Tag Archives: bible

What is your belief statement?

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Yesterday, God had me write out a little sticky note reminder. He wanted me to create a belief statement that could replace the trinity (false doctrine) belief statements to model the possibilities for correct doctrinal statements for the local pastors. His hope was to make it easier for them to change their “What We Believe” statements to truth. It seems that most of them don’t really know exactly what they believe.

This morning, I went to Sunrise Bread Company, and sat down to handwrite the result of my discussion with God. While enjoying a hot cup of coffee and a huge cinnamon roll, I penned the words below.

***
We believe that there is only one God. God is invisible Spirit (also known as the Holy Spirit). He made Himself known visibly and audibly to mankind while He walked on Earth, robed in Son-of-Man flesh, 2000+ years ago. Today, He makes Himself known to us individually as we choose Him as our God. As His disciples, we should expect to hear His voice, experience His presence, and walk in His supernatural power when we are yielded to Him in covenant relationship. His name, made known to us, is Jesus. He is the one and only God. He will not compete for lordship.

The attributes of God are:
*God is Spirit. (John 4:24)
*God is invisible. (John 1:18)
*God is Creator. (Genesis 1; Psalm 139)
*God is sovereign. (Genesis 15:2)
*God is omnipresent: always present. (Psalm 139:7-10, Jeremiah 23:23-24)
*God is omnipotent: all powerful. (Psalm 33:6, Job 11:7-11)
*God is omniscient: all knowing. (Isaiah 46:9-10)
*God is eternal/Alpha & Omega. (Deuteronomy 33:27, Jeremiah 10:10, Revelation 22:13)
*God is infinite. (Colossians 1:17, Psalm 147:5)
AND
*God is love. (1 John 4:7-8)
*God is holy. (Revelation 4:8)
*God hates evil. (Zechariah 8:17)
*God is just/justice/righteous judge. (Deuteronomy 32:4)
*God is good. (Psalm 34:8, 34:22)
*God is merciful. (Romans 9:15-16)
*God is wisdom. (Romans 11:33, Proverbs 8, Job 9:4)
*God is gracious. (Psalm 145:8, Ephesians 2:8, Exodus 33:19, Matthew 5:45)
*God is sin-forgiver. (Micah 7:18)
*God is faithful. (Deuteronomy 7:9, 2 Timothy 2:13, 1 Corinthians 13:12)
*God is jealous. (Exodus 20:3)

*** End of example

A belief statement could also describe how to mend a broken covenant relationship. It could describe how God’s salvation method provided us each individual access to Him to ask for His forgiveness and to hear His response. There are lots of great things that the “What We Believe” sections could include. But know this, trinity false doctrine is NOT one of those things. All it does is show how little the church leadership actually knows God. If you want to advertise that, then go ahead. That’s your choice. But you could instead choose to use your website to equip people for covenant relationship and hearing God. Evangelize to a lost world or further confuse it?

He’s Not Here?

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It’s strange that we “celebrate” the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ at Easter. He was beaten, tortured, and crucified on a cross. And He left us! … or did He?

What is the miracle of Easter? Others were crucified on crosses. Lazarus was resurrected from the dead by Jesus before His own resurrection. And Enoch and Elijah are recorded to have ascended bodily to Heaven too. So what is the real Easter miracle? At Christmas, we celebrate the miraculous virgin birth of the Christ child. I wonder with our focus on miracles have we missed the most precious thing to celebrate? God with us! The creator robed Himself in human flesh and walked visibly with our forefathers. He proved Himself to be real. He didn’t have to do any of the things that He did.

God always had the power to forgive sins, He didn’t need the cross for that. God always had the power to remove His own wrath. God always had the power to open the way to covenant restoration conversation without shed blood or a priest. He didn’t need the cross. He didn’t need to be born of man. He didn’t need to perform miracles. He didn’t need any of it. He chose it. Why?

