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  • the anointed cherubim

    Was Satan one of these two anointed ones?

    Zechariah 4:12-14 ESV

    And a second time I answered and said to him, ‘What are these two branches of the olive trees, which are beside the two golden pipes from which the golden oil is poured out?’ He said to me, ‘Do you not know what these are?’ I said, ‘No, my lord.’ Then he said, ‘These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.’” http://bible.us/Zech4.12.ESV

    Do we know who they were/are?

    Thanks!
    Bekah
    ============

    Hi Bekah.

    I believe that Satan was one of those cherubs, or something very much like them, even though the names of the heavenly cherubs who hover over God’s heavenly “Mercy Seat” are never revealed. We know that Satan was once in heaven, in God’s very presence. And Ezekiel (28:14) says of Satan, “Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth, and I have set thee so. Thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.”

    Logically, we can only say that Satan may have been one of those two especially anointed cherubs stationed at the throne of God, but if we trust our souls to mere human logic, we will likely not believe the Spirit when (instead of using logic) it simple reveals knowledge to us in that sweet “still, small voice” of Jesus.

    Daddy

  • Verse in 1 Peter 3

    Hey Pastor John,

    In 1 Peter 4:16 it says,

    Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.”

    What is the correct word that should have been translated here? Would it be something like believer or follower?

    Thanks šŸ™‚

    M.

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

    Hi M.

    The word, “christian” is correctly translated in that verse. Peter was saying that if sinners called anyone a “christian”, they should not be depressed, but be thankful instead that they were counted worthy to suffer for Jesus’ name sake. What this verse shows us is that, in Peter’s time, the word “christian” was a slanderous term, one that God’s people did not call themselves but one that unbelievers used to discredit them. This is what the book of Acts says, actually. In chapter 11, we are told that believers were first called christians in the city of Antioch. It is important to note that God’s children were called christians; they did not call themselves that, nor did God ever give His children that title.

    As we know, at a later time, the false teachers who arose after the apostles left the scene began to use that title for themselves and their followers, and then they added the term “Christianity” to describe their new religion. There is no indication, however, that faithful children of God ever approved of that religion. On the contrary, beginning in the Emperor Constantine’s time, that new religion used its newly won political connection with the Roman Empire to persecute faithful saints, even to the death, and to establish itself as the sole representative of Christ on earth.

    And so, here we are today. And Christians are still the greatest persecutors of faithful children of God.

    Pastor John

  • God’s Nature

    Hi Pastor John,

    The Lord gave me some thoughts this morning. “If someone is trying to live life as a homosexual, their whole life is a lie.”

    It is against the nature of a man or a woman to be a homosexual.

    But then he gave me this: “If someone [among God’s children] is trying to live life as a Christian, their whole life is a lie”

    It is against the nature of God to be a Christian.

    I know we know all this, but it came so clear to me this morning that I just wanted to share how good it felt to know and believe what God has taught us, through his nature that he has given us.

    We don’t have to believe a lie about anything or anybody.

    Stuart

  • Hey from Pewee Valley

    Hey John,

    Judging by the pictures you’ve posted, looks like you’re having a wonderful time with Vince and Amy. I was listening to the, Bruised Reed cd from 2008, and you were talking about the Father and Son book is 90 pages, and it keeps expanding. You said something like, “I’d like to get it (from God) and give it to you.” Brother Glen said, “I would like to have it”. Little did we know how wonderful it would get . . .getting.

    I sat there and laughed with everyone on the cd and thought how brother Glen (and ALL others gone on) know Jesus is sitting beside His Father in power and majesty as He had done before creation, and that creation didn’t fall apart while Jesus was here on this earth. Creation did what it was created to do. It makes me happy to know that.

    I guess brother Glenn beat us to the end of your book. I bet he could tell us a thing or two, especially about the joys of the Lord.

    Hey to all there!

    billy

  • I was surprised, but I shouldn’t be

    Hello there, pastor John.

