Hiding the Children’s Food

“What I tell you in darkness, that speak in light;
and what you hear in the ear, that preach upon the housetops.
And fear not them who can kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul;
rather, fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

Jesus, in Matthew 10:27

There are several reasons why I have chosen not to be part of a religious organization, but one of the most important has to do with what I have seen and heard from men who minister within the confines of religious sects.

In years past, I have spoken with ministers who confided to me some truth they had learned from God, but who would not dare to reveal to their congregations what Jesus had taught them. These were not wicked men. Some of them were good men whom I loved and respected for their moral integrity and their love for God and people. But they were in an incredibly difficult position. They had been hired by a religious organization to teach that sect’s brand of the gospel, and they knew that if they revealed to their congregation what Jesus had taught them, they would certainly be fired as pastor.

One such brother, a Pentecostal Holiness minister whom I still love, called me one evening to discuss what Jesus had shown him about communion. I could tell that he wanted to teach the truth to his congregation but that he feared to do so. So, he had come up with a clever plan. He would teach the truth about communion along with several other ideas about it, ideas that were taught by various sects around the world. That way, the congregation wouldn’t be able to say he was actually teaching it as the gospel, or that he really believed it himself. If the truth was taught as only one of several possible interpretations, he figured, people would see him as only doing his duty to educate his flock in what some people thought about the subject.

There are others here with the same testimony I have. One minister, for example, told Sister Lou that if he confessed before his congregation that he had received the holy Ghost baptism and spoke with tongues, they “would run me out of town.”

There have been others, men from the Church of God, Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, and other sects, who received things from God and talked to me about it, but who could not muster the courage to confess the truth they knew to their flocks. And again, I am not speaking of evil men; I am talking about men with the light of life within them, though it was concealed, as it were, under a bushel. They had all been hired to teach only those things that fit within the doctrinal limits of their respective sects.

It was an awfully hard trial! They knew that their family’s financial security would be put at risk if they dared to tell the congregation what they had received from God, and it was heart-breaking to watch them bear that burden. In time, judging by what I saw in the lives of such dear brothers, I came to hate the whole idea of “religious organization”. Where is any such thing found in the Bible anyway?

I am free to tell my flock that I have been wrong and that they have been wrong because they have not hired me to do anything. They have no influence over what I preach or when. They, like me, are after the truth, no matter where it leads us. Doing the will of God is of first importance to all of us. And they are confident that if God shows me a better way, I will not hide it from them. They know that I am free to embrace it and that I will tell them about it, in case they want to come with me.

In truth, these precious souls are here with me because Jesus sent them here to help me, just as I am here to help them. I have never gone out looking for “members”. Jesus sends me the help I need. These sheep of God’s flock have simply heard the truth from me, and the truth has made them free. Moreover, God put it in their hearts to forward the work He gave me by joining with me in it, and by bringing in their tithes and offerings so that the good things we publish for God’s people everywhere may continue to be published, and so that I, their servant, can “live of the gospel”, as God has ordained (1Cor. 9:14). Tens of millions of gospel tracts, books, and audio/video productions have been produced and sent out by the people associated with this work over the decades. And as far as I can tell, they all “do it heartily, as unto the Lord, and not unto man”, and would not stop living and giving as they do even if told to stop. They know the will of God, and doing His will is first in their lives. Following Jesus’ perfect example, we have never “taken up a collection”. Nor has anyone here ever heard me ask for money. If the congregation does the will of God, the shepherd does not have to beg for wool. Happy, well-fed sheep produce that without being told to.

This is the way it ought to be for God’s servants everywhere. The servant of God must be free from all forms of pressure to hide from God’s children what he hears from God. Every minister of Christ everywhere ought to renounce the system of pleasing a religious organization and be a true servant of God for His people – boldly and in love speaking the truth they hear from Jesus. They would be amazed at the results. Feeding the sheep in God’s pasture is the way to bless the sheep so that the sheep can feed the shepherd.

To hide children’s bread from them, for fear of their reaction to it, or for any other reason, cannot possibly be the way Christ wants us to live. It is the word of God that will unite us who believe. But how can that happen so long as His servants are afraid to tell His people what they have heard?

Time, Purpose, and Judgment

Dear John,

I just want to say thank you for writing the All Things book. It has touched my heart so deeply that I can only cry as I read it page by page. I just finished proofreading the chapter on Solomon. I am very grateful to Jesus that he let you understand Solomon’s wisdom concerning time, purpose, and judgment, so that we could be taught it and live. I cannot even put into words how I feel right now except to say that I feel overwhelmed with God’s love and mercy.

I don’t know if it’s available or not, but it would be nice to have that one chapter of the book made into a little booklet that could be given out to hurting people. There is healing in it because it shows God’s heart towards His people.

With love,
Bess
========

Hi Bess:

You have helped us a lot in getting this book ready to be re-printed. Your proof-reading help, as well as the help of others, is invaluable.

That particular chapter in Solomon’s Wisdom, concerning “time, purpose, and judgment” seems to have an especially powerful effect on people who have been hurt. A lady from my Community College OT class took the book on her vacation some years ago, and when she returned, she told me the same thing you said. For me, it was touching when she described sitting on the beach in her beach chair, crying behind her sunglasses as she read that part of the book.

If, from reading the book, someone like this lady, who is going through an especially difficult time, gets the sense that God really loves and will take care of her, then I have accomplished my mission in writing it. It is difficult to have faith in God unless you really feel that he cares about you as a person.

I am doing so much work right now in preparation for re-printing all our books that I can’t see making that portion of the book separate booklet just yet, but I will keep it in mind for a possible future project, and I do thank you for your comments.

jdc

Humbling Ourselves to the Scriptures

A letter from Brother Jerry.

Hi Brother John,

Sheila and I have been reading your new translation of the Gospel of John this morning, and there are two things in particular that have really stood out to me.

In chapter 8, Jesus plainly explained to the Jews that they could not hear Him because He told the truth and the truth was not in them. He told them that they seek to kill Him because he told the truth and that “Abraham did not do this”.

Then we continued reading into chapter 9, about the blind man who stood before the Jews after Jesus opened his eyes. They did not want to accept that Jesus, by the power of God, had made this blind man to see. In 9:27, it says he (the healed blind man) answered them, “I told you already, and you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it again?” I told Sheila, “Wow, we just read this in chapter 8. Jesus had already told them, “You can’t hear me because I tell the truth”, and now they can’t hear this man telling the truth, so they asked him to tell it again, looking for something else. I thought that it was incredible that Jesus had just told them their condition in chapter 8.

Then it says in verses 30-34: “The man answered and said to them, ‘Well, here is an amazing thing. You don’t know where he is from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God doesn’t hear sinners, but if anyone be God-fearing and do His will, He hears him. From the beginning of time, it hasn’t been heard that someone opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man weren’t from God, he couldn’t do anything.’ They answered and said to him, ‘You were altogether born in sin, and do you teach us?’ And they cast him out.” Wow.

The other thing that thrills my soul is this. In 12:37 it says, “Although so many miracles had been done by him in [the multitude’s] presence, they did not believe in him.” Then, in verse 39 it says, “This is why they could not believe, because Isaiah said again, [God] has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they should see with their eyes and understand with their heart, and be converted, and [God] should heal them.”

Those verses about God blinding and hardening the hearts of the people made me think of this. I just read in Exodus about Pharaoh’s heart being hardened over and over again by God, to fight against God. Pharaoh had no choice but to resist God because God chose to use him that way. I have read in the scriptures that “By the hands of wicked men, Jesus was delivered up.” And God said through Isaiah that the people could not hear or understand “lest they be converted, and I heal them.” God made choice among all of those people, to not allow them to obtain to His righteousness. Pharaoh was not allowed to please God and do the will of God by letting the people leave Egypt. The crowd in John was not allowed to understand and be converted and be healed and, ultimately, saved. And the will of God (to have Jesus crucified) was put into the hearts of men, by God, to be carried out. And afterward, God would judge them for it.

I thought this. If a man wanted to have a bank robbery carried out, by someone other than himself, he would not go to a righteous man’s home to find a robber; he would go to a den of thieves. He would go to a man that already had thievery in his heart and then just give him a new idea about what he already wanted to do.

Yes, God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. But all that means is that means that Pharaoh was not a righteous man. He was a man who was going to defy God anyway. And his heart was hardened so that the glory of God could be seen amongst God’s people. God did not choose a righteous man to harden, to carry out the evil deed; he chose a man who only needed a new idea of how to be himself.

In John’s gospel, God chose everyone in that crowd that day, who would believe or not believe Jesus. It says that God made them blind and hardened their hearts so that they would not be converted and be healed. I bet, with all confidence, that God did not leave one person in the dark who had a right heart.

And when it was time for the awful deed of crucifying Jesus, only wicked men could do such a thing. I have heard you say that “They could not have gotten Peter to do it.” God just gave a new idea to men who already had a heart to kill an innocent man.

There are vessels of honor and vessels of dishonor. Doesn’t it read “God will have mercy on whom He will have mercy, and harden whom He will harden”? I am so thankful that I sincerely believe that God would pass me by if he was looking for a wicked man to sin against Him. What a privilege to be a vessel of honor!

God uses darkness to contrast the light, and dark-hearted people to work in that darkness. Thank God for being called to the light! I was in darkness before that call. It was only God’s choice that got me out and got me to Him. I was worse than many around me. It was just by His mercy that He chose me.

