From A Spiritual Perspective.....The Orlando Massacre

So I'm going to weigh in on what happened in Orlando, Florida this past weekend. I will begin by saying that God is still sovereign, he's still on the throne, and there is no fault or failure in HIM. However, there is fault and failure with mankind. Along with the devil, Satan, our enemy, people have a human spirit (mind) by which their actions can be controlled or constrained. Being the fact that it was a gay club that Mateen attacked, many people believe that his acts was promoted and even sent by God. Now I in no wise am a supporter or a participant of the gay community, but I do not believe that my God designed such an act. If God wanted to kill a bunch of homosexuals, he's the same God who sent fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah, without any direct usage of another human being. The thing is God wants to save homosexuals and deliver them from that bondage and belief that they are right about such lifestyle. To any homosexual that has not experienced the love and wonderful Grace of God's salvation, he wants to SAVE you, not kill you. The devil will make you think you need a transgender, but the Lord wants to give you a transformation. There may be things that have taken place in your life such as rape, molestation, physical and verbal abuse, abandonment or any such unfairness, but you are still who God made you in the beginning. In this world where everything and everybody is accepted no matter how far away from the truth is, I will be the servant of Christ to take a stand and declare that the Bible is right and somebody's wrong. I understand that there are some hardcore, unyielding homosexuals who do not want to change. They accept and believe the lie of being born gay. They turn a deaf hear to any kind of preaching about holiness and living for the Lord. Well those are not the homosexuals who I'm talking to. But I'm talking to the ones who are sick of themselves being trapped into something that seems impossible to break free from. The blood of Jesus can set you free. That's all I can tell you is that the blood of Jesus can save and wash you and make you a new creature. No, I do not understand a homosexual' s struggle because I've never gone through anything like that. But I can say that nobody's sin is worse than another's. All sin is sin and we all have to depend on the Lord for deliverance from something, whether it's cigarettes, alcohol, fornication(heterosexual sex), adultery (mentally or physically), lying, gossiping, or whatever, we need to seek the Lord for forgiveness and his strength to overcome certain temptations. This blog is not so much about the lives and souls that were lost in Orlando, but it's about the survivors. It's about the homosexuals who are still practicing that lifestyle (openly or undercover). For the life of me, I can't understand why a woman would want another woman or why a man would want another man, but at the same token,I don't need to understand. It's wrong. It is not ordained of God. It is not approved by true believers in Christ because we know there's power to walk out of sin and be free in Christ. People who have had to trust God for deliverance in other areas such as heterosexual fornication/adultery know how powerful the urges are. But it takes fasting and prayer to get delivered and stay delivered. It takes fleeing the very appearance of evil. There is no demon stronger than the power of God but we have to submit ourselves to God and RESIST the devil and he will flee. 5% of our problems is the devil. The other 95% is simply our own flesh, which includes our thinking, desires, and stubbornness. If a homosexual wants to be saved, then they must come through the same channels that the rest of us came through and continuing to come through and that is to deny worldly and ungodly lusts. We cannot serve God and please ourselves at the same time because the flesh wants to rule. And furthermore, to the stout-hearted Christians who believe that God orchestrated the Orlando Massacre, this is what I have to say to you...... Don't let your son or daughter or nobody else you love ever get caught up in that lifestyle, because if they do, and somebody kills them, then we want to hear the same words come from your lips about your own as you said about others, that....... THEY GOT WHAT THEY DESERVED!!!! As a believer in Christ, How can one say such a thing. Even when God wiped out Sodom and Gomorrah, he sent Abraham to intercede for them to turn and repent. In other words, God did not want to kill them but the people were unyielding to Lot and did not want God's salvation. As I mentioned earlier, there are some modern day gays who do not want to change and they will proudly die in their sins. But not every gay person fits that Bill. Some of them want to come out but they don't know how because they have tried the "Church" thing and many of them see a bunch of down low lesbians and gay men in the pulpits and choirs or what have you. To tell the truth, there are some churches that even I won't step back foot in because I know the pastor is a pervert, a womanizer, and a liar. And if me, being full of the Holy Ghost, will not affiliate with certain churches, then I can imagine what sinners feel when they really want to be saved but see so much falsehood. In my closing, we certainly want to remember the families who lost their loved ones and pray that God will comfort their bleeding hearts. We reach out with thoughts of kindness to mend broken hearts and shed light upon you in the midst of so much shade right now. Furthermore, we pray for all families that God will protect, direct, and continue to cover our loved ones in Jesus name we pray.

