There were times when the thought of giving up tried to overwhelm me. It was a difficult enduring the infamous  church splits, injustices, slanderous gossip, poverty, and broken trust by numerous people that we thought were friends. There were many more afflictions and harsh situations that I will not mention because they pale in comparison to what the Believers are suffering and have suffered in other nations. I only state these few incidents to help folks understand that I do not speak from a life on easy street.

Being in church leadership can result in some very harsh experiences. It is not fair and other than being  a grumble pot of negativity the only other option is to complain to God about the unfairness of it. Really? The fact is that life is not fair, people are not fair, adverse church situations are caused by unfair people and those situations do not always end fairly. There are few people in Christianity with the character and integrity to stand firm for what is right no matter what the cost. It will leave a pastor alone with no one but his family console him. They cannot minister to his grief, but he must minister to them in his grief.

It is a chaotic world with many disordered individuals who are much more responsive to satanic influence than they are to the Holy Spirit. They are not spiritually stable or even clean, so they can be used as tools of Satan to harm God’s people. However, they dwell among us without compassion and assemble with us as spots (spiritual lepers) among our feasts of charity (Jude 1:12).

But becoming bitter and soured with self-pity, and turning to the world system for the substance to ease the pain and misery of unhealed wounds, and giving up, is wrong for one great reason. It is blaming God for something that Satan and/or satanically influenced people did. If you want to talk about unfairness, that’s about as unfair as it gets. Continue reading

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” – 2 Timothy 4:3-4

As I understand it, our physical body itches to warn us when something has irritated our skin. Whatever the irritation, it activates itch receptors of specialized nerve endings called C-fibers. C-fibers, which are are identical to the ones associated with pain, convey the itch sensations to the brain. Scratching arouses the C-fibers that are associated with pain and short-circuits the receptors sensing the itching. Oh, what a relief it is, but only temporarily.

Itching in the ear is a particularly annoying malady. Of course, we use a Q-tip in an effort to “scratch” the itch. “Itching” in our spiritual ears is quite a problem that cannot be resolved by mere scratching. The Apostle Paul identifies what causes the irritation that results in “itching” spiritual ears. The irritation is the sound doctrine that emanates from the truth. Sound doctrine makes people’s ears itch is because it conflicts with the way they wish to be and live. Their lives are not hidden with Christ in God, their flesh has not been mortified, and they remain autonomous and unsurrendered.  Continue reading