Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Yankee Peddlers of today



Selling us wares, lies for a dime....

They have a cure for you........

They can fix any problem.........

They have a concoction for any ailment........

COME on up people, don't be shy, you can be healed from any disease; any thing......


They are........False prophets.


Jeremiah 23:16
This is what the LORD Almighty says: "Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD.


This post is about my friend, Sharon.

Sharon was a beautiful sister in the Lord, she was a deacon in our church. She was a foster parent who adopted her children of special needs.

She could sew.

She could craft.

She could love.

That was Sharon.

Sharon had a prophet- more than one tell her that she would give birth from her own womb. It was an ache in her heart.

She trusted in the Lord and waited......

for His timing, for her faith, for the birth of the seed that would give her a birth child.

Sharon began getting tumors on her uterus. They were benign. We prayed together in faith.

Sharon trusted in those prophets.......trusted God for HIS goodness.....and didn't have her uterus removed.

She had more benign tumors.

surgery would remove them.

More would come.

I was in charge of the meals ministry- I organized meals for people in our church after they returned from the hospital.

many meals I cooked myself.

It was my call and what I loved to do.

I loved to feed people and sit and listen to them in love.

in the good times and the bad.

Sharon waited.......

and one day, the tumor was cancerous.

Sharon had no anger at the Lord for not fulfilling His promises.....that came from His prophets.

She figured either she missed His timing or He would complete His promise in a way she didn't understand.

She died in peace with her Lord.

Me?

I stood stunned at the ceremony of her passing.

I had already left the church so it was hard for me to return.

BUT, it wasn't about ME. It was about a sister that passed, leaving 3 special needs adopted foster kids and her husband. We walked a path together, Sharon and I. Even after I left the church, she remained a friend.

I started to read about prophets......because prophets came to visit our church all the time. People from other churches would flock to our church desperate to hear one word from God.......desperate for an impartation into their lives.......desperate to know how to walk in His perfect way, all so that in the end they could hear, "my good and faithful servant, well done".

Oh and all kinds of prophets came. Prophets who knew scripture and prophets who didn't. Soft spoken ones that had such a heavenly peace when they spoke; fire and brimstone prophets who called out private sins in people's lives; prophets with oil and a touch that could make you fall out in the spirit.....prophets from the east, from the west......prophets from everywhere. The only two things they had in common was that they preached that THEY COULD HEAR FROM GOD in a way that we couldn't AND they passed a collection plate to remove the money from our pockets into theirs.

The new testament teaches us that the veil was torn, there is no longer a need for a priest to minister to the Lord.......we can go into the Holy of Holys FACE TO FACE.

The old testament has prophets. The old testament tells us to STONE THEM IF WHAT THEY SAY DOES NOT COME TO PASS.

SO to the prophets that told my friend Sharon to wait for her child.......

Shall I cast the first stone?

no. I can't. I am not even able.

Instead, I hold my head low, and cry inside at the death of a sister in the Lord who didn't need to die.

and I no longer wait for the prophecies in my life to come true.

4 comments:

Sherry at the Zoo said...

I've never been to a church that had prophets. Well, take that back, not ligitimate Christ-centered churches. You're right. We dont' need prophets to tell us God's will for us. We are under the new covenant, not the old. My heart breaks for you.

Barb said...

I am so, so, sorry. I have never had to bear the brunt like this of prophecy gone bad. I finaly got tired of all the prophecy, and while trying to straddle the fence of not despising prophecy I find myself distancing myself from it, especially when it is given from a stage with an offering expected.

By the way, I'm so glad you are posting. You really do have a voice that needs to be heard as well as an exceptional way of writing it out.

Larry said...

I'm sory to hear this.-This is a powerful post.I am not a very religious person to begin with but I found your post to be sad but interesting to read.

Tera Rose said...

Sherry-
thanks again for your encouragement-

barb-
yeah, I struggle with trying to not despise prophecy; not throw out the baby with the bathwater...but for me, I just can't figure out the answers about prophecy yet. I shelf it- that is the quest for the truth- and know that for now, just talking about the confusion is helpful for me.

Larry-
You know, I started this because your blog was so beautiful- and I was going to start birding.....hm, how did I get here? Maybe I will separate out the blogs....

thanks for reading.

not being religious can be a really good thing- in my book.

thankyou.