I was Just Thinkin'...

I was just thinkin'.

What makes leaders in the Christian community think it's effective to 'discipline' others by shunning them? I have once again raised the battle lines in a fellowship by not being 'obedient'.
 I'm not complaining as much as wondering when this kind of action (or re-action) is no longer going to plague the Bride of Christ.

You see, I "came out' this last year. No! Not like that! I finally actually told some church leaders that I was a ...(gulp) prophet! There! I said it again! prophetprophetprophet!

Yup. Not only prophetic, because every Christian has the ability to prophecy at times, but honest to goodness constant words runnin' in my head-can't sleep-dreamin' dreams- can see your hurts-hear from God all the live-long day prophet.

This for some reason has unsettled a few. So, in good ol' church tradition, you 'discipline' folks like me by ignoring my existence. And you use me as an example in your ministry classes and all of your followers suddenly snub me too.

You see, I'm not supposed to be a prophet. Some friends wrote a book years ago about seeking out and embracing your spiritual "office". Suddenly, everyone in leadership, or wanting leadership, was supposed to do these classes led by the authors. There were some good things in the book. And it was fun to be with  friends every week.

But the last few meetings were personal prayer times where you "discovered" your office by everyone else telling you who you were. As I sat it the center and everyone prayed and spoke out 'prophetic' word, I didn't know how to handle it. "I dub thee, Madame ...  Encourager!" (not exact words!)

I just ... well....anyway. On the way home I asked my husband "What do you think about me impartation?"

"Oh! Totally wrong! They had everything about you completely out of whack. It's like they've never met you!"

I was so relieved!


I can be an encourager. After all, I have years of training in the field of psychology to prove it. I know the right things to say and how to say them. I can manipulate words and people without blinking an eye. I have been trained in diplomacy and salesmanship. I can figure out what you want and say exactly the right thing.
I can make you feel goooooood! And truthfully, I like people!!

But in my head, I can hear the voice of the Holy Spirit and it's very different words that need to be spoken. You see, prophets are many times given a specific message to tell for a season. Patricia King was given one word for ages! "God loves you!" Sounds incongruous, doesn't it? But that word, delivered by her obedience to GOD, not man, touched the lives of countless people where ever she spoke.

I, whoopidy-dee, was given a more stringent message. And nearly every time I spoke, I got short shrift. I got to deliver warnings about, oh, different directions we were taking. Any way, the whole deal boiled down to I was a disobedient, naughty girl. They took their ball and went home.

I didn't encourage, even though I tried to do. I would even add to the words He gave me! I honestly (pun intended) added soothing happy endings to the messages I got so they wouldn't get mad!

So, I lost my grip. I was a fraud. Only a handful of people had heard me out, and had found me solid.
I finally confessed to the Lord my duplicity, my anger and my disappointment in myself. And decided it was all or nothing. Whew!!!

It seemed that I had become a person non gratis at my church. Then one Sunday morning, I was released! He set me free of all responsibility for them. In a way, it irked me! I had put a lot of years in this place and these people!! But, He set me out to find a new place with a new mission. How exciting!!

Back to the shunning! My husband who is very insightful, said it was the common church way. If you have someone whom displeases you, you simply create an unpleasant environment for them and they will eventually leave. Well, we've been in a LOT of churches and it's true. How terribly sad.

I wish the leaders who are upset with me would have talked to me. I've tried to talk to them, but it's hard to open a door with no knob. Would it not be great if we, as leaders in the church, would be willing to look at differences of ministry not as hard-headedness or disobedience, but as necessity of a calling? At least to ask someone what they are doing? This shunning stuff is for the birds!

Anywho ... I was just thinkin'.

Saturdays!!

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Saturdays

 I am not known for my timidity when it comes to Scripture. I can tell when I'm off base because it doesn't line up with the B-i-b-l-e! 

So the sons of Israel shall observe the Sabbath, to celebrate the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant.’ Exodus 31:16

That said, I run afoul of my dear SDA friends I'm sure because I have no problem with worshiping on the Lord's Day as opposed to the Sabbath. I have no problem with those who worship on the Sabbath, or Thursdays. Or Monday afternoon. Or Friday morning. In their tennis clothes. Or jammies.

  And it happened that He was passing through the grain fields on the Sabbath, and His disciples began to make their way along while picking the heads of grain.  The Pharisees were saying to Him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”  And He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions became hungry;  how he entered the house of God in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the consecrated bread, which is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests, and he also gave it to those who were with him?”  Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”  Mark 2:23-28

What I take exception to is those who do not worship. I know! Going to 'church' is not a requirement for salvation. But...

