The Dangers of Spiritual Manipulation

Thank you for your goodness, your goodness today. Amen, amen. God bless you. Thank you for your worship today. We're going to go quickly to the Word of the Lord. I'm going to go to 1 Corinthians chapter 14. Thank you, Sister Maddie, worship team. We appreciate you very much. Preach your job easier if you're open. Amen, amen, amen. 1 Corinthians 14. I just want to bounce around in a few verses. Re verse 18, Paul says, I thank my God. I speak with tongues more than you all. Skip down to verse 29. He says, let the prophets speak two or three. Let the other judge. Skip down to verse 39. He said, wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy and forbid not to speak with tongues. One more verse of Scripture, and I'll just read it for you in your hearing. 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 20, Paul says, despise not prophesies.

I got a tough task today. I'm just going to try to share my heart and kind of get out of my spirit what I felt the Lord has dropped in for me to speak to you. I want to talk about the dangers of manipulating the supernatural. The dangers of manipulating... Can't even say the word, manipulating. The dangers of manipulating the supernatural. Now here's what I want you to do. I just run a risk today. I know. I told Brother Brzezinski, even in the car sitting out there today, I asked the Lord for a nicer sermon. He wasn't impressed with my request. And I said to him, Lord, every once in a while, could you just give me a nicer sermon? I'd like to come in and preach on faith. And the Lord reminded me that my gifts were his to use as he seems fit,

and it's not up to me to preach what I want to preach, but it's up to me to speak what he tells me to speak. So I know I run a risk today of being misunderstood. I think it's fascinating that the apostle, Brother Brzezinski that wrote three-quarters of the New Testament who saw visions, bishop, that he couldn't even... The Bible said, God told him, don't even record him. It's not for them to even... That'll be understood maybe in the end time. That seal, don't even write about the things that you've seen. And he wrote under the inspiration of the Spirit. And he wrote the Book of Corinthians. And it was so terribly misunderstood that his book that he wrote to the Corinthian churches had been used to promote terrible doctrines like tongues is ceased, that the miracle is ceased with the coming of the Bible

and that tongues are things of the past and there are no miracles for today. And if that great apostle was misunderstood, what hope for the poor preacher today? Because I know I'm not Paul. And I know I run the risk of being misunderstood, but I need to address something that I feel from the Lord. All right, would you pray with me one more time that your heart would be open, that you would be sensitive to hearing what he says, and however it comes out of this vessel that the Lord would anoint that somehow so it wouldn't be abrasive in and of itself. But if it's used to correct, we need to make sure that we hear the word of the Lord. Lord, we love you. We love this wonderful body of ministers, Lord. We love you, Lord, because you've called them, Lord. You've put your hand on them.

Some of them are just starting out in Jesus. They don't even know where you're going to take them yet, Lord. I pray that you'd help us today to speak somehow, Lord, the word that you've given us in our heart that then it could communicate them to them about not getting down roads that will trap them and stop them from receiving what you really want to give, God. We believe in the supernatural, Lord. We got to have it and we trust you, Lord, to help our understanding today. We give you thanks for all things in Jesus' name. You may be seated. See, we have to start out today by understanding that we need the supernatural. It's actually the only difference maker that we can get to. You've heard me say this many times, but don't leave me at the cross. Somebody's got to get me to the upper room, Brother Quincy.

Paul said, oh wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? And what Paul was saying is, what Christ has done by his spirit is to unite us with such a dynamic power. The only thing, Brother Paul, that can bring change to a life is the absolute supernatural touch of God. You will not do it in your flesh. You cannot do it in your talent. You cannot do it in your ability. You need a move of God. So I just come by as one more voice to remind you at IBC that there's more than repentance. There's new life. There's more than surrender. There's victory. There's more than death of the old man. There's life in the spirit. You ready? I know that I'm not what I should be in every way, but you ready? I know he's making me more than what I was.

