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  • Australia – SIT Book Response and Questions

    http://www.goingtojesus.com/tongues-at-spirit-baptism.html

     

    Dear John,
     
    I received the booklet “Speaking in Tongues” with interest.  I am always looking for sound teaching booklets to stock for my congregation to purchase for their growth.
     
    It looked to be a very balanced treatment of tongues but as I read further, I realised that I probably fit into the description you give of “a reasonable man (or woman) may be slow to agree”.
     
    At the moment, I do not believe that you must speak in tongues to be saved, as you do, acknowledging that you are very much in a minority.
    ============

    I can already tell that we will have a problem communicating because you use the word “saved” as a synonym for “converted” (and I am in the vast minority who use it rightly), but I will do the best I can to give you my best answers.
    ============

     Therefore, I have a few questions:
     
    Firstly, let me say that I speak in tongues.
    However, I cannot be absolutely sure that I am speaking another language, as I don’t understand it. I have never felt the Holy Spirits 
    ‘moving upon me’ to speak in tongues, such as was my wifes experience, but I believe I do speak them, by faith.
     
    Also, I tend to believe (currently) that tongues is available to all christians.
    =============

    Speaking in tongues is available to everybody on earth if they repent and believe the gospel of Jesus, Christian or not.
    =============

    Now, my questions:
    1. Is it possible that Paul is acknowledging in 1Cor 12 that not all those who have been baptised by the Spirit (vs13) speak in tongues?
    Are vs 28-30, with the rhetorical questions that must all be answered  ‘No’ (to be logical and consistent) pointing out that NOT everyone who is baptised by the Spirit will demonstrate tongues?
    Could Paul be pointing out that humans are varied in their response to God’s Spirit?
    =============

    The subject of the chapter is gifts of the Spirit.  As I pointed out early in the book, my topic was not the gift of “diverse tongues” but speaking in tongues at Spirit baptism.
    Yes, at first blush, what you say about vv. 28-30 seems to be the case because the only logical response is “no”.  But isn’t it the case that Paul is speaking of ministry there, the use of one’s gifts and functioning in the body, not the simple testimony of the Spirit when it comes in?
    =============

    2. “These signs shall follow those that believe” Are you saying that tongues must accompany EVERY believer because of this verse? That would seem to mean no-one is a christian until they had also cast out demons, drunk poison etc.
    =============

    Those signs mentioned in Mark 16 were not meant to be a complete list, any more than the nine gifts listed in 1Cor 12 are meant to be a complete list of all the gifts that God gives His children.  There are billions of other gifts available (some are mentioned in Rom. 12).  Likewise, there are more miraculous evidences that distinguish “those who believe” from the world.  Jesus’ point in Mark 16 was simply and obviously that the real people of God are those who experience the miraculous, not those who call themselves Christians and join a church.
    =============

    3. On page 32 you state: “Still, if the traditional doctrinal position of the Pentecostals is true…” My question is “Well is it true?”. A few line above you were saying that traditions and doctrines against ‘us’ are set in stone… I don’t actually believe that. I believe EVERY tradition and doctrine is up for re-examination at all times.
    =============

    Theoretically, perhaps.  But practically speaking that is not at all the case.  Would to God that His people would sincerely re-evaluate what they are taught.
    =============

    Even the 1900’s proposal that tongues are the “initial sign”.  Because if the traditional doctrinal position of the Pentecostals is 
    NOT true, then “the only logical and biblical sound conclusion is” that a person may be baptised in the Spirit (saved)
    ==============
    there you go with that “saved” thing again.  tsk, tsk.  :).
    ==============

    and then “be filled” (eph 5:18 present / ongoing filling activity ) with varying intensity, and varying manifestations of the Spirit.
    ==============

    Whether or not the traditional Pentecostal view is correct, that would be true.
    ==============

     I believe that even Jesus was subject to a varying flow or ‘filling’ or baptism of the Holy Spirit (Luke 5:17) Doesn’t the fact that the Bible states that the power of the Lord was there for healing shows that at other times it was NOT there?
    ==============

