Today I was listening to the sermon from 1993, “Destruction by Redefinition”*.  WOW!  I don’t know if I’ve ever heard that message before.  When you said, “I’m not a Christian; I’m a follower of Jesus,” the purest, cleansing wind blew through my truck that I felt from head to toe!  I began speaking in tongues and thanking Jesus for rescuing us from that abomination!  Wow, I still feel that!  Thank you, Jesus!

I loved it!  When I first started listening to it, you were saying it but not saying those words.  Then when you said it, “I’m not a Christian”, you could feel it!  That was amazing!  It felt like Jesus was showing you as you were speaking, and you could just feel the relief!

Michelle

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

Pastor John,

I’m thinking this morning that many in the world are persuaded to take the “easy street” and claim they are a victim of this life, thereby throwing off responsibility for their own actions.  But I remember not long ago hearing brother Bennie Hinn say that Brother Oral Roberts told him, “if you go to this city to preach, you will be killed. And I [the LORD] will hold you responsible for dying.” (I am paraphrasing but that was most definitely the message). 

In a world where it has become as normal as breathing to proclaim victimhood, the Spirit of the Lord, I think, is asking questions such as, “Why don’t you know you are being lied to?” “Why don’t you know where to be when the time comes?”  The spirit of God in us is real, and it knows how to live this life, and according to brother Benny Hinn’s testimony, God is holding us responsible to follow it.

Jerry

Pastor John,

I thank God for the meeting I had today, because the Spirit was moving, and the door opened up for me to share the truth. Yesterday I read a booklet A— had given me, it’s about “God’s Work”, and the author is called Watchman Nee.  It’s about how God is building the body of Christ, and is filled with wonderful thoughts and wisdom, you can feel while reading it, that the author had a lot of weighty experiences with Jesus throughout his life, but something was really missing from the writing, although I wasn’t surprised by it.  It didn’t clarify who exactly belongs to the body of Christ, and how do we know it. 

I thought I could bring up this subject in the meeting, but I didn’t feel the Spirit’s permission to do so, so I waited. Finally, we ended up reading from another booklet, in a way that everyone read a paragraph, and we kept going like that in a circle until we reached the end of the chapter.  Well, what we were reading was also about the body of Christ, in fact, there was a section with the title: How does one get into the body?  But there was no definite answer, as far as I can recall. 

A— encouraged all of us to inject any questions or disagreements we might have, so when there was a longer pause, and no one was saying anything, it felt the right moment to pose the question to the group: How do you think one gets into the body?  A— and F—– both said some things, and when they were done, A—- encouraged me to share my answer with them.  So, I pointed to 1Cor 12:13, showing that the Bible does give us a definite answer; that it happens through baptism, and it’s not a baptism with water, but with Spirit.

I told them that it is this experience by which we are born again, and that I believe it is always accompanied by speaking in tongues or stammering lips.  At first, everyone seemed to be okay with what I said, but towards the end of the meeting S—- said that she has a problem with my stance on speaking in tongues, because not everyone receives the same gifts.

I thank God that He gave me the wisdom to answer all the questions and disagreements, and was able to do so with meekness. The meeting seemed to come to a conclusion, but I felt the Spirit telling me to bring up 1John 3:24-4:3. This was the moment when I really started feeling the Spirit touching people, in fact, there was a lady (her name was B—-), who I realized buried her face in her hands, saying she’s tired, and then she started saying things like: “Well, if we have the assurance that we are ‘saved’, that’s good enough, right?” (At the beginning of the meeting I thought she surely has the Spirit, but by the end I wasn’t so sure at all.) 

A—- also seemed to become uncomfortable, and I know it was because she was feeling I was speaking the truth.  Especially when I brought up that because of our deceitful and desperately wicked heart, our confession of faith is not sufficient, there needs to be a witness from the One who really knows what’s in us.

I know that in the realm of the spirit something very significant happened tonight, and it was, again, something way beyond me. It creates an even greater awe and fear of God inside me.

I don’t know where God is taking us, where He’s taking me, but I know I just need to draw closer to Him, and obey Him, whatever He’s telling me. On February 9 there will be another home prayer meeting, and I am invited to that, too. 

Please keep praying for us here in Dunaújváros.  May Jesus do his wonderful work in each one of us, may we be humble and obedient to his spirit.

Zoli

We are seeing & experiencing miracles worthy to write in a new bible.

I feel fortunate beyond what words can express, to be a sheep under you, John Clark, our phenomenal Shepherd.

I don’t think there’s anyone else on earth with more grace, graciousness, integrity, authority, and a caring heart.

I said to my darling wife tonight, “Where would you rather be”?

This was the most rewarding of any event you could choose for something to do on a Saturday night.  Damien said, “this is the real Saturday Night Live; Alive!”

Amen. 

In conversation with sister Willie on our drive back to her house, we recognized the indisputable and mysterious fact that we have all been chosen by God to be together in this body under you, brother John, and the more we can appreciate that, the better.

We’ve all been healed tonight. I feel different. Allison feels different. I could see the enormous change in Paul’s countenance, and on Jamie’s face as well. They are different people now, and we have all been touched by this blessing in a glorious way.

Thank you for your connection with God, for our benefit.

Praise God forever!!!

Brad

Pastor John,

Isaiah 53: 

4. He has taken our sicknesses and borne our sufferings, yet we considered him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.

I have been thinking about this verse since we read it in the meeting. Thinking about Jesus wearing our sickness, and sufferings on him, and the nature of man, seeing that sickness and suffering as his affliction, whew. 

I picture man seeing God’s Son in this flesh, thin and beaten and nailed to a tree and man saying, “eww!” when all along it is man’s sin and shame, and God’s love that he was showing us. 

I am in the kitchen now, cooking Jerry some pork chops, thinking it’s no different today.  If Jesus is so good as to show us something in ourselves, will we say “eww” to Jesus, or the body, or our pastor, or will we humble down and thank God for him for showing us?  And by “we” I mean me! 

If Jesus got back on that tree wearing our issue, what would we say? 

Just thinking out loud with you! 

Beth

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Wonderful thought, Beth!  And a good question for us all to ask ourselves.

Pastor John

Pastor John,

A few years ago after I returned from my trip to Australia in 2017, I had a simple dream with both of my parents in it.  It reminds me in some ways of Brother Keith’s vision that he shared with us recently. It came to mind while I was talking with Kay early this morning.  It seems good to pass it on.

In the dream, there was a long line of people who were shuffling silently, uphill it seemed, along a sidewalk.  The path passed along the side of a featureless building.  At the head of the line of people was a door in the building. The people turned right and went through the door.  I noticed my father (he died in 1987) going through the door.  Looking back down the line a ways, I saw my mother (now 94) shuffling along with everyone else.

When I awoke, I knew that I was looking at people’s lives passing.  The door is the end.  As I thought about it this morning, it really hit me that everyone is going through that door.  I was in that line of people.  We all were.  Life is serious business.  We need God’s help. 

Damien

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Amen, Damien.  And if we think on that, we are wise (cf. Eccl. 7:2-4).  Moses prayed that God would teach him to soberly think on that reality so that he might apply his heart to wisdom (Ps. 90:12).