Bro. John,

I have a question about tithes. A couple places I sell my writing to are kind of marketplaces escrow services, which withhold a percentage of each of my sales for their administration, marketing, etc. Usually, we tithe on what I originally charged for the writing, instead of what I receive after the middleman fees. Are we doing that right or are the fees business expenses we shouldn’t tithe on?

Beverly
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Hi Beverly:

God commanded His people to bring to His servants a tithe of their “increase”. In modern terms, that would mean “profit”. You should tithe only on the amount you earn after business expenses are deducted.

Pastor John

Hey Pastor John,

I had a question about today’s “Pearl of Wisdom.” It was: ‘Every prayer you pray without seeing results, you get weaker in God.’ I didn’t really understand it. It seems it’s implying we should only pray for what God leads us to pray for, otherwise, they are our own prayers/desires, and might not be His, thus, He may not choose to answer them. I’ve had prayers not answered, but I assumed that either, a) God had a better plan, or b) He would answer them in His timing, and I needed to be patient. What do you think?

Thanks,

Anna
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Hi Anna.

We should be led by the Spirit in our praying as much as in everything else; otherwise, we run the risk of becoming disappointed and discouraged. This was Preacher Clark’s point. John wrote,

14. And this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us;
15. and if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have made of Him.”

And James said,

You ask, and do not receive because you ask amiss, that you may consume it on your own lusts” (Jas. 4:3).

Preacher Clark was approaching the subject from the angle of these two apostles. Of course, there may be cases when a prayer is denied only because of God’s vastly superior wisdom, such as when Paul prayed for his “thorn” to be removed. But even then, Paul was looking at his thorn from the vantage point of his own desires, not God’s. So, what John and James said would even apply to Paul’s prayer.

It is good to remember that God is always right. If we do so, we will not become bitter if God does not do some things we ask Him in prayer to do. But a life of continually offering up unanswered prayers is a self-willed life, and that kind of praying, being in the flesh, wears down our faith and robs us of our spiritual strength. Preacher Clark was right. It is best to be so led of the Spirit that we know what to ask for before we pray because, to turn his quote around, “Every prayer you pray that gets results makes you stronger in God.”

Pastor John

Hi pastor John,

I have a question about Hebrews 9:16-17, where it says “For where a testament is, it is necessary to establish the death of the testator. For a testament is in force after men are dead; it has no force at all while the testator is alive”. But then in v. 18, “Hence, the first testament was not inaugurated without blood.” Who was the testator for the Old Testament? Was the blood of the animals that Moses sprinkled on the people just a figure of the testator that was to come? Moses wouldn’t be the testator would he, since he didn’t die (until later)?

Vince

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Hi Vince.

If Moses had been the testator, he would have had to die. No, under the law, animals were used for that purpose. Of course, those sacrificial animals represented Christ, but nobody understood that at the time.

Pastor John

Pastor John’s House Teaching Materials and Music Store

 

Pastor John,

What role does Satan play, if God is in control of all things?

Ross
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Thanks for the question, Ross.

When the Spirit spoke to me on August 23, 1981, and set me free from faith in the devil so that I could place all my faith and all my fear in my heavenly Father, Satan became irrelevant to me. However my Father chooses to use him is my Father’s business, and I do not have to even think about it. The overall point is that, whatever role that the Father decides Satan will play in any situation, Satan has no control and no authority over the circumstances of our lives. As I wrote in my book, “All Things” (Current title is Suffering and the Saints, see above link), Satan cannot even stick out his tongue at us unless God tells him to stick it out. And even then, he must keep it stuck out until God tells him to take it back in. The same is true of ungodly people. They cannot determine anything that happens to us, and that knowledge saves us from bitterness. It is so comforting to know that no matter what happens, God is still God, and Jesus is still Lord of ALL.

