Category Archives: Faith

Click on following for earlier articles: Part 1 and Part 2.

“Too much pastoring in the church.”

The Holy Spirit’s words stunned me, but at the same time, they instilled a desire to understand more about the pastor’s calling. So, I began studying the Bible.

Did you know the word pastor is only mentioned once in the New Testament?

And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers (Ephesians 4:11)

The Greek word poimen (Strongs #4166) which is translated pastor in the above verse is also mentioned seventeen other times in the New Testament, but in these verses, it is translated into the English word shepherd(s).

A verb derivative of poimen, the Greek Word poimano (Strongs #4165), is mentioned ten times in various verses, but is translated in the King James Version into the English words feed or rule.

Now let’s say, that a Bible somehow landed in the hands of a linguistic expert who lived on Mars. After studying the Old and New Testaments, he convinced his government to capture an American Christian out of the traditional church system and bring him back to Mars.

Of course, the Mars expert would question the captured Christian.  And being a knowledgeable believer, the Christian would have done quite well, explaining Jesus, the Gospel and the New Birth.

But when the Christian would have explained the church and our modern CEO-like pastor, the Mars expert would have most likely blinked his eyes in unbelief. “Hey, are you sure that you haven’t got the Old Testament and the New Testament mixed up?” he would have asked.

Then, the Christian would have blinked his eyes in amazement. To his scriptural reasoning, the traditional church and our modern CEO-like pastor are so obvious that he can not explain it to others. Maybe, he would have thrown his hands up in the air and said, “That’s just the way it is, okay?”

The captured Christian could have been me. Because when I started studying the calling of pastor, I looked through the lens of all the teachers who had been my instructors for over ten years.

A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher. (Luke 6:40)

Admittedly, I am resistant to change. I like to walk on the paths of our church forefathers, men like Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Wesley, D. L. Moody, Smith Wigglesworth and so forth who have been a part of the traditional church system. This seems to be the well-tread path of safety, right?

So, what has caused me to veer off onto old, hardly visible paths?

(Continued in Part 4)

Larry Who’s writings and teachings appear on this site on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. It’s  a little of this and a little of that, all written  to encourage and exhort believers in their Christian journeys.

Click on following for earlier article: Part 1.

If you have read my two series, It’s Your Decision…Run or Fight! and Sifting Through The Ashes of A Spiritual Defeat, then you know that 1994 was not one of those years Frank Sinatra sang about in his hit song. It was not a very good year; it was an absolutely, miserable one for me.

And 1995 was not much better.

By early summer, I was just looking for a back pew in a church where I could hang out, keep quiet, and hopefully, put myself back together again. My life and calling were a mess.

A church, thirty miles away, seemed to be the answer to my prayers. The pastor was a man with a shepherd’s heart. Its congregation was around seventy or eighty members in size, and fun to be around. The worship music was awesome. And the meetings were informally held in a school gymnasium.

It seemed the perfect fit for me.

Though giving prophetic words was not what I hoped to be doing, I knew the Lord used me on good days and bad days as a prophetic voice. So, to be safe, I went up to the pastor after the first service. “Do you have any rules about giving prophetic words at your church?” I asked.

He smiled and shook his head. “No, we don’t,” he said. “We encourage people to give prophetic words.”

Over the following four weeks, I broke every rule he said that he did not have. Each Sunday, he was upset with me about something.

“You said there were no rules,” I whispered in exasperation one time.

“That was before I knew you,” he exclaimed. “And I’ve never met anyone like you in my thirty years of ministry.”

Finally, we met for lunch, hoping to settle our differences. It’s not that we didn’t like each other or anything like that. It’s just that he was comfortable with prophetic BB guns and I was an AK-47 assault rifle. We were miles apart in our prophetic thinking.

“Listen,” he said toward the end of our conversation, “why don’t you just submit yourself under my ministry. Then, when the Lord tells me to release you into full-time prophetic ministry, I will let you know. All of the doors of our denomination will then be open to you.”

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

He blinked. “I had not thought about that,” he replied. His eyes looking down.

The meeting ended with us giving each other hugs and going our separate ways.

The next day, I received a letter in the mail from a member of the church who was not even aware of my meeting with the pastor. She wrote that I was rebellious and needed to submit myself under pastoral authority. And if I failed to follow her so-called godly counsel, she felt my prophetic calling would never come forth. As in never, ever!

I was upset and did what Hezekiah did when he received a letter from an enemy of Israel (2 Kings 19:14). I walked around, reading the letter to the Lord.

“Lord, she says I’m rebellious and that I need to submit under pastoral authority. I don’t even understand pastoral authority, what is it?” I went on and on until finally I had finished.

Then I heard the Holy Spirit say, “Too much pastoring in the church.”

