La Valera 1602 Purificada

Saludos hermanos,

Para los que no sepan, usamos la Biblia Valera 1602 Purificada. Usted puede aprender más de esta biblia por medio de leer:

http://www.valera1602purificada.blogspot.com/

http://www.rrb3.com/bibles/spnbibl/1602_purified_intro.htm

También usted puede leer mi página del red a:

http://www.rrb3.com/espanol/principal.htm

Espero que allí usted encontrará mucha más información sobre la historia de la biblia en Español, y el porque la Valera 1602 Purificada es la mas pura.

Dios me le bendiga (como dicen en Honduras).

FISHING WITH A NET

I had a great time yesterday afternoon going out and fishing. I have a 10 foot cast-net, and I enjoy throwing it. Well, when I threw it yesterday off the neighbor's pier, I was blessed to pull it back in with about eight mullet in it. That's a personal record so far. Later, I caught a couple more, and I really enjoyed it. I also caught some minnows, which I put on my pole, and cast out.

While fishing for fish, I also thought about the whole spiritual aspect of fishing for men. And you know, I didn't catch anything on my pole, but I got a lot in my net.

As I thought about that, I looked at the pole as "one-on-one" dealing with souls and at the net as "world-wide evangelism." And I equated it with the "Internet," also known as the "world-wide web."

You know it's getting harder and harder nowdays to reach people one on one. Some people just don't want to hear it! At least that is in America. People here just don't seem to care about anything spiritual.

But when you put up a website, it seems like you get a lot more viewers, readers, and people who will read it. Technology is pressing forward and people are rejecting the old time ways in favor of the new. There is very little face-to-face communication nowdays, as people instead text each other, even when they are right next to each other!

I've found that God's used me with my spiritual pole (one on one with people) as well as with my net (my website). All I want is to reach as many people as I can with the truth in any way I can.

In closing, I want to tell you something else I learned yesterday. I had a bucket full of water, and I found as I poured it off the pier into the water, I saw the noise it made made the fish within about an 80 foot radius jump out of the water. I thought to myself, "Hey, maybe I can use this!"

And I did! I got my net ready, and then tipped the bucket over with my foot. When I did, I watched where they jumped and threw my net over on them. It was a great way to know where they were.

As I thought on that, I thought that's a type of preaching. The Bible is like water, and we should preach as hard as we can, for it will not only stir the water, but it'll make people jump out of their skins!

THE NRSV BIBLE ADDING TO THE WORD OF GOD

So I opened up my Quickverse the other day (I still use Quick Verse 4, as it's sooooooo awesome), and it gave me an interesting note. It said the corrupt NRSV Bible has two extra verses in it compared to the King James. Did you know this?

So being curious, I thought I'd look them up and see what those two verses where and what they were about. Here are the two "extra verses" in the NRSV with their references:

Peace to you. The friends send you their greetings. Greet the friends there, each by name. (3 John 1:15)

Then the dragon took his stand on the sand of the seashore. (Rev. 12:18).

Now you want to have some fun? Look up the context of both these verses in the King James Bible, and you'll find that these verses are in the weirdest places. Further, they just don't make sense, nor do they seem to even work in the context. There is simply no cohesion with those other verses, and it makes you wonder where they even came from!

The first one talks about "friends." But, what about "brethren?"

And the second one talks about the "dragon" which we know is really Satan. But what's that all about? Why's he standing on the seashore?

As I looked at these verses, I was reminded of the following KJV verses about not adding to the word of God:

Deu 4:2 Ye shall not ADD unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.

Prov 30:5 Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.
Prov 30:6 Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.

Rev 22:18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:

It doesn't take a Genius to know that it's wrong to add to the words of God. It you don't have to have a degree, or even a "doctorate" to know that someone added those two verses. So who was it? Where did they come from. And why are they there? If you know, why not comment and let us in on it?

CAN YOU BE SAVED WITHOUT KNOWING IT?

There are some really outrageous and strange things coming out of the mouths and pens of many a modern day Preacher, especially those who claim to be "Fundamentalists." The latest is that of saying a person can be "Saved" whether he "knows it or not." Is that even possible?

Can a person really be saved without knowing it? (That almost sounds Calvinistic).

I challenge you, dear reader, to look in the Bible for a verse about this. And see if you can find a passage or two that speaks of getting saved as something that just happens to a person without their knowledge. You'll have a rare verse if you find one, because it's simply not there. Instead you'll find that in the Bible salvation is dependent upon "KNOWLEDGE." A person has to hear and understand the Gospel before they can believe it and be saved. Surely, just "head knowledge" is not enough. There must be a "heart belief" or a receiving of the free gift of eternal life by FAITH in the finished work of Jesus Christ (i.e. His blood atonement). But that heart belief cannot come without the head knowledge first, for how can someone trust in something they know nothing about???

That's just simple second grade logic, as well as sound Bible doctrine. So why is it many modern day spiritual dwarfs (which many claim to be Christian giants) can't grasp that simple fact?

Here is a comment on Romans 10:13 in a new popular "Reference Bible" by a very famous Bible Teacher. He says:

"That is what causes panic in Hell and a celebration in Heaven. God either told the truth or he didn't. If you call upon His name for salvation, as found in verses 9-10, He saves you WHETHER YOU KNOW IT OR NOT. If you called upon His name as found in the passage and He DID NOT save you, then he LIED. So SOMEBODY is lying if you DOUBT YOUR SALVATION after you have 'called upon His name': either you or Him. DO YOU REALLY HAVE TO GUESS WHICH ONE?"

Now several things are wrong with this. First of all, he says a person can be saved, "whether they know it or not." This is not Bible doctrine! A person can not be saved without knowing it! Secondly, he says either God or man is a liar. But he should not be so hasty to make someone a liar who doesn't go along with his doctrine. Finally, he fails to DEFINE the word "call," which makes a giant mess in his doctrine.

In the Bible, when we read of "calling" upon the name of the Lord in Romans 10:13, we must look at the rest of the passage for the CONTEXT. And it's there we find the context of "calling" is not just a vocal invocation with the MOUTH. It is belief from the HEART! In other words, it's TRUSTING or RELYING UPON completely and solely upon the finished work of Christ.

This is why we find a cross reference in 2 Tim. 2:2, which speaks of them, who "call on the Lord out of a pure heart."

Here we are told calling comes from the heart and not just the mouth. This is so very important, as many a modern Fundamentalist Pharisee is so far from the scriptures that he can't even think straight. Most of them think when the Bible speaks of calling it is only refering to "repeating a prayer with one's lips" or "pronouncing a dictated prayer" or "begging God to be forgiven with the mouth." But if this is all that happens, and there is no faith on Christ from the heart, the sinner is NOT SAVED!

Even Jesus draws this simple distinction when he says, "This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me." (Matthew 15:8 ).

Again, let me restate that biblically, it is possible to come to God and call upon God with the MOUTH, but if a person does that without believing from the HEART, he is still lost. Why? Because he "called" the wrong way!

In Matthew 6:7, Jesus speaks of those who erroneously think God will hear their prayers repetitious prayers: "But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking."

God does not save anyone just because they "ask for salvation." Nay, God only saves people who TRUST him to save them. There is a fine line, but a huge difference. For those who only ask for forgiveness are hoping to obtain salvation because they asked (something they DID). While those who are saved, are not trusting in anything they did, but resting solely upon the finished work of Jesus Christ, and what HE DID FOR THEM!

Modern day "Soul Winning" tactics, and many modern day "soul winners" forget this simple fact. They are often instructed to just go out door to door and show a sinner a couple of verses (usually only three or four) and then tell them, "Now repeat the Sinner's prayer after me!" If the person does so, they then go away bragging about it, after telling that person they are saved. But what if that person prayed with the mouth, but had no faith at all from the heart? Is he saved? Absolutely not! Modern Fundamentalists don't think about this at all. And many refuse to address it when faced with it. But it is a very important issue, one which is capable of damning many souls to Hell, for it can oftentimes leave a person trusting in the PRAYER he SAID, instead of trusting in the PENALTY paid for him by the blood Jesus SHED.

