Greene County Tornados

I'm thankful for my family's safety, but then I didn't really have any doubts... 

It's the rest of the county that concerns me. We (that includes me) need to get our hearts right. I mean REAL repentance. Not just praying when things are bad... I mean, what do we do with (or about) God during the good times? Everybody knows or has an opinion about God, but God is not impressed with that. 

A REAL son wants to make his dad happy. A bad son gets the rod! So, do we make God our Father happy or do we get the rod?! 

We whine and fuss and cry when things get bad, but what about the good times? 

If we look in the Old Testament, the Israelites whined and belly-ached, and THEY DIDN"T MAKE IT!!! One time Moses cried out to God and God replied, "What is this belly-aching I hear in my ears? I told you what to do, now do it." (Duane's Paraphrase Bible ;) ) The Israelites did NOT make God happy and they didn't make it. 

So, I'm sayin', are we gonna' make it?

Ah, I'm getting all preachy now... 

This storm just ripped my heart in two. 

My time to act is not now, and that's driving me crazy (short trip). 

My time to do something about this is somewhere in the future, whether days or years. 

Patience- the patient man has everything he needs http://bible.us/Jas1.4.NIV . 

http://bible.us/2Pet1.8.NLT (actually verses 4-8).

Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
(2 Peter 1:4-8 KJV)
 
 - -

Aerial video of Camp Creek damage path in Greene County

Aerial video of Camp Creek damage path in Greene County: "Aerial video of damage path in the Camp Creek area of Greene County."

Furnace of Affliction

Isaiah 48:10 NASB  "Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.

1 Corinthians 5:5 NASB  I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

 - - - - -

http://www.scripturekeys.com/Scripture%20Keys/overcomingdark.htm

"Overcoming Powers of Darkness"

Rev. 12:11
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

Ephes. 1:7
In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

Psalm 107:2
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;

1 John 1:7
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

Romans 5:9
Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

2 Cor. 5:21
For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Hebrews 13:12
Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.

1 Cor. 3:16
Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

Psalm 81:9
There shall no strange god be in thee; neither shalt thou worship any strange god.

2 Cor. 6:14
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

 - - - - -

http://www.sw-mins.org/strat6.html

http://www.sw-mins.org/warfare.html

 - - - - -

prayer - where is Pastor Tony's affliction being powered from?
prayer - names of 2 demons in the church

 - - - - -

FaceBook Issue

This is just too funny! I've been trying to post this info to FB and can't do it! I finally got some links, but here's the whole thing-

http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=193359407366850

PLEASE READ - THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT TO EVERYONE WHO USES FACEBOOK FOR BUSINESS OR PERSONAL REASONS!!

Because of FB changes... this is the only way I can get information to ALL my Facebook friends.....

Forgive the invite. This is not really an "invitation", so no need to press "attend" -
...
Facebook likes to make changes and not really tell everyone. This is an easy way to get the word out - and currently the only way to assure that everyone can see it.

Have you noticed that you are only seeing updates in your newsfeed from the same people lately? Have you also noticed that when you post things like status messages, photos and links, the same circle of people are commenting and everyone else seems to be ignoring you?

Don't worry, everyone still loves you and nobody has intentionally blocked you. The problem is that a large chunk of your friend/fan list can't see anything you post and here's why:

The "New Facebook" has a newsfeed setting that by default is automatically set to show ONLY posts from people who you've recently interacted with or interacted the most with (which would be limited to the couple of weeks just before people started switching to the new profile). So in other words, for both business and personal pages, unless your friends/fans commented on one of your posts within those few weeks or vice versa - you are now invisible to them and they are invisible to you!!

HERE'S THE FIX: On the homepage click the "Most Recent" title on the right of the Newsfeed, then click on the drop down arrow beside it and select "Edit Options", click on "Show Posts From" and change the setting to "All Of Your Friends and Pages" (you can also access the "Edit Options" link at the very bottom of the facebook homepage on the right) Note: Business pages do not have a newsfeed however page owners should adjust the settings on their personal accounts.

