Jeff USAF RET

Hi folks! We just posted an excellent research article on angels by John Lynn (so watch out for the humor). The title is "What does the Bible say about angels?" The article also corrects the erroneous idea that a person will lose their guardian angel when they are born-again. So, what does the Bible say about angels? A lot! Why? Because God is LOVE, and the world is a war zone. The chief combatants are God and Satan, and what they are fighting over is YOU. Yes, people are the prize, the spoils of war, if you will. God wants to win people so He can love them, bless them, and give them everlasting life. The Devil wants to win people so he can destroy them (John 10:10a). Because both God and Satan are spirit beings, this ongoing battle is being fought primarily in the spiritual realm, with its manifestations made evident in the physical realm in which we live, that is, the world. Both Commanders-in-Chief, God and Satan, have spirit-being “troops” that they command in the battle. God has those whom the Bible calls “angels” (in both Hebrew and Greek the word for angels means “messengers”), and Satan has those referred to as “evil spirits” or “unclean spirits.” Spirit beings are beings with a life force and a composition that are different than those of a human being. To read the rest of this article, please go to the link below. http://www.truthortradition.com/modules.ph...article&sid=438 I trust it will help you see the role angels have in ALL our lives and correct another error of our TWI days. :)--> Much love to ya! Jeff

For those of you that would like to see more of John Lynn's heart, here is a link to some of his online articles. :)--> He is out of town and has no idea I am posting this. Okay, come and get me. :)--> But these are really good! http://www.truthortradition.com/modules.ph...ws&new_topic=54 Love to all, Jeff

Hi Steve, Bless you, brother. Yes, I do have exactly the same agenda I had seven years ago (and have had for 17+ since being fired by TWI), which is to help everyone I possibly can come to know the Lord Jesus more intimately. In conjunction with that goal, I do have a particular affinity for people with "ex-Way vision," because I believe that we did hear the Word as it had not been taught since the first century, and I long to see my former pals and peers sort out their experiences so as to be healed as needed, and move forward in the Lord. The countless testimonies from such folks about how what we have to offer has done exactly that for them spur me on to keep reaching out to others. Having said that, Jeff has carte blanche to post whatever he wants, and I'm still not sure exactly what he has put out lately, so, taking into consideration your feedback, I will ask him about it and see if we can be of more benefit to the Greasespot constituency. Steve, I think you know that I am far more aware than most about how TWI has hurt many dear saints. It may be that I have talked with more of them than has anyone else, because for 17+ years I have sought them out and made myself available to them. Believe me, what I know from their personal testimonies is not easy to carry in my heart because it is so sickening. In my many years of roaming the country since 1987, sitting at scores of kitchen tables at midnight, I have seen the carnage firsthand and have done my best, flawed though it is, to help to heal people's hearts. But the evils of the TWI system must be separated from the awesome truth of God's Word that was taught, and which saved the lives of countless people, and those who have not made that distinction have thrown out the baby with the bathwater. Tens of thousands of people had positive experiences with TWI and learned the Word like they could not have anywhere else. The Enemy saw clearly that VPW/TWI did have a (1) package of biblical truth unlike anything for centuries, and (2) a rapidly growing number of people committed to spreading it around the world, so he used the character flaws of many leaders, combined with significant doctrinal error, to tear apart what really did have the potential to take the Word over the world. We have simply tried to hold to all the good we found in TWI while deleting the doctrinal and practical error, build on that foundation and move forward toward that same goal. What is wrong with that? We will let the fruit of our work in people's lives speak for itself. As for whether or not TWI was a "cult," I'm not much for buzzwords, so I'm not invested in defending that it wasn't, but I daresay that matching the characteristics of contemporary organizations to the dictionary definition of "cult" would place the Roman Catholic Church and a number of other groups far ahead of the TWI I knew. Furthermore, none of those groups comes close to teaching the truth that TWI taught nor doing the amount of good TWI did, especially from the mid-60s until the early 80s. Your allegation that Spirit and Truth Fellowship International is building a religious empire and replicating TWI is so very sad to me. Steve, before your Momentus experience, I remember you as an enthusiastic participant in our ministry. Did you think then that we were building a religious empire and replicating TWI? Apparently not, so I'm wondering what you think has changed. Your statement shows clearly that your seven year absence from having any contact with us has left you in the dark as to where our hearts are and what we are doing for God's precious people. Those who are up close and personal with us know experientially, by their personal dealings with us, that how they are treated is far from how TWI too often treated people. Your groundless allegation also irks me, not for my sake, but for the sake of any dear saint who might read it on Greasepot and believe it without investigating for himself. Anyone doing that would deprive himself of the wonderful people, activities, and materials we have available for the spiritual and emotional enrichment of God's people. If you have any current evidence of how we are mishandling God's Word or hurting people like TWI did, let me know. If not, please consider that you might be speaking ill of something that God is supporting. I do love you and miss you. Your brother, John p.s. Re: Momentus, many of my ex-Way friends have told me that the training was the catalyst for their healing from the hurt of TWI. As for the "65" people you spoke of (95% of 1300), I was going to say 99%, and should have, because that is my experience, in that maybe a dozen people have told me their Momentus experience was harmful to them. And yes, I grieved that for each one, of course. And yes, I realized early on, and have accounted to anyone I could, that my enthusiastic endorsement of the training contributed to some people doing it on my reommendation alone without looking into what it was and realizing that it was not something that would serve them. p.p.s. I'd like you to post this on Greasespot, as you said you would.

