From: Jason J

i found your website the other day, and after reading many of your interesting tracts, i have a few questions:

1. What is the nature of the cross, what was accomplished when Jesus died?

A: The nature of the cross was wood. The principle accomplishment of the cross was that Jesus died on it, thereby providing him, after his resurrected, with a slain lamb to offer to God for the sins of the world.

2. What is the Bible to you? If it is not the word of God, (which in some of your tracts you refer to at such), what is your standard of truth?

A: If any of our tracts ever refer to the Bible as the Word of God, then we need to correct that. The Bible is God's holy Book that He inspired men to write, and it is able to make us "wise unto salvation" because it points to Jesus.

3. Where do you get that Paul was only speaking of "ceremonial" works in Eph 2:8-9?

A: I got that from the Lord.

4. How are you a pentacostal and a non-Christian, aside from the fact that most of your theology is unorthodox?

A: I don't consider myself a "Pentecostal" in the sense of a denominational affiliation, only in experience. I do not agree with your second statement on these two grounds: (1) my doctrine is not mine and (2) only what God says is orthodox. Christianity itself is unorthodox because it is not of God. What I am teaching IS of God; therefore, it cannot be Unorthodox.

5. Finally, how is it that you require speaking in tongues for conversion when 24 of 27 New Testament books don't mention them. And the Acts accounts where it occurs are not consistent in their order which things occur (believing, speaking in tongues, recieving the spirit are all in different order Acts 8, 10-11, 19)?

A: I do not require that anyone speak in tongues for conversion. I don't have that authority. Whoever received God's Spirit WILL speak in tongues, but not because I require it.

Secondly, I know better than to use the book of Acts to "prove" anything in matters of doctrine. In that book, the immoveable object of the Law was being met by the unstoppable object of the Covenant of Grace, and fiery, seemingly conflicting deeds were done by the body of Christ itself. Only by listening to Jesus and studying what he and his disciples taught can we attain to an understanding about the place of speaking in tongues. May I recommend to you the fifth chapter of my little book, "Spiritual Light"? I believe it is on line at the Isaiah58.com web site, but if not, I can send you one.

i am a student of the Bible, and i am really trying to understand what and how your theology works. i don't see the consistency. i do applaud your stances on homosexuality, marriage and divorce, and abortion (although i haven't read the tract yet). i would appreciate your answers to these questions which you invited me to ask on your website.

Thanks,

Jason

Thanks for the questions, Jason. I hope this helps clear up some things for you.

Pastor John

Jason J wrote:

Pastor John,

thanks for your speedy reply.

Q: if i may continue the dialogue somewhat, i was wondering how works can affect your salvation, if Jesus paid for the sins of the world on the cross? either your sins are paid for or not, by Jesus, one can't be good enough or do enought good things to get to heaven.

A: Your question is often asked by people who have sat under Christian teachers for a while. You have been given a warped understanding of what Jesus actually accomplished by his sacrificial death.

By his sacrifice, Jesus did not become our excuse for sin. He suffered and died to provide for us the power to overcome sin. Those who submit to him are made "partakers of the divine nature", as peter said, and receive spiritual power sufficient to overcome sin; that is, power to keep from committing sin. Those who do not submit to him are not made partakers of his divine nature and must continue in sin because that is man's nature. The Christian teachers who have taught you that you cannot produce works good enough to lead to salvation are men who are not doing works good enough. The6 are only preaching what they are living. Their message, however, is not the gospel. Such sinful Christian ministers are the false teachers whom Peter described thus: "While they promise them [their listeners] liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption."

Q: and if the Bible is not the final arbiter of doctrine, what if God says one thing to me and the opposite thing to you?

thanks,
Jason

A: In that case, you must do what God tells you to do, and I must do what God tells me.

Jason, be reasonable. Look around you. Every one of the people who are "led by the Bible" instead of the Spirit is confused and divided. Practically every one of them has joined one of Christianity's sects. On the other hand, "as many as are led by the Spirit, they are the sons of God" (Rom. 8:14).

Pastor John

Jason J wrote:

Pastor John,

Q: let's just assume that you do overcome sin from the point at which you recieve Christ and the Holy Ghost, do your past sins get paid for by Christ's death? or do they just fade away, for God no longer winks at sin. the point being, does Christ's death pay for your sin or not?

Jason

A: Of course, Christ's death made atonement for sin, the sins of the whole world according to John in his first letter. The sins of one's past are washed away by the bloood of Christ when that blood is applied to them. And through that same blood comes power to do the will of God.

We agree completely that God no longer "winks" at sin. Therefore, we should avoid Christian teachers who say that, because of the blood of Jesus, God does not see the sins His children commit now. The blood of Christ does not blindfold God; rather, it cleanses us from the nature of sin.

Pastor John

Jason J wrote:

Pastor John,

i agree totally that God is not blinded to sin by our accepting Christ, and that the death of Christ and the subsequent coming of the Spirit gives us power to overcome sin. however, it is any sin that separates us from God, and Christ bore all our sin on the cross, past, present, and future. so once we accept Christ we are given his righteousness, as he took ours on the cross. so, in our legal standing before God, we are righteous, because of Christ's completed work on the cross, not because of good works. Romans 4:22-25 and Phil. 3:9. also, Paul states later in Romans 7 that he struggles with sin (this was in the third missionary journey, he is a mature believer now), so i do not think that you or me or anyone else can live totally above all sin. sin breaks our fellowship with God after we accept Christ, but not our relationship, our sin is paid for in full. this is how i see it in the word.

Jason

Jason:

Briefly,

(1) I never said that we accepted Christ. That is merely Christian (Xn) code-language that means nothing. Man cannot accept One who is greater than he. God must accept us. And when He does accept our repentance, he washes us with his Spirit, and we begin to speak in a new language.

(2) Jesus bore no future sins on the cross. This is another empty Xn cliche. Sins in the future have not been commited and repented of yet. He bore the sins of those who had already sinned and had confessed and turned from them under the Old Covenant (Romans 3:25; Hebrews 9:15). And his sacrifice offered to God in heaven after his ascension was sufficent to cover the sins of the whole world, if the whole world would repent and come to the Father in Jesus's name. Jesus bears no sins unless they are repented of.

(3) There is no such thing as a "legal" standing before God, as opposed to some other kind of "standing". Another Xn cliche.

(4) In Romans 7, Paul is describing the life he lived without the holy Ghost while he was still under the Law opposing the way of Christ. That is why he addresses that chapter to those who are yet blinded by adherence to the Law withour Christ (verse 1) as he once was. He continues in Chapter 8 to testify that he attained to the liberty from the bondage of sin so that he could now "put to death the deeds of the flesh" (verse 13).

(5) No one will be saved in the end who does not have fellowship with God in Christ. There is no such thing as having a "relationship" with God apart from fellowship. Foolish Xn cliche.

(6) The Bible is not the Word of God, and you have been taught to see what you say you see in the Bible. Evil Xn cliche.

(7) Your above response to my earlier e-mail was very poor, very disappointing. You use so many empty phrases learned from Xn teachers! And they are apparently used by you without sincere thought on your part. Have you ever questioned Xn ministers concerning their ungodly doctrines the way you seek to examine me for telling the truth? Come on, Jason. Think!

Your response makes me wonder if our continued correspondence would be a waste of your time and mine. I will not respond again unless I see from you some original thought on your part. Do you think you might be better pleased if you found someone else on the internet to whom you might send your questions?

Pastor John

patti wrote:

HELLO

I AM WONDERING IF YOU COULD EXPLAIN TO ME WHAT IS THE PENETECOSTAL RELIGION AND IF IT IS THE SAME AS THE JEHOVAH WITNESSES? THANK YOU

Patti:

The way of the Spirit is the way Jesus died for you to have. That way of the Spirit is not the way of either the pentecostal denominations or the "jehovah witness" religion. For information on the way of the Spirit, open your Bible to the book of Acts and read it. Then ask Jesus to give you what he gave to them.

jdc

JOE wrote:

For some days now, myself, my wife, OFS and sometimes the kids continued our bible study on the book of Matthew. When we read the temptation of Jesus, among the things that we understood from there is that the three stages of the temptation (verses 3, 6 and 9) were targeted to making Jesus disbelieve or doubt His being the Son of God. In verses 3, 5 we saw the words “if thou be the Son of God”.

Jesus did not give in to that deceit of the tempter. He knew who He was/is and who His Father was/is. He does not need to prove it by turning stone into bread, falling from the pinnacle of the temple of the holy city (Jerusalem). In verse 9, Jesus did not need to bow down and worship the tempter to prove to it that He (Jesus) created all things and that all things were made by Him and without him was not any thing made that was made.

Jesus was not asked to bow down before Satan in order to prove who he was. He was asked to bow down so that Satan would give him the riches and glory of the world.

Other than that, your points are well made. It is one of the most successful tactics used by satan to challenge the children of God as he did Jesus. His ministers say, "A true believer accepts the doctrine of the Trinity." Or, "A true believer will join a church." And in order to prove themselves to be trtue folowers of Jesus, they accept false teachings such as the Trinity and do such ungodly deeds as joining a Christian Church. Satan has done a masterful job of establishing a false standard for the chirldren of God by which they judge their own faith as well as the faith of others. THAT is the bondage of Xty, the new Babylon.

