Moving God the Wrong Way

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It’s not hard to realize what an unpredictable and chaotic world we live in. We experience change and uncertainty every day ranging from the mundane flat tire, spilled coffee, and lost car keys to more severe situations such as horrific natural disasters, random terrorist attacks, and nerve racking political and financial instability.
 
As Christians, we are blessed to know that as the World is falling around us, we can take comfort in the extended promise God made in Malachi 3:6, where He declares that He does not change and because of that fact, we will not be destroyed.
 
But despite being the source of our eternal stability, we still want to change God.
 
We want to Manipulate Him, with our Offerings.
 
We want to Control Him, with our Prayers.
 
We want to Influence Him, with our Actions.
 
God understands and recognizes this drive in us. In fact, the first three items listed in the Ten Commandments aim to help us realize this about ourselves.
 
You might not specifically worship Baal, Moloch or any of the other false gods listed in the Bible but we constantly place our own ambitions and aspirations ahead of God’s plans for us, selfishly thinking that God should work to achieve the trophies we covet rather than us working to bring Him Glory by fulfilling His plans.
 
Forbidding graven images doesn’t stop with statues carved out of wood and stone, but extends to our limiting God’s dimensions to what we believe to be physically possible. This is sometimes seen with people thinking their problems are too big for God. In their mind, they’re too sick to be healed, their marriage is too damaged to be repaired, their debt too staggering to be repaid. Limiting God’s power is sometimes excused with thoughts that God isn’t interested in our problems, there are more important issues for Him to focus on, and that we aren’t good enough for God to want to help us. This ignores the sacrifice Christ made through His Death and Resurrection and treats it as though that isn’t enough.
 
Thinking of God as existing exclusively in the box we put Him isn’t limited to sometimes believing heavenly intervention isn’t possible or won’t come, but also through restricting the supernatural to our natural needs. Only crying out to Him on behalf of some favor or service we need from Him is using God’s name as a manipulation of His Holiness for our own vanity. It’s easy to become “lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power.” 2 Timothy 3:4,5
 
Too often we fail to use prayer to intimately communicate with God to build our relationship with Him, but instead to conjure His infinite powers for ourselves. It is subtle in this manner, but the blatant spell Abra (Father) Kadabra (Of the Father: Son) Alakazam (Holy Ghost) done before spectacular magic tricks exactly mirrors how many Christians call out God’s Name in prayer before asking him to perform some miracle at their behest.
 
But it isn’t simply through prayer that we try to control God. We also tend to believe that through “good works” we can coax God into doing what we want Him to do. Some people give their tithe to Him only under the condition that they be repaid back the loan we give to Him with usury level interest added of course. Others fast from necessities like food and water to convince God to give them things they desire. Popular pilgrimages too, encourage us to walk long distances so that God will take steps in the right direction.
 
It is easy to dismiss this sin as one that sprung up after the Fall of Man, but it is precisely this desire that caused the Fall of Man. Adam and Eve did not eat of the forbidden fruit due to having no other source of food. The Snake’s sales pitch was focused on the lie that eating the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil would make Adam and Eve ever powerful like God.
 
Even in a perfect Paradise where all our needs were met, we had no pain or worries, and we were living in communion with God and His Creation, it still wasn’t enough for Us. We still want to be like God, to have His Power, to essentially replace Him. Sometimes He does give us the desires of our Hearts simply for us to realize that it doesn’t truly make us happy and that we feel fulfilled living the life and destiny He planned for us before our birth.
 
So how do we move past this desire to control God?
 
By giving Him total power over our lives and putting Him first in all aspects of it.
 
Your business and career needs to be focused on achieving God’s Will; the money and success will flow like a raging river but they will mean nothing to you compared to the satisfaction you gain from offering your Work Life as a sacrifice to God. In your marriage, you must love God above each other and then yourselves. The Joy that stems from a God focused partnership will turn the tide of divorce in our nation and help heal the emotionally shattered relationships that we are surrounded by in the lives of our families, coworkers, and friends.
 
Giving total control over to God can be terrifying for most people since it makes us feel terribly vulnerable and we worry about whether God will take care of us in the way we need. This is especially true when we feel most powerless and should rely on Him to not only thrive in the tough moments in life but sometimes simply to survive them. But the God that knows the number of hairs on your head, is the very same God who knows your deepest fears and desires to sooth your wounds, connect with you deeply, and let you understand and feel his infinite Love.
 
