But there was one other physical symptom I was having that was causing me to question if my immune system was fighting something off that it had never before. I noticed that every time I took a hot shower I would get these tingling sensations all up and down my forearms and lower legs. It literally felt like I had ants crawling all over my limbs. When I would get out of the shower and dry off the tingling sensations would slowly disappear. I thought maybe I was having a blood circulation issue with my body along with the fatigue. I didn't know overall what was wrong with me.
Finally, one day I spoke with an American lady who has lived here in Mexico with her family as a Christian missionary for 13 years. She told me that she had been through the same experience when they had moved to Merida (minus the tingling arms and legs) and that through the course of time had learned that she had parasites in her body from some external source like bad food, city water, poor sanitary environments, handling cash money....something. She advised us to take Vermox. This product is sold in every pharmacy, Wal Mart, Costco and grocery store chain in Mexico.
Although I did not realize it at the time, I had been exposed to parasites through some source like those mentioned before. They had developed so badly in my system that when I put my skin under hot water the parasites and amoeba would start moving around inside my arms and legs. It was so bad that I could barely make it through the afternoon without sleeping. They were literally robbing my body of nutrients and causing me to "gas out" way before I normally would in the normal course of my day. Once we took the Vermox we started to feel a noticeable difference within the hour. But for me personally, because my case was so far advanced compared to Christine and the boys, it took me about a week to slowly recover from the lingering affects of the damage that the parasites had done to my body internally. It was as though I has experienced some tissue damage on some level and my body needed some time to repair itself. It seems as though I am seeing this in Christians everywhere I go. Most believers today, spiritually speaking, are infected with one or more of three bad doctrines that, like internal parasites, are robbing them of wisdom and power to keep them from the full measure of God's purpose in their lives. Everyone gets them at one time or another. It's just that people often don't realize what they have when they have it. And they become accustomed to low levels of energy without understanding that this is not God's purpose for their lives.
The Parasites I am referring to are Nicolatinism, Cessationsim and Calvinism. And they are affecting most main-line Christians denominations today. Charismatics, Pentecostals, Baptists, Presbyterians, Non-Denominational Bible churches, Lutherans, ......you name it. These three parasites of Nick, Calvin and Cecil are getting after all of the main line Protestant Christian denominations in one form or another. Some have all three in their internal systems. Some have only two. All have at least one. And they are all sucking life right out of the church to such a degree that at times the church is hardly recognizable when held up to the light of scripture.
Now before we dive into these three doctrines, I want you to know that I am not trying to throw anyone under the bus. I know that many churches are effective in God in one form or another. But in my years with the Lord I have come to understand that the Body of Christ functions in three ways:
- As a Family
- As a Body
- As an Army
"Carry each others burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." Gal 6:2We have experienced that through our church here in Merida over the past year. God has given us a family. People have made themselves available to us on a personal level and visa versa. We have spent time with others, eaten dinner together, walked through malls together after lunch at Chili's, given each other rides to the store and other places, offered to babysit others kids, played at the park together, helped each other financially......but that is about as far as it has gone. This stage of the church's life is about bearing the burdens of others, mostly physical. We have seen it and are grateful for it as God has given it to us. But it is not the fullness of what we are called to as Christians. There is more. Much more.
We are to go from being families to being a Body. Body life is about functioning within the realm of God ordained, God governed giftings.
"Each one should use whatever gift he has received, faithfully adminstering God's grace in it's various forms." 1 Peter 4:10Prophecy, counsel, tongues and interpretation of tongues, healings, signs, wonders, miracles, apostolic teaching, the Spirit baptism, prayer and intercession for others, hearing God in dreams and visions.........This is what I refer to hear: The Charisma anointing that carries us into the supernatural. This is what we are talking of here. Not just water baptism and the doctrine of repentance and the pastor preaching against fornication.
We have experienced some of the prayer part with others and we have been able to share some brief testimony with others here and there. But all in all this is where the parasite Doctrines mentioned above really begin to do their work. This is where we see Cessationism, Calvinism and even Nicolationism starting to kick in. This is where the problems start in most churches, either in what they believe in or what they will allow to be apart of the lives of their members.
Because of this cutting off at the knees at the Body life stage, most of the time the church never really has any comprehension of what it means to function as an Army. I say army because at some point in time, as God's people are called to be raised up, we should be contending with demonic principalities. You can't contend with demons and take ground from the enemy praying only ten, twenty or thirty minutes a day. You just can't. You can't take ground from the enemy unless you are mature enough through spending sufficient time in Body Life like the things just mentioned.
We are ultimately called to make known to rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms the manifold wisdom of God (Ephesians 3:10) and destroy the works of the devil.
"The reason the son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work." 1 John 3:8All things were created by Christ and for Christ and in him all things hold together. In Christ all the fullness of the deity lives in Bodily form and thus, we have been given fullness in Christ who is the head over every demonic power and authority. Jesus has disarmed all powers and authorities, triumphing over them by the cross. Now, as we are in Christ through Relational Faith, we tread on snakes and scorpions, both individually and corporately. Read Colossians 1:15-18 and Colossians 2:9,10,15. That's exactly what it says. These verses, along with Ephesians 3:10 basically form a declaration of War by God against Satan's kingdom.
"The Kingdom of God suffers violence, and the violent take it by force." Matthew 11:12What this means is that God wants to bring his people to a corporate degree of maturity and strength so that we hear him on an advanced level, ripping down demonic principalities ruling over people groups, neighborhoods, and even cities. That means we need to hear God on an advanced level. But is that happening? Rarely. And most people read what I am saying here and they have no idea what I am talking about. But that lack of understanding in and of itself proves that the parasites of Cessatinionism and Nicolationism are alive and well in the Bride of Christ today. Most churches today are engaged in ZERO warfare. Why? Nicolatinism, Calvinism, Cessationism. Parasite infestation.
Just a note to the reader: As I have gotten older in the Lord I have noticed that if you point out things that are out of order you are labeled by others as being critical or bitter. That is not my intention here. I hope I am not coming across that way. It's just that when you see the same symptoms over and over again in God's people it gets to the point where you realize that these things have turned into an epedimic. It's like a major disease has broken out and there seems to have been nothing done to stop it. That in an of itself should be shocking to us and warrants that the overall conditions of things needs to be exposed.
"Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body." Ephesians 4:25In the next three posts I am going to break down all three doctrines and the motives behind them and show you, if you want to see it, how these three man-made belief structures are literally sucking life out of God's people and making them ineffective and unproductive in the calling of God. Strap in and buckle up. I am going to show you things that I gaurantee you are in your church today, whether one or all three parasites. The church in its present form and state is not fully functioning today. And it's not just America. It's Mexico to. I see it down here just as much as I ever saw it in America. The parasites are alive and well in Mexico, Canada, the U.S., ....anywhere and in any country where there is not a sufficient amount of affliction to drive it out with fire on an ongoing basis. These parasites seem to keep growing back in countries where there is no consistent persecution, hardship and suffering of some form. I am going to prove it to you.
Stay Tuned!!!! We are going to peel back the skin and look under the microsope!!!
Blessings,
JEB
www.miraclesinmerida.blogspot.com.
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