We saw that God does not lead one into temptation without making a way of escape first. The example in Matthew 4:1 where God designed that Jesus be tempted by the tempter shows this clearly. First He gave the Spirit to Jesus (John 4:1) and then led him into the wilderness to be tempted. We all know that His Spirit makes us overcome temptation, so when our Father gave Jesus first His Spirit and then allowed Him to be tempted, what is the wisdom there? 1 Corinthians 10:3 says, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”

Amen!

We read chapter 5:1-4 along with the references therein and understood that Jesus was just telling and preparing His disciples’ hearts for the coming of the Spirit (kingdom of heaven). We saw that “to be poor in the spirit” in verse 3 means to have a heart that is ready for God to use and not the heart of stone. “To mourn” in verse 4 does not mean to mourn as that of someone who lost a beloved person but a strong cry (groan) to the extent that Jesus will give one the Comforter to comfort such a one. Just like what Jesus did when he was so trouble about the upcoming event of His death. He mourned until His Father comforted Him.

Just thought I should send this to you.

J O E in Nigeria

I am glad you sent this. I enjoyed it. Keep up the good work.

Pastor John

Damien C wrote:

Pastor John

I have been thinking about Jesus being a created being. The most difficult scriptures relating to this for me are John 1:1-14. I am unaware of anything you have taught about these verses. This is a case where my spiritual experience shows me the truth. I understand that we are one with God through the Spirit as Jesus is and that the Spirit gives us life as it gave life, in himself, to Jesus. I would like to be able to understand these verses in the light of what I already know. I would appreciate anything you can pass on.

Damien

Damien:

As for John 1:1 calling the Son of God "God", I assume you understand that the title "God" (a word never capitalized in the original language, whether referring to the Father or to the Son) can apply to anyone whom God anoints and empowers, as Moses (Exodus 7:1) and others. Details are given in my on line tract, "Is Jesus God?" Jesus IS God to me, to you, and to every other creature in heaven and in earth because God the Father gave all power in heaven and in earth to him. But Jesus, too, has a God whom he fears and obeys, who also anointed Jesus and empowered him to be who is he. It is this Son who, as verse 2 says, "was in the beginning with God." He prayed the night before he was crucified that he would be returned to the glory that he knew with God "before the foundation of the world" (Jn. 17). In that same chapter, Jesus says that the Father loved him before the world was formed. Proverbs 8 says the same, in much more detail.

Verse 3 indicates the completeness of the creation that God made through His Son. As the writer of Hebrews said, "He who made all things is God." So, it is not wrong to call the Son "God", since he was God's personal agent in creating all things. We know, however, that the Son is the single exception to the "all things" that "were made by him" because Jesus did not create himself. He said (Jn. 5) that the Father gave him life. And the life that the Father gave to the Son was--and in us still is--the "light of the world" (verse 4) because while he was in the world that he had made, eternal life shined through him to us. But, alas, we who dwelt in darkness "comprehended it not" (verse 5) and crucified the Lord of life "thinking to do God a service."

The Spirit of life that the Father gave to the Son was the light of the world and enlightens every man who lives on earth. How? By declaring in nature the wonders of God. But men are blind to the light that shines upon them. Even when Jesus, the brightest of all God's stars, was here shining among us, we were blind, so that even though "the world was made by him . . . the world knew him not."

Don't let the fact that Jesus is referred to as the Creator of the world confuse you as to why we give glory to the Father for doing it. God the Father is the only Creator, and the fact that He, of His own will, decided to delegate authority to another for the performance of that creation does not in the least diminish His role in it. This universe was created by God's power, in God's time (so to speak), and in God's way, and to God's extent. And to God alone belongs all the glory for it.

If God determines, as he did, to use a Son in that creation, and if God determines to honor His Son with the title of "God" as an indication to man of His Son's role in creation, then it is man's responsibility before God to reverence the Son. In John's gospel, Jesus said that it is God's desire that man should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father (Jn. 5). For that reason, to anyone to refuse to obey and to worship Jesus is sin and will result in damnation for those who do so. He is the only way to God.

But to every one who receives Jesus as the sole mediator between God and man (as Paul describes him), God gives "power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name" (verse 12). This sonship is not based upon any earthly qualifications. It is based solely upon one's experience with God (verse 13).

God had a Son before Mary did. The Word, the Son of God, took on flesh, the son of Mary (verse 14). He took on that flesh at John's baptism when he "suddenly entered into his temple" (Mal. 3:1). The infant son of Mary was not that Son; he was the temple for the Son. Mary was not the Son of God's temple that he suddenly came to; she produced that temple by the power of God. The son of Mary was the visible body that God prepared for His invisible Son (Heb. 10:5). And in that verse from Hebrews, please note that when the Son of God came into the world, God had ALREADY prepared the body he would inhabit.

The son of Mary said, "I can of my own self do nothing." The Son of God said, "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up." The son of Mary said, "Ye know whence I am." The Son of God said, "Ye neither know me nor my Father." The son of Mary said, "If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true." The Son of God said, "Thou I bear record of myself, yet my record is true." The son of Mary said, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" The Son of God said, "Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit."

Because Christians fail to recognize the difference between the Son of God and the son of Mary, they pray to Mary as the "mother of God." Fools! Does God have a mother? The son of Mary said his mother was the woman who put her trust in God. The Son of God created the first mother and father from the dust of the earth.

How can such things be? That is a true mystery of the gospel. The mystery of the gospel is not the godless doctrine of a Trinity of persons; rather, it is that the Son of God suddenly took up his abode in a human temple that God had prepared for him. It is beyond our imaginative powers to understand this act of mercy. We are simply asked to believe that God so loved the world that He did something for us that is beyond all human comprehension, as He long ago said that He would do: "Behold, I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you."

That's about the best I can do for now, Damien. Let me know if you still have any questions. "And the lord give you understanding in all things."

jdc

Thank you Pastor John.

I did in fact find some references to John 1 in a couple of your articles but nothing so comprehensive.

The material on the son of man as opposed to the Son of God was totally new to us and mind stretching but how we like being stretched like that! Now I can understand Jesus baptism as never before. I suppose I had some kind of invented symbolic thing in mind but now I see truth. As well, I understand Heb 10 much, much better now. I think Sister Sandy said it as well as it can be said. Praise God!

Actually that answer was amazing, fantastic, mind blowing truth. How little we are and to think that God condescends to reach down to us. Oh wow! It made me jump up and down inside. God is so wonderful, his truth is so beautiful what can I say. Amen Amen Amen AMEN!

Think that covers it a bit better!

Damien

Damien:

Jesus's baptism in the Jordan River was extremely important. He was born again there, when he was coming up out of the water.

jdc

One viewer's comments are as follows:

SS wrote:

Dear Brother John:

My heart has been SO blessed by reading this! How wonderfully clear the Spirit is! "He that hath an ear let him hear." I love the Truth! I love when it is so clear that it makes my heart and Spirit sing! God does not intend for us to be in the dark! His Spirit opens the door! And behind it is the Wisdom and Knowledge of God! Praise God!

I know Bro. Damien will be blessed by this!

Thank you.

S S :)

Ok Simon wrote:

Hello Pastor John,

I have some few questions to ask. When I was still a Xn, they taught us that Saul on his way to Damascus met with Jesus and he was blind for 3 days before he was baptized (in water) and after the baptism, his name was changed from Saul to Paul now, I have read the story about the conversion of Paul and later listened to your tape about his conversion. I did not hear you mention water baptism and how his name was changed. Besides why did his name change? Is Saul a bad name for a child of god to answer?

Paul WAS baptized with John's baptism of water by Ananias before he received the holy Ghost. John's baptism in Jesus's name was still in effect. To submit to that was the only way anyone could be born again at that time. Paul's gospel of liberty from ceremonial works of the Law (including John's baptism) had not been revealed to Paul yet, nor would it be for several more years. Paul would have been required by God to do as all who were born again had done up to that point; that is, be circumcised (he already was) and submit to the Law of Moses (he already did), then believe the gospel, repent of sin, and receive John's baptism. This was Paul's experience because this was the only way to God that existed at that time. He was converted under the "gospel of the circumcision" that he would later refer to in his letter to the Galatian believers as being different from his "gospel of the uncircumcision". This original gospel is the gospel that Peter preached on the day of Pentecost because the gospel designed for the Gentiles did not yet exist on that day.

There is, by the way, a Christian (Xn) sect called the "Apostolics" that teaches that we Gentiles must still obey Peter's gospel to the Jews and submit to a watery baptism (John's baptism is dead, but the Apostolics have introduced one of their own). The leaders of this sect teach this because they do not understand that Paul's gospel for us Gentiles excludes ceremonial works. That is what made Paul's gospel for the Gentiles different from Peter's gospel to the Jews.

As for Paul's name change, I have heard some ideas, but I have never heard anything that I felt was credible as an explanation for that. It was often the case in the ancient world that notable men had several different names. Also, God occasionally gave his servants new names when he dealt with them in significant ways (e.g. Genesis 17, when Abram became Abraham).

Secondly, the bible stated that God is a consuming fire and on the day of Pentecost, a flame of fire was upon the disciples as a sign but one thing I did not understand is that many Xns when praying or binding demons, they will be saying “holy Ghost fire consume the evil spirit” and so on. Then my question now are what is holy Ghost fire? Does it really consume anything? What really does it mean when the bible says that God is a consuming fire?

Thanks and God bless.

