Letter to our Friends - October 26, 2023

CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST ONLINE MINISTRIES

We are based upon the Word of God, the Truth of God, and the Plan of God

P.O. BOX 6458

SPRING HILL, FLORIDA 34606

www.owensborocojc.com

Leonard V. Johnson

Pastor/Founder

Dearest Brethren and Friends around the world:

Greetings from Spring Hill, Florida.

We are seeing a lot of decorations in our communities related to the observance of Hallowe´en. The suggested sermon for this Sabbath is “Should Christians Keep Halloween?” It has to do with the fact that the majority of professing Christians justify the observance of this holiday that is actually dedicated to the worship of Satan the devil.

We’ve been working on additional PDF online articles. Including, “Dinosaurs And You!”, “Do Animals Have A Spirit?”, and “A ‘SECRET RAPTURE’?” as we continue to do the work of God that the LORD God has commissioned us to do – i.e. Ezekiel 34:10-15; Matthew 28:19-20; John 21:17.

This great Work undertaken by Jesus Christ is yet to be finished. And, perhaps more than ever should be shouted to Jesus Christ's spiritual “lost sheep” of the house of Israel, in which Jesus admonished the apostle Peter (and by extension, us as well) when He said, “’ FEED MY SHEEP!’” We are small in number, however, our desire to feed the sheep of Jesus Christ is huge and ambitious. We strive to teach the Word of God, the Truth of God, and the ultimate Plan of God!

Church of Jesus Christ Online Ministries Website

As most are aware, we have a website – www.owensborocojc.com. And, according to its own analytics and internal statistics, within the last four years, we have had 190,544 visitors! That’s roughly 50,000 visitors a year! Our top article is “Wisdom From A Bulletin Board (Sermon)” with 1.1k views! The “Welcome” page alone has had 11.7k views! Now, our browsers are excluded from being tracked and logged by the website or Statcounter.

Surely you will notice that our internal website stats are quite a bit different than Statcounter stats. Why? Because – according to Statcounter – “The user stats for a single website can be skewed due to the type of person who visits that site. For example, all visitors may be in a certain age group or may have a particular interest area. This can influence the use or otherwise of a mobile device and also influence the browser/operating system/search engine/social media site used.”

The Sabbath Lunch Hour

Brother Samuel LaMar has created for us, brethren and friends, a website – a place to learn Scriptural truth. A place where if you have a question, we are here 24/7 to help answer. “We Are Here!” It’s still a work in progress, and should be up and fully operational in a few months. Please pray that this website will be a great blessing from Almighty God and our Lord Jesus for the work of God.

Suggested Sabbath Day Service

Here is our suggested Sabbath day service for our scattered brethren and friends around the world:

• TWO songs of praise. (our songbook, The Bible Hymnal, is suggested, there are some Instrumental Accompaniment to the Bible Hymnal available on our website).

• Opening prayer.

• Announcements – from the deacon or pastor.

• Sermon – from the pastor or guest speaker. The one suggested for this week is – “Should Christians Keep Halloween?”

• Closing song.

• Closing prayer.

In case you do not receive a ‘Letter to our Friends’ via email, remember that we post them on our website – under “Church Letters.” We also have hundreds of additional sermons on our YouTube channels. There are also audio messages and articles available on our Soundcloud Radio channel - https://soundcloud.com/leonard-johnson-199529372. As well as audio messages and articles in the languages of Swahili, Dutch, and Khmer.

Some World News In Relation To Biblical Prophecy

According to sources, the United States government is going to attempt to force government employees to use the “preferred” pronouns when referring to LGBTQ+ type people instead of what their God-given biological sex actually is. (See: Vision.org – “US Government Mandates Pronoun Use”).

Well, in this 21st century present evil age, this is not unexpected and is indeed a type of religious persecution.

As far as biological sex, our Lord and Savior, and CREATOR (See: John 1:1, 3), teaches us biological sex in relation to human beings –

“And He answered and said to them, ‘Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them MALE AND FEMALE,’ 5) and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and THE TWO shall become one flesh’? 6) So then, they are no longer two, but one flesh. …’” – Matthew 19:4-6.

Now, you would think that supposedly educated governmental leaders would not try and create new English words, i.e. Pangender, Demisexual, Multisexual, TERF, Masculine of Center, Sologamy, or Throuple. It goes to show just how sexually depraved this world has become! As our Lord Jesus has told us –

“’ But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be’” – Matthew 24:37; Luke 17:26. And certainly, as it was in the days of the prophet Enoch - whose life actually overlapped Adam’s – it will be again. For at that time “the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” – Genesis 6:5.

