Revival in America

Sadness

2008-08-18T18:02:00.000-07:00

Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.

Psalm 34:19 KJV

It's a sad day in my life. In fact it's been a sad week in so many ways. Literally, I've prayed for hours during the past week because of my sorrow. So I really don't have anything profound to say tonight.

I take great comfort in the above verse. Even in times like this, where I feel like I'm walking through the Valley of The Shadow of Death, I trust that Jesus will be with me and he weeps with me.

And I'm not alone on earth either. Think of all the saints that suffered in this life (this is a very abbreviated list):

Moses - forced to exile
Noah - ridiculed
Job - lost everything and was despised
Daniel - thrown in the Lion's Den
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abenigo - thrown in a furnace
David - ran for his life from Saul
Elijah - hid for his life
Isaiah - according to legend he was sawn asunder
Ruth - forced to glean because of poverty
Jeremiah - according to legend he was stoned
John The Baptist - beheaded
The Apostles - most were martyred
Paul - ship-wrecked, imprisioned, beaten, and martyred
Jesus - crucified

So when I'm suffering, I'm in good company. My only hope is to remain faithful as these people did.

John Wheeler

Faith of Mustard Seed

2008-08-14T17:33:00.000-07:00

I still remember when I first heard the Bible story in which Jesus says, "if you had faith like a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain be cast into the sea and it would obey." I was a very young kid, and was anxious to put this verse to the test. So living within sight of Mt. Rainier I headed outside to do some big mountain moving.

Well,,,,, needless to say, the mountain is still where it's always been for ages.

Like so many before, I thought that faith was something that was palpable - a force that I could feel and see. Something that I could use like a weapon in my arsenal of spirituality. However, I was wrong.

What Jesus is really saying is that if you'll trust God with all your heart, just like this little mustard seed - you can do anything.

The key to spiritual power is to completely rid yourself of yourself and completely trust God. To humble yourself before God and man, and finally admit that you are completely powerless. (Which you are, even if you don't admit it). If it weren't for the good things that God benevolently supplies you with, how long would you last? What if God turned off the sun? Or if on a whim he allowed all the oxygen escape into outer space, what would you do oh small mortal?

So emtying yourself should be easy. It should be the most logical thing to do, but we're stubborn and we're proud.

And therefore we lack the power of the Kingdom of Heaven that we should have.

John Wheeler

The Fearful Wrath of God

2008-05-22T22:00:00.000-07:00

The Harsh Lesson of Nabab & Abihuh

Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, contrary to his command. So fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD.
Leviticus 10:1-2

Solomon said, “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” (Proverbs 9:10) Unfortunately, most Christians don’t live by this truth. We’ve grown up in a church and a society that often misunderstands God. We like to comfort ourselves thinking that because God is Love, that somehow he’s not the same God as in the Old Testament. We like to think of the Old Testament God as being angry, and the New Testament God is somehow kinder and gentler. We say things like, “in the Old Testament, God was judgment; but in the New Testament, God is grace and love, and a God of forgiveness.” There’s some truth in this statement, however taken as a whole, it’s incorrect.

First of all, God does not change. The Old Testament God is the same God as the New Testament God. Secondly, the method of salvation is the same under both covenants. I know you’re saying, “ wait a minute, John – you’re wrong.” Nope I’m not. Under both covenants the way of salvation is salvation by faith. The Bible testifies about Abraham, that, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him righteousness.” (Romans 4:3) So in both covenants, repentance, obedience, and a changed heart are necessary for salvation. The difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament is that they looked forward to a Savior, and in the New Testament Church, we look backward to the Savior.

We’ve completely misunderstood God and his grace. We think that somehow the cross and grace give us a license to sin. We forget that God is a holy God that cannot even look upon sin. We also forget that the Bible puts people into just 2 classes of people: the wicked and the righteous. You’re either one, or the other. Another way that the Bible classifies people is by calling them either friends of God, or enemies of God. There really is no other way you can classify people.
So how do you get to be a friend of God? You get to be a friend of God through obedience and humility. God rightly demands to be obeyed and respected. His happiness and Glory are infinitely the highest and greatest good in the universe.

The wicked thing that Nabab and Abihu did was that they mixed incense with a grain offering and then burned the offering before the Lord. Doesn’t seem like such a big deal, does it? It doesn’t until you realize that Nadab and Abihu willfully disobeyed the command of God. (Exodus 30:9) Now it’s a BIG deal. They dishonored and disobeyed the very one they should have been very careful to obey, the infinite and holy Lord God Almighty – he is high and lifted up and rightfully adored. When you disobey God, you set yourself in opposition of God, and he must show Himself to be the Righteous Judge.

Judgment in the New Testament

Ok. So you’re still thinking, but Nadab and Abihu were Old Testament Priests; that sort of thing doesn’t happen in the New Testament. Yes it does. What about Ananias and Sapphira? (Acts 5:11) They lied to The Holy Spirit and they died on the spot.
Or what about Herod? (Acts 12:20-25) The people praised Herod by saying, “this is the voice of a god, and not of a man.” In doing this, the people were dishonoring God by giving the praise that rightfully belonged to the Almighty to a mere man. When Herod did not correct the people, but instead accepted God’s praise for himself, an angel of the Lord struck Herod down and he died.
And what about Paul? When God had enough of him persecuting the church, Jesus himself confronted Paul and struck him with blindness. (Acts 9:1-19) Jesus was there to protect his church, and if Paul wouldn’t have repented on the spot, the story may have turned out differently.

Judgment and Wrath are worse for New Testament Believers

We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

Hebrews 2:1-4

Judgment is always based upon light; therefore wrath will be much more fierce and terrible for New Testament believers than it was for Nabab and Abihu. Nadab and Abihu only had Moses. We have Moses, the Prophets, Jesus, the Apostles, and 2000 years of God’s dealing with the church. We know so much more than the Israelites did, therefore if we dishonor God, our punishment will be proportionately greater. The writer of Hebrews knew this fact, and eloquently pointed it out to his readers.

Conclusion

We’ve been wrong as a church. God does not accept those that willfully disobey him and openly dishonor him. God’s honor is much more important than the interests of any of us mere mortals. God will defend his honor against those that dishonor him, and he will come to those that need him.
So when you hear of priests who molest innocent children, take heart, because the wrath of God is about to be revealed against these evil men. God has sharpened his sword and bent his bow, and the demise of the disaster of these infidels will be swift and disastrous.
God has not forgotten justice, and he is not slow to act like men think. The disobedient and evil man will be called to account for all his misdeeds. The only reason that God puts up with evil men in his realm is they have been given time to repent; but God will not wait forever. One day he will lose his patience with rebels that refuse to obey, and then their eternal demise will come.

John Wheeler

Bible quotes from Pradis Bible Software, Version 5.17.0014 by Zondervan

Categories: johnwheeler98374, johnwheeler98374

Imagine there's no Heaven

2008-05-12T12:56:00.000-07:00

Imagine there’s no heaven

I was fortune to hear a replay of John Lennon’s final interview before his tragic and senseless death. They asked him something like, “do you really mean to say there’s no heaven?”

To which John Lennon replied, “I didn’t say there was no heaven. I just wanted people think about the possibility.”

