Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Don't Get Caught: Overcome Offense and Strife
    Don't Get Caught: Overcome Offense and Strife
    Don't Get Caught: Overcome Offense and Strife
    Ebook124 pages2 hours

    Don't Get Caught: Overcome Offense and Strife

    By John C. Fenn

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    We live in a world of victim mentality and a culture of offense, with many people taking offense and getting in strife with anyone who has a different opinion from theirs. Additionally, it often seems the church is ground zero for offense and strife, some even splitting over silly things like the color of the new sanctuary carpet or what decorations to put on the platform.

    How do we keep our hearts right with the Lord while living in a world surrounded by people in offense and strife? If we’ve been caught up in offense and strife, how do we pull ourselves out of that and learn to walk in love? How do we deal with unfairness and injustice? This book provides the understanding of how offense and strife works, teaching the reader about the traps of the enemy and how to avoid getting caught!

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJohn C. Fenn
    Release dateApr 21, 2016
    ISBN9781310302862
    Don't Get Caught: Overcome Offense and Strife
    Author

    John C. Fenn

    John and Barbara Fenn were born in Kokomo, Indiana and grew up just a few miles from each other. They attended the same kindergarten, went to many of the same neighborhood birthday parties growing up, and had mutual friends. Barb even attended John's confirmation in the Episcopal Church when they were twelve years old. They began dating as teenagers and were born again together and baptized with the Holy Spirit at age sixteen. Each attended Indiana University after graduating high school and were then married in 1978. In early 2002 John and Barb founded the Church Without Walls International of Tulsa (CWOWI), a house church network, emphasizing relationship-based Christianity. The seeds of CWOWI were planted in 1992 during a time of prayer. The Lord Jesus appeared to John in a visitation and shared some of what He would be doing in the future. Part of the Lord's plan was an exodus from many of the "para-church" organizations that were raised up after the Charismatic renewal of the 1960s and 70s. This would produce a movement of more "para-church" organizations, home prayer meetings, and also home-based churches. On November 4, 2001, during an evening church meeting in Edmonton, Alberta, Jesus appeared again to John. As both John and the host pastor fell to their knees, Jesus laid hands on John and told him to start a home church network "based on my Word and the things you've learned through the people I've brought across your path this year." The Lord said He wanted it to be called The Church Without Walls International. The next month, CWOWI began meeting in the Fenn home, and is growing and gaining affiliate house churches as relationships develop. Known for teaching with anointing and by revelation and flowing with the gifts of the spirit, his heart's desire is to make known the ways of the Father God. Church Without Walls International (CWOWI) is dedicated to making disciples of Jesus Christ through the establishment of a network of related house churches around the world.

    Read more from John C. Fenn

    Related to Don't Get Caught

    Related ebooks

    Christianity For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      What Your SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS Say To Others About Jesus

      Oct 30, 2020

      Might I ask you today, kindly but rather directly, how well behaved are you on social media? What are your posts telling others about this Jesus in whom you profess to believe? Yikes! Uncomfortable questions, but they’re the right ones to be asking.

      2 min read

    • Article

      A Testimony of God’s Faithfulness

      Aug 27, 2021

      My testimony is shrouded in abandonment, pain, and rejection. This is a shortened version of the events that have taken place in my life… Right from the very beginning, my father walked out of the hospital on the night that I was born. He told my mom

      3 min read

    • Article

      7 Quirky ‘Doctrines’ DEBUNKED

      Oct 28, 2022

      Jesus said that the truth sets us free. But the opposite is also true: Lies put us in bondage—even if the lies are spoken from a pulpit by a sincere minister or a Christian celebrity. In my international travels, I’ve sat in countless meetings and he

      3 min read

    • Article

      Uninterrupted Employment

      Oct 16, 2019

      Sometimes the prospects for finding a job can look bleak. But under God’s guidance we can discover, nurture, and express our God-given talents in ways that benefit others as well as ourselves.

