Tag: Message of the Hour

The Rapture of Fear

The Bitter Belly13 Comments

“If there is only one person that makes it into the rapture, you believe you will be that one.”

I sat with wide eyes as a child listening to that statement.  I squirmed in my chair looking around to count all the spiritual people that would make it before me.  How could the minister not make it?  His wife certainly would have to, and surely the song leader and the deacon.  It was going to be such a small number, how would there ever be enough room for me?

Nightmares of coming home to an empty house with no mommy or daddy met me night after night.  Vivid images of hideous beasts and demons haunted me.  The sermons of concentration camps and the terrors of the tribulation made their way into my little thoughts as I drifted off to sleep.

Tribulation.  Hell on earth.  The bride was to be such a small number.  Brother Branham always seemed to emphasize the number eight, just like Noah’s ark.  I began to count again: Brother Billy Paul, Brother Joseph, Brother Billy’s wife, Brother Joseph’s wife, their kids… I ran out of fingers.  Confused, I wondered just how many would be in the rapture.  Surely all of Brother Branham’s family, after all he said anyone who loved him would be there.  I began to reason that perhaps because they were family, I didn’t have to count them.  I started over: Brother Byskal, Brother Green, Brother Reagan, my pastor, the song leader… I ran out of fingers again.

I thought about Brother Branham’s horse and his green chair.  His dog was there.  Surely, just surely I could go too.  Night after night the nightmares came finally sending me crying to my parent’s room where my dad led me to the Lord at the very tender age of six.  I didn’t want to miss it.  I didn’t want my mommy and my daddy to leave me behind.

This was the beginning of fear.  Once I voiced this fear aloud and was told that the fear of the Lord was the beginning of wisdom.  This taught me that fear was okay.  It was normal to be afraid.  My nightmares followed me to into my adult life.  They changed from coming home to an empty house with no family, to my children being taken away from me and me being placed in a prison for not denying my faith.  I would wake up scared, everything was so vivid and real, often I rose to check on my babies and pause to listen to their steady breathing.  They were so peaceful and so unaware, just as it should be.

The Bible tells us “Do not fear” and “Do not be afraid” at least 365 times.

As a child I was taught demons were real, when someone was prayed for you were to bow your head so the demon did not jump on you.  I was told about the mark of the beast, the great tribulation, and the many imagined things that it would bring.  No food, prison camps, torture, be-headings, giant bugs eating women who cut their hair, numerous details I really don’t care to remember.  I was taught fear.

With this fear was the act of conforming and obedience to all that was said to be right.  You wanted to do what was right, what did the prophet say about that?  Quotes; they were beloved, spoken like scripture, recited, and ingrained in your mind from childhood.

“If there’s just going to go, be one, that’ll be me (Amen.), ’cause I believe.” See? That’s the way you want to believe it. “Be me.” 63-0320

Yes indeed, if there was only going to be one, you believe you will be that one. How?  How could you possibly make it with all of these spiritual ministers and people around you?  There wasn’t enough room; the number was just too small.  Doubt always lingered, and the plans of survival set in.  As a small child I kept a backpack in my closet with plans of escape. Looking back on that, it makes me sad.  No child should have to live in that fear.

There was always a statement that I held onto:

Just then, a voice spoke and said, “All that you ever loved, and all that ever loved you, God has given to you. We’re all here together.” Oh, my, my heart just melted within me. “All that you ever loved, and all that ever loved you, is gathered here with you to meet God.” 60-0608

That’s it? I just have to love Brother Branham and I’ll be there?  I love Brother Branham, I can do that.  I think perhaps this is the beginning of my veil between me and Christ.  I can remember prayers where I said something like, “Lord I believe, your prophet Brother Branham said…”  Why on this earth would God send His only Son to die in our stead to be the ONLY mediator between God and man for us to be sent a “prophet” to take his words and rely upon them above Jesus’? As though Jesus was not enough?

The elitism, the attitude that I was special; I was “one of them”…. I had a prophet.  How privileged I was to be called to the message, to know God sent a prophet in my day.  After all, it wasn’t for everyone, but it was for me.  This attempted to silence my doubts.

“If only one makes it, you believe you will be that one.”

I thought of all the people I would leave behind.  I was told not to worry about that, that it was just to build my faith.

Reflecting on these teachings from my childhood, I hesitate to share them.  I don’t want to hurt my parents or the people I grew up with.  I don’t think these are thoughts they intended me to have.  I honestly don’t think they even knew I had them.  I think had they known, they would have reassured me and done everything they could to relieve me of those fears.  If you can take anything away from me sharing this portion, perhaps you can relate, perhaps you cannot, but can you ask yourself, “What did the children grow up hearing?”  Children are so impressionable, what are they hearing?