So strong is this "1-2-3-Pray after me," mentality, that many a Christian actually believes that's the plan of salvation. They use the "Sinner's Prayer" and tell a person to pray it. But this leads oftentimes to a soul praying it over and over again, night after night, and when they find no assurance, they use it almost as a mantra, trying to convince themselves if they pray it enough, God will save them. But where is this in the Bible? And, if it didn't give them assurance the first time, why would they think it would the second, or third, or eight-hundredth time? Many who pray this prayer over and over again do so because they are LOST! And they are trying to still find forgiveness the only way they know how, by begging God for it from the mouth. But by so doing, they are trying to get saved by what they DO (their prayer) instead of simply giving up their own righteousnesses and trusting solely upon what Jesus has already DONE to save them.

Fundamentalist Chrisitans who believe salvation is by calling only with the MOUTH are actually no better than Fundamentalist Muslims, who believe the same thing. For example, I visited a Mosque a few years back with a Pastor friend and we were given the royal tour of the place. As our guide showed us around, he bragged upon how several European white people had recently visited and converted to Islam. I wondered what he meant, and asked questions. Do you know how Muslims count a convert? They believe if a person will only say, "Allah is God," then he is a convert to their religion. (But if you study history, you'll find Allah was an idol and a moon god in an old pagan religion!)

As we were leaving the Mosque, our guide tried to get us to say, "Allah is God" before we left, subtley trying to convince us that his god was the same as our God. I would not say it, and he became angry, yelling over and over, "Say Allah is God! Say it! Say it!"

I would not, and finally just said, "I cannot and will not because I know who Allah really is. So I say, 'Allah is NOT God.' " He became even more angry, and we got out of there fearing for our lives. But as I looked back, I realized, all he wanted was to brag about making two new converts. And if we would have said what he wanted to hear, he would have bragged about us joining his religion. How different is this from modern Fundamentalism?

But even if I had said to him that "Allah is God," I would not have meant it. And the joke would have been on him, for I would have said it from the MOUTH, but not believed it from the HEART.

How is it modern Fundamentalist don't see that many of the "converts" they claim to "win" do the same? For they never darken the door of a church thereafter, never get baptized, and never have a change in their lives. But yet, some soulwinner told them they were saved, and so they will tell others they are, even as they go to bars, drink, smoke, cuss, fornicate, etc.

Does anyone else see this horrendous problem? Or am I the only one? How can Christians be so blind to this?

So back to our original thesis: Can a man be saved without knowing it? Absolutely not! At least not in the Bible. To be saved, a person needs to know what salvation is, and what to be saved from, and what it is that saves them. It's not their MOUTH, or anything said from it that saves them. It is their faith. And that faith must be placed in the right thing. And the Bible teaches that a man's faith must be in the SHED BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST (Rom. 3:25).

Men who say a man can be saved without knowing it are not giving you Bible, but rather a lot of gas. They are not telling you what GOD said, rather teaching a MAN-MADE doctrine. Just look at the verses below, which clearly show a person must KNOW the TRUTH before they can get saved.

1 Tim 2:3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
1 Tim 2:4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

Col 1:5 For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel;

Col 1:23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;

Notice these verses show a person must HEAR the gospel before they can believe it. He must KNOW something before he can believe something. And if a person KNOWS and then trusts Jesus as his Saviour, then he'll KNOW he's saved and on his way to heaven.

How about you? Are you saved? Do you know it! For the Bible teaches a "know so" salvation, not a "I sure hope so" salvation. If you don't know, you can! Just repent of all your own filthy righteousnesses, and trust in the blood and righteousness of Jesus CHrist alone.

For more on the biblical doctrine of "CALLING UPON THE LORD FOR SALVATION" read my book on the subject at:

http://www.rrb3.com/mypub/books/how_to_call_on_Lord.htm

For more on the doctrine of salvation, go to:

http://www.rrb3.com/tsam/salvation/gspl_salv_page.htm

THE GULF OIL SPILL AND HOW I SEE IT

We are blessed to live right on Escambia Bay which is just one island away from the Gulf of Mexico. If you go about five miles South from us, you are right on Pensacola Beach. And if you go about eight miles South West through the Inter Coastal Water Way, you'll end up at Fort Pickens Pass, where the Gulf meets our body of water.

When the BP oil spill happened, people went crazy, thinking it was the end of the world. For example, look up: "BP Oil Spill: Media Lies & the Truth About a Teotwawki Event Happening Now" by george4title, for just one example of what people were saying about the event.

Many believed this was the worse ecological disaster of our time. Everyone, that is, but my grandmother. She told me, "Oh, that's nothing! After World War II, there were many boats coming back from the war leaking oil all over the place! Many of them sank. Oil washed up on the beaches everywhere, and no one said anything. And in just a couple of years, it was gone, and there was no problem whatsoever! People are really making too big a deal out of all this!"

I remembered that as I studied and read in the news about the "disaster." And I too came to the conclusion that it wasn't as bad as they made it out to be. The Gulf of Mexico is a very big body of water, and could even take a spill ten times that size!

As the world watched the news, we saw the massive clean up effort, and we were eventually told that over 70% of the spill has now been cleaned up, something I don't even know if I believe or not. How can they say such a thing? But if that's true, then the whole thing wasn't as big a disaster as they said it was, and now it's almost all gone.

Personally, I thought the oil would evaporate, or eventually begin to sink back down to the bottom of the ocean where it came from. Supposedly, that's exactly what it's doing now.

But as this whole thing happened, I wondered what would happen to the fish and wildlife. If you believe the scare tactics of the news, this disaster was to "wipe out" the entire fishing industry and kill many pelicans, ospreys, crabs, etc. Well guess what. That is exactly NOT what happened.

I told my wife about a month into the spill that my guess was the fish would flood into the bays and bayous in droves, in order to get away from the oil. (Yes, fish are smart enough to not swim into the black stuff!). And that's exactly what we've seen happen.

From our house we watched day after day as Escambia grew fuller and fuller of fish. Mullet were jumping everywhere! Minnows flourished, speckled trout, red fish, and more filled the bay! Trout slicks and schools of fish were everywhere!

I enjoyed throwing my cast net and catching a plethora of fish. Once, I even caught a "lady fish" which are usually only out in the deep sea. (Proving my theory that deep sea fish from the Gulf did indeed came into the cleaner waters of our bay).

So, this oil spill has been a real blessing to us, as we've seen in increase of fish in our bay. I can only guess, and this is another theory I have, that as they came in, they also must have spawned here to, which will lead to even more fish being hatched in our waters. (I think so because this is the time of year for it, and the oh so hot summer has made the waters so very warm).

As I thought about this PHYSICAL lesson I learned from this "disaster," God showed me a SPIRITUAL lesson as well. That is, the more disaster, the more it can turn out to be a blessing for you!

I also thought about souls. And how there are very few people nowdays getting saved in comparison to the "Great Awakenings" and the revivals in the beginning of our last century. And I study those, it was usually when something bad happened that revivals flourished. (Like the Great Depression of the 1920's, and the great revivals of Billy Sunday).

Maybe what America needs are more "disasters" in order to bring the fish in to God's bay (heaven). Maybe a great a terrible overflow of darkness across our land might be what America needs to repent and get right with God, and to start revival. I hope not, but I'm just saying it's a thought.

The reason this spill happened was because of CORRUPTION. That is governmental officials were paid off and took bribes in order to not do their mandatory inspections. This lead to the "explosion" which gave us the great disaster. As I thought on this, I too see much corruption in high up places in our nation, which will undoubtably lead to a soon coming explosion of civil unrest. You'd have to be blind not to see a whole lot of bad in the future for our country as politics, religion, and evil people are trying to start revolutions, race wars and robbery. Bad times are coming and a dark cloud is brewing. Times are expected to get really bad really fast, as Muslims, Communists, Socialists, and Gangs are raping our land, as they try to spawn their movements and increase their power. They care only about themselves and what they can get from others, and don't seem to care about "tolerance" and "peace." Instead they actively engage in being rampantly defiant to God, the Bible, and the principles that founded our nation.