The good news is: now you can now view all of your friends and fans again. The bad news is: YOU ARE STILL INVISIBLE to a large portion of your list. You must get the word out to ALL of your friends and fans by inviting them to this event or creating one of your own so they can read the post and adjust their settings. To invite your friends: Click on "Attending" at the top and then you will see an option to invite your friends at the top left. It’s public so everyone who logs onto facebook can view it and even the friends who can’t see your posts WILL see the event invitation. You can also tweet about it, create a blog post or send out an email to your subscribers in hopes of reaching them all.

You're my friend and I want to keep in touch. So, please take a minute and change your settings so we can keep in touch! Thanks.

 - -

Easter, Really?! part 5

Well, I thought this was over. It turns out another snag/glitch with FaceBook messed something up. That should really be no surprise at all.

Anyhoo, via personal messages, the conversation continued. Quite interesting...

Steve Yoak April 22 at 10:39pm Report
It seems as though you deleted my comment from last night. I went ahead and deleted my other comments as well. Have a good night.
 - - - - -
Duane Hatter April 22 at 11:21pm
No, I did not delete any comments at all. In fact, I never saw any new comments last night. The only thing I did was edit the content of MY original note: the textus receptus reference was erroneous so it was removed and my comments on the KJV were obviously offensive so I removed them too. These were noted by brackets that said [edited...].

So, what did I miss?
 - - - - -
Steve Yoak April 22 at 11:24pm Report
weird.... I thought for sure I saw it on the comment list after I posted.... my FB has been showing signs of gremlins lately.... I'll see if I can find what I wrote in my cyber-bin somewhere....
If I can find it I'll send it too you.

G'Night.
 - - - - -
Duane Hatter April 23 at 8:34am
FB has been giving me some strange lockdowns lately. It is usually in the evening/night. I don't know if it is server overload, software inadequacies or just Mark Zuckerberg trying to figure out how to tie his tie for the Obama-FaceBook special...
 - - - - -
Steve Yoak April 23 at 10:23am Report
LOL.... no worries.....the POTUS aligning w/ the SNOTUS (Social Network Of The United States)...... I'm sure there's nothing to see there!!!

Anyhoo, I found my retort, so here you go. (it's kinda long as I tend to ramble) Happy Saturday to ya!

Your understanding is plausible: Just as plausible as mine (in my opinion) I chose to believe Acts 12:4 on its face because that understanding doesn't require me to correct my Bible.

As I read your snappy retorts to my snappy retorts to your snappy post, I sat with earnest excitement as I opened my books, web pages, and other reference materials to write a snappy retort to your retorts to my retorts to...........

........Then I had a vision, NAY... a prognostication thereof.......

It was a prognostication of 1 week from today, when you and I had spent evening after evening discussing/debating/retorting everything from Adamantius Origen to Augustine to Eusebius to Erasmus to Jerome and his Latin Vulgate to the Waldensians to Constantine to Emperor Diocletian to Codex Vaticanus to Codex Sineaticus to the Greek Vulgate to the Hexapla to Wescott & Hort to Hippolytus to the Majority vs. the Critical Text to the Septugaint to the Masoretic Text to Tischendorf to Giovanni Diodati to Codex B to Codex Aleph to........INFINITY AND BEYOND!!!!

And after ALL OF this, NEITHER of us will have changed our positions......

Rather than that, let us save ourselves both a great deal of valuable time that is better spent w/ our families and serving Christ.
I hold the position that I have a copy of God's w-o-r-d-s -- exactly as He would have me to have them...(Psa 12:6-7).. found in my receptor language in the 1769 KJB. I would hazard the guess that you deem this position untenable and perhaps almost pitiful or laughable in the light of modern scholarship.

I would guess that you believe in the divine and plenary inspiration of the original manuscripts.......but then it's up to each of us to piece together what God meant to say by comparing all the 5700+ copies of Greek manuscripts & codices and the innumerable amount of scholars' interpretations/dynamic equivilancies of said texts since God's perfect Words have not existed since the originals.

You have fine and distinguished company agreeing with your position. Any theologian or evangelist or teacher of note and reputation in 21st century Church-ianity or Christianity agrees with your position. It is also true that mostly unlearned and/or ignorant but well meaning people would identify with my position...... leaving me with much less distinguished fellows on which to lean.

