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John (4)

ONE DAY WITH THE CREATOR will change your life!

Posted by John Lynn on May 18, 2013 at 10:42am

Hello brethren!

Your old(er) pal JAL here.

That’s the title of the new 24-hour video produced by The Living Truth Fellowship and taught by yours truly, whose 45-year spiritual journey has brought me to the place of being privileged to set forth my ministerial piece de resistance (so far). And though you might find it hard to believe, many viewers say I am more hilarious than ever! If you were ever blessed by my teaching, you will LOVE this class!

The class stars Jesus Christ, The Star of God’s Show, as himself, and he is highlighted and exalted throughout, just as he is in the Word of God from Genesis 3:15 to the end, and in God’s celestial message (Ps. 19:4-6). He has never been "an absent Christ," and he longs for an intimate relationship with YOU. Honestly, this is the best tool I know of to build a solid biblical foundation for people.

So how is this class different from the Power For Abundant Living class? Good question. First, it is more compact—24 hours instead of 34. Second, it is more entertaining and has more quality graphics. Third, it is more biblically accurate in regard to the following topics (and more):

  • Who Jesus Christ is, what he is doing now, and our individual fellowship with him.
  • The Administrations in Scripture. Because Jesus did not know the Mystery (more accurately, “the Secret”), everything he said prior to his resurrection was based on what he read in the Old Testament and pertained to Israel, not to future Christians. For example, his John 3 statements to Nicodemus had nothing to do with the new birth that first came on Pentecost.
  • God’s Foreknowledge and Man’s Free Will. This incredibly liberating truth opens many difficult sections of Scripture and is a huge key to loving God and making wise choices day by day.
  • What is “Faith”? Pistis is not a participle, and does not mean “believing.” It is a noun that means “trust,” and to trust requires an object: a promise of God. Faith is not a force, but it accesses God’s force. Our thoughts directly affect nothing beyond our own skin, good or bad. You cannot murder your children by fearful thoughts.
  • Living With the Sin that Dwells in You. Jesus is a complete Savior, which is why we can (and must) fearlessly face the subtleties of our inherent sin nature and defeat it. To do so is not to be “negative,” but rather realistic.
  • The Resurrected Christian’s Hope is not a nebulous place called “heaven,” but rather kicking butt at Armageddon, living for 1000 years on a renovated earth, and then forever on a new earth.

Seriously, folks, One Day With The Creator is a fabulous tool you can use to re-invigorate yourself in the Word (if necessary), to build the Word in your family and friends, and to build lively, loving fellowships. 

Link to sample segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXKj85j47o0&feature=youtu.be

Link to Table of Contents: http://www.thelivingtruthfellowship.org/jtltf/images/books/ODWTC-syllabus.pdf 

Link to order the class: http://www.thelivingtruthfellowship.org/jtltf/bible-teachings/one-day-with-the-creator

I LOVE YOU!

