I love it! The Spirit is the witness!  

Donna N

============ 

Very good. Without the Holy Ghost, human wisdom is just arguing with human wisdom. (Much like me arguing with iPhone “auto-correct” insisting on capitalizing Holy Ghost.)  

Richard F

============ 

Very good.  If things like last night’s movie do not move a person toward receiving the holy ghost what is their use?  That movie was better than some things I have seen yet I already knew that the holy ghost would not be mentioned.  In my case, seeing an Answers in Genesis presentation stirred the thoughts in me that God was real, but I continued on to thinking that, if that is true, then where did I stand with God?  In about a year I has received the holy ghost and ceased attending a Christian denomination. 

Damien

============ 

Very good. Without the witness of the Spirit there will always be a debate among the scientists, and everyone else for that matter. 

Tom

============ 

John,

This is so good, and it goes right along with what I was feeling and what Amy and I were talking about last night after we went to Wilmington to watch this movie.  It was all very interesting, but it left out the only real evidence there is for God – His Spirit.  Before Jesus touched me in 2007, I used to think that I believed in the theory of evolution (crazy as it sounds now).  But it was not a counter-theory, or “creationism”, or a man who changed my thinking.  It was a real touch from Jesus that day that made me feel he was real in a moment!

I love this – thanks for sending it.

Vince

============ 

Very good John.  I wish you would have been sitting at the table with the scientist at the end of the movie last night. It was all very interesting, but we can be discussing such things of Jesus had never come. Without the Holy Ghost, where will it all lead?  It leaves you on the edge of your seat, saying: “what about the answer??”  Anyway I enjoyed reading this because it’s exactly what I felt leaving the movie!

Gary

============

The Only Proof

“It is the Spirit that bears witness because the Spirit is truth.”

1John 5:6b

   The increase in number of scientists and educators who are not afraid to publicly confess faith in the Bible’s creation and flood stories is refreshing.  The evolution bullies are having their stranglehold on education and scientific outlets loosened a little.  We may be seeing the beginning of a revival of good, common sense in the scientific and education communities.

   Before you start jumping for joy, however, let me remind you of this eternal truth: the holy Ghost is the only completely dependable witness that the Bible is true and that Jesus is Lord.  It does feel like a relief to hear scientists and scholars speak up in favor of Genesis being a trustworthy record of historical events, but if those scientists and scholars do not have the holy Ghost, they do not even belong to God, much less have they been sent to speak on His behalf!  And not belonging to God, they must have an agenda other than love for God for their defense of the Bible.

   The theory of evolution has always been goofy.  God’s children have never needed help from “creation scientists” to understand that.  Genuine faith needs no scientific evidence to be strong and sure.  No matter what we know of earthly scientific facts, it is only by faith that we understand that the worlds were formed by the word of God (Heb. 11:6).  Do not be seduced into leaning on the knowledge and wisdom of men!

   One of the first truths Jesus taught me as a young believer is that the closer something comes to being true, without being true, the more evil it is.  Someone who is close to the truth can deceive many more people than someone who is nowhere near right.  Likewise, men who defend the Bible, but have not yet been baptized with the holy Ghost into the body of Christ, are only close to the truth; they are not in it!  And the truth is not in them, for “the Spirit is truth.”  Guard your hearts against such men!  Do not trust those who believe in the goodness and need of the Bible but who do not believe in the goodness and need of the holy Ghost!  They are not of God!

   The holy Ghost is God’s witness that everything in the Bible is true, and it is sufficient.  The geological, biological, and astronomical facts that “creation scientists” proclaim can be interesting and instructive, but they are all things the human spirit can learn and teach; they can never create righteousness and save a soul.  “If we receive the witness of men,” John wrote, “the witness of God is greater.  And this [the Spirit] is the witness of God which He has borne of His Son” (1Jn. 5:9).

