Religious captivity. (a letter to a priest) Today I received an email from a distraught priest.

He wrote to me from his prison cell the church. He described how he was being held hostage by his parishioners who demanded his undivided service and devotion. For example, he performs nearly a hundred funerals a year, visits the sick and infirm, presides over their weddings, listens to their confessions, and yet they still demand more of him. He is so busy serving the Church that he has no time to serve God on the spiritual battlefield where the Holy Spirit renews and recharges Gods prayer warriors. He is exhausted and nearing the end of his rope. And I suspect that he feels alone and isolated. And so Im writing to ask that you would join me in prayer for this priest that God loves. Please pray that he will be delivered from his religious captivity. And that his captors will recognize their sin and turn to God and seek forgiveness for spiritually abusing and incarcerating someone who chose the priesthood in a spirit of charity to comfort others. Sadly, hes not alone. Thousands of priests and pastors all over the world are being held in captivity in their churches by their parishioners. The spirit of religion is a dark force, but the spirit of God will overcome it. When the priests and the pastors are freed from their religious captivity the world will never be the same again. The good news is that their chains were broken on a hill outside of Jerusalem. Their prison has no walls, no bars, and no keys it exists only in the mind. The great revival will begin when the shepherds stop serving two masters. When their minds are set free to fully and completely serve God the sins of our nation will be confronted and the altars of human sacrifice destroyed. Many of us are guilty of holding our shepherds hostage. We complain that they dont show up and yet were first in line when it comes to our own needs. And they so faithfully attend to our needs that theyre afraid to offend us with the truth. If we love our priests and pastors we will set them free to serve God, but if we only love ourselves we will never release them or we will grumble when they march off by the thousands to the spiritual battlefield without our permission. Gods permission is all thats required. And God is victorious, My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Fathers hand. I and my Father are one. Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of these works do ye stone me? John 10:27-32

Please share this with any pastor or priest in religious captivity and let them know that you love them and that theyre free to serve God. -Steve And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. John 8:32 Steven Lopez Spiritus Films Cell: 832.882.3825 www.spiritusfilms.com