As we end 2011 and at the end of every year, I have been experiencing a special sensitivity that accommodates in my spirit: a reflection of the year that is departing and an excitement and word of direction for the year that is arriving. This time, for me, is a time of taking inventory of where I am, what has happened, where I am going and what I need to do.

I am not a writer that has to write a certain amount of articles a weeks, a month, etc. I write only when I feel in my spirit a prompt requirement to do so. The last couple of days, guided by the Holy Spirit, I have been studying the seven churches given to us in Revelation, chapter two and three.

I have no doubt that the descriptions given to us in Revelation are not only of seven kinds of churches, but also a personality profile of the seven kinds of Christians out there. As we take a closer look at these seven churches I hope that we all can take an inventory of the kind of Christians that we are and the kind of local churches we are a part of. I hope that this series will challenge us to strive to be what the Lord wants us to be and I hope that we will be willing to question what we are a part of and what we so commonly accept as the truth.

TO BE CONTINUED…

“A Look at the Attack Against the Prophetic Sound”

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is designed by God to
change us. The manifestation of the gift of prophesies will change us. We can
clearly see that Christian music carried an unbelievable responsibility. All
these great Prophets spoke the Word of God as they listened to musical
instruments being played in a skillful and anointed way. But it is sad to say
that in many churches, the Musical Worship is limited to a few songs; if
anybody dares to sing too loud, to expand the song too much, to jazz the music
up, to explore other styles or to say anything other than what the song is
saying, we are frowned upon. We are locked in a one fast song, two slow songs,
the offering and here comes the Man of God with the Word, routine. Musical
Worship, in many churches, is annoying to hear. It gets worse when the pastor
doesn’t have any understanding or ear for music and even worse when he is
completely insensitive to the move of the Spirit. What do we have left; some
dry-behind service where people are bored to death and the Spirit is not
allowed to move freely?

But, get ready, for many will be truly baptized in the
Holy Spirit and the Fire of God will burn everything that is not of God in
their lives as individuals and in our churches. Get ready, for God is releasing
new music to the Body of Christ for whosoever seeks Him. The music will be
beautiful, it will be powerful, it will be played skillfully, it will be
anointed and it will carry the healing power of God’s Word. May the Lord
baptize us, over and over; in the baptizing of fire, let us all speak in
tongues for our own edification; but, let us all prophesy for the edification
of the Body.

“A Look at the Attack Against the Prophetic Sound”

          The
Baptism of the Holy Spirit is key in all aspects, but vital in the ministry
of music. I strongly believe that God’s musicians and singers are more than
just entertainers; I strongly believe that God’s musicians and singers ought to
be some of the most powerful people walking this earth right now. I am also
taking a risk by saying that as musicians and singers, we are being attracted
by Secular Music to the point that we have lost our intimacy with God;
therefore, we are no longer seeking heaven for new music, sounds, songs,
styles, melodies, etc. We are looking at the world and we are always a few
steps behind in creativity.

When was the last time that the church made a life
changing musical contribution to the world? We look at the Secular Music and we
see the creation of Salsa, Jazz, Latin Jazz, Rap, R&B, Reggae and many
others. We then come right behind them and add Christian to the music they
invented. Don’t we serve a mighty God? How far have we fallen from the
God-giving, transforming power of music!

Important portions of the Bible, the most powerful book
in the world, were written by anointed men as they listened to the sounds of
anointed musicians. We read the Word today, but how would you have loved to be
the musician that played the harp while Elisha prophesized? What an amazing
honor!

“Elisha
said, ‘As surely as the LORD Almighty lives, whom I serve, if I did not have
respect for the presence of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would not pay any
attention to you. ¹⁵ But now bring me a harpist.’

