God is really teaching me about working with people who do not walk where we walk. Things can come across really wrong, when you come in hard. I charged in with the girl dying of cancer last week and again at Flat Irons.
Humility is key.
Here is the thread with Flat Irons church. Some lessons are just hard.
My first email series to them:
Your email breaks my heart, so I beg you to read this completely and to share it with Jim.
I do not know how to communicate this correctly, so bear with me, if I come across to harsh or whatever. If this were my wife, I would want relief in a big way. And, I am sure that Jim does too based upon what he says from the stage.
If your elders were effective, Robin would already be healed, and this is not a James 5:14 matter.
As i mentioned, you guys are dealing with witchcraft, and my guess is that none of your elders has ever done any deliverance ministry in their lives. Supplication, petitions, etc. can work. I won’t say that they can’t. But, I believe that the LORD really wants you to learn about warfare and to no longer be naive. Jesus was clear in Matt 10 7-8 that we are to cast out demons. Asking God to do something that He already told us to do is the main reason why Christians don’t see more healing and deliverance. We are the ones to do the work. He gave us the mandate and the power and that authority.
The LORD gave me Hosea 4:6 for Jim two weeks ago, and I have been praying that you would move into understanding and wisdom. I will continue to do just that.
A little background for you:
Witchcraft comes from Jezebel. If you want the context, go read 1 Kings.
Elijah was cursed by Jezebel right after the showdown on Carmel. “Far be it from me…” The next thing Elijah wants to do is die. Suicide comes out of this spirit and is the end game for witchcraft. This spirit leads people through discouragement then depression then disillusionment then death. It’s a progression. The short-term remedy is praise. God says that he will give a garment of praise for a spirit of heaviness in Isaiah, I believe.
Now, if you want the biblical connection to witchcraft and Jezebel, it is found in 2 Kings 9:22
When Joram saw Jehu, he said, “Is it peace, Jehu?” And he answered, “What peace, so long as the harlotries of your mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?”
As long as that spirit is operating, torment will just continue. No peace….
The long-term remedy is deliverance. For us, we found that Freemasonry was the root issue of our affliction. Somewhere, way back when, one of my relatives was very high in that order. FM is rooted in Luciferian Worship and Egyptian Witchcraft.
Jezebel comes against the prophetic. Elijah was obvious. John the Baptist was less obvious, but Jesus was pretty clear that if we could believe it, Elijah had already come, and he was talking about John. John’s nemesis was Herodias. And, immorality is a common issue with a Jezebel spirit. She brought in the Asherah mess along with the Baal worship. Female deity. Those pole figurines were sexually exploitive.
Most evangelical churches and about all western churches are grossly naive to the devil, especially this kind of activity. But, he is real, and the LORD talks about him quite clearly.
We have had lots of experience with this spirit and this warfare. Migraines are always a give away, especially when combined with depression. Those are very clear signals that you are messing with this spirit. Infirmity often accompanies it along with all kinds of other junk.
So, I say now. Go ask any of your elders if they know anything about this stuff. If they do, get her healed and delivered. If not, get her help. It doesnt matter whether it is us or someone else. Just get help.
If you are not cool with us helping you, that’s totally fine. This isnt about whether we engage or not. I would suggest Bethel Church in Redding, CA. They have had more than 60 cases of bipolar depression healed with no one every praying for any of the people – right in their sanctuary.
We just hate that you guys are going through this. And, I would fathom that you just don’t have the folks around you who know what is going on. But, ignorance is not an excuse.
Robin has a big prophetic call on her. I can tell you that she hears the LORD clearly. She always has, even has a young kid. There has just been something “different” about her. It’s a realm that you guys haven’t gotten too deep into yet. But, it is still there.
Ask the LORD. He will confirm what I am telling you. He wants her healed too.
Hope I delivered this with as much love as the LORD would have me to. I am very sorry, if any of this comes across in any way dishonoring or unloving. I hope that I represented our Jesus well.
And, I hope that this leads you down a trail to freedom.
Peace and favor,
John
John Stein
720-213-6693
On Jul 16, 2015, at 9:52 AM, Burgen, Jim <jim_burgen@flatironschurch.com> wrote:
John I reviewed your note with Jim earlier this week. Robin is under the prayers of our elders.
Thanks for your continued prayers.
Mary Plese
Executive Liaison
Assistant to Jim Burgen
Flatirons Community Church
Their response to me:
Hello John,
I am Michel Hendricks, an elder and pastor at Flatirons. Thank you for your concern for Jim’s wife, Robin. I must however disagree with something you wrote. You say, “If your elders were effective, Robin would already be healed, and this is not a James 5:14 matter.” This is wrong on several levels. First of all, you don’t know what we have or haven’t done for Robin. You know nothing about this, and yet you boldly claim that the elders are negligent. Second, you assume that every case of depression or every case of someone suffering from being bi-polar is due to witchcraft. There is no way for you to prove that, and I don’t believe it is true. I believe that SOME cases of depression have a demonic cause but not all. So humility is important. That that brings me to the third point. The apostle Paul makes it clear that some instances of human suffering, even demonic suffering, are due to a thorn in the flesh – God allowing suffering and not letting it be healed. Paul’s thorn had a demonic origin, but God didn’t allow it to be removed. So again, a little humility is important.
We, as elders at Flatirons, are open to outside opinions and counsel, but we trust someone not because they may or may not have experience handling demonic oppression or possession. That is not our criterion, because even Jesus said that people will come to him in the judgment and say, “’Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ (Matt 7:22). And Jesus will say to them, “I never knew you.” What we do look for is evidence of a close walk with Jesus and that Jesus’ character can be seen in a person, in their daily lives and interactions. That is the true evidence. I don’t know you personally, but barging into a situation and claiming that the elders are ineffective because someone hasn’t been healed is arrogant, especially when you don’t know any of the facts. It would be like barging into Paul’s life and accusing him and his friends of being ineffective because he wasn’t healed from his thorn. As a result, we wouldn’t give you access to Robin, because we don’t know or trust you.
I realize that you may have good motives, wanting Robin to experience the same deliverance that you have experienced. I guess that you will just have to trust us and realize that we will all be held accountable to Jesus for what we do and don’t do on this earth.
Michel Hendricks
And my final email back:
Hi Michel,
Thank you for your email. I have been waiting for you, even though I don’t know you, personally.
The LORD gave me a dream on Saturday that an elder reached out to me. He was a bit upset with me, and the LORD pointed out that my criticism of the elders was out of line. So, for that, I am sorry. Will you please forgive me? It was wrong of me to even mention the elders. It totally came out wrong.
And, I completely understand that you would not give me access to Robin. No, you do not know me.
As to your three points, I can agree completely that humility is a key. There is wisdom in your words. Thank you for that.
As the the thorn, I do not agree with you at all for all kinds of reasons. But, email is not the medium for debate.
If you ever want to grab coffee, in spite of my short comings, arrogance or immaturity, I would be honored to visit with you. I really am grateful for you to point all of this out to me. Thank you. Thank you.
In terms of Robin, and in spite of anything that I have said correctly or incorrectly, I still point you guys to Bethel Church in Redding, CA, which I have no part in. They see quite a bit of miracles, and as I pointed out, more than 60 cases of bipolar depression has been healed without anyone praying. Bill Johnson is the pastor there. www.bethel.tv will give you some testimonies for various miracles.
Thanks again, Michel.