This reminds me of some of the fruitless questions that people from the Emergent Stream are asking during their Conversations, and then passing themselves off as profoundly spiritual. First of all, questions never make you wise. Just because you can ask questions that can’t be answered, doesn’t make sagacious – any 2 year old can ask questions that can’t be answered. Secondly, wisdom does not come from continuously questioning truth and reason; instead wisdom comes from believing and understanding the truth. The problem with many people is that they never find the answers to their questions – so they never become wise, and they fail to find the true and living God.

Does it matter that they don’t find the answers to their questions? Yes. God enlightens the mind and the Holy Spirit guides us into all truth. You can get the answers you need.

My brothers, find the truth. Don't ask fruitless and pointless questions, that only lead to unbelief.

In God's Service,

John Wheeler

Being Missional

2008-05-05T18:09:00.000-07:00

“Give me souls or I die!”
Unknown

I’ve been reading everything that I could get to on Post-Modernism, The Emerging Church, and the idea of being missional. I think all of each of these ideas have merit, and they each have some places where people have aligned themselves with the idea and gotten into some heritical belief system. I especially like the idea of being a missional church. From the little I know of the concept, I think it’s a great idea and will bring us closer to being the church that Jesus intends us to be. However, I don’t think any of these ideas by themselves (or even in concert) will bring about the revival we need in America.

I firmly believe that America will continue to spiritually decline as long as we Christians allow it to.

Okay, I’m going to say it again so that we hear it – People will continue to dishonor God and go to hell as long as we allow it. We need to remember that the Saviors name is not Obama, not Hillary, and not McCain – the Saviors name is JESUS, and we are the ones that he commissioned to bring the gospel of Christ to a lost and dying world.

People don’t usually come to Christ without some Christian praying fervently for them, and sharing the good news. Rarely do people come to Christ by themselves.

When someone comes to Christ there are usually 3 agents, (although there can be only 2), and 1 tool. The 3 agents are: The Holy Spirit, A Christian who shares the good news, and an unbeliever. The tool by which we are brought to God is the Truth, or the word of God. We know that God desires to see everybody come to Christ, and doesn’t wish that any be lost – so we KNOW the Holy Spirit is doing everything he can to reconcile men to Christ. And it seems the Unbelievers are doing a fine job of unbelieving. We also know that the Word of God is effective in the salvation of men. So that only leaves Christians that are doing a poor job.

Two things will happen if the Church of America continues the way they’re going:

1.) People will continue to dishonor God by ignoring him and pretending there are more important things in this life than serving God with all your heart.

2.) Unbelievers will continue to fill Hell.

As long as we’re content letting our parents, our children, our family, our friends, our co-workers, our neighbors, our community, and our nation rush headlong into an eternity of divine punishment, then that’s exactly what will continue to happen at alarming rate. As long as our hearts are cold, and we’re so disinterested in our neighbor’s eternal soul, then things won’t change, no matter how many new measures we come up with.

It’s high time the American church wakes up and repents. We need to examine our actions to see what we’re doing for souls. Does our heart beat and bleed for souls like Jesus’ does? Are we doing everything we possibly can to save as many as possible?

If the answer is no, then we need to beg forgiveness from God for not having his heart and his best interest in mind; and then we need to change. It does no good to ask forgiveness without changing. This is not the Biblical idea of repentance. We need to have a change of heart, and a change of actions.

We need to be about the Father’s business. We need to be fervent and passionate about bringing the lost to Christ.

John Wheeler

Repent Now

2008-01-15T21:14:00.000-08:00

Repentance is one of those Biblical words that is sadly misunderstood.

So what is repentance?

Repentance is a complete and permanent change in ultimate intention. It's a change from selfishness to benevolence. A change from all known sin and willful rebellion against God to entire obedience to God.

Repentance is not just leaving sin, however turning from sin is implied in repentence. Certainly when the Prophets spoke, they intended for people to quit sinning and stop sinning now.

Repentance is not sorrow for sin. Sorrow by itself is not enough, and certainly sorrow by itself is significantly less than Godly repentance. We've all seen plenty of people that are sorry for their sin that neither quit sinning, nor turn themselves wholeheartedly to God.

Which leads to the next idea of repentance - making things right. Part of repentance is setting things right with your fellow man if and when possible.

Also implied in the Biblical idea of repentance is the idea that complete repentance is possible. To say that repentance is impossible is to blashpheme God by saying he requires men to do what they cannot possibly do.

Another thing that is required by repentance is immediacy. You are required to repent and repent immediately and completely. If you don't repent now, it shows exactly how evil, wicked and rebellous towards God you are in your heart.

A common misconception about repentance is that it can be anything less than complete. There's a common falacy in the church that somehow God accepts something less than total and complete consecration from the hearts of men. As far as I can see this is one of the most dangerous fallacies on planet earth, and it has contributed millions of souls to the eternal coffers of hell.

Make no mistake repentence must be complete and whole hearted. You must give your heart wholly to God. You must be converted. You must turn from sin to holiness. You must turn your back upon your past life. Don't be like Lot's evil wife and turn back and long for your sin.

Repentance is turning to God with all your heart, and loving your fellow man as yourself. Nothing less is accepted.

John

Impending Doom - My Search for Truth Part II

2007-09-08T15:49:00.000-07:00

The 2nd thing I realized in my search for truth is that the Church of Jesus Christ doesn't teach the Judgment and the Wrath of God like it should. Before I go on and lose your attention, let me say,

YOU WILL STAND BEFORE GOD TO ANSWER FOR THE DEEDS YOU DID IN THIS LIFE!

There, I got that out of the way and now we can go on. First of all, I charge the Church with moral cowardice, because we're not able to stand up to people like John the Baptist did. John called the religious leaders of his day to account by saying, "you brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?" And then John called Herod to account by saying, "it is not right for you to have your brother's wife."

This age was not worthy of John and so he was beheaded.

Instead of warning people to flee impending wrath and prepare to stand before God at the Judgment, we tell them Jesus loves them (which is certainly true and not a bad thing to tell them). However, the Ungodly and Wicked have heard, "Jesus Love You," until it's become useless to them. They don't even pay attention to it anymore. Even worse, they make fun of the sayings, "Jesus Saves," and "Jesus Loves You." So now it's time to change our message, and make it more Biblical.

It's time to tell people that there is a final Judgment for both the Wicked and Righteous. Each man will stand before the Lord God most high and give account for everything done in this life, both good and bad. The Godly will recieve a reward for the good things they have done, and the wicked will suffer eternal punishment because they refuse to repent and turn to God.

And if you're a professing Christian that is practicing sin - stop now. The Holy God commands you to be holy and accepts nothing less. Don't think that just because you go to church that God somehow allows you indulgences. God forbid. God accepts only one thing from you - entire obedience to his will.

In the service of the Holy One,

John Wheeler

What will Heaven be like?

2007-09-07T09:49:00.000-07:00

What will Heaven be like?

The question of what will heaven be like is probably best answered by asking, what are you like? For Heaven is a place that will be created for YOU!

God is self-existent (meaning he always existed and wasn’t created), so he existed before Heaven was created. Therefore Heaven wasn’t created for God – he didn’t need it. Since Angels are spirits, it’s possible that they didn’t even need heaven; or at the very least they don’t need the same things in heaven that you and I need in Heaven.

So Heaven is created for us.

