The True Church

Others resist because of poor teaching in their own churches. I know this is the case from my own past experience, when I was fed dutifully and without question by pastors who themselves were fed with the same stuff. It was only by asking an innocent question of my pastor that the whole edifice of tradition came crashing down.

Yet others resist because of their personal refusal to face their own sin, or the mere possibility that what they say they believe is wrong.

As I tell those God has placed under my care as a pastor, I am not all that interested in their personal sins. I am more interested in the core of their being…are they saved or not? All of them are saved. So, I urge them to live as Christ would want us to live. Of course, if sin becomes observable, then I must step in and counsel from scripture, but I believe that God looks more at the core of our being than at the peripheral sins we commit.

Those who do not agree with me are not a problem. Sadly, most of them tend to remain aloof. Some even shun me, such is their insecurity, though I am saved by grace and believe totally in the inerrancy of scripture and teach it in its fullness. As I have said before, these good folk shun me, but I do not shun them. I have long got over the rejection bit - I have had to!

Especially before travel became easier, though everyone lived in the same country, many of them spoke in hugely different dialects. You only had to go fifty miles away and you would think you were on another planet, unable to understand what was being said.

It is like that today in our churches. After our Sunday meeting recently, we chatted about the way those not in our fellowship are completely confused by what we say. This is because, as our history tells, when we left the traditional system, we determined never to go back to it.

This made us look at every single aspect of our Christian lives and faith. We dropped everything that was useless and without scriptural foundation, and began again. As a result, we are now aligned with scripture and not with men. The difference is almost always startling.

So, we have an absurd situation, in which many refuse to call us their brethren, yet they teach and believe tradition and false doctrine, usually without knowing it. Nevertheless, we do not shun them as they shun us, nor do we say they are not our brethren. The future? It is not good.

A few years ago I wrote a prophecy, and it is coming to pass daily. It is that the sound Christians who did not face the reality of the Toronto Blessing would fall. This occurred dramatically when the ‘Blessing’ came, wave after wave.

Now, many reformed Christians are falling under the spell of the Alpha course. In the near future, when the next charismatic wave comes, many of those who previously stood firm will themselves fall. Why? Because they are cocooned in their own church lives, unwilling to learn what God truly says in His word.

As a fellowship we have been tremendously and divinely privileged. We were dismantled in our hearts and kinds and rebuilt again, with scripture alone. And it is this that we try to pass on to others. Those who refuse to listen to God will fall soon. I am not talking about people listening to us (unless we teach the truth), but to God’s word.

Can you look beyond your own denomination or tradition? Is your heart on fire for God, and not just for what happens in your own corner of the vineyard as taught by men? Do you want a dynamic and true relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Then start thinking scripturally, before it is too late.

What of the Jews?

In many ways I would appear to be opposing reformed Christians, but I am not. I am merely trying, as led by God, to live by scripture and to interpret it by its own texts. In doing so I am very aware of treading on toes, but my allegiance is to God, not to men. So, I must tread where I am led to go.

 I am constantly being reminded of this or that issue by some folk, as though each issue was the true test of genuine Christianity. Some of those who criticise do so hotly and some with arrogance and pride in their own position. Yet others are actually rude or threatening.

Thus it is with whatever I have said about the Jews. Friends, I have come a very long way since I left the lofty cathedrals of Reformed thinking to rely only on scripture! No doubt I have yet a very long way to go, but the point is this – I must remain on the road I am on, because I have been led to do so.

In travelling this road I adhere to scripture and refuse to be fettered to other men and their ideas, so if this offends, I cannot apologise. To be censured for this is, to me, wrong. I am solidly scriptural and am saved by the grace of God. The rest is a matter of revelation to the mind and heart, but does not separate me from my brethren…unless, of course, they wish to use a peripheral issue as an excuse for shunning?

Concerning the Jews - that is, their general and eternal position - I have come to see this: they were chosen by God as His people, a people who began with Abraham and rose in number to become a nation. They were promised Canaan as their own and came to rule it. God demanded both faith and sacrifices and other rites. Those who did them and had true faith were accepted by God…but God did not rely only on rite and sacrifices as His later rejection of them testifies. This is all Biblical fact.

