When we look at the church, we must ask ourselves what we are really accomplishing.  Is there a way to know if what we do is really what it is supposed to be done?  Jesus said in Luke 7:35 (ESV) —  Yet wisdom is justified by all her children.”   Another translation puts it this way, “Well, the proof of wisdom is in all the kinds of people it produces.” (CJB) And yet another says, “And wisdom is vindicated by all her children.” (LEB) So all we need to do, based on this Scripture, is look at the fruit of our wisdom and see if it looks like God or man.

When we look at the actions and behavior of the church, we see many examples of ways to “do church.”   But what are we accomplishing, and is it producing the fruit of its Builder, Jesus?  If we look at what Jesus did while He was on earth, we should be doing the same and seeing the same results. (John 14:12)   He healed the sick, preached the good news of the Kingdom, demonstrated to His disciples the power of the Kingdom, and overall, what Jesus did can be summed up in 1 John 3:8 The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.   Do we understand this truth that, in a nutshell, the reason Jesus came was to destroy the works of the devil?   So, everything we do, as a representative of His church, should in some way be destroying the works of darkness.  Jesus gave His disciples a huge object lesson in Mt. 16 when He walked with them for 32 miles to bring them to a place called The Gates of Hades at Caesarea Philippi.   Do we understand the significance of this location and that it was at the base of Mt. Hermon?   Do we understand this was the place of Genesis 6, retold in Enoch 1-36, where the sons of God plotted against God and brought evil into the earth?  Jesus was making a statement about the purpose of His church (ekklesia) and not just taking His disciples on an afternoon walk.  We may forget that the Kingdom of Heaven forcefully advances and the gates of defense that hell uses will not prevail against His church. (Mt. 11:12; Mt. 25:16-18) The church is not nor has it ever been a passive force in the earth.

Can we ask in all that we do as His church if we are in some way destroying the works of the devil?   Having Sunday services does not necessarily mean that we are destroying the works of the darkness.   Are concerts and conferences really making a difference?   Are cities being transformed?   Are people being set free from demonic oppression?   Are the sick being healed? Are people living more righteous lives?  What are we doing?  Can we say when we leave our churches on Sunday that, in some way, the works of the devil were affected by our coming together?   My professor at Gordon Conwell, Dr. Wayne Goodwin, said once, “Most churches could stop doing 90% of everything they do and not affect the Kingdom of God.”   I fear his number may be low.   Why?  Do the children or fruit produced by the church’s wisdom vindicate that wisdom?

Is the average church now relegated to a weekly gathering where we sing 3 songs, say a cursory prayer, take up an offering, and then listen to a carefully scripted message that makes us feel good for a moment, but still we are not motivated to go out and BE the church?  We often find that the end purpose in many churches is the church service rather than the church being activated to destroy the works of the devil.  And, Monday, is it back to life as usual, where we are consumed with making a living so we can breathe in and out for 6 days until we come back the next week and start all over again?

We may do many good things.   We may feed the hungry, but do we teach people how to eradicate hunger?  Is the gospel so monetized that a dollar bill is attached to every “word from the Lord?”   Are we anticipating the Prophet of the hour rather than teaching people how to hear from the Holy Spirit for themselves and walk in His power rather than another person’s shadow?  A church’s presence in a city does not guarantee that the powers of darkness are being destroyed there.   Many cities are filled with mega churches, so if the presence of a church means the works of darkness are being destroyed, we should be seeing different results.   For example, Pew Research shows that Jacksonville, Florida, has 12 mega churches serving 1.6 million people.  The population of Jacksonville in 2025 was only 1.02 million, yet violent crime in Jacksonville shows a 1 in 80 likelihood compared to 1 in 386 in the rest of Florida.  (bestplaces.net) The concern is not the number of megachurches or the number of people they serve, but their effectiveness in what they are doing.   Jacksonville is just one example.   And, these questions must be asked of any church, large or small.  Where are the results, as we saw in Wales and the Hebrides, where the crime rate dropped to almost zero, police departments were laying off people, and people were running out of bars to find a church?   People were paying back bad debts, and men were returning to their families.  Gambling, brothels, and alcohol establishments closed due to the religious impact on their patrons’ lives.   The Welsh revival started with 17 people in a church, and the city was transformed.   The Hebrides revival began with 2 elderly, half blind sisters who refused to stop praying.   Soon a handful from a local church joined in and the area was transformed by God’s Presence.

