Pastor In Torment For Unforgiveness And For The Love Of Money

 Bringing Your Disagreements Home

"You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Leviticus 19:18 NIV). "For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows" (1 Timothy 6:10 NIV).

I was commanded by the Lord to write this article after He gave us a revelation last week. This week's article will be brief and to the point. I pray we open our spiritual discernment and learn what the Lord is trying to teach us here.

Generally, life is not stress-free or free from quarrels and disagreements. This often takes place when there is an association or interaction. Furthermore, I have observed that, as people, our perceptions are often aligned with our experiences and emotional dispositions. Therefore, when that happens, it determines how we react to situations in general, and this cuts across cultural barriers. Therefore, what I'm trying to say is this: we would naturally side with people we love or are emotionally attached to, or even when we associate with, or if we don't want to feel out or be ostracised, disregarding even the disputed truth (Exodus 23:2).

As we know, in every quarrel or disagreement, the truth of the matter is being considered. Thus, the parties to the dispute will express strong views for or against the truth, and the 'emotionally wounded' party often takes the matter in dispute home and shares it with family, conveying his or her emotional appreciation of the matter and so creating a biased view in his or her support, leaving a dangerous one-sided opinion that has the potential of creating hateful feelings which is causing others to stumble and even corroding their priceless salvation.

Don't Encourage Family To Hate Or Dislike Those Who Oppose You

 A few months ago, a pastor friend and colleague of mine worked on a car of an elderly man who is a pensioner. He explained to us that he would not be able to afford the price we charged him, and that he was willing to repay us in terms. I agreed to the lesser amount and the terms he was offering, as we had his car, but my colleague sharply disagreed with me on both, which led him to harass me.

As it was, I rebuked him while reminding him of his ministry duty towards the elderly and the poor in the community (1 Timothy 5:1; Proverbs 19:17). After the word of correction I gave him, the elderly man paid us, and I texted him more than once to come fetch his share of the money without any reply from him until the day about a few weeks ago that I sadly learned of his passing.

Now, Brethren, the Lord has given us full permission to write about him, and some children of God might learn from this and escape dying with unforgiveness. The Lord revealed to us that he took our quarrel home to his wife and others, thus poisoning them negatively about me (Not that I'm more concerned about myself), and so generating hateful feelings in his family for others. 

Thus, in an open vision to my wife, Desiree, and in an audible voice, my pastor friend and colleague, in a place of torment, spoke to my wife to ask me to forgive him, which I did while he was still alive. 

In conclusion, Brethren, we should be careful what we take home to feed our families spiritually. We know that our mishappenings and quarrels with others affect them emotionally and spiritually. Even if we share with our families our daily struggles, we need to do so with clear intentions in the absence of ill feelings and to teach them to bear with others and to maintain a spirit of forgiveness. We should guard against being a stumbling block to our own families and encourage truthfulness, purity of heart, and tolerance for others (Romans 12:9-21).

Blessed Regards

Brother Glenn

Being A Faithful Christian

The Life of a Fruit-Bearing Christian

“So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another” (Romans 5:12 NKJV).

IMPORTANT UPDATE: THERE WILL BE A PROPHETIC MESSAGE POSTED ON OUR VISIONS PAGE IN THE NEXT FEW DAYS. PLEASE BE SURE TO CHECK IT OUT, AS IT WILL BE AVAILABLE WITHOUT NOTICE!

Some years ago, I closely followed the life and ministry of a man in Christ. For the sake of this article, we would call him Brother Jones (not his real name). When Brother Jones committed his life to the Lord in the early 1990s through his zeal and love for Christ, he moved the hearts of many brethren who lost their joy in the Lord by demonstrating to them the basic value of having faith and having a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Having been only a few months in the Lord, I remembered Brother Jones receiving answers to his prayers regarding some of his most critical and trying problems. The closer and more faithful a person walks with the Lord, the harder the trials become (2 Timothy 3:12), and the greater the JOY of the Lord.

Without the ‘permission’ of his pastor, Brother Jones took to the streets as a sole witness after having received a strong conviction through his reading of the Bible to obey the Lord in fruit-bearing (John 15:16). Generally, the Church's denominational spirit limits the effectiveness of individual Christians. I can recall a good few years ago, how a pastor rebuked me for going out witnessing without his permission. It must be mentioned an individual Christian represents Christ and the will of God (Matthew 7:21-23) and we should not be a stumbling block to those who exercise their faith through the Will of the Holy Spirit (Mark 9:38-41) that is why the bible says that each one will receive from the Lord the things he or she did in the body (Ephesians 6:8; 1 Corinthians 4:5). In other words, we will be judged as individuals for our works which will follow us (Revelation 14:13).