Brother Branham said Noah was supposedly a ‘type’ of the bride that went in the ark.  In another ‘type’ Enoch was the bride and Noah and his family went through the tribulation.  This never made sense to me.  In my study, I’ve thought about Noah preaching to the people telling them what was coming.  They didn’t believe him.  They ignored him.  Many probably thought he was crazy and steered clear of even crossing paths with him.  I thought about Noah and his family walking into the ark and looking outside one last time to invite the people to come in.  Perhaps his sons pulled at his sleeve and said, “It will be okay Dad, just come in and sit down.” Noah didn’t shut the door.  I don’t think he could have.  Not because it was heavy or cumbersome, I think as he looked out on his family, friends, and neighbors, the people he had known all his life, grew up with, went to school with, worked with them, he knew them… how could he close the door on them?  Do you think that perhaps just maybe he wanted to drag them in by the hair of their head, bind them, and gag them until it was all over?

Or do you see him clinking glasses with Ham, Shem, and Japheth; “It was for us, it wasn’t for them anyway. Look! There goes another one!”

I imagine after the door shut they sat in silence with tears streaming down their faces listening to the cries of the people being washed away.  They sat there helpless.  Mothers with babies were washed away, small children, their family.  You realize Noah had in-laws.  His son’s wives had family. They left people behind.  They went into the ark full well knowing they would never see them again.

“If there is only one…”

I can’t help but see children running around in a circle playing musical chairs.  Too many children and not enough chairs.  The music keeps playing and the children eye the chair.  They are not about to give up that chair.  I’ve decided to walk away before the music stops playing.  More than I want the chair, more than I want the prize at the end, I want someone else to have the chair.  I want someone else to have the prize.

As I walked away the fear that had haunted me my entire life evaporated.  I no longer wanted to “escape”.  If there is a rapture, and I could offer my place to someone else, I would.  If there is a rapture, whether I go or stay no longer matters.

The “bride” so full of faith and the word was to leave the weak to die for their own testimony.  This baffles me. The word says there is just ONE body.  If the “bride” leaves how can the body be divided?  Will we take the hand and leave the foot?  Or are we actually saying those who aren’t bride aren’t His at all?

Further, if there is one way to heaven and that is through the blood of Jesus, why do these people need to seal their testimony with their own blood?  The ‘Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ’ clearly says they were washed in the blood of the Lamb and given white robes.

No, I don’t understand this.  I don’t understand how I can leave one of His behind to fight just when the battle gets worse.  I can’t. I will be with them, I will encourage them.  I will tell them they are not alone, they are loved, and that He loves them.  We will fight unto the end together.  But I will not wait until the end to do so, I will tell them now.

The fear has left. In its place is a love I have never felt before; a love for all people and all creation.  I no longer see myself separate and apart from them.  No longer do I wish to be taken away from it all.  I feel like Abraham, “If there be one more Lord?  Can I help just one more?”

Every kindred. Every tongue. Every Nation.  His creation. His people.  Who are we to divide and say “It wasn’t for you.”

God said it was.

The rapture of fear has taken place. Do not fear.  Do not be afraid.  He is our rock, He is our portion, and He is our strength, our hope, our refuge.  He is everything.

“What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, what can stand against us?”  -Romans 8:31

“Don’t call everything a conspiracy, like they do, and don’t live in dread of what frightens them.” – Isaiah 8

Isaiah 43
But now, O Jacob, listen to the LORD who created you.
O Israel, the one who formed you says,
“Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you.
I have called you by name; you are mine.
When you go through deep waters,
I will be with you.
When you go through rivers of difficulty,
you will not drown.
When you walk through the fire of oppression,
you will not be burned up;
the flames will not consume you.
For I am the LORD, your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

It is Impossible for God to Lie

The Bitter Belly9 Comments

So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie.   – Hebrews 6:18

The Bible said a tongue is sharper than a two edged sword.  Words hurt and cause much damage.  Words are hard to forget.  They leave an impression upon you in their attempt to sway you and influence you.  There are words of affirmation.  They will build you up and lift your spirits.  Words can be spoken in love.  Love is patient, kind, and gentle.  Then there are words that hurt you.  They oppress you and surround you with the darkness of a lie.  They will attempt to defeat you, and never allow you to know the light of grace and mercy.  They hide the truth from you, separating you from light, they weaken your faith.

