Letter to a Pastor
19Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (Mat 5:)
15bfor we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves: (Isa 28:)
This is a letter I began that I was going to send to a Pastor I felt was truly seeking the Truth. Today I was given a realization that has caused this letter to be of no consequence.
I am very saddened by this realization because it squashes all my hopes for those I really care about. But, God in His wisdom has chosen to hide certain Truths from all but a few. I now think I know why.
Jesus did not create a Church. We think He did, and that this Church is all one Body. It is now evident that He did not.
Jesus knew (through God) that only a very few people would earnestly seek Him. Yet, at the same time He knew there would be a multitude who would seek to be associated with Him, that is, His giving nature.
This is exemplified with the multitude who followed Jesus when He fed them and told them interesting stories in the form of parables they could not understand. Jesus was an interesting person, and He was great entertainment for those people who had very little to keep them entertained.
And, who even today with all the forms of entertainment we have, would not travel great distances and at great expense to see the miracles Jesus performed?
But things began to heat up. Jesus started telling them that which they did not want to hear. He became an outlaw to the Religious and Political leaders of the country. Being associated with Jesus was no longer the "thing to do", but rather the thing to avoid. Only a very few loyal disciples continued with Jesus.
When I began writing for this web site I was writing little homey stories of what I consider interesting information with a moral undertone.
Then I had my "Turnaround" and everything I wrote had (and has) to do with the Bible.
Well, like Jesus did with the multitude and His disciples, God revealed to me simple bits and pieces of what He is doing and the direction He is taking. Although a few of these bits of information were fairly strong, they did not veer that far off the Traditional track. I thought people would find them of interest and learn some Truths from them.
So in my enthusiasm, like a child with his first drawings, I excitedly ran around handing out samples of what I had written and told the recipients where they could find more (this site).
Like the big-headed stick figures the child draws, my stories were either disregarded or cast aside as nonsense.
As time passed the studies took on more and more intensity, and the criticisms of the established churches and clergy increased. It was getting soeven I could see that few people could possibly listen to what I have to say, and they would most likely be cranks and critics looking for material to criticize or distort. But, I still had hope. So I continued handing out the simple stories and hoped people would get something out of them.
Few did.
Then I wrote The Judgement. I thought for certain this would cause people to give serious consideration to at least some of what I had written.
It didn't.
I find there are several reactions to what I write.
The first reaction they receive is that which I described above: ignored.
The second reaction is that of revulsion. It does not fit what people believe, so therefore it has to be wrong. This reaction I understand, and this one I accept as a logical one.
The third reaction is one I did not expect, to be interested, but not understand. I can full well understand their not understanding, after all, I lack a great deal of understanding in that which I write myself. And with those who do not understand, I figured that in time, and with diligence, they would grow to understand.
But understanding does not come from my writings. It can't.
Understanding the Word has to come from inquiring of the Lord what He meant by what He has written.
And I am unable to tell if this is occurring or not any more than anyone can tell if I am consulting the Lord.
But someone can tell I am seeking the Lord. How? Because I am always anxious to talk about the Word, and I spend a great deal of time in the Word.
Now, I can't tell if someone is doing the same, except by one thing - if they talk about the Lord and His Word to me.
This doesn't happen. Oh, it does happen, but only when I bring it up.
The forth reaction, the one I had hoped for, I have never received. I have been hoping for it, and pressing for it. But I see I am not going to get it. At least I am not going to get it by any of my effort.
I had hoped for someone who reads what I write to delve in and study what I've written, to see if it is true, to try and prove me wrong. I had hoped to find someone who was truly seeking Truth and was willing to look outside the box to find it if at all possible,
I have resigned myself that this is not going to happen.
Why won't it happen?
Because Jesus has created two Churches.
The first church Jesus created is the one that the multitudes flock to like crows to bread cast on a lawn. It is the one that caters to the will of the people. It is the one that bolsters a person's ego and tells them what they want to hear. And it is a church where people can come together and learn a little, pray a little (asking to have their needs and desires fulfilled), and maybe do a little good for the church and the world.
This first church is safe. It has all its ducks in a row. When you want to learn what God has said, you go to a Pastor or an Elder and he or she will look it up in their Book of Doctrine.
In this church you know right where you stand and never have to fear that you will ever have to face the consequences the rest of the "wicked" World will be consumed by.
The second Church Jesus created is not safe. There is no building wherein others of the Church may gather. There is no Book of Doctrine to which one may look up the step-by-step instructions to life's little problems. In this Church there is no Master plan whereby a person can check to see how far along the road they are or by which they may plan their life.
In this Church the Book of Rules is the Bible that proclaims itself a scrambled puzzle whereby anyone wishing to understand it must go to the Writer of the Book, the Lord Himself. Any effort to decipher the Word on one's own efforts will result in Fantasy and foolish Doctrine.
In this second Church there is only a lamp at the feet of its members with darkness beyond. This Church insists you not live by your own will and purposes, but by faith in the unknown and by blind obedience. In this Church you do not live your life and take God with you; but rather you allow God to live through you and surrender all your hopes and desires for your own welfare.