All of this drama after 400 years of silence. Why? Certainly, it wasn’t so that we could have Christmas gift-giving or Easter-bunnies and egg hunts. Maybe He did it so that we would recognize Him. Maybe we needed to have a historical timeline of His human existence. Maybe we needed a tangible God so that we would know how to love Him. Without His voice, presence, and power made known to us, He could be just a far away mythical being. But now we have this place in history where we can come individually to Him in private prayer and know Him. I mean really know Him.

Some do all the talking in prayer and they miss the best part. They miss God making Himself known. They miss hearing His voice. They miss knowing His comfort. They miss learning from Him as His disciple. They miss the dearest parts of our Lord. He didn’t leave us. He didn’t forsake us. He makes Himself known. We get to hear His creation voice. We get to feel His manifest presence. We get to walk in His supernatural power. But some choose to ignore His voice. Some choose to forfeit His presence and power in exchange for material wealth or recognition from men.

How can we show our love to the Lord? We can listen for His voice. We can consult Him on everything. We can choose Him above all else. We can desire to see His face. We can tell others about Him. He can be our God. He is God with us! He is here! Why have we missed that?

But hey, go do the Easter-bunny thing with the churches who teach false doctrine and continue to ignore God. You’re good at that! Make sure you wear your best dress and smile pretty for the camera.

The God of the Covenant (The Only One)

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In the Old Testament times, God dwelled among His people in the Tabernacle (Exodus 25:8-9). The Ark of the Covenant was a place of God’s presence (Exodus 25:22). The New Testament fulfillment was God in flesh, aka Jesus, dwelling among His people (John 1:14).

While we don’t go around calling Jesus “The Tabernacle” or “The Ark of the Covenant” to identify Him as “God with us” or “God’s presence”, those identifiers represent prophecies fulfilled as God made Himself known in human form (Isaiah 9:6, Exodus 25).

God gave exact specifications for how the Tabernacle would be designed. The Tabernacle was a tent of meeting and a precursor to Solomon’s Temple. Both were created to be a place where a sinful people could approach a Holy God. The high priest would enter the Most Holy Place once a year on the Day of Atonement. The high priest’s role was to sprinkle blood on the mercy seat atop of the ark of the covenant to atone for the sins of the people. The hope was that the judgment of God would be transformed into mercy from God. I should note that the sprinkling of blood did not obligate God to forgive the rebellion or evil deeds of the people. It was simply an act to signal a hope for covenant restoration from God. Without restoration God could abandon His people as they abandoned Him in their disobedience and sin. (Think of a marriage contract where one betrays the other with infidelity.)

Everything about Christ on the cross was to replace the earlier Tabernacle and Temple. For example: The veil or curtain that divided the Holy Place and the residing place of the Ark of the Covenant (aka the Most Holy Place) was torn from top to bottom when Jesus died. The torn veil at the entrance to the Most Holy Place symbolized our ability to approach God for a private and individual covenant restoration conversation. We don’t need a high priest to approach God on our behalf. Jesus (who is God) was the final priest. He forever fulfilled the need for intercession. We are each responsible to have conversation directly with God. (Read Hebrews 10:10-12.)

Church Assessments 1/18/25

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Competing Voices

The first step to learning to discern God’s voice is to identify the competing voices, both in the physical realm and in the spiritual realm. The devil, demons, and evil spirits have a voice in the spiritual realm. Their voices can seem like your own thoughts if you don’t know yourself well enough to assess your unshakeable values. (Read about Adam and Eve talking with the serpent in the Garden in Genesis 3.)

When I first started hearing God’s voice in prayer, I made the mistake of telling those closest to me that God was speaking to me. They jumped to conclusions that I was delusional and that I would hear “god” tell me to kill them. So, for the record, God has never told me to kill anyone. He’s perfectly able to speak it into existence and make it happen without my involvement. So if He wants you dead, well that’s what will happen. He doesn’t need me to do it.

