Letter to our Friends - August 20, 2019

Michael C. Garrett

Pastor and Overseer

Dear Friends:

Greetings from Owensboro, Kentucky.

Our posted sermon “Look To Jesus, Not Moses” has proven to be very popular on the Leonard V. Johnson YouTube channel. The very first sermon given by Michael C. Garrett. To all of you – LOOK TO JESUS! LOOK TO YOUR BIBLE! It was Jesus Christ who led the children of Israel out of slavery! It is Jesus Christ who has the ability to lead you out of slavery into the promised land! LOOK TO JESUS! I have said it in so many different ways! But it is still the one and only true answer!

Well, the Owensboro Church of Jesus Christ is truly being blessed by Almighty God and our Lord Jesus Christ! This great Work of GOD is indeed growing exponentially. We must continue this great Work – this great phase.

I have come to understand – by the grace of God – that a man must SERVE the man or organization who pays him his salary and be dependent upon the man or organization for livelihood, being FORCED to preach doctrines he knows to be false or contrary to GOD’s living Word – and to be silent where he knows GOD speaks.

Friends, I have come to understand – by the grace of God – that there is but ONE WAY we can be FREE to preach the whole Word of God, the Truth of God, and the Plan of God – as Jesus Christ reveals it – honestly, truthfully, fearlessly, boldly – and that is to LOOK TO JESUS for financial needs as well as every other need. The Owensboro Church of Jesus Christ only looks to our Father and our Elder Brother in Heaven, with Their living Faith (1 Cor. 2:5; Eph. 2:8-9) for our every need.

I personally have had ministers tell me, “How can you preach the Gospel without a church!?” And, I’ve had men tell me that I’m nothing more than a BOOSTER. That it couldn’t possibly be done. Yet, we see in the Bible where GOD PROMISES to supply our every need, “’ But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.’” – Matt. 6:33. That is our LORD’s instruction! And, the PROMISE is that all material needs shall be added.

And as this world’s conditions worsen with ever-increasing acceleration, the rich blessings of Almighty God upon His people and this great Work of our living Christ continues to mount! So, like Apostle Peter once did (Acts 3:1-9), instead of proving money, bring prayer, and GOD will indeed answer! Let us always praise GOD!

Notice the following:

“Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.” – James 5:17-18.

So prayer can be highly effective!

For another area of prayer, consider the following from Christ:

"'The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field'"—Matthew 9:37-38.

Now... Jesus Christ DID NOT come to reform Satan the devil's world by "converting the millions one by one" as false traditional "Christianity" seems to believe. He came to START a new and different world altogether. It started WITHIN Satan's world, but not OF it. It started with One Man—our holy Savior and future KING to replace Satan on earth's throne—to build a NEW world—a NEW civilization living GOD'S WAY of life, governed by GOD through Jesus Christ—a world filled with GOD'S Holy Spirit of outflowing LOVE—the love that fulfills the immutable LAW of GOD'S GOVERNMENT.

We MUST be forewarned that OUR WORK COULD BE CUT SHORT and finished, for this present time, suddenly when least expected. Read Jesus' WARNING in Matthew 24:32-44 and Luke 21:31-36. Please get YOUR BIBLES and read those passages—and take them to heart. For I tell you this: Events are growing in Europe and within the Catholic Church, in the Middle East and the happenings in Russia, India, Iran, that could compel the Vatican—to loosen up her purse strings—to offer up her gold and silver and jewelry, and to even perform ‘signs and wonders’ enhancing her appeal of that religion. To offer her offices as a supreme and politically neutral authority, in bringing about the reorganization of the nations of Europe, that they have so avidly DESIRED—yet been unable, of themselves, to bring about—POLITICAL and MILITARY UNION of those nations.

Jesus Christ was crucified for bringing and teaching the same MESSAGE we teach. His original apostles were martyred (with one possible exception) for proclaiming it! What this world has been led to believe is "the gospel" is not the MESSAGE Christ brought from GOD. People have thus been deceived as to what IS the true Gospel. Christ's Gospel—His MESSAGE—was the good news of the coming Kingdom of GOD. It was NEWS! It was a new ANNOUNCEMENT! It was the Message of the coming Kingdom of GOD. Now... that is a tremendous subject, but Satan the devil has manipulated men to withhold it from the world.