I found in him a power to walk in the newness of life. If you just knew what it cost him, if you knew where he's brought me from, if you could see the pit from which I was dug, we'd clean up good, but some of us just need to testify again if you could see what I used to be before he touched me and before he changed me. You would understand the reason why we believe this message and I'm not what I used to be. Old-timers said it this way, the things that I used to love I now hate and the things I used to hate I now love. You'd understand my worship better if you walked in my shoes a little bit. You ready? You'd get my testimony if you had faced my tests and I'm just going to tell you, the Lord's just brought me through some things

and helped me overcome and I know that it's not been on my own. It's absolutely been the supernatural power of God. So I just come to confess today that I owe him everything. I come to say like the apostle James in his epistle in chapter 1 verse 17, every good and perfect gift coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variableness or shadow of turning. He's a good God today. I just want to tell somebody, if you need deliverance today, he's still a deliverer. If you need salvation today, he's still a savior. If you need provision today, he's still a provider. I didn't get here by myself and I can't stay here by myself. I couldn't keep myself on my best day. I need the touch of the Lord today. And that's what I come to preach about. The world is broken

and I think it's fascinating that the world sometimes can name the predicament that we're facing better than we can. And you've heard me say things like this before, someone like a Jordan Peterson, for example, who's not an apostolic at all, not even a Christian in the sense of the word of denominally. And you ready? He doesn't know everything, brother John, but he knows some things and he gets some things right and can speak to them and name them more powerfully sometimes than most Christians I know. But the problem with brother, you know, his brothers and sisters in Christ that don't know the issues, then they don't know how to address the problem, brother. Brother Odenbush, but you ready? Someone like a Jordan Peterson who can name the problem doesn't know the solution. Okay, I'm going to just go preach today. What that means is something like

is you know the solution. It's the baptism of the Holy Ghost. It's that answer that was poured out on the day of Pentecost in the upper room. And you shall receive power after the Holy Ghost has come upon you to be my witnesses. You're going to witness the new life. The only difference in the world is the power to walk in the newness of life by Jesus Christ through his sacrifice and that attachment that we have to him and the spirit. So I just want to talk about what is the dangers then of manipulating the supernatural. Let me give you types of dangers. The first danger, I feel like I've talked about it and you'll forgive me if you've had classes where this has been brought up, but I just feel like I need to name it today. There is, yes, such thing as evil manipulation of the spiritual.

Deuteronomy chapter 13 verses 1 through 3 reads like this. If there arise among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams and give it the assign or a wonder and the sign or the wonder come to pass. They can predict things. They can do demonstrations of power by the Lash like Pharaoh's magicians. They are connected to a power. See, here's what you need to understand first of all. There is another spirit in this world besides Christ. There is another spirit in another gospel and another Jesus that will remove people, brother Joseph from what God intends. There is another spirit. You better get some discernment deep down on the inside of you because if you're going to be the minister that God's called you to be in this time, you got to know what's going on. So the Lord didn't leave you to wonder. He wrote right there in Scripture.

If there arise among you a dreamer of dreams or give it the assign or wonder and the thing come to pass. The wonder come to pass. Whereof he spake unto thee saying let us go after other gods which thou hast not known and let us serve them. Anyone that moves you away from the truth of the worship of the one true God. Can I get a little more plain? I will put a new testament application on it. You ready? Anyone that tries to move you away from the apostles doctrine. Anyone who tries to move you away from the doctrine of essentiality. I don't care if they're a wonder worker. I don't care if they can manifest spiritual power. God says, he says, I'm going to leave these wonder workers in your midst. He says, there thou shalt not harken unto the words of that prophet or the dreamer of dreams.

For the Lord your God, what does it say? Prove it to you. To know whether you love the Lord, your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul. God says, I'm going to leave these wonder workers among you to try you to see, to prove you. Whether or not you really want to serve me or you just worried about what's effective and powerful and what would get you on a platform somewhere. What could seem to grow a church somehow and you're ready to more into pragmatics and numbers than you are an actual move of God's spirit. Paul said in verse Corinthians 11, 19, for there must be also heresies among you. Why? That they, which are the approved, might be made manifest among you. I just come to preach to you young ministers that there are going to be lying wonders.