Why did I write that paragraph? Well, it’s unfortunate but even your most trusted friends and family can turn against you for hearing God. Read the story of Joseph and his brothers (Genesis 37). Joseph had dreams from God. He made the mistake of telling his family the content of those dreams. Their resulting jealousy made them throw him in a pit, leaving him for dead, and then selling him into slavery. Really, there are not many people that you can trust to talk to about hearing God. Even many pastors will demand that you’re not hearing from God (because they don’t). Secular psychiatry will most certainly condemn you because in their minds God isn’t real.

So, are you courageous enough to step into an unfamiliar realm of listening to God in prayer? Can you shake off all the secular lie-labels of mental illness? Can you stand strong against the giants, like young King David did? What is your faith level? You’re not going to get to a place of hearing God daily if you shrink away every time the devil sends his minions to accuse you.

If you’re ready, then step 1 is to situate yourself in a distraction free area. No phones; No television or music; No panoramic views to draw your attention away. Nothing should compete with your ability to listen to God’s voice. God sees everything. He knows if you have a phone set on vibrate so that you don’t miss an “important” notification or call. If you aren’t all in, then He isn’t either. Earnestly seeking Him means to earnestly seek Him. He’s always looking for wholehearted investment. If you can’t do that, then you aren’t going to hear God. I’m sorry but you are going to have to make God priority. And that might mean that you are going to need to get off your self-made kingdom throne.

When you are positioned to really listen for God in the physical realm, then you are going to need to thwart the enemy’s voice in the spiritual realm. This is a good time to ask the Lord to silence the enemy. It’s that simple. You don’t need to be a spiritual warfare “freak” or a deliverance expert. All you need to do is ask the Lord to bind the enemy so that you can hear from Him. If He truly is your God, then He will silence the enemy for you. Remember God wants you to be able to hear Him so that you can know Him and walk intentionally with Him. The devil doesn’t want you to hear God because he loses all power to deceive you when you can fact-check with God.

In earlier posts, I have talked about the need for covenant relationship with God. If you have pledged on oath to God that He is your only God, then you have initiated the covenant relationship. If you’re not sure if you have asked God to be your God, then do it as you begin the conversation with Him. It never hurts to restate your allegiance. In step 2, we will review how to restore a broken covenant through having a sincere forgiveness conversation.

Did this answer any of your questions? Do you want to privately ask me about this? You can contact me at TammieEdwards@therogueprophet.com. I want to help you learn to discern God’s voice. I do know that it can be scary to approach this subject. But listen, I’m not the most courageous person ever, and I did it against all the maneuvers of the enemy. So you can too.

Attached are two pages from The Rogue Prophet Magazine, “The Covenant Voice of God” (pages 29-30, dated August 2024) that outline Step One of Discerning God’s Voice in Prayer.

Church Assessments 1/15/25

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“Away From Me, I Never Knew You”

Trust is the nucleus of valued relationships. Once trust is diminished there is not enough substance to recreate a lasting bond.

For the last two days, I have been focusing our attention on the manifest presence of God and His supernatural giftings. I hope that I have conveyed that God only delivers His power and authority to those who are in covenant relationship. A broken covenant or broken trust removes God’s provision and protection.

God is wise enough to not be in a one-sided relationship … something that I wish I had learned earlier in life. Maybe I have trusted some people more than they deserved. God has much better insight than I do. He knows how to set boundaries and to require a sincere apology for wrongs done against Him. I’m learning to distance myself from half-hearted superficial “friends”. But it has taken too many decades for me to finally get with the program. I know now not to forgive people who aren’t asking to be forgiven. They don’t want to change. They don’t want to admit wrongs. They just want to use me and my giftings. God figured all that out much earlier than I did … because He’s God, and I am not.

These two Scripture texts, recorded in the narrative from Matthew, as red-letter words from Jesus are very telling about how Jesus views those who are not trustworthy with the primary objective.

• “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” (Matthew 7:21-23 NIV)

• “Jesus turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.’” (Matthew 16:23 NIV)

How could God trust pastors who teach falsely to another generation of churchgoers? Why would God want to supernaturally anoint pastors who teach that there are three gods (in a one-God religion), or teach that God doesn’t have the right to anoint women in leadership, or that the miraculous gifts of the Spirit are not permissible for this time in history? Have they broken covenant by refusing to seek God and learn from Him on these matters? Will they hear God say those crushing words “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” Maybe then, they will realize how loving it was for God to send His prophet with a message of instruction, warning, and rebuke. Will it be too late?