    Yes.
    ==============

    4. I read your thoughts about Oral Roberts’ letter, I was interested in your comment about the word Salvation being used as a synonym for conversion.
    ==============

    If you will give some serious study to that issue, you will agree with me that everyone should stop using the strange “get saved” language that developed during the 20th century.
    ==============

    But what I found strange was your thought that doctrine of holy spirit baptism at or after conversion was indefensible… Why?
    ==============

    I did not say that Spirit baptism AT conversion was indefensible.  Spirit baptism IS conversion.  What is indefensible is the typical Pentecostal/Charismatic doctrine that one becomes a candidate for Spirit baptism only AFTER one is converted.  That is biblically indefensible, and blatantly so.
    ==============

     It seems to make sense to me that “No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Spirit” therefore, ‘calling on the name of Jesus’, either as an act of salvation or any time after HAS to be Holy Spirit inspired, or Breathed.
    ==============

    C’mon, David!  Cut out that non-sensical “get saved/salvation stuff!  🙂
    Paul’s point in 1Cor 12:1-3 is that no one can say Jesus is Lord and know that they are telling the truth without having the baptism of the Spirit.  I could bribe a wino out on the street to say the words, “Jesus is Lord” with a bottle of wine any time I wanted to.
    Secondly, “calling on the name of the Lord” is a biblical phrase with a very specific meaning.  It refers ONLY to the communication of God’s children with Him.  According to Zephaniah 3:9, “calling on the name of the Lord” can only be done by those who have received a “pure language”, and according to Paul in Romans 10, only those who are calling on the name of the Lord will receive salvation in the end.
    ==============

    5. By holding this position, are you not in danger of “loading up the people with burdens too heavy to bear, while you yourselves don’t lift a finger to help them” (Jesus to the Pharisees). Because if you are wrong, then you will have made heaven inaccessible to many, who then go to hell for no reason. It seems to me to be a dangerous opinion to hold, IF wrong.
    ==============

    On the contrary.  If what I am teaching is wrong, I have barred no one from eternal life.  If I have provoked some to seek and to received the baptism of the Spirit, and they do not really need it, I have not harmed them at all.  And if the baptism of the holy Ghost is not needed, then those without it will not be barred from heaven just because I told them they had to have it.  Jesus would not condemn them on the basis of someone’s false doctrine.
    Secondly, the baptism of the holy Spirit could not possibly be one of the “burdens too heavy to bear” that false teachers add to the backs of sincere people.  It relieves men of burdens; it does not add burdens to them.
    YOU are the one in danger of damning souls who trust you if your doctrine of wrong.  You teach men that they need not have the baptism of the holy Ghost (with the evidence of speaking in tongues).  But what will you say to them in the end, when they and you learn that they did in fact need it?  And even more importantly, what will Jesus say to you?
    ==============

    6. Are you saying that to be saved one must accept the saving grace of Jesus PLUS perform a particular action. Must there not be, therefore, a split second in time where a person has been saved before they speak in tongues? or is the work of Jesus not complete until AFTER we have done our bit? Thus placing the burden of salvation back on human action rather than God’s action?
    ==============

    shooo!   Would you mind if I replace your “saved” with a biblically accurate word so that I can give you a biblically accurate answer?  Thank you.  Here, then, is your real question:

    6. Are you saying that to be converted one must accept the saving grace of Jesus PLUS perform a particular action. Must there not be, therefore, a split second in time where a person has been converted before they speak in tongues? or is the work of Jesus not complete until AFTER we have done our bit? Thus placing the burden of converted back on human action rather than God’s action?