What are we doing?  Have we traded a passion for God for performance, popularity, fame, and fortune?   Has His church become an end in itself rather than a means to an end of destroying the works of the devil, as Jesus did?   What are we doing?   Our own city is steeped in witchcraft, fights over boys in girls’ restrooms, and social districts.  Have we forgotten how to steward our assignment so that the purposes of God are the goal and not our own agendas?  Do we get so lost in the “mechanics” of church that we overlook the bareness of it?  Does anyone really care what we are doing?  Jesus said you will know a tree by its fruit.   How are we looking?

Asking for a really good friend.
What do the SBC leaders do with this verse
“In every place of worship, I want men to pray with holy hands lifted up to God, free from anger and controversy. (1 Timothy 2:8)

*men-ἀνήρ, ἀνδρός, ὁ (Hom.+, common in all the mngs. known to our lit.) a male person
① an adult human male, man, husband. From
Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., Bauer, W., & Gingrich, F. W. (2000). In A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament
*Raising hands in worship is not a practice encouraged in the Southern Baptist tradition based on research. Why not??

I guess we can throw away what we don’t like and anachronistically expound what we do want. All for the sake of tradition🤔

In 2022, the SBC released the names of 700 Baptist pastors and leaders who were sexual abusers. The list has grown since. Should we say that men should not be pastors for this reason? Of course not! These are specific isolated issues that should not eliminate the entire male gender. That would be unfair and foolish. Good Bible examination shows the same scenario when Paul was addressing a specific church situation with disruptive women. How do we know? Because women were used as pastors, teachers, prophets, and apostles and commended by Paul. We just need to read the Bible without our religious, man-biased lens and see what Holy Spirit is teaching.

Paul wrote in Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

So why all the controversy. Again, just asking for my friend.

I have noticed in recent months such a personal increase in the revelation of Biblical truth. This is not “new” truth, but age old truth being uncovered. The same truth that had been viewed through a preset and non-contestable lens of religious “surface exploration” is now seen through a lens that has been refocused to see more clearly and more deeply into what has been hidden. The change is obvious and the reason for the change is clear.

I believe for the diligent and hungry, God is lifting the cover off of the truth that has been veiled by man’s determination to make Scripture conform to his own convenience and comfort, rather than God’s absolute truth. We have shaped our theology around our personal lives and experiences rather than penetrating into the heart of God and His Word and demanding that our lives align completely with His truth. How many have spent hours staring into the Bible and all the while straining it through a sieve of convenience and compromise, convinced we are right. At the end of the day, how do we determine what is true? We must ask if God is at the center of our truth and whose kingdom is advancing.

It becomes clear that the veil over our heart’s understanding is a veil held firmly in place by pride, revenge, lust, bitterness, rebellion, and unforgiveness. These smudges block our vision until very little truth is allowed to pass through. We are so accustomed to this veil of deceit that what is distorted has become our standard of truth and all is judged by the error we hold on to.

We have only to look around us to see the fruit of such error. But there is a truth, a Kingdom truth, that is still present and waiting to be sought out and applied to our lives. There is a Kingdom truth that originated in the first garden and then was again made available to all, through the Christ who did not fail the test in the second garden. And that truth is still available to those who will seek diligently.

As much as some want to pretend and demand that their perverted ways are truth, they cannot deny the diseased fruit. Only a fool could be so simple minded not to see the consequences of the truth he has chosen to follow.

The Son of God was revealed for this purpose: •to destroy the Devil’s works.  (1 John 3:8, HCSB)

Do we realize what this Scripture is telling us? Do we understand the reason Jesus came, short and simple, was to destroy the devil’s works? As we look at all He did, we see that in every act, the overarching result was that some aspect of Satan’s work was destroyed. When He healed the sick, raised the dead, and rescued the woman caught in adultery, each act was an overthrow of the result of darkness in their lives.

As I pondered this Scripture recently, I began to realize if we are called to do the same works He did (John 14:12), then every work we do should in some way destroy an aspect of darkness. When we speak words of love we destroy hate. When we give, we destroy lack. When we rescue an orphan or widows we have removed bondage, isolation, and emotional pain from their lives. When we pray with a lost soul, we have helped to lead them out of darkness. When we refuse to return hate for hate, we have shut the mouth of the devil. When we speak up for those who have been shown injustice, we stand for the righteousness of God. So our lives should be a clear reflection of the destruction of the works of the devil.