Light will drive darkness away.  The Bible tells us His word is a light unto our path.  Faith comes by hearing the word of God.  In Him is life and that life is the light of men.  There is love, mercy, and grace.  These are not found in darkness.

“For we cannot oppose the truth, but must always stand for the truth.”  – 2 Corinthians 13

So all this here pretty and beauty stuff, that comes from the devil.  65-0221

 “It is impossible for God to lie.”

By her beauty and her sex control, her shape that was given to her by Satan.  65-0221

 “It is impossible for God to lie.”

She is a perversion of the original creation.  65-0221

 “It is impossible for God to lie.”

Only a piece, scrap, made of a man, to deceive him by; God made it, right here has proved it. That’s what she was made for.  65-0221

 “It is impossible for God to lie.”

Every sin that ever was on the earth was caused by a woman. 65-0221

 “It is impossible for God to lie.”

So all this here pretty and beauty stuff, that comes from the devil. That’s exactly right.  54-0620

 “It is impossible for God to lie.”

But beauty is one of the most deceitful things there is.  57-1006

 “It is impossible for God to lie.”

There is nothing designed to be so deceitful, as a woman that’s deceitful.  57-1006

 “It is impossible for God to lie.”

Look at the stars and their brilliance.  Listen to the ocean waves clap their hands.  Remember the hues of crisp autumn leaves, snow capped mountain peaks, watch a glowing sunrise and sunset.  Look at the leopard’s spots, a tiger’s stripes, and all of the exquisite patterns and designs of His animals.  They not only look different, they sound different, each given a unique sound all their own.

There are thousands of species of delicate flowers, their fragrances unique.  The brilliant variety of tropical fish, the living coral of the deep ocean, the beautiful shells washed up on a beach.  Now, think of the tiniest micro-organism, a machine man cannot duplicate.

Each fingerprint and snowflake different, not one is the same.  See the peacock’s feathers, the iridescent wings of an insect, the brilliant colors of all creation in its variety and complex design; came from a Creator.  Each and every piece of creation was imagined, hand painted, and given life by God.  This intricate design of creation, it’s so vast and wonderful, our human minds are too inadequate to take it in.

Now tell me the woman was not a part of God’s plan.  Tell me she was an afterthought.  Tell me God made her from scraps.  Tell me Satan designed her beauty. Tell me Mary was just an incubator.  Tell me in the beginning God didn’t know man would need to be redeemed, and He would use the womb of His creation to carry the Christ child born of a virgin.  The womb was there all along; it was CREATED to hold the developing child so fearfully and wonderfully made.

Mary, a woman, carried the baby Jesus.  She birthed Him, she nursed Him, wiped His tears, and held Him in her arms.  Mary! A woman!  So low she was only created for sex?  Was she just a byproduct?  My God knew all the while, He knew Mary from the beginning, He called her by name.

 “It is impossible for God to lie.”

Her womb carried my SAVIOR! Tell me God didn’t plan that, it was just happenstance.  No!

 “It is impossible for God to lie.”

I think of all the discrepancies in the message, things that I have tried to pass off as humanity.  The nurse’s name, when Hope died, how his father died, three different birth dates, when was he commissioned?  Was there a cloud?  Was he standing under it?  Did 16 men lose their lives on a bridge?

His stories changed every single time.  I wanted to say they were not lies, he was bad with dates, he was mistaken.  He was human, he made mistakes.  Mistakes yes, telling untruths, exaggerations, misconceptions, or lies without correcting them?  No.

“For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.”  – 1 Thessalonians 1

Conviction.  Conviction tells me when I have done something wrong.  Conviction tells me I need to make it right.

Did God truly use him as a mouthpiece to my generation, to interpret the Word for me?  Did God use his voice to tell me I was low, a byproduct made from scraps to do nothing but deceive?

God created the woman, and as a woman you were in His mind from the beginning.  From the beginning God knew He would create man, man would fall, and man would need a Savior.  From the beginning God knew you, you were in Him, and He loved you.

“….even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world”  – Ephesians 1

He knows my name.  He sent His only Son to die for all creation.  He has a plan for my life.  I am not separated from the rest of creation.  Jesus loved me, He died for me too.  When all of creation was redeemed and they cried out praise to the Lamb, woman was not separated from them.  She cried out too.

“And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”  – Revelation 5

Jesus spoke to the woman at the well.  She had 5 husbands and was yet living with another. He offered her living water.  He did not condemn her, He didn’t judge her, He offered her living water!  She went running, come and see a man, is this not the Messiah?

