Wounds Caused by Gossip Attitudes and Conflicts Within the Church: How to Overcome Evil Attitudes and Problems Within the Church

By O.C. Isom II

Wounds Caused by Gossip Ministry has been empowered by kingdom of God to equips, train, inform, educate, that we may bring the body of Christ together as one in the spirit. It is time for the church of the living God to help restore our workplace, churches, families, and communities back to God. We live in a society that is flooded with gossip and conflicts. And we just ignore it, because we as people in general love to gossip and keep up conflicts in our world today. But what happen when gossip and conflict infiltrate the workplace and the church. We must realize the core of our problems that we are faced with today is gossip and conflicts that has effect many and cause them to be wounded. Many people can endure all kinds of physical affliction, but when our spirit is wounded and a wounded-spirited person is someone who has been hurt and bruised and/or damaged in their spirit it can be very painful and hurtful. A wounded spirit comes as a result of a re-action to negative words, events, actions, or a violation of your person or rights a re-action that crushes you, knocks you down and from which you cannot seem to rise. It crushes an area of your life your spirit which is quite devastating in how it affects us. It seems we cannot heal ourselves of a wounded spirit.
We see our churches, workplace and even our political government has failed. When we as believers who believe in the power of Gods Word we can put a stop to gossip and conflicts in our world today and bring about kingdom changes. We as a people must bring God back in our lives, workplace and our churches and align ourselves under the might hands of God. That why this ministry called Wound Caused by Gossip ministry has been orchestrate by God to impact and to transform attitudes that dont line up with the Word of God.
It is time for us as a people to achieve our spiritual and natural goals by changing our environment in our workplace and our churches so we can see His will done in our lives as it is in heaven. Many people individual love this ministry. Many of them have gave their testimony how your books on gossip and conflict has cause me to change and be deliver from emotional wounds. In order for us to change we as leaders in workplace and those in the church must understand what is the problem that is hurting and eating away in the workplace and the church? When we understand that gossip and conflict is the basis problems we them must embrace these evil attitudes and find biblical answers to help us overcome these attitudes. Leaders must begin using strategy such as

Leaders must begin using strategy such as seminars, workshops, and resources that will address issues of gossip and conflicts.

We must shine the light of Gods Word and expose gossip and conflicts

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Mar 17, 2014
• ISBN: 9781491868126

O.C. Isom II

O.C. ISOM,ll is the Bishop, senior pastor, and founder of Word Up Apostolic Ministries in Benton Harbor Michigan. He is the author of Wound Caused by Gossip and well-known pastor. His extraordinary commitment and passionate vision is to educate, train and equip individuals on how to manage negative attitudes and conflicts in our world today. “Change your attitudes you Change your destiny.”

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© 2014 O.C. Isom II. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 03/14/2014

ISBN: 978-1-4918-6814-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4918-6813-3 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4918-6812-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014904015

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NIV

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. [www.biblica.com/niv]

KJV

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the Holy Bible, King James Version (Authorized Version). First published in 1611. Quoted from the KJV Classic Reference Bible, Copyright © 1983 by The Zondervan Corporation.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER ONE

Gossip Among Believers

CHAPTER TWO

Listening To Gossip Is Wrong

CHAPTER THREE

Deadly Poison Tongue

CHAPTER FOUR

Spreading Gossip

CHAPTER FIVE

Gossip Causes Hatred

CHAPTER SIX

Gossip Among Young People

CHAPTER SEVEN

Conflicts And Attitudes In The Church

CHAPTER EIGHT

Wounded In The Church

CHAPTER NINE

Symptoms Of A Declining Church

CHAPTER TEN

Get Right, Church; Let’s Go Home

FINAL WORDS

LETTER TO THE READER

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

KINGDOM OF DARKNESS ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOR

GOD’S DISAPPROVAL OF UNCONTROLLABLE TONGUE OF EVIL WORDS

KINGDOM OF GOD ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOR

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

HELP PLACE THIS BOOK IN THE RIGHT HANDS, SO YOU CAN HELP CHANGE LIVES!

GOSSIP IS THE ULTIMATE DESTROYER!