Ok Simon

I really cannot explain why Xns do some of the things they do. And, for the most part, neither can they. You'll have to address your questions concerning that ritual to one of them.

I will say, however, that if in response to His children's prayers, God's fire does consume an evil spirit that is irritating them, I am all for it.

The holy Ghost fire is the zeal for God's holiness that the holy Ghost brings into the heart of those who receive it. What His fire consumes out of hearts is sin. No one can sin when he is "on fire" for Jesus, if that fire is kindles by the Spirit of God because their is no sin in the Spirit.

That God is "a consuming fire" is simply a phrase intended to impress us with the fact that no one can stand before God 's terrible wrath and that it is best not to provoke our God to anger.

Pastor John

Damien Callaghan wrote:

Pastor John:

Looking at that zodiac site and some others I found has shown me so clearly one truth that Satan will never allow his ministers to use. Different ones of them have certain pieces of truth; they have worked out prophetic stuff that appears quite amazing, they read the prophets with fine tooth combs, but you know they just cannot read [and understand] 1John at all [concerning the spirit of antichrist].

It seems all Christian ministers synonymise the Antichrist with the Beast. They, perhaps correctly, speak of New World Orders, the zodiac and other star signs and conspiracies and Satanic counterfeits [and from left field, pyramids on Mars!!!???] but none teach that the greatest counterfeit of all is Spiritual and involves "fake passports" to enter the body of Christ. These people so quickly read over the word "antichrist" [and John's definition of it], substituting Satan's attention-shifting redefinition that they miss it completely. And, of course, if you say something to them, you are part of Satan's work against their "divinely ordained ministry".

The day God gives you or whomever the power to really preach this to the world, "hell" will break loose. Satan will be furious to say the least when the truth about the body, and what it is, and how you get into it are made known widely and loudly.

Interesting days to come.

djc

Damien:

Yes, I agree. The truth about the new birth will be the key to God's children realizing that they must come out of Christianity, if they want to be united in the Christ, if they want to please God, and if they want to serve Jesus in spirit and in truth. Satan seems to be able to endure almost any of the blessings God gives His people except the truth. The truth is what makes us free, and the truth is what binds the prince of darkness.

Oh, God, help Your people! Trying to open their eyes, Jesus has, instead, infuriated many of his own children by sending them messengers with his truth for them. They do not recognize the love of God when they see it because love, too, has been redefined by Satan's ministers. (Have you ever heard the first sermon that I preached, in 1993, after Jesus revealed the truth about Christianity to me? It is called "Destruction by Redefinition").

Solomon said that the man who increases in wisdom increases in sorrow. How true that is! It is a precious blessing to have our eyes opened by Jesus to understand the truth of the gospel, but then, it hurts to see the condition of our brothers and sisters. But what can we do? Many of them will die defending Satan's right to be in the body.

jdc

and later...

Pastor John

The end product of the redefinition is that you end up not knowing Jesus even though you talk lots about Him. The more I dwell on the new birth being the Spirit baptism the more I come to know that you are utterly correct when you have said that it is the key point in bringing people out of Xty.

I would like to hear from you on the redefinition of love. I don't recall anything like that.

Damien

Damien:

I have nothing on tape that I have taught concerning the redifition of the word "love", but, my, what I can see about that and every other word that has to do with God and His righteousness. If the new birth is redefined, as Xty has redefined it, then everything is redefined that is associated with the Lord: repentance, forgiveness, love, hate, truth, etc. Even "God" is redefined, as well as "satan", salvation, judgment--everything! Love is just one of the words that are perverted by Xty's false claims.

"The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the holy Ghost which He has given to us" (Paul, in Rom. 5). Then, what is this "love of God" that Xn ministers say in shed in people's heart BEFORE the holy Ghost is given to them? People have to pretend to feel it, and they feel obligated to pretend so that they won't appear to be unbelieving. What pressure!

jdc

and later...

Thank you for that understanding. It is all about the Spirit leading our lives. How else can we be like God, who is love!

djc

One viewer writes in response to the correspondance above...

Daisy C wrote:

Hi John.

I just have to reply to your email about Xty requiring people to pretend to believe they have the love of God when they don't. Then, of course, as you say, "they are obligated to pretend, in order not to appear to be unbelievers." That is so true! Xty is sad nonsense! I was in Xty for many years, always wanting more, and trying to believe I could get something from God, and wanting to love Him, and not being able to do so. What I always wanted and prayed for was to know His truth and how to love Him.

False doctrine is the saddest thing on earth, to me! It keeps people from hoping and trying to reach the real and living God! I know He will reach those whom He wishes to and His will is going to be done. I remember, while in Xty, the utter hopelessness I felt for many years. Those Xn "ministers" had no words of wisdom nor hope to give me. I would go to meetings and be the only one there to cry out of loneliness and despair. Thank God, Jesus had me picked and chosen way before that, knowing I would seek Him with all my heart. He know I would always wonder and want more than I had. I am eternally grateful and have never had a question about being really born again since I was baptized with the holy Ghost in 1994.

It is a miracle that my son, Paul is the one who first told me about the baptism of the holy Ghost being the new birth...and he did not have it at the time! And something made me get so excited and want to find out more! Within a few weeks, I became born again.

Daisy

You have a wonderful testimony, Daisy. Keep giving it. This is how we "confess Christ"; by confessing what he has actually done in our lives. By do that, you will overcome the world.

jdc

Dear John,

Nice to be alive again today. How are you, the family and my brethren?

I am wondering if it is possible for you to email me me a copy of the broadcaster that has to do with Just Man or Being a Just Man.

Yes, I will as soon as possible.

And also I would appreciate your telling me too what it takes for someone to be wise person, chief priests and scribes in the old times. I am asking for these because as we study here the book of Matthew, we come across these words and we do not want to jump them over without knowing what really they mean or what it takes for someone to become any of them.

At the time of Jesus, the "chief priests" were no longer direct descendants of Aaron, as Moses's Law required. The priesthood of Israel had become not much more than a coveted political office, one that could be bought and sold as many Gentile political offices were bought and sold. Nevertheless, as John 12 indicates, God honored the men who occupied that office. Jesus, too, speaking of the Pharisees who led Israel, told his disciples in matthew to observe all the holy rituals that the Pharisees commanded them to observe because, as Jesus said, "They sit in Moses' seat." The men to whom God's children pay attention are blessed by God for His people's sake, even if they themselves are evil. Isn't the mercy of God astounding?

The "wise men and scribes " were called that in the main because (1) they were literate and (2) they had studied the Scriptures intensely. The vast majority of people in the ancient world were illiterate, and they were often awed by those who could make sense out of those little scribbles on papyrus or stone. These "wise men" were often fools, in spite of their great education.

In verse 22 of Matthew 2, we saw for the first time that Joseph did not obey fully the instructions of the angel. And in verse 23, we saw that his fear of Archelaus became a fulfilment of a prophecy. Was Joseph really afraid or was it as God designed it?

JOE Lagos, Nigeria.

What do you mean by saying Joseph did not fully obey God? I see nothing in that verse that indicates Joseph was at all disobedient. Do not strain at a gnat, JOE. Mary's husband Joseph was an upright, godly man.

Joseph's fear of Archelaus was well-founded. Archelaus was such a cruel ruler over the area around Jerusalem and Bethlehem that even the Romans were repulsed by his actions. They eventually replaced that son of the dead King Herod the Great with a Roman Procurator as governor over Judea. One of those procurators was later to be Pontius Pilate. You know the rest of that story.

And yes, God designed it.

Pastor John

TC wrote:

Question: If a Jew were to serve God in the truth today, would they still be doing water baptism, etc.? Or would they be serving Him as the Gentile do "in spirit and truth" only?

tc.

Hello TC!

God's requirement that Jews submit to John's baptism as well as all other rituals belonging to the Law of Moses is no longer in effect. Even when the apostles wrote the New Testament, that Old Covenant was "ready to vanish away" (Heb. 8:13). After the holy Ghost came (Acts 2:4), the Old Testament remained in effect for Jewish believers, but was not to remain that way forever. Generally, it remained in effect only for that generation of Jews whose lives co-incided with the lives of the apostles, and those Jewish believers (including the apostles) were very, very zealous to keep the Law (e.g. Acts 21:20). As that generation passed, as the writer of Hebrews said, the Law was "waxing old" and was replaced by the New Covenant in spirit and truth--not just for Gentiles but also for Jews.

The Law did not come to a screeching halt on Pentecost morning. Instead, it "died" slowly among the Jews. For us Gentiles, however, the ceremonies of the Law never were required at all. In fact, Paul warned the Gentile believers that if they did receive circumcision in the flesh (thereby becoming a Jew, obligated to the works of the Law), they had "fallen from grace" (Gal. 5:4) and had voided the work of Christ in their hearts. In his words, "Christ is become of no effect to you".

Christianity (Xty) has substituted its versions of ceremonial works and requires men to observe them, but those ceremonies do not carry the weight that the works of Moses's law carried. Those ancient works given by God were holy, and only by the slow work of God did they pass away. The ceremonies of Xty are contrived by men, and the sooner a man divorces his heart from respect for them, the more improved is the likelihood that he will truly come to know God.

jdc

Dear Sir:

I need to know what is the Pentecostal Faith order of service. Hoiw do you conduct your services?

Thank you.