John

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Thanksgiving

Posted by John and Janet Ruiz on November 26, 2008 at 12:30pm
Well, it's time for my yearly blog entry. John here, Janet in spirit, as always. If you've ever listened to the band "Orleans" they have a lyric in a song that reminds me of the relationship we have, husband and wife - "sometimes I forget where I leave off, and you begin, anymore..."It speaks to the closeness that comes over years and years of sharing life together. Separate, yet together. Joined, but independent. Two, and one. God never ceases to amaze in the diverse complexity of life that He's formed and made in this creation we enjoy. Not always understanding but never ceasing to appreciate.Tomorrow's Turkey Day and our kids and family will be together. As a parent I can feel the warmth gathering now and I look forward to our time together. Dinner will be a fine time, but really - it's all about the day and then the leftovers.Good leftovers - can't beat 'em. Our preparations figure on that - packing up the kidlings with some of this, a lot of that. No, take more, it'll just sit in the fridge here.I was thinking looking through all of you fine folks gathering on the pages here of all those years ago when we were kids. Those years we were forming, developing, literally learning who we were and what we were to become. What else can you do when you're 20? With more years ahead than you have behind, life is all about learning, going, starting, giving, getting, building. There's no need for any "do-overs" when you're doin' it. You do it like there's no tomorrow and then you get up the next morning and do it again. And again.Each of you forms a wonderful piece of the landscape we see when we look back over our lives together. We've done a lot of things, been places, done stuff. The years have past and we've gone our own ways but joined in our heart's memory and under God's watchful eye, not so far apart as it might seem I think now. The real currency in our lives is made up of the people we've known and the love we've shared with one another. In that regard you've made us rich and we're very thankful for that.Now - here we be. I sense in the community of Way Corps here depth, success, wisdom from both our victories as well as our failures. I'm sure some thing have worked out better than we could have ever expected. Others not so, on the betterness. But all in all - like they say and at the least, any day we wake up and have a pulse - is a good day. Present, accounted for, moving forward. Upward and onward. What else can we do? Persist till we succeed. And once we do, start persisting again.Anyhoo - we have much to be thankful for. Our best to all of you for a safe and happy holiday.
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The Way. It Was.