When Jesus came out of the wilderness, the Scripture tells us He came out filled with the power of Holy Spirit. (Luke 4:14) He then proclaimed what this power was for in Luke 4:18-20:

¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free ¹⁹ and that •the time of the Lord’s favor has come.^*”  

• Good news to the poor. You no longer have to be poor.
• Sight to the blind. You can now have revelation of truth.
• Freedom to the captives. You no longer are held captive away from the promises of God for your life.
• Healing to those oppressed and broken. The calamities that have crushed you no longer have an affect on your life. You are healed.
• Favor restored. You are restored to favor and relationship with God.

These are our goals. The same works!

Our nation is riveting with church scandals of clergy abuse, misappropriation, manipulation, molestation, and domination by leaders and pastors. This is so sad and certainly gives fuel for the unbelieving scorners and scoffers of Christianity.

And we also know that this is nothing new, but the current ability to expose and distribute this information through social media is a new phenomenon in today’s culture. While I am certainly not in favor of any type of abuse (being the victim myself of spiritual abuse), I do think we must be careful what this is doing to our hearts. I was very disturbed to see a local podcaster park in front of a one of these troubled churches and live stream for hours. At one point, he turned to face the church and yelled at the church building. He looked foolish and obviously trying to beef up his own podcast audience numbers. What would the scorners of Christianity say to such antics?

There is not a pastor alive that I believe would not like to say, “I wish I had done this differently.” There are and will always be those who get offended because the pastor didn’t do this or that the way they wanted. Someone recently told me God sent them to our church because they would get balanced Biblical teaching there, but then they got offended and left because we decorated for Christmas. I suppose God forgot we have always decorated for Christmas when He told them to come.

However, there is a major difference in making a mistake or having a misunderstanding or even a difference of opinion than in taking advantage of a person or group of people for personal gain. This is a serious heart issue within the leader. Unfortunately, one of the most used tools to manipulate a person or group of people has been through the prophetic message, or in these recent abuse cases, manipulative prophetic ministry. In my opinion, this is witchcraft at its height.

My question is how do so many seemingly mature believers fall to such deception? The answer is clearly lack of personal relationship with God and lack of knowledge of God’s Word. As I look back over the years, I have observed that people are hungry for the supernatural, and will take shortcuts to get it. We had a man come through our area about 30 years ago and his claim to fame was when he prayed for people, they all fell as if slain in the spirit. I was a church member at that time and it was fascinating to see the power of expectation and suggestion. Soon, everyone would fall just by the waving of his hand at a particular seating section. Like obedient little children, all knew the cues. I will never forget the night that my eyes were opened. We had started service anticipating what the night might be. We were in worship and the guest had not arrived yet. About 15 minutes into the worship time, he comes in through the back door with an entourage and all the focus went from worshipping God to watching him walk in, cross the church and capture everyone’s attention. Suddenly, God was second billing. This man was eventually ‘run out of town’ due to gathering female groupies and leaving large bills with the area churches. I’ve learned if ministers cannot worship God with the church and be on time, rather than being stylishly late, they lose the right to speak to the church.

Fast forward 20 years. I am now the leader of a church and introduced to a man from a huge, world renowned, mid-west ministry. I was just being introduced into the prophetic move of God and this man was a supposed prophet from this well known ministry. Large ministries in our area were supporting him and my thought was “what do I know” in light of these larger ministries that I respected. So he came around a few times and was even at our church once. He released some seemingly accurate words over myself and my husband, that at that time I thought only God could have told him. Later I found out it was really Facebook and not God. When did the truth come out? We were in a local facility with a prayer and worship event and he was the main speaker. It was not a very large venue, less than 100 people and the worship was breath taking. And then he comes to the stage and I could feel the Presence of God exit the room. Suddenly, it was no longer about God, but about this man. He began to give out address numbers and phone numbers, as if God was giving him this private information. I felt like I was in a nightclub magic show. He gave me and my husband a number from someone in Hawaii and said the Lord wants us to call that person. We threw away the number and walked out of the meeting. Later his own son exposed him for doing these types of deceptive prophetic acts to gain his way with people, even to the point of molesting women by enticing them through false prophecy.

In both cases, immaturity was leading us down a dangerous path, but knowing the Presence of God saved us from continuing. When a person is more important than the presence of God, there is a serious deception taking place. We must be sensitive to God’s Presence and not be so enamored with someone that we hang onto every word and follow the “pied piper” like little ignorant church mice. We must spend time in God’s Word and in HIs presence to recognize the fakery that is taking place.

We are approaching Pentecost Sunday, representing the outpouring of Holy Spirit and the birth of the church. Holy Spirit is our guide and teacher, leading us into all truth. How well do we know Him? How often do we grieve Him with foolish behaviors and attitudes? Paul told Timothy in the last days there will be enticing doctrines of demons that people will follow and be led astray. This is only possible when we do not know the Word of God and the God of His Word.

