Preacher Clark biography

Hey John

I have been reading tonight Chapter 8 eight in the biography you wrote about your father. Very good!! One thing that you said in Chapter 8 really struck me: “But the truth was that I had merely been allowed to stand on the shore and feel one small wave of an ocean of the knowledge of God that is hidden in Jesus.” This book will humble the heart to a new place that it has not been.

John, I am sad that this book about Preacher Clark is coming to a end.

Thanks,
JE

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Psalm 2:7

Is there a possibility that the Father is speaking of “bringing forth” the Son into view or revealing him? Looking around yalad seems nearly always to be connected with literal birth, but there are a few abstract uses such as in Proverbs 27:1. And in the Hithpael there is the sense of “to declare one’s birth (pedigree)”.

djc
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Hi Damien:

I think there is another figurative use of yalad in play here, in Psalm 2:7. Often, in the ancient world, when a great king installed another as subject king of a province or territory, he would re-name that lower king, as if that king were his son. Symbolically, in renaming the lower king, the greater king was “begetting” the lower king, the way a father names his son when he is born. Here, in Psalm 2:7, God the Father is speaking of installing Christ on his throne in heaven after his resurrection and ascension. So, yes, your gut feeling is right. The Father “begat” the son when he glorified him and placed him on the throne, thus revealing to be “Lord of Lords and king of kings.”

jdc

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chapter 6 feelings and thoughts

Pastor John’s House Teaching Materials and Music Store

 

John,

I am not sure why my thoughts went in all directions, connected somehow, but I don’t seem to be able to make an edifying communication of the random thoughts.

It touches so many points of faith:

The message on “All Things”* goes much deeper, makes God much wiser, more in control, and much more terrifying.

An example of God’s patience now seems in perfect character when he said the iniquity of the inhabitants of Canaan haven’t reached the fullness therefore they will remain in the land for a while is believable with no effort.

it helps me believe he that is least in the kingdom is greater than John the Baptist due to the Son’s greatness.

I have to now ask myself do I believe God is in 100 % in charge not 99 and 9/10 percent?

Not of him that wills it nor of him that runs the race but of God who shows mercy.

t makes me ponder Jesus words will he find faith when he returns.

Oh, Thank you Jesus!!!! Oh Thank you Father!!!!

Wendell

* Pastor John’s “All Things” book has been revised and retitled, Suffering and the Saints.

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Satan tempting Jesus

Good Morning John,

I have been trying to find the answer to a question that I beleive you have addressed somewhere in chapter 6. In the chapter 6 notes it states that Satan would have seen Jesus in the wilderness as any other human and would have expected him to fail as others had done in the past.

My question is this. If Satan percieved Jesus as human, why would he temp him with things beyond human power to perform, like turning a stone into bread and throwing himself from a cliff. I am almost positive I have seen the answer to this question but like I said I cannot locate it now.

Thanks.
Tom
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Hi, Tom.

Satan perceived Jesus as human but with a very close connection with God. And he knew that connection existed from the time Jesus was born, and that is why he envied Jesus and wanted him dead from the time he was born. According to the gospel written by God in the sky (Rev, 12), Satan is the one behind Herod’s effort to kill the baby Jesus.

As for having power, Satan had seen a number of earthly servants of God demonstrate great power, men such as Moses, Elijah, and Elisha. So, he would have had no problem thinking that Jesus, , since he seemed to be special to God might also have power.

Satan had no idea how much power Jesus really has.

Hope that addresses your question.

Pastor John

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Transcript (excerpt)

John,

I wrote all this down from your sermon this past Wednesday night because it was so thrilling. . . and I was about to post in as a FaceBook “Note”, but wanted your approval. Is it too much for the mixed FB audience? Or if you prefer to send it out to our group exclusively, that’s okay too.

Just wanted your opinion.