There are going to be people that try to move people away through demonstrations and true spiritual dynamics away from the truth and what you got to say is I got discernment deep down on the inside of me and you're never going to move me away from this message. You're never going to move me away from this truth. Why? I don't care how effective it is at building your church. I'd rather see people in heaven than my church fool. I'd rather actually build people into the kingdom of God than to be popular in this world. Now, second danger. I would call it the danger of presumptive manipulation. See, the one that's like discernment of spirits, bishop, it's like the one is an evil spirit. But that's whether, turn to thank you for that great message you preached maybe a year ago, too, living between two worlds and understanding

that the spirit world is real because there are dynamics of spirituality that we have to be aware of. But more than that, you ready? There's also that human spirit. And you got to have that, please, if you don't know that, go back and listen to that great sermon. It was a tremendous artful preaching to get kind of in your spirit that you're sometimes you're dealing, brother, turning with flesh. And sometimes you're dealing with the spiritual and you got to know the difference between the two and see that's what the word of the Lord is trying to say in Deuteronomy 18, 20 through 22, but the prophet which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die. It's a good thing we're in the New Testament.

And if thou say in thy heart, how shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken? How many of you have ever wondered, I wonder if that's a word from the Lord? How many of you have ever wondered that? Are you ready? God didn't leave you to wonder on your own. He gave you direction in his revelation. He says, and if you say in your heart, how do I know God when a prophet speak it in the name of the Lord? We're not talking about in the name of other gods. He says, if that thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken. Now what does that mean? He's got some demon spirit, not necessarily. It just means they're speaking out of presumption and their own human desire and what they think God is saying

and they're mistaking it in their flesh. Now the Bible protects us, but that prophet has spoken it presumptuously. Thou shalt not be afraid of him. Now what does that mean? I'm just going to share some stories today and I'm going to try to lay in quick. But it's like, how many of you have ever heard me tell the story of Brother Readout when his best friend is dying of cancer and the Lord spoke to him because we all want to be a prophet of the Lord. We want to listen, you need the miraculous. You cannot do this in your flesh. I wish, see, because I know I'm going to run the risk, I'm going to run the risk when I start telling the stories. It's going to be like, Brother Kilman doesn't even believe in the supernatural. You can't imagine how much I lean on the Lord.

I cannot do this in my flesh. You will not do this in your flesh. Everything you say has to be directed by God. Everything you preach has to be directed of God. Your song selection has to be directed by prayer and the direction of the Lord's spirit. Brother Readout said his best friend was dying of cancer and he was down praying and the Lord said to him, Brother Pretty, get up and go tell Brother Odom that he's going to suffer terribly for a year and die and tell Brother Odom to lift the veil of suffering and show my people how to die with victory. How many of you still want to be used to the Lord? See, then it may be speaking a word from the Lord or speaking something prophetically, Brother Patrick, maybe something you just don't want to say. It's kind of like this sermon.

I don't want to preach today, but you ready? I'm commissioned by God. I got to say what the Lord has given me to say, you can't bless people in your flesh. Your flesh cannot bless people. What you say must be directed by God. I don't have time to do this in detail, but we'll talk about it maybe later in a class or two, maybe new mythology. And at the end of the day, Brother Rogen, but she goes to that home and he does what the Lord asked him to do and Brother Odom lifts his hands up and begins to worship and praise God. And he said, I know you're wondering why I'm doing this. He said, but you're the first minister to walk into this living room and make me not feel guilty because of a lack of faith. Now I know I can go to heaven and not hell

because I won't die lost because I didn't have enough faith. And you and your presumption would get to see and he says you've already confirmed to me what the Lord said to me in a dream and in prayer. And now that man can face the end. Can you just let people feel saved if the Lord gives them with sickness for the rest of their life and chooses not to heal them? Can you let them feel saved? Or at the end of the day, are you so presumptuous that you would take the thorn out of Paul's flesh and help him be lost? You're not smart enough to direct people's blessing. That has to come from the word of the Lord. Manipulating the supernatural out of presumption. My good bishop who's retired now, my pastor for 30 years, he said at a public camp meeting Brother Rogan Bush

