“Gird up the loins of your mind”

Hi John,

A few weeks ago I had a dream, and in the dream, the most important part to me was when I heard a voice say, “Gird up your loins”. I really felt like the spirit was saying this.

Last night, I heard a man quote that biblical phrase in the documentary we all watched last night, “Captivated”. I just would like to hear what you say this phrase meant when in times past it was spoken. I feel like the documentary last night was well worth seeing, and I am praying that Jesus will help us with moderation in all things.

Thank you,
Caroline
===============

Hi Caroline:

The way the man described it last night was right. Ancient, robe-wearing people had to tie up (“gird up”) their robes around their waist so that their legs would be free to run. It was a phrased used for ordinary people, not athletes. Athletes in the Ancient Greek culture did not wear any clothing at all when they competed, whether in races or other forms of athletic contests.

Then, the phrase,”Gird up the loins of your mind” means, basically, “Get ready to work!”

jdc

Read Full Post »

The Cross: Some research

 I can’t figure him out! I don’t get it!

I have this KJV “Expositor’s Study Bible,” with verbose verse-by verse explanations by brother Jimmy Swaggart.
Someone gave it to me a long while ago. I sometimes go to it to see his point of view, and evaluate it against what I feel in the Spirit.

Aaaaagghhh! I am totally exasperated by this poor, confused brother.
How can a man who is precisely right about the New Birth—for all the right reasons—be so off the mark with “saved”, and “water baptism”, and “Church”?!!

Most annoying of all is his repetitive, vehement insistence that “the object of a believer’s faith must be THE CROSS and ONLY the Cross”. This statement continues to completely baffle me. EVERY time that phrase comes up (and it’s way too often in his footnotes interspersed between the text), my Spirit winces. It doesn’t sound right. It doesn’t feel right.

I have continually asked God, with earnest prayer, to reveal to me WHY Jimmy Swaggart says that; and why it’s wrong. (I simply cannot understand his point at all, whether or not it’s true or false. How can one put their faith in that object, when that object merely served to kill the Lord, and Jesus’ sacrifice took place later, in heaven, before the Father, who accepted it, and then sent back the SPIRIT to guide us into all truth, empowering us to live holy lives?) The only right answer (I think) is that our faith ought to be in the power of God, via the holy ghost, and not in the wooden tree that tortured Jesus. It’s what occurred beyond the Cross that makes the difference! Isn’t it?

Swaggart backs up his argument, voraciously, by stating “the source of everything that a believer needs is found entirely in the Cross, and in Christ crucified. If our faith is in anything else, it’s a deception from the devil; a false doctrine. . . and the holy Spirit will not help us.” Only by placing our faith and trust entirely “in the finished work of the Cross” gives the Holy Spirit the liberty to work in our lives on our behalf. He goes on to assert that “the Cross is the only means by which a sinner can be saved, and the only means by which a Christian can walk in victory.” But, even if that were true— HOW do you put your faith in an object that merely tortured and killed the Savior?! First I want to understand Swaggart’s point, then refute it with spiritual truth; but I can’t!

He also writes this: “That’s why Paul kept using the phrase, “in Christ”. .. over and over. The phrase refers to what Jesus did at the Cross.”

No it doesn’t. It refers to those who are born of the Spirit; those who have been crucified with Christ by Spirit baptism, becoming in Him through a spiritual transformation. Am I wrong?!

John, would you take a few minutes to clarify whether or not I am correct or whether I need correcting?

And please tell me what Christians such as Jimmy Swaggart mean when they proclaim such a doctrine?

And. . . Where did they go off the track?

brad
===============

Hi Brad.

There is no pleasure, is there, in trying to make sense out of the senseless doctrines of Christianity? If Jesus had been hacked to death with an ax, would Christian ministers then teach that the only hope of mankind is to put our faith in an ax?

I must disagree with your comment about Brother Swaggart is “precisely right” in his doctrine of the new birth. I know that is not the case. Anyone who teaches sinners to “repeat after me, and get saved” cannot possibly be teaching the truth about the new birth. A person is not born again until Jesus baptizes him into his body with the holy ghost (1Cor. 12:13), with the evidence of speaking in tongues (or “stammering lips”). Brother Swaggart does not teach that.

Pray for him. He is very confused. As for explaining to me what such misguided teachers mean when they say what they say, I simply cannot. The only thing I feel confident of is that they think they are telling the truth, and we should ask God to help them do it, the way He has helped us.