What a good day.

Thanks,
Jerry
============

Hi Jerry:

Over the years, both as a student and a teacher, I have noticed some significant differences in people’s attitudes toward the Bible. I have had professors and students who, when considering difficult passages in the Bible, just shrugged them off as evidences that humans were the authors of the Bible, and so, errors and contradictions were only to be expected. On the other hand, I have seen people humble themselves when they come upon Scriptures that seemed contradictory or difficult to explain, and confessed their need of God’s help to comprehend His book. Let us choose the latter course.

The Bible’s assertion that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart has given many people theological problems, for that act of God conflicts with the nature of the sweetie-pie god that is often proclaimed to this generation. God will harden hearts. The Bible says so; therefore, let us humble ourselves to fear before Him!

You have chosen the path that leads to a real knowledge of the true God. You have chosen to confess that what the Bible tells us about God is true. When we do that, our understanding is enlightened, for we receive what God has given to us for our good. I would that all people everywhere would simply confess that the Bible is true. If they did that, they would grow in the knowledge of God.

Your explanation of what kind of man Pharaoh must have been in order for God to harden his heart is a prime example of what I am talking about. Rather than argue with the facts that the Bible gives, you have chosen to believe the Bible, and the result is that you have increased in the knowledge and fear of God.

May God grant all of us, always, that same humility when we face things that we cannot make sense of. God is always right. Praise His holy name!

Pastor John

Taking Away the Flesh and the Blood

From the Gospel of John, chapter 6:52-56, 60-63

"Then the Jews murmured among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” Therefore, Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I tell you, if you don’t eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you don’t have life in you. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I’ll raise him up in the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him."

. . .

"Then, when many of his disciples heard this, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can hear it?” But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Does this offend you? Then what if you should see the Son of man ascending to where he was before? It is the Spirit that gives life; the flesh is worthless. The words that I speak to you, they are spirit, and they are life."

Sitting in his tiny apartment in about 1960, Uncle Joe never guessed, as he sat reading the Bible and writing out his thoughts, that in 2008, his writings would answer a question that I had often asked myself when reading the words of Jesus from John 6:62 (above).

I never understood why Jesus all of a sudden changed the subject from eating his flesh and drinking his blood to that of his coming ascension into heaven. That comment seemed to me to be out of place, and there are several scriptures just like that in the Bible. When I read them, I say, “What is that comment doing here?”

But Uncle Joe answered my question about John 6:62 this morning. This is a portion of what he wrote:

"Now we know, and all sensible people will agree, that the wine that Jesus poured and gave to the disciples to drink, and bread that he brake and gave them to eat, was not his natural body nor his natural blood, for his flesh was still on his bones and his blood still ran warm in his veins. And, yet, he tells the Jews in John chapter 6that they must eat [his flesh and drink his blood] or “have no life in you” (verse 53). Since we see that the wine and the bread partaken of by the disciples were not really his flesh and blood, we know that it was symbolic of something else, yet to be given to them.

"In John 6, when Jesus saw that he had offended the Jews by his saying, he said to them, “What and if ye shall see the Son of Man ascend up where he was before?” In my understanding, he was saying to them, 'Suppose you see me go away into heaven, taking this flesh and blood with me? What then?'

"Then again we hear his words, “It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing; the words that I speak unto you they are Spirit and they are life” (John 6:63)."

Of course! This is the reason Jesus made that surprise comment in John 6:62 about his return to the Father. Seeing that the Jews were offended because they thought Jesus was teaching that people had to eat his natural flesh and drink his natural blood, he asked them what would they do if he took his natural body away from mankind, and no one could ever possibly eat his flesh and drink his blood? Why, that would mean nobody would ever be saved! In reminding his followers that he would be returning to the Father, Jesus was trying to show them that he was not talking about eating and drinking natural things. That is why he finished by saying, “It is the Spirit that gives life; the flesh is worthless. The words that I speak to you, they are spirit, and they are life.”

Coming Out For Unity

The apostle Paul said, “I appeal to you, brothers, through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same understanding and in the same judgment” (1Cor. 1:10). Just hours before his arrest and crucifixion, Jesus earnestly prayed for those who would believe in him, that “they all might be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they may also be one in us, so that the world might believe that you sent me (Jn. 17:21).

The unity of His children is a matter of the highest concern to our heavenly Father. And His will in this matter is why we have come out of all sectarian religion. Just look around, and you will see that every religion that is of man on the earth is hopelessly divided. And for God’s dear children to join any of the sects within these religious systems, including the one called Christianity, automatically separates that believer from God’s other children who join other sects. Supporting one sect’s doctrine and traditions is to oppose the efforts of other believers who support the doctrines and traditions of other sects. We are opposing each other as long as we belong to sects with conflicting doctrines and rituals.

Since God’s will is for His children to be one, as He and His Son are one (Jn. 17:20-23), then it must be His will for all us who believe in Jesus to forsake all that divides us. He can heal us! But this healing can never happen as long as we cling to our preferred sect.

We, and others like us around the world, are badly misunderstood, and we have been criticized severely for refusing to participate in anything that would divide us from God’s dear people, but I maintain that what we have done is the only reasonable course for the children of God to take. We live in this country, and are divided by geography from most of God’s people in other lands. But we can do nothing about those kinds of differences. But we can do something about our choice to join or not join a denomination and sect. We have been shown by Christ Jesus to love our fellow believers too much to do that.

Admittedly, it will require a mighty miracle for God to unite us, even if we all do His will and abandon the sects which we have joined, but should we not at least make ourselves available to our Father in hope that He might at least possibly do that miracle? In just six days, God created this entire universe out of nothing. Think of what he might do for us if we would just co-operate with Him and give Him a chance! On the other hand, please consider this: If we refuse our Father’s call and cling to the sects and denominations we have chosen, there is no possibility that we will ever be one, as the Father and the Son are united. Is that what we really want?

If we love fervently one another, and if we love our heavenly Father with all our hearts, then surely we will feel compelled to come out of all that divides us and to pray, as one, that Jesus will show us truth that will heal the breaches in our fellowship. Does it make any difference how impossible it seems now? Our God is mighty! He can unite us, we believe, if we will but co-operate with Him. Oh, let’s trust our heavenly Father to help us be what He has always wanted us to be! He can make it possible that we “speak the same thing and have no divisions among you, but be united in the same understanding and in the same judgment.”

The apostle Paul told the saints in Philippi that he wanted them to have the same love, one for another (Phip. 2:1-4). I, and others I know, hold you so dear to our hearts that we have forsaken everything under our control that would divide us from you. Now, how much do you love us?

Happy Is The man Whom God Corrects

From Sister Ashley.

Lately, it has been stressed that we need to know why we are here, and know that this way of life is what we want. Of course, this makes you go through a period where you "check" yourself. Asking God how you're doing, if anything needs fixing, etc. A friend of mine had the best testimony the other week, and in it she was saying she had been going through a time like that. She was wondering if in her heart she was 100% for God’s way of life. And she said the Spirit reminded her of everything she has gone through in the past year or so, and how she gave up something that she'd always wanted, marriage and a family, because the man she was married to didn't want God anymore and was very abusive, physically and mentally. But she didn't have to keep loving God. He was showing her that she did have a heart to do what is right, and that she showed it by the life she chose to continue living.

Well, last week, I was going through the same thing, asking God if I really had a heart for him, and the same thing happened. I started remembering everything that I have gone through this past year. I lost my father, brother, and my mother to this world, but I hung in there, by the grace of God. And then He blessed me beyond what I could have imagined. During this past year, I have been scourged to the bone by God, and I was thinking about that, and I was reminded of a conversation with Token a few months back. I was very sick, and she came to see me. She was rubbing my head and said "God sure does love you." I looked at her, kind of wondering where that came from, and she reminded me of the scriptures in the bible referring to God chastening those He loves. And when you think of that, what love it is! Not that it feels good to be chastened at the time,but afterwards, the cleanness and the love in it overwhelm the rest. Here are the scriptures that I found referring to the love of God's chastisement, from such great men as John, Paul, Job, and David (you can tell that they had their share, but loved God for it):

Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: (Job 5:17)

Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O LORD, and teachest him out of thy law; (Psalm 94:12)

The Lord hath chastened me sore: but he hath not given me over unto death. (Psalm 118:18)

For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. (Hebrews 12:6)

Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. (Hebrews 12:11)

But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. (1 Corinthians 11:32)

As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. (Revelation 3:19)

The Road To Salvation

Good afternoon Bro John,

I drew near to the Lord this morning, and this is what I heard.

If you are overtaken in a fault, you do not need to repent of the fault, you need to repent of the road you are on, the road that had the fault on it. There is no sin on the road to salvation. This road, the road of the Spirit, leads home to Christ and it knows the way perfectly. Sin is not on this road.

On this road, a living road, God is always communicating with His children. Like a shipmaster constantly guiding. He never stops tweeking the wheel. God is a living voice in our inner ear, and if we follow, then we are being led by the Spirit, and that makes us sons of God, according to the scriptures.

We need to seek to learn the voice of God, knowing that it leads to salvation, and follow it perfectly. We should expect for it to tell us things that we would not have thought of. Or give us instruction that we would not have chosen on our own. If we were doing all the things that it told us already, we would have no need for it.

