International Falls Daily Journal - Letters to the Editor - Comments

concerned person, I didn't

Donna Ann — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 14:30:11 -0600

concerned person, I didn't have a clue you were a Pastor in the Falls until you stated that to me. I apologize for any misunderstandings.
I'm happy for you and the success at the church you minister at. I pray extra blessings and the fire and love of Christ to be manifested in a greater measure to all of you.
I am who I am. I don't compromise what's inside of me nor do I question or inquire of the Lord as to why He has placed in me to live in Love, Grace and Mercy and placed a Passionate unquenchable desire to be His handmaiden. His agape Love is my covering.
Call me a rebel or think I am out of His will and I'm fine with that, but I ask of you one favor please.
That which He has placed in you, run with it. Greater things have yet to come in this city!

Donna, I have never misled

concernedperson — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 21:22:56 -0600

Donna, I have never misled anyone by not stating up front that I am a pastor. In fact it has helped me continue to dialogue with many who if they had that information up front might not have continued to write me. I use the avatar concernedperson because I am concerned about people, salvation, the current state of the church, the world and the level of true faith in this country. I also am saddened by what I see happening not only in this community, or this country but the world. True faith in God is dying and while I certainly try to preach in the Spirit, I have seen such hardness of heart in those who claim to be walking in the light but aren't. You know sometimes people with grave injuries or illnesses will refuse treatment even though someone else is willing to pay for the treatment. As for your previous response, yes I believe in the rapture, but I respect everyone's personal perspective regarding this event. In other words I won't ague the point with you that's not my job. Jesus said the Spirit would lead us into all truth so that's His job. As for being able to endure or bear with you, that is precisely what Paul exhorts in all of his epistles. Unless you were to try to introduce any known heresies, I sincerely doubt that there would be reason for us to have conflict.
Remember I said I have a lot of children who attend morning worship, if they weren't finding love and acceptance here I doubt they would have continued to come with all of the other choices in our community where they could go. There must therefore be something special about what happens here week after week, or they would loose interest and stop coming.

concernedperson, since I

Donna Ann — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 18:36:46 -0600

concernedperson, since I last replied to your encouraging words and invite etc. I've been thinking and praying. I already have what many are searching for. I also feel it's misleading for you to not state you're a Pastor...not for my sake. My personal opinion is you could have used concernedpastor as your nick name. I still respect ya.
I suggest you read the blog entitled "America: The First Undeveloped" Country.
Didn't Christ say "you shall know the truth and the truth will set men free"?? Well, there's a dying world out there and you of all people should know that.
I remain steadfast to be a truth seeker and truth speaker. By His grace and mercy I shall continue to do so.

I'm not sure you could

Donna Ann — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 11:58:31 -0600

I'm not sure you could handle me concernedperson! :) I thank you for your invitation and encouragement deeply. I will seek the Lord about what He would have me do.
If your doctrine/teaching permits the "Rapture of the Church", then I have to say I can't do that one ever again. I sadly bought that teaching only to have the Holy Spirit grab my soul and have me earnestly pray, read the Word and do some research. I'm saddened that too many 'born again' churches believe this lie.
I Bless you and your congregation and must say I have most certainly prayed for those Pastors and Priests here.
I feel strongly the 5 fold ministry in the Body hasn't come into it's fruition in this area.
So many of the core foundations of the early church have fallen by the wayside for centuries.
I'm not a rebel. I am just real in my personal Love for my Beloved One, Jesus Christ and in Him I have found restoration.
I consider myself "the least of these".
Again, I must state that I thank God I'm not bitter nor do I look back at what was. I look at will be if the Bride does not heed the call of Her Beloved Groom, JESUS!
Love is a Master Key in all we do as Christians and should always be our greatest gift to a dying and hurting world!
Amen!

Donna Ann, I have heard you

concernedperson — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 21:01:25 -0600

Donna Ann, I have heard you and have kept the lines of communication between us open for the most part. I don't play the games that have been played in the many places you have been to (I won't call them churches because obviously the're not). I am a pastor here in the Falls, and while my flock is small we are happy, and real. I have alluded in my past posts regarding this. We would welcome you to our happy congregation, and can supply transportation if needed (God has blessed us with a handicap accessible bus). It has been no small chance that we have been communicating together. I only ask that you perhaps give us a chance to show you that not all places of worship are into self preservation and rewarding of elite members that it fails to carry out the primary purpose of the church to be a blessing to the community it is in. In any case may the real Father of light thoroughly bless you and give you peace. I seem a little too encouraging here, but still hope you will at least try a few churches again, I know for a fact that there has been some changes in the pastors at the local churches, perhaps the new leadership would be more in line with what you need. I hope you find what you need for real fellowship with a group of believers.

