Visit To A Charismatic Church

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Visit To A

Charismatic

Church

Shake off your dust; rise up...

Free yourself from the chains on your neck,

O captive Daughter of Zion (Is 52:2, NIV).

Accounts narrated by Mila Thompson

By Malcolm B Heap, Midnight Ministries

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See that you do not refuse him who speaks... (Heb 12:25.)

In 2005, God took Mila Thompson from the USA back to her homeland in Ukraine. The trip was meant to be pure formality, to comply with government naturalisation regulations. She has been married to Steve Thompson in the USA for some years.

But God has an ingenious way of using what appears an everyday circumstance and using it for His greater purpose. He had other reasons for taking Mila back to her country of birth.

One of these became clear as events unfolded and God showed in dreams to Mila some of what He was doing. Here are two of those dreams and what they mean:

Two Dreams of November 11, 2005

1) A graduation party was being held. I was one of the graduates. When I came to the party, there were many young women dressed in gorgeous, very expensive gowns. They were each escorted by at least one young man. Only I did not have an escort.

My clothing was also rather modest, not like all the others. I didn't even have shoes and was wearing slippers. I didn't know anyone at the party and did not feel welcome or even noticed. The only company I had sitting at a table was a young, but heavy man. I do not remember who he was and why he was sitting at my table. He was not interested in me.

Then I felt like dancing and asked this man to dance with me. Perhaps he didn't want to be rude, but he did not decline my invitation. As we got on the dance floor, they started to play rock'n'roll. I took off my slippers and began to dance with unexpected energy and skill. I danced so well and with such ease that I myself was surprised. When the dance was over, my partner said or did something expressing excitement or physical desire. I thought to myself, "Hmm, so I can do it!'

2) A House of God. I was trying to get into the attic of a house ( I am not sure why, but it seems there had to be a room there I wanted to get into). The small entrance leading there was on the outside of the building. I had to climb an old wooden ladder, roughly knocked together. As I climbed up, the last two wooden planks turned out to be rotten and broke at a touch. I could not get to the attic.

When I got down I noticed that the entire façade of the house looked half demolished. There was a pharmacy inside the building, on the ground floor to the right of the ladder. It had very large shop windows. I looked closer and saw that the walls between those shop windows were almost completely destroyed. As a matter of fact, I wondered how the window frames still stood in place. However, the people inside did not seem to care that their building was falling apart. They were busy with their usual duties as if nothing was happening. The pharmacy was filled with some kind of mist – fog or dust. There were some customers inside too. They seemed to be just as oblivious to the danger as the store associates.

I was astonished by everybody's blindness!

Meaning and Commentaries:

Through these two dreams (and a third one given on November 26) God showed me a complete picture of what would happen on November 27. That Sunday I went to visit a couple of Charismatic churches to hand out copies of the Russian translation of the book A Message To The Charismatic Church.

Dream 1 pictured my encounter in the first of the two churches I visited on that day – the group called "Logos".

The part of the dream that shows me being the only one rather modestly dressed and without an escort at the party symbolizes that we do not belong to or represent any church organization, have no human following or leadership. We do have spiritual guidance, which comes as we stay tuned to the Spirit, also from our friends – the Heap family, and through their Spirit-inspired literature; and there are also other brothers and sisters who choose to stay in touch with us. But there is no human being who could be considered either our leader or follower.

The party in the dream represents their Sunday worship meeting. I came without invitation, nobody knew or expected me. I came as one of the family in Christ comes to her / his own. So, I had the right to be there, but did not receive a warm welcome.

I introduced myself to an usher (because they had just started when I came), and requested a couple of minutes at any time during the meeting to say a few words to introduce myself and explain the purpose of my visit. I was denied the opportunity, because, as I was told, they had 'a very busy schedule'. Also, I was warned not to try and distribute anything without their pastor's approval. The young man was polite, but it was clear that had I dismissed the warning, they would have 'ushered me out' of the meeting in a heartbeat.

Once again I prayed for the Lord's guidance and waited. A few times during the 'praise and worship' part I felt the presence of the Spirit. It encouraged me. The Lord had worked it out that a guest pastor from another region of Ukraine was present, and he was invited to preach that day. He spoke on the Lord's Harvest. It was a good sermon. In his teaching, he even shared his past worries and doubts about being able to endure if the time comes to suffer for Christ, and how the Lord encouraged him by the word that all he needed to do was to say as He had said: "Yet may Your will, not mine, be done".

Later on, the hosting pastor suggested that a collection be made in gratitude to their guest for his teaching. As the donations were being collected, I was moved to give the young boy who came up to me a copy of the translation and ask him to give it to that pastor as my gift. It was obvious that the boy was completely baffled and did not know what to do. Instead, he gave the copy to his pastor's wife, and she, in turn, called for the usher, who brought the copy back to me. He said, "I told you not to distribute anything without our pastor's permission". To this I responded, "And I did not. This is my gift to your guest pastor. He is not one of your congregation. Also, don't you think he is spiritually mature enough to discern what is good and what is bad?" The usher could not say anything to counter it. However, I knew they would not do what I had asked.

