{"id":13,"date":"2024-10-16T01:18:52","date_gmt":"2024-10-16T01:18:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prayermountainbohol.com\/10things\/?p=13"},"modified":"2024-11-26T03:35:25","modified_gmt":"2024-11-26T03:35:25","slug":"chapter-7-when-they-tell-the-prophets-not-to-prophesy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prayermountainbohol.com\/10things\/chapter-7-when-they-tell-the-prophets-not-to-prophesy\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 7: When They Tell The Prophets Not To Prophesy!"},"content":{"rendered":"

9a<\/sup> \u201cThat this is a rebellious people …
10<\/sup> Who say to the seers, \u2018Do not see,\u2019
And to the prophets, \u2018Do not prophesy to us right things;
Speak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits….\u2019\u201d
\nIsaiah 30:9a-10<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/br><\/p>\n

The Flesh\u2019s Last Stand Against the Spirit<\/p>\n

The Lord asked me one day if I wanted to be his prophet and I said OK. He said the price would be high, but I wasn\u2019t put off. Soon he asked me to join a modern, trendy international church in Hong Kong which was the exact kind of place professionals and ex-patriots like me would join anyway. It was a fun, modern, wealthy church but God saw that it was beginning to go astray. Man\u2019s motives, man\u2019s ways, man\u2019s desires, and a leadership that were very insulated from scrutiny or transparency kept them from ever receiving God\u2019s course corrections\u2014the more off course they got the less open they were to correction, and the more serious the problems became the more serious were the prophetic words. <\/p>\n

The church was run actually just like a small, private company but with a religious purpose. I didn\u2019t see this until the day I left, but God sees everything. God was persistent to help lead them into freedom from their increasing bondage to Satan\u2019s schemes, but it seemed the more God spoke to expose their carnal thinking, the more insistent they were to follow it. <\/p>\n

And I was just learning so I didn\u2019t have a lot of confidence and assumed the best way to present God\u2019s word to them was through humility, honestly and purity. But some people need you to shout and use harsh words before they listen. But I was not prepared to do that and now feel my respectful but honest prophesying played into their ploy for passive control. But I learned more in those few years than I could write ten books on. <\/p>\n

Afterwards God asked me to train the prophets and since I learned by walking that walk, by personal help from the Holy Spirit on a day-to-day basis, by being taught by God, I didn\u2019t see how people could be trained in a classroom to do that but God had a plan and yes, people can be trained to be prophets\u2014as long as you remove Man\u2019s ways from your thinking and training first. With God all things are possible!<\/p>\n

But it was pretty hard on me and my family which I explain in more detail in my other recent book 8+Splash <\/i>but I obviously can\u2019t share all that here again! I only want to overview the highlights which give the best learning of what it can be like to be used by God as a prophet sent to people who refuse to listen. <\/p>\n

<\/br><\/p>\n

A Church Built on Sand <\/b><\/p>\n

Shortly after God asked me if I wanted to be his prophet I had a dream of a church built on a beach but all they had done so far was to build a nice, full concrete basement foundation in the sand. The leaders were down inside of the basement but were no longer connected to the youth, who were the next generation of builders and were the ones who were upstairs building the next level themselves on their own\u2014as the leaders had become completely separated from them! Second, I also saw the leaders did not value the church people God had sent them, which I saw as large sacks of seashells, some which were common but others I recognized were very special and valuable. All the people were being treated with a kind of careless disregard in the vision, and there was even some inappropriate, worldly and sexual joking over them. So the youth were busy building but they had no oversight, no training and were using the wrong materials, wrong tools, and what they were building was totally useless\u2014what they were doing was also quite dangerous! You can\u2019t build a staircase from the top down! But they were trying!<\/p>\n

I recognized some of the people in the dream so I made an appointment with the Australian co-pastor of that church and shared it and felt they were open to hearing God\u2019s insight. Good! I would be! I hope I would be. But that pastor I spoke to I think just filed my prophetic word away under … the sink. <\/b>And as it emerged later this was a pattern they had of totally ignoring God\u2019s direction to their leadership no matter who it came from. <\/p>\n

We even went there a few times for prophetic ministry from visiting prophets and soon the Lord asked us to submit under the British co-pastor and make that our main church. I felt like we were home, and God even said that, but also the verse came to mind that a prophet is not without honor except in his own home. Would this matter to me? I hoped not. <\/p>\n

<\/br><\/p>\n

Early Warning Signs<\/b><\/p>\n

I was just learning and felt a little unsteady, and nevertheless when the Lord asked us to join that church I put my whole heart into it and just did whatever I could to both serve and fit in. We soon ran the Filipino ministry and helped with the intercession group and attended every event or program they held without fail. <\/p>\n

Three things I\u2019ll mention first: the next meaningful vision I saw was that all the gates of provision to me were closed shut. The amount of money tricking down to me was less than one person could live on and this situation went on for a long time\u2014until a HUGE wave of money that must have been in the multiple millions was released to me. We had been making Christian magazines and printed first issues of three of them but could not distribute them or find cooperation in the city in any way. We had been living by faith and it was very hard. People said we only joined this church to get support, which is a strange accusation to make. Where else are missionaries and ministers supposed to go to find support? But honestly that\u2019s not why we went there and anyway the gates of provision were shut to us and it was so very hard on our family actually. <\/p>\n

Second, we started hearing people say you were not supposed to give prophecy if it was \u2018negative\u2019 because God only spoke encouraging, \u2018positive\u2019 words\u2014the presumption being that a \u2018negative\u2019 word is not from God. But how can it be \u2018negative\u2019 to tell someone to stop smoking? How is it negative to warn someone, \u2018You\u2019re going to crash your car if you drive fast with your eyes closed\u2019 … Do you see? God\u2019s correction is not \u2018negative\u2019 but life if you obey it. This doctrine seemed innocent enough at first, but proved to be a choice tool used by the Flesh to maintain control and keep God away. The final results were catastrophic. <\/p>\n

As a self-proclaimed \u2018prophetic church\u2019 and with so many people gifted in prophecy and operating in various public ministries across the city and region it was somewhat odd that they still never recognized anyone anywhere as an actual prophet or an apostle either. This is what we used to call being a Three-Fold church, where the real roles of God\u2019s order were missing. Likewise an early word God gave me there was \u201cAll the pieces needed were present, only they were not in the right order.\u201d So despite all the right people with all the right abilities, talents and callings already being there, and claiming to be a \u2018prophetic\u2019 church led by the Holy Spirit, they we were still mostly operating in what amounted to a spirit-filled version of man\u2019s church, run by Man\u2019s Ways. <\/p>\n

<\/br><\/p>\n

Testing the Word apart from the Vessel<\/b><\/p>\n

My prophetic words gradually began to increase and I soon realized the church was actually beginning to get into real trouble. The words became more and more serious and I was now hearing other people share the same warnings, but most of these were never shared with the leadership, like there was some sort of disconnect. <\/p>\n

One of the ministries we were a part of was the weekly intercession team who were meant to pray and prophecy and help protect and guide the church but I then heard the Lord say the intercessory prayer team themselves were also a part of the problem and that they were defending the very thing he wanted to remove! <\/b><\/p>\n

People often make a clear distinction between \u2018those who occasionally prophesy\u2019 and separate from them are \u2018the Prophets\u2019 and in many ways that is a meaningful and valid distinction. But in other ways that\u2019s simply bogus.<\/b> We need to hear God\u2019s word, regardless of who it comes through. Seasoned leaders can make mistakes and God can give the most important direction or revelation through a lowly, non-leadership-position holding, part-time janitorial staff new believer. God told me he has given some of his best direction this way. We do need to endorse people we vouch for as ministers, for public trust and accountability, but we cannot ever discount a prophetic word from God because the vessel it came through was not on paid staff or holding a leadership title in our church! <\/p>\n

God wants us to discern his word, no matter who it comes through, and discern when a reputed \u2018voice\u2019 misses it. When people say they are just trying to filter the words to find the truth, but have no real evidence of any ongoing prophetic direction they are carefully following, this reveals to me they are actually just fearful of God giving them any prophetic direction at all. If you notice that ALL words God speaks are rejected, that every prophetic \u2018voice\u2019 is distrusted all the time, then there may be a much bigger problem going on than they are willing to admit. <\/p>\n

<\/br><\/p>\n

Ample Confirmation Words from other \u2018Voices\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n

Anyway … other prophetic \u2018voices\u2019 soon shared such visions with me as seeing one of the pastors sitting on a large chair, like a throne, and when he got up you could suddenly see many vivid green unclean spirits behind him controlling him. <\/p>\n

Another person\u2019s vision showed this same man betraying Christ\u2019s disciples in the church to join the Pharisees to persecute them! <\/p>\n

Yet another prophetess saw that same pastor counting money in the office and secretly putting a share aside for himself under the table into a bag and the Lord said one word, \u201cIllegitimate.\u201d<\/p>\n

A fourth person I think, or it might have been one of the first three, but another vision not from me was that same pastor again in his office and there was a knock on the door and he opened it and many demons rushed into his office. <\/p>\n

