A Word About TV Preachers

Many of America's Most Influential Preachers of the past 50 years.
See list at bottom of article.

A preacher stands in front of a TV camera and leads a million people in a 15-second prayer. "Repeat after me: 'Lord Jesus, I accept you as my personal savior. Forgive me of my sins. Amen."

Then he says, "WE BELIEVE YOU ARE BORN AGAIN AND YOU WILL GO TO HEAVEN."

That preacher is a liar. He is a wretched deceiver. He would send multitudes to Hell unprepared to meet God. He is leading guilty, unregenerated sinners to believe that they are now saints of God. And it is JUST NOT TRUE!

Jesus said that if you are not born of both WATER and SPIRIT - that's water baptism in Jesus' name (Acts 2:38), and the baptism in the Holy Ghost (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8; 2:4,38-39) - you "CANNOT ENTER INTO THE KINGDOM OF GOD," John 3:5. Not one verse in the Bible negates those words. "If any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is NONE OF HIS," Romans 8:9. The Holy Ghost is the Spirit of Christ, and without the Holy Ghost, a man is NOT born again.

NOBODY ever got born again "accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior." What kind of Bible doctrine is that? Where did that nonsense come from? The Apostles never preached or taught anything like that. They cried out, "REPENT!" They COMMANDED them to be baptized "every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." And they KNEW when they received the Holy Ghost, because they heard them speak with tongues as the original 120 had spoken in the Upper Room on the day of Pentecost.

SO why do we tolerate preachers lying to millions of people as we do? Why do we not scream to the high heavens, "DON'T LIE TO A MAN ABOUT HIS ETERNAL SOUL!!! Don't tell a man that he is going to Heaven, when by the Word of Jesus Christ, "he CANNOT see the Kingdom of God." That means he is going to Hell.

What bigger, more damnable lie is there in the world than one that comes from a man who purports to be speaking on behalf of Jesus Christ, CONTRADICTING one of the very most important doctrines that Jesus ever taught?

Modern preachers scarcely touch on the need for repentance, and then it is only a few words. Real, genuine, repentance that provokes remorse, and causes a person to quit his sins, radically change his ways, and live a holy, godly life, is almost never preached anymore. Asking for forgiveness is not repentance. That is asking for a pass. True repentance confesses all wrong doing, and QUITS doing it, evoking a life-transforming conversion. Most of these preachers NEVER mention quitting your sins, and if they do, they never name or define sins, and never rebuke them.

And the doctrine of the New Birth has been STRIPPED of all meaning. Almost NOBODY preaches the essentiality of water baptism in Jesus' name, or the essentiality of being baptized in the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues - but the scriptural COMMANDS are still right there in your Bible, and Jesus Christ Himself taught them.

It is time to shut down lying preachers. It's time to boycott ALL their endeavors. Stop listening to their lying doctrines on TV and radio and YouTube. Stop buying their products, their books, their videos. Stop supporting them in every way. Stop LIKING their Facebook pages. It's time to expose them for the liars that they are. It's time to put them out of business. It is time to preach from the mountain tops, "YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN OF THE WATER AND THE SPIRIT!" Nothing less is acceptable. A preacher who won't preach that is NOT a man of God. He is a liar.

It is time to revive the Apostle's Pentecostal message, and preach and pray until the multitudes finally realize that they have been lied to, and go to an Apostolic Pentecostal Church where they can hear the Truth preached, and genuinely be Born Again.

SEE: The Biblical Explanation of the New Birth


Footnote: List of preachers in top photo (left to right, top to bottom).

Row 1 - Bishop Fulton Sheen, Billy Graham, Robert Schuller, Bill Hybels, Rick Warren, Rob Bell, Mark Driscoll, John Burke, Dan Kimball, Craig Groeschel

Row 2 - Oral Roberts, Kathryn Kuhlman, Benny Hinn, Mother Angelica, Pat Robertson, Jim Bakker, Tammy Faye Bakker, Paul Crouch, Jan Crouch, Marcus Lamb

Row 3 - A.A. Allen, R.W. Schambauch, Leroy Jenkins, Rev. Ike, Peter Popoff, Leroy Thompson, Fred Price, John Avanzini, Robert Tilton, Mike Murdoch

Row 4 - Rex Humbard, Jimmy Swaggart, Marilyn Hickey, Joyce Meyer, Rod Parsley, T.D. Jakes, Jesse Duplantis, Creflo Dollar, Joel Osteen, Joseph Price

Row 5 - E.W. Kenyon, Kenneth Hagin, Charles Capps, Kenneth Copeland, Gloria Copeland, Jerry Savelle, Paula White, Rodney Howard Brown, John Wimber, Steve Munsey, Brian Houston

Row 6 - Jack Hayford, Chuck Swindoll, Greg Laurie, Francis Chan, John Maxwell, Charles Stanley, Andy Stanley, Ed Young Jr., Mike Bickel, John Piper, John MacArthur

Imprisoned by Jesus Christ

Prison Cell at Sing Sing

Paul, the apostle, called himself "the PRISONER of the Lord," "the PRISONER of Jesus Christ" (3x), and "His PRISONER." He also called himself, "a SERVANT of Jesus Christ," "Christ's SERVANT," "SERVANT of the Lord," and "SERVANT of God." And a servant has no rights of his own. He is only free to do the will of his Master.

Paul was not alone in that perception. Peter, James, John and Jude all referred to themselves as SERVANTS of Jesus Christ. In fact, all the Apostles were PRISONERS - imprisoned for the cause - at some time or another in the course of their ministries. They were locked up, often beaten, locked in stocks or in chains, treated harshly, and deprived of their personal freedom.

There are some aspects of prison that shock the mind. I am thinking about the iron collars, or shackles and chains in which a prisoner is typically held. Of course, there are prison cells - often dark, dank, musty, lonely, solitary, claustrophobic, and even sickening. In ancient times, the prisons and dungeons must have been horrifying. There are sometimes beatings, and cruel and unusual punishments, even torture and great pain.

A PRISONER is imprisoned. And in the case of Paul and the other Apostles, Jesus Christ was the prison warden. They called themselves PRISONERS and SERVANTS of Jesus Christ.

Imprisonment and enslavement is not exceptional in the service of God. It is the norm.

Jesus Himself was a servant and a prisoner, both to the will of God, and as a hostage to evil men.

WHY? Because the will of God is 100% contrary to the will of men. The carnal mind is enmity - hostility - against God. If  you will do the will of God, the world, the flesh and the devil will assault and accuse and punish you in unimaginable ways. You will suffer for doing God's will.

It is the prison of Christ.

The prison of Christ strips the flesh of its freedom. The prison of Christ will not allow you to be the carnal, worldly, vain and self-indulgent person that what you want to be. The prison of Christ forces you to do the will of God at what is often a very high cost, and involving great loss to your personal, selfish desires, dreams and ambitions. The prison of Christ will sometimes humiliate you in front of your peers. It will embarrass you. Your flesh will sometimes utterly rebel against the prison of Christ, and demand to be set free.

