Archive | July, 2017

DOES GOD STILL HEAL?

28 Jul

You have probably run into an ad like the one below. Such types of posters are common all over the world.

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Many flock to these meetings, hoping that they will find remedies for illness affecting them or a loved one. Faith or spiritual healing has been around for a long time, some believe it’s a scam but to others it’s a show of faith in order to get a miracle from God.

Seeking supernatural help for healing is a practice that has happened both outside & in the church.

Brief history of Supernatural healing outside the church

Ancient Egypt and Yin & Yang philosophies in ancient Chinese healing traditions believe that illness came as a result of unbalanced human energy and returning the balance was key to bring healing back to the body.

In Egypt, several ritual practices that were done to bring about healing included chanting, drumming, dancing, incantations & hoaxes that would be done by priests. The Egyptian priests were supposed to be pure enough to connect with spirit guides who would let them know if the patient is ready to be healed or they should remain with their illness because it is intended to teach them a life lesson.

In ancient Egypt – a physical ailment was seen as an outward sign of an inner spiritual issue.

In Ancient Greece, around 4 BC many temples were built to worship a god called Asclepius who was referred to as the god of medicine & healing. Followers claimed they would receive healing just by entering the temples.

The rod of Asclepius, is a snake-entwined staff, commonly seen today as a symbol of medicine.

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Those who sought healing would offer sacrifices, and then spend a night in the holiest part of the temple. Any dreams or visions were reported to a priest who would interpret and prescribe the treatment the patient required. Some temples had sacred dogs to lick wounds.  There were also non-venomous snakes left to slither on the floor. These snakes were used in the healing rituals.

Healing practices such as Reiki, Yoga, healing touch used today share some similarities to the ancient practices..

Brief history of Supernatural healing in the church

When looking at the Old Testament, there are few references in relation to healing; a good example is when Prophet Elisha directed Naaman to dip himself in the river Jordan 7 times & he would be healed of leprosy. Naaman felt the instruction was insulting & beneath him, So he didn’t want to do it but at the pleading of his servant he did and his skin was restored. 2 Kings 5:1-14

The New Testament on the other hand has a lot of references to healing, mostly done by Jesus, some examples:-

Matthew 8:16

When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick.

Matthew 12:15

Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. A large crowd followed him, and he healed all who were ill.

Matthew 14:36

and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.

Jesus also bestowed the power to heal on his disciples as well.

Matthew 10:1

Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.

The Early Church

The Early church was characterized by miracles and huge growth as many people heard the gospel & were saved.

In Acts 3 Peter & John heal a lame man and the crowds became astonished and gathered around them, thinking they are powerful healers. Peter corrected them in verse 12 that they haven’t healed the man by their own power but that the crowd had witnessed  the power of Jesus Christ; Peter then preached the gospel of salvation to the crowd.

Another example where many were healed is recorded in Acts 5:12-16

The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade.13 No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. 14 Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. 15 As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by.16 Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits.

From this passage, we can see the apostles were known for healing people.  The end result was many started believing in Jesus Christ & the church grew rapidly.

Healing had a purpose for the early church – to show the people of that time that the kingdom of God had come & it was used to support the preaching of the gospel to others. Would it be correct to say that this specific gift of healing has accomplished its purpose & thus ceased with the early church?

God still does heal & restore people, I can personally attest to my mind being healed & restored as I went through my deliverance journey with Pastor Pam Sheppard. But In recent times, we haven’t seen healing situations as recorded in the book of ACTS where huge crowds of sick people legitimately received miraculous healing.

Will the gift of healing as shown by the apostles in the book of ACTS return? – maybe, if it does, it will be to fulfill a specific purpose that God wants.

Nowadays both in the Christian & non-Christian world there are many people seeking supernatural help for healing. The world has methods such as Reiki where people get hands laid on to receive healing. In the church people flock to crusades where the pastor breathes on them, lays hands on them and prophesy healing to the attendees, Christian TV has a lot of programs where people are told to touch the screen & receive healing. Some ministries send prayer cloths, handkerchiefs, oil which have healing power for a nominal fee. One might say they are doing the same as the early church, but are they?

The fruits of some of these healing ministries we have today can help us determine whether God is in it or not. Most ministries are embroiled in some sort of scandal. There are cases where people have come forward stating they were paid to act sick. Innocent people have also suffered as they were deceived into thinking they were healed only to continue suffering from their illness; and in some tragic cases, people have died because they stopped taking medication.

What purpose does healing in current ministries serve?  Is it to further the gospel that teaches we can accept Jesus into our  hearts by repeating the sinners prayer? It seems to be the case which in itself is a huge red flag since that is not the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Believers at this time need to be more vigilant as deception is the order of the day. God definitely has the power to heal but understand the devil can also perform supernatural acts in order to trick people. People have turned to Reiki, yoga and received immediate healing only to be tormented. In the church people have gone to healing ministries and asked Jesus into their hearts when they actually received the fake Jesus who calls himself Jesus Sananda Emmanuel. When they asked Jesus to come into their hearts, they opened themselves up to be demonized.