    Speaking in tongues is not “a particular action” of a man, nor is it “a bit” that we do; nor yet is it “human action”.  It is a verbal expression prompted by the power of God.  The grace that truly saves is the grace that leads us to repent of sin and receive the Spirit that Jesus died for us to have.  The human part is only obedience to the word of God.  Peter said that God gives the holy Spirit to every person who obeys Him (Acts 5).
    ==============

    I too wish my whole congregation spoke in tounges, as it is so beneficial to them and to us all, but I have to say, your book has not convinced me.
    ==============

    It will take some time and experience for that to happen in any case.  It sounds almost irrelevant to the subject at hand (but is not at all), but if you would concentrate on learning the biblical way to use the word “saved” and all its forms, my teaching would begin to make more sense to you than it does right now.  That would be a good first step toward fellowship.
    ==============

    I ask these question to ascertain if I understand you correctly and also to see if you have any more evidence for your view, 
    ==============

    Not really.   The evidence in the book is just about it.
    ==============

    but also to see if in fact, the wider understanding of the holy spirit is true.
    ==============

    The truth is the widest view we dare take.  Beyond that lies “the broad way that leads to destruction”.
    ==============

    My suspicion is that your position is dangerous to the kingdom of God.
    ==============

    It isn’t possible that there be any dangers to God or His eternal kingdom.  I think you mean to say that my teaching presents a danger to the religious system known as Christianity.  With that, I agree completely.
    ==============

    I say this sadly, because I know your heart is to grow the kingdom, and also that I’ll see you in heaven, when we’ll all know what we thought was right or wrong, but when it will be too late to change anything.  Better we keep an open mind now… so that’s why I read your book with interest.
    ==============

    Neither you nor I know that we will see each other in heaven.  Since salvation will only be given to those believers who do the will of God and only “he who endures (in the love of God) to the end shall be saved”, we can have the hope of salvation, and pray for each other to attain to it, but we cannot know what the righteous Judge will say to us until we stand before him.
    But you are right to say that when that time passes, nothing can be changed.  So, let’s take the present seriously and ask God to help us, and all who trust in Jesus, to “speak the same thing, to be of the same mind, and the same judgment”.
    ==============

    Yours in Christ,
    and possibly brutal honesty,
    but always with Love,
    David Hooper.
    ==============

    I felt no brutality at all in your letter, David.  And I thank you for writing.  Please stay in touch, and feel free to write with as much brutality, or love, as you feel led of the Lord to write with.  I enjoy this kind of communication.  God bless you for sharing your comments with me.

    Respectfully,
    your servant in Christ Jesus,
    John Clark, Sr.

    =====

    Part 2

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

    Dear John,
    Thanks for your comprehensive reply.

    Firstly, I know email can sound really blunt, let me assure you I’m not offended or angry or anything.

    I’ve never heard of the difference between Saved & Converted, I might look into. But really, I think we can waste time arguing over words, when really that’s a side issue to the point in question. It becomes even more irrelevant when the ‘common understanding’ of a word actually changes its meaning over time, and becomes a different word. e.g. Awful used to mean “full of wonder” but now it means “bad”. So I use words to convey an overall sense of the topic, not in total accuracy. But thank you for re-wording my final question rather than continue to comment on my use of words – if we’d been having a conversation I would have adapted my words to suit you, but you can’t do that in a letter : )

    I can’t see why we should stop using “saved” and go for “converted” converted is rapidly turning into something you do to a stolen car.
    also, I don’t see the point in arguing over words, when we’re told not to in 1Tim. 6:4 (.. unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words…) I’ve grown up listening to endless discussions over words and have come to the opinion that God is more concerned with fruit than so called accuracy, ie. he doesn’t care if a person knows they’ve been saved or converted as long as they’re going to be with him forever.

    Now, I have to say that I didn’t fully understand some of you answers…
    But let me clarify a few times you misunderstood me…
    _______________
    My suspicion is that your position is dangerous to the kingdom of God.
    =============

    It isn’t possible that there be any dangers to God or His eternal kingdom.  I think you mean to say that my teaching presents a danger to the religious system known as Christianity.  With that, I agree completely.

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

    No, I mean your position may cause less people to enter the kingdom.
    But you did answer that by disagreeing.

    The rest doesn’t really matter, as you ended up answering my question anyhow…

    I guess what I’m still trying to work out is…
    Do you believe that people who never speak in tongues may end up in heaven?

