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  • Millions Wrong?

    Pastor John,

    Your teachings on Holy Spirit Baptism and Tongues Speaking being received by believers of God as evidence of salvation and control of sins is very astounding.

    Do I have to believe that millions of professing Christians, Catholics, Anglican, Methodists, Presbys, including their Priests, Bishops, etc who do not speaks tongues are not saved? 

    Pastor! I know you are very enlightened more than I can value because evidence of tongues speaking has been baffling my mind for quite a long period of time. Very often my understanding tells me that those who speak tongues are given by the Holy Spirit as He wishes, and even Holy spirit baptism generally is an evidence of spiritual fruits being demonstrated in a true believer, hence tongues speaking becomes an added gift to proof to the authenticity of God’s power over heaven and earth.

    Pastor, I know you are thousands of miles far away from me, had it not been so i would have contacted you to baptize me to enable me obtain those gifts because I dearly love to evangelize for God for the rest of my life.  Currently I am an Elder of one branch of our church and I am unable to tell whether I have the holy spirit baptism let alone tongues speaking as against your teachings.

    I am at your feet further counseling.

    AUGUSTINE BAAFUOR AFRIFA

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

    Dear Sir:

    Thank you for writing.  Please keep in touch with your thoughts and feelings.  I will answer your concerns as plainly as I know how.

    You obviously understand what I am teaching; namely, the baptism Jesus died for us to have is the baptism that puts us into the body of Christ (1Cor. 12:13).  It is obviously also that your heart is telling you that what I am teaching is true, but your mind is unwilling to accept it, based on how many Christians around the world do not teach the same thing.  It is a mistake to judge truth based on the number of people who do not believe it.  Didn’t Jesus say that only a few would ever find the right way?

    Secondly, my friend Augustine, not only is it true that “millions of professing Christians, Catholics, Anglican, Methodists, Presbys, including their Priests, Bishops, etc who do not speaks tongues are not saved”, but you aren’t saved either, and neither am I or anyone else still alive on this earth.  Salvation is the reward that obedient children of God receive at the end of their earthly lives; it is not the beginning (1Pet. 1:9).  That is what Jesus said, more than once, “He who endures to the end, the same shall be saved.”

    Concerning your use of the word “saved”:  I think you mean to ask me if I am teaching that all those millions of Christians you named are not yet born again.  You can answer that for yourself by answering this:  Has Jesus baptized all those millions of Christians with the holy Ghost?  Now, if the Spirit has not spoken through them, the answer to that question has to be no because Jesus told Nicodemus that the Spirit makes a sound through every person who is born of the Spirit (Jn. 3:7–8).  That mighty wind blew on the disciples on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2, and they were born again that way, just as Jesus said to Nicodemus.

    Lastly, you said in your letter that speaking in tongues is a gift.  I know that most Christians are taught that, but it is not true.  The gift is “diverse tongues” (1Cor. 12), which is an added dimension of speaking in tongues, just as the gift of faith is an added measure and dimension of having faith.  Everyone with the gift of faith had faith before they received the gift of faith, and everyone with the gift of diverse tongues spoke in tongues before they received the gift of diverse tongues.

    All those millions of Christians you mentioned will all tell you that I am wrong.  And I tell you that they are all wrong.  Faced with such a difference in teaching, a wise man will go to Jesus and ask him who is telling the truth, and I hope you will do that.

    Thank you for writing, Augustine.  Please stay in touch and feel free to let us know what you hear from the Lord.

    Your servant,

    Pastor John

     

  • John 9

    Hi Pastor John,

    I loved reading John last night, especially the 9th chapter about the blind man. ​ ​The hairs on my arm were standing at attention, I felt so bubbly inside. ​ ​Here is (was) a blind man healed by Jesus and “put out” of the Synagogue​,​ and Jesus went to find him.  This ex-blind man may have been hurt or discouraged (or not) about being put out, but I loved his attitude when he bowed down to Jesus once he understood that Jesus was the one who restored his sight. ​ ​He was so thankful he could see, that nothing else mattered, even to be ousted from the Synagogue.

