Posted in NetMail on July 31, 2016|
Pastor John,
Something God told me years ago, came up today in conversation. It blessed me again to experience it. I believe it came from the Lord, so I want to share it:
God will never meet you in the flesh. If He did, even one time, you would never leave there.
Jerry
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That is true, Jerry. That’s what made it so hard for the Jews to understand Paul’s gospel. God HAD met with them, so to speak, in the fleshly works of the law which He gave them.
Pastor John
Posted in NetMail on July 29, 2016|
I love this (below). Especially as a scientist, this provides such clarity. This is how I’ve been explaining to others how I can easily reconcile “the laws of science” with my beliefs. I mean, OK, yes gravity exists, and when you drop a ball from a roof it falls at whatever the rate is (96 ft/sec?? Damien, help me out on that–I’m probably way off). But who put those laws in place? And when a cell needs to divide, you get all these reactions associated with DNA replication. My goodness, what a ton of reactions that have to occur for this not to result in mutations! Who created all these processes? And natural selection occurs and can easily be observed. Well, who came up with that process? Exactly, God did all this! Wow!! God created it all. If there is life in another solar system, God made it happen. Remarkable. This all provides such strength to me! As always, thanks for these bits of wisdom!
Bill
God’s Laws
“The day is yours, the night also is yours. You made the light and the sun.
You set all the boundaries of the earth. You made summer and winter.”
Psalm 74:16–17
The “law of Moses” was God’s law, not Moses’. God gave it to Moses; Moses did not write a single line of it, and Israel was preserved in peace when they obeyed that law. Likewise, the “laws of physics” and “laws of the universe” are God’s laws. God created this universe and the laws that are in it; the universe did not make its own laws. And it is held together by the laws He instituted for it.
Posted in Q&A on July 28, 2016|
Hey, I have heard a few people lately say you are not to question God. I was wondering where that came from? I did a search online to see what others say, and I saw that many use the scripture from Romans 9:20 (KJV):
“Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?”
Very interesting. Vince and I were talking about how many in the Bible did question God about their situation, like David, who many times throughout the Psalms questioned God, and not only that, but some complained to Him (Moses being one). I was just curious about this. It seems to be a pretty big belief for some.
Thanks!
Amy
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Hi Amy,
Yes, the “don’t question God” idea is out there. There are even songs with that idea in the lyrics. The Bible teaches otherwise. Who better to ask questions to, than the One who knows all the answers?
We are supposed to seek God, and ask Him why He is doing what He does. How else will we ever find out? I wrote about this in my book, Suffering and the Saints:
Ask God why. Have you ever heard someone say that he never questions God? That is so contrary to faith! God wants us to know Him and His ways, and He invites us to ask Him for knowledge and understanding. All the righteous men and women in the Bible accepted God’s invitation to seek Him for answers and zealously sought God for them. The question, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” came from the lips of the Son of God. He knew that God loved him and would not be angry with him for asking.
Pastor John
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Amen! It’s wonderful to be reminded of this, to be reminded of how much our Father loves us.
Donna
Posted in NetMail on July 27, 2016|
Good morning Pastor John!
I love our life. I love Jesus molding us and shaping us into what we he wants us to be.
I was reading some of the things Jesus has given to you for the body. One morsel after another. As I read a Thought for the Day that was posted on Facebook, it was so rich and thick with God’s Truth, I felt like it was dripping off the page like honey. I posted it, praying to the Lord that some broken soul read that and take it in. Praying the sweet mercy of God, dripping off that page, would cover their heart. It is so thick with the answer they need. I needed it. I was dying in sin and I had no idea God was real. I had no idea I could cry out to Jesus and that he would answer. Oh Pastor John, it is on my heart this morning to cry out for them. Lord cover them like honey, let your truth drip into their hearts! That is all I see as I write you, thick golden honey.
I have often asked Jesus why His children are not rich like Solomon. Sometimes it seems like life is so hard just getting through the daily grind of making a living.
Lord, forgive me for ever asking such a foolish question. I feel so rich and so privileged to be part of the body, to even get to eat of the food Jesus has provided. Jesus has spread out a table of gold for us. I read one after another this morning. I don’t even have anymore words. It is just so good and true and rich.
I had to share it with you. The sweet mercy of God was too sweet to keep to myself. It’s like winning the lottery and wanting to take care of all those you love. I feel like I won the lottery and just want to give it to the whole body.
Beth
Pastor John,
I love this, from a testimony by Uncle Joe, many, many years ago! I have never heard this before. Things like this from Jesus do something to me. Uncle Joe said:
“[The scriptures say that Jesus] ‘did no sin, neither was any guile found in his mouth.’ No bitterness! That’s why they say a dove is like the holy Spirit; there is no bitterness in him. He can’t eat the things that other birds can eat because he doesn’t have any gall to digest it with.”
Beth
Posted in Q&A on July 26, 2016|
Hi John!
Reading in psalms 22:20. What does the word “darling” mean here?