Think about the splendor of Heaven. Heaven will not have any sin, evil, or decay, so all of the things that are ugly and lack beauty here on earth will not exist in Heaven. When you walk around Heaven you will be aware of the beautiful Holiness and Purity of the place. Heaven will be clean and pure in a way that you cannot imagine right now. There will be no sickness or disease. There will be no poverty. Heaven will be perfect because God made it that way and there will be nothing to change that.

Heaven will be a place of peace and love. When the Beatles sang about peace and love in the 60’s they were longing for Heaven. Heaven, and the fact that it exists has been birthed in your heart. It will be like your most fantastic dream come true. You will see the lion lay down with the lamb. You will bask in the love, mercy and presence of the Almighty God. God will walk with you face to face. People will love each other in a way that you cannot even imagine in this life.

Heaven will be more beautiful than you can even imagine. Heaven will be the most beautiful place that The Almighty can imagine. You’ll be awed by just how wonderful his imagination is. If you’ve ever been to the Grand Canyon and stood on the rim and marveled at the size, scope, beauty and grandeur of this amazing place, then you’ve had a teeny tiny sample of what heaven will be like.

Every place in Heaven will be incredibly more beautiful than anything you’ve ever seen or dreamed of on earth. You will see mountains that will absolutely awe you with their beauty and grandeur. There will be waterfalls that will floor you with how beautiful they are. There are going to be islands that will make the Caribbean or Hawaii look like garbage dumps, because they are more beautiful than anything you’ve ever thought of.

And one of the most interesting things about Heaven will be it’s size. We read in Revelation about the New Jerusalem and think that Heaven will be limited. NO WAY!

Heaven will be made for people that are going to live forever; a people that like to explore; a people that must learn new things to be challenged; a people that are filled with insatiable curiosity; a people that could easily become board in eternity if Heaven weren’t designed to meet their needs. So heaven will go on forever and ever. You will never explore it all. Nobody will. You will go to a waterfall one day (there won’t be days in Heaven, but bear with me. It’ll be easier for both of us to understand if we talk in terms of this age that we understand.) The next day you will go to another beautiful waterfall and you will marvel at its beauty, and so it will continue. Each place and each experience will be rewarding, mentally challenging, and invigorating. Heaven is made to keep you interested and fulfilled forever.

So like Jesus says, “Lay up your treasure in Heaven.” Keep your mind fixed upon Heaven and your eternal home. The 80 years of hardship that you endure here on earth will be immediately forgotten as soon as you get to Heaven.

John Wheeler

My Struggle for the Truth

2007-09-04T11:39:00.001-07:00

My Personal Struggle for Truth (Part 1)

At about the age of 18 I started a long and arduous spiritual journey to find the truth about God. I grew up in church, but a lot of what I had been told didn’t make sense. The gospel that I was taught didn’t intuit well – it made no sense. I saw people come to church on Sunday and live like the Devil the rest of the week, and we were supposed to believe that they were children of God and even elders in the church. It makes no sense that you can live anyway you like and not offend a holy God.

I was taught that salvation required no works. In fact to think that you had to do anything to procure salvation was evil. All one had to do to be saved was to sincerely pray the sinner’s prayer.

I heard and saw people pray the sinners prayer and they didn’t make any changes their lives. Obviously they didn’t have any faith in God or Jesus other than that he possibly existed; but because they prayed the sinner’s prayer the pastor or other religious leader would pronounce them miraculously “saved.” Sometimes this rite of the church was such a farce that the saved person himself didn’t even believe that he was saved and didn’t understand what he had just said. Not to worry, we were taught that salvation was so wonderful the carnal mind could not fathom it, and these were new citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Like so many other Christians, I believed what I was taught about salvation until one night I saw a great travesty. A woman had come to the church. She was the mother of a young lady that attended the church. The woman, who’s name escapes me, was from a Pacific Island, barely spoke any English, and if she wasn’t a little mentally ill at the very least she was simple minded.

Her Daughter had a great desire to see her mother saved, so when the Pastor made an alter call that evening, the daughter helped her mother to the front of the church. After a few moments at the front of the church, the mother, the daughter, myself and possibly some others were directed into a room off the main sanctuary where we could spend some time with the woman.

I’m not really sure what the woman understood about God, about Jesus, or about religion in general. To my mind, it seemed like she understood nothing about God (although because of the language barrier, I may have gotten the wrong impression). Our time with the woman centered on getting her to recite the Sinner’s Prayer and have faith. She belligerently resisted for at least 20 minutes, but the crowd’s desire to see her “saved,” and the fact that her daughter was in anguish for her mother’s unrepentant soul caused people to persist. The poor woman was encouraged and badgered with words such as, “Don’t you want to go to heaven?” “All you have to do is say this prayer with us, and you will go to heaven,” or, “just have faith in Jesus, that’s all you need.”

Finally, I think they told her just to say, “Jesus,” and she would be saved. As I remember it, the woman finally repeated whatever the group wanted her to repeat, and there was exuberant praise because another soul had been added to the Kingdom.

I was less than convinced by the conversion. I don’t think she had saving faith at all. I doubt that a soul was added to the Kingdom that night, and I don’t see that God was glorified by our actions.

In fact this night has haunted me like Poe’s Raven, constantly causing me to question the instructions that we give sinners.

John Wheeler

PS, I will post Part II soon

SO GREAT SALVATION

2007-07-30T12:38:00.001-07:00

There is nothing, either real or imagined, that even comes close to the greatness of salvation. Even in our fictional stories like Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings, or Harry Potter, nobody has ever dreamed of anything as wonderful as the salvation that is offered us by our God.

Sometimes, in our carnal state, we think of salvation as just forgiveness of sins, but salvation is much more than just forgiveness of sins. Even human governments can and often do pardon crimes (forgive sins) and offer clemency. Certainly, included in the offer of salvation from God the forgiveness of sins, but salvation is so much more.

Salvation takes you from a position as an enemy of the government of God, pardons you for all your past crimes, and then raises you to a position of high honor in the Kingdom of God and the universe. Never once in all of our dreams, our fantasy, and our fiction has anything so great, so wonderful, so magnificent, so undeserved as the salvation of sinners ever been conceived of by any human mind. Only the Divine Mind could possibly concoct a plan that would take willfully unlawful criminals, reprobates, and God-haters, and change them into holy members of the Royal Family of the infinite, holy, and sovereign Lord God All Mighty

Through salvation, you have gained all of the rights given to the children of God, and you are given a position of honor in the Kingdom of Heaven with all the privileges and powers that come along with being a representative of the King of Kings. You are an Ambassador of Heaven, sent to further the Kingdom of Heaven and make disciples and converts. You have been given the ministry of reconciliation. You are told to further the Kingdom and allowed to use the name of Jesus to transact Kingdom business. You are given the power over demons, sickness and disease, and all enemies of the Kingdom. You are made a Holy Priest of the Most High. The Holy Spirit of God lives within you and leads you. As a member of Kingdom of Heaven, you are supported and backed by all the power of God and great hordes of Angels. You are given eternal life, and will spend eternity in a place created just for you called heaven. And for the rest of eternity you will live in amazement at the grace, goodness and mercy of God because of the salvation that he has freely given you.

Salvation is infinitely more than just forgiveness of sins. You have been adopted into the family of God, made a member of the Kingdom of Heaven, and given a duty and a great purpose for your life.