While
the harpist was playing, the hand of the LORD came on Elisha ¹⁶ and
he said, ‘This is what the LORD says: I will fill this valley with pools of
water. ¹⁷ For this is what the LORD says: You will see neither wind
nor rain, yet this valley will be filled with water, and you, your cattle and
your other animals will drink” (2 Kings 3:14-17)

            Anointed music and
Prophesy walk hand by hand through the writing of the Word of God. Anointed
music has a way of releasing the Word of The Lord. Elisha specifically, asked
for a harpist and then the word was released. This seemed to be a common practice
for prophets in these days. Let’s take a look at another powerful reference to
the Biblical reality of the gifts of music and the gift of prophesy walking
together. First
Samuel 10:1-12 tells us:

“¹ Then Samuel took a flask of olive oil
and poured it on Saul’s head and kissed him, saying, ‘Has not the LORD anointed
you ruler over his inheritance? ² When you leave me today, you will
meet two men near Rachel’s tomb, at Zelzah on the border of Benjamin. They will
say to you, ‘The donkeys you set out to look for have been found. And now your
father has stopped thinking about them and is worried about you. He is asking, ‘What
shall I do about my son?’

³ ‘Then you will go on from there until you reach the great
tree of Tabor. Three men going up to worship God at Bethel will meet you there.
One will be carrying three young goats, another three loaves of bread, and
another a skin of wine. ⁴ They will greet you and offer you two
loaves of bread, which you will accept from them.’

⁵ ‘After that you will go to Gibeah of God, where there
is a Philistine outpost. As you approach
the town, you will meet a procession of prophets coming down from the high
place with lyres, timbrels, pipes and harps being played before them, and they
will be prophesying. ⁶ The Spirit of the LORD will come powerfully
upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a
different person. ⁷ Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever your
hand finds to do, for God is with you.’

⁸ ‘Go down ahead of me to Gilgal. I will surely come
down to you to sacrifice burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, but you must
wait seven days until I come to you and tell you what you are to do.’

⁹ “As Saul
turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul’s heart, and all these signs were
fulfilled that day. ¹⁰ When
he and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a procession of prophets met him; the
Spirit of God came powerfully upon him, and he joined in their prophesying. ¹¹
When all those who had formerly known him saw him prophesying with the
prophets, they asked each other, “What is this that has happened to the son of
Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?”

¹² “A man who lived there answered, ‘And who is their
father?’ So it became a saying: ‘Is Saul also among the prophets?’

            Beloved, as we read
these verses, I see a powerful Old Testament version of the Baptism of the
Holy Spirit. Verse 6 tells us, “The Spirit of the LORD will come powerfully
upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a
different person.” So, we see a few things here worth re-evaluating:

1. We see anointed musicians.
2. We see prophets manifesting their gifts.
3. We see Saul prophesying.
4. We see Saul’s heart changed.

TO BE CONTINUED…

“A Look at the Attack Against the Prophetic Sound”

Many churches across America are dead; there is
no Fire, no Presence of God, no anointing…nothing supernatural! People are bored
to death of the same songs, Sunday after Sunday; the same prepackaged sermons
with such display of history, Greek and Hebrew knowledge, but no anointing that
would break the yoke out of people’s lives. We have substituted God’s glory for
great buildings, fund raisers, networking and programs. The Pastors are not
listening to what the Lord is saying; they are focused on the vanity of their
own hearts. They want to be on the radio, they want to be on TV, they want to
sell books, and they want to expand their little buildings and their own
selfish and ungodly agendas. Everything becomes about them and they walk around
carrying their unchallenged and unconfirmed personal words in the name of “God
told me!”

“When Paul placed his hands on
them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.”
(Acts 19:6)

            Beloved, there is no
baptism in the Holy Spirit without the prophetic word; we have embraced the
speaking in tongues in some denominations, but these very same denominations have
turned their backs on the prophetic voice. It seems like the only one able to
speak on God’s behalf is the senior pastor and if you dare to challenge what he
is presenting to you; you stand as a rebellious person; little by little they
will find a way to discredit and silence you. These pastors usually surround
themselves with people that they can easily manipulate; therefore, every
selfish desire that crosses their hearts go unchallenged. Second Corinthians
13:1 tells us:

“This will be my third visit to
you. ‘Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three
witnesses.’

            This Bible verse
reminds us that everything that we say must be challenged in order to be
established as a God “thing.” Notice that this verse is not telling us that
every matter must be established by the agreement of two or three witnesses;
but by their testimony. It is easy for us to find people who agree with us. As
a matter of fact, the Bible tells us that in the last days, people will
surround themselves with people that will say exactly what they want to hear.
Challenges will not be allowed. We always look at this verse of 2 Timothy 4:3
from the point of view of the sheep, but I want you to look at it from the
point of view of pastors who are surrounding themselves only with people that
agree with them. But, thank God for Acts 19:6, because there we see that
whomever agrees with you must back up his decision with tangible testimonies
that can clearly point to the conclusion that the word was indeed, a God “thing.”

