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Saturday 19 December 2015

Ezekiel Stoddard, 11-Year-Old Boy, Ordained As Minister At Fullness Of Time Church In Maryland (VIDEO)


At a time when most kids are preoccupied playing with action figures or watching cartoons, Ezekiel Stoddard is preaching to a congregation at Fullness of Time Church in Maryland.

The enthusiastic 11-year-old became an ordained minister at his family's Pentecostal church in May, but Ezekiel has been preparing sermons since he was at least 7 or 8, ABC News reports.

Though both of his parents are pastors, the young boy said he received his own special calling to preach the word of God. 

"It doesn't matter the age that you can be licensed. It just matters ... how much word do you have and how much God has called you," Ezekiel told the Washington Post in a video profile.



But sometimes, he said, adults don't take him seriously.


"A lot of grown-ups will look at me like I'm just a joke and I need to sit down," Stoddard told the Washington Post.

When he's not studying the Bible or doing schoolwork, Ezekiel told ABC News he enjoys going to the movies and playing sports.

But as is evidenced by several YouTube videos, he's also managed to intertwine his love of music with his passion for preaching.

As far as his future plans go, Ezekiel is certain he's found his lifelong career.

The young pastor might have captured the hearts of church members with his strong delivery, but he's not the only child to gain fame for preaching at such a young age.

Kanon Tipton made headlines in 2011 after several videos of the 4-year-old started gaining attention. Often dressed in a suit and tie, the mini preacher takes to the pulpit like a pro, delivering the words of his faith to members of the congregation.

And although his parents acknowledge Kanon could very well be imitating his elders, Kanon's father, Damon, says it might be more than that.

"Yes, children absorb whatever you put in front of them (and) all of his life thus far, he’s been around the ministry. Of course he is mimicking, but I do feel like the hand of God is on him in a special way," Damon told MSNBC.

“A lot of grown-ups will look at me like I’m just a joke and I need to sit down,” says Ezekiel Stoddard, pastor of the Fullness of Time Church in Capital Heights. “But what they need to realize: It’s not just me just getting up for fame and everything. It’s for me to minister the Gospel. That’s what God inspired me to do.”
Those close to the 11-year-old young preacher told The Washington Post that they are fully supportive of his ministry, despite criticism from some who wonder if a child can truly understand and preach the Gospel. (source)
However, the issue here isn’t whether “a child” can understand the Gospel, so let’s not chase red herrings. The question to ask is: What does the Bible—the infallible and inerrant Word of God—say about the office of elder.
Well, it rules out both Ezekiel Stoddard and his mother pastrix Adrienne Smith:
I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.
The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.
He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil.
Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil… (1 Timothy 2:12-141 Timothy 3:1-7)
It also needs to be understood here that Vasconcellas Smith has disqualified himself as well. Rather than lead his family, for whatever reason, he’s encouraged and joined them in open rebellion against the Word of God.
Well, it seems that Ezekiel Stoddard’s been being groomed for WF “success” for quite a while now. From his family’s God’s Blessings Music You Tube channel comes Exhorter Preacher/ Ezekiel Stoddard 6:
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Based upon this clip it would appear 6-year-old Ezekiel was already carrying the performing load. What we’re told next from the Washington Post report gives us real reason for concern here. It seems pastrix mom:
runs a tight ship. Sitting at the kitchen table one morning, the children wore a uniform of khaki pants and white shirts. After doing their schoolwork, they rehearse music routines several days a week and in front of a mirror Thursday nights. Ezekiel, on his own initiative, studies the Bible for 13 or 14 hours a week.
With Ezekiel as the frontman, the children perform in a musical group, God’s Blessings, No Chains Holding Me Down. The group has appeared on the “Bobby Jones Gospel” show on Black Entertainment Television, on local media outlets and at churches across the region. Smith said she came up with the inspiration for such a group when she was homeless, as she imagined a better future. (source)
Sadly, so much of this Word Faith preaching is entertainment, “the Show.” While T.D. Jakes has mastered it, look honestly at another 6-year-old below and tell me that it’s not the exact same show Jakes also performs:
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The fact is, early in my Christian walk, before I knew better, I was into this kind of WF mythology myself. I even attended an African American church for a time. The Lord knows, I’ve seen hundreds of these kinds of messages.
Many live, and many more on television, but they’re all the same. The preacher starts at the pulpit; slowly they build until they begin moving around the stage being more and more animated until they reach their crescendo.
They pause; then slowly the build up begins once again up to a little higher crescendo. This sequence is continued over and over until the big climax where supposedly “the Holy Ghost” has fallen and then it’s miracle time.
Before you’re tempted to get angry with me for mocking this foolishness, I suggest you direct your anger where it belongs; with those who would pervert the Word of God and make a mockery of His Church and His Gospel.
Someone who:
teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. (1 Timothy 6:3-5)
And people who:
having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. (2 Timothy 3:5-7)

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