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  • Excerpt from Solomon’s Wisdom Book, August 20, 2021*

    * https://goingtojesus.com/gtj_books_solomon.html?tname=solomon00

    This resonated in my heart.

    Many years ago, probably 1993, I worked at a restaurant when I was first starting to seek the Lord. I was partially in Xty and hadn’t yet connected with either Gary or Pastor John’s work.  But I was under conviction for my sins, and was trying to live right, as a “Christian”, and I gave some advice to a younger co-worker (in his 20’s) who drank too much alcohol.  As I vaguely recall, I merely told him that he ought to take a look at how much he drinks, because it could get out of hand.  It wasn’t a reproof, per se, nor a judgment; just some moral encouragement and a suggestion, which came from a heart that was being changed by Jesus, and I felt compelled to tell him that for his own good.  He took the suggestion humbly but little did I know that it would actually have a huge impact on his life.

    I never saw him again after I moved on to another job, until at least 15 years later. I ran into him at a copy store. He enthusiastically greeted me, after we recognized one another, and immediately told me that my admonishment had changed his life forever. He stopped drinking, went to AA meetings, found a girlfriend, got married and had a successful job in Real Estate.  He was indebted to me for calling him out for his fondness for drinking because it convicted him and he made a U-turn in his life.  We didn’t discuss God or faith at the time, so that wasn’t part of the equation.  But it was amazing that I made that impression on him, by simply pointing out his addiction!  He thanked me and went on his way.  I gained his lifelong respect for my sincere words, which were only a mild rebuke, if that.  

    Thankful to have been used by God, even before I had the Spirit inside.

    Brad

    Excerpt 8_20_21

  • Today’s Pearl

    This is remarkable.  Just incredibly apt.

    I am reading this, this morning, AFTER I just had an experience praying with God up on my hill.  I hiked up at dawn, and felt compelled to go to the “filling station”.  And this GCC Pearl speaks precisely to the truth that I was experiencing today.  

    I naively expect to stay happy and full of the Spirit everyday, yet I fail at that. I get troubled by the strife in the world, by decisions, by my domestic tasks, and by thinking too much.  And I assume that I will be fine day-to-day with the fullness of the Spirit, but as GCC explains—every day is a brand new day, for a new portion of God’s manna (happiness and/or love of God).  

    Reading this Pearl was a blessing that validated exactly what I was feeling!  

    Thankful to God, and to Gary for posting this.

    Brad

    Pearl 8_18_21

  • Numbers 15*

    I love this!  God loved Israel so much that He had them sew tassels on their clothes so they would remember Him and remember to follow His commandments.  Without having new hearts, that is the best they could do.  I am so thankful for our new hearts!

    Numbers 15:

    29. There shall be one law for you concerning him who commits sin ignorantly, both for the native-born children of Israel and for the sojourner who sojourns in your midst.

     30. But the soul who acts defiantly, whether native-born or a sojourner, he is blaspheming Jehovah, and that      soul shall be cut off from among his people.

    31. Because he has despised the word of the Lord and broken His commandment, that soul shall surely be cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him.”

    37. And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

    38. “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them that they shall make for themselves a tassel on the hems of their garments throughout their generations, and for the tassel of the hem, they shall use blue thread.

    39. And it shall be for you a tassel that you might see it and remember all the commandments of Jehovah and do them, so that you do not follow after your own heart and after your eyes, by which you go a-whoring,

    40. that you might remember, and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God.41.I am Jehovah your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God; I am Jehovah your God.”

    Beth D.

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

  • Old Testament Bible Study

    Good morning, Pastor John.

    I have been thinking about our Bible study* and what we learned and did not learn.  The whys, if you will.  “Why didn’t Abram trust God enough to tell the truth about Sarai”  “Why didn’t Lot just leave the evil place he was living?” etc.  While pondering these things, the question came to me, “Why don’t you?”  We seem to always look at others and wonder why those people don’t do right and trust God more, and we miss our own log in our own eye.  Then the thought came, “It’s a good example for us that even though these great men and women were not perfect, God still loved them because their hearts were in the right place.  If they always had done the right thing there would be no examples of God’s mercy for us to have hope, so that even a lowly being like me could have hope.”  What a great God we have!