MINISTRY INFORMATION AND RESOURCES

Presented To:

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From:

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Date:

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Endorsements

Bishop O. C. Isom II is a sincere preacher of the Word and an established writer. He has the type of ministry that touches the lives of many people and especially inspires the people reading this book. He has a word from God in such times as these. Gossip does cause wounds and divisions in the church. This book gives you an insight into how to avoid the enemy’s traps.

—Dr. Evangelist, Mildred Cook

I personally highly recommend Wounds Caused by Gossip. It’s more than a book; it is a clear biblical comprehensive guide on how to avoid attitudes of gossip. I have learned by reading this book that I have to transform my mind and begin to renew myself in Christ. It has given me a new attitude and I have realized how powerful words can be.

—Sister Karissa Isom

Bishop O. C. Isom II is a lover of God and a prolific writer. There’s no question that this book, Wounds Caused by Gossip, will expose evil attitudes through the Word of God. "Wounds Caused by Gossip" is an eye opener because it shows how hurtful gossip can really be. I highly recommend and endorse this book as a must-read.

—Dr. Willie Ickom

God has chosen Bishop O. C. Isom to help expand the Kingdom of God. In this exciting revelation of a book, he reveals evil attitudes and conflicts in the church that must stop. God has exalted him to be the teacher, preacher, and writer in these last days.

—Dr. Bridgette Williams

Bishop O. C. Isom II is a Kingdom visionary who is out to awaken the church from the spirit of gossip. I’m honored to have him as my brother and pastor. He has taken the bull by the horns and presented an honest and much-needed subject for people in society and in the church. The Kingdom church is positional, developed, and on a divine assignment. This is a timeless message to people everywhere.

—Evangelist Kimberly M. Isom

Dedication

Although I have many family members and friends to thank, I would first like to dedicate this book to my lovely wife, Merilyn; my daughters, Tiffany and Karissa; my son Andre’ (Big Dre); my daughter-in-law Michelle and my precious grandchildren, Marcus, Malia, Mickeya, Andre Jr., Keeyon, and Ramiro; and to the best mother and mother-in law in the world, both of whom I love and respect, Lillie Isom and Lena Swanigan.

Also, to my deceased father, O. C. Isom Sr.; to my father in law, the late Arthur Swanigan Sr., for raising me in holiness and teaching me that I can accomplish anything in life when I put God first.

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That’s God.

—Kimberly M. Isom

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

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F irst of all, I would like to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave me the strength and ability to bring forth this spiritual assignment to wake up the Church so they can change their negative attitudes today. I would like to express my heartfelt thanks and give recognition to the Word Up Apostolic Family, who have always encouraged and supported me in this ministry.

Many have given me helpful feedback, words of encouragement, and shared the knowledge and expertise that has allowed me to write this book to the Body of Christ and to people everywhere. So, from my heart, the words Thank you are not enough, so I’ll just say, To God be the Glory.

INTRODUCTION

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Learn to Control Your Mouth

I f you are involved in the leadership of a local church, you know that effective ministry demands your time, creativity, effort, and living a certain lifestyle. Working with people can drain you physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually and cause you to say and do thing that are not godly.

A person’s heart will always reveal his or her behavior and attitude in life, (Luke 6:45). Attitudes can have an incredible impact on our lives as well as the lives of others.

A person’s attitude is the first thing someone observes, because attitudes are infectious, and they are spoken to influence. The word ‘attitude’ is related to the Greek word ‘phroneite’, which means to understand something, to think about it, or to contemplate it.

Attitude is also a psychological tendency that is expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favor or disfavor. A person’s attitude deals with an internal evaluation that is developed in response to a person or object.

Gossip is a manifestation of those negative attitudes and a vehicle by which our underlying problems create strife. We hurt and wound others by gossiping about them.

Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth, (Proverbs 26:20).

The word ‘talebearer’ is from the translation of a Hebrew word that means ‘to go about’ and is derived from a word meaning ‘merchant’. The talebearer goes peddling gossip! Have you ever tried to build a campfire and have piled lots of wood on the fire to help it get bigger? Now visualize the attitude of gossip as the fire beginning to blaze.

What gives gossip the power to keep burning (Proverbs 26:21)? The answer is simple: It is when carnal people keep adding fuel to the fire, instead of trying to find ways to put the fire out.