Using Talents To Garner Heavenly Rewards

Furthermore, as we have encouraged before in some previous articles, the Lord will not be pleased with any Christian who hides his or her talents behind the Church system (Matthew 25:14-27) which administers funds in a collective way to sponsor mission work or feed the hungry, we are individually called to bear fruit and bring glory to our Heavenly Father (Ephesians 1:11-14; John 15:16). We are still being challenged even in this late eleventh (11) hour (Matthew 20:6) to witness and be soul winners (Mark 16:15), to feed the hungry and clothe the naked (Matthew 25:35-40).

In conclusion, it is natural that when things get murky around us and out of desperation, we resort to complaining and when that happens fear appears and it chokes our faith and our joy in the Lord (Deuteronomy 8:2; Matthew 14:28-31). Consequently, this opens us up to sinning resulting in us disobeying the Lord (Romans 6:23). Now we cannot allow discouragement and the pressures of our times to ‘disconnect’ spiritually from Christ we need our faith and perseverance to outlast the challenges of our times. Let us, therefore, press on our redemption is most definitely at hand than when we first believed (Romans 13:11-12).

Blessed Grace

Brother Glenn

Be Gentle When Rebuking Others

Speaking From God’s Wisdom Does NOT Offend But Encourage

"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love" (Ephesians 4:2 NIV).

“Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above but is earthly, sensual, and demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace” (James 3:13-18 NKJV).

Important notice: The Lord gave us this message to write after members of our ministry and members of the body of Christ, in general, are being persecuted by their fellow 'Christian' brethren. The Lord is warning us not to wage war against each other. A true Christian employs the weapons of love, humility, and gentleness to embrace true unity in the body of believers.

The world as we know it is practicing violence, hatred, and every kind of sin the Bible warns against (Revelations 21:8). Scripturally, we learned that evil and deceit have been decreed by the Lord to continue until the end of time (Daniel 12:10; Matthew 13:30). When our Lord Jesus Christ visited the world, He brought a message of peace and reconciliation for all mankind (Luke 2:14; Colossians 1:20; Ephesians 2:16; 2 Corinthians 5:18-20). However, the Lord has given His Peace to ‘those with whom God is pleased’ and these are those who accepted Him as their Lord and who follow His teachings (Luke 2:14; John 14:27). Learning from the Holy Scriptures, the Christian message teaches us a lifestyle of being peace-loving, humble, caring, and gentleness (Ephesians 4:2). Additionally, in bringing forth the beautiful heart of the Lord, the Scriptures knowing the disobedient nature of human beings teach us to be patient with others and allow them to react without a compulsion to the will of God (2 Timothy 2:24; 2 Corinthians 9:7). In other words, when a person conforms voluntarily to the Word of God he or she simply agrees with the scriptural instruction(s) to obey and submit to the Voice of God (John 10:27).

Demeaning Others Is Demonic

Some time ago the Lord Jesus sharply rebuked a young man in our ministry who was in the habit of humiliating and talking down on others. The Lord said that even if we rebuke others we need not state it in anger and as if the other person(s) is nothing (2 Timothy 2:25; Galatians 6:1). Now, brethren, we are not writing this message as if we are sitting in judgment over others, in fact, we are being encouraged ourselves to watch our salvation and not to be a stumbling block to others (1 Corinthians 10:32; Romans 14:13-23). Furthermore, our message to others whether we rebuke, teach, preach or encourage ought to be in a meek and gentle spirit impacted by the purity of the wisdom from above (James 3:17-18).

In the same breath, the Bible asks, “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom” (James 3:13 NIV). Thus, if our conduct and speech towards our brothers or sisters are hostile, demeaning, and driven by anger, bitterness, and hateful feelings such behavior has its roots in evil and we know who is the source of evil (James 3:14-16). Therefore, a person who operates from evil motives is driven by a spirit of evil hate, and whatever unpleasant thought or word he or she conceives he attaches it to his victim with evil intent. If we operate from ‘such “wisdom” [then it] does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil’ (James 3:15 NIV).

