Category Archives: Christianity

 

Pastor Jim asked me to meet him for lunch at a Des Moines Burger King in hopes we could work out our disagreements about prophesying. I looked forward to working out our issues.

We both ordered burgers and sat outside at a metal table. Jim explained his feelings in between bites.

“If you attend the school of prophecy and submit yourself under my pastoral authority, I will release you into fulltime ministry when the Lord tells me you’re ready,” he said.

“So, you want me to submit myself under your authority until the Lord speaks to you, right?”

“Yes, that’s basically it.”

“What if you don’t hear the Lord’s voice for my life and calling?”

“I hadn’t thought of that.”

“That’s a big deal to me, because my calling stands before Jesus, not you. It’s my responsibility to hear His voice, not yours,” I said.

I ended up doing what was best for both of us by leaving the Des Moines Vineyard Church. We blessed each other and hugged before parting.

(An excerpt from my memoir, The Hunt for Larry Who, an Amazon eBook.)

One of the biggest hindrances to hearing the voice of God is that we allow someone else to do it for us. You see, it doesn’t matter if an apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, teacher, elder, deacon, or Grand Poobah thinks that he has heard the voice of God for us, we must still hear His voice for ourselves. It’s part of our new birthright in Christ to do so.

An infamous example of allowing a leader to usurp believers’ positions of hearing the voice of God for themselves was Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple. Over 900 members committed suicide on November 18, 1978, because of Jones’ belief that he heard God’s voice for everyone.

Yes, Jim Jones is a very extreme example, but according to scripture, there is only One who is allowed between us and God:

For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5)

What are other problems for hearing God’s voice for ourselves?

(Continued in Part 4)

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“Run for your lives. There are too many Philistines! We’ll all be slaughtered,” yelled the Israelites.

The soldiers dropped their weapons en masse and fled the battlefield for the hills surrounding the area. Clouds of dust marked their scrambling footsteps, heading toward safety.

“Don’t leave us! Help!” cried the left-behind wounded soldiers, scattered about the field. Their pleas echoed off the backs of the retreating men because it was every man for himself that day.

Four Israelites remained in the middle of the battlefield. They formed a small square with their backs to each other and their swords pointing out at the advancing Philistine army.

“What’s the plan, my king?” shouted Eleazar over his shoulder.

King David laughed. “Our God is for us,” proclaimed the king “Let’s continue fighting until all of these uncircumcised Philistines are either dead or retreat from the battlefield.”

The above fictionalized version of 2 Samuel 23:9-10 and 1 Chronicles 11:12-14 is a perfect snapshot of spiritual warfare. It depicts a few believers willing to trust God and His words to fight Satan and his army while the bulk of Christianity sits on the sidelines, watching from a safe seat.

No one can determine for sure ahead of time which believers will stand with us in our spiritual battles. That depends on spiritual maturity and the mercy of the Lord. But we can prepare ourselves ahead of time by learning as much as possible on how to fight spiritual warfare.

Why is this so important?

Look what eventually happened because David and the three soldiers continued fighting after all the other Israelites fled the battlefield:

…The Lord brought about a great victory; and the people returned after him only to plunder. (2 Samuel 23:10)

(The above is an excerpt from Storming the Kingdom, an eBook from Amazon.)

 The #4 Rule in Spiritual Warfare: Make up your mind to sink or swim, live or die, on the battlefield. So, plant your feet and stay there until victory is achieved or they carry you off.

(Continued in Part 13)