    I pray that I stay just as thankful as th​at​ blind man​,​ for Jesus opening my eyes to this wonderful Truth and healing me, and ​that I will ​keep growing to know (see) and understand the one who opened them.

    It was so very good last night,

    Billy

  • Clean

    John,

    This really stuck out to me [from your recent Blog, Missing Spirits]:

    “The fear of the Lord is clean, David said (Ps. 19:9), and it makes those who possess it clean because it makes them hate evil (Proverbs 8:13).  But those without the fear of God become more and more wicked because they have no reason not to do so – they think.”

    The other day, Sister Willie was saying what a clean woman I have been.  When she said the word “clean” it seemed to jump out at me. Something about that word felt so good to me.  What a blessing to thank God for being clean!  What freedom to feel clean!  There’s no looking over your back, no lies, no covering your tracks, but just clean.  It’s having the right intentions and no hidden motives.  What a hard life to live the other way.  So when I read what you wrote, above, all I could say was, “Yes!”  To fear the Lord is clean, and I thank Him for letting me have that fear.  I thank Him for a clean life and wanting to please Him. Whew, that all was really good!

    Carrie

    PS  After writing my email tonight, I wanted to a little Bible study on clean.  Here are the verses that I found.

    2 Samuel 22:21- The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me.

    2 Samuel 22:25-The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness in his sight.

    Job 17:9- Nevertheless, the righteous will hold to their ways, and those with clean hands will grow stronger.

    Psalm 18:20- The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me.

    Psalm 19:9- The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

    Psalm 51:10- Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

    Proverbs 16:2- All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the Lord weigheth the spirits.

    2 Corinthians 7:1- Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

    Revelation 19:14- The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean.  (AMEN!)

     

     

  • Our Savior

    Morning Pastor John,

    I was reading Venus’ post this morning on Facebook about her biopsy. As I read the responses from everyone, I was really moved. I began to pray for Venus and the Spirit spoke and said ” We don’t call Him our Saviour for nothing.” It was very matter of fact and very quick.

    I sat there kinda of stunned because it happened so quickly. The tone was very much like something your father or Uncle Joe might have said. I thought I would pass that on. I felt all the worry leave afterwards. Not much room for worry after hearing that.

    Beth

  • The Only Sinless Sacrifice

    John,

    It is so good to read the Blog on “The Only Sinless Sacrifice” and feel inside that “yes, that’s right.”  With what we have learned through the journey of the Father & Son book, that Blog instantly feels right when you read it.  Even if it was never a conscious thought before, when you hear/read a truth through the lens of the Holy Ghost, you just feel it. 

    That one statement, that Mary’s son had the same sinful nature of man before God’s son took his abode inside, would be blasphemy among most of God’s people.  Yet, knowing when a person is born again, and what happened at the Jordan river with Jesus, and that God had a son before Mary did, and . . .  [It’s hard to sum up in one paragraph all we have taken in and learned during the Father &. Son book 🙂 ] . . . helps us to see how true it is.

    To hear and understand something that would be blasphemy to most, and to feel the Holy Ghost echo “yes that’s right” – what a treasure that is!  

    Richard

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

    The Only Sinless Sacrifice

    I thought you might be interested in reading this and giving it some thought.

    I asked my father one time, “Was Jesus sinless before the Son of God came and took up his abode in Mary’s Son at the Jordan River?”  His reply?  “It doesn’t matter.”  Amen!  It doesn’t matter what you or I were, either, or how we lived before the Son of God took up his abode in us!  Thank God!

    Here is the comment I added (as a footnote) to the Father and Son book today:

    Even if a man had offered up his son as a sacrifice for the world’s sins, it would have been unacceptable to God because all humans, including Mary’s son Jesus, are sinful by nature, which would have made the sacrifice unacceptable.  Only God’s Son was sinless, both before he came to earth and afterwards.

  • Missing Spirits

    Thanks John,

    The Blog on “Missing Spirits” refreshed my soul and heart. I love truth when I hear it. I love truth about Jesus and his Father. I can see more every day how this world could “wear out the saints of God”.  But Jesus will give us faith in our last days.