Sometimes, it might tell us to do something that we may not especially want to do. Or tell us to refrain from something that we see no harm in or might enjoy. God may give us such instruction with no further insight into it. Our place is to obey, not asking why before we do it. Asking our Father why we should do something is the lesser attempting to qualify the motive of the greater. To ask why is to say "Let me see if your reason is good enough for me to carry this out." That is what children are doing when they ask why before following the instruction of their parent, and it is not good in the sight of the Lord. If left to grow in children, it will produce an adult defiant to authority and unable to obey God without some painful reconditioning.

Men should obey the Lord with complete submission, knowing that everything He does is for our good, even when it hurts. And by that, we are made fit to be followed by our wives in the same manner and then we can, with all confidence, require our children to follow us both.

Feeding the Lambs

It is the tendency of the human fleshly nature to shirk its responsibilities. A person “walking in the flesh”, as Paul would put it, will be inclined to escape duty, sometimes by making another feel that the duty is his. And this can happen among believers as well as those of the world.

It is a father’s responsibility to lead his family in the ways of Christ. It is not a pastor’s responsibility to teach anyone else’s children about Jesus and the truth of the gospel. The flesh would have a parent to take the children to religious gatherings and be content with that for their education, but there is nothing that can ever take the place of godly instruction from the parents, at home, especially instruction from the father.

It is the shepherd’s responsibility to feed the sheep, but it is the ewe’s responsibility to feed her lambs. The sheep know the shepherd’s voice; the lambs do not. The little ones follow their parents wherever they go, and they trust their parents. It is the parents’ responsibility to know who they are following.

It can be flattering to a minister when the congregation begins to laud him and lean on him and look to him for spiritual guidance for their whole families. It can puff up a man to think that he can actually feed the whole families of other men, but to try to do that is a self-destructive trap. To labor to supply others’ families the spiritual meat which the head of each house alone is ordained by God to supply is too much of a burden for any man. It is to spend one’s strength doing what is another’s responsibility to do, and no man is capable of bearing that burden for long.

Fathers, guide your own children, whom God has placed in your care, “in the fear and admonition of the Lord.” No one can replace you in your children’s eyes. Mothers, diligently do your part in teaching your children of the ways of God. No one else can do that for them as you can. Everyone in the body has a part in the life of everyone else in the body. But no one in the body can play the part of anyone else, for “God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He wanted. But if one member were everything, where would the body be?” (1Cor. 12:18-19).

Uncle Joe, 2: Peace

After Uncle Joe had been healed of cancer, he continued to receive a disability check from the government until his health so much improved that the checks were discontinued. During the time that he was receiving the checks, he was consumed with Bible study and writing little messages which, to this day, almost no one has ever read. The following quote is taken from one of those little messages. It is a wisdom that is obtained only by those who find themselves utterly alone with God. This is the place Uncle Joe found himself in 1959 when he was given no more than ninety days to live. He spent the remaining thirty-seven years of his life praising God and testifying of the value of finding oneself alone with God.

“Before peace can be established in any country, there must be a conquering power. The aggressive forces of evil must be subdued by a power greater than they. This is also true in the life of every individual. No man or woman has ever found peace until the power of God’s holy Spirit has driven out the natural human tendency toward rebellion and strife.”

The nature of man is sinful and stubborn and must be subdued by God before anyone can have peace in his heart. We must be delivered from ourselves! May God help us to submit quickly to His authority and to receive Him as conqueror of our souls. He demands our unconditional surrender, and only those who yield to His demand ever experience the joy of real peace.

In God's Presence

After Uncle Joe had been healed of cancer, he continued to receive a disability check from the government until his health so much improved that the checks were discontinued. During the time that he was receiving the checks, he was consumed with Bible study and writing little messages which, to this day, almost no one has ever read. The following quote is taken from one of those little messages. It is a wisdom that is obtained only by those who find themselves utterly alone with God. This is the place Uncle Joe found himself in 1959 when he was given no more than ninety days to live. He spent the remaining thirty-seven years of his life praising God and testifying of the value of finding oneself alone with God.

“The nearer we get to God, the harder we seek Him
because in His presence, we feel our weakness.”

Social Introductions

From a home prayer meeting in 1969

Uncle Joe testified in a meeting in 1969 and left us this pearl. I’ll summarize how he started his testimony that day:

I think we ought to forget about all that formal, social introduction to each other when we meet the children of God and let God introduce Himself. Let the Spirit of God in each of us have fellowship through each other, and then we’ll know each other, and we won’t have to ask very many questions. We don’t have to go through all that commotion the world goes through in order for us to get acquainted. God’s already acquainted with Himself, and we belong to Him. We’re all one family.

This testimony reminded me of an observation made by Sister Donna not long ago. She laughed when she thought of how often we all have greeted one another when we meet and the Spirit of God would fall on us. After that blessing of God was given, we often back up a little and then do the obligatory, "How are you?" But the holy Ghost has already told us how we are! It is as Uncle Joe said, just let the Spirit within us have its fellowship among us, and we will know each other. And we will know how each other is really doing by the feelings of the Spirit within us. We will not have to go through the usual, worldly motion of introduction and inquiry..

The apostle Paul said something like this when he told the Corinthians that he was coming. There was some controversy among the saints at that time, and Paul said that when he arrived, he would know how everyone was doing by the power of God that they had (1Cor. 4:19). I doubt very seriously that when Paul arrived in Corinth and gathered with the saints, he shook their hand and said, "How ya doin’?"

Of course, this can be taken to an extreme and make people afraid to ask any questions of each other, but Uncle Joe’s point was a good one. We really do not know how anyone is doing unless we know their spirits, and with enough spiritual discernment, there will not be many questions that we need to ask.

Pearls from the Preacher

"The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd."
Eccl. 12:11

From a home prayer meeting in 1969

When I listened to the sermon of that Sunday afternoon prayer meeting in Grandma’s house in 1969, I wrote down some of the wisdom that I heard. Here are a few examples from Preacher Clark:

"When you quit seeking God, that’s when you quit getting God."

"You know, a hypocrite never bothers anybody but another hypocrite."

"I’m not even worthy of the honor and the praise of the clean children of God until I get equipped to stand the persecution of the others."

"I’m the happiest man in the world that I know. The happiest man in the world that I know is me because I’m not battling disappointments. If it doesn’t go like I’d like it to go, then I like it the way it does go. I rejoice in tribulation. I praise God for tribulation."

"You’re not going to win anybody to Christ until they decide they want to be like you."

"If you fall in love with the Lord, you won’t have a hard time being true to him."

"Just tell me you love Jesus, and you’re my friend."

Know Thyself

Hey Pastor John!

I have been listening to the Philippians/Colossians teaching series that you did and we are preparing as a series for everyone. I heard you say this last night on one of the CDs, and I wrote it down:

"If you know why you are doing what you are doing, and why you are where you are, what can intimidate you? What you want and need to know is you. What you want to know is you, in God.

Who are you? What are you after? Where did you come from? How did you get here? And, what's your point? Even Socrates said, 'Know Thyself'. He knew that is where you needed to start.

Know your own heart. Know your own mind. Pray, 'God, show me myself!' If He shows you that new creature He created, you are going to like yourself."

Then, I thought about what you told us last Sunday when reading in Ephesians chapter 4. What seemed like "commandments" in the New Testament are really descriptions of who we are in Christ. If you don't know you, you can start there! 8-)

Amy

The God of Eternity

"I know that whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever."
Solomon, in Ecclesiastes 3:14

Bro. John:

I want to share something that the Lord gave me today about how important it is to submit ourselves to God’s love.

Yielding to the Spirit IS submitting to God’s love. It is letting God love us. I was thinking on that this morning, and how God has a purpose in everything that He does. The Lord spoke to me and said, "I am the God for Eternity." Then He began to teach me what that meant.

God is not a "temporary fixer-upper." What He does for us when we yield to His Spirit goes towards readiness for Eternity. His touches are FOR Eternity. He does something in our souls that is lasting. God is FOR Eternity! And what He does for us is for Eternity! He is not offering His love to us for us to sit and watch it fall. What else can you call the Spirit than the love of God in action? It is only in submitting and yielding to that love through His Spirit that we will find the "forever" touches that will prepare us to live with the "God for Eternity". Nothing is temporary with Him. He means it for Eternity.

When I woke up this morning, I got my coffee and was going to catch up on the news. The Lord said, "Why don’t you spend some time with me?" Praise God! I am so glad that I did. I started reading in Colossians, and then was led to read in Ecclesiastes, and ended in Joshua 7. God had something for me in every place I read. The news reports would have been temporary; what God had for me took my heart towards Eternity.

Later in the day, thinking about what the Lord had shown me earlier, I found in Ecclesiastes 3:14 what Solomon said: "I know that whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: Nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it; and God doeth it, that men should fear before him."

Sandy
===========

Thank you, Sandy. That is so good!

I learned from your testimony that when God is blessing us, He is doing something in us and for us that He intends to last forever. He is not preparing us just to survive the next few hours. He is the God of eternal things. If we understand that, then when God blesses us, we will be more likely to hold on to our blessings.