The world, the flesh, and the devil violently oppose the will of God. Everything about your flesh aggrieves the service of the Lord. Your worldly friends will oppose your doing the will of God. Sometimes, your family, and even fellow Christians, will not understand your calling. And certainly, Satan will oppose you with every imaginable and unimaginable conflict. The Will of God will imprison you. Enslave you. Exile you from home, family and friends.

But it is The Crushing

Like a chemist or pharmacist uses a mortar and pestle to extract the compounds he needs, God uses the CRUSHING of life to extract the sweet fragrances and priceless substance of obedience and submission that demonstrates to the world that God, Heaven and Eternity is your priority, and the temporal things of this world cannot change your mind. It is the ultimate testimony to a misguided, misdirected sinner that you are an eagle in a barnyard, and no matter how long they hold you hostage, the moment you are free, you will fly away again and do the will of God, just as you began to do at the first.

No prison, no hardship, and no crushing will stop the true man or woman of God from doing His will. This is a test of priorities. If you can be dissuaded from your Heavenly vision, the prison will dissuade you. If you can be forced to recant and renounce your allegiance to Christ, the crushing will do it. 

"...we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God," Acts 14:22.

"And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, THESE ARE THEY WHICH CAME OUT OF GREAT TRIBULATION, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb," Revelation 7:13-14.

"And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and THEY LOVED NOT THEIR LIVES UNTO THE DEATH," Revelation 12:10-11.

CHRISTIAN'S ENCOUNTER WITH APOLLYON - from Pilgrim's Progress, by John Bunyan

By Ken Raggio

In 2003, while attending my wife in her final stages of cancer, I took down a copy of John Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress" and read the entire book aloud to her over a period of several nights. It is a profoundly provocative book - a keen allegory - that articulates many of the most important virtues and vices that every Christian must face.

It is not easy to read, because it is written in Old English, without chapters or subtitles. But when we came to the episode where Christian, in his journey to the Celestial City encountered Apollyon (representing Satan himself) in the way, this scene conveys encouragement like few things I have ever read. We both wept as we read it.

I urge you to read it, as difficult as it may be. You will discover what I am referring to. This is one of the greatest episodes in the timeless classic, excerpted verbatim.
- - -
Ken Raggio
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"But now, in this valley of Humiliation, poor Christian was hard put to it; for he had gone but a little way before he espied a foul fiend coming over the field to meet him: his name is Apollyon.

Then did Christian begin to be afraid, and to cast in his mind whether to go back, or to stand his ground.

But he considered again, that he had no armor for his back, and therefore thought that to turn the back to him might give him greater advantage with ease to pierce him with his darts; therefore he resolved to venture and stand his ground: for, thought he, had I no more in mine eye than the saving of my life, it would be the best way to stand.

So he went on, and Apollyon met him. Now the monster was hideous to behold: he was clothed with scales like a fish, and they are his pride; he had wings like a dragon, and feet like a bear, and out of his belly came fire and smoke; and his mouth was as the mouth of a lion.

When he was come up to Christian, he beheld him with a disdainful countenance, and thus began to question him.

APOLLYON: Whence came you, and whither are you bound?

CHRISTIAN: I am come from the city of Destruction, which is the place of all evil, and I am going to the city of Zion.

APOLLYON: By this I perceive thou art one of my subjects; for all that country is mine, and I am the prince and god of it.

How is it, then, that thou hast run away from thy king? Were it not that I hope thou mayest do me more service, I would strike thee now at one blow to the ground.

CHRISTIAN: I was, indeed, born in your dominions, but your service was hard, and your wages such as a man could not live on; "for the wages of sin is death," (Romans 6:23); therefore, when I was come to years, I did, as other considerate persons do, look out if perhaps I might mend myself.

APOLLYON: There is no prince that will thus lightly lose his subjects, neither will I as yet lose thee; but since thou complainest of thy service and wages, be content to go back, and what our country will afford I do here promise to give thee.

CHRISTIAN: But I have let myself to another, even to the King of princes; and how can I with fairness go back with thee?

APOLLYON: Thou hast done in this according to the proverb, “changed a bad for a worse;” but it is ordinary for those that have professed themselves his servants, after a while to give him the slip, and return again to me. Do thou so to, and all shall be well.

CHRISTIAN: I have given him my faith, and sworn my allegiance to him; how then can I go back from this, and not be hanged as a traitor.

APOLLYON: Thou didst the same by me, and yet I am willing to pass by all, if now thou wilt yet turn again and go back.

CHRISTIAN: What I promised thee was in my non-age: and besides, I count that the Prince, under whose banner I now stand, is able to absolve me, yea, and to pardon also what I did as to my compliance with thee.

And besides, O thou destroying Apollyon, to speak truth, I like his service, his wages, his servants, his government, his company, and country, better than thine; therefore leave off to persuade me farther: I am his servant, and I will follow him.

APOLLYON: Consider again, when thou art in cool blood, what thou art like to meet with in the way that thou goest. Thou knowest that for the most part his servants come to an ill end, because they are transgressors against me and my ways. How many of them have been put to shameful deaths!

And besides, thou countest his service better than mine; whereas he never yet came from the place where he is, to deliver any that served him out of their enemies’ hands: but as for me, how many times, as all the world very well knows, have I delivered, either by power or fraud, those that have faithfully served me, from him and his, though taken by them! And so will I deliver thee.

CHRISTIAN: His forbearing at present to deliver them, is on purpose to try their love, whether they will cleave to him to the end: and as for the ill end thou sayest they come to, that is most glorious in their account.

For, for present deliverance, they do not much expect it; for they stay for their glory; and then they shall have it, when their Prince comes in his and the glory of the angels.

APOLLYON: Thou hast already been unfaithful in thy service to him; and how dost thou think to receive wages of him?

CHRISTIAN: Wherein, O Apollyon, have I been unfaithful to him?

APOLLYON: Thou didst faint at first setting out, when thou wast almost choked in the gulf of Despond.

Thou didst attempt wrong ways to be rid of thy burden, whereas thou shouldst have stayed till thy Prince had taken it off.

Thou didst sinfully sleep, and lose thy choice things.

Thou wast almost persuaded also to go back at the sight of the lions.

And when thou talkest of thy journey, and of what thou hast seen and heard, thou art inwardly desirous of vainglory in all that thou sayest or doest.

CHRISTIAN: All this is true, and much more which thou hast left out; but the Prince whom I serve and honor is merciful, and ready to forgive.

But besides, these infirmities possessed me in thy country, for there I sucked them in, and I have groaned under them, been sorry for them, and have obtained pardon of my Prince.