The strengthening of your relationship with God only comes with spending time and communicating with Him in prayer. Then, when you hear God, you will understand His Plans and Promises and you will begin to truly trust Him. This trust is manifested in our obeying His Word and surrendering ourselves fully to Him. It is a great irony that only through submission to God and His Will rather than trying to control Him with our dead works, will we be able to fully experience and be blessed by His Power. It’s all about Praying, Hearing and Obeying.
 

Written by Eric Sepulveda, PMT Administrator

What is Truth?

 
When interrogating Jesus, Pilot asked the question of Him,
 
“What Is Truth?” He then went out and told the Jews that he found no fault in him. Soon after, Jesus was crucified, buried, and raised from death in glory. Two thousand years later, that same question till reverberates.
 
We are more equipped to answer that question concerning truth than Pilot was because Jesus kept a promise made to his disciples in John 14:16-17, “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever – the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.”
 
We are assuredly living in this age of the Comforter – even after two millennia – because Jesus said, “He may abide with you forever”. This is the very reason we still worship Jesus today after so many years after his death, which was seemingly one of many during the time in which he lived, for the crime of sedition. Crucifixion was generally reserved for these crimes, and all the condemned had signs placed announcing the reason for their execution. Jesus’s sign indicated he thought himself to be the king of the Jews, while many only mocked him as such, according to John 1:11. “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.”
 
The point is, there were many would-be messiahs around the time of Christ. Why do we remember and revere only him? It is well-nigh impossible that Jesus is making such a stir after all this time and yet millions around the world are devoted to him.
 
This is explained in John 15:26, “But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.”
 
The comforter that Jesus prayed for the Father to send is keeping the name of Jesus alive in the hearts and minds of men today. The Spirit of truth testifies of Jesus. That is why when the gospel of Christ is preached, hearts are changed even today because the Holy Spirit bears witness with the human spirit that Jesus is the Lord of Lords. Without the Spirit of truth, we would all remain hopelessly lost in sin.
 
In chapter 16:13, John says, “However when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.”
 
This verse confirms that as long as we have the Holy Spirit of truth (forever), we will be able to rely on “all truth” and knowing “things to come.” Thus we can be certain that gifts of the Spirit still operate. Words of knowledge, words of wisdom, and prophecy are alluded to in this verse.
 
In John 17:17, Jesus said, “Sanctify them by your truth: your word is truth.” The word translated “word” in this verse is “logos”. It means something said; or to speak intelligently. The Holy Spirit is now and forever speaking the word of truth of our Father in heaven.
 
Let us rejoice in the assurance given to us in 2 Thessalonians 2:13, “But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.” Bless the risen Lord for sending the Holy Spirit to abide with, and even in us. The Holy Spirit always brings forth the truth.
 
The reality of the Holy Spirit in our lives is such that we don’t even need any other to teach us. This is stated in 1 John 2:27, “But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.” Anointing means endowment of the Holy Spirit. It is by the Holy Spirit that we are led, learn, and live. Without Him we perish.
 
In answer to the age-old question, “What is truth?” – I believe the Bible says it best in 1 John 5:6 – “This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that bears witness, because the Spirit is truth.”
 
Gentle reader, know this above all things: The Spirit is truth! By this we know that water is only water unless God says it is wine. And that poison will harm you unless God says it won’t. And even that a terminal illness will kill you unless God says you are healed.
 
Even the laws of science acquiesce to the Spirit of truth. In short, whatever the Holy Spirit tells you is the truth. But how will you know if you don’t hear? This is why we continue to stress the importance of praying, hearing, and obeying.

Written by Wes Arnold, PMT Elder

What is Sin?

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We hear a lot about sin from Sunday pulpits and while there is variance among preachers concerning where the gray area ends and the sin begins the consensus generally is that they are against it. The same can be said for God in scripture. Not surprisingly the Lord has a firmer grasp on the subject.
 
Paul tells us in Romans 14:23 “…for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.” Paul is teaching in this chapter that if God has not by way of revelation given you liberty in an area it is sin for you to do it. He makes the point about whether or not one should eat meat or only herbs saying, “and he that doubteth is dammed if he eat because he eateth not of faith.” But Paul says for himself that God has assured him that it is permissible to eat both telling us in verse 14 “I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.”
 
