The Sacrifice Of Thanksgiving And Praise Unto 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.” Hebrews 13:15, “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.” 

Salvation is of the Lord. In the belly of the whale the prophet Jonah was thinking about soulwinning! It was upon thinking of these things, that God told the whale to drop the prophet off at the nearest whale stop! Notice that Jonah offered up a sacrifice of thanksgiving. What does that mean? Hebrews 13:15, “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.” It means this. Anybody can praise and thank God when things are going good. But who wants to thank God when you're trapped in the stomach of a whale? That is why Jonah said he would offer a “sacrifice” unto God, with the voice of thanksgiving. 

Jonah must have thought he was about to die. Things appeared absolutely hopeless. Jonah didn't have a nightlight inside the whale, it was completely dark. Yet the wearied man of God decided that he would thank God anyway, and obey the Lord if God gave Him a second chance. Oh how wonderful is our God, Who DOES give second chances! Jonah 2:9-3:1-2, “And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land. And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.” Isn't that beautiful? God had told Jonah to go preach the Gospel to Nineveh, but he fled elsewhere. The Lord chastised Jonah, sending a raging storm and a hungry whale. In the whale's stomach Jonah cried out to God, as we all do in times of tragedy.

I remember when I was a young boy, yelling at my mother. I wasn't saved yet. I ran out the front door in the rain, and ran down the street into the alley. For some reason unknown to me, I saw some stacked 2" x 4" boards by a gate and got up to stand on them. The chain link fence in front of me had those twisted sharp “Y” shaped edges. The boards wobbled over, I lunged forward, and my head instinctively jerked to the side, as the side of my neck plunged down into the jagged Y-shaped metal. I was hanging by my neck on the gate. I lifted myself up, cutting my hands against other jagged pieces of metal. Blood was everywhere. Was God punishing me for sassing my mother? That sobering thought did occur to me, but no, it was just an accident. Things happen, both good and bad. 

I ran back home. My mother called 911 and asked for a police Paddy Wagon, because it costs a lot of money for an ambulance. Today in Chicago the average ambulance ride is $1,200. I remember sitting with my Mom in back of the Paddy Wagon, being driven to a local hospital. Like Jonah, I was promising God I would be a good boy from now on, if he would let me live. I was terrified. I was thankful to God all of a sudden, honoring Him. I wasn't saved yet, but I knew who God was, because He created me (Romans 1:21b - “when they knew God”). Many men have come to Christ while in prison. Michael Franzese is one such man, a former mob boss in New York. Michael said if he hadn't been arrested and sent to prison, he never would have accepted Jesus as his personal Savior. Interestingly, it was a prison guard who handed Michael a copy of God's Word to read, and that is how he got saved. Amen!

Getting back to my neck accident, the doctor said I would have died if I hadn't jerked my head to the side as I instinctively did, because the fence would have stabbed my throat). Ouch! I was fortunate that day, and I healed up over time, with a scar in my neck where the stitches were sewn. I cannot remember my age, but I am guessing I was about 9 or 10 when that event happened. It wasn't until I got saved at age 13 that I stopped sassing my mother, because God's Holy Spirit began to convict me about it. I love my mother, but she shouldn't have allowed me and my sisters to sass her, because we got used to doing it. Proverbs 29:15, “The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.” Children ought NEVER be allowed to scold their parents, sass their parents or rebel. God says to discipline them! If it weren't for my father being strict, I'd have been in a gang, on drugs, in prison and a statistic. Thank God if you have a strict Dad!

At any age I never sassed Mom when Dad was around, because I knew I'd get a hand-slap across the head, knocking me to the ground! Our country was much better off with tough Dad's like that. My father wasn't perfect, but he cared about me. We lived in a different world back then in America, and it was a better world. I'd like to slap some of these arrogant brats today across the head—who mouth off to their parents, mock the U.S. President, and curse the police. These are thug punks rioting across America! Proverbs 29:15, “The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.” An undisciplined child is an accident waiting to happen! You should always discipline a child in love, but in love you should always discipline your child! It is child abuse NOT to spank a misbehaving child. If you love your child you will spank them when they do wrong, to prepare them for life. If you don't discipline them, then the police will have to later on.

Back to our topic. Jonah offered up a sacrifice of thanksgiving to God, while in the darkness and slime of the whale's belly. We know it was a whale, and not just a great fish, because we read so in Matthew 12:40. All Scripture is given by inspiration. If the New Testament says it was a whale, then we know it was indeed a “whale.” That great fish was a big whale! Jonah could have complained, but he chose to thank God. Jonah knew that he was to blame for his own adverse situation. Pastor Jack Hyles preached a helpful sermon of the same titled: 'THE SACRIFICE OF PRAISE' (MP3).

