I have been asked by some who have found my little ministry – Who is “One Pilgrim,” what’s my story, why am I here “now,” sending out video podcast musings; what is my calling, my denomination, my “doctrine,” what denomination have I been ordained under to speak, what authority. Mind you, these questions have not been asked of any mean demeanor, they are honest questions; and so I will strive here to answer them, apologizing beforehand if my opinions on some things appear a bit harsh. I apologize not for the opinion, mind you, but that my demeanor in speaking it out might seem harsh, that is simply my passion; I seek only to enlighten as to who I am and where I stand; and perhaps to warn others who may have been swayed by those who would divide, and thus defeat, the very Ecclesia of God. They will NOT, in the end, succeed, but they have done much damage. My next Muse will be about Denominationalism and Religion; and how in my opinion, they have nearly destroy God’s Church; but today is just the answer to the question: Who am I to be speaking and teaching, God’s Word.
First of all, let me say this overall: NO CHRISTIAN needs a “worldly ordination” from any denomination to speak the WORD of God. The Great Commission was given to EVERY believer by Jesus Himself in (Matt 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-20; and in Acts 1:6-11, and many other places in other words). You are not to keep to yourself the storehouse of knowledge of God, you are to SHARE it, because it is in doing so that God has chosen as the methodology to spread the Gospel. Remember the parable of the Rich Fool from Luke, Chapter 12;16-21:
16Jesus told them a story: “A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. 17He said to himself, ‘What should I do? I don’t have room for all my crops.’ 18Then he said, ‘I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough to store all my wheat and other goods. 19And I’ll sit back and say to myself, “My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!”’
20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?’
21 “Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.”
I tell you, although this parable is most often taught regarding only possessions, it was NOT just about money or goods, it was about the storehouse of “knowledge” too; please don’t “pew sit” and learn and do nothing with it; or even leave church, go home and research, and learn, learn, learn, going deeper with God, but never SHARING. Because when you come before Jesus and He asks: What did you do with Me…with My Gospel; you DON’T want to say “Lord, I held you tightly in my heart.” NO! Remember the other parable, that of the Three Servants in Matt., Chapter 25, verses 14, and I’m gonna read all the way to verse 46, the end of the chapter because it is mightily pertinent! Jesus speaking:
14 “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. 15He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last—dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip.
16 “The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more. 17The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more. 18But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money.
19 “After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money. 20The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, ‘Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.’
21 “The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!
22 “The servant who had received the two bags of silver came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest, and I have earned two more.’
23 “The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’
24 “Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. 25I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.’
26 “But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate, 27why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’
28 “Then he ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver. 29To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. 30Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
31 “But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. 32All the nations/peoples will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. 36I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
37 “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? 39When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
40 “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’
41 “Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons.
42For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. 43I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
44 “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’
45 “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’
46 “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”
So you see, “I,” MUST do what I do, I in my way, and you too, perhaps in a different way, but each of us must work for the Kingdom; the blessings of God only increase to you, when you SHARE them with others. Remember, a closed fist cannot receive anything…only an open hand.
So, hopefully I haven’t gone to far afield to reign this back in to about my ministry, answering my friend’s questions.
Suffice to say, No Denomination, no ordination of man, holds the right to God’s Word. I’m not against how anyone achieved their knowledge, or against anyone else’s Ordination or even Denomination…I think there is ‘something good’ in at least most of them, some much, some sadly slipping into little or none; my point simply being, I neither possess any official ordination, nor do I require one to speak the WORD of God.
Ok, on to more specifically me. I won’t bore you with my life’s story, as it isn’t pertinent here; suffice to say: I am you, just another God-created human being who has received and believed The Gospel, been Baptized into new life in Christ, and have accepted that “The Great Commission” belongs to me to carry out. I’ve had mountaintops and valleys, just like you, just like us all. So…what about my story IS pertinent to where my life is “right now,” and where did this ministry come from? Which includes, I guess, why should you consider listening to me and anything I have to say.
