P.O. Box 640109

El Paso, TX 79904

10 January, 1999

Dear Children,

Well we’re back! And why not start this one off with a "Shout Hallelujah!!! Thank You Jesus!!! Praise The Lord!!!" too. I mean my Heavenly Father has been so good to me that I just can’t help shouting about it. And of course it’s the events of this past week that have got me shouting... but they are nothing like the Home Church Campmeeting Service that I had last week. Nope! In fact what happened to me this week was just a little bit closer to ground level. Because you see what my Heavenly Father did was to take me on a trip to the woodshed.

Now for all you younguns out there (the younger generation), in the old days, the woodshed was not only the place for families to keep their fire wood but it was also the designated location for the fathers to take care of their children’s problems. And of course seeing how taking care of a youngun problem is hardly ever one of them positive sort of things, the father usually did it in such a manner that the child would never want to make this "free trip to the woodshed" again. And what better way to insure the child’s good behavior than to reward their bad behavior with pain. What a novel idea! Too bad most fathers of today don’t continue on with this practice.

But notice that I said most... because that most doesn’t even include mine. You see my Heavenly Father still believes in "the old woodshed technique"... and I’m so very glad that He does. Because one of my most often repeated prayers is that my Father in Heaven will correct me when I get out of line and do it with what ever method He feels necessary. Do whatever it takes, just get me back on the right track. And it just so happens that this is exactly what happened... and likewise this is why I’m shouting "Shout Hallelujah!!! Thank You Jesus!!! Praise The Lord!!!"

You see I know just a little bit about the Word of God. And likewise it’s through this understanding that I know God the Father will both correct and punish His children as needed. So therefore... the punishment that I just got the other day only reinforces the fact that He has accepted me as His "yet to be fully documented adopted child of God." And believe you me that’s something worth shouting about!

So would any of you out there like to know what I did wrong? Well I figured there’d be at least a few... but I never dreamed there would be quite that many. Wow! And there’s even a whole bunch of them who are Baptist. Imagine that! All right, but let’s get back to the problem at hand (the one that got me "the treatment").

Well it kinda like started at work on what I seem to remember as a Tuesday morning. And while walking up to the front office to get my mail I bumped into a fellow Christian (a brother in the Lord). Now don’t get me wrong because I didn’t physically bump into him, but from the way he was walking it looked as though some big guy had. You see he was moving real slow with a pretty grim look on his face. And I know it’s sad to say, but I realize now that my only passing remark was "what’s wrong"... and his answer was "my knee"... and my follow up reply was "must be old age".

So that was what I did wrong, and it was only a short time later that my Heavenly Father not only conducted His very short little talk with me (woodshed) but He also "allowed" a sufficient amount of pain treatment to be administered. Because it was that night as I was doing my weight lifting exercises (bench presses) that a burning pain suddenly shot through my back at the very same moment that I heard Him say, "You should have prayed for his knee!!!"

Well let me tell you that even though it all happened in the blink of an eye that’s about how long it took me to figure out what to do next. Because it was immediately, in the very same breath even, that I not only asked God the Father to forgive me of my sin but also for Him to heal that very sharp pain that was ripping through my back. In the name of Jesus I made my request known to God the Father and in the name of Jesus He answered my request. And it was only a very short moment thereafter that my back went right back to being normal. And of course I then continued on with my nightly exercises.

Ain’t it great? Now that’s what you call the miracle working power of Jesus Christ! And it was because of that one little woodshed incident that I learned a very important lesson. You see it was the very next day at work that I not only apologized to my brother in Christ for my rude behavior but I also made him the offer to pray for his knee. So the lesson of the week was all about compassion... and can you even imagine that it also applies to what we are going to be talking about in the sermonet for this week? Truly amazing right?

Well I believe that it was only the day after this incident that the Lord brought to my attention two words... spineless and bald face lie. And just in case you might have forgotten, these are the two words that I used most recently in this series on President Clinton to describe Brother Pat Robertson’s Baptist behavior. Yup, that’s what I did but I’m starting to think that just maybe the Lord’s trying to tell me in a very gentle way that I shouldn’t have. You see in the beginning, the way that I figured it was that anybody such as Dr. Pat Robertson should have an excellent knowledge of the Holy Bible and should without a doubt know the difference between right (The Truth) and wrong (the lie).

So in the beginning that’s what I figured, but just maybe I was wrong. Because what I’m thinking the Lord is trying to tell me is that Brother Robertson has the same problem as President Clinton. Now don’t get all excited and start throwing dirt in the air because I didn’t mean it the way some of you took it. I’m not referring to Brother Robertson’s personal life but only to the fact that He is believing in the same lies that helped get the President into the mess that he’s in... which likewise follows right on along with the mess that Dr. Charles Stanley is in... which just so happens to be the mess of the Baptist religion. And seeing how that must be the case, then I most certainly owe Dr. Pat Robertson and Dr. Charles Stanley an expression of regret. So if you two are reading this letter please accept my humble apology for being so aggressive in the Lord.