As far as I know none of these visions were ever shared with the leaders\u2014regular people hearing God speak are nervous enough, let alone having to share things with or about the community leaders. One young prophetess, a young Chinese lady had so many words, nearly hundreds already by then, and you maybe don\u2019t appreciate the post-colonial culture of Hong Kong with a huge power, gender and culture imbalance between young Chinese girls like her and the established, successful, wealthy and respected foreign, Western, male leaders like them. Yet God gave his word for them through her anyway. Did God not see these cultural and social barriers? No, he did! That\u2019s maybe exactly why he gave his word through her! <\/b>This becomes more clear when we understand their sin as God saw it\u2014Pergamum\u2014Having him give his word of correction to save them from shipwreck, and having it come through a person they would never in a million years listen to naturally, well, this may itself be a sign of God\u2019s impending judgment, especially against their \u2018natural\u2019 carnal nature. But God was telling people in their own social and cultural groups his warning words for them too, and they were ignoring them as well. <\/p>\n

At this time I had only shared a few words of direction, not yet any correction, and not yet any dire warnings. But one time when I shared with them a very mild word of direction they became hostile. First saying I simply don\u2019t fit into their \u2018DNA\u2019 but instead am just \u2018following Jesus\u2019 like it was obviously a bad thing. They then openly accused me of \u2018just trying to take over their church.\u2019 I hadn\u2019t even shared the word yet! And my ambitions to \u2018take over\u2019 were obvious, which is why I was so focused on ministering to the poor, overseas domestic helpers and war refugees! That\u2019s where all the overly-ambitious people serve! I pointed this out, and my background, my Ph.D, my high training and yet my unwavering focus on spending all my time and focus helping serve \u2018the least of these.\u2019 I finally shared my very brief word that their planning was not God\u2019s vision but \u2018man\u2019s view of their own progress\u2019 and God had something special in store for them if they would stop pursuing their own plans and just seek him for his plans instead. But they ignored this word also.<\/p>\n

<\/br><\/p>\n

Prophesy Smooth Things to Me!<\/b><\/p>\n

Soon seeing they could not stop God talking to us and the growing swell of people who were also prophesying, they decided to change tack. Interesting that this was a self-proclaimed prophetic church and was where we had met so many local as well as international prophetic personalities who came to Hong Kong to minister, yet they were actually firmly against the prophetic ministry from ever being established in their midst. <\/p>\n

So in addition to continuing to pressure us to quit, they also hosted a multi-week sermon series on the Prophetic Church\u2014they could not stop what God was doing so it appeared they decided to join it. But actually I think it was just their way to reinforce their control over it. Typically a multi-week series was 2- or 4-weeks long. This was planned to be 8-weeks and on prophecy alone. <\/p>\n

So I first felt maybe the church was finally coming to its senses! And I was excited for this program! I even hoped they would ask me to teach. The first week was really good and I told them so. They quoted all the common verses on prophecy that you do: Numbers 11:29, Amos 3:7, 2 Chronicles 20:20, I Corinthians 12 and 14, Revelations 19:10, etc., and I commended them on a good message afterwards. However eight weeks is a long time to talk on prophecy by people who don\u2019t walk in the office of a prophet or lack a depth of personal experience about it, and don\u2019t have a real heart for it either\u2014so they soon ran out of good things to say … and then their real motives became plainly apparent. <\/p>\n

Their messages became a lot of reasons why pastors need to be in control of prophets, and there was so much talk about authority. They made the point that most prophets are false especially when they have \u2018negative\u2019 words and also when they don\u2019t support their leaders. Again it\u2019s an issue of authority in the church and these people are just renegades and rebels and so the test of a false prophet is easy, it\u2019s the people who don\u2019t submit to leadership and don\u2019t support their leaders\u2014but also anyone who only has \u2018negative\u2019 things to say! These people are just trying to take over the church they said! Only this time instead of saying it to me privately they said it to the whole church in public while looking right at me! The pastors are the TRUE authority in the church and you must submit to them or else! A prophetic word should always be positive!! Otherwise it\u2019s obviously false, especially again if it\u2019s against a leader!<\/p>\n

<\/br><\/p>\n

We Hold These Errors to be Self Evident <\/b><\/p>\n

This is wrong on so many levels I don\u2019t think I even have to explain it all, do I?! Jesus said the false prophets were flatterers and Jeremiah prophesied that the mark of a true prophet is that they are ones turning people from their sins! And telling people they will crash if they drive too fast with their eyes closed is not a \u2018negative\u2019 word, as I like to say, it\u2019s life if you obey it! <\/p>\n

And why is everything being couched within the framework of authority, power and who is \u2018really\u2019 in charge? Isn\u2019t God in charge and don\u2019t we submit one to another? <\/p>\n

What we now might call being gas-lit, or enduring passive-aggressive hostility, it was hard to sit there with a straight face\u2014these accusations were not truth, I was not rebelling or trying to take over their church as they accused. I was not lying, or giving false visions based in my own pride or imagination. I am not a false prophet! I was most often just praying for my own late rent and private matters of family stress and God would say, \u2018Never mind about that. That\u2019ll be taken care of. What I want to talk to you about is how many opportunities I\u2019ve sent to that church which have passed them right by because they refuse to follow my Spirit leading them in the path I have chosen to bless them with.\u2019 Things like that. <\/p>\n

I was certainly never \u2018digging for dirt\u2019 in their lives and in our very unstable financial position I certainly did not want to rock the boat and alienate the very people who had so much power over our ability to get money to eat! But true to God\u2019s word I was and true to his word I remain. If God asks me to say or do something, even if it hurts me, I will do it\u2014God help me. <\/p>\n

So I just sat there smiling as long as I could. But it became unbearable and I wondered why no one would interject and stop this obvious and unscriptural tirade against the prophetic ministry when the Lord spoke up in my defense. He simply said, \u201cThis is the flesh\u2019s last stand against the Spirit.<\/b>\u201d <\/p>\n

I felt like I was caught out in the middle, but it was actually not even about me at all<\/b>!! Soon afterwards I saw Jesus as big as a tall building walking over to the church, removing the roof like it was the lid of a box, reaching in and puling handfuls of snakes from out of the church<\/b>!<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll share only a few other key words here, and only briefly. If you want to get a more in-depth take, you can read 8+Splash <\/i>or maybe what you are looking for is on-line on one of my sites. I refer to them as the Tree of Life Church but that\u2019s not their real name, of course. I also changed the names of most everyone involved. \u2018Do unto others\u2019 and all that. I am teaching people what I learned about prophecy, not trying to \u2018name and shame\u2019 people, which would also be especially useless so long afterward. Let this be a lesson to us that never has to be repeated!<\/p>\n

<\/br><\/p>\n

The Word to the Church in Pergamum, but briefly<\/b><\/p>\n

The real problem we were facing was still unclear until that guest speaker come from Australia who said he had a prophetic word for our church. It was the Word to the Church in Pergamum from Revelations, he announced enthusiastically! And at first I was shocked that he would do such a thing as give such a serious rebuke to the church so casually!\u2014even joyfully! But when he read the passage, HE OMITTED THE REBUKE! And just said that God was going to give us a white stone (acquittal) and a new name (forgiven). He had a small pouch with white pebbles in it, and every time he said \u2018white stone\u2019 he took one out, made a comment about forgiveness for sin, and dropped the pebble onto the floor. Then got another pebble, and another word of encouragement, and dropped it on the floor, and another pebble, and another word, and another one dropped on the floor\u2014it was a cute gimmick, a real rehearsed stage performance. Prophecy is only to encourage people, don\u2019t you know!? And if they are entertained at the same time it\u2019s a bonus\u2014two for one!<\/p>\n

But leaving the meeting un-entertained, un-encouraged and unsatisfied God spoke to me and it stopped me cold in my steps. What he said in a very intense tone of voice was, \u201cOh, My Word for the Tree of Life IS Pergamum … and I\u2019m SERIOUS.\u201d <\/b><\/p>\n

It took me six months to research and understand that word! And when I finished I gave a copy to one of the elders who was like me, an American and about my age, one of the people I saw in my first vision of that church in fact. So I assumed he would understand where I was coming from and how important it was, but when I gave it to him he refused to touch it. He first said I was not an elder, and only an elder can give another elder a prophetic word. This was never our doctrine but he still refused to even touch it. An \u2018elder\u2019 to him was not a mature person in the Lord, but merely someone who had been voted in to hold that title. <\/p>\n

He then said it also sounded like it was an accusation, and I was not two witnesses, so he was required to refuse to hear the word as the Bible says you must only entertain an accusation against a leader if it is coming from two or more witnesses. He actually said that, adding, \u201cSince you are not two witnesses I will disregard this word.\u201d I used to be the lawyer, not him\u2014he was a pilot, and this was both bogus logic, and a bogus application of scripture\u2014but funny enough it was also the exact manifestation of Pergamum that the word itself was about! Uncanny! <\/b>He tried to pull rank so I figured I needed to push back a little and give him some back, so I said very sternly, \u201cWell, I don\u2019t know about all that, but this word is from Jesus Christ, your boss, <\/i>and you can do anything you want with it now; it\u2019s his word to you. I\u2019ve done my part.\u201d And I left it with him and walked away. <\/p>\n

