Ken Blue Ministries

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Ken Blue

2 Corinthians 11:13-15. “ For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.”

Dr. Paul Vanaman was one of my favorite professors at college; he was also my dear friend. I remember him telling the preacher boys, “You had better be a devil smeller, and mark them that cause division.” It will not be long before your church is visited by these “angels of light,” and the more discernment you have, the easier it will be for you to “smell” them.

Following are some of the characteristics of these “angels of light”.

The end game of these ambassadors of Satan is division. Very little damage can be done in a home or church, where unity abounds. Thus, Satan is the master of division. Jesus said that a house divided cannot stand. Therefore, the pastor should preach sermons that will fortify and unify the body of Christ.

These “angels of light” love to argue over words and doctrines, that not even God knows about. The more novel, the more energized they become. The best thing to do is avoid these people if possible. If you can’t silence them, then send them down the road and let them start their own church.

Another area of contention will be over the policies and finances. Like Judas, they are confident that your priorities are a waste. They would love to appoint a finance committee, and become the leader of it. You should remember this point; he who makes the policies, and controls the finances runs the church. The ambition of the “angles of light” is to take this power from the pastors unto themselves.

“Angels of light” love to point out your unscriptural, or anti-scriptural practices, of course, these will be anything they disagree with. It will be over the music, musical instruments, power point, prerecorded music, guest speakers, etc. There is no end to these sowers of discord.

The pastor and his family will discover before long that someone will start gossiping, and slander them. The slander will be about the children, the wife’s attire, the house, the car, and the clothes he wares. This gossip springs from envy and an evil heart. There is little you can do other than ignore it. If it becomes a problem that cannot be ignored, go to the person causing the trouble and ask them to leave. Be sure and take someone well respected with you.

It is sad, but true, that there will be those in the church whose agenda will be different from that of the pastor. This may involve new construction, or a remodeling project. They feel they are more qualified on what should be done. These “angels of light” can’t wait to share their wisdom with others.

You will find that you cannot pastor these “angels of light”. His or her pastor is someone else who is somewhere else. Many times it will be a teacher at a Bible College. Or, it may be their former pastor. Regardless, you will never be their pastor. They want the books and tapes of their favorite teacher in the bookstore. Everything you say will be critiqued by their groupies.

These “angels of light” may pressure you to bring in their favorite speaker, or support their missionary. They then glory in his flesh.

Finally, and perhaps most subtle, is the desire of these “angels of light” to start their own ministry by soliciting your church members. It won’t be long until they go behind your back to seek financial support from individual members, and also pull them out of their ministries to be part of their own. When you see this coming, you must pray for wisdom, and then go to them and put a stop to it. Remember, these “angels of light” have had thousands of years of experience. They love to create a situation where you will be blamed, regardless of what you do. In spite of this, you must do the wise thing, and pray that other members will not be destroyed in the process.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Ken Blue

Proverbs 17:24. “Wisdom is before him that hath understanding; but the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth.”

Two worlds are portrayed in this verse. One is occupied by those determined to seek true wisdom and understanding; the other, by the fools who’s eyes and heart are never fixed on anything substantial. Like Noah’s raven, they can never find a place of purpose or rest. That which is within their reach, they ignore, and that which they will never have, they pretend to value. 

 A man of understanding has his gaze guided by the wisdom he has received from God and His Word. Wisdom is ever before him in all his desires and choices. He has learned that if he commits himself to the will of the Lord, his path will be established. He is the man with the single eye our Lord speaks of in the parable. Thus his body is full of light.

 The fool, on the other hand, has no interest is spiritual wisdom or understanding. These hinder him, as he pursues the wind. The sad state of the fool is that he is looking at everything, and seeing nothing. Everything to him is just beyond the horizon. He even fancies himself to be wise, but it is the wisdom of the world and is an allusion.

 I’ve seen many like this. They are going to serve God, if He ever opens the door for them. While looking at the ends of the earth, they fail to see that which is right before them. These little children are in men’s bodies. They are fifty years old and still playing Nintendo games while the grass grows. They live is a world of make-believe, and they are the owners of it. They are as unstable as water.

 Jesus Christ is the believers Wisdom and Understanding. He was in the world, and the world knew Him not. His generation was looking for something they could never have because they rejected that which was right before them. He came; they killed Him, and they never knew what they did. The fool, in our text will live and die, and never see that which he could have. He is too obsessed with that world he will never attain.

 

 

 

The following article is from the Washington Post. © It will validate that every Baptist reading it is a dispensationalist. Also, it reveals the danger of not being able to rightly divide the Word of God. Because of the articles length, I have edited some parts.

 

 

“Serpent-handling pastor profiled earlier in Washington Post dies from rattlesnake bite

By Julia Duin, Published: May 29

Mack Wolford, a flamboyant Pentecostal pastor from West Virginia whose serpent-handling talents were profiled last November in The Washington Post Magazine , hoped the outdoor service he had planned for Sunday at an isolated state park would be a “homecoming like the old days,” full of folks speaking in tongues, handling snakes and having a “great time.” But it was not the sort of homecoming he foresaw. Instead, Wolford, who turned 44 the previous day, was bitten by a rattlesnake he owned for years. He died late Sunday. He believed that the Bible mandates that Christians handle serpents to test their faith in God — and that, if they are bitten, they trust in God alone to heal them.

 He and other adherents cited Mark 16:17-18 as the reason for their practice: “And these signs will follow those who believe: in My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

 The son of a serpent handler who himself died in 1983 after being bitten. “I am looking for a great time this Sunday,” he wrote May 22. “It is going to be a homecoming like the old days. Good ’ole raised in the holler or mountain ridge running, Holy Ghost-filled speaking-in-tongues sign believers.”

 “He laid it on the ground,” she said, “and he sat down next to the snake, and it bit him on the thigh.” Wolford got progressively worse. Paramedics transported him to Bluefield Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. It could not be determined when the paramedics were called. Wolford was 15 when he saw his father die at age 39 of a rattlesnake bite in almost exactly the same circumstances.

 “He lived 101 / 2 hours,” Wolford told The Washington Post last fall. “When he got bit, he said he wanted to die in the church. Three hours after he was bitten, his kidneys shut down. After a while, your heart stops. I hated to see him go, but he died for what he believed in.”

 In an interview with The Post for last year’s story, Jim Murphy, curator of the Reptile Discovery Center at the National Zoo, described what happens when a rattlesnake bites.

 The pain is “excruciating,” he said. “The venom attacks the nervous system. It’s vicious and gruesome when it hits.”

 But Wolford refused to fear the creatures. He slung poisonous snakes around his neck, danced with them, even laid down on or near them. “I promised the Lord I’d do everything in my power to keep the faith going,” he said in October. “I spend a lot of time going a lot of places that handle serpents to keep them motivated. I’m trying to get anybody I can get involved.”

 His funeral will be held Saturday at his church, House of the Lord Jesus, in Matoaka, just north of Bluefield. Julia Duin, a contributing writer for The Washington Post Magazine, wrote the original article about Mack Wolford.”