APOLLYON: Then Apollyon broke out into a grievous rage, saying, I am an enemy to this Prince; I hate his person, his laws, and people: I am come out on purpose to withstand thee.

CHRISTIAN: Apollyon, beware what you do, for I am in the King’s highway, the way of holiness; therefore take heed to yourself.

APOLLYON: Then Apollyon straddled quite over the whole breadth of the way, and said, I am void of fear in this matter. Prepare thyself to die; for I swear by my infernal den, that thou shalt go no farther: here will I spill thy soul.

And with that he threw a flaming dart at his breast; but Christian had a shield in his hand, with which he caught it, and so prevented the danger of that.

Then did Christian draw, for he saw it was time to bestir him; and Apollyon as fast made at him, throwing darts as thick as hail; by the which, notwithstanding all that Christian could do to avoid it, Apollyon wounded him in his head, his hand, and foot.

This made Christian give a little back: Apollyon, therefore, followed his work amain, and Christian again took courage, and resisted as manfully as he could.

This sore combat lasted for above half a day, even till Christian was almost quite spent: for you must know, that Christian, by reason of his wounds, must needs grow weaker and weaker.

Then Apollyon, espying his opportunity, began to gather up close to Christian, and wrestling with him, gave him a dreadful fall; and with that Christian’s sword flew out of his hand.

Then said Apollyon, I am sure of thee now: and with that he had almost pressed him to death, so that Christian began to despair of life.

But, as God would have it, while Apollyon was fetching his last blow, thereby to make a full end of this good man, Christian nimbly reached out his hand for his sword, and caught it, saying,

"Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise," Micah 7:8;

and with that gave him a deadly thrust, which made him give back, as one that had received his mortal wound.

Christian perceiving that, made at him again, saying, "Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors, through Him that loved us," Romans 8:37.

And with that Apollyon spread forth his dragon wings, and sped him away, that Christian saw him no more.

"Resist the devil, and he will flee from you," James 4:7.

In this combat no man can imagine, unless he had seen and heard, as I did, what yelling and hideous roaring Apollyon made all the time of the fight; he spake like a dragon: and on the other side, what sighs and groans burst from Christian’s heart.

I never saw him all the while give so much as one pleasant look, till he perceived he had wounded Apollyon with his two-edged sword; then, indeed, he did smile, and look upward!

But it was the dreadfullest sight that ever I saw.

So when the battle was over, Christian said, I will here give thanks to him that hath delivered me out of the mouth of the lion, to him that did help me against Apollyon.

And so he did, saying, “Great Beelzebub, the captain of this fiend, Designed my ruin; therefore to this end He sent him harness’d out; and he, with rage

That hellish was, did fiercely me engage: But blessed Michael helped me, and I, By dint of sword, did quickly make him fly: Therefore to Him let me give lasting praise, And thank and bless his holy name always.”

Then there came to him a hand with some of the leaves of the tree of life, the which Christian took and applied to the wounds that he had received in the battle, and was healed immediately.

He also sat down in that place to eat bread, and to drink of the bottle that was given him a little before: so, being refreshed, he addressed himself to his journey with his sword drawn in his hand; for he said, I know not but some other enemy may be at hand.

But he met with no other affront from Apollyon quite through this valley.

Now at the end of this valley was another, called the Valley of the Shadow of Death; and Christian must needs go through it, because the way to the Celestial City lay through the midst of it."

Temple Deniers - Those Who Say Solomon's Temple Never Existed

God called Abraham to Mount Moriah where he was to build an altar and offer Isaac. God sent an angel and redeemed Isaac that day. Today, Islamic authorities deny that Abraham was ever there. They deny that he offered Isaac, but insist that he blessed Ishmael instead. They deny that David ever pitched the Tabernacle on Mount Moriah, or that Solomon ever built the Holy Temple there. They deny that the infant Jesus was dedicated there, or that He drove out the moneychangers from the Temple, or that the Apostles preached or performed miracles there.

Instead, they demand that Mohammed ascended into heaven from that rock, although not one word of it is even written in their Koran. They claim that Mohammed tied his horse to the Western Wall, and that the entire site belongs forever to Islam. Their Dome of the Rock is built on top of it, and Jews are forbidden from visiting the rock, or from praying or worshiping on their most holy and beloved site.

But in much the same manner as Muslims vehemently supplant ancient Truth with their denials, new pseudo-Christian "ministries" are also overlaying true New Testament Christianity with an altogether false version of Christianity.

A thousand new-fangled doctrines and lifestyles not found in the Bible are the building blocks of their false churches. With their hyper-grace, once-saved-always-saved, success-prosperity, human-potential, positive-thinking, anti-Pentecostal, anti-holiness, sports-and-entertainment-centered, flesh-pleasing junk, they have built their own Dome of the Rock in place of the authentic Biblical, Oneness, Apostolic, Pentecostal, tongue-talking, Acts 2:38, Jesus' name, holy, separated living, preaching, praying Church.

The whole matter is creating an epic conflict between lovers of Biblical Christianity and lovers of pseudo-Christianity. Just as Islamic "Temple Deniers" utterly deny that Israel has any right or historical link to the site, so these modern pseudo-Christians deny that Christianity has anything to do with old-time religion, and defiantly hijack Christianity-at-large to institutionalize their passionately-fabricated, self-serving lies.

But hard-headed denial cannot and does not change the Truth. This pernicious denial of Biblical truth is going to fuel an escalating war between the two parties until Jesus comes.

For my part, I am determined to stand for the ancient New Testament doctrines and teachings. I will not tolerate a lie. I will declare the truth of God's Word regardless of how many people accuse me of "legalism," "traditions of men," "Phariseeism," or worse. I have studied this matter forward and backwards, and I know very well what the New Testament Church looked and acted like, and exactly what they believed. I have spent tens of thousands of hours in this Holy Book, and my whole lifetime practicing what I preach. I refuse to consent to a modernized, popularized, plagiarized, carnal, worldly substitute. It is NOT the True Church, and it cannot save your eternal soul. It's an imposter.

Let the liars lie all they want. I know the Truth, and I will believe it and stand for it until I die. Judgment Day is coming, and God knows the Truth, too. I'm staying on His side. It is the only right thing to do.

Lawless Christians - The Hyper-Grace Mob

Hyper-Grace is nothing new. It is the modern reincarnation of historical Antinomianism - "against the Law" - the most reckless, irresponsible "gospel" ever preached.

Antinomianism/Hyper-Grace argues that the law is the enemy of righteousness, and that righteousness can only be had without any reference or obedience to the laws of God.

Antinomianism argues that righteousness comes naturally with "innocent" abstract spiritual "intuition," and that righteousness is impossible while in any proximity to the hearing or observance of law.  

Antinomianism would have you believe that the Holy Spirit magically puts both the law and perfect righteousness into your heart without your actually observing any laws or commandments of God, as written in His Holy Word; and that you will become righteous without actually being told what to do. 