Church Assessments 1/13/25

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The Cure For The Common Life:
Before walking with the Lord, I would not have described my life as common, but that’s only because I didn’t have the anointed walk with Him for comparison. Experiencing the presence and power of God flowing through me has been the highlight of my life. He brings daily animation to my purpose.

Max Lucado wrote a book entitled “Cure for the Common Life”. In the book, the reader was encouraged to explore their spiritual gifts, their “sweet spot” life experiences, and gauge how God had uniquely designed them for His purposes. I love that book. It’s one of my favorites because of the encounter that I had with God through it. It confirmed that God had uniquely made me for His divine purposes. What could be better than that?

In hindsight, I could see how working as an administrative secretary to executives at the space center and as a graphic artist for a strategic consulting group were ordained by God as training to walking in the anointing that He would deliver to me as His prophet. My teenage years, writing for the school newspaper, were when my love for writing began. Nothing was wasted by God. The most valuable training, however, came from being a mother to my two children. That’s when I learned how God loved me. It’s unquenchable love that knows no boundaries that it won’t risk. Hearing God clearly speak to me the first time, at age 40, changed me into a different person. That’s when I knew for certain that God had chosen me to walk with Him on a planned destiny path. Have you inspected your experiences and analyzed your giftedness from God to assess who you are to Him?

• “But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the LORD was aroused against his people and there was no remedy.” (2 Chronicles 36:16 NIV)

• “Now this I know: The LORD gives victory to his anointed. He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary with the victorious power of his right hand. Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.” (Psalm 20:6-7 NIV)

• “But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.” (1 John 2:20 NIV)

• “and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills” (Exodus 31:3 NIV)

Attachment Source: The Rogue Prophet Magazine, “The Anointing”, August 2022, pages 9 and 21.

Church Assessments 1/11/25

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Summary So Far:

Let’s look back on where we’ve been over the last two weeks before moving on. It helps to summarize the main strategic points. I always welcome questions but since I don’t regularly receive that kind of feedback, I try to anticipate the areas that might be more difficult to digest easily.

True Doctrine:
Repeatedly, I have expressed the need to hear God’s voice in prayer so that you can know true doctrine. All the churches locally teach contrary to each other on some areas of doctrine. For example: 1) Methodist, Church of God, Presbyterian, and some nondenominational churches teach that women are equal partners to men in leadership and ministry. Women can be ordained as preaching pastors in those denominations. But in the Baptist, Church of Christ/Christian, Pentecostal, Apostolic, and some nondenominational churches, women are considered to be subordinate to men in areas of leadership. Also, 2) Some denominations believe that the miraculous gifts of the Spirit such as healing, speaking in tongues and prophecy can no longer be delivered from the Holy Spirit to His people. (Evidently the Holy Spirit lost His power or permission somewhere along the way.) And finally, 3) Some churches believe that there is a corporation of three gods that make up a god-head while others correctly wholeheartedly love only one God and are in covenant relationship with Him.

If you don’t know where you stand on any of these issues, please go back and read the study pages and articles posted on the previous days. I will continue to build on these topics but having a firm foundation in the Scriptures will be helpful to you as we progress forward.

