There is no other One

I wish to offer this song for those who may need an encouraging word in the midst of a spiritual battle. Thinking about some friends and desiring to express what we have been going through, this song was written today as I was outside hearing the birds praising God for the Springtime. If anyone happens to be interested in hearing the mp3 it is available through email if you request it. I hope that it may bless you...

"But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us." 1John 1:6-10

"There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death." Rom 8:1-2

“I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.” Gal 1:6-7

There is no other One

I have seen condemnations and lies come to wound my soul

From those who claim to know Your Grace.

I have felt the fiery darts of the enemy upon my soul

And my spirit cries Father, Father save me… As I seek Your Face

Chorus:

There is a place to go when I’m weary of the fight

There is a Light that shines through the tempest and the plight

I have a Savior Who will come to rescue me

His Grace and Truth are here… and I shall be Free!


He is Messiah, God’s Holy Son. His name is Jesus, There is no other One (end)


I know my failures and my sins before Your sight

I will not deny… I am a sinner

And I am broken in Your Holy and Perfect Light

Yet through Your Blood there is now no sin there

For You have cleansed me, You have changed my will, I have been redeemed (to chorus)

Interlude:

Free from sin, Satan, self, and all the lies

Free from him who tells half truths and then denies…That there is (to chorus)


There is a post on my other blog which brings out more detail of what I have meant to share through this new song.

May God Bless!

Good motives for Christian Bloggers...

With all that I have been involved with over this past year, I have had to ask myself as a believer in Christ Jesus, why blog? Motives are undeniably important here as God looks at my heart. I can’t speak for other’s motives but I can speak for myself as God’s Light from His Words search my heart in this matter. Yet --from some things of which I have been a witness to-- I believe there is also something to be said about others who call themselves Christian and blog. I wish to share some of what I am aware of regarding both myself and other Christian bloggers today.

First of all, I wish to establish something about motives. I’ve been blessed in hearing some mp3 messages from David Martyn Lloyd-Jones on the topic of “Spiritual Warfare”. He said something in this which many have heard before but it relates to what I am sharing here. It goes something like this…

Just because we have temptations in our thoughts this does not mean they are our own willing thoughts. Of course, the enemy of our soul would have us believe they are all ours so as to discourage us. The test is in asking ourselves if we desire the thoughts or if we hate them and find them disturbing and wrong. For the Devil does have his “fiery darts” which may come in the from of tempting or deceptive thoughts in our minds. We must distinguish our born-again spiritual thoughts coming from abiding in Christ and His Word as opposed to those thoughts coming from the enemy of our soul which are meant to deceive, mislead, or tempt us. And something to note here right away is just how the Word of God makes it clear to us that Satan will even use Scripture to attempt to mislead and tempt us as in the case of the Son of God (Mt 4:1-11).

My Lord, Jesus Christ, is my friend who sticks closer than a brother. I am never alone when no other human is around. He is faithful all the time every time to be with me, “For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Keeping this in mind and being willing to “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom” is really how God works in our hearts to reform us into His true image. This is also how God reveals to us which motives are from Him and which are from the Devil or our old nature. I consider more of God’s Words here:

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Heb 4:12

I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind,
Even to give every man according to his ways,
According to the fruit of his doings. Jer 17:10

Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. Rom 8:27

And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. Gal 5:24-26

I have at times wrestled with some distracting thoughts in blogging. For instance, I may think that this is worthless or of no value. And yet I really believe God would have me use this blogging experience as a means of sharing my faith and love in Him as well as a means of growing in His grace and knowledge by using blogs to share some personal study of God's Word. No matter which of the various forms of communication we are using, we are always called by God to do some of the following things in it depending on who we are communicating with:

For our like-minded brothers and sisters in Christ:

Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another. Rom 14:19

Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing. 1Thes 5:11


For those who are not yet realizing there dire need for Christ Jesus' free Salvation from sin and Hell:

How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written:
“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace,
Who bring glad tidings of good things!”
But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. But I say, have they not heard? Yes indeed:
“Their sound has gone out to all the earth,
And their words to the ends of the world.” Rom 10:14-18