Antinomianism therefore attempts to squash or silence all mention or teaching of the Laws of God, and urges ignorance and rejection of the law.

The World English Dictionary says that Antinomianism is "relating to the doctrine that by faith and the dispensation of grace a Christian is released from the obligation of adhering to any moral law."

The Antinomian preacher insists that God does not see your sins after you believe. He demands that your righteousness miraculously appears like Tinkerbell sprinkles magic dust. He insists that you should NOT concern yourself with knowing God's laws, or in making ANY attempt to obey God's laws. You will be made perfect by GRACE alone.

Absolute Hogwash.

Joseph Prince, Joel Osteen, and an army of mega-wealthy TV preachers have discovered that Antinomianism sells hotter than iPads and iPhones. They have made hundreds of millions of dollars telling people that Christianity really has no rules. They live in palaces and jet-set all over the world telling packed arenas full of people that Heaven waits for all those who do nothing more than love Jesus and ignore everything else in the Bible. It is minimalism on steroids.

But Antinomianism is Hell's gospel. It is the voice of the serpent telling Eve, "Ye shall not surely die! Ye shall be as gods!" Satan had only one objective with Eve. STOP HER FROM OBEYING God's one solitary law.

According to Lucifer, all she had to do to live forever was to IGNORE God's one solitary law. Just be good on her own terms.

"EAT THE FORBIDDEN FRUIT!! It won't hurt you!! You will NOT be better by obeying any laws!" In doing so, she would be as a god, and would know essentially all things.

For every verse that the Antinomian preacher uses to "prove" his hyper-grace lies, there is a great body of contradictory scriptures that run throughout the NEW Testament that prove him not only wrong, but perniciously, Hellaciously wrong.

God is a God of order, precepts, doctrines, laws, and commandments - NONE of which are moot, NONE of which are to be ignored, abandoned, rejected or denied. Righteousness is, by definition, RIGHT DOING. You will never DO right unless you KNOW, OBSERVE and OBEY God's Written Word.

Jesus explicitly said about the COMMANDMENTS, that "whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven," Matthew 5:19.

Don't ever tell me that I should not both do and teach the commandments!

"If ye love me, keep my commandments," John 14:15.


Antinomianism is ANARCHY. It is LAWLESSNESS. And that is the Modus Operandi of Lucifer himself.

Paul warned of the coming Man of Sin, the Son of Perdition, "that wicked one," which in the Greek text means, "LAWLESS ONE."

"And then shall that Wicked [Greek: 'lawless one'] be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming," 2 Thessalonians 2:8.

The Antinomian preacher is the accomplice to the Lawless One. The Antinomian preacher is as much the enemy of Christ as the devil himself.

EVERY VERSE that the Antinomian preacher uses to prove his perjurious Hyper-Grace can be countermanded by an arsenal of other New Testament scriptures that teach irrefutably that Jesus Christ has called us into conformity to His will through fearful obedience, keeping of His commandments, discipleship, spiritual disciplines, striving for perfection, avoiding all appearance of evil, fleeing youthful lusts, observing all things that He has commanded, recognizing and avoiding those who walk disorderly and not after the things they have been taught from the Word.

I will not protract this article into a long, theological discourse, but rather plead with you now to utterly reject the entire Antinomian, Luciferic spirit, and fall in love with every jot and tittle of God's Word.

"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," 2 Timothy 3:16-17.

THAT is NOT lawlessness. That is NOT Antinomianism.

There is a great body of teaching in the NEW Testament that undeniably calls for the Christian to keep the commandments of God.

If you don't know that already, you need to do your homework.

Please study these articles that relate to this subject, so you will be aware of the great deceptions that are being perpetrated in the name of Jesus Christ.

"Lies Preachers Tell"

"The False Doctrine of Unconditional Love"

"Once-Saved, Always-Saved: The False Doctrine of Eternal Security"

"The Damnable 'I AM NOT A SINNER!' Doctrine"

"The Early Church Was Absolutely, Unequivocally NOT Trinitarian."

Aunt Norma's Letter

I read the entire New Testament for the first time when I was ten years old. I started preaching when I was 14, speaking to youth groups at first, and in my local Church. Also being a singer and a musician, I put together a trio with a couple of my friends, and as soon as I got my driver's license, the three of us went out several times each month to preach and sing in Churches around Texas and Louisiana. When I turned 16, I applied for and received my first Ministerial License, and at 18, I enrolled in an Assemblies of God Bible College in Missouri, and lived in one of the college dorms.

In January of 1970, while a student living in one of the Bible college dorms, I received a letter one day during mail call. It was from my Aunt Norma back home. She was my Father's sister. While I was growing up, she had been the organist in the Assembly of God Church where I attended, and she was the one who taught me how to play the piano and organ.

But when I was eight years old, and she was 19, she left the Church and started attending the United Pentecostal Church in Port Arthur, Texas. Her pastor was Rev. J.T. Pugh. She was baptized in Jesus' name, and had become the organist in that Church.

I will never forget that hand-written letter. I stood in the hallway on the fourth floor of Welch Hall as I opened the letter. There were several other young preacher-students standing in the hall too, opening their own mail.

It was a normal "How are you doing? Hope you are well..." kind of letter. But it was the last line of the letter that stunned me. She said, "Kenneth, I'm praying for you, because if you don't get baptized in Jesus' name, you're going to Hell. Love, Aunt Norma."

I was shocked. I laughed out loud. I said to all the preacher boys around me, "Hey! Look at this! You want to know what those Jesus' name people believe? My aunt just told me that if I don't get baptized in Jesus' name, I'm going to Hell!!"

I passed the letter around and they all looked at it and laughed and made fun of it.

I didn't hold it against my aunt, because I knew that she was a fine Christian. I just figured that's what she believed.

Over time, that letter disappeared, but I never forgot that last line. "If you don't get baptized in Jesus' name, you're going to Hell."

I didn't believe her, but I couldn't forget what she said.

Years went by. My entire life was about ministry. I preached and sang and traveled for several years with my wife, Dixie. We joined the Pastoral staff in a large Assemblies of God Church, and later moved to another city and started a new Church.

While I was Pastoring that new congregation of about 100 members, someone gave me a cassette tape of a preacher named Marvin Hicks, from Corpus Christi, Texas. It was a recording of a debate he participated in against a Church of Christ preacher. The subject was "Jesus' name Baptism."

At that time, a young preacher was staying in the parsonage with us, while conducting nightly services in our local Church. After service one night, he and I sat up late listening to Marvin Hicks explain the Biblical doctrine of Jesus' name baptism.

After we listened, he and I got our Bibles down, and had our own discussion on the matter. At 2:00 AM, he and I both decided that Jesus' name baptism was legitimate, and we both decided that we wanted to be baptized in Jesus' name. So, in the middle of the night, he and I went to the Church and baptized each other in Jesus' name.

