This letter is very short, but there is a purpose to this, which I will explain at the end. Keep in mind, I searched my archives, and I have never received a letter from this man, nor do I know who he is.
JOHN FROM OHIO:
Please watch the whole video on the Thief on the Cross argument. It is very insightful on when the Old Testament came to a end and when the New Testament began and is the official way which we need to follow. It shows why Thief on the Cross argument is not a good argument and how we cant be saved today like the Thief on the Cross.
https://video.wvbs.org/video/the-thief-on-the-cross/
Thanks and may the Truth set us free.
No thanks. Have a great day.
END OF DISCUSSION
So why am I posting this? I had originally considered just moving on with my day, as I have a lot to get done, however, it also occurred to me that this might help some other Christians increase their discernment, and so I wanted to take the opportunity to explain why I did not respond to this man any further, and how that, before I had ever looked at the website, I knew it was trouble.
The first thing we need to ask ourselves is: "Why is he writing me?" I have never spoken to this person before, and yet, he opens with a cordial command to go watch a particular video. It does not matter that he gave a very brief and vague explanation of it (mostly because he's lazy), but the main problem is that he never explained
WHY he sent me this. He mentions a "thief on the cross argument," but does not explain details as to what I have taught versus what this other website is teaching, which indicates to me three major problems with this letter:
1. Laziness
2. Cowardice
3. Lack of understanding
The reason I say this is because the man likely spent less than a minute writing this, which also indicates he did not put much thought into it at all. The second and third reason are not certain yet, but I suspect are part of the problem because, if someone takes the time to write out complete sentences and capitalize certain letters, then likely, he has the capability to write out he thoughts clearly, but he does not fully understand the doctrine he is trying to talk about (which means he should not be writing to me about it yet), and/or he is afraid of controversy.
The main problem here is that I have no idea how much this man has heard of what I teach, I have no idea what he heard me say, what problem he had with it, what the subject context was when I talked about it -- he has given me almost nothing except a link. So, I decided not to watch anything he sent me, and it was not until I decided to write this that I said to myself, "Okay, let's go look into this website now to see if I'm correct," because my suspicion is that this man (John) is referring to a leavened website/ministry.
Before I get into analysis of the website and what they teach, I want to make it clear that if a man took the time to write me this letter, he obviously wants me to change whatever it is I have taught (which, we cannot determine what that is because he did not tell us), and change what I teach to whatever it is he wants to believe. He did not want to take the time to explain it himself (indicating he does not understand it and/or is too lazy to do it), and so because I do not have a context, I have NO interest in watching the video he sent me, and instead, we are just going to look over the basics of wvbs.org to see what they really teach and believe.
First, if we visit this link:
https://video.wvbs.org/about/faq/... and we look at point 4, we can see that they are a 501c3 incorporation, which means my suspicions about this being a leavened ministry are already confirmed.
501c3: The Devil's ChurchAt the top of the page, they claim to have well over a thousand teachings, so that tells me it should be relatively easy to find certain doctrines. I typed in the word 'tithe', but there was no information, which I found to be a little odd. How can a Christian ministry have that many teachings and not one on a subject that many churchgoers hold near and dear to their hearts?
Tithe is Not a Christian RequirementSo next, let's go to their doctrine on repentance, which I found here:
https://video.wvbs.org/video/the-truth-about-repentance-asl/If you listen to this video, you will see that they do teach repentance is necessary before and after salvation, which is correct, but first thing we can notice about the video is that they use new-age, corrupt bible versions.
Why I Use the King James BibleWe are starting to see the major points of leaven, and already, just on those view notes, I would stay far away from this WVBS Online site. The deceiving thing about this man is that he is one of the few people who teaches that 'repent' means "godly sorrow, but then he turns around and says that someone can lose their salvation.
If you go to about
1:58 in the video, he says:
"Because, even after I become a child of God, I still sometimes sin, and I could lose my soul."He then goes on to say that Simon the sorcerer became a Christian, simply because he was baptized. No, he didn't. He only followed Peter around because he wanted the special powers of the Holy Spirit so he could make money; he had no interest in the Gospel.
So, despite the fact that this preacher teaches 'repent' means "godly sorrow," he is still leavened, and teaches many false doctrines and corrupt concepts. Oh, and I just saw it, the man's name who is preaching these things is Don Blackwell, and so, at the very least, I know to stay away from Blackwell.
He also teaches people to participate in pagan witchcraft rituals for the various holidays, and he has a video in which he fervently defends the Christmas tree, and calls it "good." See here:
https://video.wvbs.org/video/the-truth-about-christmas/Christmas: The Rejection of JesusAs a side note, he preaches false doctrines about Christmas and Easter to try and justify his "sacred" traditions, but he does not even address Halloween. That's interesting because I believe he knows that the full research and teaching on Halloween also condemns his Christmas and Easter traditions, and so these people know it's best to leave out any information on that.
Easter: Christians Celebrating AbominationHalloween: Are Christians Lovers of Death?Oh! And I found it. I had to search for the word "offering," and there is a teaching by Neal Pollard on tithe. So, yes, they teach tithe:
https://video.wvbs.org/video/the-truth-about-giving/They don't start teaching it until 25:50, so I hope that will save you guys some time. They throw it in at the end and it deceives the listeners, and again, here is the truth:
Tithe is Not a Christian RequirementSo yes, WVBS Online is deceptive, they are leavened, they teach many false doctrines with "good words and fair speeches," and I will stay far away from them.
Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.
-Rom 16:17-18I hope that's helpful to you all, but the sad part is that the man who wrote me (i.e. John), did not want the truth to set him free (as he claimed in his email), but rather, would have me stop teaching the truth so he can feel better about himself. He did not send me that email out of any concern for me, our church, or this ministry, but rather, he sent that email selfishly so he can compromise Scripture to do what feels good to him, and I guarantee further conversation would reveal those facts.
