Messages

1

Bible Discussion / Re: Friendship

« on: August 17, 2022, 12:16:27 PM »

I have less than a handful of people that I consider a close friend anymore, which is one of the biggest reasons why I joined this group. Almost everyone in my life save for a few people got the covid shot/booster and/or seems to be deceived by so much false doctrine (if they're even interested in God at all.) Many don't seem to care much about the word of God as far as I can tell.

In addition to that..so many family members, coworkers, and acquaintances encouraged me to take the shot during the height of the plandemic. I definitely think these people will be the same ones in the tribulation delivering believers up to be killed due to rejecting the mark and their beloved beast/antichrist. It's not that I dislike them, I just can't be close anymore.

Also wanted to add that this post in particular hit hard for me as almost exactly a year ago, I lost my father to the hospital system. I'm working on a full writeup on that, but the cliff notes version is..he went in with a high blood sugar level, and a low oxygen level. The hospital got a positive covid test and just one day after he was admitted to the Covid ICU, was given 5 days of remdesivir. Then, they vented him and as he was being vented, he went into cardiac arrest due to "agitation and worsening condition". They brought him back after 15 minutes of CPR, and he was on the vent for roughly a week and change before they gave him midozalam and fentanyl on his final day, which I think may have contributed to his second cardiac arrest episode. They claimed they tried to revive him for 30 minutes, but I'll never be sure about what happened at any point during his hospital stay. I definitely believe they are poisoning people to death (or simply pulling ventilators) and hiding behind "protocols" until proven wrong. Per Florida Law, the doctors basically have immunity from what I can see.

It's sad when people don't want to listen to truth and shut you out. I think in most cases, the world doesn't want to be a friend of the Christian any more than a Christian wants to compromise to get along with the world. If you share the truth with many people..they'll walk away from you. I've also found that in most cases, unbelievers want believers to compromise their values (Personally, I've had people ask me to join them to smoke, or in perversion), but find it too restricting and forceful for a believer to share Christ, which typically makes close friendship with them basically impossible. Different values, different interests, etc

Brian, I've also wondered about how narrow the way is.. in Revelation 7:9-10, there seems to be a great multitude:

After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.

In Acts 2:39-47, 3000 souls received the words of Peter, with many more being added to the church daily by the Lord after that.


Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and 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.
For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.
And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.
And all that believed were together, and had all things common;
And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.
And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,
Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

But at the same time, compared to all the people who have or ever will exist, it seems it will only be a relative few who make it per the word of Christ (as you mentioned). For example, only 8 souls went on the ark. 

Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. -1 Peter 3:20

Sodom and Gomorrah was similar. Only Lot and his two daughters made it out, with Lot's wife being made an example for all generations..

Remember Lot's wife. Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it. -Luke 17:32-33

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Introduce Yourself / Re: Brian's introduction

« on: August 17, 2022, 01:56:32 AM »

Hi Brian,

Thanks for sharing your testimony! Definitely a good read. I'm in Florida as well (Tampa area). It's shocking how similar many churches run compared to a typical corporate style business. Many 501c3 churches have a board of directors, "Senior Pastor" (CEO, face of the company/"brand") etc.

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Introduce Yourself / Re: John from FL

« on: August 15, 2022, 02:22:34 AM »

Hi Chris! Apologies for the late reply.

What you mentioned in your post has been one of my concerns for the longest time. In Matthew 7:6, Christ said:

Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

So I definitely know that there is a point where I could be wasting my breath with someone. But I haven't had many people lash out at me violently for telling them the truth, most conversations have seemed rational..they just don't listen in the end. For example, when I have tried to share with family and friends that CCM is corrupt, holidays are corrupt, and many of the false teachers they enjoy are corrupt, a lot of times they don't cut the conversation short...but as far as I remember, I've rarely if ever had the response of "wow, thank you for sharing that, I'll definitely take a look into that topic".

I'd say the majority of the time, nothing changes. I actually found out that a family member still donates to corrupt ministers even after I tried to lovingly show them how corrupt many ministers are..which leads me to believe that many of these people are false converts. I don't necessarily believe that just because someone doesn't listen to *me* the first time I discuss something with them, they're doomed. There have been times where God had to work on my heart. But to not even look into it after claiming to be "saved"..it just isn't a good sign.