For those who stray from the Truth into lies, yet claim to be of Christ:

I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. 2Tim 4:1-5


For those who attack us for being His children and exposing darkness:

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. 1Pet 3:15-16


And most importantly for God’s glory:

Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 1Cor 10:31

And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. Col 3:17

And this is what each of us who profess to know Christ Jesus should yield to in Him:

Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Phil 2:1-4

These passages from Scripture --along with the rest of God's Words-- shall be my guide in all I do as a Christian Blogger. And my prayer is that God will have His way completely in all I say and do. And that whatever God wishes to do with the blogs --of which I am responsible for-- He may have complete control without my grieving or quenching His Holy Spirit by my own flesh or selfish desires. He may take this wherever He wishes without my pushing it in the flesh or holding back the active use of godly wisdom for the advancement of His purposes for my blogs as He compels me. I say "my blogs" but really they are His and for His glory and purposes. I am simply the person responsible for their content. I am a steward of God, an ambassador of Christ Jesus. If only one or two are touched by God through these blogs or if many are touched by God in them this must be up to His own working and will. I am free to grow in the grace and knowledge of God here as He does what He wants with that. I am accountable to all Christians who follow our Lord in sincerity and have the whole Gospel as their reference for any corrections to be made to the things I say on any blog.

May I maintain pure motives in His sight for these blogs...

NoahLot... A place exposing darkness with Christ's Light of Truth to defend God's glory and protect the innocent and unwary.

Haven of Grace... A haven of edification, exhortation, and comfort for Believers in Christ Jesus.

The Truth of the Gospel... A place for sharing Truth with those searching and unsaved that they may be freed from Satan's lies.

Amen

“Deception” Devour or be devoured…

"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world." 1 Peter 5:8-9

"Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall." 1 Cor 10:12

Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. 1 Cor 16:13

Satan is out to kill, steal, and destroy (Jn 10:10). He is a liar and the father of all liars (Jn 8:44). The Apostle Peter makes it clear that our adversary can potentially devour those who are not resisting him “steadfast in the faith” . What is our defense against the subtle attacks of Satan? First, it may be good to establish what exactly is “the faith” which Peter was speaking of. For faith is the means in which we resist the enemy of our soul. Also, we must acknowledge that the attacks we endure as believers are not so different from those our brotherhood are enduring throughout the world. In the history of the Church and throughout the world today many Christians are being maligned, slandered, abused, and in some locations on earth they are physically assaulted as well.

So what is "the faith"?

"Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints." Jude 3

The faith has already been delivered to the saints. We have this faith --belief and trust-- in the Word of God which we also call Holy Scripture. Within these words and work of the Holy Spirit known as the Helper, we can find “the faith” needed not only for our initial and necessary Salvation but also all that is needed for this life and the godliness our Lord calls us to.

"Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." 2Pet 1:2-4

It is through the knowledge of Him that we have “the faith” which overcomes the world, the flesh, and the Devil. If we fail to be as the Berian’s and ignore prayerful thorough study of God’s Word we are making ourselves vulnerable for attacks from those spoken of in this very important passage of Scripture recording the very words of the Son of God:

And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. “For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. (Mt 24:4-5)

This Scripture needs to be understood in its broader context to realize its extent. This is not just speaking of individuals who claim they are “the Christ”. It is also referring to those who are of "another Jesus" or "another gospel". Look here as Paul reveal this:

"But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!" 2 Cor 11:3-4

"I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ." Gal 1:6-7

This is what was spoken of in the first Scripture reference of this post. Satan is using false teachings and false practices to deceive the minds of the naïve. The naïve are those who would come to trust a man’s words as they pervert the use of God’s words. Yes, these false teachers/apostles do speak the Scriptures. No less than Satan did when he attempted to tempt our Lord but failed to suduce Him. Of course, as Satan does, they will appeal to your mind for attention by use of Scripture to bring you into their bondage. And if you don’t know God’s Word very well for yourself you may fall for their trap which contains the bait of one who comes in the appearance of a minister of righteousness.