Now, we know that when God blesses, the blessing doesn’t decrease. It is an eternal thing. If we lose the joy, it is not because God didn’t give us enough of it; rather, it is because we went somewhere where the blessing was not. We left it behind. When I thought on that, I realized that holding on to the blessings God gives us is what the Bible calls being faithful. We are faithful when we refuse to leave the place where God blesses us. We are faithful when we refuse to be drawn into a quarrel, or join in a dishonest scheme, or go anywhere, spiritually, where God’s blessings are not given. The faithful man stays in that spiritual place where God blesses.
Let’s hold on to the attitude that God blesses. Let’s keep walking in the way that God blesses. Let’s keep confessing Christ and loving our neighbor as ourselves because those are "places" where God blesses.

Your testimony reminded me of some words from Darren’s new song (what a holy song that is!): "Doesn’t everybody know the feelings last forever?" Our fellowship in Christ lasts forever, for, being from God, it is a forever thing. May God give us strength to stand fast in the place of that holy fellowship and not be lured away by the flesh or by unclean spirits.

Pastor John

A Greater Is Here

"Therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on to perfection. . ."
Hebrews 6:1

In the verse above, "leaving" does not mean denying or ignoring; it means building upon. All the truth God reveals now builds upon truth that was revealed before.

No one truly understands or believes in John the Baptist’s baptism until he understands and believes that John’s baptism is no longer to be practiced. The truth of "one baptism" does not deny or ignore John’s baptism; it simply leaves it behind as we are brought nearer to God. If there is anyone on earth still making the animal sacrifices that Moses commanded, that person does not understand animal sacrifice as well as I do because I have left it behind. By the grace of God, I have believed those sacrifices were of God, but I am now closer to God than the Old Testament characters who had to perform such sacrifices. In Christ, I am beyond those works of the Law. In Christ, I understand those animal sacrifices, and, understanding them, I do not participate in them.

Jesus didn’t deny that Solomon had wisdom from God, but he did say that "a greater than Solomon is here." He did not deny or ignore the fact that Moses’ tabernacle or, later, the Temple in Jerusalem was holy, but he did say, "in this place, is one greater than the temple." He knew the story of Jonah was true and that the whole population of Nineveh, over one hundred twenty thousand people, including their king, repented at Jonah’s preaching. But he told a group of Pharisees, "a greater than Jonah is here." We do not deny the truth God revealed to the prophets and elders of Israel by leaving their revelation behind to draw closer to God. On the contrary, we deny that Jesus is greater than those Old Covenant men and objects when we do not leave them behind.

Paul knew that the Law of Moses was holy (Rom 7:12). He did not deny that. He made it perfectly clear to all his listeners that he understood the glory of God was in the Law and its ceremonies. Nevertheless, he had left those things behind as he built upon them to view the surpassing excellency of Christ. He wrote, "Now if the ministry of death written in letters engraved on stones was so glorious that the sons of Israel were not able to look steadily upon Moses’ face because of the glory of his countenance (which glory is being brought to an end), how is the ministry of the Spirit not more glorious? If there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, much more does the ministry of righteousness abound with glory. For indeed, that which was made glorious has come to have no glory in comparison to the surpassing glory of Christ." (2Cor.3:7-10). Paul neither denied nor ignored the holiness of the things God had given to Israel, but he left them behind. He rose above them to live in the Spirit of Christ.

In Christ, we leave behind what once were holy things, such as holy days and Sabbaths, physical circumcision, an earthly temple, the burning of incense, and ceremonial robes. We do not deny those things were of God. We leave Moses behind because a greater than Moses has come. We leave behind the burning of incense that God commanded Israel because, in Christ, we have a better kind of fire, so much purer and more acceptable to God that the old kind loses all its glory. We leave behind the animal sacrifices God commanded because a greater sacrifice has now been made, one that was so precious in God’s sight that He is now willing to forgive all the sins that have ever been committed by mankind on earth, if those people will simply approach Him in the name of Jesus for it.

Paul spoke of certain men who "profess to know God, but in works they deny Him" (Tit. 1:16). This is a wise observation. There are many who profess to know that Jesus is Lord of all, but they continue performing ceremonies as if he is not. Their works deny what their mouths profess. Don’t let your works make your words worthless. If the Messiah has really come, then let us act like it and leave behind all those things God once used to foreshadow his coming.

This is a far better covenant than the first one, so much better, in fact, that every holy and good thing in the first covenant has lost its glory. We do not deny or ignore the fact that God anointed certain people and things under the Old Covenant; still, we have left it behind because Jesus, a greater than all those people and things is here, and we refuse to deny him.

Two Ways To Be Delivered

"I know, O Lord, that your judgments are right,
and that you in faithfulness have afflicted me."
David in Psalm 119:75

If we do wrong, God is faithful to cause us to suffer for it, if in no other way than in causing us to suffer the heavy feeling of condemnation in our hearts. A large part of God’s work in our lives is to cause us to feel guilty when we have erred, and it is a precious gift from God to be able to feel bad for doing wrong.

There are many people on this planet who can commit great wickedness and yet suffer no pangs of guilt at all. These are the people God hates. Conviction for sin is part of the chastening of God, and God chastens only those whom He loves (Rev. 3:19). Without chastisement from God, no one can possibly repent. Man has nothing within him that causes him to feel like repenting for evil; conviction for sin comes only from the Spirit of God.

The chastening of the Lord is more precious than gold. It is an invitation from God to come be forgiven. David knew this well, and he wrote (Ps. 94:12-13), "Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him out of thy Law, that thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity." It made David tremble to think that God would refuse to chasten him when he needed it, but he knew God would be faithful to His people and correct them for their errors, "for the Lord will not cast off His people, neither will He forsake His inheritance" (Ps. 94:14). The man whom God will not chasten has been forsaken by God.

Jesus will work with us for years, constantly making our conscience feel guilt when we are overtaken by a fault. This is part of what being a Savior means, for by the pangs of guilt we are prodded away from the way of sin. It is then, when we turn from sin to God, and God then forgives and cleanses us from sin, that we experience "deliverance" from the guilt that burdens our heart when we have sinned.

Another Way of Deliverance

But being forgiven and washed from sin is not the only way to be delivered from feelings of guilt for sin. We can also be "delivered" from that burden if God ceases to grant us those feelings of guilt. Over the years, I have seen several cases of this. I have heard testimonies from those who have claimed to be delivered, when what had really happened is that they had provoked God for so long and had resisted His conviction so stubbornly that He finally turned them over to their own will. He stopped convicting them for sin. The relief they felt was not the relief of being forgiven and cleansed; rather, it was the relief of not feeling any more conviction from God for what they were doing wrong.

When, after long years of patient forbearance, God finally turns a person over to his own will and refuses to chasten him any longer, that sinner may feel happier and freer than he has felt in many years. And in the cases of this that I have seen, those people usually feel as if they have been released from a sort of prison. Some even assume that they have taken a step of faith into a higher realm of fellowship with God. But that is the way of God’s curse. It is a "strong delusion", as Paul said, and under such a delusion, one thinks he is traveling one way when he is, in fact, going in exactly the other.

It is possible to be delivered from sin, or to be delivered over to it. Either way, we will feel a great relief. The only question is, what kind of relief do we want? The kind that is true and real, or the illusion that makes us think we are something we are not?

What Do You Do With Your Shame?

"If I covered my transgressions as Adam
by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom . . ."
Job 31:33

"He who covers his sins shall not prosper;
but whoever confesses and forsakes sin shall have mercy."
Solomon, in Proverbs 28:13

From a conversation with Brother Paul Curtsinger

The Apostle Paul said that "some men’s sins go before them to the judgment, but other men’s sins come behind." In other words, some men are wise enough to confess their sins to God and let those sins be washed away by the blood of Christ now, before the Day of Judgment, while other men foolishly attempt to hide their sins, supposing that they will somehow get by, without coming clean. It is far better to confess sins now than to hide them, because confessed sins are forgiven, but hidden sins will be held against the sinner in the Day of Judgment. Job said that Adam attempted to hide his sins, but Adam found out that hiding in shame behind bushes in the garden did not help him at all.

In my conversation with Brother Paul, he said to me, "My shame drove me to God, but Adam’s shame made him hide from God." That testimony made me realize that what we do with our shame will determine our eternal destiny.

We all have felt shame, for "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." So, knowing what it is to feel shame is a common experience for the inhabitants of earth. The only difference there will have been, then, between those saved in the end and those who will be damned is that some people’s shame drove them to God, while others hid their shame in their breast and put on a happy face.

Where is your shame? In your breast or under the blood of Christ Jesus?

Cast Out With Love

From a conversation with Paul Curtsinger

God loved Adam. He created him, and then spent many days walking with him "in the cool of the evening", teaching him, showing him His creation, and just being his friend. He freely gave Adam dominion over the whole earth that He had created, keeping only one small thing on earth from the first man: the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. When Adam followed his wife’s suggestion and ate of the forbidden fruit, he did more than disobey God. He betrayed his best friend, the One who had freely given him all things and trusted him with the care of the earth.

Until my conversation with Brother Paul, I had always read the story of God casting Adam out of the garden of Eden from Adam’s point of view. But Paul brought to my attention how God must have felt when He cast Adam out of the garden. God cast him out, and then God set cherubs at the gate, and a flaming sword that turned in every direction to keep Adam away from his former home, forever. It must have broken God’s heart to watch Adam and Eve sorrowfully walking away. God loved Adam.