   John went on to say that “He who believes on the Son of God has the witness in himself,” and that “he who does not believe God has made Him out to be a liar because he does not believe the witness that God gave of His Son.” (1Jn. 5:10).  In other words, those who do not have the witness of God, the holy Ghost, are making God out to be a liar, no matter what they say about the Bible, or even what they say about God Himself!  Some men passionately argue that the Bible is one big myth, while other men passionately argue that it is all factually true, but they are all making God out to be a liar if they all do not have His Spirit

Pastor John

 

This Blog you wrote after watching the film, “Is Genesis History?” is very good!   A couple lines of the Blog stood out to me:  “The geological, biological, and astronomical facts that creation scientists proclaim may be interesting and instructive, but they are all things the human spirit can learn and teach; they can never create righteousness and save a soul.”  And this:  “Some men passionately argue that the Bible is one big myth, while other men passionately argue that it is all factually true.  But they are all making God out to be a liar if they all do not have His Spirit.”

I wondered as I watched the movie, “Is Genesis History?” last night if any of those scientists had the holy Ghost, especially because they were so passionate about their beliefs.  I imagined you sitting at the table with them at the end of the movie and asking them if they had the holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues.  If any had answered yes, then the conversation could have gone to something that made everything else they had talked about so much more meaningful. 

I am glad I took Ben to hear the creation side of the argument, (and we both loved the scenery), but I am more glad for this Blog as a follow-up to what he saw and heard, to remind us that without the spirit, none of those arguments mean anything and that by leaving the holy Ghost out of the story of Creation, they have missed the whole point!

The movie was a good science lesson, but it “can never create righteousness and save the soul.”

Lee Ann

============

The Only Proof

“It is the Spirit that bears witness because the Spirit is truth.”

1John 5:6b

   The increase in number of scientists and educators who are not afraid to publicly confess faith in the Bible’s creation and flood stories is refreshing.  The evolution bullies are having their stranglehold on education and scientific outlets loosened a little.  We may be seeing the beginning of a revival of good, common sense in the scientific and education communities.

   Before you start jumping for joy, however, let me remind you of this eternal truth: the holy Ghost is the only completely dependable witness that the Bible is true and that Jesus is Lord.  It does feel like a relief to hear scientists and scholars speak up in favor of Genesis being a trustworthy record of historical events, but if those scientists and scholars do not have the holy Ghost, they do not even belong to God, much less have they been sent to speak on His behalf!  And not belonging to God, they must have an agenda other than love for God for their defense of the Bible.

   The theory of evolution has always been goofy.  God’s children have never needed help from “creation scientists” to understand that.  Genuine faith needs no scientific evidence to be strong and sure.  No matter what we know of earthly scientific facts, it is only by faith that we understand that the worlds were formed by the word of God (Heb. 11:6).  Do not be seduced into leaning on the knowledge and wisdom of men!

   One of the first truths Jesus taught me as a young believer is that the closer something comes to being true, without being true, the more evil it is.  Someone who is close to the truth can deceive many more people than someone who is nowhere near right.  Likewise, men who defend the Bible, but have not yet been baptized with the holy Ghost into the body of Christ, are only close to the truth; they are not in it!  And the truth is not in them, for “the Spirit is truth.”  Guard your hearts against such men!  Do not trust those who believe in the goodness and need of the Bible but who do not believe in the goodness and need of the holy Ghost!  They are not of God!

   The holy Ghost is God’s witness that everything in the Bible is true, and it is sufficient.  The geological, biological, and astronomical facts that “creation scientists” proclaim can be interesting and instructive, but they are all things the human spirit can learn and teach; they can never create righteousness and save a soul.  “If we receive the witness of men,” John wrote, “the witness of God is greater.  And this [the Spirit] is the witness of God which He has borne of His Son” (1Jn. 5:9).