Monique

Hi Monique:

Having a structured order of service on a particular day of the week is the christian way of doing things. In other words, in Christianity, men conduct the service according to what they want and when they want. When the holy Ghost conducts a worship service, however, it moves the way Jesus would have it move, at any time, and according to God's will.

If things are as they should be with a body of believers, there is no set time or particular day needed for worshiping God. The holy Ghost can and does fall at any time. It is up to us to take the opportunity to worship at His set time.

If you have anymore questions, please feel free to contact us.

Thanks for the question.

Tom Traughber

Good day Pastor,

I read the mail that is talking about other gifts of the holy Spirit (i.e. the conversation between you and Rich N.) I learnt a lot from it, and that the major things to know are knowing when one became born again and when one gets his salvation and so on. But that is not withstanding, I want to be enlgihtened on this. In 1 Corinthians 14 Paul was talking of speaking in an unknown tongue and prophecy, that prophesying is better than unknown tongue. Now my question is, is there any difference between unknown tongue and speaking in tongues?

When a person speaks in tongues when he receives the baptism of the holy Ghost, "tongues" may refer to a language known by some people (as on the day of pentecost in Acts 2) or it may refer to a language known only to angels. There may also be a language known only to God. Who knows? But yes, one may speak in tongues without the language being "unknown".

Also, let me add that when one is speaking in tongues under the inspiration of God, it is almost always in a language that is unknown to the speaker, though it may not be unknown to someone listening.

And again, according to Paul, that is better to have the unknown tongue interpreted. Many, for this very reason of interpretation of tongues cannot speak in tongues to avoid being embarrased. So, I want to know if there is any difference between the two and tongue and unknown tongue. And I have not see any interpreting the tongues.

Thanks as you reply and God bless.

O F S

OFS:

You haven't seem much interpretation of tongues because there isn't much of it happening. And most of what passes for interpretation of tongues in this part of the world is false. The body of Christ is divided and confused and dangerously entangled with Christianity (Xty). That association has deadened the Spirit's work among God's children and snuffed the life out of many.

After the saints obey God's call to come out of Xty, I believe that many of the gifts and anointings that have been missing will be resported.

Xty threatens God's children with its confusion about spiritua;l gifts so that they are embarassed or afraid to speak in tongues. But the truth is going to make them free.

Send for my teaching tape on 1 Corinthians 14, and I think it will clear things up for you. Brother Earl Pittman handles that part of my work for me. You can get his e-mail address from Brother JOE.

jdc

and later...

Good day Pastor John,

I thank God for the lives of all the saints over there. For really through your testimonies and dependable replied to my questions, my life just keep on relying on the Spirit of God rather than the doctrines of men as it was before. About the 1st Corinthians 14 tape, it happened that my beloved brother Joseph has it and I collected it from him and after listening to it I was richly blessed and the confusion in me about the unknown and new tongues just vanished immediately. Praise God!

Pastor John, there is one question I want to ask and it goes like this: as the gospel was given unto Peter for the Jews and to Paul to the Gentiles. Paul’s gospel clearly states that ordinances and water baptism are not for the Gentiles, while Peter on the other hand preaching and baptizing the Jews with water; so does it mean that up till date that the Jews are still keeping all those dead rituals?

Yes, they were. And it was the will of God for them to do so.

And secondly, in James 5:14, “the bible says: is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the congregation, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.” Pastor John, with this verse many Xn pastors have made it a point of duty to pray with olive oil and at times they do pray over a bottle of oil and give it to their members to be applying it to their injured body or sprinkling it over their business places. Then my question now is, does olive oil still a relevant issue to clip upon or does it mean that without oil one cannot be anointed?

Thanks for answering my questions and God bless.

Simon

Brother Simon

In this New Testament, no ritual is of God, including the ritual of placing physical oil on a person's head before praying for his healing. The earliest believers, being exclusively Jewish, continued practicing the Old Covenant rituals that Moses gave to the Jewish nation. But there was no ritual given by Moses to Israel for anointing someone with oil to be healed. So, this verse cannot refer to an Old Testament ritual. This verse from James 5:14 might refer to a custom that the earliest jewish believers developed, or--and more likely--James was speaking spiritually here of the oil of the Spirit that alone can heal the sick.

Neither Jesus nor his disciples ever practiced any such ritual as anointing someone's head with physical oil before laying hands on him or her to be healed. It is not a ceremony that God ordained for His servants to do.

Pastor John

John,

How does one "defile the temple of God" (1. Cor. 3:17)?

Taylor

Taylor:

One defiles the temple of God by using it to commit sin and by welcoming into it some unclean spirit.

jdc

JOE wrote:

Hello Pastor,

This morning OFS and I had a bible study on the book of Matthew chapter 1 verses 18 to 25. After reading through those verses we did not see anything there to talk about that we have not see before. But as we were about to move ahead and start to talk about other things, some thoughts, questions and answers started to enter into my mind.

We discovered that the birth of Jesus was as prophesied. We saw God playing out His plans for humanity through Joseph and Mary. We asked ourselves how was Joseph able to believe the angel when he was spoken to that the child in his wife’s womb was of the Holy Ghost. God just put the child in the womb of Mary without sex being involved. This has not been heard of for a virgin to conceive. In answer to that we discovered that Joseph was a just man. His being a just man to us means that he would have had some understanding of God and maybe God would have been walking with God to know when a message is from Him. We noted that if it were the first time that God is sending an angel or communication to him, it would have been very difficult for Joseph to believe it was God.

We saw Joseph and Mary though married being kept by God from knowing each other for the period of the pregnancy (9 months?). We also noted though it was not recorded there that both Mary and Joseph did not understand what God was doing through them. They were not able to comprehend it. But we discovered that because God was at work in their lives, they kept the baby and did not think of aborting it. We saw Joseph and Mary going through the pressures of friends and relatives whom they would possible have told about it, but who might not understand it and would have turned against them querying, accusing them and all that. God took care of that for them!

We saw that when it was said that Joseph was thinking, he actually was praying, thinking, reflecting and wondering over the matter. His situation was so much that God had to send an angel to consol him and explain to him what he is passing through. This shows that God was at work!

In verse 24, we discovered that before the angel spoke to Joseph, he actually had withdrawn himself from the wife. He must have been rejecting her food. In his heart, he had written Mary off as his wife but just waiting for an opportunity to return her to her parents for adultery (or fornication?)

In verse 25, we discovered that Joseph and Mary had other kids after Jesus (Mark 6:3). This was contrary to what some people believe and teach.

There is a great lesson for everyone in those verses. To the single. To the married. To the unbelieving. To the believing. If one can just read those verses with the Holy Spirit interpreting, questioning and answering our questions, we shall be more blessed to understand that God uses situations to bring His plan, purposes to pass. And when He is at work in our lives we can virtually do nothing but be controlled by Him. let us learn from Joseph and Mary. Ours might not be exactly the same situation but there are situations that “confuse” us about ourselves, God or anything. Let us wait until God shows up. When He does like Joseph we shall understand and rejoice knowing that all things worketh together for the good of them that love their Lord.

John tell me, what does it mean in the old times to be a just man. Also give me some insight on what happened in those verses above that we missed out.

JOE

JOE:

I think that Joseph and Mary were not married yet, but were what we in the Western culturees would call "engaged to be married". Had they actually have already gone through the Jewish marriage ceremony, she would not have still been a virgin.

The committment to each other during that time of engagement, however, was clearly stronger than is the committment among people here today. Broken engagements are fairly common now, but back then, to break off an engagement appeared to be the equivalent of a divorce. It was a very serious thing.

Being a just man means being a man who judges as God would judge. I have written a BROADCASTER on that subject titled, "On Being Just". If it is not on line at our web site now, I will work on it and get it up ASAP.

Pastor John

John, I would have sent this to you last week but our internet services were down from tuesday. Here is the reply from OFS!

I thank God for the wonderful assignment you gave me and glory be to God for opening my eyes more to see the spiritual things written in the three tracts you mentioned. I have gone through them before but I did not understand them at the first time as I do now. I have now learnt that Christ died that the Spirit of God will come and lead us (spiritually) to God and that our sins will be washed away by the Spirit which is the blood of Christ. Therefore, if Christ has fulfilled the works of the law, which spoke of Him, the purpose for keeping those works was finished. So to be taking part in performing the ceremonial aspects of serving God simply agues the fact that Christ have not any day fulfilled the works of the law for us.

As for the issue of communion, I have now no atom of doubt in me that Christ did it as a symbol which He knows that they (disciples) will later experience the real thing when the time comes (dispensation of the Holy Spirit). So our communion in the blood of Christ is our unity of heart and spirit, and the bread that we now break is our receiving of one another’s testimony. In the case of Christianity, I am now fully aware that becoming a part of Xty is not a work of the Holy Spirit in one’s life, rather, it is something we choose to do and it neither honours Christ Jesus nor pleases the Father.

I want you to say something about harvest and thanksgiving to enlighten me on that. I have not come across any serious teaching on that.

Thanks for honouring my mails and in like manner I expect its reply.

Okwudili Frank Simon (OFS)

Dear Brother Frank:

I do not understand what you are talking about when you say "harvest and thanksgiving". Do Xns there have some sort of tradition concerning those things of which I am ignorant? Please explain to me what you mean.

