Shekinah Fellowship: Why Some Stuff Happens

Gift Rejector Repents

I was born again in January of 1975. The church I attended was of the full-gospel variety, and I was baptized in the Holy Ghost three weeks after the Lord had apprehended me from the world.

I had no difficulty believing in the gifts of the Spirit as described in 1 Corinthians 12, and the Lord even used me at times in manifesting some of them. However, after a few years, I began to listen to some of the well known radio preachers who believed that those gifts were not for today, and that they weren't really in operation after the apostles died off.

They would explain that we don't need the "sign gifts" today, as we now have the Bible- God's Word. I began to go along with that line of thinking. I even got a study bible with comments from one of those respected teachers.

This point of view, combined with the fact that I'd seen some pretty bizarre abuses of some of the gifts, and noticing that most of the false teachings t hat I'd seen in the church were brought in by Pentecostals, had me walking away from some of the most precious experiences I'd ever had with the Lord.

After a few years of "laying low' concerning spiritual gifts, I noticed that my walk with the Lord was lacking in the intensity that I'd once enjoyed. At first I thought it was because I was no longer a new believer, and that my walk with Jesus was now less emotional and more mature.

The teachers that I mentioned, although very knowledgable and well read, were lacking something that I was desperately seeking. While I was still getting into the Word a lot, there was a distance from God that I couldn't rationalize away...

I began to wonder why God would take the wonderful moving of His Spirit in the form of gifts away from His Church. Well, why would He? Had the Church matured so much that God figured that we no longer need His Spirit moving in and through us? How ridiculous to even think such a thing! I slowly began to move away from that "God doesn't do that anymore" belief, because no matter how much I got into His Word, I found that I missed the depth of His presence which often accompanies these gifts.

Oh, abuses still exist- let's not be naive about t- but I realized that you can't "throw out the baby with the dirty bathwater", and I decided that I wanted as much of God that I could possibly have- no matter what that entailed.

Well, my passion has returned, and I'm now a believer in the moving of God and in the gifts of the Spirit TODAY. I know that God wants to move freely among His people now more than at any time in history, and I want to be involved in ALL that He has for me- Accepting His forgiveness and grace, walking passionately with Him, and being willing to be used of Him as HE chooses to use me.

How about you? Do you want God to freely move in and through your life? Are you willing to let Him use yo u to minister to the lost- in HIS power? Will you allow Him to use you to minister to other believers in a supernatural way, if that's how He chooses to move? He's already given us all we need.

May God richly bless you-
pastor Jim Ewing

Posted by Surfer51 at 8:04 PM

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. They that love Israel shall prosper. All Israel shall be saved, but not all who are of Israel are Israel. We who are saved are born again Christians and all Christians shall be saved, but not all who are of Christianity are Christians.

The veil that is upon Israel makes them blind as a bat when it comes to their messiah. Even though they are God’s elect, they are blind. Not totally blind, but blind in part.
1 Corinthians 13 tells us that we as believers only know in part, which could also mean blind in part. All Christianity, all Israel, and even completed Jews that have found Jesus as their messiah have partial blindness.
If the natural olive tree (the Jews) are partially blind, how then can we (the gentiles) who have been grafted in think that we are not also partially blind.

Christians who love the Lord, but reject the work of the Holy Ghost are blind in the area of spiritual gifts. They are toward their Holy Spirit, like The Jews are toward their messiah. They do not accept gifts of the Spirit such as speaking in tongues, prophecy, and modern day apostolic authority. They see salvation in Jesus, but not baptism by Jesus. They see the road to heaven, salvation and water baptism, but are totally blind when it comes to the baptism of the Holy Ghost.

In severe cases of this type of blindness within Christianity they cannot see the gifts and callings of God that were found in the early church as being for today. They are blind in part to the things of God that go beyond simple salvation. They see the Holy Spirit at work in evangelism but, that is only part of His work. If they are unable to see, they are also unable to understand.

It takes faith to be saved and it takes faith to walk where you cannot see. The gift of tongues often surrounds the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It happens when a child like willingness to receive replaces the preconceived opinions of man’s intellect.