Hey Steve, I showed John how to use GreaseSpot this AM. He is waiting for his account to be made active. :)--> Jeff

Hi sky4it! :)--> Great post! You are very right! How that got missed and then accepted is beyond me. I never knew it was going on but then I was "just" a Military Twig Coordinator and the sex stuff was going on behind the "leadership" scenes. GreaseSpot has a link to the Adultery paper at: http://www.greasespotcafe.com/waydale/misc/adultery.htm There is also many good articles on the subject of Sex n Scripture at this link. Most come right out of John Schoenheits book on the subject. http://www.truthortradition.com/modules.ph...ewindex&catid=8 It was sad how the "group think" got into TWI with all the "man-of-God" stuff. May we stay free in Christ with eyes wide open! :)--> Jeff

I think this website is by far the best one I know about in the Trinitarian or Non-Trinitarian debate. http://www.biblicalunitarian.com/html/ But then again, I helped build it! Here is a very cool article. Trinitarian or Unitarian Does it really matter? http://www.biblicalunitarian.com/html/modu...article&sid=111 Yes.....!!! :)--> Enjoy! Jeff

Here is some of the TIMELINE of how Christian Educational Services came to be. This is taken from the link given below. 1943-1986 Mark Graeser, John Lynn, and John Schoenheit were born and raised in relatively normal American families, graduated from normal American colleges (Grinnell, Kenyon and UNC, respectively) and became relatively normal American young men. In the late 60's and early 70's they each became associated with The Way International in New Knoxville, OH because they were impressed with the depth of research and the quality of teaching they found there. Each became progressively more involved, assuming a variety of teaching and leadership positions up until 1986. John Schoenheit had been an integral and well-respected member of the Research Team at The Way headquarters for several years, known particularly for his work in the Old Testament. Little did he think that his 1986 writing of an innocent little research paper reaching an obvious conclusion (adultery is sin) would sound the shot that would be heard 'round The Way world and precipitate a not-so-civil war during which many captives of tradition and tyranny were set free. By the time the dust had settled, these three amigos formed Christian Educational Services in an attempt to continue what had been good in the teaching and practice of The Way. Since then, CES has been occupied with the difficult and sometimes tedious task of sorting through the rubble, looking for life and meaning in the profound and life-changing experience that was The Way. In the process of our seeking biblical truth and sound Christian character, God has opened many doors of utterance to us around the world and taken us far beyond a ministry to ex-Way members only. What follows are the significant events in the growth and development of our ministry, offered in the hope of giving you a better sense of where we have come from and where, God willing, we might be going. Here are the Scriptural Issues about which Christian Educational Services Differs with The Way International (and other groups who hold to the same doctrine). 1986 October: The firing of John Schoenheit by The Way International for writing a paper called "Adultery and Fornication: A Biblical Perspective." The paper simply concluded that adultery and fornication were immoral according to the Bible. 1986 November: The Way Clergy meeting that threatened dismissal for any clergy who had read or distributed John Schoenheit’s paper. 1987 March: 37 page letter sent by John & Pat Lynn, Tom Reahard, Ralph Dubofsky, Robert Belt calling for a convention of all interested parties to discuss ways of restoring The Way to biblical standards. Read a 5 Page letter by John Lynn on this subject. 1987 April 1: The firing of John Lynn by The Way International, presumably for insubordination. 1987 October: 1st Chicago meeting of "American Fellowship Services," the precursor to CES. 1988 June: The following was printed in a national newsletter: "C.E.S. will have no national membership and we do not intend to interfere with how your local fellowship operates. We want to encourage Bible studies and fellowship, but we don’t want to run your life or living room." "Christian Educational Services" began with the following initial members: Robert Belt, Ralph Dubofsky, Mark Graeser, John Lynn, Sue Pierce, Tom Reahard and John Schoenheit. The initial Board of Directors included Robert, Ralph, John, Sue and Tom. The CES office was in John Lynn’s house. 1988 August: Mark Graeser presents Rethinking Christology to Apologetic Research Coalition (ARC), an anti-cult group of orthodox Christians. He is first viewed with suspicion but eventually accepted as a Christian brother. 2nd Chicago meeting of "American Fellowship Services" 1988 September: Christian Educational Services officially incorporated in the state of Indiana. Its purpose was to provide Bible teachings by way of books, tapes, periodic newsletters and conferences. 1989 April: The IRS notified CES that our application for 501 ©(3) status had been approved. 