And what about our economy, which has come to the brink of almost unsustainability, which means it's going to CRASH very soon?! (All of which I think has been planned so they can dump the American dollar, you know, the one with "In God We Trust" on it, so they can change to a unified currency in the Americas. You know, something like the "Amero" that they claim doesn't exist. Look up "Amero" on Youtube and you'll see they've already been minted and printed!)

So, what's on the horizon, and what's next for our country? I have no idea. All I know, and the promise that keeps me going, is that God can turn something bad around into a blessing. And he can use "disaster" to bring about revival. Yes, another disaster is most likely coming (especially since that's how the bad guys work with their Order out of Chaos mentality), but God can take a bad thing and turn it into a good thing. Let's all pray that will happen!

THE SIN OF THE LOVE OF MONEY

Another grevious sin that's quite prevalent among Pastors today in the Fundamentalist movement is "the love of money."

The Bible has much to say about this destructive sin. Let us read together in 1 Timothy chapter six, verses 5-11...

5 Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.
6 But godliness with contentment is great gain.
7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.
8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.
9 But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.

First, make sure you note that according to verse eleven, the Apostle Paul is speaking here to a "man of God" or a Pastor. And he warns him of the "love of money" proclaiming that it is the very "root of ALL Evil" in verse 10.

I must admit, when I first was saved and I read this verse, I really didn't understand it. How could someone loving money be the root of all the evil in the entire world? I really didn't see it, nor comprehend it. But I must say now I understand it completely. For the love of money (i.e. covetousness, or the wanting of gain for one's self), can lead a man to any means and yea even any sin to get what he desires. (i.e. fame, fortune, recognition, and material possessions).

But isn't it interesting that Paul warns a Preacher against this sin? How come not too many preachers preach against this sin of loving money? When was the last time you heard a message on it? Probably never. And if you did, it was probably not put in its proper context as a warning to a Pastor!

I personally believe the worst part about loving money, is that it will get you to trust it instead of trusting in God. And, if you love money, it'll eventually become your God, and your driving force in life, which will move you towards your goal of working in any means you can to secure to yourself more fortune. This then makes you a "heirling" who is working for money instead of working for God. And in our world today we see many a preacher who cares more about making themselves rich instead of practicing and preaching the true riches of God, such as love, joy, peace, and longsuffering.

Even within modern Fundamentalism, there are preachers guilty of the sin of the love of money, just like the religious Pharisees of old were. I've met them, and I see them not only in many pastorates across the country, but I also see a great cloud of their number growing as they are hatched out of Bible Colleges and Christian Theological Universities like chicks in poultry hatcheries. This new breed is taught in modern Bible schools that they are to be measured by their "success," which they are taught depends upon how big their salaries are, how many people sit in their congregation, and how gigantic of a "church house," "temple" or "cathedral" they build. Because success is measured in physical value of assets, the emphasis quickly turns to the carnal instead of the spiritual, and this pressures a minister to spend more time working to acheive things in his own strength, than to simply get on his knees and beg a powerful God to simply work on his behalf.

The emphasis is no longer on prayer and fasting, rather on pleasure and feasting. And the minister eventually gets to the place where he feels he's not acheived anything for God if he doesn't have a small, visible kingdom to show for it. In short, he becomes a Laodicean, and he can't even see his sinful, backslidden and carnal condition.

Just look at what God says about such a man in Revelation Rev 3:14-20:

14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

Even though the Pastor thinks his possessions are his because he has acheived much in his service for the Lord, God says otherwise. God calls him, "...wretched, poor, miserable, blind, and naked." (vs 17)

And God even stresses his need to REPENT (vs 19), as he tells him that He's not even been invited inside the church (vs 20). Everything the Pastor has done, he's done without God, yet he did in in God's name. And he's profited off of all he's done.

With this in mind, I'd just like to give a brief personal experience of a time when I met a Pastor who's sin was the love of money. By the way, they are very easy to spot as they are always talking about money (out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh), and how much they have done and are doing for God.

Once my wife and I visited a church I was invited to preach in. While there the Pastor gave us the tour. My wife and I kept looking at each other as he kept saying things like, "Look at those pews. We just had those put in. They cost me 30,ooo dollars! And look over there, we just had the parking lot repaved, it cost me 25,000 dollars!" On and on he went pointing out things and then telling us how much it cost.

Several things bothered me. First, he kept saying it cost "him" that much, but the truth of the matter is the church (the people, i.e. the CONGREGATION) fit the bill. That is they paid for it, not him. Secondly, why was he bragging on all that stuff, and how much it was worth?

As I got to know the Pastor better, it was blatantly obvious his God was money, and he was very "political" in his connections, and very "business minded" in his approach to the things of God.

I started the morning by listening to the Sunday School in the Spanish ministry. As I listened, many things jumped out to me that were wrong. For example, the teacher said, "Cain killed Able with the jawbone of an ass!" I immediately laughed out loud, but was asked to keep quiet and not disrupt the service. But the jawbone of the ass story was that of Sampson, not Cain and Abel. Over and over the Sunday School teacher made small errors, and mistakes and mis-spoke like that, and it became blatantly obvious that he didn't know his Bible. I had to bit my tongue time and again, but I remained quiet.

When it came time for the Sunday morning service, in which I was the guest speaker, I waited patiently as they sang hymns. Finally, they sat everyone down, and then they followed through with a church "program," in which they gave those who brought visitors a five dollar gift card to Wal-mart, and to each visitor they gave the same. I thought about that and my blood boiled. That's actually paying people to come to church!!!

On and on the program went, and eventually I was given the pulpit at forty-five minutes after the hour. I preached twenty minutes, (the shortest sermon of my life), and can you believe the Pastor actually got mad at me for going five minutes longer than my alotted time?

I was asked to preach the evening service, and again it was the same thing. Programs took up much of the service, and one of the things they did was ask the congregation how many tracts they'd passed out that week. They went around the entire church, one by one, asking people to give the number they'd distributed and I watched the Pastor as he wrote down each response and the church applauded each person for passing out tracts. At the end, before I was called to preach, the Pastor totalled up the exact number of tracts gotten out and announced it to the church, which then was received with thunderous applaus, as they rejoiced that they had done so much for the Lord. But in my mind, I remember thinking, "What is going on here? How is this pleasing to God? These people are getting their reward down here! Why then should they expect to get rewarded for passing out tracts up in heaven?" For it appeared to me that most of those who passed out tracts did it only for show, or to brag about how many they'd passed out that week, or just to not look lazy in the eyes of others. It became batantly obvious, they didn't pass out tracts because they loved the Lord, they did it to get attention from the eyes of others!

I then stood up and preached on the blood of Jesus Christ, and I felt like I was in a tree full of owls. No one seemed excited, happy, or thankful. I even told them, "According to the Bible, salvation is by blood atonement, and because of this Christianity used to be called 'That old slaughter house religion!' How many of you have ever heard that?" In a crowd of over 100 people, not a hand was raised.

The Pastor after the service took up an offering for my wife and I, saying, "Everything collected will go directly to Bro. Breaker." It didn't, and the next day I was only given a small check from the church and sent on my way. (Another sin that's common in Fundamentalist churches).

I learned later that the Pastor was in all the famous Fundamentalists magazines, and recently received a reward for being the fastest growing church in that state. Yet it appeared to me, he only cared about his money, his kingdom, and was only interested in the praise of men, and not about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

You might say, "Oh, Bro. Breaker. There you go again. You think you are right and everyone else is wrong, and everyone is apostate but you!" (Which some have recently said). But wait! Let me tell you the rest of the story. I spoke with Spanish Pastor the next day, and we talked about several things. He confessed to me that he knew there were some things wrong in that church, and he didn't like them. But he said was the head of the Spanish Bible School there, and that the English Pastor held power over the student's and their visas (many of them were from other countries), and had threatened, "If you hispanics don't do what I say, I will deport you back to your own countries!"

