Hope you are all well.

This recent exchange about the scripture in Thessalonians brings up a very point. Some people are taught things as if they were firmly grounded in scripture when they aren’t. I try to remember who taught me what and what kind of life they lived.

I recall one ‘pastor’ who always taught that the gospel is the ‘death, burial and ressurection of Jesus Christ’. No the gospel is translated good news. While the death burial and ressurection is an essential part of the gospel we must without doubt include the life and teachings of Jesus in the good news.

The man who taught me that was later divorced from his wife for being a promiscuous homosexual among other things. In fact at the divorce trial photographs were presented that left little to doubt.

It is the job of a Christian to go back and look at the scriptures and understand what it really says. We should never trust men at all! I know this is very difficult especially for the younger. I was brought up in the catholic church and what a whopper full of lies they taught me! Yet when I moved on to the Church of Christ there were things they taught me too. I just followed in line believing what was taught without questioning. Only when I had become thouroughly entrenched in the content of scriptures could I begin to see the errors in my education.

A true teacher in the Spirit of God would never mind a person questioning their teachings. After all Jesus gave some of His best lessons in response to questions. If you ask a pastor a question and he tells you that it is innapropriate then I would advise you to leave that church as quick as you could. Such nonsense of “don’t touch my annointed” is a very wicked catch phrase which means ‘believe whatever I tell you and don’t question what I do.’

That is why blogs like the Healtheland are so important and vital to me. It brings together many people with many different views on the Bible. There is certainly much disagreement but yet there is only one truth.

Love,

John

2 Thessalonians 2:5-10 (New American Standard Bible)

5 Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things?

6 And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed.

7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way.

8 Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming;

9 that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders,

10 and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.

Yea I’ve heard what you’ve been told about the Holy Spirit supposedly being taken away in verses 6-7. (The pre-trib teaching is the most prevalent these days, so it’s far better known than what is actually in the Bible.) However, it is not mentioned that the Holy Spirit is the restrainer and even if the Holy Spirit is the restrainer, verse 7 does not say the restrainer will leave this world completely. Just that “he is taken out of the way”. So whatever is restraining the Antichrist, be it an angel, or the Holy Spirit, or whatever Paul told them and we don’t know what Paul told them, people are making up via eisegesis what they feel the restrainer actually is. That restrainer will be taken out of the Antichrist’s way, but that does not definitively mean taken from this world totally. If that restrainer is the Holy Spirit, He the person of the Holy Spirit will be taken out of the Antichrist’s way, but this does not mean He would totally leave the earth and it does not mean saints are “raptured” while the Antichrist is revealed.

And although verses 6-7 mention a “he” being taken out of the way, I am having trouble finding an actual pronoun use of “he” relating to the restrainer mentioned in the Greek (TR) text. What restrains the Antichrist might not even be an actual person. Perhaps the Lord has put up some form of restraining hedge, that will be removed? Bottom line, we don’t know what Paul said the actual restrainer is. If someone who feels they are proficient in Biblical Greek sees an actual pronoun type reference to the restrainer as a definitive “he” in the Greek text, please let me know. I’m not seeing the Greek terms “arti” or “ginomai” as absolutely having to mean a “he” as a person. It seems to possibly point to an “it” rather than necessarily being a “he”. It’s non-specific and the text does not appear to specify at all. So I feel it is whatever the Lord put in place, be it person or otherwise and leave it at that. It does not support pre-trib no matter how it’s viewed.

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On one hand I want to say that it doesn’t matter if 10 Christians believe in 4 different things concerning the tribulation (what are they — pre, post, mid and I guess that ‘already happened’ viewpoint), but it does kind of matter, I’ve come to understand.
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Of those, the last “that ‘already happened’ viewpoint” is the one that you especially should not consider simply a “viewpoint”. It is a heresy, that the Apostles of the Lord Jesus denounced as false gospel. Please see 1 Corinthians 15 and 2 Timothy 2:16-18. Claiming that the resurrection has already occurred was not taken lightly by the Apostles and today we should see it as nothing less than heresy too.

Jesus made it clear, His return will be fully evident to all, it won’t be a thing that is done in secret or somehow mistaken by anyone, Matthew 24:27, Matthew 24:30 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16.

Why do we think we’re safe and secure? Yes, as Christians we walk by faith, but what makes you think you don’t need to be tempered in the fire? Are you that ‘perfect’ already?

On one hand I want to say that it doesn’t matter if 10 Christians believe in 4 different things concerning the tribulation (what are they — pre, post, mid and I guess that ‘already happened’ viewpoint), but it does kind of matter, I’ve come to understand.

Pampering people and giving them a false hope…almost fostering an elitist mindset…it’s wrong!

Instead of one group being right or wrong, why can’t we all just prepare ourselves to go through hell just in case we may have to? We’re soldiers for Christ Jesus! So instead of sitting around like we’re in peace time and will not see the next great world war, why not get ourselves in bootcamp just in case…just in case we’ll be put on the battlefield and have to put our lives on the line?

I know that many people don’t like him, and from what I’ve seen, most because of his stand against hip-hop (I would even say that it is people who like hip-hop who are mostly against him/his message).

I just wondered why you thought this whole string warranted bringing him into it. Why was he being compared to this Guest guy. Sure, he charges a fee, but not everyone has someone behind them to support the financial part of their ministry. You said yourself in the comment that Guest has financial support, which means to me that it is unfair to compare the two.

Secondly, I understand why you are bothered by the fact that people’s youtube accounts have been shut down, but how do you deal with that side of it without dealing with copyright laws and how they are being broken by these youtubers? I just believe in being fair on all sides.

Yes, I am a G. Craige Lewis supporter, but that is not why I’m writing this comment. Do I agree with everything he says – of course not, but I have almost all of his videos and show them to as many people as I can.

I personally am right now dealing with a copyright issue. If someone took a play that I wrote, directed, and produced, and I saw it on youtube, I would have them shut down, too. Why? Because you are stealing someone else’s material. They can do a youtube of their own. If they believe in his message, then they should either get his permission, or produce a youtube video of their own.

Copyright laws are copyright laws and we are instructed in the Word of God to obey the laws of the land. He is not just selling videos of him preaching, he is sharing information from hours of research. Whether we agree with what he says or not, he has to support his ministry. I will say that I think that he, as well as others, are charging too much for the videos, but nevertheless, it is material that he put together and that material is protected by copyright laws.

I just didn’t see the point in you bringing him into the comments at all. Anyone who is a self-supporter of their ministry will need to charge some form of fee. It cost money to do what he does. And his fees are not what most charge.

I personally think that he is being persecuted because of his message and because people who love hip-hop don’t want to give it up.

I understand that you disagree with some of his teachings, but not everyone agrees with you either; no one alive today has everyone agreeing with everything they say. We all read scripture and disagree with what our interpretations are. But we must see the difference between interpretation and heresy (like someone teaching people that we are gods, and that we must look to the god in ourselves, and that God is 6 feet tall, or something stupid like that).

Sorry if I have offended you. I say it all in love. My main point is fairness in addressing both sides of the issue.

I’m continually praying the Lord will me the self control to keep my tone at a proper level. And with this non-essential, that involves people I know are not trying to endorse false teachers I’ve hoped to remain cool.