The first church is a Road Sign, a Billboard, a "Come on" in the vernacular of the advertisers. It is a facade, a false front intended to appeal to the World. It is a door that leads to the True Church; an antechamber, a vestibule before the cathedral; it is the Court of the Gentiles that looks on the workings of the True Church with a skeptical eye without having to perform the Practices of the Church.
This first church appeals to the Worldly aspect of Man, the Adamic nature that caused the fall of our first ancestors. It offers, as did the serpent, its partakers to "Be like God" without having to listen to God or follow His Laws. This church promises that "you will not surely die" if you please yourself.
This first church, though it talks about the Bible, does not believe the Bible but has built its own explanations of the Bible that it teaches and believes. Some of these churches have reinterpreted the Bible, or they have negated the Bible by claiming there might be manmade errors or additions (or deletions) to the Bible. Many other of these churches have disregarded the Bible all together and hand out slips of paper at their church telling what to read, believe, and what the Bible supposedly says or means.
This first church in words pretends to worship the God Who created them, while in practice they worship themselves, the creation. This church, rather than directing their prayers to God and saying: "Thy will be done," even at the expense of the one who prays; rather prays: "My will be done," and presents a list of thing he or she wants God to fulfill.
This church, instead of following Jesus into the wilderness for testing and purification; sings their little slogan; "Take the Name of Jesus with you." God is a tag-a-long in their daily lives who is supposed to be there like a Guardian Angel in case they slip and fall in their efforts to fulfill their own purposes.
In this church, being like Jesus is not the goal or the direction, but acting like Jesus is taught the ultimate goal for those who choose to move off their sofa at all - which very often is not a requirement but rather a suggestion.
This first church is taught that there is "Peace, Peace." There is no war except perhaps on the Mission Field where the objective is to bring more people into the service of satisfying themself rather than in the service of the Lord whereby "Self" is sacrificed on the alter. They are told that when war does come they will not have to participate, nor prepare, because they will be whisked off into Never-Never land and abide in mansions that Jesus Himself is building for them.
This second Church Jesus created has all the appeal of a dung heap. This Church has no Doctrine which to follow, but instruction must be listened to with intensity by the heart of its members. Those who enlist in this Church are told they must leave their Worldly possessions, their "Civilian Clothing" at the door and put on their new uniform, the New Man, the Armor of God. The Old Nature of Adam must be left in the vestibule, the Outer Church which is the first church.
This Church is told there is a war to be fought, and they must fight it. They are told that they will have to make great sacrifices, and my well have to be sacrificed for the good of the Company, that is the Church, who's Head is Jesus Christ. This Church is not only told there is a war being fought right this moment, but even as they train for battle, they are fighting this war. The soldiers of this great Army are not allowed to rest in their training or in their service to the King. They are taught that only the fittest will survive. That only those who endure to the end will reap the rewards. That quitters will be treated the same as non-starters. There is no retreat in the Battle of the Lord.
When there is no war, there is no draft. That is the way it is in the natural in this country (Not in many others, however where all must serve). Whereas the first church seeks volunteers into their "Holiday Inn," the Army of God knows full well that war is being fought. And they know that if they join, they will have to train and fight. Where there is a war, there is the draft. During the draft, all who are Citizens are called into the service. In the Army of God, though all must serve, few in the World bother to listen for their call (having been brought to their knees in pleading), or when they do, they go no farther than the door, the first church where they are told they have arrived. Those who have truly repented and wish to serve their Lord; those who diligently seek Him and will bear their cross; those who have "counted the cost" and know full well what lies ahead for them; are then treated as "Sons" of the King. And as Sons, they are disciplined, trained and chastised much more and much harder than any other in the service of the King. The King will have none of His Sons be of any less stature than He, Himself is. What qualities He, the King possesses, He will make sure His sons also possess if they are to rule and reign with Him.
This second Church knows that Heaven is not somewhere in the sky where self-seeking people fly around playing harps; but that Heaven is the original Paradise God made for man right here on earth. They know that those who will be "taken" are those who will be "shaken off" this earth when it is shaken by God.
This second Church knows that the New Jerusalem is not some huge city where these "live forever" saints will be treated as royalty (by the way, what are these people doing in a city on earth when they are supposed to be in mansions in the sky?). They know that the "Mansions" Jesus has built for us is a Tabernacle wherein, not we can live, but where He can live in and through us.
The Mansions Jesus is building is now being built stone by stone right here on earth. Each of these stones are a man or a woman who has surrendered themselves to Jesus and has allowed themselves to be filled with the Holy Spirit. They are a mobile Tabernacle, a tent whereby Jesus may conduct His business here on earth. When all the stones have been established (Jesus is the Cornerstone and the Apostles are the foundation), then He (Jesus), the Holy Spirit who is now actively working within His own, and the Father will come and make Their "abode" in their new Temple, the New Jerusalem. (We see this exemplified in the conception of Jesus.)
This second Church knows that it will receive, and must accept abuse and rejection from the first church, just as did Jesus and the Apostles from the church of their day.
Two churches, worlds apart.
The first church serves itself dishing out Fairy Tales as Fact for all the World to see.