Hebrews 13:15, “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.” The Bible commands every saint to praise God even when things are going wrong in life. This is the sacrifice of praise!

I Showed Them Truth; They Showed Me The Door!

Proverbs 12:17, “He that speaketh truth sheweth forth righteousness: but a false witness deceit.” Ephesians 4:25, “Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.” Galatians 4:16, “Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?” John 8:45, “And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.” Revelation 3:2, “Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.”

What a great collection of Scriptures! For that matter the entire King James Bible is a great collection of inspired Scriptures. 2nd Timothy 3:16a declares that “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God...” Some fool decided somewhere along the way that this only refers to the original autographs. You've got a hole in your head if that's what you believe, let me tell you. There's absolutely nothing in those five words “given by inspiration of God” (which come from just one Greek word, theopneustos, meaning God and air, i.e., breathed) that limits inspiration only to the original autographs of the Word of God. 

In 2013 I began attending the Harvest Baptist Church on Guam. The next year would end up being one of the happiest years of my life. I finally had a church family! I loved them dearly, and I believed that they loved me. Toward the end of 2014 I made a mistake though, I TOLD THE TRUTH! Proverbs 12:17, “He that speaketh truth sheweth forth righteousness: but a false witness deceit.” I did the right thing! I had listened to Lordship Salvation for the previous year being preached from the church pulpit. I heard visiting missionary Phil Hunt from Africa preach Lordship Salvation. I heard the senior pastor, Marty Herron, preach Lordship Salvation from the pulpit on Sunday morning. I heard Jason on school staff teach Lordship Salvation, saying that faith alone is not enough to be saved. I heard Lordship Salvation being taught all around me in the church. My heart broke and I wanted to help the people of Harvest Baptist Church, which I so dearly loved. I wasn't Jonah running from Nineveh, I was Onesimus trying to be helpful. I took my own money and bought dozens of copies of various books, which I freely gave away. I burned sermons to CD and passed them out to those I met at church. For this good thing I was driven out of the church and ostracized by their neo-evangelical pastors!

I also had seen for the year of 2014 that the church is a circus of umpteen Bible versions. This Bible, that Bible, doesn't matter! Step right up ladies and gentleman, pick the Bible that fits you best right here! All together now! There is one verse in the Holy Bible that, to me, epitomizes Christian fundamentalism today. Revelation 3:2, “Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.” The free grace Gospel is in big trouble today! Everybody and their dog are mishandling the Gospel these days. Only a free grace Gospel is sound Bible doctrine. The popular trend in churches and Bible colleges today is to require people to “repent of your sins” to receive God's gift of eternal life. Pastors like Dr. Marty Herron are afraid to go against their ecclesiastical peers, so they make sure to never forget to tell someone to “repent of your sins” to be saved. That is not the Gospel! 

You cannot show me even one Bible verse that teaches to “repent of your sins” or to “turn from your sins” to be saved. So why do foolish preachers say this? I'll tell you why, because they heard another bad preacher say it, and it caught on! It sounds so good and religious, appealing to the natural man. Think about it. Doesn't it make sense that you should have to commit not to live in willful sins anymore, if you expect God to pardon your sins and save you? It does sound very reasonable. It really does, if salvation is a deal. It makes sense if salvation is a trade of some sort. Pastor Jack Hyles has these helpful words to offer:

Lordship salvation would make salvation a trade or a deal or maybe even a bribe. It would take away the simple reception of Christ for eternal life and would become God giving us something if we give Him something. God would say to us, “You give Me something; I'll give you something. We will trade, and you will be saved.” Salvation is not my giving God something and God giving me something; salvation is God giving me something and my receiving it. Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” —Pastor Jack Hyles, “Lordship Salvation” (chapter 11 from his book: “Salvation Is More Than Being Saved”)

The Bible teaches that we are saved by GOD'S RIGHTEOUSNESS, not our own. Matthew 6:33, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Philippians 3:9, “And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:” This is the important truth that neo-evangelicals fail to grasp. Bob Jones University, Unshackled radio, Maranatha Baptist University, Sam Horn, John MacArthur, Marty Herron, Faith Baptist Bible College And Theological Seminary, Ray Comfort, Steve Pettit and thousands more heretics, all errantly teach that you MUST turn away from your sins to receive God's gift of eternal life. The Bible 100% disagrees! When I faithfully showed them the truth at Harvest Baptist Church, they sinfully showed me the door. Let God be true, but every man a liar!

Where Is Eddie Van Halen In Eternity?

John 3:3-7, “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.” James 2:19, “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.”