John Wheeler

The Rich Man and Lazarus

2007-07-19T19:57:00.000-07:00

The Rich Man and Lazarus

“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day.

At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side.

The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’

“But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’

“He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father’s house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’

“Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’

“‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’

“He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’ ”

Luke 16:19-31
The Holy Bible, New International Version. Pradis CD-ROM:

In response to my concern that people are going to be fooled by the enticements offered by Carlton Pearson’s Universalism, I was going to go into a long proof that Hell actually exists. But I figured it would be a waste of my time; other than to say, as horrible as it is here for some people; Hell will be worse than you can even imagine.

So let me share what’s on my heart now. When I was a child, I used to wonder how I would feel at the judgment when I saw my ungodly friends sentenced to eternal suffering in Hell. Would I run in front of God and beg for mercy and compassion for them? How would I deal with it?

Recently, I realized that I have an example of how the Righteous feel about the inhabitants of Hell, and its right here in The Rich Man and Lazarus.

When the Rich Man shrieks in agony for the smallest drop of water, because he dare not even ask for a glass of water, how do Abraham and Lazarus reply?

Abraham says, “you had your good things in life.”

Now most people will glance over that part and miss what he’s truly implying, so stay awake here.

What Abraham is saying is, “God is just by sending you to Hell.”

Ouch!

Abraham didn’t say, “Oh you poor man, I ache for you. Lazarus will be right over and he’ll bring you lots of refreshing water.”

Abraham didn’t say, “Hey dude, it hurts me to see you suffer like that, but I can’t help you because of the chasm between us.”

Abraham didn’t say anything that even implied that he had even the slightest sympathy and compassion for the Rich Man in Hell. Now why not?

It’s easy. Abraham is a servant of God. He loves God with all his heart, soul, and being. Abraham’s Number one desire is bring glory to God and further the Kingdom of Heaven.

The Rich Man is a rebel. All his life he refused to listen to the message of the prophets and turn to God. The Rich Man sneered in the face of a just, and holy, and sovereign God.

There is no way that Abraham can approve of such behavior in another being – not when his own heart is completely set on glorifying God. If Abraham had sympathy for the Rich Man and sided in with him, it would put Abraham in direct opposition to the Justice of God. In essence he would be calling God unjust for punishing this criminal.

And so it should be with us also. Our first goal must be to bring glory and honor to God. We can never side with sinners. We can never oppose God, and think him unjust for punishing sinners. To do so would be grand blasphemy, and prove that we know little of the goodness and mercy of God.

John

The lies of Carlton Pearson continued

2007-07-19T18:00:00.000-07:00

My Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I’m going to continue to write things about the dangerous doctrines of Carlton Pearson, not because I have anything against him – I don’t. In fact the Bible tells me to love him.

If you look at the last post, I’m required to love him with selfless benevolence and do the best for him that I can. In other words, love him as I love myself. I am not required to love him with the love of approval, because frankly what he’s doing to potentially thousands and maybe millions of souls is teaching them the doctrines of demons. As a result of Carlton’s doctrines, millions of souls may suffer eternal agony as enemies of God. How can any righteous being be pleased with that?

But I don’t want you to be fooled. I want you to know the truth and the truth will set you free. So here’s what Carlton is saying, and what God is says.

Here’s what Carlton Pearson says:

As stated in I John 2:2, "He, (Jesus) is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only our sins [inclusion], but the sins of the whole world.” The atonement of Christ for the sin of the world, was and is inclusive and is not limited to a few fortunate believers.

Here’s what the Sovereign Lord God Almighty actually says in that passage:

He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.

1John 2:2
The Holy Bible, New International Version. Pradis CD-ROM

Also, the Lord says the following:

You have wearied the LORD with your words. “How have we wearied him?” you ask. By saying, “All who do evil are good in the eyes of the LORD, and he is pleased with them” or “Where is the God of justice?”

Malachi 2:17
The Holy Bible, New International Version. Pradis CD- ROM

Hmmm, just a little bit of difference between what Carlton says and what the Lord God almighty says, huh?

The problem with a lot of philosophies is that they don’t take into account the entire Bible as being the complete revelation of to mankind, and then they pick and choose which verses they want to use to prove their point.

This sort of thinking is very prevalent in current churches. For instance, a lot of Christians will completely ignore the Old Testament as being irrelevant to them. They won’t even bother to read the Old Testament cause they say, “we’re not under law but grace.” And I’ve even seen people eliminate the sayings of Christ by saying, “well that’s irrelevant because it’s before the cross, and what happened before the cross doesn’t matter now.” And then they pick out a favorite verse that fits their selfish philosophy and then build their entire philosophy and doctrine around that. For instance they’ll say something ludicrous like, “the Bible teaches, eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die.”

Well, no the Bible doesn’t teach, “eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die,” but the Bible does says, “If the dead are not raised, then let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die,” (1 Corinthians 15:32). When you read the verse in context you can understand that the quote is part of an argument about the resurrection of the dead. It is not an instance of the Bible teaching hedonism, amoralism, or anarchy.

So this is what Carlton has done with his idea of inclusion (the idea that everybody is going to heaven); he has pulled a few verses out of context and then tried to build an entire theology around them. I don’t want to see you get fooled or sucked into the tragic lie that he is teaching.

OK, NOW FOR SOME TRUTH

I’ve showed you the complete verse the Carlton quotes within it’s context. Carlton is absolutely correct in saying that Christ died for the sins of the entire world. The people that John was addressing had gotten off track and were thinking that maybe Christ only died for believers. John says Christ died for the sins of the world, but just cause he died for your sins doesn’t mean you’re going to Heaven. John goes on to say, ”We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands.” So what John is saying is that you cannot be a Christian without keeping his commands.

You can come up with whatever rules for salvation that you want, but the truth is just what John says it is; if you don’t keep his commands, you don’t love God and therefore you have NO hope for salvation and NO POSSIBILITY of eternal life in heaven.

Furthermore, look what the prophet Malachi says. He says that we weary God when we say that people who do evil are pleasing to God. It’s just not so brothers. How could it be?

The truth is simple, all the law is summed up in 2 commands: Love God with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself. The Wicked don’t love God with all their heart. Their supreme desire is not the greatest possible good of God and his Kingdom. In fact they are diametrically opposed to God and all things good.

Irregardless of what Carlton says, sinners are diabolically evil, rebellious, and dead set against God. God sent his son to reconcile the entire world to him, and they reject that sacrifice and spit in the face of God. Sinners do everything they can to resist the grace and goodness of God and they ignore his attempts to reconcile them to himself. The worst sin you can commit is refusing to love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your soul, and all your mind. I don’t care what code of morality you dream up, if it doesn’t begin with 100% consecration to God then it’s blatantly wrong, evil and immoral.

Please don’t think that you can reject the goodness, mercy, and patience of The King of Kings without eternally offending him, his government, and his justice. The writer of the Hebrews says, "those who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?" (Hebrews 10: 28 & 29)

The only reasonable place for those who refuse to repent and turn to God is somewhere far away from the Holy God, in a place of punishment. That place is called hell.

May God be exalted,

John Wheeler

Carlton Pearson is Wrong About God's Love

2007-07-17T17:56:00.000-07:00

Categories: CarltonPearson, Universalism

Here is a quote from Carlton Pearson's Website:

"There are fewer matters more urgent in today’s pluralistic culture than the issue of the centrality of the cross and the accurate articulation and expression of the Universal love of God toward all of humankind."