because it's time to spend influence and he said, I know this is going to cost me when I say it, kind of like this term. I knew I told Brother Zinski it's going to cost me to preach this. That's fine. God gives you influence, not the hoard for your own self-glory. You got to minister to people because you love them even when it's not popular. That's by the way I was teasing Drew. I was teasing Drew and Elijah about popcorn preaching. I said I'm going to call you guys up to preach and was it you? No, who was it? Marcus. And they were like, well, whatever, we're ready to go. And that verse has nothing to do with me. Now you need to have a sermon. If you're a preacher, you need to have a sermon. If I called you up today, you should be able to preach.

Brother Jordan, that's not what that means. It means preach when it's popular and when it's not. Say the word of the Lord when it's popular when it's not. I'll quote Andrew Herbs from your Monday night class. When you come down from the mountain, you better have something to say to the situation. You better have something to say from the word of the Lord. And so when Brother Mooney stepped up, he said, I know this is going to cost me when I say it. But he said it anyway. He said, we got to quit teaching our kids to speak in tongues because that type of presumption, because we think we can help that little boy or girl. And it's not always evil. It's just presumption. You can't do that. You got to let them be connected to the power of God. Because if you don't, then they're trying to live for God in their flesh

and you cannot serve God in your flesh. And they're trying to live for God in the power of God without the anointing and the empowerment of his spirit. And they'll think at the end of the day, there's nothing to that ax to 38 message. Why? Because I tried it already. Paul told the Jewish people, you go all this way to make a convert and you may, I'm going to be a little strong today. I know I'm not trying to be mean-spirited, but you make them a two-fold child of hell. What does that mean? Because they say, I've already tried serving God and it doesn't work. You didn't try it. Somebody manipulated you in an altar somewhere. But you really begin to speak in tongues. As God gives the utterance, you're going to have the power to walk in the newness of life. I don't know how many of these I should tell.

I'm just going to preach. Somebody watch the clock for me. Brother Kevin, you'll keep me honest. Wave at me when it gets about 1140 or something like that. I was at a camp in Lynchburg, Tennessee. I didn't grow up in the 9th Pentecostal Church. I love the 9th Pentecostal Church. I have great friends and lots of organizations, Apostolic Organizations Bishop, and they're tremendous. And the organization I grew up in was just wonderful. They gave young ministers, young preachers lots of opportunity to preach. I don't know that the UPC has figured out how to do that. Well, we're working at it, and I appreciate that very much. But when I grew up, I think the first time I ever preached in a camp, I was 15 years old. I don't know what in the world they let me up there for, but they did. And that year at camp in Lynchburg, Tennessee,

we saw three miracles. I'm going to talk about fake stuff. I'm talking about real absolute miracles. God did tremendous things, and I wish we had time to do it. Listen, you're going to have to have the touch of God on your ministry. You are not going to do this in your flesh. I'm going to keep saying it so you know I believe in the supernatural. That's the dangers of manipulating the supernatural because you remove the only thing that will make a difference in someone's life. We were powerful services. Kids were worshiping so much that camp that they called us charismatic. They were only worshiping to the music. You know, the enemy always tries to shut down what God's doing. So a good friend of mine, Andy, Patrick got up and he said, this is what we're going to do. It was a day service right in the middle of the day.

He said, we're just going to worship God, and we're going to prove that this is not about, we're just going to worship God out of our love for him. We're not even going to do, we're not even going to have any music. We're just going to push back the chairs today, and I'm going to count to three, and we're going to worship God, one, two, three. And that was it for almost two hours. The kids were laid out in the concrete floor. What no nice carpet in there conditioning. There was one big four-foot fan. It would get up to about 90 degrees in there in the daytime and much hotter than that at night. And they're laying these kids in their nice clothes and laying out in the concrete and the dust and this powerful experience with God. But here's the problem. The next year at camp,