I was sad to hear that Edward Lodewijk van Halen (1955-2020) died two days ago. Having been born in 1967, I grew up listening to Van Halen's music, admiring the incredible musicianship of the band, being a musician myself. I became a born-again Christian at age 13 and from that time on saw the Satanic nature of the music and lives of the band. The band's music is commonly featured in shameful dirty smut videos. As far as I can tell, Eddie never became a born-again Christian. I cannot help but wonder where Eddie Van Halen is in eternity? Sadly, it doesn't look good for Eddie. The following quote is from Hollowverse.com about Eddie's religious beliefs:

Eddie Van Halen was born in Nijmegen, The Netherlands. He moved to Pasadena, California when he was seven, and spent the rest of his childhood there.

Van Halen was raised in a  Dutch Roman Catholic family. He was just a baby when this particular institution was castrating young boys to “cure” them of homosexuality,1 but Van Halen appears to have been spared this fate.

Giving God the Credit

Despite his church’s sordid past, Van Halen still feels a strong connection with God, pretty much giving God the credit for everything that happens in his life. He thanks God for turning his hard work into great guitar riffs, and also credits Him when he’s not playing well.

I just believe that when you play long enough you’re able to execute with your fingers, whatever God gives you… And God’s got a sense of humor, too–sometimes he gives me shit, ’cause not everything I do I like.2

You’d think the guy would take some credit for all that practicing he did as a kid, but he won’t even take credit for the hard work of staying sober after years of alcohol and drug abuse.

Yeah, I thank God on my knees that I’m alive and obviously to be sober and to be working with my son. I’m so damn blessed it’s beyond words.3

Van Halen is obviously devout toward God, but not necessarily the Catholic Church. According to some fans’ recollection of an interview in a now out-of-print teen magazine, Van Halen got his girlfriend pregnant in high school and she got an abortion.45 That’s a big no-no with the Pope. He also got divorced, which isn’t quite as big of a deal, but still frowned upon.6 The Catholic Church prefers that its members stay in terrible marriages.

SOURCE: Eddie Van Halen: Religious & Political Views 

The Bible does not agree with Roman Catholicism! Catholics adhere to keeping Seven Sacraments to obtain eternal life, but the inspired Holy Bible simply says to believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. John 6:47, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.” The Bible teaches that Jesus is the Christ, the only begotten Son of God (John 20:31; John 3:16-18). The Bible says Jesus died on the cross for our sins, was buried, and three days later He bodily resurrected from the dead (1st Corinthians 15:1-4). This is the Gospel (Good News) by which all who believe it are saved (Romans 1:16; 1st Corinthians 1:21). Do you believe my friend? Your eternal destiny depends on it. 

Roman Catholics sinfully ADD to faith. They add doing good works, partaking of sacraments (known as Sacramental Salvation), which cannot produce the new birth in Christ Jesus! There has never been a more damnable counterfeit of Christianity than Roman Catholicism. Over one billion victims have been deceived by this massive religious cult. I dread to think that Eddie Van Halen went to Hell, and truthfully I don't know, nor do you or anybody else where he went. Sadly, it doesn't look good! Jesus plainly warned that except a man be born again he CANNOT enter into the Kingdom of God. Faith alone in Jesus Christ apart from all works and religious efforts is the only way to salvation. What saith the Scripture? John 14:6, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” 

If you want to go to Heaven, you absolutely must go through the name of Jesus. You cannot get to Heaven through the Roman Catholic church, nor any other religious denomination. Salvation is found in a person—the Lord Jesus Christ. It is Christ alone Who has the nail-scared hands and feet, the pierced brow from the crown of thorns driven into his head, and the pierced side where a soldier plunged a spear into him. Jesus paid it all! “Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6-9). Oh, how I long to see Eddie in Heaven, but I am 99% sure he is in Hell this very moment, suffering; not because of his ungodly life, but because he died in his sins without Jesus Christ as his personal Savior. I never once heard the name of Jesus come off his tongue throughout Eddie's career.

It is not my place nor anybody's else's to judge where Eddie went in eternity, but we do know from the Holy Scriptures that unless Eddie was born again, he most assuredly DID go straight to Hell forever. I hope secretly for his sake that Eddie became a redeemed saint. I really do! Unfortunately, I seriously doubt if Eddie Van Halen went to Heaven. Where is Jesus in his testimony? Believing in God and giving Him the credit for your life and talent is not enough, as Eddie now knows. James 2:19, “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.” Eddie's older brother, Alex is an ordained minister in his Catholic faith, who performed Eddie's wedding in 2009. A hard rock Catholic drummer—an ordained minister? Go figure! Only in America!

