In Reply to: Re: Deceiving spirits posted by Donny on June 28, 2003 at 20:43:49:
Donny, I see what you are saying. It’s a good thing I have you to keep me straight on this board. When I used the words “familiar spirits,” I was answering Lyle when he asked up above, “Wouldn't the difference be the protection by the blood of the Lamb so that no familiar spirits confuse things? Not only the Christian contact is better protected but it also provides tools to discern the spirits.” What I was trying to say is that whether they are Christians or non-Christians, people can get deceived very easily. I could have left it at that and not said, “deceived by familiar spirits.” I believe we were all completely deceived when we joined the family, and I was saved and filled with the spirit when I joined. So obviously being saved and filled with the Holy Spirit did not protect me from being deceived. And yes, it was absolutely because I did not know the Word yet and was completely ignorant. And the only reason I can think of that I stayed in the COG for so many years was that I chose to remain deceived, because the minute I allowed my eyes to open and see the truth, I was gone. I remember that’s why we left so quickly – once our eyes were opened and we were no longer deceived, it was written all over our faces and we couldn’t conceal what we were thinking.
I believe that deceit is rampant among Christians today, too. They know a lot of Word, but choose not to obey it, because they have certain traditions and beliefs that they cling to that are far more important to them than what the Word says. The Word is an iconoclast and I haven’t found too many people yet who say, “Gosh, I love it when my idols get broken!” I know a man who, in 1986, got absolutely desperate with God about the Word. He said, “Lord, let your word be true and let every man be found a liar,” in effect giving God permission to totally open his eyes to the truths in the Word. And God answered that prayer and every time the poor guy opens his mouth he gores someone’s sacred cow.
An example of someone simply telling the truth and goring a gigantic sacred cow is Ed Priebe’s fantastic article on tithing and I just wrote something on this last night which I will post later.