    Interesting little moment with Jesus yesterday…..Ā 

    I have, admittedly, been swept up a little too often by the political issues being bandied about on FB and in the newspaper everyday. America is dissolving right before our eyes at an alarming rate, both morally and socially and politically. It’s way too much for anybody to make sense of…. the controversy, the snide rhetorical spins on everything, the unsettling similarities between both parties and the starkly polarized opinions as well. I can’t imagine anybody voting with a clear conscience when so much evil is accompanied by so little good. It’s a farce. A pathetic farce.

    Well, my mind ought not to be fretful of such things, but stayed on the One who shows us the eternal perspective. And I received some gentle correction yesterday, straight from the Lord, when my flesh began to drift into a fantasy scenario. . .

    I saw a bumper sticker that was simply an = (equal) sign. I knew instantly what it meant: Marriage Equality.
    I cringed. Feelings of repulsion. Anger. No. . . Indignation.
    In my mind I began to imagine myself taking a big fat black marker and crossing out that equal sign on their car. As if that would be the righteous thing to do!

    Then, I think the Spirit spoke to me and said, “What if someone did that to your “Say Yes to Jesus” bumper sticker, because it provoked anger in them?

    Then, I felt/realized that my impulse would be a crime; defacing someone else’s property; it wold be a hate crime, not a righteous one; a sin.

    Then, instantly, the Spirit spoke again:
    “You cannot control this world. You are not a part of it. It is none of your business… Be about your Father’s business, and retreat from this world’s strife.
    Rest in me.”

    Wow.

    (Thanks. I needed that.)

    Brad
    ==========

    Yes, Brad. The temptation is to do something about the symptoms of the disease, such as placards and bumper stickers. But faith will wait for Jesus to come, and pray for our enemies and those “who oppose themselves”.

    Pastor John

  • A Real Wedding in the World

    I went to google news and this article was on the front page about a man and his new wife staying committed and celibate their entire lives until they married and how thankful he was to not give in to what the world calls “progress”. He’s a comedian, so it’s a little raw in the wording in some places, but he definitely is giving some young people something to think about and some encouragement to do the right thing. Here’s the article: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/09/14/staying-celibate-before-marriage-was-best-thing-ive-ever-done/

    Ashley

  • Taylor – amazed!

    John,

    As I mentioned to you last night, Iā€™ve been having back problems for many months. Itā€™s been difficult to get a good nightā€™s rest because my back will get very stiff and itā€™s difficult to even roll over. When Iā€™ve been sitting in a chair a while and have to get up, it takes me several steps before I can even stand up straight, etc. I figured itā€™d get better with time and some nursing, but it hasnā€™t.

    Last night when Tracy and some others came up for prayer, God reminded me of the pearl, ā€œHealing isnā€™t for the world (or sinners); itā€™s for the children of Godā€ (or something like that). I had never felt as much as I did last night that healing for our bodies is part of our inheritance in God. Heā€™s given it to us, and it belongs to us. Itā€™s ours!

    When I asked you to pray for my back, I felt a warm ā€œrushā€ come over me and I started sweating. One of the words you used when praying for me was to make my back ā€œerectā€, and thatā€™s exactly what the problem has been (I feel like Iā€™ve had an old manā€™s back in a much younger personā€™s body). Immediately, the pain in my back was gone. I hadnā€™t realized how I had always been feeling something back there ā€“ pain, discomfort, tightness, etc. ā€“ until it was gone. I just didnā€™t feel anything back there.

    I told Carrie when we went to bed last night that sleeping through the night would be the real test, because thatā€™s when itā€™s the worst. I was rolling back and forth last night like a little kid! I feel like Iā€™ve got a 16 year old back now! Somewhere late in morning when I realized what was going on, I was so excited, I couldnā€™t go back to sleep. It also normally gets tight and stiff on my way to work in the morning, and I have to ā€œwalk it outā€ when I get out of the car. After getting to work this morning, I popped right out of my car!

    I am just amazed, and very thankful, for how God loves us, what He does for us, and so much more.