Now what do you make of such a thing? I'm telling you a personal illustration of something I've seen with my own eyes in an Independent Baptist Church, and I'm asking you, does that sound right to you?

Clearly, the sin of "THE LOVE OF MONEY" has quite an influence over people, and can do a lot of damage to the cause of Christ, as it makes men slaves to a man, instead of free in Christ.

Sadly, I've seen situations like this one in more than one church. Pastors, who love money more than God, set themselves up as Baptist Popes, who use their power and influence to get gain. But gain is not godliness! The scriptures plainly tell us that!

I'm not saying that all Pastors or bad, and that the whole Independent Baptist Movement is apostate. I'm sure there are still some good churches and some spirit-filled Pastors out there who are living for God and preaching hard against sin. But I am saying they are also a lot of Pastors out there guilty of this sin of the love of money. And, I am saying the way the Independent Baptist movement is set up, with it's traditions, and giving too much power to one man, and it's making a "business" out of Christianity, it's easy for Pastors to slip into that mentality, as the pressure is on them to build big churches, and have a lot of money coming in order to build more ministries in order to look good in the eyes of the brethren.

One thing I've learned is when you pressure a man, it's a lot easier for him to compromise. And when a man believes he must be successful to look good in the eyes of other Pastors, you can write it down, he will eventually compromise in order to reach that goal!

Modern Fundamentalists Independent Baptists are more and more being spit out of Bible Schools and Institutes that teach them they should strive to gain the support of their fellow ministers, rather than get alone with God through prayer and fasting. They are told the ultimate goal is to build a big church and get a name for themselves so they can set up new Bible Schools (where the real money is) and get a "doctorate" behind their names, so they can preach in other pulpits (where they usually receive big offerings) and write articles for big name Fundamentalist Bible Newspapers and Magazines. When they've acheived that, they can then "retire" (Oh, that really erks me! I'm going to have to write a blog on why there is no such thing as a Missionary or Pastor "retiring" for the ministry is a CALLING, and not a PROFESSION), and receive a pension in their old age.

They are also taught "loyalty" to their school or affiliation, or a Man, instead of loyalty to Christ, while they are encouraged to follow MAN MADE PROGRAMS, and METHODS, instead of simply following the word of God. Which often times leads to then becoming nothing more than Pharisees who desires the "praise of men" and "financial gain" instead of the favor of God, and his grace.

But it's been my experience, and I'm trying to be nice, respectful, and tactful here when I state this, that a lot of these "big-name" Fundamentalists are nothing but a bunch of old "blow hards" who have built themselves a kingdom, and then live off of those "serfs" they've subjagated.

They have set up a profitable, material "religion," which focuses on carnal things instead of focusing on spiritual. Because of this, men and women alike can sit on their church pews for years without ever hearing the Gospel, and die and go to Hell deceived into trusting in their religion, their denominational affiliation, or their Pastor, instead of trusting in the finished work of God alone on bloody Calvary.

While they claim the focus is on "winning souls," they never stop to think whether they are doing it the right way or not. So often they try to do it the way their school tells them, instead of the old time way of simply opening the scriptures and showing a man his sin, God's sacrifice, and man's need of trusting Christ as his substitute. Instead, the "soul winner" is told to simply get a person to quickly repeat a prayer after them, and then get them to church to be baptized. Or as many a Fundamentalist has put it, "Win them, wet them, and work them!" Sadly, they never deal with the reality that many of those they supposedly "win" to the Lord, never darken the door of the church thereafter. Or, if they do get someone "saved" and then "baptized" they oftentimes never come back. Why doesn't someone mention this simple fact?

Let me just give another personal example here, of how Baptist "tradition" has turned the emphasis to just "doing" instead of "taking the time to make sure it's done right!"

There is a very famous Pastor in modern Fundamentalism, who puts out a rather widely circulated monthly paper full of articles by many well-known fundamentalists. Once this man held a revival in his church, and afterwards, he had a baptism. At the beginning of his ministry, he usually asked the people if they were saved, and to give their testimony to the church. But as he became more famous, he would baptize them quickly, just to get it over with. During the revival after one of the services, this Pastor decided to "personally" baptize the "initates" himself (Big name guys usually let others do their dirty work nowadays). When he was about to dunk one of them in the water, he paused and decided to ask him whether he knew he was saved or not. The "canidate" responded, "Well,... I mean I guess so! ... You know, I mean, I really don't know for sure."

Embarrased, the Pastor quickly dunked him under, rather the deal with the backlash of possibly baptizing a man who wasn't even saved! (And in order to not look bad in front of the many other Pastors there in attendance at the revival).

Nothing but the best, huh? Want to know the worst of it? In his magazine he made it a point to list those converts who were baptized each month, as he liked to brag about it, and he made sure he counted that person who, you know, "...Really didn't know for sure if he was saved or not!"

Sound a little "fishy" to you? It does to me. I've been around and I've seen how modern Fundamentalism has become a "business" which makes "merchandise" out of people. (Wow, that almost sounds like a Bible verse. Oh yeah, it is!)

Here's another story for you. I once visited a large church in Michigan, where unbeknownst to be a rather well-known "big-wig" in the Fundamentalist movement attended. Because of his grand fame, and because I think he was feeding off of the praise of men, this man stood at the front of the church and greeted people as they came in. When I entered with a friend of mine, the man told me his name, and became upset that I didn't know who he was. He said things like, "I'm [his name], don't you know me? I'm [his name], I just came back from California where I had 500 saved, haven't you heard of me? I'm [his name] and I've just returned from Mexico where I had 800 saved. Don't you know me?"

I turned to my friend and said quietly in his ear, "Boy, there sure are a lot of 'I's' in this church!" Pointing out how full of himself this man was.

When I told the man I was sorry but I'd never heard of him, he said it was okay, and then he asked me who was and who my Pastor was. When I told him, and he found out it was someone he didn't like, he immediatly turned around and walked away without another word.

That wasn't the worst of it! Nope, right then over to my right came a small crowd of several Bible students who said ecstatically, "Oh my gosh, I can't believe it! You got to talk with [his name]! I can't believe it! You are so lucky!"

Does that sound right to you? Almost sounds like a "cult" doesn't it?

I found out later that the man was a "co-founder" of a large and well-known Fundamentalist Bible College and that he'd personally put up a large fortune to help start that academic institution, which many others I've talked to also look at as a "cult" in its own right, with many of it's graduates leaving that school and building their own "kingdoms" with methods devised by the founder. The graduates, often times by the fruit of their labours, prove they are infected with the sin of "the love of money." As they are often obsessed with the financial aspect of the ministry instead of the spiritual. (In fact, in the school they came from, people were even "ridiculed" for studying their Bibles to much! What?)

Right then and there it clicked in my mind! And I realized how money and Christianity mixed together make it a "business" which leads to apostasy, and cultic attitudes. And it's sad to see, but apostasy and apostate practices have their start in the destroying sin of "the love of money."

If you are a Pastor, how about asking yourself, "Am I guilty of this sin?" If so, REPENT TODAY! If not, praise the Lord! But please don't remain silent. Preach against this sin that this the root of all evil. For it is destroying our world, destroying our country, destroying our churches, and even destroying souls.

If you look at the early apostles, they were persecuted instead of prosperous. And they brought true revival in the world. That is quite a difference in comparison to today, where we see more religion in the world today than in any other time in history, but less redeemed saints of God who are completely sold out to God than any other time in the Church Age. Just think on that for a while. Or, as I like to say when I'm preaching, "In the times of the apostles, you found Christians who loved God enough to DIE for Him. Now, it's hard to even find a Christian who is willing LIVE for Him!" Why? Because they love money more than their Master.

Vaccinations a Good Thing?

How can anyone think that the idea of injecting a disease into somebody's body is a good idea? Yet they do, and it is still practiced all over the world today. What's worse is even newborn children are injected with multiple innoculations as soon as they are born in hospitals. Is this really a good thing? What's wrong with letting a child's immune system deal with each disease NATURALLY one-by-one as that child develops and grows? Why give him as much disease as you can when he is born? Sounds a little fishy to me.

