Hoping for Competent Baptism

I booked a hotel room for an event run by The Last Reformation. Everything is set, and I am ready to go.

I’m looking forward to it. I’ve been extremely disappointed in the activities I’ve been involved with in churches. I am wondering if it’s really true that TLR is onto something better. I can’t help being reluctant to let myself hope.

When I belonged to Trinity Church in Miami, there was no street outreach. None. Zero. There was no outreach of any kind, except for nagging people to come to church. We had buses for bringing the poor to church, but the church refused to fund them. We had a prison ministry, but the church refused to support it. Not much happened.

At New Dawn Ministries, we occasionally (rarely) went to a poor neighborhood and distributed food and prayed for people. That was better than nothing, but the results were not impressive. How many demons did we cast out? Zero. How many people got healed? Zero. How many accepted Christ? Zero. How many decided to come to church? Almost none.

The church had a “health fair.” They passed out free stuff and helped people connect to free services. If it was evangelism at all, it was barely so.

It’s too bad we didn’t have as many outreach days as we had pastor appreciation days. We would have been very busy.

TLR’s people claim they cast out demons, heal the sick, and start people out as disciples. If that’s true, they are wildly exceeding the performance of any church I have ever been a part of (or known of).

I am wondering if I’ll finally make new Christian friends. It would be nice to have more people I can relate to. At the moment, I have ONE person I can really discuss God with. One. And he lives 300 miles away. I know other Christians, but they don’t have the same level of revelation at the moment. When I talk to him, we’re always finding that God is showing us the same things. That’s what happens when people hear from the Holy Spirit instead of men. Oddly, a group of young men we both know are getting the same revelations.

I know people who have just gotten started with God. I know people who went a certain distance with God, decided it was far enough, and got off the bus a little bit early; I don’t mean they quit Christianity, but they decided not to get in too deep. I know people who seem to be involved in unproductive doctrine. I know all sorts of Christians in various situations, but right now I’m only hearing about personal revelation from one.

The farther you go with God, the lonelier you will be. Maybe “lonely” is the wrong word; it has a negative smell to it. I’ll put it this way: the fewer peers you will have. You may know hundreds of people who go to church, but you won’t know many who want to go all the way with God. The more things God shows you, the fewer people you will know who will understand and accept them.

You can see this principle in the design of the temple. It had an outer court where just about anyone could go. It had an inner court for people who were closer to God. It had a holy of holies where only one person could go, once a year. I don’t think it’s rare for Christians to make this analogy. Things people in the inner court knew were hard to discuss with people in the outer court. It must also have been difficult for the high priest who entered the holy of holies to share with those who only made it to the inner court.

The closer you get to God, the closer the people who don’t understand you will be to God. That sounds weird, but it’s true. There must be a lot of advanced people to whom I would come across as a complete spiritual swine, barely worth talking to.

I don’t want to waste a lot of time trying to buddy up to Christians who don’t believe in casting out demons or healing. I don’t want to sit on my beliefs so I can get close to people who pray to statues or think Mohammed was God’s messenger. Christians are supposed to live in unity, but you’re not supposed to give up unity with God to get close to people.

Unequal yokings are very burdensome. All of us need people who are in alignment with us by the power of the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, you spend your whole life changing other people’s diapers and listening to their angry, misguided accusations.

One of the most tiring things about unequal yokings is the repetition. A person who is out of line with the Holy Spirit will never stop challenging you. They are likely to feel resentment. They are likely to gaslight you and put stumbling blocks in front of you. They may tempt you with coarse pleasures, to prove you’re really just “a regular guy.” They are likely to betray you repeatedly. You don’t need that in your life. The Bible says God sets the godly apart for himself, and it’s important to let him do it. Otherwise you live weighed down like a pack mule.

It’s funny; we are supposed to cast our burdens on Jesus, but Christians who are out of line with God cast their burdens on us.

We’re supposed to be holy, and that means our friends should be holy. It’s not optional; there is no other path. It’s true that Jesus associated with unbelieving Jews, drunks and prostitutes, but he was visiting, not cohabitating. He didn’t open businesses in partnership with them. He didn’t marry prostitutes. He went to them as a leader, to offer them a better way, and then he backed off and went back to people who had already accepted him. He left the outer court and went back to the inner court.

Maybe I’ll meet a couple of people to expand my social circle.

People are talking about a one-world religion now. It looks like Kenneth Copeland may be part of it. That would not be a surprise, because he is a nasty person and a fountain of evil doctrine. He has hosted events where he tries to bring conflicting denominations together without correction. It’s not right. You can’t make Catholicism work. You can’t reconcile Islam or Mormonism with God. Unity with misguided religions is disunity with God.

Satan loves to tell people there are many paths to God. He has been doing it since the days of pantheism. It’s a wonderfully seductive message, because it’s much easier than trying to sell one particular religion. You want Krishna? You can have him. You want the angel Moroni? You want Zeus? You want saints to pray to? Fine! It doesn’t matter which path you choose, as long as it takes you to hell.

Jesus made it very clear that there is only one way. If you deny that in order to increase church attendance, you are helping people on their way to damnation.

The Bible mentions a one-world religion, and it’s called the worship of the Beast. You can look it up in the Revelation. Lots of unity there. There will be so much unity and dedication, they will execute you if you refuse to join.

That’s what I call unity. It’s not going to be a good thing, however.

Christianity is all about separation from the world. It’s about holiness, sanctification, and repentance. You can’t have the old wine and the new wine. You have to let the old wine go. It will cost you friends and relatives. So be it. There is no point in starting relationships you can’t finish. You need friends who won’t be in hell when you’re in heaven.

I don’t believe anyone has a lot of real friends, but I hope I can get to know a few people I can relax with. I want to know people who will pull me forward instead of backward.

People will read this and think I’m a snob. Maybe so, but that’s not what I’m talking about. I don’t want to reject anyone or feel that I’m better than anyone. I just need rest. I need spiritual support around me. I can’t get it from everyone I know. If you’re not giving to me, you’re taking from me. I have to have a few people who give. I’m not God. I can’t sustain my own strength.

It has occurred to me that some Internet nut might figure out where I am and try to meet me at the event and force a friendship. I hope no one tries, because it would be a waste of time. Stalking is not friendship.

I also hope I won’t run into old women who think every single man they meet was sent by God! That happens a lot as men get older. “I had a dream that we were married!” “I’ll let you know when God gives ME that dream. Until then, wait for my call. At a large and comfortable distance.”

God gives those who delight in him the desires of their hearts, according to his own promise. I do not desire a 65-year-old woman who is looking for a meal ticket who rubs her feet every night and doesn’t mind sharing a house with 7 cats, so if such a woman has dreams about me, they came from a source other than God.

I’ve done my time as a caregiver for the elderly. I think one stretch is enough!

I can’t wait to get baptized correctly. I have to find out what it’s like. It’s amazing to me that I got this old without understanding how important it was. I hope it brings me improvement.

I know Satan has a plan to prevent me from going to the event. He also has a plan to screw the event up for me. He probably has a plan to prevent me from walking in whatever progress I make at the event. He is predictable; I’ll say that for him. I am praying for defense and help.

Whatever happens, you will read about it here. Pray it works out well.