Truth can actually hurt people rather than help them and heal them, if it's spoken in the wrong spirit. Jesus warned his disciples to be careful to discern what spirit they were walking in -  "But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, you know not what manner of spirit you are of".

A prophecy can be accurate, and yet, if spoken in the wrong spirit, can do great harm. A rebuke or correction, if not done in love and in the spirit of meekness, can harm rather than help. Satan spoke truth to Jesus -  but it would have greatly harmed Jesus, if he had taken it to heart, and obeyed that truth, when spoken by Satan, for Satan was not "rightly dividing" nor discerning the Word of God, correctly.  If we speak truth from a proud and arrogant heart, it can have the opposite effect on the hearer. It can drive them away from Christ,  rather than draw them to Him. It can wound them, if not spoken of with humility and love. Some stand on a street corner and shout at the people passing by -  "REPENT! Turn from your sin or perish and burn in hell forever!" This is truth. But if they're standing there, proud of themselves that they're "obeying God" and "doing evangelism " but they don't really love the poor souls passing them by, then they're wasting their time. People can sense their pride, their "I'm better than you" attitude. "i'm saved, I'm holy - and you're not", but say those same words with tears in their eyes, as they weep for the lost, say them with compassion and love, and see people respond quite differently. "That the righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit" We must walk after the Spirit of love, gentleness,  meekness,  longsuffering,  faith and joy, etc., for against such there is no law but the perfect law of liberty in Christ Jesus- and when people taste of that fruit  -  the fruit of the Spirit of Truth, when they hear the truth wrapped in the fruit, it makes it much more palatable.  Amen. It tastes the way it should. When Satan speaks it, it leaves a bad taste in our hearts. Not only should we discern what spirit we are of, but we should also discern what spirit others are walking in, and talking in, also.

 "And Moses said to God, Behold, when I come to the children of Israel, and shall say to them, the God of your Father's has sent me to you; and they shall say to Me, What is His name? What shall I say to them? And God said to Moses, I AM THAT I AM.

And The Lord spoke to me, and He said, tell My people I am THAT, I am

I am your healer, I AM!

I am your savior, I am!

I am your deliverer, I am!

I am the King of kings, I am!

I am the Lord of lords, I am!

I am your provision, I am!

I am The Great Shepherd, I am!

I am the Bread of Life, I am!

I am the Book of Life, I am!

I am the Water of Lige, I am!

I am the Lily of the Valley, I am!

I am the Rose of Sharon, I am!

I am whoever or whatever you need at this very moment, I am!

For each moment inhabits eternity 

and each moment was designed by Me

to reveal My glory to those who know Me,

I am all sufficient, all knowing, all powerful,  all AUTHORITY,  I AM!

 Somewhen

You're gonna find you've been

given a new mind.

Somewhen

you're gonna find

you've gone

to that place

where you can't hide

from His face

and where you can

understand 

this song.

Your when is coming-

Your when is near,

your time to breathe in

the atmosphere 

of Heaven

come to earth

The purity

of new birth

The value of

your worth

The chains removed

God's will proved

to be true

Your heart will dance again 

like it did when you were ten  -

Your soul will hope anew

because of Çhrist inside of you.

Your new chapter's begun,

your bonds arevall undone

with childlike wonder 

       my friend

                 because of your somewhen

Somewhen 

is blowin'

Gonna take the seeds you're sowin'

and it's not gonna stop

till you harvest your crop.

Somewhen 

is blowin' strong

gonna come along

put you in this song

till all ashes

till all pains

He gently takes

till all that remains 

are His will and His ways

and you've become 

as Light floods in

what Love's begun

                                                     Somewhen 

 On December 20th, 2017, i wrote the following.  Sadly, it's coming to pass with the current administration in office and in light of what Disney is doing. Sometimes i hate it when I'm right.

"The next Holocaust - the next mass assault by the enemy, will be on purity and innocence itself - abortions have been going on for years, desensitizing us to this wicked spirit's presence among us, now it will attack all things pure, virgins and the very concept of virginity; children, innocent of evil, he will seek to expose them to evil at as young an age as possible,  to pervert them and twist them. Anyone purified by the blood of the Lamb, sanctified by the Holy Spirit's presence.....the very Bride of Christ herself will now be his primary target. An all out assault is beginning like we've never seen before - prepare yourselves.

 Question:  Is it ok to proclaim God's power and glory in songs and sermons but not allow it in our lives? Is it ok to declare Him to be the God of the miraculous yet never witness Him performing a single miracle? Is it ok to never participate in the miraculous with Him? Is He awesome in our songs alone or is he awesome in our lives too?

"What does it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath Faith, and have not works? Can faith save him? Show me your faith without your works, and i will show you my faith BY MY WORKS."

Standing in a church service and loudly proclaiming "what a mighty God we serve" does absolutely nothing to build up our credit rating in Heaven. God is not all impressed with words alone -  it's deeds that impress Him."Preach the Gospel,  and use words if you must." So many are content to stand in church once a week and sing about our "Awesome God", and "Amen" the pastor as he declares God's glory and power, yet examine their daily lives and He is nowhere to be found. His will is not being done. 