Used without permission from: http://www.newdimensions.us/content.cfm?id=2009

My Dear Friends,

The Church is being exposed to a dangerous heresy in the form of the Universalism of Carlton Pearson. Briefly stated, Universalism is the belief that all persons will be saved from Hell and eternal damnation through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ." This fallacy is a dangerous doctrine of demons that has been around from about the 2nd century AD when Tertulian refuted it.

First of all, you need to know that Carlton Pearson is teaching the following:

1.) The whole world is saved
2.) There is no eternal hell
3.) Hell is here
4.) After death, everybody is redeemed

So let's talk about his first paragraph that is included up above and I'll show you what is wrong with Carlton's idea of Universal Love.

WHAT IS IMPLIED BY THE UNIVERSAL LOVE OF GOD?

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotton son, that whosoever believeth on him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.
John 3:16

Sorry about the King James version of that scripture, but that's how I memorized it when I was a kid, and I'll die quoting that version.

Absolutely, the scripture says that God loved the world. I heartedly agree with that point. However we've got to talk about what that means.

What John 3:16 says is that God has an unselfish benevolence for the world, meaning that when possible he does the best he can for every person. It's the type of love that is talked about when it says, "God causes the sun to rise on the just and the unjust."

God's benevolence and good will causes him to seek the greatest good of himself, the universe and the beings under his sovergnty. God seeks to bring the greatest joy to as many beings as possible including man and animal.

We call this unselfish (or disinterested) benevolence, because God does the best he can possbily do for you without thinking of the consequences to himself. That's what it means when it says, "God is love." His entire being is love and all of his actions are from love. So he created you, not because he needed you - God is self-existant and didn't need you. But the greatest joy in the universe could be brought about by creating mankind.

So it's true to say that God loves the entire world, every man, woman, and child in this world with a unselfish benevolence that causes him to do the best possible thing for as many beings as possible. This does NOT mean that all humans will be saved.

WHAT IS NOT IMPLIED BY GOD'S UNIVERSAL LOVE

God does NOT love the entire world with the love of approbation. Approbation is a fancy word that means approval. So to repeat, God does not love everybody with the Love of Approval. God does NOT approve of the wicked. Don't ever believe that. Don't think that God has prepared a special place for child molestors! Don't think that there's anything but a fearful judgment waiting for those that murder kill and destroy. God cannot love those people with the love of Approbation.

How could he? God is infinately Holy. More holy than you could possibly imagine. When the Holy Prophet Isaiah stood before God he said, "Wow is me, I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips." Throughout eternity, you will continue to grow in degree of holiness, but you will never match the holiness of the Lord. You will always fall prostrate before God, and proclaim, "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty." We will worship him, "in the splendor of his holiness."

God cannot stand sin and he demands holiness and moral perfection from every one of his subjects. Hebrews 12:14 says, "Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord."

Make no mistake, God does not approve of sinners. In the Bible there are only 2 classes of people, The Wicked and The Righteous. God approves of the righteous person that has repented of his sin and cleansed himself. The Holy, the Righteous, and the Just, God can approve of.

So although God loves sinners with unselfish benevolence, it is only the Godly that he loves with the love of approbation (or approval).

So Carlton fails to make a distinction between the Wicked and the Righteous, which the Bible does from Adam through Revelations. The worst thing is that this is a dangerous doctrine that will give many a false hope and potentially lead millions to eternal destruction.

I will leave you with a final thought from Jesus, who in the end will be the one who decides who goes to heaven and who goes to hell:

“And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck.”
Mark 9:42
The Holy Bible, New International Version. Pradis CD-ROM:Mk 9:42

Carlton Pearson's Universalism

2007-07-17T17:48:00.000-07:00

Categories: CarltonPearson

The following is copied from the Carlton Pearson website without permission.

Brothers and Sisters,

Since I don't want you to be ignorant of God, his holy law, and his commands, I'm going to spend some time showing you the falicy behind his arguments.

John

About God's Inclusive LoveYou Are Here
There are fewer matters more urgent in today’s pluralistic culture than the issue of the centrality of the cross and the accurate articulation and expression of the Universal love of God toward all of humankind.

As stated in I John 2:2, "He, (Jesus) is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only our sins [inclusion], but the sins of the whole world.” The atonement of Christ for the sin of the world, was and is inclusive and is not limited to a few fortunate believers.

Does being “born-again” save us or does it simply bring to light a condition that already exists—wrought and bought by the blood of Jesus at Calvary? Does believing make you born-again or does being born-again make me a believer?

I think we in evangelical Christianity have ignored the Sovereignty of God and limited the scope and sweep of His great Love toward all. Scripture says, "While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" ( Romans 5:20)— He died once for all. (Romans 6:10 and 1 Pet. 3:18) And contrary to popular opinion, our belief systems and religious presuppositions do not invalidate or reverse the effectiveness or efficiency of the finished work of Calvary. (Rom. 3:3).

If death is automatic because of Adam, life is automatic because of Christ, without our vote or prior approval. As the disobedience of one man made us all sinners, by the obedience of one man we were all made righteous. (Romans 5:12-14 and 1 Cor. 15:22).

The whole world is saved (redeemed), but all are not aware. Jesus is the Savior of, not just for, all men, but has a special relationship with those who believe. Those who recognize and Acknowledge this truth have been given the message and ministry of reconciliation—the very Words and logic of God, to share with the unknowing an unbelieving world. (Romans 3:1-2 and 2Cor. 5:18-19).

I close with this quote sent to me by the VP of a major Christian publishing company; "...the Law of God condemns us all until, while we are still sinners, grace comes and liberates us from it's curse without a single condition attached; no improvements demanded, no promises extorted-just the extravagant, outrageous, hilarious absurdity of free grace and undying love.”
Because all men were included in the finished work of Calvary, when all is said and done, “. . . every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is LORD—the Savior of the world!” (Phil. 2:9-11)

Peace,
Bishop Carlton D. Pearson

2007-07-17T12:30:00.000-07:00

Categories: Love, Brotherly Love, Love of Approbation

Note: I posted this on July 17th, 2007 on the blog maintained by my church. I liked it so well that I figured I'd share it here.

Esteemed Pastor Chris,

Judging by the time of your post, it might be time for you to go to bed, rather than start blogging! ;-)

I’ve been told to keep my posts shorter (to protect Jason’s privacy, I won’t tell you who asked me to do that.)

I submit to all of you that we are in the midst of a revival at Celebration Center. I’ve never seen so many people at one church who are interested in doing so much to further the Kingdom of Heaven.

WITH GROWTH COMES CHALLENGES

I think the next challenge we’re going to be faced with, is that we’re going to have to love some people that aren’t like us. Acts 2:47 says, “the Lord added to their number daily, those who were being saved,” implying that God is going to put whomever he wants in our church.

Well guess what? He wants to save every person – not just the ones that look, act, and talk like you (or me).

I’ve seen this before in churches, so get ready – sometimes God adds people that flat out annoy you! You’ve been warned. We’re going to get some kids that don’t have good manners and didn’t grow up in church, so they don’t know how to act. And it’s going to bother some people when they see kids running wild around the church.