As for where ministers “got off track”, well, the perversion of the faith of Christ began while the apostles still lived, and it has gone downhill since then, just as Jesus, Paul, Peter, and others foretold would happen (2Tim. 3:13). And here we are, trying to help God’s children who are deceived by false teachings. The only thing they feel confident of is that what we are telling them cannot possibly be the truth. Their teachers have assured them of that.

Pastor John

Read Full Post »

Fasting 2

Pastor John:

I love this [your explanation about fasting]. In the New Testament they ask Jesus why he and his disciples didn’t fast.
=========

Yes, and that is because Jesus was teaching his disciples to fast God’s way, as described in Isaiah 58.
=========

You said Isaiah 58 has nothing to do with food. So what is meant by the one in the New Testament? Is it also hungry for him?
=========

Yes. If you read Isaiah 58, then you saw that God’s description of a true fast included no mention of doing without food.
That is the New Testament form of fasting, the one Jesus sent the Spirit to enable us to keep.
=========

And how did you know it had nothing to do with food?
=========

What indication do we have that God accepts men’s willful abstaining from food, when He said “Is not this the fast that I have chosen?”, and then in His description, says nothing about refusing food. Strong-willed men can fast themselves to death for one of their vain causes, and some have done so. But without the holy ghost, nothing men do counts for anything in heaven. Paul said that without the love of God, which is poured out into our hearts by the holy ghost, even giving our bodies to be burned will benefit us none at all (1Cor. 13). How much less will it profit us, then, to decide that we will not eat?
=========

Don’t laugh at me I am learning. I am on a fast now. Thought i was. I thought it was staying away from food and a time to seek the Lord.

Star
=========

God is good, Star, and He knows how little we understand about His ways until he reveals Himself to us.
Your determination to do without food means nothing to God, but your desire to seek Him and to please Him means very much. He loves you. That is why He put it in your heart to ask these questions.

Pastor John

==========

Fasting

January 25, 2013

Hi Pastor John,

Hope everyone is well! I am writing to ask your advice on something (again ). I have been wondering about fasting. Did that stop when everything began to be done in the spirit? I know some of the saints have spoke of fasting to get an answer to prayer, why do people fast? Are there many forms of fasting? I do not feel led to fast but at this point I will do whatever it takes to reach God. How does God feel about fasting?

I feel like a 5-year-old, asking so many questions at once. I’m sorry for that, but I really have no idea how fasting fits into the truth.

Thank You
Beth
=========

Hi Beth.

My Uncle Joe said it best: “Fasting is when you get so hungry [for God] that you don’t eat.”
Fasting by your own will power or understanding will get you nowhere with God. My father said that to truly fast means that to have your mind on God to such an extent that He makes you forget about food. God’s fast, the one He has chosen (Isa. 58), has nothing whatsoever to do with food.

Pastor John

Read Full Post »

The reliability of Bible

Hi John,

I’ve been wondering about several things regarding the Bible. . .

In all your research of the development of Christianity (Xty) your book, The Iron Kingdom, you’ve discovered glaring errors and inconsistencies in many translations, and you’ve found that some manuscript texts were deliberately mistranslated — sabotaged by churchmen and King James, and you’ve uncovered despicable corruptions in the history of the institution of Xty, too numerous to mention. Additionally, you’ve researched the early writings of the fathers of Xty — the “apostolic (apostate) fathers” — and found their propagation of myths and falsehoods to be incomprehensible; plus, your research on Trinitarian doctrine has proven, to my satisfaction, that churchmen also misrepresented the truth regarding the Father, the Son and the holy Spirit.

So, my first question is: If men have done so much damage to the manuscripts that exist, in interpretation and/or translation, why do we accept the validity of the canon of scripture? Didn’t Xtn churchmen arrange the canon of scripture, or did God (via the influence of the holy Spirit)?

Why are the Gnostic gospels not acceptable? (I’ve never researched them; just curious.)
Why are some of the Apocrypha, the Catholic books, not included in the regular Bible?
Who are the men who compiled the Bible and why should we consider their choices reliable, especially since you have plainly seen so many instances of Xtn error and intentional manipulation in the history of the Bible?

The reason I am curious is because there is this new trend in our culture of introducing the possibility that Judas and Mary Magdalene and Thomas (and even Jesus Himself) wrote a “gospel” book, but they were disregarded or hushed-up by the patriarchy of the Xtn Church as being invalid, inauthentic hoaxes. I would like to know how to respond to those who are proposing this possibility that these other books might shed more light on the truth about Jesus, which they claim have prevented mankind from knowing the “whole story.”

