Mailbag

Send us comments on Twitter!
https://youtu.be/gVZOxqojW-g?si=jTPkeTDV8hDt_XxU
Watch What We Do!

Search

Looking for something specific? Try a search below!

  • Pruning

    Hey Dad,

    I just read the Thought for the Evening, February 2007 (TFE) on pruning where Jesus talks about pruning the growing vines.

    I had always understood pruning as Jesus cutting off old habits and ways.  But, I had always thought, too, that growing spiritually includes leaving behind those old habits and ways.  I know that pruning will help a vine grow stronger, but what is the difference between growing out of old habits and ways and being pruned?

    John

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

    Thanks for this question, John David.  For those who want to read the TFE John David mentioned before continuing with this, go to:

    http://www.goingtojesus.com/site/php/thoughts.php?tname=tfe02-07

    I think many of us have thought that being pruned by God was to have Him remove bad things from our lives.  But that doesn’t really match the parable Jesus told.  Here that is, from John 15

     1.    I’m the true vine, and my Father is the Keeper of the vineyard.

    2.    He takes away every branch in me that doesn’t bear fruit, and He prunes every fruit-bearing branch so that it might bear more fruit.

    5.    I am the vine; you, the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, will bear much fruit; without me, you can do nothing.

    6.    Unless a man abides in me, he is thrown away like a worthless branch; and it withers, and they gather them up and throw them into a fire, and they are burned.”

    According to Jesus, the only vines (children of God) who are pruned are those who are obeying God and producing fruit.  That means that God prunes His obedient children of things not necessarily evil but that do prevent them from producing all the fruit they can.  He prunes them of things which the world and others may even praise them for, and he does it so that they may produce more of the same good ruit they were already producing!  Foolish chidlren of God will not allow the Father to cut such activities, connnections, or opinions out of their lives because they can so easily justify them.  They will not receive the pruning of the Lord.

    This parable concerns the difference between the foolish and the wise in God’s family.  The foolish choose God over only the bad things of this world, whereas the wise choose God over both the good and bad things of this world.  They will stop doing good, if that is what pleases the Father, so that they may do what is more perfect in His sight.  An example:  When He showed us that we should come out of Church religion, we could have stayed there and kept at least that much of the favor of men.  We could have justified our disobedience by saying, any number of cliches, such as “We need to be where God’s children are, so that we can help them.”  We are clever enough to have come up with many right-sounding excuses to disobey God and refuse His pruning.  But God knows how to get us to the place where we produce the most fruit, and the healthiest fruit for His children.  And I think He has us in a very good place.

    But let’s not get too attached to this place, either.  If “there is none good but one, that is God”, then the only good place is in His presence, and that is what we are living for.  Who knows what the Father has yet to show us?  Don’t unpack your bags yet.

    jdc

  • With His Stripes We Are Healed

    Hey Brother John:

    Yesterday I was listening to the Hebrews ch.12 CD. In that meeting brother Gary quoted the scripture from Is. 53:5, where it says “and with his stripes we are healed”. I can’t remember exactly what Gary said but it gendered a question. The stripes that are mentioned here, are they the ones Jesus received when he was scourged, or are they the ones we receive when he scourges us? When read together with I Peter 2:20-25 it seems that its the latter. Thank you.

    Billy H.

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

    Hi Billy:

    The stripes we receive do not heal us; they just humble us to be corrected and then, if God wills, be healed. The pain of stripes on Jesus’ back was the price of our healing.

    I have met people in years past who teach that after the resurrection, some sinners left here on earth will still be called in to the body of Christ and be born again. I have heard ministers of this ilk teach more than once that since those people failed to be washed by the blood of Christ before he came back for his people, their sins would have to be washed away by their own blood. That is, they would have to suffer death at the hands of the Beast, and so, wash away their own sins by their own blood.

    Billy, you know that no amount of our blood, even if we were to shed every ounce of blood that is in our body, could ever wash our sins away. It is the same way with Jesus’ stripes. No number of stripes that we might receive can ever heal us. The blood that Jesus shed is what saves us, and by his stripes, we are healed.

    jdc

  • Simple Truths

    Bro. John:

    This has been an amazing week with the Lord! He has been waking me up with just plain simple truths. This morning, he woke me with this one:

    2/11/2009

    Anything that is born of God is God.

    Anything that is born of man is man.

    God’s simple truths just make everything, well, simple! All you have to do is ask yourself, “Is it born of God?” If not, then it is not God!

    Isn’t He wonderfully simple!

    Sandy 🙂

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

    Dear Sister Sandy:

    I have enjoyed very much the crumbs you have passed on to us from your communion with Jesus this week. Thank you.

    jdc

  • Conversations with God

    Bro. John:

    I heard your father say on one of the Old Meeting CDs a few weeks ago, when he was talking about the time he was seeking God for the anointing: “I thought I was calling God, but He was calling me.”

    This morning, as I was driving out to your house, I was thinking how precious are conversations with God, and the Spirit asked me a question:

     “Do you know why more people do not have conversations with God?”
      
    “They are waiting for Him to come down to their level instead of letting Him bring them up to His.”
     
    Whew! The truth is wonderful!
     