    Jimmy T

  • 1000 Year Reign

    Hi John,

    When the righteous reign with Christ during the 1000 yr reign, who will we be reigning over?  Doesn’t the 1000 years start after cataclysmic events that kill most everyone?

    In regards to current state of our world, I have been comforted knowing that God is in control, and everything that is happening is happening under his control. Is that true? When you prayed the other day for Obama and our government, I was confused about how we should feel.

    While I pray for my babies and their babies and their spiritual condition and future, are we to pray for the direction that our country takes? I have felt that God is using Obama to do exactly what he is doing.

    Would love your correction on this.

    Hope all is well!

    Patty

    ===========

    Hi, Patty.

    Good to hear from you!

    According to the prophets, though billions will have been killed by the plagues and disasters that precede Jesus’ return, there will be nations still on earth after he comes.  Ezekiel even says that 1/6 of the Beasts’ army will survive the gruesome Battle of Armageddon (Ezek. 39:2) at the end of which blood flows about five feet deep for two hundred miles (Rev. 14:20).  Those nations and surviving soldiers are the people over which the Lord and his saints will reign for a thousand years.

    As for praying for the leaders of the nation, we are commanded to do that, for God is the One who puts those people in office, the best ones as well as the worst ones.  He uses them all for His inscrutable purposes, and we had best not interfere with His work.  We pray for our rulers because, according to Paul, we may have peace in our time by doing so (1Tim. 2:1-2).  Other than that, God’s obedient children stay out of politics and pray for whoever is cursed by God to be made a ruler of this world before Jesus returns.

    Pastor John

  • Wednesday Night Meeting (11/4/2015)

    Pastor John:

    Loving the truth no matter what, that is loving the Father and the Son. My, my!  Thank you Jesus!  I love the words of Darren’s song, Give Me All of You: “and what we have inside will last for ever more.” It is overwhelming how much he really cares for our hearts.  And Gary’s testimony, “God’s way’s are thrilling” – Amen Gary!!!  For God to give Gary 9 songs in one day!  What an honor and blessing it is to be a part of what God is doing with us, this body.  I loved what Earl said about God touching us.  Out of all the people on this earth, we are here in this blessed place! 

    As I was watching tonight, I kept looking at every face in the room and thanking God and Jesus for being allowed to know such wonderful people.  This is not a light thing.  It does not have to be this way.  It makes me value each and everyone more then ever, each person I would look at and think about I could feel and see ever price each one of us have paid.  Each one has loved the truth more then anything else and made choices to keep the love of the truth alive in them to be here right now.  It is beautiful to be a part of it!! This is not normal in this world, it comes from above.

    Thank you John.

    Stuart  

  • Thankful!

    Hey Brother John,

    Had my 2nd infusion today and all went well.  No side effects at all.

    Also, I was blessed so much last night.  I felt so much love from everyone.  I don’t know that I could count on two hands the number of people that asked me how I was doing.  And when I went up for prayer, I don’t know who all prayed for me, but it sure felt good.  It made me love all of them even more and I never want to let that go.  I pray that Jesus never lets me forget those feelings.  Those are the kind of feelings that I anticipate having on the new earth.  What a wonderful life Jesus has given us.

    Billy H.

     

  • The Impossible New Way

    Very powerful encouragement.  ​God bless you for all this.

    Amen pastor.

    ​Denish O.​​

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    The Impossible New Way 

    Jesus did not suffer and die for something we already possessed or could already do.  If man had it or could do it before Jesus came, then what need was there for the Lamb of God to die to make it possible for us?  The “new and living way” that Jesus made for us was impossible for ​men before he came.  And that new ​way of life includes nothing that the flesh can do; it is entirely of the Spirit and in the Spirit.  This is why Paul said that if we live after the flesh, we will die, but if after the Spirit, we will live. 

    ​We were all living after the flesh before Jesus came, but ​with his sacrificial death, he made it possible for us to live a new way, and in this way of the Spirit, there is no death.

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