ever had, and it wasn't drug induced! I found out when I got back to the hotel that my friend had come to Jesus and been filled as well, along with the other two guys.
Amazing Change
Since then my life has changed completely. God has done some amazing things. He still has a lot of work to do in me. I'm anything but perfect, but he has come into my life, taken away my sin, and now he is the center of my life.
To anyone out there hurting like I was, I'll tell you, Jesus is the answer. Satan may blind you, as he did me. But realize that life isn't about what you know, but about faith that God knows what he is doing.
God has helped me through the hardest year in my life, without as much as a slight thought of suicide. I had surgery and lost my grandma, all in a months time. But the Lord got me through it, and not only that, with joy!
Thanks for reading this. I hope it has blessed you.
|
|
|
0
Comments
|
|
