John,

Thank you for sending the link to “4th Century Christianity”. The history of Christianity is astonishing.

After hearing tonight the thoughts Jesus has given you recently about churches, Constantine and Christianity, and then to read what Paul saw and wrote in 2Corinthians 11 about another Jesus, another spirit, another gospel, the Truth shines even brighter.  And in 2Thessalonians 2 Paul said the mystery of iniquity was already at work in his day and time. What a warning from Jesus through him to the body! God does not want his children to be ignorant or deceived. His love for us came alive even more as I read these scriptures tonight.

Jesus has put it in our hearts by way of his Spirit to love of the Truth if we will stay full of his Spirit.  As we love it, it is saving us. He said it would. It is so precious. I feel overwhelmed with gratefulness to Jesus.

Bess

*(If you want to see Rome’s laws (from Constantine’s time forward) here:

https://www.fourthcentury.com/

and scroll down to:

Imperial Laws and Letters Involving Religion

Whew, hearing this tonight was wonderful.

Brother Gary’s song about the people not knowing and you talking about them being afraid to think the next thought, that it would be blasphemy, is so true! That’s exactly what I experienced. That was instilled in us from early on.

Thinking anything other than Catholicism is right was enough to go to hell. They instill that from the very beginning, and it does it job. What an evil set-up it is!  If you can never have a thought that differs from what they are telling you, you are stuck, silent and afraid in that mess.  It is only God’s mercy to get out of that spider’s web.

I thought tonight that anything that tells you not to go to you, Pastor John, or not to ask a question, or not to testify, or to sit quiet when Jesus is moving, is that same demon – or a real good friend to it.

Every time we hear the truth, it does something.  Every time.  Cleaning out the dross!

And what a song to dream!  “The book of Hebrews is full of good news!”*  I wish I could have been there in that dream watching you sing with that choir.

Felt your prayers tonight.  Went back again just to hear you call out to God for us.

So good!
Beth Durham   

*  (19) The Book of Hebrews – YouTube

So many good things to think on!  I had to read these Old Meeting notes twice and pray they would sink in. So good!

Thanks,

Paul Curtsinger

10 – 1969 Gary’s CD 18, Part 2

Pastor John,

This came to me.

Satan is angry, bitter, hateful, a victim, disturbed, agitated, and not-at-peace. So is the world which he rules!

Just as bad kings influenced their subjects during the Old Testament, so does Satan influence his subjects in this world.

God help those who unknowingly continue to be ruled by Satan!

~Allison

Pastor John,

I had some good thoughts from the Spirit this morning, mainly: “Stop reacting to your surroundings. Your relationship is with Jesus, not your surroundings.”

That is life in this new covenant: being in this world, but not of it.

We move when Jesus says move.  Our being is in him.

If we respond to our surroundings, which are ever-changing and usually in some kind of turmoil, we will be tossed in every direction. We’ll never know what to do, or how much.

We move when he moves.

It was a good reminder this morning that He is Lord of all of it.

Things are changing in this world, more than I ever thought I would see in my lifetime.  But we are called to perfect peace, with our hearts and minds stayed on him.

Jerry

John,

I am so thankful and excited about what you taught us tonight in the introduction to the Job study we are about to read together.  In Proverbs 4:7, it says, “Wisdom is the principal thing; get wisdom!  And with all your getting, get understanding!”

What you taught us tonight about Satan was clearer to me than what I have learned in the past.  As you said, it “cleared out some smoke.”  We are getting a better understanding of who God is!  And that understanding takes away fear and doubt and confusion about Satan and who he is. 

How much better it is to have understanding!  It takes away fears, confusion and doubts, and replaces it with trust, confidence and respect in the One who it belongs to: God. Thank you for clearing out some of the smoke tonight.  What an honor it is to be able to be taught by someone God has sent, such as you, John!  

Thank you. 

Stuart

==========

Good Morning Pastor John!

What a wonderful lesson last night.  A whole new perspective on the accuser, Job, his friends and even; probably most importantly, God.  Wow!  I have to let this sink down to my heart.  Thank you!

Mark

Pastor John,

Several months ago, I was hugely blessed by two “thoughts for the day” that I read on one of your websites within two weeks from each other.  One was a letter you had received from a brother in which he, among other things, wrote that the holy Ghost is not the third person of a “trinity”, but Christ himself.  The other one was titled, ‘The Breath of Our Nostrils’, and it was about how Aaron Nelson and your son Elijah discovered a reference to Jesus’ descent into hell in the book of Lamentations.  That verse (Lam. 4:20) was another confirmation from the Scriptures of the truth that the Lord, indeed, “is that Spirit”, as Paul called him.  The verse from laminatations calls the Messiah (the anointed one) the “breath of our nostrils” – which is clearly a reference to God’s Spirit.  By the time I read these “thoughts”, I had already believed in my heart that the doctrine of the trinity was a lie; but the Spirit used these two pieces of writing in a special way to make this revelation (that the Spirit descending on Jesus at the Jordan River was actually the Son himself “suddenly coming into His temple” – Malachi) more real and more personal to me than it had ever been.

Now, today, about two hours ago, I was reading today’s “Thought for the Evening” (8/5)*, and while doing it, I think I found another clue in the Bible that reveals this very same truth.  It brought joy and excitement to my heart, so I wanted to share it.  In today’s TFE (The Gods, Part Four) there is a quote from Psalms that goes like this: “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth” (Ps 33:6).

After reading this quote, I had the following thoughts: From John chapter 1 and Revelation 19 we know that Jesus IS the Word of God, and from a number of NT scriptures it is also clear that God created all things through His Son (except for the Son himself who was created by the Father).  But here, in Ps 33:6, the Spirit reveals that the work of creation took place not only “by the word of the Lord”, but also through “the breath” (ruach) of the “mouth” of Jehovah.  One of the very few things I know about Hebrew is that ruach (just like pneuma in the Greek) is not only the word for “breath” and “wind”, but also the word for “spirit”.  Isn’t it clear then, that if God created all things through His Son, but the Scriptures also tell us that God did His creative work by His Spirit (the breath of His mouth), then the two cannot possibly be two separate persons?  Isn’t it wonderful?

One of my favorite discoveries on the subject is how plainly Jesus spoke of this, when in John 14 he promised the disciples to give them “another comforter” that he also calls “the spirit of truth” that “shall be in [them]”; and then, right after saying this he adds, “I will not leave you comfortless:  I will come to you”. I had read these same verses so many times over the years, but it never occurred to me what is now so clear and obvious, after having learned the truth.  Praise God for it!

Zoli

*  Going to Jesus.com – The Gods, Part Four: Judging