The Starlings

"And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God" (Philippians 1:9-11, NASB).
2019

In a vision, I could see a bird, black in color, flitting in and out of a territory. The bird seemed to make many different sounds, which did not make any sense to me. It was the sound of chaos, not harmony or melody. The vision of the flitting shiny black bird repeated many times throughout a two-three-year period. My spirit was agitated each time I witnessed it. The first occurrence was in the summer of 2016 while on a ministry outreach to the State of Washington.

In hopes of learning more about what God was purposing to speak to me, I researched the topic of black birds and decided that the bird in my vision being a starling, not a raven, crow, purple martin, or red-winged black bird. It was summer in Central Oregon and I was in a season of putting out bird feeders with seed packets and hummingbird feeders with the bright red sugared liquid. I love the sound of birdsong any time of day, but especially in the cool of the morning. After two summers of failed attempts, the only birds in the back yard were the starlings which were here when I moved into this neighborhood. The remaining doves, sparrows, finches, robins and woodpeckers moved out and the hummingbirds never arrived. This seemed completely illogical to me until I learned the following behavior patterns of starlings.
  • Both males and females can mimic human speech. Some starlings also imitate the song of many other birds like the Eastern Wood-Pewee, Meadowlark, Northern Bobwhite and House Sparrow, along with Blue Jays, Red-Tailed Hawks and Cedar Waxwings. Vocalizations inside the nest box during nest building can be lengthy and quite varied.
  • An estimated 1/3 to 1/2 of returning females nest in the same box or area in consecutive years. That is why it's even more important not to let them nest in the first place.
  • A starling couple can build a nest in 1-3 days. Both female and male incubate the eggs.
  • A migrating flock can number 100,000 birds. They roost communally in flocks that may contain as many as a million birds.
  • Each year, starlings cause an estimated $800 million in damages to agricultural crops
  • About 15-33% of first broods are parasitized via egg dumping by other starlings.
  • Starlings have an unusual bill that springs open to grip prey or pry plants apart.
  • Starlings only molt once a year (after breeding) but the spots that show up in the winter wear off by the spring, making them look glossy black.
  • In the summertime they eat protein rich insect foods and in wintertime they mainly eat seeds, which are rich in carbohydrates.
  • They waddle (vs. hop).
  • Their flight is direct and fast, unlike the rising and falling flight of many blackbirds.
  • They are a non-native invasive species not protected Federal Law in the United States.
  • They do not like deserts or large wooded areas but prefer cities and towns and agricultural areas.
  • They were introduced to America in New York City in the 1890’s with about 100 birds which are now over 200,000,000.

The Vision as it relates to the Body of Christ. May the Holy Spirit be your translator.

There are those in the Body of Christ mimicking or sounding like Eagles, Doves, Sparrows, Blue Birds, and/or Ravens…when in fact they are “Starlings”…and are counterfeit mimickers in nature, genuine predators who destroy eggs in another’s nests, all the time pretending to belong to that nest from which they have destroyed the eggs. They are the people who walk into a church or ministry and volunteer immediately, become an insider too quickly generally based on false information. They appear to be kind, generous, and proclaim to be a Christian and/or previously a minister or the leader of another congregation or ordained by a denomination many years ago. They will give money to appear loyal to your cause and speak a number of “Christian-ese” languages fluently. Sometimes the “Starlings” are wiccans, witches, warlocks, wizards, druids, shamans sent from their coven to destroy a local fellowship of Believers. Sometimes they are just very wounded, angry, unhealed people seeking silent revenge or retaliation. These are brilliant actors upon the stage called life.  

Among my own observations over the last 25 years of ministry (five of many possible examples).
  • On one occasion a couple and their friend came into the church asking for work, so the pastor gave them a key to the church on their first visit, so they could clean the church to make money (two witches and a warlock from the house of satan). The church closed within a year. The pastor, elder and worship leader all died within 6 months of each other.
  • On another occasion a married man with children came into the church volunteering to be an usher (he is now in prison for soliciting sex with teenage girls).
  • An older grandfather offered to work in the children’s department (he was actually a convicted pedophile on probation). The church closed its doors after he molested one of the children, in addition to other things being highly out of order in the leadership.
  • On another occasion a man was attending four different churches with a different girlfriend in each church, simultaneously, often condemning the pastor of one of the churches. Yet, insisting he was called and anointed of God.
  • A very beautiful woman chased the very handsome and anointed single worship leader until they were married. He has not led worship since they were married as his life is now about pleasing his wife, not HIS God, as per her demands. The church closed, and one devastating consequence was one of the college students commitment suicide.
  • And the most challenging situation is when the pastor was the pedophile. The church closed.

Recently, the vision arrived again, and my spirit was troubled again. So, I called the pastor of the church where I first saw the vision because “Starlings” will return to the same nest and the same neighborhood. They are repeat offenders, similar in characteristic to predators. Often narcissistic in personality and/or passive aggressive in behavior. 

My hope in sharing this is that if you are a leader, pastor, or teacher of a congregation or gathering you will step back and ask the Holy Spirit before you give an immediate “yes” to the volunteers, the nice people sitting in back row, wearing the Christian costumes of crosses and carrying Bibles while they speak in demonic languages. Before the person who gives the largest offering is invited to the Board of Directors, please step back and take the time to get to know the person. And if God in HIS overt kindness has sent you a seer to have the wisdom to ask.

This is simply to reiterate that as a leader there is a responsibility to protect the flock that God has given to you to oversee (Matthew 19:14). To remember that there was a wall around the sheepfold, a boundary of divine and holy protection for the flock. Often the best thing to do is to build a fence or wall and establish a parameter or boundary to protect the ones you are given to serve. 

The Starlings do not care about the eggs they destroy (abort) or the nest (families, homes, churches, businesses, cities, states) they overtake. It is simply their characteristic to steal, rob and destroy (John 10:10). May the gatherings of believers and the followers of YESHUA increase in true shepherds of the Most High God! And may all the false, unrighteous and counterfeit leaders be exposed and removed from their sphere of influence by ABBA ADONAI!

In each of the above examples, which are personal experiences from my life, I did speak to the pastors of the congregations, none heard or received or accepted my words. I was criticized, condemned and cast out which is common among those of us with the prophetic seer anointing, particularly of the female gender (at least in America where I live). Nonetheless, it was my heart to prevent the heartache and devastation that I could see on the horizon. I believe it was God's heart to present the truth so that a better decision could be made to protect HIS children. 
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For more detailed information on Starlings please visit: http://www.sialis.org/starlingbio.htm

P. S. One of HGRM's intercessors sent in this link to Dr. Henry Cloud's (the author of Boundaries) discussion on Narcissism
"For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him" (Ephesians 1:15-17, NASB).