It can be confusing to know what to believe.  The key is to be undeceived and understand the times we live in.

The enemy is using everything including healing to Lead many into more deception. Therefore we need to learn the wiles & strategies of the enemy to avoid his traps. If you don’t know where to begin started by getting a copy of The Church of the End-Time Zombies. 

Paperback  http://www.lulu.com/content/16262055  and

e-bookhttp://www.lulu.com/content/16464312

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Are You A False Prophet?

24 Jul

By Pastor Pam Sheppard

In ministry since 1981, I know a thing or two about false prophets. Besides the TV mega preachers that I watched for years, I also came to know at least 200 ministers while I was pastoring in a well-known denomination. So from my observations, I have designated 3 different types of false prophets. The deceived, the detoured and the diabolical.

There are those false prophets who are really saved but they followed the wrong leaders, and “sucked into themselves” mixed and false doctrines and practices. In short, they heeded and harkened unto the voice of seducing spirits and doctrines of the devil. However, they have not yet departed from the faith. These I call, “the Deceived.” Some of them will be set free. Because of pride, sad to say, others won’t be. Some false prophets would prefer to be caught up in a scandal than to admit that they taught error and thereby “led the people in the wrong direction, away from God, and not toward Him.” They are too spiritually proud to admit that they did not rightly divide the word of God.

Then there is the false prophet who was once used of God mightily, but he or she got deceived by the enemy and fell into disrepute. These I call “the Detoured.” This man or woman becomes a pretender—one who is very dangerous to those who are babes in Christ or who remain carnal Christians. Their followers “stand by their man” even when they should jump ship. The bible has a classic example of how the detoured “Old Prophet” deceived the man of God, resulting in the latter’s death. (I Kings 13)

Then of course, there is the out-and-out pretender who knows that he or she is serving the spirit of the Anti-Christ and everything they do is a masquerade. These I call “the Diabolical.” They are imposters, planted in among Christians to willfully bring confusion that will lead to destruction.

Every false prophet type— whether the Deceived, the Detoured, and the Diabolical— is equally dangerous. Why? Because they can leave a huge trail of victims.  I am humbled and thankful that although I was on the road to becoming a false prophet, the Holy Ghost jerked my chain, then cut it and broke it.  When  I was deceived by charismatic teachings,” God blessed me by closing doors and blocking me from spreading error. Even though I once had the heart, the skill and the desire of a mega preacher, God purposefully would not allow me to become a popular celebrity.. When a door opened, the Holy Ghost closed it and blocked my way through it. Moreover, among those that I have pastored, even though I personally believed some mixed doctrines, I didn’t teach them to those who allowed me to lead them. So praise God, after 43 years as a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ, I have no victims.

For example, I spoke in tongues, but I didn’t teach my followers to do so. I tithed, but I did not preach a “sow a seed,” prosperity gospel. In fact, I was completely self-sustaining. I gave back my church salary in the form of tithes and offerings to the churches that I pastored. When I practiced healing and the laying on of hands, I never told anyone to stop taking their medicine and “walk by faith.” I primarily preached the cross, sin, repentance, rebirth and the resurrection. But make NO MISTAKE. The false prophets of all 3 varieties:— the deceived, the detoured and the diabolical— are equally dangerous! Your prayers for them to repent may NOT prevail. And why not?

In order to repent, the false prophet has to do more than apologize and ask for forgiveness from those he has abused and deceived. If he has been made rich off of the backs of poor people by preaching the prosperity gospel, then God will require him or her to “give back” all of that money to the poor. Not too many false prophets are willing to give up those jet planes, million dollar homes and those Bentleys. Even the false prophets who are NOT mega, many of them have practiced the lie for so long, that it is practically impossible to receive the truth and act on it. Far too many have made “ministry” their career and not their calling.

Ask the Apostle Paul. He maintained as a tent maker. He would not allow any of the churches that he set up to totally provide his livelihood. That is why he could write, “whether abased or exalted, I can do ALL things 4 through Christ who strengthens me.” In other words, JUST SO YOU KNOW, I am not dependent upon YOU to live and to serve my God. When a false prophet’s livelihood is intricately tied to church dollars and resources, he or she is captive to a self-made trap that cannot be escaped from without God’s help. Actually, some false prophets have to be stripped naked to find God again, if they ever knew Him. So if you really think a particular false prophet is deceived, perhaps detoured but not diabolical, then your prayer should be “Lord, strip him.”

