I'm going to start this newsletter with my favorite prayer: "Please, lord, let me open my heart to the guide of the Holy Spirit in every action I do, say, or even think, In Jesus' name I pray; Amen".
Greetings, Fellow Believers!Some excepts from recent emails that I want to share; points to ponder, as it were:
Light is more blinding than darkness:
Light can be (and is) more blinding than darkness. Think about being dead asleep in the dark of night and having the lights turned on. NOW, think about the FACT that if we were actually to only SEE God in our present forms (bodies), we would surely die (God's own words to Moses!). Imagine how overwhelming, than the story of the gospel is to the unsaved. I don't have the ability to 'look back' to before it, having NO memory of not being saved; my favorite blessing of this world. (hence, input from any of my beloved 'late-joiners' to my brotherhood in Christ would be appreciated; to help me from 'blinding' the unsaved with too much too soon).
The beauty of light is this: you can overcome COMPLETE darkness with the tiniest bit of light; I heard last Sunday that a HUMAN EYE can see a flick of a match from FIFTY miles! yet, darkness has NO power over light! if there is the tiniest candle in a tent, and the Sun goes down, and it's a new-moon and overcast (no starlight), does it cause a problem (suck away the light?) Absolutely NOT! The darker it is, the BRIGHTER the light, isn't that a WONDERFUL gift from our Creator, Jesus!? I absolutely adore the poignant comparison of the spiritual and physical light.
I made the revelation recently that the fall of man IS part of God's plan is that without sin, and the trials and tribulations that we have had to put up with for the past 6000 years because of it, would we every truly know how wonderful GOD is, and HEAVEN is? It's the classic good needs bad logic, how can there be and up without a down? Well, I can tell you 1) that there most certainly CAN be, and their could have been, and WOULD have been, but 2) our limited intelligence can't understand it, and 3) God KNEW (KNOWS) that, so the fall of man in my mind is a GIFT from God, brought on by OUR limitations, and free will, so that 4) we WILL understand when we get to heaven; isn't GOD awesome!
Jack Van Impe Prophecy Bible plugFor my birthday, my mom bought me the Jack Van Impe Prophecy Bible (awesome!). (as a bonus, it's a KJV, which I wanted anyhow, but was just going to get the Mormons to give me one for free :). It's so awesome; have you heard about it or better, seen it? All the verses he could find regarding prophecy (in the 75,000 hours of his personal study), he highlights and indicates what the prophecy is about, i.e. Last days, First coming of Jesus, second coming of Jesus, the Millennium, etc. In addition, he has a verse-by-verse explanation of Revelations.
Here's an interesting thing brought up in this bible; he talks about when the two witnesses are killed, and the (wicked) world is rejoicing, there is a specific mention of when they are brought back to life, and raptured, there is some sort of celebration where celebrities* are gathered, and it says that 7000 of them will be killed. (Rev 11:13)
Here's a link to the JVIM site: Jack Van Impe* In the bible, it mentions people, some bible scholars agree that it's likely celebrities, and I was getting a powerful message, watching recent celebrities, and the secular humanist worldview that is predominant, that corroborated that thought. It's so obvious how lost the movie-business scene is, not to say that some aren't saved. (I have been really been getting spooked lately by the terribly infiltration of the mega-stars with the non-christian cults, like Christian Scientists, etc. There is a TON of 'humanist' movement in the movie business, I'd venture to say a vast majority.
Thoughts on Dating,* Love, and Marriage
I have searched the bible for 15-20 years and to use and "Do you know what?", I have never found ONE WORD on 'how to date', yet TONS of advice about marriage, husbands, wives, children, and FAMILY. The closest I could find to 'dating' was Jesus rebuking, and then FORGIVING the Samaritan woman for the 'unspeakable' act of sleeping with FIVE (actually six) men (oh my God!) without ever 'really' getting married. Did she STOP when shown the light, absolutely. Could she have 'slipped' again? Of course. Was her heart in the right place after meeting Jesus? Absolutely! How many people understand that the term "marry" and "sleep-with (SEX)" are virtually interchangeable, and between versions of the bible ARE interchanged? People even use the phrase "marry; in the 'biblical-sense'" as a euphemism for SEX, and these same exact people don't understand this!* The dating techniques we have are terribly ill-fated. Too many holes, too many assumptions, and to much contradiction with the Word of God. (exact quote in reverse, originally talking about the methods we use for trying to determine the age of rocks, etc.
