EO Responds To
Emails 04-05-09
(EMAIL) Mary is NOT our key to salvation; Jesus is. Catholics pray to Mary as an intercessor, a go-between. Just like little kids have one member go ask Mom or Dad, Catholics ask Mary to carry our prayers and requests to her son. With the miracle at Cana, we learn that Jesus cannot deny His mother anything. So if she asks, He will answer. Thank you. I will continue to pray for all men and women that we may reach heaven.
(RESPONSE) Greetings in Jesus’ name. Thank you for writing. You are absolutely correct that Mary is NOT the key to our salvation, but that contradicts what the Catholic church has been teaching. In the Rosary she is declared to be “our life, sweetness and hope” and elsewhere said to be the mediatrix and dispenser of all graces! The Catholic motto, “through Mary to Jesus” also shows her vital role in one’s salvation. Besides all of these, there have been many popes and Catholic saints of the past who have consecrated themselves to Mary as they trust in her (not Jesus) for their salvation. Furthermore, it is common for Catholics to call on Mary at the hour of their death. Only God knows for sure how many sincere people have been misled.
You stated that Catholics pray to Mary as an intercessor—for her to carry our prayers and requests to Jesus, but did you know this is disobedience to God regarding how to pray. It is a sin to pray to Mary! Jesus taught we are to pray either to the Father (Mt. 6:6-8) or to himself (John 14:14). We later see examples of these in the Bible (1 Pet. 1:17 and Acts 7:59,60), but NEVER do we read of Mary being an intercessor, mediatrix and dispenser of graces, sinless, queen of heaven, etc. What you have been taught about the MOST IMPORTANT subjects is wrong. Consequently, Catholics do not know how to find the true salvation and eternal life mentioned in Scripture. Nearly one billion Catholics in our day have been lethally deceived by their spiritual leaders and this deception continues in our day with very few speaking the truth.
We read of Mary several times during Jesus’ earthly ministry, but never would one come to the conclusion of her importance as stated in your email. Did you know that Jesus denied Mary’s request to see him at one point?
While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.” He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mat 12:46-50)
Also, Jesus performed miracles because others (including strangers) asked him to, and those miracles were even greater miracles than Jesus changing the water into wine at Cana. See Mt. 9:18,19, 25; etc.
Please, please stop praying to Mary. Why sin against God in that way? It can NOT be wrong to ONLY pray as Jesus taught—either directly to the Father or to himself. Even more important, turn from all your sins and place 100% of your faith and trust in JESUS for your salvation. The kind of faith that saves from hell is a submissive and obedient faith. Finally, base all of your spiritual beliefs on the Bible:
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Tim 3:16,17)
For your soul’s sake, read through the New Testament for yourself and change accordingly. Read it carefully as a lawyer would read an important document. Your eternal destiny depends on what you do with that message.
GOD BLESS YOU. Remember Luke 11:27,28.
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(EMAIL) Can you please go away. Superstition is not the way. You believe out of fear. You don\’t know what happens after death, and I don\’t either. I know this because I don\’t have special powers and therefore you don\’t either, therefore you can\’t know what happens after death. Now please stop spewing your venom.
(RESPONSE) Greetings in Jesus’ name. Please know we are not superstitious nor do we believe out of fear. Our faith is based on irrefutable evidence that no atheist or other sceptic can ever refute—the Holy Bible.
You also stated we don’t know what happens after death, but you are wrong. Since the Bible tells us certain details and the Bible is accurate, then we do know what happens after physical death. http://www.evangelicaloutreach.org/deaths.htm Most will go to a place of fiery torment, while the minority, who are righteous in God’s sight, will enter his paradise kingdom. It will NOT be like many NDE declare. The Lord Jesus gave a different picture (Mt. 7:13,14).
Please know truth is never venom, even though it is sometimes very hard to deal with. If you want the truth and salvation, read the New Testament and change accordingly. Your SOUL is in the greatest possible danger. GOD BLESS YOU.
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(EMAIL) I would like to give you some encouragement in your ministry. Thank you for your courage in speaking the truth of God’s holy Word regarding the false teachings of Calvinism. The Bible told us we would suffer for the gospel and the true gospel is offensive to those who prefer to erect their own god. Their god makes them feel warm and fuzzy inside because they are not held accountable for their actions and continued sin.
