The Sad Case Of Pastor Max Younce's Wife

2nd Timothy 3:16-17, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”

Please hear me out dear reader. My heart is broken and heavy. I want to present my appeal to you, and you can be the jury if you'd like, but God will be my only Judge (James 4:12). Be patient with me as you read, because I need to first lay down some foundational information, so that you will understand the issue.

I BELIEVE THAT THE KING JAMES BIBLE IS 100% INSPIRED!!! If that offends you, then so be it. I humbly believe that the King James Bible is VERBALLY INSPIRED, which means every word in the Bible was put there by God almighty. They are His inspired Words, not mere words inspired by mortal men. I also believe in the PLENARY INSPIRATION of the King James Bible, which means that all 66 books (the entire canon) is inspired by God.

Having said that, there are some preachers whom I love and have tremendous respect for; namely, Pastor Max D. Younce (1935-2023), Dr. John R. Rice (1895-1980) and Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001) in his early ministry, who all denied the inspiration of the King James Bible. They sat in judgment upon the Word of God, CORRECTING THE BIBLE. I am against doing that. I respect those men, but I humbly disgree with their position. In Dr. Hyles' book titled, "Let's Study The Revelation" (1967), he often CORRECTS the King James Bible. Dr. Hyles was about 40 years old at the time.

Thankfully, Pastor Hyles woke up around 1980 after Dr. John R. Rice (1895-1980) went to Heaven, and repented of his correcting the King James Bible. Dr. Hyles honestly explains that he had been lied to by corrupt Bible professors...

Pastor Jack Hyles On The Importance Of Bible Infallibility 

John 12:47-48, “And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.”

John 14:23, “Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” 

Folks, I'm going to go to seed [to become worn] before I die on defending this Book—I'm going to go to seed on it! I'm a little tired—by the way, every preacher in America, before he met a theologian, believed exactly what I'm preaching tonight! Theologians messed us all up—they messed me up for a while, I'll be honest with you—messed us all up! When I went off to college, I thought I had the words of God in this Book right here. When I was in college for awhile I found out I didn't. Not only that, I found out nobody did! Not only that, I found out you couldn't have them! Not only that, I found out there was no such thing as any book in all the world that had the words of God in 'em! 

But my Bible said that we're supposed to keep His “WORDS”; not His truths, not just His doctrine, but His “WORDS”! ... 

Mark 8:38,“Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” 

Folks, here's what's happening in America. The old-time preachers that built this country believed that this Book right here had the words of God in it! Your grandpa and grandma, that built this country, shed their tears on this Book, thinking they had the very words of God in their hands. And fundamentalists ALL believed what I'm preaching tonight, until we got our own Bible colleges, and seminaries, and sent our professors off to train at the feet of Karl Barth, and Reinhold Neuber, Emil Brunner, and others, who said that the Bible does not have the “words” of God, it is the Word of God, and that all the Bible is not inspired word-for-word. So we did not want to be considered “unintellectual” by the intellectual community; we're not willing to be called “nuts” and “fools”—just chalk me up as a nut! Chalk me up as a fool! Yea! Chalk me up as an uneducated illiterate if you want to, but I guarantee Ya—I'd rather study my A-B-C's in Heaven, then Greek and Hebrew in Hell! 

Whosoever shall be ashamed of “ME AND MY WORDS”; it didn't say His “WORD,” it says His “WORDS”! 

SOURCE: Pastor Jack Hyles, a beautiful quote from the sermon, “There Are Too Many Smiths In The Land.”

As I mentioned, around 1980, after Dr. Rice died, Brother Hyles changed his position and stopped correcting the King James Bible. In fact, Pastor Hyles became a champion for the inspiration and perfection of the King James Bible, and as you just read for yourself he attributed his former wrong attitude to corrupt college professors who shook his faith in the inspiration of the Holy Bible. You can hear Dr. Hyles call himself a "champion" for the King James Bible in this classic 1996 sermon titled: "THE BATTLE OF THE AGES."

Having said that, one of my Facebook friends asked me a question on Friday, November 15th, 2024. Here is his unedtied question to me:

Dr Thomas M Cucuzza said something strange the other night in one of his sermons i was listening to. He said something regarding the KJV Bible along the line of ( he wished they would've chose better wording for the readers ) and then he opened up the NKJV translation and read from it. I can't remember which scripture has was referring to but regardless it made me a little uncomfortable when he read from the NKJV to the flock. I'm not making any judgment . He does teach the true gospel regarding salvation faith through grace in Jesus alone and the finished work on the cross , but what he did made me uncomfortable. The NKJV is a corrupted bible.

And here is my unedited Facebook reply to his question:

I have learned to give my Christian brethren in the ministry some "room to swim" doctrinally. Pastor Max D. Younce (1935-2023) is one of my heroes of the faith, but he didn't believe the King James Bible is inspired. He believed the King James Bible is the BEST, but not 100% perfect. I humbly disagreed with my ally in the ministry, yet we remained good ministry friends until he graduated to Heaven last year. I miss my friend. 

Another free grace preacher whom I greatly admire is Dr. John R. Rice (1895-1980), who also didn't believe that the King James Bible is inspired. It wasn't until he went to Heaven in 1980 that Dr. Jack Hyles switched from correcting the King James Bible, to being King James only and never correcting it again. I think Dr. Hyles out of respect for Brother Rice, who was 31 years older than Dr. Hyles, didn't want to start a fight over inspiration with him. That is just my personal opinion. 

But I do know for a fact that by the 1980's Pastor Jack Hyles believed and taught that the King James Bible is 100% flawless, inspired, preserved, inerrant, holy, incorruptible and perfect in every way. He taught that for the rest of his life, which is what I also believe and teach. I believe the King James Bible is VERBALLY (every word) INSPIRED, and also PLENARY (the whole canon of 66 books) INSPIRED. 

So, even if Pastor Cucuzza may correct the King James Bible (which I haven't confirmed), it wouldn't change my respect and admiration for him as a free grace preacher. No two Bible preachers agree on everything.

The next thing I knew, Mrs. Younce not only unfriended me, but completely blocked out my Facebook page, so that she has vanished from Facebook. I have confirmed that she is still on Facebook, and that without saying one word to me she threw me under the bus. The reason why is obvious to me, because of my post, which is the only thing it could be. I make NO APOLOGIES for my comments. I did nothing wrong. It is clear if you carefully read my post that I didn't slander, bad mouth or criticize my longtime ministry friend. Pastor Younce first contacted me in 2004, and we became lifelong ministry friends up until he went to Heaven in 2023.

To say that I am deeply hurt by what Mrs. Marjorie Younce has done to me is an understatement. I thankfully understand that she is an individual, just like my friend Max Younce was an individual, so she DOESN'T speak or even represent how he feels. I know Dr. Younce never would have mistreated me like this.