The point is: I have an objective final authority in all matters.....(I don't say "final authority in all matters of faith and practice because my Bible is the final authority in all matters, regardless of whether or not I have faith or whether or not I practice)

I can't hold your position because if I did, my final authority would then be subjective because it would be dependent on what happens inside my brain matter. The w-o-r-d-s (and therefore the meanings - since words do in fact MEAN things) change with ones' preferences to the renderings of your preferred texts by ones' preferred scholars. If one doesn't embrace the doctrine of Preservation (Psa 12:6-7) then His/her final authority in all matters of faith and practice is.....in essence......Him or Her!

I say this "tongue-in-cheek", but wouldn't you think the Almighty and Holy Lord Jesus Christ (of all people) would have corrected the errors (however minuscule) in His copy of Isaiah when He read the words of the book in Luke 4???? i.e."oh what an unfortunate rendering...... the ole' King David Version didn't do us any favors here!!!"

My objective authority is w-o-r-d-s on a page. I choose to (1 Thess 2:13) believe them so that they might work effectually in me. I know that God esteems his WORD even above His Holy name (Psa 138:2) and that he requires me to study His Word in order to be approved and a good workman and throughly furnished unto all good works. (2 Tim 2:15, 3:16-17) I know that God requires faith - and faith requires His Word (Rom 10:17) I choose to give God the benefit of the doubt, allowing His Word to be true and men to be false. (Rom 3:4)

Above all, I'm trusting my never-dying soul to the accuracy of the w-o-r-d-s regarding the finished work of Christ and His Death, Burial, and Resurrection and the salvation by grace through faith in that sacrifice for my soul's salvation. (1 Cor 15:1-4, Eph 1:13, Rom 5:1)

Regardless, we are both men who care and study, and we are both 'fully persuaded" in our own minds. (Rom 14:5) You seem like a cool guy from your FB page and I think you've got some talent putting together smart and snappy videos, but I can't follow you on the road you're on - and it seems that you can't follow the road I'm on.
 - - - - -
Duane Hatter April 24 at 2:05pm
Don't lose your wit; some will be offended by it, but others, like myself, will find it quite refreshing! :)

I can see now why this message didn't survive in the "comments" section; there's just entirely too much intelligence in what you wrote for the FB venue to handle. Too funny...

Seriously though, if you read the entire contents of the King James Bible, and if you follow everything you read, I will indeed see you in heaven.

That is my sincerest prayer for everyone I meet!
 - - - - -
Steve Yoak April 25 at 9:53am Report
Thanks Duane!
 - - - - -
Duane Hatter April 25 at 10:03am
Oh, a couple things I left out:

I'm very glad you did NOT say, "let's agree to disagree".
There is no way that can ever work.
Let the Word of God be true and every man a liar (as you cited above)

Are you getting in on the 400th year celebration of the 1611 KJV?
 - - - - -
Steve Yoak April 25 at 12:50pm Report
haha.... I don't think you could fill more than a few tables at Burger King with the folks around here that would celebrate the 400 B-Day.

I'm not really fond of 'official celebrations' anyway. It would probably just be populated with politician-preachers who love to hear the sound of their own voices and the 'roar of the crowd'.

My plans are to do the same thing I do every year - "to make all [men] see what [is] the fellowship of the mystery," (Eph 3:9)

Happy Monsoon Season! (if you're getting anywhere near the weather we are)
 - - - - -

Interesting.

It's not a celebration of it.

It just is what it is.

So, the title of this, now 5 part ordeal is, or at least would elude to, or maybe even imply that it had something to do with the word "easter" or even possibly the day of...

... but I really don't know where I left off now.

Oh well. Happy Monsoon Day/ Season/ Celebration !? 

 - -

Earth Day? Good Friday? Passover?

I had a Tweet come in saying, "If everyone made 1 small change to help the planet, it would add up to a big difference. How are you celebrating Earth Day?"

One small change to help the planet?

Why, I'd tell somebody about Jesus! That's the problem with the whole planet: the inhabitants of earth have turned their back on the God that created them and earth!

If everybody told one person about Jesus today...

Earth Day? What on earth is "Earth Day"?

"Actually, the idea for Earth Day evolved over a period of seven years starting in 1962."

"...in the summer of 1969. At the time, anti-Vietnam War demonstrations, called "teach-ins," had spread to college campuses all across the nation. Suddenly, the idea occurred to me - why not organize a huge grassroots protest over what was happening to our environment?