It’s disheartening to see the dishonest tactics and personal attacks that so-called Christian leaders use to perpetuate their theology rather than honestly discern scripture. I’ve read many of John MacArthur’s commentaries and plainly see his dishonest teaching regarding Calvinism. It leaves me to ponder whether he actually believes what he’s teaching or if he’s purposely teaching a lie. For example, in an attempt to sidestep the passages in Exodus 32:30-35, John MacArthur made the statement that some “foolishly claim this is the Book of Life?” He then states that it is speaking of the Book of the Living. However, he neglects to point out the scripture that mentions the Book of the Living, Psalm 69:27-29, which sounds a lot like the same book since they both have the same result: 1. let them not come into Your righteousness 2. And not be written with the righteous. But why let Biblical truth get in the way of a good theory?
Also, I recently lost my best friend of about 43 years over this issue. While in a discussion about this topic, I pointed out Ezekiel 3:20-21. When he could not explain away the scripture in a manner harmonizing with his theology, he became incredibly angry, even using some non-Christian language. His comment to me was that I was not interested in seeing both sides, I just wanted to be right. Of course, it is true that I want to be Biblically correct. This is not due to any pride on my part but because of my concern for where I spend eternity. Charles Stanley will not be my advocate when I stand before God in judgment.
Wednesday mornings before work, I lead a Bible study with another co-worker. We just completed a study.... Your books and website articles were very helpful. I have already given one of your books away and intend to always keep a copy of The Believer’s Conditional Security on hand for giveaway purposes. I pray God will bless you and your ministry for your service in the Lord.... God bless,
(RESPONSE) Greetings in Jesus’ name. Your email was wonderfully encouraging. It is great to know you know about Calvinism. Too bad millions of others don’t.
We get deeply distressed when people we know spread any form of Calvinism, even indirectly. One person we know is selling a number of books which include some authored by Calvinists! She would be much better off to burn those books rather than sell them since the contents could stumble the next reader. Calvinism is like taking a spiritually poisonous pill mixed with sleep medication. It also breeds pride. Of all the false teachers and religiously deceived people we deal with, the fifth pointers (once saved always saved) are the MOST disgusting. We have learned you cannot trust an eternal security proponent. They will do anything to allow for wickedness in their doctrine while trying to maintain the mask of holiness! MacArthur and his double talk have deceived many people, especially since he is backed by the radio, book publishers, a large congregation and lots of money. SOULS continue to perish and the devil reclaims people formerly saved, because of this counterfeit gospel and false grace message. Such are in worse shape now than when originally unsaved (2 Pet. 2:20-22).
Calvinism is also a very divisive issue, because for many it means their hope of salvation. Division has occurred over this for many years. Many Christians have been torn away from religious people over eternal security. Since this is a salvation-related issue and Jude stressed contending against the grace changers, we better not compromise for the sake of a few “friends.” It would be nice to see people change, but some won’t. Even family members can be divided away, which is often the case (Mt. 10:34-38). This is part of our test, as you apparently know. We must love truth.
Non-Christian language was spoken by your ex-friend because he is a non-Christian. We have been cussed at by eternal security people via emails. You are not alone. Keep speaking the truth.
Thanks for the kind words about our materials and especially for spreading the vital truth in a dark day like ours. GOD BLESS YOU. Heb. 3:14.
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(EMAIL) Greetings in Jesus’ matchless name. I want to know if we as believers can drink wine, for Paul says to drink a little wine, what kind of wine is he referring to, fermented or unfermented, and secondly is it right for women to serve the Lord’s table, handing over the bread and the cup to the church, and is it necessary to serve unleavened bread for the communion service, or any type of bread will do. so these are some of my questions which I do hope you will be able to answer. God bless you.
(RESPONSE) Greetings in Jesus’ name. Paul told Timothy to take “a little” wine for his stomach. In other words, as medicine. Maybe the water was bad OR Timothy had a physical affliction. We do NOT know. So was it alcoholic wine? We can’t be 100% sure. Chances are the wine then was much different than today’s wine. Also, since drunkards will not inherit God’s kingdom we better not drink ANY alcoholic beverage [1 Cor. 6:9,10]. Do NOT take a chance. See also Rom 14:21.
We don’t have an example of women handing over the communion elements, but there is no Scripture forbidding such. The bread they used was without yeast. Hence, we have used matza crackers and pita bread over the years. Hope that helps. GOD BLESS YOU.
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(EMAIL) I want to thank you for allowing the Lord to work through you, to encourage, edify, and convict, the vital truths of God’s Word. I just read some of your article on looking for the good, and I must say that I am grateful for this article and many others that I have read, because I can see that what you proclaim is backed in clear scripture. There have been many times when I felt a conviction of something true in the Bible, while reading one of your articles. Again, thank you, and I praise God for you. God bless you always,
(RESPONSE) Greetings in Jesus’ name. Thanks for the kind words. We are glad you were blessed by what you read. May you spread those truths to others who are in need of help. GOD BLESS YOU. Rememeber Heb. 3:14.