A word of caution. The religious demon assigned to me tried to set me up to become  a false prophet.  In several dreams, he showed me standing before huge audiences, walking up and down across a platform with my bible in my hand, preaching and teaching.  He even showed me pastoring a church of about 10,000 people.  Because I sought after the power to slay in the spirit, after 10 years of seeking, I got it. I could wave my hand, and certain ones would fall out, unconscious.  However, I began to question this power because I noticed that the ones in my congregation who fell out the most, were also those who could not STAND for the Lord, relapsing or backsliding constantly.  So I said to myself, “Pam, there is something wrong with this so-called gift. This cannot be from the Holy Ghost!” Once I prayed to the Lord and asked Him to “show me  the darkness,” I got quite the wake-up call that revealed that  the mega preacher phenomena of today is NOT of the Lord.  It is a combination of human charisma, “anointed” by the enemy’s power. My testimony is in “Come Out of Her God’s People.”

So if you are on that road, you need to get off, and get off with a quickness! If you have been burned by a false prophet, there is help.  Call 1-888-818-1117

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For more help about how to recover from experiences with false prophets I recommend The Church of the End-Time Zombies. Paperback  http://www.lulu.com/content/16262055  and e-book http://www.lulu.com/content/16464312

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Faces of the Religious Demon  Paperback http://www.lulu.com/content/11647727 and e-book http://www.lulu.com/content/11647727

FACES OF THE RELIGIOUS DEMON: Freedom Through Deliverance Counseling

For all books by Pam Sheppard go to http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/pam_s911

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Learning From Your Mistakes

20 Jul
By Pastor Pam Sheppard 

 

Mistakes and Deliverance

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 It has been my experience that the doorway UNKNOWINGLY left wide open to demonic torment is a captive’s fear of ever making a mistake. Demons take great pleasure in tormenting people who they can control with criticism, shame and accusation. As a deliverance counselor, I realize that for each captive, there is a different root cause. For the most part, a fear of making a mistake comes from how you were raised. Those who have been under the authority of extremely judgmental, critical parenting are inclined to either become passive or aggressive in their response to this fear.

The passive ones try to “always be correct and proper” because they are afraid of suffering the consequences that judgmental parenting brings. On my web caseload over the last 14 years, those who are constantly hearing critical, accusing voices in their minds have been raised by critical, judgmental parents. Perfectionism in passive people also leads them to be ardent people pleasers–a breeding ground for depression.

The aggressive folks tend to become the rebels of the world who often seem to make mistakes on purpose and by design because they simply enjoy annoying people. In other words, “if you made me the black sheep of the family, I’m going to play that role with style and gusto! If you told me when I was 10 years old that I am going to be no good, just like my father, well, I am going to be “my father” to the 25th power. So watch me, Mom, as I go through the revolving prison door of recidivism. Watch me and suffer Mom, because you have tried to frame me with a fear of being like a Dad that I didn’t even know, because of you and YOUR failures!

Here is another pattern. January 2 of every year  could be renamed “Get Rid of the Fat Day. There are unseen reasons why some of us got fat. Here is the scenario for the rebel:  ” If you have called me “fat” all of my life when I was not fat but voluptuous and my sensuality disturbed you, Mom—-I am REALLY going to become fat just to show you what FAT REALLY IS AND that I don’t care what you think of my body type!!!!”

Scenarios like these are often played out on a sub-conscious level. Anytime you don’t know who you are and why you are behaving the way that you do, you are a prime target for demonic interference. As a deliverance counselor, this is the reason  why I am less concerned about whether or not you ever experimented with the occult or drugs than I am about how you deal with “making mistakes.” It does not take a great deal of education to become a great learner. Learning involves listening and mimicking. Even if we can’t read or write, life itself is going to teach us something!!!” If you have never made a mistake then you have not learned very much.

For the Christian in particular, God designs the lessons of life disguised in the form of obstacles, mistakes and difficulties through a maze of trials, tribulations, troubles and tests. Why? Because the Christian walk in the spirit by faith in God alone is what earns us our eternal crowns. Without any ashes, there is no beauty. Without failure, there is no glory. Without falling, we really don’t know how to stand. We are sinners who must totally rely on the Holy Spirit’s leading in order to please a perfect God. He is pleased when we can resist the pride of our sinful nature and embrace our ashes.

I was born 73 years ago. I was born again 40 years ago. All I have to give to God is a life of mistakes and failures. These are my infirmities, and like Paul, I actually glory in them. I know that I glory in them because when I speak or write about my mistakes, I have no inner pulling of sorrow, shame or regret in my heart. I know that I glory in them because I give practically no thought or expression to the things that man would consider successful accomplishments. I glory in my mistakes because I have come to know that the power of Jesus Christ of Nazareth is all over me when I can acknowledge my own weaknesses.

