FELLOWSHIP: FRIENDS AND FOES

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MENTORING LETTER #19

FELLOWSHIP: FRIENDS AND FOES

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TO BERELEASED2/1/2011

pamsheppard.com

ONCE IN THE LIFE

In the perilous, deceptive times in which we live, we ALL

face a serious human dilemma relative to a need for

belonging, acceptance and sociability that challenges our

commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ and our fulfillment of

what He has called us to do. The truth is that built into the

human frame is a desire to be liked, accepted as well as

approved of.

We seek to fulfill that innate need through people pleasing.

I watched a movie written and directed by Lawrence

Fishburne this week that graphically makes my point.

Called "Once In the Life" with two of my favorite actors----

Fishburne and Eamonn Walker as the main characters,---

these two men played the part of the closest of friends

from "back in the day." In fact, they had developed an

intimate alliance from having shared the same prison cell

when they had been jailed for the crimes they had

committed as street hoodlums. "In the life" is a

colloquial phrase used by pimps and prostitutes, gamblers

and those who "do what they do" behind closed doors and in

the darkness of night in unsavory places.

Once these two were released from prison, Fishburne

counted on that friendship to his own destruction, for

Walker had lied to him and said that he had left the life of

dope dealing and crime. In fact, Walker's character was sentto kill Fishburne for a dope deal gone bad and

Fishburne gullibly dropped his defenses, not believing that

his best friend would be the one to kill him. Walker not only

shot Fishburne while they were in an embrace, he poured

gasoline all over the hideout and burned it down along with

Fishburne's dead body.
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ARTICLES

ONCE IN THELIFE: FRIENDS,

FOES ANDFELLOWSHIP

DELIVERANCEFROMCHURCHADDICTION

Become a

Lover of theTruth!

The point of the movie is in its title. "Once IN the life," there

is no getting OUT! Like the mafia, life in the underworld is a

precarious place where even your best friends can become

your worst enemies. The Lord Jesus Christ has spoken to His

elect in like manner:

"AND A MAN'S FOES SHALL BE THEY OF HIS OWN

HOUSEHOLD!" (Matt 10:36)

How does this scripture play out today among Christians?

Some who may fundamentally agree with our position and

even our beliefs can still be our worst enemies because they

refuse to face the truth themselves. Here is an example of

such a case from my own experience this past week. An

anonymous person ---who I sensed to be a man--- sent me a

complimentary email about my second book,---a book that I

have attempted to take off of the market, to no avail. So thefirst thing I did was suggest that he read the re-write, "Come

Out of Her, God's People." I also explained to him why I no

longer promote "the Making of a Prophet."

In the course of our interactions back and forth, the "man"

made the following statement: I too am a prophet of God and

I do not hear from the devil. Every word that I receive is from

the Lord and the voice of a stranger I will not

ollow." In response, I made ONE simple statement that

went something like this." ANYONE who does not believe thatthey hear from the devil is deceived already. If the devil had

the nerve to speak to the son of God Himself, he will certainly

speak to

Well, My readers, "the man" went email berserk, sending

multiple emails, each within mere minutes of each other.

The religious demon in him was very easy to discern.

Ultimately, he yielded to that spirit by allowing himself to be

used to attack me where the demon wrongfully believes

that I am most vulnerable--- the demon used this man to

send me the spirit of rejection.

Here is the final word that a perfect stranger who claims to

be a Christian prophet wrote to me, word for word, in touch

with me for only ONE day:"


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TRUTH IS THELITMUS TEST!

LEARN HOW

TO WALKALONE!

"Why are you so concerned about what a stranger does or

doesn't think that you can't walk away from the matter w/out

needing reassurance from me that you will NOT receive.

Certainly you yourself - social worker, counselor and all your

credentials - couldn't have an issue when someone doesn't

"receive" you. No - that could absolutely not be it - but that is

the root of the matter. I'm ending the discourse because I

don't like argumentative SPIRITUALLY-PRIDEFUL people - and

that is the truth of the matter. I thought we could have

discourse as "peers" but that is not possible - you read into

everything a person writes. I don't have time for this nor will I

waste my time in this way. I was hesitant to approach you

because I know many like yourself - your knowledge or what

ou PERCEIVE as knowledge has PUFFED you up so that youare UNAPPROACHABLE! In fact, many have removed

themselves from you because of your persistent and

ARGUMENTATIVE speech.

nd that is FROM the Lord.

I am blocking your e-mail - so there is no need to reply - you

have not respected that I said I have a migraine right now as

well - but I have been gracious to answer in a timely manner.