Discerning God’s Voice:
Knowing God and learning to hear His voice in prayer are crucial to being a true disciple. As discussed before: 1) You must be in unbroken/restored covenant relationship with God which means that you must have a sincere forgiveness conversation with Him asking for specific areas of mismanagement (sin) to be evaluated and restored. You must learn from your specific mistakes so that you can prevent repeat occurrences. The conversation should never be “I’m sorry for everything.” Sin and temptations should be intentionally discussed for improvement. 2) You can only have one God, not three. God is Spirit. When God’s Spirit made Himself known in a human-born, flesh and blood frame, He was fully God (as Spirit) and fully man (as flesh). The flesh part was crucified on a cross so that we no longer need a priest to intercede or a blood sacrifice for atonement. Instead God gave us access through the torn veil to approach Him alone in prayer to humble ourselves and ask for forgiveness for sin. That is how we restore covenant relationship. 3) We must seek God, not advise God. That will require a major prayer shift for most people who have grown up in the church and heard prayers modeled that inform or advise God. We must learn to shut up and listen to God rather than counsel Him about matters that He intimately knows better than we do. Who wants a God that needs our advice? I don’t. Sure we’re allowed to talk to Him about our concerns, but we’re not supposed to try to convince God that our ways are better than His.

Women in Ministry/Leadership:
Too many women seem to be content with being lazy or refusing to accept the anointing and giftedness from God. Yes, I blame some of the false doctrine on the women who sit back and accept it. 1) The Holy Spirit anoints men, women, and children for ministry. He looks for a yielded spirit, right covenant relationship, spiritual maturity, and courage to step out. There is no gender bias from the Holy Spirit. There is no age requirement. There is no seminary degree or college certificate required. An hour spent directly with the Lord is equivalent to about 10 hours of doctorate studies. To repeat, you do not need a secular degree if you are learning at the feet of Jesus. He is the one and only God. There is no authority higher. If He anoints you, He expects you to be bold in that anointing. 2) The Bible clearly records that there were women leaders throughout history that were anointed by God as prophets, judges (deliverers), apostles, deacons, teachers, etc. While the law of the Pharisees prohibited women from leadership, they were also the ones who refused Jesus and crucified Him on a cross. You don’t need permission from a Pharisee to be God’s anointed daughter. 3) Women, we have an advocate who will fight for us and with us against those who perpetuate the lies of the devil about our royal authority as daughters of the King. We must use our voice of truth to speak out against the demonic oppression being delivered through those who don’t know God or true doctrine. You cannot be lazy and indifferent. You must stand up as true Kingdom champions, not little princesses who sit silently by while the devil makes a mockery of your spiritual DNA and heritage.

Attached are two pages about “The Laws of the Pharisees” from The Rogue Prophet Magazine, “Spiritual Crimes Against Women in Ministry”, August 2023, pages 6-7. I hope you will study the Scriptures included on these study sheets and speak with God about them. As I always say … “Don’t believe me. Ask God Yourself!”



Church Assessments 1/10/25

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The Covenant Priority

Loving God wholeheartedly is the priority. We do that through having true heart relationship with Him, hearing His voice in prayer, and walking in obedience. In case you need to hear that again, the covenant relationship is about knowing God and walking with Him. If you can’t get that right, then why bother with trying to disciple others?

Evangelism is not the priority. Evangelism is not what saves you. Knowing the Savior and obeying Him is what is priority. Please listen, reading the Bible (which the devil knows better than you do), putting money in an offering plate, faithfully attending church, or loving your neighbor is not the criteria for having a heavenly home for all eternity. Your personal relationship with God is what matters. True discipleship is learned at the feet of Jesus. True discipleship must come from learning to hear God’s voice in prayer and obeying Him specifically.

The priority is not in how many souls you win or in loving others. I’m sorry, but it just is not. If you spend your whole life loving others well but ignore the priority relationship with God, you’re still going to hell. Discipleship is about knowing God. If you want to help others to know God, then you must begin with teaching them the importance of knowing God personally and WHOLEHEARTEDLY. It’s not a secondary priority — it is the first thing. You will spend your whole life with that priority. If God leads you to help a neighbor or to evangelize, then it becomes an act of obedience to your priority relationship. I hope I’m making this clear. Everything else should not be on your radar unless God puts it there. That’s how you choose God first every time.