Brad

[There has been some news, recently, about many individuals in Afghanistan and/or Pakistan receiving the baptism of the holy Spirit (with the evidence of speaking in tongues) and have joined themselves with the institution of Christianity at the encouragement of a certain Christian missionary. There’s a tragic error here: GOD has baptized them—with His Spirit—and then a MAN has told them they belong to Christianity, when actually they belong to Jesus! Consequently, these new born-again souls are indoctrinated into the common ceremonies and rituals and misinterpretations of the Bible that burden so many in the religion of Christianity. But you can’t add to what Jesus has done. Jesus is enough. (God help them!)]

~~~~~~~~

John Clark points out this error in this excerpt from Wednesday’s meeting:

“If they have received the holy Ghost, they have hungerd and thirsted for righteousness. I have a right to talk to them. . . because what I talk about is what they hungered and thirsted for. It doesn’t matter who claims to have a right to talk to them. Every child of God who was baptized with the holy Spirit, in Afghanistan [or wherever]. . . to get the holy Ghost they had to hunger and thirst for what we have. They might not know it. They might not understand what we have, but I know this is what they’re after. They can get sidetracked by Christian foolishness, but that’s not what they’re after; that’s not what got them the holy Ghost. What got them the holy Ghost was hungering and thirsting for the truth—the righteousness of God—which is without ceremony, without ‘form’, without false doctrine. God help us get it to them!

‘The kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy in the holy Ghost [Romans 14:17].’ It’s IN the holy Ghost [Not in Christianity]. That’s why, when people hunger and thirst for the kingdom of God—and His righteousness—they get the holy Ghost! That’s why they get it–’cause that’s where it is! And God’s giving it to them!

God: “You want My kingdom? Speak in tongues! You want my righteousness? Here it is: speak in tongues!”

If they’d been hungering and thirsting for rigtheousness and God had given them a bowl of turnip greens I would’ve said, “That’s where it is!” But He didn’t give them a bowl of turnip greens! He didn’t give them a water baptism! He didn’t give them a ‘church membership’. He gave them the holy Ghost [with the evidence of speaking in tongues].

Glory to God!
‘Cause that’s where the rigtheousness is!
And the angels rejoice…. And Jesus rejoices…. And we rejoice!”

April 18th, 2012

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If you have the faith, then shout it from the rooftops, Brad.

jdc

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Solomon’s Wisdom reading

Pastor John’s House Teaching Materials and Music Store

 

Hi, John:

We had another wonderful time reading with everyone this past Sunday. We read from your book Solomon’s Wisdom, Chapter 6: “The Merciful and the Cruel”, and Chapter 7: “The Righteous and the Wicked”. We know that Solomon wrote those wise sayings for his son, but these passages are so rich for all of us (young or old) today. We started out by reading, “What To Do When Bad Things Happen”, in your book, All Things, that Suzi brought. I asked everyone, “Tell me something good that happened to you this week. Everyone took a turn and told on God. Tom told us about his email to you about moving; Danielle told us about the good grades that she got; I told about my grinding wheel dream; and so on — simply wonderful. Then, we read, “What To Do do When Bad Things Happen.” It comes down to believing that Jesus really does love us, and that “All things work together for good, to them that love God and are the called , according to His purpose.” But also included is the reality of how much God hates the wicked.

Reading the Solomon’s Wisdom book has been very encouraging for us. It keeps your mind on God during the off-weeks that we don’t have Livestream, and it gives you strength for the upcoming week, and we still have about half the book to read!

Hope to see you soon,
Billy

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Noticed smthg interesting in Genesis…

I was listening to your the OT class on a CD about how physics of the earth changed after the flood with the lifespan shortening & Noah getting drunk for the first time & I noticed something interesting. The first time in Genesis that the word “month” is used in the date is when the flood happen. There is not a reference to “month” before the flood. Did the moon have 30 days cycles before the flood? The moon was there as the lesser light in the night but is there any reason to assume there were months beforehand? Their were days and years (cycles of the sun?) but not mention of months. The moon affects the ocean tides so were there tides? We had a god discussion about “months” and what God did with the flood this am. I’ve noticed lately how much I’ve assumed in the Father and Son book that was wrong. We must be careful about always we just “assume” to be true. Good to think on.

te.
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It is not safe for us humans to assume anything about anything. You have obviously caught on to how ignorant we are, as a species. When we reach that point in our spiritual journey, we can really begin to enjoy the journey, and sincerely examine our own thoughts, which is what Paul told the saints to do: “Examine yourselves, whether you be in the faith.”

jdc

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JustinTV

Pastor John:

I sure do appreciate JustinTV. I am taking the time today to watch the rerun of Wednesday night’s meeting. Wow. Have had to stop and rewind often, taking notes, just to get the “meat”. Sure enlarges compassion for our brethren out there in Christianity, wherever they are on the planet. Mmmmm… Good feelings.

Brad

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Billy M – Dream / Just Now 3:34 am

Pastor John:

I had to write this dream down–I can barely type, because I feel so much of the power of God. Truly, we can do nothing without Jesus; it’s all Jesus (what he does) or it’s all nothing at all, and we know that Jesus never does anything unless his Father works through him to do it.

