Bishop, I apologize for bothering you, but I would like to share what we’ve seen so that we may help others. Regarding what you said yesterday, we have seen this tactic of the devil distorting the vision and removing the fear from people.

When we counsel pastors and assistant that have fallen, they usually say that the reason for their fall was foolish, they were not spiritually well and were weak. And when they feel ashamed, it’s more because they’re exposing their problem in front of us rather than because they sinned against God. There are still those who think that gossip, bad eyes and other similar attitudes are not so serious.

We take the time to show them that it wasn’t just one problem, a foolish thing they did, but, as you said, they turned their backs on God and surrendered to the will of the devil.

The devil has stolen fear so that there is no repentance. They are willing to pay the price for discipline, just like what happens when a prisoner who, meanwhile doesn’t have an encounter with God, suffer in prison; however, this suffering causes no change. Discipline without repentance doesn’t change anything. They will fall again, or if they leave the work of God, they’ll leave the church too, because they do not recognize what they’ve done wrong and against Who they’ve sinned.

This is what the Holy Spirit says about sin, for those who already know what sin is. He shows what really happens, and this is why God hates sin:

Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? Hebrews 10.29

I remembered the African pastor that died and rose again; you wrote about him on your blog a while back. The angel said that if he died that day, he would be in hell because he argued with his wife and didn’t want to forgive her when she asked for forgiveness. This may seem like something insignificant, because he was a pastor that didn’t live in sin, but for that simple sin he would be sent to hell. Like you said, there is no such thing as a small or big sin for God, and only those who fear the Lord will understand this.