Please understand that I didn't write this article to be unkind to anyone. My heart goes out to Eddie's loved ones and friends. In the mind of the lost and dying world everybody goes to a better place in eternity. Unfortunately, the Holy Bible does not teach that. Psalms 9:17, “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.” If Eddie was relying upon Jesus Christ alone because of what He did on the cross to pay for Eddie's sins, then he is in Heaven. But if all Eddie had was a devout appreciation for what God has done for him, that is not the new birth. Eternal life is a free gift from God that you cannot merit or earn, it must be freely received by simply resting in Christ's finished work of redemption.

Van Halen's Dead End In The Lake Of Fire

Why Josiah Was A Good King

2nd Chronicles 34:1-14, 21 and 27, “Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem one and thirty years. And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the ways of David his father, and declined neither to the right hand, nor to the left. For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images. And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence; and the images, that were on high above them, he cut down; and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces, and made dust of them, and strowed it upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them. And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. And so did he in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even unto Naphtali, with their mattocks round about. And when he had broken down the altars and the groves, and had beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all the idols throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem. Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land, and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the house of the LORD his God. And when they came to Hilkiah the high priest, they delivered the money that was brought into the house of God, which the Levites that kept the doors had gathered of the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim, and of all the remnant of Israel, and of all Judah and Benjamin; and they returned to Jerusalem. And they put it in the hand of the workmen that had the oversight of the house of the LORD, and they gave it to the workmen that wrought in the house of the LORD, to repair and amend the house: Even to the artificers and builders gave they it, to buy hewn stone, and timber for couplings, and to floor the houses which the kings of Judah had destroyed. And the men did the work faithfully: and the overseers of them were Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites, of the sons of Merari; and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, to set it forward; and other of the Levites, all that could skill of instruments of musick. Also they were over the bearers of burdens, and were overseers of all that wrought the work in any manner of service: and of the Levites there were scribes, and officers, and porters.  And when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of the LORD given by Moses. And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD. And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan. ... Go, enquire of the LORD for me, and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found: for great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD, to do after all that is written in this book. ... Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard thee also, saith the LORD.”

From the preceding intriguing passage of Scripture we learn several important lessons from the life of Josiah. Josiah was a good king because of his:

1. PATTERN - Josiah patterned his life after king David. Everyone needs a mentor! In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul was a pattern to follow, because he follow Christ. 1st Corinthians 11:1, “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.” Barnabas befriended the Apostle Paul, somebody that he could bounce ideas off. Timothy was Paul's project, someone whom he could invest in. We all need these three things in our Christian life: a pattern, a peer and a project. And pizza, praise God! Jesus is our ultimate pattern! Amen!
2. PRIORITY - Josiah's priority was the Word of God. Notice in 2nd Chronicles 34:14 that Hilkiah the priest had found “a book,” but realized in verse 35 that it in fact was “THE BOOK”!!! The Bible became a priority to Josiah. Our priority should alway be THE BOOK, not the TV or internet! What you do with the Bible will determine what God does with you! Amen! God doesn't use religious people to do His work, He uses people of THE BOOK! And that precious Book is the inspired King James Bible!!! Joshua 1:8, “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” The sure way to GOOD SUCCESS is to obey THE BOOK!!! Here is a helpful MP3 sermon by Pastor Jack Hyles called: “I Don't Want To Be A Success!”
3. POSITION - We read in 2nd Chronicles 34:27 that Josiah was humble before God. That was Josiah's position, he was humble! Isaiah the prophet was also humble. Isaiah 6:5, “Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.” God only uses humble people! James 4:6 and 10, “But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. ...Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.”
4. PURGE - The first thing Josiah did as king was purged the land if its idols and witchcraft. I remember in 2004 when I bought a home on Guam (which I later lost when my former wife abandoned and divorced me in 2006), that I destroyed the massive Roman Catholic shrine to Mary in the front lawn. Statues of Mary are sinful idols! I took a sledgehammer to that shrine, but couldn't do more than break a few chip off of it. It was hardened concrete! So I hired a local contractor and paid them $1,000 to remove that 7 foot high, 8 foot wide idol from my front yard. Two workers quit the job! It was hard work. The third guy used a jackhammer, destroying that shrine to Mary, and I was so happy to be the one to get rid of it! There won't be any idols on my property. Even though I lost the home, I am so glad that I did exactly what Josiah would have done, tear down the idols!!! Josiah purged the land of all the paganism. 2nd Chronicles 34:33a says Josiah took away all the abominations, “And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries that pertained to the children of Israel...”
5. PASSION - Josiah had a passion for the house of God. 2nd Chronicles 34:30, “And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites, and all the people, great and small: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant that was found in the house of the LORD.” Psalms 73:15-18, “If I say, I will speak thus; behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children. When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me; Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end. Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction.” By the way, watching sermons on YouTube is NOT the same as attending a local church. It is the difference between talking to your girlfriend on Skype, versus actually going on a date with her! We've got to be there!
6. PAST - The various Jewish feast celebrations reminded the people of the past, specifically the Passover. 2nd Chronicles 35:1 and 6, “Moreover Josiah kept a passover unto the LORD in Jerusalem: and they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month. ...So kill the passover, and sanctify yourselves, and prepare your brethren, that they may do according to the word of the LORD by the hand of Moses.” Don't ever forget where you came from. Don't ever forget the day you got saved! For me it was a glorious Sunday morning, at age 13, on a summer day in Chicago. I was saved in the Northland Baptist Church on Chicago's northside! I don't remember anything that the pastor preached that morning, except that he said if you don't have the indwelling Holy Spirit convicting you about sin in your life, you're not saved! I knew I wasn't saved, and for the first time in my life felt scared. The best I knew how, from my pew, I trusted Jesus as my personal Savior, believing that He died on the cross for my sins, was buried, and resurrected from the dead. I was communicating with Him for the first time in my life, asking Him to save me. I didn't know back then that I didn't have to “ask,” we can simply BELIEVE. Amen! John 6:47, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.” Josiah remembered the past and honored the Lord, celebrating the Passover (which is Jew's most holy holiday celebrating the blood of the Lamb that saved them from death).
7. PRIESTS - Josiah encourages the priests in the house of the Lord. 2nd Chronicles 35:2, “And he set the priests in their charges, and encouraged them to the service of the house of the LORD,” Preachers need encouragement! Josiah encouraged the men of God. We are living in a day and age when it has become open hunting season on pastors and preachers! 2nd Timothy 3:12, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” Pastor Danny Castle rightly said: “God pity the preacher that the world don't hate!” Jesus said that something is very wrong when everybody thinks highly of a preacher! Luke 6:26, “Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.” If you have a man of God as your pastor, who preaches the truth without apology, you should support and encourage him as Josiah did! Behind every pulpit is a human being.