1989 August: John Schoenheit presented paper on "The Dead are Dead" (written by Mark Graeser) to ARC. This marked the end of our association with ARC because our position was not rebutted biblically. CES purchased its first computer a Macintosh SE and leased a small Minolta copier. 1989 November: Robert Belt and Sue Pierce resigned from the Board. Mark Graeser and John Schoenheit were elected to the Board. 1989: We began sending out four quarterly letters, each consisting of personal sharings, news of activities and teaching itineraries of CES members. CES also sent out six bi-monthly issues of DIALOGUE , which had a readership of 500. One national fellowship was held in Chicago in November. We produced a 24-hour Bible study series "Introduction to God’s Heart" taught by Mark Graeser, John Schoenheit, John Lynn and David Anderson. This was taped May 26-June 4 and became available to the public July 29. By the end of the year, nearly 400 sets had been distributed. 1990: John Lynn continued on a volunteer, non-salaried basis to handle the day by day operation of CES , advised by the Board of Directors about every 3 weeks in a telephone conference call. John Lynn taught an 18-hour seminar, The Book of Romans . The first 90-minute bi-monthly teaching tape was produced, to which more than 500 people subscribed. To be able to produce these, CES acquired a tape deck and microphone at a cost of about $500. The first tape was The Christian Family: A Laboratory of Love. Pat Lynn, who has been working as contract labor, was hired February 1 as a part-time employee, the only CES employee. CES continued to send a quarterly letter, which by the end of the year went to about 2600 addresses, or approximately 4000 people in all 50 states and the District of Columbia as well as Australia, England, France, Germany, Ghana, Japan, Ireland, Norway, Philippines, Portugal, Scotland, Singapore, South Africa and Uganda. Our annual Fall meeting was once again in Chicago, and approximately 100 people from across the United States enjoyed the fellowship and the Word of God that was taught. 1991: John Lynn continued to volunteer, non-salaried basis to handle the day-to-day operation of CES advised by the Board about every 3 weeks in a telephone conference call. In February, Tom Reahard resigned from the Board. Pat Lynn completed her second year as the only CES employee, working part-time. The mailing list increased to 2900 addresses and about 5000 people received the quarterly newsletter. The first edition of our first book, Is There Death After Life? was published in February. In June, John Schoenheit completed a 26 hour seminar entitled A Journey Through The Old Testament . John Lynn traveled to nearly 100 cities in the USA, as well as to England, Ireland, Scotland, Germany, South Africa, Singapore, and the Philippines teaching and making CES materials available. John Schoenheit was able to travel more this year doing weekend meetings in about ten cities, and Mark Graeser also made a couple of trips. In December we began sending $200 a month to Rodrigo and Judy Limpot in Cebu City, Philippines. CES continued our policy of giving away materials to those who really wanted them but could not afford to buy them, in particular widows and single parents. By the end of the year there were 541 subscribers to the bi-monthly tapes and 578 subscribers to DIALOGUE. 1992: The annual CES Fall Fellowship was held October 11-13 at the Airport Holiday Inn in Indianapolis and about 160 folks from coast to coast in the USA attended. Ralph Dubofsky resigned from the Board. On February 1, John Schoenheit began work as a full-time employee of CES with full health insurance coverage for him and his family. In June we produced a six-hour seminar taught by John Schoenheit, entitled The Creation-Evolution Controversy. In July our second book, titled Speaking the Truth in Love, The Purposes of Christian Educational Services, was published. In August, we purchased a 1992 Plymouth Mini-van for John Lynn’s travel around the USA. The annual CES Fall Fellowship was held in September in Indianapolis, and about 175 people from coast to coast in the USA attended. For the first time, we made available Children’s Fellowship. Pat Lynn completed her third year as the CES secretary, continuing to work part-time. On November 30, Elaine Leonard began working twenty hours per week as a secretary. We also began making available to people books written by authors other than ourselves. Although John Lynn received no salary, CES again paid all his travel expenses. Instead of paying him the current U.S. corporate mileage rate for his business driving, as we had done in the past, we secured a Mastercard for him to use for gasoline and for him and John Schoenheit to use for other travel expenses, and for the purchase of research books, etc. In November, an unused porch in John’s home was renovated to expand the Home Office. John Lynn continued to travel as extensively as he has in the past and John Schoenheit traveled more. _____________________________________ To read the rest of this TIMELINE, click on the link below. It will have MANY more hyper links to key artilces linked on it. http://christianeducational.org/timeline.htm :)--> Hope that helps you see the way an "ex-way" group started! Jeff

