Shouting into the Darkness

By Cynthia Butler

If God asked to smell your breath, would it smell like obedience?

You are no better than me, and I'm no better than you.

Tests, trials, bad decisions, and wrong choices can push you into darkness. God's love chases us as Christians. The light of love constantly tells us that we are more than conquerors. We are born again to win. Righ

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishing
• Release date: Sep 18, 2020
• ISBN: 9781647734312

Cynthia Butler

I have served in the ministry for thirty years as a national evangelist and a co-pastor for thirteen years. My home is in Knoxville, Tennessee, which I share with my husband, Bishop Allan Butler Sr. I want to thank my husband and two sons, Keith and Henry. Much love and gratitude goes to my mom, Martha Thompson, along with my sister, Shilia, my brother, Elder Wesley Smith, and my good friend Charlotte Weaver. God's grace be upon you all. Most of all, I thank my Lord God and his Holy Redeemer, Jesus Christ, for new life.

Book preview

1.png

Shouting Into the Darkness

Cynthia Butler

Trilogy Christian Publishers

TUSTIN, CA

Trilogy Christian Publishers

A Wholly Owned Subsidiary of Trinity Broadcasting Network

2442 Michelle Drive

Tustin, CA 92780

Copyright © 2020 by Cynthia Butler

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked (KJV) taken from The Holy Bible, King James Version. Cambridge Edition: 1769.

His Love Chases Me by Frank Denkins is an unpublished poem; authorized use by written permission of author.

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

For information, address Trilogy Christian Publishing

Rights Department, 2442 Michelle Drive, Tustin, Ca 92780.

Trilogy Christian Publishing/ TBN and colophon are trademarks of Trinity Broadcasting Network.

For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Trilogy Christian Publishing.

Manufactured in the United States of America

Trilogy Disclaimer: The views and content expressed in this book are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect the views and doctrine of Trilogy Christian Publishing or the Trinity Broadcasting Network.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

ISBN 978-1-64773-430-5

ISBN 978-1-64773-431-2 (ebook)

Contents

Acknowledgements vii

Introduction xiii

Wake Up 1

His Love Chases Me 25

The Battle is Not Yours 29

Open Gates and Broken Bonds 65

House Divided 77

Mahatma Gandhi 97

Get Going 123

Choices 159

This book is dedicated to honor my Lord, my God, and my Holy Savior Jesus Christ. Also dedicated to my sons, Immanuel and Henry, and to my close friend Rosemary. In loving memory of my dad, Millard L. Weaver, who always pointed me toward the truth of God’s Word.

Acknowledgements

I express my deepest thanks to the following people:

Thank you, Bishop Allan L. Butler, my husband as well as my friend—for your encouragement, love, and support, and for helping me grow into the person I am today—who by the completion of this book has fallen asleep, awaiting the wake-up call of our Lord and Savior. Much love and honor to my mother Martha Thompson and my dad Millard Weaver for introducing me to the Lover of my soul, and for their communion which brought me into this world.

Much love to the stars and beyond for my sons Immanuel K. Thompson and Henry L. Ford Jr., who through the years have always given never-ending devotion, love, and support, always waiting to hold up my arms, should they get weak. They celebrate every milestone of achievement with me. Truly, children are a blessing from the Lord. Thank you to my eldest sister Amanda, aka Mandy, who said to me once as a little girl, I believe you can do anything you want if you put your mind to it. Don’t let anyone tell you what you can’t do! Thank you, Sis! I can’t leave out my brothers: my eldest, Danny Smith, who made sure that as a child, I never lost a fight; and Avery, who always kept an eye on me. Thank you to Elder Wesley Smith, who has been a brother, a friend, and a spiritual ear when I needed it. To my youngest brother Frank Roper, who can always find the words to make me smile in midst of the storm: thank you.

To the ladies of Konai Adelphe: Jacqueline Rhett (dear friend), Lacquicia Blair (sister), Shilia Rogers (sister), Charlotte Weaver (dear friend). It is a joy ministering with mighty women of God in song. Thank you to each and every one who has and continues to influence my life. Hugs and kisses to my biggest cheerleader, Andre Rhett. I have so much love for Mr. Leroy and Margie Lowe for their friendship, fellowship, love, and financial support. I’m so grateful; sometimes thank you doesn’t seem to be enough. To fellow artist and poet Frank Denkins, for allowing me to use his unpublished poem for the inspiration of others in this book. To Sharon Fox, my supervisor—when I asked her what I could do with my time while on family medical leave, she said, Write a book. Thank you to minister Ralph and Gloria Sanders, for their loving support from the first time we met. I thank God for those whom I have met along the way who have inspired, encouraged, uplifted, and walked in fellowship: Bishop TL Glenn and First Lady Glenn of Greater Shiloh PF Church; also Elder Marilyn Jackson, Mama Daisy, and Mother Mason; Overseer Tonya Tucker of St. Joseph House of Prayer; Bishop William Pankey and First Lady Pankey of Praise Temple Holiness Church; with humbleness of heart, thank you for the fellowship, love, and laughter. Also, I sincerely thank each and every one for your prayers and financial support. May the grace of our Father God and the Lord Jesus Christ continually abound upon you until we all come to the knowledge of His holy truth. Continue in prayers one for another in Jesus Christ’s unmatched name. Amen.