In Romans 2:14-15 Paul talks about the law being written in our hearts “For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)”
 
Paul says this is how even a gentile can do the will of God without actually knowing or practicing the law. God writes the law in the hearts of men. This takes us back to Paul’s premise “ whatsoever is not of faith is sin” which gives rise to the question“How do we get faith?”
 
Paul addresses this question in Romans 10:17 “So faith comes from hearing and hearing by the word of Christ.” Word in this verse is a translation of the Greek word rhema and means that which is spoken. Faith does not come from what is written like Jewish law or even the Bible. Rather faith comes from what Jesus speaks to us by way of the Holy Spirit. This is an ongoing process until the day God takes us home to be with Him.
 
Romans 8:14 tells us “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” The way it works is Jesus speaks, the Holy Spirit shares His words with us by way of our born again human spirit and as a result we have to choose to obey. If we choose to disregard what Jesus says James tells us in 4:17 “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”
 
Roman chapter 1:17 says “…The just shall live by faith.” So quite literally we live by hearing God and obeying the law written in our hearts by Him. This gives understanding to Hebrews 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please him…” Paul indicates that this law written in the hearts of men is an individual process and that as we work out our salvation with fear and trembling we should not judge others that have not received the same faith yet.
 
Paul says for some it is alright to eat meat and for others their faith will not allow it. He calls neither wrong but only admonishes us not to let our liberty cause another to stumble. Let us all live according to the manner of Paul in Romans 14:22 “The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God, Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.
 
Paul is letting us know that we should not look to our brothers and sisters in the Lord to emulate their behavior necessarily. What God has approved for another may not be the case for you. Once again, we cannot escape the truth that the Christian way is to pray, hear and obey.
 

Written by Wes Arnold, PMT Elder

Do I Have to War Over My Prophecy?

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There is a trend among some present-day prophets to teach that for a prophecy (foretelling of a future event) to come to pass the recipient of the word spoken by the prophet must war over the prophecy. This demand places responsibility in no small part on the person receiving ministry. If they fail to fight the good fight the things foretold do not happen. To understand the truth of this matter will require a modicum (I hope) of deductive reasoning. By that I mean we must link some premises with conclusions.
 
Our first premise is that God knows the future. In Isaiah 46:9-11 God says he does with the words “Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.”
 
Our second premise is that when God says a thing will happen it happens. Verse 11 above indicates once God has spoken a thing it will be brought to pass.
 
Our third premise is that what God has spoken concerning the future He will make happen. He tells Isaiah “yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.”
 
The verse used to support warring over one’s prophecy is 1 Timothy 1:18 “This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare;”
 
In this letter Paul was writing to Timothy to instruct him on how to deal with a growing problem of false teachers besetting the church at Ephesus. Paul is encouraging Timothy to be bold and stand up to these false teachers and confront them with the truth of scripture. To help combat Timothy’s timidity Paul reminded him of former prophesies he had received. Paul was essentially saying “according to what God has told you fight the good fight knowing that you will win in this situation.” Basically, Paul was telling Timothy “Man up son. Don’t you remember what God said?” Paul told Timothy in accordance with and by the prophecies concerning him, he should fight the good fight. He did not say on or over the prophecies fight the good fight. There is nothing in the chapter suggesting Paul was worried that the prophecies would not be fulfilled.
 
To say that a lack of faith on Timothy’s part would alter the future said to come by God labels the words of the prophet a lie in Isaiah 46. It would take willful ignorance to not understand that God told Isaiah if He has spoken a thing to occur nothing could stop it from happening.
 
As I was discussing this issue at the PMT office with Eric this past week I found myself telling him that the future is as fix in time as the past. In other words, in the same way we cannot change what happened yesterday we are unable to change what God says will happen. I realized with a jolt in my mind that what I had just said came not from me but from God. Later on my hour commute home I started thinking that maybe God did not really tell me that and I shouldn’t say that to people with such conviction.
 
Two days later as I left the house I felt compelled to take with me a thirty-year-old notebook gathering dust on a shelf. When I got to the PMT office and looked through it I found a couple verses that I had read before but never paid any attention to.
 