I mean after all, this job that we’ve been called to do is kinda like being given the keys to a 600 horse power muscle car. God the Father has given it to us complete with a new set of tires and a full tank of gas... and you had better believe that it’s sooo very tempting to just get down on it and burn a little rubber (if you know what I mean). But of course this ministry is no different than that 600 hp muscle car in that you gotta treat it with a whole lota respect. So you see the Lord is trying to teach me to be just a little bit easier on the gas with these Baptist folks (be a little bit more understanding). And even though the actions of these fine folks might be damnable in the eyes of God, they are only doing what they are doing because of what their religion has taught them. And in order for us to get a better understanding of just how this might have happened to these very fine men of God (President Clinton, Dr. Robertson, and Dr. Stanley), let’s continue on with our sermonet series on President Clinton in part #? of Why In The World Did We Get In This Mess In The First Place?

So turning to and reading from the book of Matthew (beginning in the first chapter and ending in the next to the last): "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ... Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on the wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost... and... the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, saying... And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins." (Matthew 1:1-21)

Now this is where it all started, and the reason that it had to be was because of that very first sin... that was committed some 2000 years earlier in the Garden of Eden... by that well known infamous husband and wife team of Adam and Eve. They were created perfect and without sin until that horrible moment when they gave into that temptation of Satan. And because of that one fact, God’s glorious creation of the human race (His son and daughter) kinda like suddenly became the property of Old Splitfoot. You see it was all because of that very first sin that Satan became the very proud new adoptive parent of Adam and Eve. And as their new father, it was his not so perfect plan to take them along with him on his journey into everlasting darkness; straight on into the burning fires of Hell.

And seeing how God the Father wanted so desperately to have His creation (children) living with Him forever, He came up with the only plan that would allow Him to get them back... and this plan was none other than the Word of God in Heaven would become the Son of God on earth... and His name would be Jesus. And that’s exactly what happened. Because God the Word went through a supernatural process of being born into this world as a baby, and in His new form as God the Son He grew into the man called Jesus.

And then, "In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight... But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance... Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him... And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." (Matthew 3:1-17)

OK, so in the Scripture that we have just read we see the good (John the Baptist), the bad (Pharisees and Sadducees---religion), and the Savior of the world (Jesus the Christ). And of course you would think, quite naturally so, that the religious bunch (Pharisees and Sadducees) would have been very well received by Jesus’ (the Son of God’s) messenger (John the Baptist)... but they weren’t. And the reason that they weren’t was because of the fact that John the Baptist was prepared for them. You see he had the Power of the Holy Spirit on him that allowed him the supernatural ability to see straight through their evil and wicked ways. And exactly what this on fire man of God saw with his supernatural eyesight was nothing more than a whole bunch of slimy withering poisonous snakes (religion).

And in our effort to help those brilliant men (President Bill Clinton, Dr. Pat Robertson, and Dr. Charles Stanley to name just a few... who have become so blinded to the truth) get their very own supernatural Holy Ghost eyesight, we’re going to fast forward through the life of Christ. And prayerfully, what everyone should see is a very vivid picture of our present day most holy (unholy) religious systems (Baptist, Catholics, Methodist, Pentecostal, etc.) that are Hell bent on destroying what the Word of God came to earth for in the first place. So hold on tight... and away we go.

Continuing on in the life of Christ we read: "Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee; And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast... And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them. And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan." (Matthew 4:12-25)

So this was the beginning of Jesus’ Holy Spirit filled ministry, and it was without a doubt a very welcomed relief for the people. Because letting the truth be known, it was during the time of Jesus that God’s people were being plagued with an enormously high concentration of demonic spirits (devils). I mean these people were like a dog in the middle of summer with a bad case of fleas... but even worse. They were helplessly and hopelessly being completely overrun by the powers of darkness (Satan and his crew) until The Savior of the World walked in on the scene. It was high noon on the streets of Dodge City as Jesus walks out with six guns strapped to His side. This was the final showdown against the forces of evil... and the people loved Him!!!

Well most of them anyway. Because you still have those who’ve been caught up in the mess of things (religion), and on the most part they are usually messed up in it pretty good (bad). And that’s why Jesus’ method of dealing with it was none other than His quick draw method of shooting from the hip. Because reading on we find: "And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying... Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5:1-20)

See what I mean about shooting from the hip? Well the bottom line of what Jesus said to the rather large gathering of people (which even included quite a few of the most unholy religious system) was that the people of that most unholy religious system were headed straight for Hell! And as for the rest of the crowd, for those not wanting to burn in Hell’s fires for all eternity, the best thing for them to do was to use these people of the most unholy religious system as a fine example of what not to be like.

And after Jesus finished giving His Sermon On The Mount we read, "When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him... and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses... And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people." (Matthew 8 and 9)

Can you even imagine how these people must have loved Jesus for all His miracles? It kind of like reminds me of our present day healers (Benny Hinn is a good example - see Benny Hinn And The Pope). You see Jesus is coming soon, and as a final demonstration of His Mighty Miracle Working Power He’s pouring out His Miracle Working Spirit on the world... and great and mighty miracles are being produced in the name of Jesus... but the rest of what he intended is being forgotten. His complete plan is being overlooked, and the things that should be going along with the healing services aren’t (teaching and preaching the Whole Gospel of Jesus Christ). It’s just ain’t happening... and many many folks are dying lost because of it.

