[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2cFZO6lm
The Joshua spirit is when God preserves an older person and then releases him or her to not be afraid of “the giants,” but also to deliver young people from a grasshopper religious mentality as we wander through this world’s wilderness. Like Joshua, my spiritual mother, Rev. Pamela Sheppard LMSW, has hung out in the camp of doubters, unbelievers, blasphemers, hypocrites, pretenders—- people ambitiously striving to “be somebody in Christ” for more than 3 decades. Yet I feel with each of her 7 books, the Joshua spirit has been released. As a natural trailblazer, it is Pastor Pam’s nature to spirit far ahead of the crowd.
Besides being a long distance swimmer as a senior citizen, she was among the first of 7 African-American freshmen of the class of 1961 to attend a prestigious college, SUNY Albany— where she obtained both a bachelors and a master’s degree in social work, my own alma mate for the same 2 degrees. Pastor Pam paved the way for thousands of African- Americans who enroll in SUNY Albany every year.
So for my spiritual mother to have been restrained by the hand of God for a total of 30 years in ministry is in itself a miracle. I could be wrong, but I believe that she has been harnessed and kept “unknown” as one of the Lord’s “aces in a hole.” For when the religious demon has been successful at deceiving most of the very elect, wise warriors like Pastor Pam will be around to “pick up the pieces.” What is so ironic about her life is that as she has gotten older, it always seems to me like her life is just beginning. Her zeal, commitment and her vital ministry to young adults in the midst of so much maturity is phenomenal. The Lord truly seems to be “restoring her youth like the eagles.”
From 1999 to 2002, I attended the church that Pastor Pam founded in 1996. In one of her sermons, Pastor Pam confessed that there was a time when she wondered if she would live to fulfill the many facets of her calling for Christ, particularly since she believes that she has been learning more than she has been serving. Therefore, she has viewed “Faces of the Religious Demon” as her spiritual warfare seed, planted in this earth to bear fruit in the hands of other Christian soldiers, once she herself had departed. Yet I pray that with the release of this book, even if she may desire to go, that Jesus will not let her come home right now. I can personally attest to the fact that as she wrote the final words of a book that was inspired by her casting out the religious demon from ME, she almost could not complete it because each day she received yet another insight. In her own words, the Joshua spirit unfolds:
Pastor Pam at 68 years young declares: “ I am a 68 year old war horse! I realize that the Lord Jesus Christ may need me here, perhaps more than ever. It’s a strange spiritual place to be in. The only reason why I need to be on this earth is to serve Jesus. In that way, I am like Paul. I could go home now, but you guys need me here! The beauty is that I believe that I am on the path leading to overcoming the fear of death, if I have not overcome it already. To lose the fear of death is the ultimate deliverance. The ultimate freedom. The ultimate victory not only over the religious demon but all demons. It is the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
When I was barely 19 years old, the Holy Spirit led me to Pastor Pam to be delivered from a false conversion. Even without a pulpit and a pew, Pastor Pam is STILL “my pastor.” I work for her in ministry and she is also my teacher. Yet most of all, she is my friend. It is like this. She is so bold yet so loving and understanding, that you are either with her or you are against her, and she accepts whatever YOU choose. No one can be lukewarm with the powerful word she brings, whether she is speaking or writing. I recommend that you not only be blessed by “Faces of the Religious Demon,” But ALL of her books. Her latest book is “Be Delivered From Deliverance Ministry. At the top of the Author’s Spotlight page, click here.
You also should consider allowing us at Pam Sheppard Ministries to spiritually mentor or coach you in such a time as this. Call 518-477-5759
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