EXPOSURE OR EXPERIENCE?

When it comes to the things of God, the spirit realm, hearing the voice of God, and proclaiming the message of God either by speaking or writing or reading, I do not take it lightly. Over the past couple of months, I've been reading comments and posts from YouTube and Facebook about the Brian Carn ordeal. First of all, this blog is not derogatory in any form or fashion toward Carn and his supporters neither to the non-supporters. But I would like to say that I have never been a fan/supporter of Brian Carn. I do not follow the mainstream ministers on any level, not just singling him out, but I don't watch, read, or share their material due to the fact that I'm a die hard Apostolic Pentecostal believer and outside of the doctrine that has been delivered to me and the New Testament saints, I don't support any other. That said, people have spent a lot of time on making videos and posts about the psychic vs Carn issue and a lot of good things have been said along with a lot of negative, nasty comments that I don't care to repeat and even had to skip over certain cussing demons that got let loose on the internet. Anyway, this is not a matter of me trying to get to the bottom of whether or not Carn plagiarized the psychic.  Based upon the evidence presented in the video, I believe he did. Being a criminal justice major, I can only state the facts and make my decision on just that. Furthermore, I have also heard and read where a prophet is to be 100% correct in what they declare God said. I agree. However, I also believe that immature prophets will make mistakes, but when they are immature, weak, and unsure then they do not need to be prophesying period, at all, point blank. There is something called arrogance and ego that makes a person continue on speaking/writing something because they feel they are a lot more spiritual and superior than they really are. That's when the waves of error start tumbling. The minor and major prophets got it right EVERY TIME. That is what we have left on record. But what we don't have on record is the training, the polishing, the humbling experiences, the mistakes, and the the trial and error that the prophets encountered BEFORE God used them as the dynamic mouthpiece. Most people cannot handle that but if we use spiritual common sense, then we must know that there were times when the TRUE prophets had to get equipped to hear and know the REAL voice of God. They didn't just wake up fully mature in the Spirit one day and started proclaiming God's word just like we don't today. However, on another note, the real prophets/prophetesses did not play around on Satan's turf either. They were not caught up in sexual immorality, reveling, and worldliness while proclaiming to be a spokesman for the Lord. They might have enjoyed the pleasures of sin BEFOREHAND but not DURING. That's the difference between old time and present day (so called) prophets/prophetesses. Majority of them have some type of money gimmick going on and have thousands upon thousands of supporters and followers who speak well of them. The prophets of old did not have that kind of following, but was rather rejected, persecuted and even killed because they were the direct mouthpiece of God who did not always prophesy good things that the people wanted to hear. God takes the fivefold ministry seriously, and the prophets have a MAJOR responsibility and accountability to hold up the standard of holiness at ALL TIMES!!!! I know somebody think I done lost my mind, but if a man or a woman is going to be used to say what God says, their vessels must be clean, lest any impurities seep through and their words become contaminated and mixed with truth and error, deceiving themselves and the people. The biblical prophets were not popular but isolated most of the time. They stayed in a place of purity mentally and spiritually so that they would not get it wrong when they heard a voice. Real prophets/prophtesses understand that God's voice is not the only one that can be speaking in the spirit realm so they know they don't have time to entertain foolishness or they are subject to making a fool out of themselves. Yes, I believe it takes work and discipline to get to that point. But a real prophet, also called a servant, does not have to be beat with many stripes by the Lord in order to get to that point because their hearts are already humbled and they're just willing to surrender to the call. It's when folks got their own agenda, their own reputation, their own bank account, and their own bellies at the center focus that cause them to not be in sync with truth. I'm so tired of seeing folks calling themselves apostles and prophets and they all have the same layout. There's no real brokenness and weeping over the nations like Jeremiah. But they want people to come hear them speak over here in Michigan, Tennessee, Georgia, and the surrounding areas and then charge the people, maybe not at registration but during some some prayer line and prophesying. Real prophets don't need to send out invitations for the people to come to them because they are supposed to be bringing the people to God. That's how I can tell that they have made ministry about themselves and their name. What makes this thing even more dangerous is that you got false prophets using the Word of God to expose Brian Carn and they are turning the people's hearts away from Carn to them. The weak folks hop from one level of falsehood to the next. They think that because Carn was openly exposed then the next person on their way up the spiritual ladder as a prophet got to be true. In closing, I believe real prophets will go through some experience and training before they are released to walk in the office of a prophet, but when they are not handling the experience right or are down right rebellious (like King Saul), then God will let them go through the exposure.