That was in 1976. But I did not understand the urgency of it. I did not preach it or discuss it publicly. I didn't even baptize my wife in Jesus' name.

Not long after that, someone introduced me to the new Charismatic Movement. It's a long story that I won't get into here. It's in my book, LONG WINDING ROAD, if you're interested.

But several more years went by. The Charismatic Movement was very impressive to me at first, but it didn't take long before I decided that it was simply too ecumenical and heretical. I saw so many things going on that I knew beyond all question were unscriptural and not of God.  False teachings. false practices and phony lifestyles were everywhere. After a while, I became completely disillusioned with it all.

Within three years, my wife and I left the ministry and stopped going to Church altogether. In short order, at 29 years old, I had become a bitter atheist.

I hate to skip over so many details, but I want to make this as short as possible.

We tried to construct a new life without God, and for a while, it looked as if we would succeed. But many woes came upon us.

Finally, at a point of great distress in our lives, I recognized that I was a fool for denying God. I admitted that 30 months of atheism and godless living had been a tragic mistake.

For the first time in more than two years, Dixie and I decided to pray and read the Bible again. For several months, we fasted and prayed intensely, reading and prayerfully studying the Bible every day.

During that period, while studying the Bible quite intensely, I began to realize the errors of many things I had once believed, and at the same time, began to see how many things in the Bible called for a life of holiness unto the Lord.

One thing led to another. Through a long, convoluted, complicated and stressful chain of events, Dixie and I finally decided that we simply had to find a Church that preached and practiced holiness.

But in the long and short of it, the only people who preached and practiced real Biblical holiness were the Jesus' name people.

On a Wednesday night before Christmas Eve, 1982, we walked into a Jesus' name Church for the first time.

It was like walking through the gates of Heaven. I knew from the moment I stepped in the door that I had found something I had never had before. The prayer, the songs and the preaching were all so profoundly different from what I had known, I nudged my wife halfway through the service, and whispered, "I've got a hook in my jaw."

Shortly after Christmas, my wife, my eight-year-old young son, and myself were all baptized in Jesus' name in that Church.

A light turned on in my soul that night. I began to see and know things about God that had never occurred to me, despite the fact that I had spent thousands of hours in my day, searching the scriptures.

It was a threshold, a gateway into another world; the world of the Apostles' doctrines. I began to see things in the Bible that had I had never seen before. The Oneness of God. The essentiality of the baptism of the Holy Ghost. And "holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord."

I cannot make you see what I see. I cannot force you to understand what I now see so clearly and so plainly. I can only pray that every person who reads this story will open your Bible to Acts 2:38, and read it, the entire chapter, and the entire Book of Acts. You will see - if you will.

Meanwhile, I invite you to study the matter with me.

http://kenraggio.com/KR-Water-And-Spirit-Baptism-And-The-New-Birth.html

P.S. Aunt Norma is 74 now. She was only 29 when she wrote that letter. That was a lifetime ago. Only eternity will reveal how important that letter was. It took 12 years for her letter to have its effect on me personally. But since that time, I've been a Jesus' name preacher for all it's worth. I have personally baptized more than 1800 people in Jesus' name, and have seen many thousands receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost, speaking in other tongues. Now, because of my constant witness on the Internet, the Jesus' name message that I preach is being seen DAILY in over 200 nations and islands of the world. All my websites and web-posts combined make a total of about 100 million impressions per year.

If you don't think people should write letters like that, of if you don't think you should tell someone that they could go to Hell for not obeying the Gospel, maybe you should think again.

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.

I'm A Oneness Pentecostal. That means...

1. I believe in the Oneness of God, while the rest of "Christianity" believes in a Trinity.

2. I believe in Jesus' name baptism, while the rest of "Christianity" baptizes in titles, and refuses to baptize in Jesus' name.

3. I believe in the essentiality of the baptism of the Holy Ghost and speaking in other tongues, while the vast majority of all "Christianity" do not speak in tongues, and most of them think it is of the devil.

4. I believe in a lifestyle of holiness and separation from the world, while most of Christianity is growing increasingly intolerant of ANY RULES whatsoever, preaching the hyperist hyper-grace the world has ever known.

So.. that also means that I am a very determined Christian, to swim against the current, and feel the endless opposition of nearly everyone around me. I have asked myself a million times if I am absolutely sure that what I believe is right, because I don't want to be painting myself in a corner unnecessarily, or bring unnecessary hardship on myself. But every time, after DECADES of searching, studying, praying, and re-consecrating myself, I come up with the same conclusion:

What I believe is exactly right. I am not in error. I am not a heretic. Apostolic Oneness Pentecostal Holiness is the New Testament Church. All the rest are wrong. So even if the ENTIRE WORLD is Trinitarian, I will keep on being Oneness. Even if the ENTIRE WORLD baptizes in titles, I will baptize in Jesus' name. Even if the ENTIRE WORLD is Baptist, I'm going to keep on talking in tongues. Even if the ENTIRE WORLD says that holiness is legalism, bondage and spiritual abuse, I'm going to keep on preaching and practicing the holy lifestyle.

So, there. That's just the way it's got to be.

The Early Church was Absolutely, Unequivocally NOT Trinitarian


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It's Time For A Change

Christianity at large has almost completely abandoned its historic teachings about holiness, piety, and separation from the world and its ways. Almost all of the ancient landmarks have been permanently removed. The old paths have been forsaken and forgotten. Most modern Christians have no knowledge of the old paths or the ancient landmarks. Preachers are traveling the world's freeway at breakneck speeds.

The modern church's identity is more associated with and anchored to the world and its ways than ever before. The original, authentic, New Testament, Apostolic, Pentecostal, Holiness model is almost totally forgotten. The appearance, sound, and spirit is almost completely indistinguishable from the world's. They both look and act just alike.

Hype and artificial excitement have replaced the glory of the Lord. Ichabod is its name.

That will never do.God will not work His wonders in such an environment, as He once worked among consecrated, separated Christians in the past. 

Fleshly entertainment and raw adrenaline are repulsive, noxious substitutes for the true fire of the Holy Ghost and the dynamic authority of the Word of God.

Pentecostal doctrines and experience are rarely articulated and practically non-existent in most churches. Teachers teach human-potential, self-actualization, and dream-your-own-dream. Human talent and ingenuity has replaced supernatural power. The sacrificial life is rejected. Self-fulfillment is the new norm.

This is not progress. It is apostasy. 

STOP DESTROYING THE CHURCH!

It is time for preachers and musicians to stop modeling rock stars and sports celebrities, and start acting like holy men and women of God. 

It's time for Christians to walk out on carnally-minded preachers and musicians. Ask for the old paths. Purge the pulpit of ALL things secular. Demand that the Church and its leaders be what they ought to be. Stop supporting these handsome but ravening wolves.

