An Ohio co-pastor gave her congregation a memorable "word from the Lord" last week — accidentally preaching judgment against her own church. Drenda Keesee, co-pastor and founder of Faith Life Church in New Albany, Ohio, took the stage during a recent service featuring guest speaker Robin Bullock and announced she would deliver a word from God by simply flipping open her Bible.

"When we stepped up here, I just flipped my scripture open. I've never read this," she told the congregation before reading from Ezekiel 5 — without, by her own admission, reading it first. The problem: Ezekiel 5 is a prophecy of God's judgment against His people.

As Keesee read passages declaring, "I will abandon you on the land; I will hurl you on the open field," her voice slowed and the tone of the moment visibly shifted. The verses speak of destruction, darkened heavens, and a people abandoned — words that, in their original context, were spoken against rebellious Israel.

Keesee stopped reading before reaching the chapter's sharpest closing lines, but the damage to the intended mood was done. The service's theme had been how the church is coming under attack by spiritual enemies — and the "word" delivered to comfort the flock turned out to be a declaration of divine judgment.

The backdrop matters. Faith Life Church has been in crisis. Keesee and her husband Gary, who lead the multi-site church together, are both named in lawsuits connected to their son Tom, a former youth pastor at the church who faces 32 felony sex charges related to alleged molestation of four young girls, aged 4 to 15. The lawsuits allege that Drenda and Gary knew about the abuse and covered it up. The Keesees have publicly defended their son, previously telling church members during a service, "All hell is breaking loose out there ... but truth will prevail. There's another side." It is important to be clear: these are allegations and pending charges, not established findings of a court.

Keesee's unscripted reading has drawn attention precisely because of that context. A congregation in turmoil, a leadership under legal scrutiny, and a pastor who opened the Bible at random and landed on one of Scripture's starkest passages of judgment — for many observers, the irony needed no commentary.

The episode is also a reminder of how Scripture itself warns about prophetic speech. The Bible commands believers to "test everything; hold fast what is good" (1 Thessalonians 5:21), and Jeremiah 23 warns against prophets who speak "visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord." A word claimed from God that is pulled at random, without study and without the text's own meaning, is not how Scripture teaches the Word to be handled.

Keesee did not comment publicly on the moment beyond the service itself. Whether the congregation heard the reading as divine warning or as an unfortunate accident, Ezekiel 5 says what it says — and this time, everyone heard it.

Source: Protestia. Read the original article.