I receive objections from those who insist that the Jews were not part of the Church. I get others who say the opposite! Some say that Israel was the Church, and now the Church is Israel. Each believes himself to be the carrier of truth.

When we look at Hebrews, we find a list of men who lived by faith. The faith they had and which was shown in their lives, was enough to make them righteous before God, able to enter heaven. In other words, they were saved.

After Christ’s earthly sacrifice, the only thing that changed, from what I can see, was the expression of salvation, not the mode of it. Thus, instead of continual sacrifices and physical observances, etc., there was just one sacrifice and a spiritual observance. Faith is the fixed requirement.

I can see very little difference, then, between the ancients who lived by faith and moderns who also live by faith. The expression of salvation changed but not the mode of it.

As to whether or not Israel (true Israel) are ‘the Church’…if there is only one Body, with Christ as its head, then where do the ancients who believed come into the picture? They can only be a part of the same Body. Scripture does not tell me that ancient Jews who were righteous before God go to some other Jewish place, apart from heaven!

And what of Moses? It was Paul who said of Moses that he esteemed “…the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt…”, thereby placing him right in the middle of our modern faith!! Not the same? Hmmm.

Note the meanings of ‘church’ in the New Testament…they are broader than some might wish to think, and can easily incorporate believing Jews!

Friends, what I have just related to you is a brief summary of scriptural teaching on the matter. But, you must come to your own conclusions from the reading of scripture. This does not make either of us heretical or unworthy of fellowship!

So, please don’t say I am teaching a ‘dispensationalist’ doctrine, or add any other ‘ism’ or denominational label to my name, not even that of ‘Reformed’. If anything, I would say of myself that I am ‘Reforming’, and this means I will gather teaching from scripture, not from men. I urge you to do the same. I have no problem with critics – only with those who want to strangle me with their rigid insistence on their own beliefs which, quite often are either correct but lacking in love, or full of love but no consistency.

Tread carefully, then, concerning the Jews, for they will soon be given the mantle of evangelism, which will be removed from us, the Gentiles. This, too is scriptural…so if, as some say, the Jews are no longer part of the Church, are we saying that scripture has got it wrong? Hardly. Could it be, then, by a great stretch of imagination, maybe, possibly – dare I say it – a wrong interpretation of scripture on the part of critics? Look again, for I have no wish to argue over points that do not require it.

And the RCC, too!

Readers of the paper copy of the Beacon do not know of the daily tasks we have to do on the Internet Web site. In particular replying to the many wrong and sometimes silly comments we get from all over the world. Some are very rude and nasty.

In particular I get a stream of criticism from Roman Catholics, some of whom are priests or seminarians. They tell me that I am getting it all wrong. I am not understanding Romanism correctly.

I read (and have read for many years) Roman Catholic material daily…newspapers, journals, books, Internet materials (which are vast), and sources direct from the Vatican. I have talked with countless Catholics. Yet, these folk insist that I have got it all wrong! I must be pretty stupid, then.

How can I get it all wrong when I get it straight from the Vatican horse’s mouth? Or from their own publications? They say that I get it wrong because Romanists mean something different by the same words we use. I am very aware of that, and I make allowances for such difference. So I don’t think I get it wrong at all. I continue to say, emphatically, that Roman Catholicism is a cult, not a part of the Christian Church.

Thus, those who believe they are saved by Rome are deluded. They need the true Gospel.

More on Israel

I receive regular updates from authentic sources on Israeli news. Recently, Derek Owers passed-on the following facts concerning Israel.

A Rabbi Loren checked them and say they are accurate (though he believes the Jewish Conquest was closer to 1500 BC). I include these facts because of the blatant anti-Israeli stance taken by almost all the media, who paint a rosy picture of Muslim activities:

“HERE'S THE BRIEF FACTS ON THE ISRAELI CONFLICT TODAY....

1. Nationhood and Jerusalem. Israel became a nation in 1312 B.C.E., two thousand years before the rise of Islam.

 2. Arab refugees in Israel began identifying themselves as part of a Palestinian people in 1967, two decades after the establishment of the modern State of Israel.

3. Since the Jewish conquest in 1272 B.C.E., the Jews have had dominion over the land for one thousand years with a continuous presence in the land for the past 3,300 years.