It is also clear to me that his widow is more loyal to her husband than she is to THE TRUTH. If she loved the truth, then she would respect my right as a Bible preacher to have my own opinions, even though mine might differ from her own husband's. God knows that in our 20 year friendship, I NEVER ONCE criticized Pastor Younce behind his back, nor in public. I never once even told anyone that I disagree with him. I only mentioned Dr. Younce in my Facebook post the other day, to help a friend on Facebook understand that it is normal for preachers to disagree on some issues.

Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001) is my hero of the faith, but I don't agree with Brother Hyles on everything. For example: I don't agree with him when he uses the term "Shekinah Glory" in his books and sermons. It is an occult term related to Jewish mysticysm, not a biblical term. No preacher should ever use such pagan terms.

Also, Dr. Hyles was big on using a Sinner's Prayer when soulwinning, but I don't use it anymore and discourage others from using it too, because for several years after I got saved at age 13, I needlessly struggled with the assuance of God's salvation because the Sinner's Prayer confused me. I kept wondering if I had prayed correctly. I knew that faith saved me, but I was misled to think that praying to be saved was how you put your faith in Jesus. Boy was I deceived by pastors! Baptist preachers and religious tracts had LIED TO ME!!! You can be saved just be believing on Jesus. What saith the Scripture? John 6:47, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.” My point is that it is normal for preachers to disagree sometimes. There's not even one preacher, dead or alive, with whom I agree with on everything.

It deeply hurts my feelings that Mrs. Younce doesn't understand this fact. She didn't even have the decency to contact me, to give me a chance to apologize if I hurt her feelings, and to make a mends. If she had let me know that I had hurt her feelings, I would have gladly promised never to mention her husband again in such a manner, although I didn't do anything wrong. There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with my post, and I am being transparent to share my post with everyone, so you can see what is going on. You have already read my words earlier.

I very kindly mentioned in my comments that me and Dr. Younce were good ministry friends for 20 years, even though we disagreed on Bible inspiration. Now I see that his widow has completely blocked me out on Facebook. I have no way of contacting her. She moved recently somewhere in Grand Rapids, Minnestoa, to an Assisted Living complex. In hindsight, it is obvious to me that no one overreacts like this to a mere post. She must have had a burr in her saddle for a long time that I was not aware of. This is strange and bizarre. People don't just write Christian friends off in the ministry, whom they have known for 20 years, unless there is some underlying river of animosity, which I was not aware of.

Anyway, since I started my website ministry in 2002, I have been an open book to the world. Since I don't have a wife, and don't have any family in Pensacola, the only friends I have are online or at the local church I attend. But the sad truth is that if I decided tomorrow to never return to the church I've been attending for the past 3 years, no one would ever come looking for me, they wouldn't care. They have never asked for my contact information. I feel lonely.

Robert Serreyn Mistreats Me Too

It hurts me when the only so-called "Christian" friends I have online, block me out and don't even explain why. I sent a message to Robert Serreyn (who attended Pastor Younce's church for many years) and asked him if he knows what's going on, but he's being a jerk and won't reply. So, I messaged him again and said that I understand if he doesn't want to get involved, but please at least send me a smiley face or something to acknowledge me, but he refused to do that too. So, I have already unfriended him and blocked him out. If I mean so little to someone that they refuse to even acknowledge me as a human being, after I plainly told Serreyn that he was hurting my feelings, then he is NOT really my friend, not one iota. I am his friend, but he's not mine.

I don't know what is going on with Mrs. Younce and Robert Serreyn, but I have done nothing wrong by preaching what I believe to be THE TRUTH. I know that Robert is a devout Zionist, who was praising Israel all the time they were murdering 44,000 defenseless Palestinians. He got upset with me on Facebook for saying that I DO NOT STAND WITH ISRAEL. I don't stand with homodical maniacs, and shame on you if you do!

I also have never agreed with Dispensaitonal Teaching, even though Dr. Younce teaches a mild form of it (he wasn't an Ultra-dispensaitonal Zionist). I have never criticized Pastor Younce for using dispensational teaching, even though I don't use it and expose it as rubbish in my own ministry. In our 20 years of ministry friendship, me and Dr. Younce NEVER ONCE had any disagreements or cross words. We always respected each other's differences, and relished in our shared beliefs, particularly that Martin Luther (1483-1546) was an unsaved infidel. That is how we became friends. Pastor Younce first emailed me in 2004 when I still lived in in Chicago, and he said I was the only preacher he knew who exposes Martin Luther as a fraud.

I feel like I'm in a new episode of The Twilight Zone. You don't just block out someone who has been a ministry friend for 20 years, without letting them know why. And when a Christian brother or sister contacts you and requests a reply, you should reply, not horribly blow them off by ignoring them. That is NOT the Lord's way. Matthew 7:12, “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.”

Pastor Younce Was Very Wrong For Correcting The Bible

Here is Dr. Younce's heretical teaching about Romans 10:11 and Isaiah 28:16, in which you can see where he clearly sadly CORRECTS the King James Bible, but it DOESN'T NEED CORRECTING (as I will show you)...

4. Isaiah 28:16 and 1 Peter 2:6. 

Since we are this far, we might as well examine two other verses that are mistranslated. One in the Old Testament is Isaiah 28:16 and the other is 1 Peter 2:6.

“Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth SHALL NOT make haste.” (Isaiah 28:16)

“Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him SHALL NOT be confounded.” (1 Peter 2:6)

In both passages, “shall not” is translated wrongly and should have been translated “should not.” This mistranslation not only endorses a false doctrine of Lordship Salvation; but, also contradicts other doctrinal teachings such as the following. God knows a Christian is capable of sinning because they still possess the old nature they were born with. SOURCE: An Exposition Of Romans 10: 9, 10

Kindly said, Pastor Younce doesn't know what he's talking about here. He foolishly CORRECTS the King James Bible, again, as he does HUNDREDS of times in his books and sermons. The Hebrew word for "haste" in Isaiah 28:16 is chush, which means "to hurry." Pastor Younce is very wrong to correct the inspired Holy Bible, accusing the 54 brilliant King James Bible translators of being incompetent. The correct interpretation of Isaiah 28:16 and Romans 10:11 is that if you believe on Jesus you will never be disappointed, you won't have to hurry away in embarrasment that Jesus failed your faith. These passages of Scripture have absolutely NOTHING to do with being ashamed of Jesus.

Now, this is the FIRST TIME in 20 years that I have criticized Dr. Younce's work. But I want to set the matter straight right now. Brother Younce believed and taught that only the original autographs of the Word of God were inspired, and that at BEST all we have today are imperfect, manmade translations of God's Words. I humbly disagree! I believe that we have a perfect inspired Holy Bible today. I believe in the Englsh language that Book is the inspired KING JAMES BIBLE. I find no fault with the King James Bible. You will never once find me correcting the Bible, it should correct us. I am NOT going to sit in judgment upon God's Word.