We’re going to get some people that are not in your socio-economic class. We’re going to get single mothers, who certainly are not as affluent as most people on South Hill. We might get some mentally retarded or even mentally ill.

Whatever they look like or act like, they will be God’s people and you will have to love them with brotherly love and the love of approbation (approval), because they belong to God just as much as you do.

Trust me, I’ve seen churches struggle with this stuff, so get ready to learn to love like God does. Jesus says:

And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Matthew 5:47-48

God requires us to love people in an uncommon way. We have to love those that are not easy for us to love. This is especially true of loving those that are in the faith; you doubly need to love them.

I can tell you that nothing will stop a move of God faster than for the Church to treat a brother without love. It will crush the heart of God and grieve away his Spirit.

But you’re saying, “John, I don’t any feelings for other types of people.” Not to worry, love is a choice of the will. If you obey God and choose to love people that aren’t like you and act upon it; soon your emotions will come in line with your will and you will be overwhelmed with feeling for those that aren’t like you.

Humbly,

John Wheeler

PS. Oh well, so much for shorter posts.

If your Honda Civic causes you to sin.....

2007-07-12T17:25:00.000-07:00

HOLINESS VS. SITUATIONAL ETHICS

Does obedience come hard to everybody else, or is it just me?

I drive a 2006 Honda Civic SI, a car that Car & Driver magazine called, “One of the 5 best sports cars under $25,000.” The thing is a rocket, with 6 speeds and is capable (or so they tell me) of going 137 mph. Admittedly, it’s a relic of midlife crisis. I’d probably sell it, but I’m upside down on it, so I’m stuck with it.

70 MPH IN 60 MPH ZONE

Well, I’m driving down the freeway, “keeping up with traffic,” as they say; when I realize I’m going 70 in a 60 mph zone.

Immediately the Holy Spirit says, “the speed limit is 60 mph.”

SLOWING DOWN TO 65

To which I reply, “cool God, I’ll take care of it,” and slow down to 65.

Thinking that I've handled it, I’m driving along, and once again the Spirit says, “the speed limit is 60 mph.”

NOW DOWN TO 63

I think to myself, argh! And reply, “ok, I’ll take care of it,” and I slow to 63.

I’m desperately strugling to maintain the 63 mph. It seems like broken down cars and old men on bicylcles can go faster. And all of of a sudden, the Spirit of God that resides in me says, “THE SPEED LIMIT IS 60 MPH.”

By now, I’m really struggling to slow the car down. 63 seems like a snails pace, and going slower doesn’t even seem possible. But I really want to please God, and I’m thankful that he’s teaching me his ways, so I slow to 61 mph, thinking that will satisfy God.

SURELY 61 MPH IS CLOSE ENOUGH!!!

61 mph must be slow enough to please God. At 61 it seems like to entire world is going faster than you. The guy behind you is upset, because he’s never seen anybody go that slow on the freeway. As people pass you, they leer at you in disgust thinking, “way to go Grandpa, can’t you drive any faster?”

That’s right, you guessed it! I hear that still, small voice of God say, “THE SPEED LIMIT IS 60 MPH.”

60 MPH IS SOOOOO SLOOOOWWW!

60 mph??? I’m pretty sure I can walk backwards faster.

I almost take my foot completely out of the accelerator to get the car to slow down just one more mph. Maintaining 60 mph is such a challenge. Everything inside me wants to go faster. I constantly creep above the 60 mph mark and have to readjust back to the speed limit. It takes every bit of self control and will to maintain that speed.

Now I understand what the Lord says when he said, “if your SI causes you to sin, get rid of it.”

Oh wait, he actually said, “if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go to hell.” (Matthew 5:30)

Now I know what Jesus meant.

Searching for Purity,

John

PS. Stayed tuned! Next week I’ll tell you about how hard it is to drive 40 mph on the Nalley Valley Viaduct. What a challenge!!!

Philosophy of Man Part 2 - Intrinsic Self Worth

2007-07-10T09:03:00.000-07:00

INTRINSIC SELF-WORTH

The topic I’m going to share today is something I call, intrinsic self-worth. It’s the idea that when you’re stripped of all your achievements, all the things that make you feel good about yourself, all your external accoutrements that make people think you’re valuable, and then what are you left with? What are you left with when you’re an abject failure by all of the world’s standards?

The idea of intrinsic self-worth is very precious to me. I came up with the philosophy of intrinsic self-worth during a very tough personal time. I had been injured on the job, was out of work, and needed back surgery to recover. I was in constant pain, seriously sleep deprived, clinically depressed, and slowly losing hope for a bright future. And through all of this, God shared this idea with me.

My idea was, what if you were in a horrible accident and burned beyond complete recognition?

What if all that was left of you was a horribly disfigured blob of charred flesh? What if you were so disfigured that everybody that saw you was horrified when they looked at you? Also, what if you were incurably brain damaged in that accident so that your mental capacity was gone. What if you were stripped of everything that makes you human, what would you be left with?

I pondered that question for quite a few weeks, trying to come up with an answer, and when I found the answer, I was shocked that it took so long.

The answer is simply that when you’re stripped of everything that makes you think you’re a success, what you’re still left with is the 2 most important things: 1.) You are created in God’s image, and 2.) God loves you with an everlasting love.

That is it, the basis of your self-esteem should be that you are created by God and that he loves you more than you’ll ever know. Everything else is vanity and will perish.

But you say, “but I’m beautiful.”

Or you think, “I’m wealthy.”

Or, “I’m a great athlete.”

Who cares? Everything in this age will pass away. The vanity of this age will end just like a dream ends, and the only thing that will matter will be which Kingdom you belong to. Look around you, all of this creation is subject to decay – none of this lasts. So don’t base your self-esteem on anything of this world.

Your self esteem must be based upon the fact that you’re loved by God. You are an absolutely fantastic creation of God, endowed with potential that cannot be fully realized in this life!

Always, always believe in yourself. Not because of what you’ve done, but rather just because you are YOU, and in God’s eyes that’s very special.

There is no better foundation for self belief than to know that you are fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of The Almighty God; who loves you with an everlasting love and he knows the unbelievable potential you have.

In God’s Love,

John

Heaven Part 1 - A Philosophy of Man

2007-07-05T17:11:00.000-07:00

Hebrews 2:6

“What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?”
The Holy Bible, New International Version. Pradis CD-ROM:

YOU ARE GOD’S MOST TREASURED CREATION

It would be impossible for me to overstate your value to God. You are God’s most treasured creation. He created you in his image. I know that you and I’ve heard this since we were kids, but don’t get jaded and underestimate what this means. He created you EXACTLY how he wanted you to be and with exactly the characteristics, skills, and interests he wanted you to have. And when he was finished creating you he was pleased (Genesis 1:31).

GOD CREATED YOU JUST LIKE HIM

When you go to a mirror you see a reflection, or image of yourself – that’s what it means to be made in God’s image. You look exactly like God; you are just a smaller copy of God. The bible calls us Little Christ’s, or Christians. The Bible also tells us to be Godly (or like God). You are as close to being like God as is possible for a created being.

You have all the same characteristics (often called attributes) that God does. God is loving, kind, generous, compassionate, good, holy, righteous, pure, and just etc. If you’re living a Godly life you will have those same characteristics. You should be loving kind, generous, compassionate, good, holy, righteous, pure, and just, etc. also. As far as characteristics, you were created EXACTLY like God in kind, but not degree.