What does this tell me? That, just like eviloution, DATING is EXTRA-BIBLICAL. The Holy Spirit has shown me this since I could understand English. Many people won't believe me, but my understanding of the commitment of love and marriage, has been exactly the same since at least as far back as when I was four or five! It really makes me sad to live in this world, where virtually NOBODY understands this. I can guarantee that I personally love EACH and EVERY one of my friends who is married MORE than their own SPOUSE. What does THAT say about this world; these are typically very good people, and many are professed Christians. God's word is CLEAR on this: love your neighbor AS yourself, and "This is how you should show your love, that you would DIE for your brother".
Unconditional love is EXACTLY one sided, which is apparently an incredible difficult concept for most people to ever grasp. It's awesome when it goes both ways, like ME and JESUS, "true love" is basically a myth*. I'm ONLY interested in say, getting married to somebody that would LOVE me BACK. If they don't, I will still LOVE them (even if it drives them nuts). I just won't want to marry them, this is what I learned by being brought up Christian. Does this make sense to you?
* Read 1 cor 13; it never says love is easy, nor that it WILL be returned. When 'used' properly, you'll feel more love than you know how to handle, though, this I can guarantee. The entire 'thought' carried by 1 cor 13, proves the one-sided nature of unconditional love. If love is 'true-love'; i.e. two-way, it would be by definition CONDITIONAL, and that is NOT what love is.
God doesn't look or care about a piece of paper that the government uses to figure out who's married or not. I'm quite certain that Adam and Eve had no marriage certificate; they had an OATH*, that COUNTED in GODS eyes! (of course, the bible clearly tells us to follow our laws, in which marriage is kept track of with official records (marriage license). Than, WHAT, pray-tell is the point of the marriage certificate? It's because we ARE part of a society, and that is the RULE. Jesus told us, obey OUR laws, (as well as GODS), and also to pay our taxes. It's also not a BAD idea, just for the fact that people are WEAK, and that extra sense of commitment that people get out of signing a piece of paper will help encourage strength.
*oath before the re-defined concepts of swearing from Matthew's gospel; covered in the next section.
I understand that MY understanding of love, and faith, and commitment, and marriage is a GIFT from God. I am very in-tune with Mr. Spirit, and NEVER tune him out when he's talking to me. I have gotten literal responses back in real-time on occasion for my prayers, and wouldn't give that up for all the tea in China!
What EXACTLY is the example the bible shows for marraige? Look at Rebbekah, Rachel, etc. These wives are chosen, not WON like the dating GAME that is played today. This 'try before you buy' mentality is terrible. What ever happened to GROW in CHRIST together?
Integrity, Honesty, Oaths, Laws"I tell you the truth" (Quoting my favorite author, and of course the creator of this universe!), *I* personally have more conviction most people I've seen sign a piece of paper (oath); isn't that just like what Jesus was talking about from the gospel of Matthew? I have come to the realization that if I ever have to "take an oath", i.e. be sworn in as a witness, etc., that I will have to just quote the gospel of Matthew (out of the bible I'm 'supposed to; swear on, the following verses)
What does this tell you about how we run our lives? Can anybody out there honestly say they've never used the phrase "I swear", or even "on a stack of bibles"?Mt 5:33 "Again you have heard that it was said to the men of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.' 34 But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 Let what you say be simply 'Yes' or 'No'; anything more than this comes from evil.