Well, as I have said ‘generally,’ no man needs a “worldly ordination” or denomination to embrace “The Great Commission.” I have no “Denomination,” that is a man-made, not God-made creation, I am simply a “Christian,” a “Christ-follower.” Denominations, as I will address in an upcoming Muse have, in my never to be humble opinion (that’s right, I said never to be humble…it’s “my” opinion, I’m not humble about it, I’ve researched it and it’s where I stand…I stand there ‘with’ an open mind, but I admit, a difficult to change open mind-I’ve done my research, and I’ve walked a few miles in those moccasins), anyway, I am not Denominational. Denominations have almost destroyed God’s Ecclesia, they are a tool of satan; as is “Religion,” another man-coined word not given by God, but used by man to create “rules” God never gave. Man has created, from simple Christianity, a House Divided against itself, and therefore weak and ineffectual. Without the very command of Yeshua Himself that the the Gates of Hell would never prevail against His Ecclesia, the church would have imploded upon itself due to it’s “divisions,” which man likes to call Denominations long ago. But there are TRUE members of God’s Ecclesia in nearly every Christian Denomination, members who LOVE Jesus, who are let down and often led astray, by a “Denomination” that insists on putting GOD in “their” box, saying God only works the way they say…literally picking and choosing what parts of God’s WORD they make RULES from, with which they put their members under the weight of; and then change when it suits them…a BIG rabbit-hole for later…example: “Drag Queen Pastor in the Methodist Church, causing yet another denominational split!”
I know, you’re going “what!,” like I said, I will address that in another Muse…if you want to throw up your lunch, just “Google” Drag Queen Pastor…you’ll find some stories, sadly.
Trying to stay “on track” – As far as what “authority” I speak under: I speak under God’s authority, as ANY believer can (see Matt 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-20; and in Acts 1:6-11, and many other places in other words as stated earlier); I try to share what I have learned from scripture and teachings; if I do hear a word from the Holy Spirit, I speak it. I try to ask questions that I myself need answering,I claim no specific calling, I’m not qualified, nor do I seek to Pastor a church under any denomination; nor do I claim to be a replacement for anyone to attend church…PLEASE – find a good church, support it and work to make it better; if you listen to me, meet in person as well, with a body of true believers in Jesus Christ. I do not serve as an elder or leader in any church currently; although I do serve “in” my home church, and happily so.
My “current” mission came about last year; when my son was hospitalized with a Brain Tumor appeared out of nowhere. Along with others from our church, my wife and I requested Prayer for our son, I sought God’s GRACE, like I never had before.
I found myself in tears before God for my son, who is a Dad with 2 children, one a newborn, and has always been one of the most hard-working and responsible men I’ve known.
Well, God answered our Prayers, and my son was healed PRIOR to any Doctor doing anything except “taking pictures” so they could figure out what they might do, and telling my son to prepare his family because the tumor was in a difficult placebo operate. Turns out it wasn’t difficult for God. Miraculously healed, and symptoms gone, my son is back hard at work and fathering his family, Praise God.
During this veil of tears before the Throne of Grace, and spurred on by God’s Faithfulness to us, I was convicted of my own “lukewarm” Christianity, perhaps less lukewarm than some and more than others, but in MY estimation, and God’s, still lukewarm.
Right there, on my face, in tears, I repented and asked God to do something with my life, such as it was. I was working full-time for the US Govt., sadly a cesspool of worldliness, which I found myself more and more at angst in that environment. It was truly years away from “retirement,” if you “did the numbers to be ‘comfortable,’” for many reasons, mostly outside of my control, I decided to retire.
My wife and I had many discussions about this, and my possible dates of retirement kept moving back earlier and earlier…but still “running the numbers,’ and making faith-less excuses.
