http://www.goingtojesus.com/site/php/keys-to-the-kingdom.html

Good morning, Pastor John,

 I was listening to OT CDs for the book of Joshua.  You said, “The power of God creates a new understanding inside you.  The power of God is the doorway to understanding!  Nobody knows how little they know about God until they come in contact with power of God.  Then they realize they know nothing!”  

That made me think about the recent message on the Keys of the Kingdom!  Oh my, how many doors have been unlocked to us!  God reveals them to you, and you teach them to us!  Doors we did not even know were there!  And he is still revealing new things!!!

I love the Acts study!  Thank you for all your work!

Sue

 

John, 

I love the reading in Acts!  I love Peter!  He was just as lost as everyone else.  Even though his shadow healed people, he still had to grow in the knowledge of the God who gave him that power.  And Peter did not know what all God had done through his Son when he came to this earth and died to make a way for all people to be freed from sin and the power of the lust of this flesh.

“God needed another man!”  Wow, this is great!  🙂  It makes me love the Jews more than ever.  They had to change and move away from what God had already given them into what God was doing through His Son.  He gave them the law, and now they had to go where he was taking them, and that takes faith!!

Where is God taking us, with what he is showing us and teaching us?  This is exciting!!!  🙂  God help us take this in and give it out!!

Thank you, John.

Stuart

 

 

Pastor John, 

Your thoughts are something to consider.  Here are some things that they had me thinking about recently.  All this is bouncing around in me.

I wonder now how much Peter really understood of anything.  How would he have explained being born again, or the forgiveness of sins, for example?

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Exactly, Damien.  After Pentecost, what would he have thought animal sacrifices were accomplishing, as far as atonement for sin was concerned?  And what did Peter consider the standard someone had to meet in order to belong to God?

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When Peter said in Acts 10:43, “All the prophets bear witness to him, that through his name, everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins,” what did Peter think that meant?  It is so easy to read that and unwittingly insert your own understanding!  His doctrine on the day of Pentecost was, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the holy spirit!”  I assume that was still how he was thinking.  Did he even understand the connection between the spirit baptism and the forgiveness of sins or was there a certain separation produced by an absolute need, in his mind, to repent and be water baptized first?  (The same might be asked of Ananias when he said to Saul of Tarsus, “Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling upon the name of the Lord!” )  Did Peter understand what God did when he gave the Gentiles the spirit?  Did he realize that they were cleansed by that experience alone and then connect it to what was said to him about God cleansing someone (Acts 10:15)?  Peter could easily call to mind that twice Jesus had said that he and the other apostles were clean “through the word that I’ve spoken to you.”  Peter’s thoughts about being cleansed could have been very different from ours.  So, when the voice said to him “What God has made clean, don’t you call common!” I wonder what, if anything, he comprehended about God making something clean.  

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There had to be much confusion in Peter’s mind, Damien, if he actually got still and tried to sort it all out.  He knew that God still required the Jews to obey the law, which was true at that time, but even if the Jews obeyed the law, according to what Peter himself said, they could not be saved except through faith in the name of Jesus.  And when God by-passed the law and began pouring out His Spirit on gentiles – well, there are no words to describe the bewilderment that Peter and the other believers at that time must have felt.

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Perhaps we ought to consider something else in that interesting exchange which Peter recounted exactly in Jerusalem. Peter says he had eaten nothing unclean or common.  “Common” may well have to do with Jewish tradition as the use of the same word (in Greek) in Mark 7:2 suggests.  I doubt unclean and common are intended as synonyms but rather that they betray Jewish thinking.  The Lord’s response might then be seen as addressing Peter’s Jewishness and directing him away from Jewish tradition.  But I don’t think Peter got it then, nor could he.  By the time of Acts 15 he seemed to have a better understanding.

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Yes, and that is an important point.  “Common and unclean” would mean to a Jew that something, or somebody, was ritually impure.  The Jews knew that certain rites of the law could make a defiled person clean, and until that person underwent that ritual, he was unclean.  What God was telling Peter on the rooftop was that he could make a ritually unclean person clean without the use of the law’s cleansing ritual.

The theological implications of what God told Peter were enormous, but obviously, Peter could not at that time take them in.  And no one living at that time could have.  That amazing truth had to be revealed in order for us to believe it, and it had not yet been revealed.