"For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works." 2Cor 11:13-15

They will sound like they are making an appeal to Christians to know righteousness by works --or your behavior in their eyes-- rather than through faith which is by Grace alone. Denying the power of God’s ability through Christ Jesus to cleanse and keep a soul from sin, they will set up a structure legalistic bondage using scripture and claiming to have the righteousness of God but possessing only filthy rags worth disposal in God‘s sight. Most of the time these false teachers/apostles will work to draw away Christians rather than the lost by subtle lies in hypocrisy because with Christians Satan can attack God --whom he is jealous of and hates-- directly. These agents of the Devil will point the finger at other believers for they follow the nature of Satan who is “the accuser of the brethren” . Yet they live lives of pride, arrogance, and a very unholy self-righteousness. You will know them by their fruit. But if you do know God’s Word enough and if you do not continue in these words of our faith then you may fall from your own steadfastness for their lies which they offer for your idleness in knowing Scripture. You must know God's Words which reveals His Power of Grace enough to protect you from their error.

"Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you." 1Tim 4:16

"And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." 2Pet 1:19-21

If you find that you are one who needs to be spoon fed, be careful, for your adversary the Devil has many agents out there willing to feed you “right sounding” poison which has no rightness or soundness to it at all. Don’t be lazy, for your soul is at stake and so are those who may be influenced by your example of following another gospel or another Jesus without your realizing it.

Devour God’s Word for yourself before Satan finds a way to devour you!

What is "Deception"?

The definition of “Deception” (n)

trick, ruse, sham, fraud, con, pretext
dishonesty, trickery, duplicity, deceptiveness, deceit, cheating
antonym: truthfulness

1. practice of misleading somebody: the practice of deliberately making somebody believe things that are not true
2. something intended to mislead somebody: an act, trick, or device intended to deceive or mislead somebody -Encarta ®

“Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said,”

Notice how Satan will speak the words of God. He will repeat them and turn with the questioning of God‘s integrity through what God did say. We know questioning is good when it comes to mere fallible men. And we know every man from Adam is imperfect except for the last Adam, Christ Jesus, Who "became a life-giving Spirit" (1 Cor 15:45). But to question God Himself is of the highest of errors for God is Solely the Highest of Perfection and Infallibility and He is the Creator and Sustainer of all things. It comes to this…If we fail to trust all of God’s Holy Words then we are potentially deceived in some way without a doubt. For deception first came to the human race when mankind chose to listen to the voice of Satan and accept the questioning of God’s character and integrity as an option.

I’ll share more on this understanding of “deception” as soon as possible on this post…

The Helpless Victim of Slander

This will likely disturb those who are guilty of slander but comfort those who have truly been victims of slander.

Psalm 120
A Song of Ascents.

In my distress I cried to the Lord,
And He heard me.
Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips
And from a deceitful tongue.
What shall be given to you,
Or what shall be done to you,
You false tongue?
Sharp arrows of the warrior,
With coals of the broom tree!
Woe is me, that I dwell in Meshech,
That I dwell among the tents of Kedar!
My soul has dwelt too long
With one who hates peace.
I am for peace;
But when I speak, they are for war. -nkjv

Encouraging insight from the Believers Bible Commentary:

The Helpless Victim of Slander

One of the bitter experiences of a believer’s life is to be the victim of lies and slander. It is then he helplessly realizes the truth of Spurgeon’s observation that “a lie can go around the world while truth is putting its boots on.” He can easily become a twisted mass of humiliation and frustration.
120:1, 2 That was the kind of distress that sent the psalmist racing to the Lord in this first “Song of Ascents.” His request was short, simple and specific. He wanted to be delivered from the lying lips of his enemies, from the deceitful tongue of the pagans.

120:3, 4 Then just as quickly, he turns aside to one particular culprit and predicts severe punishment for him. What sentence shall be handed down to him? Sharp arrows shot from the bow of the Master Archer. And what will be done to that deceitful tongue? Will it be washed with soap? No, it will be cauterized with glowing coals of the broom tree! The root of this desert shrub is used to produce burning charcoal, noted for its intense heat.

