Archive | 11:23 am

Beware of Taking Scripture Out of Its Natural Context

4 Nov

Since preachers take scripture out of their natural context to preach a sermon, we do the same thing when we read, study and apply various texts to our particular situation, like occultist and new agers use astrology and other forms of divination. For example, some use psalm 37 in the wrong way, particularly where it comes to dealing with enemies when Jesus told us to love our enemies in the 4 gospels.

Paul wrote to the Galatians that anyone who adds to or detracts from the word of God brings a curse or in other words, “a plague” on both the culprits and the victims they teach.  Paul declared it THIS way: If any man preach any other gospel, other than what i have preached, LET HIM BE CURSED.” (Gal 1:9)

Two thousand years have passed since Paul’s rather serious proclamation.  I am not a historian, but I would imagine that any church or religion professing to be Christian that either subtracts from or adds to  the gospel of Jesus Christ has reaped the fruit of this curse, from one generation to another. Today, there are countless people who are being oppressed and tormented by demons because they are listening to those who are preaching “another gospel.”

In this generation, there are more false doctrines that have been created by  preachin and teachin folk who  either added to or took away  from the gospel of Jesus Christ,  than most people could count.  Even in things that seem insignificant.  Take for example, the verse in Luke 13, when Jesus healed a woman who had been  crippled—bowed down by the devil for 18 years.  After the Lord cast that demon of infirmity  from her by healing her, He said “Woman, thou are loosed!”

Yet TD Jakes –an intelligent, well learned preacher— took the Lord’s words, and turned it into “somethin else.”  In other words, he added to it a meaning that the Lord did not mean and he created a “Christian woman’s liberation movement out of it,” even made a movie—called it “Woman Thou Art Loosed,” a movie  where a woman takes a gun while in church, and shoots a man who had raped her when she was a child,— at the very moment the man was touched and moving toward the altar to be saved.  Now, that is adding to and detracting from the Lord’s own words  to the max, and making millions of dollars out of the words that are written in the gospels concerning the Lord’s ministry of deliverance. What did the Lord mean by those words?  He meant “woman you are no longer bound by a demon because I have just set you free from your arthritic condition.  What does deliverance of a physically crippled woman  from demons  have to do with women’s liberation and shooting rapists in church?

These are the kinds of things professing Christians are doing EVERYDAY.  They are adding to and detracting from the bible and wondering why they are in the devil’s hands.

We have a deliverance training course called SEW that you might be interested in.  If so, give us a call at

518-477-5759

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How To Help Yourself In Deliverance

4 Nov

HOW TO HELP YOURSELF IN DELIVERANCE

Here are some practical ways to start the process of ridding yourself of demonic captivity by casting down imaginations and every high thing that would exalt itself above the knowledge of Christ and bringing every thought into obedience to Him:

    • Your Attitude Toward the Past: You should have no regrets or brooding over things done and undone.  To avoid an evil kind of thinking that leads to brooding, you must learn to discern for yourself if you are simply “thinking” or if you are being drawn into a state of regretting or brooding by the demon that is assigned to YOU. If you are to overcome, you need to know that success at   being set free requires victory over the past, in spite of all your failures that the enemy helps you to list and record in your mind.  Your failures should be dealt with on the basis of I John 1:9.
    • Your Attitude Toward the Future: You must concentrate on the Lord’s own words by “taking no thought for tomorrow.”  Not that you should not think about or even make future plans, but you should be careful not to fall victim to trying to make up in the future for sins of the past that already have been forgiven by God.  Once a sin has been repented of, cleansing will occur when you can forget what is behind and press toward the future that is God’s plan for the rest of your life.
    • Your Attitude Toward Devils and Demons: You should be trained to discern your own thoughts from those implanted into your mind by spirit entities.  You should realize that only the Lord knows your heart and that demons cannot read your mind.  Demons know only the thoughts that THEY have successfully planted into your mind–thoughts that you have received as your own because of the nature of your deception.  Remember this.  “He that doeth the truth, cometh to the light.”  (John 3:21)
    • Your Attitude Toward the Present Moment: Doubt can be a good thing, particularly when those fictitious foundations upon which you have built up your pride system become shaky.  Doubt of this kind can lead to sincere humility.  God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.  Against the enemy, your best weapon is God’s grace.  Your worst mistake in judgment is your assumption that because you profess to be a Christian, that God will protect you from being deceived.  Not so.  It is God Himself who has released strong delusion in our times.  So deception is a matter of course.  God has given us the weapons and the tools to be un-deceived.  Your best weapon is to look around you, and allow your doubt to assist you to question EVERYTHING!
Sheppard’s Counseling Center sets captives free!