2 Corinthians 4:5-6 (NKJV) For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake. For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

"Blessed is the man who walks not

in the counsel of the ungodly,

nor stands in the path of sinners,

nor sits in the seat of the scornful;

But his delight is in the law of the Lord,

and in His law meditates day and night"

(Open Bible, Psalm1:1-2 NKJV, emphasis mine).

Introduction

The first statement I want to make here is why I titled this writing Shouting Into Darkness. After watching a History Channel program on the Dark Ages, it caused me to think. The Dark Ages were called that because of the lack of knowledge and barbarity in England after the fall of the Roman Empire. We know it now as the Middle Ages or the medieval period. There was a time when many farmers could not read or write during this period, much like many places in our own early history. Then, I’ve noticed for years that there seemed to be a silence of the teaching of the true Word of God. For a while there was a rulership of religious tyranny, where you worshiped as you were told to, or suffered a cruel punishment fit for the crime of disobeying the law/rules set forth by the Roman papacy.

Fast forward a few hundred years, and the enemy again entered the church realm. Prosperity preaching and teaching began to flood the Americas. Funny—the only ones whose bank accounts and lifestyles increased were the ones doing the receiving. Marketing of prayer cloths, carpet pieces, olive oil, and anything which could be tagged as Christian carried a price tag. There were healing/deliverance prayer lines with a price tag of $100-500 dollars. Some even staged healings, said to promote others to believe—another tactic used to fleece the sheep of God. Along with this, many scriptures were deleted or changed to meet the modern lifestyle of this day and time.

Left in its wake were people hungry and staggering for truth and the real presence of the Living God. Amos 8:12 (NIV), People will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the Lord, but they will not find it. I watched people run up and down just for a word, yet abide in darkness. For a while I was one of those in the crowd searching for truth, searching for the depth of servitude to the Father of light and life. This is the scripture which turned my life around: Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will harken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart (Jeremiah 29:12-13 KJV). Only when all of the sleeping Christians wake up, the quaking Christians strengthen up, and the smoking Christians get fired up, darkness will have to flee. Many times, I have been asked what has caused me to take the stand that I take. How have you come to speak as boldly as you do? At times I have been told that I speak as a man. I am not really sure what that means. My answer is that God’s Word gives me strength, hope, and power to stand—to cry aloud and spare not. I say this because we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, which testifies to the glorious power of God.

The Azusa Street Revival speaks of the power of the Spirit of God and the Word. The men and women during this time of outpouring of miracles, signs, and wonders did so not because of the glitz or money, not for the fame or fortune, but for the harvest of souls. For more than thirty years, masses of people received physical healings, and people were raised from the dead. There were a plethora of people healed from all manner of diseases. Crooked limbs straightened; the deaf were hearing; people threw away crutches/wheelchairs; and the blind became seeing. When the prayer warriors prayed, the building filled with smoke. They kneeled in prayer intensely for souls to be saved, set free, and delivered. It didn’t matter where they were—under a tent with sawdust on the ground or in a barn or an abandoned building with planks and paint cans for seats. These are the people I look to and wonder: between then and now, what happened? No, they were not perfect, but they followed after Christ. Some were cast into jail, some were beaten and run out of town; still others’ health failed them because of the strenuous schedule they personally held to reach the lost at any cost. I wonder, how could we have fallen so far behind in the work of our Lord? So, for those who inquire about my stand in faith and unquestioning trust in the written Word of God, I wrote this book. I thought about titling this book 282 Court B College Homes. This was the place where I learned to have unquestioning faith in God. College Homes at this present time no longer stands; it’s torn down now, and other housing complexes occupy the area. It was while I lived in the projects—struggling to raise two sons, on the brink of destroying myself—that God caught me in the palm of His hands and changed my life forever.

So, those simple yet powerful meetings with the Word of God helped inspire me to share the Good News! As time marches forward, I see the body of Christ starting to take a comfortable seat, fold their hands, settle down, and nod off—much like the five foolish virgins. The Bridegroom is coming; let us arise, trim our wicks, and refill our vessels with oil. My purpose in writing this book is to shout, Wake up! to my brothers in arms, Wake up! to those who are battle-hungry, yet are stumbling on the battlefield. We were not called to fight any battles, but to gather the harvest wheat. We need to stop being afraid of the darkness, the subtle lies and barren promises of our foe. If there are any battles to fight, then they are within us. The harvest is plentiful, and much of the wheat has whitened and fallen to the ground. The enemy has us bearing arms and fooled, fighting a defeated foe. We are born again—victorious! Our every move is from a victorious stand. Satan is defeated. Hallelujah! Remember the song? Well, it’s true! The apostles after Christ’s ascension began to do exactly what they were instructed to do: to go into all the world and preach and teach the gospel. We were never instructed to fight, but to heal the sick, raise the dead, give sight to the blind, cast out devils, and make disciples of Christ. As disciples, they in turn may also do likewise.

I hear like voices in the wilderness shouting into the darkness of this world, and also to the Christian world. Wake up, get up, clean yourself off, and get busy while it is still day, for the evening is approaching. We have circled this mountain