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The Practical Guide to Living a Spirit Filled Life

(Without Acting like a Meshuganah)

HELEN RETANA

The Practical Guide To Living a Spirit Filled Life

(Without Acting like A Meshuganah)

By Helen Retana

The Practical Guide To Living A Spirit Filled Life Copyright 2011 No part of this book can be copied without the express written permission of the author.

Table of Contents
Introduction .4 Honey Call 911, that lady is having a seizure..7 So, what does the Holy Spirit do anyway?.11 But Pastor, I do not want to be a Prophetic Evangelist, so cant we just tell the Holy Spirit to take it back?..15 All in Gods timing. Well how long will that take?...21 They only want to know what you see...24 Dont you dare come in here and say I told you so. ....29 I certainly will not give the devil his due. ..33 WWJD Seriously......39 I am blessed and highly favored. Really? Prove it....45 Why cant these Spirit-Filled people just be normal?49

Introduction If you picked up this book and are wondering what a Meshuganah is, well it is Yiddish for crazy person. And if you picked up this book and are wondering what living a spirit filled life is all about. Well, I am not going to tell right off the bat because then you wont read the rest of this book. So let me tell you why I am writing this book. God told me to. My name is Helen Retana and I am the Practical Prophetess. Ok, I know what you are thinking. Do volumes of pink hair and enough make-up for an entire third world country come to mind? Well think again, I am just as normal as anyone. But who is really normal anyway? For the Lord created each and every one of us for a specific purpose. So when you look through the eyes of God no one is normal, but, extraordinary in their own unique way. And having the Holy Spirit dwell within you makes anything and everything possible. So now you are thinking. Yay! But I dont want to be some kind of Jesus Freak. Speaking incoherently, falling on the ground and rolling around or just laughing hysterically for no apparent reason. Spirit filled people are just plain weird and seem to blame everything on the enemy. I really do not want to be a Charasmaniac or a Psychotic Pentecostal. Well, if that is what you are thinking. Honey, you are preaching to the choir, hence the reason for this book. 4

There are so many people both Christians and nonChristians that believe that living a Spirit filled life is like some kind of extreme form of Christianity. People are afraid to receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, because they do not want to lose control of who they are and most importantly do not want to be labeled as a religious nutcase or as my mom calls them, Hysterical Holy Rollers. My mom came up with that name because she will start to laugh hysterically when I share with her one of my many adventures of serving in charismatic churches. Of course when my Dad was alive, he would watch televangelists and faith healers for entertainment purposes. So as you can see, I have a generational curse of skepticism and yes, maybe a little cynicism about all this. The bottom line is this. I walk in the spiritual gifts of discernment of spirits, healing, and prophecy. None of which were of my own choosing and if truth be told, or my desire. I have known from a very young age that the Lord called me to help all those who come to me. I have learned that I would not be able to function in my calling without these gifts. They were given to me by the Holy Spirit and it has truly broken my heart to see people who are afraid of having the Holy Spirit come into their lives. So come with me on my own personal journey of negotiating through the waters of living a Spirit- Filled life . I promise you will laugh, cry and somewhere along the way you may just realize that the Holy Spirit is a true gentleman and that trying to live life without Him, is truly an insurmountable task. Let the adventure begin! 5

Here is my disclaimer. I have changed most of the names and places in this book so when it tops the New York Times Bestseller List none of my friends will be mobbed by all my fans. I only kept the names that are public figures and well known anyway. I seriously doubt they remember me. So if you see them, dont ask them. They in no way promote or endorse this book. So I do not have to give them any royalties. Hopefully this little paragraph will make my attorneys and publisher happy.

Chapter One Honey, call 911, that lady is having a seizure! My very first experience in a Spirit Filled Church was in a very small town in western Tennessee. My husband Alex and I, where moving to the area from Los Angeles because he had gotten transferred. We were on our relocation trip. This is corporate jargon, for You have a week to find a house, in a place you have never been, so your husband can get back to work. So being the good the Christians that we are and the fact that my adorable hubby is an ordained Pastor and believes in you serve where you are planted. Off to church we went. Well here is the kicker. My husband, Alex, served as an Assistant Pastor for a Spirit filled, African American, congregation in downtown LA for 17 years. This was long before I met him. Did I mention that my husband is Hispanic and I am a Messianic Jew? Let me tell how thrilled my mother was that we were moving to this little slice of heaven. Visions of white sheets and burning crosses emerged in her mind quicker than you can say grace. If you know my mom, whatever pops into her head is soon coming out of her mouth, and usually very loudly. Enough said about that. You get the picture. I should have known I was in for an experience when I went to the ladies restroom and encountered three ladies in 7

a prayer circle speaking in some kind of weird dribble. I could not understand a word they were saying and they were all swaying to and fro while holding hands. One of these ladies was dressed in a choir robe and swayed right into me. I wear a Star of David around my neck everyday and she saw it and asked, I kid you not, Are you of the seed of Israel? Now by this time I had lived in LA for 12 years and was raised in Atlanta, so I was well aware about how southern Christians felt about Jews. They hated the Jews. I had heard the term Christ Killer more than once. So I answered in a pretty annoyed Yes, why? She then asked me if I had met the Messiah and I answered with an even more annoyed Yes. She hollered, Well Praise Jesus! Sister, we love all the children of Israel and hugged me. Now I will hug you, if I know you, but I am not a hugger. So I just said well alrighty then, and ran out of that bathroom as soon as I could remove myself from her clutches. This woman was the worship leader. Which, I realized, about 5 minutes into the service. When she took a microphone and told everyone to be free to express yourself in worship to the Lord. Now, I had led worship at home and that would have never come out of my mouth. The rules were: sing 2 songs, the pastor will come up to pray, take the offering, sing one more song and sit down. As you can see, freedom of expression was not an option. So you can imagine my surprise when worship started and 8