Have you ever sought the gift of tongues, and if not, why haven’t you? It will revolutionize your Christianity. No matter how old you are or what you think you know we all have partial blindness. Until Jesus comes again, we only know in part. When we come to terms with that truth we humble our self in the sight of the Lord. It is then that we become able to receive what we cannot see or even begin to understand.

Revelation may come as a threat to what you thought, or were taught to believe. And it takes a humble heart to adjust to new insight.

Can you find it within yourself to bring yourself to seek the gift of tongues? Begin this exciting new adventure in your walk with God and start now. Just begin! Whatever form begin may take, begin.

Pastor Tilson Shumate

Sir I said Do Not Move While We are In Motion

Very Vibrant Reality

The Lord apprehended this silly twenty year old (me) from the 'world' back on January 4th, 1975. I started going to an Assembly of God church right away, so the gifts of the Spirit and the teaching thereof were with me right from my spiritual beginning. I was baptized in the Holy Spirit three weeks after my conversion, and my hunger and thirst for Christ really took off. I wanted to learn as much about my new Savior as I possibly could, and I was in the Word often. Me- this brand new christian, just desiring to soak up all that was available to me from the Lord. Most believers will relate to what I'm saying. Those of you who were involved in Shekinah Fellowship way back when will CERTAINLY relate, because you in particular were privy to an incredible phenomenon that not all believers were blessed enough to have witnessed. You all experienced the incredible power of the Holy Spirit in a supernatural way, first-hand...

I was among the fortunate ones to have witnessed this Glory shortly after my salvation, having gone down to the Los Angeles area (where I'd previously lived) from the northwest to visit family and friends, and finding my way to Angelus Temple to see Brant Baker and Shekinah Fellowship. Brant and Shekinah also came up to the Seattle area a year later for a number of meetings, so I was especially blessed by the continued moving of God in the world in the present, by His Spirit. It is something that has stayed with me ever since.....

After a few years though, I began to listen to some very good, very learned, and respected radio teachers who, for a time, had me rethinking my whole Pentecostal experience. Now, I've shared a bit of this in a previous post which I entitled, "Confessions of a Gift Despiser", and I don't want to repeat it all here (please look it up in the margin and read it), but I feel that there's more for me to share than I did in that particular post, which just touched on the subject. Incredibly, I slowly began to allow myself to believe that God had moved, that He had already spoken, and that the gifts of His Spirit were for a previous generation, one that did not have the completed canon, and that since we now have His complete Word, there was no more need for the 'gifts', especially since I'd seen so many fleshly abuses of those gifts....

As I shared in my previous post, after a few more years (despite being in the Word a lot), I began to become lonely for His wonderful Presence, I started pining for that 'reality', that intimacy, and eventually moved back in my heart to where I belonged...

It amazes me now that I could have ever have turned away from His supernatural moving among and upon His people today, in THIS VERY HOUR, yet I did. I now know that the Lord used this entire protracted experience to show me how I must- how WE ALL must- continue see king the very presence of the Lord, that we must ACTIVELY 'covet the best gifts' (I Corinthians 12:31), for He, the ultimate Gift, is the giver of these wonderful and necessary gifts. Now, I know for a fact that even some former Shekinah Fellowship members have let go of what they once knew as reality and deemed precious- I know because I've corresponded with them. Yet I can fully relate- if I hadn't gone through this whole thing myself, I would have thought that walking away from the belief in this Present Glorious Holy Ghost Power was impossible! Well it's not, and as believers who genuinely desire for God to continue moving in and through us, we absolutely MUST continue to cultivate this supernatural relationship, to seek HIM and all that He has for us....

He hasn't gone anywhere- He's still here- and because of that fact, His gifts are still here- tongues, word of wisdom, word of knowledge, discerning of spirits- DO WE NOT NEED THESE TODAY?...

Don't settle for the dry, brains-only, academic brand of Christianity. That only satisfies the mind- you might do well on a test or quiz, you may win a blue ribbon- but you're spirit won't be moved at all. You can't have a relationship with book learning, or with your great knowledge of the original Greek text. These things are fine, but don't neglect HIS desire to move and do what He desires to fully do in you. If you already have, then return to Him! There's so much more of Him than we know! He waits for us...

En Agape,
pastor Jim Ewing