4 For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil."
Four years of not paying taxes. We contacted the IRS. They contacted us back. We made payments of $50 per month to the IRS, and $25 to the State - and after three years, the IRS contacted us again and said that we weren't even touching the interest monies due. Mike was on SSI - and that only covered the rent at the time. Thank GOD I was working, but money was very tight. We wound up filing a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy, making payments to the IRS and the State for three more years. Finally they said they were satisfied. Praise GOD! This is what came from listening to men, and not to GOD. A very hard lesson to learn, but one we will never forget.
We soon left, as the new Pastor made us feel most unwelcome because we had helped the prior with his Senatorial campaign. We now home church - and are available to any and all who desire to have worship and study in their homes or in ours.
Life gets a little lonely sometimes. My hubby has Rheumatoid Arthritis and Post Parkinson's Syndrome, which severely limits our getting out. We spend most of our time studying GOD'S Word. Mike writes ebooks and shares them free with anyone who has a heart to read them. With our physical conditions, we do what we feel led to do by YHWH - if only from our computers.
We are childless, so it would appear that all my postings are in a motherly tone! Forgive this old gal - I just have a heart wanting to embrace the whole world. You need love? Need a shoulder? I have two very extremely comfy padded shoulders to put your head on! I write poetry. I would be delighted to share any of it with you...from praises to our Lord, to ditties about dogs and cats!
Every extra penny we had from when I was able to work was spent on Bibles and related works. We have Walton's Polyglott (aka The London Polyglott), written in 1655. We also have Theodore Beza's edition, 1590. I cite this to show you that we are not frivolous. We live in a two bedroom, one bath bungalow with our collie (who is very spoiled by yours truly!). We are simple people who love our Lord dearly, and our desire is only to please HIM.
We are not a big research organization, and have no desire to become so. Our research focusses on Biblical truth vs Biblical error. If you have any questions or anything at all you want to tell us, we are very reachable
Again, we loved being Independent Fundamentalist Baptists. We loved being noticed as special people beloved of GOD. We had no problems taking novice Christians door knocking and telling people of their salvation experience with all the eagerness of not knowing what GOD'S purity and righteousness is. After browbeating people into accepting Christ - if they didn't become members after a few more visitations, we left them wandering in their own little confusion that we brought to them.
It wasn't until we actually saw someone totally break down, repentant and heartbroken over his sins - that we saw what was lacking in our Christianity. Formalism and cliches are not what works to further the Kingdom of GOD - true repentance and life change are. We are not born again to sin again and again and again - putting GOD and HIS Son to an open shame!
My hubby and I are now Sabbath keepers - when the sun goes down on Friday night, my feet go up in my recliner (with the rest of me!) - I let Marie Callendar's lasagna do its thing in the microwave! REST!! There is nothing sweeter. And no, we don't keep the Sabbath legalistically - this is a day we devote to GOD for HIS wondrous works and for sending us Jesus. Going to church on Sunday or any other day of the week is fine - we just want to "tithe" our time to GOD on HIS special day of the week. Exodus 16 cinched this for me, even before the 10 Commandments were inscribed by the finger of GOD on Mt. Sinai, HIS Sabbath Command was already in effect! Interesting read, Chapter 16!
11 "And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 12 I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God.
13 And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the host. 14 And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground.
15 And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD hath given you to eat.
16 This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons; take ye every man for them which are in his tents. 17 And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less.
18 And when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating.
19 And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning. 20 Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank: and Moses was wroth with them.
21 And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating: and when the sun waxed hot, it melted. 22 And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man: and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses.
23 And he said unto them, This is that which the LORD hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the LORD: bake that which ye will bake today, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.
24 And they laid it up till the morning, as Moses bade: and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein. 25 And Moses said, Eat that to day; for to day is a sabbath unto the LORD: to day ye shall not find it in the field. 26 Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none.
27 And it came to pass, that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none.
28 And the LORD said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws? 29 See, for that the LORD hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day. 30 So the people rested on the seventh day."
I could go on and on! I just want to say that something is terribly wrong when men choose to follow men rather than Christ.
In HIS Grip,
judi