In my dream, I was in a big auditorium filled with people that I knew but more than I did not know. I saw you sitting across from me in the center of the auditorium as I was sitting in the right wing. Everyone was singing songs that I have not heard before. As we were singing the songs, some of us were writing the songs in a notebook, and every time that we finished the songs, the whole auditorium would speak in tongues and give God praise–the power of God was so strong in the room that it made you speak in tongues; it was an amazing sight–the love of God was just overwhelming. A man was sitting beside me and he spoke to someone next to him and said, “I love how this one speaks in tongues.”, as he was pointing to me. Then, the Spirit filled my soul and I spoke in tongues, with all of my being. It was such a deep feeling and I could feel the cleansing effect it had in my heart.

After I spoke in tongues, I turned to the stage and saw a grinding wheel, and it was spinning at a great speed. I saw a pair of hands holding a person to the wheel as I watched sparks flying all around it. As the person was being grinded, a song was coming from them, but it was out of tune. But, the more the more the person was being grinned, the more the song became in tune and easier to understand. When the grinding stopped the wheel stopped and those hands picked up that person and sat him in a seat in the auditorium. Then, the whole congregation in the auditorium spoke in tongues and started singing again. When I looked again at the grinding wheel, it read, “HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD”. After the hands sat the person in their seat, they picked up another mass (person) and started the grinding process over again. When God is finished grinding, each person became a song that was perfectly in tune. I heard another song and started writing that one on the tablet that I had; We all know that song;

“Through it all, through it all.
I’ve learned to trust in Jesus, I’ve learned to trust in God.
Through it all, through it all . . .”

I said (in my heart), “I know this song and started singing with the congregation with my whole heart. After the song, the whole room yielded to the power of God and started speaking in tongues and praising God as before. At that time, I drew a diamond in front of the song. Then, I awoke and was feeling those same feelings in the dream.

I believe I read in your father’s book about a grinding wheel. I really would like to read that again.

The meeting last night was wonderful. You were saying that all we need to do is yield (to the power of God). We can not do anything! But we can do all things though Christ that strengthens us. It’s about Jesus. In the dream, God is the one who does the grinding and it is God who sits us down in our place–like Gary’s song, “Put us in order”. I started thinking about the older saints–they knew without a doubt that what happened to them was no one but God doing it, and they trusted God with the whole hearts and yielded to the power of God. They knew they are nothing without him and they had confidence in that.

Your servant in love,
billy m.

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Salvation

Hi John,
Just a quick note: something I was relieved to discover in my Bible reading…
I am so dog tired of hearing the claims of the “I’m-saved-and-you-can’t-make-me-doubt-it” Xns on Facebook.
So, I dug in and did some reading, with my wonderful assistant—Strong’s Concordance—just to really see what the Bible says about salvation, and was relieved by the many scriptures that support the truth. (Xns make it so confusing trying to have it their way!)
One scripture, in particular, that JUMPED out at me, I don’t recall ever having read before, but it is pretty interesting, among many others that satisfy the fact that salvation is a future hope.

1Thess 5:9 – KJV –

For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. . .”

1Thess 5:9 – NASV –

For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. .”

 1Thess 5:9 – NIV –

For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath, but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

1Thess 5:9 – PJHV –

For God has not appointed us to wrath but to obtain salvation through our Master, Jesus Christ. . .”

(The NIV is the one that comes the closest to being a bad influence, with the possibility of a misinterpretation based on “receiving” salvation in the present, as Xns proclaim.)
But the word “obtain” is pretty much a slam dunk of something that is to be received in the future; something to work for, to hope for, to live for. PRAISE GOD!!!!
I don’t know how Xns can read their Bibles and still hold onto the notion that they “got saved” (received their guaranteed salvation forevermore) when they “accepted Jesus into their hearts.”
I felt led by the holy Ghost to research that, and it has refreshed me this morning.
Brad
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When I was young, I also did a survey of the various forms of “save” in the New Testament (i.e., after the day of Pentecost. I wanted to see what the apostles said about salvation after they were born again.
As I recall, about 75% of the times that the apostles used one of the forms of “save”, they used it in a future tense, as in the phrase, “shall be saved”. About 23% of the time, they used it with a present meaning, as “being saved”. And about 2% of the time, they used “saved” in the past tense. It was clear to me that Christians had it all wrong. They use “saved” almost exclusively in a past tense form, which is an obvious corruption of the gospel.
Be thankful that you have the sound judgment and the humility to bow to whatever God has said about salvation, Brad. It is no small thing. And pray for the masses who have been swept up in this “get saved” madness. At some point in the future, I feel sure, Jesus will raise up somebody who will help them stop claiming what they must work to obtain: the salvation of the Lord.
I leave you with Jesus’ words from John 5:28-29

28. The hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice 29. and come out, those who have done good things unto the resurrection of life, but those who have practiced evil unto the resurrection of damnation”.

When is the last time anyone has heard any Christian, whether a minister or not, refer to those verses? I have never heard a Christian sermon based on those verses, or on these verses, from Romans 2:

6. [God] will render to every man according to his deeds,
7. to those who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, He will give eternal life:
8. but unto those who are contentious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, He will give indignation and wrath.
9. There will be tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first,and also of the Gentile,
10. but glory, honor, and peace to every man who does good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile.

jdc

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