Polar Bear, I am not taking

Donna Ann — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 13:49:13 -0600

Polar Bear, I am not taking back what I shared, but am editing this comment.

There's no right or wrong

Donna Ann — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 13:47:34 -0600

There's no right or wrong night_owl.

dave68, I had a comment but

Donna Ann — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 13:46:26 -0600

dave68, I had a comment but decided na, I'm keeping quiet.

concernedperson, Thank you

Donna Ann — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 11:54:30 -0600

concernedperson, Thank you for your kind words and encouragement.
I must be honest with you. That which the Lord has placed within me does not fit into any churches here in the Falls or Fort Frances. This is not to say that many have found what they need in these churches or can't be content.
I share the following simply because if it will help one person than it was well worth it all.
I used to attend a church in metro Philadelphia for years. I watched that church body grow but the basic needs of it's congregation went only to the elite. I never had peace about being there but was scared into it by church leadership. When I spoke up to oppose anything, I was told to just be the submissive, obedient wife and keep silent. Even though church leadership was aware that my ex - husband was verbally, emotionally, spiritually and most of all physically abusing me. I would blame myself for these things even through a miscarriage that I had when the ex threw me across the floor into a chair. He was honored all the while he was getting stoned before and after church services and the times in between.
We tithed blah blah blah and gave our money to the point we had no food to feed our own children.
Now that could make a person bitter, but gratefully I am not!
In the end, it was publicly revealed that our Pastor had misused funds for personal toys, his yacht and Jaguar etc., but worst of all, he was raping and molesting young men who lived in his home for years. Needless to say he is on America's cult leaders list and was arrested.
So I tried again, for the sake of my children. A very similar thing happened at the next place.
Fast forward to my time living here...
I attended a church in Fort for quite some time. I enjoyed every minute of it. I loved the people with all my heart, but when I talked with my pastor about needing to move on to another church I got that deal spun at me called "spiritual authority and covering".
It almost killed me that he would soon tell the very people I loved to not speak to me nor have any fellowship with me.
I walked around all that day crying and in a daze.
I walked to another church and asked for prayer. When I asked that pastor if he would mind me attending that congregation, he told me that he would have to speak with my former pastor.
Now in that church, gossip, slander, idolatry, favoritism and elitism had already infected 99% of the people there. I still stuck it out for about 2 years. I decided that I would try once again, until something crazy happened. I was dancing before he Lord not giving a rip what anyone else was doing. A "prophet" came up to me and said "I would dance like Merriam did". Uh I danced alright. Not more than 5 minutes later I severely fractured my foot which led to a summer not being able to even walk. That's just one of many things I could share.
Add to all of that my prayers and my attempts to talk with Pastors in this area in which I felt like each word I said fell on deaf ears, well I thank God I'm not involved in the religious system and have had to walk with others 'underground' so to speak.
Still, I can honestly say I am in no way bitter toward anyone! In fact I'm happy if people can find a place of fellowship where they can be real and enjoy it.
Personally I can not! I would be betraying all that is within me. LOVE! A Love that is not my own and longs to be shared with those who need it. I actually have enjoyed talking about Jesus with drunks, prostitutes, crack addicts, dirty and smelly people far more than anyone I ever went to a church with. For in these people I found a place to put that love and I truly do not have anything but Joy now.
Too often many who have walked in my shoes have also walked away from Christ because of the abuse they received at the hands of the present day watered down church. God forbid that man stand back and let God be God!
You have to be honest. Long gone are the Leonard Ravenhill's, John Wesley's, Smith Wigglesworth's and many many more who walked what they talked.
We now have a time frame for church going and a schedule I have found nowhere in the scriptures. Sing, give, preach a warm and fuzzy sermon. I wonder what would happen if people took off the layers of masks they've worn for so long? A brother in the Lord who is so radical yet full of love once told me this. "Donna, I would rather a brother come into church on any given Sunday and instead of stating how blessed he is while grasping his Bible, would say to me that he can't play the game any longer and that he's been struggling with pornography." Imagine how that would play out on any given Sunday around here?
Christians be real! If I have to compromise to please man, I'm sorry but I refuse to do so.
For some, like myself, have gained a greater understanding, counsel and wisdom by staying under the shadow of His mighty wings and found healing to continue on. That to me is called Grace!
Love Hard! Jesus did!

Hey Donna, I too have an

concernedperson — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 08:00:37 -0600

Hey Donna, I too have an admiraration for William Booth, so much so that I have become quite involved with The Salvation Army. While I admire William Booth, I don't admire all of his followers the same way, but isn't that like Christianity anyway? Some of Jesus' followers are more faithful than others, and some are quite reprobate. As you frequently say time eventually will tell, time and their works.