Oh, brother Breaker, you are just a "conspiracy theorist" and you don't know anything. Vaccines are good and necessary, and anything but harmful!

Are they? Are they really? You know it's been my experience that everything man does, he messes up, and everything God does, he does well. So it's best to do things GOD'S WAY instead of MAN'S WAY! It's best to use herbs (which God made) instead of chemical medicines (which man makes) which often have harmful side effects. Even the modern commercials on T.V. for VIOX, ONGLYZA, YAZ, and other popular modern drugs give a long list of side effects for those who use their product. Who wants those side effects? Not I!

Years ago, my Dad (Who owned his own Health Food Store and was well knowledged in the importance of vitamins, herbs, minerals, and eathing healthy) began studying vaccinations, and he came across a book entitled, "The Poisoned Needle." I strongly recommend you get a copy if you can, as it's been long out of print since the 1970's. The book does an excellent job of showing the harmful "side effects" of vaccinations, which most doctors will not tell you. (Did you know for example that autism only shows up in children who have been vaccinated?)

It must be the spirit of this age, because people today only want to dwell on the "good" and pretend the "evil" doesn't exist. They want to focus only on the benefits and omit the potential hazards caused by their man made drugs, injections, and pharmaecutical concoxions. (By the way, did you know most big Pharacuetical companies were started by ex-Nazi's who practiced horrible experiments on Jews under Hitler's anti-semetic ideals?)

So, are vaccinations good? Maybe we should ask the opposite, "Are vaccinations bad?"

You know the standard story they tell you. Injections are only to "help" you. And, in order to help you, they actually give you a "weakened form" of the disease The idea is that your immune system will begin working against that disease and you'll build up an immunity to it when you do ever come in contact with that disease. But is that "weakened strain" all that's really in a vaccine? And, what do they use to "weaken" it?

As you study, you find that there is much more in the "poisoned needle" than just a weakened virus. You also find Formaldehyde (also known as formalin), which is a major ingredient in EMBALMING FLUID (Yep, you read that right!). Used on a live Human Being formaldehyde is known to cause damage to the liver, immune system, nerve and reproductive system, and can become a respiratory poison. Some studies have even linked it to leukemia, brain, colon, and lymphatic cancer. And, it's also known as a carcinogen!

And, that's only one of the ingredients in most vaccines! Let's look at some of the better known ones:

AMMONIUM SULFATE (Salt), which is suspected to cause gastronintestinal, liver, nerve, and respiratory problems.

BETA-PROPIOLACTONE, which is known to cause cancer!

LATEX RUBBER, which can cause life-threating allergic reactions.

MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE, which is being studied for mutagenic, teratogenic, and reproductive effects. It also can cause headaches, and even death in high doses.

ALUMINUM, which is the main cause of Alzheimers. But which also can cause brain damage, dementia, seizures and comas.

POLYSORBATE 80, which is known to cause cancer in animals.

TRI-(N) BUTYLPHOSPHATE, which is a suspected kidney and nerve poison.

GLUTARALDEHYDE, which is poisonous if ingested, and has caused birth defects in experimental animals.

GELATIN, from guess where, CATTLE SKINS, BONES, and even PORK SKINS! What? Why?

GENTAMICIN SULFATE and POLYMYXIN B, which are supposed to be Antibiotics, but which can cause allergic reactions which can be either mild or fatal.

MERCURY, which is one of the most poisonous substances known to man, and which causes massive damage to the body when ingested. It goes right to the brain, gut, liver, bone marrow, and kidneys, and does much damage to the body, causing similar symptoms as those of autism.

NEOMYCIN SULFATE, which interferes with the body's absorption of B6, and can cause epilepsy and mental retardation.

PHENOL/PHENOXYETHANOL, which is used in of all places, ANTIFREEZE! It is very toxic to all cells and is capable of disabling the immune system's primary response mechanism.

HUMAN AND ANIMAL CELLS, many from aborted fetal tissue, as well as substances from pig blood, horse blood, sheep blood, rabbit brain, guinea pig, dog, kidney, cow heart, monkey kidney, chick embryo, and more.

TITANIUM DIOXIDE, which is an ingredient in Sun Tan Lotion and is something many people are allergic to (my daughter by the way is very allergic to this).

This is just some of the many ingredients in vaccines. No wonder most educated mothers today don't want their children to get vaccinations:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2007/02/03/moms-with-more-education-less-likely-to-vaccinate-their-kids.aspx

Dr. Harris L. Coulter, Ph.D. said it best when he said, "A major cause of the Roman Empire's decline, after six centuries of world dominance was its replacement of stone aqueducts by lead pipes for the transport and supply of drinking water. Roman engineers, the best in the world, turned their fellow citizens into neurological cripples. Today our own 'best and brightest' with the best of intentions, achieve the same end through childhood vaccination programs yielding the modern scourges of hyperactivity, learning disabilities, autism, appetite disorders, and impulsive violence."

But if the actual ingredients in vaccines aren't bad enough, and reason enough not to take them, we now have the government (and the W.H.O.) beggining to say they want you to take forced vaccinations, whether you want them or not! Isn't that an evasion of privacy? Isn't that taking away your right to choose, and abstain if you so desire, especially when many vaccines contain POISON and POISONOUS substances? Isn't this a conspiratorial poisoning of the human race?

I believe it is, and it's a CRIMINAL act, to force people against their will to be vaccinated. So what do we do about? What can we do? Is there really anything we can do at all?

Well, first we can fight the governmental mandates through proper political procedures, but with modern-day governments doing whatever they please, and "we the people" not being listened at all, it seems that way is a losing cause.

We then turn to another means, which is DETOXIFICATION. (A really good book to get about this is: "Detoxify or Die" by Sherry Rodgers.) There are many ways to get those harmful chemicals out of our bodies once we've been forcefully annoculated against our own will. One way is through fasting and eating right. Other ways are through sweating in saunas, and removing mercury based fillings in our teeth (These are those filling that look silver). But probably the easiest way is through using DETOXIFICANTS.

I've found a great one called "Sonne's No. 7 Detoxificant." It comes in a bottle and is available from SONNE'S ORGANIC FOODS, INC, P.O. BOX 34710, N. Kansas City, MO, 64116. This liquid detoxifying agent can absorb up to fifty times it's own weight, and is a great substance to use to try to purify your blood, and get rid of harmful chemical and deadly heavy metals in your system.

As for me. I'm going to continue to detoxify and stay as far away from vaccines as I can. If they force it on me, I guess I'll just fast and pray and do all I can to detoxify right afterwards, in order to get their poison out of my body. (I'll also take a ton of Vitamin C, which is necessary to help the body's immune system against any disease. Get a book entitled, "How to Get Well," by Paavo Airola, which give many natural ways to fight disease).

They are already trying to poison my mind with their anti-biblical propoganda, and now they want to poison my body with their harmful chemicals. I can only hope the Lord returns before they have their way. But the best thing to do is educate yourself and be ready and know what it is they are doing to you!

Your body is important, as it's the only one you've got. You wouldn't sign a piece of paper without reading it, would you? How then, would you allow someone to inject something into your body without first reading the list of ingredients? Think about it!

The Sin of Covering up the Sins of Others

John 8:3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,
John 8:4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.
John 8:5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?
John 8:6 This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.
John 8:7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
John 8:8 And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.
John 8:9 And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

As I read this passage of scripture, I always think to myself, "But what happened to the man who was committing adultery with this woman?"

The Pharisees conveniently leave out that detail. They are quick to want to kill the woman for her sin, but they don't mention anything about the man who sinned with her (it takes two to tango). Why is this? Some believe it's because they were the guilty ones, and they all together are "the man" who committed adultery with this women. Others think the man got away, and only the women was left, so that's why they brought her alone. Whatever the case may be, we see a "cover up" here by the Pharisees, who purposely fail to mention the male adulterer. Why would they hide the sins of others?