When, after gaining the knowledge of good and evil, Adam realized that he was naked and hid from God, God’s love for Adam remained constant. He grieved over Adam’s sin; nevertheless, He made clothes for Adam to wear so that he would not feel ashamed. And when He cast him out of the garden, He said something that is often overlooked when the story is read. He said that He was casting Adam and Eve out of the garden because doing so was what was best for them (Gen. 3:22-23).

Once Adam was defiled with forbidden knowledge, God wanted to protect Adam from the tree of life, "lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever." Had Adam eaten of the tree of life after he ate the forbidden fruit, he might have remained forever in the fallen state he was in. God sent Adam away from the tree of life because he loved Adam, to prevent Adam from becoming irreversibly stained. God sent Adam away from the tree of life so that He could save him.

That The Spirit Might Be Saved

Shepherds of the "flock of God" on earth bear a degree of responsibility such as God bore concerning Adam. It isn’t safe for disobedient members of the body of Christ to be allowed at the fountain from which the body drinks when they gather. In extreme cases, it is best for disobedient believers to be put out of the Assembly, to be prevented – protected, really – from drinking of the water of life while condemnation is in their hearts. The Law of Moses showed that drinking holy water from God’s temple could kill if there was condemnation in the heart of the person who drank (Num. 5:11-31). When Paul heard that an immoral young man was being allowed to continue to worship with the saints in Corinth, Paul wrote the Assembly and demanded that they repent and cast out the transgressor, and that he be handed over to Satan "that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus" (1Cor. 5:5). Paul knew that it was extremely dangerous for that sinner to eat the manna of heaven and drink the waters of life with the saints, and that he would have a better chance of pleasing God if he were removed from the presence of God’s people. Did Paul hate the young man? Of course not. He was giving him his best chance to meet God in peace.

There was no government in Corinth, and so, there was no standard of holiness enforced. Consequently, there were many guilty spirits in the congregation who drank regularly of the water of life. The results were just as anyone would have predicted who knew the Law of God. "Because of this," Paul wrote, "many are feeble and sick among you, and quite a few have fallen asleep." And he added this admonition: "Let a man examine himself; only then is he to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, not discerning the body, eats and drinks damnation to himself."

God loves us, even when He has to be severe in His dealings with us. He will go with us until the end, doing whatever gives us our best hope of eternal life. The ungodly cannot see the burning love that was there when Adam was cast out of the garden, and they may not see the love that will cast them out, either, when there is God’s brand of government among His people.

"I Still Love You the Same"
Elijah J. Clark
- April 19, 2007 -

Verse I
Years unremembered before I knew you –
Oh! The times we shared,
As if all I did was create you anew.
But here we are; did you ever care?
Since you left Me, time has rolled by...
Or, my friend, has it at all?
Come to me, lest you die.
Will you hear My gentle call?

Chorus
I still love you the same,
As the day we first met.
I never did anything to turn you away,
But forgave you of your debt.
And then you owed Me your life, your feelings,
Yet I’m still calling your name.
To tell you from the depths of My heart,
That I still love you the same.

Verse II
You thought you had moved on, to bigger, better things.
You thought you had played the highest card-
You thought My pain couldn’t change.
But the moment I knew what you had done,
The moment you laughed at me,
I saw the end of your sin, your shame,
A light recreating my victory,
Because I still loved you.

Verse III
So this light is burning in My soul
It protects Me from the hatred you chose,
That sin and the cold.
The holiness – the fire – it burns;
Into the sky it reaches. It keeps My feelings warm,
So that when you come back to me,
Like wax I’ll cover, reshape you;
I’ll command you – breathe!

Without God

Without God

"At that time, you were without Christ,being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise,having no hope, and without God in the world." Ephesians 2:12

If you worship God because you know you should worship God, you are worshiping God in vain. If you pray because you know you should pray, you are praying in vain. If you serve God because you know He is worthy to be served, your service is no more acceptable to God than that of a Buddhist priest, who also knows that God is worthy to be served. The whole world, the same world that John said "lies in wickedness", knows that God should be served, that everyone should pray, and that all people should worship God. That understanding is the foundation of every religion of man on earth, and being motivated in the service of God by that understanding is the very thing that makes all of man’s religions worthless for obtaining salvation.

Understand this, and fear God! The worship of God is by invitation only. No man can "do God service" whom God does not first call. And the only prayer that ever reaches God’s ear is the prayer inspired by His Spirit to be prayed. No one can love God whom God does not first love. To think otherwise is to think more of yourself than the truth calls for. The flesh hates the truth about itself, but it is incapable of righteousness without God. "God is a spirit," Jesus told us, "and those who worship Him, MUST worship Him in spirit and in truth." But how can this be? Man does not have God’s Spirit; nor does he have God’s truth. How can he possibly worship God acceptably if he must worship Him with things that he does not have? It is obvious that God must give man something before man is able to worship God acceptably. Is it too much for us to confess that, left to our own devises and power, we cannot worship God as He MUST be worshiped?

Once, Jesus’ disciples were stunned and frightened because of the narrowness of the gospel Jesus preached. Then they asked him who could ever be saved if what he was preaching was true. Jesus replied,"With man it is impossible. But with God, nothing shall be impossible." Jesus knew that man was hopeless unless God helped him. Paul told his Gentile converts that they once were hopeless because at that time, they were "without God". My friends, without God – God Himself, not some abstract idea about Him – we are sinning, no matter what we think we are doing. We have no choice but sin, if we are without God.

What is the difference between our worship and that of Old Testament worshipers if we worship God because we know it is time to worship him? Under the Old Testament, God’s people were instructed by the Law as to the proper times to worship God. Consequently, there were multitudes who went to worship God, not because they had any fellowship with their Creator, but because they knew it was time to go. This kind of worship is worship in the flesh, and it is useless for the redemption of the soul. Now, the Law that instructs God’s people is the holy Spirit within them, letting them know when and what to do in their service to God. I know that God said, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge," but the knowledge of God that saves us is not a knowledge of the proper day or hour to worship God; nor is it the knowledge of the proper styles of dress for worship; nor is it even a knowledge of the Bible. The knowledge that saves is the knowledge of God! The knowledge of God teaches us that the only acceptable service to God is that service rendered from a heart sanctified and led by the Spirit of God.

Man cannot initiate contact with God. Every prayer, every religious deed, every longing that arises from man’s nature is in vain. There is nothing "of man" in the kingdom of God. God must condescend to initiate the contact, He must give us something to respond to in order for our prayer or service to be in the right direction. God must call us to worship; otherwise, we worship God in vain. God must call us to prayer; otherwise, we are praying according to the flesh, not the Spirit. God must call us to His service; otherwise, we will find ourselves doing evil while we think we are doing good, just as Paul did before God reached down to him. There is nothing in us that knows how to worship, pray, or serve God acceptably. "Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father", and only what comes down to us from Him is acceptable in His sight.

Jesus told his disciples, "Without me, you can do nothing." Of course, Jesus knew that they could go fishing without him, or work at their tax tables without him, or perform any natural task in the flesh without him. But he was talking about serving God. He was telling his disciples that there was nothing in them that God would accept without it being prompted by the Spirit – which Spirit they did not yet have! And Jesus was not speaking only to his disciples; he was speaking to us all. Without him, none of us can do anything right in the sight of God. But with Him, can there be anything impossible?

You cannot understand these things and be proud. This knowledge, which comes from God, will create humility, and faith in the true God; it will inspire prayer that is acceptable; it will move you to cry out for God’s presence, so that you will not sin. This knowledge will fill you with the fear of God, lest He choose not to dwell among us and leave us to our own thoughts and ways. Our hearts, without God, are "desperately wicked," (Jer. 17:9) and hopelessly ignorant. Paul said that in our flesh, that is, our nature, "dwells no good thing." David sang, "Every man at his best state is altogether vanity." Men with the knowledge of God know that without Him, they are completely and hopelessly without power to live righteous lives! We must have God to lead us in our daily conduct and choices, our worship, our praying, and our service to Him, for if we do not have God in our midst, we are wasting our time even being alive. Without God living in us and guiding us, we are breathing in vain. We are like blind men groping in the dark, imagining that there is something for us to find.

Please join me in crying out to God for His presence to be among us, and for His power, which alone can keep us from sin, and for His mercy to forgive our vain imaginations and efforts, and to give us something to which we can respond. For without that, there is absolutely nothing right that we can possibly do.

If you understand this, you will be always at the ready, just in the hope that God will lead you to do something. His word is precious, His feelings are perfect, His will is holy, and if at any time He condescends to share His mind with us, who are we that we should hesitate or fear? We are rich if God has thought upon us. That is the knowledge which, not having, will destroy God’s people now, as it did Israel long ago.

No Hell?

"I say unto you, my friends, be not afraid of them that kill the body,
and after that have no more they can do.
But I will forewarn you whom you shall fear.
Fear Him, who after He has killed, has power to cast into hell.
Yea, I say, fear Him."
Jesus, in Lk. 12:4-5

The verse above poses a particularly difficult challenge to the notion, held by many, that there is no hell. If there is no hell, if the wicked simply disappear and no longer exist, then what is it that Jesus is warning us that God can do to the wicked after they die? If the wicked have no life after they die, then God can do no more to the wicked than men can do to them. If there is no hell awaiting the wicked, then all that anybody in heaven or earth do to them is kill them, and that is contrary to what Jesus taught.

