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| An Open Letter To Pastors | |
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| Topic Started: Aug 11 2008, 09:47 PM (122 Views) | |
| Chronicler | Aug 11 2008, 09:47 PM Post #1 |
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Wil, I beg your pardon if this is in the wrong section but it seemed the one most applicable. H. Dear Brothers: Early this morning I read a post on an internet forum by a very sincere and concerned Christian woman. The paragraph pertinent to this letter reads as follows: Pastor R___ is teaching on the gifts on the spirit. He was teaching on the gift of prophecy the other night and he said prophecy is to encourage and edify. I asked what he thought of the doom and gloom prophecies on America. Pastor R___ said that if God would allow America to fall he would have to apologize to Jesus. Jesus died for our sins and he died for all Americans to live in his grace. This is the age of grace not judgment. Someday judgment will come and that won't happen until the church is removed. Pastors, please listen to the many prophetic voices speaking out in this hour. To be sure, you must pray and hear for yourself but please do not dismiss what the watchmen, intercessors and prophets are saying. You know that prophecy is intended to encourage and edify and it is my belief these warnings are indeed encouragement and edification. Encouragement defined is to ‘give courage to or inspire with strength; embolden; to incite or animate.’ Edify is ‘building up; instructing; improving the mind.’ Is this not what the prophetic warnings are doing? Sent by God and delivered to prepare His people rather than leave them vulnerable and caught with their spiritual guard down? Whether judgment is a ‘smiting’ of the Lord or a removal of His hand of protection, I submit to you that I cannot see much of a difference. For God to remove His hand of protection on the life of an individual or an entire nation is terrifying in its implications. Without His protection we are, individually or collectively, made wholly vulnerable to attack from Satan and/or the intents of those held in his power to do evil. The lives of those you shepherd are at stake whether it be their personal relationships, financial ability to feed their families; literally in the severe possibilities of natural and man-made disasters; persecution for faith in Jesus Christ and a whole host of other variables. I know this subject brings flutterings and faintings to those who struggle with their faith and backlashes from board members but it is your God-given mandate to protect those in your care. To simply dismiss the now prolific warnings as the ravings of deceived doom and gloomers is, in itself a deception. A people prepared are those who have been on their faces before God in humility and deep penitence and can, therefore, hear the voice of the Lord for their protection and direction. Each of us must be doing this at this time. Truly, God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power and love and self-discipline. The message God is speaking to His Church today is telling us He is coming in glory and fire. Those prepared can rejoice in anticipation of this glory, all the while grieving due to the effects of the fire on those who have not been prepared spiritually. It is a time of travail; a time to importune the Almighty God in intercessory prayer. I know you understand the need to protect the ‘sheep’ only too well but please bear in mind that ignorance is not bliss nor will ignoring this make it go away. Give them the truth and they will hear it as the Holy Spirit speaks it to them. People may not want to hear but they need to hear the message of deep repentance and righteous living because without it they will be caught by the fire and miss the glory. Turn your Sunday morning service from its routine to a time of repentance and prayer because ‘those who claim they belong to the Lord must turn away from all wickedness.’ You know far better than I just how much wickedness there is in the lives of some you counsel--sins considered unmentionable in the past. Call them to repentance that they will qualify for protection under His sheltering wings in the day of disaster. His mercy to us all is so vast and unfathomable. Read the whole third chapter of Lamentations. Please don’t leave yourselves or your flock unprotected and unprepared. Listen as you go to your prayer closet and hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches. “My dear brothers and sisters, may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.” Most respectfully, Holly Cawfield |
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7:43 PM Jan 8