(Continued in Part 3)

Larry Who’s writings and teachings appear on this site on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. It’s  a little of this and a little of that, all written  to encourage and exhort believers in their Christian journeys.

Click on following for earlier articles: Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

So, what can a New Testament believer do to help bring a personal prophetic word to pass in his (or her) life?

C. If The Prophetic Words Are Confirmed, Then What?

And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. (Hebrews 11: 32-34)

Chapter Eleven of Hebrews is a “Hall of Fame for Old Testament Saints.”  In it, we read that mighty men and women of God, such as Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David and others had testimonies which pleased God.

What was it they did?

They acted and persevered by faith. In fact, the phrase, by faith, is mentioned nineteen times and is the underlying emphasis for the forty verses of the chapter.

And why were these mighty people of God exercising their faith? They had prophetic words for their lives.

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval. (Hebrews 11:1-2)

And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6)

Our faith must be in God and it must be exhibited before Him. And whether or not, anyone else is able to see or understand our faith, is not important at all for the fulfillment of our prophetic promise.

You see, our approval comes from God, not men. He is the One who brings our prophetic words to pass, or rewards our faith and faithfulness.

For myself, I knew I was called to preach, teach and write within a few weeks after my salvation on May20, 1985. It came through a nighttime vision which I never mentioned to anyone for years.

But even as a young, know-nothing believer, I knew enough that I needed to prepare myself for my calling. I prayed. I studied the word. I listened to hundreds of tapes. I read hundreds of books.

Also, I rearranged the priorities in my life. TV, entertainment,  sports, career, many relationships and whatever became secondary to my pursuit of  God and His calling for my life.

Except for my family, no one knew anything about my spiritual discipline. I was an unknown in a small town. And there were no open doors for me to preach, teach and prophesy. As in none. Zero. Zilch. Nada.

Yet, I did things to show my faith to God.

(Continued in Part 5)

My biggest struggles over the last ten years have been the unlearning and relearning processes I have gone through since Honey and I left the traditional church system.

Now, if you know me (or if you read my stuff on FaceBook), you’d understand that I’m not the type who changes easily. I stubbornly hold onto old things and am not quick to try new ones.

And you’d think that I would be the last person in the whole world the Lord would try to change, especially considering I’m 63 years old, right?

But my quirky wrinkles have not bothered the Lord in the least. He just used His special steam-iron to press everything out of my life. And to be honest, it’s a  very, very hot steam-iron.

So, starting next Monday, I will disclose the changes and the processes I have walked through and undergone since hearing the Holy Spirit say, “Too much pastoring in the church.”

The reason I’m doing this is that I feel Christianity is in the time period when the prophetic words spoken to Mike Bickle in 1982 will be fulfilled. The words were:

“I [the Lord] will change the understanding and expression of Christianity in one generation.”

If you are interested, stop back on Monday.

Swimming Upstream appears at this blog site on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. It’s  a little of this and a little of that, all written  to encourage and exhort believers in their Christian journeys.

Click on following for earlier articles: Part 1 and Part 2.

So, what can a New Testament believer do to help bring a personal prophetic word to pass in his (or her) life?

B. If The Prophetic Words Are Not Confirmed Right Away, Then What?

Many years ago, a pastor stated, “If a prophecy is not confirmed by the Lord in a quick fashion, just place it on the shelf. Eventually, the Lord may confirm it.”

At the time, I thought what the pastor taught was wisdom, but since then, I have changed my mind. His words are not only unscriptural, but they are also foolish.

Are you shocked?After all, isn’t this an example of waiting on the Lord?

For the kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power. (1 Corinthians 4:20)

And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. (1 Corinthians 2:4-5)

The Apostle Paul preached the gospel to the Corinthian Church; he was their spiritual father. When Paul states that his preaching was a “demonstration of the Spirit and power“, he is talking about the gifts of the Spirit and prophecy. Who do you think first taught the Corinthians about the gifts of the Spirit? Of course, it was Paul.

So then, prophecy and the gifts of the Spirit are a part of the kingdom of God benefit package for us believers, okay?

But Jesus made an important point about the kingdom of God when He said:

Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all. (Mark 10:15)

Now, let’s say, you tell your four year-old son that you are going to give him a new bicycle. What will happen next?

Your son will start pestering you and asking questions. “When can we go? Can we go now? Why not? Let’s go. Can I have a red one? Aren’t the stores open now? Why can’t we go now? Huh? Huh?”

He will continue until you either take him to buy one or tell him he can’t have a bicycle. He is not going to allow your words to collect dust on a shelf and just wait for some time in the future. He wants action now!

This is the attitude the Lord wants us to have with unconfirmed prophetic words. He wants us seeking Him until we know the answer.

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek , and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. (Matthew 7:7-8)

(Continued in Part 4.)