Ecclesiastes 3 14-15 reads “I know that everything that God does will remain forever; there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it, for God has so worked that men should fear Him. That which is has been already, and that which will be has already been, for God seeks what has passed away.”
 
Thanks be to God for confirming His word!
 
It is not logical to say that a future that can be changed is actually the future at all. With our finite human minds we deal with only possible outcomes as a natural consequence of actions. When Gods tells us what is coming there is only one possible outcome.
 
I understand the temptation to deflect accountability for speaking on behalf of God as a prophet to His people. I am even sympathetic to the prophet’s plight. They strive for perfection in operating in their gifts knowing there was and will only ever be one perfect prophet.
 
Jesus operated in every office and every gift and will never be matched in his power or ability. Still though, imperfect as we are we must all carry on in our callings. I am of the opinion though that relying on contortions of scripture to shield oneself from criticism if something one says is going to happen does not will ultimately dull one’s hearing even more. The onus will seem to have been lifted and hearing God accurately may not be as imperative as it once was.
 
Let us all, prophet or not have faith in God remembering His words “yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.”
 

Written by Wes Arnold, PMT Elder

What is Faith?

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We are told in Hebrews 11:1 that faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. The word translated as faith in Hebrews 11:1 and all that follow in this writing means to win over and persuade. Subjectively we understand faith to be a firm persuasion, conviction or belief in the truth. If faith literally means to win over or persuade this leads us to a question about who is doing the persuading.
 
Hebrews 12: calls Jesus the author and finisher of our faith while Hebrews 11:6 tells us that the faith that enables us to please God involves believing that he is, and that he rewards them that diligently seek him. When we compare these verses with Romans 10:17 “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” it becomes clear that God initiates faith in the believer. By this we know that every move toward God made by the one seeking Him is a response to revelation. God reveals and we respond.
 
The scriptures indicate that faith can be increased in 2 Corinthians 10:15 saying “Not boasting of things without our measure, that is, of other men’s labors; but having hope, when your faith is increased, that we shall be enlarged by you according to our rule abundantly,”. But faith is not like a muscle in the body that can be made larger by flexing or exorcise. Rather Galatians 3 tells us in verse 2 and 3 “This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? So by this we know that what is started in the Spirit must be perfected in the Spirit.”
 
To answer the question about how our faith is increased Romans 1:17 offers some clarity with the words “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.” In this verse again we see God’s revelation moving us forward from faith to faith. God speaks, we hear and the body of our knowledge and belief concerning Him grows. It should be understood then that one of if not a primary reward for diligently seeking God is an ever increasing faith.
 
If our hearing is weak our faith will not be strong. If our faith is not on the increase perhaps we have grown weary in well doing and faltered in our due diligence to seek the Lord. Let us all be encouraged to seek the Lord until we find him, hear what he reveals to us and obey his every word.
 

Written by Wes Arnold, PMT Elder

The Spirit of Prophecy

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In Matthew chapter 10, Jesus gave his disciples power to cast out unclean spirits, to heal sickness, disease and even raise the dead. He commanded them to go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel preaching the kingdom of God is at hand. Toward the end of the chapter he speaks of the reward for those that received them kindly saying in verse 41 “Whoever welcomes a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward.”
 
In the previous verse, Jesus tells the twelve “anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.” This tells us that to know the meaning of verse 41 we need to focus on Jesus. Ultimately Jesus is saying to the twelve men ” when anyone receives you as my disciple they are receiving me”.
 
In John chapter 1 we are told that Jesus is the word. Word is a translation of the Greek word logos which means to speak intelligently. This intelligence can only be discovered by way of revelation. In Matthew 10:27 Jesus tells the disciples “What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight, what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs.” He was sending them out and would not be with them bodily but would still be leading them with revelation. This prompts me to believe that the reward associated with welcoming a prophet as a prophet concerns hearing God.
 
If I accept a prophet as a person able to hear God this allows me to receive a personal word from God by way of the prophet. The same may also be said of the reward for receiving a righteous person as a righteous person. To be righteous means one is in right standing with God. Hebrews 11:6 says “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he is, and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Since the scriptures tell us that without faith we cannot please God we can deduce that righteousness must involve faith to some degree.
 