IT'S TIME for men to take the lead, and be truly godly leaders.
IT'S TIME for women to submit to their husbands.
IT'S TIME for fathers to discipline their children.
IT'S TIME to throw away clothes that are too sexy, too swag or too culturally-hip, and fall in love with ultra-modesty, for GOD's sake.
IT'S TIME for men to act and dress masculine, and for women to act and dress feminine. The unisex look has GOT to go.
IT'S TIME to read the Bible every day - the King James Bible, not other versions that have been shown to be doctrinally corrupt, erroneous and misleading.
IT'S TIME to bring back REAL fasting (doing totally without food), REAL prayer (where men weep between the porch and the altar), and REAL Holy Ghost fire (speaking in tongues, supernatural gifts of the Spirit, signs, wonders and miracles) and fearless, thunderous, pure and unadulterated preaching of God's Word.

That would be A START in the right direction.

Hopefully, at that point, God would have our full attention, and would take us onward and upward toward a more glorious Church than the world knows today.

BUT IF NOT, the day will soon come when true seekers will not be able to find a true Church where they can find eternal salvation for their sinful souls. In many places, that is already the case. God help us all.

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Expensive Choices

I've made a lot of decisions in my life that cost me an enormous price.

But before you assume that I'm talking about the price I've paid for my mistakes, let me intercept that thought.

I won't deny that my mistakes have cost me. In fact, sometimes it seems that I have paid the full retail price and more for every mistake I've made.

But expensive choices do not only come in the form of mistakes.

RIGHT choices can also be very expensive.

Think about it. Adam and Eve lost Paradise for one bite of fruit. God put them out of the Garden. They made the WRONG choice, and it was an expensive choice.

But Abraham made a RIGHT choice that cost him dearly. When God told him to forsake Ur of the Chaldees, and then his family, too - Abraham paid a high price. It was a very expensive choice that Abraham made to do the will of God. But for his expensive choice, God made an everlasting covenant of blessing.

Jacob made an expensive choice when he decided to con Esau out of the family birthright. He spent decades in exile from his family for that expensive choice. Sometimes the price of getting what you want is losing all you've got.

Jesus Christ made an expensive choice in the Garden of Gethsemane that night. He would never have the life that most young men have. He would never marry. Never have children. Never raise a family. Never own a home. Never pursue a career.

At 33 years old, Jesus chose to die.

The catch-22 in this matter is that whether you choose right or wrong - you are going to pay a high price. No matter what your choices, you will pay a price. So many of life's choices are EXPENSIVE CHOICES.

My proposition here is that, when all things are considered, the choices we make for God are completely cost-efficient.

I've made a lot of choices that I know were right, but they cost me almost everything I had at the time.

More than once, I've walked away from family or friends to do the will of God. I didn't want to lose my family or my friends, but I had to do the will of God. It was an expensive choice, but in the end, it was cost-efficient. If I had chosen family and friends over the will of God, I would NEVER stop paying.

To anyone who says that doing the will of God is too hard, I say, "No. The way of transgressors is hard," (Proverbs 13:15).

In the end, doing the will of God doesn't cost at all. It pays. The price you pay to do the will of God is not an expense. It is an investment.

But on the other hand, the price you pay to do as you please is NOT an investment. It is a total loss. You never recover the losses you suffer from disobedience.

Expensive choices.

Anybody knows that it does not pay to invest in merchandise that has no quality. It is smarter to buy an expensive product that is well-made and durable, than to save money up front, and quickly lose it when the product fails.

So it is in the Kingdom of God. God will not be indebted to any man. The price you pay to do the will of God will be rewarded a million times over when you stand before Him and hear Him say, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

Go ahead. Make the expensive choice. Suffer whatever losses, and pay whatever price you have to pay.

This is the Pearl of great price we are talking about. It is the Treasure hid in a field, for which a man will sell all that he has.

Sell all you have. Buy the will of God. Make the expensive choice. Don't hesitate.

Remember, you will never inherit the Promised Land if you won't give up Egypt.

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Fake Rolex Christians

I know a man who goes to New York occasionally to buy "knock-off" watches. He has sources who provide him with look-alike watches of some of the most expensive, high-end watches anywhere.

Some of these watches, if you bought the authentic version, would cost many thousands of dollars. I saw a fake not long ago that was virtually indistinguishable from a $30,000 watch.

People can buy fake watches on the streets of NYC for $49.

The fakes are actually quite impressive. It is not unlikely that they will work excellently for a long time. Unless you have above-average knowledge of watches, it is nearly impossible to know for sure whether it is the real deal or a fake. About 30-40 MILLION fake watches are manufactured yearly, mostly in China.

It is no wonder that they sell like hot-cakes.

Nobody knows that although the OUTSIDE of the watch looks identical, the INSIDE of the watch is not manufactured to the same exacting standards. You can expect that when the fake one breaks down, that is the end of it. Nobody even knows who the manufacturer is. There is no warranty. You can forget getting a refund. Enjoy it while you can, because when it is over, it's over. It is disposable.

But for a few dollars, it has its temporal value, and for the feel-good experience, a lot of people think its a good value.

People buy CHEAP RELIGION for the same reason they wear FAKE ROLEXES. 

They don't want to pay the price!

Unfortunately, a lot MORE people have FAKE RELIGION than wear FAKE ROLEXES.

They go to Church, but it isn't a real Church.  

Sure, on the OUTSIDE, it looks like a real Church. It has a big nice building. There are lots of cars in the parking lot. They have a nice sign on it that says "Church." It may have fabulous music, and fascinating lectures. And most people who go there have no clue that it isn't a real Church.

They don't realize that INSIDE, its doctrine is not Biblical. They don't realize that the only TRUE CHURCH has to be made by the Acts 2 model.

They don't realize that going to a fake Church WILL NOT SAVE their eternal souls. They are being duped. When this short-term religion breaks down, it's over. Nobody knows who the manufacturer is, and nobody can fix it.

Not even God Himself will warranty it.

If they don't clearly teach the doctrines that the Apostles taught, they are not an Apostolic Church.

If they don't baptize the way the Apostles baptized, it is not an Apostolic Church. Almost 300 years after the early Church was born, the Roman Catholic Church outlawed Jesus' name baptism as it had been practiced for hundreds of years.  

They reformulated baptism, DELETING the name of Jesus, and using only titles - even going so far as to TAMPER with the Biblical TEXT of Matthew 28:19. Here is the evidence:

In the EARLIEST known existing versions of Matthew 28:19, early Church patriarch Eusebius quoted it saying, "Go ye and make disciples of all the nations in the name of Christ..." That was quoted EIGHTEEN TIMES by Eusebius in his writings between 290-339 AD.

So, the OLDEST versions of Matthew 28:19 do NOT say "of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." THAT rendering, using only TITLES and not the NAME of Jesus, first appeared at the Council of Nicea in 325 AD. It was formulated and written by Catholic theologians, not by the original Apostles or Jesus Christ Himself.