   John went on to say that “He who believes on the Son of God has the witness in himself,” and that “he who does not believe God has made Him out to be a liar because he does not believe the witness that God gave of His Son.” (1Jn. 5:10).  In other words, those who do not have the witness of God, the holy Ghost, are making God out to be a liar, no matter what they say about the Bible, or even what they say about God Himself!  Some men passionately argue that the Bible is one big myth, while other men passionately argue that it is all factually true, but they are all making God out to be a liar if they all do not have His Spirit.

Pastor John

 

Good morning Pastor John,

I just wanted to tell what Jesus did for me yesterday.

My math class is divided into 4 blocks of classes, each 2.5 hrs.  Because of this, you cannot miss more than 2 hours without being dropped from that block.  Since I’ve been sick I was worried about my class last night.  I was not well enough to go to school, so I wrote my teacher and explained I was sick and asked if there was anything I could do not to get dropped.  I wrote her early in the morning and waited all day.  I was really beginning to get worried.  I started talking to Jesus and asking Him to help me.  I asked Him, “What can I do Lord?”  The spirit spoke and said, “Rest,” and a feeling of peace fell on me.  So I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.  About an hour before class I received an email from my teacher and she said not to worry; just log in to my class on computer lab and do what I can, and I would not be dropped!  I was so thankful I started crying and thanking Jesus.  Then the spirit spoke again and said, “I will take care of you; rest in Me.”

I’m so thankful for my life and for what Jesus has done for me.  I love the rest that He gives!

Michelle

We are completely finished with the NT translation now. It’s been about 15 years, including reviewing it a few times. Whew.

A big thank you to the “translation committee”!  Without you, it could not have been as good a translation as I believe it is.

Pastor John

============

John,

I feel very thankful to have been part of the translation group. It was a special gift from Jesus to be able to participate. I will always treasure the experience. 

When Suzi and I moved here, I had every intention of finding employment. Little did I know at the time that Jesus had other plans for me. 

I had reached a stage in my life that allowed me to retire but still had every intention to continue working for a few more years. When presented the opportunity to sit in with the translation group, I was hooked! I loved it. 

After a month or so of participating with the group, I was offered a job.  I decided not to take it and retire instead. 

There were others factors that went in to my decision to retire but participating with the translation group was at the top of the list. Spending time with you and the others in the group was too valuable for me to give up. 

I am forever grateful. 

Tom

============

Yes, amen!  Thank you, to all of the time and labor of love from all of the translators.

Billy M

============

So thankful for you and all those who could help. This is really good news for those who are hungry and are thirsting for the truth.

Tim

============

Wow – FINISHED!!!??!!!

Congrats!

te

============

Good morning!

Yay for the completion of the New Testament.  Boo hoo that its over 🙁

Hope we can use those morning times to help you with other profitable reading and stuff or something…

I will surely miss it. 🙂

Gary

 

 

John,

Thanks for sending the link about the Muslim lady who called out to Jesus.

Jesus’ mercy amazes me more every day.  Thank you, Jesus!

Jesus, please give us more compassion so we can feel the way you feel about situations, regardless of a person’s condition!

About 26 years ago, I told you about my first cousin’s husband who went out and sat down on the railroad track, and let the train run over him in Henderson.  I never forgot how you told me your father had reacted when he heard about that tragic event.  If I remember correctly, it deeply saddened him that this man didn’t know Jesus cared for him. You also told me he mentioned it for days afterward, if my memory is correct.

I remember feeling so much compassion and love, thinking of a man (your father) feeling this strongly about someone he never even met.

I hope I never forget that conversation or the feelings it left in me.

Wendell

Pastor John,  

Jesus touched my heart through yesterday’s, Excerpt from the Father & Son Book: “Changes made by God’s life.”

 I wrote down (below) what I was hearing in the Spirit, and then I went back and re-read the excerpt from your book.  I saw then that all I did, in essence, was repeat what you had already written 🙂  It sure was good! It made me feel Jesus, and it sure is worth repeating:

Men, by their very nature as human beings, cannot judge this life from the standpoint of  God’s righteousness. The fact that we are human means that our very “being”, is bound to the limitations of human nature, all of the time.  We cannot escape that (by our own doing), any more than we can escape the flesh that’s wrapped around our bones. 

