Misuse of the Tongue: A Serious Matter in the Body of Christ There is a foul, insidious force moving silently throughout the Church—often overlooked, but deeply destructive. It’s not always dressed in rebellion or blatant sin; instead, it wears the disguise of concern, spiritual insight, or “I have something for you to pray about.” But let’s call it what it truly is: religious gossip.

The woman caught in the act of adultery is quite telling, giving us diverse meanings and metaphors. I aspire to take this real account during the Lord’s ministry and apply it to the rumors concerning Bishop TD Jakes.

SIX is the number of man (Revelation 8:13); therefore, we have a chapter in my book The Ministry of God’s Prophet entitled “The Six Signs of the False Prophet.” In this blog, we will deal with the first two signs.

#1 The Spirit of Mammon God is a Spirit (John 4:25). Mammon is depicted as God’s rival, so it, too, is a spirit that has its roots steeped in every imaginable evil. Mentioned in the Bible just four times, the word mammon derives from the Greek word mammonas, a term used to describe greed for money. Mammon collaborates with materialistic craving, unlawful gain and the over-valuing of money to the point of idolatry. Those under the spell of mammon inwardly think, “I don’t need God, I’ve got money.” The Lord gave us clear warning of such an attitude. “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24). You cannot serve two masters. You will either hate one or love the other. Mammon is unrighteous money or money gotten through wrong, unscrupulous means. Let me make one point clear. God is not poor, nor does He endorse poverty. The devil has deceived many saints into thinking that poverty and lack somehow commend us to God, when poverty is actually a curse of the law, from which Christ has redeemed us (Deuteronomy 28, Galatians 3:13). Prosperity is the will of God for every believer (III John 1:2); therefore, NEVER swallow a “poverty pill,” and NEVER allow the world to define prosperity for you: (for example, exotic cars, expensive bling, private jets, vast mansions, and designer clothes.) Prosperity, abundance, and increase must be gained righteously and honestly, or it will fall into the category of mammon. Eternal life, not money, is the central theme of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Once the spirit of mammon attaches itself to a prophet, money will be the driving force behind everything (s) he does and preaches in the ministry of God.

Examples of Modern-Day Mammon 800-telephone solicitation This automated telephone-calling marketing scheme is a popular tool for gathering, not souls unfortunately, but money. Once an organization gets your telephone number, you will receive harassing automated phone calls, sometimes up to several times weekly, with recorded messages begging for money, pushing a product, or advertising a meeting. The calls do not stop. Some calls will say, “Receive a FREE prophetic word from a master prophet” (whatever that is), but first you must give your name, address, phone number and finally, your birth date. (If this were a master prophet, he would be able to tell me these things.) One prophet was hit with a barrage of lawsuits for “robo-evangelism.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_ksJgrG89E

False gifts and miracle products Not all that glitters is God. There are a few televangelists offering bottled holy water and other products such as trinkets, cloths, and sand from Israel, bracelets, anointing oil from Jerusalem, prayer shawls, etc. for a donation. Products sent by mail with claims to heal finances, ailments, family matters or break curses inundate mailboxes. Eventually, the purchasers leave with powerless products, withered wallets, and an avalanche of letters appearing in their mailboxes, begging for more money. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEH_ua68SO8

Plead for seed: “God told me that there are 100 of you listeners who are supposed to give a seed of $300.00. There are 500 of you who are supposed to give a seed of $30.00, and you will hear from me,” said the internet preacher. Manipulating pleas for finances under the command of God should raise red flags. The late and honorable Oral Roberts received a powerful revelation on seed faith based on Genesis 8:22. As with any Biblical principle, many seeking to widen their pockets and increase their bank accounts with the hard-earned cash of the unsuspecting and gullible, sick, desperate, and poor, have exploited the concept. This is no slight against prosperity preachers, per se. Money is good, necessary, and provided by God for a variety of reasons too numerous to mention. It is man’s lust for it that is evil, not money in itself. We applaud those called to bring some much-needed knowledge of financial wealth to the Body of Christ, especially among the poor and marginalized. However, charlatans have

taken the prosperity message and twisted scriptures for their own personal gain, raising multiple thousands, even millions in support of non-existing churches, missions, orphanages, schools, or foreign outreaches. They are offensive. Their motive simply begins and ends with money. Let us take Apostle Paul’s admonition to Timothy to heart: “from such turn away” (II Timothy 3:5). If true prophets do not emerge on the scene and do their job of presenting prophetic integrity and morality to the church and the world, a cesspool of sanctified-soothsayers, Pentecostal psychics, shady charlatans, and worshipping wizards will overtake the Body of Christ and discredit the entire prophetic movement altogether. Let the true prophets come out of sin and compromise and arise!

#2 The Spirit of Lust “And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed” (II Peter 2:2). “Certainly, people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” (Jude 4). Those bound by lusting demons work their way into a victim’s life, gains their confidence, and then invade their homes and bedrooms. When not pursuing unlawful sexual pleasure, they seduce congregations and then reduce them into unquestionable submission, while seizing more and more of their personal lives through mind control and the twisting of scriptures. They do this in the name of ministry, with the claim of God’s anointing and a divine commission from God. Peter says two things about them: 1) the eye gate is full of adultery (lust) 2) they will preach a message of deliverance from the very sin that they themselves are ensnared in and, in many cases, condemn others for the very filthy fountain that they themselves drink from.

Upon conversion, the first two areas that the Holy Spirit works on are the tongue and the sexuality of every believer. Speaking right things brings the kingdom of God here on earth, but living right brings us into the kingdom of heaven. A false prophet will not have a moral grip on his life because the spirit of uncontrollable lust binds him. Peter says that their eyes are full of adultery. When a glass is full of water, you can add nothing to it. In the false prophet, burning lust reaches its apex—they can hardly wait to get out of the pulpit and

jump into bed with an equally lustful partner. The Holy Spirit is there patiently waiting for them to navigate back to the holiness of God through not only a renewed mind, but a-made-up-mind as well. Daily crucifying the flesh is the responsibility of every believer, but because the relationship with the divine keeping agent (the Holy Spirit) is defunct, the false prophet revolves inside a vortex of burning lust, from which there is no deliverance. With pornography as a daily diet, the sexual appetite has turned them into molesting monsters with many, tragically enough, carrying spirits of pedophilia (child molesters).

To order your copy of “The Ministry of God’s Prophet” click the link below and listen to two chapters in the audio version on YouTube.

https://www.amazon.com/Ministry-Gods-Prophet-Scriptural-Prophetic/dp/1974022110

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4CRVfTB2SE&t=16s

GOD blessed me to be born to an amazing mother who loved my siblings and me unconditionally, and I’m blessed to have been nurtured by some amazing church mothers as well.