The Lord showed me your "many words" stem from

"insecurity" - if you are so SURE of what you think you know,why do you defend yourself in SO MANY WORDS. God is your

defense, not your protestations or accusations."

THIS STRANGER WROTE 10 MORE EMAILS AFTER HE CLAIMED

THAT HE WOULD END THE COMMUNCATION, demonstrating

with each one of them how severely demonized and

tormented he actually is. The obsession/compulsion

continued because he actually could not stop himself from

writing them, until I stopped trying to reason with this man

and I wrote directly to the demon INSIDE OF HIM with the

following statement:

RELIGIOUS DEVIL, EACH TIME YOU SEND ME AN EMAIL, I AM

GOING TO CONFRONT YOU WITH THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST

OF NAZARETH."

In one of the earlier emails, he wrote "I agree with your


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perspective on the organized church, charismatic witchcraft,

the great falling away, the rapture, the return of the Lord and

the Anti-Christ."

If that be true, then "what actually happened here?"

What happened is that when I confronted him with the truth--

--that ALL prophets are vulnerable to deception----that

demons can masquerade as angels of light, that we MUST try

the spirits to see if they be of God, the hidden demon in this so

called prophet exposed himself.

One of the important evidences that I notice is that demons

INSIDE of their captives often are unaware of the strides and

advances that those they attack have made in their spiritual

walk. For example, when I wrote my second book, I admit

that I was still vulnerable to the spirit of rejection. Even so,the demons that watch me daily KNOW that I have no

problem walking alone. Yet, the demon IN this captive,

having themselves read my second book through this man's

eyes, assumed that vulnerability to rejection STILL has a

place in me. They made a big mistake. Perhaps five years

ago, my shield of faith would not have blocked the fiery dart.

Yet my spirit was not ONCE touched through this attack.

Throughout, I was trying to help the man see his condition,

but his delusion runs too deep at the present time.

Today is a different story. As one content to walk alone, I donot seek acceptance. Certainly I will accept it if it is genuine,

but I don't NEED personal regard or acclaim. Nor am I looking

or a following or a sheepfold to lead, neither am I seeking a

place to belong. Like Jesus, I am a root in dry ground. My

nourishment as a believer does not come from Christian

ellowship. Even though I enjoyed "church," I was never really

edified by it. My sustenance does not require "the

communal." If I could redeem all of the time I have spent in

vain Christian conversation with people who did not practice

what they CLAIMED TO BELIEVE, I would do so because when

ou get to be my age, MORE TIME IS A BLESSING. So today, I donot waste precious time with people who prefer to remain "in

the dark." This strange email sender did not usurp more than

an hour of my precious time.

Not to waste time is truly an important accomplishment for I

must work while it is day, for when my night comes, my work


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will be over. This emailer is a professing Christian that I could

have wasted loads of precious time on because "we agreed on

LL of the essentials doctrines."

This is the key. If you put the truth in the face of those around

ou, their reaction will expose "what you need to see and toknow." And you will redeem your time. Below find the issues

that those who are stuck on being accepted are facing.

Ironically enough, when he was not offended by the truth I

shared with him, he sent me an excerpt from a newsletter.

When I read it, I said to myself, "THIS SOUNDS LIKE ME."

Nevertheless, once I found the website, I realized that

the author of the newsletter remains a Charismatic minister,

still not yet fully in the light so I cannot share his website at

this time. However, here is the quotation, underlined.

"Saints cannot participate in most of that which is offered by

the churches. Participation with the events of most churches

(or even the goals and membership requirements) violate

their covenant with Jesus. The dilemma of the saints in 2011 is

where can they fellowship?

Those who truly hear the Spirit will be grieved. Or like Lot,

they will be vexed in their spirits with most of what is offered

in the religious buffet served up today. Because of loneliness,

some have compromised and re-entered the religious

playground. The majority of emails and letters I receive arerom those who have been dislodged in various religious

circles and have nothing in common with the milieu of today.

When they have tried to re-enter the congregations, they do so

as spectators who are often looked upon as "outcasts."

Some, after being awakened, rationalize their desire to stay

"churched." They claim that "God wants me to remain and be

a witness." How can this be? God said "Come ye OUT from

among them and be separate." Besides, I believe very few of

them rise up in meetings or elsewhere and declare openly the

errors they encounter.

Reformation simply is Not Going to Happen! Reform of the

masses of congregations is not on God's agenda. It wasn't in

esus' day, nor is it in our own. Nowhere in the New Testament

account of Jesus' ministry is there found one trace of evidence

He believed the Temple would experience reform or revival.