Giving Up the Grace for the Gold

WHAT IS "OFFENSE" IN THE BODY OF CHRIST?

1 Corinthians 8:4-13 says "4As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one.

5For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,)

6But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.

7Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge: for some with conscience of the idol unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled.

8But meat commendeth us not to God: for neither, if we eat, are we the better; neither, if we eat not, are we the worse.

9But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak.

10For if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol's temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols;

11And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died?

12But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ.

13Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend.

Now when we read 1 Corinthinas 8:4-13, it is clear, plain as day tht Paul is addressing meat offered unto idols. We know that idol worship is sin in both the old and new testaments because we should only be worshipping one God...Jesus Christ. In summary, Paul is so concerned about the spiritual welfare of new saints in Christ that he committed himself to not eat meat at all, if eating meat would cause his weaker brother in Christ to stumble or fall into sin or feel condemned through conscience sake. In other words, Paul would abstain from eating any kind of meat, not just meat offered unto idols, if by him eating meat, it caused weaker saints to fall into the sin of eating meat that was offered to idols. This chapter in a nutshell is very wise and shows genuine love for the brethren and their souls. However, many things that is called "offense" in the body of Christ today can be traced back to wrong interpretations of scriptures and scriptures taken out of context to mean what the reader wants it to say to validate their own opinion and views. Just to provide some history, years ago almost everything and I mean almost EVERYTHING was pretty much considered a sin. There was a time when saints would not dare step into a movie theater or go to a football game but NOW saints are signing their children up to play sports and other such like things. I'm reminded of a pastor who shared his story of how his grandfather, which was also his pastor, forbade all his grandsons from shooting marbles because of the scripture John 3:7 "MARVEL not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again". Clearly this scripture was taken out of context because of a lack of understanding of what the scripture meant. The definition of Marvel means to be filled with astonishment or wonder. The word marble is a small ball of colored glass or similar material used as a toy. Jesus told Nicodemus not to Marvel or not to be amazed and wonder but to know that he must be born again. He did not tell Nicodemus not to Marble or not to play with marbles because shooting marbles was a sin. That is only one occasion where scripture got misread, minterpreted, and misunderstood and thereby, heavy restrictions and rules were placed on people as a result. Now back to the sports and movies things that used to be sinful or worldly back in the day. The question is why are saints not only going to these types of things and even encouraging and paying for their children to participate in them? Because many people have discovered that a lot of things they were taught back then by older spiritual leaders were not necessarily wrong or sinful in and of itself and they have found ways to enjoy life and have fun and allow their kids to do so without such heavy burdens and still maintain their walk with Christ. This is not to say that everything playing at the movie theater is God-approved, but there are some good shows that play that even Christians can take to heart, such as the movie War Room. We did not go to the theater to see the movie but we rented it from RedBox and it was a tearjerker. One of the older saints in our church testified that her children offered to take her to see the movie War Room but they had never offered to take her to see anything else at the movies. The reason they chose War Room for their mother is because it was a show for Christian audiences and even those who don't know the Lord but just need to learn how to pray. Suppose she would have turned them down for holding on to a teaching that she would have backslidden by going to see that movie? No, she went with her adult kids and enjoyed it and came to church and testified about it and that is what made me and my husband go and rent the movie and I must say it was worth watching!! I'm getting closer to the Offense thing in the body of Christ. The scriptures lay out what is truly sin but Paul went a step further to say that we should not cause another person to stumble or fall in sin with the way we use our liberty. So with the movie theater example, if someone else who heard the older mother saying that she went to the movies and they decide to go see an R-rated movie with Martin Lawrence and Kevin Hart, for example, based on the fact that they heard the older mother say she went to the movies, then they have clearly over stepped their conscience of what they know is right and wrong and if the older mother is aware that they did this because of her testimony of going to the movies liberally, then she would be guilty of causing a