In modern Fundamentalism, or maybe I should call it "Funny-mental-ism," these same kind of coverups are seen among modern day Pharisees, who continually stand behind men who stand behind them, and help cover their sins.

It's almost like it's become a "country club" as pastors enjoy all the privileges with their fellow peers, while making sure to watch out for one another. Their "brotherhood" has almost become "Masonic" albiet not in doctrine, but in practice, as "men of the cloth" work together within groups helping each other, and forwarding each others personal agendas.

As they gain power within their individual churches, they strive for a name within their own denominational groups, and actively strive to swap pulpits with other men of renown in order to gain prestige among the pack. This leads to them eventually writing a book, or making a DVD, or preaching some tapes on various doctrines which are then passed around within various circles, and a man's success is augmented by how much fame and recognition he receives. And lest we forget, the highest honor, which is to receive an "honorary doctorate" (make sure you look up and read my blog on that!), in which he uses his title to write for a widely circulated Christian newspaper or magazine on a regular basis, and gets his picture in print for all his peers to see.

Little does he know that what he's doing is rising in the ranks of man worship, and Phariseeism, instead of getting closer to the Lord.

Once a man is "in" with the group, and famous, it's almost as if he can't fail. He is "one of them" and is now "initiated" into their crowd. This means he is not only given all ranks and priviledges, but he is also looked after and taken care of. That is to say, if he falls, or slips into a grevious sin, or is found out for doing something he shouldn't, others within his group will stand up for him, and vouch for him, even if he's guilty as hell!

I've seen this time and again. Men of God (so-called) will go to bat and stand up for other men of God (so-called) and defend them against accusations, even if and when those accusations are true. Because of their fame, rank, and position, people listen to the men of God (so-called) instead of the accusers, and the accused is let off scott-free, while the accusers are crucified!

This COVERING UP THE SINS OF OTHERS is now common practice in modern Fundamentalism, and is even getting worse.

But whatever happened to verses like:

1 Tim 5:20 Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear.

Rom 16:17 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.
Rom 16:18 For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.

Titus 1:13 This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith.

Why is it the sins of the pastorate are not worthy of mention, but the sins of the congregation are, and are now almost unforgiveable? What makes the Pastor any different than his own flock when he sins. Shouldn't he repent just as much as they should?

The Bible has much to say about the "respect of persons" and the covering up of the sins of others. For example in Deut. 1:17, we read: "Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God's: and the cause that is too hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it."

Here God tells the Jews not to have "respect of persons" in judgment. Again in Prov. 24:23, we read: "These things also belong to the wise. It is not good to have respect of persons in judgment."

These of course are Old Testament References, but we also read the following Romans 2:11, "For there is no respect of persons with God." And in Col 3:25, "But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons."

Why then is there such "respect of persons" within today's modern Christian Fundamentalist movement, where Pastors have been elevated almost to Popehood (make sure you read my blog about Baptist Popes!), in which they are declared "infallible" and uncapable of committing evil, wrong doing, or sin?

Somebody should read James chapter two again, for there we also read of the "respect of persons:"

James 2:1 My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.

James 2:9 But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.

These verses tell us it is SIN to respect someone over someone else! We should never allow some people to get away with sin, while at the same time ridiculing, exposing and putting down others who do the same thing. If a Pastor commits the same sin as his congregation, they both should be preached against, and should both get right with God!

Or as Proverbs 28:13 says, "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy."

So why do we so often hear of men who are Pastors doing ungodly and unfathomable sins, and yet they are still in the pulpits preaching, but they've never confessed their sin, repented, or dealt with it? The answer is because other Pastors stood up for them, and covered up their sin, and refused to deal with it, because they didn't want their own group or their own affiliation to look bad. They didn't want to be "guilty by association," so they choose to believe it didn't really happen, and they tell others that the accusations are all a lie, even when they aren't.

Let me just give some examples. I'm not going to use any names. I'm only going to give some examples of things I've seen, read, or heard, which really bother me. And it bothers me even more that these men are still in the pulpit. Some of them might have repented and gotten right with God, and if so, praise the Lord! Others might not. I simply don't know. But I have seen in each case a great conspiracy by many pastors to quickly cover up the incident, so that it doesn't reflect on them, and make their "group" or "click" look bad.

THE BAR HOPPER

I once knew a man who was an assistant pastor of a very well-known church. One time a man in the church decided to follow him around when his wife was out of town. What he found was the man in a bar dancing with someone who wasn't his wife. He took pictures as proof and then brought the matter to the church. Instead of the bar-hopping assistant pastor being dealt with and expelled for misconduct, the pastor made the picture taker out to be the bad guy, and he was called a lot of names for following the assistant pastor around and taking pictures of him in the first place.

What's worse is the assistant pastor was asked if he went to the bar, and he at first denied it. He then said the second time he was asked, that he did go, but he was "witnessing" while he was there.

Supposedly the assistant pastor has repented and gotten right. But those photos can still be seen on the internet of his indiscretion. And even to this day, preachers in this man's click are quick to point out the accusations against this man are false, and he's not guilty of any wrongdoing.

THE FILTHY ADULTERER

There was once a Pastor who was the son of a famous Pastor (who shall remain unnamed) who Pastored a church. It was eventually discovered that he had been engaged in adulterous sexual relations with over 20 women in his congregation.

When I hear things like that, I can't help but wonder, "How on earth does that happen? How can a man do that??? And how can he get up and preach on Sundays when he was sleeping with a different women every Saturday night?"

What happened to this man, who was just as guilty as hell? I really don't know. But I do know he was defended by his well-known father, and his sins were quickly shuffled under the rug by his peers from his old school alma mater.

THE ADULTEROUS TEXAS RANGER PREACHER

There was once a Pastor in Colorado who cheated on his wife and was caught by some men in the church in a bar with two women on his shoulders. When they questioned him, he ran into a bathroom stall and hid. As they stood outside to speak with him, the floozey women couldn't believe he was a Pastor, as they kept saying, "That man can't be a preacher, cause he told us he was a Texas Ranger!"

What happened to the man? Was his sin ever dealt with? NOPE! On Sunday he went to his church, got up in the pulpit, and said, "I feel God is calling me elsewhere, so I'm going to resign today." He left, and nobody said anything against him within his own denominational group. How come his sin was never dealt with? And how come his "group" stuck up for him, and let his transgression slide?

THE SODOMITE PREACHER

A Pastor in a very well-known Baptist Church in Texas was caught by a young man fresh out of college who went to work for him. The young man said the preacher one day caught him while he was alone and said blatantly, "Pucker up and give me a big kiss on the lips!"

Instead of getting what he wanted, the Pastor got a bloody nose, as the young man socked him as hard as he could. It soon came out later that the Pastor had relations with at least seven young interns before this man came along. How long had this being going on? Well, the Pastor had pastored for at least 20 years, and this had been going on most of that time! The Pastor also travelled everywhere with his young interns, and they spent the night in the same hotel room time and again.

My question is, "How on earth can a man like that preach in a pulpit, while he's been engaged with homosexual activities the night before?"

THE PASTOR WHO PRAYED HIS WIFE WOULD DIE

Oh, now here's a good one. There was once a Pastor who didn't like his wife. But he did like a young lady in the congregation. So he prayed and fasted that God would kill his wife so he could marry the other woman he lusted after so much. What happened? Nothing. His wife lived, and he was stuck with her. But one must ask, "What on earth was he thinking?"

THE PASTOR WHO RAN OFF WITH THE CHURCH SECRETARY

This story is all too common. But there was once a very popular preacher who decided he loved his secretary more than his wife, so he took her instead of his wife on business trips. So much he loved her, that he said to the secretary's husband that she could have his own wife, if he would only give him his. News of this love affair came out, but because of "political" pressure from others preachers who followed this preacher, defending him adamantly, this sin was quickly covered up, and forgotten by many, but not by the secretary's husband.

