I have only been reading this man's blogging, or daily comments, for the last couple of weeks. I have liked several things I have read. No, I can't say I agree with everything he says and I make no judgement on what he has written in these next two messages. I think it is worth reading and knowing something about. I have seen what he is describing at work in a church I pastored so I know it is no joke. You can believe whatever you wish in what he says but it does make for interesting reading. Logging on to his archives, you might discover a lot of interest background relating to this man's life and all the Lord has taken him through. I have done some formatting and I also removed most of the blank lines to make it better for the list serve to process but the text is in no way formatted perfectly. ANOTHER COFFEE BREAK: JEZEBEL & WITCHCRAFT Well, Another Good Morning to Y'all! This is going to be a spectacular day! That's right - the absolutely, bar none, no-holds-barred best day of your life! Get ready! I know this will absolutely shock you, but I'm enjoying one of those "vitamins" I like so much. Now don't go jumping on my case for buying them. I didn't. Surprise, Surprise! Della bought them. Guess she figured I needed a little "nourishment" for my Coffee Breaks. Hehehehehe..... Besides, I AM losing weight. I've dropped more than 12 pounds over the past three weeks. Remember that change of diet I told you about? Meat, vegetables & fruit? That's it. Mostly, anyway. We really have cut out the great majority of all pastries, pastas, breads and starchy foods. I get to have a piece of bread once in awhile - maybe a slice of toast with my eggs in the morning. The best breakfast in the world is steak and eggs. High protein! It gives you energy like there's no tomorrow! I do get to have either a slice of toast, or a rolled-up tortilla with my eggs and steak, but that's usually where we draw the line on breads. 'Nuff of that. Bought some Dark-Roasted Ethiopian coffee yesterday. Has a nice rich taste to it. It is a bit different flavor from my usual Columbian, but it's nice. I like it. Coffee's made, my cup is poured, and you better get yours before I drink it all up <grin>. Yesterday, I stirred up a bit of a hornet's nest when I started talking about Jezebel and witchcraft operating in the body of Christ. A few folks got mad at me (can't figure that one out, can we?) and decided they didn't want to subscribe to my Coffee Breaks any longer. Think maybe I touched a nerve somewhere? Well, let me start off with a prophecy that John gives in Revelation 2 to the Ekklesia in Thyatira: "Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works. But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden." (Revelation 2:20-24) Pretty strong, isn't it? Obviously, the Lord wasn't saying that Jezebel - the wife of King Ahab and daughter of Ethbaal, the Amorite king - was still alive and operating in Thyatira nearly a thousand years after her death. He was referring to that spirit that emulated her, actually that wicked, evil spirit that ruled Jezebel and contaminated the life of Israel in ways that ultimately led the nation into captivity. Let's take a look at some of the characteristics of Jezebel in John's prophecy - the characteristics of this spirit - and how it was contaminating the body of Christ even then, in or around 96 AD. 1. "She calleth herself a prophetess." Hmmmmm... OK. False prophet (ess) and false prophecy. 2. "to teach and seduce my servants." Right. This spirit poses as a seductive teacher, promoting doctrines and teachings that lead the people of God astray. 3. "to commit fornication." This seduction is both spiritual and sexual. We'll get into that in more detail shortly. 4. "and to eat things sacrificed unto idols." Uhh Huhh. Idolatry: the worship or reverence of things, or individuals, or entities other than the Lord Himself: the prioritizing of doctrines over a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Just wait. It gets worse. 5. "I gave her space to repent of her fornication." So Jezebel (or those individuals contaminated with that spirit) are actively committing fornication. That doesn't mean they are necessarily running around, having promiscuous sexual relations, although they well may. 6. "and she repented not." So those afflicted with this spirit generally tend to be unrepentant. They have no remorse over their sin, can't see that what they are doing is sin, and refuse to repent when faced with exposure of their sin. 7. "Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds." So it's more than just fornication: it is adultery, too. We'll get into this more, too, as this discussion proceeds. 8. "And I will kill all her children with death." Strange phrase, isn't it? If one gets killed, they are dead are they not? How do you kill someone with death? This is an interesting Hebrew metaphor occurring in the Greek text. In this case, the Lord is talking about more than physical death: He is talking about an eternal death and separation from all possibility of redemption or future relationship with Him. If there is any hallmark of the spirit of Jezebel, or some particular characteristic that sums up and describes its overall purpose, it would be "usurper." The primary objective of the spirit of Jezebel is to usurp the operational authority of the Lord Jesus Christ in those who are anointed and appointed by the Holy Spirit to minister, to present itself as THE voice of the Lord instead, and to take control of the leadership of God's people. See that word, "control"? It goes with manipulation. It's called witchcraft. If you want, go back and look at I Kings 21. There we see the unfolding of an event that typified Jezebel, and the spirit in control of her. King Ahab (Jezebel's husband) sees a vineyard he decides he needs and wants. He makes an offer to Naboth, who has inherited this vineyard from his father, and his fathers before him. Naboth, of course, wants to keep the vineyard in his family. It's a producer, and it represents the family's business and source