Today was laundry day for me. As a ritual I started doing a couple years
ago, I read Patrick P. Bowen's awesome book titled: “I
NEVER KNEW YOU” (.PDF) every time I do my laundry at the Laundromat, to
remind me of the simplicity of God's plan of salvation. It is one of my
favorite books, and Michael is a blessing to me for allowing the Lord to use
him to author this transparent book, to help other people see more clearly
concerning the Gospel message.
I also heard a wonderful truthful quote from Pastor Jack Hyles today, that burned in my heart...
“Faith is the only righteous thing that I can do!”
—Pastor Jack Hyles, a quote from the MP3 sermon titled: “God's Reversal Of Psalms 51”
Like the apostle Paul, I marvel at how soon local churches today have turned away from the truth of the Gospel. Galatians 1:6-7, “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.” All across America (and consequently the world) churches are embracing a counterfeit plan of salvation. A church that is wrong on salvation is a religious cult! Paul suffered no fools and openly rebuked the church at Galatia for inviting heresy into their midst. Galatians 3:1-2, “O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?” Notice that Paul calls believing the Gospel OBEYING THE TRUTH! Faith is the only righteous thing that I can do!
Here are some wonderful quotes from Michael Bowens book, “I NEVER KNEW YOU,” from the Intermission between chapters...
NOTEWORTHY QUOTES
“The strength of a country is the strength of its religious convictions.” —30th U.S. President Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Bible is . . .
-an armory of heavenly weapons,
-a pharmacy of infallible-medicines,
-a mine of exhaustless wealth,
-a guidebook for every road,
-a chart for every sea,
-a medicine for every malady, and
-a balm for every wound!
Rob us of our Bible, and our sky has lost its sun! —Evangelist Thomas Guthrie (1803-1873)~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I TAKE MY GOOD WORKS AND MY BAD WORKS! ... I remember reading the response of a godly man, when on his deathbed, to his friends who spoke of the many good works he had performed. ... “Good works! good works!” said the dying man, “I take my good works and my bad works, and cast them into one heap out of my sight, and turn to my only hope-the Cross of Christ!” —Evangelist Thomas Guthrie (1803-1873)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“Any government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take away everything you have.” —U.S. President Gerald Ford (1913-2006)
"We first make our habits, and then our habits make us.” —Pastor Curtis Hutson (1934-1995)
“Behind every successful man there is a wife with a hard-working husband.” —Pastor Curtis Hutson (1934-1995) “To realize the worth of the anchor we need to feel the storm.” —Pastor Curtis Hutson (1934-1995)Truth does not need defense—it only needs witnesses!
“The difference between yesterday and tomorrow is today.” —Pastor Curtis Hutson (1934-1995)“Never fear to suffer; but, oh, fear to sin! If you must choose between them, prefer the greatest suffering to the smallest sin.”
—Evangelist Thomas Guthrie (1803-1873)Nehemiah 9:31, “Nevertheless for thy great mercies' sake thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them; for thou art a gracious and merciful God.”
“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)“The evil that is in the world almost always comes of ignorance, and good intentions may do as much harm as malevolence if they lack understanding.”
—Philosopher Albert Camus (1913-1960)Isn’t it sad how so many intelligent and learned men and women cannot rightly define repentance. What they say about repentance flies in the face of the very scriptures they point out to us. If you say that salvation is a free gift and that we cannot earn it, and then turn right around and imply that it will cost you, that you have to change your behaviors, submit yourself to following Christ in obedience to His Lordship “in order to” be saved and make it to heaven, then that is nothing more than “double-speak.” (page 67)
Let me just confide something in you, if you will allow me. This work I have produced causes me a great deal of sadness; after all, I am a human being, and since I became born again in Christ through faith in His death and subsequent resurrection from the dead, i.e., the “gospel message,” I have been given a love for people-in general that I did not possess before I came to Christ. In a sense, for me to appear iconoclastic to you, the reader, by seemingly tearing down pastors and ministries that do a great deal of good in many areas, makes me feel awful because it goes against my new nature; however, what these ministries are telling people to believe is false in terms of salvation, i.e., how to go to heaven, and I have a Godgiven duty to try to set the record straight. It’s not “me” who wants to do this, rather, it’s the “Holy Spirit” through me that wants to help you see Christ’s truths. Because Christ took up residence within me the very moment I trusted Him as my savior, I cannot sit by and allow so many false plans of salvation to keep bombarding people’s minds without saying something about it. I cannot sit by and allow it to go on without trying to help “somebody.” I tell you the truth — if God helps only one person in the world to get born again after reading this book, then the lifetime of experiences that I have lived which, by His design, have brought me the necessary insight and education to be able to write this book at this particular time and place of my life, including the production costs, it will have all been well worth it.