 4. The only Arab dominion since the conquest in 635 C.E. lasted no more than 22 years.

 5. For over 3,300 years, Jerusalem has been the Jewish capital. Jerusalem has never been the capital of any Arab or Muslim entity. Even when the Jordanians occupied Jerusalem, they never sought to make it their capital, and Arab leaders did not come to visit.

 6. Jerusalem is mentioned over 700 times in Tanach, the Jewish Holy Scriptures. Jerusalem is not mentioned once in the Koran.

 7. King David founded the city of Jerusalem. Mohammed never came to Jerusalem.

 8. Jews pray facing Jerusalem. Muslims pray with their backs toward Jerusalem.

 9. Arab and Jewish Refugees: In 1948 the Arab refugees were encouraged to leave Israel by Arab leaders promising to purge the land of Jews. Sixty-eight percent left without ever seeing an Israeli soldier.

 10. Jewish refugees were forced to flee from Arab lands due to Arab brutality, persecution and pogroms.

 11. The number of Arab refugees who left Israel in 1948 is estimated to be around 630,000. The number of Jewish refugees from Arab lands is estimated to be the same.

 12. Arab refugees were INTENTIONALLY not absorbed or integrated into the Arab lands to which they fled, despite the vast Arab territory. Of the 100,000,000 refugees since World War II, theirs is the only refugee group in the world that has never been absorbed or integrated into their own peoples' lands. Jewish refugees were completely absorbed into Israel, tho’ no larger than New Jersey.

 13. The Arab - Israeli Conflict: The Arabs are represented by eight separate nations, not including the Palestinians. There is only one Jewish nation. The Arab nations initiated all five wars and lost. Israel efended itself each time and won.

 14. The P.L.O.'s Charter still calls for the destruction of the State of Israel. Israel has given the Palestinians most of the West Bank land, autonomy under the Palestinian Authority, and has supplied them.

 15. Under Jordanian rule, Jewish holy sites were desecrated and the Jews were denied access to places of worship. Under Israeli rule, all Muslim and Christian sites have been preserved and made accessible to people of all faiths.

 16. The U.N. Record on Israel and the Arabs: of the 175 Security Council resolutions passed before 1990, 97 were directed against Israel.

 17. Of the 690 General Assembly resolutions voted on before 1990, 429 were directed against Israel.

 18. The U.N was silent while 58 Jerusalem Synagogues were destroyed by the Jordanians.

19. The U.N. was silent while the Jordanians systematically desecrated the ancient Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives.

 20. The U.N. was silent while the Jordanians enforced an apartheid-like policy of preventing Jews from visiting the Temple Mount and the Western Wall.

News Reports on Israel

In days when the USA is about to attack Iraq, and the media seem to favour anything Muslim, we must keep a clear head. I have come across many Christians who are siding with Muslim terrorists and extreme Islamic countries, as though Israel was the thug of all time.

If you have a computer with Internet functions, log on to TerrorPetition.com and ask for free updates. You will get what I get – almost daily reports of news items so heavily biased toward Islam that you wonder what is true and what is false!

For example, many newspapers obtain their foreign news from the famous and respected Reuters news agency. But its reports on the current Palestinian/Jewish problem is very, very dangerous and prejudiced.

In one of the latest reports it speaks of two Palestinians to the Gaza Strip, saying that Israel simply dumped them, alone and scared.

In reality, Israel gave them 1000 Shekels each, food and water and other assistance. Reuters did not say that Israel also attempted to get a family reunion going, or that the courts deported the two along democratic lines.

The two men were, in fact, connected with suicide bombers and helped with their evil acts. I have read many reports by media-watchers, and the lies being told by pro-Islamic media are appalling. The news is not always free of bias! Another report speaks of the way Palestinian terrorists have continually manipulated the media. Beware.

We will continue to present genuine reports of Israel. As we have said before, we do so not because we are blindly following some brand of Messianic sect, but because we want to see the truth in print, and because the Jews will one day become far more prominent in God’s work.

Meanwhile, in Deepest London

As Islamic terrorists win the media war, in mosques around the UK young men are being urged to kill the people of their adopted country, the UK.

They are threatening the UK with terrorist attacks on the scale of September 11th. The worst culprit is the Muslim cleric we have seen on TV – the one with one eye and a metal hook for an arm.