Prison bars and walls in the spirit are a lot stronger and several times more sophisticated than they were in the days of Paul and Silas.  In this present complicated age of the 21st century, what we do at Sheppard Counseling Center is investigate, observe and interpret our findings.  The purpose of investigation is to unravel confusion and to unfold the mystery by searching for repetitive themes.  Through concentrated and intelligent inquiry, we gather the clues as to the hidden reason behind your captivity. Demons do their damage by invitation.  We need to find out how you made the invitation to them, and what you must do to rescind it. We also use our knowledge of personality disorders to ascertain the various strategies that your particular personality type will employ to resist your own freedom. We do not waste time on people who use all of their energies to hide crucial things from us or those who become hostile because they are threatened by any real discovery.

We offered you in this post some sound advice on how to begin the process of self deliverance.  If you need our help, call us at 518-477-5759. The lines are open.

 

 

 

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Be Set Free From Deliverance Ministries

4 Nov

A message from Pam: BE SET FREE FROM DELIVERANCE MINISTRIES!

What I have been running into is that there are many people out there who need DELIVERANCE FROM DELIVERANCE MINISTRIES—– FOR THERE IS MUCH “QUACKERY AND NONSENSE” GOING ON.  Uninformed deliverance workers may be the root cause of the severity of your present bondage and/or torment.  It is a sin and a shame!!! Deliverance from deliverance  is what you need.

The purpose of ministering deliverance is to set free those who are in bondage. As Jesus was sent forth to preach deliverance to the captives (Luke 4:18, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to… preach deliverance to the captives…”), so we are also sent out (John 20:21, “Then said Jesus to them… as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.”) to do the works He did (John 14:12, “He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also…”), and this includes casting out of devils (Matthew 10:8).

The ministry of deliverance is about bringing spiritual victory and freedom to those who are in bondage to devils and demons. It doesn’t matter what you call it (demonized, possessed, oppressed, etc.), if you are in demonic bondage, whether you need to tear down a stronghold, break up a legal ground, cast a demon out, or all three… it’s still deliverance, because it’s setting the captives free. There are 5 important elements of this ministry. I  train my deliverance ministers to be  knowledgeable of all 5 elements so that they are  prepared to address them without hesitation:

Casting Down Imaginations by Receiving Truth: Setting captives free is more about getting them to receive the truth than it is about  commanding demons to come out. This is a grave mistake that causes a lot of people to walk away from a deliverance still in bondage. There is more to it than simply casting out demons. In Luke 9:42, we are told a story of how Jesus not only rebuked demons in a boy who was mentally affected by evil spirits, but also is said to have healed the boy. There is no mention of the boy needing physical healing, but if you look up the word healed in this passage, one of the meanings is, “to free from errors and sins…”, which is likely what Jesus did with the boy, Jesus removed the boy’s legal grounds (sins) and freed him from errors (strongholds). This case of deliverance required more than just rebuking demons!

I myself had a spirit of divination which is a demon.  However, no one ever cast it from me and I never cast it from myself.  I simply received the truth and cancelled my desire to know the future but to simply walk by faith and not by sight. Truth MADE me free.  Crucifying my flesh in the area of desiring supernatural power  to know and predict the future MADE me free.

Tearing down strongholds: Strongholds are people, places and things  that have obtained control in your life, one way or the other and are often set up and nurtured by demons through lies and deception.  For example, if you were raped or had a frightening, unexpected car accident, a stronghold of fear was established IN you by a demon. Demons thrive on strongholds, and use them to hang around a person and torment them. Failing to tear down strongholds can hold up a deliverance and prevent us from walking in complete spiritual freedom.