Pastor John

J. O. E. wrote:

My dear Pastor John,

After reading your reply to Frank, I laughed and laughed. I laughed because you might not have known of one of the two most popular ceremonies of Christians here. Almost all the denominations here have one Thanksgiving Service or the other. They dedicate a Sunday to thank God for all He has done for them during the year passing and ask for better things for years ahead. Most times, offerings are taken at such services.

They also have time where they celebrate their harvest. At such times, people bring in foodstuff or crops. You remember the practice of the first fruits in the Old Testament. People bring things they have harvested and give them to the Levites, which is in the present day what we, call tithe. A friend reminded me that what these present day Christians are doing was what Jesus met people doing at the temple the other time when He picked up stick and drove them out. Anyway, I will pass your mail to Frank and have him reply you. I just thought I should give you some insight as to what Frank was asking. I thought you knew, that was why I did not do a little note to give you understanding at first!

J O E

JOE:

Thanks for the information. I needed it, as you could tell.

First, let me say the servant of Christ who is anointed to care for the sheep has authority to give commandments to the body.  If a man of God there determined in the past that it is good for the body to have a special day of Thanksgiving, then that commandment carries with it the weight of Jesus; it is, in that case, the word of God for the body, andany member of the body who rejects it endangers his health and possiblyhis soul.

Such "commandments of men" are good, and they frequently benefit the children of God, but they must be understood to apply only to a certain time and place and must never be elevated to the stature of "doctrine". Jesus condemned those who "taught for doctrines the commandments of men".  Many today, being self-willed at heart, misunderstand Jesus's meaning in that statement. The Lord was not telling us that "commandments of men" are evil; rather, he was saying that it is evil to elevate the commandments of men that apply to a certain time and place to the level of eternal doctrine.

God's doctrines apply at all times and places; the commandments of men do not.  Nevertheless, when the commandments of menare in effect, they carry the weight of doctrine.  They cannot safely be ignored by members of the body.

Upon rare occasion, I have told the saints here that we will, or will not, do a certain thing any longer, when I discern that itis needful. My father once warned the saints years ago that if some of them did not better control their spending money at Christmas, he would put an end to the saints' involvement in it altogether. That is the authority Christ gives a man whom he chooses to watch over the flock, and it is imperative that he exercise that authority only when the Spirit leads him to do it. At all other times, it is evil for any man to give any commandment to God's free people.

Now, when a man who gives the God's people a certain commandment has been take away by God and they are then led by another, the commandment that the first man gave is still to be enforced until the Spirit says that it is not. No commandment inspired by the Spirit is either to be lightly given or to be lightly put aside.

It is impossible to know, unless God reveals the truth of the matter, but it sounds to me as if what you have there in Nigeria is similar to so many special days that Christians here have, which are basically occasions to raise money. JOE, it may well be that the commandment to have such a day of Thanksgiving was originally givenby a man of God for the body there but that it was not put aside when the Spirit wanted the saints to do so. It is easy to make a dead tradition out of something that God once endorsed. But as I say, I do not know what the case there is. That is simply one possibility.

As for the firstfruits, that sounds very good. It is good to bring to the Lord the first fruits of your labor. To be acceptable to Him, however, it must be done willingly. I find no fault with that tradition itself. May God bless the saints there who do that because of their love for God. I see no similarity whatsoever in the saints there doing that to the people whom Jesus drove out of the temple.

It may well be that the saints there are bringing those firstfruits to ministers of Satan instead of to ministers of God, as so many of the saints in America bring their tithes and offerings to ministers of Satan every week. If so, I hope you will be among those used by Jesus to prevent the saints there from financing the enemy any longer.

From a distance, this is the best commentary I can give on Brother Frank's questions. The Lord will lead his servants there with you to do the right thing. The truth is what they need to know. Tell them.

Pastor John

"It is impossible to know, unless God reveals the truth of the matter, but it sounds to me as if what you have there in Nigeria is similar to so many special days that Christians here have, which are basically occasions to raise money."

John you are correct on the above. They use the occassion to raise money. And some even go further than that to have what they call bizarre. In such an occassion, the church buy the food items and people are to bid for them. The highest bidder gets the items. You can imagine, in such situations, they can sell a hen that is worth $1 for an example for $100. In such occassions, too, especially in the catholic churches, all sorts of non christian believers (unbelivers) are invited to come and donate for the Lord. What an insult!

Even there is this denonination that is closer to my house. They have this monthly contribution by all members that they do against when they die. All those that have employment among them are supposed to contribute certain amount on monthly basis. This money they keep in an account. When a member dies, they will check his records and if worthy, they will finance the burial ceremonie and things of the sort.

"It may well be that the saints there are bringing those firstfruits to ministers of Satan instead of to ministers of God, as so many of the saints in America bring their tithes and offerings to ministers of Satan every week. If so, I hope you will be among those used by Jesus to prevent the saints there from financing the enemy any longer."

You are correct again. People do not give it to ministers of God. They give it to the denomination that they belong to. And as you must have known already, a "church" (local branch of denomination) might have more than one pastor. Like where I used to belong to, we have a branch that has up to 7 pastors. And at December period, people give and give and it is then shared between such pastors as Christmas bonus along with their salaries.

We will do our best as Jesus gives the saints here the ability to put an end to all these rubbish. Already, the light has been light and has been lifted up. And list what the bible says, there is nothing that is hidden that shall not be revealed. As Jesus reveals to us the folishness of man, especially those of Christianity, we will withdraw from them and yield more to the Spirit of Him that loves and cares for us all the time.

Joseph Odinikpo Ezeudu

Frank wrote:

I am grateful to the Lord for His revelation knowledge He gave you. I received the e-mails you sent to me as the reply of my questions. Thanks and God bless.

I will be more happy if these verses will be explained to me: John 5:39 which says "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me"

Brother Frank:

Those are the words of Jesus, warning the leaders of Israel not to think that the Bible will save them. One Christian cult that calls itself the Church of Christ teaches men to believe that "the Bible has everything we need to be saved." They do not believe that the Spirit speaks to anyone now. The Bible, for them, is it. This is the kind of foolishness Jesus was reproving.

A related problem for the body is this. Millions of believers around the world are taught that the holy Bible is the Word of God. This, too, is foolishness, and it could lead people to believe that the Bible will guide them into all truth. It will not. It never has. Jesus did not say, "I am going to have a book written that will guide you into all truth." He said that he would send back to earth the holy Ghost which would lead his followers into all truth.

I love the Bible. Thank God that He had the mercy on mankind to inspire its pages. But it is only a book that tells about Jesus and the eternal life that he suffered and died for us to have. "But you will not come to me", he told those who were trusting in the Scriptures to save them, "That you might have life."

To possess the holy Spirit makes us sons of God in truth (Rom. 8), not owning a Bible.

And also, pastor John, please explain Luke 16:9, which says "And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations".

Brother Frank:

Those words come from a parable of Jesus that is the most difficult of all his parables to understand. If you or anyone else out there ever has the meaning of that parable of Jesus revealed to you by God, please let me know.

I did not understand the two verses at all therefore, Pastor John, to avoid asking me what is my question about the veses, I have not in anytime understood any sentence in these verses. So I need an explanation for all. May God's grace be with you all as am in wait of the explanations in Jesus name. Amen.

Brother Frank S.

That's the best I can do now, Frank. Take care and keep in touch.

Pastor John

odinikpo wrote:

Hello John,

Lately, each time I use or type the word God with reference to our heavenly Father, I feel disturbed in the inside of me. I feel that that is not what He is or should be addressed with. I feel He is more than a God (or even GOD). This has been going on in my mind for days now. Today I looked up the word Father in the new testament. And virtually every where where Jesus refers to the Creator, He uses our Father, your Father, your heavenly Father, thy Father etc. He does not use God. Even when we get born again we cry "Abba Father" and not "Abba God". I hope you get where I am going? I hope the use of that word God is not one of our christian inheritances. Tell me more about God and the Father!

J O E

Dear J. O. E.

Our heavenly Father is God. Jesus referred to Him as the only God on several occasions. So, to refer to the father as God is not just a Christian tradition. It is the truth.

Pastor John

Rich N wrote:

HELLO,

SO MUCH OF WHAT YOU SAY I CAN AGREE WITH, HOWEVER I AM CONCERNED WITH THE FOLLOWING.

I RECEIVED THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT,AS DID MOST OF THE PEOPLE WHO ATTEND THE ASSEMBLY OF GOD CHURCH HERE IN TOWN. I ALSO KNOW THAT MANY PEOPLE ARE RECEIVING THE BAPTISM THAT ARE MEMBERS OF MORE MAINLINE CHURCHES. IF WHAT THE CHURCHES ARE TEACHING IS WRONG, IF WE ARE LEADING PEOPLE ASTRAY THEN WHY IS GOD GIVING US THE BAPTISM? I KNOW IN MYSELF THAT IN MANY CASES THE CHURCHES ARE OFF BASE. I FELT THIS AS I WAS LOOKING FOR GOD. I FEEL NO LOYALTY TO MAN MADE INSTITUTIONS, I STILL AM LOOKING FOR THE TRUTH. I WANT TO WORSHIP GOD AS HE WANTS TO BE WORSHIPED, AND WOE TO THE MAN WHO LEADS OTHERS ASTRAY.

I CHOOSE TO LET GOD LEAD ME, I KNOW I AM SAFE IN HIS HANDS. IN THE WORLD I HEARD SO MANY LIES, I KNOW GOD WANTS ME TO FIND HIS TRUTH AT ANY COST .AND SO I ASK YOU QUESTIONS AS I BELIEVE GOD HAS DIRECTED ME TO DO.