 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds,  not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.  Matthew 10: 23-25

I am not a Hebrew. Even though we ALL come from the same family, God managed to embellish the human body with different structure and pigments, languages and accents. So in that idea, we are all Hebrews. But, I am not. I am an American mutt of several tribes and nations. 

And this woman, a daughter of Abraham as she is, whom Satan has bound for eighteen long years, should she not have been released from this bond on the Sabbath day?”   Luke 13:16

Immediately the man became well, and picked up his pallet and began to walk. Now it was the Sabbath on that day. So the Jews were saying to the man who was cured, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not permissible for you to carry your pallet.”  John 5: 9-10

Here's the whole of the matter....

Therefore some of the Pharisees were saying, “This man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.” But others were saying, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?”And there was a division among them.  John 9:16

 And there was a division among them. 

If I am wrong for using Sunday as my day of worship, I'm sure the Holy Spirit will straighten me out. If not.....? But let's not let these things divide us. We all have shortcomings when it comes to obedience, but let's help each other and focus on what we're learning about the Most High God of Heaven!

By the way, the Sabbath is not called a day of worship.  

Shalom!!!

Heaven is for Real! And so is Hell.

So I'm flickin' though the channels (air TV, kids, no cable!) and of course perusing the dozen or more "Christian" channels. Why that one was playing 'One Day at a Time' is beyond me. 

Any way, there was a commercial for this website the tells"the truth about Hell!". I was curious, of course. I wanna know the truth, don't you? 

What if I'm wrong?! Oh-my-goodness-heaven-to-betsy- sakes!

I hurried over to my laptop. I'm lying. It's already in my lap. But I do not pass go, do not collect $200 and look up the site immediately.

It reads real nice. It is really comforting!

You see, many people reject God because we've been teaching fallacies about Hell! It's our fault. 

People who believe He will send non-believers to eternal punishment aren't going to follow Him because they don't want to obey a god who is vicious and mean.

If you re-read that several times, the asinine irony finally sinks in.

I have a friend who is not going to heaven because she doesn't want to worship a god who has a fan club. What can I say?

I digress.

This group of kinder, gentler Christians says those who are not followers get judged, serve a term of punishment according to the naughty things they've done, and then die. Poof. Gone.

God turns the earth into a lake of fire and toast all the bad people. DONE! Phew!

Oh, and when anyone in the Bible says "forever", it doesn't mean FOREVER, It's a colloquial term that means, and I quote, "for as long as time lasts in that specific case." Unquote.

                                                                    I'm  so  confused!



Here's the deal. I would like it very, very, very much if Hell did not exist. It was created for Satan and his demons, not us. But according to a few folk in the scriptures, if I am not serving God, I am serving Satan. Pretty sure that makes me complicit with hell itself.

The Scriptures used are convincing, like most scripture is when taken out of context, used with agenda translation, and then sprinkled though-out an article with shoddy research data. 

41 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; 42 for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; 43 I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ 44 Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not [e]take care of You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”  Matt 25:41-46

In Mark 9, Jesus says the fires of hell are unquenchable. That means it does not burn out, by the way. According to our truth website, if the fire DON'T go out, God will FAIL to remove sin from the earth. (Buh-scuz He's not a magician, dad-gummit!)

Let me make the point of this rambling post clear; I want, more than anything, for you to know that God is real. He loves you. He watches you. He calls your name. He sacrificed for you in the form of the Son, Jesus Christ. He sent you a love letter full of history, adventure, pain and glory. He sent another part of Himself, the Spirit, to hold you close. To hold you in His arms. To whisper in your ear. 

As days grow short before the culmination of time, I am encouraging you to not believe everything you hear and read about the Bible, and it's Author. Now is the time that the Enemy is trying harder than ever to monkey wrench the children of God. And unfortunately, he's going to succeed with a lot of people. Not because we have misrepresented hell to people. It's there, and it needs some understanding, but because we have  not been teaching Jesus. It's all about Jesus. How else do you get to the throne room? 

Have you been married a long, looooong time? Do you have love letters or little notes from the early days of your courting? When you read them now, doesn't your heart melt again, your pulse quicken, the years fall away? 

Get back into your Bible. Let it all happen over again! Let others see the beauty of the Father in you. Let them see the love affair of the century. Then, hell won't even matter.

Oh. And eat a pomegranate.

(If you want the website, leave a comment and I'll give it to you.)