Phil, that was excellent. I guess I need to practice speaking in
tongues, but I'm certainly not good at it, and I feel very
self-concious about it.
In fact, I've only done it a few times.
Pat Ferguson
At 10:16 PM 2/4/2007, you wrote:
> For many months, if not years overall, I have been tuning
>into radio Bible teaching in hopes I would discover something new
>about financial blessings in the life of a Christian. I even
>purchased some tapes I thought were good from one of my favorite
>Bible teachers on the radio.
>
> If you listen to Pentecostals, Charismatics, Baptists, and
>other fundamentalist type preaching and teaching, they all begin
>at the same place and that is tithing. I've known this since the
>womb, practically, because it is all I have heard all my life.
>Until, that is, I began questioning the Lord myself, on my knees,
>with an open Braille Bible 25 years ago. The thing that freaked
>me out the most, at that time, was that the Holy Spirit, I was, by
>now, used to hearing and recognizing His voice, kept telling me
>that He did not need my money. This puzzled me. I know He, God,
>didn't need it but if I didn't give 10 percent of my income, I was
>taught that He, God, can't bless me. So now what do I do? Still,
>He kept saying, "I don't need your money." Every time I tried to
>tithe, my income diminished. When I quit tithing, my income
>increased. Finally, out of desperation, I gave up and stopped
>giving anything. Not one dime. My bills started getting paid,
>the income perpetually increased, my business continually
>improved, and four years later, although I had been renting, the
>Lord made it possible, without any down payment on my behalf, to
>purchase a home and with monthly payments the same as my rent had
>been. That was almost 24 years ago. I still live in the same
>home. So go figure. I was more confused than before, but I
>eventually studied until I found my answer in the Scriptures.
>This, however, has almost nothing to do with what I want to tell
>you now.
>
> Four years ago, or perhaps more, Jesus told me, not called
>me, not anointed me, but literally told me, what I would be
>doing. this I didn't like. Not because I wanted to disobey the
>Lord but I simply was not interested, nor did I have any training,
>in what the Lord was telling me I would be doing. What was that?
>He said, "You will be working with sexually abused women and those
>suffering from multiple personality disorders, which is now
>called, Dissociative Identity Disorder. First, this did not mean
>that's all I would be doing but it would be something He was
>instructing me, or appointing me, to do in His name. At present,
>I work with several sexually abused women and I have worked with
>many of those, men and women, who are multiple personality.
>Before this ministry began, the Holy Spirit also told me that I
>would be a father to the fatherless. I won't go into detail about
>this now but needless to say, this is something that is now being
>fulfilled daily. This is something I never dreamed in a million
>years I would be doing but doing it I am. Now back to my main
>topic. I have said all of this thus far to lay background for
>what I am going to tell you next.
>
> As most of you know on this list, financially, things haven't
>been going all that well of late. this is largely due to being a
>poor steward, or said another way, not being a very good business
>man. Simply stated, over the last two or three years, I've made
>some poor mistakes. One, for example, is that I took out loans
>and mortgages because, I thought, Jesus would bless the ministry
>to which He had called me, or better stated, the ministry to which
>He had assigned me or appointed me. This isn't faith; it's
>confidence. Confidence is a poor substitute for faith no matter
>how you cut it. This is not to say that Jesus won't finance His
>ministries but I am just trying to point out the difference
>between confidence in the Lord and faith in God. If you can't see
>the difference, you easily make the wrong mistakes.
>
> As I began to say, out of desperation, a terrible state in
>which to find yourself as a Christian, I was hunting and hunting
>for an answer. I wanted to know how to get money out of God or in
>a more spiritual way of putting it, I wanted to find out how to be
>financially blessed of God. Well, that's what it truly boiled
>down to as sorry as that sounds for such a Godly man as I. I'm
>joking, of course, because Godliness isn't what we think it is but
>that's for another time. Anyhow, I often punched on my radio just
>in case somebody was teaching on finances and I might hear the
>secret to getting God to cough up some money. Besides, He owed
>me. right? I mean, He put me into this ministry. right? So
>shouldn't He be paying for it, too, regardless of all the
>financial boo boos I made in the past? I mean, what kind of a God
>is He if He doesn't finance, or bank roll, what He has created?