Hey folks! Sorry for the delay in posting. I had sinus surgery a couple of weeks ago. JAL is "cool" with me posting his letter here. It is posting on the Internet for all to read. Please feel free to contact JAL at: JALCES@aol.com Only if you feel you need to, that is. He will listen to whatever you need to get off your chest. :)--> I love the freedom we all now have to follow the Lord (Jesus) and not men! Knowing Jesus is a wonderful and healing thing! Yes, Jesus is his name and it's okay to call him that. :)--> Here is a great article by John Lynn on: As a Christian, is it wrong to address our Lord Jesus Christ as just “Jesus”? http://www.truthortradition.com/modules.ph...article&sid=199 Keep the faith! :)--> Sure love ya! I better get to work!!! :)--> Jeff

_________________________________________ For a biblical explaination of the above stuff, check out this link. http://biblicalunitarian.com/html/modules....article&sid=109 And last but not least, here is a great article showing Jesus HAS a God. http://www.biblicalunitarian.com/html/modu...=article&sid=28 :)--> Hope this helps! Jeff May the God & Father OF our Lord Jesus bless you! Hey, didn't Paul say something like that in the first few verses of Ephesians???? WOW...Jesus has a God & a Father???? Hmmmmmm. :)-->

Here is a great link to many articles from CES stuff about Jesus. http://www.truthortradition.com/modules.ph...windex&catid=29 I trust they are eye opening and heart lifting in our quest to know and be like our Lord, Jesus! :)--> Jeff

Hey Radar! Hey Lifted Up! :)--> It's good to "see" you folks again. I have had a lot of time on my hands this week and thought I would come back to the old "spot" for a bit. I finally broke down and had sinus surgery on Tuesday and that has had me very house bound. I am looking forward to getting back to work in the A.M. Life is very good here in Indy. I love working full time ministry and raising my two boys in it. They are getting old. One is 17 (and driving!!)and the other is coming up on 16. We are running a Teens n 20s fellowship in our home every Sunday for about 30 - 50 "kids." My wonderful wife, Michele, cooks them all dinner and then we have praise n worship and a teaching with lots fo hang time. We have a lot of 20s that can really teach the Word in a powerful way. It's awesome! :)--> I have been working hard for the past year to help build two new outreach websites. http://www.BiblicalUnitarian.com CES bought that one last December from the original owner and then I had the idea to start another one for all of the other stuff CES offers. http://www.TruthOrTradition.com Would love your feedback! Well, MUCH love to ya! Gopher Boy....(Not that John Lynn even knows or asked me to post his letter here, I was just bored!). LOL May we all keep healing, forgiving, and moving forward with our eyes wide open! :)--> Jeff n Michele

:D--> LOL :)--> I should see John in the morning and will give him your love! Love, Gopher boy!