there was a mass of people up in the altar area dancing. Flags flying every which way, some were playing tambourines that were not part of the band, others were act they were flapping arms as if they had their wings, it was pure chaos. And in my experience, God was a God of order. So as far as I was concerned these people were dancing themselves straight to hell. They were a bunch of Meshuganahs. In the midst of all this Praise and Worship, a rather large, middle-aged, lady fell to the floor, screaming Thank you Jesus and flaying her arms and legs. She kept screaming Praise Jesus, Thank You Jesus, Praise Jesus, Thank You Jesus over and over and over and over, all while rolling around on the floor. I was trained in first aid and CPR, so I was evaluating the situation. After observing her for a couple minutes, I came to the conclusion that she was having some sort of seizure and was in need of immediate medical attention. I tried to get my husbands attention, but he was caught up in the worship. So I did what any wife would do in that situation, I elbowed Alex in the ribs. That got his attention. Alex was sitting on the aisle, so, I leaned over to him and pointed at the lady that was lying in the aisle. He immediately grabbed my hand and told me to sit down. My husband, obviously, did not understand the urgency of the situation. So, I pulled on his shirt sleeve. You would not believe the look he gave me. It was the Stop that and mind your own business look. Hello! I am not one of the kids! 9

The seizure lady was still in the aisle and yelling louder than ever. Something had to be done. I pulled Alex down to my level. Pointed at the lady, yet again, and whispered Honey, call 911, that lady is having a seizure. Again, Alex grabbed my hand. But this time he pulled me down to my seat. He leaned over to me and in a rather annoyed tone said She is just slain in the Spirit. Stop staring at her and enjoy the worship music. Are you kidding me? Now, Alex is the most loving husband in the world and I now know that he was just keeping me from embarrassing myself. The ushers finally came down the aisle and helped the seizure lady back to her seat, Hallelujah! I was very relieved to see that she did not seem any worse for wear after her ordeal in the Spirit. That was my first experience of seeing what I thought was the Holy Spirit in action. I was none too thrilled with the fact that the Holy Spirit can slay you. The word slay means to kill. And I liked living the way I was just fine. Thank you very much.

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Chapter 2 So, what does the Holy Spirit do anyway? Have you ever been compelled to call someone on the phone that you have not spoken with in a long time, only to find out that they were in need of you? How about, getting a bad feeling about a situation or even a person? Or felt like you need to pray for someone and something miraculous happens? Well, that is the Holy Spirit. In the bible, Jesus tells his disciples, the Apostles, of the one to come. Jesus knew that His time on earth was coming to an end and that His people would still need someone to guide and teach them. That person was and is the Holy Spirit. For born again Christians, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within us when we accept the Lord, Jesus Christ, as our Savior. The Holy Spirit is a gift that the Lord gives us to help us in our Christian walk. I Surrender All often comes to mind when I think of a persons conversion to Christianity. Because in order to live a truly Spirit Filled life, you have to admit that you cannot live life on your own. We all need a partner, someone to help us make decisions, steer us in the right direction. And, yes, help us to overcome our shortcomings. 11

Think of living with the in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit as having a constant companion that will never leave and never steer you wrong. He is that friend that will tell you the truth when no one else will. The Holy Spirit also allows us to see others as God sees them not as we would in our own understanding. We also will have a greater capacity for love and compassion. Remember, the Lord loves a joyful giver. While most of the time that scripture is used to encourage us to tithe. It also applies to submitting your life to Christ. In order to live with anyone successfully you have to experience joy and harmony in your relationship. The Lord and the Holy Spirit are not overlords that impose their will on you. There is a reason the Church is called the Bride of Christ. Just like any bride, we willingly give our lives to Christ. Jesus willingly gave His life for us on the Cross. Weddings are the most joyous occasion that we as humans celebrate. So, living a Spirit filled life is the result of a marriage, that is very literally, made in heaven. The one question that I am most often asked is How come you are so normal and yet you work is in the Spiritual Realm? The answer is fairly simply, I am an obedient child. I do what the Lord tells me to. I spend a tremendous amount of time in prayer. The Lord and the Holy Spirit know me and our relationship is based on mutual understanding, trust and love. The biggest misunderstanding about the in-dwelling of the 12

Holy Spirit is that He will take over your mind and body and you will lose your free will. Wrong! You have to permit the Lord to work through you. He is never going to force you to do anything. For the Lord only wants good things for you. He wants His children to be joyous when they are serving Him. The Holy Spirit has never compelled me to do anything that I was not 100% willing to do. The Lord will through the Holy Spirit stretch your comfort zone. But it is more about learning the true meaning of I can do all things through Christ rather than seeing how crazy you can act. Jesus and the Holy Spirit are not in the reality TV business. They would take no pleasure in seeing to what lengths some are willing to go in order to show their devotion. Since our main purpose as Christians is to take the message of Christ into the world. It would be counter- productive for Christ to make a public spectacle out of His followers. For that would not bring glory to God and further more it would and because of the actions of some Spirit Filled individuals has turned people away from The Father and caused them to live in fear of the Holy Spirit. Now I am talking about the gifts of the Spirit. Which include: Prophecy, Speaking in Tongues and their interpretation, Healing, Discerning of Spirits and the Working of Miracles. There are other gifts that the Holy Spirit gives us but these are the ones that give people the heebie jeebies and are the cause of countless debates in the Church. 13

It is my very humble opinion, since these gifts demonstrate the power of God, many in the Church do not believe humans should receive and work in these gifts. Many fear that a person that walks in one or more of these gifts will have too much power and will have people follow them instead of Christ. False Prophets!!! So in order to maintain control over their congregations, many pastors shut down these gifts or deem them available to only people that they themselves approve. Unfortunately, this practice is not biblical. It is only the Holy Spirit that gives out spiritual gifts. And He is not a respecter of persons. So in reality, you might say that the very individuals that are so afraid of someone playing god are actually the ones that are in fact playing god. It is this attitude that has misled so many Christians into the belief that the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit are in fact evil. And people who actually operate in these gifts lead a life of blasphemy and witchcraft.