Thank you for your help!:0)
Patty
PS And, are we ” the people that shall be born”? (In verse 31?)
Awesome!
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Hi Patty!
The word translated “darling” in Psalm 22:20 is normally translated “only” or “only one”. And there is a “my” attached to it. I don’t know why the KJV has it as “my darling”, other than how that word was used in 1611. Literally, it is “my only one”, but since the word “life” is used in the first half of the verse, most modern translations have “my precious life” or “my only life”, which is a reasonable translation.
Pastor John
PS Yes, those who receive the Spirit are the people that David, in spirit, foretold would be born. And yes, that is awesome!
jdc
Posted in NetMail on July 26, 2016|
Hi John,
I love recording and editing the tracts for the web, but what I love the most is to be able to do nothing but listen and take it all in. All I could feel was desperation before your father received the holy Ghost and nothing but pure joy and relief afterwards. The personal note that you read at the end brought this whole work to light for me. I could hardly get through the tract while I listened to it again without crying. In your personal note you wrote, “communion with God provided his only relief from pain.” This, in essence, is what your father (and now you) labor so diligently for – so others can receive that communion, and so that all people might understand that communion in the Spirit with God is what our souls need most, and is what Jesus died for us to have. In this world, it is our only hope (until Jesus returns) of relief and true rest.
I never got to hug your father. I really want to do that whenever we meet, and tell him, thank you! After listening to you read, I feel such a love for Preacher Clark.
billy
*The above blog refers to an audio tract recorded by Pastor John, How I Received the Holy Ghost, by George C. Clark, Sr.
If you would like to listen to this gospel tract, follow the link below and choose Gospel Tracts and then #1, How I Received the Holy Ghost.
http://goingtojesus.com/gtj_audio.html
Posted in NetMail on July 22, 2016|
Hi Pastor John,
I am still very encouraged from our readings lately; I have never felt so encouraged to live for this Truth. The Truth that we have has never gone through a tunnel, as we read about in the Two Gospels book (Acts 15 Council). We saw that God’s people went into what might be called a spiritual tunnel after the apostles died and mixed the truth with wrong ideas about God. But this truth is just as pure as it was on the day of Pentecost.
I was driving through the mountains of Virginia yesterday and had the sweetest time reflecting about our NT readings, the Two Gospels readings, and listening to our gospel tracts on my iPhone. It’s wonderful to be able to hear about Jesus and his Father without the message being mixed with anything. At the same time, it’s wonderful to have an attitude that if we are wrong about a word, phrase, or what we’re doing, that we will change, change to become more like God and have more of a mind of Christ.
I love these feelings of joy and peace!
Billy
Posted in NetMail on July 19, 2016|
Hi Pastor John!
I had a lesson from God last week.
Sometimes I have these feelings come of wanting more assurance from the Lord. I have had amazing experiences with Jesus, and most of the time I feel very connected to Jesus. Every once in a while, though, I have a thought come, like “Lord, are you really there? I want to know you are really really there.”
Last week, I asked Jesus to let me know that He is really there. Not to just believe, but know. Let me know like Preacher Clark knew. Let me know I have that quarter in my pocket, as he used to say it. The next day I woke up feeling awful. I felt heavy and empty. I felt like the old Beth, and I hated it. This feeling lasted 4 days. I put in CDs, and I could not feel anything. I tried a lot of CDs…I felt nothing. I read the bible, and again I felt nothing. After days of feeling miserable, I came home and told Jerry how awful I felt. Jerry knew that something was wrong, but he could not help me. Finally, I could not take it anymore. I went in the bedroom, and I said, “Jesus help me! I cannot take this feeling anymore. Please take it from me. I am so used to being happy, and I don’t like this feeling.”
As soon as I said that and realized what I said, I felt it lift. I felt more like myself again. I thought that maybe Jesus wanted me to realize how happy and blessed I am, but there was more.
I drove to Kentucky on Saturday, and Jesus showed me the whole lesson.
The Lord had pulled away those four days, and showed me what I feel like without Him. I could not make myself feel better. I could not talk myself into feeling Jesus. I tried. I tried hard, but it did not work. I could not put in a CD and feel those sweet feelings from the spirit because that comes from Jesus. That is a gift from Jesus EVERY time. It is never once something I do or control.
Beth
Posted in NetMail on July 19, 2016|
The book about the Two Gospels is such a wonderful work that you have put together & I really do believe God’s hungry people are going to eat it up one day.
It’s sweet to think about someone finding this in a book store or on their grandmother’s old book shelf or an attic somewhere, reading it & getting so excited that they search for the author. Even if we’re not around, can you imagine them searching & finding John David or maybe even little John David or even some of our other young people & they will be able to say, “Oh yes I was around when that was written & I remember the saints reading it & reading it & loving it more each time they went over it.” Wouldn’t that be just wonderful. Yes, I think that could so easily really happen.
Thanks for doing this!!
Sheila
Pastor John's House Mail Bag 