Pastor John,

I just watched your YouTube video lesson on Elihu reprimanding Job (and Job’s friends) for misunderstanding God.

(Below is the video link, copy/paste in a browser.)

In addition to making the book of Job clear, where it was not for me before, I felt like the video also answered the question as to why Christianity, or any other earthly religious thing offered by men to God, is not acceptable to God.

It goes beyond something being just good or bad—that becomes irrelevant. It is about whether it is of and from men. Men have nothing to offer God (good or bad) except for what He has given them—and for that purpose.

The first 47 minutes of this video answers that question in a way I have not experienced before. It is just wonderful.

Thank you.

Jerry

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhJFfcvxHes

Morning!

I’m sitting here this morning thanking Jesus that I got the point of what Jesus was showing me in my journey to him. In the entertainment world right now, there is a man who became popular worldwide for his role on a sitcom.  He became “famous” and that was his dream. In this clip, he tells how he prayed about being famous and God answered his prayer, and then how he prayed later to just remain alive.  God answered his prayer and six months into it, he was on drugs and a spiral downfall the rest of his life. His second prayer, which he states God answered, God let him live. He stated in another video how he didn’t want to be remembered for the sitcom, because to him, they were painful memories of every time he was strung out so bad he couldn’t even remember doing the scenes.  The influence on the people he touched was not what he had hoped for in the end. Sadly, though, I’m not sure that he got the point. I hope he did, but he died suddenly about two weeks ago.

He knew God answered his prayer but where did it lead him.  Hearing this last night brought back memories of a specific time in my life when I prayed for something that I wanted…. when I was a sinner.  That prayer was answered and it was some of the roughest times in my life, when it didn’t have to be. I could have left it and gone on with God but I didn’t.  It took me a little while longer to get the point. It was hard but at the end, when I prayed for relief, Jesus gave it and brought me to him…. And I got the point! And Jesus gave me relief and blessed me with a wonderful life instead. Jesus made me happy.  I was completely finished with that world. I cannot thank him enough for that. Where I was, I could have very easily not been here today, just like the young man in the video. Jesus saved my life!

Prayers matter to God, and He hears them. Some prayers may not be the best route for you, so it matters what you are asking for. Since that experience in my life, my prayers have been more like “God whatever your will is for me, let me do it.”  Even if I had things in my heart that I wanted, the bottom line is, “what do you want God?”.  And then, pray I cooperate!

Life lessons bring about life living….. for sure!

I attached the short video in case anyone would like to hear it. God does hear your prayer, but what are you praying for and where is it taking you? Whew!

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Song and I were just talking about this very thing at the grocery store today.  She saw a magazine on the checkout area that said this guy died, and I told her the same things you said here. When God gives us a chance, any chance, it’s important that we stay true to our answered prayer.  It’s no joke.
Gary

Pastor John,

I feel like you taught us the foundation of the gospel this evening, or part of it.  That is: Perfection (on earth) has to die! 

That truth is a line in the sand.  A line between this world and the place where God lives.

God is on the other side of human perfection!

Jesus, of his own will, carried the same perfection Job was laboring to defend, to the cross. Jesus took a spotless, blameless, perfect lamb (himself) and destroyed it “without cause” (without sin) to teach us!  Jesus was teaching us the gospel – that the way to his Father was beyond human perfection, and he killed it openly for the whole world to see.

No wonder the Pharisees hated Jesus so; they loved being perfect, and Jesus was showing the world it was worthless!  Glory to God!

If we love being right, if we love being good, if we love being perfect, we are going to hate the gospel because the message of the holy gospel is that our perfection has to die, so that in us, He can live!

Hahaha!  That is so good!

I felt like I was floating when I left there this evening, like I had left this world for a while. Whew!

Jerry

Pastor John,

I have been listening to an Old Testament* cd today in which you were telling about God giving you the message: “It tickles the devil for God’s people to blame their troubles on him.” You described the reaction that some folks had to the message, and what it was you were really saying about your mother, which is, “She is a child of God. God had not handed her over to the devil when she got sick.  He was the one who decided if she lived or died!”  You said that you were so full of the holy Ghost delivering that message, that you didn’t even feel people’s hatred of that message as you told what God had shown you.

Whew! That is so good!

