Grounded in the Word and the Spirit

Pastor Jeanne Miller

  Many prophecies have come forth from respected men of God recently which speak of the need for God’s people not to shy away from the Holy Spirit and His works.  We have seen over the past five to ten years how the enemy has convinced some churches to back away from the manifestations of the Holy Spirit in order to draw more people to salvation.  Isn’t it just like satan to twist the word of God to make it seem right to do something wrong?  The Bible says that if we lift up Jesus all men will be drawn to the Father.  How can we lift up Jesus without the Holy Spirit being part of it?  The Holy Spirit longs to manifest Himself in our services for the good of everyone, not only God’s people.  Necessarily, people will need to be taught how to yield to the Holy Spirit in the proper order but not to yield will grieve Him and that the Bible says not to do.

 Before Pastor Bob and I established Montgomery Faith Fellowship we knew what the church we would pastor should be.  In no uncertain terms, the Holy Spirit had guided and directed us that we would be a church founded on prayer, based on the Word with manifestations of the Holy Spirit and grounded in praise and worship.  Whenever we have been tempted to go with the “newest wave” that is circulating in the body of Christ, the Holy Spirit has quietly reminded us that we were not called to that “wave”.  We have disappointed some of our people to the point that they left the church to find a church that was surfing the wave.  We had to stay faithful to the calling.

 We credit two ministries with molding us to the form that we were to be fashioned into as a church.  One was St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church in Catonsville, Maryland, where we truly learned the depth one can reach in praise and worship.  We learned that praise and worship draws the Holy Spirit, it builds God a throne in your midst and great things happen when He’s in a service with you and allowed to control that service.  The other ministry is of course, Kenneth Hagin Ministries, where we learned the depth of the word and the need for faith in God.  When these two aspects of living for God became blended in our lives, we truly saw the Lord manifest Himself in great ways both personally and within our services. 

 Over the years I have come to see God’s wisdom in teaching us in the way that He did.  The Word without the Spirit brings bondage and legalism, which unfortunately, some people have fallen into.  They become judgmental and condemning and are always trying to be the big cop in the sky, wreaking havoc in the church at large by introducing disharmony into the body.  They spend all their time looking for something wrong so they can bring it to light.  Abba is not like this.  He is a God of love, forgiveness, peace and harmony. 

 On the other hand, the Spirit without the Word can lead to extremes that are not the Holy Spirit at all, but people think they are.  The church went through a time when people were barking like dogs, clucking like chickens and in general making a mockery of the things of God.  We never fell into that simply because we were grounded in the Word.  We have always endeavored to see in the Bible the works of the Holy Spirit and that is what guides us into what is allowed and not allowed in our services.  Basically, if it’s not in the Word, don’t look for it at our church.  However, if it is to be found in the Bible, we embrace it. 

 We don’t have all the answers.  No one does.  But because we embrace a relationship with our Heavenly Father through prayer we have always known what we were to be and to do.  Abba has led me over the years into depths of prayer that I did not understand at first.  And there were times when I even drew back because I didn’t understand where I was going.  But then I was introduced to pray-ers and intercessors by the guidance of the Holy Spirit and I saw that what I had experienced, many others had experienced also.  I am grateful that Lynn Hammond wrote books which spoke of her experiences in prayer and also those of others like Brother Halverson and Reese Howells, just to name a few.  God is faithful to bring light where there is darkness on a subject. 

 We believe that we have remained faithful to the call that God gave us for Montgomery Faith Fellowship.  Now with the prophecies that have come forth recently we know we are on the right path for the time that we live in.