Here is an article you might want to check out. I have found it very healing and insightful. It is posted in the doctrinal section. I am glad I now know that Jesus is Lord (not God) but Lord. In ALL my days in TWI I can honestly say I never knew the Lord Jesus. John Lynn will be the first to tell you that as well. Check it out. :)--> Who is Jesus? by John Lynn http://gscafe.com/groupee/forums?a=tpc&s=9...552&m=569105224 :)--> Much love to ya! Jeff

Hi JustThinking...... It is posted on the web in general and I know he would love everyone that had anything to do with TWI to read it. So....I thought I would post it here for all to see his heart. :-) After I retired from the USAF I came to work for the ministry he started. http://www.CESonline.org :-) Jeff

For further study on the subject you posted above, try these two links and see if they help. http://christianeducational.org/articles/D..._Near_Part1.pdf http://christianeducational.org/articles/D..._Near_Part2.pdf If you have any problems with the content, please feel free to e-mail John Schoenheit. jschoen777@aol.com I know he would be very open to what you have to say! :-) Jeff

That's the one! :-)

Make sure you use the word Wierwille in the subject line of itmes you sell on http://www.eBay.com This will make sure you sort into the TWI buying and selling "pool." :-)

This letter is new. The original letter John Lynn did in 1988 about the breakup of TWI and all the behind the scene stuff is located at: http://www.swiftlynx.com/beyondTheWayInternational/ :-)

This letter is from John Lynn. :-) Enjoy! Dearest brother/sister in Christ, God bless you richly in the mighty name of Jesus Christ our Lord, our Savior, our Mentor, the one whose perfect trust in his heavenly Father made it possible for us to do likewise and walk with him. This is John Lynn, and I am writing this letter to anyone who is or was involved in The Way International, that is, those with "ex-Way vision." The Real Me, by the grace and mercy of God, is still standing, and more than ever "living in the eye of the storm." The first thing I want to say is, "I love you." The second thing is that, as it has for the past 16 years, my heart goes out to everyone who was ever associated with The Way. I think that we all did hear much of the Word "as it has not been taught since the first century." The problem was that we had an "absent Christ," and therefore, practically speaking, we were like a body without a head. I was only one of the "poor substitutes" that people looked to when they should have been looking to the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank God that I was taught the inherent keys to the Word’s interpretation. They are still true, and they are what enabled me, along with my dear friends John Schoenheit and Mark and Karen Anne Graeser (and many others), to see the wrong doctrine mixed in with the right doctrine we were taught. If you are interested, we have a list of about 25 biblical subjects about which we believe the Word says differently than we were taught in The Way. What we believe the Word says about these can be found in one or more of our books and tapes. Wrong doctrine always leads to wrong practice. I am more aware than most of the grievous abuses laid upon many of God’s precious people when they were in The Way . Perhaps you are one who was so abused. The point is that now the choice is yours as to how you see your past involvement in The Way. In our lives, we are not the sum total of what has happened to us, but rather how we have responded to what has happened. In that vein, "it’s never too late to have a happy childhood." What I mean by that is that you can ask the Lord to help you arrive at a healthy perspective of whatever happened to you. In his infinite resourcefulness, he can somehow turn it into something you can use to help someone else. In regard to your involvement in The Way , you could choose to be a victim, but may I suggest that is not the best perspective. Frederick Douglas, a former slave and then an abolitionist in the time of the Civil War, once said, "The limits of tyrants are prescribed by those whom they oppress." I like to look at my time in The Way in a more positive sense. I want to "eat the fish and spit out the bones." There are many things I could say here, but I’m trying to keep this letter as brief as possible. I know thousands of people who, in my opinion, have "thrown out the baby with the bathwater." They have spit out the whole fish because of some bones. I know many others who are "tired of the fight," that is, of "not fitting in" with traditional Christianity, primarily because they are branded as heretics for not believing that Jesus is God. In regard to that subject, I encourage you to read our newest book, titled One God and One Lord: Reconsidering the Cornerstone of the Christian Faith . For 16 years now we have been helping people around the world, many who have never heard of The Way, move forward, most especially by getting Jesus Christ in the right place as Lord . Christian Educational Services is a full service ministry with a wide range of activities and materials for everyone. We are seeing people's hearts healed and seeing them come together to reach out to others in the love of Christ. I encourage you to listen to or read for yourself what we have produced. If you like, we are most happy to send you a Christian Educational Services statement of beliefs, and/or put you on our mailing list for our monthly newsletter. Each letter has an order form listing all the materials we have so you can order anything you like. I also encourage you go to our website, which is located at: CESonline.org, and see what you think. In closing, let me say that I honestly believe that Dr. Wierwille would be very proud of what we are doing. We have taken the keys to the Word’s interpretation that he taught us and we have used them to evaluate his own teachings, correcting those that did not agree with Scripture. We have never lost sight of the goal of moving the Word around the world. If that is still your goal, or if you think there is any way we could be of service to you, please do not hesitate to contact us. Once again let me say that I love you. I wish that I could adequately communicate to you how thrilling life is when the Lord Jesus Christ is a daily reality. Understanding who he is as "the Lord" and living accordingly exalts both him and our heavenly Father. The Lord Jesus is the glue that can knit our hearts together so that we can enjoy the "camaraderie of the committed" and stand together for him. Your brother in Christ, John A. Lynn 317-557-3776 JALCES@aol.com Please feel free to contact me! :-)

