“Doctrine” is a belief (or system of beliefs) accepted as authoritative by some group or school. There is nothing wrong with having or submitting to a doctrine, strong belief, or insight. Our Heavenly Father brought His doctrine (which happens to be reality) for the purpose of establishing direction for us to walk out our lives on earth. The problem begins when a group’s doctrine veers away from the direction of its intent.
Our Heavenly Father’s doctrine is precise. If you are one degree off you become subject to judgment and discipline, not because Our Heavenly Father is just waiting for you to screw up, but to mature you so that you can walk in the fullness of your calling. If an airplane takes off in New York heading for LA and its compass is off one degree, it will not arrive in LA. The same is true in our progression towards maturity.
Over the last 38 years, I have observed countless examples of people at various levels of revelation. I became as a sponge as I sought the revelations they had been given by Our Heavenly Father. For those I knew, I became the man of “20 questions”. A man named Dan Muse was like a mentor to a group of us. He would patiently answer our questions over and over. I look back now and appreciate the Love he had for us, it was a true labor of Love to spend the countless hours answering questions posed by a group of immature Christians. My younger years were spent in a “Passover” type church dwelling on the fundamentals. As a young married man, I progressed to the “Pentecost” church and continued to gain much revelation. In 1996, Our Heavenly Father ushered me into the “Tabernacles” revelation where I have since continued receiving revelation from Him rather than a pastor.
Each church or group strongly adhered to their doctrine. One consistent thread among them was the view that “you are either with us or against us”. It is the Doctrine of Division with the source being one of judgment. Each group assumes that their revelation is “THE” revelation and thus everyone else’s revelation is substandard thus promoting a view of elitism. The ego takes over with great subtlety and creates the two tier system: us vs. everyone else. Since our group has the revelation, Our Heavenly Father must have selected us to run the Kingdom. Yes, Our Heavenly Father does give revelation to us so that we can exert righteous power and authority on HIS behalf, not ours. This subtle attitude of division is designed to create condemnation on those that depart so that the people remaining in the group will think twice before challenging the status quo and taking on a period of isolation which can be emotionally tough at times. Jesus warned us that we must be careful about our assumed position in the Kingdom:
Luke 18:14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified [rather] than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
Our Heavenly Father’s Doctrine includes all mankind, not just a few. HE provides a means for every man, woman, and child to be a part of HIS Kingdom. The attitude of isolation has prevailed in all groups who claim to have THE revelation. What is the answer? Love! Until the revelation of Love comes forth, this insidious and subtle attitude of division will continue to take no prisoners. Until your revelation can include all mankind and know that Love is the true revelation that provides the foundation for all relationships, you will be just another stop in the wilderness as those who seek to enter in will move on and leave you to build your house in the wrong location.
We all have different gifts and callings. Rather than embrace the diversity and accept that one person’s revelation may help the group proceed toward the next move of Our Heavenly Father, the group tends to cut off the revelation in order to keep its doctrine intact. The phrase “be strong and of good courage” takes on a personal meaning when you know that you must proceed to the next revelation. You may be rejected of men just as Jesus was.
Martin Paulette was a prophet of GOD and lived in Minneapolis. I met him in 1995. He was known for the prolific visions that Our Heavenly Father would give him. Our Heavenly Father had given him several visions about me over a period of a few years. One particular vision applies here and is as follows: I was walking down the road with a group of others and we came to a fork in the road. One path would take us to the bright lights of the city. You could hear people in that direction. Many took that road but I was led to take the less traveled road. Martin asked THE LORD, “Is Bob on the right road?” “Yes”, answered THE LORD. I continued on the road and it became a path. Once again Martin asked THE LORD, “Is Bob on the right path?” “Yes”, answered THE LORD. The path became narrower and less people were in the group. Now we walked single file. Finally, the path could not be detected because there were so few who had walked this path. It finally became as a field. Again Martin asked THE LORD, “Is Bob on the right path?” “Yes”, answered THE LORD. At the time I had no revelation of the vision but simply filed it away as I had done so with other visions Martin had given me until the appointed time for confirmation.
At each revelation, I hoped to arrive at the Promised Land only to find it was another stop along the way. The Children of Israel moved 41 times in the wilderness with the 42nd move being the final move into the Promised Land. They were warned not to build a permanent dwelling while in the wilderness. There was much revelation to learn and there was much doctrine to unlearn. They had lived under the doctrine of “bondage” for generations and needed to be delivered from that doctrine. It took some time and those who could not release the old doctrine died in the wilderness.
I am convinced that the revelation of Love is the next move of The Holy Spirit and this will be a doctrine-busting move. The isolationist attitude of the current doctrines will give way to the inclusiveness of the Kingdom of GOD. You can either enter in early or late, either way, this move is coming!