It turns out, she did respond. I actually wasn't expecting that, but now that I know she's a Michael W. Smith fan, it makes more sense that she did respond. They are typically very vicious in defense of their precious cult leader. See our teaching on Smith here: Wolves in Costume: Michael W. Smith
DELORIES FROM TEXAS (AKA LORI JO) -- A lot of her letter is in massive bold print.
Dear Mr Johnson, I wouldn't call the word of God murmurings and I am doing my best to remain merciful. You might try that! The Entire New Testament is based on God's Mercy through Jesus our savior. It's obvious you have issues I will be as gentle as possible. So often people find themselves injured and bitter and unable to live healthy spiritual lives. I can only assume something similar has happened to you in your life to cause such hate and contempt for others, especially Christians. Let me remind you your behavior is unacceptable and there is no place for it in the kingdom of God. Let me warn you - Matthew 7:2 ' "Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you." . Luke 6:41
Why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but fail to notice the beam in your own eye? The way you slander the servants of God such as Michael W Smith astounds me! I bet if I could peak in your little book of secrets I might find some pretty shameful and embarrassing stories.. Most people who spend their lives seeking to hurt and cause strife and division in the body of Christ do have their own little book of secrets.
Ephesians 2:8-9 King James Version (KJV)
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Ephesians 4:31-32."Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you."
Colossians 3:12-14 "Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise."
1 Corinthian's 13:11.... now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.
First of all, you falsely accuse me of calling the Word of God "murmuring." (i.e. That's called a strawman argument, where you deceive people with your words.) That shows me that you don't bother to understand what people say to you, or in other words, you're just reacting based on emotion, not based on understanding. You, ma'am, are a murmurer, not God, and I just want to make sure we're clear on that.
Now that you've decided to be a bit more of an adult and have been more direct with your accusations, and you've made your position clear (which you should have done from the start), I can see you're following of the false "jesus" of Michael W. Smith. That's all you had to say; now I know I'm likely dealing with a woman of the world who has been convinced she's of Christ, but is a false convert.
False Converts vs Eternal SecurityBeware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
-Col 2:8Smith is not of Christ; he is of the world, and you follow after Smith because you are of the world, yoking together with the unfruitful works of darkness instead of reproving them.
And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
-Eph 5:11I could explain and give many more verses for understanding on that subject, but you won't hear.
He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.
-John 8:47You do not understand these verses, nor do you understand what love is in Scripture. That's obvious based on your letters, and that's because you've never come to the grief and godly sorrow of repentance, and therefore, you have not yet been given understanding by the Holy Spirit of God.
But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
-1Co 2:14
I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
-Luke 13:3Without grief and godly sorrow of your sin (i.e. repentance), your faith is vain. If you want to learn more, you can read this:
Is Repentance Part of Salvation?I can not give understanding to someone who is lifted up in the pride of her heart. You have to be humbled first, and until that happens, you will never have the saving grace of justification.
But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
-James 4:6I know you say you believe on Jesus, but devils believe Jesus is the Son of God too:
Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
-James 2:9So what makes you different from them? Perhaps you need to keep reading in Matthew chapter 7 because Jesus gives a terrifying warning that you should take notice of, namely, those who will call Jesus "Lord" on the Day of Judgment, meaning that they were churchgoers just like you, but they will be turned away from Christ on that day, and their wicked hearts will be revealed:
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
-Mat 7:21-23I want to show you the way to eternal life, but based on your letter, it's pretty clear you don't want it. You didn't come here to reason and gain understanding of the truth, nor did you come here to "love" me as you have falsely accused me of not having any love, which makes you a complete hypocrite. (i.e. You ought to be the example of that which you want me to be, and show me a better example, but that's not what you did.) You came here to scoff, and I really don't want to spend the time with a scoffing woman who won't hear because she's closed her ears and eyes to the truth... and,
BE HONEST "Lori Jo," you didn't read the teaching I did on Smith, did you? (i.e. You saw the title, maybe skimmed it a bit, but didn't bother to read it for understanding.) That's why you didn't bother to raise any specific issue with the article I wrote, nor did you point out any errors in it because I backed up everything with Scripture and references. That means I studied the matter out, and you didn't, but you have the nerve to rebuke me in your ignorance. The truth is simple: You listen to music from Smith, you get a good feeling inside about it, therefore, you believe that feeling must be of God, and that's foolishness because your faith is in your own heart:
He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered.
-Pro 28:26
There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
-Pro 14:12The Lord God, He who authored that Bible you're lackadaisically quoting from, says you are a fool that ought to be ashamed of yourself because you've written me to answer my doctrine before you've heard it.
He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him.
-Pro 18:13Just don't think you're going to do a keyword search on love or hate in a bible study tools website, copy and paste a few Scriptures, and get people to believe you understand doctrine. That might work in your leavened church building, but it doesn't work among those of us who are born again. A search engine is not a replacement for the Holy Spirit of God. If you ever come to repentance and want to hear the truth, you are welcome to contact us and we'll help you, but if you don't want to hear, then be on your way. Have a great day.
Also, if you guys didn't notice, she was swapping out bible versions to get the verses to say what she wanted them to say. It's real easy to do that on popular bible search engine websites. I could tell she was copying and pasting from them in different ways because the order and punctuation was different; meaning that she doesn't take the time to organize everything like I do, rather, she's just putting it all down in a hurry because she doesn't care.