AGAIN THANKS

RICH N.

Rich:

Thanks for the question. Could you in the future use small case letters? It will make your emails easier to read. Thanks.

As for the answer to your question, all you have to do is to think for a moment about what you are saying. You have noticed that people in various Christian sects receive the holy Ghost from God. And surely you have noticed as well that different Christian sects teach different doctrines. Right?

You asked "If what all the Churches are teaching is wrong . . ." Rich! Just stop right there. How can what the Churches teach be right, when they are teaching doctrines that conflict with each other? There is only one faith (Eph. 4).

What this teaches us about God is that He gives the holy Ghost to those "in every [denomi]nation" who believe in Jesus and truly repent, to borrow a phrase from Peter at Cornelius's house. The baptism of the holy Ghost, the new birth, is obtained by faith, not by knowledge. The holy Ghost comes in, not because we have the knowledge of God but to teach us the knowledge of God. A newly born again person knows his heavenly Father less well than a newly born human knows his earthly father.

If God's children knew God, none of them would remain in any Christian sect. This is one aspect of liberty to which Jesus referred when he said "and the truth shall make you free."

jdc

GS wrote:

Good morning Pastor John....

I have our New Testament class this evening and we are in Ephesians. There are a few verses in there have always puzzled me a little, I was wondering if you could give me your thoughts on it:

Ephesians 4:25-27
"Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil."

What are your thoughts on "giving place to the devil"? It doesn't seem so much to go with the preceding verses that clearly to me. I have heard you teach about the sun going down on our wrath (using the example that the "sun never sets on the British Empire", etc. and that we should have that kind of attitude toward sin), but I can't recall you ever teaching on what "giving place to the devil" is exactly. Any insights on this?

GS

GS:

The children of God "give place to the devil" when they give him credit for controlling the circumstances of their lives; they give place to the devil when they preach one of his doctrines; they give him place when they receive his dumb spirit and call that God ("getting saved"); they give place to the devil when they join in any way a believer and an unbeliever.

Of course, Christian ministers are "chief in this trespass". That's how they make their money.

The world doesn't "give place to the devil" because they are already deceived by him and share space with him routinely. Only the children of God can give place to the devil because only they are where he is not (in Christ).

Pastor John

Jackie B wrote:

Hi John:

re: "Giving place to the devil", could that phrase also mean giving him the opportunity to condemn you for some sin that's been done?

Thanks,

Jackie

Jackie:

If God has forgiven a person of sin, then it is sinful again for that person to be moved by Satan's opinion of what has happened. The best thing to do is for us just to forget about that lying rascal and believe Jesus! He loves us!

jdc

Hi:

I am a Spirit filled Christian and I have a question. Is the rapture biblical? I'm sorry but I cant find it and although the Assemblies of God churches believe it Im having problems in my spirit with it. I just want to know the truth. I would like your thoughts on this.

Thanks

Rich N

Brother Rich: In the vast majority of cases, when Christians invent and use terms that are non-Biblical, they are teaching false doctrine that just sounds good. However, the word "rapture" is an exception to this general rule. The "rapture" refers to the return of Jesus for his Bride, the faithful among the saints, which is an event that certainly will occur in the future.

Personally, Rich, I extend my congratulation to you for being alert enough to notice that word's absence in the Bible and also for being willing to "think the next thought" from there; to wit, "maybe that whole doctrine is not true." Would to God I could persuade my brothers and sisters everywhere to ask their Christian pastors the hard questions that are not being asked. How are we ever to be made one in Christ without that zeal for truth? Rich, if you continue to pursue truth with the courage and ability that your question suggests that you have, you will find it, and Jesus will make you free indeed (Jn. 5).

Might I suggest your next subject of inquiry? How about searching for the answer to this question: "When were the disciples born again?" And let me know what you learn.

Pastor John

Pastor John,

Thank you for your rapid response to my question about the "Rapture". I unerstand and look forward to Christs return, however my question is more along the lines of the old pre and post trib business, in other words will Christ return for his saints before the tribulation , will we be plucked out of the world? In Matthew 24:15 Jesus tells his disciples aboutseeing the Abomination of Desolation standing in the holy place. Now how can we see this if we are taken out beforehand? I dont claim to know much about the bible but I have been getting some tutoring from the Holy Spirit lately and a lot of questions arise when I read What the Spirit guides me to read. Please give me your insight and I will respond to your question about being born again .

Many thanks for your time,

Rich N.

Rich,

For a number of years now I have researched the issue of the coming of the Lord in the Scriptures, and for the life of me, I cannot understand how anyone who teaches the Bible can teach that Jesus is coming for the elect before the times of tribulation come. Nevertheless, there are very many Christian ministers who teach that Jesus will take the elect off the earth before the "great tribulation" to come. I believe they are all dead wrong.

You can read my study on the order of events in Revelation if you like. I believe it is on line, but if not, I can send you one. Or, if you prefer, you can just read the book of Revelation itself. The order of events is given by John in that book exactly as they will occur, with the coming of the Lord described in Chapter 14.

I am looking forward to the results of your study on when the disciples were born again.

Pastor John

Rich N wrote:

"When were the Disciples born again?" Ok, good question. I would have had a very different answer before I was baptized in the Spirit. I looked up your answer and I agree that they were born again when they received the baptisim of the Holy Spirit which in their case was Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4). I started wondering about that when a friend of mine went to a month long missionary training in LA. and came back convinced of this and of several other things. As I mentioned I now agree fully.

I have a couple of verses that support the this further, 2Cor 5:17 & 1st Peter 1:23&24. My baptism made me a new creation in Christ (Born again or rebirth or new birth) and the living and enduring word of God ( the word is the sword of who? the Spirit) The baptism is of who? the Holy Spirit.

I revel in my experience and have been changed (as promised) set on a new path that is a daily adventure. Spirit and truth, I'm so delighted with the spontaneity of the Spirit, singing and praying in a wide variety of tongues and english with a new rhythm a whole new sound, exhorting others. What a life! I pray that all can come to this truth, sorry did not mean to preach to the preacher, but the Spirit can not be denied. I eagerly await your further reply.

Thanks Rich N.

Brother Rich:

First of all, don't ever apologize for the preaching that the Spirit does. That is sin. If I or anyone else don't like it when the Spirit preaches through you, pray for us that we will repent; don't try to smooth it over.

Second, are you saying that you looked for the answer to my question by researching my web site instead of trying to find it in the Bible? Come on, Rich! That's cheating. :) You have to find out for yourself!

I am happy, however, that you found some Scriptures that helped you understand it. Here are some others: Romans 6:3; 1Corinthians 12:13; Galatians 3:27; 1Peter 3:21. The Spirit was not in them yet (Jn. 14), and they were not converted (Mt. 18) while Jesus was here. He died and ascended into heaven to offer himself to the Father and be glorified so that the holy Ghost would be given to men (Jn. 7:39).

You know that what you are telling me that you believe is contrary to standard Pentecostal denomination doctrine, don't you? If you continue this pursuit of the knowledge of God, you will outgrow those sects and you will hear the Voice of Jesus calling you out. Don't be afraid to follow the call. Jesus will keep you. It is wonderful being out here in the desert with Jesus! he knows the way to the Promised Land.

By the way, what group or what man in L. A. taught your friend this liberating truth? I have the hardest time finding anyone who understands that the baptism of the holy Ghost is the new birth! They have all, seemingly, been carried away with this 20th century Christian tradition of "getting saved" by repeating a few Scriptures. Who is out there in L. A. helping God's people escape that trap? That news is exciting to hear.

Ok. Let's try another question. And no cheating this time! Look for it in your Bible. You can limit your search area to the New Testament on this one, if you like. Here it is: How many different things does the Bible say a person must do in order to be saved? Or, in other words, when is a person really saved? Let me know what you find . . . in the Bible.

Pastor John

Hello, Just a quick comment about the last email, I did not cheat, at least not on purpose. I had read your answer before you asked me the question. I had no way of knowing that you would ask me that. Now the LA connection is the School of Christ International headed up by Burt Clendenan. It seems that the school is hosted by churches worldwide and just happened to be in LA when my friend attended. I may be able to supply Phone numbers etc... if you would like. The question you asked this time: How many different things does the Bible say a person must do to be saved? In John 3:1-21 Jesus tells Nicodemus that unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. I see it as a four step process 1. A cry for help(Acts 2:21) And it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. 2.Ask Christ to come and live in you(Col 1:27) Which is Christ in you, the hope and glory. 3.Repent (Acts 2:38 & 26:18)Repent and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins,and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. /// To open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in me. 4. Be born again (John3:1-21) and (1Peter1:23) I hope that answers your question. I have enjoyed this very much. May Gods peace which is a mystery be with you always.

Rich N.

Dear Sir:

Question; What do you think about I Cor. 11:15-16 concering the women's hair?

"But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her, for her hair is given to her for a covering. But if any man seem to be CONTENTIOUS, we have no such custom neither the saints of God."

Thanks I need to know.