What I mean by saying you’re exactly like God in kind is that you possess the same attributes as God. Even the heathen and unbelieving people posses many of the same attributes as God in this life. For instance, God is a just God. If you are God’s servant, you should be just. And even some unbelievers are just. The difference between you and The Almighty God is that he is infinite in all his attributes and you aren’t; and never will be.

You have such a special place in the heart of God. No other beings are created in the image of God. As special as angels are, they were not created in the image of God. There is no place amoung created beings that is as special as being created in the likeness and image of God.

At one time in my life, I was a framing contractor. I loved building houses. At the start of the project, you’d drive up and there was nothing but an ugly grey foundation, but when you left, you had created a house from a bunch of lumber. It was very satisfying and I was always proud of the places I built; but the pride that came from framing a house doesn’t even begin to compare to the pride I felt the first time I held my children. My children are made in my image (well probably more my wife’s image), and they are my Opus Magnum (great work). Nothing will ever compare to the pride I get from my children.

GOD BRAGS ABOUT YOU

Well, guess what? It’s exactly the same with you and God. God is so proud of you that he brags on you. Bet you never thought of that before; but yes, it’s true.

I’m sure he says to Gabriel, “Hey Gabe, look at that Susan, I just love how she sings. She has such a beautiful voice.”

Or to another angel he might say, “look at Sharon. She’s a single mother and has had to go through a lot of hard times to remain faithful to me. I’m proud of her.”

Or he might say, “Look at that Paul, what an artist. Look at that painting. Wow, I really like that one.”

Still don’t believe that God brags on you? Then what does it mean when God says to the Devil, “have you considered my servant Job. There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.” Job 1:8

YOU ARE TRULY SPECIAL

Holy One’s of God, you are special throughout all of creation. Nobody was created exactly like you and God is so proud of the way you were created.

Humbly,

John

Preface to my series on Heaven

2007-07-05T17:04:00.000-07:00

Last week at my Wednesday Night Bible study, Tim asked, "what do you think Heaven is like?"

I was caught on my heals a bit, because I didn't really have a very good answer for him. In fact, I could probably tell you more about Hell than I could about Heaven. It's pretty sad, but that seems to be the situation for many Christians and many Christian Thinkers throughout history. So I decided to put together my thoughts, my study and my revelation about Heaven into writings and then share them with you.

Before we can talk about what Heaven is, we have to come to some agreement on a philosophy of mankind. In other words, we have to answer the question – what is man (or generically mankind)?

Since most of you don’t know me very well, you need to know that I try to personalize everything to myself or my hearer. I hate to have theological discussions in 3rd person, and talk about “what is man” in very lofty terms. Doing that gives the reader the sense that knowledge of God is unattainable; or at the very least, God is difficult to understand. This is not the case at all. The great secrets of God are revealed to the simplest of minds. So, I’d much rather talk in 2nd person and tell you, and show you what you are in God, rather than trying to make this seem difficult and beyond your ability to grasp.

Knowledge should never be impersonal. The goal of life isn’t to know about God, instead the goal of all knowledge is to KNOW GOD (meaning have a relationship with him). The Devil himself knows a lot more about God than you will know in this life, so don’t strive for knowledge about God. Instead strive to serve God and strive to be his friend.

Don't let this happen to you

2007-06-12T17:29:00.000-07:00

The Sheep & the Goats

Matthew 25:31-46

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

“He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

The Holy Bible, New International Version. Pradis CD-ROM

Depart from me you evildoers

Matthew 7:21-22

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

The Holy Bible, New International Version. Pradis CD-ROM

These are some of the most frightening passages in the entire Bible. So why does it scare me?

1.) It’s a description of people going to eternal punishment in hell, which is scary all by itself.
2.) Hell is a horrible place, with terror beyond your capability to imagine.
3.) In these verses, it looks like some of the people think they have a right to heaven. It’s tragic that they are so self-decieved.

For the purposes of this scripture, we can break humanity into 3 classes: The Righteous, The Unrighteous, and The Deceived. The Righteous go to heaven, and we’d all agree with that. The God Haters, The Evil, and The Unrighteous are going to hell, and we all understand that. But what scares me is the fate of these Deceived people.

THE DECEIVED

These people were not as bad as you think, in fact, I’ll bet our churches our filled with these people. Look at what they say, “Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name? And in your name drive out demons and perform miracles.”

Jesus doesn’t even argue with them about whether they did these things, so we can assume that for the most part they were telling the truth.

These people would have been studs in most churches. They did the big works. No doubt people knew who they were and respected them for what they did. They looked highly spiritual. In spite of what they did, they were sent to eternal punishment in Hell.

DON’T BE DECEIVED YOURSELF

It’s really pretty simple. Matthew 7:21 says it all, “not everyone that says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”

It’s obvious that one of the things the deceived believed was that their big works were proof that they were right with God. Don’t be deceived yourself. Don’t trust in the fact that you’re a church member, an elder, a good person, used in healings, or whatever – it won’t matter when you get to judgment.

WHAT WILL MATTER AT THE JUDGMENT?

All that’s going to matter is your relationship to God. Are you doing what he tells you to do? I don’t care what Calvinists say, your works will matter. You’ve got to have a changed heart, and you have to bring forth fruit. Don’t think that you’ll get to the judgment and tell the Almighty God that you once prayed a prayer for salvation, but didn’t bother to say, “hi,” to God since then – don’t be fooled, it won’t get you in.

The only way to get to heaven is to humble yourself and repent. You must have a total and complete change of heart and affection. You’ve got to be serving the Lord Your God will all your heart. If you’re serving him with only part of your heart, you’re not serving him at all. You can’t serve two Masters. (Matthew 6:24)

God wants your entire being. Anything less than entire consecration is disobedience to God. Our churches are full of people that think they can live the way they want and still make it to heaven.

The Bible clearly says, “be perfect as your father in heaven is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48) And if you think I’m being too tough on you, look at what Jesus said to the Rich Young Ruler, “if you want to be perfect, go sell all your possessions and give to the poor, and then you will have treasure in Heaven. Then come follow me.” (Matthew 19:21).

Moral perfection doesn’t just come from the sacrifice of Jesus. Forgiveness of sins and sanctification come from the death of Jesus. Moral perfection and holiness also must come from what you do.

If you are a liar, a thief, or dishonest, heaven holds no place for you. If you are sexually immoral, you will not make it into heaven. God is looking for a holy people and a righteous people.

CONCLUSION

If I’m scaring you, it’s because I intend to. I would rather scare you with the truth while you’re still on this side of death, while you can do something about it. It will be too late to change your course when you stand in front of the judgment seat. Here you can change. Now you can repent, and the angels will rejoice.

If you wait until the judgment to completely submit to God, it will be too late. I don’t want myself, my friends, or my readers to hear, “Away from me you evildoers.” What terrible words.