    Thanks,
    David.
    =============

    Thanks for responding, David.  Wish we could sit down and talk face-to-face, don’t you?

    Short answer, no one without the witness of the Spirit has received the Spirit, and without the Spirit, a person does not belong to God.  How, then, could such a one be saved in the end?  The “come to the altar and get saved” ritual is a bizarre 20th century invention which I challenge you to find anywhere in the Bible, or even anywhere in  Christianity’s sordid history before the late 19th or 20th century.

    There were several points that I made in the last email that you did not address.  Hopefully, you plan to do that later.

    I do hope you will pursue the issue of “salvation.”  Pointing out what that word means biblically is not to quibble over words. (You can read more on that at www.GoingtoJesus.com.)  Paul was condemning such things as the monumentally ridiculous Christian conflict over homoousios verses homoiousios.  One major fact you will need to consider in your study of salvation vs. conversion will be that no one was born again before the Spirit came on the day of Pentecost.  That is critical to understanding what Jesus said about “saved” in the gospels.

    Take care.
    God bless you and those with you.

    Your non-Christian slave in Christ Jesus the Lord,
    John

    =====

    from Brad

    =====

    John, . . . dear brother john. . .

    . . . Ohhh myyyyyyy. . . when I read correspondence such as this, I get all teary-eyed with admiration for your communication skills, notwithstanding the anointing that God has given you to accomplish such letters with so much tenderness, sincerity and precision–never compromising the truth to be “friendly” or agreeable—essentially being “no respecter of persons.”

    I have endeavored to be “like” you in my communication with others, and it has proven to be powerful; sometimes encouraging and sometimes repelling, depending on the reader’s spiritual condition.

    I would like to state , for the record, once again, that I am so thankful that God has placed me under your tutorship, and you have been my pastor and teacher, despite the difficulty of being in such a relationship, when we are “geographically challenged.”   ‘^}

    You are my favorite writer.   I’ve told you this before, but. . . Sheeesh!  
    Your works BLESS my soul and my heart.  

    I see Jesus in you, frequently, and that’s a whole lot more than I’ve ever seen Jesus in any other minister in this world.  I PRAY that God will raise up others like you, perhaps even from the young ones currently learning under you in God’s NC family.   I just feel SO GOOD reading this correspondence between you and Mr. Hooper.  I am praying for him even now.

    I look forward to seeing you and Barbara , Token and Naomi.  I hope we can make your visit more pleasant than ever.

    Have a nice weekend.
    Brad

    PS:  re:

    YOU: “It isn’t possible that there be any dangers to God or His eternal kingdom.  I think you mean to say that my teaching presents a danger to the religious system known as Christianity.  With that, I agree completely.“

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

    DAVID: “No, I mean your position may cause less people to enter the kingdom.”
    ============

    ME:  How could your position possibly CAUSE fewer people to enter the kingdom , when God is in control of who enters His kingdom?   Mr Hooper is confessing (without realizing what he is saying) that his doctrine helps more people to enter the kingdom , but your way prevents them.  !   —As if he or any other Xn ministers are in control of that, in the first place?   Wow.  What a faux pas.

  • Rob – Psalm 119

    Pastor John

    Thank you for doing this and asking us to try it also. I enjoyed thinking on these things.

    Rob
    ============
    Hey, you did a good job, Rob!  Thanks
    jdc

    ============
    A blessed man, I am
    Because you
    Changed my life.
    Don’t let me
    Ever
    Forget your mercy and tenderness.
    Gold is nothing compared to your riches,
    Hidden treasures await.
    I need you everyday.
    Jesus is the answer.
    Keeping my mind on you, I pray.
    Lord, may I always live for others.
    Make my roots to go deep in your truth.
    Never to forget your love.
    Only you could
    Put me in your family.
    Quietly you work, even though you are
    Ruler of the universe.
    Saving me daily from my own ways and
    Teaching me to live.
    Understanding, you supply
    Very thankful, I am.
    Where would I be without your touch.
    eXcellent are your ways
    You are Holy, O Lord. Make my heart
    Zealous, forever and ever.