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(EMAIL) Do you believe that a Christian who was caught up in a sexual sin for a time due to weakness of character, will be forgiven if they are truly sorry and have repented—Stopped doing that horrible sin permanently and has asked for forgiveness according to I John 1:7-9 . That person is so sorry they were so weak and allowed this sin in their life and they have done everything with God’s help to remain pure in heart and mind. What do you believe God says to this person through his word?
(RESPONSE) Greetings in Jesus’ name. No question about it—if a Christian loses his salvation by turning to sexual sin and sincerely repents, he will be forgiven and saved again. The teaching about the prodigal is clear on this since he was involved in sexual sins with prostitutes and got saved again after he turned from sin to humbly serve the Father. See Lk. 15:24,32. There are two other passages which show essentially the same (James 5:19,20; Romans 11:19-23).
That person needs to spend more time in Scripture living in light of eternity and the certainty of his own death. Here are a few good articles to read:
http://www.evangelicaloutreach.org/newconverts.htm
http://www.evangelicaloutreach.org/salvationps.htm
http://www.evangelicaloutreach.org/abovesin.htm
http://www.evangelicaloutreach.org/fighttothedeath.htm
Please consider signing up for our weekly email teachings, updates, etc. If interested, you can do that here http://www.evangelicaloutreach.org/contact.htm GOD BLESS YOU.
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(EMAIL) Please explain me what is the difference between God and Lord?? Thanks and Regards,
(RESPONSE) Greetings in Jesus’ name.
You asked a difficult question because Jesus is the Lord of lords (Rev. 17:14; 19:16). When we compare that truth to Deut. 10:17 we learn the Lord of lords is also God of gods. Also, Jesus is the YHWH of the Old Testament. Read this http://www.evangelicaloutreach.org/yhwh.htm
Does that help a little to show it is very hard to answer such a question? GOD BLESS YOU. Heb. 3:14.
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(EMAIL) I just read a couple of your articles regarding David Wilkerson and I have a question that has plagued me for years. I became a Christian at the age of 31 (and am now __) and at that time bought and began to read the Bible for the first time in my life. I have NEVER seen the “once saved” doctrine in either the Old OR New Testament. Because I was brought up in the Episcopal church, I did not have to “unlearn wrong teachings”, because we were not taught anything about the Bible nor did we study it. Therefore, my heart and mind were clean slates on which the Lord wrote His Word. In other words, I just believed what I read.
The Lord has brought me out of many sins, some habitual from the age of 11 and has healed me of an incurable disease that I had for 5 yrs. However, one sin remains..... a “besetting” sin, if you will and that is the sin of gluttony. I am 100 lbs. overweight and in the past 25 years have tried everything to be free from this sin. I have repented and cried out to the Lord for help, fasted, prayed, gone to the doctor, tried every diet out there, exercised, all to no avail.
My question for you is this: Am I a believer? If I die before being freed from this sin, will I go to hell? The Word says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. That if any man says he has no sin, he is a liar and the truth is not in him (thereby making him a son of the devil). Paul said, “I buffet my body and make it my slave.” How many times I have tried this!!! God is holy and tells us to be holy. He would not tell us to be so if it were not possible....
And yet, I commit the sin of gluttony. There are days, weeks and months that I do not. During these periods, I feel so free and close to the Lord. If I die during these times, will I go to heaven? There are days, weeks and months that I binge and eat whatever, whenever and however much I want, driven to do so. During that time, I hate myself and walk in a love/hate relationship w/this sin. I love the pleasure, but hate what it does to me, as the Word says that “your sin has made a separation between you and your God,” and I gain back all the weight I struggled so hard to lose.
My body looks exactly like my mother’s did at this age and her mother before her. I have asked forgiveness and taken authority over the generational curses and strongholds of satan. I have cried and grieved all these years because of gluttony. I have even told the Lord that I don’t care if I ever lose one pound, if I could only be free from the torment of obsessive thoughts and being consumed with lust for food.
So, according to your understanding and teachings of God’s Word, am I going to hell? Am I not even a “true Christian”? Is it possible to be set free from this sin of gluttony? Is it possible to be a glutton and still be a believer who loves the Lord? I long to turn to the Holy Spirit for comfort instead of food. This is my heart’s true desire. Do I love food more than God? What a disgusting thought! It is in Him that I live and move and have my being. He is my Husband, my Father, my glory and the One who lifts my head. My questions to you are serious and sincere. My name is ____ and my email is _________. I look forward to hearing from you.