Removing legal rights: Legal rights are things that give demons permission to enter and remain in our lives. Before demons can often be cast out, it is important to address and remove these legal rights.  Failing to remove legal rights can hold up a deliverance very easily. Demons receive legal rights not so much because of what other’s have done but because of what YOU ignorantly did to invite them in.  You need to understand HOW you invited them in BEFORE an entity is confronted, or the demon will trick you into inviting him back!

Closing Demonic Doorways: Demons enter the soul through 7 doorways or gateways. We determine through a process of inquiry, which doorway is open: the crown, the third eye, the throat, the heart, the navel, the sex organs or the anus. We also determine what demons need to be cast out.

Casting out the demons: This requires two basic elements: knowledge of your authority in Christ Jesus over the powers of the enemy, and faith in that authority. Demons are cast out with a simple spoken command, such as, “I command the spirit of fear to come out in the name of Jesus!” We ask those we work with to complete a deliverance questionnaire called the DAF, Deliverance Assessment Form  that will give us an overview of their background, the bondages they are facing, the root or source of their problem, as well as legal grounds, strongholds and any particular spirits that need to be addressed. Then we begin to work with them to break up any legal grounds, and tear down any strongholds together we  see in your  life and of course, cast out any demons that need to go. If it takes more than 15 minutes, which includes the prayer, to cast out a demon, either there is no demon there or the preliminary work was not completely done.  If you have rolled around the floor in a deliverance session for hours or days, all you did was pick up MORE demons.

   There are also times when even  the most talented people do not know how to move beyond certain obstacles on their own.  Coping skills can become  overwhelmed and faith can be weakened.  This happens to all of us at some point in our spiritual walk.  Yet it takes a special kind of

The first demon I cast out was in 1983.

courage for you to seek  help now.  You don’t have to wait another minute to receive the help you deserve!For years, I provided  face-to-face therapy sessions within my own community.  However, I must say that  the convenience and availability of  phone counseling and deliverance mentoring  is convenient for me also in numerous ways..  Since December 2002, I  have offered online counseling and therapy by phone and have been astounded at the results clients have achieved.  You too can be a true believer in the benefits of phone  counseling and mentoring sessions.

Phone counseling, training or mentoring will help you with your problem and there are many other benefits to consider as well.  So—

Help Yourself Out Now While It is Day! Call 518-477-5759  or send an email.

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IS JESUS CHRIST OF NAZARETH A MYTH?

4 Nov

IS JESUS CHRIST A MYTH?????

There are countless ungodly, faithless historians that have accumulated and shared lots of facts in order to either hide or distort the truth about the Lord Jesus Christ. With the advent of the video clip, the enemy is sending forth a subtle and at times a quite blatant message that the story of Jesus Christ is a fabrication, just because a similar story can be found in Egyptian, Greek or Roman mythology. What intellectual fools!

As the scriptures reveal, real  truth  about the gospel is foolishness to the intelligent who believe themselves to be  so wise and God Himself will cause them to believe what their finite frontal lobes  are too small to apprehend about either Him or His adversary,the devil.

Okay. Let’s keep it real and simple for those of us who need a no brainer. Who is behind mythology? the devil. When did the devil find out about the Son of God bruising his head? He found out in the garden as depicted in Genesis 3. So—it is obvious. The devil planted similar stories about the Lord in various Egyptian, Hindu, Greek and Roman mythologies so that intelligent fools would come along in OUR times and say “Look yall, the bible stole from the Egyptians, the Greeks and the Romans”, all to underhandedly  discredit the bible and the power of the cross and the resurrection.

Well, it just won’t work with me.

You see, I was a myth buster from the time I was three  and told my family on Christmas Day, “there is no such thing as Santa cause all of YOU brought me these gifts. I don’t believe in reindeer, elves or none a dat stuff.”

I carried my childhood  cynicism into my adult life. I said “there is no such thing as heaven or hell. So let  me live fast, die young and look good in my coffin. Jesus is a figment of the white man’s imagination to keep my black people in bondage, so in slavery times, they sold us a bill a goods to keep us passive. Then again, if God exists, and I don’t believe He does by the way—I really don’t care because the world is in such a mess, so He must not know what He is doing. Anyway, I prefer to go to hell cause heaven is too boring for me. I don’t want to sit around all day, playing a harp on  no cloud!”