Jerry always says that is the answer to everything – stay full of the holy ghost!  We won’t even feel anything wrong in that condition!  I love it!

Whew, and the second cd is even better!

The only reason we can take in what Jesus is giving you about the book of Job right now is because you took the message in first!  Because Jesus could give your heart the message that God did all of it to Job, we can now follow you right into that truth, and everything else. We are able to hear more from Jesus!

Wow! I love it PJ.  I love that you had a heart to take in that message, and I love that we do too.  Look what it has led to!

Ha! I was gonna include Isaiah 28:10 from our translation, but it says, “For da-da will be upon da-da, da-da upon da-da, blah-blah upon blah-blah, blah-blah upon blah-blah, here a little, there a little.”

I’m not sure I should include that without some additional context 🙂

Jesus is always adding to us and giving us what we need to hear from him.

Beth D.

*  Old Testament Course (Pt. 1) – Going to Jesus.com

I was in Milan, Italy in the mid ’90s and saw this cathedral.  I commented to some of the ladies on the trip that the cathedral was like something out of a scary Gothic movie.  I got some funny looks from the ladies!

Very thankful to be here with you all and the simplicity and beauty of the truth.

Debbie T.

Brother John,

I was feeling this morning that a good place to live in Jesus is to think so little of yourself that you can’t get your feelings hurt to get derailed. But to think so highly of God in you, that you occupy your place and speak his words with boldness, and tolerate no affront to his blessed authority in you.

We honor God by occupying our place.
That is the only place to succeed in Jesus.

Jerry D.

Dear Pastor John,

Ever since that few weeks period in February when I was preaching all over town, including during the nights in my street, and then God gently touched me through your e-mail message, and redirected me to the way of the Spirit, from time to time I have been tempted by the thought that I’m a “Jonah” who is running away from his calling. Thoughts and feelings of condemnation have been trying to find a way into my heart, but the longer I’ve been following the feelings of the Spirit, the less powerful these temptations have felt.

A few weeks ago, I had a very powerful experience, but I’ve been hesitant to share it. However, there were a number of instances during the Sunday morning meeting, when I felt God was telling me to go ahead and share it; which I had actually prayed He would do if it was from Him. So here it is, I hope it will help or encourage someone.

A few weeks ago, during the time I was re-reading Preacher Clark’s biography* (which, by the way, was a huge blessing in and of itself), I started to feel that familiar feeling which I was feeling back in February, that, back then, made me go out to the streets. It was very strong; so strong that I started to believe it was from God. I even got to the point that my mind was already made up to go, when suddenly 1John 4:1-2 came to my mind: “Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God… By this, the Spirit of God is known: every spirit that confesses Jesus Christ when he has come into a person is of God”. But how do I apply that in this situation? – I asked the question. And I immediately knew: If this burden that I am right now feeling is really from God, then if I start praying in the Spirit, the feeling will only become stronger, and God’s Spirit will confirm that it is from Him. So I started praying in tongues and, to my astonishment, within moments the feeling completely disappeared, as if it had never even been there. What followed was feelings of immense relief and perfect peace. 

It has been a learning process for me to understand, accept and have peace about the idea that conviction (even having strong feelings) about a specific religious activity is not necessarily from God. That there are real religious (ungodly) spirits that can give you zeal about doing certain things “for God”, and yet doing those things leaves the Lord untouched, in fact, He would rather that you not do them.

When following and serving Jesus is very strongly tied to certain activities in one’s mind, it can be hard to believe, when the real Spirit of God comes and tells you: “I don’t want you to do this. This is not my burden. My yoke is easy, my burden is light. Be free!” You can be very seriously tempted with fear that abandoning that certain activity would be turning away from Jesus himself. But I am so thankful for you, Pastor John, because by learning the truth I have started to get to know the real Jesus, the real Spirit of God, the real love of God; and breaking free from spirits of superstition and false religion has made all(!) the difference in my life. A few days ago I wrote a letter to a brother I haven’t met for many months, and in it I told him this: “I have never felt healthier and more whole, mentally and emotionally speaking, in my life than I do now; and I know that if I continue in the love and the wisdom of God, it will only get better.”