Pastor John

Name: Bishop George M.

comments: 1.How many leaders call by God agree with your teaching?
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Very few that I know of. There is a question, however, that reveals an even more significant problem in the body of Christ: How many “leaders called of God” agree on any doctrine? The body of Christ on earth is in a divided mess. The truth that I am teaching can heal the body, and I hope that it will one day heal the division that seems to exists between us.

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2. How can you teach and believe in tithes and not accept water baptism?
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The doctrine concerning tithes and offerings as opposed to dead ceremonies such as water baptism can be found here. Your answer is found there:

Tithes and Offerings:
http://www.pastorjohnshouse.com/books/tithesandofferings.pdf

Ceremonies:
http://www.goingtojesus.com/topic_ceremony.html

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( I know water does not save , but isn’t it our public confession of identifying with Christ

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No. It is a public confession of ignorance. The only acceptable “public confession” of Christ is Christ- like conduct.

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3. You say you are not a Christian, Then you are not Christ like right?

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I hope Jesus sees me as living a Christ-like life, and you, too. Part of my effort to be Christ-like is to obey his voice and come out of Christianity – and not be a Christian because Christ himself is not one.

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The bible says the the apostles were called Christians first at Antioch

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Yes, it does. But it does not tell us who called them that. Whoever it was, it was not the apostles. They would have never made such a claim. Somebody else did it to them: “they were called”, not “they called themselves”.

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4. Jesus condemned no one even the those whom were wrong,

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I don’t know which Bible you have been reading, but the Bible I read tells me he condemned a bunch of people, calling them “sons of the devil”, liars” etc. Please stop resisting the truth. I have seen people lose their minds trying to oppose it. You know better than to say such a thing. Please do not push Jesus too far.

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you seem to think you can not go wrong

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I can assure you that such is not the case.

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do you believe you are the only one right and everybody else has it wrong?

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Not at all. I believe God is right, and everybody else, except Jesus, has it wrong. I trust only his doctrine, his baptism, and his spirit. I hope that we can at least agree that neither you nor I am right. Only The Father and the Son. Then, we can begin to walk together in their light instead of a doctrine, a baptism, and a spirit that came to us from someone else.

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Thanks for your time look forward to hearing from you
The last time I asked question you never posted to the site to give others a chance to see are you afraid to let them see the questions asked?

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I am sorry. I don’t remember that. If possible, you can re-send those questions to me, and I will answer them as best I can.

Pastor John

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Bless you, Bro John….and sometimes we get it coming and going.

When you said to this person about agreeing at least on the fundamentals of HIS doctrines, baptism and spirit, I saw this: HIM being baptized in the the river Jordan. Such joy our Father must’ve had toward Him at that moment. And we get a glimpse of this when HE spoke and said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

HIS grace and peace to you and yours,

Rita
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Hi Sister Rita. Good to hear from you.

Jesus’ baptism is not the one he received at the Jordan. That was John’s. Maybe if we used another example, what I teach will be made clearer: Jesus’ circumcision is not the one his human body received when he was eight days old. Jesus’ circumcision, baptism, communion — everything in his kingdom — is in the Spirit, not in the flesh.

Yes, the Father must have been very happy with His Son at the Jordan. But then, can you think of a time when the Father was not happy with him? The Son always did what pleased the Father.

Hope that helps.

Pastor John

Hey Daddy… How does the July 14 Pearl apply to ppl like Oral Roberts? He was known & loved by a lot of ppl worldwide, although many others may not have liked him. Did Grandaddy mean “popular” as in with pop culture? Or did he mean “right with God” as in specifically knowing the truth about New Birth, etc?

Thanks,
Bekah

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Yes, it applies. Brother Roberts was hated and ridiculed by many, many people during his lifetime. He did not really have much favor among most Christians, even though he tried to please them. He was expelled by the leaders of the Methodist sect even though he abandoned the Pentecostal sect to join them.

Brother Roberts tried to be a good Christian, to teach Christian doctrine and observe Christian traditions, and he made a valiant effort, but he just had too much of God in him to really fit in with most Christians.

jdc