Now people, with a mindset like THAT, HOW do you suppose someone  like me got born again?

I had never been to church in 33 years, never read the bible, could not stand religious people so I shunned them like the plague, never handed a tract and immediately turned Billy Graham off the TV once I heard his voice or saw his face! I was a myth buster!!! So how did it happen?

Born Again on Monday, 3/29/77 at 4pm

Not to keep you in suspense, I had a Damascus Road experience, spiritually knocked off of my high horse by the Holy Ghost.  He made Jesus real to me in such a way that my myth bustin, atheistic, faithless  days were shot to hell!!!!!!!!

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Why A Former Pastor Warns Churchgoers About Preaching

4 Nov

I was a pastor and a  preacher for almost 3 decades. I preached an average of one sermon a week for 20 years, with 8 of those years preaching 3 sermons a week.  On one occasion in the pulpit, I felt a strange power come upon me where it seemed I was “not myself.” I was in a rather strong altered state of consciousness. I thought is was an extra powerful anointing of the Holy Ghost. IT WAS NOT!!!

Pam Sheppard, “THE LORD LED ME OUT AFTER 25 YEARS AS A PASTOR”

When I was sent to church for the first  in 1979, I had never heard a sermon and so when I was informed in 1981 that upon entering ministry, I would be required to preach a trial sermon on October 25, 1981, I had no idea what a sermon was. In the summer of ’81, I began to preach in my sleep, in preparation for the October day of trial. I also walked around all day for about 30 days, muttering “sermons.”

I thought that I was under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. It took about 25 years for me to find out that in those early and strange days, I was under the “anointing” of the religious demon assigned to me. I thank God then when   DID enter the pulpit to preach and pastor, it was only ONE time in at least 2 thousand sermons that that same power came upon me. I have since discovered that it is a demonic power, in no way, the Holy Ghost.

Oh yes! Demons enjoy preaching. I came out of a denomination where men who were adulterers, fornicators, perverts, closet homosexuals could preach so hard, that they could affect even me, in spite of what I knew about the intimate, sometimes secret details of their lives.At least 10 times a year, 50 ministers gathered at various regional church functions and a handful would preach at these gatherings.

When they were preaching, I  harnessed down my soul from being overpowered, but there were times when I could not. Their power was too strong.  I often wondered about it over the years. How could these corrupt men overtake my soul with one of their sermons in spite of my resistance to it? Could this be God? Would God use such sinful creatures to preach HIS WORD???!!!

It took two decades or more to find out the answer to that question. The answer is NO!!!! The Holy Ghost does not anoint such preachers but the devil DOES!!!. It is called communal intoxication by the founder of sociology, Max Weber.

Communal intoxication is defined by Weber as the supernormal ability of magicians, wizards, witches and charismatic religious leaders.With the god concept at its center, they induce an altered state of consciousness in their followers as demonstrated by the congregation’s manifestation of convulsions, trembling, and intense effusions of excitement and ecstasy. (Come Out of Her God’s People, pg 190)

Weber points out that that communal intoxication has a contagious effect where it can spread throughout  an audience or congregation of people, infecting those assembled with sensations of enhanced emotionalism and vitality. This definition explains the so called holy dance, holy rollers, holy laughter, running around the church building, perhaps even tongues and slain in the spirit phenomena.

This power was manifested in my presence for 25 years  among denominational African American preachers. Keep in mind that Weber’s studies were predominately tribal communities on other continents, including Africa and Asia. Webers findings suggest that the altered state appeal has a significant connection to today’s charismatic leaders’ ability to cause large numbers of people to believe that they have been released from bondages and that they have “heard from God.”

As a result, what has been happening in church is that demons have been using corrupt ministers to preach. I would say that that is reason enough to “COME OUT OF HER, GOD’S PEOPLE.”

When you come out, we can help you. Call 518-477-5759

To review the book, click this link http://pamsheppard.com/?page_id=1831

 

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