Go Fish Ministries, Inc. News Letter Feb. 1, 2009

Go Fish Ministries, Inc. News Letter Feb. 1, 2009


Jesus said: Follow me and I will make you fishers for the souls of others. Matthew 4:19

Sis. Kimberly Hartfield, B.S. Christian Community Consultant/Spiritual Peer Counselor Contact: gofishbooks@gmail.com



Counselors’ Corner

As most of you know, I started my internship just before Christmas, and have been finishing it up in January. I was positioned at the Salvation Army/ Boys and Girls Club, which is a setting of mostly underprivileged kids from the African American community, with a few exceptions. First, I have to say, it has been a true joy working with these wonderful little people that God has created and loves. I had the opportunity there to be truly blessed, and I hope the children were blessed, as well. I had several opportunities to practice my “counseling skills” with a few of the children on a one to one basis, but for the most part, I worked in the group setting of the afterschool program. While there, I attempted to implement a token economy whereby the children had a system of rewards for their positive behaviors, in order to bring more structure and discipline to the atmosphere. I believe it had great potential and I truly hope, as I have been assured, that it will be continued in some capacity.

I also got the opportunity to minister to some of the children a little bit when they spotted my Ten Commandments Avon watch that I was wearing. They asked me what was written on it, so I told them it had the Ten Commandments on it. Some of them said they’d never heard them before, so I began reading to them from my watch. A couple of kids said a few of them with me, but some truly had not heard them before. This is right here in Hattiesburg, MS, people. The Commandments aren’t read in the public schools anymore, and if these kids are unchurched, then they would not have had the opportunity to hear them. This is a shame on our community, one that has ample churches to reach out to these kids. And I don’t care what color they are, or what color we are. We need to not just go out into the streets and minister to their needs there, but we need to be bringing them into our own churches. Those of us who think there’s only going to be one color in heaven, may just have a rude awakening. Revelation tells us there will be some from every tribe, nation, and tongue. It’s going to be a “Mixed Blessing!”

My supervisor there at the Boys and Girls Club told me of some future job possibilities with them, so pray for this door to open up for me as I am about to graduate this year with my Masters Degree. My degree is in Counseling Psychology with an emphasis in Christian Counseling, but I had most of the child/adolescent classes, as well as a few education classes, too. So I believe I would be well prepared for this possible new experience, as far as education goes. But I know from experience, education only goes so far in the real world, and you need experience dealing with real people, who have real prejudices, real problems, and can fire you when they conflict with your own real problems and prejudices. So pray for me!!! I really need it!!! I know God has a place for me and though I haven’t found it just yet, my faith is in the One who opens the doors and dreams of the future, and closes the doors of the past. God is a very good God, indeed!

Well January has brought us a new year, with new hopes and dreams. I believe a lot of people in this country have placed their hopes in our new president, Barak Hussein Obama, and his new mostly democratic administration. I also believe their hopes are misplaced. Anytime we place our faith in a man, rather than in God, we’re sure to be let down. Men are human; Men fail us, as do women. We are all human beings, and as such, we have the same kinds of weaknesses and temptations as any other human being. So far president Obama has stopped the trials of our terrorist persecutors, has reversed the ban on spending our tax dollars on foreign abortions, and promised much help to the homosexual community. Now, some people may believe these are good things, but I personally believe they are morally irresponsible and wrong. So I ask all of you who may be of a similar persuasion as me, to pray that God will change this man’s heart. Only a change in heart will stop the evil tide that I believe is coming to a country that has the blood of innocent babies on its hands.

God is a God of love and forgiveness, when we repent of our sins (have a change of heart and mind that leads to a change in actions), and God’s grace is abundant then. But when we choose to remain in our sin, and refuse to repent, God is a God of justice. God’s word says if we continue in our sins, we will be given up to our own evil thoughts, and we will be unable to change our minds. God’s word also tells us there is a coming judgment on those who refuse to repent. God’s word also tells us that God will forget the nation that forgets God. I believe our hedge of protection has been removed, and this country will suffer the very real consequences of our sins. As King David, who sinned with Bathsheba, was forgiven upon repentance, yet God still allowed him to suffer the loss of the child they conceived in that adulterous relationship and other consequences, God may also allow us to suffer the very real consequences of our national sins of abortion, euthanasia, continued and blatant homosexuality, child pornography, childhood sexual abuse, adult pornography, illicit relationships, domestic violence, and many others. We’ve tried to take God out of the government and out of the public school system and wonder why those systems are so broken. We’ve allowed the responsibility for caring for the poor to fall on the government rather than the faith based organizations that should be responsible. The people of this country have all but forgotten God and refused to repent of these collective sins. When will we wake up as a people and call for moral change! Change, without moral conviction, is never change for the good.