Truly, truly our Lord Jesus is pointing out that, although the people of the prophet Noah’s day were totally and completely depraved, they were not the least bit concerned or worried about it. They were carrying on the events of their lives without a single care or thought of the judgment of the LORD God. There are some who believe that part of the need to destroy every single human being except righteous Noah and his family was interbreeding.

Interestingly enough, a 2012 study in the journal Trends in Genetics states that “anywhere between 2,000 and 5,000 genes determine human intelligence, and these genes are particularly susceptible to harmful changes, or mutations.” 1 As in genetic mutations. It’s certainly something to ponder.

The ”sons of God” in Genesis 6:2 are the descendants of Adam from his son Seth. Also, the “daughters of men” were the descendants of Cain. The true meaning of the words “Son of God” has become lost to the majority. Notice these plain Scriptures of our great God: “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. … The Spirit [itself] bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs – heirs of God [God the Father] and joint heirs with Christ [Jesus the Christ] …” – Romans 8:14-17. “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! … Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be [our future profession], but we know that when He is revealed [when Jesus Christ returns], we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is [a spiritual Being].” – 1 John 3:1, 2.

The Jamieson Fausset and Brown write, “Mixed marriages between parties of opposite principles and practice were necessarily sources of extensive corruption. The women irreligious themselves, would as wives and mothers exert an influence FATAL to the existence of religion [the very religion of the LORD God] in their household, and consequently the people of that later age sank to the lowest depravity” 2

Observe what is occurring in this later part of this present evil age. According to a 2019 Pew Research Center study, In the U.S., the Decline of Christianity Continues at a Rapid Pace!

Brethren and friends – there’s a new religion in the land. Wokeness and the New Religious Establishment. Wokeness is quickly becoming the established faith in the legal and regulatory framework of the American political system, as well as in elite corporate culture and academia. 3 G. Calthrop, M.A. wrote in regards to Genesis 6:1-2, “There is indicated in this language a simple following of their own will; there is no reference to God or to duty in the matter. The result was an intermingling of the two races and a very rapid increase of the corruption of mankind.” 4

God’s living word WARNS us of the rise of evil and corruption in the last days –

“ … in the last days perilous times will come: 2) For men will be lovers of themselves …” Now, what could be more shameful and despicable of self-love than this world and each individual in their own little self-bubble!? “ … lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3) unloving, …” continues the apostle Paul’s blistering indictment against a gluttonous world – a world in which we are living in today. “ … unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, …” How terribly accurate was this prophecy! The apostle Paul was inspired by and through God’s Spirit to picture in living color a blood-scattered caricature of this gruesome world. Our rotting morals! “ … traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness [such as these false ministers hiding behind their degrees] but denying its power. And from such people TURN AWAY!” – 2 Timothy 3:1-5. The LORD of hosts says, “’ Hear the word of the LORD!’”

Also, this LGBTQ+ supporting world does not want people to hear the following living words of the Eternal One –

“Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, NOR EFFEMINATE, nor ABUSERS OF THEMSELVES WITH MANKIND, … shall inherit the kingdom of God.” – 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, KJV.

Verse 11 – “And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.”

Sadly, God’s living word also warns that even more censorship is coming! – cf. Amos 8:11-12.

The work of God certainly needs to be done while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work – cf. John 9:4.

That is also why we and our associated ministries are also CRYING ALOUD! –

“’ Cry aloud, spare not; Lift up your voice like a trumpet; Tell My people their transgression, And the house of Jacob their sins.’” – Isaiah 58:1.

Yet, until this famine of the Word of God comes, we and our associated ministries will go through the doors that our Lord Jesus opens in proclaiming the Word of God, the Truth of God, and the Plan of God!

We and our associated ministries teach and stand for the living truth of the Lord our God – our Master, Elder Brother, and Savior, Jesus Christ. And we will continue to run the race that is set out before us!

Also: The WAR between terrorist Hamas (even though Islamist Erdogan claims that Hamas is not a terrorist organization; a leader who dreams of restoring a Sunni Islamic Caliphate and a new Ottoman-style empire) and the tiny nation of Israel continues dominating the news. The death toll of Israelites continues to rise. According to one report by The Wall Street Journal, the death toll in Israel is at 1,300 people that have been killed and more than 3,000 people wounded!