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Whatever the case, all in all, God put Peter in a situation that was beyond him.  Actually impossible.  How would Peter’s heart have felt if he didn’t water baptize Cornelius and the other gentiles if he thought forgiveness of sins depended on it, in some way?  As Paul later taught, Peter had a gospel, but it didn’t really fit with the Gentiles.  Yet it was the only gospel on earth before Paul came preaching his.  Peter would not have thought of himself as having the “gospel of the circumcision” committed to himself.  He had THE gospel (in Acts 15 he still said “by my mouth the Gentiles were to hear the word of the gospel, and believe.”) And there he was, in a house with Gentiles, with a gospel that was not really even for them, but still, God sent him there.  God really knows how to set things up.

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That is true, Damien.  Peter would not have thought of himself as having the gospel for the Jews only.  In fact, in the beginning of this covenant, it actually was the gospel for everybody on earth because if a Gentile wanted to participate in it, he first had to submit to the law and become a Jew.  Peter had no idea that such would not always be the case, as long as the world stood.

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The day Jesus died, no man could do right, and on this day at Cornelius’ house it was somewhat similar.  No one could yet answer Peter’s question, “Can anyone refuse them the water, that these should not be baptized who received the holy spirit just as we did?”  There was no answer until Paul received his gospel, and his answer to the question was perfectly reasonable.  I can’t help but feel Peter’s question came out complete confusion and bewilderment at what God had done.  Maybe desperation as well.  But it was a very good question.  Peter may have thought it was rhetorical, but God did have an answer.

What a time in history! What an incredible moment.  I never saw before how events  were swelling to the point of an eruption, when the spirit came down in Cornelius’ house. After this, God had to send another man (not sure about needed :))  The Gentiles needed that man.  Peter’s gospel had reached its extremity.  It could not accommodate what God had in store for the Gentiles.  And we have been blessed in this time to have been granted understanding of what that man, Paul, taught, and to see and understand Peter’s place in the foundation.

You have to love Peter.  For God to be able to use him in this way says something for him.  God could really knock that rock around!  Can you imagine being Peter?!

Damien

 

John,

​Considering how Jesus spoke to the Syro-Phoenician woman in Matthew 15, and Peter’s attitude toward Gentiles in Galatians 2, and even some comments Paul made, it makes me wonder how many Jews ever accepted the ​believing ​ Gentles as real brothers and sisters ​ in Christ​. For Peter, ​even​ after being told by God, “What I have cleansed ​call not ​ thou common or unclean ​”, ​for him to still have so much fear of the Jews ​ seeing him sit and eat with Gentiles ​ (Gal. 2)​, it stands to reason there must have been conversations among the Jews ​ concerning Gentles being second class ​ members of the body of Christ​. ​ ​ Thank God ​that He found a man who didn’t trust anything contrary to what he had been given by him! ​ ​ Paul really had to stand alone. ​ ​It amazes me, ​ Paul’s spiritual strength.  V​ery few in this world develop this kind of steadfastness.

In thinking about this scene and noticing not many men in this life seem to have the strength to stick with what God had given them, ​I think about ​ your ​f​ather​, “Preacher Clark”. He was an example ​of one ​who was successful, and we ​​ still reap the benefits of his strength,​ given from God.

If I hadn’t found you,​ I am doubtful I would been able to hold on to what the Lord told me when I asked him about the divisions ​among God’s People. ​ ​ He told me “Doctrines and Commandments of Men” was the reason. ​ ​Oh, God!  Sweet, direct and short answers are so precious, and at that moment in my life​,​ breath​-​taking.  If I hadn’t met you​,​ would I have heard and understood ​what was recorded in the ​Minutes ​of the 1974 Church of God International convocation in Dallas: “Touch not the unclean thing”?​ ​ ​That understanding  still excites my soul to this day.  I have no idea how I ​could have  the point ​without help from God​.

Those two experiences connected together, along with hearing you say​,​ ” ​They ​[Christian sects] ​ are all wrong” (my spirit jumped up and down,​ saying, “Yes​!”​) were instrumental in my leaving Christianity​,​ although at the time I didn’t know to call it by that name. ​ ​I hope my action in leaving that abomination will count for something in the end.

Thinking about what happened to Peter falling victim to the pressure around him ​in Galatians 2 ​ makes me pray, “Please keep me​, God,​ from anything that opposes ​your spirit!”

There is no hope of doing what is correct without help from Jesus.

God help us!