Because reading on into the life of Jesus we find, "Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not: Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee." (Matthew 11:20-24)

You see one of the reasons for Jesus’ miracles was to convince the people that He was the Son of God, and He was their Savior if and only if they would only make Him their Lord (Lord and Savior)! And that’s exactly why He blasted away with His Holy Ghost six shooters in this very bold Hell Fire Sermon to them (teaching and preaching). Because the truth of the matter is that healing is only good for as long as the body survives. You see we are all destined to die and then comes the judgment. And iffin we ain’t ready to meet the judge then it’s what you call weeping and gnashing of teeth. Not a pretty picture! So the healing is great but it doesn’t guarantee anybody salvation. And that’s why these present day ministers of healing ought to be following the example of their Holy Spirit Miracle Working Provider. Heal the people through the Mighty Power of the Holy Spirit and then tell the people The Truth!!! Tell the people that their most unholy religious systems are going to take them straight on into the burning lake of fire!!!

So please don’t you ever let anyone convince you that Jesus preached nice and easy little sermonets. Without a doubt His sermons were both STRONG and POWERFUL. He unloaded on His listeners with the Uncompromising Truth... and He didn’t even care who’s toes He might have been stepping on. Because Jesus knew without a shadow of a doubt that hurting someone’s toes in this lifetime was a whole lot less painful than the hurt their entire body, soul, and spirit would feel in the everlasting fires of Hell. To know The Truth and to live The Truth are mandatory requirements for getting into Heaven!

My oh my, we’re running out of paper again. And to think that we’re just starting to get warmed up. But anyway, continuing on we find: "At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungered, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day. But he said unto them... For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day. And when he was departed thence, he went into their synagogue: And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him. And he said... Stretch forth thy hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other. Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him." (Matthew 12:1-14)

Talk about a smoking gun. Jesus just blazed right on into that most unholy religious group. Toe to toe and eyeball to eyeball Jesus did exactly what they dared Him not to do... and they didn’t even like it one little bit. So they just up and decided to kill Him... the Savior of mankind... and all for the sake of religion!!! Now please get the picture. Here we have the Son of God, the only possible hope of anyone ever escaping the torments of Hell, and the religious system (church) wanted to kill him! And of course that was then and this is now but nothing has really even changed. I mean sure enough Jesus has already given His life on the cross, and paid the perfect price, but the present day most unholy religious group is still trying their best to destroy all possibilities of salvation for the rest... and they’re doing it through the lies of their religious doctrines... and they’re doing a mighty good job of it. In fact they’ve even gotten the President and quite a few Doctors believing in their lies.

And that’s exactly why Jesus went on to inform His disciples of this very same situation: "Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread. Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread? Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand... How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees." (Matthew 16:6-12)

Now we’re getting to the good part. You see in this Scripture Jesus was warning His disciples about the distorted and twisted Word of God that these religious systems were teaching and preaching. Because the leaven He was speaking of had nothing to do with the making of bread but everything to do with the making of salvation. The leaven that Jesus was referring to was the rot infested lies that the most unholy religious system was using to pervert the Word of God... and this "once saved always saved" doctrine just happens to be one more of them!!!

And skipping a whole lot more than I had planned to, we get to, "And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said unto his disciples, Ye know that after two days is the feast of the passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified. Then assembled together the chief priest, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, unto the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, And consulted that they might take Jesus by subtility, and kill him. But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people."

So I hope that you can see by now what a real slimeball (I really tried hard Lord to find a softer word) these religious systems can be. I mean here we have "the most holy ones" of Jesus’ time planning to kill Jesus, and doing it in such a way as not to upset the people. It’s called trickery and deception at best, and our religious system of today is full of it!!!

And to kinda wrap things up, reading once again the account of Judas Iscariot, "Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him... When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death... Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself." (Matthew 26:14-16 and 27:1-5)

So here we have the account of a follower of Jesus (Judas Iscarriot) who was paid cash by "the most holy religious system" to betray his one time Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And even though it certainly looked as though "religion" was winning out in this one, they went ahead and bought off the rest of the multitude as a safety factor. Because as we read on we find: "And Jesus stood before the governor: and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest. And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee? And he answered him to never a word; insomuch that the governor marveled greatly. Now at that feast the governor was wont to release unto the people a prisoner, whom they would. And they had then a notable prisoner, called Barabbas... But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask for Barabbas, and destroy Jesus." (Matthew 27:11-20)

And that was all "the most holy religious system" needed to finish off their plan. Because, "And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull... they crucified him... And sitting down they watched him there; And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS." (Matthew 27:33-37)

So just how corrupted can the religious system get? Corrupted enough to kill THE KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS!!!---- I rest my case.

Don’t get sucked up into the religious systems of the world. Keep The Faith In Jesus Christ and save your soul from Hell!!!

Love,

Dad (Bruce Hallman)