I remember some years ago being at a home group meeting. The people there were mostly ex Salvation Army and had left there to join a Pentecostal church.
On this particular night, one of the older women there was really distressed, saying that she had been troubled for some time but didn't know what the matter was, and could we pray for her. I really felt to sit this one out, so remained seated on the couch as the others all gathered around the woman to pray for her. These were/are good and lovely people with a heart after God, but somehow their prayers didn't seem to be making a difference.
At that point the Lord told me what the problem was. The problem was that she had previously signed up with the Salvation Army as a member. For some reason this was an issue for her and she was in bondage because of it. My immediate thought was that this wasn't going to go down well amongst a bunch of ex Salvation Army believers, but I had to respond to what the Lord had shown me. I approached the group and shared what the Lord had shown me and the woman immediately burst into tears. She renounced her affiliation with the Salvation Army and was immediately set free. The difference was very noticeable.
Please understand that I am not saying there's anything wrong with the Salvation Army, not in any way, but for that woman it was an issue for reasons that I am unaware of.
Perhaps it's just that we are supposed to be under the Lord's authority and when we "sign up" to a church, we are putting ourselves under their authority? I'm not sure on this, but my own preference is not to become a church member as such so that I am free to be solely under the Lord's authority. In fact, I have been to a number of different churches as the Lord has led me. I know some people have difficulty with this and it even has the title "church hopping", but if it's done under the Lord's leading and direction, who are we to question it?
On this particular night, one of the older women there was really distressed, saying that she had been troubled for some time but didn't know what the matter was, and could we pray for her. I really felt to sit this one out, so remained seated on the couch as the others all gathered around the woman to pray for her. These were/are good and lovely people with a heart after God, but somehow their prayers didn't seem to be making a difference.
At that point the Lord told me what the problem was. The problem was that she had previously signed up with the Salvation Army as a member. For some reason this was an issue for her and she was in bondage because of it. My immediate thought was that this wasn't going to go down well amongst a bunch of ex Salvation Army believers, but I had to respond to what the Lord had shown me. I approached the group and shared what the Lord had shown me and the woman immediately burst into tears. She renounced her affiliation with the Salvation Army and was immediately set free. The difference was very noticeable.
Please understand that I am not saying there's anything wrong with the Salvation Army, not in any way, but for that woman it was an issue for reasons that I am unaware of.
Perhaps it's just that we are supposed to be under the Lord's authority and when we "sign up" to a church, we are putting ourselves under their authority? I'm not sure on this, but my own preference is not to become a church member as such so that I am free to be solely under the Lord's authority. In fact, I have been to a number of different churches as the Lord has led me. I know some people have difficulty with this and it even has the title "church hopping", but if it's done under the Lord's leading and direction, who are we to question it?