To contact John Schoenheit, e-mail him at: jschoen777@aol.com He would love to hear from you! :-)

To contact John Lynn, e-mail him at: JALCES@aol.com He would LOVE to hear from you. :-)

This is one of my favorite subjects! :-) This article is by John Lynn, JALCES@aol.com Doesn't the teaching that Jesus is not God, but the Son of God, demean him and make him smaller in people's eyes? Good question. The answer is: "No, it makes him bigger." But let's think about it. First of all, the real issue is not who Jesus is not, but who he is. If I introduce myself to you by saying, "Hi, I'm not Elvis Presley," you are left with a major question: "Why is he not institutionalized?" No, the question is: "Who are you?" Knowing who someone is not doesn't tell you who he is, but knowing who he is tells you everyone he is not. The Word of God makes it clear that Satan's primary goal is to blind people to the truth about JESUS CHRIST, because he is the only way to salvation, and because he is the perfect re-presentation of God's heart for mankind. 2 Corinthians 4:4 says just that: "The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." God is spirit, and Satan doesn't have to "blind" people to something that is invisible. But he does all he can to blind people to the glorious image of God, Jesus Christ. His chief goal is to stop people from believing in Jesus as Lord and being saved, and to that end he offers a wide variety of lies about Jesus, which millions of Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Mormons, Christian Scientists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Scientologists, New Age adherents, et al believe. But Satan obviously cannot turn everyone away from the truth that Jesus is the Savior, and millions of other people do believe and are saved. That in no way dissuades the Enemy from his main goal: distorting as much of the truth about Jesus Christ as he possibly can. The Devil has succeeded in obscuring key truth about Jesus for most Christians by way of the spurious idea that Jesus is God in human flesh, a God-man who is 100% God and 100% man. At best, this is 200% puzzling. At least, it negates one's genuine identification with Jesus as a man who had to trust God and live by faith, just as we are asked to do. Follow my logic now as we think about how both truth and error relate to one's quality of life, and consider what might be the practical consequences of thinking that Jesus is God in human flesh. If this doctrine is actually from the Enemy, what is his goal in trying to get people to believe it? At this juncture, John 8:32 is a key verse: "And you shall know the truth, and the truth will make you free." Ever thought about the converse to that statement? Wouldn't it be that believing error puts one in bondage to some degree? Absolutely. Suppose you were locked in California, but no one told you that. You could go through your whole life without realizing any practical consequence of this restriction, providing that you never needed to leave California. But what if you got a phone call that your filthy rich aunt in Iowa just died and left you $8 billion, and all you had to do to claim it was go there and sign for it? And that via an eccentric stipulation in her will, if you didn't, you'd be hung? Bondage. As opposed to being locked in California, what if you were locked in a two by two by six foot box? That bondage would be much more noticeable, right? The quality of your life would be much more obviously and painfully diminished. Spiritually, it is important to note that the importance of the subject in question determines the degree of bondage for the one who is in the dark about it. If you think there were two sheep on Noah's ark (the Bible says 14), it will probably not wreck Thursday for you. But if you think that God sends sickness to purify you, and that He also determines the time of your death, you may not make it to Thursday. If Jesus were God, what he did would not