  • Donna – Psalm 119

    What wonderful feelings, I loved doing this!!!
    Donna

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

    And I loved reading this, Donna.
    jdc

    ==============
    All my ways are
    Before you, my King.
    Come and let me
    Drink your living water
    Every day.  Teach me to
    Fear    
    God, and
    Hear your voice clearly.
    I search for you,
    Just as a deer searches for water.
    Keep all my ways, my
    Lord.  Keep
    Me and
    Never let me go.
    Open my heart to your thoughts, they are
    Precious to my soul. 
    Queens and kings have not the life you have given to me.
    Rivers of tears run down my face
    Sadly
    Thinking of your children, O God. Let me be
    Unmoved by
    Vanity, and always       
    Walk close by your side.
    eXcept I stay close to
    You, my Lord, I would fall.
    Zion is my home.

  • Sandy – Psalm 119

    Bro. John: 

    Thank you for the opportunity to “fall in love with Jesus again”.   🙂    It felt wonderful writing this (still does!)

    Sandy

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

    Good job, Sandy!

    jdc

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

    Alas!

    Before I knew of a

    Comforter or

    Dreamed that joy

    Existed or that there was a

    Father and Son,

    Goodness, His Goodness, kept me, until the day

    Heaven opened and

    I received His Spirit!

    Joy truly exists in the

    Kingdom of God!

    Love overflowed from the

    Master who

    Nurtured me and

    Overcame my heart with

    Peace and love

    Quiet peace;

    Rest oh my soul!

    Search for him who has called you

    Turn not aside from his love

    Utter only his words

    Vying always your love for him only

    Waiting for that

    eXcellent Day when

    Your sweet Prince returns and

    Zion is Home!

  • Tongues in Thought

    Pastor John,

    Is it possible to “think” in tongues?  Several times as I’m going about my business at work or elsewhere, I have heard myself speaking in tongues in my mind.  I’m wondering if my thinking is just echoing what I have heard, or is this similar to actually speaking in tongues?

    Vince

    ===========

    Well, Brother Vince, it seems reasonable to me that if we can speak in the spirit and sing in the Spirit, then we should also be able to think in the spirit.  After all, Paul said that “we have the mind of Christ.”  Should we think that the mind of Christ thinks only in English!?!?

    Actually, a bunch of people, including myself, have experienced what you describe.

    Keep thinking, brother.

    Pastor John

     

  • Wed night

     

    Pastor John

    There were so many things to digest today from last night.  During the day, talking with Bob and Ellen, I recalled the fact that when we first came to North Carolina in May 2002 we attended our one and only “live” Old Testament class.  And it was the night you went over the Tabernacle!  I didn’t know that that was the class you had told students that they really had to attend.  God knew and brought us here for it!  Somewhere I still have the photo I took of the drawing you made on the whiteboard.  As you talked about the “point” of it there were people shouting and praising God but I didn’t do any of that. I felt more pinned in my seat, struck with the awe and wonder of it.

    We have been given things for God’s people that no one else has.  These are things that will help people break free and stay free of Babylon when God touches their hearts.  These are things that reassure and strengthen and say that it is OK.  Things that say “this is the way, walk in it”.

    While staying in your house that first trip I somewhere found a copy of Spiritual Light.  Somehow in 15 months I had not come across it.  I remember spending a quiet afternoon while getting some rest, reading it for the first time.  What wonderful feelings!  And either that trip or possibly the visit for Thanksgiving later in the year, Token had left the Hebrews teaching series in the bedroom and I listened to that as well.  God used those times to give me an education in all of these wonderful things.

    God’s people need what we have.  I cannot believe anything else.  Sister Betty was right.  It is about God’s people.  And only when my heart is fully turned over to that am I happy.  This world is lurching around like a drunk.  This country is in such a miserable state.  This work God is doing and the love He has for His people here and elsewhere is the only thing I can see that is holding this country up.  Let’s use the time we have.

