Yesterday, we discovered that “follow your heart” is not necessarily the best advice. David’s heart was in the right place, but God didn’t want him to build a temple. Here’s a modern-day story about an Assembly of God pastor who felt he needed to start a breakaway denomination, all for the right reasons, of course! Here’s the story from Lead with Prayer.

Pastor Rob Ketterling was months away from launching a full-scale denominational split. Rob founded and leads River Valley Church, one of the largest churches in one of the largest denominations in America (Assemblies of God). His church gives almost $10 million to missions every year, making it one of the largest mission-resourcing churches in Christian history.

But Rob had grown frustrated with his denomination. His frustrations spilled out publicly, and as a result he started building a coalition of pastors ready to follow his lead. He wanted to take a few thousand pastors with him and start a variant of the Assemblies of God, splitting the denomination. He even procured lawyers to begin creating the new charter. In his heart, Rob felt that he was doing the right thing, taking a bold, courageous step in serving God for the good of the Kingdom. At the same time, as he formalized his plans, Rob sensed a nagging unease.

Rob was faithfully committed to prayer, and part of his Rule of Life was to do the Examen. During this extended prayer time, Rob listened for any way he was displeasing God, and in a powerful encounter with God, Rob heard God’s voice say to him, “You are going to divide my people and at the same time say that I am behind it?!” Later in this same intense time of prayer, Rob sensed the voice of God again: “If you do this, I will remove my favor upon you, and you will be on your own.” The encounter was so real, powerful, and serious that Rob was filled with the fear of God.

He repented of his divisiveness. – from Lead with Prayer: The Spiritual Habits of World-Changing Leaders by Skoog, Greer, and Doolittle, page 111

There are times when, as much trouble as it is, breaking away and starting something new is called for. This wasn’t one of those times, and kudos to Pastor Ketterling for spending daily time with God in the first place and then listening for the Spirit’s leading.

And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. (Isaiah 30.21, ESV)