Posted by John Lynn on October 17, 2008 at 12:17pm
The Way. It was.By John A. LynnIn the interest of truth, both small “t” (the facts about The Way International) and capital “T” (the Word of God it taught), I am compelled to propose why I think The Way International was (past tense), from a certain perspective, one of the most significant movements in the history of the Christian Church. I do so for the benefit of any graduate of the “Power For Abundant Living” class who still wants to live for the Lord and who may have been unduly discouraged, either by his/her own experience in The Way or by the ensuing barrage of negatives from other ex-Way saints about what was wrong with The Way.Given that I was one of the top ministry leaders from 1967-1987, I speak with experiential knowledge. Furthermore, I have spent the past 21 years continuing to dig into the Word of God along with knowledgeable Christians, and, in the process, re-evaluating everything we were taught. I speak with great thankfulness for the truth I heard in The Way (hereinafter TWI), with no doubt that God led me to it, and then away from it. And though I left with some wounds, I also took with me the resources I had been given that enabled me to be healed from those wounds and help others do likewise.I speak so that you can know “the rest of the story,” as opposed to all the disparaging things that have been said about The Way through the years by the media (much of that false), other Christians (much of that false), and disgruntled former followers (much of that true, some of it false). My purpose is to set forth a much more redemptive view of The Way than what I have thus far read from others with “ex-Way vision.” In some ways, this is a sequel to my March, 1988 letter in which I blew the whistle about what was then going on in TWI. (http://www.swiftlynx.com/beyondTheWayInternational/)Yes, there was more doctrinal error than I ever realized while I was in TWI, and there was corresponding practical error that became more evil than most of us involved ever imagined. Yes, many precious people were terribly abused. Yes, there was dishonesty about Scripture, there was plagiarism, and there was rampant sexual sin, all of which contributed to many people choosing to turn away from God and His Word. And as I realized these things, I did speak out about them, both publicly and privately, from 1987 until about 2000, after which TWI had marginalized itself in Christendom.Perhaps worst of all, a golden opportunity to make known the Word of God, as it had not been known since the first century, was squandered. I will elaborate upon why that is true from a doctrinal standpoint, but when else in the history of the Christian Church has there ever been such a cadre of thousands of young, energetic, enthused, biblically knowledgeable, logistically equipped, organizationally backed, diverse, multi-lingual, mobile, available, and committed-to-“It-is-written” men and women with leadership qualities who were willing to go anywhere and spread the Word? Certainly not often in the past 2000 years. Thank God that many of these students of the Word became teachers themselves, and were thus able to recognize the errors that crept into TWI.The Way. It was. What was it? First and foremost, it was, from about 1955-1987, the only place I know of where anyone could hear the amount of truth of the Word of God that we heard. Why? In large part because God led Victor Paul Wierwille to the work of E.W. Bullinger, whose approach to Scripture was virtually unique. That is what allowed Wierwille, and thus TWI to an even greater degree, thanks to the quality men and women with research ability whom it attracted, to put the Word together like it had not been known since the first century Church.The sad thing was that I, and many others, became too proud of our knowledge, and failed to couple it with enough of a humble, heartfelt desire to obey God and become like Jesus Christ. We became too arrogant toward other Christians, thinking that our study of truth somehow made us more “approved before God” than they. To a degree, we became more like hearers of the Word than doers, and often deceived our selves. BUT, the antidote to that is not to throw out the baby with the bathwater, because without knowledge of truth there can be little practice of it.Why did God have a need for The Way International? Actually, He didn’t. But He did have a need for any group of people who would make known what, or close to what, the Apostle Paul taught once the whole of what we now read in the Church Epistles had been unfolded to him. Why was there such a need? Because true Christian doctrine had all but disappeared from the spectrum of Church history by the 4th century. It was then that the Roman Catholic Church began based upon a bunch of fables mixed with Christian verbiage, established a monolithic ecclesiastical hierarchy, and for more than a thousand years dominated the European religious landscape, killing countless dissenters and for the most part silencing the rest.When Martin Luther came along (1517 was when he nailed his 95 Theses on the church door at Wittenburg), thank God he did recognize justification by faith rather than by works, but what we today refer to as the “Reformation” of the Roman Catholic Church was very limited in scope. Much of the Roman Catholic doctrine was assimilated into Protestantism and is still being passed along as Christian groups continue to split off from one another. In a nutshell, that is why even the independent church in your neighborhood today most probably believes that there is a Trinity, dead people are alive, God is in control of everything that happens, the Four Gospels are written to Christians, water baptism is relevant, and maybe even that the Bible is not absolute truth.I don’t know where else we could have heard the “package” of biblical truth we heard in TWI. Admittedly, most of the major doctrinal components of that package were being taught by some Christians, with varying degrees of accuracy, but none that I know of put together as many into a package as TWI did. Let’s begin with what I mentioned about E.W. Bullinger’s contribution to TWI, which was HUGE, because his basic approach to Scripture is what facilitates one being able to discover its inherent keys and utilize them to derive the Author’s originally intended meaning.TWI taught us to approach the Word with the “It is written” conviction that it is what it says it is, and that it cannot contradict itself. That alone is enough to at least identify error about the Bible, and the keys to the Word’s interpretation we were taught enabled us to understand it, take its truth into our hearts, and apply it on a daily basis.Given that the