We have watched the church become weakened by dimly lit pulpits that teach feel-good messages to draw crowds and entertain people. We have removed the Presence of God by applauding the presence of man misunderstanding that the Holy Spirit will not stay in such a place. We have mistaken crowds for God’s approval.

One of the most egregious acts of exposure now reports this minister is returning to ministry and there is a group of people supporting this return. This man over decades has been confirmed to have molested numerous women with “prophetic words from God”. How do people not see truth? They can’t see what they do not know. Their eyes are darkened and the light they think they have is actually darkness. Jesus warned about this deception.

Yes God forgives and restores the fallen to Himself. But there is a cost of such acts that prevent future leading of others. I believe most of these ministers start out with good intentions, but the devil knows which buttons to push. The craving of attention, prosperity, and fleshly lusts require more and more until God’s way is not fast or easy enough, and the devil is happy to accommodate the need.

Solution? Prayer! Study the Word! Forgive! A clean heart will keep an open flow of God’s Spirit flowing into our lives and hearts. Humility is important and we must have the heart felt attitude as John the Baptist, “I must decrease so He can increase.”

As we observe these failures in others, we must also be willing to look at our own hearts and daily cry out to God to examine our deepest parts and reveal any sin present. We cannot afford to have attitudes of offense, hurt, misunderstanding, or resentment taking root in our hearts. Even as leaders, we are often misunderstood and seemingly abused by others. This cannot settle in our hearts or we too will react in our flesh and lose the precious Presence of Holy Spirit. I think of Jesus who entered into Jerusalem among crowds crying out Hosanna. Yet on the cross He was abandoned by all but one disciple and His own mother. The crowds that praised Him also crucified Him, but He knew God’s purpose and plan in His life. In Jesus’ early ministry, the devil offered Him everything He came for, without the cross. Jesus chose the will of God, knowing the pain and shame it would carry in the eyes of man, but the ultimate glory it would reveal.

We are in such a serious time and time with God and His Word must be a priority in our lives, or we too can be swept away by the deception of the devil. Stay Strong in His Word! Keep a clean heart! Grieve not the Holy Spirit! Walk in Love!

There is a way that seems right but it is wrong. There are many good ideas that are not God ideas. We must discern the difference.

Morning Thought:

22 “Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light. 23 But when your eye is unhealthy, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is! (Matthew 6:22–23, NLT)

As I read this today, I could not help but think of all the confusion going on in the body of Christ. There are leaders who are using their pulpits and ministries as dispensers of darkness when they think they are in His light. Ministries that manipulate with “prophetic words” are imposing the will of darkness into the lives of unsuspecting and undiscerning Christians.

I have asked myself how is it that the body of Christ is so undiscerning? How is it that people can be led astray so easily? It is because they have mistaken darkness for light. And how is this possible? It is possible because the eye or the entry way to the heart of man is the gatekeeper and whatever influences the gatekeeper also influences the heart. Proverb 4:23 tells us above all we guard we are to guard our heart because it determines the direction of our lives. When we let our guard down, darkness enters in to manipulate, confuse, and disorient our thinking and ultimately our direction in life. We can no longer discern good from evil because evil has infiltrated and tainted our hearts and is now the context, and unfortunately the standard, in which we view all around us.

Do we understand? The Scriptures instruct us toward the importance of God’s Word. Jamnes 1:21 tells us that we are to humbly accept the Word of God in our lives, because it is able to save our souls. David says in 119:11 that God’s word is hidden, or internalized, in his heart so he might not sin against God.

We are also cautioned that a time of barrenness of the Word of God would come. This too is confirmed by Scripture in Amos 8:11 “The time is surely coming,” says the Sovereign Lord, “when I will send a famine on the land— not a famine of bread or water but of hearing the words of the Lord.

We must return to His Word as our very life. How important is God’s Word? Joshua was told to meditate on God’s Word day and night and then his way would be prosperous. (Joshua 1:8). The Psalmist says meditating on the Word of God day and night will cause success in what we put our hands to. (Psalm 1:1-3).

We must understand that the Word of God is the very substance and sustenance of our life. We cannot be foolish. Moses warned the children of Israel of the importance of obeying the word of the Lord and we would be wise to take heed. Deuteronomy 32: 45 -47 (Amplified) And when Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel, 46 He said to them, Set your [minds and] hearts on all the words which I command you this day, that you may command them to your children, that they may be watchful to do all the words of this law. 47 For it is not an empty and worthless trifle for you; it is your [very] life.