    There was a “step-up” call last night. A rebuke and then a wonderful reminder of just what God has given to us and who it came through.  While you preached, things were happening.  I watched Josiah be touched and moved by the Spirit of truth.  Tonight, Sarah was telling us how she couldn’t read her book because there were so many exciting things being said.  She was so excited telling us how she knew what pastor John was going to say happened when Jesus went in to the Father. “The Holy Ghost came!”  During the meeting she hugged her mother and held on to her as you preached and then she wanted to be out where you were praying.

    And then there were the feelings kneeling beside Aaron, thanking God and praying that He do His work in him and preserve him.  That was what I was praying in bed this morning.  How precious are these clean spirits, never sullied by Christianity and the world.  What a wonderful blessing these young people, whose lives are entirely outside Christianity, can be to God’s children!

    Damien

     

  • Last night

    http://www.goingtojesus.com/text/books/fatherandson.pdf

     

    Hey there!

    I just want to say how much I LOVED last night! I love listening to, talking about, soaking in, and eating up the Son and his Father! 😎 Last night when I came in the meeting, I was sad and full of tears with a burden for God’s people, but as always Jesus is on the job! He’s always there and He is always on the move! He always knows what’s needed and He is not standing still even if we are! Thank godness!

    I love hearing that God’s still God, no matter what people do! I love going back to the basics and remembering what God has done, where He has brought us from, what He has given us. It’s a precious holy thing we have. The Father and Son message is valuable and crucial to us doing the right thing in the Lord. It shows us some of the most valuable lessons on how to take care of each others’ hearts, and God’s people, relationships, and what really matters to the Son and the Father.

    I loved studying the tabernacle after learning about the Father and Son and seeing how much more love is in the OT. God was trying and still is trying to help us see his beautiful Son! It’s all about him and the Father. God’s people everywhere need to know this. It reminds me of that question in one of your songs…”Do you really know this about me?” No. The answer is no, we don’t. God’s people don’t. God help us take it in, learn it, “eat it up” until it consumes us wholly and pass it on!

    Last night after the message you were praying for different ones, I felt as if fire was coming out of my eyes with the righteousness of God. Fiery indignation, as well as hope and righteousness. I could feel it. I was feeling pretty strong in my spirit! It is not impossible with God, but it is impossible with man. We cannot do anything right without God’s life! Without their thoughts and their thinking in us, it will never be good. God help us! I love it in the book where you call the Spirit “God’s Life”! It is life! And it is alive and well!

    Years ago, in a meeting, the spirit spoke to me and said “A pastor is a gift from God”. It sure is. More than we know. What treasures we have!

    Amy P.

     

  • Liberty

     

    John:
    When you were Preaching last night this what I heard the spirit ringing in my ears, quoting this scripture:
    “Touch not, taste not, handle not which all will perish with the using” (speaking of the Commandments and Doctrines of men).

    In pondering these words in the shower this morning, I realized that I have always failed to completely hear what was being said here.  My thoughts had always focused on doctrines and commandments of false religion, but God is referring to the fact that the use of any commandment given by any man contrary to the will of God will cause men to perish.  This is especially true if they are considered elders by those young in the faith.

    Wendell

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

    Yes, Wendell, that is true.

    Many of God’s people are in bondage today, not to Christ but to the doctrines and commandments of men who claim to speak for Christ.  They are in bondage to the traditions of the people they trust the most.  Given a choice, these precious brothers and sisters will follow the spirit (the counsel and example) of their elders before they will follow the Spirit of God.  The best we can do for them (and if we truly love them we will do it) is to show them how to walk in the righteousness, peace, and joy of God without following the commandments they fear to forsake.

    God’s people do not have the knowledge of God.  They are more afraid of their own liberty, “the liberty of the sons of God”, than they are of death itself.  That’s why they stay in bondage and die in it rather than live free with the Lord.   May God help us to live so that in our presence, they will at least sense the liberty that Jesus is offering them.