The Jehovah Witness sect, among others, teach that hell is simply the grave, and that the wicked, once dead, just vanish into non-existence. The official Jehovah’s Witness web site states that "Since the dead have no conscious existence, hell cannot be a fiery place of torment where the wicked suffer after death. . . . The Bible hell, then, is the common grave of mankind where good people as well as bad ones go." But if that were true, if hell is the just the grave, then men, contrary to what Jesus said, do have the power to cast dead people into hell. Why, they do it all the time, and they are paid for their labor by families of the deceased. It is called "burying people".

The grave is not what hell is. Jesus warned his friends that God has power to cast dead people into a place that is beyond the power of men to cast them. And when God casts the wicked into hell, He is not burying the wicked dead; He is damning them.

Passing It On

When Moses was sent by God back to Egypt, forty years after he had fled that country, he began his journey back with his Midianite wife, Zipporah, and his young son Gershom. On the way, they spent the night at an inn, and during the night, the Lord let Moses know that He was very angry that Moses had not circumcised Gershom. In fact, God was so angry that He was at the point of killing either Moses or the boy (the Bible is not specific about which one). Realizing that God was furious at the boys’ uncircumcision, Moses directed Zipporah to circumcise her son, and she did, but with great displeasure. When the operation was over, she took the boy’s circumcised flesh and angrily threw it at Moses’ feet, screaming at him with a cruel accusation.

This scene should never have taken place, and God knew it. He had done all that was necessary to make for peace and joy between Moses and his wife, but here they were, in bitterness and strife, at least on Zipporah’s part. But why? What led to this heartbreaking scene between Moses, his wife, and God, at an inn on the road to Egypt?

Circumcision: The Sign of the Old Covenant

God’s precious covenant with Abraham is often called the covenant of circumcision because circumcision of the male descendants of Abraham was the sign of that covenant. God told Abraham on the day that He made this covenant with him, "This is the covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your seed after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised. You shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. He that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house or bought with money of any stranger which is not of your seed. He that is born in your house and he that is bought with your money must needs be circumcised. And my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut of from his people; he has broken my covenant" (Gen. 17:10-14).

Immediately after this life-changing, holy visit from the Almighty, Abraham circumcised his son Ishmael, all his male slaves, and even himself, at the age of 99! A year later, when Isaac was born, Abraham had him circumcised on the eighth day, just as God had commanded. Later, when Sarah had died, Abraham married a woman named Keturah, who bore to him six more sons, whom Abraham also circumcised on the eighth day.

One of those six sons born in Abraham’s last years was named Midian, and when Midian and his five brothers came of age, Abraham sent them to the east, away from Isaac, with riches enough to begin building for themselves homes and new lives. It was from these descendants of Abraham that Zipporah the Midianite came, but she apparently knew nothing of circumcision. Obviously, Midian, or his immediate descendants, failed to pass on to their offspring the truth about circumcision. Somebody in the genealogical line between Abraham’s son Midian and Moses’ wife Zipporah did not consider circumcision to be important enough to command his children to continue in it. And in time, the sign of Abraham’s covenant with God became a strange thing to the family. So strange, in fact, that it enraged Zipporah that Moses would demand such a thing, even though Moses, knowing he had displeased God by not circumcising his son, was moved with great fear of God to do it.

If Moses did not understand the importance of circumcision before that night in the inn, he understood it well from that time on. If, before that day, he was slack concerning the commandments of God, he never was again. He learned during his forty years in the camp of Midian to lightly esteem God’s covenant, and the sign of it – circumcision – but at the inn on the way to Egypt, he learned to tremble at the thought of not passing that truth on to the next generation.

When God chose Abraham,. He said He did it because "I know Abraham, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment, so that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which He has spoken concerning him" (Gen. 18:19). In other words, Abraham was not like Midian and his sons after him; he upheld the standard God gave to him and was not slack in commanding his children to do the same.

Tongues: The Sign of the New Covenant

I have seen first-hand the results of parents in one generation failing to pass on to their offspring the truth God had given to them. I have brothers and sisters who were taught the same truth I was taught by our father, but whose children and grandchildren now are complete strangers to the light of God because their parents behaved like Midian instead of Abraham. For whatever reason (God is Judge, not I) they failed to command their children to walk according to the law of God revealed to them. If I were to speak the truth to those offspring, it would seem as foreign to them now as circumcision was to Zipporah, and it might make them equally as angry and sarcastic toward me. That has been my experience, and that is why I understand this story of Moses and Zipporah as well as I do. I have lived it.

Isaiah, Jesus, and Paul pointed us to speaking in tongues or "stammering lips" as the sign of the new covenant, just as circumcision was the sign of the old. The baptism of the holy Ghost is the new birth as certainly as Jesus is coming back for his faithful saints. But most of Abraham’s descendants have not passed that truth on to their children. Ishmael, and Midian and his five brothers, all failed to keep alive the flame of God’s light in the world by making a stand for it. Only Isaac, of all Abraham’s sons, had sufficient understanding of the supreme importance of standing for truth in this sinful world and of upholding the standard of God’s truth in his house. But God knew he would, and Jacob after him. That is why He chose Abraham in the first place. He had found a line of men who would cling to the truth as if it was their very life. And after Moses was chastened by God’s wrath on his way to Egypt, he felt the way those two patriarchs did. And when God gave him the Law fo Israel, he commanded Israel to love it with all their hearts for, he said, "It is your life!" (Dt. 32:47).

The truth you have from God does not have to survive your death among those who knew you; it can die, and it will die, with you if you never pass it on. My hope is that what God has given me, above everything else, is what I am remembered for when I am gone. And I know that if I do what is right in God’s sight, that will be the case.

Claiming or Revealing?

I was praying a few days ago and was asking God to give me faith to believe every single thing that in the Bible He claims to be. He did. But He did it in a very unusual way. He gently reproved me for my prayer. I will try to put into words what I knew in my spirit as soon as I made that petition to God.

When I asked, ‘Lord, help me believe in my heart everything you claim about yourself", this is what I heard in my heart: "God has never claimed anything. Men do that because men can lie. Nothing God says about Himself in the Bible is a claim. It is a revelation."

Then I understood. When God said, "I am holy", He was not claiming to be holy; He was revealing to us the fact that he is holy. When he said, ‘I am the Lord who heals you", He was not claiming that He heals people; He was revealing to us that He is a healer.

Men claim many things, but God has never claimed anything. Solomon and Peter both referred to men who "boast themselves of a false gift." But if God says He is anything, or that He will do something, it is a precious revelation, and He wants us to trust Him so that we can benefit by the revelation of His power and goodness.

The next time you hear a man claim something about himself, ask this question: Is he just claiming that for himself, or is he, like God, revealing to others what God has given to him? Either one of those two options is possible, so don’t be cynical. Just be wise. If his words are more than just an empty claim, or boast, you will find it out soon enough. But if he is doing the way God does by declaring for your benefit a good work of God in his life, that will be made obvious, too. God will make sure of that.

In An Acceptable Time

"You have given me the necks of my enemies that I might destroy them.
They cried, but there was none to save them, even to the Lord,
but He answered them not."
Psalms 18:40-41

In spite of what one might have heard to the contrary, God is not always willing to hear people’s cries and to forgive. There are some evils that men and women commit that are so ungodly, that so provoke the wrath of God, He will not forgive.


Of the many biblical examples, the arrogance of the people in Jerusalem in Isaiah’s day provide us with a most fearful example of provoking God too much. When God sent prophets to plead with the people to repent and escape the coming disaster, they mocked those humble servants of God, and, instead of repenting, sent out invitations for an end-of-the-world party. "Let us eat and drink," they said to each other, "for tomorrow we shall die!" To this, God furiously replied, "Surely, this iniquity shall not be purged from you until you die!" Every one of those witty, unbelieving people are suffering in hell today.


Then there was Esau, who lightly esteemed the holy, singular inheritance from his great-grandfather Abraham and traded it for a bowl of soup one day when he was hungry. We are told that later, when Esau "wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it diligently, with tears." It was too late to repent, too late to realize the value of the blessing of God that had been freely bestowed on him at birth. God would not forgive and restore to him that eternal "pearl of great price" which he had foolishly traded for a temporary earthly benefit.


God’s wrath may also be provoked by a long-standing refusal to heed His voice and repent. It is unwise to wait too long to obey the voice of God. In Proverbs, Solomon said, "He who, being often reproved, hardens his neck shall suddenly be destroyed, and that, without remedy."


This is the truth that serves as the foundation for Isaiah’s earnest cry to Israel: "Seek the Lord while He may be found! Call upon Him while He is near!" This verse is meaningless if God can always be found, or if He is always near. If there will never be a time when God will not respond to man’s cries for help, then what was Isaiah’s point in that verse? Isaiah was telling his fellow Israelites that there was coming a day when God would not be found by them, no matter how much they wept and begged for Him to help them.


There is a time, appointed by the Father, when we are to call on Him, and there is also a time when it is too late to call on Him, when calling on God is useless because He will not hear us. Did you notice that in the verse quoted at the beginning, those who had become enemies of Jesus called on God for help when trouble came, but they received none? "They cried, but there was none to save them, even to the Lord, but He answered them not."


May God give us wisdom to ask in a time when the answer is being offered, to seek while He may be found, and to knock before the door to God’s mercy is forever closed. If God calls, please do not hesitate to answer. To have Him speak to you is a very great blessing, and a very great opportunity for life and peace which you do not want to miss.