Today, the world is IN GRAVE TROUBLE! And, the troubles are increasing! We are rapidly being hurled into the time of the greatest trouble since the world began—or even shall be—so GREAT that if GOD does not step in and cut it short, no human would be saved in this end-time—and a great possibility that all humanity could be erased from this Earth!

Right now, a new "GOLD RUSH" is on. Germany, who will lead a reorganized and united Europe, is calling back her gold from around the world and has been for some time now. However, the hoarding of gold will not save you! The best investment RIGHT NOW is the soon-coming KINGDOM OF GOD!

As a young man of thirteen, I was confronted with an important question—a challenge you might say—which is, I think, a FOUNDATIONAL question: "Stop and think! Would a Creator, having supreme intelligence, wisdom, and love to think out, to plan, design, and bring about all creation—this earth, and all life and life-functions upon it—have left His created beings in ignorance of His purpose!?" Well... this was a challenge to me, and it led to an intensive study of the BIBLE and to my eventual conversion. I read where Jesus said, "'Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven ... But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, …’” —Matthew 6:19-20, 33.

What I began to learn was that the knowledge of GOD'S Kingdom and all that it includes is AWESOME knowledge—incredible knowledge—that is more priceless than any amount of gold or silver or jewelry. The knowledge that money cannot buy. THANK YOU for sharing this wonderful gift from GOD!

It's like the PEARL OF GREAT PRICE Jesus spoke of in a parable. It's worth selling everything you have to obtain IF that would buy it.

This year, 2019, may very well be the busiest for this ministry. I truly believe GOD inspired me to obtain a passport for a reason—a reason I do not, yet, know. We have so many brethren around the world.

This is the very Work of GOD. He is guiding it, opening doors for it. The living Christ is the HEAD of it. He is using you, me, and Minister Garrett as His co-workers in it!

When you stand loyally behind Him and His Work of GOD with your earnest and prevailing PRAYERS, your tithes and generous offerings, you are LAYING UP TREASURES IN HEAVEN. And the NEED has never been greater. Thank you, from the bottom of our heart.

BitChute

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, we have decided to upload our older sermons from our YouTube channel over to a video platform called BitChute. Our channel is called OwensboroChurchofJC.

Again, BitChute is free and appears less likely to censor us or shut us down. Unlike YouTube which has viciously attacked us as far as our view count.

What is interesting about BitChute is how it shows people who go to the main video page our latest videos that were uploaded. This way, people who would normally not find our channel, get an opportunity to see (for a short time) what we just uploaded.

While we as yet don’t have but three sermons currently uploaded on it, it is an exciting prospect!

We are yet not convinced that BitChute is our final alternative to YouTube, for the time being, we will be using it as a backup, as well as our Godtube channel and our Flipboard page, along with our Soundcloud Radio platform.

World News Items

With the growing number of agencies and people in the US pushing the LGBTQ agenda on children, the State of Illinois just made a new law (See: ‘LGBTQ history curriculum will now be taught in Illinois schools’).

Notice also the following:

Illinois has passed a law demanding that LGBTQ+P for Pedophile history must be taught in schools from next year onwards.

I hate to be the one to tell you, Christian, but we are losing the battle against the forces of rising darkness here in America, with more ground lost each and every day. Illinois is not the only state to force schools to begin teaching LGBTQ+P for Pedophile history lessons, and within 2 years, there will not be a state that does not have that as a requirement. When that happens, on what basis then do you stop such wickedness like Drag Queen Story Hour from taking place in your public library? The answer is you can’t, and you won’t legally be able to do anything about it.

“Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed;” Isaiah 10:1 (KJV)

Why is God allowing this to happen? Because we told Him that He was no longer welcome in our schools, so He left. America as a nation is under the active judgment of God. Yes it is still the age of grace as far as salvation in the Church Age goes, but nationally it is obvious His judgment is falling upon us.

“Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.” Luke 17:28 – 30 (KJV) …

The bill includes a section that allows the department to implement rules “as necessary” for the law to be enacted and “to ensure the religious neutrality of the textbook block grant program.”

“We think all students are better off when we teach them the full breadth of history,” Brian Johnson, the CEO of the LGBT+ organization Equality Illinois, said of the piece of legislation last year. “It makes them more likely to understand that a diverse cast has contributed to our society.”