    I have slowed my pace on my Bible study.  I was trying to finish, and it was revealed to me that it’s the journey to strive for, not the completion.  Going too fast, I was missing important lessons.  Study a bit and reflect on it, and let God work is my goal now.  There’s a lesson in nearly every sentence if you take your time to see it.  The book could have been very huge.  I think that God chose these particular words in the Bible for a reason, and each one carries weight for us. 

    What a glorious day for learning the lessons from God!

    Thank you for your years of service to God.

    Mark

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

  • Matthew Being a Tax Collector

    Pastor John, 

    I am just curious about something.  What would have been the perks for Matthew to be a tax collector?  It must have been hard for him to have everyone hate him.  I would think he was not forced by Rome to do it; otherwise, the Jews would not have hated him, but would have just blamed Rome.  I am getting that from them saying Jesus sat with tax collectors and sinners.  So there must have been something that drew him to be a tax collector.  I feel like I know a lot more about Paul than I do Matthew.

    It made me think that Matthew might have been somewhat prepared for the persecution after Jesus touched him because he was familiar with being hated. Or not. 

    Beth D.

    ==========

    Hi, Beth.

    Matthew could have been drawn to being a tax collector in order to have a steady income.  WE don’t know.  If so, there were many in Israel who was like him in that regard.  The devoutly nationalistic Jews would have looked down on Matthew for “working with the enemy”, and Jesus had such a Jew as a disciple.  Simon the Canaanite, it appears, belonged to a group whose goal was to drive the hated Romans out of the holy land (hence, “the Canaanite”).  That Jesus was able to have a tax collector and a Canaanite as disciples at the same time says a lot about their hearts and his power.

    You are right in saying that we know far less about Matthew than about Paul.  There is nothing we can do about that.  But hopefully, Jesus will let us meet Matthew one day and find out what history was.

    Pastor John

  • A Lesson from Jesus about the Tongue

    Hi Pastor John,

    I wanted to share something that I feel like Jesus showed me this morning while working on for the class for the kids (and parents) where we will be talking about the power of our words and taming the tongue. 

    As we were pulling in the driveway last night after the meeting, our neighbors next door were pulling out of their driveway. One of the girls said, “I wonder where they are going at 9:00 at night?”  The other answered, “Maybe they are going to get some dinner.”  Then someone said, “It’s too late for dinner; maybe they are going to have ice cream.”  The conversation went on with a few more “Maybe they’s”, and then it was over. 

    That conversation in the car seemed innocent at the time, and I didn’t think too much about it until this morning while working on the class.  I feel like Jesus opened my eyes and showed me that it was something.  I remembered the conversation in the car last night, and with it, the thought came loud and clear, “That’s the way rumors get started.” 

    I was able to see that with every “maybe they”, the girls inserted their own thoughts and opinions about something they saw without having any other information on the matter.  Oh goodness!  How many times have I done that?  I’m sure it happens more than I even realize.  Most of the time, those conversations amount to nothing and prove to be pointless.  The discussion in the car last night amounted to nothing, but it could turn into something if it were to be repeated, starting a rumor as to why our neighbors go out late at night.

    I can see more clearly how speaking without all the information, or even if I do have facts about something, if spoken at the wrong time or to the wrong person, it can cause me or others big problems.  And I feel like seeing it in my kids has put a BIG WARNING sign out!!  I wish I could have seen the conversation as I see it now, so that I could have cut it off.  But I love that Jesus has let me see it now, and I can do something about it, going forward.  What a wonderful opportunity and a loving Jesus for allowing me to see it!

    The class we are doing “for the kids” on the power of our words and taming the tongue is a class for us grown-ups, too, maybe even more so wink

    Love,

    Amy F

  • Genesis 4 – Cain’s Fear

    Hi Pastor John, 

    During our Old Testament class* we are taking with Mark, Brad and Allison, Mark asked, “where did the other people come from?” Today, Michelle and I were listening to one of the CD’s, God is punishing Cain to be cut off.  Our question is where did the other people come from that caused Cain to be afraid?  Up to this point all we know are the descendants from Adam, no one else. 

    Thank you,

    Kevin

    ==========

    Hi, Kevin.

    You all are doing a good thing, going through the online Old Testament class.