(RESPONSE) Greetings in Jesus’ name. It is great to know you are out of the Episcopal church and you are aware that once saved always saved is not Biblical. You are also right about knowing that having a clean slate about Bible doctrine and nothing from the Bible can actually be better, in some cases, than believing many false doctrines allegedly found in the Bible that need to be unlearned. We also rejoice with you that God has healed you of an incurable disease. Thank you Jesus. We too know about his miraculous healing power, which is real and here for us in our day.
You mentioned gluttony. That reminds me of some of the many emails we have received over the years regarding pornography. They seem similar to gluttony. Both seem to involve a controlling and dominating force with lust. Your case also seems to have a similarity to alcoholism in that after a time you go on a food eating spree, as an alcoholic goes on a drinking binge. The GOOD NEWS is you can and will be set free, just as the sex addict or the alcoholic, if you act on God’s word. There is a liberating power in God’s word when we act on its holy message.
You asked if you are now on the road to hell. Other sins are clearly cited as being soul-damning sins which will exclude anyone from God’s kingdom (Eph. 5:5-7; Rev. 21:8; 1 Cor. 6:9,10; Gal. 5:19-23; etc.). Gluttons are not listed as are the drunkards, sexually immoral, etc. However, if we are controlled by any ungodly lust, even for food, that has to be serious, showing drastic measures, if necessary, need to be done. Please ponder the following verses:
But I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified. (1 Cor. 9:27, NASB)
For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, (Rom 8:13)
Paul made his own body his slave so that he himself would not go to hell. He further taught those who were born again about the possibility of spiritual death and how vital it was for them to put to death the misdeeds of the body by the Spirit to stay alive spiritually. So how do we do this? Rather than rewriting what we have already, please click on this link http://www.evangelicaloutreach.org/fighttothedeath.htm You must keep the sinful nature dead or it will kill you spiritually. [Christians have an earthly or sinful nature, Col. 3:5.]
Two more articles to read are these http://www.evangelicaloutreach.org/abovesin.htm and
http://www.evangelicaloutreach.org/newconverts.htm
Please write back in several weeks and let us know how you are doing. Ponder Rom. 6:22.
Please consider signing up for our weekly email teachings, updates, etc. If interested, you can do that here http://www.evangelicaloutreach.org/contact.htm GOD BLESS YOU. Heb. 3:14.
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(EMAIL) What according to your belief is Jesus Christ: God or Son of God or Prophet? Thanks and Regards,
(RESPONSE) Greetings in Jesus’ name.
Jesus is both God and man, but NOT the Father! When Christians say Jesus is “God” we mean he is God by nature, the same as the Father and the Holy Spirit. The Jehovah’s Witnesses, and other cultists, magnify the humanity of Jesus and avoid or deny Jesus’ deity. By denying his deity they have to say he is something else. Their dangerous answer is Michael the archangel. Hence, the JWs say they believe in Jesus but their Jesus is not the real Jesus of the Bible. The same is true for all who deny Christ’s deity. Such people can’t pray TO Jesus, worship Jesus or TRUST Jesus for their salvation, as the Bible teaches. Here is a link to many articles that add to all of this http://www.evangelicaloutreach.org/jehovah.htm
Jesus is man and God by nature, the Son of God and a prophet, among MANY other things. See http://www.evangelicaloutreach.org/jesustitles.htm GOD BLESS YOU. Heb. 3:14.
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(EMAIL) Thank you for the informative article on Nostradamus. I’ve been hearing lately from some of the inmates I serve at ________(PA) that he predicted the end of the world in 2012 . I used some of your findings on his practice of sorcery in the A.M. Message at the Prison Chapel this a.m. Again thank you.
Do you have anything in booklet form or copies of the article for distribution? Also, your refutation of eternal security would be most welcome. It seems to be a hot topic at the prison right now as some are attempting to discredit or undermine my ministry because “I believe you can lose your salvation”....
(RESPONSE) Greetings in Jesus’ name. It is amazing how popular Nostradamus is even in our day. Few know the real Nostradamus, just like few know the real Charles Spurgeon and John Calvin. Please feel free to print out and copy our article to give away free to people.
Eternal security is a HORRIBLE SNARE, even in prison. It is a hot topic in many prisons and not just the one you are associated with. We have various tracts on this subject as well as books, booklets, CDs, etc. Perhaps the BEST way for you to help the prisoners is to learn the subject very well. Our material should be able to help you with this.... GOD BLESS YOU. 1 Cor. 9:27.