Goodbye to my Sermon Index friends

I feel the Lord would have me close my Sermon Index account at this time. If a moderator could do so for me that would be great.

I wanted to thank all of the true brethren on this forum that have had a word to challenge or encourage me in my walk with Christ over the past year and a half. For the brothers and sisters that have been chatting with me through PM about doing street ministry, homeless ministry, coming out of the institutional system, or other blessed things that our awesome King has placed in your heart please stay in touch by email: repent_trust at yahoo.com

[i]
And he said to me, "Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy." "Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay everyone for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. "I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star." The Spirit and the Bride say, "Come." And let the one who hears say, "Come." And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price. ~Revelation 22:10-17 esv
[/i]

I figure a proper goodbye on this forum should include a Leonard Ravenhill quote also:

[i]
"I doubt that more than two percent of professing Christians in the United States are truly born again."
[/i]

Are you among the two percent?

In Christ-

Jim

Dear Jim,

I for one hate to see you go dear friend. You have blessed me more than you know. I will stay in touch with you via email as i already view your site as well. You will be missed. Your walk in the Spirit is in tact and so very true to Christ.

Dear Brother,

I appreciate you and may God's blessing continue to be on your life, thank you for your challenging words.

Ravenhill said

"I doubt that more than two percent of professing Christians in the United States are truly born again."

Is Martha the only test of a true Christian, busy busy busy? Mary found the best part, sitting at the feet of Jesus taking in every word that He has to say. The work will get done, but in His time, not Martha's time. There is a time to prepare the workers for the harvest. They have to know how to cut the grain and to do it right.

Gideon was called to such a time as this in his day. God had prepared him, gave him a boldness under the cover of darkness to winnow the wheat. Yes the Church looks like it's dead, but it's seeking God under the cover of darkness, where God dwelleth. We are constantly in a storm in our souls, we are being tried and tested.

From my estimation there is no one that is truly standing for the truth of God's word in this city. BUT I KNOW THAT I KNOW THAT I KNOW, that God has reserved for Himself an innumeral company of believers, not just in this city but all over North America and the world.

God Bless

I'm very sorry to see you go. You have always been an encouragement to me.

God be with you and your family, brother Jim.

Thank you for the time you have spent on SI edifying the believers.

I didn't get to know you to well, being a new-be, but I liked what Ravenhill said about 2% real Christians in America.

I went to china in 07', summer, and in conversing with Chinese believers, or seekers, the subject came up concerning the number of Christians living in America. 80% they cheerfully guessed. [they love America....shang ra-la with golden streets and automobiles for all!] No, and cutting to the chase, I said about 2% of americans were true Christians.

I had no idea that Ravenhill also agreed. Needless to say, they were shocked, or just thought I had a mental problem. Real Christians are Christ like, not necessarily just born again. 2ndly, web sites promote personas, which , believe it or not, are not necessarily the real person they project.

I wish you the best to endure the pressures coming, and bear a loving heart to your Master in the days to come. Semper Fidelus is our King. Tom

Jim... you and I have butted heads a few times, but I am a better man for it. You have been an encouragement and a challenge to me, and I hate to see you go.

I appreciate that a while back we were able to find common ground on which we could stand together. I think we have a lot more common ground than we think we do.

Love ya bro... and SI is an addiction. You will be back. ;-)

Krispy

Goodbye, So long, Farewell to thee, Adieu,
Be good, Bye Bye, Relax, Take Care, Bon Voyagee,
Adieu mon vieux. A la prochaine. Goodbye 'til we meet again!

I do pray that you will change your mind and decide not to leave. :-)

Psalm18 wrote:
I do pray that you will change your mind and decide not to leave. :-)

[i]Mat 23:34 Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city,
Mat 23:35 that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.
Mat 23:36 Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
Mat 23:37 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!
Mat 23:38 See! Your house is left to you desolate;
Mat 23:39 for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!' "[/i]

Jim was a prophetic voice on this forum. His leaving foreshadowed the sinking of Sermonindex's ship. Such a shame that the people who caused Jim's departure by their callousness and lack of discernment are the ones to ask him to stay and say that they will miss him.

Ravenhill was not far from the truth when he said:

"I doubt that more than two percent of professing Christians in the United States are truly born again."

If you are called as a prophetic voice, and cannot or will not cope with rejection or misunderstanding, then I doubt your maturity, at least, in the midst of that calling.

Read Isaiah's, Jeremiah's and Ezekiel's calling's.. To a "rebellious" house, "impudent children", "stiff hearted", "transgressors". What does being run off, or rejected have to do with it?? It probably means he wasn't in this calling to deliver the Word, but for himself; possibly for acceptance.

All of the prophets were persecuted, and rejected. They still carried his word though, until the bitter end. Read lamentations. Jeremiah travelled with his persecutors that were in rebellion, by choice, until his death by their hands! [Egypt: probable history] Why? Because God loves his people, and wants them to turn back to Him, in the midst of their wickedness!