I made another attempt to speak to the congregation when the pastor asked if anybody would like to give a testimony about a miraculous healing. I raised my hand and asked if I could testify about a miraculous salvation, but was denied again. The pastor said it was outside the 'topic' and they did not have time for it. Instead, he began a 'birthday congratulations' ritual for some of the members. It seemed of more importance to him, than a testimony about a miracle of God!

I realized I would not get a chance to introduce myself and the book there. So I left the hall and positioned myself on the stairs leading down to the exit. As the members were leaving the meeting they inevitably had to pass by me. I simply asked them if they were interested to read a prophetic message to the Charismatic Church, and many said they would. That way I distributed about 18 copies before the pastor saw me.

He came to me and I finally had a chance to introduce myself and explain what I was giving out. He was polite outwardly. He took a copy, even though his comment was wrong. He said 'if it agrees with their teaching', they would contact me to request more copies or make them from the one he was taking. To this I replied that, as he certainly knows, God uses His prophets to correct what is wrong in the Church. So he should not be expecting everything in the book to agree with what they teach, otherwise it would not be a prophetic message. I made him promise that he would read it attentively and pray over it. In his turn, he 'asked' me to stop distributing the copies until he had a chance to read it. I had no choice.

I did not leave the place, however. I was moved to wait and meet the guest pastor in person. So I did. I thanked him for a good sermon and asked if he had received my gift. He said, "I am afraid I have not…" At this the host pastor felt very uncomfortable and made a weak attempt to draw the guest away from me. When it did not work, because I obviously had aroused the guest's curiosity, the local pastor said, "We will be waiting for you downstairs" and retreated quickly.

Then I introduced myself using an MA card I had with me, explained what my gift was, and why I had been moved by the Spirit to translate the book. I told him that there was some information about MM and Malcolm in the introduction From Translator. (I also gave him a copy of the translation of Why Keep Christmas?) The man thanked me very sincerely and meekly.

This guest pastor is the one shown in my dream as the man who accepted my invitation to a dance. The Lord may choose to use him to promote His truths, contained in MM publications, and make them available to many Christians in Ukraine.

Dream 2 predicted my encounter with the second Charismatic church "New Life" (my brother belongs to it). [There was another dream given on November 26, a day before the visit, which also forewarned me about a blow I would experience there.]

The attic I was trying to get to symbolizes my attempt to reach the leader of this church, Igor Kosovan. False leaders believe (and try to persuade believers) that they have the Spirit of God, and that they have power over the congregation which is vested in them by God Himself. But this is not a spiritual power; it is human domination and control, and the spirit behind it is demonic. Prior to this encounter, I had been to their meeting once, and did not feel the presence of the Spirit for a moment throughout the entire meeting!

The entrance was small: this means the leader is not open and welcoming those who are considered 'outsiders'.

The two top planks were shown to be rotten and break the moment I touched them. This symbolism pictured what actually happened – I was denied a chance to talk to the man [explained in detail in my report below]. This is a rotten practice, not of God. Top planks represent the top of their hierarchy.

The pharmacy on the ground floor level (together with the employees and customers) shows their organization as a business, established to make money. The appointed helpers of the leader (employees) and the customers ('ordinary' members) trust their pastor to the extent they have actually made him their idol.

The dust or mist in that pharmacy shows the demonic influences in the church, which cloud the vision and understanding of the members. These evil influences entered through the false teachings and the wrong, selfish motivation of the false minister. (The Lord had given me a few other dreams where this minister was shown as false.) None of them can see the tragic circumstances of their position. They are all ignorant of it, just as the dream shows.

The entire building of the organized church is falling apart. This is what the Lord has been telling the Church through His prophets (beginning from the OT prophets, through the first Apostles' warnings and in our day). This is what they do not recognize and refuse to see.

My encounter with the Church "New Life" and their founder and pastor Igor Kosovan.

The Church "New Life" meets for their Sunday worship at 3 p.m. I was there well in advance, about 2:30. I found out that the pastor was not there yet, so I sat down in the hall to wait. Then a thought came to my mind that perhaps there was another room where he and his helps could be meeting before the service. I asked a young lady who watched the praise group's rehearsal about it. According to her, there was no such place. However, she suggested that if I wanted to talk to the pastor before the meeting, I would have a better chance if I waited for him outside the hall, on the stairs. I followed her advice.

I waited and waited. The members were gathering for the service, but the pastor was not coming. As I watched the members, I did not feel moved to hand out a single translation. They just did not seem to be interested. Finally one lady, passing by, asked me what I was holding in my hand. I told her it was a prophetic message from God to the Charismatic Church. I asked her if she cared to take one. She said she did not. She said she had everything she needed, and didn't even have time to read what she had. Then she mentioned Kenneth Copeland as a prophet they were encouraged to read, saying something to the effect that if God had anything to say to them, surely He would have given it to that man of God.

