The Holy Ghost Said!
That's Not What I Have For You
After I gave up pastoring the Baptist church, we started going to an Assembly of God church. The church was building a new sanctuary and seeing a wonderful move of God. We attended there for about six months and I began praying about joining the Assemblies as a minister. I studied their requirements for ministers and there were two rules that bothered me. If I was licensed as a minister in that denomination, then I had to agree to the rules that governed their ministers, and I couldn't do that with a clear conscience. One of the articles stated that their ministers were not allowed to preach in other denominational churches and ministers of other denominations were not allowed to preach in Assembly of God churches. That rule is definitely contrary to God's word and will. The other rule that wasn't of God was that no one who has been divorced and remarried could be a licensed minister. (Note: this rule has been changed to allow some flexibility in this area since that time.)
I don't believe in signing my name to something that I don't agree to, just to get accepted. As I was thinking on this one day and asking God what I should do about it, the Holy Spirit said, "You can join them if you want, but that's not what I have for you." He was letting me know that any affiliation with that church was going be temporary and that I wouldn't be ministering in the Assemblies of God.
Always keep your vows, even to your own hurt, and don't sign up to anything that you know is a lie. God will bless you in the process. We don't need to compromise the truth, no matter how good the intent. Always cherish and keep a clear conscience. I can worship with people and keep my mouth shut instead of trying to correct their every error, but if ask I must declare the truth. The truth will stand even when all else fails.
Soon after this I had an appointment to meet with a Church of the Brethren superintendent about pastoring one of their churches. The Holy Spirit let me know that I was not to take that church. The superintendent was quite annoyed when I told him that there was no use in discussing it any further since I had already heard from God. It wasn't long until God made it clear that he wanted me to attend Rhema Bible Training Center. This was a big step, because it meant giving up my job with NASA and moving to another state. My wife wasn't sure that it was God's will for me to go to Rhema, but I wanted agreement between us before taking such a big step. I had to send her to our wood lot one day and tell her not to come back until she had heard from God. She was back in about an hour saying, "Okay, it is God's will for us to go." I don't know if she really heard from God that day or just decided to trust me. We went and enjoyed two of the greatest years of our lives.