But God’s life (the holy ghost) within us raises us above the limitations of being human. It elevates us to a place where all of humanity and its spiritual conditions and conflicts and dilemmas, are beneath us. It takes us to a place where we can rightly judge humanity, because we are no longer a part of it.

The Spirit is God’s nature in us, judging through us the intent and actions of men.  And that judgment is available – necessary even, for all of God’s children. That is God’s doing, not ours, and it is real.

Jerry

Morning,

The reading in Revelation was very good.  One thing in particular that stood out to me, and I don’t think I have heard you put it quite like this, was at the beginning of chapter 6 when the seven seals are opened.  You started off by telling us that until the Lamb (Jesus) opened these seals, they were hidden to everyone but God. And the seals contained the things that are going to happen because the Lamb overcame the world.  He created them for us and made a new future for us.  That is very good!  We would have had a different future if Jesus had not gone through what he did and overcame.  Like you said last night, when we receive the holy Ghost, we get a new past and also a new future – all because of Jesus.

Also, I loved seeing daddy fall down in the Spirit just like the elders did that we had just read about.  I love when we get an example of what Jesus is talking about.

Thanks!

Amy

============

Yes, Amy, the future revealed in the seven seals was a future that was created for the saints because of Jesus.  If he had not successfully paid the price or man’s sin, that future would not have been; we would have faced a different, and much worse one. Without the sacrifice of Christ, we all would have been lost.

Pastor John

Pastor John,

Beth and I were having a conversation, and she told me that one thing she is very thankful to Jesus for is the fact that her young teenage son knows that to serve God, to be right with God, he must have this holy Ghost baptism from Jesus, just like his mother and I have received.  Beth told me that her boy has told her that very thing.

After she told me this, Jesus showed me something: Beth’s son will continue to believe the simple truth that she and I have taught him unless one day God calls him to repentance, and he decides that he wants to go his own way instead. Then, if that happens, he will either invent a doctrine to ease his conscience, or he will embrace one of the many doctrines that already exist – just for that very reason.

The lesson that the Lord was showing me was not about my wife’s son; it was about all of mankind.

The truth is easy for men to see when they are indifferent about it. The Lord was showing me that when men have “no skin in the game”, as the saying goes, then it is easy for them to see what is right.

I then remembered the many times, brother John, that you have told us how easy it is for a sinner to see and confess true doctrine; fundamentals such as, “you must live right to be saved in the end”, or “if you live an evil life, you will not meet Jesus in peace”, or “you are not saved yet; salvation is at the end of your walk in Christ, not the beginning”.  You have told us on many occasions that sinners often can discern the Truth from the many false doctrines that exist in the world, and that it is only religious people that cannot see how simple and sensible and satisfying to the soul the real gospel of Christ is.

What Jesus showed me today helped me to better understand why people attach themselves to false religion, and why there are so many varieties.

For a man to feel conviction from God for his sin when he does not want to repent of it can cause him to seek relief in false religion to soothe his soul. False religion can be a compromise between a life full of sin and submission to Christ. And the version of false religion that a man chooses or invents for himself is the product of the sin(s) he is choosing to hold on to.

Jerry

============

Hi Jerry.

It was an education for me to watch this happen to some brothers and sisters along the way.  To see them refuse the conviction of God, and then become MORE religious was surprising.  But Jesus helped me understand they were trying to negotiate with him.  They were, in essence, saying to the Lord, “In stead of doing what you are telling me to do, I’ll sing more songs, pray more, and work more on doing other religious works.  Ok?”

It’s not ok.  It’s rebellion, even though those looking on usually don’t see it that way.  As Preacher Clark taught me, if you’re not doing what God wants you to do, whatever you are doing is wrong.

Pastor John