Brother Nicholas,

Thank you for your spiritual words of insight. As a man, we get caught up into thinking that "we" can work everything out and stay in the graces of God. However, I do know that "we" can not achieve any of this without God. It is He who brings us out of the fire shining. I appreciate you reminding me of that. God surely does cause the growth, not man. It is so easy to lose your focus on God in the world that we are in.

I want to share something with you. I went to my Wednesday night church service and a representative from Destiny World Outreach was there. He stated that he has been pastoring for 25 years and he was a representative of Bishop Tony Miller. I sat there for about two hours concentrating on what he had to say, but there was an emptiness being conveyed. He was using scripture to validate his words and comments, but I feel they were a bit out of context. One point that he made was that we (congregation) are under the "ruling" of our pastor. He continued to state that our personal anointing of God will never raise above that of our pastor. He pointed out that the anointing flows from the head downward and that the anointing never goes up. I don't think that I agree with his statements. I understand that he was trying to make a point about leadership, but to bring Gods anointing into "mans hierarchy" or "chain of command" didn't make sense. He used Psalm 133 to validate his remarks. He also stated that we need to be "baptized" with the spirit and thinking of our pastor. He used 1 Corinthians 10:1-2 to validate his point. Is it accurate to say that we need to be baptized in the spirit of our pastor? Is it accurate to say that we can never have a higher anointing than that of our pastor or "man leader"?

I do not agree with his statements because we are not God and never will be. We are not above that of who created us. I do agree that everyone can be appointed a gift, but to say that God will never give us a higher anointing than that of another man is odd for me to believe. I believe that the Son of God, Jesus Christ is the one man that we will never rise above.

He continued to add that we as members of the church need to know our place. We need not be out of our "grace". He commented that someone may need to take their place of helping the pastor's family so that he (pastor) can use his time more wisely for the word. The example he gave was that it may be someones "grace" to iron the clothing of the pastor so that the he can study the Word more often. He even stated that someone in the church may need to go to the pastor's house and help the wife clean so that the pastor's family will not be burdened by this. I understand that we need to help our church grow, but to imply that we need to iron the pastor's clothing or clean the pastor's house is a bit much. Don't you think? I understand that the apostles helped Jesus during his times of pastoring or preaching, but should we do the things previously mentioned? Jesus prepared for thirty years before He started giving the Word, the truth, the light!

Please understand that I do know what he was trying to convey; mans leadership in church. However, I do not believe that our (man's) anointing is based on each other. I strongly believe that Gods anointing onto an individual is based solely on a persons individual relationship with God. The Holy Bible - Gods Word, stresses so highly about being in the favor of God; not your next door neighbor! What do you think about these statements?

I feel that my pastor's heart is in the right place; that is not in question. However, I do question the "covering" that he has accepted. I have questioned my pastor about my concerns and he has given me answers in a vague way. I was told to "not get caught up in all of that". He advised me that his heart was with God and if any "red flags" came his way than he would remove our church from Destiny World Outreaches covering. I took that as if he was trying to "quiet" me.

Please understand that I am not going around talking about this to every church member. I feel that that would be wrong. I do not want to create turmoil, nor do I want to make someone feel uncomfortable. I only want to be involved in a church that is by the Holy Word. I do not want to be under a "covering" that takes the scripture out of context or makes it into his own beliefs.

Thanks for your time and understanding. I will continue to pray and seek the truth through God's Word and enlightenment. I am guarding my heart, but I am also letting God reveal to me what is true.

Am I wrong for thinking the way that I do? Is this actually spiritual discernment that I am dealing with or am I making things out to be greater than what they are? I hope that it is not my own mind putting a spin on things.

Take care and God bless you!

Searching for the Truth,

Joe Benson