Wow, Kathy, thanks for the "reality" chapter!

You and Greg sure have some issues to deal with in your church.  Without
knowing the people it's probably best if I don't really comment much, except
to say that where God is moving there is so often something going on from
the Devil too, especially where he has a foothold.  It is these footholds
that have to be closed, by prayer, a work of God in the midst, and by our
willingness to "give no place to the Devil".

I pray that both yourself and Gregg may set that example, hard as it is,
that others may follow, and that the outpouring of the Spirit of God will
become evident!

Praying for you all.  Keep us posted, please.


--
Carol



----- Original Message -----
From: "Kathy Du Bois" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, November 17, 2003 6:09 PM
Subject: The next chapter in Glenburn


> HI Guys,
> Well, I wanted to give you an account of what happened yesterday and, as
> always, thank you again for praying. Actually, the idea of healing went
> over really well. The people were open and reseptive, but, unfortunately,
> the devil was there as well in a most unexpected way. I’d like to tell
> you about it so that, maybe, you guys can help me sort this out. I’m just
> praying that I can be completely objective in my recording of what
> happened so that you guys can give the most discerning advice possible.
> We have a woman who attends our church who is very unique. She is the
> only black person in our congregation and she is also very, well,
> pentecostal. Maybe I could say Charismatic, but I do make a distinction
> between the two so I’ll stick with pentecostal. She’s almost 80 years old
> and she has always been extremely critical of the lack of spiritual
> activity in our church. To be honest, I agree with her to a point, but as
> Vinny pointed out in a post on Saturday, we are talking about stuffy New
> Englanders here. They don’t get excited about anything or show much
> emotion in general so it isn’t just lack of spirituality, it’s cultural
> as well. This is something that I myself have had to get used too.
> Anyway, her history with our congregation has always been a challenge.
> Dotty loves to talk about how she has overcome prejudice, yet she is not
> above making comments like, "I love to make white meat serve me," if
> someone offers to bring her something to eat in the fellowship hall. She
> doesn’t drive, and never has, but our people are always willing to give
> her rides and, in genral, be nice to her even though she can be outspoken
> and a bit crass at times. She’s not very well educated and has a lot of
> trouble reading so bible study is difficult, but she really understands
> spiritual matters and she has a bold witness, which turns many people
> off, but has also been fruitful. No one at church doubts her
> spirituality, but, to be truthful, I believe that she is also one of the
> reasons that people have been afraid to become more familiar with the
> holy spirit. I think that they are afraid that they will become like her,
> and they don’t want that. She can be so outspoken and critical and blunt
> and, unfortunately, unwilling to change.
> Dotty, is also the person who has said that my blindness is what is
> holding this church back and, in the past, she has told Greg that I just
> haven’t been healed because I don’t want to be healed and I just don’t
> have enough faith. Okay, I think that the stage is sufficiently set for
> what happened yesterday.
> ALPHA is set up so that there is a talk, ours happens to be on video,
> though it could be given in person, and then we usually break into small
> groups for discussion and bible study and prayer. After that, we eat
> together to build on community. Yesterday, we had the people stay in one
> group. Greg allowed a little questioning, but we really wanted to move
> into prayer. Remember, I had explained before that our people were
> willing to talk about faith and the holy spirit, but hesitant to put
> their faith into action. We didn’t want that to happen yesterday. Before
> we could start asking about who would like to have prayer, however, Dotty
> stood up and came down from the back of the church. She seemed, to me at
> least, to have a combative attitude, as if we were going to argue with
> what she was about to say. She wanted to relate her experience of being
> healed from Asthma. She does still have other health issues, such as
> diabetes, high blood pressure, she has had a hip replaced and she is
> having some trouble with her eyes, but hey, she is almost 80, as I said
> earlier. We can’t last forever. Anyway, she came down front and said that
> she had gone to a healer at a pentecostal church and was slain in the
> spirit for an hour and then was healed of her asthma. No one doubts her
> story. It’s what she said next and the way that she behaved that was the
> difficulty. She said that she was healed because of her strong faith in
> Jesus Christ. When Greg tried to explain that God healed her for His
> purposes and His reasons, she became really angry. She went to the back
> of the church and started yelling about the problem with this church is
> that we don’t believe in the holy spirit. Well, After that, a really
> timid elderly woman said that she had been experiencing back problems and
> could we pray about that, and we were off. The next woman had us pray
> about her high blood pressure and she also asked about praying for me.
> People were Eager to participate, all but Dotty who refused to join in
> and then left, called her daughter to come and get her. She refused to
> stay for lunch.
> Greg and another woman went out into the parking lot to try to talk with
> her, but she was really hostile. Later on, in the afternoon, she called
> me up and started on me. She said that she had called her friends and
> that she was right and I was wrong. I decided to try to explain again
> what her statement sounded like to us. I had hoped to give her a chance
> to explain herself better and, hopefully, clear up the misunderstanding.
> I said that when you say that it was your faith that healed you, it
> sounds like your taking some of the credit for what God did for you. Her
> response was, "Of course I’m taking some credit. It was my faith in Jesus
> Christ that healed me."
> I tried to talk to her from a biblical prospective about how healing
> isn’t that cut and dried and I think she was starting to see my point,
> but then, her daughter started yelling and swearing at her to hang up on
> me and Dotty hung up and that’s where it stands at this point.
> I suppose that you are wondering why Dotty even attends our church. Well,
> interestingly enough, the way that she tells it, this is the only church
> that taught her that Jesus Christ is God. Other churches that she has
> attended made a distinction between God and Jesus, God’s son as if, in
> her understanding of the teaching, Jesus is less than God. Since I
> haven’t heard what was said elsewhere, I can only go on what she tells
> us.
> Anyway, that’s the next chapter in our story out here in Glenburn Maine.
> Our church took baby steps toward becoming more spiritual and it didn’t
> go off without a hitch. I’ve left a lot out, but it was mostly attempts
> at conversation and, to be truthful, I’m just a little tired right now.
> Thanks again for your prayers, guys, through it all, yesterday was a good
> day.
> IN Him,
> Kathy
>
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