My ministry friend, Eddie Boston, got upset with me a few years ago because I promote Pastor Younce's books, in lieu of the fact that Dr. Younce incessantly corrects the Bible. Eddie was right! Thankfully, me and Eddie are still friends. I have taken a lot of criticism and heat over the years from ministry friends, because of my loyalty and friendship with Pastor Younce. I took an unknown country preacher and gave him an international presence through my website ministry. I certainly deserve more gratitude than for his widow to block me out completely without explanation.

Albeit, regardless of what she does, I will not correct Pastor Younce again, as I did in this blog. I promote Pastor Younce's books because I love Jesus Christ. I love Pastor Younce too and I respect his scholarly brilliance as a man of God. Despite his correcting of the King James Bible, his books are extremely helpful for new believers, which is why I share them with people. I have learned so much about God's Word from Dr. Younce's books. To God alone be the glory.

Pastor Younce looked up to Dr. John R. Rice (1895-1980) as a mentor, just as I look up to Dr. Younce as a mentor. Dr. Younce taught the same position on the Bible as did Dr. Rice. Brother Rice often corrected the Bible, and taught that it is okay to use several different Bible revisions. I couldn't disagree more!!! In fairness to Dr. Rice, he died long before the internet came about, which has exponentially increased man's knowledge base. Today we have quick access to a wealth of information that people 50 years ago couldn't even have imagined. If Dr. Rice were alive today, I am fully convinced that he would have changed to a King James Bible only position. Pastor Younce preached a helpful series titled: "KING JAMES TRANSLATION—STILL THE BEST."

Let me be clear that I am still a loyal friend to Pastor Younce. I love the guy. He's up in Heaven with our blessed Savior now. Pastor Younce was 31 years older than me, the same age difference between Dr. Rice and Pastor Hyles. I have often refered to Brother Younce as: "The Dr. John R. Rice of our generation," and I mean that. They literally shared the SAME position on the Bible, with which I humbly disagree. I don't apologize for my beliefs, nor for standing up and preaching what I believe. Dr. Hyles taught me as one of his preacher boys, to be loyal to truth and principles and not to men or institutions. I love Pastor Younce and his family, but my loyalty is to the inspiration of the King James Bible first and foremost.

If we don't have a perfect inspired Holy Bible today, then God broke His promise in Psalms 12:6-7. That is why ALL of the Devil's modern Bible revisions have corrupted this passage of Scripture, removing God's promise completely. I believe that God has kept His solemn promise to preserve a perfect, incorruptible, inerrant and inspired, Holy Bible for every generation. If you disagree, good luck with that. The matter is not open for discussion. Psalms 12:6-7, “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.” Don't you dare tell me that our perfect, omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent God was too inept to give us a perfect inspired Holy Bible in these modern times.

It is a shame that my worst enemies aren't the abortionists, witches, homosexuals or atheists; it is professed Christians, Baptists, who don't believe that God has kept His promise to preserve His INSPIRED Words forever. It is Baptists who foolishly think you must be willing to turn away from your sinful bad habits to get to Heaven, which is a counterfeit gospel. It is Baptists who preach the Satanic lie of Lordship Salvation. I will stand alone if need be, but I WILL STAND.

If I perish, I perish.

Be Careful Not To Have Jonah's Bad Attitude

Jonah 3:10, “And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.”

Jonah 4:1-5, “But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry. And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country?  Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil. Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live. Then said the LORD, Doest thou well to be angry? So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city.”

Jonah lived during the time when the Assyrian Empire ruled the entire world in the 8th century BC. Before Assyria Egypt ruled the world, and afterwards Babylon ruled the world. The Assyrian military was infamous for their horrifying torture methods, in particular nailing a man to a tree and with pliers stripping the skin from his body while the victim was alive. With this fact in mind it is not hard to understand why Jonah fled from going to Ninevah (the capital city of Assyria) to preach the Gospel to them as God had commanded.

I'm sure that you are familiar with the amazing story. Jonah fled on a ship to Tarshish. While at sea the Lord caused a severe storm that threatened to sink the ship. Jonah told the men that it was the curse of God because of his disobedience, so they threw him overboard. God caused a big whale to swallow Jonah. In the belly of the whale Jonah had three days to think about his life and situation. In Jonah 2:9b he exclaimed that, "Salvation is of the LORD." He also renewed to keep his vow to God. Jonah 2:9, “But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed.  Salvation is of the LORD.” In my humble opinion, it seems that Jonah had promised God to go to Ninevah, but didn't go. That is just Stewology (my speculation), but you just read for yourself what Jonah said. It was at this time that God told Mr. Whale to drop Jonah off at the next whale stop on dry ground.

The Bible says once freed from his nightmare in the whale's stomach, that Jonah ran and made a 3 day's journey in just 1 day (Jonah 3:3-4). Wow! The ole boy ran his butt off! When he arrived, Jonah began to warn the Assyrians that God would utterly destroy Ninevah in just 40 DAYS!!! I have heard some preachers speculate that Jonah's skin must have been dyed green from the digestive stomach acid in the whale's belly. We simply don't know if Jonah's appearance was disheveled, frightening, strange or normal. I think it is safe to assume that Jonah was full of zeal in his urgent message of coming judgment upon the Assyrians, considering the ordeal he had just been through for three days.

You Don't Have To “Turn From Your Sins” To Get To Heaven

The Bible says that the people of Ninevah repented of their sins. I would like to stop for a moment here and point out that no one has ever been saved by turning from their sinful behavior, which would be works. Proof of what I say is found in Jonah 3:10, “And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.” Here is clear biblical evidence that turning from one's evil way is WORKS! Tragically, over 85% of Baptist churches today are preaching a corrupt plan of salvation.

Look at the Satanic garbage that is being taught at Pensacola Christian College (PCC) today in their Campus Church. Anybody who teaches that you must be willing to forsake a lifestyle of sin to get to Heaven is preaching ANOTHER GOSPEL (Galatians 1:6-9). So, the Ninevites didn't get saved, they repented to turn away from their wickedness and God spared them judgment. A century later the Assyrians had returned to the vomit of their evil ways, so God sent Naham the prophet to pronounce doom upon them! Sin always leads to judgment!

Be Careful Not To Hate Sinners Like Jonah Did

Jonah 3:10 and 4:1, “And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not. But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.” I have a confession to make. Sometimes I have a bad attitude like Jonah. I get angry about the horrible things wicked people—whether it be backslidden Christians or false believers—who have done to hurt me in the past. At times, I feel a strong desire to see them punished by God. I'm sure you have felt the same at times toward people who have done you wrong.

I could take a pen and paper and write down 100 rotten things people have done to hurt me in the past, particularly pastors. Some of the most evil people I have known were pastors. When a pastor preaches a counterfeit plan of salvation, and you befriend him with biblical truth, but then he drives you out of his church and bans you from returning—that pastor is evil incarnate! I have had that done to me multiple times by different ungodly pastors.