Wendell

 

Pastor John,

What a wonderful testimony from Michelle!  Thank you, Jesus, for touching her and loving her the way you did, through your body.  And another beautiful song God gave Darren!  We always need God, no matter what we think.  Thank God for what he has done for our body, John.  How much it meant to Michelle as she was going through her sickness to have such loving and wonderful people around her!  Do we really know how much Jesus love us as a body? or how much we mean to one another in his body?  It sure comes through as we walk along in this world.  How sweet is his presence, when he moves, everything changes!!!

Look at all the testimonies Jesus gave everyone through what he was doing with Michelle! We don’t have a testimony unless he gives us one, and if he gives us one, it is for the whole body, near and far.  The love of God shines through his body if we walk in him.  The love and the hurt we felt for Michelle every time we would get an e-mail or a text touched our hearts, and we would fall on our face and pray and ask God, “Help Michelle!  Please touch her, Jesus!”  We knew he had to move for anything to change.  He is our life and our hope.

I love what you said: “There are no regrets in the love of God”, and I really liked Anna’s song “Good morning, Lord!”  Morning is my favorite time of the day, and I say the same things just about every morning.  Sweet!

I love this Acts reading.  It is amazing what we are seeing now.  I can’t wait to get to brother Paul’s part of Acts.  It is so exciting to feel what God was doing with Peter and the Jews. They where going in a direction they did not know God was taking them to, for all his people. 

Wow!!

Stuart

 

 

Hey everyone.

I was sitting here thinking about John David’s comment at the end of the meeting today about Peter baptizing Cornelius in water after Jesus baptized him with the holy Ghost.  It was, as JD,said, as if Peter was calling Cornelius unclean (or not clean enough) after God had cleansed him.  And that was what God had already told Peter not to!

God needed another man who could teach the apostles!

Contemplating this, I had another thought: “If Peter had done what he did to Cornelius (or any Gentile) after Paul’s gospel was revealed, it would have been unforgivable for Peter.”  Fortunately for Peter, Paul gospel had not yet been revealed!

In a way, however, Peter WAS doing that to the Gentiles in Antioch (Gal. 2), making them feel unclean (or not clean enough) after Jesus had washed them from their sins.  That is why Paul rebuked Peter in front of the whole group there in Antioch.

As Paul would say, “Jesus is good enough!  Don’t add anything to what he says or does!”

Pastor John

jdc

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Those are good thoughts.

Really, I guess, what Peter did to Cornelius ​at the end of Acts 10 ​is kind of what the apostolic and UPC folks do today with their water baptism​ ritual​ (except that Peter’s baptism was​,​ at one time​,​ ​really of God)​.​

Spirit baptized​ by Jesus​, but not clean enough…. That’s what that “ceremony” is saying.

Gary

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I was thinking about how at this point in Acts everything is “breaking up”, and how, ​as you have said, “God needed another man.”​ ​ I marvel at the kind of man God chose to take the Gospel to the Gentiles. ​ ​It is amazing that God chose a man who had been so zealous for the law…even to the extent of killing the ones whom he believed were transgressing it. ​ ​Can you believe it?  Of all people​,​ God chose Paul … to take the gospel to the Gentiles!​ ​ Wow. ​

​Donna​

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​It is really something to think about Jesus warning Peter beforehand ​(not to call common what He had cleansed, and then Peter leaving the impression that Cornelius was still common, or not clean enough, after Jesus had cleansed him) ​but Peter didn’t/couldn’t understand it. ​I n​ever thought of it that way.  But with all we’ve learned in the Father ​and​ Son book, that feels right. ​ ​What a wonderful, mysterious, exciting God we serve.

T​oken

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God gives the holy ghost to gentiles in Acts chapter 10 without Acts 2:38…what will our apostolic friends say?

Earl

 

 

 

 

Hi John,

I loved Earl’s testimony in the meeting tonight, and yours about what was going on with your family.  God is the judge of all things.  We just submit ourselves to him and don’t worry about anything anyone else is doing.  I like that John!  Good testimony!  🙂  Thank you!  Praise God!  I loved Darren’s song “To Fear The Lord”, too.  Wow!!  We enjoyed the reading in Acts tonight:  “God needed another man.”  After reading Acts 1 and 9, I sure do feel a lot different about what God did with Paul.  What a testimony from Jesus he was – to all the people of the earth!!

I love what God has opened up to us all through the Father and Son book, and we are understanding Acts better because of it.  What an honor to know and feel these things! Wow – chapter 8!