Now, brethren, I am not trying to play victim or hero here. My intention is simply to share an experience that could help and benefit someone in his or her walk with the Lord. As a ministry, we are not only receiving encouraging emails and messages from brethren around the world, in fact, some people plainly display their hatred towards us albeit in a Christian tone (scriptural verses) but with the voice of the devil which is evident through the spirit of the message. 

We are going to be direct here, recently (24 July 2018) we received an email message from a former member of this ministry in fact a few such emails lately. In his discourse, the member did not hold back his thoughts, emotions, and what he thinks about us and our work in the Lord. At best, the spirit of love was absent and the voice of the Lord was silent we couldn’t hear it in that message as the ‘sulfur’ of insult and ridicule rained down on us. God forbids and may He help us love our fellow brethren and those who oppose our message. We emphasize a person has a right to disagree with a message, but when love is absent instead of correcting someone gently we do not fulfill the Lord's message of loving unconditionally (Romans 12:9-21; 13:8). Thus, if others condemn us and consider us a nuisance to life let us be comforted that the Lord Jesus Christ loves us more and He made us more than conquerors (Romans 8:37).

The Father Has Unconditional Love For The Rejected

After reading such content, we were left asking ourselves, what did we gain from this, edification or encouragement? NO! Instead, our peace and spirits were momentarily disturbed (Proverbs 15:1; 4). Thus our gain in that message was pain, hurt, and slander which caused us to long for some comfort, nothing pleasant to help us in the Lord (Hebrews 10:24). To put it blindly, we were made to feel that we are welcome to seek and serve the Lord and that we are not part of Him! O’ Lord Jesus Christ, we thank you for being a gracious and forgiving God who said, “Everyone whom my Father gives me will come to me. I will never turn away anyone who comes to me” (John 6:37 GNT). Brethren to get people saved, the Lord Exercises great patience with sympathetic love to invite sinners to Him (2 Peter 3:9; Luke 15:20). Now beloved brethren, if we are in the business of destroying the faith of others we are not gathering but scattering and being a stumbling to others (Matthew 12:30). Let us be warned, when our turn comes to appear before the Lord, He will Judge us for the souls He lost as a result of our ungodly actions (2 Corinthians 5:10).

In conclusion, with this message, we are not saying that we stand above this message but in submission to the Lord, we accept whatever scriptural correction to obtain maturity in Christ and to be useful in service to His body. In addition, there will be a follow-up message to this one during next week or the week(s) thereafter.

As always, we would like to extend an invitation to anyone who does not know the Lord Jesus Christ yet, or if you are not born again, to pray our suggested prayer on this link Prayer of Sincere Repentance by faith and follow the Lord (Matthew 4:19). You may also contact us for any questions or comments about this article or our ministry.

With Love from all of us

Brother Glenn

Being Delivered To Forgive

Forgiveness Is A Gift

Have you ever found yourself in a position where you begged God to help you forgive someone? 

That was my fate. I found myself in pain, asking God how someone else had the privilege of hurting me, and I had to be the one to put in the work. But that's where his Grace comes through. Believe it or, I had sleepless nights over this. My Father in Heaven forgives me every day, multiple times, and I needed to forgive once. Once.

There is no set instruction manual on how to forgive others. Like Faith, I believe forgiveness is a gift from God. No one can teach you how to forgive or help you. One doesn't even know the exact moment when forgiveness flows in your heart.

I moved to another country and was treated very badly on my third day here. I cried constantly, asking God to take me out of that situation. And he did. What I didn't know was the open wound that was left after I was taken out of that situation. I felt pain, guilt, anger, and more pain. I told my family how I felt. I vented to my friend that I can't seem to let go of these negative feelings towards the people who hurt me, and they couldn't help me. Yes, they gave me words of comfort, but I needed to be freed. 

See, these people were trapped in my heart. Every time I thought of them, I would cry. That's how much pain I felt. Then the Holy Spirit spoke to me and told me that I can't seek help from people. This is spiritual. Just like Physical pain needs Physical attention. My spiritual pain needed spiritual attention. (Matthew 18:21-22.)

In addition, we read in (Proverbs 17:9 NIV) "Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends".

 

And it all leads to Love. Forgiveness is given by He who is Love. Only God can help us forgive and thus forgive our transgressions. (Ephesians 1:7-8.)

"He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins".

Blessed Regards

Charis Van Rooyen