Read Matthew 5, about those who suffer persecution. There is a place for "shaking the dust off of your shoes', and moving on, but this ain't that. Why??? Because there are so many folks here that love the truth above and beyond themselves, and know that they are wretches and failures in the light of His Holiness and purity.

I'd watch judgements about the sinking of ships. You may just be hurling icebergs at God's ship...Imperfect...?? yes. Apostate! I think not. Your attitude about impending judgement just because your prophet friend felt disrespected might show that you couldn't see a shipwreck coming at low speed in the sunshine.
love in Christ, tom

P.S. He left on his own.

Brothertom wrote:

If you are called as a prophetic voice, and cannot or will not cope with rejection or misunderstanding, then I doubt your maturity, at least, in the midst of that calling.

Read Isaiah's, Jeremiah's and Ezekiel's calling's.. To a "rebellious" house, "impudent children", "stiff hearted", "transgressors". What does being run off, or rejected have to do with it?? It probably means he wasn't in this calling to deliver the Word, but for himself; possibly for acceptance.

All of the prophets were persecuted, and rejected. They still carried his word though, until the bitter end. Read lamentations. Jeremiah travelled with his persecutors that were in rebellion, by choice, until his death by their hands! [Egypt: probable history] Why? Because God loves his people, and wants them to turn back to Him, in the midst of their wickedness!

Read Matthew 5, about those who suffer persecution. There is a place for "shaking the dust off of your shoes', and moving on, but this ain't that. Why??? Because there are so many folks here that love the truth above and beyond themselves, and know that they are wretches and failures in the light of His Holiness and purity.

I'd watch judgements about the sinking of ships. You may just be hurling icebergs at God's ship...Imperfect...?? yes. Apostate! I think not. Your attitude about impending judgement just because your prophet friend felt disrespected might show that you couldn't see a shipwreck coming at low speed in the sunshine.
love in Christ, tom

P.S. He left on his own.

...............................................
Man my memory I getting bad, I posting in the wrong place, or did not hit submit.
OK here goes again. I wish I had wrote this and saved it them I could have just copied and pasted.
Good Post Brothertom. Jim may be as the prophet Elijah on the brook Cherith in the cave getting fed bread (WORD). drinking from the brook Cherith, (HOLY SPIRIT WATER). He may come back and run 35 miles ahead of Ahab's chariot to Jezebel and see her get thrown off the balcony. It is easy for any of us when we are speaking complete truth and it offends others to get discouraged. As long as we are getting amened we can preach on brother. God is always looking for an Elijah to regain his strength. Elijah you would think could have tackled a bear with a switch about the time he hid out on the brook Cherith, he had just obeyed God and God had sent fire down from heaven and exposed all the false prophets and then Elijah got the privilege of cutting their heads off. And then when he heard Jezebel was after him, he lost faith in God for a period of time. But God did not leave him and he want leave us.
Jezebel thought she had everything under control and she was in charge, but she didn't know God was sending a prophet to have her thrown of the balcony because she ignored him time and time again. Her wimp husband Ahab that let her have control got it not long after she did.

Brothertom wrote:
There is a place for "shaking the dust off of your shoes', and moving on, but this ain't that. Why??? Because there are so many folks here that love the truth above and beyond themselves, and know that they are wretches and failures in the light of His Holiness and purity.

I hope you are right, that there are people here that are thirsting after righteousness. They will be filled.

However, regarding Jim's departure, it might have been the result of rejection or misunderstanding, but certainly no one was hearing what he was saying. He didn't just get offended and leave. He delivered a message to some people who needed to hear it, which message was blatantly rejected; and he was free to leave.

Eze 3:7 But the house of Israel will not listen to you, because they will not listen to Me; for all the house of Israel are impudent and hard-hearted.

Eze 3:19 Yet, if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.

Just like it was with Noah who entered the ark and concluded his ministry in the ancient world, there comes a time when the prophet's warnings would cease and the Lord's judgment will set in.

I believe that the Lord knows those who are His, and nobody can snatch them out of His hand--no matter how much persecution or false teaching comes their way. But there are many here on sermonindex, who needed to hear Jim's message, but they didn't recognize it as a message from God. [i]Their[/i] ship is sinking; God has given them over to a greater delusion. For the rejection of a prophetic word brings the people who reject it into further deception and apostacy. The prophetic word is an event, not just something that comes and goes. When the Lord raised a prophet in Israel, it was no minor thing.

I'd watch judgements about the sinking of ships. You may just be hurling icebergs at God's ship...Imperfect...?? yes. Apostate! I think not.

The issue is not with the current condition of some people, but that the use of such language ("Imperfect...?? yes. Apostate! I think not.") reveals a proclivity to justify their own sin. They have become hardened and complacent. To them the words, "Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect" have no immediate significance.