those kids had kind of ridden that experience and that encounter with God. It shaped them so much that they were just fear serving God. And so there was this kind of thing when the people, the young guys that were kind of and God was running the camp, they wanted to duplicate that. And I remember we were in a service and they're leading worship and they're trying to pump the music and pump the music and pump the music because, you know, God only moves in the shout. I get it. It wasn't mean-spirited. It wasn't evil. It was just a desire to really have a powerful camp for those kids. You ready? You got to let even that desire be directed by God. As they begin to worship, it just wasn't going anywhere. It was flat, flat, flat, flat. My friend Adam kept coming up to me saying,

oh, my God, Bobby, okay, oh, my God. Because I felt the walk up and shut everything down, started singing a slow song. You know, into a 17-year-old kid, that's like putting a brakes on him by the turner and I'm trying to wrestle with what I feel and my spirit and what the expectation of the crowd is. You need to go ahead and write that down in your heart somewhere that I'm going, you will because you're a human being too. You're going to wrestle with what the crowd wants versus what you feel in the spirit sometimes directed by God. But you ready? When we did grind things to a halt and start singing, all of those kids started falling on their face and just reaching out to God because last year was like a thunderstorm and this one was just like slow rain where God is doing heart surgeries

and dropping calls in young people's lives and we could have missed that moment because we wanted to manipulate the supernatural to do what we think should happen in the flesh. We can't do that. You will not change young people's lives doing that. You will not have the impact on families that desperately need a move of God. You won't do it in your flesh. You've got to follow the leading of the spirit. I have a caveat here in my notes and I'm just going to hit it and run. There are people that it's not always manipulation so be careful, be careful, be careful assigning motives to people. It can be human desire. You ready? It's just something good, not something negative. It can be human zeal. Can I go further? It can be human teaching. You know, it's like we only think there's bad teaching around things like the God he had or something.

And it's just human. It's weak and it's less, brother or trainer than what God gives us when we understand the truth. And so don't be careful and it's people that are teaching things like this that my human inspiration or your human inspiration and desire to bless is the word of God. Go ahead and speak a word to somebody tonight. Don't you ever do that without a prompting from God. Now I'm going to be a little, I'm a little risky here. It could be the case where the Lord gives you how many of you felt like you've ever had to say something to somebody. How many of you ever had somebody say something to you and it was pivotal? You ready to see? That's what I'm talking about. You can't sacrifice that real thing for human presumption. Even well meaning good things deemed good things that people want to say to you.

Maybe the exact wrong advice. And I got to have a word from the Lord preacher. I got to have a word from the Lord minister. I don't need your human seal and even your desire to bless me. I need a word from the Lord. The fallout is real. I talked to a young couple actually last night and I said I want to tell your story. I'm going to protect your names. I don't want to hurt anybody. I want to help you though. And they went to a meeting and this young girl is down there and she's praying. And I know we're living in complex times. And just to Kaley to bring the little girl down and she's been praying for the Holy Ghost and the preacher walks over and prays over her and says okay you got it. And the youth pastor's wife, Joel was right next to her there

because we're living in complex times. And the little girl didn't speak in tongues once. So, see then you get to... And I know. I mean I was talking to a young man that I was in ministry with. I pray and hope he's course correcting. And he said to me, sometimes Bobby I tell them they got the Holy Ghost even if they didn't just to encourage faith. So you lie to encourage faith. They're just like can't... Okay, walk into this. And you just try to tell them don't do that stuff. Why? Because the fallout is real. Because this girl that has been seeking the Holy Ghost now you see the evangelist gets to go on down the road and count numbers and announce them all sorts of places and get public paths on the back because his ministry is so powerful. But the pastor, the youth pastor

and his wife have to go home and deal with the fallout. David they go home and that little girl that's been praying for the Holy Ghost is she so confused because they said, did you speak in tongues? No. Then why would that preacher lie to me? And how do you start answering those questions of the honest heart of this little girl and she's so confused it's almost two months before she's back and the altar again seeking the Holy Ghost. Don't confuse people. You're there to help people and not hurt people. Listen, they got enough hurt in the world when they limp into the house of God and they want the real supernatural. You ready? Don't be another hindrance to them. Just take them to the throne of God and let him to, he wants to build that girl with the Holy Ghost. And I want to say this very carefully.