of revenue, as well as generations of a family's blood, sweat and tears. Naboth refuses to sell the vineyard to the king - at any price. Ahab begins to pout and throws himself a hissy fit. Jezebel sees him in a blue funk and says to him, "What's your problem?" Ahab cries on Jezzy's shoulder, and Jezzy says, "No problem. I can fix this. I'll personally give you Naboth's vineyard." Now Jezebel commences to do something that is one of the primary tactics of that spirit in control of her, and epitomizes the manner in which it still works today. She goes hunting for two men of political repute and standing in the area - men who are easily corruptible and easily swayed by Jezebel's position as Queen - and gets them to conspire with her against Naboth. First things first. Set up Naboth. Let's call a public feast, let's send out letters of invitation to a celebration, and let's honor a "Man of the Year" shall we? Piece of cake. Guess who the "Man of the Year" is? You got it! Think Naboth has any clue that he's being set up, that his pride is going to be his downfall? Nope. Neither do the overwhelming majority of Christians who fall into this same trap. They become the willing pawns of the spirit of Jezebel once their pride has been appealed to, and they think they're being "honored." Honor? Some honor! Sure enough, Naboth shows up for his "honoring", and right in the middle of the celebration, these two so-called "men of standing" (men of Belial: wicked, worthless, evil and ungodly) stand up and accuse Naboth of treasonous activity - namely, blaspheming God, AND (Horror of Horrors!) King Ahab. There was no trial, no opportunity for Naboth to confront his accusers, and no one who stood up for him. This is something I've always found interesting about the spirit of Jezebel: its ability to intimidate even those who might under ordinary circumstances speak out on behalf of the righteous when falsely accused. Despite the fact that Jezebel wasn't even an Israelite; despite the fact that Naboth had lived and spent his whole life there in Jezreel where the folks knew him, knew his family, and undoubtedly had been recipients of assistance and favors from Naboth and his family, not one single person stood up in his defense against two spokesmen whose accusations were completely fabricated out of whole cloth. And this is the norm for folks when they've been intimidated by the spirit of Jezebel. Fear of Death and the Fear of Man seal their lips shut. They stand by, keeping silence, and allow the fabrications of lying spirits to come against men and women of God. When judgment based on those lies is executed against the righteous, their silence is all the more sealed, and the spirit of Jezebel gets away with murder. That's exactly what happened with Naboth. Not one single person stood up in his defense. Folks who knew him as a righteous man, who knew that Naboth would rather die than blaspheme God or the king, stood by, capitulating to the spirit in Jezebel allowing him to be taken out of the town and stoned to death. With Naboth dead and unable to defend himself or his lands, Jezebel seized his vineyard and proudly walked in to Ahab and handed him title to those lands he had coveted. Thus the spirit of Jezebel is also liar, thief, murderer, and willing conspirator to those who capitulate to its usurpation. The obvious companion spirit to the spirit of Jezebel is what I have come to call "the spirit of Ahab." Jezebel couldn't have gotten away with such treachery had she not had Ahab to support and permit her activities. The spirit of Ahab, therefore, is a spirit of capitulation in the midst of Jezebel's usurpation. In a modern sense and application, I have seen the spirit of Ahab operating in folks who were submissive or capitulative to a spirit of Jezebel, and rather than allow folks to defend the falsely accused, they move heaven and earth to see that the would-be defenders are moved somewhere else, or have no opportunity to speak out. I want to break down for you each of the eight descriptive pictures or characteristics of the spirit of Jezebel, but I think I'll wait on that until tomorrow, and share with you an incident or two in which I have stood up to the spirit of Jezebel. It was 1966. I was in Barrow, Alaska, working with Dwain McKenzie and sharing with him in ministry. Dwain was the pastor of the church I had helped my father build a little more than a decade earlier. I was the Youth Pastor. Because this was a missionary endeavor, my livelihood didn't come from a salary or weekly paycheck from the church. I was working for a branch of Alaska National Bank. Dwain and his family decided to take a vacation trip to California. He wanted to spend some time with his dad and mom and help his folks out with some needs, so he arranged for the Alaska Missions District (of the church denomination) to provide an interim missionary during his vacation. The missions' superintendent picked a likely young couple to fill in for Dwain, and they arrived in Barrow in the spring of 1966. Hervel was the young minister's name, and his vim and vigor obviously impressed the Alaska Missions leaders. This was, to the best of my recollection, Hervel's first real pastorate, and he was gung ho to show everyone what a good job he could do. One problem. He had never really undergone any period of discipline and preparation for taking on what was at that time one of the denomination's largest churches in Alaska. Once in Barrow, and once in the driver's seat as the senior pastor, Hervel decided he didn't want to let go of the position and the supposed prestige that came with it. He began to scheme and connive and try to figure out how he could have Dwain ousted and remain on as the permanent senior pastor. Are you with me so far? Do you see the situation ripe for the spirit of Jezebel? Right. Hervel opened the door wide for that spirit, and it rushed in where angels fear to tread. Before you know it, he had filed a formal complaint with the District Missions office alleging that Dwain had mismanaged the church's finances, and