Jonah 4:1, “But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.” Have you ever felt angry that people who have hurt you didn't get punished? I have. It upsets me to see a wicked pastor who is living large, getting paid a disgusting 6-digit salary, while he preaches the Devil's fraud of Lordship Salvation and gets away with it. My only comfort and peace of soul comes from knowing that the time of reckoning will come, when those ungodly arrogant pastors will be punished by God almighty (Galatians 6:7).

Loving Justice Versus Hating Sinners

I have often said that there is a fine line between faith and foolishness. It is okay to pray impreccatory prayers. David did this often. For example: Psalms 58:6, “Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth: break out the great teeth of the young lions, O LORD.” David felt righteous indignation toward the wicked, wanting to see them burn. It is biblically okay to desire to see justice. I could list several dozen names of people whom I pray and desire for God to severely punish, to avange me of their evils against me (Matthew 7:1-2). God has promised to avenge me (Romans 12:19-21; 1st Thessalonians 4:6).

The Bible says in Revelation 18:15a that “The merchants of these things” cried aloud saying that God has avenged the saints in Heaven, who were tormented and marytred on earth. Revelation 18:19-20, “And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate. Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.” So, here we see that biblically it is okay to rejoice when there is justice.

However, in Jonah's case he was still upset even after the guilty party repented of their wrongs. The inspired Scripture tells us that the Ninevites turned from their evil ways. They changed their minds from committing horrible wickedness, to obey the Lord. They didn't get saved, because turning from your evil ways is WORKS, which the Bible plainly says. Anybody who teaches that people were saved by WORKS + FAITH in the Old Testament is a LIAR! Romans 4:4, “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.” This lone Bible verse proves that NO ONE has ever been saved by WORKS, because to do so would have meant God OWED them salvation, which cannot be GRACE. I marvel that any preacher could be so woefully ignorant to think that people were saved by WORKS under the Mosaic law. The prophet Habakkuk lived under the Mosaic law, who plainly said in Habakkuk 2:4 that the just man shall live by his faith.

Dear reader, there is an amazing passage of Scripture in the Old testament that I am reminded about often, concerning Job and his horrible friends. Poor Job had once been very wealthy. He was a happy man with a wife and 10 children. But then God made a wager with Satan (the reason for which I will never understand), to allow the Devil to destroy Job's life, to see if he would curse God. Satan robbed Job of his wealth. Job's servants were murdered, his fields burned, his thousands of heads of livestock stolen, his 10 children all killed by a tornado, his health taken away, and then to seal his fate Job's wife suggested that he curse God and die. In fairness to Mrs. Job, she had just lost her 10 precious children. I cannot blame her for being bitter against God. I don't know how I would have held up under such dire circumstances, and neither do you honestly know friend, until you and I have been in Job's shoes.

As if that all weren't bad enough, then Job's rotten hypocritical friends blamed him, accusing Job of harbouring sin in his life. Then they suggested that perhaps his children were sinning in secret, which tempted the judgment of God upon the family. What jerks for friends! With friends like Job's, you don't need any enemies! Look at what Job said about his losers for friends in Job 16:1-2, “Then Job answered and said, I have heard many such things: miserable comforters are ye all.” They made Job more miserable!

But here is the beautiful truth that I want you to see dear reader. Job 42:10, “And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.” Wow! Job was a much better Christian than I have been over the years. I have often prayed over the many years, for God to curse the ungodly pastors who have added misery to my miseries. But ever since I read this Bible verse about Job several years ago in Job 42:10, I have started praying for the professed Christians who've deeply wounded my soul and added misery to my hardships, inexplicable emotional trauma, losses and bodily pain. It's not easy to pray for those who have hurt me, but if God was pleased with Job's forgiving spirit, then our Creator who never changes (Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 13:8), will be pleased today thousands of years later when we also pray for those who hurt us. 

Is that not what our blessed Savior taught in The Beatitudes (or as I like to say, "The Attitudes That Should Be")? Look at what Jesus said to do when people hurt us, use us and curse us. Matthew 5:44-45, “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” Very few believers have grown to the point of unconditionally loving their enemies with Christ's love. Remember, GOD IS LOVE!!! Luke 6:28, “Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.”

When the disciples went to Samaria to preach the Gospel of free grace, the Samaritans rejected them. The disicples were so angry that they asked Jesus for permission to pray down fire and brimstone to consume and annihilate the people. Jesus sternly rebuked them and reminded the disciples that He came to save men's lives, not to destroy them. ...

Luke 9:51-56, “And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him. And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.”

I don't know about you, but on a regular basis I need to be reminded that I am not enough like my precious Savior, Jesus. I sometimes get upset with mean and foolish people. I told someone off a few months at Amazon.com, for falsely accusing me of "Hate Speech" for mentioning "The Little Rascals" in a movie review. The Amazon employee lives in India and isn't familar with our American culture, so they assumed that I was calling children "rascals," which they deemed hate speech. They threatened to terminate my acocunt if I did it again. I'm not making this insanity up, it really happened. I had been a loyal customer at Amazon for 20 years, but the company has ZERO loyalty for me as a customer. Amazon's owners have outsourced all customer operations to foreign countries in the Philippines, South Africa and India; and has unfortunatelt given full autonomy to these incompetent idiots).

Anyway, I apologized several times to Amazon, for telling off their employees. I even wrote a letter and mailed it to Seattle, Washington to their corproate headquaters. It didn't matter, Amazon's thugs refused to forgive me and that is that. So, I am permanently banned from ever writing any product reviews again. The Bible warns that if someone refuses to forgive others, God will NOT forgive that person (Matthew 6:14-15). Amazon will not be forigven by God.

But regardless, they are not born again Christians, I am, so the burden falls upon me to be Christlike at all times. I shouldn't have told them off using the harsh language that I did. I told them to kiss me where the sun don't shine. I told them what they could do with their reviews. They didn't like that. It seems that Amazon has given full control to young brats in their Community Standards Department, who have zero people skills and lack compassion. So, it didn't surprise me when I went to file a complaint at the Better Business Bureau, to find over 50,000 complaints against Amazon by their mistreated customers, 60% of which have never been reseolved.

One upset man said that as a small business owner, he had been a loyal Amazon customer for over 20 years, but they banned him from writing product reviews and didn't even give him an explanation of why. The gigantuan company was wicked and unreasonable with the man, as they also were toward me. 2nd Thessalonians 3:2, “And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith.”

If you are a driver like me, then you know that drivers will test your Christian faith to the max. In the 17 years I lived on Guam I never stuck my middle finger up once, but I did it last year when a speeding driver was on top of me out of nowhere and laid on the horn. I was startled and angered by the rackless driver, and I flipped him the bird. I am ashamed to admit what I did, because that is not the Lord's way. We're not going to win souls to Christ by being worldly, angry and retaliatory toward ungodly sinners. 

