SNIPPET OF MY UPCOMING NEW BOOK, “IS YOUR PASTOR A SHEPHERD?”

My experience as a travelling minister for over 25 years to hundreds of churches all over the world has been overall very negative. The Bible speaks about many of the exact same wrong things I have encountered in the churches. 

Here are some examples:

Pastors, who in their greed make up clever lies of sowing seeds in exchange for financial breakthroughs and healing, only to get hold of people’s money. (See 2. Peter 2:3)

Pastors, who instead of caring for the congregation that God has entrusted them and making sure to be a good example of a true humble follower of Jesus Christ to them, instead control every aspect of the members’ lives - including their finances, by obligating them to pay tithes (10% of their income) and special offerings. Those who don’t tithe will be excluded from any ministering function in the church, because they are not seen as “faithful.” (See 1. Peter 5:2-3)

Pastors, who are preaching with deceit, impure motives, and trickery. They try to win you with flattery, pretending to be your friend just to get your money! (See 1. Thessalonians 2:3+5)

Pastors, who give special attention and a good seat to the rich person who comes into their church dressed in fancy clothes and expensive jewelry, while to the poor person, who is dressed in dirty clothes, they say, “You can stand over there, or else sit on the floor.” (See James 2:2-4)

Women pastors, who teach men and have authority over them, contrary to what the Apostle Paul instructed the church: “I do not let women teach men or have authority over them.” 1. Timothy 2:12 NLT

On several painful occasions, I have also experienced pastors, who love to be the leader, refusing to have anything to do with me and my wife and instead make up evil accusations against us for no reason at all. Not only do they refuse to welcome us, they also tell others not to help us! And if they do help us, these pastors kick them right out of the church! (See 3. John 1:9-10)

Sadly, most of the pastors I have dealt with do not have the gift, the calling, or the qualifications to be a shepherd - a true pastor! Many, who call themselves pastors, have no business shepherding people because their actual gift is that of a teacher, prophet, evangelist or other! Only those whose gift is to be a pastor (including the apostle, who operates in all the gifts) should be shepherding. If a man is pastoring without the specific gift of a pastor or apostle, he will not be able to lovingly shepherd/care for the people, but will instead end up wounding them! It is no wonder there are so many dysfunctional churches out there.

Here are the qualifications a pastor (also called a bishop) must have:

“He must be faithful to his wife. He must exercise self-control, live wisely, and have a good reputation. He must enjoy having guests in his home, and he must be able to teach. He must not be a heavy drinker or be violent. He must be gentle, not quarrelsome, and not love money. He must manage his own family well, having children who respect and obey him. For if a man cannot manage his own household, how can he take care of God’s church?

He must not be a new believer, because he might become proud, and the devil would cause him to fall. Also, people outside the church must speak well of him so that he will not be disgraced and fall into the devil’s trap.” 1. Timothy 3:2-7 NLT

A pastor must care for the flock that God has entrusted to him. He must watch over the people willingly, not grudgingly—not for what he will get out of it, but because he is eager to serve God. He should never lord it over the people assigned to his care, but lead them by his own good example. (See 1. Peter 5:2-3)

     

  

GOD DOES NOT GIVE WHAT YOU DESIRE, BUT WHAT HE DESIRES!

Scores of Christians falsely believe that God gives them all the desires of their hearts. They base this on the Old Testament passage in Psalms where it says, “Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart’s desires.” Psalm 37:4 NLT

But to shed more light on the above verse, the Bible says in the New Testament: “For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him.” Philippians 2:13 NLT

In other words, it is God who is working in you to give you the desire that is “His Desire” and the power to do what He wants. So, it is never about what you want, but what He predestined for you to accomplish for His glory’s sake! His desire becomes your desire, and that’s why you will always have the power - meaning His favor and blessing - to do whatever He desires for your life!

We can now also understand when David writes to, “Commit everything you do to the Lord.
Trust Him, and He will help you.” Psalm 37:5 NLT. This means, our desire must align with God’s desire, not the other way around!

That is why it also says, “And we are confident that He hears us whenever we ask for anything that PLEASES HIM! And since we know He hears us when we make our requests, we also know that He will give us what we ask for.” 1. John 5:14-15 NLT

To sum it up:

God only does and gives us what He desires for us, only that what pleases Him! 

Even Jesus Christ, our great example, prayed before He was about to be crucified, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from Me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” Matthew 26:39 NLT. He did what the Father wanted!

PRAYING DOWN THE HOLY GHOST FIRE ON PEOPLE IS UNBIBLICAL

It is the custom in especially the charismatic church circles to call down fire from heaven over the congregation or pray fire over someone. They also call it the “Holy Ghost Fire” prayer!

But did Jesus ever instruct His disciples to pray that way? No! He didn’t! It is just another of those deceptive foolish practices in church. Here are some Bible scriptures that are often being misused to justify the “Holy Ghost Fire” prayer.

Some interpret the appearance of fire as referring to the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was sent from heaven.

“On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place. Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them.” Acts 2:1-3 NLT

It is important to note here when it says, “what looked like flames or tongues of fire” is not literal fire. Does this really mean that we now should pray fire over people?

Then, there is this verse where John the Baptist testify about Jesus saying,

“But someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not worthy even to be His slave and carry His sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” Matthew 3:11 NLT

But the “fire” referred to here has to do with trouble or trials that a believer may have to experience!

The following scriptures confirms this:

“These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.” 1. Peter 1:7 NLT

“Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in His suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing His glory when it is revealed to all the world.” 1. Peter 4:12-13 NLT

“For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for Him.” Philippians 1:29 NLT

Now, does these above scriptures tell us to pray fire over people?