    Sandy 🙂

  • God is Great

    Hey Brother John:

    I’m listening to the New Testament course online at GoingtoJesus.com. You made the statement that God is so great that He is able to give us the understanding to get to know him (paraphrased). When you said that, I remembered your testimony of being on the railroad tracks preaching to the rocks and that they had no chance of understanding what you were preaching to them, because they were just rocks. But God is so great that, what you were unable to do for the rocks, He was able to do for us. We were created from the dust of the earth, and yet, with His great power and wisdom, God has given us understanding about Him, about His son, and about His love toward us that is so great that He has provided a way of salvation for us, and given us a heart that is able to receive it. Wow!!

    If anyone doubts the power and wisdom of God, let them go out and explain something to the rocks and dust and see how far they get with that.

    Billy H.

  • Adam and Jesus

    Hey Pastor John,

    I was reading in Romans tonight.

    5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
    5:13 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
    5:14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.
    5:15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.
    5:16 And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.
    5:17 For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)
    5:18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
    5:19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

    I know you’ve preached about this before, but this was so good tonight.  Here’s what I got out of it:

    1:    Through Adam, sin entered into the world; through Jesus, life entered into the world.

    2:    Anyone that is naturally born into the world, has sin in his flesh by nature because of Adam’s sin.

    3:    Anyone that is born of the spirit has life because of Jesus’s righteousness.

    I knew this previously, but the symbolism that Paul was putting into words just jumped out at me.  God’s incredible.

    Atn.

    ===========

    Yes, that is what Paul was saying, Aaron.  And God is amazing.  Please stay on the road you are on.  You have caught the spark which, when caught, leads to a happy life in Jesus.

    Pastor John

  • The Father and the Son

    Hi John,

    I was riding in the car this morning and I put in a cd of your song “Now and Then”.  What a love story that song is!  I was overwhelmed with the love the Father had for the Son and the love the Son had for the Father, and for us.  And after this past weekend that we had in NC, with all the wonderful things you said about the Father and the Son, and the soberness that was there, and all the love on Sunday that was all around us, I see nothing but the Father and the Son in everything I see and feel.

    Friday night I was just about speechless, I don’t even know if I can even repeat anything you said.  I just know the soberness and lowliness that I felt was stronger then anything I have ever experienced like it before.  With the GRANDNESS and GREATNESS of our God, I know that I am lower then a worm, and if I could have, I would have crawled under the concrete floor.

    O vain man!  How much we think of ourselves as being something in this life!  I am so thankful that Anna and I were there this past weekend to partake of such wonderful feelings and blessing with our family.

    Bro. Stuart

  • Church vs Super Bowl

    My friend attends a church service for young people that meets on Sunday evenings (it’s Four Square, actually).  He told me last night that the pastor had canceled the service because he knew that most of the young people would not be there.  I was shocked when I heard that!  He told them to worship the Lord by spending quality time with family & friends watching the game.  So, when Token told me that you all were getting together during Super Bowl time, it felt really special.  It made me feel a lot of love and thankfulness for everyone there.  I was SO glad that everyone valued what God was doing (with Vince & in general) more than a game.  Watching sports is fine, in its place, but I’m so glad that I know people who realize that when God is moving, the game becomes secondary (or tertiary, etc etc).  🙂

    ~ Bekah

    ===========

    Unfortunately, in many cases, it is just a matter of canceling one spectator sport for another.  The young people there are obviously not being fed the truth; or, if they are, they love the world more.

    daddy

  • Antichrist

    Hey Pastor John,

    I was wondering if you could answer a question that I think I’ve had for a while.  You’ve said before that Christianity was the anti-christ.  Is that just Christianity or is that all religions?  I guess it’s anything that pretends to be from God but isn’t?

    Thanks,

    Maleah

    =========

    Hi Maleah.

    Good to hear from you!

    You’re thinking in the right direction.  Any religion or philosophy that claims it represents the Father, other than the way the Father Himself established in Jesus, is unholy and it hurts people.  Such religions and philosophies give people a false sense of security and a false hope.  But to qualify to be “anti-christ”, a religion has to claim to represent the Son, not just the Father, and that is what makes Christianity the principal anti-christ religious system.  It claims to represent Christ, not just “God”.

    In the first century AD, the Greek word “anti” did not mean “against” as much as it meant “instead of”.  So the “anti-Christ” spirit is a spirit that people receive instead of the Spirit of Christ.  This spirit does not speak in tongues or with “stammering lips” when it comes in, and John said that’s how we can always recognize the spirit of anti-christ from the real holy Spirit (1Jn. 4:1-2).

    Thanks for writing.  God bless.

    Pastor John

  • AoG Statement

    The following is from the Assembly of God “Statement of Fundamental Truths in 1916” (the same council where Oneness folks split from them):

    6. THE FULL CONSUMMATION OF THE BAPTISM IN THE HOLY GHOST

    The full consummation of the baptism of believers in the Holy Ghost and fire is indicated by the initial sign of speaking in tongues, as the Spirit of God gives utterance. Acts 2:4. This wonderful experience is distinct from and subsequent to the experience of the new birth. Acts 10:44-46; 11:14-16; 15:8,9.

    It’s interesting to see it so clear in writing. I wonder if the actual wording has changed since this time.

    RJC

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

    As far as speaking in tongues being the “initial evidence” of the holy Ghost baptism, it’s worded about the same everywhere in Pentecostal sects, including the heresy that goes with it: “This wonderful experience is distinct from and subsequent to the experience of the new birth.”

    jdc

Recent Posts