While all this was happening, I decided to try doing a YouTube podcast, I was fooling around with it, and not even sure of my overall topic; at the time I was not only a Christian but a “News Junkie,” and could easily post my opinions on matters without much work, many folks do that and make a lot of money. But that wasn’t where God was leading me in my private moments of prayer.
I decided to do a “Bible Study” podcast, sharing God’s WORD; positive affirmations that are Biblically-based, and at times, historical background that more readily explains scripture;Thus making it easier to understand what God says:
Hopefully I touch a few lives, doing my part to reach the world with the Gospel.
So, I started “One Pilgrim’s Musings,” a take-off and “hat-tip” to John Bunyan of the famous Christian book “Pilgrim’s Progress.” I made a couple videos which not many people watched, but hey, you gotta start somewhere. I was still working full time, and didn’t have much time, but I kept at it, adding “One Pilgrim’s Journey” website, again, a project I thought initially I would slowly move into when I eventually retired; and also posting to RUMBLE.com at times instead of YouTube, because YouTube isn’t a very Christian-friendly platform.If you say certain things, they take your channel; but it does reach more people, so I don’t discard it, I want to reach as many as possible.
Doing a few videos and playing with the Website just wasn’t enough, in Prayer, going deeper with God, I found Him asking me where was my Faith? I’m a bit of a ROCK, so it took me a while, I asked “what do you mean, am I not being Faithful Lord.” Well, the answer, was “Yes, but then No.” I didn’t understand. You see, sometimes God MUST purge some things from your life if He is to use you. I’m NOT telling anyone else to do as I have done, every walk with God is individual. Working for the VA was a stumbling block in my walk with God; destroying my peace on an almost daily basis in ways i won’t go into here, let’s just say it’s difficult to serve God with an angry heart and no peace…never mind all the “why’s,” that’s a whole story in and of itself. My Blood pressure wasn’t good, I was angry nearly every day, I didn’t feel the way my job was changing that I was serving or helping any veterans with what I was doing (I worked for the VA), yet there I stayed because I was trusting God with my Son’s Tumor, with my other things; but I wasn’t REALLY trusting Him, with my very life, with my family, with my patient wife, who watched me struggle with this, often giving good advice and telling me the “when’ was up to me, that I had to work that out with God, and I must say, she had, and probably has, a greater Faith, which I am ever Thankful for…I couldn’t do any of this without her trust and belief that GOD has us taken care of already.
I was counting pennies and trusting my worldly skills and the world to care for me. I’m recovering from that and my Faith is growing. I can’t speak for anyone else, but I HAD to leave, to retire now, a few years before “I” felt I was properly prepared, I had to purge what was destroying my peace and my health; and ‘truly” trust the very God who several years ago pushed my spirit to do several things that, just perhaps, He had already planned for this time.
Anyway, here I am, with my beautiful Bride who God has given a ministry with her Grandchildren, taking Big Plunge after Big Plunge, drawing closer every day to My Savior, and sharing whatever I might know and whatever I might hear, about and from Him, with anyone who will listen or read, God will give the increase as He sees fit and as He sees me being Faithful.
Yes, longer than I’d intended, seems it always is, I’m bursting with things to say, often God has to tell me “Rest,” “My Words, My Timing, My Teaching.” For a Christian of many years and Battles, I feel like a newborn.
So…I hope I haven’t alienated anyone who holds to a particular Denomination, I don’t; but I feel all of them were legitimate moves of God with certain strengths, that man took, and with satan’s help, caused division and separation. Jesus wanted followers, not Denominations. Brothers, Sisters, let us be as Jesus wanted and stated in John 17:20-21 when He prayed to the Father:
20 “I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. 21I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.
Well, longer than I had thought it would be, my dearest Brother Ronard Kishombe, and others, I hope I have answered your questions about me and my ministry, and I hope that prayerfully, you will continue to find this simple Man of God worthy of your time. Glory to God!
This is One Pilgrim, wishing you God’s Shalom…I’m OUT…
One Pilgrim's Journey 