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  • 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

  • TFT “The Gospel Part Three”

    http://www.goingtojesus.com/site/php/thoughts.php?tname=tfe10-09

     

    Good Morning!

    I guess this would be a real quick testimony to share…cause I had to grin as I read the Thought of the Day this morning.  The Gospel Part Three. The grin came at this statement;

    “Satan is afraid of this Gospel.  He gets nervous when God’s people get close to it.  In just about every case I know of, when God starts revealing to one of His children the truth of the Gospel, Satan’s ministers start offering them prestigious titles and responsibilities”.

    Yep.  I can remember something similar… When I finally gathered the strength & made the meeting w/my pastor to share all these truths that the Spirit had been revealing to me.  There we were, at that big conference table, doing a little chit-chat, and before I could even begin with the real reason I came … the pastor basically began offering me a position that I cared about deeply.

    I remember thinking “what in the world?”, and almost feeling bad … because there he was, placing a trust of me in this position … and I was about to drop an unannounced BIG bomb!!  I was so uncomfortable…and within myself began doubting if that was the time to tell him what I came to tell!

    Well, I hung on & stuck to it.  I did respectfully listened to all he had to say, and etc. about what he was asking of me.  But when it came my turn, I honestly told him that after all he said, he probably may change his mind, once he hears what I came to talk about.

    I shared truth, and he listened…but when it was all over with, he hadn’t changed his mind. He still wanted me to take that position.

    I was doing my best to be led by the Spirit, and somewhat alone, try to figure that whole thing out!  But it didn’t change his mind a bit…and I ended up being in that role for 5 more months…before making that decision to leave earlier this year.

    So, here is a question.  Now I know that Satan does not know ALL things like God does!

    But what is your take?  Could Satan have been aware in advance of what I went to do (and how) … and beat me to the punch (since the offer came before I shared truth)?  Or maybe could it had been a test to see I would back off…or stay strong and still speak?  Makes one wonder.

    Melissa

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

    Hi Melissa.

    As I said in that Thought for the Day, this is a fairly common occurrence.  It is God, giving you the opportunity to spurn the vain offers of man bound in darkness in order to attain to “the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

    It is a spiritual matter, Melissa, not an intelligence issue.  The spirits of Christian ministers, as well as Satan, can feel it when they are loosing their grip on a good member of their sect.  They don’t have to know a thing.  Their response is often to try to please that member with extra honor. or load him with extra responsibilities, so he/she will feel obligated to stay there and not to follow Christ out of Babylon.

    The difference between that scenario and the way of Christ is that when people begin to walk away from Jesus, he first thanks God that for relieving him of the burden of dealing with those foolish people, and then he invites others who are still with him to leave with them. Consider this scene from John 6:

    66.  From that time, many of his disciples turned back to former things and no longer walked with him.

    67.  Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to leave, too?”

    Melissa, seeing this is the way Jesus is, I have never called or written a soul who has chosen to leave me and go some other way.  Everyone here knows very well that they are free to walk away — without me chasing them.  They know they will never be bothered by me again.  Now, as long as they are here, they will be fed the word of God and protected from evil influences, to the extent that Jesus equips me to do that.  I will, as Paul told Timothy, “Preach the word . . reprove, rebuke, exhort with all patience and doctrine.”  But if anyone wants to leave, and if I have done my part according to the will of God, then their leaving can only be that to be a part of my work is not given to them by Jesus.  So, I rejoice in that judgment of God as much as any other.

    This precious light that we see is too wonderful for us to have to beg or try to bribe people to be faithful to it.  The truth judges us, Melissa; we cannot judge it.  And if the truth judges someone unworthy to participate in this holy and good work, then I rejoice, not complain about it.  And then, I will invite you and everyone else here to leave, too.  I only want the ones God sends me.  They are precious souls, both to me and to the Lord.  The merely interested, the half-committed, and those who think of this as just another Christian sect are all dead weight, and its just a matter of time before they are offended at something I do or say.

    Pastor John

  • Pentecostal Holiness Church (phc)

    pastor john,

    when i read an email of yours today, the lord brought back to me the dream he gave me before i left the pentecostal holiness church i went to.  in the dream i was in a taxi cab.  i could see the driver but i could not see the person next to the driver.  there was a woman in the back seat when i got into the taxi.  once i got into the car the woman started to make advances toward me that i knew i did not want.  when i tried to open the car door, it was locked like a police car door.  she would not stop and as i kept resisting her advances, i realized she was a harlot.  my next thought was “why wouldn’t the men up front help me?”  when i had this thought, the passenger turned around and it was the pope.  after this i woke up.

    when i had this dream, i was taking your old testament class at the community college.  when i told you about the dream and asked you about it, your answer to me was “Jim, that is where you are.”  after you told me, this i still went to the p.h.c., but the spirit kept telling me, “having a form of godliness and denying the power thereof.”   i was slow to understand where i was until one sunday morning, while the spirit was moving and people were being blessed, the pastor there at the p.h.c. jumped up from his seat and said, “it’s time for another song” and cut the spirit off.  as soon as he did this, God asked me “what are you going to do now?”  when i heard this question, i knew what God wanted.  i leaned over to debbie and told her i had to talk to the pastor when the meeting ended.  when the meeting ended i spoke to the  pastor and let him know that i was leaving because the lord wanted me to go to the meetings at your house.

    another little bit of my background is that the p.h.c. i was going to is where my grandparents and parents attended.  i never thought i would go to meetings anywhere else.  God makes things so simple.  i am thankful God put you in my life when he gave these experiences to me so i could have a true pastor.  i know god can give me the experiences and encouragement I  needed to come out of a place “having a form of godliness and denying the power thereof.”

    jim g.