God, deliver us from our own hypocrisy. Deliver us from the evil of "religion" - wherein we can talk about you -  what You did and even what You can do, but never believe to the point where we see you do it - You, oh God, remain only words on a page, not The Word in our hearts. Let us not cease to rend our hearts till we see real change in us, and You, oh Jesus, are allowed to express your faith in Our Father, in us, to do His will, and Father, all You do is miraculous. All You do for us, to us, and through us, daily, is miraculous! I'm looking for miracles everyday  I'm allowed to remain alive on this earth, Father, for the supernatural is our natural state of being. It's the lack of the miraculous that isn't normal. It's unbelief and "little faith" that is out of whack, out of alignment with God's Word, with the reality of His existence in us. I'm being vaccinated against unbelief and the ability to settle for mediocrity each day....no more! Lord, I want my miracles! Every day! Big or small, I'll take them all! I want all You have for me. I want my "greater works". I don't want an empty faith, full of empty works, any longer. I want my father Abraham's type of faith. I want to show i believe Your Word by my actions, like when we moved to Ireland.  "You see then how that by works is a man justified, and not by faith only; for as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also" - Lord, I'm looking for my miracle tomorrow, and the next day, and the next, Hallelujah! Amen! Open my eyes to see the miracles I've missed and the missed opportunities I've had when i should have performed a miracle.

 The Holy Spirit really is like the conductor of a large Orchestra. The more instruments he has available to him - the greater the symphony, the more magnificent the sound, the more pleasure and honor the Father receives. Solos should be the exception, not the norm, when so many instruments are available. Imagine a mighty Orchestra,  with hundreds of wonderfully varied instruments, each finely tuned. Now picture the venerated Conductor- standing before them all. He lifts his wand and begins to conduct- yet only a single instrument sounds forth, and continues to sound. What was meant to be a symphony of many voices joined together as one seamless sound, is reduced to one instrument, no matter how skillfully played, no matter how skillfully played, if that lone instrument continues to be the only one heard, what a waste of time and talent, the conductor's, as well as the other instrumentalists.

In Irish pubs, across Ireland, they have what's called a "Session". This is when various musicians gather together in joyous celebration of their Irish heritage, set to music. They're quite talented. The thing is, anyone is welcome to join in, as long as you can keep up! Church should be this way. Anyone is welcome to join in the ministry of the moment,  as long as they can keep up, i.e. flow with the Holy Spirit like everyone else. Guest musicians welcome! 

There is a music video i love. I play it for my students all the time. It takes place in an outdoor park in Boston. It's entirely instrumental. It shows three men, two violins and a cello, preparing to give an outdoor performance together,  when, to their surprise, three other musicians begin playing the song they were about to play, and they're playing the same instruments! And they're all children! What do the first three do? Get offended? Hey, they are one-upping us, stealing our thunder! But no, they glance at each other, shrug their shoulders,  and join in! Seamlessly,  wonderfully, all six begin to play together,  and the result is wonderful! This video is a prophetic vision of how church services should be. Younger ministers, even children, should be free to minister alongside older, more mature ministers, even beginning and leading the service! Instead of shutting them up, we should join them -  anyone the Holy Spirit anoints should be welcome to minister, and get this, the song they're playing in the video is "shake it off" by Taylor Swift. I'm not a fan of hers, but this one song has a message we should all hear and take heed to. 

Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty, there is freedom, and there "everyone of you hath"

Last thought, take note, the Holy Spirit should be the Conductor of every service,  not the pastor. 

Anytime you go anywhere,  from point A to point B, you gotta know the way - or be with someone who knows the way. If you don't know the way and someone else takes you where you need to go, after a while, after a few times, you should know the way yourself.  You should be able to go there without assistance. 

Spiritually,  to go to Heaven, you have to know "The Way" - Jesus himself, personally.  Now, if you don't know "The Way", then you need to know someone who does (many claim to, who don't), and they can show you "The Way". "I am The Way", Jesus said. After being with someone who knows the way, after they've shown you "the way", soon enough you should know "the way" yourself. You won't need them to show you "The Way" anymore - You can show others "the way".

But the journey to Heaven is a long one. Heaven finds us, lives in us, true, but we're all on a journey to Heaven on the outside of us too. Our path to Heaven is a life-long journey and on really long journey's it's much more enjoyable with company. Sometimes one drives, other times another does. Whoever knows "The Way" is capable of leading from time to time.

Birds practice this leadership model. When they fly in formation, over great distances (like our aforementioned life's journey), they follow a leader (who knows the way), until he tires, then another will take his place because the lead bird expends the most strength and energy. Those who follow use his wing's draft to help themselves along. Mountain climbers do the same. Only the most experienced climbers take point, choosing just the right path to follow. If they tire, another experienced climber will take over.

The point is - there's no need in any company of believers for one man to lead all the time, indeed, it isn't wise. Anyone who is following Christ is capable of leading others, after they've reached a certain level of maturity.  "Follow me as i follow Christ", Paul said. Neither did Paul establish and lead a fellowship personally. He never stayed in any one place and kept the people submitted to and following only him. No! He urged Timothy to appoint elders  - experienced climbers who knew "The Way", in every church, not one man but a plurality of elders, all who were capable. They all took turns leading, esteeming each other more highly than themselves, heeding each other's counsel, but with the goal of showing others The Way, that they too could then take up the mantle of leadership and lead others. We're not meant to ever be the sole leader in any fellowship but rather we're meant to nurture and raise up a company of leaders, Hallelujah! 

Amen.