Though Blair is evidently grooming himself to be a latter-day Churchill, he is fighting shy of facing the fifth-column in our own country! These clerics are trying to whip-up real hard-core violence. They want to see a murderous jihad and are helping to finance men for the task. Why is our government allowing this to happen under their noses? Why are these clerics not deported or jailed?

A conference is planned in London by the same murderous clerics, who will celebrate the September 11th attack on the twin towers. They say that al-Qaida executed the attack to stop foreign invasion of Muslim lands. What on earth are they talking about! The USA, for example, didn’t attack Afghanistan until several months after the attack!

The group, allowed freedom to plan their evils in the UK, will also launch the Islamic Council of Britain. Remember some time back I warned that allowing such freedoms will lead to an attempt to get strict Islamic laws imposed on the UK? Well, that is exactly what this new Council is planning to do. And al-Qaida members will be given membership. A ‘six figure sum’ has been given to the clerics to fund the council, so it isn’t just an empty threat – any more than September 11th was an empty gesture.

As usual, mainstream Muslims refuse to listen to these extremists but, as I keep on saying, this will not stop them. Mainstream Muslims MUST excommunicate them and report them to the authorities. They must publicly denounce what they are doing. Without these provisos, we can only expect things to get much worse, and for Islamic horrors to gain legal support in the West. So, those with the facility – keep reading the Muslim section of our site, where we state with much evidence, that Islam is a religion of violence.

We cannot understand our government, either. As Blair pretends to be Churchill, threatening Iraq, he forgets the immense dangers of allowing vicious clerics freedom to arrange terrorist meetings in London itself, and huge numbers of asylum seekers in to our system, many of whom are from terrorist-producing countries.

Got Asthma?

A number of us have long lists of maladies! Do you suffer from asthma? Using inhalers or nebules? Prefer to try something more natural than drugs that can get rid of most, if not all, of your symptoms? Then try the ‘Powerbreathe’.

It is the latest breakthrough in technology and has even helped athletes expand their lung capacity, by strengthening the small muscles around the tiny air sacs in the lungs. Not cheap, it costs £49.95. For more details, call a UK number, 01926 816177, or contact the website, www.powerbreathe.com

Or, do you have M.E.? Then you will be used to stories of miracle cures. But a reasonable research finding may be of use – no harm in trying it out. It is reported in the journal, Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, that M.E. sufferers with normal chemical balances in the brain, and that this probably causes the symptoms, which can be devastating. They say that taking fish oil supplements will restore balance of chemicals and get rid of many symptoms in a lot of sufferers. Perhaps some ME readers have already come across this idea, but it is worth a mention. The above items are included because we know a number of our readers have health problems.

CofE Jokes

A survey has discovered what most of us have suspected for many years – that one-third of Anglican clergy do not believe in the resurrection!

Paul wrote that if Christ was not raised from the dead, then everything else we might believe is in vain. If people say they are Christians, then, and claim not to believe in the resurrection, they are only jokes within the churches. They are not true Believers. If the resurrection did not occur, we may as well do whatever we like, because after this life there is no hope. Are you a joke? Or do you honestly believe in the resurrection?

Asylum Means Loss

When false asylum seekers gain access to our shores and benefits, it means that many UK residents, will lose out in many ways.

Housing is being given away in large numbers to ‘asylum seekers’; vast sums are given to them by way of benefits, clothing and leisure facilities. They have access to medical provisions not available to our own people. Now, in Derby, a GP surgery has told all its regular patients to find another surgery, because it has been taken over for the treatment of asylum seekers! Thus, 2000 people have to leave their own doctors because asylum folk take precedence, even though most of them will later be found to be illegals.

It will cost a third of a million pounds to convert the surgery and a further quarter of a million to run it. Interpreters and many other specialists will be employed there, too. Is it cynical to suggest that the GP’s, who had to agree to the move, are kicking out their regulars in order to gain monetary funding and increase their status?

The Sad Truth

Yesterday I met a lady I had not seen for about 20 years. She and her hubby were leading lights in the churches in my home city, and well-known for their faith. Now, both of them have stopped attending any church at all. Disillusionment has at last taken its toll.

As you may know, we left the ‘system’, but at least we began a new church. How many others are likewise disaffected by bad pastors?

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© August 2002

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