Good morning, Mr. Smith.
Allow me to first say that I appreciate the mission you intend to be on: the mission to enlighten those who may have been misinformed or misled as to the true meaning of scripture and Christian living.
I am a lover and seeker of truth myself and am not a fan of the old cliche that "ignorance is bliss." Any believer knows that ignorance is death, Hosea 4:6 "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children."
If there's one thing I don't want God to do, is to forget me or my children:).
I do have have one issue, however...
Your site says that you have no credentials - except for the Spirit of God...have you considered if God would be pleased with the method in which you choose to deliver these messages that are intended to enlighten the people of God?
The fruit of the spirit is Love, Joy, Peace, Gentleness, Longsuffering, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness and Self-Control... and the works of the flesh are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, Hatred, Contentions, jealousies, Outbursts of wrath, Selfish Ambitions, Dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, etc.
Believe me when I say that I was wide open to your message, and I read it in expectation of being enlightened and educated. However, your message was delivered with the spirit of the flesh, which, would lead a more intelligent Christian reader to the conclusion that there is an "agenda" being proposed that the writer feels would make more of an impact if he injects it with anger and accusation, as opposed to allowing the truth of God to speak for itself.
Did God want us to respond to the call to salvation with anger in our hearts? Did God want us to walk around feeling betrayed and resentful of the fact that we were misled? Words of truth, especially Spiritual Truth, are given for necessary edification, so that it may impart grace (favor, good will) to the hearers.
I do not judge you or hate you or think you're a bad person. I think maybe it's possible that you may have been misled. I know your intentions were good, but God led me to say this to you: let us point out the sins of the people, not point to and call people by the names of their sins. Let us enlighten one another with a Spirit of Love, the Fruit of the Spirit, which is, the TRUE Spirit of God, so that the people may be more receptive to God's messages. Let us decrease in ego, fleshly beliefs and selfish desires and increase in Spiritual truth, that we may be entirely led by God, so that we may not be misled, and moved to mislead others in the process...
I pray that you receive this message in the same way that it was sent: In Godly Love. I pray it encourages you to seek yourself and your ministry, and to ask God for direction, correction and the strength and humility needed to do God's will...
Sincerely and with the Love of Christ,
Your sister, Jessika
PS: What God laid in my Spirit in reference to tithing: whether it be a tithe or a love offering, it is to be given in love and in obedience to the Word of God that it is better to give than it is to receive. Should one rob his family or neglect his own financial responsibilities in order to give to the church or to the poor? No. God has financially blessed those who have not given or tithed due to "inability" versus "unwillingness" (myself included). God would rather not receive a "gift/tithe" at all than to receive one that is given due to a feeling of compulsion or with a complaining spirit. God doesn't only love a cheerful Giver, He loves a child who obeys all of His commands willingly and cheerfully...the "tithing sin" is in the wishing of a curse on someone who doesn't sacrificially give, or to be "bullied" by anyone to sacrificially give. Let God lead us in our giving, tithing, praying, and in all of our works...there is no sin in doing anything under the sun (that is not outside of the will of God) - including tithing - as long as we do it as unto our Lord and Savior, with cheerful hearts that delight in the Law of the Lord...
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**LOVE...especially those who don't LOVE you back...**
Dear Jessica: I guess you must think that I was born yesterday. I see straight through you like a fleshly cleaned window pane. You ask of me whether God
"...would be pleased with the method in which you choose to deliver these messages
...your message was delivered with the spirit of the flesh
...there is an "agenda" being proposed that the writer feels would make more of an impact if he injects it with anger and accusation
...Did God want us to respond to the call to salvation with anger in our hearts?
...Did God want us to walk around feeling betrayed and resentful of the fact that we were misled?
...it's possible that you may have been misled
...let us point out the sins of the people, not point to and call people by the names of their sin
...Let us decrease in ego, fleshly beliefs and selfish desires
...so that we may not be misled, and moved to mislead others in the process"
Wow! This person you describe sounds like a pretty disgusting, carnal-minded, bitter, mean-spirited jerk, doesn't he?You then state: "I do not judge you." Oh really? Could have fooled me.