    Praise God!!!

    Taylor

  • Ezekiel 34 – Shepherds

    Pastor John

    I got such a blessing reading Ezekiel this week. When I read Ez 34 about the shepherds feeding themselves and not the flock, and how the flock was scattered and no one searched for them, the feelings overcame me thats thats how it still is today. Gods people are not being feed and are scattered about. And then God tells Ezekiel, But I will search for my sheep and feed them in a good pasture. I started to cry at the goodness of God. And then when I got to the part where He will setup one shepherd (from David) over his flock who would feed them….. I had to get on face and weep uncontrollably, and thank God and Jesus for their love, mercy, and kindness.

    Watching the Wycliff movie last night just reinforced those same feelings that its always been that way. There may have been a few times when Gods priests kept the law and his people got relief, but the vast majority of time its always been that his people have never really been shepherded. And when they did have a righteous king/priest leading them then, as with Jesus shepherding them now, most of his people don’t even want it! But then, God’s thoughts and ways are not our thoughts and ways. And Jesus said there would be just a few that would find the narrow way.

    I’m not a shepherd or a pastor thats called to lead / teach, but I can be a pastor’s helper; helping to get the seed and truth out there for the few sincere souls that really are looking for God’s way.

    Richard

  • Indulgences

    Good morning,

    I have question. The way I’m understanding the sentences below is Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses in 1510 and that Johann Tetzel’s aggressive marketing practices of Pope Leo X’s offer of indulgences in 1517 provoked Martin Luther to write his 95 Theses. Pope Leo X’s offer was 7 years after Martin Luther had posted his 95 Theses. Is this a typo or is there some other explanation for the 7 year’s difference?

    Look forward to watching this movie Saturday night.

    Randell

    Here is what you wrote:

    Martin Luther posted his Ninety-five Theses, or criticisms of the Church on a church door in Wittenburg, Germany, in 1510. In 1517, Pope Leo X offered indulgences for those who gave money to help him rebuild St. Peterā€™s basilica in Rome. The aggressive marketing practices of Johann Tetzel in promoting this cause provoked Martin Luther to write his Ninety-five Theses, condemning what he saw as the purchase and sale of salvation.

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

    Hi Randell.

    I can see the problem with what I wrote. Thanks for pointing it out. Actually, after Tetzel began his bizarre method for marketing the Indulgences, in 1517, Luther read aloud his Ninety-five Theses to a group which included students of his. Those student then translated his Theses from Latin into into German, which quickly spread Luther’s message across Germany, and then all of Europe. Maybe I should edit what I wrote to read like this:

    Martin Luther posted his Ninety-five Theses, or criticisms of the Church on a church door in Wittenburg, Germany, in 1510. In 1517, Pope Leo X offered indulgences for those who gave money to help him rebuild St. Peterā€™s basilica in Rome. The aggressive marketing practices of Johann Tetzel in promoting this cause provoked Martin Luther to publicize further his Ninety-five Theses, condemning what he saw as the purchase and sale of salvation, and his message then quickly spread across Europe.

    Hope that helps.

    Pastor John

  • Web question

    http://www.goingtojesus.com/topic_antichrist.html

    Pastor John,

    I was reading your post on “the Antichrist”. How can the antichrist (satan) be omnipotent and sit in people’s hearts?

    Dee
    ===============

    Thank you for the question, Dee.

    First, Satan cannot be omnipresent; only God can do that.

    Secondly, Satan can be in human hearts just as Christ can; that is, in spirit. Anytime someone accepts Satan’s thoughts, that is to say, his doctrine, that person opens himself to Satan’s influence. Then, if he continues in that doctrine, he opens himself to greater influence from Satan. This “influence” comes through Satan’s spirit, and many have put themselves in position to have it in their hearts. Some people, though very few, even follow Satan’s suggestions as far as Judas did, to the point of being possessed by Satan himself.

    Please beware what you open your heart to. Solomon said that the condition of our heart determines our future.

    Pastor John

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