How Soul Sickness Is Tearing The Church Apart (Part 1) Article

An interesting perspective I thought I'd share. I hope we can participate in this discussion in the peace of Christ and the spirit of love that is our souls journey in this life as we abide as temples of the holy spirit. Blessings. Just as a note here: Please don't engage in kind if confrontational personalities try to derail this thread with darkness and bad manners. This article isn't offered as an alternative to our faith. It is written by a sister who is alive in the spirit as we are. This is her blog and her observations. Just as we share in our own blog's and hope negative energies don't disrupt the flow of our soul's journey that is one of peace and love in the image and likeness of Christ.
Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.
No one can make a thread dark unless we let them. Let's not ever let "them".
Amen.

POSTED BY YVETTE DEMPSTER ON SEP 30, 2016
The Most Surprising Thing You Might Have Never Heard About Your Soul
There are many sick and dying in the Church because they believe their souls are sick. But a Christian’s soul is not sick. It’s just waiting to be saved. But meanwhile it can be renewed.

• We are three parts (spirit, soul and body) and every part affects another. But at best, the church has only focussed largely on two parts: the spirit and the body. The spirit in salvation (usual definition: being forgiven from sin) and the body in healing.
• But does God care about the soul?

We all have someone in our life who is dealing with issues of the soul. Maybe you yourself are dealing with soul issues (emotional trauma, anxiety, depression. Any thing that negatively affects or oppresses the mind, will, emotions). But do you know how to help these people? Do you know how you can be free?
One day I was praying for several people who are dealing with issues of the soul (doesn’t matter what caused the issue), when I asked God if He cares about the soul. I told Him it seemed there were lots of scriptures on forgiveness and healing of the body and I’ve heard many sermons on these topics, but what about the soul?
God overwhelmed me with kindness when He said, “I care deeply about the soul of man. If I didn’t there weren’t be scriptures that exhort you to renew your mind. And I wouldn’t have promised a day when you will receive salvation of your soul.”
Then He reminded me of this verse in 1 Peter 1:3-10


It’s important to understand that our souls are as important to God as the rest of us because He knows our soul often gets in the way of our living by the spirit. Our emotions can often get in the way of us living supernaturally.
I will explain what I mean.
We are made up of three parts: our spirit, our soul, and our body.
Most of us have been taught to listen to the cues our body gives. For example: if we have a pain in our stomach we might consider first if it’s hunger, and if we have eaten, then maybe it’s indigestion? Or sickness? And so on. Similarly we take cues from our soul, primarily our emotions, to tell us something about ourselves. For example, if we feel sad is it because we are grieving? If we are angry is it because we have suffered an injustice? Or our emotions flood with a reaction to our situation and we get angry or cry when we’ve been misunderstood or hurt. Well, you get the idea.
All of this is really elementary. To explain about how our body and soul work might seem silly since we all know what it means to have signals from our body and our soul. But what about our spirit? We are told to live by the spirit, but in order to do this we must take cues from our spirit which means we have to train our body and our soul to be subject to our spirit.

[FULL ARTICLE CONTINUED HERE]


Part 2 of the article , as noted in the blog at the bottom of the page, if you follow that link to the full article, doesn't appear to be available under the title, Part 2 How we can live completely free in every area.

Rather, what I found instead is this: HOW TO OVERCOME FEAR LINK It is an article a few years older than the Soul Sickness piece. However, I think many of us can relate to the sisters experiences shared in this blog.

[Excerpted] "Anxiety, panic and depression are all related to fear.
All fear comes from the fear of death.
The fear of death means that somewhere ‘death is ruling.’
So how can we overcome fear? Since fear comes from the fear of death, how death entered the world needs to be defined.

Death came through sin. When man first sinned death not only came on the scene but Scripture says thatdeath reigned. The whole earth lived under the dark canopy of death until Jesus came. Jesus brought light and life and ripped the canopy of death forever. Light streamed in and overcame darkness. Righteousness came and crushed sin forever. When sin was crushed, death was defeated. Life had won.


So why do Believers still struggle with fear?

If we battle fear or any of its cousins (anxiety, depression, panic and many more) it’s because somewhere in our understanding death is ruling. It’s a symptom that our perspective needs to change. Our minds can be retrained.

Living with fear means we haven’t understood our true identity. We have been taught by the world (death) and not Jesus (life, righteousness) what is ‘normal’ and we’ve accepted it. But Scripture says to renew our minds; to put off the old and put on the new. When we renew our minds we are trained by the Kingdom of God and not the kingdom of the world.