Well, as great as our collective sins are, my own personal sins are great as well. I have struggled recently with sins I thought I had overcome, but those temptations just seem to come back to haunt me, once in a while. It just goes to show, when we are confident in our own selves and our own strengths, that is when we are likely to fall, or come very near falling. I still struggle with doubting God’s provision, even when I know God has never let us go without. I almost didn’t let go of that five dollar bill I put in the offering plate Sunday, because my funds were so low. I was thinking, “There goes that gallon of milk we needed.” But I won that small battle and gave it anyway, and was blessed unexpectedly beyond measure by a friend from my church, who took it upon herself Sunday night to fill my car up with gas, and buy me and my children over a hundred dollars worth of groceries. As I said before, you just can’t out give God! When we are faithful with our tithes, God certainly does open up the windows of heaven and pour out blessings upon us, such as we don’t have room to receive it! So as the Word says, I challenge you all to “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this, says the Lord of Hosts, If I will not open up for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.” (Malachi 3:10)





The Judgment

©2009 Kimberly Hartfield

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Based on the writings of Ezekiel 7



The land is filled with crimes of blood

The cities are filled with violence

Judgment will come on them like a flood

And the voices of the proud will be silenced



According to what they deserve I’ll judge them

Their stomachs filled with empty bowls

None will be strong who live in their sin

They won’t ever satisfy their souls



I will bring upon them the worst of the worst

Who will take and possess their houses

Their holy places will be accursed

Destruction will come to the thousands



I will cause the pomp of the strong to cease

Disaster will come upon disaster

Though they seek it, there will be no peace

And they will know that I am their Master



From the prophet they will seek a vision

But the law will perish from the priest

The counsel of the elders will bring no decision

From the greatest to the very least



My judgment comes without hesitation

Every hand and knee will be feeble

Their leaders will mourn in desolation

While the common people all tremble



All will bow when they hear My horn

Every face filled with shame and horror

Like doves in the valley all will mourn

With knees as weak as water



The time has come, the day draws near

The buds have blossomed on the rod

I won’t have pity, My eye won’t spare

And they shall know that I am Yahweh God





A Letter from James



1[1] From James, a worker of Yahweh God and of Yeshua the Christ, Hello to the twelve families which are scattered out.

[2-18] My Christians, be happy when you’re tested by all kinds of temptations; Knowing that the testing of your faith brings patience. But let the work of patience outlast the temptation, so that you can be complete and whole, not needing anything. If any of you lack wisdom, ask God for it, who gives freely to all who ask, and doesn’t scold them; and it’ll be given to them. But ask in faith, not doubting. Whoever doubts is like a wave of the sea blown by the wind and tossed around. Don’t think that you’ll get anything from God that way. A doubtful person is unsure of themselves in everything. Let the Christian of low social status celebrate in the fact that they’re rich in Christ: But the rich, in that they’re humbled in Christ: Like a flower of the grass they’ll all come to an end. As soon as the sun comes up with its burning heat, the grass wilts, and the flower falls off it, and its beauty is gone: so the rich person will also fade away even as they go about their business. Blessed are those who outlast their temptations because after they’re tested, they’ll get the crown of life, which Yahweh God has promised to those who love God. No one should say when they’re tempted, I am being tempted by God because God can’t be tempted with evil, nor does God tempt anyone: But when someone is tempted, they’re lured away by what they want, and convinced that they need it. Then when they get what they want, they sin: and when they sin, death follows. Don’t go wrong here, my dear Christians. Everything good and every perfect gift is from above, and comes from the Light we are from, with whom is no shading, nor moving shadows. God chose to make us with the Word of truth, so that we would be the best of all God’s creatures.

[19-27] So, my dear Christians, let everyone first listen, then answer carefully, and not get angry so fast: because a person’s anger doesn’t bring about the goodness of God. So put away everything evil that is unnecessary, and with gentleness, accept the Word growing in you, which is able to save your souls. But do what the Word tells you to do, not just hearing it only, lying to your own selves. If anyone only hears the Word, but doesn’t do it, they’re like someone looking at their face in a glass, who sees themself, and then goes on their way, quickly forgetting what they just saw. But whoever looks into the complete Word of freedom, and lives by it, not being a forgetful hearer, but does what it says, this person will be blessed in what they do. So if anyone among you is religious, but doesn’t control what they say, misleading their own heart, this person's religion is meaningless. True religion, which is holy to Yahweh God, is to go to those without a parent and single parents in need, and to keep yourself without fault from the world.