Romans 10:17 informs us that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. This is indicative of a connection between hearing and receiving words from God either personally or through the ministry of another and being rewarded. In Genesis 15:1 God tells Abraham “I am your shield, your very great reward.”
 
In Revelation 19:10 John writes “…For it is the Spirit of prophecy who bears testimony to Jesus.” Jesus is the logos who was, is and forever will be speaking as an expression of the divine intellect. He tells his disciples in Matthew 10:26 “…there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed: and hid that shall not be known.” He is promising them that revelation will be a hallmark of their life and ministry.
 
When Jesus speaks to us through the Holy Spirit we know he lives. When we hear, him we know He is near and rejoice in His presence. To live a richly rewarded life we must as always, Pray, hear and obey.
 

Written by Wes Arnold, PMT Elder

Freely Give, Freely Receive

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There are some who teach that it is wrong to receive financial compensation for ministering in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. A popular verse used to support this is Matthew 10:8, which reads, “Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.” Admittedly, one could be forgiven for believing that this scripture is agreeing with the above view if it is isolated from the rest of the chapter. Indeed, much incorrect doctrine results from cherry picking scripture out of context.
 
My dear friend and fellow minister of the gospel, prophet Kent Simpson, has taken more than his fair share of criticism over the years for being what some have labeled a “mail order prophet”. With that in mind, I would like to offer an alternate view of verse 8 harmonious with the entirety of Matthew 10.
 
In verse 1, Jesus called unto him his twelve disciples and gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. The gift of this power had strings attached as it came with the command to, “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. 6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.”. As they went about doing this, they were to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, and cast out devils.”
 
They were instructed to take no money with them, and to only take the clothes on their backs. In other words, their lodging, food, and clothing would not be paid for out of their pockets. Lest the twelve felt like they were reduced to begging, Jesus assured them that they had every right to expect their needs be met by the recipients of their ministry. He had said to them, “for the worker is worthy of his food” (Matthew 10:10).
 
After Jesus commanded them what to do and how to do it (verses 17-23), he began to tell them what to expect. This is where the meaning of verse 8 begins to take shape. The Greek word translated as “freely” in this verse is “dōreán” and is defined as “without a cause; freely; for naught or in vain”. Two synonyms for this word in the Greek are “eikē“, which means “in vain or without cause”, and “matēn“, meaning “in vain or to no purpose”. Dōreán is translated as “in vain” in Gal 2:21, “I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.”
 
I believe Jesus was alluding to a logical conclusion the twelve might have come to after being told what the outcome of their ministry in power would be. He said that men would deliver them up to councils and scourge them; a brother would deliver up a brother to death, and a father the child: and the children would rise up against their parents and cause them to be put to death. They’d also be hated of all men for His name’s sake, and under persecution they would flee from city to city. It’s hard to judge the disciples harshly if they felt like their efforts would be in vain.
 
But Jesus was quick to assure them in verse 23 that, “When they persecute you in this city, flee to another. For assuredly, I say to you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.” In other words, the disciples were to share the goods news of the gospel to the lost sheep of the house of Israel in advance of the judgment that would soon come.
 
It is important to realize that the disciples received a personal word from God involving both a prophecy and a command specific only to them. Not all receive the same word regarding ministry. The apostle Paul comes to mind in this since his area of service was to the gentiles and he did not receive a command to not travel with money. Concerning remuneration for operating under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, Paul in 1 Corinthians 9:9 quotes the law of Moses, “For it is written in the law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain. Is it oxen God is concerned about?“. He makes his point more explicit in verse 11 with, “If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it a great thing if we reap your material things?” Then to avoid any confusion on the matter, he states in verse 14 that “Even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel.”

 
Each of us with a heart to serve the Lord must continually seek him for personal revelation and rely on the Spirit to tell us when, where, what, and how to minister effectively. This revealing will undoubtedly be unique to us as individuals making up the body of Christ. We all have our own place in the body, and using that imagery it is easy to understand that the hand functions differently from the eye, as well as the foot from the ear. But however dissimilar the various parts of the body, each contribute to a unified whole. One minister may hear God say to travel with no money like he commanded the twelve, while another may hear the Lord say it is no problem to sow spiritual things and reap carnal things, which includes money if not other ways of being compensated, much like Paul in 1 Corinthians 9. In both cases the individuals may be hearing God correctly.
 