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Chapter 3 But Pastor, I do not want to be a Prophetic Evangelist, so cant we just tell the Holy Spirit to take it back? Along our lifes journey there will be people we meet who will change the course and the directions of our lives forever. My husband, Alex, is of course in this category but it was actually a pastor from Magnolia, AL that would change my career in ministry forever. Just by extending his hand in fellowship to a couple that were from the foreign land of Los Angeles. That man was Pastor Tatte of Shiloh Chapel in Magnolia, AL. The first time I met Pastor Tatte was in my tye-dye shop called Lavenders Closet. I actually told him that he was in the wrong place and that the bird seed store was next door. He replied No, I am actually here to see you. You are Helen, right? When you live in a small town, news travels fast when new people arrive. Especially if they speak a foreign language, as is the case with Alex. I had told one of my customers that Alex was an ordained pastor, who spoke Spanish and since we had just moved there, were looking for a church home. Well that lady must have left my shop and driven straight to Shiloh Chapel. Three hours later a very distinguished looking man was standing in my pink and purple tye-dye shop. So you can see why I thought he was in the wrong store. The average age of my customers was 25 and all female. 15

Pastor Tatte did not fit that demographic. Pastor Tatte was reformed Methodist who received the what living a Spirit Filled life is supposed to look like. It is just who he is. And he does not act all meshuganah. Considering I was still recovering from my last visit to a Spirit Filled Church, immediately put me at ease. It is truly amazing how the Lord puts the right people in our life when He is going to use us in a new way. Pastor Tatte was the perfect person to put me on the path to working in the prophetic and healing. I was a very reluctant, cynical and skeptical student. To this day, I still believe that I was tricked into receiving the impartation for prophetic evangelism. Of course I am just kidding. Alex and I started visiting Shiloh Chapel in the fall of 2005. In November RT Kendall and John Paul Jackson came to speak at a weekend workshop. Being blissfully ignorant of all things charismatic I had no idea who these two men were and frankly did not care. But I really enjoyed listening to both of them because they are both great storytellers. Little did I know, I would soon find myself, along with 13 others, about to be anointed as the next generation of prophetic evangelists. I didnt even know what a prophetic evangelist was. Or for that matter, what a prophetic person did. As I stated earlier I was blissfully ignorant. 16

The last session of the workshop was on a Saturday evening. And John Paul Jackson was sharing about his visit to the throne room of God. I thought it was a little weird but interesting. At the end of the service, Mr. Jackson asked if anybody felt a burning in their ears to come forward. Alex and I both have allergies and we occasionally have ear aches and sinus problems. We both went forward. I thought he was going to pray for our allergies. Out of the probably 800 people there that evening 14 of us went forward. Mr. Jackson had us line up around the altar and then announced to the entire congregation that these people where The Next Generation of Prophetic Evangelists. Mr. Jackson then anointed each of us with oil and then commissioned us with a prayer. After this Mr. Jackson told us to turn around and face the congregation. He then invited the rest of the congregation to come down to receive a prophetic word from us. Hello!!! What is a prophetic word? Needless to say, I was totally clueless as to what I was supposed to do. I looked over at Alex and he was praying with people. Well that I could do. I was not surprised that Alex answered the call". Alexs main responsibility as an assistant pastor was street evangelism in the downtown LA and Hollywood areas. Which, he still loves to do and is absolutely amazing at reaching people most good church folks would be terrified to speak to. 17

But me, a prophetic evangelist, you cannot possibly be serious. Mr. Jackson had obviously made a huge mistake. After, we finished praying for all the people that came down for a word. The seminar was over. Hallelujah!!! I made a bee line to find Pastor Tatte. But he had already left with Mr. Jackson. Apparently, Mr. Jackson is pretty wellknown. Who knew? People kept coming up to Alex and I and hugging us and congratulating us. They told how excited they were for us. Excited about what? Did we get promoted or something? Someone, obviously, had forgotten to send me the memo. I didnt want a new ministry. Especially one I had never heard of until 20 minutes ago. Well, I had to talk to Pastor Tatte, he would surely be able to put things back the way there were. Funny thing about Pastor Tatte, he wont tell the Holy Spirit what to do. I know this because I ask him to do just that. It was not till the following Tuesday that I got to visit with Pastor Tatte in his office. Have you ever seen a glint in someones eyes like I got you now? Well that was the look I was met with when I walked into Pastor Tattes office. He was ready for whatever I was going to throw at him.

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I had 3 things to tell Pastor Tatte: 1. I did not want to be one of those weird people that is constantly going up to everyone and saying The Lord told me to tell you (fill in the blank).

2. Mr. John Paul Jackson has made a huge mistake because I do not have an evangelistic bone in my body. That is my husbands gig. I just go along to pray for people. 3. We need to tell the Holy Spirit that He should take back His Prophetic Evangelistic anointing and bestow it on a more deserving and knowledgeable person. As I finished #3, Pastor Tatte smiled a grin just like the Cheshire Cat. There is going to be a very special place in heaven for Pastor Tatte for simply putting up with me. He opened up his bible and began to explain about how the Holy Spirit operates and then asked me the same questions that I opened with in Chapter 2. And after several more objections from me not wanting to be Spirit filled, he informed me that The Holy Spirit gives His gifts without repentance. Which is a nice way of saying: You have been giving this gift. Now deal with it. You cannot give it back. Well yippee!!! Pastor Tatte told me that the Holy Spirit knew what He was doing and that I should have more faith in myself. 19

The Holy Spirit has a specific purpose for you and He will not give you anything you cannot handle. Fabulous! But here is the real surprising thing. Do you know who was actually not the least bit surprised by all this? Alex. All I am saying is if someone saw all this spiritual ability in a person, they probably should tell them and avoid situations like this one. You think! As you can see, my heart was not exactly open to the ministry that the Lord had called me to. I call it my Jonah moment, without the whole whale thing. When I look back on this particular adventure, I now see how the Lord aligned everything up so that there would not be any possible way that I could fail. He had put me exactly where I needed to be in order to learn and grow in the gifts the Spirit had given to me.