2[1-12] My Christians, have the faith of our Christ, Yeshua, God of victory, without prejudice. If someone comes to your church with a gold ring, in nice clothes, and also a poor person comes in with raggedy clothes, and you show more respect to the one who wears the nice clothes, and say to them, Sit here in the best place; and say to the one who is poor, Stand over there, or sit here at my feet: Then aren’t you being prejudiced in your heart, and haven’t you judged them with your evil thinking? Listen carefully, my dear Christians, hasn’t God chosen those who are poor in this world who are rich in faith, and heirs of the realm of God which has been promised to those who love God? But those who are poor, you hate. Don’t people, who are well off, keep you down and take you to court? Don’t they dishonor and disrespect that worthy name of Christian, by which you’re called? If you follow the law of God as the Word says, You should love your neighbor as yourself; you’re doing what’s right: But if you’re disrespectful to some people, you’re sinning, and are found guilty by the Word of God as sinners. Whoever keeps the whole law, but breaks it in one area, is guilty of breaking it all. Didn’t the One who said, Don’t sin sexually, also say, Don’t kill. Now if you don’t sin sexually, but you kill someone, you have broken the law of the Word of God. So speak and do, as those who will be judged by the Word of God, which frees us from sin.

[13-26] Those who have shown no mercy will also be judged without mercy. It is much better to have mercy on someone than to judge them. What good does it do, my Christians, if someone says they have faith, but doesn’t follow up their faith with actions? Can their faith save them? If a Christian brother or sister is unclothed, and doesn’t even have their daily food, and one of you says to them, Go in peace, I hope you get warm and full; but in spite of this you don’t give them what they need for the body; what good did it do? In the same way, faith, if not followed by actions, by itself, is dead. Yes, someone might say, You have faith, and I have actions: I say show me your faith without doing anything about it, and I’ll show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there’s one God and this is good, but even the evil spirits believe, and shake with fear. But do you want proof, you thoughtless person, that faith without your actions is dead? Wasn’t Abraham our ancestor made right by what he did, when he had offered Isaac, his child, on the altar? Do you see how faith worked along with his actions, and by actions, faith was made complete? And the Word was completed which said, Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for goodness: and he was called the friend of God. You see then that a person is made right by what they do, and not by faith only. In the same way also, wasn’t Rahab, a sexually immoral person, made right by what she did, when she took in the spies, and helped them escape. So as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith that is not followed by actions is dead also.

3[1] My dear Christians, many of you shouldn’t be leaders, because leaders will be held to a stricter judgment. We all do many things that are wrong. If a person doesn’t offend anyone with their words, they are a complete person, and able also to keep their whole body under control. We put bits in the mouths of horses, so that they’ll obey us; and with it we turn their whole body. And also the ships, which are so big, and are driven by very strong winds, are still turned around with a very small helm, wherever the captain wants it to go. In the same way, the tongue is a very small part of the body, but brags about a great many things. See how great a thing a little fire kindles! And the tongue is like a fire, a world of sin. In the same way, the tongue is the worst of our body parts, because it makes the whole body filthy, and changes the whole course of a person’s life, setting it on fire by hell. Every kind of beast, bird, snake, and even the things in the sea, can be tamed, and has been tamed by humanity: But no one can tame the tongue; it’s an unruly, evil thing, full of deadly poison. With our tongue we bless the God we come from; and with the same tongue we curse others, which are made in the very likeness of God. Out of the same mouth comes blessing and cursing. My dear Christians, it shouldn’t be this way. Does a creek give out both good water and bad at the same place? Can the fig tree, my dear Christians, make olive berries? Or a vine, figs? No creek will have both salt water and fresh. Who is wise and has knowledge among you? Let them show by their good lifestyle that their actions are done with the gentleness of wisdom. But if you have jealousy and resentment in your hearts, don’t praise yourself, and lie about what is true. This wisdom doesn’t come from above, but is based on feelings, earthly, and devilish. Where there is jealousy and resentment, confusion and evil actions will follow. But the wisdom that is from above is first without any evil, then peaceful, gentle, willing to give in, full of mercy and good actions, without any partiality, and without any falsehood. And those who make peace do acts of goodness in peace.