Now, I know that *I* have enough conviction & integrity to make a simple statement, and it is truth, as best I know it. I NEVER NEVER mislead somebody I care about in the least. (now THINK about that; Jesus said 'whatsoever you do to the LEAST of my brother...'). I detest the nature of LIES; they are certainly the devil's work; most people see them as 'routine', and it's getting worse, as you know. I won't even use the omnipresent "cover for the roommate" phone-lie "he's not home". DAMMIT, MAN, WHY are people taught that this is OK!? Does NOBODY understand that even this 'little white lie', is MORE than enough to keep you from the kingdom of heaven?
I am FAR from perfect, but in contrast to what's out there in this 'sad' country, I'm a saint, hate to admit it. (it's hard to sound humble and make a bold statement like that, it's really just a statement about the times we live in, not boasting). My brother just a couple days ago was 'giving me grief' because I never tried pot. Now I have no moral issue with it, i.e. I've never found a verse in the bible against it. (other than EXCESS, just like alcohol; there is a LOT about excessive drug use, especially in revelations). I have a HUGE problem with people thinking it's OK. It's NOT OK folks, it's ILLEGAL!, and the bible DOES say, to OBEY OUR laws. My brother couldn't understand that I would have likely tried it if it were legal (other than it's just plain disgusting to me; smell, etc.), and yet, basically because it's NOT legal I have ZERO interest in ever trying it. Just because an abortion is LEGAL doesn't mean it's the right thing to do.
Eve, the "mother" of all mothers...Here is an extremely interesting note about EVE; the scientific community recently discovered, in their attempt to PROVE that women are evolving (they did a different study about men), that 1) they ABSOULTELY ARE NOT evolving, and, FAR more interesting, that ALL women have a SINGLE COMMON ancestor, they even call her 'Eve', but refuse to admit it's the 'Eve of the Bible'; My roommate down in Chicago was the first to tell me about this discovery. He is a Jew by race, NOT by conviction; he's atheist, and proud of it (Told me recently that "whatever *I* believe, no matter how "real" it feels, is "just a belief".) OUCH. I have prayed tons about this thought, and have come to grips with the reality that 1) some people will reject Jesus until the end, and they will be rightfully judged, and 2) I can't do anything about that. It's up to US to determine who to help, and who to realize they are 'beyond help' and move on. (as sad as that may seem, it's scriptural).
In similar examinations of the Y-chromosome, they have proven also that all men have a single common ancestor, which we understand to be Noah, who of course is an descendant of Adam, but we have no separation further back than Noah, since all the surviving human males of the flood are either Noah or his sons.
I found some info to back this up at www.wfiles.com, and others.
More evidence of the greatness of God.I was just given the insight of another great blessing bestowed upon us by God: He created us for the purpose of sharing his glory and love, and even though he very carefully spent a virtual eternity compared to his capabilities, and took and entire WEEK to carefully, and lovingly create the universe, when He could have done it all in one step, and in an instant, He could have at any time, and even unto the future, take that ALL away in an INSTANT! We Christians, KNOW GOD well enough to know he will NEVER do that, praise Jesus for saving us that true death, and save that glory for us. What does that tell us about the nature of God?
A wonderful friend, and sister in Christ, told me a story that made me both happy and sad in a recent letter. She told me that when she's out in public, and sees the sea of the lost souls out there (say, at a mall), she will start weeping uncontrollably at times. I told her that this is absolute PROOF that she 'gets it', and that I am absolutely sure that GOD is up in heaven grinning ear-to-ear for her. Then an amazing thing happened to me on my Birthday (Monday) when I was watching a tape of "City of Angels", and the SAME EXACT thing happened to me. First, I was 100% overjoyed, when I was given yet another enlightenment from the Holy Spirit just how AWESOME our GOD and his plan of salvation are, and then I thought about friend, and her tears of sorrow, and I went from 100% the happiest I've ever been, literally crying, to 100% the saddest I've ever been, literally crying still. Here's the truly weird part. I didn't stop being happy to be sad; it happened at exactly the same time. If it were possible, I'd have been crying 2 times as much as normal. It was one of the most moving moments of my life. Second perhaps only to the moment I actually, literally came to UNDERSTAND, ACCEPT AND GIVE unconditional love, especially HOW to 'redirect' the love of Jesus, since we are NOT strong enough to contain it, but just as a small tugboat can push a HUGE supertanker, we DO have the power to push Jesus' love a smidge' and point it at people we love. Wanna know the best part? (I hope you do). You absolutely CAN NOT do this without some rubbing off on YOU. Think about the tugboat analogy; the tugboat WILL rub off some of the supertanker, no matter how gentle the push. The HARDER it pushes, the MORE that will rub off, and THE MORE deflection (people affected, or strength).