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

    Thanks Jim.

    The passenger in the front seat of that taxi was the pope, but the driver was Satan himself.  The harlot in the back seat was your ancestors’ particular brand of christianity.  I am glad God opened the taxi door and let you out.  I have seen him open it for others, and they chose to stay inside.

    I teach anyone who will listen that if the place of worship they attend does not welcome the truth and power of God, flee from that death trap and LIVE!

    Why not?

    jdc

  • Uncle Joe Blog – The Offender, The Offended, and Jesus

    Hi John,I wanted to write to you about this thought from Uncle Joe, because it stood out to me as heavenly (but simple) wisdom.  Normally, when you send articles, they settle in to my spirit fairly easily.  In other words, I usually “get it” without too much strain.

    On some of these thoughts from Uncle Joe though, such as this article on the Offender, etc., it seemed that I had to read his statements 3 or 4 times before I would truly “understand” where he was going.  It was like listening to an old tape from your father’s days, and saying, “what did he say?” and pressing rewind to hear it again and again to make sense out of it – it goes by so fast.   Things like:

    “As long as we are among those offending “one of the least of these” or among those being offended by “one of the least of these”, we cannot be of help to either of those two groups. In fact, we are found to be in one group or the other, needing help ourselves.

    or

    Before one can be used of the Lord to help God’s people, we have to move from the stage of being an offender or from the state of being offended at every little thing that comes our way — and move to the plateau of which Paul wrote when he said, “none of these things move me” (Acts 20:24).”

    or

    “In doing what he did on this occasion, Jesus demonstrated that, to him, the offender and the offended in this world were on the same level. And he was able to help them both because he was neither one.”

    They are clear after a few times reading them through and focusing in on them, but I must say that these things were “meaty”…. I had to read them a few times, and it took a while for me to get what Uncle Joe was saying.   Reading this one made me want to touch Jesus more  – to not be an offender NOR the offended, as he said.  Jesus is on another level…. and Uncle Joe saw it.

    Thanks for sending these.

    Gary

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

    Hi Gary,

    Uncle Joe did have godly wisdom that broadens our understanding as we take it in.  Uncle Joe and my father used to refer to a Scripture in Psalms fairly often.  It is this: “Great peace have they that love thy law; nothing shall offend them.”  They taught us who were young in the Lord that if anything offended us, that is, causes us to get off the right track with Jesus, it can only be that we did not love the law of God.  This is one reason why Uncle Joe lumped together both those who offend and those who are offended.  Both are lacking in the love of God.

    My father used to say during his sermons that if what he was preaching hurt our feelings, he would forgive us.  That’s what I’m talking about.

    —

    jdc

     

  • a mess

    Wow.  The texts you have been sending sent me to praying for God’s people, and just as I was getting up, the word “mess” came to mind.  I knew to look it up.  It’s the condition God’s people are in.

    1 a dirty, untidy, or disordered condition:

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

    Without faith, Donna, none of us can even believe how bad things really are for God’s precious people.  He has to help us not only to see it but to admit it to ourselves.  But then, when He does that, the grief can be suffocating (Eccl. 1:18).  Dear Father, help your divided, confused children!

    jdc

  • things of value

    Good morning John.

    Today I was organizing and mailing out various tract and CD orders from the Isaiah 58 site that came in over the past couple of days.

    For when a person orders a CD from the site, Earl has given me extra old CD’s from the meeting room that went un-purchased, and I usually add one or two of those to the order, since it does not really add anything to the postage, so that people can hear live meetings.

    This morning as I reached into the box, of perhaps 50 to 100 CD’s the sweetest feeling came over me.  I could have picked any of the CD’s in that box, knowing that whichever CD I picked, it would be a thing of value.  Things that go unclaimed among us just might be golden nuggets of life to someone who is hungry for reality in the Spirit.  They’ve never heard what is on a CD that we have hundreds of extras of!  Tears came to my eyes, just to have things of such value.  Where would we be without them, without each other, without this truth?  It’s hard to even wonder.  I am thankful, after your wonderful message from 1Corinthians, for you, for the saints before you who paid a price, and for every child of God whom Jesus has put in my life right now.

    And beyond that, I am thankful for soberness, for sanity, and for the readiness of mind and heart to want to get this truth to God’s wandering sheep.

    Gary

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