May we all be a lot more like Josiah.

Preachers Who Will Never Let You Be Right With God

Ecclesiastes12:9-11, “And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs. The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth. The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.”

I have a pet peeve about Baptist preachers who are always making people feel like they're not right with God. You've heard them too likely. They say things like: “Just because you nod your head in agreement and say 'Amen!' doesn't make you right with God inside.” Why would a preacher discourage people with such foolish statements? I mean, if the audience is nodding their head in agreeing with the preacher, and saying “Amen!,” shouldn't a preacher be encouraging such people for agreeing with the truth? Yes, of course! Instead, these foolish preachers browbeat people, making them feel like they'll never be right with God, no matter what they do. Think about that! If a preacher is scolding people who are saying “Amen!” and nodding their head in agreement with what he is preaching, then what in the world does a person have to do, to be right with God?

Furthermore, what in the world does nodding one's head or saying “Amen!,” have to do with being right with God? By nodding one's head, a person is simply acknowledging that they are in agreement with what the preacher is saying. Why would a preacher assume that such a person is somehow claiming to be right with God? The pastor is making a faulty assumption that anyone who nods their head in agreement with his preaching, has somehow declared them self right with God through that symbolism. That is foolish. If I am preaching and I see you nod your head in agreement, all that tells me is that you agree with me. I would never assume that you are somehow claiming to be a good Christian, or proclaiming to be right with God, simply because you agreed with something I said. What is wrong with preachers?

Bless God, if your listeners are saying “Amen!,” and are nodding their heads in agreement with your preaching, you ought to be rejoicing that you have people who want to learn. You ought to be commending them for having zeal for Bible preaching, righteousness and truth. You ought to be thanking and encouraging your congregation, instead of browbeating them and discouraging them, quenching their zeal for the Lord. When a pastor does that to me, I clam-up! I stop nodding my head. I stop agreeing with him visibly. I stop saying “Amen!,” lest he target me and hurt my feelings, discouraging me for having zeal, and accusing me of potentially not being right with God. I'll never understand why Baptist preachers do that to their best people, the one's who are excited and happy to hear the message.

To tell someone that they are not right with God inside just because they nod their head in agreement, or say “Amen!” in church, is an unwise thing to tell people. Five minutes of praise will do more for a person than a lifetime of criticism! Pastors who criticize the people who showed up are foolish. Think about that! Why criticize the people who actually showed up and came to church? Why discourage people who are sincerely listening attentively, nodding their heads in agreement with the pastor? Would you rather have people sleeping? I just don't get it. I really don't. 