      3 min read

    • Article

      Ilse Kleyn Prophetic Artist

      Jun 24, 2019

      Ilse Kleyn Prophetic Artist
      7 min read

    • Article

      Check Your Heart

      Sep 23, 2022

      How would you react if I told you that I had a heart condition? You would probably feel sorry for me. But the truth is, I do have a heart condition… and so do you! The older I grow, the more I realise the value of self-examination and reflection. As

      2 min read

    • Article

      This Comedian Says Words Often Fail During Tragedy. And That's OK

      Oct 1, 2023

      Rob Delaney found out his youngest son Henry had brain cancer. This is a story about the saddest of places life can take you, but it's also about the biggest of loves and how to scrape up bits of joy.

      8 min read

    • Article

      Max Lucado

      May 28, 2021

      Max Lucado
      2 min read

    • Article

      Full Disclosure

      Apr 24, 2020

      Full Disclosure
      2 min read

    • Article

      SPIRITUAL WEAPONS OF WARFARE Part ll

      Mar 16, 2020

      To be subject to the wiles of the enemy means to be deceived. The Hebrew word for wiles is nekel. It basically refers to five things that often happen to us. The first, as discussed in the previous article, is treachery – betrayal of trust, behaviour

      3 min read

    • Article

      Letters To The Editor

      Oct 30, 2020

      It’s such a relief to read a magazine that the whole family can enjoy. May God continue bless you all. Shirley Hoshe What a joy to open the magazine and see all the beautiful organs of the world. Wow! They are true masterpieces. I am sure that each

      3 min read

    • Article

      A Chat With Ashley Simpo

      Mar 3, 2022

      A Chat With Ashley Simpo
      8 min read

    • Article

      Hot Young Widows Club

      Jun 3, 2020

      Hot Young Widows Club
      8 min read

    • Article

      Man On Fire

      Nov 19, 2020

      Man On Fire
      4 min read

    • Article

      Scars Of Sexuality

      Apr 22, 2021

      When we think of psychological trauma, we tend to think of huge life events that have been witnessed or experienced, leading, at worst, to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Although others might not experience PTSD, they may present with residua

      2 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Don't Get Caught

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Don't Get Caught - John C. Fenn

      Don’t Get Caught

      Overcome Offense and Strife

      Copyright 2016 John C. Fenn

      Published by Docs2eBooks at Smashwords

      Cover Design by Melanie Smith

      Unless indicated, quoted Scripture is taken from The King James Bible.

      Because of the dynamic nature of the internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and have become invalid.

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only and may not be re-sold or given away. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your enjoyment only, then please return to Smashwords.com or your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Table of Contents

      Introduction

      Chapter 1

      Chapter 2

      Chapter 3

      Chapter 4

      Chapter 5

      Chapter 6

      Chapter 7

      Chapter 8

      Chapter 9

      Chapter 10

      Chapter 11

      Chapter 12

      Chapter 13

      Conclusion

      About the Author

      Other Books by Author

      Connect with Author

      Introduction

      Offense is something that is internalized. Strife is of the heart, but is the outward manifestation of division and envy, which can also include offense. That is why I have included offense and strife together in this book. Your understanding of offense would not be irreparably harmed had I not included strife, but they are related to one another.

      We live in a world of victim mentality with so many people taking offense. Even the church seems to be filled with people who take offense at the smallest things. In my email inboxes I receive messages from people who are offended with things I say in Weekly Thoughts. Their complaints range from people thinking that women should be veiled and quiet to divorced people who are believing God to break up their ex’s second marriage and bring that spouse back to them and on to end time things.

      My online resume online shows that I worked for Jim Bakker and the PTL Club in 1978–79, attended Rhema in 1979–80 and worked for Billy Joe Daugherty and Peter Wagner. People get offended at one thing or another because of that resume. Being in ministry is unique in that aspect where people look at your resume and make judgments against you based on your life experience.

      If they applied for a job somewhere and listed that they worked for AT&T or Disney, people would say oh, those are good companies and completely dismiss the fact that they are pro-homosexual, pro-choice and all this stuff. But, let someone say I was with this church or that pastor or worked for So’nSo for a year and they immediately write you off. Part of that is offense and this book is about why people do that.

      When my wife and I were talking about offense she went right to the fact that a person in ministry will have the sins of others laid at your feet. You are automatically guilty because of someone’s offense or hurt at some previous church or some previous ministry and automatically incur the guilt, wrath and offense they carried. And, people can carry these things for five, ten or twenty years. It is just amazing.