The Bible tells us in First Corinthians
14:1-5:

“¹ Follow the way of
love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy. ²
For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to
God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit. ³
But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort. ⁴ Anyone who
speaks in a tongue edifies themselves, but the one who prophesies edifies the
church. ⁵ I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I
would rather have you prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one
who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be
edified.”

            The prophetic voice
edifies the church by strengthening, encouraging and comforting the saints.
This is why the attack against the prophetic sound has been so, effective; by
quieting the prophetic voice in our churches, we have a lot of weak, discouraged
and hurt people. The Apostle Paul tells us: “I
would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you
prophesy.” Some people think, “we rather speak in tongues; no one understands anyway; and let’s just
quiet that prophesy.” All of this
is taking place because of the control issues of many of our leaders,
especially within the charismatic sector. Every word that comes out that is not
in line with the selfish desires of their hearts is automatically labored as
not from God and if you insist on speaking what the Lord is saying, soon you
will be labored as disrespectful, rebellious and someone who has not learned
submission.

The enemy has done a
remarkable job in quieting the prophet in the pulpit; but the attack does not
stop there.

TO BE CONTINUED…

“A Look at the Attack Against the Prophetic Sound”

Some denominations place too, much emphasis in the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Yes,
speaking in tongues is, in part, evidence of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. However, speaking in tongues
becomes their focus! Let’s take a look at the book of Acts 19:1-6, because
it is here that they are falling terribly short.

“While
Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at
Ephesus. There he found some disciples and asked them, ‘Did you receive the
Holy Spirit whenyou believed?’

They
answered, ‘No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.’

So
Paul asked, ‘Then what baptism did you receive?’

‘John’s
baptism,’ they replied.

Paul
said, ‘John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to
believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.’ On hearing this, they
were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul placed his hands on
them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and
prophesied.”

 We must point out that Paul is speaking with a group of believers here. These verses show us that we
can be a born again Christian without being baptized in the Holy Spirit. The
Baptism of Repentance comes from man (Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance). The Baptism of the
Holy Spirit comes from the Holy Spirit. One is natural and one is supernatural. The Born Again and the Baptism of the
Holy Spirit are two completely different experiences. This group of Christians,
like many groups today, was completely ignorant of the manifestation of the
Holy Spirit; this is without a doubt, a tragic reality! A half truth is nothing
but a lie. That is what I feel is happening with the teaching of the baptism
of the Holy Spirit; we have given people a lie!

Establishing as doctrine that the evidence of receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit is by
speaking in tongues, is a half truth, therefore it is also, a lie. The Bible tells
us in these verses that:

“…When
Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in
tongues and prophesied.”

Can you see it? It is not only about speaking in tongues; it is about the supernatural gift of
prophesying. The word prophesied here means: “speak forth,” “proclaim,” “announce.”

However, the office of the Prophet has been attacked from the very
beginning; why? Because, the Prophet is speaking God’s Word and deep inside, as
our ways are not God’s ways, we are resisting allowing God to be in control. No
other office challenges Men’s agendas’ and ideas’ more than the office of the
Prophet. I am willing to bet that many of the people that are discouraged and
hurt in the church are people with strong prophetic voices. When you have a
pastor with selfish agenda’s, the last person he wants to hang around with is a
Prophet that will read his mail and let him know not only of his stupidity, but
also of what the Lord has to say.

TO BE CONTINUED…

“A Look at the Attack Against the Prophetic Sound”

            It amazes me how spiritually dry some church services
are. I am also equally amazed concerning how out-of-touch some of our leaders
are from the Holy Ghost’s Presence. It seems like their focus is completely strayed
of what is truly important. Their focus is on the size of their buildings, how
broke they really are and how they can manipulate people into giving more money
to keep their ministries alive.

Pastors
have indeed, become business men and experts in fund raising activities and
networking. They are praying very little, they are worshipping very little; and
yet, they are out there doing a million things on their own strength. Many of
us can do great and mighty things on our own strength; even as those abilities
were giving by God. It does not take them supernatural manifestation or anointing
to get things done; they just exercise their God-given gifts.