THE PASTOR WHO BROWBEAT HIS CHURCH INTO GIVING (TO HIM)

Not long ago I personally witnessed a Pastor who held a "Faith Promise Missionary Conference," (which I'm not necessarily for or against), in which he tried to get his church to promise to give an outrageous amount to missions. The Pastor knew the amount was most likely unobtainable, but he continued to preach on their need to "sacrifice" to give to God and missions. When the meeting was over, and the church only pledged to give about a fourth of what the Pastor wanted (so much for giving cheerfully and without necessity), the Pastor became irrate and yelled at them for, and are you ready for this, their "lack of faith." Now, the rest of the story is that the Pastor later resigned the church, telling them God had be working on his heart for sometime to be a Missionary to a certain island nation. And can you guess what the Pastor's philosophy was on Missions? That's right, he believed the church should give 100% of their monthly support to a Missionary sent out of their church. So what you have is the Pastor wanting the church to send HIM a certain amount each month, and him becoming angry that they didn't give it, because eventually, he was thinking it was going to go to HIM. Hmmmm. Sound fishy to you? Sounds diabolical to me! Especially, when the Pastor invited a well-known preacher to preach the conference, who was under the impression that the Pastor was going to stay at the church for many years to come!

SUMMARY

I could go on and on with stories like this of pastors who abused their power, their position, and their political affiliations to commit grevious and horrible sins, and then lie about it and ask other men of God to help them cover it up. This is all too common in our day and age. Many preachers are "heirlings" who care only about money, or "Pharisees" who care only about fame, and this is why they are in the ministry. With their connections, they find they can get away with certain things, so they begin to find out what else they can get away with. Eventually, though, it will all come out. One day they will give account for their actions. As 1 Tim. 5:24-25 tells us: "Some men's sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after. Likewise also the good works of some are manifest beforehand; and they that are otherwise cannot be hid."

But how horrible that there are men out there who are big name Pastors, preachers, missionaries, fundamentalists, Deacons, etc., who are guilty of these same sins, and yea, even worse ones. But because of "politics" within certain "Christian" groups, these men are untouchable, and not only do those things which are not convienient, but have pleasure in them. But, what's worse is those men who claim to be Christians, and even men of God, who will vouch for, and even help cover up the sins of their fellow ministers. These things ought not to be! It's not right to help cover the sins of others, no matter who they are! Yet this happens time and again in modern Fundamentalists circles.

My prayer is: "God give us more SPIRIT-FILLED preachers, Pastors, Missionaries, and Deacons, who are not working for God in the flesh, while fulfilling their own fleshly desires, and getting help from others to do it, who stick up for them; but God, please give us more men who are sold out completely to you who have done their best to live beyond reproach and separate themselves from sin. And help them see the praise of man is not as important as pleasing God!"

2 Cor 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.

As you read this post, I know what you are thinking, "No, that can't be true. There can't be that kind of stuff going on, at least not in my group, or click, or camp. You are just making that stuff up!"

I wish that was true. I wish I was making all this up. But you must be very gullible to think that men aren't sinners. And you must be even more niave to think that pastor's can't fall into sin, and that "political pressure" can't be used by other pastors, by Bible Schools, and or by Bible Fellowships to help cover it up.

But then again, maybe you aren't gullible. Maybe you just haven't seen it yet. Well, you will. And when you do, I don't want you to get discouraged. I want it to help you get even closer to the Lord Jesus Christ!

When I went to Bible School, I remember I was taught two very imporant lessons on the very first day. They were:

1. "The most important thing in this world is your relationship to Jesus Christ!"

2. "The people that will hurt you most in the ministry are other Christians!"

I readily accepted the first one, but couldn't bring myself to believe the second. I thought Christians were the greatest people on earth, and they could never harm a fly. Now I'm a lot farther along, and I've found that Christians are no different than the world, (except that they are just "forgiven.")

Some of the most vindictive, hateful, angry, bitter people I've ever met in this world were "Christians." And as I go along and grow even more in the Lord, I keep asking myself, "Were they even really Christians to begin with? Or could they have been RELIGIOUS but LOST?"

I still don't know, but I can't help but wonder. For how can a man practice openly practice Sodomy, Adultery, Debauchery, Robbery, and more, and still stand in the pulpit without any reprocussions for his sin? Didn't God say something about a man who's a Christian who sins being chastened by the Lord (Heb. 12:6), and if he doesn't, then he's a bastard?

It really makes me wonder how a man can live like the devil, and his peers cover up his sins and love him for it, while a man can do his best to live for God and he's attacked mercilessly by those same people who call themselves "Christians" who are on the side of the man who lives like the devil. Can someone explain that to me?

All I'm saying, and I'll I'm trying to get to is this: IT IS A SIN TO COVER UP THE SINS OF OTHERS. INSTEAD WE SHOULD PREACH AGAINST SIN WITH ALL OUR MIGHT, ALL OUR STRENGTH, AND ALL OUR FURY, no matter who is guilty of committing the sin. We should have NO RESPECT OF PERSONS. Sin is sin, and God hates all of it!

THE SIN OF PRIDE

It's time now to look at another huge sin that is rampant today which is not hardly even touched or preached against by most pastors. Why? I think it's because they are GUILTY of this sin, and that's why they don't speak out against it. The sin is the sin of PRIDE.

The word "pride" shows up 49 times in 46 verses in our King James Bible. And the word "proud" appears 48 times in 47 verses. So the Bible has much to say about the subject.

There is probably no sin greater, and no sin preached less about then "pride." For pride was the very first sin ever committed. As you read your Bible, you find Satan becoming puffed up with pride as he looked at himself and his beauty. In Isaiah we read of God talking about Lucifer (the Devil), and we see God quoting Him:

Isa 14:13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
Isa 14:14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
Isa 14:15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
Isa 14:16 They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;

Five times Lucifer said, "I will." However, he soon found out his own will led to his downfall. His PRIDE led to his wanting to knock God off His throne, and becoming like the most High, yet God instead cast him into Hell. Yes, pride is a powerful sin with the most horrific consequences. Yet we seldom ever hear any preaching against it. Why it that?

According to the Bible, to be "prideful" or full of pride is a grevious sin, one that God hates. But don't take my word for it. Just look at some scriptures about it:

Psa 101:4 A froward heart shall depart from me: I will not know a wicked person.
Psa 101:5 Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut off: him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer.

Prov 6:16 These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:
Prov 6:17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
Prov 6:18 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,
Prov 6:19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.

Prov 16:5 Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.

Prov 21:4 An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin.

Truly, God is unhappy with those who are prideful. In fact, we read in Job 41:34, that Leviathan, (Lucifer or Satan) is the "king over all the children of pride." Do you realize what that is saying? When you are prideful and proud, you are allowing the Devil to reign over you! What a heinous sin!!!

Are there prideful people out there today with proud hearts? Yes there are. And sadly, many of them claim to be Christians. It's sad to see men who claim the name of Christ with puffed up attitudes and prideful spirits, but they are out there. Many of them are even pastors and deacons, who are proud of where they went to school, where they attend church, which group they partain to, etc. Their pride is in MAN instead of THE MAN Christ Jesus.

But who are these prideful men? I think the answer is obvious, and it's easy to tell who they are. For the Bible tells us in Proverbs 13:10, "Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom." Any man who is contentious is full of pride, period.

We clearly see this in Prov. 26:21, when it states: "As coals are to burning coals, and wood to fire; so is a contentious man to kindle strife."

I've been blest to have been around and to have met many pastors, missionaries, deacons, and preachers. And I'm sad to say that they are some of the most prideful people I've ever met. How do I know this? Because of the contention they brew among the brethren.

Modern Fundamentalism is a great big hot bed of angry men yelling at each other. If you don't believe me, look at some of the websites and talk forums and discussion groups around on the internet. I remember a few years ago looking at one, and the producer of the site wrote an email to all those who signed onto the discussion boards, asking them to not use bad language nor write bad things to each other, rather to discuss nicely. If I remember correctly, some people were even prohibited from returning to the site for their unchristian-like posts. What is that all about? Answer: PRIDE!