Most Christians would not admit that they do gossip, because they feel they are not indulging in careless speech about what they hear. That is self-destruction! A Christian should run from talebearers the way they would run from a loaded pistol or a knife in the hands of someone who is trying to kill them. We would not consider drinking poison, yet we take in deadly, tasty morsels!

It’s been said, Great minds talk about other people and their ideas! It’s also been said, Weak minds talk about people. Unfortunately, it appears that most people are weak-minded, because they are influenced by their sinful flesh to speak evil of others.

Gossip is one thing that most people do every single day. Everyone can admit that they have gossiped or spread rumors about someone. People gossip to feel good about themselves. They get an ego boost to hear others speak evil about someone else.

The sinful mouth drains people of their enthusiasm and their desire to live for God; it has spilt churches, created strife, and promoted division. Gossip is the plague of the Church.

All thoughts of every believer arise as an open book before the Lord. God discerns the daily thoughts of every believer. And Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, wherefore think you evil in your heart? (Matthew 9:4)

Gossip tends to make people feel vindicated when they say something derogatory about a person they don’t like in the first place. It is human nature to want to get back at someone for hurting us; however, this is not what God wants us to do.

Some people are experts at running their mouths; they have the spirit of diarrhea. They have learned to wait for just the right moment to deeply hurt another person’s feelings by assassinating that person’s character behind his or her back.

"We all need to

temperance our

lips."

—Joyce Ochs

Many people don’t realize the hurt, the wounds, and the pain they have given other believers in the Body of Christ. Evil speech can and has destroyed friendships, ruined marriages, destroyed churches, and ruined businesses by causing co-workers to stay at odds with each other. Many people love to talk down, spread rumors, and make accusations about people which can destroy a reputation.

The mouth, the tongue, and the lips are all mechanisms of speech mentioned by Solomon. They are parts of the body designed by the Lord to help us communicate. However, words take on many forms and can help us verbalize what we are feeling and help us process the elusive ideals floating around in our brain.

Everyone’s mind is in constant thought, which is primarily expressed as pictures and words. Spoken words affect your life and the lives of others. They have the power to create emotions and move people to take action. When you communicate clearly, you activate your mind, which then stimulates creativity.

Be Impeccable With Your Word. Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others.

The devil has used gossip to bring about division, splits, and bad feelings throughout the Body of Christ. Gossip has created emotional and mental feelings that have caused hatred, lack of teamwork, and hurt feelings among coworkers.

Gossip has even caused some believers to leave their local assemblies and organizations because other believers refuse to control their tongues. I have seen many believers who have fallen prey to the enemy’s request by choosing to obey their flesh over God. Jesus warned the Church of the twenty-first century that, The love of many shall wax cold. (Matthew 24:12)

"You all ways

have time to think

about what you

are going to say before you do it"

—Alberta Smith

Many believers have experienced problems and misfortune, or have failed to have their prayers answered, because they constantly sin with their mouths. When a person uses his or her tongue to slander, gossip, or ridicule someone, this is nothing but a sin—and unrepentant sin cuts off the flow of God’s answers to your prayers. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. (Psalm 66:18)

Satan loves to make suggestions (so he can take advantage of those whose mouths are undisciplined and sinful) that will only communicate wicked information. Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from trouble, (Proverbs 21:23). Many times, our mouths get us into trouble; we say things we shouldn’t at the wrong time-in other words, we speak a word out of season. (Isaiah 50:4)

There are too many carnal attitudes fighting and bickering among believers in the churches today. Some churches are nothing but a ringside fighting match. This is wrong, and God is displeased at this type of attitude among those who say they are Holy Ghost filled.

God’s law is found throughout the Holy Bible, which is known as His Word. A law is a rule of conduct, an established principle, or an order that is not only advisable but must be observed. So, if God’s Word says, Don’t gossip or behave unseemly, He means exactly what He says. The laws of God’s Word must be obeyed, or you will face consequences in life.

"To murder

character is truly

a crime as to

murder the body:

the tongue of the

slanderer is brother

to the dagger of the

assassin."

