Hi Pastor John,

I love to write what I feel in spirit. It’s been a year since I came out from church. I feel more peaceful than before and understand the scripture in Ezekiel 36:26. God said, “I will put a new heart and a new spirit WITHIN YOU”, from a stony heart to a heart of flesh (a responsive heart) – a new covenant. Then in 2Corinthians 5:7 – “For we walk by faith, not by sight.”

I will not go to church anymore in showing to others that I serve God. I don’t live to be seen by other people as loving God, but I live with a hidden heart that loves God and lives in His spirit. For what is precious of God is a meek and quiet spirit, “which is in the sight of God of great price.” “The inward man is renewed day by day.”

I thank Jesus. Loving this kind of peace…

Love,

Leika O.

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Thank you for writing, Leika. You have found the pearl of great price, and you love it. That makes you valuable, too.

We love you in the Lord.

Pastor John

Hi, Pastor John.

I had this dream the other day, and I feel it goes along with what you taught us this past Wednesday about the deeds being done in our bodies and to the body (of Christ).

In my dream, we were in your basement, and the tables were set out. I sat down at one of the tables, and Amy F set a thick packet down beside me with a very pretty, white, lacy envelope on top of it. We all had been given these packets.

I noticed that the envelope and the packet had been professionally made. As I opened it, there were pages and pages of pictures from Amy’s life and mine together through the years. I remember looking at them and saying, “I remember these.” There were pictures of us together from the meetings and Thanksgiving. There were pictures of us praying for each other and sharing our burdens together. Pictures of joy and some pictures of sorrow, but they were pictures of our life together. How precious! As I pondered through them, I asked Amy, “Can I pick of few and keep them?” Amy replied, “Billy, they are all yours!” I then opened the envelope and it read, “To: Billy. From: Amy”.

Music was playing over the speakers, and Amy and you started singing a song together. She started to sing a line, and she pointed to you, and you started to add another line, and you two went back and fort. It was very joyful, watching both of you “trade” line as we call it. The music was not too upbeat, but joyous and fun to watch. Gary was playing piano and his orchestration was perfect with every note; not one was out of place, and it was all very complementary to what Amy and you were singing. I marveled and said to myself, “I have not ever heard orchestration like that before, it was so good. I only remember how the song felt. I wish I could remember the tune, but I do remember the title, I Will Rise.

As you both were still singing and Brother Gary still playing the orchestration, I looked at the pretty white envelope and in my heart, I felt it was an invitation to make more memories, to share more of our lives together in the love of God, to increase our portfolio of pictures together, to live life in God together. What’s that worth?

I look back at my memories and thank God for them. There have been ups and downs, happy and sad, health and sickness time, but I thank God that though out the years, He has surrounded me (us) with the most precious people on this earth in my life to help me through it all.

I humbly pray that I take advantage of the invitation from Amy in my dream to make more “Precious Memories”, as the song goes, with each and every one of us. It’s no small thing to be able to share this life in Christ together. We truly need each other’s gifts; God’s anointing on your life, the out of this world music that He has blessed us with, and the precious fellowship in His light together.

It’ll be worth it all.

Billy M.

I went back and listened to Wednesday’s meeting, and I felt like that it would be valuable to type up the message that you had for the teenagers. Such wonderful instruction for them, for all of us! Thank you!

Carrie

Pastor John’s message for the teenagers 7/3/19

“I do know what the Lord was telling each of these teenagers in here tonight. He kept saying after each one, “God wants the life.” You grew up around holiness, you’re in all the meetings, you get to where you know how to act in them. You get kind of accustom. You get to know how to act when you feel the spirit. You get to know how to act. God’s not interested in your prayer. He’s not interested in your songs. He’s not interested in any kind of worship from you at all without your life. All He wants is the life. That means how you treat one another when you’re out somewhere. That means when you’re home by yourself. He wants your life. He wants you. That’s what God wants. He wants you, and if He doesn’t have you, then you’d be better off not to praise the Lord.

That’s what Paul called eating and drinking damnation to yourself. You get to where you know how to act in a meeting of the saints, but if He has your life, you’ll know how to act around sinners. You’ll know how to act outside the meeting of the saints. If He has your life, He has your heart. If He has your heart, He has your tongue. He’ll have your hands. He’ll have your decisions. He’ll have your desires, if He has your life. That’s what He’s after because He wants to save it. He wants to save your life, and if you want to save your life, then give it to Him.
Get rid of it because you don’t know what to do with it.

Paul says we don’t even know how to pray like we ought to. He gave himself to the Lord, and he said the spirit talks some good stuff through me! Praise God! He gave his life to the Lord and look at the result- his faith and what he did.