"I was satisfied that if we could tap into the environmental concerns of the general public and infuse the student anti-war energy into the environmental cause, we could generate a demonstration that would force this issue onto the political agenda."

So, piggy-backing on the rebellion of the college students of the '60's, who hated our soldiers who were one-handed fighting a two-fisted war that they didn't want to be in to begin with...

Eeks!

That article is here http://earthday.envirolink.org/history.html

"For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.
"For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
"Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.
"For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
"For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural..." (Romans 1:20-26 NASB)

With that in your mind,

this came in on FaceBook this morning -

"No Dinosaurs in Heaven is a film essay that examines the hijacking of science education by religious fundamentalists, threatening the separation of church and state and dangerously undermining scientific literacy. The documentary weaves together two strands: an examination of the problem posed by creationists who earn science education degrees only to advocate anti-scientific beliefs in the classroom..."

http://www.nodinos.com/

Now here's the icing on the cake: the movie was produced in cooperation with, "Jezebel Productions"!

Oh, yes! You remember Jezebel, don't you?

She bought into lies, paid people to lie against the innocent, so they could be murdered!

Buying a lie so the innocent will be murdered...

Hmm...

That's the perfect company to back that film.

Well, as you can see the devil has been at it since very early this morning.  

How symbolic!

The devil got an early start the day that my Jesus was hung on the cross, too.

The devil lost his keys that day; he is a LOSER and the father of all lies.

The devil lost that day.

Make him lose today too; tell somebody about Jesus!

 - -

Easter, Really?! part 4

Well, as soon as you go against the KJV grain, feathers get ruffled.

The Bible says, "Study to show yourself approved unto God..." http://bible.us/2Tim2.15.KJV

That's what I'm doing.

The internet, or the "INFORMATION super highway" has removed the last of the excuses for people to remain in ignorance.

God doesn't want us ignorant, but http://bible.us/1Cor14.38.KJV

I used to be the same way, and very zealous about it. If you pursue knowledge,

"Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise, And apply your mind to my knowledge;"  (Proverbs 22:17 NASB) 

"The beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom; And with all your acquiring, get understanding."  (Proverbs 4:7 NASB)

I guess one of the verses that jumps out in reference to the whole "easter" thing is this - 

"Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led."  (1 Corinthians 12:2 KJV)

Dumb idols...

rabbits, laying eggs?

colored eggs?

chocolate rabbits?

dumb idols...

or,

You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray... (1 Corinthians 12:2 NASB)

Ya, but we're not pagans anymore, are we?

In closing, this is what I'm trying to say:

"But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, " (1 Timothy 4:1 NASB)

"In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following. But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; "(1 Timothy 4:6-7 NASB)

"For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers. Prescribe and teach these things. " (1 Timothy 4:10-11 NASB)

"Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching."  (1 Timothy 4:13 NASB)

"Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all. Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you. "(1 Timothy 4:15-16 NASB)

Do you see what I mean?

???

 - -

Easter, Really?! part 3

Interesting, huh?

I had to do some more research, but the deeper I dug into the King James version, it proved out. And further study into the "translation" and Martin Luther, Erasmus, Jerome...

Exodus 12:6 "And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening"

Exodus12:18 says "In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread"

Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread are the same, or you could say that the Passover is the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Look at Lev 23:5 again.
"In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD'S passover".

It says "at even". Evening or dusk. When the sun sets, the day ends according to Jewish tradition. Passover begins at the end of the 14th day of Nisan and crosses over into the beginning of the 15th day.

My apologies.. you are correct- there was no "textus receptus" when they did the 1611 KJV.

What is "commonly accepted" as the "textus receptus" today is very similar in origin to the texts and manuscripts that were available to the translators of the 1611 KJV.

If the KJV got the word "Easter" from Martin Luther's translation, why did Luther use that word and where did he get it from?

Luther used the translations of Erasmus. So, if we look at these two alone, their heavy catholic influences would explain how the word "easter" was induced into their vocabularies.

As we go further, Erasmus used Jerome's Latin version; if you haven't studied Jerome, a quick glance at his bio will explain my point.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerome

Luther... Erasmus...

Erasmus' end product was a Greek/Latin New Testament. He cris-crossed to make each read the same. That makes my eyebrows raise in question more than once.

