Word of Knowledge - November 09, 1990

A Word from Yahweh, For Pastor Ron:

I had at one time attended a church in a small town in California but had left because of hardships imposed on me by the leadership; not the pastor per se, but his underlings. It was a weird setting as most of the underlings in the church were all related in one way or another. Well, the problem was that these people held the pastor in higher esteem than our Lord, or so it seemed. It was a problem that the pastor was aware of, but for some reason he did not want to correct the problem. The Lord Jesus had me write the following letter to Pastor Ron, in HIS behalf:

My Son,

Please listen and do not harden your heart to this message. It is for you as well as your congregation. Years ago I brought you to Winters to feed the sheep that were there and the ones that I would save through my glorious might. You did wonderful works through ME and your brothers and your sisters grew in number as well as quality. I gave you the tin building and your numbers continued to grow. Finally, you are in your new building that I so graciously gave you and I did that through miraculous events that you were a witness to. I did all of these things because you were obedient to My words and you did everything that I told you to do. I love you greatly because you are a man after My own heart much as my servant David was.

For this reason it is imperative that I say that I am disappointed at how your fold has grown cold and lifeless. I cry when I see some of the Nicolaitian practices that some of those practice. Do you not remember that you are all answerable to one another; there is no class system or hierarchy among My servants, they are servants to ME. I ache when I see those who are hurt because they feel inferior and lost, thinking that they have missed the mark because they could not obey laws that were made by men and not by Me.

I weep when I see that your sheep pay me lip service while they are at church but never attempt to live their words and promises out on the street. I wail when I see the lost of Winters who wander aimlessly, looking for a beacon to light the path in the darkness. They stumble and fall on a daily basis because the light is kept inside and selfishly hoarded. I convulse in pain when I see the way that My children treat each other. I wince when I hear the gossip that travels from house to house. I desire that My children would have the fervency to talk to Me that they have in belittling each other. What hurts is that they do this in the name of prayer requests. My children have hurt their merchants and have slandered their neighbors and it sickens Me. You claim that the reason for the community hatred of your fold is due to the adversary, but I say to you that the community sees the flock for what it is. I ate and sat with sinners; are you any better than I? I have sent messengers to you and your sheep to tell of these things but they are sent away as those shunned and humiliated.

I proclaim to you that I am tired of these blatant sins and the people who call themselves by My Name. I have asked you time and again to be stern with the sheep in these matters and this has not happened. The children will be spoiled if the rod is spared. You should not be afraid of correcting those in your care. It is better you avert them from the agony that could follow if their sins lead them into my correction.

As you know, I am a God of grace and the Lord of Righteousness. I have allotted three years for these sheep to change their ways. If you do change I will bless you mightily. The heathen in Winters will see that you are truly a lighthouse that I intended you to be and your wound in the community will be healed. People will form lines outside to get seating in the services and the day will not contain enough hours to teach them all. The financial curse that is upon many of you will be abolished and all will prosper.

If your sheep choose to persist in their transgressions I will have no other choice but to let your fellowship become a desert. I will refuse to hold back the devourer anymore. Your numbers will dwindle. Some will go back to the things of the world and some will worship Me elsewhere. I will raise up  another body of believers to further my cause in Winters. Yes, three years is the time that I have given you; three years will prove this prophecy to be true. Listen to these words my son, I LOVE YOU!

Three years and five months later I received the following letter in my mailbox. The letter is dated April 27, 1994. It was sent to me in Sacramento. As far as I can tell, nobody at the church knew my address, so how it got to me is still a mystery:

Dear Church Family,

In case you were not at our regular mid-week service this past Wednesday, I have some difficult news to share with you. Susan and I have resigned as Pastors of "Gateway Chapel" (effective June 1st) and have accepted the pastorate of Zion Fellowship in Danville, California.

I realize that this most likely comes as a shock to many of you. It does to us, too. We have know for about 10 days that the change was coming, but the details were not finalized until last Sunday night when I met with the council of that church. We were not seeking to move and were caught very off guard by Dr. Wymore's phone call  asking us to make the change.

I must tell you that for about a year now we have been receiving words from the Lord through credible people outside our congregation that we would be moving on some time in the near future. However, we believed it would not be at least until the fall of this year and probably later than that.

There are so many things that I would like to say at this point. But, I don't know where to begin and couldn't get them all in this letter. I'm just trusting that in the weeks we have ahead together that all of those things will get said either in conversation or sermons, or other writings. For now, Susan and I love you all very much and are already missing you in our hearts. This is a painful time of transition, but we know it is the will of God and have been assured by Him that He will take care of His church here very well!

You're welcome to call Susan or myself at the office or at home anytime during this transition. We want to answer any questions you have. And, we'll do anything we can to help.

Your brother and friend forever, Ron

At first I worried about the word that the Lord had me send. Yahweh expressly said that it would be three years. But, after looking at the script again, He says that the church has three years to get things right. So, five or so months after the deadline Pastor Ron got the permission to leave. As promised, the church really suffered a horrible time. Infidelity ran rampant and several couples divorced. The membership dropped to almost nothing. Many of the people who were the troublemakers deserted the church like rats fleeing from a sinking ship. God's Word held true. I'm thankful for being the vessel that he chose to deliver the message.