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  • Indonesia

    Name: Surya Tarigan

    comments: Dear Pastor John,

    In 2005 I have printed all materials in your website and still read them until now. I believe that holy spirit baptism is the sign of new birth. I myself are not sure yet whether I am already baptized with holy spirit. But, I found myself speaking in tongues occasionally. But I am not sure whether it is genuine or not. It could be as a result of my past involvement in charismatics church.

    Recently, I read one book quoting 1 Cor 12:13 saying that holy spirit baptism in Act 2:3 was never intended for individual but for a congregation/church as a whole. The book also mentions that despite of full conflict among congregation in Corinthians, Paul said in 1 Cor 12:13 that “WE ALL” not only some of them have been baptized with holy spirit. This verse is used by Xty to claim that holy spirit baptism is not for individual but for whole congregation like in Corinthians. I believe that it is not true. The book also admit some difficulties when after Act 2:3 Peter some people received holy spirit baptism individually such as in Act 8:26, Cornelius etc.

    If you have time please give me some comment on this issue.

    Nice greetings….

    Surya from Indonesia

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

    Greetings in Jesus’ name!

    If the book which you read taught the doctrine that you described, it is the book of a false teacher. Throw the book away, and then spend your time with God, letting the Spirit that He gives speak through you more and more. That blessing is “for you, and for your children, and for those who are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call” (Acts 2:39).

    God bless you and yours as you continue to seek the perfect way of Christ Jesus.

    Pastor John

  • Pearls – September 15, 2011

    PEARL15

    John,

    Need help with this “Pearl”. . .

    Is compassion different from sympathy? Jesus had compassion, even for Gentiles.

    In what situation would sympathy be an “error” that might compel someone to drift away from the the right way?

    Brad
    ===============

    Hi Brad.

    There are very many ways that sympathy can be ungodly. Anything, in fact, is sinful if it is “not of faith” (Rom. 14:23), including love (1Jn. 2:15) and prayer (Prov. 28:9).

    You might want to read the story of the foolish king who had ungodly compassion on the king of Syria (and of the Israelite who had too much “compassion”, sort of, for the prophet that he refused to strike him when God commanded him to) in 1Kings 20.

    Pastor John

  • Little Children

    I know I have not written for a while. I am still listening to your cds and I love your messages. I think Jesus Christ speaks through you. I love your spiritual family they are so unique and holy, you are doing a great job looking after them,. I really want to be part of your spiritual family .I am still cleansing my self from all the false doctrines i learned from before.I have been looking for the truth for about 30 years I just could not find it.but it is fabulous now I can just relax and learn more about the truth.I have a question for you I had a brother he only lived for three weeks what is going to happen to him eternity?

    Raad M

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

    Hello, Raad.

    Moses said, “The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever” (Dt. 29:29). There is nothing in the Bible which deal directly with this issue. Jesus and righteous wise men spoke well of children, and that is the best that we can say about those little children who die. We can rest in faith that God will do the right, the perfect thing, with them.

    What we have to deal with, and what we should concentrate on, are the things God HAS revealed. Are we living the kind of life that God has shown us to live? If not, then in the end, won’t matter what happens to little children who die, for even if they receive eternal life from God, we will be writhing in torment while they are enjoying God’s presence.

    Pastor John

  • Pearl of August 30, 2011

    August 30

    I’d rather be a loser for God than a winner for Satan. – George C. Clark”

    PEARLS OF WISDOM 243

    Hey John,

    This “Pearl of Wisdom” (below) reminds me what the spirit said to me a couple of years ago. “Do you want to be right, or do you want Jesus?” One Wednesday night earlier this year, when we were reading about Satan in the “Father and Son” book, God reminded me of what he had said but and changed the question to this: “Do you want to be like Satan or Jesus”? On Saturday of that same week, we were talking about Jesus a lot that night, and the phrase changed again, “Do you want to be like Satan, or do you want to be righteous?”

    Cathy B.
    ===========

    That reminds me, Cathy, of something James wrote down as we were learning of how Satan makes himself appear to be so good. It went something like this: Satan, and those like him, are concerned with “rightness”; God and those like Him are concerned with righteousness. There Is a big difference between “rightness” and “righteousness”, and it took the Son of God coming from heaven to teach us what the difference is.

