Apostle A. L. Albury

Kingdom Encounter Ministries International-(KEMI)

In Matthew 16:6 Jesus told the disciples to, "Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees." Leaven in this regard represents that which seeks to oppose, replace and to operate as truth while concealing its true nature, motive and source of power. In many cases we relate this only to the doctrines of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees, however it goes deeper. Jesus is revealing to us that we need to pay attention to the spiritual tactics that the enemy will use to infiltrate, infect and immobilize the Church. He said be aware of the leaven. Such a satanic and demonic spiritual operation is called "spiritualism" and those who practice it are called spiritist or false prophets. What is this satanic assignment? It is a counterfeit anointing and that seeks to produce a counterfeit move of the Spirit of God. Spiritualism always seeks to manifest wherever the Spirit of truth is present or should be present. Therefore, Churches that are moving in the present-day truth of God's Kingdom, which have laid down the form of godliness, embraced the power of God and are truly seeking truth and righteousness will see the manifestations of spiritualism among them. The devil hates truth because it sets the hearts of men free. I earnestly pray for the day when we will see the true men and women of God move beyond religious tribalism and competitive cannibalism and begin to focus on the operations of ho diablos (the devil), the arch enemy of God and the true Church of the Lord Jesus the Christ. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Amazingly while so many in the Church are preoccupied with the ungodly spirit of competition, jealousy, quarrelling and criticism one against the other, spiritualism has entered our Churches and we are too busy fault-finding, being judgmental, pointing fingers and criticizing that we cannot discern that the Church is under attack and souls are dying and going to hell while bearing titles and holding positions in our churches! Woe be unto you shepherds...!

Let's examine spiritualism further and in light of prophetic operations in the Church! Firstly, not because something sounds spiritual means that it is from God. Secondly, not because someone appears to be spiritual, dress or speak in a religious manner means that they are of God. The Word says that by their fruits you shall know them. II Corinthians 11:14, tells us that "... for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light." In our time, right in some of our own neighbourhoods we are witnessing the manifestation of spiritualism. It is idolatrous and iniquitous at its very source. Sadly it is thriving because most church-goers have itching ears for prophetic utterances. This demand for prophetic utterance is causing false prophets to arise as they see this as fertile ground for prophetic financial prostitution. As a result, we see many who are now calling themselves prophets, many of whom have embryonic giftings of the Lord being drawn by perverted motives entering into spiritualism and prophetic divination. They seek out people who they know will go from place to place, night after night, from prophet to prophet just to seek and hear a word. They will give them "a" word and rarely teach them "the WORD." As a result, persons never enter into true deliverance through the renewal of their minds or enter into spiritual transformation. It is among this group that spiritist (false prophets) and spiritualism is produced and reproduced. They begin to say, "the Lord said, or "I saw this in the spirit," or "I heard God telling me to tell you," None of this mean that it is the Spirit of God. There are many spirits that could do this. As we move deeper into this apostolic and prophetic reformation age, it is going to be all the more important for the Church to be able to understand the difference be-tween the authentic flowing of the Holy Spirit and the operations of spiritualism lest we be deceived.

Spiritualism is deeply rooted and steeped in religious traditions, religious rituals and religious cultures. It is upon this foundation that spiritualism emerges in the hearts of those who seek not the truth of God but only to be seen of men. They seek after and value spiritual gifts with little or no regards for the importance of the fruits of the Spirit in one's life. Don't become impressed by the operations of spiritual gifts, look for the fruits they bear (Galatians 5:22)! Spiritualism is a satanic manifestation that seeks to counterfeit the giftings of the Holy Spirit and desires to operate in our churches. This is a satanic structure or stronghold in many religious bodies. Where present it produces religious fortune tellers, dream interpreters and false prophetic operations. These individuals are not led by the Spirit of God, they are aided (assisted, ministered to, sustained by and supported by) familiar spirits of the dark realm. They are bogus, phony imitations positioned to the lead God's people astray with their false prophetic operations. We must confront these iniquitous and idolatrous works of darkness and break their powers from operating within the true Church of the Lord Jesus Christ if we want to see signs, wonders, miracles and revival. True prophecy should edify, exhort and comfort the hearer. "But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to (1) edification, and (2) exhortation, and (3) comfort." I Corinthians 14:3. This scripture is critical to understanding prophetic operations and true prophetic utterances. Prophecy never causes confusion, uncertainty, anxiety or lack of self-confidence. Prophecy produces a knowing in your heart and should never leave you confused, baffled and wondering. If it doesn't then it is not prophecy this is prophetic divination. As we come closer to the coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, there will be an increase in spiritualism within our churches, however Jesus told us to be aware. I want to leave the following prophetic tools to help you discern the presence of spiritualism and increase your awareness that is much needed in this, the day we live:

1. They seek to function in ministry with no accountability to God's established authority

The first sign is they will try to isolate you from the rest of the body to move you from under authority. They always want to minister to you privately in parking lots, in bathrooms, out in the hallways in hotel rooms; a favourite place for them is on the beach, late nights or early hours of the morning usually before sunrise. They always carry their own anointing oil which oftentimes when placed upon individuals they become nauseous or gain instant head-aches. They believe heavily in laying hands upon your head or pressing into your stomach regions with great force and strength. They convince you that their anointing is "too heavy or too deep," for the people in the church where they go and so they try to justify why their Pastor doesn't release them in the house in order to minister to you privately. They target persons by looking for those who appear to be hurting often pulling in their victim by sowing money and other gifts of need into their lives to gain trust. Their goal is to minister and prophesy to them in private places. This ultimately leads persons into spiritual states of confusion and even prophetic divination if not careful. II Peter 2:1 "But there were false pro-phets also among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will privately bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction."

2. They demonstrate critical, negative and harmful behaviour speaking lies against those who stand for and preach the truth

Natural manifestations that you can observe when this malignant mimicking spirit is operating in churches are: They become critical with others and portray self-righteousness by declaring themselves holy and being prideful about never needing spiritual rebuke or correction. They are negative against authority and hate supporting the work of God unless they can be positioned to be seen of men or given prestigious titles. They have a hard time speaking the truth and will sabotage genuine relationships with lies out of envy and jealousy. In some religious bodies they dress like one another or when operating solo, they choose their own colours and have their garments tailor made which they wear when on specific demonic assignments. In other cases they dress alike and move as a Hollywood style religious entourage notably to be seen and recognized of men. They go so far as to wear their hair the same way and in displaying rehearsed mannerisms of the one they mimic. It gets worse as they practice even the very accents to sound the same. They are never original in their knowledge or anointing they simply mimic those that are genuinely operating the true anointing and gifts of God. By far though, if you carefully examine their lives they will have an undeniable past of failed, strained and damaged relationships and a sea of people who have been hurt by their operations. "And a great number will go with them in their evil ways, through whom the true way will have a bad name." Some people never recover from this hurt and often it is the operations of spiritists who give the church a bad name.

3. They become Prophetic Merchandisers

II Peter 2:3 "And in their desire for profit they will come to you with (feigned well-tuned) words of deceit, like traders doing business in souls: whose punishment has been ready for a long time and their destruction is watching for them." Saints be careful with well-tuned, mind-boggling and embellished stories. The heartbeat of those operating in spiritualism is that they are masters of manipulation, control, possessiveness and dominance. They merchandise souls for money. They use smooth prophetic utterances to command financial sums that are based upon the prophetic words given. This is known as prophetic control; it is iniquitous and is a work of darkness. Sadly this is seen operating in Churches right here and leaders themselves are blind often opening the doors of their Churches to these agents of darkness who present themselves as ambassadors of light. There is no truth and no love in them for God's people! Their prophecies are always connected to false motives, materialism, desire for mammon, to be seen of men, or to boast in numbers of followers. They have no regard towards personal righteousness, sanctification or holiness in the lives of the people who follow them. It's all about the numbers, the amount of the offering to finance their greed. Friends be aware of the leaven, it's here in Grand Bahama! Be aware!

Friends, keep the emails and testimonies coming (kingdomencounter@gmail.com).

Apostle A.L. Albury is Senior Pastor, KEMI Tabernacle #31 Pioneer's Professional Plaza, P.O. Box F-43601, Freeport, Grand Bahama Island. He is considered an apostolic and prophetic teacher and King-dom revivalist. He ministers the Word with surgical precision and walks in demonstration of the power of the Holy Spirit at conferences, pro-phetic healing revival services and miracle crusades. He also serves as Chancellor of the Kingdom Apostolic & Pro-phetic School for Ministry Training. To learn more about Apostle Albury and Kingdom Encounter Ministries, Int'l, Email us at: kingdomencoun-ter@gmail.com.