This story is an example of specific obedience. One day I was driving down the road, and my spiritual vision was directed to a woman sitting at a park. I asked the Lord about the woman. He said for me to take $20 (the last $20 that I had until my next pay day several days later) and to tell her that God specifically asked me to give her the money. So, I did exactly that. I confidently (yet discreetly) approached her with the $20 in my outstretched hand and said “God asked me to give this to you.” She immediately began to cry and said that she was sitting there thinking about running into traffic (to end her life). God knew her need and entrusted me to show up exactly when and where He wanted me to. If I didn’t hear His voice, it would have been nearly impossible to be at the right place at the right time to do His work. But the story doesn’t end there. The next week, I was driving by the same area and saw a homeless man holding a sign asking for money. So, I asked the Lord, “Do you want me to help him?”. The Lord firmly and resolutely answered, “No! Do not go near him! I’m doing something in his life. I do not want you to help him.” The tone of God’s voice made it clear, that the young man was being punished by God. If I had not heard God and decided that it was my Christian duty to help the young man, I would have been working contrary to God’s will. That would not be obedience. It would be the opposite of obedience. Charity is not obedience if it works contrary to God’s plans. Too often, we can assume that we know God’s will when we haven’t bothered to have a conversation with Him. How hard is it to take the time to seek God before walking in a direction? Learning His voice is instrumental to following Him.

Attached are two pages describing the covenant relationship. I hope it helps. I want you to learn to seek God and follow Him. Please know that this post is my specific act of obedience to God. He woke me up at 2:00 am to direct me to type this message to you. He spoke every word of it and authorized me to post it. My priority was in obeying Him whether you take the time to study or not. I’m not responsible for you. I’m responsible to obey God. So just like that $20 that I gave the lady in the park, I’m handing this to you. Maybe God knows that it is exactly what you need. I’ve done my part to obey God. Will you?

(Source: The Rogue Prophet Magazine, “The Top 10 False Teachings In The Churches”, June 2021, pages 12-13)

Church Assessments 1/9/25

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Wide Phylacteries?

“Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues;” (Matthew 23:5-6 NIV)

Why did Jesus so openly speak harshly about the religious leaders of that day? Please read the entire discourse in Matthew 23. Surely He knew that they would pursue Him and kill Him for exposing their ugly hearts. But still, He spoke up about the wrong motives of the religious elites. So, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that He would deliver the same type of messages through His prophets. (Well, to be fair, it often does surprise most of them.)

Why do some of the pastors locally claim to hear God’s voice in prayer while they stand in the pulpits of churches steeped in false doctrine? Let’s talk about Dennis Taylor at Park Avenue Baptist Church. He’s big enough to handle this conversation. Dennis claims to hear God’s voice, and I don’t doubt that he does. But, Dennis has two strong false doctrines that he needs to contend with. He needs to ask God about the false teaching surrounding women in leadership at Park Avenue. Why is that false teaching not being dealt with? The other false doctrine that needs to be resolved is their three Gods theology. There are not three Gods. Christianity is Monotheistic, meaning one God. The word trinity is not in the Bible. (See attached pages.) Brad and Barry at the Grove Church have these exact same two false teachings as would be expected since that church is a church plant from Park Avenue Baptist Church.

Please, if you really hear God’s voice in prayer, then you should be able to discern the false teaching in the churches. Being a pastor at one of God’s churches carries a lot of responsibility. If you want to enjoy the seat of honor, then at least be right before God in your teaching. I am certain that Brad needs to apologize to God for some very stupid comments that he has made from the pulpit about women not needing to submit to God directly*. In case you’re wondering, God told me to write these exact words so know that these men and their false doctrines have not escaped God’s radar. He’s very well aware of every word and every motive.

*Brad @ the Grove Church said that women have it easy because they only have to submit to their husbands, but the men have to submit to God. (Brad said this in a recorded Father’s Day sermon a few years ago. It makes me want to vomit.)

Dennis, Brad, and Barry, God asked me to help you learn about your false doctrines so you can clear up those mistakes before God has to take further action. Please seek God and study the Scriptures with Him present. If you want me to come alongside you and teach you to hear His voice more clearly, I am willing to do that even though I don’t forgive you for the mockery that you have made about women in leadership. You would need to repent of your mistakes before the same audience that you have spewed your garbage theology to before I could forgive you. God may feel the same way. Ask Him!