I trust that you too, as myself, are imperfect, but not apostate. I simply meant a work in progress. I don't understand how you can jump from that, " to justifying sin, and being hardened".

The "being perfect", as your heavenly Father is..",,,is referring to an heart attitude of absolute submission and conscious obedience to His Holy Spirit. We are admonished that in the end, we are all unprofitable servants.

Paul, the Apostle made it quite clear that he had not attained, but pressed onward toward the high call in Jesus. He was expressing the very spirit here that Jesus did , when he spoke the above scripture.

You are convinced that "they" rejected God's word. Who says? You, Jim, and his friends?

Jesus loves the body. Even those who do not always agree with him. He disciplines, not man, however much you would like to see it.

Remember the "Sons of Thunder." Lord, would you call fire down upon them?"......I'll go out on a limb, and say this to you, "not me" You don't know what manner of spirit you are of. I sense a desire to vindicate your own agenda. Why? For the good of sermonindex? Sounds like you have an axe to grind.

If we pray for our enemies, how much more a brother who may have fell into a hard heart, or an accusatory spirit? You do the math.

NotMe wrote:

Psalm18 wrote:
I do pray that you will change your mind and decide not to leave. :-)

[i]Mat 23:34 Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city,
Mat 23:35 that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.
Mat 23:36 Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
Mat 23:37 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!
Mat 23:38 See! Your house is left to you desolate;
Mat 23:39 for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!' "[/i]

Jim was a prophetic voice on this forum. His leaving foreshadowed the sinking of Sermonindex's ship. Such a shame that the people who caused Jim's departure by their callousness and lack of discernment are the ones to ask him to stay and say that they will miss him.

Ravenhill was not far from the truth when he said:

"I doubt that more than two percent of professing Christians in the United States are truly born again."

Since you quoted me I just wanted to say that I do not know the ends and outs of anyone who has decided to leave this forum recently. Some of these people have been on here for years and I do not know all of the history. I said that because I do not like to see anyone on this forum leave. I was here when he decided to leave but I was not at all keeping up with all that was happening. I leave all of that to the moderators. They have a tough job and they need our prayers.

moe wrote
Man my memory I getting bad, I posting in the wrong place, or did not hit submit.
OK here goes again. I wish I had wrote this and saved it them I could have just copied and pasted.
Good Post Brothertom. Jim may be as the prophet Elijah on the brook Cherith in the cave getting fed bread (WORD). drinking from the brook Cherith, (HOLY SPIRIT WATER). He may come back and run 35 miles ahead of Ahab's chariot to Jezebel and see her get thrown off the balcony. It is easy for any of us when we are speaking complete truth and it offends others to get discouraged. As long as we are getting amened we can preach on brother. God is always looking for an Elijah to regain his strength. Elijah you would think could have tackled a bear with a switch about the time he hid out on the brook Cherith, he had just obeyed God and God had sent fire down from heaven and exposed all the false prophets and then Elijah got the privilege of cutting their heads off. And then when he heard Jezebel was after him, he lost faith in God for a period of time. But God did not leave him and he want leave us.
Jezebel thought she had everything under control and she was in charge, but she didn't know God was sending a prophet to have her thrown of the balcony because she ignored him time and time again. Her wimp husband Ahab that let her have control got it not long after she did.

The question has arose did Elijah lose his faith? Did I make a scripture error. As I have said before I am not passed error. Thank God my perfection does lie within myself by ib Jesus. I have been referred to 1st King Chapter 5 and 2nd King chapter 9 to view my mistake.
There is more though.
Read for yourself in bold and see you can detect any fear in Elijah in these passages. I will help in BOLD. There would have been in me too.

1 Kings 19:1-4
19:1 And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword.
2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, [b]if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time.[/b]
3 And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there.
4 But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.
KJV

1 Kings 19:11-14
11 The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by."
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13[b] When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.[/b]

Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

14 He replied,[b] "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty.[/b] The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword.[b] I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too." [/b]

1 Kings 17:3-6
3 Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.
4 And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there
KJV
5 So he went and did according unto the word of the LORD: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.
6 And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.
KJV

2 Kings 9:1-3
9:1 The prophet Elisha summoned a man from the company of the prophets and said to him, "Tuck your cloak into your belt, take this flask of oil with you and go to Ramoth Gilead. 2 When you get there, look for Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi. Go to him, get him away from his companions and take him into an inner room. 3 Then take the flask and pour the oil on his head and declare, 'This is what the LORD says: I anoint you king over Israel.' Then open the door and run; don't delay!

It appears I did indeed make a mistake and Jehu may have been the messenger who actually went to Ahab and Jezebel. It was an honest mistake and I stand corrected and I apoligize. As I once said if I make a mistake I need to be corrected. However you can see from the fear of Elijah in the passages as I said.