mean that much, because nothing is hard for God. Neither could he have been tempted in all ways as we are so that we can now relate to him and identify with him in that. The truth is that Jesus was tempted far beyond what any of us will ever experience, because Satan threw everything he had at the Son of God, who was God's only hope for man's redemption. And Jesus responded by "entrusting himself to God" (1 Pet. 2:23), just as he now asks us to do. He really did live by faith, that is, by trusting the promises of His Father. Never did Jesus allow fear to cause him to sin by looking anywhere but God for what he needed. Never did he allow pride to dictate an ungodly response on his part. Never did self-pity distort his perspective of reality to the end that he became depressed under the burden of mankind's sins. If Jesus is God, we have no real example of faith. By the way, the fact that Jesus (the Last Adam) had no sin nature is not why he did not sin. How do we know that? Because Adam #1 had no sin nature, and he sinned royally. Each had genuine free will, and Jesus did not sin because he chose not to. And when Scripture says that he was tempted in all ways as we are, it means that he felt the same internal pull toward lust, self-defense, self-pity, etc., as we do, but time after time he subjugated it and chose to respond in a godly way. The idea of the Trinity muddies the waters in regard to many other critical biblical topics, but let us focus on the FAQ at hand. We believe that the doctrine that Jesus is God actually diminishes the magnitude of his heroism on our behalf. For God to do what Jesus did? Obviously it wouldn't have been hard for Him. And what would we expect God to do but be true to His nature and inherent perfection? But for a human being to face knucklehead humanity as well as Satan's subtle ploys umpteen times a day for his whole life and never respond sinfully, and then to endure about 40 hours of indescribable torture (how much pent up demonic fury do you think was unleashed on Jesus from Monday night through Wednesday morning?) and then hang on the Cross for six hours of excruciating agony while still focusing on Scripture he had to fulfill--and forgiving those who were killing him?? THANK YOU!!! I love you for that! Oh, by the way, he said that we human being believers, biblically called his "brothers" (same Father, you know — Heb. 2:11), can be and do like he was and did. Think about that, because it is that kind of identification with him that Satan does not want you to have. If we become like Jesus, do you think we will stand out among other people? Well, did he? What was the testimony of those who encountered him? "We've never seen a guy like this." "We've never heard anyone speak like this." Especially in the Gospel of John, the word "glory" is often used in regard to Jesus, and the Greek word is interesting. Bullinger's Lexicon says it means "not the object itself, but the appearance of the object that attracts attention." Think about a bowl of apples. Take one and polish it for a minute. Put it back in the bowl. What might someone say when he sees the bowl? "Look at that apple!" Not because it is an apple (that's no big deal), but because of its appearance compared to the other apples. Ditto for Jesus. "Look at that man!" Not because he was a man, that was commonplace. But because of how his way of being and his words and deeds stood out compared to those around him. Had he been God, that luster would be greatly diminished, but seeing the truth that he was, and is, the Son of God, The Man among men, we can say with awe, respect, and gratitude, WHAT A MAN!!! And we can be like him. Taken from John Lynn's article posted on: http://www.BiblicalUnitarian.com Please feel free to contact John Lynn at: JALCES@aol.com Or call him at 317-557-3776. He would love to hear from you! :-) May we honor Jesus in ALL we do and say. After all, he is the head of the church. That would be us! Jeff

