A Word from God

Every year at LifeGate church they have what they call a Presbytery.  

They invite three presbyters people who claim to speak for God from other churches to spend a week or so "prophesying' over church staff members and then over people throughout the congregation.  At each event after the six or so staff members are brought on stage and prophesied over  told stuff about themselves that they already knew, the presbyters people who claim to speak for God spend about an hour or so selecting people in the audience to stand and receive their own special word from God.

*Before I go any further, I want to make it clear that I honestly think that most of these presbyters do believe that whatever thoughts that come to mind at that moment really do come from God.  But I also think that some of them know darn well that they don’t.*

This is an event that attendees of this church don’t want to miss.  Come on, the chance for someone to pick you out of the crowd to receive a word from God directly? In front of everyone? No way is anyone going to miss that if at all possible!  People pray for weeks before the actual event, begging God to speak to them during the Presbytery.  They skip work to attend this event.  Every day they would go to the event hopeful, just sure that God was going to speak to them and every day all but maybe ten people would go home disappointed.

Clay and I were never disappointed though.  We attended each of these Presbytery events while we were members of this church and even though there were a few hundred people at each one, my husband was selected to receive a word.

Every time.

We were all told at each event that these presbyters would only be choosing people out of the crowd at God’s prompting. That it would have nothing to do with who you were, who you knew, where you were sitting, or what you looked like.   Clay is a pretty big guy with piercings, tattoos, and a four-inch mohawk. He’s just not the type of guy who is ever overlooked in a crowded room. But I’m sure that had nothing to do with him being chosen to receive a word from a presbyter every single year.  Right??

I really don’t remember much of what he was told the second and third year but I remember the very first “word from God” that he received pretty well. I remember it because it was so absolutely wonderful. It was the kind of word everyone prays to hear.

After pointing to him and asking us to stand he stared at us for about 20 seconds and then said:

"You are a man of faith.  God has given you this gift.  You are a man of faith.  He wants you to declare it. Blessings will come to you if declare it.  Green pastures, financial blessing, cup runneth over.  He wants to bless you.  He wants you to rule! He wants you to reign! You are a man of faith!  Say it!  Declare it!  God says “If you do this, I’m going to give you everything!”

That’s probably the best word from God ever right?  Financial blessing!  Cup runneth over! Rule! Reign! Everything!  

Who wouldn’t grab on to that with both hands and hang on to it for dear life?  And we did.  Oh boy did we!  Never mind that he was laid-off just 2 weeks later, and then laid off twice more in the next 18 months.  That was pretty frustrating, but we held on to the promise.  God said He’s going to give us everything!

  

 Now, throughout these last couple years since leaving that church, I have had a few facepalm moments.  Every time I learned that I had believed something that wasn’t true about Jesus or the Bible.  Every time I had to unlearn something and learn it the right way.  Every time it occurred to me that I had taught someone else something that was nothing but new age apostasy.  

Even still, when I think I know something about the Bible I have to ask myself if it’s something I know because I learned it through prayer and study of Scripture or is it something I think I know because a church leader at LifeGate told it to me?  But let me tell you, the facepalm I gave myself when I realized the real truth behind that ‘word from God’ might have even left a bruise.

The words of that prophesy big fat lie from the devil played through my head..

He wants you to declare it.~ Declare what?  

The gospel? Scripture? That he is a sinner who if not for the death of the Son of the Almighty God upon a cross to pay for his sin that he would be destined to suffer the wrath of the Holy Father in the lake of fire for all eternity?  That Jesus is the Son of God who was raised from the dead?  That it is only through Jesus that anyone can repent of their sins, receive forgiveness and go to the Father?

Nope.  None of that. Just declare that he is a man of faith.

Blessings will come to you if declare it.  Green pastures, financial blessing, cup runneth over.- He wants you to rule! He wants you to reign!~ Money, power, blessings, everything you could possibly want! Focus on this!  It’s all about you! 

But rule what?  Reign over what?  Himself?  Others?  Or perhaps he will reign in victory over all the debt we would incur while he was laid-off three times..?

These presbyters deceived, puffed up, liars claim that the words that they give come directly from God through the Holy Spirit.  But what is the primary work of the Holy Spirit? To bear witness of Jesus!

 “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.” ~ John 15:26.  

There was no mention of the Son of God.  No mention of the Gospel.  No mention of who He is, what He’s done.  Nope, it was all about Clay.

“If you do this, I’m going to give you everything!”

“And the devil said to Him, I will give You all this domain and it’s glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours.”~ Luke 4:6-7

That is what they do.  These presbyters tell you good things about you.  In fact, before they get started giving these messages from God they will tell you that a true word from God will only build you up.  A word from God will never make you feel bad, guilty, ashamed or bring you down in any way.  

*If you want to continue believe that don’t ever read anything from the Old Testament prophets, or anything from the book of Revelation*

After Clay and I learned who God really is, after we realized that this church was not teaching Scripture and after we understood the meaning of Sola Scriptura; we knew that these prophetic words weren’t really from God.  But up until that moment, we believed that word we were given.  We believed it completely.  

For four years!

So why does everyone love the presbytery?  Why do we sit there hoping and praying that a presbyter will call on us and give us our very own personal message from God? Because it will be happy and exciting and full of great stuff all about us!  And if any of it makes us feel bad or convicted, we can just toss that aside because that’s what we want to hear.

Just eat the fish and leave the bones right?

People have told me that they know that these prophetic words are really from God because they were told things that no one but God would know or because what they were told actually came to pass.

Please..  Television psychics do the same thing.

And I ask you, just because someone was able to tell you something that you don't think anyone else would know, why do you just assume that it's from God?  

Because the devil would only tell you bad stuff?

He didn't tell Jesus bad stuff, why should you be any different?

No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.~ 1 Corinthians 11:14-15

It's not just the leaders of LifeGate who do this.  It's everywhere..

Beth Moore, Joyce Meyer, Gateway Church, Elevation Church, Bethel.

Tons of people do this. It's not just church leaders anymore either.  Anyone can approach you and say they have a word from God.

Most of the people who attend churches like this believe that God has given them special messages for others at least once in their lives.

"Words from God" given in churches like Lifegate all do the same damage.  They minimize the importance of Scripture throughout the church.  

The Bible becomes something that just sits on our nightstands or something to carry to church in pretty bible cases, but rarely opened.

It becomes insufficient.  

Why spend time in prayer or study Scripture when we can just go to someone and ask them what God has to say to us?

Or better yet, we can just decide on what we want to hear, ask God, and then accept the first happy thought that pops into our heads.

Just read your Bible.

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires. ~ 2 Timothy 4:3

“If you want to hear from God, read the Bible.  If you want to hear from God audibly, read it out loud.” – Justin Peters

*please don't bother commenting on this telling me that you know that the word you received really was from God because you could back it up with Scripture. I'll delete it. Anything in the Bible can be twisted to suit your needs.  It happens ALL THE TIME.*