Erasmus also did a Greek translation. He did it from Byzantine manuscripts. Why he did not use the older, more "pure" manuscripts he had access to is unknown. It was his 2nd edition (1519) that Luther used.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desiderius_Erasmus#Publication_of_the_Greek_New_Testament

When you study the history all the way out, it is very interesting to say the least.

If time and finances would afford, I would love to study greek, hebrew, and latin. Now with easy access to texts, the knowledge of those languages would sufficiently answer all questions.

It was a quandary like this that caused Jay P. Green Sr to go back to school so he could read greek and hebrew. His result over several years was a fresh and extremely thorough translation known as the KJ3.

Interesting enough, he used the word "Passover" in Acts 12:4.

 - -

Easter, Really?! part 2

This seamed to arouse some comments on my Facebook page.

Steve Yoak
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1335534911

responded:

" I must respectfully disagree. The ole' King Jimmy has it right here. According to Acts 12:3, "(Then were the days of unleavened bread.)"

"Cross reference that with Lev 23:5-6 "In the fourteenth [day] of the first month at even [is] the LORD'S passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month [is] the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread."

"Of all the things that it COULD be, it COULD NOT be Passover it it were the days of unleavened bread. Herod was a pagan puppet king of the pagan Roman empire and would be expected to celebrate pagan holidays. The KJV translators NEVER claimed to be doing a translation of the Textus Receptus. They claimed to be taking the former translationS and dilligently comparing and revising them. They found EASTER in Martin Luthers' German Bible.

"P.S. Thank you for pointing out the pagan foolishness that is practiced in churches all over America...."eggs, Ostara, Ishtar, rabbits, Innana, cults, pagans, devils, or Satan."

 - -

Easter, Really?!

I remember a few years ago getting some harsh words from an esteemed individual because I used the word "Easter".

What's wrong with "Easter"? It's in the Bible, isn't it?

Isn't it?

Thus began my adventure.

As I searched through the King James Version of the Bible, I found that the word "Easter" is used one time in Acts 12:4

http://bible.us/Acts12.4.KJV

That's it?!

Just ONE time?!

I searched ALL the different Bibles available to me and I could not find "easter" at all, except for a wind current/storm mentioned in Acts 27:14

http://www.youversion.com/search/bible?version=&q=easter

It was time to dig deeper.

The "textus receptus" is the greek text that the King James New Testament was translated from. The word that they translated to "Easter" is "pascha". 

Utilizing a Strong's Concordance I found "pascha" (this is "G3957"). 

"Pascha" is in the textus receptus 29 times according to the King James Concordance.

Yes, it is used 29 times.

One time it is translated "Easter", the other twenty-eight times it is translated "Passover".

Huh?!

Same greek word, 29 times, but translated differently 1 time?!

So, what's up with that?

The original King James Version has it's origin in 1611. The King James Version we use today dates back to 1769. Granted, those are British. The U.S. of A. wasn't even around back then.

So why was the word "Easter" used that ONE time?

My ancestors, at least a lot of them were British. They are all dead now so I can't ask them. Even if they were alive, I'm sure their minds would be thoroughly thrashed from the mercury fumes (Hatter = hat maker) so it wouldn't do any good anyway.

So I turned to the internet to see what I could find.

A disclaimer is in order here:

If you have just eaten, are easily made nausious, or have a sensitive stomach, go get a barf bag or bucket. On the other hand, if you are like me and hate the "dry heaves" then eat something if you are between meals.

I studied several websites, but this one had the most concise information.

Bag ready or bucket in your lap-

This lady (IIRC) thinks she is a "goddess" and wants you to find your inner goddess.

Glad you got that bucket, aren't you?

She says,

"The history of Easter reveals rich associations between the Christian faith and the seemingly unrelated practices of the early pagan religions."

http://www.goddessgift.com/pandora's_box/easter-history.htm

So, exactly how do you associate the Christian faith and pagan religions?

Worshippers of God associating with worshippers of Satan?

Oh, come on! You can't even have a friendly "discussion" amongst people of different denominations so how can you culminate devil worshippers with the things of God?

Oil and water do not mix. These don't either.