That is exactly what the inspired Holy Bible means in Hebrews 10:14-16, “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.”

Hebrews 10:14 is a quote from the Old Testament in Deuteronomy 29:18, “Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood;” When a child of God chooses to live a life of open sin and wickedness, their light for Christ is hidden under a bushel. When we don't emulate Christ in our daily life, lost sinners may go to Hell because they won't see Jesus in us. Dear reader, you are the only Jesus that someone knows.

This is why when Lot tried to warn his two son-in-laws about coming fiery judgment upon the city of Sodom, the Bible says they laughed him to scorn as one who mocked. It was like Late Night comedy on television for their time. Lot might as well have been Jay Leno or Conan O'Brien telling jokes! Neither of his son-in-laws took him serious because of the lack of holiness in Lot's life. Lot was Abraham's nephew. His family did not respect him as a man of God; to his family, Lot was a phony and a hypocritie. Proverbs 25:19, “Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth, and a foot out of joint.” To put the cookies on the bottom shelf for everyone to reach: Our walk talks and our talk talks, but our walk talks louder than our talk talks!

May we all do better with God's grace, to show forth the Lord Jesus Christ in our daily lives. Let us unconditionally love and pray for those who hurt us and add misery to our miseries, and not have the bad attitude of Jonah who wanted to see Ninevah crash and burn.

Our Wonderful God, Lord And Savior

Matthew 6:19-21, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

I was thinking today about how awesome our God and Savior is! Jesus gave His life, dying on a cross to pay for our debt of sin. Jesus paid a debt that He did not owe, because we owed a debt that we could not pay. Romans 5:6-8, “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

I love this passage of Scripture. The Bible says some people would sacrifice their life for a godly man. Perhaps a few might sacririce their life even for a good man. But who would lay down their life for a criminal? Jesus, that's who. The Bible says that “while we were yet sinner,” meaning that even before we were born God already knew all the horrible wicked things we would do. Yet, knowing how rotten we would be, Jesus still eagerly sacrificed His life on Calvary's cross to redeem us from Hell.

God could have reasonably said in the Scriptures, that because He sent His only begotten Son to die for our sins, we owe Him. But the Lord doesn't obligate us like that. Nowhere does the Bible teach that those who have received God's free gift of eternal life are in debt, that we owe God to serve and live for Him. No, instead the Bible says in Romans 12:1 that it is “our reasonable service.” It is only proper and reasonable that a rdeemed believer should want to lay down our life as a “living sacrifice” (Romans 12:1) to serve and live for Christ.

God could have wrote in His Word that since He made a way of escape freely available to us, that we should serve God without expectation of any reward. God could have wrote that He is not going to reward us for our service, sacrifice and a life lived in obedience to Him. Why would He, since God has already given the ultimate sacrifice of His only begotten (biological) Son.

Oh, but dear reader, not only did God the Father give us His dear Son as a sacrifice to die a cruel death on the cross (after being beaten and mocked and spat upon by thug soldiers), but God promises in His inspired Word to reward us for everything we do for Christ. Let me repeat our text passage from Matthew 6:19-21, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” I love that!

In that wonderful passage of Scripture, Jesus encourages every saint of God to lay up for ourselves treasures in Heaven, where thieves cannot steal anything, and rust never corrodes stuff. My Deering banjos continually build up tarnish on the chrome. If I don't polish the chrome a few times a year with special chrome polish, the corrosion will become permanent. I now have a leaking front tire on my car. There must be a nail in the tire. I have to put more air into the tire every week, or it will go flat. I need to get it fixed soon, so I don't end up breaking down on the roadway.

I have also been the victim of theft four times in two years where I live in West Pensacola. Punks stole my propane tank on my barbeque, which was new and cost me $79. They stole my King James Bible from my car, and two radios with the cables, and some money. They are ungodly sinners, evildoers, thieves who shed innocent blood, taking things which they did not labor for, but I did. My video camera recorded a punk stealing my Amazon package on May 10, 2024. I called the police and showed them the video. I told them that Amazon was nice enough to replace the stolen $30 clothing rack. The cop said I am not the victim then, Amazon is. I couldn't believe what he told me, which is ridiculous, because he said even if they caught the identified thief they couldn't do anything, unless Amazon pursued to prosecute him.  Amazon takes in $600 billion annually and couldn't care less about perrty theft. But I need to be a bit paranoid, to take extra care to prevent more thefts from happening. 

Thankfully, Jesus understands the problem (Hebrews 4:15). There were theives in Jesus' generation too! I have no doubt that thieves stole stuff from Jesus and his family. One of His own apostles, Judas, was a known thief. So, the dear Lord comforts us by assuring you and me that there are no thieves where we are going in eternity. No one will steal from us. And by the way, this means that no one will be able to steal from us during the Millennium either. Revelation 20:6 says that the saints will help reign with Jesus during His millennial reign over the earth. Jesus will rule the earth from Jersualem. He will need for us to be mayors, governors and magistrates to help Him rule "with a rod of iron" (Revelation 2:27).

I often think about what it will be like when we reign with Christ. How much power will Jesus give us? I am often frustrated by the mistreatment, unethical behavior and abuse from companies. I was falsely accused by Amazon.com of using "Hate Speech" for mentioning "The Little Rascals." Amazon has outsourced all customer relations to foreign countries. Unfortunately, the people in those third world places are woefully ignorant of American culture. So the ignorant Amazon employees in India assumed I was calling children "rascals" and falsely accused me of Hate Speech. I ignored the first notice, because it was ridiculous. But Amazons ent it a second time, and then a third, threatening to terminate my account if I continued using "Hate Speech."

So, I got upset and told them off using harsh words. I later regretted doing that when they banned me from writing any future product reviews. I apologized several times, and even mailed an apology letter to Amazon Headquarters in Washington state on Westlake Avenue. Amazon refused to forgive me, and won't let me review any future product purcahses. I received another notification letting me know that I cannot write reviews ever again. Amazon is so unethical. I laid the ax to the root in a final correpondance to Amazon, reminding them of Jesus' warning in matthew 7:1-2, that God will judge everyone by the same standard by which they judge others. Since Amazon refuses to forgive me, God won't forgive them either!

I have found thousands of complaints online by other abused Amazon customers. One man was a loyal Amazon cutomer for 20 years, a small business owner, but they also unethically banned him from writing any future product reviews. The guy's feelings were hurt, that his 20 years of loyalty as a customer means ZERO to management at Amazon. The truth is that for some insane reason Amazon corporate headquarters has given complete autonomy to some fools in India to handle their Community Standards Department, and those foreigners are woefully ignorant and incompetent.