Mary Magdalene was possessed with devils.  Jesus loved her.  He healed her and she followed Him.  How ironic, she was was the first to proclaim the Good News.

No, God can’t lie.  God didn’t say those things.  Neither would God’s mouthpiece.

Proverbs 6

There are six things that the LORD hates,
seven that are an abomination to him:
haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that make haste to run to evil,
a false witness who breathes out lies,
and one who sows discord among brothers.

Every sin that ever was on the earth was caused by a woman.” 57-1006

 “It is impossible for God to lie.”

Satan is her designer. 65-0221

 “It is impossible for God to lie.”

Look, a woman is not even so low. She’s not even a creation in God. She’s a by-product.  56-0715

 “It is impossible for God to lie.”

It was you was the one done it. You presented yourself that way, so you are the guilty one. And you, no matter how virtuous and pure you’ve lived, you’ll be guilty before God of committing adultery with a sinner, just the same as you’d went through the act.  56-1002

 “It is impossible for God to lie.”

You see a woman with a lot of paint on her face, you know what you can call her? Say, “Hello, Miss dog meat.” That’s what she is, like dog meat.  52-0900

 “It is impossible for God to lie.”

She is designed, alone, for filth and unclean living.  65-0221

 “It is impossible for God to lie.”

There is nothing designed, in all creation, that can stoop as low as a woman can.  65-0221

 “It is impossible for God to lie.”

Why didn’t He make her like that in the beginning, like the rest of His females? Because it would be unbecoming to Him.  65-0221

 “It is impossible for God to lie.”

But she is designed to be a sex act, and no other animal is designed like that.  65-0221

 “It is impossible for God to lie.”

Look, a woman is not even so low… She’s not even a creation in God.  56-0715

 “It is impossible for God to lie.”

She’s a by-product.  56-0715

 “It is impossible for God to lie.”

She wasn’t even considered in the original creation.  56-0715

 “It is impossible for God to lie.”

When a woman gets out of the kitchen she’s out of her place.   56-0715

 “It is impossible for God to lie.”

You’d never look at a woman going down the street and tell what’s in her heart. But I wanted to say these things so that you could see why that Satan is her designer.  65-0221

 “It is impossible for God to lie.”

It started with the woman. It’ll end with a woman.  60-1113

 “It is impossible for God to lie.”

Joseph, he said, “Daddy, is there such a thing as a witch?” I said, “Oh, sure.” He said, “Does she have a long nose, and she rides on a broom at nighttime?” I said, “No. She has a painted face and rides in a Cadillac to a–a cocktail party.” That’s the new modern version of it. And he said, “Is that a witch?” I don’t know whether I should’ve told him that or not, because every time on the street he sees one, he says, “Daddy, there’s a witch, isn’t it?  60-0301

 “It is impossible for God to lie.”

“They’re not worth a good clean bullet to kill them with it.” That’s right. And I hated women. That’s right.   59-0419

“You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” – John 8   

Another Gospel

The Bitter Belly9 Comments

wmbbible

I sit here staring at a very full bookcase. It is neatly lined with large red volumes stamped with golden logos of eagles.  A second and third shelf are filled with yet another set of dark leather bound volumes that took years to collect.  There are multiple copies of several paper bound books and rows of media as well.

I can remember two tape libraries over the years.  The first set was brown, and the last set was grey.  Before they finished the grey set, compact discs became available.  Next, there were MP3s and DVDs.

I now own “The Table”, complete with both formats which replaced my “Ebook player” and other software formats.  I have purchased “Stories” and Owen Jorgenson’s series.  They all fill multiple rows of shelving and now sit, gathering dust.  Occasionally they are pulled out for reference, but not very often.

When something from the “message” came out, I made certain to buy it.   I’ve ordered things from Cloverdale, Tuscon, VOGR, BC Fellowship, and others.  Upgrades, new found sermons, booklets of quotes, photo books, devotionals, story books for kids, anything that came available, to support the ministry.

Mentally adding up the amount of money spent, paying royalty fees again and again over the years for the exact same sermons, I can’t help but feel a little empty inside.  It wasn’t something I had considered before, it was just the appropriate thing to do at the time.  I half smile remembering the long lines Easter weekend at the VOGR waiting to purchase more items.  It was always a treat bumping into someone I knew to say hello.

I’ve been pondering on these things for a while.  My heart has been heavy with regret. In one way,  I always considered purchasing all of these various items a way to help support the ministry.  But now, when I think about it, I know… that just isn’t the sum of it.