If you read that whole page I linked to, fertility goddesses, eggs, bunnies... then the summation at the end - 

"...Christian and pagan traditions are gracefully interwoven."

Um, that just doesn't work. It never has and it never will.

Glad you got that bucket, aren't you?

So, I went back to the Bible. If we just stick with the majority rule (28 out of 29) we will call this "Passover", right?

Passover, a time when the Jews remember. No pagan blends here, just remembering when God warned them of a coming death of all the first born. The blood of a lamb was put on the door posts of their home to mark and separate them from the coming judgement. The lamb was eaten in haste and the rest of it burned. They ate it, fully clothed with their shoes on; they were ready to flee.

Read Exodus chapters 12 & 13.

The blood marked the house so God would "pass over" and not harm anyone living there.

This was right before the Jews were freed from slavery.

Make note of how the "pagans" were judged and killed.

This marked a new beginning.

This was a starting point for them walking and following God.

Passover; I like it.

The timing of Jesus' crucifiction coinciding with the Passover is just God's amazing perfection in all He does. 

What the Passover represents and what the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ accomplished is a perfect union. Jesus was our paschal (Passover) Lamb. When that Blood is applied, God's judgement will pass over us. That Lamb was completely consumed. We meet Him today with our clothes and shoes on (just like the old Passover), ready to leave our captors and slavemasters behind us. We partake of this and have a new start, following God all the days of the rest of our life.

Passover? Yes, I think that is a better word. (28 out of 29...)

No eggs, Ostara, Ishtar, rabbits, Innana, cults, pagans, devils, or Satan.

Easter?

"Passover" admittedly is "old covenant", right? 

We are under a "new covenant" because of Jesus perfect sacrifice, and He rose again.

So maybe we should call it "Resurrection Day".

After all, Jesus was the first to rise again, the First of many.

Resurrection Day.

Check it out for yourself.

Just thinking out loud...

... sorry if I woke you.

 - -

Back Up One Verse, Hebrews 10:24

I'm still hung up on this verse - 

-And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:  (Hebrews 10:24 KJV)

-And let us consider and give attentive, continuous care to watching over one another, studying how we may stir up (stimulate and incite) to love and helpful deeds and noble activities,  (Hebrews 10:24 AMP)

-and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds,  (Hebrews 10:24 NASB)
-And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,  (Hebrews 10:24 ESV)
-Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.  (Hebrews 10:24 NLT)

Is this happening in the church?

Am I doing it?

Is it happening outside of the church?

Am I doing it?

Our Pastor brought a great message last night. His text was John 12:19-28. 

From vs 28 he said, 

"I want to glorify the Father"
"Are you willing?"

Yah, that's what I'm talking about.

Then he went on to say, "When was the last time you saw somebody saved IN church?
How about outside ?"

Has he been reading my notes?!

It's doubtful... but that's the mindset. It's good when brothers agree...

Souls won for the Kingdom, then discipleship so they will not only stay the course, but start winning souls themselves...

Today is April 14. No souls saved this year. No one baptized in the Holy Spirit.

I have witnessed some devils being cast out, but...

I just can't help but go to the Book of Revelation [the Revelation of Jesus Christ to John]. I'm trying to find that "model" church, but is/was there one? I mean, seriously now, look what Jesus said about these and pay attention to the bold text-