But aren’t we born-again?
Yes! When we are born-again our spirits are made completely new, but our minds need to be retrained (renewed) by the Spirit.


How do we retrain our minds?
The Scripture says,
“Don’t become like the people of this world. Instead, change the way you think.” Romans 12:2 [MORE READING]

It's the ar souls that's the problem.

What are 'ar' souls?

Heb 4:12 New International Version
For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

The problem occurs in those who have not known the dividing of soul and spirit (read watchman Nee on this).

Our thoughts and attitudes of heart or soul) must come under the judgement of God as believers if we are to be delivered from them and live as God intends us to live - in peace and joy unspeakable.

These days believers will not have anything to do with the teaching of the judgment spoken repeatedly in scripture, for the church and say it is the devil who accusers the brethren and that judgement is for unbelievers alone. So long as they stay in that frame of mind, the freedom Christ came to give us is nullified.

Its bad soul ties and opression.

We are body, soul and spirit,

The body decays, we get an everlasting body later.

The spirit is renewed already when we are born again, that’s why we
become a new creation.

I think the soul is our personsility, our thoughts, memories, mind etc it’s
what makes us us. The soul is constantly being changed, renewed,
sanctified. It’s a life long process to get rid of all the dross, put aside
damaging mindsets, habbits, thought processes etc.

I have a friend with an eating disorder, growing up her mum used food
as a weapon, threat, indulgence, punishment. So it’s no wonder that food
rather than being nourishment for the body, was perceived by her as something
else.

As a grown woman it has dominated her life, now she has been set free from the
issue. Part of the recovery including CBT therapy to challenge her ideas about food.
For many people they need help in some way to renew the mind. Its not always
something that can be achieved on our own.

Yes there are lots of problems, I think truthfully each one of us has some
sort of wrong thinking, wrong perception. Some are more obvious than
others. Most are rooted in fear, lack of security, lack of purpose, lack of
knowing love.

God is able to provide the solution to all of that, but we all still need to
overcome, grow, learn and in some cases seek help like my friend did.
Oh and Satan and life just have a habbit of getting in the way don’t they.

There is a really good book by Neil T Anderson called Victory over
Darkness if you want a good read on the subject.

Here is an extract from it:

Significance

In the original creation, humankind was given a divine purpose for being here. Humanity was given dominion over all the other creatures: “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (Gen. 1:26,27).

Adam didn’t have to search for significance. That attribute was the result of creation. Satan had to crawl on his belly like a snake in the presence of God. He was not the god of this world at that time. He usurped the authority given to Adam and his descendants after Adam sinned and lost his relationship with God.

Safety and Security

Not only did Adam have a sense of significance, but he also enjoyed a sense of safety and security. All his needs were provided. Genesis 1:29,30 records: “Then God said, ‘Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food.’” Adam was completely cared for in the garden. All of his needs were provided. He could eat of the tree of life and live forever.

He was safe and secure in the presence of God. Belonging Adam apparently enjoyed intimate, one-on-one communion with God, but something was missing. “The Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him’” (Gen. 2:18). Adam and Eve not only had a sense of belonging with God, but also with each other. When God created Eve, He established human community: a meaningful, open, sharing relationship with one another. Adam and Eve were naked and unashamed. They had nothing to hide. Their bodies consisted of no dirty parts. God created them male and female and told them to be fruitful and multiply. They could openly have an intimate sexual relationship with each other in the presence of God.

The Effects of the Fall

Unfortunately, the idyllic setting in the Garden of Eden was shattered. Genesis 3 tells the sad story of Adam and Eve’s lost relationship with God through sin. The effects of their fall were dramatic, immediate and far reaching, infecting every subsequent member of the human race.

Lost Knowledge of God

What effect did the Fall produce in Adam’s mind? He and Eve lost their true perception of reality and the idea of knowing was no longer relational. We read in Genesis 3:7,8 that they tried to hide from God. Doesn’t that reveal a faulty understanding of who God is? How can you hide from an omnipresent God? Their distorted perception of reality reflects Paul’s description of the futile thinking of those who don’t know God: “They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts” (Eph. 4:18, NIV ) .


Dominant Negative Emotions

Adam and Eve were not only darkened in their understanding, but they also became fearful and anxious. The first emotion expressed by fallen humankind was fear (see Gen. 3:10). Fear of anything other than God is mutually exclusive to faith in God. Why is the fear of God the beginning of wisdom (see Prov. 9:10) and how does it expel all other fears?

great books...he's written a few

I think it timely these type of resources are becoming public now. How many of us stand amazed to hear the latest news of what some denominational church has "voted" to allow in their services?
With the arrival of Christ over 2000 years ago we'd think the world would be a blessed place. And yet these 2000+ years after the world is unmistakably growing worse than it was let us say some 30 years ago.