The
last time I checked, Oprah Winfield and Donald Trump are not Christians; but there
is no doubt that these two individuals have achieved much in life. The people
that were building the Tower of Babel were doing so, without God’s approval or
strength. It took God himself to come down and stop their project. So, much of
what many ministries are achieving is not really by God Will; it is just their
own natural abilities in action.

With
this short, five part series, I want to take a closer look at the Baptism of
the Holy Spirit. I want to address the attack against the manifestation of the
Prophetic Gift and its detrimental results in the church.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Going deeper into the discussion, I see that we could find ourselves in a place of holding a great position of authority with no authority, whatsoever. All authority comes from God; God will give you the authority before giving you the title. A title without God’s authority is just that…a worthless title.

Our society; and sad to say, but our churches also; are fill with men with great titles. It seems like everywhere we look everyone carries the title of Bishop, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor, Apostles or Doctor, right before their name. In many cases, these are titles without the authority of God. We have the tendency to go after what is easier! As tough as it may sound, many prefer to go through a seminary or a Christian College and work on their degrees before they are willing to submit to the authority of God. The authority of God requires going through the process of being faithful in following. Joshua would have never had the authority to lead the children of Israel into Egypt without first following Moses.

The authority of God is the anointing of God and it flows in our submission to HIS authority. People were able to see that Jesus spoke with authority and not like the Pharisees who had no authority from God (Luke 4:32).  Many are preaching, jumping up and down, asking for amens, requesting witnesses for every word they say, wearing two thousand dollar suits; with titles from Jacksonville to New York. Even as they are entertaining many; what they are saying has no life changing power, no conviction and no real submission to Jesus…they are just talking a little louder than usual. We have become seminary experts in the art of Christian Motivational Speakers. Jesus had so much authority that he told his disciples, “Follow me!” and they followed. No need for anything more, no drama and no theatrical and emotional performance. You want that kind of power? James 4:4 gives you the formula:

“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

Many of us want to experience the spectacular act of seeing the devil fleeing from us; but we will never have that kind of authority until we learn to submit ourselves to God; until we learn to resist the devil and not follow him every time it feels good to the flesh. You want the title? It is easy; you can go back to school; with enough influence, you can get an honorific title, you can buy one or just start a ministry and give yourself whatever title you want. However, if you want Authority, then go after God with all of your heart. Men can give you a title, but man will never be able to give you authority; authority comes only from God.

“1 Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. 4 For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 

            Is everybody in position of authority a servant of the Living God? Can a leader, who openly denies God, be in that position to do you good? In these verses we even see a verse that states that, “…rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you.” However, we know of governments, even now, that have institutionalized persecution against God’s people. Are these God’s servants? Are they in place to do what is good? No they are not; they serve the same father that the Pharisees served…Satan himself!

            The key word here is “authority.” Authority means, among other things, “Power.” I believe that we are confusing Authority with Titles and positions. The true prophets in the Old Testament showed very little regard for kings and dignitaries that were known for not honoring God; they were very aware that some of these leaders had the position, but did not carry the authority that only comes from God. In John 19:9-11, we see a window to a greater understanding of this topic:

“9 and he went back inside the palace. ‘Where do you come from?’ he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. 10 ‘Do you refuse to speak to me?’Pilate said. ‘Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?’ 11 Jesus answered, ‘You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above…’”

So, in this journey of gaining to get a better understanding of authority we must conclude that all authority is given by God; which means that we can have the title and not necessarily the authority. Absalom, one of King David’s sons, was power-hungry and he became a king to the point of having his own father running from him. Absalom, for a short period of time, carried the title, but he never had the authority. For the ones that know the story, Absalom ended-up being killed in battle. That is a typology of what happens with folk that operate without God’s authority. Later, we are able to clearly see that it was indeed Salomon who was next in line to carry on the authority that rested on his father’s shoulders.

David was a man of great authority, but he needed to go through the process of, honoring a man that literally wanted to kill him; even as he was forced to run for his life at the hands of Saul. We are able to see, as we study the lives of the kings of Israel, that the closer and more faithful they were to God, the more authority they carried in leading the nation to great seasons of revival. The more they rebelled against God, the more they lose that same authority and suffer much at the hands of their own enemies.

TO BE CONTINUED…