120:5 In a moment of self-pity, the peace-loving psalmist laments his enforced stay among the tribes of Meshech and Kedar. Meshech was a son of Japheth (Gen. 10:2), and his descendants became noted as savage, uncivilized people. Kedar was the second son of Ishmael (Gen. 25:13), and his posterity were also cruel and merciless. According to the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, “it is through Kedar that Muslim genealogists trace the descent of Mohammed from Ishmael.”

120:6, 7 The psalmist’s enforced exile among barbarians who hated peace had been too long to suit him. His efforts to bring about peaceful co-existence had been repulsed by new acts of war.
Had he lived in NT times, he would have been more prepared to expect slander and strife, and would have been better able to cope with it. He would have the example of the Lord Jesus:
Who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously (1 Pet. 2:23).
He would have the teaching of Peter:
But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God (1 Pet. 2:20b).
Not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing (1 Pet. 3:9).
And finally he would have the word of the Lord Jesus:
Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you (Matt. 5:11, 12).

Never forget how blessed the honest in heart are.

Thank God!

Answering accusations 1 and 2...

Answering accusations about me and my wife…

For those who seek to know what I would reply to certain accusations brought against me or my wife, I have decided to post the answers here for consideration of those who have an honest approach and do not wish to develop a false opinion of others through the words of those who willingly defame to hide their own sin. Thank you for not letting your heart accept a wrong view of any by slanderous or libelous words. It is right that we first give the accused a chance to reply to charges placed against them. May you come to have an opinion based only on facts as they are established by credible witnesses that have been thoroughly tested and researched on the things they say. I am completely open to this examination by any with the love of God in their heart to do what is right before developing an opinion. Ask our accusers if they would equally permit an honest and thorough examination into the things which many witnesses have already testified to regarding their wrongdoing, and see what you get. To some, these particular charges against us are already seen to be lies, for they themselves bear witness to the lying nature of our specific accusers. To others, because they have no idea what to think about any of this and may find themselves thinking that some of these charges placed in public view may actually be true, I offer this post for your careful consideration. By being willing to read this objectively, you are saying that you will not think evil of others from words spoken by those who have a clear public record --established by many witnesses available to you this day-- of having the nature of a controlling, elusive, evasive, and lying cult in the guise of a so-called “new testament church” evidently void of the Holy Spirit and the Grace of God.

The following charges and my answers to them are not in any specific order. They are listed as they come to me. And there are likely some accusations not referred to here yet but --as they are recalled and I have the time-- they will be posted later on this blog.

Accusation #1:

I am wanting a following and I am trying to draw men to myself via the internet.

Answer:

This accusation reflects the extreme and brainwashed hyper-sensitivity in the minds of the followers of Mike Peters as they must find sin in any who question their leader who is evidently seen by them as inerrant and God’s only word for today. As with many people, coming to realize for the first time this thing called blogging, I too found it to be another avenue of expression of my faith in Christ and the specific outworking of this faith for me. And because I did get a bit excited about the idea of blogging at a point, I decided --over some months-- to start 3 different blogs hoping I could share different perspectives on each. I don't know if I overdid it in my excitement as I'm not sure how much time I will have to tend to what I've thought to do on these but, Lord willing, I will go forward with some posting. NoahLot of Grace and Mercy, Haven of Grace, and The Truth of the Gospel are their names. Here on NoahLot, because it was my first blog, I have used it on just a few posts to deal with specific things which were happening in my life as I started this blog. This included exposing the harmful works of Mike Peters of Indianapolis after he had just recently placed defamatory statements of my life on a public forum called FACTNet. So, I chose to use this blog, on occasion, to share with others what I am aware of and believe to be the truth regarding this man and his following so that others may be warned and avoid the defaming and abuse which I --and so many others I know-- have suffered from him.