    As you continue through the Old Testament, and the New, for that matter, you will find that there are stories that leave off a critical time element, so that the events seem out of sync, if not impossible.  I suspect that is the case here.  The story you mentioned makes it seem as if Adam only had two children, Cain and Abel, at the time Cain murdered Abel.  But those two sons were both grown at the time (just how old they were, we cannot say), and I assume that Adam and Eve had many sons and daughters during the previous years.  Apparently, Adam’s sons and daughters married one another.  As Adam’s family expanded, there would have been quite a few children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, etc., and they could not all have lived in the same area.

    Adam would have had a multitude of children over his lifetime: “And the days of Adam after he fathered Seth were eight hundred years, and he fathered sons and daughters.  And all of the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years, and he died” (Gen. 5:4–5).  And after earth’s population increased sufficiently, God forbade marriages of close kin.  Before then, however, very close kin could marry.  Abraham and Sarah were half-brother and sister, and God was OK with that in their time, but in the law (centuries later), God plainly forbade such marriages (Lev. 18:9, 11).

    There are many unanswered, and unanswerable, questions about the earliest days of earth (Genesis 1–11), and we wonder about such things, but we have to stay focused on what is revealed.  Moses told Israel: “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but things that are revealed belong to us and to our children”.

    That’s the best I can do with your question because the Bible does not deal with that issue.  It’s one of those “secret things that belong to God”.  So, I just say “OK”, and move on to learn those things God has revealed.

    Thanks for the question.  A lot of people have wondered about that, including me.

    Pastor John

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

  • Leviticus 23:27, 32 – “Afflict Your Soul”

    Pastor John,

    What does afflict your souls mean in these verses?

    Leviticus 23:27. “Also, on the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day for Atonements; it shall be a holy convocation for you, and you shall afflict your souls, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord.

    Leviticus 23:32. It shall be a sabbath of rest for you, and you shall afflict your souls. From the ninth day of the month at evening, from twilight to twilight, you shall observe your sabbath.”

    Beth D.

    ==========

    Hi Beth,

    That phrase “afflict your souls” means to fast and pray, and to do no work, that is, treat the day as a Sabbath, as God said in Leviticus 19:29 and Numbers 29:7.

    Thanks for the question.

    Pastor John

  • Well Written

    Pastor John,

    I have always loved something well written.  Not necessarily in an intellectual sense but in a thought-provoking, can the writer take me with them sense.

    I heard the tract Jezreel* yesterday and as I heard the Mizpeh Conference by Preacher Clark, I thought of how well written it is. How well written the tracts are.  I have always thought Uncle Joe wrote well also.

    I was talking to Jesus this morning about the bible/OT and how much I love the shadow of him in it. No one can write like God!

    When I was a little girl, I loved to read and my favorite books were adventure books that I got to  choose on my own . The reader could choose which ending to read. I always loved that because then the story did not end as quickly, there was more to the story!

    Not only did God write a story within a story but He knew that hearts would be created with His spirit and that when they read His story, He would talk to them and give them new thoughts and feelings over and over again. Who but God can write a book that you can never finish reading!

    There are always feelings and thoughts available! A story, not every reader will see or feel but the ones He chooses will! And the ones He chooses can go to a place in the story with God at different times.

    It’s poetic and beautiful and has love, adventure, mystery, etc.! God gave us everything!

    I sincerely love how God writes. I pray I get to tell Him that one day in person. I have a running list of all the things He is so wonderful about that I daydream about getting to tell Him!

    Beth Durham

    * Going to Jesus.com Tracts – Jezreel

  • Colossians 2:16-17

    John,

    Since in Colossians 2:17 “are” is used, is Paul saying the law had not passed away at that time, or is he just communicating it will always be a shadow?

    1. Therefore, do not allow anyone to condemn you in matters of eating or drinking, or in regard to a feast, or a new moon, or a Sabbath,
    2. which are a shadow of things to come, but the reality is of Christ.

    Wendell

    ========== 

    Hi, Wendell.

    I am glad you are thinking about what you are reading.  The law probably had not yet passed at the time Paul wrote that letter.  It is the same for other works of Paul.  For instance, the book of Hebrews (which I believe Paul wrote) is filled with present tense verbs when the writer speaks of the law, especially the activities of the priests under the law.

    At the same time, the law will always be the shadow of Christ that God intended.  That is what makes study of the law, indeed, the whole Old Testament, so beneficial for believers today.

    Thanks for the question.

    Pastor John 

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