    The Lord recently showed me that elders among His people who refuse the liberty of Christ and impose their overbearing religious bondage on young ones are held guilty of the blood of the young people they drive away from the Lord with oppressive commandments.  Those elders may maintain an appearance of righteousness with their religious styles, but God despises what they do to the young who cannot bear the heavy burden of vain religious traditions and who choose liberty in the sins of this world over bondage in the sins of false religion.  Who is worthy of greater condemnation, the ones who oppress the young with vain religious commandments, or the young who cannot bear that heavy yoke and want to be happy and free?

    On the Day of Judgment, there is going to be “shock and awe” among many devoutly religious people when God condemns them, while the young whom they have condemned in this life are comforted.  I am telling you, Wendell, there is going to be utter astonishment at the righteous judgment of God when it is revealed.  The depth of the astonishment on that day took my breath away, when I saw how it will be.  It makes me ask God for mercy, to show me how not to be a stumbling block for any of His people.

    jdc

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

    Hi John,

    It is easy to see why the priests and elders, and anyone that was keeping the traditions of the elders  thought that Jesus was a rebel when he was here.  All the son of God did while he was here was to do the will of his father.  And that sometimes came into conflict with “the commandments of men”.   And I know that there are people around us who think the same thing about us, that we are just rebels, always going against their traditions and teachings.

    Give me Jesus and they can have the rest.

    Stuart

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

    I’ll second that.
    If we refused the “commandments of men” because we love God more, we are not rebels.  We are servants of the Higher Power, which Paul told us always to do (Rom. 13:1).

    jdc

  • from the web site

    Pastor John:

    I have a few questions for you.

    1) Do women have to wear dresses?

    It’s better than nothing.  Also better than nothing are women’s slacks, decent shorts at the appropriate times and places, and bathing suits (but not in grocery stores or doctor’s offices).

    2) Must they keep their hair long?

    Just until they cut it.

    Long hair for women was, as Paul himself said, a natural state for women and a custom of his time. Only if a woman cuts her hair because she thinks she’s a man is there a problem. Shorter hair is much easier to manage; it is silly to demand that women never cut their hair.

    3) If I was baptised already, do I have to get baptised again when I join a new church?

    Is the new church’s water less contaminated than the first?

    The point is that water baptism is worthless, no matter where you have it done.  The only reason for anyone to be re-baptized is to get physically cleaner than you already are.  Spiritually, water baptism it means nothing to God or anyone else in heaven.  There is much on my web site about this subject if you are interested.

     

    4) I have broken every commandment at some point in my life… can I ever truly be forgiven?

    You are bragging. Nobody has ever broken all the commandments.

    The flesh boasts itself in many clever ways. Some folks claim they have sinned too much that God will not forgive them. That’s just pride, as if we are so mighty with out sin that even God can’t fix us.

    So, my friend, get over yourself. Have faith in Jesus and repent. You aren’t that great a sinner.

    Sincerely,
    Pastor John

  • Wow and Full!!

    Good night John,

    Before I go to bed tonight I just want to say “wow”, and “full”.

    “Wow” what a message tonight concerning the tabernacle and Christ in it all. Several times tonight I just came to tears of thanksgiving for what I was hearing. OH how our ears and our hearts are so blessed to have such food given to us. God is speaking things from heaven??!! OOHHHHH!!!! The value of it.

    And “Full” – because tonight was like a seven course spiritual dinner – in the feelings of the Spirit, in the truth, in reproof, in hope, in teaching, in power, and in the joy of holy Ghost! (I think that’s seven!) I asked Jesus during the meeting, “how can I tell you how thankful I am Jesus, for this?” Then you gave the answer – “if you love me, keep my commandments.” I pray for Jesus to give me that desire of my heart. These are times when we need to obey and be led by the holy more than ever.

    Why? As you said – so Jesus will allow us to get it to others. God’s children need to have feelings like we had tonight…and they to see people walking in holiness with it. And it’s been given to us —- may we walk worthy of it.

    Thank you, thank you, thank you, mmmmmmmmmmmm….. good. Can’t wait for the reading this weekend.
    Good night!

    Gary

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