      So, offense is internal and strife is an external manifestation of that; although strife is linked with envy. The first half of this book deals with offense and the second with strife.

      —John Fenn—

      CHAPTER ONE

      Offense: What Is It?

      No doubt you have been the victim of offense or maybe you know someone who takes offense…or, perhaps you yourself struggle with offense. Jesus said there are offenses in this world but woe to those by whom offense comes. The word strife in the New Testament is sometimes translated as offense, but the word offense is never translated as strife. The most common Greek word for offense is the word skándalon, which is where we get the word scandal.

      But, here is the important part: the word offense or skándalon means the part of a trap where the bait is set. It is not the trap itself. At our house we had a stray cat that kept sitting on our furniture outside. We have a large deck out the back door, but just a small area in which to sit. My wife has chairs out there with cushions on them. This cat would get on the cushions and leave all sorts of cat hair. Since it was a stray, I got a live trap, put an opened can of tuna fish and caught the cat. Now, the trap is not the skándalon. But the part where I set the tuna fish, that little arm where the cat puts pressure so the trap is sprung, or the place where the bait is set is what skándalon or offense is in the New Testament.

      We could also think of it as the part in an old fashioned mouse trap where you put the cheese or peanut butter. We catch our mice with peanut butter. We wrap the peanut butter with some thread rather loosely so that the thread is in the peanut butter. We do this because we have had some smart mice who know how to lick the peanut butter right off the skándalon, right off the part of the trap where the bait is set. So we wrap it with some thread, about three or four turns and when their teeth get caught in it they spring the trap! So skándalon is the part of the trap where the bait is attached.

      The bait lures the cat or the mouse into the trap. We look for something appealing that will draw them into the trap. That is what offense is all about. It looks good, it smells good, and it is appealing, I need to take this. In other words, people will think to themselves I am offended but they don’t realize that offense is just the bait to get you into the trap.

      The second word used to describe offense is proskomma. It is less common and is only used a few times. It means to strike your foot; it is also translated as stumbling block. But by far, the main word used for offense is skándalon.

      Now, what is the trap all about? The common scripture that I use in this book for both offense and strife revolves around 2 Timothy 2:22–23 where Paul gives instruction to Timothy. He tells them to flee youthful lusts, but follow after righteousness, faith, love, peace, with those that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. But foolish and ignorant questions avoid, knowing that they do stir up strife…or they arouse controversy. But it is, literally, that they stir up strife.

      And in Verse 24 he says, and the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient…strife and offense are clearly related and in Verse 23 he says foolish and stupid questions avoid them knowing that they stir up strife. Much of offense has to do with questions. The root of offense is when someone has an experience that has caused them to form an opinion whether that experience is just book knowledge or is a bad thing that they have experienced in life or in church. The offense occurs when someone challenges that opinion. If they don’t want to be challenged, they take offense. That challenge to one’s opinion is the part of the trap where the bait is set. It is alluring, it is tempting to be in strife, to get offended at someone who believes or thinks differently than you. Isn’t that the case? It is easy to get offended.

      I was in Mexico once to minister in a little church. It was an Assembly of God Church and down there tradition reigns supreme. I was sitting in the church before the service when a woman came in and sat down. I knew a little bit of Spanish, so I began conversing with her. I sat in the pew in front of her and we talked back and forth. Well, some other women came and began wagging their finger and tsk tsking at me. I thought, what in the world is going on? Well, I had sat on the women’s side. In that church, the women sat on one side and the men on the other. And I had inadvertently violated this cultural, religious custom when I sat on the women’s side to talk to this woman.

      This woman didn’t say anything to me but the others who filed into the church for the service took offense at it. That night we had a nice service. The Lord gave me some words, but, it wasn’t particularly heavily anointed as I recall and I wonder to this day if their opinion of me was injured and their ability to receive from the Lord hindered because they had seen me sit on the wrong side of the church (before I switched over to the men’s side and continued my conversation with this woman).

      That is what offense does. It lures you in. Now, let’s say

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1