There was once a rumor going around that the staff of our church was trying to turn us all into Satan worshipers because they used incense in one particular service!  It would be funny if it wasn’t so sad.  I’ve often wondered if rumors like that start out by people deliberately lying or by people who are idly speculating, which turns into “stated fact”.

Thank you Todd for Posting this. This has really helped me to get into focus and realize that satan is the father of lies and he is the biggest liar there is. This is something I have struggled with in the past is rumors about me. It seems I start out doing well in handling them, then all at once it is like Job, everything starts piling up all at once.

But here lately it seems that I am either growing in Christ or just getting cold and cyncical. But I am like, “Talk to the Hand.”, “Don’t get in my grill because I just don’t care about your 2 bit opinion,” or “Whatever”. Like Perry said rumors are stupid and the people who start them are very unlearned and uneducated as well.”

As a matter of fact: I am getting ready to start a study on the ENEMY this week. It seems I have been studying about Jesus His Love for us and everything else in between. But as I look back on it I can see where there has been very little taught to me about the enemy. This thought came to me because of where I was in the Army. We always study about our ENEMIES more than we did anything else.

I believe we as a church have failed to tell people about this to our people and that is why people struggle with rumors about them more than anything.

I close by saying this. While I was in Korea in 93-94. The Lord began too use me in a mighty way.People who had quit going to church started back, people who where not saved accepted and so on. I spent a lot of my time at the Chapel studying, watching TBN Ministers preach and so forth.

There was a girl who was working with the Chaplain there. She was the wife of a Soldier. Before any of us knew it. They brought accusations against me that we where committing adultery. I laughed at their lies. No one else did. Come to find out the reason they said that was because they themselves where married, went to church every Sunday, and they where down town with the ladies of the evening. They had all of us under survellince and found out they had lied on me.

[Whenever a person in the church would talk to me and say something that sounded like gossip or a rumor, I would tell them that what they were saying was not edifying.]
Good tip, Ed!

[One thing you need to understand is that there will always be stupid people in the world! (That’s right--I said stupid--I meant it...anyone who spreads rumors or tells what they have heard and begins to tear apart the character of a particular person OR particular group of people is a stupid person!) And you can’t allow the enemy to use them to tear you down.

I don’t have time to battle rumors...and neither do you! Don’t let things that people say about you steal your joy. If you are doing something right then others WILL say things that are untrue...deal with it...and get over it...and let Christ shine through you!]

Ouch and I’ve been accussed of not being edifying.

If you don’t “have time to battle rumors” why bother writing the note and calling people stupid.

Why not go directly to the source as the Bible says and speak of their offense with them?  Making it public like you are only magnifies the issue not only in them but in yourself.

It is sad when mere lies spread to artificially take down a ministry.  It is also sad when the truth is spread around and people ignore it.

I wonder, does Phelps consider those spreading rumors about him ‘stupid’ as well?

Acts 2:12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”
13Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.“