I thought you all would enjoy this article by John Lynn - JALCES@aol.com He posted it on his website http://www.TruthOrTradition.com Who Is Jesus Christ? We believe that Jesus Christ is a completely unique (one of a kind) human being. Why? He is the only man who was ever born of a virgin (Matt. 1:18; Luke 1:35). God put a perfect seed in the womb of Mary so that Jesus would be born without the sin nature that every other human being inherited from the First Adam. Therefore, Jesus is the only-begotten Son of God (John 3:16) and the Son of Man (John 5:27). He is the only man who is called “the Last Adam” (1 Cor. 15:45). As the only-begotten Son of God, Jesus was the genetic equivalent to the first “Son of God,” Adam (Luke 3:38). As the only man born without inherent sin, Jesus was thus the only man equipped to be the Savior and Redeemer of mankind. He is the only man who had perfect faith in God, and who, by his free will choices to trust God, lived a sinless life, always doing the will of his Father (John 8:29). Jesus was not a robot, programmed to obey God. If so, he could not have been genuinely tempted to sin, just like all men he came to save (Heb. 4:15). The absence of a sin nature was not the reason why Jesus did not sin. We know that because the First Adam also had no sin nature, and he sinned royally. He is the only man who died as the perfect sacrifice for our sins (Heb. 10:12-14; 1 John 4:10). By his virgin birth, Jesus was the “genetically” perfect sacrifice for the sin of mankind. By his lifelong obedience to God, all the way to his dying breath on the Cross, he became the “behaviorally” perfect sacrifice for the sins of mankind (Heb. 2:17). Thus, he was the complete propitiation for fallen men to be redeemed. He is the only man God ever raised from the dead in order to confirm that he was who he had said he was—the Son of God (Acts 17:31; Rom. 1:4). The resurrection of Jesus Christ was God keeping His promise to His Son, and also His affirmation to all men that Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). He is the only man whom God highly exalted as “Lord” and “Head of the Church,” and to whom God has given all authority in heaven and on earth (Dan. 7:13-14; Phil. 2:9; Acts 2:36; Eph. 1:22; Matt. 28:18). As Pharaoh exalted Joseph to his right hand and gave him all authority in Egypt (Gen. 41:37-46), so God has given Jesus functional equality with Himself. Jesus Christ is now God’s “right hand man” (Eph. 1:20), carrying out the work that will eventually restore this fallen world. He is the only man who is now the Mediator between God and mankind (1 Tim. 2:5). It is Jesus Christ to whom God has given the power to “save to the uttermost” all who call upon his name, because he ever lives to make intercession for us (Heb. 7:25). He is the only man who will gather together all Christians to meet him “in the air” (1 Thess. 4:17) and give each one a new body like his own (Phil. 3:21). As the promised “seed” of the woman (Gen. 3:15), Jesus Christ will produce fruit after his kind, a race of people living forever. He is the only man who will one day return to the earth, destroy all evil men (and eventually destroy Satan and his evil spirit cohorts), and rule the earth as King for 1000 years (Rev. 19:11-20:7). At his first coming to the earth to Israel, Jesus was the sacrificial Lamb of God, but he will come again as the Lion of Judah to save his people, Israel, and destroy all God’s enemies. He is the only man who will raise from the dead every human being who has ever lived (John 5:21, 25). As God has given Jesus “life in himself,” so he will raise up all people. He is the only man who will judge all men and women of all time (John 5:22, 27). Jesus will righteously judge all people, granting everlasting life to those who deserve it, and annihilating all the wicked (Acts 17:31; John 5:28, 29). He is the only man who will restore on a new earth the Paradise that the First Adam lost (1 Cor. 15:24-28). As “the Last Adam,” Jesus was God’s Contingency Plan to salvage His original plan that Adam’s disobedience thwarted, that is, a perfect race of people living forever on a perfect earth. Amen. He is the only man who is our Savior, our Redeemer, our Mediator, our Lord, our constant Companion, our Best Friend, our Big Brother, the Light of our lives, our Peace, our Joy, and our Mentor in the art of faith. He is the Lover of our souls, and that is why we love him and confess him as Lord (Rom. 10:9). Taken from: http://www.TruthOrTradition.com By John Lynn Feel free to contact him by e-mail at: JALCES@aol.com or call him at: 317-557-3776 :-) He would love to hear from you! Jeff

Okay, I don't have any books by TWI anymore. They are long since gone to the dump. But there does seem to be a HUGE market for buying books by WIERWILLE on eBay.com I have seen some sell for BIG bucks!!!!! So, you can make some money, get rid of your books, and tell the buyer about GREASE SPOT CAFE. :)--> Just a thought! :)--> Yes, I know some of you reading this would like to buy books by Wierwille, I just can't stand the thought of having them in my house. Just my way of processing the afterlife of TWI. :)--> Sure love you folks! Jeff

Never went to "momentus." :)--> I just saw what I think must be some judgments in your heart. Something to look at and think about. :)--> God bless! Jeff