Perhaps the most SERIOUS part of the analogy is this. IMAGINE trying to 'get in the way' of Jesus' love (the supertanker). You WILL BE SUNK. Mark 9:42: 42 "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung round his neck and he were thrown into the sea." There will be a great many tug-boats parked in the harbor, and ignoring the supertanker coming to plow them down. It will be both a sad and glorious day!
Last Days? Why wait?
I am quite certain that we are in the 'last generation' (Jesus' words) now. There are so many hundreds of signs of the times, and I catch myself looking up a dozen times a day (literally thinking "I'm ready, Lord", take us away so we can give you the rightful praise you deserve (compared to the 'normal' earthling).
I have gotten the exact same message in my prayers (that I have a job to do here, that is necessary to save others), and that I won't be leaving too soon for that to happen. I also had a very very vivid vision that I would be alive in a physical sense until the end. (I pray often that that will become prophecy). I have also had dozens of visions that pertain to the signs of the times. I have a solid understanding of the concepts related to the end-times, and that there are literally NO prophecies that need be fulfilled before the return of Jesus to collect his bride. (although there are MANY that WILL become LITERAL truths from that time, until his "second coming").I have considered the words of Paul to the Philippians (1) "21 =B6 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 If it is to be life in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. 23 I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. 24 But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. 25 Convinced of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again."
Invitation to become part of bible prophecyI hope you understand the power and importance of YOU to others in this world. If your love for Jesus is much like mine, it will spill out of your heart in a way that Jesus himself only can PRAY for. (by choice of course). There is something about YOUR SPIRIT that will motivates others and stirs up their soul to scream the gospel message at the top of their lungs, and that is an AWESOME power, because it's something beyond what Jesus could do. He said it himself john 14:12 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father."
How about that; I bet you haven't thought about that lately; that YOU, can become part of the literal prophecy of the bible, from the lips of our Savior himself! YOU will do greater works than Jesus, since he's not here. I didn't understand what unconditional love was until two critical people entered my life, and those two ARE the fulfillment of that prophecy for me (among others).Jesus, through the Holy Spirit told me that he "can't make somebody love him" ... so how could a mortal man, yet, somehow people like yourself can quite LITERALLY "bring out the best" of at least ONE other person. I pray that you are a similar beacon of GODs light to almost anybody not afraid of it. (by your Fruits..., and more importantly, the revelations references to being "marked" (sealed))
I am hearing GOD singing and dancing for the work we do, and maybe you don't even realize. I am only starting to get feedback that my personal ministry is finally getting to people, and it feels REALLY GOOD! Here's MY invitation to YOU to join me in fulfilling this prophecy of Jesus himself!
In closing
My final thought (ouch, that is what Jerry Springer says): My only true goal* is that I get to heaven and God says to me what He said to Jesus at his baptism, "This is my [son], with whom I am well pleased". That's IT, that really is my only goal. I'm closer to that goal each day, and it seems like I'm accelerating toward it. I feel it's soon, especially when I get visions that simply say "BE PREPARED". I would urge anybody to search deep within their sprit and see if they can find a more humble, honest goal.
With the Love our our lord and savior, Jesus Christ, the creator of the universe!* of course, you should realize, as I do, that it is up to ME to do what it takes to make this happen, living a life, subservient to God, and follow Jesus Christ to the best of my abilities, and allow Him to take away the sin I am not capable of avoiding myself, accepting this nature.
His humble, and obedient servant,Andrew Wynn Rouse