identity of Jesus Christ is the world’s biggest deal, I would have to say that chief among the wonderful biblical truths we heard in TWI was that Jesus Christ is the Son of God (not God), the Man who mediates between God and men, and that the Trinity is a pagan fable. Some ex-Way saints now say this distinction is not that important, but I assert that God thinks differently, given what He says in His Word (e.g., 2 Cor. 4:3 and 4). Yes, TWI failed to teach us that we can have an intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus, but there were not too many other places where we could have heard that Jesus is not the “eternally begotten” Second Person of the Trinity.I’d have to say that the next most important biblical truth we heard in TWI was what we then called the “Mystery,” and, correspondingly, what parts of Scripture are written to Jews, to Gentiles, or to Christians regarding either the past, the present, or the future. For the record, we have since learned that “Sacred Secret” is a more accurate way of rendering the Greek, musterion.Ephesians is the apex of the Church Epistles (the primary curriculum for Christian living), and it clearly shows that the Body of Christ (the “one new man” of Chapter 2, verse 15) is the most unique group of people who have ever lived, chiefly because of the permanence of our salvation and our holy spirit equipping. 1 Corinthians 2:8 chimes in with the monumental (and generally overlooked) truth that had Satan known the Sacred Secret, he would not have crucified Jesus!In terms of biblical error that is practically debilitating to one’s quality of life, I see nothing more important than knowing what Scripture is written to whom, when, and in particular what is written to us as Christians today. The Church’s failure to understand this central truth has led to its trying to live in accordance with directives pertaining to other people at other times. It is only in the Church Epistles that a Christian finds his true identity “in Christ,” as well as his true Hope. Simply put, the Word of God will never fit together without contradiction if one does not understand the “administrations” therein, and in particular this current “administration of the Sacred Secret” (Eph. 3:9).Yes, there are quite a few Christians who have a “Dispensational” view of Scripture, but the vast majority of them fail to grasp that Jesus is not God and that he did not know the Sacred Secret. Most think that parts of the Four Gospels and the book of Revelation speak of the Christian Church, but that is not the case. The Gospels record the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies about Christ’s first coming to the earth to Israel (his suffering), and Revelation records the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies about his second coming to the earth to Israel (his glory).Another major truth we learned in TWI, which is unknown to most Christians, is that of the Giver and the gift, and, correspondingly, that speaking in tongues is available to all Christians because it is a manifestation of holy spirit, not a gift. We also learned the indispensable truth that speaking in tongues is the only absolute proof that one is saved. How many tens of thousands of people did those truths alone set free?TWI also taught us that death is, in fact, the end of life, and that our true Hope for new life in the coming age is to be raised from the dead and meet the Lord Jesus in the air prior to the Tribulation (the “time of Jacob’s trouble” – Jer.30:7). What percentage of Christians do you think know this? Although TWI failed to teach us that Paradise (the new earth), not heaven, will be our everlasting home, thank God we learned that resurrection is much more than an incorporeal “soul” once again getting a body.And TWI pointed us toward an understanding of the figures of speech in the Bible (thanks to Bullinger), of which little is known in theological circles. This included the figurative language in the Old Testament that helped us see that God is not responsible for evil or suffering, nor is He in control of everything that happens.Like I, you may know of some ministries that do teach some of these truths, but I submit that until 1987 there was nowhere other than TWI to find all of them taught as accurately as they were there. That is why The Way International stands out on the spectrum of Church history as an amazingly significant Christian movement.As far as I can see, TWI was also about the most disparate dichotomy of good and evil in the history of Christianity. Like the wheat and the tares growing up together, tremendous truth and egregious evil shared the ministry platform. Many people look back on their TWI experience with nothing but thankfulness, while others rue their free will choice to stay involved as long as they did because of the abuse they suffered. Some have been stymied by self-condemnation due to the abuses they themselves committed. No doubt there are also many who recognize that they heard the Word like they never had, who have allowed the Lord Jesus to heal any wounds they suffered in TWI, and who have since experienced spiritual growth far beyond what they ever imagined back in “the good old days.”I hope you are in that last category, and if you’re not, you can be. Even if people badly abused and disappointed you, you can turn to the Lord Jesus, he who is The Way to wholeness in all categories of heart and life. His love and truth will heal your heart and help you forgive and move forward with him toward the same goal you once had. You have a ministry in the Body of Christ, and he who is the Head longs to help you fulfill that calling. It was neither your heavenly Father nor your Lord who hurt you, nor does whatever happened to you change anything the Word says. God’s promises are still true, and they are yours for the believing.The Way, we were. If you once sat through PFAL, you heard the Word of God taught more accurately than the vast majority of Christians who have ever drawn breath. As a fellow PFAL grad, I identify with you, and have an affinity for you and a desire to encourage you to take advantage of the truth you once heard, if you are not already doing so. Along with me, you will one day stand before our precious Lord Jesus Christ, who will reward you according to how you have lived your life as a Christian. In essence, he will ask each of us something like this: “What did you do with what you knew?”[For a detailed list of biblical subjects I think TWI mishandled, see the following link: http://www.christianeducational.org/25diffTWI.htmIf you would like to discuss with me about what I have written, please contact me at jalces@aol.com]
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