Because the name NoahLot can sound to others like know-a-lot and possibly be seen as arrogant, I had to make a specific post to make sure others would see that I don’t really think I know a lot. If you wish to know my reason for using the name NoahLot it is clearly explained on these 2 posts:

http://noahlot.blogspot.com/2006/06/about-noahlot.html
http://noahlot.blogspot.com/2006/06/may-god-give-you-greater-growth.html

If anything, I will admit that I did realize after finding the name “NoahLot” that this name could have brought out the quick judgmental and assuming nature of those brainwashed to be hyper-sensitive to assuming and figuring out motives of people who question or reveal a problem with Mike Peters. This makes their cultic characteristics much more clear to observers with any discernment. And I must admit that the thought that this might provoke their cultic nature did occur to me after I had already decided this name for a blog. And clearly it did produce this reaction from them.

I am not out to draw anyone to myself --as I have been accused of from members or adherents of the cult located in Indianapolis who believe they are the ONLY true church-- but rather on my blogs I would like to offer some thoughts which I hope could be helpful to my brothers or sisters in Christ or to those spiritually lost. This is the same reason why others use blogs to share with the Body of Christ or those lost and in need of Christ. I also interact with others on their blogs or websites to learn from them and be edified, exhorted, maybe even warned of falsehoods in the name of Christ. I am not wishing to lead but rather be an obediently active part of the functioning of the Body of Christ as He has ordained for all of his children to do somehow, even if part of this functioning is in the use of modern technology. I believe the same reasoning can be said for my wife who was also judged to have wrong motives for beginning her blog. It is plain weird to hear such accusations as we have from the Mike Peters' following.

Accusation # 2

I am using these blogs mainly to speak out against Mike Peters because I have an ax to grind regarding him.

Answer:

No ax to grind. But I have used the Sword of the Spirit --which is the Word of God-- and wish to keep this sharp as it works to expose darkness anywhere including the works of Mike Peters. The truth is, of the 50+ posts I have placed on NoahLot --since I began last year-- there are only about 16 at this time which mention Mike Peters by name. And of course, because there has been continual defamation of my name, my wife's name (and many other's names) by him and his followers without repentance, I have chosen to expose their deeds of darkness to others via NoahLot so that other may be aware and avoid their abuses. I do intend on reserving NoahLot for speaking out against any who lie about others, especially those lying about the true nature of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. To say that I have set up my blogs just for speaking out about Mike Peters is seriously stretching it and would seem to give indication that *someone* has a BIG EGO. As for Haven of Grace I have never mentioned Mike’s name there and I don’t plan to defile it with such. For the purpose of Haven of Grace for me is to share on the Grace of God which has not been found with Mike Peters or his followers. As far as The Truth of the Gospel, I haven’t even had time to begin what I was hoping to share in that but desire to from soon. And I have no intention of ever mentioning Mike‘s name there either. Generally --but not completely-- I have reserved NoahLot to be confrontational to those who are liars and deceivers and yet informational to those wishing to know about these false prophets/teachers in the Church. But I have posted on other things here too.

As I can, I do plan to post more on this matter regarding answering accusations .

The undefeatable power of a clear conscience!

What does one do as a believer in Christ Jesus when others choose to defame you and your name and say all manner of evil against you falsely for His name (the Truth’s) sake? Are you supposed to publicly answer those who publicly defame you? I believe the Word of God has given us clear answers on this.

For one thing, according to the Scriptures, being defamed and lied about is a real blessing. For Jesus Christ said this:

“Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. “Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Mt 5:11-12

My wife and I have been very blessed this past year as have some others we know. I have an unexplainable peace and inner joy with a clear conscience even though I am aware that others have been fed many lies about us and may actually have developed a false picture of us (or others) from these lies. But it is true that the power of a clear conscience can not be defeated. In spite of the incessantly creative yet severely perverted and untrue stories told, I am stronger in Christ than I ever was before the experience of being severely lied about this past year. Here is the thing I answer to my accusers as it is obvious to my conscience before God regarding their choice to lie about me without repenting yet -I am clean! You are not! I know this! And so do you! And you must live with this fact daily unless you repent! I do feel sorry for your struggling conscience.