In the Old Testament, the prophet Elijah pronounced a curse over his enemies by calling down fire from heaven to consume them.

“But Elijah replied to the captain, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and destroy you and your fifty men!” Then fire fell from heaven and killed them all.” 2. Kings 1:10 NLT

In the New Testament, Jesus warned His disciples not to play with fire!

^“As the time drew near for Him to ascend to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. He sent messengers ahead to a Samaritan village to prepare for His arrival. But the people of the village did not welcome Jesus because he was on His way to Jerusalem. When James and John saw this, they said to Jesus, “Lord, should we call down fire from heaven to burn them up?” But Jesus turned and rebuked them.” Luke 9:51-54 NLT

Is there any reason to pray fire over people? This “Holy Ghost Fire” prayer is totally ridiculous!

REGARDLESS HOW LONG IT MAY TAKE, WE MUST LOSE WEIGHT!!!

It requires at least five to six months on a strict 1,200 calorie daily diet to lose 35lbs. (16 kg) of fat for good! And this is not what those famous diet books and programs are telling US. They promise two to four weeks to lose 35 pounds! That’s it! Obviously, that’s a big fat lie!

In reality, the first two weeks of weight loss represent primarily the reduction of undigested foods, fluids, and stools inside your gastrointestinal tract, but little or no actual body fat.

Weight loss is a challenging journey. If your environment is not supportive, or you are not in perfect health, or you lapse every so often into overeating, or you can’t give up on sweets or your favorite fatty foods and snacks, it may even take much longer to lose weight.

It is a well-known fact that obesity and being overweight pose a major risk for chronic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, stroke, and certain forms of cancer. The health consequences range from increased risk of serious chronic conditions, which reduce the overall quality of life, to premature death. Especially concerning, is the increasing obesity among children and teenagers.

Because our bodies belong to God, we must not violate His standards for living. That obligates us to take care of our body, which belongs to God, who created us for the purpose of honoring Him! Therefore, we must lose excess weight! For this reason, the Bible says the following about this subject:

“Don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.” 1. Corinthians 6:18-20 NLT

You may say, “I am allowed to do anything.” But I reply, “Not everything is good for you.” And even though “I am allowed to do anything,” I must not become a slave to anything. You say, “Food is for the stomach, and the stomach is for food.” 1. Corinthians 6:12-13 NLT

You say, “I am allowed to do anything” — but not everything is helpful. You say, “I am allowed to do anything” — but not everything is beneficial. 1. Corinthians 10:23 NLT

“Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you? God will bring ruin upon anyone who ruins this temple. For God’s temple is holy, and you Christians are that temple.” 1. Corinthians 3:16-17 NLT

“Whatever you eat or drink or whatever you do, you must do all for the glory of God.” 1. Corinthians 10:31 NLT

PROPHETIC JUNK

So many times over the years I received prophecies from well-known prophets, who predicted that I would go to Heaven and return on a regular basis and see God the Father and Jesus Christ and get great revelations and understanding of the Heavenly spheres and the angels. Yeah right!

We are living in a self-centered, narcissistic (Christian) culture where many, especially in the prophetic circles, are claiming and boasting about going to Heaven and having face-to-face encounters with God. This is a major trend nowadays! They tell you how glorious it was, how peaceful, how happy and comforted they were. They also like to brag about how they received privileges and were enlightened, and how many things they now perfectly understand from God’s kingdom. 

But the Bible clearly states the words of Jesus, who said:

“No one has ever gone to heaven and returned.” John 3:13 NLT

“No one has ever seen God.” John 1:18 NLT

We are warned in the Word about these false prophets who want to lead us astray. But we have received the Holy Spirit, and He lives within us, so we don’t need anyone to teach us what is true. For the Spirit teaches us everything we need to know, and what He teaches is true—it is not a lie! (See 1. John 2:26-27)

ANOTHER FALSE SCRIPTURE INTERPRETATION BY THE CHURCH

“And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of His return is drawing near.” Hebrews 10:25 NLT

Virtually every church and every pastor misuses this scripture to try to convince believers that they must not forsake going to church, otherwise it would be sinning against God. Many Christians are being guilt tripped by this false teaching. This verse has nothing to do with “you must go to church”!

But, it is absolutely wrong to use Hebrews 10 verse 25 in such a way! The Greek and the context simply does not support it, and when we understand the true meaning of this verse, the entire idea of "going to church" as something we must do entirely falls apart.

What Hebrews 10 verse 25 actually tells us, is not to neglect or forsake the promise and blessed hope of our gathering to Jesus Christ at His coming and not to be like others who forsake their hope in Jesus’ return!

That’s why it says, that we are to encourage one another the more we see the day of His return approaching!

JEWS ARE NOT SAVED BECAUSE THEY ARE GOD’S CHOSEN PEOPLE

Why? Because Jesus said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. NO ONE can come to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6 NLT

The “No One” Jesus refers to includes Jews and Gentiles. In other words, Jews, like everybody else are only being saved when they believe in Jesus Christ as their true Messiah! (There are many Jews who have accepted Yeshua, the Hebrew word for Jesus, as their Lord and Savior; they are called Messianic Jews.)

While individual Jews must come to Christ for salvation, God is still not finished with the people of Israel. The Bible says the following about this:

“Some of the people of Israel have hard hearts, but this will last only until the full number of Gentiles comes to Christ.  And so all Israel will be saved. As the Scriptures say, the one who rescues will come from Jerusalem, and He will turn Israel away from ungodliness.  And this is my covenant with them, that I will take away their sins.”

Many of the people of Israel are now enemies of the Good News, and this benefits you Gentiles. Yet they are still the people he loves because he chose their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For God’s gifts and his call can never be withdrawn.” Romans 11:25-29 NLT