Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
Select a thought to read by choosing a collection, the month, and then the day:
Hello Pastor John!
Last Saturday was a treasure for all! I sure wished that there was a CD to listen to, so I could get all the gold from each word you gave to us. It was wonderful to see, hear, and hug you, Barbara, Debbie, and Jimmy, etc.
Seeing the young people being prayed for and feeling such love from GOD! Listening to Night Music 2 felt so comforting. We sure are a blessed people. There is a freedom in our walk with GOD, and I felt it stronger than ever sitting on the floor listening to you say, “I am going with GOD whether anyone else does or not!”
Those are not the exact words, yet the meaning was clear. OH, how I love where GOD has allowed me to be! There is great comfort in being led by GOD’s anointed. The HOLY GHOST in me REJOICES to have such safety while on this earth. Each one of GOD’s children with you have it! WOW! What a LOVING FATHER!
Thank you, Pastor John, for loving GOD and doing HIS WILL, and LOVING HIS children. GOD’s mercy and love is so great that it feels like my heart will bust when I try to tell HIM “Thank YOU!”
love,
Sister Wanda
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Hi Sister Wanda:
That afternoon and evening in Brother Gary’s living room with everyone was absolutely wonderful, wasn’t it? Our fellowship was as pure and as encouraging as we have ever felt. I wish all of God’s people knew the brightness of life into which Jesus has led us with his love and truth. It is precious. But they will have to come out of Christianity to find this kind of life. This beauty is not to be found anywhere within the walls of Christianity.
You know, Wanda, this week someone else (I forget who) also told me that last Saturday night I said to you all something like, “I am going on with God whether anyone else does or not.” I could hardly believe my ears when they said that, and I figured they had just been mistaken. And now, you tell me, too! I am surprised. That doesn’t even sound like me. I feel too great a need for fellowship with you all to think like that. Maybe those words did come out of my mouth, but I can’t imagine how they sneaked past my mind. I must have been thinking about something else while my mouth was running. :) I wish we had recorded our conversation so that I could listen to it and see what it is that I was trying to say. Whatever it was, it was not that. I do not have that kind of boldness. Jesus has taught me better.
Some years ago, I was listening in my car to a Christian minister “preaching” on the radio. He was bragging to the effect that he was “going on with God no matter if anyone on earth turned against him and the gospel” – something to that effect. Jesus spoke to me and said, “That’s how a man talks who has never heard from me.” I knew immediately what he meant. Paul the apostle never said anything like that. Rather, he humbly asked the saints to pray for him, that he would have the courage to speak the things he had been taught by Jesus. A man who has really heard from God does not feel super-confident; instead, he feels deeply his need of help. The doctrines of God can be terrifying.
I need your prayers, Wanda, your love, your gentle spirit, your testimony. And that goes for all the saints. That’s why God gave you to me, and me to you, in Christ. The truth of Christ challenges our flesh. It reveals the greatness of God, not man. It does not give any man room to boast in how faithful he will be to God, “no matter if everyone on earth turns against him.” I don’t know what I would do if I were all alone, the way Jesus was when he walked here among us. He is my hero because he was faithful to God with no one to help or encourage him. He really did overcome the whole world. Even his closest friends worked against him, without understanding what they were doing.
Anyway, please help me by praying for me, as well as for all the saints, that I will be faithful to Jesus and courageous as I ought to be with the light he has entrusted to me. This is a frightening gospel. It is too great for any man to bear in his own strength. You and the other saints are a precious gift to me, and I love you all. Let’s continue to strengthen each other until we all meet together in the presence of God. That will be the best meeting of all.
Your servant,
Pastor John