Over the last few weeks I’ve encountered circumstances that have stirred me and challenged me to reconsider missions and what missions were for.

I’ve began to ask myself just what the Gospel was.  What does it mean to spread the Good News?  Missions before were shipping tape libraries and books.  Translating the message into the next language, watching slide shows of believers somewhere far away.  Missions were for message outreach.  Didn’t we feel the excitement knowing we could now hear the voice of the prophet in even the remotest of jungles?

As a youth, I volunteered at the VOGR to help package books.  I felt privileged to be a part of spreading the “good news.”  When I toured the VOGR and saw the thousands of books printed in multiple languages, it was exciting to see what God was doing.  This was the “Message of the Hour” and God was calling out a bride across the world.  The call was sent out, “Come out of her My people and into the Message of the Hour.”

The “Good News”.

The “Gospel.”

“And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” – Luke 2:10

“Soon afterward he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God.” – Luke 8:1

“And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm,

“‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you.’

And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way,

“‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’

Therefore he says also in another psalm,

“‘You will not let your Holy One see corruption.’

For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption, but he whom God raised up did not see corruption. Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. Beware, therefore, lest what is said in the Prophets should come about:

‘Look, you scoffers, be astounded and perish; for I am doing a work in your days, a work that you will not believe, even if one tells it to you.”

For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, “I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.” – Acts 13

I am asking myself, when did the Gospel become so complicated?  We used to go and spread the good news mouth to ear.  God found it fitting for the Bible to make its way from a printing press and into the hands of His people.  Today it is printed in over 2,530 languages.

The message of William Branham has managed to take the simplicity of the Bible (one book, the written inspired word of God) and add over 1200 sermons, multiple books, and various other “products.”  Prior to MP3’s the cost of shipping the tape and book libraries was phenomenal.

People were poor, hungry, sick, and without clean water.  People lived in trash dumps scavenging for things to sell to buy food to eat.  Children are orphaned as infants when their parents died of HIV.  Here in our own communities, there are poor and needy.  We have homeless and widows.  Yet, we feel that spreading the “good news” was placing a message book in their poor and empty hands.  Excitedly, we asked them, “Do you know God sent a prophet?”

Life stories of the prophet, photographs, videos of his hometown are printed and sold all over the world.  One man’s sermons gives the Bible a back seat, pushes Jesus to the side, and preaches a different gospel.  These 1200 sermons are the focus of the message believing community for spreading the gospel. 

A different gospel is a strong statement to make, when most message believers claim William Branham pointed you to Jesus.  Branham.org indeed points you to a man, but it is not Jesus Christ.  The photo at the top of this post, is the photo they have inserted into the Bible, commemorating the 100 year anniversary of William Branham’s birth.  They are dedicated in spreading the news of a prophet.  Jesus wasn’t enough for them.

These 1200 sermons point you to a prophet, they tell you to look for another Elijah.  They tell you the word is incomplete and a prophet must come and divinely interpret the Bible for you. These 1200 sermons and their author have became another veil between God and His people.  They supply you with the voice of a man with quotes to lead you and guide you in your every decision.  This takes away the very purpose and intent of the New Covenant.

Without these 1200 sermons, you have an incomplete, un-restored word.  The idea, that you need more than the Bible, the teaching that the word needs to be “restored” is heretical. What part of “it is finished” did Jesus not mean?

“For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus”  – 1 Timothy 2:5

The Bible says it is of no private interpretation, it tells us we are not to add to it or take away from it.  Most Christians hold this Bible to be the written inspired word of God. They hold it to be their standard and their absolute.

Message believers have replaced this absolute with the books and tapes of these 1200 sermons.  They search it, quote it, and live by it.  Should you bring something William Branham said to them that is not found within the Bible, or disagrees with the Bible, it makes no difference.  “He said it, they believe it, and that settles it.”

What is the good news?

It never changed. It never got any more complicated, Jesus Christ is still the same yesterday today and forever.  His word never changed.  There is no need to insert 1200 sermons, splice verses, or interpret the word to say something it does not.

God’s word says what it says and we say Amen.

Our traditions have bound us into the walls of a building, the confines of a select group of people, neglecting two words: The Gospel.

“And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” – Mark 16

The gospel is not 1200 sermons, another Elijah, the seals, or mysteries and secrets.  Jesus said, there was nothing in secret.  It was for children who would learn.  Children. The same children that sat on his knee, and He said suffer to bring them to me.  Why?  Because, it’s simple, it is love.