I don't like arguing or debating with people. I continually remember this verse when someone tries to pick a fight with me.

The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water: therefore leave off contention, before it be meddled with. (Prov 17:14)

As I've read through the Bible, and see the things God says about pride, I've decided I don't even want to use the word. I remember my Dad used to say things to me like, "Son, I'm PROUD of you!" I'd immediately correct him, "Dad, please don't say your PROUD of me. Instead say what God said about his son Jesus, I'm Well PLEASED with you! Don't be proudful!"

I've caught myself time and again saying to my wife or my daughter, "I'm so proud of you," but then correcting myself, "Er, I mean, I'm pleased with you!"

Why? Because pride and being proud are sin.

This is why it's so important to to be "humble." Jesus said in Matthew 23:12, "And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted."

In James 4:6 we read: "But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble."

And again in James 4:10, we are promised: "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up."

It's important to be humble instead of prideful. Why? Because the Pharisees were those who were full of pride. They were proud of their position, their possessions, and their power, and they thought they could do whatever they wanted. Their pride deluded them into thinking they were the most important people in the world, and it led to their forgetting God. This then led to their downfall and demise.

Modern Day Pharisees also are guilty of the same pride of their spiritual ancestors of old. Fame, fortune, and fortitude make them think they are untouchable and can get away with anything. It also leads to them doing things their way instead of God's way. And what happens next? They say the same thing that Laodicea said in Revelation chapter three:

"...I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing."

Little do they realize they have great need of humility, and oftentimes of SALVATION.

That's right, I said it. Oftentimes a person who is full of pride is LOST! Certainly the Pharisees of old were not saved. They were holding on to their own self-righteousness, and would not submit themselves unto the righteousness of Christ Jesus.

Those same religious goons live and walk among us today, and oftentimes their pride blinds them to the truth. The sin of pride leads to deception and even damnation to those who refuse to give up trusting in themselves to trust Christ alone.

Am I saying that all preachers are lost today? Certainly not! But I am asking the question. If they are prideful, and that pride leads to them becoming contentious to the truth, doesn't that give us a great insight into their own spiritual condition? Could it be, and all I'm doing is asking the question, I'm not even going to attempt to answer it, I'll let you do that yourself, but could it be that they are not saved, and that's why they are so contentious to the truth???

PRIDE damned the Devil. It also damned the Pharisees. As we read the Bible, we find pride is the reason for all contention in the world. And we even find that pride leads to a mighty fall.

(Like one preacher said, "It's not those outward sins that are so wicked. It's those inward sins that do the most damage, those inward sins that no one else sees but God!")

Are you prideful? You ought to repent of it, and humble yourself before God!

"...For God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time." (1 Pet 5:5b-6)

Women Missionaries?

It's amazing to me how many Fundamentalists and Baptist ministers are quick to preach the Bible and quote verses about women not being able to pastor or preach, but yet they then allow women missionaries in their pulpits and even support them to go to the field. Am I the only one that thinks this is a blatant contradiction?

The verses they use to prove women are not allowed to be ordainded ministers are the following:

1 Cor 14:34 Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law.
1 Cor 14:35 And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.

1 Tim 2:11 Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.
1 Tim 2:12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.

The first verses in Corinthians speak in context of women "prophecying" or "PREACHING" in the pulpit, and of course this is not permited in the Bible. (See also 1 Tim. 3:2 and Titus 1:6 which speak of pastors being MEN who are married to one wife, and not women).

The verses in Timothy speak of a woman usurping authority over a man, and "TEACHING" them. This is something that God forbids, for the context shows us that women are more easily deceived (they are led by their emotions), then men (who usually don't let their emotions sway them as they make decisions based on facts).

Very few modern Fundamentalists allow women positions of authority in the church, such as that of Pastor or Deacon, so that they might PREACH to the congregation, nor do they allow women to TEACH men. But in these last days of apostasy, I've seen a surge in the Fundamentalist movement of "Women Missionaries," who are allowed by these very same preachers the same priviledges of regular male missionaries. And I can't help but wonder, "How can this be?"

This leads us to the question, "What is a Missionary?" Well, I guess that's all how you define the word. Some say it only means, "One sent." That is to say, it's someone who is sent to a foreign field to preach the Gospel. That's a good definition, and I've even preached that myself a couple of times. But that's not really a Biblical definition of the word. According to the Bible, a Missionary is an office of the church, and is someone who is ordained by the laying on of hands, and who is sent out to start churches, just like the Apostle Paul. Simply put, a missionary, is to PREACH THE GOSPEL, and start churches, and then TEACH men to take over those churches so he can travel to other places with the Gospel.

Where does this leave women? And where does this leave the modern teaching of "women missionaries?" Can a women PREACH in a church? NOPE! Then how can she be sent from a local church to a foreign field to start local churches???

And, biblically, are women allowed to usurp authority over men and teach them? NOPE! Then how can any Pastor who knows his Bible send a women as a missionary when she's not allowed to TEACH men, which is what a Missionary is supposed to do???

Well, the classic answer is, "Well, we are only sending her off to work with children!" Or, "We are only sending her to go help another missionary that's already there." Or, "We are sending her just to go work in an orphanage."

My question then becomes, "Why do you need to call her a Missionary then? Why can't you say she's going to HELP?"

And ever better asked is, "Why don't you pray for God to send along a husband for her so that she and he can go together???" Doesn't the Bible say that two are better than one?

I went to Honduras as a single missionary, and I sure needed a wife. While on deputation, I ran accross a single woman who called herself a "missionary" to the Ukraine. I asked here, "Why are you doing this?" She replied, "I believe God's called me to the Ukraine." I then responded, "Why don't you just pray and ask God to give you a husband who's going there as a Missionary? Why are you trying to go there by yourself when you can't do what a Missionary is supposed to do?"

She got mad and stormed off without answering. But I thought I had a good question. She can't PREACH in a pulpit, so she can't start a church there, and she can't TEACH men, so what is she going for, and why should churches steal support from a man who can fulfill the qualifications of a missionary to give it to a women. Sounds a little like Women's Lib to me!

Where did this whole movement of "Women Missionaries" get started? Why if you study a little, you'll see it's more of a Southern Baptist thing then an Independent Baptist thing. You have your Lottie Moon's, and your Mary Slessors, etc. But did they do right?

I remember being engaged to a young lady years ago whose mother was all for Women Missionaries. She even taught Sunday School, and told young ladies, "Maybe someday you can be a woman missionary and be just like Mary Slessor or Lottie Moon, and serve the Lord."

It turns out later this same women was a FEMINIST, and was also teaching feminism to the young ladies, telling them, It's your life and your body, so you can do what you want!

The Biblical role of a woman being under the authority of her husband, and being his HELP, meet for his needs was played down, while young girls heads were filled with ideas of doing what men are supposed to do. It didn't take long for me to figure out "AS IS THE MOTHER, SO IS THE DAUGHTER," and my fiancee and I had to break up, as she didn't want to be under the authority of a man.

I give this illustration, as I see the whole "Women Missionary" movement as not only hypocritical, but it's also anti-biblical, as it gives women the feminist idea that she doesn't need a man and she can go and do whatever she wants to by herself for God.

Any Pastor who helps pass on such an idea ought to be ashamed of himself! And I've met some even within the Independent Baptist movement. I've even been spoken against by several Pastors for my stand against "Women Missionaries," and I've lost support over the issue. But I just don't believe it's right to say women can't PREACH and TEACH to men in America, but they can do it in another country. There is something very wrong and hypocritical about that kind of teaching.

So what do you think? Care to comment? Careful, you just might be showing your FEMINIST attitude if you support such a thing.

For more about "women missionaries" why not read my article about it, found at:

http://www.rrb3.com/mypub/articles/women_missionaries.htm

Note: It's imparative that I add in closing that I'm not against women doing personal one on one evagelism with lost people. Women need to preach the Gospel to lost souls just as much as men do. But the Bible is against women preaching in Pulpits, and teaching Men.