Teeth Dream

Hi, Pastor John;

I had this dream years ago, but I have been thinking about it a lot this week.

In my dream, a sister in the Lord that is no longer with us, looked at me smiling and said, “You have pretty teeth”. I thought this was odd. Maybe, saying a nice smile would be more appropriate. The next scene, I was looking at my smile and teeth in a mirror, touched the front tooth and it fell out in my hand. I was embarrassed with how my, “smile” looked now; I would compensate my smile by not smiling as wide to show my teeth . . .kind of like a kid that first gets braces.

I looked into the mirror again. Each tooth had a word written on it. The words written on each tooth were words of the flesh ; strife, anger, etc.; there are more than just listed in the bible. It could even be, looking good on the outside or pretending to be good. I heard the Spirit’s voice, “If you remove this tooth, the rest will come out easier”. When I looked at the mirror to see the tooth that the Spirit pointed out to me, the word, “Pride” was written on it. I didn’t like the feeling that pride was associated with anything on me. I touched the tooth and it was loose, but it moved. I began to work and work on it, pushing and pulling form side-to-side and up-and-down, that I finally had the bloody tooth with pride written on it in my hand. When I look into the mirror and saw my bloody shin and mouth, the other teeth were falling out all by themselves.

When I saw in the mirror that I had no teeth left in my mouth, I knew that all of the works in my flesh were gone. When I smiled, there wasn’t a tooth in my head. At that time, the embarrassment of not having one of my teeth tuned to joy of having no teeth.

I know, if we let God help us remove the pride in our hearts, He will take the bite out of us. It may not look as pretty to others that we don’t have teeth, but God loves this kind of smile.

Billy M.

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Well, brother Billy, one thing is for sure. Without teeth, we can’t “bite and devour one another.” And that is a good thing!

Seriously, Jesus said to be harmless as a dove, and once pride is removed, all the weapons of the flesh which strife uses will crumble. Thank God for that! “Strife comes through pride,” Solomon said.

And Ezekiel said that pride was Satan’s first sin:

Ezekiel 28:15,17 KJV
[15] Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. [17a] Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty….

Humility is the way into eternal life.

Pastor John

Liberty to Do Good

Pastor John,

I was thinking about a man you once spoke of. He had the holy Ghost and came up under your father, Preacher Clark. This man had taken the liberty of wearing very short shorts to a retirement home where he worked, knowing that an old saint there, full of the holy Ghost, who came up in a time when it was inappropriate to be exposed that way in public.

If I recall, you said he was resolute in the liberty he felt he had to wear shorts, even going as far as ridiculing the woman’s thoughts and feelings to the contrary.

Well, what about our liberty in Christ NOT to dress that way? That is what the Lord impressed on me recently. What about the liberty not to hurt someone’s fragile heart or feelings?

When the Apostle Paul spoke of his liberty in Christ, he said: “If eating meat causes an offense, I will never eat meat again.” That was Paul’s liberty in Christ – liberty to do good. He was free to never eat meat again if he thought it could help someone’s soul – free to use that tool in his arsenal.

It reminds me of that scripture that your father once thought was in the Bible (and might ought to be): “If the truth offends, let it offend.” It does not say, “If my self-will offends, let it offend.”

I believe Paul would have enjoyed that home-made scripture, adding to it, “not because I glory in your offense, but because I glory in the truth.”

The truth is that good, that if it offends a soul, so be it. But even then, not because there is pleasure in another’s pain, but because the truth is just that good. If there were a way around hurting others with the truth, a righteous man would choose it.

Liberty in Christ is liberty from the rules of men so that we may persuade others of Christ; it is not liberty to have our own way.

It is our liberty to be holy, any way that God wants us to do it.

Jerry

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Amen, Jerry. And James said that we will be judged by the “perfect law of liberty”. God has given us perfect liberty to do anything He wants us to do. And everything He wants us to do is filled with love for Him, His Son, and His people.

Pastor John

The President

Pastor John,

I was praying for President Trump yesterday. I felt such pity for him. I can’t recall anyone in my lifetime in this country that has been more despised. I don’t know how he functions under the weight of it. I asked Jesus to open everyone’s eyes during this impeachment trial to the good the President has done for the Country. And to just help him!

My next thought surprised me: “Maybe God is helping him. Maybe this impeachment will get him out of politics”.

I did not expect that. Maybe God loves him and is getting him out of the nasty business of politics.

Maybe so.

Jerry

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It would be a blessing from the Lord, Jerry, if Mr. Trump lost interest in politics and spent his last days filled with the Spirit and happy in Jesus.