4[1-12] Where do these wars and fights among you come from? Don’t they come from the things you want, which fight within you? You want, but you don’t have: you kill, and want to have, but can’t get what you want: you fight and war, but still you don’t have, because you don’t ask. And when you do ask, you don’t get what you want, because you ask wrongly, so that you can use it only for the things that you want. You’re like sexually unfaithful people. Don’t you know that to love the world is to hate the things of God? So whoever wants to be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Do you think that the Word said for no reason, The spirit that lives in us is very jealous for us? But God gives us more grace, which is why it was said, God doesn’t accept the proud, but gives grace to the humble. So accept what God says. Fight the devil, who’ll quickly go away from you. Come closer to God, and God will come closer to you. Wash your hands of your evil acts, you sinners; and get your hearts right, you doubting ones. Mourn, grieve, and cry: let your laughter turn into crying, and your joy into sadness. Humble yourselves in the sight of God, who will lift you up. Don’t speak evil of one another, Christians. Whoever speaks evil of another, and judges with prejudice, speaks evil of the Word of God, and judges the Word of God: but if you judge the Word of God, you’re no longer a follower of the Word of God, but a judge. There’s only One Lawgiver, who is able to save and to kill: so who are you that you should judge one another?

[13-17] Now listen, you that say, Today or tomorrow we’ll go into a certain city, and stay there a year, buying and selling, and make some money: When you don’t even know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? It’s just a breath, which is here today, and then disappears tomorrow. But you should say instead, If it’s God will, we’ll live, and do this, or that. But now you celebrate with your bragging, but all this kind of celebrating is evil. Those who know to do good, and don’t do it are sinning.

5[1-6] Now listen, you rich people, cry and scream for the miseries that will come on you. Your riches are all gone, and all your clothes are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver is corroded; and the rust of them will be a witness against you, and your body will be consumed as by a fire. You’ve selfishly kept your wealth for yourself in the last days. You haven’t paid the workers who worked your fields; you kept back their pay by your lies. The cries of those who worked for you have been heard by the God of All. You’ve lived in excess and pleasure on the earth, fattening your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. You’ve accused and killed the good, who didn’t fight you back.

[7-12] So be patient, Christians, until Christ comes again. As the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, and has great patience for it, until the early and latter rains come, you be patient also. Settle your hearts because Christ’s coming is very near. Don’t be unforgiving toward one another, Christians, or you won’t be forgiven: the Judge stands at the door. My dear Christians, the great preachers, who have spoken in the Name of God, are a good example of patient suffering. We consider them blessed who kept on going. You’ve heard about the patience of Job, and seen what God did in the end; God is very forgiving, and tenderhearted. But above everything else, my Christians, don’t swear, not by heaven, nor by the earth, nor by any other promise: but let your yes be yes; and your no be no; or you’ll fall into judgment.

[13-20] Is anyone among you troubled? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the Name of Yeshua, the Christ: And when you pray in faith, the sick will be saved, and Christ will heal them; and if they have sinned, they’ll be forgiven. So be honest and admit your faults to one another, and pray for one another, so that you can be healed. The heartfelt prayer of a good person is very powerful. Elijah was a person with the same nature as us, who prayed passionately that it wouldn’t rain: and it didn’t rain on the earth for three and a half years. And when he prayed again, the heaven gave rain, and the earth gave its food. So all of you remember, if any of you do go astray from the truth, and someone changes their mind; Let them know, that whoever helps the sinner change from their wrongful ways will save a soul from death, and will bury a great deal of sins.





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Notes and Prayer Requests

• Is anybody out there actually reading these Newsletters? If so, I sure would like to hear from you. I feel pretty useless sometimes when I don’t hear back from anyone and don’t really know if I’m doing any good at all. Or am I just preaching to myself and the wall? In any case, I’m still writing, God Bless You all.

• My husband, Rocky, (we are separated) has just had another surgery to undo the colonostomy that he had in the first surgery. He is still experiencing some difficulty and pain. Please pray for the continued healing of his body and spirit.

• I finished my internship with the Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club. I am taking my last two classes, which begin in late February, God Willing! Please remember me as I finish up this last year in my program. Thanks be to God Almighty!!!!!!!!!!!!

• Pray for our country, and our new president, and that God’s will be done in these next four years. Though we can’t stop the coming tide, we can grab the Lifesaver in prayer and hope. God bless the USA!