Even casual observation reveals a myriad of variations on the theme of operating under the anointing of The Holy Spirit, suggesting that no two ministries are exactly the same. Nor should they be, as long as they are being led by God. In truth, the body of Christ would be healthier if it’s parts focused on doing what they heard the Lord say to them and not what they think he should be saying to others.
 
So is it okay to receive financial compensation for ministering in the gifts of The Holy Spirit? Paul taught that it is okay, but we must be prepared to hear God in a personal and definitive way as we prayerfully carry out our own calls to ministry. For that reason, the motto of PMT is “Pray, Hear, and Obey”. God has a unique path for you to follow. Seek the Lord until you find that blessed course and never depart from it.
 

Written by Wes Arnold, PMT Elder

Do I Need to Speak in Tongues to be Spirit Filled?

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I was raised by a preacher of the gospel in the deep south of the United States. Under his tutelage I was blessed to receive much great advice. One of his many pearls of wisdom concerned the three keys to good preaching. Key number one was “Tell ’em what you’re going to tell ’em”. Key number two was “Tell ’em. And the third key to successful communication was “Tell ’em what you told ’em” Bearing in mind this parental admonition, suffice it to say that one does not need to speak in tongues to be Spirit filled. I just told you what I intend to tell you. My father would be proud.
 
Many teach that speaking in tongues is the evidence of being filled with The Holy Spirit. To support this view they refer to the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2. The writer of Acts never calls tongues “the” outward sign of The baptism of The Spirit but there is no question that he accepts it as “a” confirmation that this spiritual event has taken place. From the words of Peter in Acts 2:17 we understand the prophet Joel to say that the outpouring of the Spirit would be accompanied by daughters prophesying, young men seeing visions and old men dreaming dreams. While admitting that I don’t know how to dream anything other than a dream I feel safe in saying that the case for the things mentioned in verse 17 being evidence of the Holy Spirit is stronger than the case for tongues. Peter goes on to say in verse 18 “And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:” Should we require the gift of prophecy as evidence of the Baptism?
 
Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 12 not to be ignorant concerning spiritual gifts. He then proceeds to teach us that the gifts are diverse and not all Spirit filled people operate in the same gifts. Tongues and the interpretation of tongues are among those the listed in 1 Corinthians 12 and Paul did not take this occasion to mention that any were the prevailing evidence of being filled with the Spirit. Rather, as he taught that all who are filled have at least one supernatural gift, this empowering in any of its expressions could be said to be proof of the baptism. Not all Spirit filled Christians operate in their appointed gift or gifts. While this may convict them in the minds of others this is not evidence that they have not been filled with the Holy Spirit. This action is subject to the dictates of each human soul and not necessarily a reflection of an absence of the baptism.
 
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14:5 “I would that ye all spake with tongues, but rather that ye prophesied: for greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying.” In this verse we hear Paul’s desire but not his requirement to speak in tongues. He does highly recommend it especially in the area of prayer in verses 15-18 writing “What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also. Else when thou shalt bless with the spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest? For thou verily givest thanks well, but the other is not edified“. Paul places his high stamp of approval on tongues with the words “I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all:” Yet for all that he makes no mention of evidence for the filling of the Holy Spirit.
 
I believe I stand in agreement with Paul when I say of speaking in tongues “Must we? No.” “Should we? Yes.” But we must keep in mind that the ability of Spirit filled people to pray outside the scope of their understanding is not necessarily operating in the gift of tongues that requires interpretation. One of the most profound reasons to pray with the spirit is that Paul says this is a blessing to the Lord in 1 Corinthians 14:16, writing “Else when thou shalt bless with the spirit,…“. It makes God happy when we pray with the spirit. Praying with the spirit is when the human spirit is directed by either the Holy Spirit or possibly angels what to say in a heavenly language not known by the supplicant. David said “I will bless the Lord at all times, his praise will continually be in my mouth“. When we pray with the spirit we are praising the Lord with perfectly formed words from heaven.
 
To sum up, our stance at PMT is to forbid not the speaking in tongues while not requiring it for evidence of being filled with the Holy Spirit.
 

Written by Wes Arnold, PMT Elder

What is the Word of God?

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Throughout the course of my life I have heard the Bible referred to as the Word of God countless times. My father was a pastor and he along with all his pastor friends and associates started every sermon with the reading of the Word of God from the Bible. This was understood and accepted by virtually every congregation I have been a part of.
 