So, I opened a new account and abandoned the old one, deciding that I will NEVER write another product review for Amazon, since the same fools who abused me are the same fools still handling all reviews. Shame on Amazon the first time, I won't allow a second time to be abused by Amazon's shady policies and terrible employees overseas. I honestly believe that their outsourced foreign employees are using Reverse Discrimnation and hate Americans, so they enjoy harassing Americans because they simply can. Why else would they be so belligerent? SHAME on Amazon's owner Jeff Bezos and managment for allowing this abuse! Bezos has a net worth of $211,000,000,000, so he couldn't care less. Thankfully, there is a caring God in Heaven who sees everything, to whom we must all give acount one day (Hebrews 4:13). God is partial toward His children (Matthew 18:6).

Having said all that, I humbly believe that during the Millennium that this type of unethical company behavior, abuse and lack of concern for mistreated customers won't be swept unfer the rug as it is today. If the Lord gives me total pwoer as a ruler, I will declare war on shady and uncaring companies. I will severely punish dishnoest taxi drivers. I will put companies out of business who cheat and hurt customers, not merely fine them. I would eliminate all fine print in contracts which are intended to mislead and hurt consumers. By law I would not allow companies to advertise in any larger text than they write their disclaimers. I am so sick of the unethical practice of companies advertising in giant colorful font, but then you can barely read all the legal jargon that later is used to hurt you in court. That is so unethical.

I could go on for hours about all the changes I would make, if I were a king or had absolute power. I am so sick of shady companies like Alamo car rental, Priceline and other wicked companies. Alamo on the Big Island in Hawaii charged me a penalty for returning a rent car 5 minutes late, but I wasn't late. I had parked the car in the return stall at 10:05 am. But I cleaned the car and by the time I gathered my belongings and walked down to the check-in counter, it was 10:35 am. Alamo are greedy.

On another occasion, in Pensaocla, I rented a car for 3 days. But I later needed it for one more day. When I called the number on my contract to extend my rental for one more day, the belligerent woman on the phone at Alamo said I had to pay for 7 days! She said I had entered into a "weekly rate," which was so unethical and shady. I refused and went elsewhere! Alamo wasted my time, ran me around needlessly and tried to financially gouge me. Jerks!

 

I could tell you hundreds of things that are extremely unethical today. I'll give you one more. If you type "professional banjo" in a search engine, you'll get hundreds of lying websites that will recommend $199 banjos which are cheap Chinese importated garbage. At the bottom of every webpage you will find a shady disclaimer that says they are getting compensated with financial kickbacks for recommending products. What they're really saying is that they are intentionally lying to you, but it's okay to lie in their world since they are telling you upfront what they are horribly doing. That is so wicked and unethical. If I had the power, I would ban such shady beahvior. I hope one day in the Millennium that the Lord gives me absolute power to go after companies. I will help the Lord rule "with a rod of iron."

Dear reader, we serve such a wonderful, amazing and ethical God. Do you know that God is going to reward His saints for even giving a cup of water in Jesus' name? Mark 9:41, “For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward.” What an awesome Savior!!! The Lord could have said, “Look, you were going to Hell forever, but I suffered in your place and paid your massive debt of sin, so that you could escape wrath and live. Now you owe me and I expect you to work hard to show your appreciation for what I did for you, but don't expect any rewards from me in eternity.” Truthfully, God would have every right to say that, wouldn't He? It would not be unreasonable for God to say such a thing to His children.

But dear friend, our wonderful God and Savior says that we don't owe Him anything. Eternal life is a “free gift” (Romans 5:15-18). Ephesians 2:8-9 says that eternal life is a “gift.” Romans 6:23 says eternal life is a “gift.” Yet, thousands of lying preachers today insist that to get to Heaven, YOU must first be willing to forsake your sinful bad habits, and they foolishly think this is what it means to “repent.” Bible “repentance” means “to think differently” (Greek verb: metanoeo). Whoever said that repentance means to forsake your sinning is a LIAR!!!

God offers every sinner eternal life as a FREE GIFT, which you simply need to TAKE. Simply by faith receive Christ's sacrifice on the cross as full-payment for your sins, believing that He was buried, but then physically resurrected from the dead. This is the “Gospel” (1st Corinthians 15:1-4). We are saved by BELIEVING the Gospel, the GOOD NEWS of Jesus crucified, buried and risen.

I just wanted to share my thoughts this morning with you. God is so beautiful. Since I work night and day on my blog and website ministry, I often think of the rewards I am laying up in Heaven. While the heathen world is laying up money for their retirement here on earth, trying to amass a large fortune, I couldn't care less about laying up treasures on earth, just for some thieving lawyers to take away someday. I hate lawyers by the way! Jesus warned us about lawyers. Luke 11:46, “And he said, Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers.” The Lord sure knew what He was talking about! Most lawyers are predators.

God not only offers everyone salvation for FREE, since Jesus paid for it with His precious blood (1st Peter 1:18-19), but God also encourages all believers to earn rewards in Heaven, treasuring up wealth for eternity (1st Corinthians 3:8-9). I love how faithful, loving, generous, caring, fair and ethical the good Lord is!!! He not only saves us for free, just for the taking; but He encourages us to earn rewards, which Christ promises to give those who serve Him for the Gospel's sake. God will someday generously reward me for every mouse-click, every stroke of my computer's keyboard, every penny that I give to a poor person, every good deed, for everything done for Jesus' sake and the Kingdom of God. What a wonderful Savior!!!

Life is so short, make sure you are prepared to meet your Creator.

The Tragic Story Of Mother Teresa

Matthew 15:7-9, “Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.”

One of Catholicism's most beloved nuns, Mother Teresa (1910-1997), might be the most famous and most widely admired Catholic personality of the 20th century. And in 2016, she was canonized by Pope Francis. I read an intriguing article today about the sad story of Mother Teresa. In the article you will learn that Mother teresa had a weird habit of baptizing dead people. Yes, you read right, DEAD PEOPLE! These are the bizarre and unscriptural Satanic rituals of Catholics in third world areas like Calcutta, India. There is not a more dangerous, demonic and bigger CULT than Roman Catholicism (and its whorish diabolical twin sister in Russia, the Orthodox Catholic religion based out of Moscow).

I found the following helpful article which highlights the disturbing lack of God's presence in Mother Teresa. ...

By Tyler Arnold

Washington, D.C. Newsroom - September 10, 2024

The “spiritual darkness” that Mother Teresa describes in her writings can be difficult to comprehend, but this feeling of emptiness was not caused by either depression or a loss of faith, according to a lecturer at an academic conference organized by the Mother Teresa Institute.

St. Teresa of Calcutta’s “dark night of the soul” was a distinct charism that helped her build her faith and serve others rather than a mere chemical imbalance that induces depression or an abandonment of the Catholic faith, said Loyola University Maryland philosophy professor Derek McAllister at a Sept. 6 symposium held at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., one day after the saint’s feast day.