—Tyrone Edwards

For the time has come when judgment must begin in the house of God: and if it first begins with us, what shall the end be of those who obey not the gospel of God? (I Peter 4:17)

The truth is, we make a choice regarding what kind of impact our words will have on those around us. The things that we say are not a product of our words; they are a product of our spiritual condition. If we want to spiritually mature in God, the tongue is the one thing we must get control of.

Some people’s tongues can be evil because they love to vent filthy and scurrilous words from their mouths, and these words have hurt and wounded many people.

Thus, the purpose of this book is to sound the trumpet in Zion, to equip and awaken the Church from its spiritual, sinful sleep in these end-times concerning evil attitudes and conflicts in the Body of Christ.

This book will also provide practical biblical guidelines on how the spirit of gossip is a sin, and how this type of evil attitude will cause a person to miss The Rapture. (Revelation 21:8)

Once you really understand your true identity and have a Kingdom-like attitude, the enemy can’t come in and destroy you through your attitudes.

The only solution that allows you to overcome wounds caused by gossip is through the Word of God. Let the Holy Spirit and God’s Word to be a sword and scalpel to perform the greatest bypass surgery, refocusing your desire from walking in the flesh to living in the Spirit. When this operation has been completed, healing will return to the Body of Christ.

As believers, let’s begin to walk and operate in the Spirit of God so we can be free from the attitude of gossip and conflicts and live a life that is pleasing unto God.

"Your lifestyle is

determined not so

much by what life

brings to you, but

by the attitude you bring to life."

—Kahill Gibran

CHAPTER ONE

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Gossip Among Believers

Corrupt Communication

B elievers in many churches today often find themselves using words that can damage or destroy a person’s reputation. Gossip is terrible, ugly, contagious, monstrous, and devastating speech that is loose within the Body of Christ and in our society.

We live in a culture that is infested with evil and in which evil information is spread every day by voice activation of the tongue that causes a person to give into the dictation of his or her sinful flesh. Gossip is evil and negative, and it is a cowardly attack upon someone’s reputation and character. Gossip has been around since the beginning of time, and it continues to be a popular, destructive sin in our world and in the Church.

The enemy likes to see believers indulge in gossip with their mouths because this is the type of language the enemy uses to destroy a person. (John 10: 5)

Gossip is more disturbing and shameful than believers really think, because it’s just like taking one’s hands and slapping someone else’s face or kicking that person in the stomach. Gossip really is that bad. Gossip is the handiwork of the devil, and he takes great joy when believers’ lips fall prey to gossip.

Idle hands are the devil’s workshop; idle lips are his mouthpiece. (The Living Bible, Proverbs 16:27)

"Loose tongues are

worse than wicked

hands."

—Jewish Proverb

The enemy will use a person’s tongue as the tool to work his sinful plan and as his strategy to discredit God’s people by getting them to spread gossip about others.

Someone has defined gossip as the art of saying nothing, but it always produces pain and hurtful feelings in a victim’s life. Gossip is faster than UPS or Fed-Ex, because it seems to travel faster through the sour grapevine of believers’ lips.

Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter. (Ecclesiastes 10:20)

Gossip has no virtue; it builds no one’s character, solves no problems, heals no wounds, avenges no wrongs, creates no friends, and it will not cause a believer to grow stronger in the power of God.

Gossip is nothing but an evil weapon of hatred, jealousy, envy, revenge, and a lack of forgiveness that brings about division in groups, organizations, and churches, which is caused by engaging in careless evil talk that leads to gossip (Proverbs 17:9). Gossip is the art of saying nothing in such a way that leaves practically nothing unsaid. Gossip is an epidemic that has brought about so much pain, spiritual abuse and hurt feeling in the body of Christ.

We must stop being interested in gossip. We all have been guilty of gossiping in our lives. Most people who love to gossip are off track and the reason they are simply interested in your life because they have no life of their own.

Many born-again believers have allowed themselves to get caught up in this evil attitude called gossip which has destroyed many people’s lives (Proverbs 16:28). Gossip is a serious problem in society, jobs, and churches, and anyone will tell you it is out to destroy and it is out of control.

"You can fool all of

the people some of

the time, and you

can fool some of

the people all of the

time, but you can’t

fool all the people all the time."

—Abraham Lincoln.