Soul sickness. The doctrines of man, the distracting demonic icon of Political Correctness in the secular realm is burrowing its way into the ecclesiastical.

Great post.

Im too lazy to read back hundreds of posts but, are you the same person who was condoning LGBT stuff in the church? [in the other thread]
If I am mistaken, my apologies.
If im not mistaken, isnt that one of the doctrines burrowing its way itno the ecclesiastical?

I used to deal with fear of social situations, I dont really have that anymore, unless its .. *gulp*... the dentist. The nemesis.

Honestly what got me out of that fear before I even heard the gospel was simply realizing that all these guys are nobodies. Once I realized that, I stopped caring about what people think, that was the "root" of that fear.
But this is a long time ago. Im still afraid of the dentist, not sure if that'll ever go away.

I can understand people who are going through depression or something like that. In many cases you can seem perfectly normal and healthy on the outside, and you cant see that the person is hurting.
I was literally crying as I was watching a documentary about senior citizens who are lonely in this country, how sad was that. These people got nobody to talk to and nobody to turn to.

I hope no Christian is ever lonely, and if you are lonely dont stay home just GO TO CHURCH no matter how bad it feels, no matter how much anxiety, no matter how mean people were to you in the past. Trust me, keep going and you WILL find atleast ONE friendly person to your liking to talk with and spend time with! And if you are single, WHO KNOWS, maybe God has provided a husband/wife for you, if you want such a thing!

Oh and one more thing, for goodness sakes' guys, dont ever tell someone who says they are lonely that "no you're not, you got Jesus!" That is one disrespectful answer to give, especially if you yourself got it good.
Jesus wont be playing basketball with you, you need a regular mortal human for that. And thats not disrespecting Jesus, just calling it like it is, everyone needs company. We CAN meet Jesus in that kind of a sense where we can see Him walking and talking LITERALLY in front of us, but not YET. ONly in the future.

Soul, spirit, and body.

The body is put off the saint so it is not part of the saint in the afterlife.

The spirit goes back to God who gave it regardless of how the person acted on earth so the spirit is not part of the saint in the afterlife.

The soul is the only thing that will go on forever with a glorified body.

And charity, love in action, for out of all we did on earth only charity will go on forever, for faith, and hope, are not needed in heaven.

I was that member condemning allowing LGBTQ to serve in the church. However, I was also that one that said we should never block entry into a church by that LGBTQ person who is seeking solace in God's truth. In other words, we should welcome homosexuals as we would every other sinner seeking the light. And yet, as we know, we do not allow sinners to serve in the church. Homosexuals are sinners. Transsexuals are sinners. Just as we were. Imagine if you or I had been denied access to a church or a Bible for that matter by those who claimed Christ. And due to us being a sinner.

God forbid.

Don't you feel sorry for Dentists? They know this about themselves I'm sure and yet, where would be be without them?
GUMMY! I tell ya. Gummy!

Well said.

Hev said:
'I was literally crying as I was watching a documentary about senior citizens who are lonely in this country, how sad was that. These people got nobody to talk to and nobody to turn to.
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if you think that it is only 'seniors' that are lonely and have nobody to talk to in today's world, then, just 'wow'!!!
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'I hope no Christian is ever lonely'
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of course Christians will feel 'lonely' at times, simply because they are separate from the world,
and True-brethren are few and far to be found; plus, we will feel sorrow and grief for those yet to be called,
for they are the enemies of God, as we once were...
not to mention the demonic state that our Holy Garden is in...
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'if you are lonely dont stay home just GO TO CHURCH no matter how bad it feels, no matter how much anxiety, no matter how mean people were to you in the past. Trust me, keep going and you WILL find atleast ONE friendly person to your liking to talk with and spend time with! And if you are single, WHO KNOWS, maybe God has provided a husband/wife for you, if you want such a thing!'
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what non-sense this is, to tell some one to go into a building that causes, incurs 'anxiety-mis-trust-meaness!
are you delusional or should one ask if you are just advocating dark-teachings???

Christians can and do volunteer for Meals on Wheels. Not just seniors avail themselves of that precious service. And you can bring light and conversation to all manner of needy people.

Just walking down the street and looking a stranger in their eyes, smiling, and saying hello, can make a world of difference.
So often we talk about what the Gospel is. We're to live what the Gospel does and that then makes all the difference.