“If it’s a mental emotional problem, they do not of themselves promote virtue or increase depth of relationship with God,” McAllister said. “Whereas we know with the dark night, the nights do of themselves greatly increase love, humility, patience, and the like. And they decidedly prepare one for deeper prayer.”

The lecture focused on some of Mother Teresa’s letters, which describe an emptiness and a spiritual darkness — essentially an inability to feel the presence of God. St. Teresa, who founded the Missionaries of Charity, was an Albanian sister who spent most of her life serving the poor in Calcutta, India. She was canonized in 2016.

“The darkness is so dark, and I am alone,” St. Teresa wrote. “Unwanted, forsaken. The loneliness of the heart that wants love is unbearable. Where is my faith? Even deep down, there is nothing but emptiness and darkness. My God, how painful is this unknown pain? It pains without ceasing.”

St. Teresa wrote that “the place of God in my soul is blank, there is no God in me” and “I just long and long for God and then it is that I feel he does not want me — he is not there.” READ THE WHOLE STORY

So sad and tragic, but dear reader this is the expected fruit of a false religion like Roman Catholicism. You see, Jesus plainly said that to enter into God's Kingdom you MUST BE BORN AGAIN (John 3:1-7). The new birth is not optional if you desire to escape God's wrath in Hell for your sins, and to go to Heaven instead. I was gratefully born again at the tender age of 13. It was in an old-fashioned Baptist church. Before that day all I remember in hindsight is darkness in my life. There is no awareness of God's presence in my life. So it doesn't surprise me one bit that Mother Teresa felt the same darkness throughout her life, entagled in the spider's web of Roman Catholicism, a merciless prisonhouse of religion.

As you just read for yourself in Mother Teresa's writings, she said: “the place of God in my soul is blank, there is no God in me.” She didn't know how right she was when she penned that. What saith the Scripture? Matthew 6:23, “But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!” The light that was in Teresa was darkness, that is, a lie. She thought she'd found the truth, but that perceived truth was a falsehood. Over one billion Catholics think they have found the truth, but it is really a pack of lies!

I watched a video the other day by a Catholic priest. YouTube randomly plays another video after the one you wanted to watch ends, and that is what happened. I was shocked when the priest said that you cannot be right with God unless you first go to the priest, and get his blessing. He cited the Scripture from Luke 5:14, “And he charged him to tell no man: but go, and shew thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing, according as Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.” Based on that one Bible verse alone, the wicked Vatican have concocted a false doctrine of going to your priest to have your sins absolved.

As usual, Roman Catholics wrest the Scripture to their own destruction (2nd Peter 3:16-17), perverting the truth. The Bible plainly tells us in verse 14 the reason why Jesus told the leper to go to the priets, “for a testimony unto them.” It was to testify of the power of Jesus, that He had the authority of His heavenly Father to perform miracles; and it verified that He was indeed the only begotten Son of God, the promised Messiah. Nowhere does the Bible even remotely hint that the priests forgave or healed the man in any way. Please RUN away from the Roman Catholic prisonhouse cult of religion!

What Is "The Gospel Of The Kingdom"?

Matthew 4:23, “And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.”

There is a disturbing HERESY being circulated on social media which claims that "THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM" which Jesus preached was something entirely different than "THE GOSPEL" which the Apostle Paul received directly from Jesus (Galatians 1:12; 1st Corinthians 15:1-4). This claim is FAKE NEWS!!! The Gospel of the Kingdom is no different than the SAME Gospel that Paul preached, the same Gospel by which we are saved today in 2024.

In the following Scripture passages, the inspired Holy Bible tells us that Jesus preached the Gospel of the Kingdom. Jesus plainly said in Matthew 24:14 that this Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached IN ALL THE WORLD. So, how can it be just for THE JEWS? There is nothing in the Bible to support the FALSE CLAIM made in the following meme, which I found tonight on one of my Facebook friend's page. This is HERESY!!!

Humbly said, I adamantly REJECT the idea that there are two different Gospels, one for the Jews and one for the Gentiles. The Apostle Paul plainly said in Galatians 1:6-7 that there is not another Gospel, there is only one. The way of salvation has always been by faith in Christ. Genesis 15:6 says that Abram (Abraham) BELIEVED GOD and it was counted unto him for righteousness (Romans 4:1-7). Romans 4:4 says that if salvation has ever been by works, then it was by DEBT and not by GRACE.

Israel obeying God's instructions for the rituals of the Tabernacle (which was the job of the priestly tribe of Levi) was strictly a matter of obedience to God, and not of earning their salvation by works.

When Israel failed to keep the Sabbath Day (which symbolized resting in Jesus alone for salvation, Hebrews 4:10-11), God chastised the Jews by giving them 1 year in captivity for every 7 years they had failed to keep the Sabbath Day (490 years divided by 7 = 70 years). God punished the nation, but no one lost God's promise of salvation.

One of my former Bible professors at Hyles-Anderson College has gone off the reservation! Ungodly false prophet Pastor William P. Grady, errantly teaches that people didn't get saved by faith in the Old Testament; but rather, by WORKS (he says).

If the works of the law were required for salvation, then how could any of the Jew's children have been saved as they grew older during their 70 years of captivity 400 miles away in Babylon? The Jews didn't have a Tabernacle, Holy Place, High Priest or Mercy Seat in Babylon. They couldn't do the work of the Tabernacle. Clearly they were saved by faith alone in Christ (Acts 10:43).

𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘄 𝟰:𝟮𝟯, “𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗝𝗲𝘀𝘂𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗚𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗲, 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘀𝘆𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗼𝗴𝘂𝗲𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗱𝗼𝗺, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲.”

𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘄 𝟵:𝟯𝟱, “𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗝𝗲𝘀𝘂𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘃𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀, 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘀𝘆𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗼𝗴𝘂𝗲𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗱𝗼𝗺, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲.”

𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘄 𝟮𝟰:𝟭𝟰, “𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗴𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗱𝗼𝗺 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀; 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲.”

I just glanced to see what Dr. John R. Rice taught about Matthew 4:23 from his commentary titled, "A Commentaery On The Gospel According To Matthew" (1955), which reads:

Notice "the gospel of the kingdom which Jesus preached (vs. 23). It was simply the one, unchanging Gospel, an offer of salvation through an atoning Saviour, but preached with special urgency, since the kingdom was "at hand" (vs. 17). The pressing immence of the kingdom, with the King Himself present, justified calling that Gospel "the gospel of the kingdom."

However Jewish leaders and the Jewish people as a whole rejected the King, and the suceeding events which must be fulfilled (Christ's sufferings, crucifixtion, death, and resurrection) did not lead at once into the overthrow of Gentile kingdoms, the restoration of David's throne and Christ's reign over Israel as one supposses it might have done, had the Jews as a nation repented and turned to Him in saving faith. It is not profittable to speculate as to what might have been. Certainly what did occur was foreknown to God.