%&^#@   woooo weee 🙂  

Stuart 

 

Hi Pastor John,

I listened to your new song , “I’m here to praise his name”, all day long today. Brother Gary gave me a cd Sunday before we left to come home with the new music on it. As I listen to the cd, I could feel the spirit of God all over me. All I could do was fall on my face and pour my heart out to him and tell him how thankful I was for everything he has done for me in my life! And asked him to forgive me for all the times I may have missed what he was doing for me and not realize how much he loved me.

When you sang the words, “Before my eyes opened in this world of sorrow, he knew my path would be filled with sin and shame”, all I could do was thank God and Jesus for what they have changed in me, in my life, and where he has put me. It made me want to find someone that I have mistreated or mistreated me in my life and do anything I can for them to make their life easier or better some how. With out the spirit of God and his power in our life, we will mistreat one another, but all I could feel was love for everybody in my life around me.

I asked God, “Let me feel this way always!” When you know that God is the only reason you are who you are, you won’t be able to mistreat anybody in any way. There is no wrong spirit in that Love! I felt so grateful and overwhelmed with his presence while listening to your song John. I can’t put into words just how I was feeling. It was out of this world. Beautiful song, John. I know where it came form.

Thanks,

Stuart

 

Hi John,

Wow John, what a wonderful reading tonight in Act 5-7.  Since the Father and Son book was given to you, it has done something for us.  Every time we read the bible now, it’s like a new book. I love what we are feeling in all of it!!  What a amazing stand that Stephen took with the Sanhedrin!  I loved the part about Jesus standing by the right hand of the Father, looking down on what was going on.  I could feel the joy and love that they felt for Stephen.

And the love that God felt for his Son Jesus!!!  I could feel it more than ever with the reading tonight. No one will make it without going through his Son, named Jesus!! It’s the only way, and I love it.

I am so thankful to understand what you are saying, and to feel in me the spirit that his Son died for us to have.  I love this communion!  They can keep their crackers grape juice.

Thanks, John.

Stuart     

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John,

Thank you for making the bible alive!  My, to see Stephen one day!  I felt the same way about Peter last week.  Can’t wait to get to know Paul better. 😉

Thank you so much for all your work you’ve done. It feels so good to hear it!

Carrie

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Hey John,

Very good Acts reading tonight!  There is no way to take in what Stephen said to those men without knowing the Old Testament.

It was SO GOOD to learn that God spoke to Abraham while he lived in Ur, before he dwelt in Haran – and so much more in Ch 7!!!

I have read the bible and not understood it. You have to have a teacher. Thankful for my teacher and for ears to hear.  Love my life.

Jr.

 

Good Morning Pastor John,

I was on my way to work this morning pondering on the gathering we had last night and how much I loved what was said and the feelings of learning more about God. I started thinking about all the wonderful lessons and messages that God has given us over the years through you, our pastor. We have heard and seen things that we can’t even begin to explain to someone who has not been on this journey with us. It is a living, growing family in God; it is real life, living in his sweet spirit. Learning and growing through the wonderful blessing he gives us, and learning and growing through the sometime hard and tough lessons we go through on our journey here together.   

I started thinking about all that God gave your father and how much that has meant to us all, and how much God has built on that foundation, and how that was a gateway to what he has given us now.  By walking and living in those wonderful truths, it has allowed God to open up so much more understanding and knowledge about what he has done for us when he filled us with his sweet holy ghost.  I am in awe of his power and greatness; his teaching and learning is endless.

His knowledge is endless, his understanding and mercy is endless, and his mercy endureth forever.  If we walk in his spirit and grow all along the way, we will always be learning of his endless love for his people through his most wonderful creation – his Son. We are on a continual journey all our lives on this earth – and beyond, if we have pleased him in our lives when it is time for us to go.  I am so overwhelmed with thankfulness and gratefulness for all he has given us that I don’t know how to get it out (other than walking in it and living it every day and eating up the grass where he leads us as we go).  I have to take it out on you and everyone else in the body.

Thank you, John, for loving his ways and caring for his people the way you do, and all the body as well. 

Gratefully yours,

Stuart

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I know how you feel, Stuart.  My father used to say that he wanted to hug Jesus, but since he couldn’t reach him, he was going to take it out on us until Jesus got here!

Pastor John

PS I will take it out on you and Anna the next time I see you!