>Right? He owns the cattle on a thousands hills and all the gold
>under those hills. Right? So why don't I have any of that?
>confusing to say the least.
>
> My radio experience, plus 1200 audio cassettes I have in my
>library, wasn't producing a single thing; not one. this
>frustrated me to no end because these are big names preachers and
>if anybody should know, it should be then. right? Well, it
>wasn't working. I mean, I wasn't finding the answer. I still am
>not claiming I know the final answer so don't get excited. I do
>want you to know what Jesus has told me so far.
>
> One thing I have learned over the last 25 years is that
>whatever I am asking the Lord, the answer is always, every single
>time, incredibly simple. I have always figured the answers from
>the God of the universe, the Creator of all things, has got to be
>super complex, theologically complicated, and spiritually
>unfathomable. Shoot, I barely made it out of high school, I only
>have a three year Bible college general theological degree, and I
>know my IQ can't be very high. Yet, time and time again, God has
>shown me things about my relationship with Him and they are
>always, 100 percent of the time, so simple, a child could
>understand. this makes me mad and humble at the same time. Mad,
>because I always hope that I will learn some big godly secret that
>will catapult me into magnificent and glorious Christian stardom.
>Humility speaks for itself. No, humility doesn't mean you are
>worthless and valueless, in fact, it means just the opposite in
>God's eyes. Think simple and it will make sense.
>
> So, the other day, as I have been trying to say all along, I
>was scanning the radio dial, I have 32 memories on my radio so I
>can punch stations up rapidly and one right after another if I am
>bored or displeased with what I am hearing, looking for somebody
>smarter than I am and concerning the subject of finances.
>Nothing. Absolutely nothing. They all, every single one of them,
>dad gum it, were teaching the exact same thing. Days, weeks,
>months, and years passed and they all taught the same thing. why,
>you may ask, didn't I believe them and follow their example? I
>had tried everything they taught already and it flat out did not
>work. I even proved it didn't work by eliminating my tithes and
>offerings over a period of four years and God blessed me even more
>than if I had been giving. Well, that's all water over the dam or
>under the bridge or whatever. Now you can understand why pastors
>don't ask me to speak for them any longer; they are afraid I might
>teach on the wrong subject. Let me tell you what Jesus told me
>just recently.
>
> turning off the radio out of frustration, I sat back in my
>chair totally bummed. "Come on, Lord," I complained, "I don't get
>it. I don't even know the question, let alone the answer, so
>what is the freaking answer?" then I suddenly heard it. One
>word. One elementary, rudimental, simple, uncomplicated, plain,
>kindergarten, and simplistic, word. "Prayer."
>
> I almost jumped as if I had been touch with a live electrical
>wire. "Pray!" I shouted into the spirit realm. I was surprised,
>not because I heard it but because I felt it. Yes, felt it. I am
>perfectly familiar with day dreaming, having become a professional
>at it during school days, but this was not a day dream. You don't
>feel a day dream; you just picture it in your mind. I was not
>meditating, calculating, figuring, hallucinating, pondering,
>contemplating, or speculating. I was asking! What shocked me, as
>it always does, the Lord answered me. Once again, so help me God,
>my hand on His bible, it was the most simplistic of answers and I
>felt the answer, not heard it, but felt it.
>
> I realize this may be a new concept for many Christians,
>feeling the answer that is, but that is the way it always works
>for me. Some people sense emotional, in their thought patterns,
>the Holy Spirit talking or speaking something to them. For some,
>not me, but for some, it is so real, they describe it as actual
>hearing something. That happens to some people, too, literally
>hearing the Lord speak, but it isn't common and you should not
>seek for such an auditory response. Why? It isn't necessary.
>Plus, demons can speak out loud so there is no sense in making
>things worse. Others just sense communication is occurring and
>they formulate words. I have experience both, that is, words
>spoken into my thoughts, or formed in my thoughts, and more often
>than not, I feel what is being spoken. Don't ask me why because I
>don't know why it is different from person to person. It is
>likely due to our unique individuality as far as God is concerned.
>You know? No two alike? I am usually hit with a feeling which
>contains meaning. thus, the words are my words of explanation.