    Pastor John

  • from Magy

    Dear Amy,

    I started to read chapter 8 today from The father and the Son book. I have just read 5 pages so far, and I love that so much, specially “There is nothing dead in the kingdom of God. His Word is a who, His wisdom is a who, as well as His righteousness and his light. Even the gospel is a who!!” That’s is so true. I love to read that! Even I knew that truth but I felt that the first time to pay attention to “Who” like that! He is really an awesome God! I love to know about him Day after day! he is amazing and I love him a lot 🙂

    love you!
    Magy
    (Egypt)

  • Chapter 8 reading

    It has taken me 2 hours to read 8 pages of your manuscript on the father and the Son. . .because it is so GOOD. . . stopping to re-read, reflect, praise God. . examine scripture. . . and digest the concepts.

    My favorite line so far is: “Our eternal destiny does not depend so much on what we think is true, but on who we think is true.”

    When i read that, I can’t help but smile and feel the love of Jesus proclaiming that invaluable truth.

    A question popped into my head. . .

    I have often heard unrepentant sinners make the statement that everyone is a child of God; everyone on earth.

    Well, “yes and no” is my answer.

    All people are created by Jesus, and are essentially/fundamentally “children” of God, . . . but God’s true children are they who receive His Spirit and walk in righteousness and obedience; correct?

    To attempt to clarify the answer is to present myself and other “born-again” individuals as special, or chosen, and exclusive. And that angers sinners. It compels them to mock the truth of God and the people of God, with an indignant attitude: “Oh, so you think God thinks you’re better than me, huh?!”

    Is there an easier, more courteous way to explain this concept of who is really a “child of God”? Or should I just brace myself for instant persecution in such cases? ;^)

    Brad

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

    Just brace yourself, dear Brother Brad. You and all God’s true children are “special and chosen”, whether that sounds good to those around you or not, and God is extremely exclusive (without apology) when it comes to membership in the body of His Son. Nobody gets in without being called (read, “invited”) and then repenting of sin. I know that you try very hard to testify to these things without being offensive, and that is good on your part. But the gospel is what it is, and the world will never like it the way it is. The world would rather alter the message just enough to make it fashionable. Don’t fall for that. Jesus was born in a barn, and religious people have been trying to get him to check into the Ritz-Carlton ever since.

    jdc

  • Who can judge?

    Good morning,

    Can man forgive sin, or God alone? What I was wanting to know is about the scripture “what is bound on earth is bound in heaven”? From what I have heard, we the saints have that authority to bind someone. It is hard for me to imagine that being the case, due to the fact that some of the saints have wrong ideas about what is what with another person and wouldn’t be able to judge righteously. If that be so, makes it sound as if all this would have to be decided by Jesus alone.

    Thanks Maria
    ===============

    A body of believers, walking together in the Spirit, has great authority over any individual member of the body. It can forgive or not forgive sin. Individual men whom God has anointed and sent also have that authority. The fact that some children of God cannot make righteous judgments has nothing to do with the question you asked.

    I am not certain what your last sentence means. But in general, we know that God has appointed Jesus as Judge of the whole earth, and we know that he has appointed certain men, under him, to exercise his judgments.

    Pastor John

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

    Good morning John,

    I’m not sure I know how to get my thought across on this. What I want to know is with the authority to forgive, then does it say you cannot make it with Jesus in the end. If a person decides not to forgive, does it send a person to the lake of fire.

    Thanks again Maria
    ===============

    You seem not to understand the authority that accompanies any judgment that true men of God make. If a man is truly a man of God, he does not represent his own thoughts and feelings any more than Jesus did. Such anointed men represent God’s judgments and feelings. If it were otherwise, no one would need fear or even pay attention to what they say. So, it is never the case that a real man of God merely “decides not to forgive” because he misunderstands something or has a bad attitude; rather, he reflects what God has decided.