To the readers of these daily articles, I sincerely hope that you will ask God about everything written. I always say “don’t believe me … ask God yourself!” It is your own responsibility to be right with God. I’m confident that I have done exactly His will in relaying these messages.

Source: The Rogue Prophet Magazine, “The Covenant Voice of God”, August 2024, pages 12-15, The God of the Covenant.

Smoke & Mirrors 1/8/25

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If God were robed in a flesh-and-blood frame today and He walked into your church, how would He be greeted? Would you be embarrassed to be part of the theatrical mess that most churches have become? Would He welcome the cameras or refuse them? Would He give the look to the false teachers that makes them know that their days are numbered? Would He perform miraculous signs or leave you in your unbelief?

Just because you can’t see God with your physical eyes, does not mean that God is unable to see everything that’s going on in your church. He’s allowed to be disappointed with what the church has become. He’s allowed to have an opinion about everything, even the things that you personally hold dear.

Why doesn’t the church seek God? Listen, I’ve visited nearly every church in this town. There isn’t one that God is wholeheartedly pleased with. He points out the pastors who have a heart for Him, but He also points out the areas that they are failing in. Why have they wandered away from God’s heart? Why have they resorted to smoke and mirrors rather than sincerely inviting God in to inspect their doctrines and correct them? Is it because the church is largely a business more than it is a house of God?

The pastors can’t be expected to tell on themselves when they realize that they have been or are teaching incorrectly because they would lose their denominational pulpit. For example, Steve Yuke stood in the pulpit at Park Avenue Baptist Church nearly every week for years knowing in his heart that the doctrine about women in leadership was false. He even went as far as saying that he was not a Baptist because of that false doctrine. Let me say, that takes courage to do. I’m surprised that he got away with it for so long. But, did he have the power to change the false doctrine? If so, God expected him to do it … more than he did.

Some reasons that there is not a move of the Spirit of God in the churches today are:

1) God will not put His signature of authority on churches where there is false teaching. The book of Revelation records that God will remove the lampstand from the churches who don’t wholeheartedly want His will.

“Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.” (Revelation 2:5 NIV)

2) Why would God want to compete with all the theatrics? He sees every motive? He sees the fundraising techniques employed while very little is being done to accurately teach truth. For some churches there is more emphasis on honoring law enforcement, harvest festivals, community marketplace, exercise classes, car shows and car-care ministries, etc. than is put on actual teaching of the Bible. It’s funny, too, that for all those other things the congregants are expected to make the effort to show up rather than having it livestreamed into their living room. For some reason, they can show up for the festivals but not for the teaching. Why do you think that is? Maybe it’s because they don’t have to. And guess what? God doesn’t have to either.

3) Another reason that God doesn’t move more visibly in the church today is that every move of God is suspect. You might ask, what do you mean by that? At some churches, the miraculous gifts of the Spirit are not welcome. Their “what we believe” statements deny that God is allowed to work supernaturally any more. What bogus crap is that? Just because they haven’t been entrusted with anointing from God doesn’t mean that God is powerless to anoint. God refuses to anoint those who are not in unbroken covenant with Him or are not spiritually mature enough to handle the gifts. I can say with all certainty that every one of the miraculous gifts of the Spirit are real today and entrusted to God’s anointed messengers. But for those who have never experienced the gift of speaking in tongues, they don’t believe it’s real. For those who have never laid hands on someone and delivered God’s healing touch, they will deny it. For those who have never brought a word of prophecy from God, they will persecute the messenger every time rather than receive it.

I’m just saying that God is not impressed with the smoke and mirrors. If there is a sincere, honest pastor who wants to reform the church to what God intends then open yourself up for inspection and let God make the changes that He desires. You will have to take risks if you have a denominational benefactor who is lobbying for other than God’s choices. But if you truly want a move of God in the church today, then you are going to need to do things His way.