There is a difference between making a mistake and being a mistake. If I am in Christ, then I am not a mistake. On the contrary, if I rely on “self,” then I am functioning as a mistake. What the bible confirms is that God did not believe that I was a mistake or I would not be here. God does not believe that YOU are a mistake or YOU would not be here either. When we begin to see even an iota of how big and all-consuming God is, then we will stop worrying about our mistakes and the demons that are assigned to us will be bound and gagged.

Twenty eight years ago, I committed a serious sin that brought about its consequences and its ramifications. On last Friday, the religious demon assigned to me sent me a dream that showed me committing the exact same sin and “loving it.” Demons rarely accuse me of sin because they know that I don’t receive or respond to their guilt trips. However, THIS time, they “got me good” because the dream disturbed at least half of my day. The dream was a mockery. What I found offensive is that I was shown that I still have the desire to do the exact same thing, a sin that would be extremely hurtful to God as well as to other people whom I would certainly hurt.

Do I have the desire to commit the sin again? Absolutely not. Would I do so if tempted? Absolutely not. However, here is the truth of it. The flesh DOES NOT CHANGE! In my flesh, I am STILL capable of committing the exact same sin TODAY!!! Yet, though I am capable, I WILL not do it. Why not? Because I don’t walk in the flesh. I walk in the spirit. And because of Jesus Christ, the desires of my heart and my spirit HAVE CHANGED. There is NO CONDEMNATION TO THOSE WHO ARE IN CHRIST JESUS.

You see, Brethren, Christians who are afraid of making mistakes focus on self-righteousness and not on the righteousness of God in Christ. They are not looking to the cross. They are looking to self. They are trying to please God just as they tried to please their earthly parents. Yet our understanding and practice of perfection is totally different from God’s as it pertains to His people. Take Job, as our classic biblical example. He was as perfect as man can get, pleasing to God, yet prior to Calvary.

That was Job’s problem. He was toooo perfect. He had no mistakes to draw from. Without the mistakes, Job really did not know God very well. Once God allowed the devil to attack Job, Job’s hidden mistakes were revealed. He was focused on “self-righteousness. The true nature of God was also revealed. Once confronted by his religious friends, Job became defensive. Defensiveness is an outgrowth of pride. If you are defensive, then even the very thought of making a mistake becomes a bondage to you. On the real, face it. Mistakes are part of our lives and we will keep making mistakes till our last breath. In my book, “Faces of the Religious Demon” are scores of case summaries of professing Christians who religious demons tormented because their captives were afraid of making mistakes.  For one reason or another, deliverance counseling uncovered   a complicated pride system at the root.

If I am speaking to YOU, then deliverance counseling or mentoring will help you get the victory in 2017. So call and book a telephone session. 1-888-818-1117

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Born in Adam’s Casket!

3 Jul

It does not matter what religion you follow or whether or not you are an atheist.  You cannot escape Adam’s casket on your own.  Death is just that final. Yet if you are chosen to be delivered from death by Jesus Christ of Nazareth, there is no casket with your name on it. Adam got himself into the worst situation known to man.  He got himself put into a casket when he and his wife sinned, and since then, all of us got born into our own casket.

Mankind has accomplished so many marvelous things, including walking on the moon, but no one has been able to avoid a casket. in spite the marvelous hands of various human beings, capable of inventions beyond most of our ability to even describe, yet those same minds and hands have not been able to avoid the casket.

Yet THE Son of God, crucified by the unrighteous, came out of his burial  tomb, aka, His casket after 3 days dead. As God evermore, Jesus, the Lord declared, ” the hour is coming and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear SHALL LIVE.”

In the shadow of recent impending worldwide tragedy and confusion, we sense that  the people of earth are burdened in spirit and bewildered in mind as to the fate of this planet. RESCUE ministry was formed as a dwelling place for all those who are waiting for the return of the Lord.

IS THAT HOUR VERY, VERY NEAR?

We at RESCUE FELLOWSHIP BELIEVE THAT SOME WHO ARE ALIVE TODAY WILL NEVER ENTER A CASKET. Furthermore, we believe that those who have died believing in Jesus Christ shall hear His voice and soon and very soon, break forth out of their caskets.

What is very clear to us at RESCUE from a study of biblical prophecy is this.


Here in America, a shift took place on November 8, 2016.  Simply put, things are no longer as they were, things are no longer going to continue as they are, and  there is a change coming soon.  The only thing that is unchangeable is the will and purpose o God, which prophetic evidence has revealed is moving toward consummation—a consummation that requires all of His people to be prepared for His return.

This is what we do at RESCUE.  Our mission is to get God’s people ready.  If this ministry is for you, the Lord will speak to your spirit.  When He does, either call 1-888-818-1117 or complete the contact form below. If you want to get ready on your own, we have the tools that can help you, so click here.

 

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