The Hatred Is Still There

"Show your marvelous loving kindness, you who by your right hand saves
those who put their trust in you from those who rise up against them."
Psalm 17:7

God is keeping us so safe and full in this culture that we often forget what a terrible, vicious warfare is being waged against our spirits every moment. National and international news organizations spend untold millions and risk the lives of their reporters to bring to the nations pictures and stories of earth’s military conflicts, but the real battle, the battle for souls, is ignored by them altogether.

Multiplied thousands of wonderful brothers and sisters from centuries past were cruelly butchered because they loved what we love, and yet, what an easy life we have! They saw the truth that we now see, and they loved it more than they loved their own lives. They were good, humble men and women, and boys and girls, but they were abused, plundered, tortured, and executed because they knew what God has shown us and were faithful. But God is keeping us, at this time in history, from that kind of persecution.

Why is it different for us? I don’t know that I can answer that question fully. We know that God has not changed. And the Devil has not changed. The world has become prouder and more sophisticated, but at heart, it has not changed either. Perhaps things are different for us now because Christianity does not hold political power in its grasp as it has in centuries past. Christians played the major role in the cruel abuse of many thousands if not millions of God’s humble saints in the past millennium and a half, and that fierce hatred of God’s truth can still be felt wherever the spirit of Christianity is present. But God is keeping us from suffering what that spirit would like to do to us who know and love the truth.

Daniel prophesied that a very cunning enemy of righteousness would come who would destroy many of God’s people with peace. And I remember that in Jesus’ parable of the four kinds of soil, some believers who had overcame hot persecution by men were later themselves overcome by "the deceitfulness of riches, the cares of this life, and the desire for other things". In other words, pleasant things proved more effective in destroying some souls than difficult times did. In consideration of this, maybe our trial of living in this land of peace and plenty is a hotter trial of faith than that endured by previous generations who were abused and slain for the sake of Christ Jesus. Maybe the ease of life and the constant abundance of all things in our culture makes humility before God more difficult for believers than when they are persecuted.

Pray not to be deceived. If you love Jesus, this world still hates you, even at this seemingly easy time. God is saving you from the world’s vicious hatred because it is still there. God is keeping many from doing to us what they would truly love to do. The same hatred is there, though in a subdued form, that was there in years past, when godly men and women were being burned alive for nothing more than loving the truth of God more than life.

The Thing That Convinced the Jews

"For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God."
Acts 10:46

Dear Bro. John,

Not so long ago, I was getting ready for work, and, as I was crossing the kitchen floor, I started hearing this preaching, not with my ears but in my heart. These are some of the things that I was hearing – and understanding, thank God!

The Jews would have considered it heresy for the Gentiles to claim to belong to Jehovah. None of the Gentiles were God’s chosen people, and everyone among the Jews knew it. Jesus himself said that they were dogs and said that they were not fit to be fed the children’s bread (Mt. 15). No Gentile’s claim to be accepted of the Lord would have carried any weight.

When God did turn to the Gentiles, it was going to take something straight out of Heaven to convince the Jews, God’s own people, that such a thing had happened, that the "impossible" had happened!

So, God filled the Jews up with His New Covenant first, the power and glory of the holy Ghost. He gave it to them first so that they would know it when they saw it on someone else. They had something from God and they knew it. Then, God opened the door to the Gentiles and filled them – the ones Jesus called dogs – with His holy Spirit. It was impossible, by every standard they had available to them, and yet it had happened. They knew that it had happened because they (the Gentiles) were now doing what the Jews did when they received it. Here is Acts 10:44-46: "While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God."

They (the Jews) were astonished. But what was it that astonished them? What were they witnessing that had that effect on them? God had grafted in the Gentiles by pouring out on them the gift of the holy Ghost, and the Jews knew it because they heard them speaking in tongues, just as the Jews had done in the beginning. Peter and the Jews with him knew what was God and what was not. God had made sure of it. So, to borrow a phrase from Peter, "Who were they to resist God?"

God had sent irrefutable proof (speaking in tongues) to the Jews that the Gentiles were now God’s people, along with the Jews, and that they really had been given the real Spirit of God. Had the Gentiles merely have claimed to be washed from their sins, the Jews would never have believed it, and rightly so.

The Jews were sometimes proud of the fact that they were a special people to the Lord and were set apart by Him for Himself (e.g. Luke 4:24-29). But by God’s adopting the Gentiles into His family (if they repented and believed the gospel), the Jews had lost their status! It may not have been seen as a good thing by many Jewish believers, yet it had happened, and speaking in tongues proved it! The Jews who followed Jesus while he was on earth had been trained to know better than to believe the testimony of men. At the same time, they had also been trained never to deny the testimony of God! At Cornelius’ house, God had changed things, and then He sent His witness from Heaven to let the Jews know that He had really done it.

Paul said that speaking in tongues was a sign for unbelievers. Who could have qualified to be more of an unbeliever than a Jew that day? They would never have believed that God would baptize a Gentile into His kingdom. That was contrary to everything they had ever seen or heard, even from the Lord Jesus, who commanded his disciples not to go to the Gentiles (Mt. 10). It is easy to see why they were utterly astonished at hearing God’s testimony, the witness of the holy Ghost, coming through the mouths of the uncircumcised. But they knew God’s witness was true. They had received it themselves.

When did the witness ever stop? No man, especially a Gentile, could have convinced a wise believer back then that he belonged to Jesus without God’s sign – and he can’t today either. Would a man’s claim of being born again or "getting saved" have stood the test for a believing Jew back then? Would the Jews have been "astonished" if the uncircumcised in Cornelius’ house had listened to Peter and then said, "I accept the Lord as my personal Lord and Savior", or "I just got saved"? Of course not! Peter would have rebuked them for their foolishness. It has never been acceptable in God’s kingdom for men to declare themselves to be right with God! Man’s claims of holiness have never meant anything in heaven, whether under the Old or New Testament. Only the foolish are impressed by what men claim.

God did the wonderful work of cleansing Gentiles that day at Cornelius’ house, and He added His witness, speaking in tongues, to show His servants that He had really done it. No man at the scene could in good conscience deny that God had indeed washed away the sins of the Gentiles and taken them in. Thankfully, God is still showing the same great mercy to all who repent and believe, and He is still giving the same sign that He has indeed done it.

Jerry Durham

Think On Things That Are Above

Hey there!

I have been listening to a cd on Colossians when you taught it after you had translated it. I pulled out my printed copy of Colossians and followed along with the cd. And I got to this part (3:1-4), and I just liked it and didn't want to keep it to myself.

Let me preface this by pointing out that Paul had already explained in Col. 2:12 that it is by baptism (of the holy Ghost) baptism that were are raised up with Christ. Colossians 2:12-13: "by baptism buried with him, by the which baptism you are also raised with him through faith in the operation of God who raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made alive together with him, forgiving all our transgressions."

Here it is (Col. 3:1-4):

(1) If, therefore, you were raised up with Christ, seek things that are above, where Christ is sitting at God's right hand,
(2) and think on things that are above, not on things on the earth,

That's not demons. They are not above. They have been cast down from Heaven to earth. So, they are no longer things that are above but of things of the earth. Paul said not to think on things of the earth but to seek things that are above and to think on things that are above. So, really, it is a waste of time to try to figure out or think about demons or spirits, or whatever things that cloud your mind or do not meet the criteria for "things that are above". Which brings me to my favorite Scripture in Philippians (chapter 4 verse 8):

"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."
For (back to Colossians). . . .

(3) You died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God;
(4) and when Christ, who is your life, shall appear, then you will also appear with him in glory.

Amy 8-)
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Hi Amy:
People who spend their time thinking about demons are like them. Demons ceased thinking about "things that are above" while they still were in heaven with God. Jesus told Satan that "you savor the things that be of men and not the things of God" (Mt. 16). So, God threw Satan and the angels who followed him (demons) out of heaven and down to the place where they belonged. And he will throw out everyone else who savor the things of earth rather tha of heaven, whose minds are continually occupied with carnal things.

It's a warning. Where are our minds? What occupies our thoughts? Paul said that "to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." May God give us peace.

I suspect that those who are pre-occupied with issues about evil spirits have been given guidance from God some time in the past, guidance that they prefer not to folllow and so, they are trying to disguise their rebellion by an appearance of spiritual depth. Whenever anyone gets over-religious, or zealous about things that really don't matter, that is usually the problem.

Pastor John

Rebekah's Memories

I’ve been thinking over some good memories that I have of learning things about God during the time that I was seeking the holy Ghost. One very special thing, that I will never forget, was something from Ashley. Ashley and I weren’t even that close at all at the time that this happened, during Thanksgiving 2001. This was the Thanksgiving that so many young people received the holy Ghost on that Friday night, including Chris Penman, Joey, Tyler, Josiah, Leah (who still lived in WA and had only been to NC once before), and Margo (whom had never been to NC before then!). And I didn’t get it. Me, who was 19 years old, been in the meetings my whole life, and was even John Clark’s daughter. I don’t think that it would be possible for me to express how I felt that Thanksgiving, but it was really awful. I felt that God really did not want me. I felt that I would never receive His Spirit. I felt like He must not love me -- that there was something really wrong with me. I knew that wasn’t true; but at the same time, I was scared that it was. Looking back, I can see now that there was noooo way I was ready for it at that time; I still had a lot to work on and learn and repent of and change. I didn’t see it that way at the time, but fortunately, that was irrelevant to God. :) I understand now that, although I really was scared and miserable, the real truth was that I was pouting with God -- mad that He didn’t do what I wanted when I thought that it should happen. Ha! Doesn’t work that way, Bekah. :) And God is no respecter of persons, either!! But, at the time, all I could see was that everybody seemed to be able to reach the Lord but me. I remember at one point that night while everyone was praying, Daddy sang, "Do Not Pass Me By". I felt like that is exactly what He did. And it broke my heart.