Also, I've seen exactly what you're talking about, especially on social media. Many people's testimony just includes swapping their bar outings for a 501c3 church building..maybe switching their hip hop playlist for "Christian" hip hop music (for example). The churches aren't helping either as many times, they encourage CCM and don't teach the truth, all while singing about a Christ they essentially don't know.  For example, the church building that I went to for the majority of my life stopped preaching on sin regularly, started using the Billboard Top 50 "Christian" songs in "worship", and awkwardly started ending the service with a half hearted, "repeat after me" prayer without mentioning the law/sin, repentance, and faith in Christ.

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Introduce Yourself / Re: John from FL

« on: July 15, 2022, 03:48:29 AM »

Hi Ellie! Nice to meet you.


Being a part of churchianity/church culture definitely lulled me into a false sense of security. I went to a Christian school (with chapel once a week), christian youth group up to once a week, church on sunday faithfully, and even had a deep respect for Jesus and the things of God.

Still, even after all that preaching, deep down, I was self righteous. I think a lot of people with my background can attest to having the attitude of "yeah I'm not the best person, but I'm not that bad --- and I like God/church stuff/my pastor, everything will work out" Probably the most dangerous place for a person to be-- that type of attitude basically mirrors the attitude of the Pharisees.



I was surprised to see even Paul Washer compromised, specifically when he partnered with Hillsong a while back. But he definitely got me to consider that I needed to look to God's standard, and not compare myself to others before I was saved. Sadly, most of the pastors/teachers I used to follow have compromised which has fully encouraged me to read scripture for myself and pray that God would give me discernment. 

I'll be using the website I've created to share my testimony (which I think might help some people who have dealt with issues similar to mine), and to clearly teach repentance and faith. I also want to expose much of the media--sports, video games, tv shows/movies. And ultimately point to Christ being important above all. Life is too short and hell is too hot, I have to speak up.

My family, and friends haven't taken well to the change at all. Even though I was saved in my teens, I didn't come to fully understand how much of popular Christianity (501c3 buildings, christian music/holidays) were wrong until pretty recently (now in my late 20s). So a lot of changes have been going on more recently that have affected the relationships in my life.

I've basically been called a cultist and religious extremist by some of family for simply teaching the words of Christ verbatim and calling them to repentance. Some family members think it's strange/too extreme that I no longer want to  celebrate the major holidays.

I also try not to listen to "christian" radio as they are all compromised, and threw out/deleted a lot of sinful, satanic music. I've tried to share the compromise of Christian music/radio, but no one has listened to me so far. Definitely a lonely path to walk.


On the friend side of things...I don't have many friends. But I recently told a close friend that Marvel/Disney are pushing antichrist/LGBT themes and I was no longer comfortable watching their movies, especially the new Dr. Strange with it's demonic themes. Never heard back from them to hang out (as expected).

Still, I think of 1 Peter 4:3-5:

For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries:

Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you:

Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead.

Nothing and nobody matters more than Christ. I knew that friendships might fade as a result of my convictions as the world hates Christ and his doctrine. I also have many other friends/family members/acquaintances where I know the relationship will dissolve completely if I call out their sin (and I have plans to at least share the truth in love with them). So I've essentially lost most/all friends and most of my family in terms of being close. On judgement day, it won't matter but again, it's a pretty lonely path.

Understanding repentance is definitely key. Once you understand both repentance and faith are a gift from God, you no longer have to live in the confusion of leavened preachers who try to turn repentance and faith into a work.

I've listened to a lot of Ray comfort's street interviews and in a lot of them, he makes it seem as though you have to stop sinning completely and essentially promise God to never sin again as a prerequisite for salvation. Lots of misinformation and heresy out there.

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Introduce Yourself / John from FL

« on: July 12, 2022, 10:00:25 PM »

Hi Everyone,

I found CLE a while ago. I've read many of the articles and listened to many of the audio teachings but never introduced myself. I've been meaning to join for a long time as it's extremely hard to find a group of believers who want to follow Christ in truth. I'm surrounded by 501c3 church buildings.