The same is today! STOP TRYING!"


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(These are not my words but they certainly COULD BE!

I have an even more serious consideration for you to reflect

upon for those of you who continue to crave Christian

fellowship and are struggling with loneliness. Places ofcongregate worship are filled with the enemy. The danger is

even more profound because MOST of believers in

league with the enemy of our souls do not even have a clue

that they are not yet born again and so they function as

demonic hosts. Consequently, I warn each and every one of

my clients to stay away from such settings. On occasion,

they do not heed my warnings and some have suffered a

demonic backlash. You need to be prepared for the

possibility that God will NOT protect from disaster

those who have been forewarned.

If you haven't guessed by now, I love to watch movies. In

them, I find lots of metaphorical examples of spiritual

truths. I'm thinking of an old one now, starring Harry

Belafonte. In it, he was one of a few survivors of a

worldwide nuclear war. He "walked alone" for months,

perhaps years, fellowshipping with department store

dummies he propped into chairs , chatting with these silent

mannequins as he sat at his kitchen table. Lonely for human

contact, Belafontes character wholeheartedly embracedtwo additional survivors who entered his camp but

consequently, "all hell broke loose."

There are many other movies with a similar theme. I think

of another where a man locked himself in his house to avoid

the aftermath of a chemical warfare. As much as he loved his

wife, he refused to open the front door to her in fear that

she would contaminate him.

This is the reality. The wheat and the tare have growntogether for so long, that they look just alike. Anyone who

leaves the fold will have to arm themselves against those

who "fast and pray" to bring them back. Some will even pray

that evil come upon you so that you will run back to them

and sometimes these prayers bring forth the desired result.

This is the power of charismatic witchcraft. So before you

open your spiritual door to those who claim to belong to


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Jesus, confront them with some truth and see how

they react. Truth is the litmus test.

PAM'S BOOK CORNER

An excerpt from "Come Out of Her, God's People."

DELIVERANCE FROM CHURCH ADDICTION

Deliverance from church is no easy feat because Church

attendance can evolve into an addiction. Once you get

hooked, you need to be detoxed. As substance abusers go

into a 28-day detox to get clean, church addicts need tostay out of church for at least 28-30 days. As creatures of

habit, I have found that any addiction can be physically

broken in that time period. Even so, once the 28 day fast is

completed, the addiction in the soul is yet another story.

The mind, the heart and the emotions must be renewed and

for that, a drug addict will go into either a 90 day out patient

facility or a 6 months residential program.

So too with the church addict. From 90 days to 6

months, perhaps a year, the church addicts mind must be

re-trained. False doctrines and practices that the

churchgoer has believed in for decades must be challenged

so that the soul can be renewed. As God Himself has

compared false worship to prostitution or whoredom , I am

not out of line in making a similar comparison. A church

addiction can be compared to good sex with someone youknow does not really love you. Simply put, you get hooked

to the thrill and the feeling. Those of us who have never

been there and done that wonder what the thrill is for amasochist. Masochism from a psychiatric perspective is

defined as a condition in which sexual gratification depends

on suffering, physical pain and humiliation gained from

despair, deprivation, and degradation. The perpetrator can


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be others or it can be self inflicted. Unfortunately,

masochists are known to find pleasure in self denial andemotional pain.

I can relate on a spiritual level because sexual

masochism is like self imposed martyrdom. For example, itis not a part of my normal personality to tolerate a lack ofregard or disrespect from anyone, yet I passively

allowed myself to be frequently humiliated over a 25

year span by ignorant church bishops, elders and members

who would have been of no consequence to me in the world.

It is actually in my carnal nature to chew up the meat and

spit out the bones of folk like this. But in the church, I

allowed these abusers to ascend themselves over me with

their spiritual feet in my back, tacitly enduring their verbal

abuse and complete disregard of my personhood, over andover again.

Why? Because I ignorantly assumed that I was

suffering for Christ. Notwithstanding, like a spiritualmasochists, a sensual, carnal thrill was obtainable through

believing that I was more righteous than they because I was

faithfully doing Gods will. What a shock to find out after

more than two decades, that God never sent me there forANY reason. He simply used what the enemy meant for evilfor my personal and spiritual good, so that I could be used by

Him to help others help themselves! Nevertheless, as onewho was addicted, I never wanted to leave that Whore on

my own so God made HER PUT ME OUT!!!!