Q: During World War II, did Americans keep count of how many of our enemies were killed in the war!? Palestinians are partly responsible for the hatred shown to Israel. However –

Should we as true Christians love our enemies during war!? Israel’s enemies are our enemies. Are we to love those who ruthlessly fire missiles into Israel and kill innocent men, women, and children!? Are we to love those who rape and murder Israeli women and children!? Are we to love those (some being Palestinians) who kidnap and tie our brethren’s hands behind their backs before executing them!?

Our Lord Jesus Christ says – yes. We are to love them, even the worst of them. There were some Jewish groups then in our Lord Jesus’ day that taught, as there are groups today that teach, it is absolutely right to hate your enemies. Our Lord Jesus says otherwise –

“’ You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ …” – compare Exodus 23:4-5; and Leviticus 19:18. “ … ‘But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.’” – Matthew 5:43-44.

(See: CNBC – “Released hostages arrive in Tel Aviv; Gaza health ministry says death toll tops 5,000”). Surely even more have been killed since this report – from a war that terrorist Iran initiated by proxy!

Can all of this have end-time prophetic ramifications!? Yes!

To Note: A good read – “A Guide to Understanding Israel's Enemies” by Dr. Joseph Farah.

Despite how the situation may look now, Israel will lose territory to the Palestinians – consistent with the dual prophecy of Isaiah 22:6-9. Notice this BBC report – “Iran warns Israel to stop the war in Gaza or region will 'go out of control'”.

We believe and we have been proclaiming that this war is setting up for IRAN (the number one terrorist-sponsoring nation) to get more heavily involved and will ultimately lead to the dual fulfillment of prophecies such as Isaiah 22:6-9, which shows us that a confederation of Islamic nations – such as the Iranians and Syrians – forming together to cause “great damage” to the city of David – Jerusalem.

Brethren and friends, let us pray that this war between Hamas and Israel ends soon. And let us pray not just for our neighbors, let us also pray for our enemies.

Concluding Comments

Although we are seeing prophesied wars and rumors of wars (see Matthew 24:6-8), “’ See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.’” But soon it will come to an end. And, the LORD God inspired the prophet Micah to record –

“In the last days the mountain of the LORD'S temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and peoples will stream to it.

Many nations will come and say, 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the GOD of Jacob. He will teach us His Ways, so that we may walk in His paths.'

The Law will go out from Zion, the Word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He will judge between many peoples and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore”—Micah 4:1-3.

O' praise the great and merciful GOD, the GOD of gods—physical people are going to flow into His AWESOME Kingdom! You see, all this terrible bad news will lead right into THIS! “In the last days.” See!? “In that day,” “In those days,” all of this terrible disgusting vile—like Kayla Mueller defending her faith, belief, and testimony of our living Christ! Along with her humanitarianism! —and being MURDERED for it!—all of this vile is going to lead right into this most inspiring Good News you could ever hear! PRAISE ALMIGHTY GOD AND OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST!!!

Now... that's what it's all about!

And who will these physical nations learn from?

GOD Himself! He will decide for strong nations, “and they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” So, this is a symbol of peace. A time of peace and plenty.

Now... remember... these are physical nations. Verse 4: “But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree: and none shall make them afraid:” nobody is going to make anyone afraid any more. “for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it.”

GOD cannot lie. It HAS to come to pass! It MUST happen! It MUST happen! There's no other way that things can develop and conclude. There's no other way.

Friends, I went to Father God and Jesus Christ in prayer and spent much time in study over the following Scripture. And in prayer, Their Spirit reminded me of what our living Christ had said to the Jews in John 10:29-36!

Micah 4:5: “For all other nations shall walk everyone in his own way, but we will walk in the Name of the Lord our GOD for ever and ever”—Greek Septuagint.

Let's continue growing in the grace and knowledge of our GOD (2 Peter 3:18), and overcoming, so we can have the right to sit with our King of kings and Lord of lords on His throne (Revelation 3:21).

In deep gratitude and love, in Jesus' name,

Sources:

1) Ghose, T. Are Humans Becoming Less Intelligent? Live Science, 12 Nov. 2012, Retrieved 26, Oct. 2023.

2) Jamieson, R., Fausset, A.R., Brown, D., Jamieson Fausset and Brown Commentary of the Whole Bible, Zondervan Publishing House, 1982, pp. 22.

3) Patterson, J.M., Wokeness and the New Religious Establishment, National Affairs, Fall 2023.

4) Calthrop, G., The Cainites and the Sethites, Bible Hub, Retrieved 26 Oct. 2023.