Recently I searched the New Testament to gain an understanding of how Jesus might speak of the Bible if it had been available to him. The Bible did not exist when he walked the earth of course but what I was looking for was references He made to scripture.
 
In Matthew 4:4 Jesus responded to Satan’s temptation to turn stones to bread by quoting the words of Deuteronomy “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” In verse 7 His riposte to Satan was from Deuteronomy 16:6 “It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” Then to end the conversation and frustrate Satan enough to make him leave he says in verse 10 “Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” This was taken from Exodus 34:14.
 
We can see from this that Jesus did accept that scriptures were authoritative enough to live by their teaching and abide by their commands. However Jesus was more focused on the spirit of the law as opposed to the letter of the law. Jesus felt like there was some room for common sense regarding the scriptures. This brings to mind the criticism from the Pharisees in Matthew 12 when Jesus led the disciples through a field of corn. The disciples took the opportunity to pull some of the ears of corn to eat and this may even have been Jesus’ intention for veering through the field. The reaction of the Pharisees was “Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the Sabbath day.”
 
His response in verses 3-5 was “Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungered, and they that were with him; How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests? Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the Sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless?”
 
Jesus then declares in verse 8 “For the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath day.” basically saying “I’m the Son of God, don’t tell me how to keep the Sabbath. If I say we pick corn to eat on the Sabbath or heal the sick (like he does a few verses later) so be it”. Jesus mostly referred to the writings of the Old Testament as the scriptures while not in fact calling them the Word of God. Christ did believe one of the important themes of scripture was that they testified of Him and we see this demonstrated in Jon: 5:39 “And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not. Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.”
 
When Jesus said “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” he was not talking about something written long ago. He was indicating that God speaks and we should follow. This is how He lived and ministered as shown in John 5:19 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things so ever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.”
 
Apostle Kent Simpson is fond of saying “My Jesus is not wood pulp and ink bound in genuine leather”. Few people on the planet are more aware that God is speaking today. No man I have ever known has embraced the truth of John 5:19 more than Apostle Kent. That is why his motto for PMT is Pray, Hear and Obey, That’s The Christian Way. When we are born again we start a spiritual journey with the Lord by reading and studying the scripture. We have the example from Christ himself that this is profitable to the salvation of our souls and the renewing of our minds. But all who would be led by the Holy Spirit must move from being people of the Book to people of the Word.
 
What is the Word exactly? The writer of John 1:1 tells us that “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” He identifies the Word in verse 14 when he writes “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” Word in this verse has been translated from the Greek word logos which means to speak intelligently. Jesus is the eternal expression of the divine intelligence. He is God revealing himself to mankind by way of the incarnation. We have access to the now and forever speaking Second Person of the Trinity through the comforter he left us. This is The Holy Spirit in constant contact with the born again spirits of the Kingdom of God.
 
As we pray, we hear. As we hear we obey. As we obey we are blessed.
 

Written by Wes Arnold, PMT Elder

Once Saved Always Saved?

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Few issues contribute to more disunity in the body of Christ than an ages old debate over eternal security. Some say “once saved always saved” while others make the case for Christians being able to lose their salvation. The former crowd points to verses like John 10:27-28 “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” The same would be said for the verses Hebrews 10:14 For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified, John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life and Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
 
Can We Fall From Grace?
 
Those that believe in what John Wesley called “backsliding” to the point of returning to a lost condition refer to verses like Hebrews 6:4-6 “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.” 2 Peter 1:10 seems to indicate the possibility of a fall with the words “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:” This sounds like the writer is saying it takes diligence on the part of Christians to avoid a fall from grace much like is referred to in Gal 5:4 “Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.”
 
Which Side Is Right?
 
Each side of the argument has ample scriptural evidence to support their view point and this begs the question about which group is right. I believe that both sides are correct about what they espouse and both sides are wrong for not accepting the belief of the other camp. It is time for the church to come to agreement and settle this dispute.
 
Is This A Strange Paradox?
 
The issue concerns confusion over what it means to be born again as differentiated from being saved. Many if not most Christians do not know the difference if they are aware of one at all. In fact the dissimilitude is substantial.
 

Written by Wes Arnold, PMT Elder