Donna, you have so correctly

concernedperson — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 07:51:50 -0600

Donna, you have so correctly been moved by the Holy Spirit to see through the isolationist policies of most churches and have tried to fulfill the great commission! God Bless you for that! I still insist (not me but the Holy Scriptures) to involve yourself in a faithful congregation of like minded believers. I believe further that when Jesus spoke of the unforgiveable sin he was speaking of the rejection of the grace of God given by faith through the repentance of the sinner. As I have mentioned elsewhere in this forum; "How can one stand before a righteous God if they reject so great a grace?"

concerned person, Thank You

Donna Ann — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 06:34:11 -0600

concerned person, Thank You so much for mentioning Israel! It's not just a country who is our friend in the Mid-East. Had the Holocaust not happened, millions of Jewish people would not have a place to now call their home.
I watched something on the History Channel that blew me away.
Out of every nation, group of people, empires etc. including the Roman Empire, there has never is history been a people who have been able to continue on in this world other than the Jewish people! That really hit me between my eyes and my heart.
I Love Israel! Always have and always will.
I pray Obama continues on with former Presidents in his respect for Israel and the Jewish people. Time will tell.

Polar Bear, I just wanted to

Donna Ann — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 06:24:57 -0600

Polar Bear,
I just wanted to clarify that I made a personal choice to stop attending all those church services because I wanted something more. I set myself apart due to the fact that I knew I would never be satisfied if I continued on in the religious systems this world had to offer me.
I don't condemn anyone that feels it's best for them. I just saw what was happening outside the church doors and felt I couldn't live with myself knowing the ones outside were not welcome.
I didn't come to my conclusion hastely.
I asked and begged my then pastor and fellow church members to help me feed the hungry and cloth the poor. They said "No. It wasn't even proper for me to talk to the outsiders"...so wrong and against any scripture I could find.
When I hear about that particular church now, nothing they had planned for the future came to be. All those 'prophecies' were not fulfilled, so I am glad I got out when I did.
Our spirituality is our own. I've traveled to so many places to do what was in my heart and I simply chose to love the "unlovable" without preaching to them.
I am one of a few who have gone against the grain of protocol and have been able to move past what humans think of me.
When I was out on the streets in the Falls and in Fort Fances passing out soup, coffee, mitts, scarves, geesh anything I could get my hands on, I did it with a pure heart and had to act in a obscure way because of the racism here...something I wasn't familiar with.
I would never encourage anyone to leave the church. That's between them and the Lord. I have no regrets personally.
We have all fallen short and I have to believe His mercy and Grace are there for the "worst" sinner out there.
Jesus never said what sin was unforgivable. He simply set the stage for radical change by those whom he surrounded Himself with. It's so clear He never put Himself above anyone even unto the Cross He had LOVE!
I simply want that Love to flow through me into a hurting world.
In chosing to do these things, my family turned their back on me and I used to let it Sting the hell out of me, but I see them through Love now. There is nothing more I desire than for them to see that Love in me, but I know I can't force it or myself on them.
Live Free Polar Bear and embrace what's in you. What we do every day can and will make a difference.
Blessings!

Maybe "supports" in this

concernedperson — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 10:32:47 -0600

Maybe "supports" in this situation is what has the disconnect for you, but if you change the term for "allows" is more helpful then put that in its place. Either way God has not and did not intervene in the situations in the bible, nor did he intervene supernaturally in mordern history in the sense of immediate judgement and removal of the oppression. If that theology is hard to swallow because you only can think of God as a loving being, perhaps your definition of God is theologically incorrect. God is a "fair" God, even before Adam & Eve's rebellion and transgression God warned them of the consequences of disobedience. Did they physically die immediately? No. Did death enter the world in consequence of thier disobedience? Yes. Did they pass on their propensity to walk in an ever growing disobedience? Yes. Have we been checked in the growth of human evil? Not just once but over and over again. Did that take the form of genocide? Yes. Was genocide given that label in the past? No. Did it exist? I would propose that it did, even if there is a failure to recognize it as such. Does God still judge wickedness in the same ways he did in the old testament? I can't answer that, only God can and will. Is there an ultimate jusgement yet to come? The bible indicates it, and I believe it.

Concernedperson, I can't

shades of gray recording — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 22:47:44 -0600

Concernedperson,
I can't settle this, or make my argument stronger by reading a passage from which you are drawing your misinformation.
A simple google search provides proof enough however. it reads as follows...
"(from the Greek genos ("race") and the suffix -cide, "to kill". The methodical destruction of an ethnic group. Term used for the first time in 1944 in reference to the Nazis' extermination of the Jews."

If the term GENOCIDE is a modern term, God could not have supported it in the Bible.