Furthermore, and more significantly, the Roman Catholic Church condemned as HERETICS the multitudes of Jesus' name baptized Early Church saints (although Jesus' name baptism was the ORIGINAL formula, and up to that time had been the predominate form of baptism). Their homes and properties were confiscated, and most of them were killed.

The Roman Catholic Church MURDERED the authentic Acts 2:38 Church, and replaced it with an imposter!

The Roman Catholic Church was the first to produce "fake Rolexes."

Moreover, if the modern Church does not preach and practice the Baptism of the Holy Ghost, with the initial evidence of speaking in other tongues, it is not a real Apostolic Church.

It's a fake Rolex.

One more comment: Since the TRUE Apostolic, Pentecostal, Jesus' name Church was built by Jesus Christ, you should take note that the FAKE CHURCH will be judged violently by Jesus Christ when He returns, according to the prophecies of Revelation 17-18. You NEED to know these things.

See: "The Early Church Was Absolutely, Unequivocally NOT Trinitarian"

See also: "Answering the Controversy - Water and Spirit Baptism and the New Birth"

See also: "What's Wrong With The Roman Catholic Church?"


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The Boy Who Put His Finger In The Dike

In 1865, Mary Mapes Dodge wrote a popular fictional tale about some children who lived in the Netherlands in the Old Days. 

You may have read it in your schooldays: "Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates."

Apart from the main story-line was a short segment that took on a life of its own and made its way permanently into American culture. 

It is called, "The Hero of Haarlem," or "The Boy Who Put His Finger in The Dike."
  
Here is the story that Mrs. Dodge told (abridged):

"Many years ago, there lived in Haarlem, one of the principal cities of Holland, a sunny-haired boy of gentle disposition. His father was a sluicer, that is, a man whose business it was to open and close the sluices, or large oaken gates, that are placed at regular distances across the entrances of the canals, to regulate the amount of water that shall flow into them. The sluicer raises the gates more or less according to the quantity of water required, and closes them carefully at night, in order to avoid all possible danger of an oversupply running into the canal, or the water would soon overflow it and inundate the surrounding country.

As a great portion of Holland is lower than the level of the sea, the waters are kept from flooding the land only by means of strong dikes, or barriers, and by means of these sluices, which are often strained to the utmost by the pressure of the rising tides. Even the little children in Holland know that constant watchfulness is required to keep the rivers and ocean from overwhelming the country, and that a moment's neglect of the sluicer's duty may bring ruin and death to all.

One lovely autumn afternoon, when the boy was about eight years old, he obtained his parents' consent to carry some cakes to a blind man who lived out in the country, on the other side of the dike. The little fellow started on his errand with a light heart, and having spent an hour with his grateful old friend, he bade him farewell and started on his homeward walk.

Trudging stoutly along the canal, he noticed how the autumn rains had swollen the waters. Even while humming his careless, childish song, he thought of his father's brave old gates and felt glad of their strength, for, thought he, 'If they gave way, where would Father and Mother be? These pretty fields would all be covered with the angry waters - Father always calls them the angry waters. I suppose he thinks they are mad at him for keeping them out so long.'

And with these thoughts just flitting across his brain, the little fellow stooped to pick the pretty flowers that grew along his way. Suddenly the boy looked around him in dismay. He had not noticed that the sun was setting. Now he saw that his long shadow on the grass had vanished. It was growing dark, he was still some distance from home, and in a lonely ravine, where even the blue flowers had turned to gray. He quickened his footsteps and, with a beating heart recalled many a nursery tale of children belated in dreary forests.

Just as he was bracing himself for a run, he was startled by the sound of trickling water. Whence did it come? He looked up and saw a small hole in the dike through which a tiny stream was flowing. Any child in Holland will shudder at the thought of a leak in the dike! The boy understood the danger at a glance. That little hole, if the water were allowed to trickle through, would soon be a large one, and a terrible inundation would be the result.

Quick as a flash, he saw his duty. Throwing away his flowers, the boy clambered up the heights until he reached the hole. His chubby little finger was thrust in, almost before he knew it. The flowing was stopped! Ah! he thought, with a chuckle of boyish delight, the angry waters must stay back now!

"Haarlem shall not be drowned while I am here! "

This was all very well at first, but the night was falling rapidly. Chill vapors filled the air. Our little hero began to tremble with cold and dread. He shouted loudly; he screamed, 'Come here! come here!' but no one came. The cold grew more intense, a numbness, commencing in the tired little finger, crept over his hand and arm, and soon his whole body was filled with pain. He shouted again, 'Will no one come? Mother! Mother!'

Alas, his mother, good, practical soul, had already locked the doors and had fully resolved to scold him on the morrow for spending the night with blind Jansen without her permission. He tried to whistle. Perhaps some straggling boy might heed the signal, but his teeth chattered so, it was impossible.

Then he called on God for help. And the answer came, through a holy resolution: 'I will stay here till morning.' The midnight moon looked down upon that small, solitary form, sitting upon a stone, halfway up the dike. His head was bent but he was not asleep, for every now and then one restless hand rubbed feebly the outstretched arm that seemed fastened to the dike - and often the pale, tearful face turned quickly at some real or fancied sounds.

How can we know the sufferings of that long and fearful watch - what falterings of purpose, what childish terrors came over the boy as he thought of the warm little bed at home, of his parents, his brothers and sisters, then looked into the cold, dreary night! If he drew away that tiny finger, the angry waters, grown angrier still, would rush forth, and never stop until they had swept over the town. No, he would hold it there till daylight - if he lived!

He was not very sure of living. What did this strange buzzing mean? And then the knives that seemed pricking and piercing him from head to foot? He was not certain now that he could draw his finger away, even if he wished to.

At daybreak a clergyman, returning from the bedside of a sick parishioner, thought he heard groans as he walked along on the top of the dike. Bending, he saw, far down on the side, a child apparently writhing with pain. 'In the name of wonder, boy,' he exclaimed, 'what are you doing there?' 'I am keeping the water from running out,' was the simple answer of the little hero. 'Tell them to come quick.'

It is needless to add that they did come quickly.

I find myself standing where our young hero stood - looking at a treacherous breach in the dike. Everything that once kept the world out of the Church of the Living God has been breached.

Christianity has been compromised. Evil men and seducers have infiltrated the Holy Places in the Church and have brought teachings and spirits that are intended to destroy the very levees that hold the world out.

The modern Church's sacred legacy of holiness preaching, spanning the last five centuries, is being methodically dismantled by men who demand that there is nothing wrong with bringing the world into the Church.

The angry waters are mad at the Church for keeping them out for so long.

The doctrine of separation is being discredited and held in contempt by many of the most prominent and influential of all "Christian" voices in this generation.