This blessing of a clean conscience while suffering false accusations seems to be continuous and I am thankful for what Christ has promised. As He has said, we are blessed and joyful with His inner peace. Christ gave the perfect example of enduring those who lied about Him. This was the method God permitted Satan to use to publicly humiliate and place our Lord on the Cross. Yet for the joy that was set before Him He endured this humiliation, despising the shame. Yes, at the end of Christ's time here on earth it was the ordained season for Jesus to be quiet as was prophesied:

“He was led as a sheep to the slaughter;
And as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.
in His humiliation His justice was taken away,
And who will declare His generation?
For His life is taken from the earth.” Acts 8:32, Is 53:7

But Christ Jesus entire life was marked in the Holy Scriptures with continuously speaking out loudly against the false leaders of His day. And this is what drove those mad --who loved their darkness-- as they forced Christ to the Cross through much false witness about Him. Satan will always try to extinguish the bright burning fire of Truth when his servants are threatened with being exposed. It is foolish and clearly false to say Christ's example was always to be quiet in front of His accusers. I have spoken more to this matter on another post called "Contending for the faith" . And it is wonderful to remember the words of Paul here as we know our Lord will always succeed:

"Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place." 2Cor 2:14

And He is the author and finisher of our faith as we keep our eyes on Him and His example.

Also, false accusations helped developed the character of Christ in Paul the Apostle. And our God uses this to do the same for us. If you have been falsely accused in Christ you may have been forceful and successful in your witness against the dark, for this was the norm for Christ and His most serious and outspoken followers. Never forget that there is a reward for those who have honestly endured the lying attacks of others that choose to cut you down when you are speaking the truth --of your own personal witnessing not of hearsay-- about them to call them to repentance and protect others from their error.

It is interesting how there is an accusation out there which says that me and my wife are "ringleaders" working against Mike Peters and his group. For Paul was similarly accused of being a "ringleader":

"For we have found this man a plague, a creator of dissension among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. "He even tried to profane the temple, and we seized him, and wanted to judge him according to our law. Acts 24:5-6

Paul was publicly spoken evil of here... "a plague"? "a creator of dissension"? "tried to profane"? So also, some would attempt to judge us according to their own man-made own laws! I count it a blessing to experience --in a very small way by comparison-- what the Apostle Paul had to go through. Praise God!!!

And Christ’s Apostle Paul said this happened to him and declares what he has done about it here:

“being defamed, we entreat.” 1Cor 4:13

As those who are defamed know in their consciences that they are being lied about, so those doing the lying know they are not telling the truth by the definition of truth. Therefore, we entreat (or appeal to) them to repent and turn honestly to Christ and be honest about others. Don’t forget, God has made it clear to our consciences that they are lying as we know for a fact that they have lied about us. Therefore, we can say without a doubt in our heart that they are in sin and must be called to repent. It is our responsibility to reveal or expose this sin of theirs, just as much as when any other sin we witness of others --who claim to belong to Christ-- needs to be dealt with in love by truth when it has not yet been acknowledged or repented of. And public sin means public repentance. So the answer to the question…Are you supposed to publicly answer those who publicly defame you? is clearly, yes! Unless God has placed it on your heart to be still for a season and for His reason.

Paul, for the sake of his testimony to the Truth of the Gospel, defended many of the specific false accusations which were put against him to discredit him as can be seen in his epistles. With love and truth, we are to do the same. This is why I have not let lies about me or my wife persist or go unchecked and I will not. I am not an apostle of Christ but I am an epistle of Christ as Paul said of believers in this way:

“You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.” 2 Cor 3:2-3

And when someone is out to deface the message God would have us convey to others --through the true and specific testimony of Christ’s work in our lives-- this violent and sinful act should be confronted and exposed completely. Always balancing this with the knowledge that God --through His Sovereignty-- will deal with them otherwise as we leave them in His Hands through prayer.