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Chapter 4 All in Gods Timing. Well how long will that take? In order to develop the revelatory gifts that I walk in, Prophecy, Discerning of Spirits and Healing, you have to a really close relationship with Jesus. How do you get that kind of relationship? We all must spend time communicating with Him. Be still and know that I am God. This is how you must approach your time with the Lord. Talking with the Lord is a two-way conversation. The most common way people pray is by asking the Lord for some sort of blessing, either material , physical or spiritual I call this the heavenly drive-thru approach to prayer. We want our blessing now and with as little effort on our part as possible. Just have it ready when I pull up to the window. Well have you ever heard the term All in Gods timing? This should be your first clue that God is not a drive-thru window or an ATM machine. He actually wants to talk with us. Those of you who have teen-agers or college age kids can relate. They only usually call when they want something. This would describe a lot of peoples prayer life. There is so much that the Lord wants to share with you through the Holy Spirit. And while he does want us to come with Him with all our burdens, getting a new sports car or a designer hand bag is not a burden on someones soul. 21

American Christians in particular need to rethink their approach to prayer. I believe that we should always start by thanking Jesus for what he has done for us. And though we should always pray for the sick and suffering, it is my belief that we should ask the Lord to use us and our spiritual gifts to His glory. I always ask Him, What do you want me to do today. And wait for Him to instruct me. Thats right. You need to listen, as well as, speak when you are praying. This is how you will begin to experience the presence of the Holy Spirit. A scripture may come to mind and you will see something in those lines that you did not see before. Unsolvable problems will be seen with new clarity. The direction that you had been searching for will illuminate before you. If you had experienced some of these revelations, you might act a little weird on occasion too. In order for you to be able to hear from the Lord, it is essential that you learn to quiet both your body and mind. Mediating on scripture is a great way to start as long as it does not become a mantra. When I am teaching on the prophetic, I tell people to approach your prayer time as you would approach any conversation. Ask the Lord a question and wait for Him to respond. When I am seeking the Lords advice on a particular petition/question or situation, I simply write down the question and wait for some kind of answer and I start writing until the Lord is finished speaking. If I do not understand something, I ask Him to clarify.

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The Lord is all knowing, however, I am not. So, when in doubt ask the Lord to explain what He is showing or telling you. It never fails, there is always one individual in every group I have worked with that wants a formula for hearing from God. There are those who think that prayer and meditation should be broken up in blocks of time. Here is an example of one I was actually handed once at a prayer session: (I dont think Jesus got the memo) Worship -10 minutes Praying in Tongues 10 minutes Words from the Lord Prophesying 20 minutes Healing the Sick 15 Minutes Closing Song and Prayer 5 minutes. The gifts of the Holy Spirit allow ordinary people to do extraordinary things. In order for the Holy Spirit to be able to use us we have to be willing to think outside the box or beyond the formula. While it is always important to stay within the guidelines that leadership of a church set forth. We must all be sensitive to the will of the Lord in order to fulfill the mission He has for each one of us. As well as live a truly spirit filled life.

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Chapter 5 They only want to know what you see. There is one thing that has really rung true when you receive a calling like this. Satan will try to stop you. I know what you are thinking. Yay right! There was about an 18 month period between receiving my commission and when the prophetic gift actually began to appear. During that time, my father passed away and I had to close my businesses in Alabama because my mom needed me to be available to help her out in LA. Hurricane Katrina also happened during this time. My mom is from New Orleans. She had lost her husband and basically her hometown within 4 months. As you can see I had my hands full. I spent much of the next year on an airplane going back and forth to LA from Magnolia, AL. The great thing about spending so much time traveling is you have time to pray, journal and really see how God is working through you in different parts of your life. If you have not realized by now, I am a type A personality. Before receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit I was running a mile a minute. Everything had to fit into a specific box in my world. And when you work in the Spiritual gifts, that kind of thinking is not even a possibility. In order to work in the gift of prophecy you must have enough courage to share Gods love with people. 24

This may seem pretty easy, but it can be difficult because I am not talking about sharing Christ with someone in the traditional way of walking down Romans Road. But actually walking up to someone you do not know and giving them an encouraging word that the Lord told you to say to them. I know this sounds like I should be in the loony bin. But that is exactly how I started my walk in the revelatory gifts. The very first time this happened to me, I was at a conference in Nashville, TN. I had spent a good amount of time praying and the Lord told me They only want to know what you see. Now let me clarify a few things. My mother always taught me that if you cannot say anything nice do not say anything and this applies especially to delivering prophetic words to people. There are times when I see bad things on people. The Lord shows me these types of things because He wants me to pray for that person. Not judge and condemn them to eternal damnation. That is not my job or anyone elses. I will leave any passing of judgment up to the Lord. My first victim was a lovely lady that was at the conference. The Lord showed me that she was a Joy giver and I saw a vision of her with a mountain of flowers and she was handing these flowers out to people. I figured there was nothing bad in this so off I went to share this word with the Flower Lady. I approached her and asked her if I could share what the 25