If anybody is right with God, it is the person who is nodding their head in agreement with the Bible preaching. If anybody is right with God, it is the person saying “Amen!” Why would a pastor target such zealous individuals with discouraging words? You'd think a pastor would say the exact opposite, something like: “I'm concerned about people who never say 'Amen!,' who never nod your head in agreement with the Bible preaching.” Pastors are backwards these days! They scold the people who show up, who are attentively listening, who stay awake, those who nod their head in agreement with him and say “Amen!” But then the pastor says nothing to the deadbeats who sit there and just stare at him. Does anybody else see a problem with this picture, because I sure do?

Nothing discourages me more, than when I am wholeheartedly following along with a pastor's sermon, sitting on the edge of my seat in curiosity, and then he attacks me with insults, alleging that I may not be right with God in spite of my zeal. Are you kidding me? If a pastor wants to get up behind the pulpit and preach a bunch of things on how to be right with God, I am all for that. But don't use my zeal as a weapon again me, which confuses and discourages people.

The Defining Quality Of A Fundamentalist Is Caring

Philippians 2:19-21 “But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort, when I know your state. For I have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state. For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's.”

Lately I just feel like quitting. I am so disgusted with the apostasy of Bob Jones University preaching Lordship Salvation, the apostasy of First Baptist Church of Hammond and Hyles-Anderson College denying the inspiration of the Bible, the shame and carnality of Temple Baptist Church and The Crown College inviting and honoring conman Ken Ham, the wickedness of Pastor Phil Kidd denying the eternal security of the believer, the damned Harvest Baptist Church on Guam that won't even allow me to attend church services. God has damned all these ungodly people, for doing wickedly. Shame on them all!!! It seems that Christians are falling for just about anything these days. 

Sadly, Pastor Clarence Sexton honored Ken Ham, who preaches Lordship Salvation!!! Ken Ham hasn't turned from his sinful ways, and neither have you, and neither have I. Ken Ham is an unsaved religious conman, whose words are smoother than butter, deceiving the simple and milking his victims for $37,000,000 a year. Psalms 55:21, “The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart: his words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords.” That's just the amount of filthy lucre Ken Ham gets for his Answers-In-Genesis hoax! Then there's The Ark Encounter, a big OSHA approved cinder-block building in Kentucky with boat decorations hanging off the sides, which looks NOTHING like Noah's Ark. That pathetic circus show has already made private investors over $2 billion in profits! SHAME ON THEM ALL FOR EXPLOITING CHRISTIANITY FOR  MONEY!!! Their damnation slumbereth not, just like Peter Roloff and Benny Hinn! Peter Popoff pays himself over $600,000 a year. His family gets millions!

It troubles and grieves my tired soul that professed Christians nowadays don't care about right doctrine, don't care about the accuracy of the Gospel, nor do they care about the purity of God's inspired Word. All they seem to really care about is money! Their actions deny their words! They'll all claim that truth is most important, while filling their coffers at the expense of THE TRUTH!!! Worst of all, they are prideful, arrogant and haughty. I don't know of even one popular Calvinist heretic, who ever recanted and embraced the truth of a free grace Gospel. Today's biggest heretics on Lordship Salvation (Sam Horn, Marty Herron, Franklin Graham, Steve Pettit, John MacArthur, Stephen Davey, David Jeremiah) are raking in 6-digit lucrative salaries. Pastor John MacArthur alone has a net worth of $14 million. That is as wicked as it is disgusting! 1st Timothy 6:10 commands the man of God to flee money (not just the love of money, but money itself, which causes men to ERR FROM THE FAITH).

I don't plan on quitting, but it sure gets lonely preaching THE TRUTH, while over 95% of preachers are preaching garbage! I'd rather die than quit. I feel like Peter, when Jesus asked Him if the disciples would also walk away. Peter replied to the Lord: “Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life” (John 6:68). Paul referred to himself as Christ's “PRISONER” (Philemon 1:1). You see, a servant can quit when he wants, but a prisoner cannot. I don't think I could ever walk away from preaching the truth. If I did, THE TRUTH would burn in my heart like it did in Jeremiah's heart. Jeremiah 20:9, “Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name.  But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.” That is exactly how I feel. 

I just wish more people would listen. Google has censored my website ministry, reducing my traffic by 75% over the past 5 years! My attitude is, and always has been, and always will be that one soul saved is worth more than all the gold in the world!!! Amen and amen! I love you dear reader, with God's love. I work night and day, prayerfully, for God's Holy Spirit to work in people's hearts, as my words speak to their minds. The Lord foretold that in the end times it would return as it was in the times of Noah. Before the flood, nobody cared about anyone or anything that really matter. Paul couldn't find anyone likeminded to help him in the ministry! Just like the evils of abortion, which the average Baptist is completely silent about today, the damnable heresy has crept into our Baptist churches and no one is saying anything! 