Eventually, I will most likely ask to be an official member but for now, I want to start with my testimony. I know it's lengthy (despite it being the "short" version), but I didn't want to miss important details. Please see below:

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-I grew up wanting for nothing. Still, I dealt with seasons of crippling depression and wondering about the purpose of life despite being raised in church/youth group culture, in a religious home, and feeling emotional during the unbiblical altar call and praying a "repeat after me" style prayer every so often.

-Grew up being forced to sing the song “Gentle Jesus meek and mild” before bed by my parents. After reading about Christ for myself in my late teens, realized he was gentle at times, but also stern and he did not shy away from topics like hell.

-In fact, he was clear about what Hell would be like and who would be going there. He said follow me and didn’t back down, whereas in the typical church building, they teach “accept Jesus please, he loves you so much” which is partially true, but not at all how Christ presented himself.

Christ was never desperate for followers (or big numbers so he could brag about all the salvations during a sunday service), and didn’t stutter when he said “repent or you will likewise perish”. I had never seen this side of Jesus before for myself and it pierced me to the core. Reading though the gospels was genuinely hard and honestly each sentence felt like a personal rebuke from Christ himself to me.

-I also read extra biblical content like Sinners In the Hands of an Angry God, Jesus-is Savior.com, Ray Comfort’s Hell’s Best Kept Secret, and heard Paul Washer’s “Unpopular Youth Message”

-I became undone after this. I couldn’t eat or sleep properly for at least a few weeks as I felt the hand of God heavy upon me. One night I couldn’t seem to fall asleep as I sincerely trembled knowing God could throw me into hell at any moment and be justified. I actually prayed, in my heart “please God, don’t let me die until I know I’m saved”

This is a far cry from how I used to view myself. I got an honesty award in 3rd grade and a Christian character award in 6th grade. Deep down I knew I didn’t deserve these awards and was battling sin even as a young teen, but to finally see myself as God saw me (a hell deserving sinner) was definitely eye opening and terrifying. Nothing mattered anymore except knowing that my sins were forgiven.

Ultimately, I hit a point where after reading the words of the publican. I went to my bedroom and asked God directly to have mercy on me, a sinner.

Sadly, after this, I struggled for a long time regarding whether or not I was saved because there is so much confusion regarding how to be saved and how words are defined biblically.

 One teacher would correctly teach the law as the schoolmaster to Christ (which heavily convicted me) and then say repentance is a complete turning from sin and I needed to confess and to name the specific sins as a prerequisite for salvation (like Ray comfort). I didn't know if I had truly done what God asked of me and did not want to find out I was going to hell on Judgement Day.


I also asked many people in my life about how I could know if I was truly saved or not but didn’t know if I could even trust what they said. Surprisingly, some said that a genuine concern on whether or not I was saved was actually a sign I was saved. Ultimately, I needed to go to God directly.

Eventually I hit a point where I just wanted to trust what Christ did instead of listening to all the voices around me. Again, I found myself in my room and said something to the effect, “Lord, thank you for showing me it’s not what I’ve done but what you did” this part may sound scammy, but immediately afterwards I felt my heat in my stomach and peace came over me. I was able to eat properly for the first time in a while without feeling sick to my stomach.

Since then I’ve continued in God’s word. The articles on this site have brought a lot of clarity. For example, I was already disillusioned with them but now I'm completely disgusted with Holidays like Christmas and Easter and don't celebrate them. I would've never known the truth about their origins unless I came to this site.

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I also wanted to add that I am thankful for Chris’s teaching on repentance. I’ve only recently fully understood repentance through reading his article and then checking it against the words of scripture. It's crazy how grief and godly sorrow is clearly taught throughout both the Old and New Testament but so many church buildings and individuals get it wrong. Even I had it wrong for a long time.

I’ll fully admit at times I still question the validity of my faith and feel the need to examine myself, but I believe I was saved in my late teens. I'd be happy to answer any questions and will actually have a website up soon that may end up giving a few more details. Thanks.