<\/br><\/p>\n

Other Prophetic Warnings <\/b><\/p>\n

And I don\u2019t know if people were openly told not to give warnings to the leaders, it was more of a cordial protocol to discourage any \u2018negativity\u2019 maybe. Like a presumption of innocence, which as a reflection of proper civilized, polite company, where of course no one ought to go about slinging mud and pointing the finger\u2014this could be considered a model of best practice of church etiquette\u2014if it weren\u2019t for the fact that God was constantly giving warnings, from so many unrelated people and for many years. One time this pastor heard the team of intercessors were discussing correction words amongst themselves that they were hearing from God and he outright threatened to shut down the entire intercession ministry altogether \u2018if all they did\u2019 was to criticize him. <\/b>So they dropped all of that immediately and never shared one word of warning.<\/p>\n

You see, the Bible says God is not mocked … if people refuse to hear his warnings, you may find God simply stops warning\u2014and what will the results be? Success? Victory?\u2014Absolutely not! Without His correction how could we hope to avoid shipwreck? <\/p>\n

So do you see the real problem here? <\/b>This doctrine of \u2018no negative words\u2019 and \u2018never give me a warning\u2019 is the expression of the carnal heart at odds with God. It is the Flesh fighting God for control which is the real source of this doctrine. <\/b>God was trying to edify him, make him strong, purify him and keep him from sin and error but he rejected God\u2019s word. Why? What possible justification can you make to refuse God trying to help you do a better job, to avoid sin and be successful in his service? <\/p>\n

You want to be a pastor over God\u2019s church but are too insecure and sensitive and so refuse to let Jesus talk to you about any important matters, especially his correction? What are you trying to hide?<\/b>\u2014Are they trying to hide something? Or just trying to hide from someone? Do people not realize God is the one speaking these words of correction? Or is it because they do? But just who do you think you work for, pastor? <\/b>Don\u2019t you know you will have to give an account for your service to him over his people? And when he tells you what he wants you to do to get his reward, it\u2019s like getting the test answers before the quiz! Who wouldn\u2019t want to know how God is going to critique us? <\/p>\n

It\u2019s simply baffling to me to act like this! But the explanation may be just as simple … it\u2019s simply the natural ways of the Flesh. <\/b><\/p>\n

So this was also when I heard God say something about the intercessors themselves which I shared above and that I didn\u2019t understand for a long time saying the intercessors, including the leader, a lady I will mention in a few pages, Eunice, which is not her real name, but that they were DEFENDING the very thing God was trying to remove. <\/b>But I couldn\u2019t see how this could possibly be until the truth finally did come out. <\/p>\n

<\/br><\/p>\n

Remove The Idol! <\/b><\/p>\n

Later I heard God say that it was for the sin of Jeroboam that he was upset. <\/b>But I had no idea what that could possibly mean! This referenced a time when after Solomon died and the Kingdom was split, and Jeroboam was the king who took 10 tribes and made idols in Bethel and Dan and competing religious feasts to prevent people\u2019s loyalty from going back to the Lord\u2019s temple in Jerusalem, which was under the control of his rival, Rehoboam, Solomon\u2019s son. Jeroboam also set up a false priesthood of anyone who was loyal to him, not Levites or Cohen priests, but anyone could be a priest and a teacher serving these man-made idols. <\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t understand what Idol our church had made, and how were there priests, or ministers, but not ones God had ordained and who were teaching people wrongly and so leading them astray. I just needed to understand what this meant. But later God explained this too. The idol was the modern, trendy church\u2019s own brand, its \u2018DNA\u2019 as they called it. God first showed me a vision of a huge idol platform, like the one they famously have in Hong Kong, but the big Buddha statue was missing and God said, \u201cREMOVE The IDOL YOU WORSHIP or else …\u201d and He made a very strong threat of judgment.<\/b> <\/p>\n

But he also showed me a giant gorilla! It was that church in God\u2019s eyes, and its character was bestial and abusive. He said it was \u2018church that is heavily geared towards marketing and media<\/b>.\u2019 Its left arm was a supporting tree trunk, firmly planted in the ground where its life, support and money were coming from\u2014but its right arm had a boxing glove on its fist and it was POUNDING-POUNDING-POUNDING <\/i>the very ground (the community of people) that was supporting it. It hurt my heart to see this sudden violence and I cried out, \u201cGod what can YOU do about this?\u201d Suddenly … the supporting tree trunk arm was severed at the shoulder and the gorilla just keeled over and died! It then just … disappeared from the landscape\u2014but then I saw two other tiny gorillas spring up on the landscape, obviously people from the Big Gorilla who would make their own ministries in the wake of its collapse, only these were small and had no boxing gloves on\u2014but they were of the same nature, they had the same abusive beast-like character.<\/p>\n

At first I did not see how these things were related, but it became more apparent over time as repeated warnings of idols, abusive control, healing people only \u2018slightly\u2019 and leadership unwilling to submit to the Holy Spirit continued to come out in many ways and through so many other people. <\/p>\n

But how were the intercessors defending this? I later understood how much they had bought into this cordial, passive-aggressive spirit of control and instead of exposing it, as God was telling them and so many other people to do, they just did as they were told by the pastors and refused to entertain any correction or \u2018negative\u2019 words God was showing them. It\u2019s incredible how blind seeing people can sometimes be! <\/b><\/p>\n

<\/br><\/p>\n

Confirmation Withheld<\/b><\/p>\n

I\u2019ll have to share that there was one lady on the intercession team, which met early Sunday morning during first service, who was always chafing against me and after several years I finally stopped going to the intercession meetings altogether. This was when God began to tell me the church had reached a point of no return. I had given a serious word at a prayer meeting one Friday I called, \u201cThe Time Has Come To Be Holy\u201d in which God said: <\/p>\n

\u201cThe time has come to be holy as I am holy. The onslaught has come. It will destroy all Sand Castles, all things made on the sand. Things built by your imagination will not stand. People\u2019s very salvations will be TESTED and many of my beloveds will fail; they will fall away.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow man\u2019s work shall be tested. What have you built with? Wood, hay, straw? Or have you been wise enough to SEEK me for MY WISDOM, knowing your strength shall fail you in the day of battle\u2014My strength does not fail. It is unconventional strength. It cannot fail because Love cannot fail\u2014not even in the end times.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, things are now in motion that cannot be taken back\u2014The end times are upon you\u2014Don\u2019t look back to what used to be, to what once was\u2014much of what you have seen and believed in was (and is) an illusion\u2014don\u2019t look back at failures, short comings or successes\u2014it is a new playing field, a new day.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou say hindsight is 20\/20 vision\u2014that means you think you always see things clearly in the past, but that is not true. You still only see what you want to be true.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then God ended with the verse: <\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a house that is built upon sand. And there is a house built upon a rock.\u201d [End] <\/p>\n

This serious word was Jesus pleading with his people to turn their hearts back to him. But this was also a turning point when leadership made up their minds against me. The thing is this lady who was always opposing me later admitted, after I left, that when I gave this word that drew so much flack, that she had the exact same word <\/i>at the same time and not only would she not share it, she would also not come to my defense when I really needed it and everyone was attacking me.<\/b> But by the time a year or so later when she admitted it, it was already too late as the church was already taking permanent steps against God\u2019s will for them and it was simply too late to stop them. <\/p>\n

God had said these intercessors were defending the very thing God was trying to remove and I think he meant they were defending the Pergamum control spirit in not standing up to it. The Pergamum environment is a mess and instead of exposing it, they went along with it, defending the leadership\u2019s insular power inner circle, refusing to ever correct them or bring any \u2018negative\u2019 prophecy. This is also a vision God gave me about Eunice personally which I\u2019ll share in a moment. <\/p>\n

So as the demons got more and more control over the leadership, the leadership began acting out \u2018Pergamum\u2019 more and more and this was too confusing to understand easily for most people. It took me six months to research and write my prophetic explanation of Pergamum myself, and I certainly can\u2019t tell you all of that here. I share that word in pretty much its entirely in 8+Splash<\/i>, but I\u2019ll still give you a skinny version of the prophecy here so you can understand the core issues God was revealing. <\/p>\n

<\/br><\/p>\n

Pergamum\u2014Exalting Leaders, Mixture, Control<\/b><\/p>\n

So to unpack the prophetic symbolism, but again briefly, we start with the word Pergamum itself. It literally means to \u2018marry\u2019 or to \u2018mix\u2019, but it was also a city on a hill so it also means to exalt, and in fact this was the word used to describe the household pillars used to carry household idols in that time. Fourthly it was the first city to \u2018exalt men in leadership as gods,\u2019 as it was where a cult to worship Cesear started which held him, a man, to be divine, divinely infallible and untouchable by the regular people. <\/b>Why would people preach this? To get favors from the rulers obviously. So it\u2019s a cult of untouchable leadership, who are separated from the people they \u2018rule over.\u2019 This explains much of the other symbolism in the word especially the murder or martyrdom of Antipas who opposed the cult, this being where \u2018Satan has his throne\u2019, and the presence of the Nicolatians (tyranny over the people) and Balaam (a hireling who \u2018devours\u2019 the people). <\/p>\n

