LESSONS I LEARNED

WHEN I WAS A YOUNG PREACHER.......WE WERE LED TO BELIEVE THAT NO ONE WAS RIGHT BUT US.....YOU HAD TO BE FROM US , AND WITH US.....IF IT WASN'T C.O.G.I.C. IT WASN'T NOTHING.....I DEVELOPED A PREJUDICE AGAINST BAPTIST, METHODIST, AND OTHER SEGMENTS OF THE CHURCH....WHO DID NOT FOLLOW "US"........WE WERE TAUGHT THAT CHARISMATICS, AND WORD OF FAITH PEOPLE WERE ONLY PROSPERITY MINDED FOLK WHO SOUGHT AFTER WORLDLY GAIN BY USING THE WORD OF GOD AS A PERSONAL BANKING SYSTEM.....WITH THESE HANG-UPS I BECAME VERY LIMITED TO THE TYPE OF PLACES THAT I COULD GO AND MINISTER TO....WE WERE WARNED////"STAY AWAY FROM THEM FOLK, THEY AINT RIGHT",,,,WHENEVER I WOULD ENCOUNTER BAPTIST PEOPLE I HAD THIS AIR OF SUPERIORITY THAT I AM GETTING IN AND YOU AINT...........I PREACHED AGAINST PANTS, MAKE-UP, PERMING YOUR HAIR, AND MANY OTHER THINGS BECAUSE THATS HOW I WAS RAISED AS A C.O.G.I.C. HOLINESS PREACHER.......DURING REVIVAL MEETINGS ....PEOPLE WOULD COME AND I WOULD TEAR AWAY AT FOLK.....I WOULD STOP PREACHING JESUS SAVES AND BEGAN TO PREACH "STANDARDS" NO PANTS, NO MAKE-UP, WOMEN SHOULD ALWAYS WEAR STOCKINGS WHEN YOU COME OUT SIDE....THIS WAS MY MESSAGE...AND NO ONE WAS GETTING SAVED.

IT WAS DURING THIS TIME I BEGAN TO SEEK GOD.......LORD I KNOW YOU CALLED ME, I KNOW THE VISIONS YOU HAVE SHOWN ME....NO ONE IS GETTING SAVED, HEALED OR BAPTIZED IN THE HOLY GHOST...WHATS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE.

GOD SIMPLY TOLD ME....IT IS NOT THE PEOPLE...IT IS YOU.....I PROMISE THAT SIGNS AND WONDERS WOULD FOLLOW MY WORD.....YOU ARE NOT PREACHING MY WORD....YOU ARE PREACHING TRADITIONS OF MEN......AND I WILL NEVER MANIFEST MYSELF WHEN THE TRADITIONS OF MEN ARE BEING PREACHED.

WHEN GOD BEGAN TO SPEAK THIS TO ME ...I BEGAN TO REALLY LOOK AT MYSELF AND AT MY HANG-UPS.....I BEGAN TO SEE THAT "WE" DID NOT HAVE A MONOPOLY ON THE POWER OF GOD.........OR A SPECIAL SEAL OF APPROVAL............I SAW THAT GOD LOVES HIS PEOPLE AND WANTS THEM TO DRAW NEAR TO HIM AND HE WANTS ALL OF THEM TO BE BAPTIZED IN THE HOLY GHOST, DELIVERED, AND HEALED.......WHEN I SAW THIS ....GOD BEGAN TO OPEN DOORS, AND SOULS STARTED GETTING SAVED AND MIRACLES HAPPENED.....

WE CAN HINDER GOD BY OUR PREJUDICES AND HANG-UPS.....DO YOU HAVE ANY?