The second Church hides the Truth so the World can not see, and what it gets a peek at, believes it to be a Fairy Tale.
The first church worships itself and seeks its own.
The second Church worships God and seeks God's will.
The first church believes in "Peace, Peace" and that there is no war.
The second Church knows there is a war being fought this very moment.
The first church is a religion built around the needs and wants of man.
The second Church is the New Jerusalem whose building-blocks are going through the refiner's fire in order to make them strong, pure and acceptable.
The first church is Mystery Babylon, the religious system holding down the saints and serving herself under the Name of God.
The Second Church is the assaulted and pursued Woman, hidden in the wilderness, being trained and fed by the Lord.
In the Tabernacle, and later in the Temple, "Strangers" were not allowed within the court under pain of death.
Those who were not part of the Priesthood (that one must be born into) were not allowed into the Holy Place, the outer chamber of the Temple. Then, even though born to the job, only those who had cleansed themselves in the basin designed for that purpose could enter. And those who did enter had a duty to perform.
Then, and only once a year, and only one Priest, the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies to be in the presence of the Lord. If that High Priest is not totally cleansed and fully prepared, he will be struck dead. Only the perfectly prepared will be able to enter the presence of the Lord.
The Vail has been rent. The churches believe this means everyone can enter the presence of God willy-nilly.
This is not so. Only the prepared may enter in. And even then, only those born to the job, and cleansed in the basin may enter the chamber where the Vail hangs.
When the High Priest enters the Holy of Holies, all other priests in the second chamber must leave. In other words, even as priests, born to the position and having duties to perform, must either enter into the Holy of Holies, or leave all together.
"The first Heaven and the first Earth will pass away."
When things heat up for the Christians, will they follow the woman Babylon into the World? Or will they follow the Woman in white into the wilderness?
The second church is only for those who are willing to go all the way, make the ultimate sacrifice as did Jesus. Anyone not willing to place themselves on the alter of sacrifice should not even attempt moving beyond the self-serving antechamber where they will be catered to instead of them having to serve the Lord.
In the Military a soldier does not join the Special Forces (Green Berets, Seabees, Paratroopers and so forth) thinking they are going to sit behind a desk and have meals brought to them. They expect to get the worst of the battle, and very likely to die in the line of duty. These understand what "Count the Cost" means.
"Count the Cost." If the cost is too high, then follow the doctrine of whatever church, cult, religion or Social gathering to which you belong, and make the very best of this world.
[Give the people in the first church a message like the one above, what do you suppose would happen? What happened when Jesus gave the rich young ruler this message? What happened when Jesus gave the multitude this message? What happened when Jesus gave the Pharisees this message?]
The above is not what I was going to send to the Pastor this letter was addressed to. What you have just read is the reasons I decided not to send the letter. I see no way a person can follow what I have said in the preceding and still be a Pastor of any church. So this letter remains unsent.
The following is the letter I was going to send:
Dear Pastor:
In my experience of your ministry I find you to be a sincere and dedicated man to his flock, and to the Lord. And I believe you are searching for Truth, not just for a comfortable Doctrine.
I believe you want the best for those under your care, those you have been given to feed, comfort and guide. And I know the task is a difficult one and is presented with many pitfalls and sources of resistance, especially from the very ones you strive to help.
For just such a reason I make this special effort to present to you what I believe to be the Truth, and not just another of the thousands of Doctrines that are in the world of the "church."
As you read what I have sent to you, I have no doubt but that you will disagree with most, if not almost all of it. It will be especially easy to do so since it reads as an attack on you, your job as a Pastor, your beliefs, and even the Church that Jesus Himself established. Please don't take anything of what is said personally. Consider it honestly and objectively. If you find any of it applies to you, even though just a small amount, take it to the Lord and see what your conscience has to say you should do with it. If none of it applies to you, but you know it does apply to a few churches or ministers, then it is intended for them, not you.
It is natural for people to judge what they read and classify the entire content by what they feel is the least pertinent. If they find any part of it that appears wrong to their way of thinking, they discount the entire presentation. In my writings you will find almost every thing "wrong, distorted and corrupt" from your perspective. I full well expect this. I even expect you to see parts of it as "evil and ani-Christian." But I hope that you will be able to look beyond this attitude and search the Scriptures diligently in effort to prove me wrong and wicked. I hope you are able to set your Doctrinal views aside and delve into the Word to see if their might be but a grain of Truth in what I have said.
Then, when you have proven me wrong, and are sure you have had the leading of the Holy Spirit in your search, you will feel just that much stronger in you convictions, and in the Doctrine you teach your congregates. And through the search you will have formed just that much more of a relationship with the Holy Spirit - which is my ultimate goal.
What I write is nothing but nonsense without the Holy Spirit. And when it is all boiled down to the essence of what I am saying, it is this: Nothing matters in this world more than receiving, and following the lead of the Holy Spirit; for in this way, we are under the guidance and instruction of our Commander, Jesus Christ.
Yours in Jesus:
Tumbleweed
Isaiah 28
5In that day shall the LORD of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people, 6And for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate. 7But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment. 8For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean. 9Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. 10For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little: 11For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. 12To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear. 13But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.