Bishop, I tried to talk the Lord out of it all. There's a young man we're talking to a young adult, Brother Brzezinski, that's a wonderful young man in many ways he struggled but he was dating a girl and she came out of a complex pass of multiple denominations and she's in a church somewhere and all of a sudden, you know, she sees the truth but her dad is having problems with drug addiction and people come over and they mean well. Now hear me please. They're not evil. They're just the weak people. They're weak in their understanding and they need something stronger. So you lead well and teach well with compassion and with understanding. And then Brother Quincy, they begin to, they come up to that girl in well meaning. They begin to prophesy over her. They say, oh, your dad's gonna, he's gonna give up drugs

and he's gonna be saved and all this good stuff because you're ready, that's what they think in their mind will be what she needs to hear and how many know God's not willing that any would perish but the problem is our will. And when her dad overdoses and dies, now all of a sudden this girl that hasn't been in church very long just a couple of years is saying, can I believe anything that they've said to me? Don't undermine the truth with your presumption. There's a danger and souls are at stake. I don't have time to deal with all of this. That human compassion is not what needs to replace God's will and I wish I had time to tell you of my sister-in-law's mother who served God for years who's wondering, sometimes do I even have faith? She served God, raised kids

and she's got grandkids attached to the truth and blessed the work of the Lord and because she doesn't think she has enough faith to be healed of cancer. She doesn't even think she's a woman of faith. Can you let that, listen, none of us are gonna get out of this life alive unless you're raptured and can you let that grandmother who's blessed your church feel saved because she is saved. And thank God she's got a good nephew that was preaching some good things and heard some other preaching that helped her kind of course correct and say, that doesn't make that preacher nothing that's preaching God heals every time. First of all, when I went out to eat with him afterwards he had a retainer in his mouth. I'm like, what, God does everything but dentistry? Bad body, I apologize. See, I preached this sermon to get to this point.

I'm gonna say it to you again. Why is there dangers in manipulating the supernatural this way? Because if you're going to be in the work of God you have to have a genuine move of the spirit. My dad was dying of cancer. Some of you have heard me tell the testimony but let me just share it again. My dad was dying of cancer in 1968 and the Lord told him to rise and be baptized in his name and when he went and was baptized in Jesus' name my mom, a good church of Christ girl said, if God heals still I ain't never no more healing by the judge. I know where you're at over there in Kentucky. She was a Tennessee girl. That was a Kentucky boy and you ready? They were both raised in the church of Christ. No miraculous today and my mama sent to him

out of her well-meaning false tradition. If he does it I'll have to see it to believe it and God let her see it. My dad came home from service after being baptized and began to throw up and forgive me it's going to be a little graphic but chunks of flesh and blood veins and from the bottom down where he had stomach cancer the Lord created him a new inside and that little church of Christ girl it's like Joel being at Calvary Tabernacle and they're praying and he prays through it one service Joel and now you've got the Holy Ghost you've got your head down on the pew and mom thinks you're sleeping and Sister Rogan Bush finally J looks over and Amy says, Amy, Amy because Amy's just missing the moment and there's that little boy I forgive you got the snot hanging and everything

goes back to the prayer room and as service goes on because there's more to minister to than just that young man we begin to pray with him in the back with Grandma and Grandpa Turner and just shortly in a little while he begins to speak in tongues and the first thing he says is now I can go to heaven but see it started way before that with a children's minister Ryan Thomas who's now pastoring in Terre Haute came up to me one night after a children's church night and he said to me Brother Kilman I think Joel spoke in tongues to me but I didn't want to tell it I wanted him to know for himself thank God for stewards of God's heritage ministers that have been trusted with his greatest commodity ministry to his children I remember being vaccinated on a pew and the preacher

preaching and the Lord dealing with me and God him walking back and God absolutely giving him what to say you know that he read my mail stuff that is not fake it's what God needed to use Sister Joy to cut past all the bitterness and the hurt and all of the things that I was holding up as a shield against the love of God I don't even remember his name I knew it was God so much I was waiting on him to quit talking so I could go pray it's like the couple drew that walks up to the top of this hill and says I got an issue in my home see you need the supernatural there's a manifestation in there now let me help you you're not going to counsel that out of there you're not going to convince them it's wrong when that