Sincerely,

John Wheeler

Repent and turn to God

2007-06-08T16:59:00.000-07:00

The Need for Repentance

(Preface: I say some pretty harsh things about current practices in the Body of Christ. My goal is to say these out of love for the admonishment and edification of the Body. I do not intend to lambaste the church for selfish motives. My motive is to improve knowledge and light in the Body of Christ. JW)

Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus.
Acts 3:19

CURRENT SITUATION

1.) The American Church is desperately in need of a revival.
2.) This is perhaps the last generation that can call America, a Christian nation.
3.) To a large extent, our current efforts to gain converts to Christianity are failing
4.) 90% of Americans believe there is a God, but we are not an Godly society

HOW DID WE GET IN THIS SITUATION?

1.) Bad Theology
2.) Bad Doctrine
3.) We’ve told the world, “Jesus Loves You.” We’ve done mass media campaigns, and almost everybody in America could parrot the saying, “Jesus Loves You.”
4.) What we haven’t told ourselves and the world to do is REPENT!
5.) When Peter is asked, “What must I do?” Peter answers, “Repent and be baptized.”
6.) We tell people the wrong thing when they’re looking for salvation.
6.a.) We tell them things like, “Let Jesus into your hearts.” This is an instruction to sinners that has almost no scriptural basis, and no logical reason either.
6.b.) We lead them in the sinners prayer. Here is an excerpt:
6.b i. ) Dear Father God in heaven, I come to you in the name of Jesus. I acknowledge to You that I am a sinner, and I am sorry for my sins and the life that I have lived; I need your forgiveness.
6.b.ii.) The sinners prayer is not Biblical!!!!
6.b.ii.1.) At the end of this article, I’ve included salvation instructions from John the Baptist, Jesus, Peter, and Paul. NONE of them used the sinners prayer.
6.b.ii.2.) Every sinner is more than happy to make a blanket admission that they’re a sinner. This worst drunk will happily tell you how bad he is. But admitting that you’re a sinner does not lead to repentance, and does not lead to salvation.
6.b.ii.3.) The sinner’s prayer gives people a false hope.
6.b.ii.4.) The sinner’s prayer is leading to a unconverted and unsaved church.

WHAT WE SHOULD BE TELLING POTENTIAL CONVERTS

1.) Tell them to Repent
2.) Give your heart to God
3.) Peter implies that Repentance and turning to God happens before forgiveness of sins

WHAT IS REPENTANCE

1.) Repentance is a act of the will
2.) A complete change of Heart
3.) A total change of Affection
4.) It is every person’s Duty
5.) Every sinner can repent. To say that can’t is to call God unfair for telling them to do it.
6.) Repentance is giving up everything that stands between you and God
7.) Sin is selfishness. Repentance is turning from selfishness to benevolence.
8.) Repentance implies a disgust for all sins
9.) Repentance implies a confession for sins and restitution where possible
10.) Repentance includes a change of opinion about the nature and the punishment for sin. Look at the Rich Man and Lazarus, Abraham does not show any sympathy for The Rich Man in hell. Instead his actions imply that Abraham believes that he is getting his just reward for his actions on earth.
11.) Repentance is ALWAYS accompanied by an outside change in behavior

WHAT’S NOT REPENTANCE

1.) Repentance is not remorse or grief for sin. Hell is full of remorseful sinners. (Note: The Rich Man and Lazarus)
2.) Repentance can take as long or short as it needs to. The thief on the cross repented immediately.

YOU MUST REPENT TO COME TO GOD

1.) It is your duty to change your heart
2.) You must give up every sin
3.) You must give your entire heart to God, to His work, to His Kingdom, to His Will, and to His fellowship.
a. It’s hard to imagine that we’ve given God-haters any salvation hope. People that don’t pray, don’t read God’s word, and don’t fellowship with God are not God’s people.
4.) You must change from sinfulness to Holiness, as it says, “be ye holy as I am holy.”
5.) You must change your idea of sin and its desirability. You must loathe sin, and abstain from it.
6.) You must realize that sin deserves eternal punishment
7.) With true repentance the disposition to sin is gone

HOW DO I KNOW IF I NEED TO REPENT?

Examine yourself. John the Baptist said, “produce fruits in keeping with repentance.” (Matthew 3:8) Jesus said, “By your fruit, you will recognize them.” (Matthew 7:16) The prophet Malachi says that we weary God by saying all who do evil are good in the sight of the Lord. (Malachi 2:17)

Examine your life. Take inventory of your sins in the following categories;

1.) Sins of Omission
These are things you should have done, but didn’t.
a.) Ingratitude to God
b.) Lack of Love for God
c.) Lack of Bible Reading
d.) Lack of a prayer life
e.) Unbelief
f.) Unconcerned about Souls
g.) Neglect of Family Duties
h.) Neglect of Social Duties
i.) Lack of Discipline

2.) Sins of Commision
a.) Lust
b.) Porn
c.) Greed
d.) Pride
e.) Envy
f.) Critical Spirit
g.) Slander
h.) Disrespect
i.) Lying
j.) Cheating
k.) Hypocrisy
l.) Robbing God
m.) Anger

WHAT IF I NEED TO REPENT?

Understand that God already knows that you need to change your heart and give up your sins. The entire Bible is all about God’s love for you. He created you just the way that he wants you with all the skills, talents and abilities that he wants you to have. God desires fellowship with you so much that he sent his Son to die for you.

So if need to repent, do it now. God is waiting to forgive you. He wants to forgive you.

WHAT OTHERS HAVE TO SAY ABOUT REPENTANCE

John the Baptist
In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”
Matthew 3:1

Jesus
“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!”
Mark 1:15

The Apostle Paul
First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles also, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds.
Acts 26:20

Jesus to the Church at Ephesus
Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.
Revelation 2:5

Jesus to the Church at Pergumum
Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
Revelation 2:16

Jesus speaking about the Prophetess Jezreal to the Church at Thyatira
I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways.
Rev 2:21-22

Jesus speaking to the Church at Sardis
Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.
Revelation 3:3

Jesus speaking to the Church at Laodicea
Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent.
Revelation 3:19

Humbly submitted,

John Wheeler

All scripture quotes come from:
The Holy Bible, New International Version. Pradis CD-ROM

Why this Blog?

2007-06-07T13:22:00.000-07:00

"If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our bodies. If they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees. Let no one go there unwarned and un-prayed for."-Charles Spurgeon

Mark 16:15

He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned."
The Holy Bible, New International Version. Pradis CD

Before Jesus returned to heaven, he told his disciples to, "Go into all the world and preach the good news." My heart has always been filled with a passion to share the gospel, not for my own glory or reward, but for the glory of God.

The bible says, "from that day Jesus began to preach, repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is near," (Matthew 4:17) and I plan to spend the rest of my life doing the same thing.

If you are are servant of the Living God already, then I hope that you learn something here. If however you are an unbeliever, my goal is prove to you that it is your duty to repent, be converted, and serve God with your entire heart, soul, and being.

I cannot go on any longer watching people ignore the goodness and mercy of The Lord God Almighty. There's no doubt that I am my brother's keeper - I have a solemn charge to work for the conversion of myself, my family, my friends, and my community. For me to sit idly by and watch people pretend there is no God; no eternity; no final judgement; and that there is no reward, and no punishment for the way they live their life, would be a blatant deriliction of my duty.

I could not keep a clean conscience before God if, knowing the truth, I didn't try to share it with you.

So I started this blog as a way to share the gospel with my beloved people of South Hill/Puyallup/Graham Washington. My desire is that you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. (Matthew 8:32)

Yours Truly,

John Wheeler