There will ALWAYS be a leadership inner circle here <\/b>Jesus told me. It is never just the figurehead or face of the regime themselves alone behind this. That person may even be a puppet of unseen forces as we\u2019ve seen in other places. But yes, Jesus told me in this environment there will always be a leadership \u2018inner circle,\u2019 like a \u2018Clergy,\u2019 who are maintaining power and control over the regular people, the \u2018Laity.\u2019 That sounds harmless but no such classes exist in God\u2019s Kingdom; we are a priesthood of believers and submit one to another. But in Pergamum not only is there a power-grab, so regular people are excluded from any meaningful role in any decision making, financial decisions, choosing who new leaders are, etc. It is a hijacking of the Body by a small group of people who now teach they are untouchable by the common church people, and they use (false) religious power to do it. <\/p>\n

Next Antipas is martyred here and his name basically means \u2018the person who opposes the pope,\u2019 or is \u2018anti\u2019 the \u2018untouchable father-figure\u2019 in this corrupt cult-like atmosphere. In reality he was martyred there for opposing the cult of Cesear worship by saying the king was not a god and refusing to do him divine homage. Saying this is the place \u2018where Satan has his Throne\u2019 means this authoritarian leadership style, this \u2018throne\u2019 exists and so leadership spend a lot of energy to defend their self-made Control, and tend to abuse and neglect the actual needs of the people over whom they reign, lording it over the people and healing them with their ministry and programs, but only slightly<\/i>. <\/p>\n

This then shows the nature of much of the \u2018mixture\u2019 or \u2018marriage\u2019 that \u2018Pergamum\u2019 itself means as they must combine Man\u2019s ways and doctrines of carnal control, \u2018mixed\u2019 with the Gospel, which is what attracts the people to come there to begin with. They lure people with the Good News, but trap them with abusive control and manipulation. Using secular ideas of leadership and justification for worldly means of control in running the church is too far from core issues of doctrine for most people to pick up on, but no, leadership as servants, humbling oneself as a child, laying one\u2019s life and comforts down for the sheep is in fact the core leadership doctrine of the Gospel. <\/b>When I began to research it I found this one lesson openly preached by Jesus NINE TIMES in the gospels alone. We don\u2019t have nine verses on almost anything in the New Testament, but that \u2018leaders need to be servants\u2019 is repeated again and again and again. Yet so many people still don\u2019t recognize how important it really is or remain mindful to do it! <\/p>\n

In History the \u2018Era of Pergamum\u2019 is when Constantine, a pagan dictator, became the head of the church, firstly combining state political rule with the church leadership. He also combined his pagan religion with Christianity, and created a hybrid religion still in evidence today. A \u2018clergy class\u2019 emerged who dressed differently to set themselves apart from the \u2018laity\u2019 who no longer had any meaningful involvement in religious issues, dead saints were deified as idols, and the worship of Mary was established, which features are all recognizable as reflections of Constantine\u2019s previous pagan religion. <\/p>\n

All this is what creates a terrible control spirit over the people which is why you have both \u2018Nicolatians\u2019 and \u2018Balaam\u2019 there as well, who are basically the minions who enforce the leadership\u2019s doctrines of control, and habits of abuse and neglect. <\/p>\n

Nicolaitian\u2019 means literally those who \u2018Conquer\u2019 or \u2018Rule the People like a Tyrant,\u2019 as it is those who \u2018nico\u2019 the \u2018laity.\u2019 And the prophecy actually reads, \u2018since you have the Nicolatains, <\/b>(whom Jesus hates) so therefore you also have Balaam,\u2019 <\/b>whose name is very similar, and can be read as he who \u2018Devours the People.\u2019 Balaam was a religious teacher, a prophet actually, but one who resorted to witchcraft to get what he wanted if God wouldn\u2019t give it to him. He knew enough spiritual truth to teach God\u2019s enemies how to defeat God\u2019s people and caused the death of many thousands of Israelites. But mostly he\u2019s a \u2018hireling\u2019 who served and taught his perverted teachings for money. <\/b>God has set it in the church that ministers are supposed to earn their living from the ministry, but that is not this case here. This person is not a servant of God or a servant of the people, but a yes-man to the corrupt leadership and purely what Jesus called a hireling who cares not for the sheep, but only for himself, and who helps the leaders maintain control, again for a payment. <\/p>\n

What a mess! <\/p>\n

You can read this in more detail on-line or it\u2019s also in 8+Splash<\/i>. Just look for the word on Pergamum. But what a disaster. But people do actually overcome it and they are the ones given a \u2018white stone with a new name\u2019 on it, and also given some of the \u2018hidden manna\u2019 <\/b>or hidden revelation, which is not given to everyone in Pergamum obviously! Only the overcomers get this honor. God only shares his secrets with those who fear him!<\/p>\n

<\/br><\/p>\n

Making the Nazarites Drink Wine<\/b><\/p>\n

So that was manifesting and so I also better share this … a few years before God delivered me from alcohol and gave me a few dreams asking me not to drink anymore at all: first he said it was a bad example, and second he said I am a king, and drunkenness is not befitting a king. But it was my choice, my sacrifice for him and it was easy to do. So I didn\u2019t drink alcohol anymore\u2014Oh! Wait! That\u2019s not entirely true! There was that one time … <\/p>\n

So I was helping the pastor of that church apply to the government for a disused court building so we could re-purpose it for the Ministry. The application with the best proposed use of the old building would be given it for free. It was a long and very extensive application process but since he worked at a famous architectural and engineering firm, he was able to get people to help with the technical aspects as volunteers. He was team leader and since I used to be a lawyer I volunteered to oversee the writing, editing and compilation of the submission; it was not easy. <\/p>\n

When we finally submitted it he invited everyone in the team, who were mostly unsaved young architects and engineers, to a celebratory meal in the Kowloon Tong Mall where his offices were. He asked me what I wanted to drink, a cocktail or glass of wine for a celebration toast. <\/p>\n

But I said, \u201cOh, not any more, thank you.\u201d But then he tried to pressure me by saying I was being religious and just fearful, and I had to decline pointedly several times. I explained I\u2019m not a recovering alcoholic, and I think it\u2019s fine for Christians to drink a little if they want to, but God asked me not to personally<\/i>. It\u2019s my choice. My obedience. <\/p>\n

Oh come on! And he ordered me a wine and needled me about being afraid and bound by made-up religious legalism. <\/p>\n

\u201cNo, it\u2019s not sin, and I CAN drink, I just choose not to.\u201d Am I scared of what one glass of house white wine will do to me? <\/p>\n

\u201cOK, let\u2019s have a toast, pick up your glass.\u201d <\/p>\n

I was embarrassed for his sake and didn\u2019t want to make a scene in front of his staff, most, like I said, were unsaved. Knowing my freedom in Christ, and to avoid a faux pas <\/i>scene in public I sipped for the toast to the team. Cheap white wine? What\u2019s the temptation? <\/p>\n

Now I was above any silly moral dilemmas on the issue. This was not a question of sin or disobedience. God never TOLD me not to drink alcohol, he said it was wisdom, being a good example, it\u2019s not for a king to get drunk. The Lord never threatened me with punishment. I was obeying this advice out of respect and honor to the Lord, not from fear of a threat of punishment. God\u2019s kindness leads us to repentance. Those who love him obey his commands. If you make a vow be swift to act on it. That kind of thing. So I didn\u2019t have guilt or a crisis in my conscience. And I\u2019m certainly not thin-skinned, but as I got home I was feeling, well, slightly disrespected I think, that\u2019s all. I didn\u2019t take the matter to heart, but it seems that someone else did. <\/b>I just grabbed the Bible casually when I got home\u2014I mean it was instant\u2014and it opened itself up to this verse that I wasn\u2019t even familiar with: Amos 2:12, which reads, \u201cBut you made the Nazirites drink wine, and commanded the prophets, saying, \u2018You shall not prophesy.\u2019\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

I even shared this with him later. Let him ferment over that for a while! And no they never were awarded that courthouse. <\/p>\n

<\/br><\/p>\n

The Spirit gives Freedom from Man\u2019s Control!<\/b><\/p>\n

Also in that season Jesus gave me this prophetic word about Emotions, Covering and Submitting to False Authority <\/i>to help me understand his thinking and to strengthen my heart to withstand the pressure I was under and not collapse or become bitter. Jesus told me this: <\/p>\n