weaker saint to offend. Now where the guilt would not be laid upon her is if the weaker saint knew that she did not go to see an R-rated movie but went to see a PG and was in an atmosphere where lust, profanity, and other sins were not in action. However, she explained in her testimony that she did not make a regular habit of going to theaters but went that one time to see War Room. What I'm saying here is we can magnify things to be something that they are not and accuse people of being in sin and causing others to stumble when that is totally not the case. Some people get offended over things that they were "taught" was sinful (such as going to sports and shooting marbles) and they believe that others are in sin when they see them doing these things. As a result, many Christians made commitments and even vows not to do this, not to do that, not to wear this, and not to wear that for the simple fact that it might offend a brother or sister in Christ. And if you make a vow then you are bound to keep it. So that is why many of them still do not change from their original stance because they promised to remain a certain way in the beginning of their walk with Christ even after discovering that they had been taught wrong. The type of offend that many people use today has little if any thing to do with the type of offense that Paul talked about in 1 Cor. 8. Many people get offended, which jealous is the more appropriate word, because some Christians have more liberty to do certain things than they do because for #1 they did not make a vow from the get-go and #2 their spiritual leaders have more wisdom and better interpretation of the scriptures and permit his congregation to do/wear certain things with balance and moderation. God does not expect us to hold others accountable for our own personal convictions. Neither does he want us to do something or not to do something just to please another Christian knowing that it is really not in our hearts to do so because that would be hypocritical. Where Paul said he would not eat meat as long as the world stands, takes the offense to a whole different level where a brother or sister's soul salvation would be at stake if they went back to eating meat offered to idols and eventually ended up in idol worship simply because they were watching Paul as he ate meat. Again, I say, some things are not that serious with people of today but they are just filled with jealousy and try to redirect it as "offense". In this modern age where social media is very popular even among Christians, I've learned that other Christians become so easily offended over little of nothing in other Christians. People get offended over saints posting pictures, videos, or statuses of their new hairstyles, new cars, new promotions in the ministry, new jobs, new homes, or anything that shows the blessings and favor of God on their lives. Now with 1 Cor. 8 extremely taken out of context, then our modern day Christians would have to not get a new hairstyle, not get a new car, not except a promotion in ministry, turn down job offers, and not buy a new home so that they will not become a stumbling block and  cause a weaker saint to offend. I hope I sound really absurd because that's exactly what it is. Uniformity is not necessarily unity and keeping everybody on the same level, being the same way, with the same tastes, and never changing, progressing, and becoming better is not what Paul meant when he said I will not eat meat as long as the world stands. Many pastors have failed gravely at trying to keep their congregants all on the same plateau without realizing that people outgrow certain things and people and must move on to perfection. And if somebody cannot take that for what it is worth without going back into a world of sin and shame, then they already had more problems that what just a little offense could bring out. It is this kind of "offense" belief that keep some saints from trying to excel in life because they are afraid that either they will sin and become proud or cause someone else to sin. So they settle for mediocrity and being at the bottom of the barrel. But I'm of this persuasion, that if God blesses one Christian, then they should have enough love to be a blessing to other Christians and help lift them up out of negative thinking and being offended by everything that they either don't understand or don't agree with. Yes, people of the Church have changed. All of the change has not been good but all of it has not been bad either. Most of the good changes have occurred from saints studying the word for themselves, sitting under wise instructors, maintaining a consistent prayer life, and letting the Holy Spirit lead and guide them into all truth. On the flip side, some of the negative changes have occurred because people had been locked up in cages for so long without the privileges to do certain things that once they got a little leeway to get out from under such hard taskmasters, that they took off like a jet in the totally opposite direction of holiness. God is not calling us to go to those extremes either because that will really be offensive to both Christians and non-Christians who once looked up to a brother or sister in Christ. So yes, we do have a standard to hold up for the world to see and whether at a ball game or in a PG-rated movie (I don't recommend any other ratings), then we will shine forth as lights and tell a dying world that Jesus Saves to the utmost!!