Rev. JC

Dear Rev. JC:

As Paul indicates, the standard of the body of Christ concerning hair for women (and men) is based on the customs of the culture where the congregation is located. Notice that Paul mentions "custom" as the final determining factor for this dispute in the congregation. The Son of God loved people so much that he became one of us; he took on flesh. The saints ought to love people so much that we become as much like them as possible--up to the point of endorsing or participating in sin. Wise servants of God use the customs of their particular society as bridges to reach people, as long as there is no commandment from God against keeping those customs.

Normally, this is a rule the body of Christ can live by: If we stand out in a crowd for anything, it should be for our faith and love, not the length of our hair or style of our dress. In general, the love of God will compel the saints to dress in a way that does not attract attention to themselves because of the way they dress. They will not be either the first to pick up a fashion or the last to lay one down.

Use common sense and the love of God, and your instructions to women and men concerning hair, dress, or any such thing will be prefect.

Pastor John

JOE wrote:

Hello Pastor John,

I believe the hour has come for me to ask some questions about marriage. I have been thinking about this for some time now. And it has become important that I have some knowledge about this because some days ago, I informed my wife and my friends in the office that I do not want to be involved in any more Christian weddings. I married under the Christian formula or system but I would like to know how it is done in the truth of the gospel. First of all, let me tell you what I know, and then I will tell you what I would like to know.

From what I know and has been practicing, when a Christian has come to the right time to marry (supposed to have accommodation, means of finance and of age), he is supposed to pray and hear from God about whom He should marry. It is his duty also to meet with the lady that God has “chosen” for him and share his testimony with her and give her time to confirm that from the Lord. During this process, the brother in question might share his testimony first with his pastor before meeting the said sister.

So far, so good, JOE. This sounds right to me.

If the sister comes back to agree, they will go through a period of about 6-12 months of courtship.

I see no need for any period of courtship if both are ready and willing to marry. They are at liberty to marry when they will, either sooner or later. Why would two people agree to marry and then want to wait for a year to do so? It seems to me that it would be better for young people not to agree to marry until they know they have met the right person to be their spouse, and until they know they are ready, and then just go ahead and do it.

The biggest reason in this country for waiting, as far as I have noticed, is because they have to have time to plan and arrange a Christian wedding ceremony. If we cut out that fraudulent performance and just glorify God for helping us to find our true mate, then there remains no reason to "set a date" for the marriage. In fact, we bring honor to Jesus by marrying the one God has chosen for us as soon as humanly possible; we give Him pleasure by enjoying His blessing of a mate as he gives it to us, not by putting off that blessing until we can hire a man to perform a ceremony that claims it makes two people one in His sight.

The Christian marriage ritual is a thief and a robber. It steals the glory that belongs to no one but God by claiming to join two people together. The Christian marriage ritual is also a lie. It claims to join two people together in the name of the Lord, but the Lord Jesus never ordained any Christian ceremony, be it a wedding ceremony or any other kind. Jesus said, "What GOD hath joined together, let not man put asunder."

Christian water baptisms are man's substitute for God's baptism in the holy Ghost. Christian communion suppers are man's substitute for God's communion in the holy Ghost. Christian wedding ceremonies are man's substitute for God's approval and ordination of a marriage.

Then dowry is paid and then church wedding takes place.

The payment of a dowry is a social custom. It has nothing to do with the Lord.

Christian marriage rituals are also merely a social custom that have nothing to do with the Lord.

The difference between the two is that people usually don't claim that they are paying a dowry in the name of the Lord, while they always claim to be doing the Christian wedding ceremony in the name of the Lord.

Here the church wedding is placed above the dowry payment (traditional wedding). Many brothers and sister are getting old because of the church wedding expenses that many cannot afford.

It is sin for Christian ministers to charge money to marry people "in the name of the Lord." What God does, He does freely. What men do, they charge for.

Also some denominations ask that the intending couples go for blood, genotype, AIDS etc tests before they marry.

Blood testing is a good idea, but again, it has nothing to do with the Lord. It is just a sensible thing to do, considering the diseases that are so widespread today. For example, a large number of people who gave blood for the victims of the September 11 slaughter of Americans in NY, Washington, and Pennsylvania, learned by having their blood screened that they had the HIV virus that leads to AIDS. I believe that anyone considering marriage in these times is foolish not go insist on a blood test for both parties first.

In general, J. O. E., Paul said that a child of God may marry whoever he or she wants to marry, as long as the other person is also born of the Spirit. There are no rules in the kingdom of God concerning dowries, or how long two people should wait to begin living together, or ceremonial forms, or special locations, etc. To try to make a doctrine out of any such things for the whole body of Christ is sin; it is in the flesh, but God is in the Spirit.

If two people are sincere followers of Christ Jesus and they want to marry, let them marry. They need only make certain that they are legally married according to the laws of their community or country; they do not need any Christian ceremony at all in order for God to recognize their marriage as legitimate.

Pastor John

JOE writes later...

Pastor John, please make clear your answers to my e-mail on marriage. You wrote, "I see no need for any period of courtship if both are ready and willing to marry."

Pastor John, Christian ministers use this period of courtship which is compulsory to teach the intending couples some marriage and family tips. Without going through those lessons, you will not be wedding by them. I went through courtship with a sister for 1 year 8 months and we ended up not marrying each other. When I met Evelyn, we had no courtship though we had a Christian wedding. We were living in two different states and we came from different denominations. It was wonderful how God did it. We married four months from the day we met. And after our marriage, which we did in our village, when I returned to Lagos, my church nearly gave me back seat (suspension) for doing that.

JOE:

Customs are one thing, and God's ways are another. It is fine for you to have customs in your culture; every culture on earth has customs related to weddings, births, deaths, etc. But we need to be mindful that those things are not required in order to be right with God. When people elevate their customs to the level of doctrine, they fall into deep spiritual trouble. That is why the elders of Israel rejected Jesus; he honored their traditions, but not when those traditions conflicted with the commandments of God. They, on the other hand, esteemed both alike.

The custom of forcing someone to sit in the back seat cannot be condemned in itself, but such discipline in the body must be used wisely or it confuses the minds of the children of God as to what is just and what is unjust.

Pastor John, you also wrote that "The payment of a dowry is a social custom. It has nothing to do with the Lord."

Pastor John, are you in any way saying that payment of dowry is not necessary?

JOE:

Yes, that is what I am saying. The payment of a dowry is not only unnecessary it is also sometimes oppressive. There have been many female babies in India, for example, who were murdered by their parents because the parents know they will never be able to supply a dowry for her. The parents are not punished for this. It is a custom that is accepted in that culture, or at least parts of that culture.

You also wrote that "It is sin for Christian ministers to charge money to marry people "in the name of the Lord." What God does, He does freely. What men do, they charge for."

The Christian ministers do not charge money for their services. When I said wedding expenses, I mean the expenses of printing invitation cards, clothings, items and other things that the couple has to buy. The money for that most brothers especially do not have and it makes them marry at old age.

The rest of your answer are clear to me.

JOE:

I am glad to hear that Xn ministers are not charging for their services. That is commendable.

The purchase of so many accessories for a Xn wedding is oppression. Special clothes are not needed. Cards are not needed. We have to know the difference between what would be pleasant to have and what is required by God. Unessential things must not be so expected that the poor feel they cannot even participate. Jesus does that to no one.

Pastor John

JOE writes later...

My Dear Pastor John,

After reading my questions and your responses, which have been very helpful to my knowledge of Him that so much loved me and gave His Life for me, I still feel the need for me to give you more insight on African ways of life. I do this writing bearing in mind that our dear Heavenly Father, is not a Nigerian neither is He an African or any of any country for that matter. Much wisdom and knowledge is needed so that we can stay wherever we are located on this side of the earth and serve Him in Spirit and in truth.

I would like to give some further explanations on the areas of dowry and the role of parents in marriage. In order to give us better understanding, I would like to define dowry as an item, money, token that is given by a man that wants to marry, to the family of the woman he intends to marry. The price or the item for dowry differs from village to village, state to state in Nigeria. Some are very small while others are high. Some parents return the dowry to the man back the same day. This they do to let the man know that they are not selling their daughter to him but his paying the dowry shows his obedience to the custom of the land. No matter how big or small the dowry is, I do not know any marriage in Nigeria that dowry is not paid (be it for Christians, Moslems or pagans).

The next thing that I would like you to know is that in Nigeria before any daughter’s hand is given out in marriage, her parents must be informed first by their daughter. Then after that, she has to come and see her parents with the man who is to marry her. Then it will develop to the level that the two families (man and woman) have to come together to know each other and then share ideas and understand each other’s customs before the wedding proper. During this period of meeting and knowing each other’s family, both families will on their own do some secret search on each others families. This secret search they do to know more about where their children are getting into. Like in my own case, my parents had to find out who Evelyn’s family are, are they good people, what are they known for, do they have record of known illness or sickness, is there record of evil etc in such a family. To the parents they do this to be sure that they have satisfied their conscience and that if anything in the negative happens that they did not discover, they will take it that that is how God wants it.

John I know from my dealings with people over the internet that anyone who is of age (around 18 years plus) is free to marry without the consent of their parents. Here it is a taboo to do that. Even when they are far, word or letter should be used as a means of letting them know of intention to marry. I have not known of any marriage in Nigeria that the parents are not informed and carried along in Nigeria. If there is any such, that marriage is not a marriage. The man and the woman will just be assumed to be demonstrating their lustful interest to one another.