To be sure, I am not saying that God cannot or would not call a person to public preaching (or to something else,). He might even call me to do that at some point. Who knows? But it is so important that we be led by the real spirit of God, and we do not let false religion put burdens on us that, under the guise of “serving God”, actually move us further away from that sweet communion of the Father and the Son.

Zoli

*  https://www.pioneertract.com/

Hi John.

I wanted to tell you that I was blessed by your blog on “Not Interfering” this morning.

First of all, just the fact that we have real food to spiritually eat, on a regular basis is a blessing in itself. But secondly, to have Jesus talk to us, and guide us out of Christianity is something to praise God for, and to be very thankful for. Who is hearing it??  Can’t find them.

I certainly do pray that we can have a part in passing along some of these things to God’s children somehow.  It seems like we are gathering truth here for a certain moment in time, and it also seems like that time is faster and faster approaching where what Jesus has given us is all the more relevant, but not any more understood.

I can see in the news how nations and kings are turning on the Israel/Jews in this hour.  But I have not seen much in the way of kings and people turning on Catholicism too much… at least yet.  it will be interesting how that plays out.

It’s amazing that what God says will happen, never fails.  We just haven’t seen it all come to pass yet.  Anyway, thanks again for these things. It’s good to think on them and ask Jesus to keep our hearts inclined to seek Him, so we can stay ready as events become clearer.

Gary

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Do Not Interfere

Revelation 17

1. Then one of the seven angels who had the Seven Vials came, and he spoke to me, saying, “Come.  I will show you the judgment of the Great Whore who sits on many waters,
2. with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and by the wine of her whoredom are the inhabitants of the earth made drunk.”
3. So, he carried me away in spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet-colored Beast that was full of blasphemous names and that had seven heads and ten horns.
4. And the woman was arrayed in purple, and scarlet, and adorned with gold, and precious stone, and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup that was full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication,
5. and on her forehead was written a name: “Mystery: Babylon the Great, the Mother of harlots and the abominations of the earth.”
6. And I saw the woman drunk on the blood of the saints, on the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.  And when I saw her, I marveled with great wonder.
7. And the angel said to me, “Why do you marvel?  I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the Beast that carries her, that has seven heads and ten horns.

. . . .

12. And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings one hour with the Beast.
13. These are of one mind, and they give their power and authority to the Beast.”

. . . .

15. Then he said to me, “The waters that you saw, where the Whore sits, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and languages.
16. And the ten horns that you saw, and the Beast, these will hate the Whore, and they will make her desolate and naked, and they will eat her flesh and consume her with fire.
17. For God put it in their hearts to carry out His plan, to have one mind, and to give their kingdom to the Beast until the words of God be fulfilled.”

The Great Whore is the institution called the Roman Universal Church, and her harlot daughters are Protestant churches, for they came from her and carry her spiritual DNA.  All together, they make up the religion known as Christianity, a religion that has been highly honored for many centuries by “peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and languages”.  The Roman Church in particular has through the centuries been afforded special privileges by earthly governments, such as exemptions from taxes and public service, which have helped enrich the fallen woman.  Human government is the Beast that has carried her since the fourth century AD, when backslidden believers crawled into bed with Rome, and earthly government will culminate in a Satan-empowered man called the Beast, who will rule the whole world.  But in John’s vision of the future, he saw that the Beast and his kings are going to turn on the Great Whore and plunder her of the enormous wealth she has accumulated over the centuries.

At that time, there will seem to be but two choices: (1) support the Beast and his kings in their brutal treatment of the Roman Church or (2) try to help the Roman Church.  Do not fall for the pressure to do either!   As the angel told John, “God put it in their hearts to carry out His plan.”   Yes, the Beast and his kings have been chosen and anointed by God to rid the earth of that Church, and it will be foolish for anyone to try to prevent that from happening.

The body of Christ is neither the Roman Church nor any of her daughters.  Just as the Beast is an evil ruler of men, so Christianity is an evil ruler over souls (cf. Rev. 18:9–13), and God will destroy them both.  Wise souls will heed God’s voice and get out of the way before He decides to do it.

God was pleading with His children to be wise when John heard a voice from heaven cry out, “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins, and receive of her plagues!”  Let us be wise, and leave Christianity now so that we may avoid the awful judgment that God has decreed for it.  And let us who remain alive until then not interfere with His terrible work when that time comes.

Pastor John