Emotions<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cPeople say when you warfare to \u2018sow in the opposite spirit,\u2019 but if that were always true then your warfare is sown against what demonic environment? Peace? No, I tell you to put on your armor every day.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead of merely \u2018sowing in the opposite spirit,\u2019 I tell you today I want my chosen vessels to \u2018flow in the Holy Spirit.\u2019 That will lead you to victory in all warfare, not just being able to respond with a calm demeanor when someone comes against you in impatience or anger. For I tell you, not all anger is from me, but not all \u2018peace\u2019 is from me either. If you want to pacify people, be wise in handling your emotions. And if you want to be victorious in your warfare, then \u2018flow in the Holy Spirit\u2019 and you will conquer the forces of darkness that seek to enslave your soul\u2014which is what you really want, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n

\u201cI want you to read my Word carefully, and understand who I AM. I also have \u2018emotions\u2019 for I am an emotional God, and I am the author of your capacity for emotions. I do not function emotionally entirely as you do, you who are still subject to the chaos and confusion of the fallen world, but through my redemptive purposes of the Son of God dying in your stead, you have been made free from the hold of confusion and corruption. Don\u2019t trust all of your emotions, but don\u2019t discount all of them either. Sometimes your passionate emotions are from Me too you know, from my Spirit into your inner man, such as compassion, the bitterness of grief [at sin, injustice, etc.], and the hunger of longing that my holy apostles and prophets such as Jesus displayed with such fervency.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want you to be clear in seeing that I get upset at people. It is not a cover to the flesh emotions, but I got mad enough at Moses to want to kill him and all the people more than once.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is dismissed by people nowadays saying, \u2018But that is the God of the Old Testament\u201d\u2014Am I two different God\u2019s? This is a false teaching. I AM the same Yesterday, Today and Forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Covering<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cSecond, about \u2018covering\u2019\u2014this means control\u2014and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is FREEDOM\u2014so where is the room for control? The only control I do is through you to be conformed willingly into the image of My Son who is One with Me\u2014we, you and I, are or will be One as well\u2014so where is there need for me to control you and FORCE you to become like me, follow my plans, or play \u2018follow the leader\u2019?<\/p>\n

\u201cThink long and hard about this the next time some man or woman tells you to \u2018submit\u2019 in this forceful way\u2014I do not force my way\u2014I am God, and yet I invite you to come and reason with Me. You can come to me with any question you might have and I am good. I am your Father. I know your thoughts. I know what you are going through. I know what you are dealing with. I will love. I will understand. I will help. I will guide. I will teach. I will instruct. I will explain. I work with infinite patience and mercy. I am slow to anger and I do not control like man controls. My heart is to set you free, not to force my way. Herein lies the difference.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love you\u2014what reason could I give, what possible justification could I give to MYSELF for wanting or trying to control you by shouting SUBMIT! There is a creature that seeks to control you who shouts like that from every lofty hill\u2014his will is to steal, kill and destroy the sheep of my pasture. But I cannot let him for I Am perfect and that would be wrong of Me to violate the trust of innocent lambs who\u2019ve placed their trust in Me after I told them I would protect and provide for them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is what a covering actually means\u2014it is a wedding song\u2014a bridal veil\u2014a delicate embroidery that touches your head with love, joy, singing\u2014and more love! It is a JOY to wear the wedding gown!\u2014it is never a burden to have to submit to wearing the garment of praise! Who has led you astray by speaking counsel without wisdom or proper enlightenment?<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, anyone can give you their reasoned opinions\u2014but they can still be dead wrong, and I don\u2019t use that term lightly\u2014dead wrong, as wrong as death, do you get it?\u201d<\/p>\n

Submitting to False Spiritual Authority<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cAgain I speak to you My Bride, DO NOT SUBMIT TO FALSE ANYTHING. Did My Son submit to those under the influence of the religious spirits? People say submit at all cost to your leader even if he\u2019s dead wrong\u2014why do they say that? Otherwise you will be labeled a rebel? Yes, there are rebels, but do not entertain every accusation against yourself. They called my humble servant David rebellious, and even my son Jesus\u2014yet did they worry about their reputations? What is the worst that man can do? Slander you, cast you out, stone you, kill you? Do not fear the one who can kill the body and after that do no more\u2014for the time has come for them to fear the God who has the power to cast into hell. The time has come NOW to choose whom ye shall serve: Me, or Baal, Mammon and control spirits of wickedness that afflict my people. Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is Freedom!<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd where do I ever say submit to Satan? [James 4:7, 1 Peter 5:8-9] Where do I ever say to submit to false prophets who say, \u201cPeace, peace\u2014there is no need to fight or struggle. There is no need to pray or fight the enemy or loose your sword!\u201d NO, do not submit to them but defy them to their face! [Ezekiel 3:8-9] Stand like a Lion that I AM in and through you to tear down the works of the enemy and deliver my weak, humble people from these devouring jaws that cry out \u2018peace\u2019 when there is no peace!\u201d [End]<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t need to add any explanation to that! Do I? So I\u2019ll just end it with a full-stop! <\/p>\n

<\/br><\/p>\n

Gate 14\u2014A Church with Godly Leadership Style<\/b><\/p>\n

And also I had a dream of a mall called Gate 14, which was actually a church or ministry, and when I asked Jesus to explain the symbolism and behavior of the leaders in the vision, who were making space for me and others to be involved in leadership decisions, he told me this about true leadership and talked also about getting prophetic direction from people not in leadership. I didn\u2019t know which ministry this meant for over 15 years! But here is God\u2019s insight, God\u2019s heart on the matter: <\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are allowed, even invited to have access to leadership roles and decision making. That is what you want, isn\u2019t it? Yes, to share and contribute your own part. That is what MY PEOPLE want, to serve me where it counts \u2026 I satisfy them, without letting go of order \u2026 control is death of order, peace and satisfaction since it is the death of involvement of my sheep in affairs that affect them. They are allowed to be included in decision making; some of the best decisions I\u2019ve made have come through innocent, benevolent vessels who had no power or authority in man\u2019s realms of \u2018divide and control\u2019 \u2026 yet they were from ME. Think about it the next time you take charge, are you willing to do it without the help of my Holy Spirit because that is what you will unavoidably do if you offend Him; he\u2019ll stop helping you in the way you really need Him to. Like the Father, He\u2019s not a doormat either! <\/p>\n

\u201cRemember, some of my weakest vessels are used in POWER by Me to do MY WILL, and you will never see this in action if you quench the leading of the Holy Spirit and only lean upon who you think are \u2018tried and tested\u2019 leaders among men \u2026 I do not think this way \u2026 and I do not want YOU to think this way. Trusting in Men who follow my leading is OK, but if you start trusting in Men to make decisions and do your job for you of discerning and listening to My heart, it will result in chaos. \u2026 every man can fall away or fall behind or fall among thieves, traps and snares … if you give men a blanket exemption from doing what is right, meaning to lean upon ME for his wisdom and direction and you let him choose HIS OWN WAY you will be doomed. Do not do this: let people lead, but trust them to need a little help from their friends from time to time \u2026 you and Me both!\u201d<\/p>\n

Wow, that\u2019s Hidden Manna if I ever heard it! <\/p>\n

<\/br><\/p>\n

They won\u2019t listen to me! So send someone they WILL Listen to!<\/b><\/p>\n

As the Lord had told me, \u201cMany opportunities have passed them right by,\u201d <\/b>since the church leadership would not listen to the Lord\u2019s direction, and so would not position themselves to be able to understand or receive his blessings, and it was getting more and more serious! They certainly would not listen to me or the Lord speaking through me. So I prayed in earnest that if I was the problem, that if they didn\u2019t respect or would not listen to ME personally, then would the Lord please send people who they WOULD listen to, at which Jackie Pullinger came and did a big series of sermons, and then Alan Hood from IHOP came and they both gave the same kind of direction in their messages, but there was no change. Esteban Antonio the prophet and guitar player even came, who is someone I consider a real prophet, and also Maurice Sklar the violin player who used to work with Benny Hinn, who is another authentic prophet I am so blessed to have met. But nothing came of it.<\/p>\n

<\/br><\/p>\n

Turning Back in the Day of Battle <\/b><\/p>\n

And you know there was a terrible betrayal recorded in Psalm 76 saying: <\/p>\n

9<\/sup> \u201cThe children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, Turned back in the day of battle. 10<\/sup> They did not keep the covenant of God; They refused to walk in His law, 11<\/sup> And forgot His works And His wonders that He had shown them.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is like what happened to Eunice, one of the church elders and \u2018lead intercessor\u2019 who was in the right position and had the respect of everyone in the church community and could have stopped this nonsense, cold! But she refused to do it. One person taking a stand could have done it because she was the right person in the right position, at least that was what God showed me in a vision. That church did not have to fail he said as everything collapsed. This one lady, Eunice, was in the position to do that, she was equipped and armed, but she refused to take a stand.<\/p>\n