I just said I should let you know the above. And as I think of what is obtained at your end and what is obtainable here, I hear a voice within saying “as people get over developed they get into error and as people get underdeveloped, they too get into error” This means that there is an error in developed countries (America +) method in marriage and also there are errors in undeveloped countries (Africa and Nigeria in particular).

Do give me a hand in finding where God is in all these so that our messages will be one and balanced no matter where we reside.

J O E

JOE:

When one considers the divorce rate in the United States, one cannot say that the way marriage is entered into here in this society is the right way. Here, there is so much immorality that young people do not have a chance to mature spiritually and mentally. They never grow up. They are pushed into sin at an early age by television and movies, and their inner development is stymied. It is a disgrace in many places here for a young person to be virtuous.

What we have now in America is a generation of children who are of adult age. Our last president was a disgrace to himself and to the nation, though he seemed not to notice. The current president has a better sense of right and wrong, but even he is a coward when it comes to confessing Christ as Lord before the world. He fears men's displeasure much more than he fears God's displeasure.

There are many saints here who do not foresee a happy future for this arrogant, immoral country. Nowhere is homosexuality promoted and protected as it is here in America. And when I see our leaders boasting of what they will do against terrorists around the world, and at the same time refusing to honor Jesus as their guide and hope, it makes me and others want to hide somewhere until God's wrath is past. "Safety is of the Lord", and "Jesus is Lord of all." But men have have forgotten the true God.

The customs of society, though, have nothing to do with the body of Christ. If the customs of society in Nigeria work for Nigerians, that is fine. I think it is wonderful that parents are very involved with the marriage of their daughters there. There is safety for their daughters in that. But if God does not approve of a marriage, or join a man to his wife, they are not really made one in Christ, regardless of the social or religious ceremonies and customs they observe. Pastor John

The following is an email from Julie Ayscue to JOE concerning her marriage...

Hey JOE. My name is Julie Ayscue. My husband and I are on your email list from Pastor John. We read your emails that come from Pastor John all of the time. I especially enjoyed your web page with your family's photos on it.

I received the Holy ghost back in 1990, when I was only 15 years old. Myself and several other young girls received it together at Brother Earl Pittman's home.

My husband Cliff and I met in 1995 and he received the Holy ghost in March of 1996 in my own home while just having a family dinner and good conversation about God. My mother is Sheila Puckett, I believe you have spoken to her through the email before.

I was reading your email to Pastor John about marriage questions. And I just wanted to tell you a little bit about how Cliff and I were married. After he received the Holy ghost in March of 1996, we already knew that we would be married in due time. We had planned for Pastor John to marry us on September 22nd 1996. He was not going to go through vows and I was not having a big ceremony with fine clothes and all of those expenses. He may have said a few words about marriage and then prayed for us both as we were joined together by God, and I probably would have worn a nice dress and Cliff just regular Sunday clothes.

But GOD....

Pastor John had came out to my home on the 10th of September to present our member certificates of the Pioneer Tract Society. Cliff was at my house that night visiting with my family and me. He asked if we had ourpaper work for our marriage certificates and we said yes. He said go and get them and I'll sign them tonight. I've been signing my name all day. We were both so excited. Just let you know how informal our marriage was, Cliff and I were both wearing sweat pants and t-shirts. No shoes, just socks. The only people present were my family; mom, dad, sisters and Pastor John and Brother Wendell Satterwhite. Pastor John prayed for us both for a while and we both got really blessed. He signed our marriage certificates and that was our Marriage. We did not have a big ceremony with lots of family, food, invitations, or fine clothes. Just God!! We knew God joined us together and that was all that mattered. Now of course others in our family had a problem with us not having a ceremony and inviting all of them to a wedding, but that was not what we wanted nor needed in order for us to be married and joined together in the Lord. We have been married for 5 years now and have a 2 year old son.

I hope you enjoyed reading my email about how Cliff and I were married. All that matters is God! He has blessed us so much, and keeps doing great things in our lives.

Your sister in Christ,

JULIE.

from JOE to JULIE...

Dear Julie,

There was this reply that an old woman used to give to me in Christianity whenever I finish Sunday school lessons with her and ask her if she has a question. She will always say that when the truth has been taught to someone, there is no need for question. The same I want to say concerning your testimony, which I enjoyed and understood.

I just know that that it is a fact and truth that you have told me. But permit me to put out that no such things are done here. Christianity and traditions of the land has so organized things that people marry in bondage and into bondage. I am happy that my own wedding to Evelyn was that close to yours only that we invited others. Anyway, I will write again to Pastor John as we all have to learn more on this topic. Africa and developed countries are different but God is one and His people should be one in all things. When I write pastor John again on dowry and other matters, I seek to find the neutral or natural place (that is where God always is)on this matter.

Julie, I am happy that you finally wrote me for the first time after enjoying my emails through Pastor John. I have been getting emails too from your mother too. Keep being happy in your marriage just as I and Evelyn have been since February 1998.

J O E

I've been hearing all my life that Jesus is coming soon! When is soon? This year next year or twenty years from now.

Thanks
Debbie

Jesus is not "coming back any day", as you have always heard. He probably will not return in your and my lifetime on earth, unless God decides to speed things up.

jdc

One viewers' comments concerning the question above...

John:

RE: Debbie T's question, aren't the recent happenings (editor's note - The Sept. 11, 2001 World Trade Center attacks) an indication that Jesus coming is probably soon?

Thanks,

Jackie

Jackie:

Are you still listening to those ridiculous Christian prophecy teachers?

jdc

John,

I guess I need to start reading your Revelation book again? Thanks!

Jackie

Dear Jackie:

Are you avoiding my question about whether or not you have been listening to those wacky Christian prophecy teachers?

8=)

Actually, I really can't listen to them for more than about 10 seconds, if that. You can just hear the deadness in what they're teaching and saying. Sometimes I wonder how anyone can listen to them. The only ones I really listen to for any length of time are the ones that talk about current events in Israel, etc. But if the 7 days/7000 years theory is right, than isn't it about time? Thanks!

Jackie B

Jackie:

Yes, the 7 days/7000 years correlation has a Bibilcal base, but the issue related to that is, can we trust the calendar that Christians devised? According to the Jewish calendar, we still have 300 years to go, more or less, before we arrive at the year 2000!

Pastor John

There is another show that I sometimes watch without feeling like I need to turn the channel, and that's Benny Hinn. I know that he is ignorant about truth, etc., but it's almost like I can feel God's love for him when I watch it. Anyway, that's about it!

Jackie B

I know how you feel in that regard, Jackie. That man has a wonderful spirit about him. When he starts teaching, however, I have to walk away.

Pastor John

I want to say thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to even deal with my questions at all!

Jackie B

Thank you, Jackie, for taking time out of YOUR busy day to write me. You're a good sport to put up with my teasing you. I hope D____ and the kids are doing ok.

Pastor John

More viewer comments are as follows:

JOE wrote:

This is a wonderful thing. "Jesus is coming back soon" is one of the things that the Christians had and continued to use to torment those who are ignorant of what the scriptures really say about His second coming. They use it to put people in fear without telling them [the truth about] how to escape the dangers of the great judgement day. And like Debbie T. noticed, two years, ten years Jesus is not yet here. It only shows that those Xn ministers do not know Jesus and His Father's plans. That is [one reason] why so many are fed up with such a religion.

Over the weekend, I had to read one of the tracts "Jesus is Coming Again" because someone told me that Jesus had already come on the day of Penticost. I did not believe Him so to have more confident in what I believe, I went to read that tract. And I was so thankful to God that George Clark warned in that tract several years ago that many will tell us that Jesus has come back on the day of Penticost.

John, you did not tell Debbie T. why Jesus will not come soon as Xn ministers have been saying. But I can recall your saying in one of the tapes that Jesus will not come until His body has fully obeyed Him, or rather when the obidence of the saints has outweighted the disobiedence of the world. Did I put it correctly John?

Debbie T., thank you for asking this question.

J. O. E. in Nigeria

Dear J. O. E:

Thanks for the response. Xn ministers have intimidated and manipulated innocent souls for many years now with warning about the "any moment" coming of Jesus. It is evil for them to have done that, but Jesus said it would happen (Lk. 21:8). Jesus is coming again, thank God! But it will not be tonight, or this year, or the next. Many things remain undone that must be done before he returns.

I didn't go into detail with Debbie T concerning why it is not yet time for Jesus to return because she has my Revelation book and tapes available, and I do not have the time to write all the Biblical evidence in an e-mail.

To answer your last question, Paul said that God was prepared to avenge all disobedience when the body's obedience is fulfilled (2Cor. 10:6). That is the Scripture to which I was referring when I made that comment.

jdc

Gary S. wrote:

Hello.

How are you this morning? This e-mail reminds me of when I was reading a very old book (written in about 1916-18 or so, I think) a while back. It was a pentecostal book, and clearly they had a measure of power, and expectation of the power of God that has been lost today. And a Bible knowledge that also, few today have in this generation.

But somewhere in the middle of the book they started referring to the "great problems at hand" (which was World War I), and they went on to give a big long Christian dissertation about how Germany was the head of the beast, or something like that, and the Kaiser was the Antichrist and so on. Nothing has changed over almost 100 years! Men also did it through World War 2 (with Hitler, and that would seem an even better match), and will continue to do it, until He really comes! But it showed me how lost men's "Christian" ideas are (even in the midst of some good ones) without the help of God.

Have a good day!

Gary