LEAVE THE CHURCH, By Pam Sheppard

For those who have been closely reading my posts, it is time for you to really know”where I’m  coming from”. Here is my bottom line, where the rubber meets the road.   Other than for preparing the last days church for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, I have no personal motive. In fact,  I am a  68-year-old retiree from public life.  A retiree from NYS government,  I am  also done with   starting a church.  Therefore, I am not looking for a sheepfold to follow me or anyone to “rule over.”

To get the message of “what time it is to church folk”  requires money. I pay to publish, so I don’t make any personal money off of my 6 books. Any one who cannot afford to pay $20 for a book need only let me know and you will be  sent an e-book at no charge. What I use to spread the message of “come out of Her, God’s people,”  is my   own inheritance and my  own savings.

 When I provide a counseling or training  service, I set a fee.The fees I set are reported to IRS. In spite of them, I have never earned a profit.   I do not charge for deliverance, healing, prayer or any of God’s graces.  Nor do I ask anyone for donations..  Why not, you ask? Because those who give money control those who receive it. I will not put myself in a position to be controlled by  ANYONE!

 Nor am I looking for notoriety as I actually prefer to remain “under the radar.” Recently, someone was singing my praises–called me an end time prophet of God with the message of the hour.  After 2 months of turning folk off by  proclaiming my “qualifications and my message” this former associate’s  last words to me were “I no longer endorse you.” 

 I laughed to myself. She does not know that I don’t need anyone to either endorse or  “sell me.” Nor  will I try to justify myself to anyone.  I perceive no benefit to me or my message in any attempt on my part to prove that I am reputable. It is a waste of time as no one can prove that they are not corrupt in  times such as these.

 My word to you is this. If you seek me for counseling, training or ministry, you will have to find out about me in your own prayer closet. What I am willing to share about myself is something that  I can prove.Here is what I can prove.

  I owe nothing to NOBODY and I expect NOTHING from NOBODY!

You see,  I am free to do all things and free to do nothing. Only in the last seven years have I been this free.  I was restrained for 25 years from offending those who paid my  secular salary and for 25 years, I had to please  the bishops under whom I serve as an ordained minister..  Those days are over for the rest of my life. Like the Lord Jesus, I too can  declare that neither man nor the  devil has a place in me.

Besides a secular career in state govt  where I earned a great pension and excellent  health benefits, beside being  in private practice as a therapist once I retired  at the age of 53 in 1997,  I have also been a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ for 30 years.   Since I was gainfully employed in the world while simultaneously pastoring,  none of my personal  income has   ever been derived or accumulated from Christian  ministry.  When I received a salary from any of 3  different churches that I pastored, I gave it back to them double-fold.   I even founded my own church in 1996, which I closed in 2009. 

 Today, I do not attend church, at all. 

I personally believe that church is a dangerous place to be, particularly for the sincere followers of Jesus Christ of Nazareth–the elect of God.  I need to make it plain that only the elect of God is in  real danger, and not those who simply attend church because they believe that it is the right thing to do.  The “un-chosen” in church are not Satan’s target but only those who belong to Jesus Christ.

In order to understand my position, you need to know that  I am not coming
from “whether or not there  are good churches or bad churches.”  Certainly, there are both, and that has been the case for centuries.  In our time, there  are some wonderful, good people and excellent programs operating in plenty of  churches.
However, this is the power of man. This is the power of human flesh.  Human  beings  can do some good and wonderful things,without God.  For example, man has proven that he can build a rocket and walk on the moon.  Man conceived the very computers that we all communicate on, with a wealth of information at our finger tips.  This is”a good thing.”    Likewise, just  because a church is “good,” doesn’t mean that “God is there.”

When I was led out of the denomination I served in 2004, I did not know my departure from the organized church system was completely over.  The Lord told me to come out, and I obeyed, believing that He planned to send me to a different church affiliation.  In fact, I waited for 3 years until the Lord spoke to me. In this regard, I had a handful of  supernatural experiences AFTER I was led out of the organized church.  Powerful and amazing, to say the least.

Visions, dreams and audible voices such as I have experienced since 2007  come from either God or the devil. There is no in between. In fact, my soul is not imaginative enough to have conceived what I have heard in the spirit. Now if I am wrong,—-if I heard from the devil— I will STILL go to heaven because my born again experience had nothing at all to do with the organized church. I was not saved in church.Church added nothing to my salvation but error and deception.

 So if I am wrong, I have nothing to lose.If I am mistaken, God knows the intent of my heart.  I don’t have any axes to grind. There is no bitterness in my heart against church folk or the system. I can certainly  admit to errors in discernment  and I will publicly apologize if I am proven to be in error.  

 However, if I am right, and you continue to “go to church,” then you, dear reader, HAVE A LOT TO LOSE.