I knew her situation maybe was difficult. I saw her husband had strong religious control over her. He was a professor in a theological seminary and I saw a huge wooden structure built over his head, man\u2019s ideas and man\u2019s framework of doctrines, and some of it had gotten into her thinking as well, but she was a respected \u2018voice\u2019\u2014the person closest to being a Prophet in our entire community and who had everyone\u2019s respect\u00ad\u2014and God was surely showing her his truth, but maybe her husband made it hard to do the right thing, but she knew what was right and could have fixed it God said. Anyway here\u2019s the vision, you decide:<\/p>\n

<\/br><\/p>\n

(Not) Shooting Bears in a Boat<\/b><\/p>\n

I had two dreams of her, one I didn\u2019t want to believe but her ministry and effectiveness were being subverted by the people around her who wanted their prophets to be on a short leash, not strong and resourceful, not independent and effective! <\/p>\n

When the leadership were just beyond help and reached what in God\u2019s view was a point of no return I had this second very detailed dream involving her. <\/p>\n

It was at a beach. Sand can mean walking in man\u2019s ways or it can mean God\u2019s innumerable thoughts towards us. Which one might this mean? And I saw the pastor in a small boat near shore but far enough out that no one could reach him easily, but also he wasn\u2019t alone. The boat was full of several large bears, demonic powers, that were seemingly keeping him company, hugging him, protecting him. I noticed she was heavily armed with a large rifle\u2014it was the right weapon to defeat those bears\u2014but she refused to use it!<\/b> She said in the vision, that the bears are comforting the pastor, and she therefore would not kill them or it would upset the pastor. But I was already so upset in the dream and so I began looking around for a weapon for myself to use instead\u2014I\u2019ll kill those bears myself!\u2014but I could only get a target rifle and some old antique display pieces that didn\u2019t even have the right ammunition. So I took the only weapon I could get, the target rifle, and began to shoot the bears in the face again and again and again <\/i>but all it did was anger them\u2014I could not kill them with this target practice rifle! I needed a real weapon! I went to find one but could not. It was so frustrating so see that Eunice had the right weapon but no, she wouldn\u2019t use it … and the bears took over. <\/p>\n

Later, after we both left that church I actually shared this vision with her, but I didn\u2019t tell her it was her in the vision. I asked her, What I should do? \u201cPray for that woman to wake up!\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

A few days later I emailed her and said casually that maybe the lady in the vision was her? What did she think? She wrote back to confirm that yes, she knew it was her. But by then it was too late. God had already stopped warning people and just gave advice on how to leave and what would happen next in due course. <\/p>\n

<\/br><\/p>\n

The Pastor\u2019s Son gets the Same Word!<\/b><\/p>\n

Like I said the Lord soon let me leave because they had exhausted their last chances and God moved me onto other tasks, but not before letting me witness this: the pastor\u2019s son, Kurt, (not his real name) had the SAME VISION so many people were having, that the Tree of Life Church was sinking … and in Quicksand! But they still didn\u2019t do anything about it. <\/p>\n

The Lord had asked me to go to a specific \u2018Leaders\u2019 Meeting\u2019 before I left where they wanted to plan how to move the church to a new building in the heart of the prostitution area in Wan Chai they were preparing to sign a lease on, and God said, \u2018Go and just watch<\/b>.\u2019 It was a total waste of manpower, let alone the manpower of all the leaders and ministry heads. <\/p>\n

We first sat in a circle and started to \u2018invite God\u2019 to talk to us about \u2018our plans\u2019 for moving into their new venue which was an old pornography theater that was going to be leased from the unsaved landlord for 15 years at an enormous cost to rent and renovate. This was what God said was his chastisement to them for not following his word! They were leaving his chosen position for them and that he would not go with them into this wilderness where they were headed in rebellion to his guidance. He would also give their regional calling to someone else, a different church which actually moved into their old premises! At this time only I and a few other people knew this however. <\/p>\n

So in this meeting people began to walk around and pray in tongues and ask God to come, but first the spirit in the room was NOT the Lord. I then saw a picture of many monkeys babbling. <\/b>Then we sought God for a time and people shared what God told them. The first to share was a totally make up word by a Mr N. It was absolutely fake. A FALSE PROPHECY! Nobody cares! <\/p>\n

Then others shared, but nothing to report. The son of the other co-head-pastor, one of the trendy youth leaders had a word I think, which he started by talking about the new video games he bought for the youth ministry, and how he knows he is not supposed to entertain but to equip, and he saw an airplane, a coffee cup and a great sword cutting the earth in two … There may be something real in that, I\u2019m not sure. But then Kurt, the other pastor\u2019s son shared. <\/p>\n

Who is Kurt? (Again, not his real name!) Well, he\u2019s the face of the music ministry which by all accounts was the most professional and well rehearsed band in Asia save Hillsongs and other mega-church bands. They are a very good church band and have made several recordings. Kurt is gifted by the Holy Spirit in ways I personally can\u2019t even grasp God showed me once\u2014really a chosen vessel for a specific task. But also a part of the corruption and worldly ways that were eating the church. By this time God had told me twice in dreams that he always refused to listen to God\u2019s warnings and God told me I was to no longer share any revelations from the Lord with him. Soft spoken and likable, he was the face of the band and the brand, so the face of the Church\u2019s \u2018DNA\u2019 to the young audience. Actually God told me the \u2018key\u2019 to the band was someone else, a truly professional musician but also barely saved and immoral. But that\u2019s neither here nor there. <\/p>\n

So in this meeting, Kurt shared he also had a word.<\/p>\n

First he heard the verse, but he said he didn\u2019t know why he had that verse or what it meant, but it was, \u201cThe wise man builds his house upon a rock, the foolish man builds his house upon the sand.\u201d <\/b>That sounds familiar! It was the core verse God gave me in the word that I shared that caused so much stir before! Here the pastor\u2019s son was now sharing the exact same prophetic word! But he said he didn\u2019t know what it meant.<\/p>\n

And second he said he saw a picture of the Tree of Life building \u2026 it was on top of large pillars that were ALL SINKING INTO THE QUICKSAND! On top the people were busy building something new and modern, not knowing the whole thing was sinking, and when he described it he even said it was not just sinking in sand\u2014but in quicksand! <\/b><\/p>\n

I myself had heard this same \u2018sinking\u2019 word about the church several times from several other people but now the pastor\u2019s son himself was even saying it. <\/p>\n

So he then said what he thinks this vision means is that we need to change our perspective to see the foundation as well as the top floor, and then build as God said we should, and do it well, and do it with a spirit of excellence! Let\u2019s go! <\/p>\n

OK, anyone else? Good. Now let\u2019s plan how we are going to move into the new building. They totally ignored Kurt\u2019s word, but it was the same thing God had told me before: there is a house built upon sand, and there is a house built upon a rock! And this time it came from KURT, not me, so how could they say it was a false prophecy or me trying to subvert their goals, or me trying to take over their church?! <\/p>\n

But they just ignored it anyway. There is much more to the story but it\u2019s too much to share now; take at look at 8+Splash <\/i>if you want to know more. <\/p>\n

<\/br><\/p>\n

Murderous Pirates Stealing Money<\/b><\/p>\n

I finally will share that I had a dream of leaving the church just as murderous pirates, demonic powers, took it over. It started and I was again on a beach and the young people were honoring us for our exploits in the Lord when I saw money float ashore attached to a life preserver, but when I looked closer it was not \u2018rescue money,\u2019 it was money being driven ashore by demonic murderous pirates who had just murdered the real owners they had hijacked! I saw these demonic pirates walking proudly on the surface of the water in a line abreast, coming our way quickly. There were maybe five or six of these large beings all striding proudly side by side. They were marching with great strides very purposefully, swaggering, swinging their arms as they walked, like proud bullies, coming on the surface of the water in my direction. They were murderers\u2014demonic principalities obviously\u2014and this was their money that they just stole. <\/p>\n

I turned to flee. <\/p>\n

My \u2018vehicle\u2019 or my ministry was parked facing the ocean and I needed to leave as fast as I could. So I \u2018shrunk\u2019 my vehicle (my ministry shrunk obviously when I left that church) and turned it around, ready to leave\u2014but they were already ashore! So I hid and watched the pirates who sat in a circle around a campfire as they began dividing up the money. But then a man walked up not appreciating the danger of taking money from murderous pirates and he asked to join them! \u201cI want a share,\u201d he said. He looked like one of the two new elders that church had just \u2018voted in\u2019 to replace that pilot and Eunice who both had just quit\u2014he looked like the businessman\u2019s ministry leader, a young guy from Singapore. And the pirates said, knowingly and with a sinister joy, \u201cOK, we\u2019ll give you insurance<\/i>.\u201d Which may be easy to interpret.<\/p>\n

Upon seeing this and confirming my suspicions I fled carefully and my vehicle, which was like a camper van \/ caravan before now seemed to turn into a boat and I drove away and then out into a bay behind the beach and boated out into a clear, open area of water where I was safe but alone and I stopped, waiting for further directions about what I should do next. [End]<\/p>\n