I hope I haven’t asked too many questions.

Now, I am aware that those who are making such claims as “Jesus might have been married,” etc., do not have the spiritual understanding that comes with the holy Ghost. They are usually scholarly Christians who are trying to revise what they believe are the misconceptions and/or suppressed truths of Xty. They are often led by feminist agendas, and sometimes by scholars who, like your seminary professors, are essentially unbelievers, and want to discredit the Bible, and paint a different picture based on their own imaginations, and being without the power of God to guide them properly, they’ve invented these notions because they don’t know the truth.

I know, by my experiences, that Jesus is alive and is still communicating with all His children. I know the depth of the revelations you have received regarding the truth about the Father and the Son. I know that speaking in tongues is the sign of the new birth, and it’s substantiated in the scriptures, both OT and NT. And the Pentecost experience proves the validity of Jesus’ sacrifice, etc. . .

Hope you will address my questions, soon. The Iron Kingdom book might well influence a lot of people, even if self-published, because God’s people, especially, need to hear that truth and escape the inevitable destruction of that religion called Xty. I hope you will return to writing on it soon, after you’re satisfied with the completion of God Had a Son Before Mary.

My best guess is that the spirit of unbelief compels men and women to find some other explanation for Jesus’ life and death. They ignore the holy Ghost and the importance of repentance and the New Birth experience, and devise other ways to explain Jesus’ purpose on earth, being careful to not disregard His “divinity”, but essentially making Him out to be less than who He really is, to suit their own imaginations.

Brad
==============

Hi Brad.

I have read and re-read stories about how the present canon of scripture came to be what it is, but there is knowledge absent in all of them which only Jesus can provide us. Until he does, we can only speculate what that process of selection really entailed.

Some of the apocryphal books, a few of which you mentioned, are mythological foolishness, written by Christians and/or others who knew nothing about whatsoever God or the truth of the gospel (The books of Judith, Tobit, Bel and the Dragon, etc.) In a few of the apocryphal books, however, one can sense an occasional spark of truth, which leaves the impression that there may have been an original document worth reading but was corrupted by later editors. The present state of all the apocryphal books, though, is such that we are left with hardly anything edifying. I have yet to find a book reckoned among the apocryphal books, or “lost books of the Bible” that is worth spending much time with.

We know from the Bible itself that anointed men of God wrote books that have been lost, such as Paul’s letter to the Laodiceans. Until those books are discovered (wouldn’t that be great?), we have to be content with what we have (which is also great).

The best we can do is to learn well the books of the Bible well, the books we know are of God. With the guidance of the Spirit, we can do that; and, if we do that, we will be able to discern what is of God and what is not of God when we are confronted by it, whether it is a gospel that men say Judas or Thomas wrote, or a Christian minister claiming to represent Christ. Knowing God is more than knowing the scriptures, as you know. And if we know God, Jesus said, we are living in eternal life (Jn. 17:3).

I hope you are recovering well from your surgery.

Pastor John

Read Full Post »

last night’s meeting

Pastor John,

The message and music last night felt so clean. Where can you go and here such truth and feel these things that God has for his children? What a refuge city we have entered into! God is so good to us!

Billy M

Read Full Post »

Tonights Meeting

Hi Pastor John,

What an honor to be a partaker of such holy thing! The songs, the preaching, the testimonies! Where else can you find such wonderful heavenly blessings? When you and Donna were singing her new songs, all I could do was set back in my chair and let the words of the song just resonate through my body. “Magnify our King! Let the whole world know there is a king!” I could feel every word of it in my heart, tears flowing down my face for the honor to know he is our king and the privilege to feel his sweet spirit in my soul.

It is not a light thing if we fall in love with what he has done for us. There is no way we can sin if we do. That love of God will not let anything interfere with that sweet fellowship in his spirit. It feels to good, and we will love it too much to even contemplate any wrong thought, much less act on it. I am just so thankful for what he has done for us!

Stuart

Read Full Post »

His Voice

Hi Pastor John,

 

I am so thankful for what God has done for us! He sent his Son so that we could be recreated in this body here on this earth. Without the spirit that his Son purchased for us with his own suffering here in this earthly body, we all would be lost. He did it because he loved us and wanted us to be where he is with his Father, and he knew the only way we could do that was by being re-created and filled with the same spirit he and his Father had.

 
What an honor it is to be a partaker of such heavenly gifts, receiving and being recreated and filled with his spirit! He gave us everything we need to see him face to face one day. It was not just an option, an extra blessing; it was a necessity, and we cannot live holy without it. He sent the spirit to guide us nto all truth and give us the strength to do what He put in our hearts.

