The Problem
Back in early 1999 I had a brief meeting with a guy named John Paul Jackson at a Vineyard Church in Phoenix, AZ. John Paul was attested to have a prophetic gift and was one of several men called the “Kansas City Prophets” within the church. The man was invited to speak at our church, Vineyard Christian Fellowship of North Phoenix, by pastor Brian Anderson.
Brian had recently asked me to put together a team to start a church plant in Cave Creek, AZ only 40 minutes from his church. This would be my second attempt at a church plant, and since the first one didn’t go so well and was extremely painful, I was a bit apprehensive about this new project.
After the message, John Paul had people lining up to chat with him, so I also went up to ask for any insight from God regarding this new venture.
When I finally got up to talk to him, he looked at me for a moment and then put his hand on my shoulder to pray quietly. Being Vineyard, I had my eyes open to see what God was going to do. He then looked up suddenly, with a rather concerned look on his face. After a moment, he bowed his head and after another moment did the same thing, again. He did this 3 times, then said “God has a warning for you. You are going to have a problem with the occult from within the church, but if you stay close to Him, He will get you through it.”
Unfortunately at the time, I excitedly assumed that it meant that the church plant we were about to start was going to succeed, even though we were going to have a problem with the occult. I was wrong.
Funny thing too, a man in our church came up to me after a day or so, not knowing of the word from John Paul, with a dream he had concerning me.
In the dream, he said he was visiting me as we were building a church complex. As I was showing him around, I pointed out some art work that had been donated by some wealthy members of our church. He said the art gave him a creepy feeling. From there, we went outside the building to look over the church grounds, but when we went to go back into the main building the doors were locked. He said I spent a considerable amount of time going around the building and working hard to get back in. He then woke up.
From what I can understand now, the word from John Paul, and the dream were not about our church plant at all, but rather my experience with The Church for the past 21 years.
There IS a problem with the occult within the church. The word occult means “supernatural, mystical, or magical beliefs, practices, or phenomena.” If you really look at witchcraft, it is the belief that through words (special incantations) a believer can manipulate reality using spiritual forces.
Now don’t get me wrong, there are Spiritual things that God does and allows His children to do. Of course I believe this, as this whole writing begins with a prophetic word from a simple man. The difference is that these Spiritual things are done by God THROUGH His people. His people are not manipulating reality or doing their will at all. Godly Spiritual gifts are not weapons given to men and woman that they can use as they see fit. They are given to men and women who are so submitted to God that He can move them with His Kingdom.
Imagine giving a toddler a bazooka. Yea, God is not stupid.
There is a great temptation to want to believe WE can attain a level of power to alter not just our reality, but others also. This is from one simple phrase “if you eat this, you will be like God.” In all of the great moves of God’s kingdom in the last 100 years, men always mess it up by struggling with this temptation. God moves, cool things happen, men get uppity and God stops moving. It is a sad pattern.
During the end times, which, yes, people have been predicting for every generation since before Jesus walked the earth, God will move. He will move in a way that has not happened since the earth began. Alternatively, it will also be a time of awful circumstances, persecution, violence and hatred.
It will happen in our lifetime.
“HA! Didn’t you just say everyone believes this nonsense?”
Yes, I did.
Faith, as I have taught and written about many times, is trusting in God, but there is more…
Scripture teaches about something very interesting in 1 Corinthians chapter 2. Paul writes about having a connection to the mind of Christ/God through the Holy Spirit.
Faith, is necessary to have the Holy Spirit to begin with. It starts with a very small measure of trust in God, but grows as we get to know Him through His word and experience walking with Him.
Experience is tricky, because unlike God’s word, it is not reliable, or rather our perceptions of it can be way off. The best way to address this is, if it doesn’t line up to God’s word it is not something God is promoting. For example, God’s word says do not murder. If someone experiences a voice that says go kill an abortion doctor, because of the clear statement in scripture, it is obviously not a voice from God, nope, not at all.
Once we are “connected” to God through his Spirit, we can “know” things. This is where the prophetic and words of knowledge come from. Every time I have had something of that nature, I didn’t “feel” it. I didn’t generate it. I didn’t work up my imagination or emotion for it. I KNEW it. There was no doubt, no question, I just knew it. Once you have that kind of Faith, you speak that word or do that action with a confidence that cannot be swayed. There is no “I think God is saying…” or “I feel God is saying…” (Note: there is room for this type of word, especially when learning, but it should always have an extra measure of caution) No, when this has happened to me I just said what I knew to say and then watched God move.
My role was simple, just to act as the King directed and then shut up. When I have gotten into trouble was afterward, giving in to the temptation to think I had some great connection now and spewed a string of stupidity following the powerful statement that God just revealed. This temptation is real and rather dangerous; it takes us from simply following God to trying to become God.
Look, it is in our nature! This is the sin nature. We want to ascend. Who wants to be a nobody? Who wants to be just a guy? I don’t. Yet God, because of this struggle with the “occult” has made me so. I hate it. But then, I am supposed to.
I have been waiting for years for what I call “the Moses Thing”. Much like the Vineyard founder used to say “when do we get to do the stuff?”, I started out my walk with God desiring to do that along with a burning bush incident to kick it off. I want to wake up in the morning and see Jesus Himself sitting at my bed and tell me, “Come on, let’s go” and then walk with Him doing the “stuff” all day long.
Now I don’t know for sure that this is how it will go, but I do KNOW something is coming and as He has told me many times, with a smile, I will be really pleased when it does. Me, I think I am not the only one like this. I think He has many on the bench waiting for the time when we get to play the game.
I had a word from Him last year regarding this year. That word was that 2020 would be a beginning to a great move of God, but He would use people who were willing to be hollowed out first. Being hollowed out means that we need to become more and more devoid of our own interests and ambitions, to become descended rather than ascended.
As always, God likes to use the small, seemingly useless things to show His power, to bring glory to His name, not ours.
This battle that John Paul and the dream foretold has happened, for the last 20 years. I have been struggling with those who want to “take” power and I did get locked out of the church. However, I am almost through it. I know it is coming. What it will look like, I do not know, but it will come. The connection I have with the Spirit of God confirms it. It doesn’t matter what anyone else believes. I don’t really care. I know God, and He knows me. That is all that matters.
1 Corinthians 3:18 - 4:5
18 Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become “fools” so that you may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness”; 20 and again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.” 21 So then, no more boasting about human leaders! All things are yours, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, 23 and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.
4:1.This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. 2 Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. 3 I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. 4 My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. 5 Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.