<\/br><\/p>\n

Micaiah Tells the Truth<\/b><\/p>\n

And finally, before I wrap things up, I just want to share one of the best examples of prophets who are raised up under the control of a worldly man in the Bible, the story of Ahab and Macaiah. You maybe already know the story from 1 Kings 22.<\/p>\n

So after all that went on with Jezebel killing the prophets and Elijah\u2019s showdown at Mt. Carmel, just a few years later King Jehoshaphat from Judah visited King Ahab, Jezebel\u2019s husband, who asked him to join forces to fight Syria to take back a city on the border, but Jehoshaphat wanted a prophetic word first. This was a few years after Jezebel killed all the prophets in Israel, don\u2019t you recall? But Ahab suddenly was able to gather about four hundred prophets of the Lord in Samaria who all said Yes! God says go up to fight against Syria and you will be successful in taking back that city. They even said God would be the one to deliver it into his hands, I mean their hands. <\/p>\n

Funny, but Jehoshaphat was not so easily convinced. Good for him. How did Ahab suddenly find 400 righteous men who were the Lord\u2019s real, mature prophets and who were not afraid to speak God\u2019s true word to Ahab in his own palace? What kind of \u2018prophets\u2019 do these men appear to be? <\/p>\n

Jehoshaphat asks for a second opinion, I mean a 401st opinion, and he says OK there is one more guy we can ask but I hate him! He never prophesies good things for me, only evil.<\/p>\n

Is this the first time we hear this doctrine? No \u2018negative words\u2019 allowed here!? <\/b>But Jehoshaphat wants to know God\u2019s real direction and he seems to know he is not getting it from these 400 obedient \u2018court prophets.\u2019 One of them, a Zedekiah by name, made a prop of metal horns and paraded himself around showing how Ahab and Jehoshaphat were going to smite the Syrians! <\/p>\n

They summoned Macaiah and told him, You\u2019d better tow the line here! Make sure your prophecy is the same as everyone else\u2019s! <\/p>\n

1 Kings 22 verse 14 says: \u201cAnd Micaiah said, \u2018As the Lord lives, whatever the Lord says to me, that I will speak.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Bah!\u00ad <\/p>\n

And when he arrives King Ahab asks him bluntly, Shall we go to war against Syria or not? And Micaiah says something but you can\u2019t hear the tone of sarcasm easily. He says, Sure, do it. Ha! Go, fight, win! And the king knows he\u2019s mocking him and says, \u201cHow many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?\u201d I assume this is the first time. <\/p>\n

But then the whole truth comes out! <\/p>\n

In verse 17 he says, \u201cI saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd. And the Lord said, \u2018These have no master. Let each return to his house in peace.\u2019 \u201d Ahab takes it personally, as he was supposed to. He\u2019s no caring shepherd of the people! Then the prophet really lets him have it. <\/p>\n

19<\/sup> … \u201cTherefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by, on His right hand and on His left. 20<\/sup> And the Lord said, \u2018Who will persuade Ahab to go up, that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead?\u2019 So one spoke in this manner, and another spoke in that manner. 21<\/sup> Then a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord, and said, \u2018I will persuade him.\u2019 22<\/sup> The Lord said to him, \u2018In what way?\u2019 So he said, \u2018I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.\u2019 And the Lord said, \u2018You shall persuade him, and also prevail. Go out and do so.\u2019 23<\/sup> Therefore look! The Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these prophets of yours, and the Lord has declared disaster against you.\u201d<\/p>\n

I think I\u2019m beginning to like this guy! <\/p>\n

And you know that guy who made the props? He\u2019s upset and SLAPS Micaiah in the face, saying, \u201cWhich way did the spirit from the Lord go from me to speak to you?\u201d I mean, does this guy not know he\u2019s a fake? Is it all just to protect his professional pride? Or he may be a real prophet and deceived by this \u2018lying spirit.\u2019<\/p>\n

Micaiah was ready for this with a vision he already had and retorts to his tort saying something like, \u201cYou\u2019ll soon find out when you run into your closet to hide! You big crying lying diaper baby!\u201d (But, I added that last part just for dramatic effect.) <\/p>\n

Taking Micaiah off to prison under Ahab\u2019s son he says, Abuse him until I return in victory. Micaiah, ready for this too, shoots back with, \u201cIf you ever return in peace, the Lord has not spoken by me.\u201d His parting shot is, \u201cTake heed, all you people!\u201d <\/p>\n

Woah! Now I know I definitely like this guy! <\/p>\n

Several words of judgment were hanging over Ahab\u2019s head by this time already, this was only the last of many. This prophet said he would die in that battle and what happened? Ahab died in that battle. Then they washed his blood out of his chariot which dogs licked up and where the prostitutes bathed themselves, assumingly after work\u2014gross!<\/i>\u2014but this was just as God had said would happen many years before by Elijah. So write it down, wait for it if it tarries. It will surely come to pass and not prove false! <\/p>\n

But this is a very hard story. What is the lying spirit? Why would God allow court prophets seemingly who think they are prophets of the Lord to be deceived this way? Wouldn\u2019t it ruin their reputations in Samaria? How did 400 men after Jezebel\u2019s dire persecution openly admit to being the Lord\u2019s prophets and serve in the court of the king who murdered thousands of their predecessors? Do only apostate leaders despise \u2018negative\u2019 words? <\/p>\n

It\u2019s fine that God wanted Ahab to die this way\u2014but there\u2019s no need to bring Micaiah into it and especially no need to pull the curtains back on these perplexing behind-the-scenes workings of heavenly counsel, and to do it before an apostate king in Samaria! <\/p>\n

I mean why not just give Ahab a heart attack? <\/p>\n

Or have him slip on a banana peel and hit his head on the floor? Or trip and fall on his own sword in the toilet while he\u2019s shaving and kill himself that way in private? My only answer, and I worry that I might be right, is that God has a flair for the dramatic and likes the drama of poetic justice playing out in public spaces. <\/b>Shakespeare\u2019s got NOTHING on Jehovah when it comes to writing a good page-turner. <\/p>\n

But for us here now, why do I recount this story? For me, it\u2019s the best biblical insight into what happens when men raise up \u2018obedient\u2019 prophets in their midst\u2014they are obedient to man, but clearly disobedient to God, and never can be trusted to have his real word.<\/b><\/p>\n

Such \u2018court prophets\u2019 are on the payroll of the leaders, the pastors and the elders, in some way or the other. They only can aspire to ever really become impostors! Flatterers! Cowards!<\/p>\n

But David also put hundreds of prophets on salary so they could minister without interruption, including Nathan. Not everyone who is on salary is a puppet telling the leaders only the \u2018smooth things\u2019 their itching ears want to hear. But I think you can pretty much guarantee that everyone who does, is. <\/p>\n

<\/br><\/p>\n

An Unwelcome Guest? <\/b><\/p>\n

When God begins to move, speak, teach and act in a church it causes ALL KINDS of problems for Men. How ironic. Getting spirit-filled often splits a church right in half, and not to be callous, but in a way sometimes I say, Good! Cut off the dead weight! <\/p>\n

I mean why do \u2018God\u2019s people\u2019 have so many problems in their crutches, I mean churches when God finally shows up? Why do these church leaders, elders, pastors and \u2018Bible experts\u2019 have such a hard time maintaining \u2018order\u2019 and solving the \u2018problems\u2019 caused when this alien-like presence suddenly appears? You\u2019d think the people of God would be more prepared for his sudden appearing. Why are they so uncomfortable with God in the room? That\u2019s a real indictment against them, don\u2019t you think?! <\/p>\n

But still, why are they at such a loss to know what to do to handle his seemingly unwelcome presence? <\/b><\/p>\n

Instead of oh, I don\u2019t know, praying and asking God to teach them how to manage this new normal, or even better, to ask God to manage the chaos himself!\u2014how is it that they just have NO IDEA how to handle Him and worse, resort to all kinds of carnal rules and fleshly behaviors to deal with him instead? <\/p>\n

Do you see the real problem here? <\/p>\n

The teenagers begin to get prophetic words and the leaders have to make up all kinds of hard-and-fast rules on their own to deal with the \u2018problems\u2019 they are having: no words on \u2018Mates or Dates,\u2019 although there are clearly examples of God doing this in the Bible. No words on correction! (which is also a word of correction!) No words about the leaders. No words about the followers! No words after service when we can\u2019t monitor what you\u2019re saying. And no words during service either. In fact, let\u2019s have no more words at all!\u2014problem solved! <\/p>\n

No words on \u2018mates or dates\u2019!?\u2014when God began to speak to me most of his words to me over several years were about my future mate. Biblically, I first think of Joseph who wanted to divorce Mary until he got a prophecy about his mate. There are not dozens of examples, but yes, God does speak to us in this area. For me it was confusing, but also a lifeline when I really needed help. And that was more than once! <\/p>\n

<\/br><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t Correct Me!\u2014but isn\u2019t that also a Correction?<\/b><\/p>\n

Then they say, no words of correction or rebuke. So have they really forgotten the exhortation in Hebrews 12 that calls them sons? <\/p>\n