Pastor John

The Speed of Life

Good morning, John;

I had a thought from the Lord about the “Speed of Life” that you mentioned Wednesday, and at other times. Most of us need to slow down, but there are some of us that need to pick up the pace, and still others are at the place where they should be. Whatever the pace or place in God’s “Speed of Life” that the Lord wants us in the Spirit, is the place where He is for each one of us. It is the place where God is for our lives, and the place where our connection and communion with God is.

Billy

Acts 2:38

I agree with your stance on the trinity and oneness. Do you believe in Jesus name baptism and receiving the holy according to act 2:38? Thanks your reply

Dave

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Hi Dave.

Thanks for the question. You can read what we teach on baptism here:
https://goingtojesus.com/gtj_tracts.html?tname=tract-066-baptism

If after reading that little gospel tract, you still have questions, please feel welsome to ask me.

Your servant for Christ,

Pastor John

I Feel Sorry for You

How can you spread these lies?!?! All of your tracts disagree with the Bible! There are a FEW sections that briefly tell the Truth, then you turn around and distort the Scripture. I feel sorry for you and your soul because you will be held accountable for misleading people and their souls. You’ve heard the truth, yet you don’t accept it but in place, need an emotional fulfillment. I hope no one else has the opportunity to read the trash that you pose as the Gospel.

Vanessa

Lake City

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Hi Vanessa,

Thank you for your comments. If there is something in particular about my teaching that stands out to you as being especially wrong, I am willing to hear what you think about it. I know how important it is to speak the truth, so I try to stay open to learn and be corrected. This is my personal email address, so you can contact me directly.

Until I hear from you, I pray that Jesus will keep you and yours safe and blessed.

Your servant,

Pastor John

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Well looks like the door is open on your side. As Joe Friday would say “just give me the facts ma’am.”

Wendell

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Often it seems that those who place ALL their faith in the scriptures as the infallible word of God have the most trouble discerning the real Truth, which is revealed by the Holy Ghost, to those who have been prepared to receive the Spirit or those who have actually been born again. It reminds me of when Jesus said to the disciples that he would send the Comforter to guide them into all truth, and did not say he would send a book of compiled scriptures to lead them. It’s the spirit of truth that we count on to validate (in our hearts) what is written in the Scriptures, thus, it grieves me when people attack you from their narrow viewpoint, inspired by their reliance on the Bible alone, uninspired by the Holy Ghost.

However, your humility and kindness is a wonderful thing to observe in dealing with such people. That’s why we love you so much, and why the anointing is so valuable.

Brad

Why Was President Obama Close to Being a King?

Hi, Pastor John.

In reading the Iron Kingdom, during Part 1 where you write about the apostasy of Rome, Jerry mentioned that the republic of the United States was going the way of Rome and you said that President Obama was the closest to being an emperor and if he had been assassinated like Julius Caesar was, the rise of a kingdom would have ensued just as it did in Rome.

I feel all of that is true and I wonder if the reasons why we agree on this truth are the same. I feel it’s true because President Obama offered hope to a groundswell of people who all wanted his presidency to move the country away from a world they saw as not representing them. With that hope, his assassination would have caused civil unrest for sure.

Would you agree with my reasoning?

Allison

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Yes, Allison, I am sure that is close to the hope that many poorer Romans felt concerning Caesar, including the Jews. Caesar was very good to them. And we should also remember that, just like Caesar (and Abraham Lincoln for that matter), President Obama did some things that even he himself knew (and President Obama plainly said in public), he had no legal authority to do. Such clearly unlawful actions provoked in many conservatives as much feeling against him as many liberals felt for him. For me personally, I was grieved when he celebrated at the White House the abomination of queerdom, but then, that is immoral direction that this entire culture is taking, conservative and liberal. God is watching, and men will certainly reap what they sow.

Let us stay together in peace, Allison, under the wing of Jesus, and stay out of politics. Neither the Republicans nor the Democrats provide the children of God with any hope whatsoever; only Jesus does that.

Pastor John

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Amen, brother John. It’s a miracle that we have been called out of the synthesis of Rome and the fallen body of Christ. It is just as big a miracle that we have been called out of the union of our mother and father – our flesh.
If we are walking in the spirit of Christ, the flesh is nothing but a dead wrapper, and politics is itself imposed government.

Jerry

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And, it feels like looking to a political figure to a political figure for anything other than upholding civil law might lead us down a road where we are looking to political leaders to fulfill a role that should only be filled by Christ and those He has anointed.

Putting a worldly leader in such a position feels like it’s one part of the “synthesis” equation.

Allison

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Agreed.

Pastor John