 
Too many times I have seen and heard things like, “I wish I would have done this, or I felt like I should have done that” (and I have done it myself), and when we first get the spirit, we do have to learn his voice and sometime we may choose the wrong thing, but we learn from that, not just what was right and wrong, but his voice so that the next time, we will follow the voice and do the right thing no matter what it looks like.

 
I want to honor him by following his voice and keeping my life clean before him. I want to hear his voice and move right away, and not hesitated and wonder and doubt what I am hearing from him. I know I can do that. I know we can do that, by keeping him first in our lives and not letting the things of this world rob us from hearing his voice, or giving in to some pleasure that makes this body feel good for a little while but pollutes the soul.

 
I owe him everything, and I love what he has done for us, and it is in our hearts to do what honors him if we are thankful for what he done for us. I want to keep my ears (my heart) clean and ready and waiting to hear the voice of my Father and his Son.

 

Stuart

Read Full Post »

“evil doer” license plate

Pastor John,
As I was sitting in traffic I saw this license plate. I couldn’t believe my eyes!
Michelle

===========

Hi Michelle.

That is only to be expected now. The last presidential election proclaimed to the world that this country has chosen evil over good. Very many people in this country are now proud to be immoral, and they think there is something fundamentally wrong with anyone who is not immoral, especially if that person loves the gospel of the Lord Jesus. As Peter said, “They think it strange that you do not run with them.”

It has been a long time in developing, but as that license plate indicates, this is now the kind of culture we live in. Pray that God will raise up young people to be a light for the generation that is growing up.

Pastor John

Read Full Post »

Amy B – Rest

Pastor John’s House Teaching Materials and Music Store

 

Pastor John,

I am going through some dvd’s I have from 2002, during our “Way of Grace” days. It is so amazing to me that watching these videos from 10 years ago, and hear some of the same things we are talking about now. On the video, the beautiful song “The Way of Grace” is playing and everyone is laid out on the floor. And you say periodically different things the Spirit was saying. You start out by saying “Rest…..Rest. Let him love you for a while…..You rest.” Then you tell a story about you and Uncle Joe painting one day. Here is how the rest of it went:

When I was a little boy, I worked with Uncle Joe painting. He worked for the City School maintenance. I was sitting down and he said, “Here, let me paint a stretch while you’re resting.” But I wasn’t resting. He took the paintbrush out of my hand and made me rest. Let Jesus have your paintbrush! Don’t even think about it. Let him take it!….
Then you quoted a few scriptures: “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures”, “Casting all your care upon him because he careth for you”, “He leadeth me beside still waters.” and then the last thing you said was, “This (the rest) comes with authority.”
He really does mean “rest” and we really do have to learn how to do that. I love how God continues to show us things until we get it! 8) He is very patient.

Read Full Post »

1Peter 1:2

http://www.goingtojesus.com/site/php/sanctification.html

Hey uncle John.

Aaron and I were reading in 1Peter a lil bit ago, and we were having a hard time understanding verse 2:

“[1] Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
[2] Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ”.

We read the tract you wrote on “Sanctification”, too, and we were wondering if “sanctification of the spirit” and “sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ” mean the same thing.

Abby
===================

Hi Abby!

“Sanctification of the spirit” and “sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ” are closely related, in that God sanctifies us by “sprinkling” the blood of Christ upon us. If we put Peter’s phrase, “through sanctification of the Spirit” in parentheses, and add a clarifying few words, it might clear things up:

“[2] Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father (through sanctification of the Spirit) to bring us into obedience and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ”.

The word, “elect” is the key here. It means to be chosen. We were chosen by God long ago to be brought into obedience and to receive the (continual) sprinkling of the blood of His Son. This all begins when we are sanctified by the Spirit.

Uncle John
===================

Uncle John,

So Peter is saying that u are sanctified so that u can obey and get the Holy Ghost? So he’s just telling the difference between the old covenant and the new?

Abby
===================

Well, of course, the sprinkling of the blood of Christ is the difference between to Old and New testaments, but that is not what Peter is emphasizing here. Instead, he is celebrating with the saints the fact of their being called by God to obey the gospel and be washed by the blood. So, instead of “saying that u are sanctified so that u can obey and get the Holy Ghost”, Peter is saying that you have received the holy Ghost so that you can obey God and live in sanctification.
Thanks for the questions. You and Aaron are doing well by reading the Bible together.
Uncle John

Read Full Post »