\u201cMy son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; 6<\/sup> For whom the Lord loves He chastens,
\nAnd scourges every son whom He receives.\u201d<\/b>
<\/br>7<\/sup> \u201cIf you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? 8<\/sup> But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

Or Jesus saying in Revelation 3:19\u2014<\/p>\n

\u201cAs many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.\u201d <\/b><\/p>\n

You cannot say he will rebuke and chasten but then ban God from speaking personal prophecy to rebuke or chasten. <\/p>\n

And because all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, <\/b>as it says in 2 Timothy 3:16, or Luke 17:3 which reads, \u201cTake heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.<\/b>\u201d\u2014therefore you don\u2019t need a prophetic word to rebuke someone who is sinning in church, especially in leadership. Just use the Bible! Protect your community! Edify each other!<\/p>\n

But I\u2019ll say it again and again, I don\u2019t get tired of saying it, that if there are any warnings or rebukes, chastisements or corrections in the Bible itself, if those things are in the Scriptures, then that will sometimes be the personal prophecy as well. <\/b><\/p>\n

OK, so 1 Timothy 5:1 says, \u201cDo not rebuke an older man, but exhort him as a father,\u201d<\/b> but an exhortation is still an emotional plea like a fiery sermon to tell people to stop sinning. So fine, don\u2019t \u2018rebuke\u2019 your apostate leaders, but at least do make them sit down and listen for two hours while you \u2018fire and brimstone\u2019 the sin out of their sorry butts, Old School style.<\/b> They\u2019re not only stealing FROM the church, they\u2019re stealing the church! They\u2019re claiming their \u2018authority\u2019 to rule and do as they please is above even God in whose place they are his shepherds! Are you confused who is wearing the white robe here? <\/p>\n

If you ban all words on correction or chastisement, all you will accomplish is to remove God\u2019s correction and direction from peoples\u2019 lives.<\/b> Read Hebrew 12 a littler further where it continues\u2014<\/p>\n

11<\/sup> \u201cNow no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.\u201d <\/b><\/p>\n

If there\u2019s no correction, then there will be no fruit of righteousness to those trained by it either! How can people grow, learn or improve if you ban anyone telling them how to do so? How can they avoid shipwreck if you blindfold them while telling them to go faster and make a lot of twisty turns! We make important decisions every day and you NEED God\u2019s insight to be successful\u2014I think I might have read that somewhere: Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper. Is that from Steinbeck? Hemingway? Rowling? Where did I read that from? <\/p>\n

<\/br><\/p>\n

Why is GOD such a Problem to these People? <\/b><\/p>\n

All of these situations pose such difficult dilemmas\u2014at least to carnal pastors who aren\u2019t used to seeking God for solutions to these kinds of \u2018problems!\u2019 And if the pastors can\u2019t find God\u2019s help, God help us!<\/p>\n

So they try every other solution, consider every advice posted on-line, follow every comment left in the chat box\u2014but never humble themselves and repent, sit in quietness and trust and seek God to ask him what he wants them to do about it??!! <\/b><\/p>\n

This then reveals the real problem, and it\u2019s not God showing up and the \u2018chaos\u2019 he seems to unleash\u2014but carnal minds in charge of ministry who seem to ask everyone and everything for advice on how to deal with God … EXCEPT for asking God himself. <\/b><\/p>\n

Such ministries are increasingly NOT OF GOD, even if they think they still are FOR him. Increasingly they are God\u2019s churches in name only. A ministry needs to be run as God would have you run it\u2014it belongs to him as do the people you minister to, and you must soon give an account! It cannot only be run in Man\u2019s ways of leadership and control and problem solving<\/b>, all just to maintain \u2018order\u2019 because that\u2019s what the Bible says! \u201cSo no more of this Holy Spirit chaotic nonsense! It\u2019s MY church!\u201d\u2014Are you sure? <\/p>\n

In truth, how dare YOU be upset at God moving in your midst! How dare you consider God in your midst to be like a pest that needs to be removed!? How dare you! <\/i><\/p>\n

The main issue here is therefore not making a list of what can go wrong, and listing witty ways to deal with it, but learning in all things to rely on God, to be intimate with God in all our ways and lean NOT on Man\u2019s understanding and in doing so God will be pleased with how we rely on Him and will make our paths straight, even ones we\u2019ve never walked before! <\/p>\n

I know a gifted musician and prophet and he shared how God told him one time, \u201cSon, there are people who I say \u2018Do this,\u2019 and they do it. That is like you.\u201d Wow, thank you Lord he said. But wait for it! Because then God said, \u201cBut then there are people who, when I say, \u2018Do this,\u2019 they say, \u201cYes Lord but how<\/i>.\u201d … crickets<\/i> … awkward silence … humbling introspection. We need to do what God wants. Go peach the gospel. But mind your HOW! Don\u2019t ever do it like they did it here in Philippines where they used torture and the sword. HOW we obey is as important, sometimes more important, than if we merely obey at all. <\/p>\n

I already shared that How we Lead <\/i>is such an important part of the gospel that while most of our doctrines come from only one or two verses in the Bible, the admonition that we must \u2018lead as servants\u2019 is NINE TIMES IN THE GOSPELS ALONE<\/b>\u2014look it up! So we must be examples of God in all things, and in all ways we must lead by example. We can\u2019t take a \u2018Do as I say not as I do,\u2019 approach. We must lead as servants. We must lean upon God in all our ways. And when we are confused we must learn how to solve our problems with spiritual solutions which He will readily give us if we ask him, and never resort to carnal ways, ever\u2014especially in the area of prophecy, or church administration, or ministry, or evangelism, or training programs, or worship, or child care …. <\/p>\n

<\/br><\/p>\n

Man\u2019s Ways ALWAYS Limit God<\/b><\/p>\n

So no, it is NOT OK to forbid prophecy in any area simply because we don\u2019t know how to deal with it. It\u2019s prophecy, for crying out loud!\u2014It\u2019s self correcting! <\/b>Just ask God to teach you how to manage the turbulence his sudden presence has caused! People instead just stare at it while the church splits! Maybe the split is the solution after all, and I hope you know which side you need to be on when it all comes down! In any case, God has the wisdom we need to solve any problem we face, especially the \u2018problem\u2019 of how to deal with him as an abiding presence in our churches. There are some problems you want to have, like having too much money, being too smart or too good looking. Having the \u2018problem\u2019 of God\u2019s presence in your church is exactly where you want to be. <\/b><\/p>\n

What I see is that when MAN is in charge of training God\u2019s prophets they ALWAYS put limits on what God is allowed to do\u2014Do you put limits on an unlimited God? Why would you think this is wisdom? To limit the chaos? To be safe? So people can learn man\u2019s ways first and later <\/i>after they are broken in they can learn God\u2019s ways instead? Do you really think that\u2019s going to work!?<\/p>\n

Having seen both sides, and what this kind of \u2018training\u2019 produces, I can say it is NOT God\u2019s wisdom to teach people Man\u2019s Ways in the church\u2014ever\u2014especially with regard to prophecy. Man\u2019s training makes wimps, yes-men under Man\u2019s control who are on a short leash and had better behave, or else!\u2014this does not produce vessels of honor fit for the Master\u2019s use, but house eunuchs obedient to man and clearly disobedient <\/i>to God. <\/p>\n

<\/br><\/p>\n

Jesus said to First Un-train the Prophets <\/b><\/p>\n

Lastly, after I left that sinking church God told me it was time to start the school. So I said, OK, what school? He said the School to Train the Prophets. We had a bit of a back-and-forth on this until I understood what he wanted me to do, and how to do it! He said he wanted me to train people to serve him as prophets, but the first training they needed was to be UNTRAINED. <\/p>\n

Untrained? <\/p>\n

Yes, he said, first we have to un-train them in the ways of man regarding the prophetic ministry they have been taught. <\/p>\n

Most or all of what I am sharing, teaching and discussing is to this end.<\/b> It is to first EXPOSE Man\u2019s ways affecting ministry, prophecy, the Kingdom, and whatever gift he gives us or role God lets us serve him in\u2014but for me yes it is especially concerning prophecy and serving God as a prophet. <\/p>\n

A time is coming and is already here when we NEED the prophets of God to stand up and take back what Man and Satan have stolen from them and us. <\/b>I think it is better to teach prophets to serve the Living God and sometimes that means, yes, they need to be taken off your leash, unlearn your rules, open the cage door\u2014and fly! You need, I need, WE ALL NEED people to walk in the real authority and power of God as Prophets in every area they are meant to walk in, <\/b>whether it be for warfare, or training, equipping or standing in authority over cities, teaching or ruling the nations: wherever God wants to use them for is what we need … or else if they do not, Satan will fill that vacuum which we have allowed Man\u2019s ways to create. The time has really come when we must let the Prophets speak,<\/b> to despise not prophecy, to not forbid the prophets from speaking … because if we believe in the Lord God we will be established and if we believe in his prophets we will be successful. Who wants to be a loser? Not I! So believe his prophets! And I say … Let Them Speak! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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