““For God so loved the WORLD, that he gave his only Son, that WHOEVER believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” – John 3:16

Upon leaving the message, I have been told “It just wasn’t for me”.  They told me, “It isn’t for everyone.”  What message are we spreading?

My Bible tells me it is for everyone.  The whole world, all of creation, every creature, every tongue and nation.

They want you to believe they are another book of Acts.  They drive fancy expensive cars, live in beautiful homes, and stand behind a pulpit with expensive suits.  They swap pulpits and go on vacations.  They set a higher standard that every member of the congregation strives to achieve.

“And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all. For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales and lay them at the apostles’ feet, and they would be distributed to each as any had need.” – Acts 4

Where are the poor, the desolate, the orphans, the widows, the hungry?  They are being cared for by those harlot denominational churches.  The ones we have been told Jesus is standing and knocking at the door trying to get in to.

“For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’

“Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’

“And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’ – Matthew 25

We sat with our bellies full, spiritual gluttons claiming to be the body of Christ.  Our hands have fed only ourselves and lined the pockets of wolves in sheep’s clothing.  We confined our giving to a box, a box that God does not fit inside of.

We drive past the homeless and the hungry.  When disaster strikes our thoughts are to the message believers only.  We cast off all of the other life that God has breathed into to say, it is only “birth pains” judgment upon them.  Where is our charity, the love that is the greatest of faith and hope?

God commanded us to love our neighbor as our self.  I highly doubt we even know their name.  You cannot close your eyes and pretend not to see the hurting.  When you are a new creature in Christ, saved by grace through faith, you cannot place it in a box for safe keeping.  You must pour it out and empty it, so He can fill you up again.

“And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.”

When was the last time that your message pastor encouraged you to volunteer at a homeless shelter, food bank, or other local outreach?  When has the leadership in your message church stood shoulder to shoulder with other Christians in your local area to bring relief to orphans and widows, or those affected by natural disasters?  When you sponsored tape libraries, did you also sponsor programs to bring clean water, food, and other basic services to believers AND unbelievers living in poverty?  Are we really living out the great commission and writing a new book of Acts?

“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” – 1 Corinthians 13

Seeking & Finding

The Bitter Belly3 Comments

Have you ever heard it said, “For every Bible question, there is a Bible answer”?  The Bible is my Absolute.  Anything I believe I can trace right back to the scriptures.   This was not always true.

I was once asked, “Is the Bible your Absolute?”

When I was presented with the challenge of taking my beliefs back to the scripture, I was shocked to learn most of what I had been taught was extra-biblical.  I was raised under the teachings of William Branham, known as “the message of the hour”.   Over the past year I have spent countless hours praying and studying, searching for truth.

Jesus said, “My sheep know my voice, and a stranger they will not follow.”  Separating true Biblical teaching from “special revelations” is one of the hardest tasks I have ever faced.  The more I read and studied, the more I realized how heavily indoctrinated I was.  

I cannot tell you the fear that haunted me.  I was so frightened I would be found rejecting “THE truth for my day”, afraid of being blind and not having enough revelation.

I held on to my teachings tightly.  As I compared them to scripture, they began to slip through my fingers like grains of sand.  In the end I was holding tight to thin air.

I now realize the greatest revelation is Salvation.  There is nothing greater than the redemption of God’s people through the blood of Jesus Christ.

I feel like I am climbing a mountain.  I have slipped and fallen along the way.  I have grown tired and weary.  There were days I climbed in darkness, days when rocks blocked my path. I am still climbing.

I am told the view is spectacular.

I thought I was climbing alone.  The path has cleared and I can see others climbing too.  They have helped me and encouraged me along the way.  I have seen the top of my mountain, I know there are others already there beckoning me to keep going.

There are some mountains God will move.  This was not one of them.  This mountain was to be climbed.

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”  -Matthew 7:7

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.  But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.”  -2 Timothy 2:15

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world”  – 1 John 4:1

“Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.”  – Acts 17:11

“For nothing is hidden that will not become evident, nor anything secret that will not be known and come to light.”  – Luke 8:17

“Teach me Your way, O LORD; I will walk in Your truth;”  -Psalm 86

“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  – John 8:32

Do not be discouraged.  Do not be afraid to ask questions. God will honor your search for Truth.

I was once told there can be a little truth in a lie, but there can be no lie in the truth,  There can be a little light in the darkness, but there can be no darkness in light.

Jesus said,  “I am the TRUTH, the life and THE WAY.”