TESTING FRUITS OF THE BELIEVER

Many people in the world ask this question daily: Why do people who call themselves saved who have this born-again experience, who have the tongue-talking, foot-stomping, hand-clapping relationship with God, gossip about other people every day?

Many believers think they are fooling others in their church and in the world. These famous quotes say otherwise:

Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. (Matthew 7:20)

The character of every true believer will always show evidence by the fruits of the Spirit in their life, (Galatians 5:22-23). The Body of Christ today has developed a spirit of gossip that has become a part of its internal everyday conversation. Some believers in the Body of Christ gossip for a variety of reasons that don’t make sense. Here are a few of those reasons:

42371.png Low self-esteem—They have no confidence in themselves.

42373.png Boredom—They have become idle in their spiritual lives.

42376.png Jealousy—They desire what others have.

42378.png Hatred—They can’t stand someone.

42380.png Pride—They can’t have their way.

We, as believers, can’t afford to give the enemy any room or foothold in our lives (Ephesians 4:27). When believers give the devil an opportunity, he will deceive them by causing them to gossip and spread bad rumors about others. This simply shows that they have opened themselves up for the attack of the devil.

We must learn to keep gossip out of our mouths at all times, the tongue has power, hence, when we allow the enemy to control our speech, we license him to direct our steps and to hold us as a spiritual hostage that will forfeit us from the presence of God.

He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house: he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight. (Psalm 107:7)

Gossip is very serious business. It means that God does not receive any glory and that a believer’s spiritual life is lived in vain. The mouth is meant for glorifying God Almighty and not for gossiping and spreading rumors

Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh [but] in vain. (Psalm 127:1)

The Word of God commands believers not to gossip about anyone because it was a given law. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. (Exodus 20:16)

This Commandment under the law forbids anyone from damaging the character or reputation of another person by making statements that are not true. In some cases, a person used to be punished or even executed for gossiping.

The law concerning gossip was a good principle and taught the Jews to respect a person’s reputation whether they liked a given individual or not. Jesus went on to add the concept that a person’s conversation should be simple and straightforward. Believers must let their speech be yes or no—anything beyond that was said to come from the enemy. (Matthew 5:37)

DEADLY INJECTION OF GOSSIP

Gossip is one of the fiendish forms through which believers can begin to lie and hurt innocent people who are not present to defend themselves, hence, end up sinning. Gossip is an evil spirit from hell that is common and rampant in the Church and the workplace. This evil attitude has further caused havoc and hurtful feelings to the victims and people concerned.

Gossip is like gangrene (2 Timothy 2:17) in that it brings forth spiritual decay. It’s a sinful bacterial infection that affects all who come into contact with it. (Romans 5:12)

Believers must begin to examine their speech before they utter anything, so that whatever comes out of their mouth may be pleasing unto God at all times, and so that He may get the glory in your conversation and life at all times. Believers must put away all types of sinful attitudes that cause them to bring sin upon their lives (Ephesians 4:22).

The believer’s main attitude should be to Let the love of Christ rule in their hearts. (Colossians 3:15)

"The real art of

conversation is

not only to say the

right thing at the

right time, but to

leave unsaid the

wrong thing at the tempting moment."

—Dorothy Nevill

Negative words which are not based on the Word of God can cause a conflict or cause temper that leads to anger, bitterness, or hatred. A soft answer turns away wrath, but a grievous word stirs up anger. (Proverbs 15:1)

Every person who is married knows what it is like to say the wrong thing at the wrong time to your spouse. One careless statement can provoke or escalate a conflict that will take weeks, months, or even years to die out.

So, it is true also among people in general and within the Church today that when you are carnal-minded you will say evil words of anger, sharp words, or aggressive words, because in the past you were hurt, which caused you to put up barriers and defend yourself because of the hurt and pain you have experienced. (Proverbs 11:9)

FEATHERS OF GOSSIP

Many believers don’t realize that gossip brings about pain in a person’s life which never goes away. Gossip and slander will leave scars in a person’s life for years, and they will never forget the lies someone has told about them.

A story of gossip was told when a sister in church had spreaded evil rumors about this brother. The Lord condemned her through the Word of God, and she went to the brother and asked him