forgive me for the language but kind of just like I used to be a south side roughneck my wife has helped me a lot but by the Jordan that south side rough boy from the streets said I didn't believe in any of this but I wake up and there's something hovering over me in the bed I knew this was real it's like getting a call from a mother just in the past couple of days we're working with the backslider and she begins to dabble in all sorts of terrible things that she knows better in crystals and burning sage and wicca and all sorts of things and drug addiction and all of the things that come with that just a monstrous lifestyle lived away from God and as she's at work a hat flies off off of the rack and smacks her and all of a sudden

there's she starts filling this manifestation and it's demon possession it's on video it's not fake she starts running into traffic to try to commit suicide and tries to drown herself in a lake and it's like mark 922 and often times the father said to Jesus he had cast him the spirit cast him into the fire and into the waters to destroy him but if thou can't do anything if you can help in any way have compassion and help us you see here's here's the problem with all of those manipulative techniques you have to have a move of God and when that mother who's back in church for about two years now was reaching for that daughter so far from God her pastor not knowing a thing brother Rodenbush steps up to the pulpit on a Sunday and just begins to preach away that little independent

church he begins to preach that there are some victories you have to win but God says some battles are mine and the Lord begins to help that mother understand you can't do this when she reaches for me then I can do what you cannot do come to the music I'm working to a close conversation starts in the young girl that's she's been connected to she facetimes with and listen I'm not glorifying the devil I just want to show you that the supernatural is real and she begins to talk to her friend who also introduced her into some of this stuff and she starts talking in a voice a man's voice with an accent and says you told her I was here because that girl did call the mom and say your daughter's in trouble see what what are you saying it's like the Lord working on both ends

because you can't see that see that's a victory by the pretty because the Lord is working that young girl into the position where she's going to have to repent and it's like her friend said I used to like watching horror films but I never want to watch another one of those in my life and the Lord begins working on her now she's being connected to the truth and through the preaching of that pastor that mother has enough faith to start reaching out and listen the story's not done yet all I'm saying is if you're going to deal with that type of thing it cannot be faked but there are people that are truly hungry there are spiritual dynamics in this world and the Lord is going to send you and listen you don't have to manipulate it because he's on your side your preaching will be enough

what he genuinely gives you to speak will be enough you don't need to manipulate a thing see there's a fundamental danger how danger is it to mess with or manipulate the only thing that makes a difference in people's lives the only thing that separates the apostolic world from everything else that's a fundamental danger so I felt challenged to ask this question stay with me today Scott Graham and I were preaching a camp meeting together I love Brother Graham he's a tremendous minister preacher I love him very much I believe it was Brother Odom he said he walked up at a camp meeting Brother Odom was there and he said Elder what is the difference between my generation and your generation he said well that's easy Brother Graham he said your generation fell in love with the presence of the Lord and my generation fell in love

with the presence of the Lord he said now I'm not the sharpest tool in the drawer but you're going to have to explain that one moment to me he said it's very simple your generation fell in love with the P-R-E-S-E-N-T-S of the Lord and we fell in love with the P-R-E-S-E-N-C do you want to feel powerful or do you want to introduce them to Jesus do you care about your name up in lights or do you really want to walk into heaven and see souls you want to bring sheaves in with you and so here's the here's the question that I feel like I need to ask you when will just the presence of the Lord be enough so here's what I want you to do I want you to bow your hands

for just a moment refuse refuse refuse to manipulate anything Lord if there's going to be a moving of your spirit it has to happen because you do it Jesus come on you will not be able to do this in your flesh but I promise you if you will commit to the Lord I'm going to be true and honest in my ministry the Lord will show up and he will do what you cannot do look even out of your good desire don't do that don't do that say Lord I want to help of God but give me what to say tonight give me what to preach Lord tell me the song to sing Jesus we got to have a move of your spirit and nothing less I just want nothing else will do I just want nothing else nothing else I just want nothing else