Lord had given me for her. She agreed and called her friends that were with her to bear witness. I told her that the Lord said she was a joy giver which did not render any response. I then shared with her that I saw her with the mountain of flowers and that she was handing them out to people. As soon as I finished my flower lady burst into tears. Ok, this was not the reaction I was expecting. I was just about to recant everything I had just said, when she grabbed both my hands. And with a huge smile on her face said I just opened a flower shop. And you just confirmed that this is where The Lord wants me to be. WHOA! To say I was taken aback was an understatement. The Holy Spirit said to me She is just like you, but she does not like to be the boss, which I promptly shared with my flower lady. She just laughed while her friends confirmed that I had hit the nail on the head. We prayed together and she gave me a huge hug. While I was at the conference, I had several more of these experiences of bringing encouragement or in most cases confirmation to people. But it was my gossamer lady, which actually let me see how the Lord will work through us and confirmed to me, without a shadow of a doubt, that I could actually do what the Lord had called me to. It was the very last session of the conference and I had been sitting in front of an older woman all three days. We would chit-chat during breaks and we even had lunch together one 26

of the days. She knew that I was just starting out in prophetic ministry and was very encouraging. When the final speaker had finished and we had been dismissed. The older lady grabbed my hand and said to me The moment I saw you for the first time, the Lord told me that you would have a word for me. No pressure! I had nothing. But then I remembered the instructions the Lord had given me in our prayer time. They only want to know what you see. So, I closed my eyes. Asked the Lord to show me what He wants to share with her. And when I opened my eyes, I saw this lady dressed completely in gossamer standing in the night sky with her hands outstretched. Like a mom welcoming a child home. Around her neck was a Star of David. The Holy Spirit said the words Spiritual Mother to the Children of Israel. I shared with her what the Lord had shown me and the words from the Holy Spirit. My gossamer lady then asked me Is this confirmation that I am supposed to be a missionary in Israel? I repeated the word I had told her before but emphasized the word to. The Lord wanted me to clarify to her that her calling was not a physical place but the people. I explained this to her. She told me that a prophet had told her longago that she would be a missionary to the children of Israel. And I told her that she shall be but not necessarily in Israel. 27

Apparently, this lifted a burden from this womans shoulders. She did not feel that she had fulfilled her calling because of a misunderstanding of a prophetic word and had carried that guilt for a long time. One of the best feelings is to see the light go on in someones face when they get the revelation from the Lord.

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Chapter 6 Dont you dare come in here and say I told you so. As I told you in the last chapter, I do see bad things on people. This gift is the discernment of spirits which can make your life very interesting to say the least. Because the Lord shows me how people look through His eyes, so I get to see the good and the bad and even the demonic. So now you are thinking to yourself, See all those Spirit Filled people are always looking to blame everything on a demon or the enemy. And I will be the first one to admit that there are many people who chalk up every mishap to The enemy trying to keep me from my destiny. I wont tell you how many times I have heard that when someone has misplaced their car keys on their way to get their nails done. Only to realize the keys were in their hand. And no, an angel did not put the keys in their hand. One of the first things I was taught was to keep a journal of everything that I received from the Lord prophetically. The good , the bad and the really weird. One problem with having revelatory gifts is no one wants to hear the bad stuff and then when it comes to pass your pastor will want to know how you knew that even though you had given it to them in writing sometimes years in advance. Only to be told that what you are seeing is not of God.

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Well this is how things went for me at Shiloh Chapel. Not that I blame them for not believing me. I had just step into this gift and here I am seeing some major things and since they were of a warning nature. Most of these types of words were shelved. Like all people who are struggling to master their talents. I was growing very discouraged because I really had no one to bounce things off of. Imagine looking at a young man in your congregation and seeing him in a vision standing on top of his school with a gun in his hand. Who do you tell? Enter Dr. Mensch and his saintly wife Joan. Dr. Mensch arrived at Shiloh Chapel in January of 2007. He was starting up a School of the Spirit and was also going to be in charge of The College of Prophets. Talk about a divine appointment. Gods timing was perfect. Dr. Mensch shares the same sense of humor as I do. He is also close to my dads age and we really just got along from the very start. He became my mentor and I learned a tremendous amount from him. I shared all the prophetic words I received and he would judge them. He would work with me on my delivery of words, since I have a tendency to sound like Minnie Mouse and am very blunt. Speak the Truth in Love he said to me over and over.

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Eventually, our relationship began to change to more of a partnership. But I will never forget the day when one of my really bad prophecies came to pass. I had written a word about a year prior to the actual event. The Lord had shown be that a very popular pastor that was friends with our congregation would fall from grace due to greed and lust. This was one of the words that had been shelved. Alex and I were pasturing a small church in a nearby town, when the news broke at Shiloh Chapel. In Gods perfect timing I just happened to see Dr. Mensch and Joan at lunch that day. He told me what happened. I asked him to come to my office that afternoon so I could show him the journal entry. Lets just say that even Dr. Mensch was surprised at the accuracy of the prophecy. There are times when I will see or pick-up on a spiritual matter and pray that I am not right. And despite everything I have said and the fact I have a pretty good track record. One of the pastors of the congregation will want to talk with me when a prophecy has come to pass. They will sometimes jokingly start the conversation with dont you dare come in here and say I told you so. Dont tempt me. The biggest struggle that anyone who practices the revelatory gifts has is actually being heard and more importantly taken seriously especially, if you are a woman and live in the south. It is amazing how God plans every step of our journey so we will be prepared for any task He sets before us. My professional background of working as an executive for my fathers computer company definitely 31

prepared me for the obstacles I would face in ministry. As much as I loved, respected and sometimes feared my father, the fact still remained that he was the epitome of a male chauvinist. His picture should be in the dictionary next to the term. This taught me very early, that I had to be faster, smarter and more prepared than any of my male counterparts in order to just survive our weekly staff meetings. Mr. Trump had nothing on my dad when it came to the board room.