That, I think, was the closest that I ever came to "quitting". I just about decided that I wasn’t worth it, and I couldn’t keep going through this. I spent that whole next day completely miserable, and was so humiliated (how silly was that!) that I just kept to myself until most of the out-of-town company from around the world had gone home. It was one of the worst days of my life; and could possibly qualify as the worst. When I finally came out, I remember finding this folded up paper plate sitting on the table that said, "To: Rebekah, From: Ashley; Please let her read it first -- request of the author! :)" I thought, "What in the world??" I mean, I didn’t even really know Ashley much, except that she came to my house every summer that she got a chance over the years. When I opened it up and read it, though, it was like every single word was a tiny drop of encouragement right into my heart. It said:

"Hey Bekah! Sorry about the paper plate, but I had no other form of paper. I just wanted to tell you that I love you very much AND about something that happened Friday night. When you were on the floor praying, I got down with you -- whether or not you know, I was there a lot of the time. Well anyway, when I was praying with you, something kept saying in my mind over and over and over... "Jesus knows your heart... Jesus knows your heart" and one time when I was praying with you and Jamie, "Jesus loves you." I wanted to tell you, but I kept praying. I didn’t know if it was time, so I decided that I’d write you and tell ya!! He knows your heart, Bekah! He knows your heart and what you want! Keep seeking, I know He’ll give you your heart’s desires!!! Trust Him! I love you and don’t forget that! :) Love, Ashley"

I had stayed away from people that day so that nobody would know how I was feeling, and I know that Ashley could not have known what I was going through. After all, most people who are seeking the holy Ghost are sensible enough to realize that it’s a happy and wonderful thing to be seeking God, even if they do get a little discouraged along the way! And I realized after the fact, that nobody thought the things about me that I did. Everybody else knew what was coming if I kept on seeking! And when you’re on that side of it, watching, you can’t help but be excited for anybody who is on their way to what the old saints used to call "the blessing." :) I have no idea, looking back, why I was always so depressed about it! Well, I guess I kind-of do; I just didn’t have any faith in what God could do for me. Anyway, that is a moment that I will never forget, reading that little note. It did something down inside of me – I could feel the realness in what she was saying, and I had hope again that Jesus did actually feel that way. I just cried, feeling those little tender feelings creeping in, even though they were tiny, of the love of God. On top of that, it really touched me that Ashley would feel that way about me. As far as I could remember, I had never done anything to deserve that from her. But, I could tell that she meant it! And another thing, when I was a little girl, right after Grandaddy died, I found a little tin plaque in his house while they were cleaning it out that had Psalm 37:4 on it, "Delight thyself also in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart." I remember taking that plaque with me and making up a tune to it and singing it the whole rest of the day, and ever since that day, it has been my favorite verse. Ashley didn’t know that either; but Jesus did, and he let me know that he would "give you your heart’s desires."

**************************

I actually learned a whole lot from the KY kids, er, young people, while I was seeking the holy Ghost. The summer before I received the holy Ghost, summer 2002, everything was still falling apart & coming together at the same time out there in Louisville, and Daddy was spending almost every other week there. I went with him most of those trips, and it was out there that I really learned about the kind of life I needed and wanted. I looked up to Ashley more than anything – to me, she was a rock in the Lord. I wondered if she ever did anything wrong! And, of course, Maleah was always like that to me, too – I found an old letter that I had written to Maleah back around 1996 and had never sent, and we read it together not too long ago and laughed because I had written, "Can I ask you a question I’ve always wanted to ask you? Do you EVER have any problems? I guess not." Ha! But, that’s really what it seemed like to me! She was so happy and doing good all the time! I thought that I’d never be able to be like that. I just didn’t realize what the Spirit gives you. :) And Jason; that was the summer that I got to know him, and a good thing, too, because he was my brother-in-law six months later! And all the other young people, too. They were just so... solid. And I wanted that! I wanted to be normal and rooted and not up & down and swayed by this or that. I wanted what they had; I wanted God. It was during that summer in KY that the Lord told me what it was that I wanted to be. The way that it came to me was four "s" words that summed it all up: Simple. Stable. Strong. Satisfied.

Before, I had thought that simplicity = boring. Not in the Lord! Life gets exciting when you keep it simple! Why? Because being simple, spiritually, is what the flesh does not want – it’s a battle to keep it simple! Many people lose out with God or are swept away by other doctrines of man because the way of God is just too simple for them to keep. And stable! Oh my. That was what the Louisville crowd was not at that time, and I learned the great value of being stable in the Lord by watching what happens when you’re not. Up & down all the time is dangerous; that is being on the fence. And you can’t stay on the fence but so long before Jesus will knock you off one way or the other! And strong. That didn’t mean strong willed or strong self-control or strong in being able to resist sin or anything like that. It meant strong in the Lord. It meant being built on higher ground and not on the sand, so that when troubles do come, you stay rooted and unmoved. When I think of strength in the Lord, for some reason I think of the Embrys. That summer, I really watched Junior Embry a lot, and Jason, and they never seemed shaken by things. That is a very, very good thing to strive after. And satisfied. :) So many people, it seems, aren’t satisfied with where they are in God or with what they have from God. If you aren’t satisfied with your function in the body of Christ, it is more than likely because you envy someone else’s place, and that is dangerous because that can result in slander. And if you aren’t satisfied with what God has done for you, then you aren’t thankful for it, and you will surely lose it. Just be happy with what God has made you! Yay! :) Be like a little child; they are just content to be whoever they are. And if you aren’t satisfied with your connection with God or how full of the Spirit you are, then seek after Him until you get satisfied!

If a person is those four things in the Lord, they are going to be doing just fine. If you look at the ones around you who are really happy and free, you’ll see those qualities. And I guess you could add another "s" word: Sweet. :) That’s a good thing to be, too!
Just some good, good memories I’ve been thinking on lately. I think it’s always good to think about your testimony and all the things that God has done for you. It’s healthy; and it’s encouraging, too!

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Wow, Bekah, this is very good – very, very good. That is a testimony that is worth telling – or writing about. I am glad that you hung in there. It always pays to trust God and do good, no matter what we feel at the time.

Love,
Daddy
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That’s really sweet, Bekah. And now, you are the four S’s...plus the other one! :o)

I love you!
Maleah

The Politics of Harry Potter

Hey, this isn't much, but I thought it was neat. Today, I was looking at Wikipedia. They have "Did you know..." section.

One of the titles was, "Did you know that several universities now offer courses on the politics of Harry Potter?" Of course, I wondered what in the world a course on "the politics of Harry Potter" could possibly be. Under the link to this article, I read, "There have been many published theories that read politics and meaning into J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books. Often the theories conflict with each other, such as some writers who see Harry Potter promoting devil worship and others who interpret it as promoting Christianity." And I thought, "Well, they are arguing the same thing." :-)

I think that is incredible... that we know these two things to be the same: devil worship and Christianity.

Elijah
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It is incredible, Elijah. And only God can help us keep believing that truth in the facer of such opposition.

Stay humble, and there is no telling what else the Lord will teach us, or what good he will use us to do. And in the meantime, please remember that although participation in the religion of Christianity does glorify Satan, and even though God has precious children in there unwittingly doing that, He still loves them dearly. Always do good for them when you can, and never puff yourself up against them because of the truth you know.

Dad

Passing Time

Pastor John,

I wanted to tell you that I'm so glad that you said Saturday night, "We are just passing time on this Earth." Everything we do is just passing time and you were talking about the attitude of a servant.

Sunday I usually get sad b/c the work week is about to start again and the weekend is over. But, this time I thought, "I'm just passing time by going to work." Just look for opportunities as you pass time there!

I woke up at 4:30 am this morning and instead of thinking, "aww, it's so early, I want to go back to bed" like I do every morning, I thought, "Welp, I'm up early and passing time; it's all good." I thought about it all day at work. After work, I usually rush out to get home. Today, I walked and passed time enjoying my walk to my car and my drive home. I love thinking like this. Things don't seem as important - I mean being anxious about getting things done or stuff like that. I want to slow down and enjoy each passing moment, no matter what I'm doing. It feels like a big adventure, you never know what the master will have you do next. Meanwhile, just enjoy living life and wait on the master.

Love,
Maleah
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Beautiful, Maleah! Sounds like thoughts coming from a slave.

Solomon said, "He who hastens with his feet is sinning." There is no one who can be in a constant hurry and keep from sin. Righteousness includes faith and wisdom, and faith and wisdom teach us that we have nothing to do here on earth but pass our short time doing the will of God, until the Master comes and takes us home.

To paraphrase an old saying, "If you live in a hurry, you will die. And if you don’t live in a hurry, you will die. So, why hurry?" Hurry is not faith, and it is not wisdom.

Pastor John