...the terms "Kingdom of Heaven" and "Gospel of the Kingdom" seem to be used in the Gospel of Matthew because of a peculiar Jewish cast of this Gospel. The Jews were more immediately interested in the restoration of David's throne and the regathering of scattered Israel and their delivery from Roman rule than Gentiles would be. So the Gospel according to Matthew, which is more clearly Jewish in color than those written by Mark, Luke and John, uses these terms looking toward the reign of Christ. (pages 75, 76) END QUOTE

I agree with Brother Rice. Matthew was NOT preaching a different Gospel than Moses, Paul, Jesus, John or Jonah. Matthew presents Jesus as a King, which is why he uses these interesting terms ("the gospel of the kingdom") to give the Gospel a Jewish flavor to appeal more to the Jews.

A Godly Pastor Versus A Good Pastor

Jeremiah 3:15, “And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.”

A godly pastor leads the Lord's sheep with the inspired Word of God. Many church members want a good pastor, but not a godly pastor. They want a pastor to perform their weddings and funerals. They want a pastor to go through the motions and do all the work of a good pastor. 

They want a pastor to teach them the Bible, encourage them and give comfort. And a pastor should do all these things, for which he is paid; but most churches don't want a godly pastor who preaches controversial truth (such as criticizing modern Bible versions). They want a pastor who doesn't make waves for the church, doesn't rock the boat, and doesn't bring persecution upon the church. They want the good life, quietly existing in the community without offending anybody! They want a theological wimp in the pulpit, a pastor who is henpecked by rich people in the congregation!

Most churches don't want a pastor who calls false prophets by name, because that might offend somebody. They don't want a pastor who has researched the 911 attacks and has discovered that it was unmistakably an Inside Job! They don't want a conspiratorial pastor who has done his homework and knows that Zionism is of the Devil, and that present-day Israel is a Marxist-Communist secular corrupt state. They don't want a pastor who knows that Zionism-Freemasonry controls the U.S. government, courts, mainstream religions, medical industry, mainstream newsmedia, Hollywood, the music industry, et cetera.

A godly pastor preaches the truth, because he wants God's flock to be aware of what's going on. I heard Pastor Hyles say in a sermon today that he has never asked God to help him preach “a good sermon”; but rather, to preach “THE TRUTH”! That is a godly pastor!

The pastor is the Savior's under-shepherd. Jesus Himself is The Great Shepherd! The church congregation is NOT the pastor's people, it is the Lord's flock. Jesus told the apostle Peter in John 21:16 to “FEED MY SHEEP”! We are God's sheep. A pastor who controls his people is leading a religious cult, not a New Testament local church! A godly pastor leads the Lord's sheep with the inspired Word of God.

To “Repent” Doesn't Mean To Forsake Sins, It Means “To Think Differently”

Mark 1:14-15, “Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.”

Here in Mark 1:15, the verb 'REPENT' means (Greek: metanoeo, “to think differently”) and BELIEVE THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST. That is how you get to Heaven—you simply come to a holy God as a guilty sinner, and by faith (trusting what God has written in His Word) you believe the Good News (Jesus' crucifixtion, burial and resurrection). 1st Thessalonians 4:14, “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.”

Nothing is mentioned in the Bible about “repent of all your sins,” which is not possible. Nothing is said about reforming yourself. Nothing is said that you must have a visible manifestation of something (e.g., speak in tongues or cry and weep or be mournful) to prove to others that you are saved.

No, the Bible just says to think differently (repent) and believe the Good News. That's all salvation is. Simply believe that Jesus did it all for you! Getting saved (born again) has nothing to do with keeping the sacraments of the church in order to be saved. Receiving God's free gift of eternal life has nothing at all to do with your willingness to clean up your life of sin, to reform yourself, or to follow Jesus as His disciple. These are strictly matters of SERVICE, not SALVATION. They are matters of DISCIPLESHIP, not SONSHIP. When you get saved you become an adopted son of God (John 1:12; Romans 8:15).

I cannot warn you enough not to use the Devil's modern Bible revisions. Let's compare the trustworthy inspired King James Bible, to one of the new popular modern Bible versions, in this case the English Standard Version (ESV)...

KING JAMES BIBLE (KJB) - 1st Corinthians 1:18, “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.”

ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION (ESV) - 1st Corinthians 1:18, “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

Do you see the big difference in wording? Any corrupt Bible translation that says believers “are being saved” instead of “are saved” in 1st Corinthians 1:18 is flat out wrong. The KING JAMES BIBLE makes it clear that either you BELIEVE, and thus you ARE SAVED; or else you don't BELIEVE, and thus ARE NOT SAVED. There is no in BETWEEN. There is NO PROCESS! The new birth is instantaneous, not a prolonged lifetime process. Becoming Christlike requires a process of growing in grace, which is entirely a matter of service (discipleship). But coming to Christ by faith to be saved is a one time instant event. The new birth is a supernatural miracle of God in respnse to one's faith in Jesus Christ.

Getting saved (born again) happens in an instant, the very moment you trust Jesus as your personal Savior, receiving His sacrifice on the cross as full payment for your sins, believing that He was buried but then physically resurrected from the dead three days later. This is “the Gospel” according to 1st Corinthians 15:1-4...

1st Corinthians 15:1-5, “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:”

The Apostle Paul said that he received this Gospel directly from Jesus (Galatians 1:12). Some people foolishly claim that Paul and Jesus preached a different Gospel, but that is NOT true. 

Neither was there a different plan of salvation under Mosaic law in the Old Testament. Acts 10:43 plainly says that people have always been saved by faith alone in Christ. Acts 10:43, “To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.” People in the Old Testament were saved by looking foward to Calvary; we are saved by looking back to Calvary.

Romans 4:4 plainly teaches that if salvation had ever been by works (as Pastor Peter S. Ruckman (1921-2016), Dr. WIlliam P. Grady and other heretics falsely preach), then salvation would have been a DEBT OWED by God, and not freely given by God's merciful GRACE. Romans 4:3-4, “For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.” For anyone to foolishly say that people were saved by doing WORKS in the Old Testament is to go totally contrary to the inspired written Scriptures.

Please don't let anyone deceive you dear reader, Jesus came into the world to die on a cross for your sins (John 3:17), He doesn't demand that you first be willing to forsake sinful bad habits to get to Heaven, which would be works of self-righteousness (Jonah 3:10). Salvation is not doing your best, it is having Christ's best put to your account through receiving Him by faith. Turning away from sinful ways would be a work. Faith puts all of the merit where it belongs, on the object of our faith, Jesus and His work.

The true Gospel always points you to CHRIST; a false gospel always points to YOU. Salvation is not a reward for the righteous, it is a gift for the guilty! We must stay true to the simplicity of the Gospel!! Repentance regarding salvation is a change of mind from unbelief to belief. We must earnestly contend for the faith (Jude 1:3). Thank you for reading my ministry blog. To God alone be the praise, credit and glory.