You know Jessica, your email and the attitude it exudes is the very personification of what many Christians feel toward those people and those subjects of which they know absolutely nothing about, but speak with great swelling spiritual and pious words of holier-than-thou self-righteousness thinking that they are doing both them and God a service, when in reality their sanctimonious and holy-sounding rhetoric is merely a cloak for the poison of asps that is under their tongue.
Interestingly you found not one statement in my lengthy paper on tithing that you could show to be false or unscriptural, and yet you condemn. I have a whole caption on how to support one's local church, and yet you condemn. I encourage everyone everywhere to show their Christian love and charity by being generous in all their dealings with others, and yet you condemn. I come to the aid of the thousands and thousands and thousands of elderly, widows and widowers, infirmed, and poor who have been emotionally and spiritually destroyed by this "damnable heresy" (II Pet. 2:1) of the Church, and yet you condemn.
You falsely insinuate that I am angry with the sinners rather than the sin. You warn me against "ego, fleshly beliefs, and selfish desires" as thought you can see all of these evils in me by reading my paper on tithing, and yet you say you are not judging me. Unbelievable. So you think it is ungodly and unscriptural and unchristian to "call people by the names of their sins."
You don't read the Scriptures much do you? Did Jesus call people by the names of their sins? But you don't believe in following Jesus, do you? And for sure you don't approve of anyone else who would follow Jesus, do you? Let's see what Jesus said to the religious leaders of God's Church during His ministry:
JESUS UPBRAIDS THE CHURCH LEADERS FOR THEIR GROSS SINS
[selections from Matthew 23]
"But WOE unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, HYPOCRITES… FOR YOU SHUT UP THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN AGAINST MEN…
…THEY BIND HEAVY BURDENS and GRIEVOUS to be born, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but will not move them with ONE OF THEIR FINGERS
WOE unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, HYPOCRITES… you DEVOUR WIDOW’S HOUSES… you shall receive the greater damnation.
WOE unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, HYPOCRITES…
WOE unto you, ye BLIND GUIDES…
You FOOLS AND BLIND…
You FOOLS AND BLIND…
WOE unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, HYPOCRITES! You… have omitted… JUDGMENT, MERCY, and FAITH…
You BLIND GUIDES, which strain out a gnat, and SWALLOW A CAMEL.
WOE unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, HYPOCRITES… within they are full of EXTORTION AND EXCESS.
You BLIND PHARISEES…
WOE unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, HYPOCRITES! You are FULL OF DEAD MEN’S BONES, and ALL UNCLEANESS… and HYPOCRISY and INIQUITY…
WOE unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, HYPOCRITES!… you are the children of them which KILLED the prophets. FILL YOU UP then the measure of your fathers.
You SERPENTS, you GENERATION OF SNAKES… you KILL AND CRUCIFY… you SCOURGE in your synagogues… Behold your house is left unto you DESOLATE"!!
WOW! Every one of these comments from Matt. 23 were spoken directly to the "Religious Scholars and Theologians" in the Church of God centered at the Temple in Jerusalem. Would Jesus speak in the same manner to the Religious Scholars and Theologians in God’s Church today? Does Jesus "change"? NO. Has the Church changed in the past 2000 years? YES. It has gotten WORSE.
By your own admission, you don't approve of such talk, such teaching, such an example, do you Jessica? If you didn't now know that these are the words of JESUS CHRIST THE CREATOR AND SAVIOUR OF THE WORLD, you would take GREAT exception to these words of His, wouldn't you? Of course you would. Tens of thousands of detractors have written me with similar words over the past decade, Jessica. They all claim great piety and reverence for the Word of God, until.........UNTIL you show them a few things they never saw before, and then.....AND THEN, they D-E-S-P-I-S-E the Word of God, and utterly condemn the messenger that brought it to them. I'm used to it, Jessica. I have no ill feelings toward you or the tens of thousands of Christians who hate my guts. I volunteer to do what I do; no one is holding a gun to my head. I feel very privileged to teach the Word of God and to suffer persecution for doing so.
May God open to you a spirit of wisdom to reconsider your anger toward His Word and His message.
Ray