But, then again, you might be asking yourself, “Who is this person, what are his qualifications, and why is he questioning the authority of such learned men and women?” To that I say, “I am a born-again Christian who sees anti-biblical teachings being passed off as infallible truths in so many of these ministries — teachings that, according to Christ Himself, will take a person to the eternal lake of fire, and I have to say something about it.” In a nutshell, the reason for all of this is because I care. But above all, Christ cares. He just happened to pick me for this humble task, at this unique point in our history. I am nobody special. I am merely a tool that Christ was able to use for this particular purpose. I am not an iconoclast. I take no pleasure in pointing out the biblical inconsistencies and errors in someone else’s preaching, yet, due to the eternal consequences of such erroneous teachings, I am now standing up upon this global platform in order to announce certain biblical truths against which no offensive tactics, no matter how logical or intimidating they might be, will ever be able to fully twist, misinterpret or negate their God-given intent of clearly communicating Christ’s promise of the free gift of everlasting life through childlike faith in what He alone (without our help) did for us by His death on the cross and subsequent resurrection from the dead. (pages 72-73)
Amen and amen! Like Brother Bowen wisely said, I agree:
“I am a born-again Christian who sees anti-biblical teachings being passed off as infallible truths in so many of these ministries — teachings that, according to Christ Himself, will take a person to the eternal lake of fire, and I have to say something about it.” (page 73)
That is 100% my exact sentiments dear reader! Somebody's got to care! Somebody's got to speak up for THE TRUTH! I am a born-again believer who sees a lot of heresy creeping into our fundamental Baptist churches today! Bob Jones University in particular is dangerous, because they endorse the Devil's counterfeit Bible versions, influencing thousands of churches to do the same. As much as I love and respect Dr. John R. Rice, HE WAS WRONG on the Bible! Brooke Westcott and Fenton Hort were unsaved devils, whom Dr. John R. Rice ignorantly endorsed!
Men are not God, they aren't infallible. These new modern versions drastically change the plan of salvation. The modern Bible versions promote corrupt Calvinist doctrine. It is not okay. Calvinism in not an alternative view of the Gospel that many good and honorable pastors hold; but rather, it is a DEADLY POISON which Satan has crept into the churches, that has killed the faith of many preachers and layman alike. Calvinism is the sworn enemy of the Gospel of free grace! Calvinism is NOT the Gospel. Calvinist preachers are NOT our Christian brethren!
I cannot sit by and say nothing, while a false plan of salvation is being presented in many churches today. Brother Bowen again says...
Because Christ took up residence within me the very moment I trusted Him as my savior, I cannot sit by and allow so many false plans of salvation to keep bombarding people’s minds without saying something about it. I cannot sit by and allow it to go on without trying to help “somebody.” I tell you the truth — if God helps only one person in the world to get born again after reading this book, then the lifetime of experiences that I have lived which, by His design, have brought me the necessary insight and education to be able to write this book at this particular time and place of my life, including the production costs, it will have all been well worth it. (page 72)
I couldn't have said it any better myself. I wanted to share these great truthful quotes with you, to help bring attention to the battle today over the accuracy of the Gospel. Faith is the only righteous thing that I can do!
Here's a photo of some nice butterflies I took early this morning, while walking along the ocean. They didn't get scared at all by me, the sound of my music, or the camera flash...