Revelation 2:1-29 NLT  "Write this letter to the angel of the church in Ephesus. This is the message from the One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven gold lampstands:  (2)  "I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don't tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars.  (3)  You have patiently suffered for Me without quitting.  (4)  "But I have this complaint against you. You don't love Me or each other as you did at first!  (5)  Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to Me and do the works you did at first. If you don't repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches.  (6)  But this is in your favor: You hate the evil deeds of the Nicolaitans, just as I do.  (7)  "Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what He is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give fruit from the tree of life in the paradise of God.  
(8)  "Write this letter to the angel of the church in Smyrna. This is the message from the One who is the First and the Last, who was dead but is now alive:  (9)  "I know about your suffering and your poverty--but you are rich! I know the blasphemy of those opposing you. They say they are Jews, but they are not, because their synagogue belongs to Satan.  (10)  Don't be afraid of what you are about to suffer. The devil will throw some of you into prison to test you. You will suffer for ten days. But if you remain faithful even when facing death, I will give you the crown of life.  (11)  "Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what He is saying to the churches. Whoever is victorious will not be harmed by the second death.  
(12)  "Write this letter to the angel of the church in Pergamum. This is the message from the One with the sharp two-edged sword:  (13)  "I know that you live in the city where Satan has his throne, yet you have remained loyal to Me. You refused to deny Me even when Antipas, My faithful witness, was martyred among you there in Satan's city.  (14)  "But I have a few complaints against you. You tolerate some among you whose teaching is like that of Balaam, who showed Balak how to trip up the people of Israel. He taught them to sin by eating food offered to idols and by committing sexual sin.  (15)  In a similar way, you have some Nicolaitans among you who follow the same teaching.  (16)  Repent of your sin, or I will come to you suddenly and fight against them with the sword of My mouth.  (17)  "Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what He is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give some of the manna that has been hidden away in heaven. And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one understands except the one who receives it.  
(18)  "Write this letter to the angel of the church in Thyatira. This is the message from the Son of God, whose eyes are like flames of fire, whose feet are like polished bronze:  (19)  "I know all the things you do. I have seen your love, your faith, your service, and your patient endurance. And I can see your constant improvement in all these things.  (20)  "But I have this complaint against you. You are permitting that woman--that Jezebel who calls herself a prophet--to lead My servants astray. She teaches them to commit sexual sin and to eat food offered to idols.  (21)  I gave her time to repent, but she does not want to turn away from her immorality.  (22)  "Therefore, I will throw her on a bed of suffering, and those who commit adultery with her will suffer greatly unless they repent and turn away from her evil deeds.  (23)  I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am the One who searches out the thoughts and intentions of every person. And I will give to each of you whatever you deserve.  (24)  "But I also have a message for the rest of you in Thyatira who have not followed this false teaching ('deeper truths,' as they call them--depths of Satan, actually). I will ask nothing more of you  (25)  except that you hold tightly to what you have until I come.  (26)  To all who are victorious, who obey Me to the very end, To them I will give authority over all the nations.  (27)  They will rule the nations with an iron rod and smash them like clay pots.  (28)  They will have the same authority I received from My Father, and I will also give them the morning star!  (29)  "Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what He is saying to the churches.
Revelation 3:1-22 NLT  "Write this letter to the angel of the church in Sardis. This is the message from the One who has the sevenfold Spirit of God and the seven stars: "I know all the things you do, and that you have a reputation for being alive--but you are dead.  (2)  Wake up! Strengthen what little remains, for even what is left is almost dead. I find that your actions do not meet the requirements of My God.  (3)   Go back to what you heard and believed at first; hold to it firmly. Repent and turn to Me again. If you don't wake up, I will come to you suddenly, as unexpected as a thief.  (4)  "Yet there are some in the church in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes with evil. They will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy.  (5)  All who are victorious will be clothed in white. I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, but I will announce before My Father and His angels that they are Mine.  (6)  "Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what He is saying to the churches.  
(7)  "Write this letter to the angel of the church in Philadelphia. This is the message from the One who is holy and true, the One who has the key of David. What He opens, no one can close; and what He closes, no one can open:  (8)  "I know all the things you do, and I have opened a door for you that no one can close. You have little strength, yet you obeyed My word and did not deny Me.  (9)  Look, I will force those who belong to Satan's synagogue--those liars who say they are Jews but are not--to come and bow down at your feet. They will acknowledge that you are the ones I love.  (10)  "Because you have obeyed My command to persevere, I will protect you from the great time of testing that will come upon the whole world to test those who belong to this world.  (11)  I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take away your crown.  (12)  All who are victorious will become pillars in the Temple of My God, and they will never have to leave it. And I will write on them the name of My God, and they will be citizens in the city of My God--the new Jerusalem that comes down from heaven from My God. And I will also write on them My new name.  (13)  "Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what He is saying to the churches.  
(14)  "Write this letter to the angel of the church in Laodicea. This is the message from the One who is the Amen--the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's new creation:  (15)  "I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other!  (16)  But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth!  (17)  You say, 'I am rich. I have everything I want. I don't need a thing!' And you don't realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.  (18)  So I advise you to buy gold from Me--gold that has been purified by fire. Then you will be rich. Also buy white garments from Me so you will not be shamed by your nakedness, and ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see.  (19)  I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference.  (20)  "Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear My voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.  (21)  Those who are victorious will sit with Me on My throne, just as I was victorious and sat with My Father on His throne.  (22)  "Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what He is saying to the churches."