But make no mistake about it. If the world floods the Church with its movies, its music, its sports, its entertainment, its comedy, its dances, its liquors and habits, its sacrilege and mockery, its...

There will be no Church remaining if it is left only to the devices of these arrogant, self-serving impostors who bill themselves as ministers of the Gospel.

I may never be able to single-handedly stop the breach in the levee, but one thing I know.

"Haarlem shall not be drowned while I am here!"

I will pursue every breach with the loudest declaration of the Word of God that I can muster.

I will preach holiness and separation from the world until my dying breath.

I will hold up the Word of God and everything I can find in it as the ultimate standard for living. Let God be true and every man a liar.

The Apostle Paul said, “For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ, But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him," 2 Corinthians 11:2-4.

Paul fought against all odds to protect and preserve the Church's virginity.

May Almighty God raise up an army of mighty men today who will "make up the hedge, and stand in the gap" before the Lord that He will not allow the Church to be destroyed.

Oh, there WILL be a Church when Jesus comes. But it will not be so without a fight.

If a teen-age boy named David could stand in the gap for all of Israel and destroy the terrifying Giant Goliath, then maybe, just maybe, you and I can stand in the gap for our generation.

"Haarlem shall not be drowned while I am here!"

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A Spiritual Lesson from Uncle Remus

On July 21, 1879, Joel Chandler Harris, an Associate Editor at the Atlanta Constitution, published a story he had written, entitled, "The Story of Mr. Rabbit and Mr. Fox as told by Uncle Remus."

It was the first of a long series of Uncle Remus stories, derived from life on the old Southern plantations, and told by fictional Uncle Remus, a kindly old former slave, who was destined to become one of the greatest tellers of African-American folklore.

The stories revolved around a trickster and trouble-making rabbit, Brer Rabbit (Brother Rabbit), and a his arch-rivals, Brer Fox and Brer Bear. In 1904, Harris published "The Wonderful Tar Baby Story." It is not easy to read, but here it is. There is a big lesson in the end.

THE WONDERFUL TAR BABY STORY

"Didn't the fox never catch the rabbit, Uncle Remus?" asked the little boy the next evening.

"He come mighty nigh it, honey, sho's you born--Brer Fox did. One day atter Brer Rabbit fool 'im wid dat calamus root, Brer Fox went ter wuk en got 'im some tar, en mix it wid some turkentime, en fix up a contrapshun w'at he call a Tar-Baby, en he tuck dish yer Tar-Baby en he sot 'er in de big road, en den he lay off in de bushes fer to see what de news wuz gwine ter be.

En he didn't hatter wait long, nudder, kaze bimeby here come Brer Rabbit pacin' down de road--lippity-clippity, clippity -lippity--dez ez sassy ez a jay-bird. Brer Fox, he lay low. Brer Rabbit come prancin' 'long twel he spy de Tar-Baby, en den he fotch up on his behime legs like he wuz 'stonished. De Tar Baby, she sot dar, she did, en Brer Fox, he lay low.

"'Mawnin'!' sez Brer Rabbit, sezee - `nice wedder dis mawnin',' sezee.

"Tar-Baby ain't sayin' nuthin', en Brer Fox he lay low.

"`How duz yo' sym'tums seem ter segashuate?' sez Brer Rabbit, sezee.

"Brer Fox, he wink his eye slow, en lay low, en de Tar-Baby, she ain't sayin' nuthin'.

"'How you come on, den? Is you deaf?' sez Brer Rabbit, sezee. 'Kaze if you is, I kin holler louder,' sezee.

"Tar-Baby stay still, en Brer Fox, he lay low.

"'You er stuck up, dat's w'at you is,' says Brer Rabbit, sezee, 'en I'm gwine ter kyore you, dat's w'at I'm a gwine ter do,' sezee.

"Brer Fox, he sorter chuckle in his stummick, he did, but Tar-Baby ain't sayin' nothin'.

"'I'm gwine ter larn you how ter talk ter 'spectubble folks ef hit's de las' ack,' sez Brer Rabbit, sezee. 'Ef you don't take off dat hat en tell me howdy, I'm gwine ter bus' you wide open,' sezee.

"Tar-Baby stay still, en Brer Fox, he lay low.

"Brer Rabbit keep on axin' 'im, en de Tar-Baby, she keep on sayin' nothin', twel present'y Brer Rabbit draw back wid his fis', he did, en blip he tuck 'er side er de head. Right dar's whar he broke his merlasses jug. His fis' stuck, en he can't pull loose. De tar hilt 'im. But Tar-Baby, she stay still, en Brer Fox, he lay low.

"`Ef you don't lemme loose, I'll knock you agin,' sez Brer Rabbit, sezee, en wid dat he fotch 'er a wipe wid de udder han', en dat stuck. Tar-Baby, she ain'y sayin' nuthin', en Brer Fox, he lay low.

"`Tu'n me loose, fo' I kick de natal stuffin' outen you,' sez Brer Rabbit, sezee, but de Tar-Baby, she ain't sayin' nuthin'. She des hilt on, en de Brer Rabbit lose de use er his feet in de same way. Brer Fox, he lay low. Den Brer Rabbit squall out dat ef de Tar-Baby don't tu'n 'im loose he butt 'er cranksided. En den he butted, en his head got stuck. Den Brer Fox, he sa'ntered fort', lookin' dez ez innercent ez wunner yo' mammy's mockin'-birds.

"`Howdy, Brer Rabbit,' sez Brer Fox, sezee. `You look sorter stuck up dis mawnin',' sezee, en den he rolled on de groun', en laft en laft twel he couldn't laff no mo'. `I speck you'll take dinner wid me dis time, Brer Rabbit. I done laid in some calamus root, en I ain't gwineter take no skuse,' sez Brer Fox, sezee."

Here Uncle Remus paused, and drew a two-pound yam out of the ashes.

"Did the fox eat the rabbit?" asked the little boy to whom the story had been told.

"Dat's all de fur de tale goes," replied the old man. "He mout, an den agin he moutent. Some say Judge B'ar come 'long en loosed 'im - some say he didn't. I hear Miss Sally callin'. You better run 'long."

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Lest you miss the point, I remind you that foxes eat rabbits. Tar Baby was a death trap that Brer Fox set for Brer Rabbit. You don't want to know what finally happened to Brer Rabbit.

Now...

I'm a Gospel preacher, so you have to indulge me this one last comment.

The devil has set a Tar Baby in your path. In fact, if you haven't noticed, your whole path is lined with Tar Babies. And they are all meant to entrap your eternal soul, and give the devil the desire of his heart - to utterly devour you.

Tar Baby Entertainment.
Tar Baby Sports.
Tar Baby Materialism.
Tar Baby Money.
Tar Baby Drugs.
Tar Baby False Religion.
Tar Baby this, and Tar Baby that.

You better not mess with those Tar Babies. You'll get stuck, and you may never get free.

You'll be sorry. Believe me.


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