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His Holiness 06.11.09 J.A. Matteson “…and day and night they do not cease to say, ‘holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.’” Revelation 4:8 Pharaoh’s question of Moses was wise, although he was not sincerely seeking an answer, “But Pharaoh said, ‘Who [..more..]  The Stranger (Author Unknown) A few months before I was born, my dad met a stranger who was new to our small town. From the beginning, Dad was fascinated with this enchanting newcomer, and soon invited him to live with our family. The stranger was quickly accepted and was around to welcome me into the world a few months later. As I grew up I never questioned his place in our family. Mum taught me to love the word of God, and Dad taught me to obey it. But the stranger was our storyteller. He could weave the most fascinating tales. Adventures, mysteries and comedies were daily conversations. He could hold our whole family spell-bound for hours each evening. If I wanted to know about politics, history, or science, he knew it all. He knew about the past, understood the present, and seemingly could predict the future. The pictures he could draw were so life like that I would often laugh or cry as I watched. He was like a friend to the whole family. He took Dad, Bill and me to our first football game. He was always encouraging us to see the movies and he even made arrangements to introduce us to several movie stars. The stranger was an incessant talker. Dad didn’t seem to mind-but sometimes Mum would quietly get up– while the rest of us were enthralled with one of his stories of faraway places– go to her room, read her Bible and pray. I wonder now if she ever prayed that the stranger would leave. You see, my dad ruled our household with certain moral convictions. But this stranger never felt obligation to honor them. Profanity, for example, was not allowed in our house– not from us, from our friends, or adults. Our longtime visitor, however, used occasional four letter words that burned my ears and made Dad squirm. To my knowledge the stranger was never confronted. My dad was a teetotaler who didn’t permit alcohol in his home – not even for cooking. But the stranger felt like we needed exposure and enlightened us to other ways of life. He offered us beer and other alcoholic beverages often. He made cigarettes look tasty, cigars manly, and pipes distinguished. He talked freely (too much too freely) about sex. His comments were sometimes blatant, sometimes sugestive, and generally embarrassing. I know now that my early concepts of the man-woman relationship were influenced by the stranger. As I look back, I believe it was the grace of God that the stranger did not influence us more. Time after time he opposed the values of my parents. Yet he was seldom rebuked and never asked to leave. More than thirty years have passed since the stranger moved in with the young family on Morningside Drive. He is not nearly so intriguing to my Dad as he was in those early years. But if I were to walk into my parents home today, you would still see him sitting over in a corner, waiting for someone to listen to him talk and watch him draw his pictures. …Continue Reading This Article. 
Isaiah 49:8-16 ESV [8] Thus says the LORD: “In a time of favor I have answered you; in a day of salvation I have helped you; I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people, to establish the land, to apportion the desolate heritages, [9] saying to the prisoners, ‘Come [..more..] Mark 8:15 Then He charged them, saying, “Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” A warning on doctrine Let us notice the solemn warning which our Lord gives to His disciples at the beginning of this passage. He says, “Take heed, beware of the leaven [..more..] 
What I realise now in hindsight, is this doctrine is not far different than what happened with the story of “the emporer’s new clothes”. Speak a lie confidently enough you will get some who believe it. Once that number grows it carries great momentum, until rapidly it becomes the majority who proclaim the lie with confidence, and it is the minority who stand for the truth, simply because the truth speaks clearly for itself to those who will listen to it. I realise now the source of this doctrine, and understand how dispensational theology successfully turned it into the “norm” of Christianity today. However I am utterly convinced they are sorely mistaken, and unless many are woken up to this myth for what it is, they will be weakened in their faith to a dangerous degree should severe tribulation fall upon them. Therefore whilst it is certainly true that I know many beloved Christians who believe and teach this doctrine, some even renowned Christian leaders who I have much respect for in other areas of teaching, I still believe they are deceived and as a result, are deceiving others also. More than likely there are a few dispensationalists clicking on the comment button already to give me a piece of their mind that I should dare raise a hammer to their golden calf, but before you reel off the same twisted and out of context portions of Scripture, I strongly suggest you read the following article first, and then comment if you remain adamant. It is a fairly long article, but in my opinion by the end of it, the false doctrine of a pre tribulation rapture of the church is completely blown out of the water. That’s providing of course the reader is not determined to hold onto the traditions of men even when being refuted by God’s Word, which sadly is often the case. …Continue Reading This Article. |
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