2:8 Smyrna? Is that the "model" church? Poverty stricken, imprisoned, persecuted, and the assault was from the local first satanic church?

3:7 Philadelphia? We can hope that we are like this, but I think it would take great efforts and much work to attain the "little strength" (3:8) that they have.

I think we are more like Sardis; WAKE UP! (3:2)

So, where do we come from, where are we at, and where are we going? Sounds like it is time to read Ecclesiastes again...

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Hebrews 10:25 Continued

Please don't freak out on me here.

I know in my previous post some are going to say, "Duane said I don't have to go to church."

That's not what I'm saying.

If we say we are a Christian BECAUSE we go to church, that is wrong.

Taking it a step further, SITTING in church does not make you a Christian.

How so?

Back up one verse in chapter 10 of Hebrews, 

"and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds,"

Stimulate one another to good deeds.

Stimulate?  http://bible.us/Rev2.13.NLT

Build up? http://bible.us/1Thess5.11.NLT

Warn? http://bible.us/Heb3.13.NLT

To urge? http://bible.us/Jude1.3.NLT

Keep reading - http://bible.us/Jude1.4.NLT

See, we are supposed TO DO SOMETHING, not just sit there.

Back to Hebrews 10. This is why this is so important - 

"Dear friends, if we deliberately continue sinning after we have received knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice that will cover these sins. " (Hebrews 10:26 NLT)

I think Tony Nolan said on Twitter one day, "Not on my watch!"

The very person you sit beside in church is hearing the same thing you are. If they continue in their sins, they have NO EXCUSE in God's eyes!!!

Does that bother you?

I'm tired of church as usual!

I want people saved, sanctified, and filled with the Holy Ghost!

Christ came to give me life ABUNDANTLY! He didn't pour it on the pew cushions so I could sit in it.

Weren't we saved to a "lively" hope?

Stir up that Gift that is in you.

 - -

So, Where Does It Say in the Bible...

....so where does it say in the Bible that you have to go to church?

Don't neglect the meeting http://bible.us/Heb10.25.NLT

That's what i thought you would say.

God told me to go back a few verses and read. Look at verse 11 http://bible.us/Heb10.11.NLT

The "same old same old" gets the same old results. 

So, if we go to church because we think we "have to" (legalism), but keep doing the same old thing we always do, how can we possibly think that something different is going to happen?

Yes, there is a "gift of miracles" http://bible.us/1Cor12.10.NLT , but it is not operating. It's not God's fault that we don't see miracles. It would be a real miracle indeed if...

God did NOT call me to sit in a pew at the appointed times only, and that be the sustenance and gist of my service to God. The Bible says GO! http://bible.us/Mark16.15.NLT

GO! 

Hear the Word, DO the Word http://bible.us/Jas1.22.NLT 

or you are just kidding yourself.

I just so desperately want to see people get saved!

It's time for something different!

 - -

Post Flood Blues and Reflections

Hmm, today was not so good.

Aside from the post-flood blues,
(and I'm not talking about Noah either; I had 5+ feet of moving water in my back yard and I do NOT live on lake or riverfront property)
I'm wondering if it's time to step out.

So many months ago, God called me a "missionary to Greeneville". Since then, I've got little to show for it.

My call is not as a preacher or a teacher, at least not in the church, or at least not yet. You know, a missionary - Go into all the world... http://bible.us/Mark16.15.NLT

"Church people" are not in my scope of responsibility. I've got to get into the community, somehow...

So while I was mowing grass today in my swamp of a backyard, I got an idea. All the "church people" should be in "church" Sunday morning, right? So all of the non-church people will be in their homes, right?

Would that not be the best time to go into the community and start visiting? I mean all the church people will be gone so my target visitees will be uncluttered.

Ya, I know; everybody says you're supposed to be in church, and that includes me. Right?

So where does it say in the Bible that you have to go to church?

Don't neglect the meeting http://bible.us/Heb10.25.NLT

That's what i thought you would say.

to be continued...

 - -