You want to be worth something in this world? Give your life to Jesus. You’ll be valuable to every person you meet. You’ll have something good for them even if it’s nothing more than a good hug. You’ll have it for them if God has your life. You won’t be a bad influence on those around you, especially the younger ones looking up to you. You won’t be something they’ve got to overcome to do the right thing. If He has your life, He has your attitude. Toward parents, toward government, toward authority, toward those you could abuse if you wanted to. If He has your life, you’ll bless them, and God will bless you. That’s what God wants. He wants to save your life, not just your soul.

My father said it was a good thing for old people to get right with God instead of going to hell, that’s a soul saved, but God likes it much better when young people come so He can save their life. That’s what God wants to save. He wants your life! He wants your life because only He knows what to do with it. You don’t. I didn’t. I made a mess out of mine. Jesus picked me up out of the dung heap and said give me your life, “I give up.” I gave up. He gave me a life! This is the life Jesus gave me when I gave up mine. This is the life Jesus gave me. He created this person out of life, the ragged life, that I gave Him. And it was a pleasure for that old man to die, let me tell you. It was a relief for him to get out of the way and just let Jesus guide my life.

Amen! Hallelujah! Praise God forever!”

Morning,

I had a dream last night and in it I heard “there is no wisdom in foolishness”.  What followed were scenes of “hidden things”.  The dream was pretty detailed but in sum, if you hide something it leads to another hidden thing which leads to another hidden thing and before you know it, you are not yourself anymore; the person God made you. It snowballs, just like telling a lie. And if you don’t come clean, so to speak, you will become very foolish and start doing and saying things you never thought you would. And, you don’t just hide the one thing, it leads to another and another. 

In my dream, I started out with a group of people who hid something. I agreed to keep secret the thing with them. Later in the dream, I was alone, and I did the very same thing we had done as a group, but this time, I did it. I then kept that thing hidden, and it was so hard. I didn’t tell my husband, my friends, anyone, and the more I kept it hidden, the more tormented I was.  I had to start pretending from that point on.  Which led me basically to the point of insanity in one form or another, some people can hide very well and it will become the lifestyle.  My life was never happy but consumed with “working things out, and thought and fear”.

I had not thought of “hiding things” as foolishness really, because you have a tendency to think of foolishness as silliness or joking around, which too much of that is not good either, but it was clear that if you try to hide, and do not repent, you will not remain the sane person God made you.

Amy B.

Good morning,

I liked what you said last night about our circumcision growing back if we are not careful, and that we are circumcised from worldly attachments, even from family, the way Jesus was, when we receive the holy Ghost. I also really like what you said about being able to honor God above our kids now. I thought about what the “scholars” would say about our experiences: having been made new creatures; having been giving life more abundantly, ears to hear and eyes to see; God’s laws written on our hearts, etc. Would they say we merely made those scriptures, written so long ago, fit our lives now? I love our sound doctrine.

Beth 

I heard this from the Spirit this evening, Pastor John.

“When you know that Jesus has the words of life, you rejoice at correction!”

Jerry

Good morning Pastor John.

I read in 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 this morning, and it touched me:

3. For our exhortation was not based on error, nor uncleanness, nor yet was it deceitful;
4.on the contrary, as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God, who tries our hearts.
5. Neither at any time were we found with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed — God is witness.

Then I played a testimony of a young woman who got mixed up in Islam searching for God, but she had come out of holiness. In her testimony she said ” it seemed to me, they always wanted to use only certain scriptures to support their doctrine.”

The thankfulness for what we have hit me. I know I can open that Bible and ask you about any scripture. I know I can feel something or have a question, and I can come to you. I know you will be honest – honest with me, and with God. What is that worth!

I don’t know if they did pick scriptures or if she just had a rebellious spirit, but I know that hearing her made the thankfulness for the pure truth, hit my heart this morning. Jesus told me you have eyes like Paul. Eyes that stay on him. What is that worth for ALL of us!

I am thankful Jesus gave you to us! We need you.

Beth

Dear Pastor John,

I keep hearing your comment to me during our Sunday afternoon visit, which was something like, “I love watching how much you love the Lord.” And what I feel is that I love Him because I see how much he loved me first.

I see His hand in my life, pulling me through and out of potentially dangerous and life threatening situations. I see His hand reaching out to me when I felt lost, alone and afraid. I see His hand in gifting me to Brad and into this family of saints.

He loved me first and it’s my greatest and most cherished honor and obligation to love him back. I’m grateful for the freedom and direction His love has given me!

Blessings,

Allison