We'll I'm speaking up for God!!! Harvest Baptist Church on Guam is of the Devil, teaching their Lordship Salvation! Bob Jones University is of the Devil, promoting dozens of Bible versions and preaching Lordship Salvation. Pastor Phil Kidd is of the Devil, when he says that the Eternal Security of the Christian believer is a heresy! Preachers have lost their minds today!!! Jeremiah 10:21, “For the pastors are become brutish [lacking good sense], and have not sought the LORD: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered.” Dr. Kidd preached one of the most confusing sermons I've ever heard in my life the other day, shamefully called: “The Heresy Of Eternal Security.“” No, it's the heresy of Phil Kidd!!!

That sure sounds like our churches today. Neo-evangelicals care more about the LGBTQ agenda, than they do about the purity of the Holy Bible! That's why they are using more than one Bible version. They care more about getting President Trump reelected, than they do about preaching the Gospel of free grace! Pastor Jack Hyles was so right, when he said that heresy is creeping into our fundamental churches by the hour! It is tragic that Baptist pastors are making light of Bible inspiration, downplaying the battle over the inspiration of the King James Bible.

In our text passage the wearied Apostle Paul said he had “NO MAN LIKEMINDED, who will naturally care for your state” (Philippians 2:20b). The word “naturally” here is the Greek word gnesios, which means: “genuine, that is, really.” Paul said: “I don't have anybody to help me who really cares about you!” That is exactly how I feel. I get so frustrated sometimes, feeling like I'm just a cheap form of entertainment on the internet for some bored people. My web visitors don't tell me when they find inoperative links. It is rare that my articles get shared on social media more than 10 times. 

I could have just as easily named this article: “New-evangelicals don't care!” I am a fundamentalist Bible-believer. I am a Christian. I am a Baptist. Specially, I am an independent fundamental Baptist, and grateful to be as such! By fundamentalist I means that I believe the King James Bible is 100% verbally-inspired by God. I take the Bible literally, at face value. I believe when the Bible says a snake talked with Eve, it was a literal snake. I believe that the Israelites walked across the Red Sea on dry ground, as the Bible says. I believe a whale swallowed Jonah. As far as I'm concerned, Jonah could have swallowed the whale if God wanted it so. I made myself hungry mentioning the whale, now I'm going to have to go to MacDonald's for my favorite Fish-O-Filet with extra cheese and tartar sauce...lol. MacDonald's uses 100% Alaskan Pollock fish for their fillets. I love them! I'm going to marry them...lol.

I thank God that I am not a neo-evangelical (also called a new-evangelical). In America past, we used to call mainstream non-Catholic Christians “evangelicals,” but in the 21st there's not a dime's difference between evangelicals and neo-evangelicals. This is my humble opinion. The way I see it, we have a small group of fundamentalists like Pastor' Steven Anderson, Jeff Owens, Max Younce and Dr. Bob Gray Sr., et cetera. And then we have a hundred times more neo-evangelicals like Rick Warren, Joel Osteen, Steven Furtick, Ray Comfort, and the apostate Southern Baptist Convention. And then we've got a changing group in between, which I call neo-fundamentalists, which include Hyles-Anderson College, The Crown College, Bob Jones University, Moody Bible Institute, and Harvest Baptist Church on Guam. I made this helpful chart...

I CARE! Bless God! I am still a fundamentalist Bible-believing, born-again, blood-washed, sin-hating, people-loving, Christ-uplifting, free-grace-Gospel-preaching, soulwinning, Jack-Hyles-loving, Bob-Jones-University-exposing, Lordship-Salvation-hating, truth-telling, knuckle-headed, Baptist!!! And you ain't gonna change me buster! Ain't no way Jose! All these false prophets today are so sweet that sugar wouldn't melt in their mouth! We've got a bunch of cotton-candy religion today that tastes sweet at first, but then quickly dissolves into NOTHING! 

By God's grace, I plan to keep stroking the fur backwards, making apostates mad at me, shellin' the corn, bringing down the barn with window-rattlin', barn-stormin', hell-raisin', old-fashioned Bible-preaching!!! To Hell with the Devil and his counterfeit Bibles, counterfeit plans of salvation, fake Bible colleges (like Bob Jones University and Moody Bible Institute), fake churches (like Harvest Baptist Church on Guam), and all you sinister ministers (John MacArthur, Steve Pettit, Rick Warren, Ray Comfort, Joel Osteen, Steven Furtick, et cetera)!!! I ain't selling out Buster! Not for a church, not for a wife, nor to make friends, not for money, not for anything or anyone!!! Somebody's got to care!!! Somebody's got to tell THE TRUTH without having his hand out for a donation! 