that Dwain was misappropriating church funds for his own use. As it turned out, my position at the bank allowed me to see every single expenditure of the church, as well as Dwain's personal accounts. When I first heard of the allegation, anger rose up in me at Dwain's accuser. However, I decided to hold my peace and personally (and surreptitiously) audit the finances of the church, as well as Dwain's personal finances from my place at the bank. It wasn't my place to do it, and my actions were certainly unauthorized by either the church, or the denomination, or the bank's management (at least at first). The bank manager was a personal friend, and I explained to him the accusations being made, telling him (after I was already part way through the audit) that I was certain the accusations were fraudulent - that I wanted to either prove or disprove them. He agreed, and we went to work on it. As I had suspected, the accusations were completely unfounded. I readied my documentary evidence to present to the District Superintendent, whom I knew would shortly be coming to Barrow to check things out. Without letting Hervel know that I had evidence contradicting his allegations, I confronted him and asked him if he would kindly show me his proof. He refused, telling me it was none of my business and saying that he was taking it up with the church board. Not being a member of the church board, I had no standing and no way to compel them to allow me into the board meetings in Dwain's defense. I bided my time until the District Superintendent came to Barrow. When I had my first chance to speak with him privately, I told him that the accusations against Dwain were completely spurious, and that I could produce documentary proof that the church finances had been handled in a completely above-board manner, and that I could account for every supposed mis-spent dime. To my astonishment, he refused to hear me. The District Superintendent was easily twice my age if not close to three-times. I had known him since I was a young whippersnapper, and his refusal to hear any evidence from me in Dwain's support was both baffling and angering. My frustration overflowed in that moment, and I let him know that Hervel was deliberately conspiring against Dwain in order to take the church away. My language was unequivocal. Hervel was a crook, he was a cheat and a liar, and there was no integrity in him. The DS shushed me up and told me "simmer down," that he would look into things and deal accordingly. I didn't think there was any reason not to believe him, and I let it go. He still refused my offer to provide him with the documentary evidence, however. It wasn't more than a couple of days later when I received a phone call from the bank president asking me if I would like to train to take the management of the Kotzebue branch. He said I would have to move to Nome and train at the branch there. It was an enticing offer. I was not a happy camper working with a pastor whose greed and connivance to take control of a church through political maneuvering made me want to throw up. As far as I was concerned, this man had no concern whatever for the Gospel, nor for the things of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was simply a self-serving political operative using the Gospel for personal gain. While I was still mulling over the offer to come to Nome and train for the management of the Kotzebue branch of the bank, I received a phone call from Paul Bills who was pastoring the church in Nome my father had built and pioneered. Paul, of course, had been a friend of our family for many years. He had filled in for Dad when we had taken a family vacation, and in fact, took over the church in Barrow when we moved on to build churches in Wainwright and Point Hope, preceding Dwain as Barrow's pastor. "I'm told that the bank has made you an offer to come to Nome. I'm calling you to see if I can talk you into taking the position. I need your help here in the church in Nome." Wow! That was the clincher. I called the bank president back and told him I would take the position. But first I talked to the DS again to make sure he was going to get to the bottom of the issue in Barrow before I agreed to leave. He assured me that no decisions would be made without Dwain having the opportunity to defend himself. It didn't dawn on me that I had been royally set up. My move to Nome was orchestrated by folks with a whole lot more political pull than I imagined, and the objective was to get me out of the way so I wouldn't prevent Dwain from being politically assassinated. As soon as I was gone from Barrow, a fake trial was held before the church board. Dwain was found guilty in absentia. He never had an opportunity to present evidence that would have cleared him. He was contacted while in California and advised to get back to Barrow to pack up his personal belongings, and told that he was through as a pastor in Alaska. Tomorrow, I'll share with you the end of the story to show you how the Lord vindicated Dwain, and how both the DS and Hervel suffered Jezebel's fate. I'm an Extremist! I'm extreme enough to believe God can do ANYTHING - for me -- AND for you. Blessings on you! Regner A. Capener R & DC MINISTRIES Ekklesia House RR-15, Box 6180 Mission, TX 78574-9589 (956) 583-5355 All Coffee Break articles are copyright by Regner A. Capener, but authorization for reprinting, reposting, copying or re-use, in whole or in part, is granted - provided proper attribution and this notice are included intact. Coffee Break archives are available at: http://groups.msn.com/RegnersRangers/<http://groups.msn.com/RegnersRanger s/>, or http://www.CoffeeBreakOnline.com<http://www.coffeebreakonline.com/>. Coffee Break articles are published daily, Monday through Friday, except for holidays. If you would like to have these articles arrive each morning in your email, please send a blank email with the word "Subscribe" as the subject to: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>. 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