    Almost all the time, in this world, God’s messengers are condemned, if not ignored, because most of the time, in this world, God Himself is condemned, if not ignored. But their judgments will stand because God’s judgment stands. In the Final Judgment, everything will be revealed. In the meantime, God’s servants must continue their work to reflect the heart and mind of God, enduring the same contempt which Jesus suffered at the hands of carnally-minded men.

    In short, if a messenger of God does not forgive, it is because God has not forgiven.

    Pastor John

  • PJH

    Name: Jefferson

    comments: Hello, Pastor John my question is after recieving the Holy Ghost speaking in tongues, do you need to keep speaking in tongues after ?

    ==========

    Hi Jeff.

    According to Paul in Romans 8, we very much need the Spirit to pray through us for things we do not know how to pray about. So, to answer your question, yes.

    Under normal conditions, the Spirit continues to praise God and pray through the person it baptizes. However, I know of some people who have not had this happen, and the Spirit ceased to speak through them after they received it. In one case, the man is old now, and it has never spoken through him since that day, over forty years now. In another, the Spirit was silent for a couple of years afterward. In both those cases, the people involved began quarreling with others over doctrine as soon as they received the holy ghost, and I have always wondered if that was the reason the Spirit went silent. But I assume that the Spirit can be quenched by several things. Whatever causes there may be, they are all summed up by what Paul called “the flesh”. Stay in the Spirit, and it will continue to work through you.

    Many times, the Spirit is quenched because the newly-converted person has joined himself to a church that quenches the Spirit. Steer clear of church religion, and you will avoid the most dangerous of all the things that quench the Spirit.

    Pastor John

  • Evolution

    Pastor John,

    We just had these thoughts after [my husband] got off the phone with his brother. They were talking about all kinds of scientific theory stuff about “how the universe came into being,” and [my husband’s] repeated comment was basically, “That’s a theory based on a theory based on a theory… Where’s the fact in that?” Funny, because earlier we had been talking about how “science” is just basically “the study of” — it isn’t “fact.” I studied cognitive science for linguistics in college. When people say, “Religion [meaning the Bible] is at odds with science,” they mean it’s at odds with man’s assessment of the things that we all see — it’s not at odds with the actual truth.

    So when [my husband] was telling me about their conversation, I realized that the Bible says very plainly how God created everything: He just said, “Let it be.” God is so wise that when He said there would be man, Adam was made with all he would need to be the first of many when woman came along. God didn’t have to thiiinnnk abouuut iiiittt for humans to be as complex as we are. He said, “Let it be” and “it” was made already right!

    “Evolution” is what happens when people think about how [nature] would have to go about making an earth… like how technology has progressed. “First, everything was very simple and ineffective. Then, as we learned, the old technology died. Technology will continue to get more advanced as it evolves.” Substitute creation instead and, like [my husband] said, it shows how people think of God as “a big one of us”!

    That was just a light bulb moment to realize the answer to *how* God created everything isn’t just, “It doesn’t matter”; it is just that He did! Until recently, I didn’t understand your problem with the way people use the word “create” and its derivatives. I still think people’s use has morphed the popular meaning, as with many words, but now I do think it’s an incorrect use.

    Bxxxx
    ========

    Very good, Bxxxx! I am glad you finally saw the light. No one can create anything except God.

    Thanks for writing. Your email was very insightful and interesting. We look forward to seeing you both before too much longer.

    Pastor John

  • Wise as Serpents

    Hey Pastor John.

    What does it mean to be “wise as a serpent”?

    Mxxxxxx
    ===============

    Hi Mxxxxxx.

    Serpents were known to be cunning because of their stealth. people didn’t know where serpents would show up. They could slide in and not without being noticed and could be in a place without anyone knowing. The serpent in the garden of Eden was very crafty. Eden didn’t know where the serpent was going with his words.

    In telling his disciples to be wise as serpents, Jesus was counseling them to be discerning and not to talk a lot, and certainly not to throw their “pearls” before swine. Solomon said that fools utter everything that’s on their minds, and he also said that if you don’t talk much, people around you will automatically think you are wise. But more to the point, I think, is that if you are as quiet as a serpent, you learn to depend more on your other senses; in particular, you listen better and, consequently, you learn more.

    Pastor John

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