>Sometimes, on the other hand, I actually see the words as if they
>are being imprinted on my mind or in my thoughts. both happened
>this time. I saw and felt the word "prayer" at the same time the
>full and complete meaning burst in my spirit.
>
> When the Holy Spirit spoke to me the single word "prayer,"
>an extended meaning and translation of what the Lord meant
>detonated inside of me spiritually. I knew instantly what Jesus
>was telling me. No, he wasn't talking about petitionary prayer
>where you make your request known on to God. I already know how
>to do that. No, He was not talking about praising His name and
>giving Him glory because I already know how to do that and have
>been doing that most of my life. furthermore, I know how to pray
>without ceasing and that is a regular part of my daily life. I
>also know how to pray in my sleep so that's not what the Lord was
>telling me either. So what was He talking about? I'm glad you
>asked.
>
> There is another form of prayer that many, I dare say most,
>do not accept as valid. They are fearful of it, don't believe it
>is viable in the church today, and they will do anything and
>everything to avoid this form of prayer. Yet, it is a gift of the
>Holy Spirit. By now, you likely have guessed it is the gift of
>speaking in tongues.
>
> I am not going to exegetically, or textually critically
>analyze, Acts chapter one, Chapter two, chapter ten, chapter
>nineteen, or even First Corinthians chapter fourteen, not to
>mention many other related passages because I have done this
>already in many articles, booklets, and at least one book. So if
>you want to read, and you have doubts, the bible is the first
>place to begin. That's what I had to do to prove to myself the
>gift of tongues is for today's church. If you choose not to
>believe, it won't damage our friendship at all. At least not on
>my part. You don't have to speak in tongues to go to Heaven but
>you do have to be saved.
>
> As I started to say, when the single word "prayer" burst in
>upon my thoughts, a feeling crashed in behind it. If I had been
>standing, it could have possibly knocked me over. Yes, it was
>that powerful. I've had this happened before but I am always
>spiritually surprised when it happens.
>
> The feeling that accompanied the word to pray, filled my
>spirit, that is to say, it impressed itself deeply upon my
>spiritual being. I couldn't deny the truth of it, in other words,
>even if I had tried. Yes, it was that real. This illumination,
>or spiritual insight, simply said, "Every time the feeling of
>financial hopelessness, or financial defeat, or monetary lack, or
>even God's inability to provide comes to mind, pray in tongues."
>How simple. Sure, I had the gift of tongues but how could this
>help my situation? I thought you had to be somebody spiritual, or
>a theological giant, or a powerful man of God, or a well educated
>Biblical scholar, or a well known theologian, or the pastor of a
>megachurch, or at least a missionary nobody has ever heard of.
>Me? That's what I'm supposed to do?
>
> Because this spiritual enlightenment came to me during the
>mid morning hours of the day, I figured I'd start that very day
>and so I did. No, it was far from easy. I walked around the
>house throughout that entire day, praying out loud in tongues.
>Yes, I felt stupid and silly and ridiculous. Yes, I wondered what
>my wife, or daughter, or grandchildren, or anyone else thought,
>who might have heard me. Sure, it felt dumb to pray like that as
>I watched TV late that night and the financial feelings of doom
>came upon me. I did it anyway. I did it until I went to bed
>fully expecting to repeat the whole weird scenario the next day.
>Something different occurred, however, that next day. The
>negative and ominous thoughts were fewer in number and intensity.
>It had to be my hyper spiritual Charismatic/Baptist imagination.
>I prayed anyhow clear up until I went to bed. Yes, every time a
>thought came; I never missed praying. Why? Jesus said to so I
>did what He said. On the third day, the negative thoughts of doom
>and gloom were gone. No fooling. Just totally gone. I prayed
>anyhow but now I prayed because I was free to do so and I have
>been doing exactly that since. Where did the thoughts go you ask?
>I think you know.
>
> This, of course, is far from the end of the story. No, it
>doesn't mean I suddenly became a millionaire. I haven't won the
>Power Ball, especially since I don't even play that or the
>lottery. No, nothing has changed. I take that back; something
>has changed. Me. Jesus is still the same as always. Does this
>mean I now will become rich? No. Wealthy? No. Well to do? Not
>necessarily. It means Jesus is Lord. Did you expect Him to be
>more?
>
>Phil.
|