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Chapter 7 I certainly will not give the devil his due. If you want to learn to live a Spirit Filled life and be taken seriously, you must practice what you preach. As Christians we are called to always be prepared to share the love of Christ with others. Whether it is through an encouraging word to a stranger, or just helping someone in the parking lot at the grocery store put their purchases in their trunk. We must constantly stay in Gods word and in prayer. This is the key to being sensitive to the leadings of the Holy Spirit. This is even more important when we come across negative spiritual encounters. It is the power of Christ within you that can stare down any demonic force. Not you but Christ in you. You just have to have a little faith. We have all heard the phrase You need to conquer your demons. It is usually used when someone is battling an addiction. Personal demons come in all shapes and sizes. This is why it is so important to live a Spirit Filled life, because we cannot fight these demons on our own. In the bible, Satan is the prince of lies. And he and his minions seek to lie, steal, kill and destroy Gods Children. The Holy Spirit is the gift from the Lord that helps all of us not only to defeat our own demons. But help others break 33

to their demonic bounds and walk in the light and love of Christ. This kind of ministry is commonly known as deliverance ministry. Personally, I believe that there is a place for deliverance ministry in the Church. But I have worked in this type of ministry and it should only be practiced by well trained individuals with some education in basic Christian counseling. Since many of the deliverance models are based on a type of regression therapy in order uncover the root cause of a behavior. Which is very effective but you need to be prepared to handle the range of emotions that can be brought forth. While it is true that we are all in need of deliverance, it is amazing how praying with an individual and giving them an encouraging word from the Lord can truly change an individual. Let me tell you about my Bucket Guy and The Cloak of Wings I do believe that I am the Forrest Gump of ministry at times. Things just happen to work out even though I know that it was not due to my own doing or abilities. It is just the Holy Spirit doing His thing. And trust me if he can work through me, He can work with anyone. I have some friends that own a coffee shop called Heavens Cup in Fountain Springs, AL Zeke and Candy. Zeke had been encouraging me to go and speak at a drug rehab 34

facility called The Farm. The residents of this facility attended church with us once a month at Shiloh Chapel and I had in the past prayed for them during ministry time. There is one problem with me ministering to people in a rehab facility. I know absolutely nothing about drugs or alcohol. It is just something I never got into. I am a bit of a control freak and taking anything that would make me lose control is not something that would appeal to me. So I have no frame of reference, hence my hesitation to go and share with the residents at this facility. Well, Zeke finally convinced me that I would not be a total disaster. So one spring evening, I went to deliver my very first sermon with Alex, Dr. Mensch, my best friend Sha and her mom Bobbie in tow. There were more butterflies in my stomach than in the whole state of Alabama that evening. But being the type A person that I am. I was prepared. At least I thought I was prepared. My lesson was on the prophetic anointing. There had been a lot of people up there ministering to the residents and delivering words of knowledge that were not exactly knowledgeable. My goal that evening was to help these individual to separate fact from fiction, so to speak. While I was praying for direction for the service, the Lord gave me the word Bucket as the key word for the evening. I saw a vision of a young man with a yoke around his neck with a heavy bucket attached with a chain on either side of the yoke. This young man was dragging the 35

buckets on the ground and I saw the words Mercy Chaser above him. I asked Dr. Mensch what this all meant. And Dr. Mensch told me. It will come to you. Great! When we arrived, I noticed a young man who was not exactly thrilled to be in the service. He had a scowl on his face and reminded me of a pouting child. He just sat there and did not participate in the service. This was one tough customer. During the sermon, I explained how the Lord will sometimes give me a word that means nothing to me but will mean everything to the person I am ministering to. So at the end of the service I told my little audience that the word I had for tonight was bucket. My tough customer said Hum and sank down in his chair. Dr. Mensch and I walked over to him and I said to him tell me about your buckets. My tough customer broke down in tears. He told us that he had been cooking crack cocaine in 1 gallon galvanized buckets since he was fourteen years old. The young man went on to say how he had ruined the lives of so many people by making and selling this drug including the lives of his parents. Here was my bucket dragging mercy chaser. I asked the young man to stand up and Dr. Mensch and I told this young man that if he believed in Jesus and the sacrifice that He made on the crossr his sins would all be washed away. This would be the fresh start this young man needed to begin a new life in Christ. And my bucket guy 36

received the revelation of true forgiveness. I then prayed with him to be released from the bondage of self-hatred, which is the spiritual root of many addictive behaviors. When we had finished, the Holy Spirit fell on the place and the bondages that had brought many of these people to this place began to fall off. I walked over to where the women were waiting for me to pray with them and in the crowd was a very young and beautiful girl. When I looked at her I saw an angels hand on her right shoulder and she was enveloped in a cloak of two gigantic wings. The Lord definitely was protecting this young one from something or someone. As I approached this young woman, she ran up to me and said I just want you to pray for my boyfriend. I knew immediately that this was why the Lord was protecting her. I said He is in jail, is he not? The young woman crumbled to the floor. I took a step toward her and the next thing I knew these words were coming out of my mouth. He killed someone with a knife. I believe it was his mom? She let out a blood curdling scream. I got her to her feet and said That is why you are here, you were next. So lets just concentrate on you because the Lord has a wonderful future for you. We will let Jesus take care of your boyfriend. OK? The entire group of women rallied around this girl and we broke the hold this murderous man had on her. She was free to pursue a life filled with all that Christ has to offer us if we choose to just follow Him. 37

As you can see, the Holy Spirit can conquer any demon that might have a hold on us. We have to know who we are in Christ in order to walk victoriously. Too many Christians fear Satan. And while I dont go looking for a fight, when the situation arises, I certainly will not give the devil his due. I do not owe him anything. Christ lives in me and the devil has already lost the battle. All I have to do is reclaim the victory. And if I have been called to help others reclaim their own victory over Satan, so be it.