Ignorant of my own emotional condition, I foolishly

submitted myself to the spiritual abuse that those I

pastored inflicted upon me. Whatever they needed, I was

there for them. I spent quality time with most of them---

shopping, vacations and other outings, cooking for them, you

name it. I was at the jails, hospitals, homes. I was a devoted

pastor, never controlling or demanding with anyone. I even

came from behind the pulpit and taught them as Jesus did.Yet none of my efforts bore any fruit in them for Jesus

Christ.

The irony is that the devil used those I pastored in three

different churches to try to cause me to change my definition

of the word "pastor". Religious devils used church members

to try to beat me down with discouragement by causing


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them to treat me with a lack of appreciation, regard and

respect. In other words, I was not loved. For some time, I

thought it was because I am "not a man." I have seen men

revered who were known to be homosexuals, abusers of all

kinds. But my gender was not the cause. The only

distinction between me and them was that I was not raisedin church and I came to know Jesus Christ outside of church

walls.

As I reflect, I do not recall that I ever

really pastored those who were truly saved. Even when I

started my own church in 1996, I remained abused by

people who actually chose to follow me. Yet, as I remember

each one of them, I see no fruit for Jesus Christ. In spite of

the fact that I preached a powerful message, the word fell on

ground that "was not good."

Why? There is a simple answer, taken straight from the

Lords own lips. When folk are serving two masters, they

end up hating one and loving the other. Therefore their

hatred of me was not personal. It was scriptural and it wasprophetic. The sheep I served were serving two masters.

Since I belong to Christ, I was despised. Therefore, it is

understandable to me now, that it was not God who called

me to ministry while I was in the Denomination. I could be

wrong but I dont believe that God would call anyone of His

to serve Him within such a filthy, corrupt system.

Once I embraced this truth, I realized that my

situation can be compared to the first predicament of His

servant Moses. While he was in Egypt, Moses tried to help

his own people but he failed. It was not until he was forced

out of Egypt into the wilderness, that God prepared him for

ministry. In like manner today, I believe that to be used by

God effectively, one has to actually leave the organized

church.

Not a few hours after I accepted this revelation, my"first' sheep telephoned me. George is a man who was a

member of the first church that I pastored in 1989. To make

a long story short, it was revealed in the spirit that George

was sent to me to serve as "a constant thorn in my side." I

was set free from George about 5 years ago when I asked

him to leave my church. Although a faithful tither and

church attender, he was literally "tearing down the church"


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with his relapses into drugs and sexual sin. In fact, no loose

woman or drug addict was safe in my church because of

him. I couldn't completely avoid all contact with George

because one of his relatives is also a member of my family

through marriage.

So with this phone call, since I now have an ear to

hear, I actually heard a religious devil speakthrough George to me. George purred: " you were such a

dedicated pastor, preaching to people who never appreciated

ou and who did you so wrong. Just know that I appreciate

ou and I have much fruit in my life for Christ because of your

ministry."

I could have spit and uttered "Get thee behind me, Satan."

Instead, I softly replied, "thanks for the kind words, but I

see no real fruit borne in anyone because of my ministry tothem.

It was all a lie. The only reason George is NOT on

drugs right now is because he barely survived two recent

strokes, his diabetes is off the chain, but most of all, his

drinkin and druggin partner died two years ago---his

brother, Bobby. Today George is really afraid to use

drugs because he is not yet ready to die!!! Sexual sin has

stopped because his libido is gone, even though his pride

will not allow him to admit it. George still lives in a motel

for the homeless, a hovel that is indescribable---an activemember of a holiness, Pentecostal church. We had not

engaged in a spiritual conversation in well over a year.

Yet, some how, George chose to call me with this

compliment on the very day that I embraced the fact that

"God didn't call me to pastor in the organized church." What

do I make of this? Well, THE DEVIL DOESN'T STOP TALKING

TO USAS LONGAS HE CAN FIND A CHANNEL TO BRING FORTH

HIS MESSAGE.

Yet, don't get me wrong. I suspect that I am certainly

chosen by God as a handmaiden unto the Lord Jesus

Christ. Nevertheless, besides training, writing and

counseling, I just don't yet know exactly what I am called to

do yet. Moses waited 40 years. I've only waited 33 years. I

anticipate that I'll be knowing "soon enough!" When I do,

I'll be ready!!!!


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I divide my day by my mission: deliverance counseling, writing, training and mentoring.Soon all of my counseling hours will be filled. Therefore, I need to train more believers toDO WHAT I DO SO THAT I CAN MAKE REFERRALS TO THEM. I am also a planner. Trainingis going to take at least a year for each trainee. So it is time to sign up now because o thetime is at hand for training. Let me know if you are interested.


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Sheppard's Counseling and Publishing Center, PO Box 356, East Greenbush NY 12061

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