I asked her if she believed there exist any God's prophets outside K Copeland (I personally do not think he is a prophet, but did not argue with the woman). She said she was completely content with what she had – the health, the money, and the church teaching – and didn't need anything from some unknown person who could be a false prophet. So, I just wished her well. As I was trying to talk to another young woman, that same lady turned to me and asked what the message was about. I said, "I cannot retell you the whole book. It talks about mistakes that need correction and wrong teachings which mislead believers. Why not read it yourself?" So she agreed to take a copy.

It was 2:58 p.m., and the pastor had not shown up yet. I prayed, "Lord, if You want me to give a copy to this pastor as a witness, make him appear NOW, or at least within the next 5 minutes. This will be a sign to me". The next moment I saw him coming up the stairs. I approached him and asked to talk for a moment, but he didn't even stop. Walking on, he just commanded: "After the service!" I said: "I need just two minutes! It will not work, to wait till after the service!" But he didn't stop. He only said, "well, then it'll have to be some other time".

I don't know if he had been forewarned by the first pastor about me. I only felt he did not want to give me a chance to speak to him period! I felt angry. It was not my fault – I had waited for him for half an hour; it was he who was late! I began to walk downstairs leaving the place when a thought came that I had asked for a sign from God, and He gave me the sign! I could not leave without giving that man a copy for a witness.

I saw a young man who had seen me back in the hall. He saw that I was upset and I guess he felt sorry for me. He asked me what had happened and then said, "Do not be upset. He gets like that at times". Then I asked him if he would give a copy of the book to the pastor after the service and tell him that was the message from the woman with whom he had refused to speak. I told the young man to take it serious, because it was a message from God he would be forwarding. He got interested, and I said I could give him a copy if he would like to read it. He said he would.

That day I handed out 23 copies of A Message To The Charismatic Church in Russian, 20 copies at the first church and 3 at the second.

I was about to leave when the blow, described in the dream of Nov. 26 came. I saw my brother and his wife coming to the meeting. They stopped to say hello. I told them what had happened, and my brother said: "What did you expect? You cannot come to another's house and try telling them how to keep their house in order!" I replied: "You are very wrong, brother. If I am in Christ and you are in Christ, if I have the Spirit and you have it, then we belong to the same house of God, we are a family in Christ, His own body! I did not come to another's house!" I also said something about the mission of a prophet. But he said, "if our pastor is wrong about something, don't you think the Lord is able to show him?" My reply: "That is exactly why a prophet of God was moved to write this book, why I was moved to translate it, and why I am standing here now!" Then he said: "Don't you think that an apostle is a prophet at the same time?" I said: "Yes, apostles receive prophetic messages, but what makes you think that your pastor is an apostle? What is the sign of his apostleship?" He answered: "Because he has organized a number of churches in Ukraine!" I was shocked by such a misconception. As an example of how wrong he is to think that a number of followers and churches is a sign of a true apostle I told him about Herbert W. Armstrong and his Worldwide organization, the membership of which had numbered many thousands – over 100,000. However, I did not have much time to go deeply into the subject and give him other examples and arguments.

Then my brother said another thing that broke my heart. He said: "Let your Malcolm find (make) his own following and then let him teach them." Immediately Paul's warning about the wolves in sheep's clothing who seek a following for themselves came to my mind, but there was no time for our further discussion. I only asked him if he himself had accepted what I had given him to read (the same translation). He said he did not. He had not admitted to it before that moment, and I think this is because he had nothing to say to prove it wrong through the Scripture. But he said that the spirit inside of him tells him that it is wrong. I know this is NOT the Holy Spirit! But he will not believe me if I tell him!

On my way home I was deeply saddened and crying. The feeling did not go away all that evening and the next morning. It hurt me terribly to see my brother rejecting me as a family in the Lord, just because I am trying to do God's will. But it hurts even worse to know how blinded he and the others in that congregation are, led astray by that pastor. No wonder the Lord showed me that pastor in one dream as a murderer pretending to be an artist.

My brother did not offend me on a human level. He did not say anything personally rude or disrespectful. We used to have much more heated arguments, but they did not affect me so deeply. I think it is a kind of 'sadness in the spirit'.

_________

On 14th March 2006, God gave Helena this dream: At one church, they had a Thyme shrub growing on the wall, spreading laterally to another wall. I suggested pruning it, but someone said that permission was needed to do that.

Meaning: Christians are meant to be rooted in the soil of God's Word, firmly in the ground, so they can grow upwards to God. But most Christians are growing sideways, towards their church, governed by their human leaders. That is idolatry!

_________

Also From Midnight Ministries

Church authority is explained in God's Church – Whose Authority? (GC).

How to discern false ministers is explained in Testing the Spirits (TTS) and

Apostasy in God's Church (Apo).

Also helpful to those from a Charismatic Church background is:

Understanding The Mind of God: A Message To The 'Charismatic Church' (MG6).

An article from another author, entitled Kenneth Copeland Unmasked is also available.

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