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Chapter 8 WWJD Seriously It should go without saying that Christians should conduct their lives by the WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?) motto especially Christians who claim to be living a Spirit Filled life. But many do not take enough time studying the Gospels to know the true nature of Christ. In order to understand the true nature of Christ, you have to study how He conducted Himself while He walked the earth. Jesus truly cared for His Flock. He still knows each lamb by name. He provides for them. He always speaks the truth in love. He has a real relationship with His followers. This is the standard that we should endeavor to model all of our evangelist ministries after. As Christians we are all called to share the Gospel. But it is only with the help of the Holy Spirit that we can become successful messengers of Christ. We need to be sensitive to those around us. Take our cues from the Holy Spirit as to how to minister to those in need. It is Christs agenda and not our own that we have been called to carry out. The Holy Spirit is our guide in the best way for us to accomplish the goal the Lord has given us. Politically Correct and Culturally Sensitive are two phrases that most conservative Christians cannot stand. While I was living in Magnolia, AL, I started substitute teaching and I loved it. I subbed a lot at very small 39

Elementary School. It was wonderful. One day one of 6th grade teachers asked me if I would come in and talk to her classes about the Holocaust. I was the only Jew that anyone knew. I jumped at the chance. When day came for me to give my talk, I went into the classroom and the kids immediately started to ask me all kinds of questions. Here are some the questions they asked: 1. Mrs. R do Jews read the Bible? 2. Mrs. R why do Jews have all the money? 3. Mrs. R why dont Jews eat Pork? 4. Mrs. R why do the Jews hate Jesus? Well so much for my talk. So here are the answers I gave. 1. Jews wrote the Bible from beginning to end except for one book, Luke, who was a Greek physician. 2. Jews do not have all the money. That is just a very old conspiracy theory that Hitler used to turn the German people against the Jews. 3. Jews do not eat pork because God told them not to. 4. Jews do not hate Jesus. Jesus was a Jew. They believe He was a very powerful man of God. Most of the kids called me Mrs. R because they could not pronounce my last name. I finished the last of their questions and the kids seemed a little surprised by my answers. I chalked it up to them never knowing a Jew before and I went back to my second grade class I was teaching for a teacher on paternity leave. 40

It was Christmas time and there were a couple of very zealous debates going on at the teachers table about whether or not we as Christians we should say Merry Christmas to everyone. The PE coach insisted that Christians need to take back the Christmas Season. I politely informed him that there were at least six to eight holidays during this time of the year. And that we should wish the person a pleasant whatever holiday that they are celebrating and they in turn should wish us a Merry Christmas. I just did not have the heart to tell him that Christmas is based on several European pagan holiday traditions and that Jesus was probably born in the early fall during Sukot The Feast Of Tabernacles. Needless to say our beloved PE coach did not agree with me and told me to read the Christmas Story in Luke. Funny, Luke never mentions anything about the date of Jesus birth, Christmas trees or Santa, The following week, I started to notice that more and more parents were coming into the classroom to just say hi. I did notice that most of them went to the same church. Well I just chalked it up to curiosity. The class and I were going to visit Santas Village that week and I guess the parents did not want to send their kids off with just anyone. The day of the trip finally came. My little munchkins were raring to go. Did I mention that this was the worst behaved 2nd grade class out of the 3 in this school? 41

If you have not noticed by now, I do not put up with any shenanigans. These kids knew this as well as their teacher. I loved them and they loved me too. But they knew I meant business. We marched like little penguins to the bus. (This kept them from running and screaming down the halls.) I immediately noticed that most of the kids parents were there to follow us to Santas Village. I thought how nice that they want to spend time with their child. Little did I know that things were about to turn really ugly. As soon as we arrived at Santas Village my kids parents began to grab their children off the bus and take them off to do activities in the village. I know this sounds perfectly alright, except, I was legally responsible for the children until the end of the school day. I also notice that parents of the other classes were just staying with their childs class. So needless to say I spent the entire trip wrangling rude and arrogant parents as they told me in no uncertain terms that they did not want their child to experience Santas Village with a non-believer. So these parents still believe in Santa Claus? After a fun filled morning we had sack lunches in the lunch room on the second floor of a childrens science exhibit. I got the lovely duty of taking the coolers down to the bus. A couple of moms saw me struggling with the coolers and offered to hold the door to the elevator for me. The minute the elevator doors closed these two women began their interrogation. 42

Is it true that youre a Jew? One of the women asked disdainfully. I answered with even more disdain Yes. And youre married to a Mexican? The other woman asked. Which I answered with Yep!. The first women chimed in with And Pastor Tatte knows about this and allows you to come to his church? I replied Well, Pastor Tatte does not seem to mind when we serve on his mission teams or when my husband, who is an ordained pastor, interprets for him. Thankfully, the elevator doors opened and I skedaddled out of there. The warnings from my mother came back to haunt me on the bus ride home. Every single parent was following the bus back to school. By the time we arrived I was truly terrified. My two interrogators went straight to the principals office to complain about my being rude in the elevator. When the final bell rang, I made my way to the secretarys office to check out. The school principal was waiting for me. He asked me what happened. And I finally just broke down in tears as I recounted the events of the day. It was the first time in my life that I was truly scared for my safety. I had heard snide comments before but this was racism in its pure form. The principal just sat there in disbelief. He kept saying Oh my Lord. He went to church with these two good Christian ladies. I am pretty sure that neither of these women had asked themselves WWJD before they started 43

their Lets get rid of the Jew campaign. Jesus does not condone racism. Hello! Your Savior came to earth as a Jew. I am always amazed at how the Lord will use even ugly situations like this to reveal Himself. This was the first time that anyone in this little school knew someone that had been affected by their own attitudes about race and religion. The Lord convicted a lot of them. But no one more than our beloved PE coach. Later that same week all the teachers got together to have a little end of the term pot-luck. We all brought in a dish and munched on them during our planning periods. Coach and I had the same planning period. When I walked into the library with my dish, he ran up and took my dish from me and apologized profusely. He even offered to beat up anyone who bothered me while I was teaching there. We talked and for the first time Coach really understood why we as Christians need to show love to all people. Because this is WJWD. (What Jesus Would Do)