The Apostle Peter offers this encouragement to those willing to expose the darkness of ungodly liars and deceivers who have an appearance of righteousness but inwardly prove to be ravenous wolves as we come to know them by their deeds:

“And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.” But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.” 1Pet 3:13-17

I would never say that I have not sinned or that I am without dealing with repentance of sin to some degree daily until my death or Christ's return. But whatever sins I have committed in my life --of which I am aware of through through the Holy Spirits conviction-- I have repented of this under conviction from God. Of all the judgments and extremely false accusations spoken against me personally, only a small fragment of it has some traces of truth to it. Most of it is completely false and fictional, and absolutely none is true of the evil spoken against my wife, Jen. It has been a severe shame of our accusers and I trust God will continue to expose and judge them for the protection of others. I think these men who have chosen to lie about my wife and I could have succeeded better at selling ideas for ungodly fictional novels with their ability to imagine and create such carnal stories. Yet even any traces of truth --to their far fetched accusations-- are buried in the sea of God’s merciful forgetfulness accomplished through Christ Jesus my Redeemer from the foundation of the world and at the moment of repentance.

Paul himself had to admit that he severely sinned against Christ by persecuting His people. Peter had to admit that he sinned through denying he knew Jesus, and again --even after his conversion and being filled with the Holy Spirit-- he then gave way to fear in legalism for a season. I have sinned in my past in ways I regret to this day. Yet the sin --which is magnified and multiplied publicly by those wishing to hide their own deceptions through attacking those who expose them-- was not known to others in any other way but through my own foolish and willing confession to the masked cult leader in Indianapolis named Mike Peters. My "confession" was extremely exaggerated by him long after personal conviction and repentance before God and after I was already washed from the real sin. With God as my witness, if I had not repented the day of my sin and confessed to some friends (none of Mike Peters people) in Tampa, no one would likely have known of this sin in any other way. For none of my accusers witnessed this in any way except that some of them may have met the girl involved long after she had also repented and returned to Christ as well. I thank God she did not fall for the deception of Mike Peters but rather returned to Tampa to a church fellowship there, not of Peters. It is because I hate sin in my life that I chose to repent of what I had done before the eyes of God alone. It is because I didn't continue to trust in God's grace that I foolishly confessed to a legalistic and controlling liar. King David had a true prophet come to tell him of his hidden sin to then repent of it after one year. But by God’s convicting grace --coming from His invisible Holy Spirit-- I had repented immediately without the influence of ANY mere man. And I had witnesses to this same day repentance in Tampa, FL. Again, these were not of Peters group. I have shared more on this in a post called "Redemption from sin OR Regurgitation of sin" .

There is a balance in this however. God may permit others to attack us falsely through lies because He wishes to keep us humble and growing in grace and truth, always remembering His mercy. What is the antidote for treating those blinded with hypocritical puffed-up pride as they speak lies attacking us? It is in the humility of knowing our weaknesses, the grace in knowing Christ’s forgiveness, and the love in sharing the full truth for the sake of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Consider King David again. As recorded in 2 Samuel 16, when Shimei falsely accused David of a sin he did not commit, David forbad his men from harming him and permitted the reviling. David perceived that this might have been a way of God correcting him for the real sin he did commit and also thought that God may bring a blessing for his enduring this false charge. How does this apply here? We have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. Yet, though God will never hold a repented-of sin against us, He may permit Satan to attack us in such a way so as to invoke the memory of how merciful and forgiving our God has been to us even when we have failed Him so severely. It is not the guilt --that Christ has already cleansed away-- which we remember, but rather His great mercy on our sinfulness. In all of this, God is good! I have made another post before speaking to this matter and called it "Anger and Bitterness".

As repentance has occurred, and we have renounced things of the past, we do not lose heart. But with our consciences cleansed by Christ‘s Blood and empowered by the Holy Spirit of Truth and Grace, we can do all things through Christ Who strengthens us. Even those used of Satan are tools in the Sovereign Hand of God to form us into His Son, Jesus Christ’s image. Yet we know Satan is on a leash and will soon be crushed under our feet after we have suffered a while.

“And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.” Rom 16:17

“Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.” 1Pet 5:6-11

I know there are others who can share this prayer with me and my wife…

Thank You, my Lord Jesus, for the strength You have been producing in me as I receive the insults of those who accept lies as a way of living while claiming to be Yours. Please continue to strengthen the consciences of the innocent and confound the thinking of the proud. We love You and trust You to do what none of us --Your children-- can do. Amen.