Somebody's got to stand up for Jesus, without clearing it with a committee first! Does anybody else care? Then do something! Help me expose these false prophets. Start your own blog. Start a website. Pray for me and my ministry labors. Help promote my writings on social media. Without my website and blog readers, my ministry serves no purpose, so THANK YOU to everyone!!! To God alone be all the credit, praise and glory, great things He hath done (and is doing)! Jesus is precious!!!

The Ugly Truth About The 'American Defamation League'

Romans 1:20-22, “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,” Ephesians 4:18, “Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:”

We are living in very wicked times, perilous times (2nd Timothy 3:1-7), in which Marxist organizations like the American Defamation league (ADL) are doing everything in their power to destroy Bible Christianity and corrupt our nation's youth. Their stated mission is to I just read a sad article about a grandmother in Sacramento, California asking who murdered her grandbaby in a gang-related drive-by shooting. Folks, what more can we expect from our youth, who have been indoctrinated with the blatant lies of evolution in ungodly public schools, while being deprived the truth about God their Creator? We have brought this upon ourselves, by allowing wicked groups like the ADL to ban Christmas, Easter, the Bible, Jesus Christ and anything that even remotely teaches children's about their wonderful Creator. Literally, we have destroyed ourselves in the name of “rights”:

“Since 1948, the ADL [Anti-Defamation League of the B’nai B’rith] has devoted over one-third of its legal efforts to support activity that may rightfully be called ‘the plot to kill God.’ The ADL has filed dozens of amicus curiae (friend of the court) briefs in legal cases often settled by the U.S. Supreme Court, whose results have included banning school prayer, banning released time for religious instruction, banning Christmas carols and spirituals, banning celebration of Judeo-Christian [sic] holidays, and most recently banning the Bible as unfit for the classroom; causing federal, state, and local governments to be ‘neutral’ on religious issues, as well as compelling them to cease participation in any display of art associated with the Christian religion, whether during a religious holiday season or other time; and banning prayer in courtrooms, together with religious oaths for courts and government officials. While the ADL has concentrated upon uprooting the traditions of Western Christian civilization from public life — e.g. by throwing Christianity out the front door of schools — it has not protested as ‘New Age religion’ has been ushered in the back door, now to permeate society. In fact, while condemning any manifestation of Christianity at every turn, the ADL has used First Amendment arguments in court and elsewhere to defend witchcraft and peyote (an hallucinogen derived from a type of cactus) cults. The ADL has not acted alone in this drive to ‘paganize’ America. It has enjoyed the assistance of some friends in very high places, including the highest court in the land. It began in earnest on Feb. 10, 1947, when Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black rendered the majority opinion in the case of Everson v. Board of Education. Black, who was a lifelong member of the Ku Klux Klan and 33rd-Degree member of the Southern Jurisdiction of Scottish Rite Freemasonry, enshrined the following phrase: ‘In the words of Jefferson, the clause against establishment of religion by law was intended to erect ‘a wall of separation between Church and State.’” —“The Ugly Truth About The ADL,” published by the editors of the Executive Intelligence Review, pp. 104-105

The ADL has done more to destroy our nation that people can imagine. Don't you dare complain when another Golden State Killer comes along, breaking into your house, tying you up, raping your family, and then leaves in the darkness of the night with your riches. Without the Lord Jesus Christ the family falls apart! We have raised up a generation of monsters, who have no faith in God, and the ADL is much to blame! The ungodly secular media won't tell you that, they'll just make a living off all the horrifying crimes committed by ungodly sinners. Can we honestly expect  morality from a Godless people? You're a fool if you think so. 

The Holy Bible is a child's moral compass in life. Psalms 119:105, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Psalms 119:9, “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?  by taking heed thereto according to thy word.” The Good Book teaches young people to love God and their neighbour, honor their parents, obey the government, work hard and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. The demonic ADL blocks, bans and forbids all of that! Consequently, we have a society of Godless criminals today!

Satanic immoral filth that has been pouring out of Hollywood since it began in the 19th century. Anyone familiar with Hollywood and the entertainment industry, knows that occult symbols are intentionally used extensively in everything, to promote Satan's now forming New World Order. This does not come as a surprise, for the Holy Bible teaches that Satan is the god of this world (2nd Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 2:2). As long as powerful lobbying groups like the ADL are permitted to undermine goodness, faith, love, morality and God, our nation will never be “great” again! God has rights too! God created man, so He has a right to tell us how to live. So it really all boils down to being a matter of faith.