The measure passed the state senate by a vote of 34-18 last May.

Democrat State Senator Heather Steans, who sponsored the bill, said in a previous statement that “one of the best ways to overcome intolerance is through education and exposure to different people and viewpoints”.

“An inclusive curriculum will not only teach an accurate version of history but also promote acceptance of the LGBT+ community,” she added.

“It is my hope that teaching students about the valuable contributions LGBT+ individuals have made throughout history will create a safer environment with fewer incidents of harassment. LGBT+ children and teenagers will also be able to gain new role models who share life experiences with them.”

(https://www.nowtheendbegins.com/illinois-passes-law-forcing-all-state-schools-to-begin-teaching-lgbtqp-for-pedophile-history-lessons-to-neutralize-religion-classroom-glsen/).

God’s living Word, of course, takes just the opposite view – cf. Romans 1:18-32.

Also, concerning China, it has been speculated that because the Trump Administration’s trade policies with China – China is taking steps to ensure Donald Trump is not reelected in 2020, even if some of those steps might harm their economy (See: ‘Donald Trump’s WTO move is a feeble answer to the China challenge’). There are some which see Europe being negatively impacted by the US-China trade war as well as Brexit (See: ‘US-China trade war leaves Europe as collateral damage’). Yes indeed, the United Kingdom will have Brexit issues, however, like the Chinese, the EU has apparently decided that to take steps intended to hurt the opposing side is ‘worth’ the economic cost.

I had mentioned earlier concerning Germany’s “Gold Rush.” It has also been reported that Poland is increasing its gold reserves. Furthermore, Russia, Turkey, China, and many other nations in the European Union have been doing that (See: ‘By Not Renewing The CBGA, Central Banks In Europe Are Ready To Buy Gold’ also ‘Keep Cutting, Morons: Watch Gold Go Straight Up!’ and ‘Poland joins Hungary with Huge Gold Purchase and Repatriation’). A great part of this is to have in place a system to bypass the US dollar in international trade. Indeed, the time is soon coming when the US dollar will be worth no more than a scrap of paper which it’s printed on. And, at that time, gold will still be valuable (Daniel 11:39-43). Yet, gold is prophesied to be tossed into the streets (Ezekiel 7:19).

Suggested Sabbath Service

Here is a suggested Sabbath service:

● 2-3 hymns. (a free printable “Old Time Gospel” hymn site is The Old Time Gospel).
● Opening prayer.
● Sermonette (if you choose). The one suggested is The Work of God’s Hand.
● Announcements (if any) and one hymn.
● Sermon. The one suggested is I AM The True Vine – (Everyone Part IV) by Michael C. Garrett. (Many more sermons are available at http://www.owensborochurchofjesuschrist.com/).
● Final hymn.
● Closing prayer.

IN CASE YOU HAVE NOT RECEIVED A ‘LETTER TO OUR FRIENDS’ FOR ANY WEEK, REMEMBER WE HAVE MANY SERMON MESSAGES ON THE Owensboro Church of Jesus Christ website. Also, there are audio sermons on our Soundcloud Radio channel. We also – as a reminder – have a BitChute channel.

Concluding Comments

Prophet Amos was inspired to record the following:

"Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?
Does a lion roar in the thicket when he has no prey?
Does he growl in his den when he has caught nothing?
Does a bird fall into a trap on the ground where no snare has been set?
Does a trap spring up from the earth when there is nothing to catch?
When a trumpet sounds in a city, do not the people tremble?
When disaster comes to a city, has not the LORD caused it?
Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing His plan to His servants the prophets.

The Lion has roared—who will not fear?
The Sovereign LORD has spoken—who can but prophesy?"—Amos 3:3-8.

Friends, sadly people around this world are still in shock because of the election January 20th, 2017 in the United States of America!

We need not be afraid like this world:

"[F]or you know very well that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, 'Peace and safety,' destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this Day should surprise you like a thief. You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness"—1 Thessalonians 5:2-5.

"'Do not be afraid little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the Kingdom'"—Luke 12:32.

Friends, "we have also a more sure Word of prophecy," as well as HOPE in the resurrection and the Good News of the Kingdom of GOD.

With love and gratitude, in Jesus' Name,