My big question is, will they apologize?

This morning I awoke from a dream. In that dream a friend of mine and I were talking on the phone. While we were talking I could hear the sound of his computer keyboard. Seconds later my phone lit up with a single word… help! Then I can hear scuffling in the background and loud voices. I immediately got up and began to pray for my friend and his family.

It took a moment or two to overcome the feeling of dread I had.

Fear is a powerful thing. I do not like it when it is implemented to steer or control people. Only yesterday, I was thinking about the upcoming Halloween and I realized it is not the evil that so often surrounds the holiday that I am concerned with as much it is the fear that it creates in people, especially children.

Many people know that I am writing a new book on the topic of “I heard God”. Hearing God is important to me, as well as being accurate in what I say or reveal to people. One of the big things I have noticed lately is all the fear mongering and people plugging in to “fear selling”.

We tell people all the time the fear is a trick of the devil and then so many people implement it.

From my upcoming book…
One of the devil’s tricks in his trade is to bring you fear. Voices of destruction, loss and denial all carry fear. Fear about jobs, relationships and health often steer the unknowing believer. (Mark 4:40)

…The devil will use whatever it takes to keep you from listening to the Father. Distractions, attractions, situations or circumstance, he will cause you not to hear God’s voice, (John 10:5)

Whether you are strolling down a sidewalk, driving in your car or listening to your favorite music, if you hear a voice that causes dread, stop and walk away. Voices that bring fear, confusion, torment, doubt, justification of sin, etc. are the voice of the devil. Resist the devil and he will flee. James 4:7

I do not like to spend a lot of time talking about the devil or the enemy of our soul. I said earlier, he is a defeated foe. The only way he “can win” in a life is for people not to be knowledgeable of God and what He sounds like. To not devote themselves to the Father and receive His goodness. Often talking about the enemy simply empowers Him. If we do not listen, we can not be steered or pulled aside.

One of those recent revelations was over the issue of the blood moons. People who are not believers worked hard to drag me in. Only a few days ago I had a serious conversation with a young man at work about God. One of the reasons he does not go to church is “fear mongering”. I asked him. “You have known me for over 6 months, do you see that in me?” His answer (Thank God!)was “no”.

Now that folks have made money, scared people and once again been wrong about death and destruction…will they apologize? I don’t say that lightly because as someone who prophesies often I have made mistakes. The question is not that we’ve made a mistake but what we will do with the mistake.

Many years ago in the late nineties I had a very large mailing list of thousands and thousands of people. Each day my devotionals and writings were mailed directly to their mailboxes. One day there was an incident in the United States and I tied it to a revelation the Lord has been giving me. Not thinking anymore about it I went to breakfast with a group of friends. One of my friends pulled me aside and said “you know that incident did not happen. The people died.”

Panic began to overtake me and conversations during that breakfast did not help. When I got home there were hundreds of emails in my mailbox. I wrote an apology and sent it out. Even in that apology people wrote me back and said “it wasn’t the incident it was the revelation that we cared about”.

But for me it was a question of integrity and right standing. (I know I I have made a mistake, missed another word. Doing the right thing is necessary.)

We make a big deal about whether or not a child will say “please and thank you” or apologize for an injury or hurt they have caused someone else. But when people take advantage of the fears of the people, whether it’s a politician or a preacher it greatly concerns me. As I said in the beginning of this note, will they apologize?

I understand mistakes and grace and everything wrapped up in between. And if they are to apologize, we embrace them out of love.

If not, it is a character flaw. We will still love them and extend them grace, but it changes the game on many levels. We cannot ask of a child what we will not ask of an adult.

We are in the midst of a change in the church about what we do with various things. Fear mongering and devilish outcomes are being set on the chopping block.

Apology needed?