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Chapter 9 I am blessed and highly favored. Really? Prove it. There seems to be a school of thought among some SpiritFilled Christians that if we keep mentioning Christian ideas and quoting scripture that people will come to Christ. Unfortunately, we can come off looking and sounding like we belong to a religious cult. Who wants to be around people like that? Not me thats for sure. But this how many people think the Holy Spirit will make you act. There is a group of phrases that will make me cringe every time I hear them used. Hi, I am blessed and highly favored. How are you? How do you answer that? Hi, I am cursed and totally forgotten about? Could they sound anymore arrogant? There are people who actually believe that this is a way to open an evangelistic conversation. No wonder the world sees Christians as judgmental and prideful. If we, as Christians, are truly blessed and highly favored then should be evident to the people around us in every aspect of our daily lives. The Lord gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit as a sign that we are blessed and highly favored in the eyes of our Heavenly Father. For it is through the gifts of the Holy Spirit that we prove just how truly blessed we are in living a Spirit Filled life. The gifts and blessings of the Lord are meant to be shared with others. The more we share our gifts with others, the 45

more fruit will be harvested. Just by us following the promptings of the Holy Spirit, as we walk out our faith in Christ. These are the simple acts of kindness and generosity that will help us convey the message of Christ far better than any piece of scripture we have memorized and spout out in the hope of provoking an evangelistic exchange with a complete stranger. Please do not get me wrong. Knowing the scripture is very important. But it is carrying out the message carried in those precious passages that is the mission of every follower of Christ. We will bear no fruit from the blessings that God has bestowed on us if all we do is talk the talk. We must walk the walk. When someone greets me with I am blessed and highly favored, I am often tempted to say Really? Prove it. Usually the people who say this to me do not look very blessed to me. It is almost as if they believe that if they say blessed and highly favored long enough it will eventually come true. My pastor here in Colorado calls this Blab It and Grab It. God love him. Did you know that the Lord actually wants us to be successful and prosperous? How can we possibly convey the image of being blessed and highly favored if we present ourselves as cursed and forgotten? What Jesus does not want is that we should become puffed-up and arrogant due to the blessings He has given us. There is a fine line between being humble before the Lord and what I call poor pride. 46

I grew up in a fairly wellto-do family and had never really been exposed to people from poorer backgrounds till I went off to college. I soon found out that many people associated being poor with being holy. Well I just could not seem to get the connection. The term Camel through the eye of needle was thrown around a lot. So apparently, according to some of my classmates at college, rich people did not go to heaven. Well, I had put up with this poor pride for almost an entire school year when I finally struck back. I was in my sociology class with one of these poor pride advocates. We happened to be discussing the struggle between different socio-economic groups when this girl shared with the class, The reason rich people are so mean is because they are unhappy due to the fact that they have take care of all their money. Which I promptly replied as I turned to stare her down, Do I look unhappy to you? My professor was speechless. Which I can tell you was a first for him. Strike one for JAPS (Jewish American Princesses) everywhere. The reason that I shared this story with you was to illustrate a common misconception among Christians. In order to be truly holy in the sight of God we must be poor. Many people read the Beatitudes and believe that is a description of a Christians physical existence on the earth. When in reality it is how are we are to conduct our spiritual life. It is the attitude towards Christ and the Gospel which we carry in our hearts that will determine how blessed and highly favored we will become. 47

We must constantly strive to always give our best in every endeavor we pursue. For God gave us the greatest of gifts, Jesus. If Christians would truly walked in the teachings of the Beatitudes, while, sharing the blessings we have received from our Heavenly Father. The world would truly see that we are a blessed and highly favored people.

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Chapter 10 Why cant these Spirit Filled people just be normal? Did you know that God has a sense of humor? The problem is that sometimes I dont always get the joke. I really believe that He takes great pleasure in watching me scratch and shake my head when I get around people who are Drunk in the Spirit. It is the Lords way of saying Loosen Up, Helen. Yes, I am wound up way too tight. I have asked the Lord at least 10,000 times. Why cant these Spirit Filled people just be normal? And I always get the same answer. It is all about grace. Personally, I dont particularly like it when the Lord wants to give me a lesson on extending grace to others. Why cant people just behave and not act like a bunch of meshuganahs? I am forever telling people Do not let a few Christians keep you away from Christ. Christians are just humans that follow Jesus Christ. The key word in that sentence is humans, which means they will mess up just like everyone else. But we as Christians should be aware that we are held to a higher standard. We have been extended grace through Christ and we must do the same to not only fellow believers but even non-believers that would love to see us fall.

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Most people who fear the baptism of the Holy Spirit do not want certain spiritual phenomenon to happen to them. These include: Speaking in tongues Being Slain in the Spirit Being Overwhelmed with Holy Laughter Being Drunk in the Spirit. This is not a complete list but these are the main culprits that instill fear into many Christians hearts. Did you notice that in order for any of these events to occur, you have to surrender yourself to the will of the Lord and His gift of the Holy Spirit? Bet you did not think of that. I am not saying that if you surrender your life to Jesus that you will automatically begin to move in the spirit whether you want to or not. The Lord does not work that way. He will never force you to do anything you truly fear. But you do need to know that the possibility to move in the spirit is there. You may choose not to move in the spirit a certain way. This does not mean that it is wrong or weird for others to move in the spirit in a way that might freak you out a little bit. As long as people are behaving in a biblical fashion we have to extend them grace. Even if we think they have gone off the deep end. It is the Bible and not denominational doctrine, which is the standard by which we must judge all spiritual practices.

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Our Holy Father granted us the gift of eternal life through the gift of His Son, Jesus. Jesus has sent us a gift in the form of the Holy Spirit to help us live the life Christ would have us lead. Both gifts are free for the taking all you have to do is ask the Lord to come into your life. If you believe Jesus is the Son of God and died for the remission of our sins, then accept the gifts of salvation and of a Spirit- Filled life with the Holy Spirit. And let your own adventure begin. Be blessed and be a blessing.

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