Hello Pervaiz:

Along with your WRAP you sent a long list of things that you would like to do for the Lord if you had the money!   I don't know how you heard of our ministry, but you need to be aware that we are not in the business of raising money in the name of the Lord.  We do have a web site up on our site for our "Little Sister" Razia who is also of Pakistan.   However, it is not to raise money for her, but to alert the Christian community so they can hold her up in their prayers.  If God deals with someone to send her money, that is between them and God, but we ask for no money for ourselves or for others.

It is sad that media evangelists from the United States are sending forth the message that giving and receiving money is the primary way for believers to serve Christ--for nothing is farther from the truth.  We receive to many E-mails from people around the world who apparently believe that to answer God's call is to begin receiving great sums of money in the mail, and I'm satisfied that they got this idea from US media ministers.  We put Razia's site up for a couple of reasons.   First, because she doesn't feel that she has to wait on money before she can minister to God's people.  Razia's already maintains a full schedule of teaching and ministering to those around her.  (By the way, ministering to people is the way that we actually minister for Jesus.)  Second, because we get a witness in the Spirit that her work is of the Lord.

Might we suggest that if you feel you have a special "call" to serve Christ Jesus, then you should look around you and begin serving people every opportunity you get.  Remember, in the Scriptures, all local churches were built by the people being served as they put their time and efforts into work of their local body.  In fact, helping build the church that one belongs to is an important role that the local church member needs to fill.

Maranatha,

Don

Don Wrote:

I am assuming that you are responding to the cartoons linked to the "cartoon" button on our home page.

Apparently, you feel that violence on TV is a problem; but the way to handle it is just change the channel for your child.  This would work if our children were our shadows and they did nothing without our permission.  But in the real world, our children visit friends, some of which probably have little supervision re: what is watched on TV. 

We have put the violent cartoons up on our site because we agree with the sages who contend that  not only are the eyes the windows to our soul, but they, along with the ears, are the doors to our hearts.  The Bible does say that as a man thinketh in his heart, so is the man.  If this is true, then we need to take care lest what we see and hear become a part of us.  For children who are very   impressionable, this is especially true.  This being the case, violence on cartoons is just one part of their problem.  In truth, too many children today also see violence at school, on the playground, at home on the evening news and the movies that mom and dad watch, at home on the video games that have them competing to see who can kill the most simulated people, and as is often the case, at home in fights between mom and dad and their siblings.  It is no wonder that today's teachers have to deal with a generation of children whose first approach to problem solving is to strike out in violence.

Surely, you will agree that it has not always been this way.  Not too many generations ago, children were taught the golden rule and saw it practiced all around them.  Respect others and treat them as you would have them treat you was the rule instead of the exception; and in those days, one didn't worry about locking his doors at night or being mugged in a shopping center parking lot.  And sending one's children to school hoping that they would make it home without being shot was not even a consideration. 

It does seem rather futile for today's parents to monitor, or turn off the TV when violence is shown.  The flood gates with depiction of violence as entertainment are wide open and overflowing.  And the "reality" TV shows that show/simulate real violence, not make believe, has taken over as the norm. However, parents need to feel as it they are at least trying to allow their offspring to experience some of the peacefulness of childhood that they knew--assuming that they had a peaceful childhood.  Regardless, a child should be allowed to be a child.  They should not have to deal with all the heavy decisions that adults have to face, let alone the cruel, perverted "reality" created by sick minds in Hollywood.  I don't like to present problems without some solution, but I have to admit that I see no answer to this problem short of the Lord Jesus returning to set His world in order.

B'Ann Wrote:

(We took the following excerpt from a WRAP responding to similar questions in November of 1999.)

...Does God kill? For the most part, He doesn’t have to. Built into nature are checks and balances which many decide to ignore. Does God push someone in front of a car? Certainly not! They just failed to heed the "warning signs" or didn’t "stop, look and listen!" All plagues can usually be traced to some type of filth and often if we can just find the root of contamination, it can be halted. Note, I said "halted". When something is unleashed upon mankind, it usually wrecks havoc. How much better to follow the guidelines of the Scriptures, whether it be cleansing of the sick bed or marital relationships. When mankind stepped out of the bonds of matrimony, the various venereal diseases and AIDS were no longer in isolated containment; but rather, they were unleashed upon the population. Why? Because the majority of the people wanted restrictions removed. There are many restrictions that we cannot remove, if indeed we even need to remove them. Certain plants, chemicals, gases in the air, etc., cannot be consumed by animal life without much suffering from the natural consequences built into nature. There are built in physical consequences that mankind must contend with when he decides to break certain principles.

Also, nature does not tolerate a vacuum and when the Holy Spirit is withdrawn at the end of the Grace Age, the laws of sin and darkness will take over. As the End-Time approaches, Jesus asked, "Will He find any faith?" So, we can assume that instead of a world red-hot for Jesus, as some religious groups propose, we will find a people far, far from the principles of God. This great "falling away" will lead to a Dark Ages unlike any known to man before. Some groups sing of this great snatching away of people when the "Rapture" occurs. There are stories of planes without pilots, cars left running, food cooking, etc. But because Jesus asked if He would find any who had faith when He returned, could it be that there will be so few taken that no one will really miss them? SELAH! We wrote a song back in the seventies that goes something like this. "PEOPLE ARE BLAMING OUR GOD, FOR THE WAY THAT THE WORLD NOW STANDS. THEY SAY THERE’S JUST ENOUGH FOR US, CAN’T HELP OUR FELLOW MAN, CAN’T HELP OUR FELLOW MAN. BUT DON’T POINT A FINGER AT GOD; FOR WHAT MORE CAN HE GIVE? HE GAVE HIMSELF IN HIS OWN SON, THAT WE MIGHT LIVE, THAT WE MIGHT LIVE!…(By the way, if you would like to hear some of the songs we recorded in the 70’s and 80’s, we've included some of  them on our Singers of Heart's web page. Simply click on the Singers of Heart button on our home page.)...

Have A Blessed Day !

Don Wrote:

Be assured that you are not the only believer who is bewildered at the confusion that takes place in churches under the guise of "speaking in tongues."   Nowhere in the Scriptures are we commanded to speak in an unknown tongue, but we are commanded to love one another--those who would devour one another over their opinions about the matter of tongues would do well to heed this command.

Anyone who believes in their heart that Jesus was crucified, buried, and raised from the dead for the sins of man, and will confess with their mouth that they believe Jesus died for their sin will be saved.  That is the Scripture.  But there is no Scripture requiring someone to speak in tongues so that they can be saved!

Romans 10:6-13
But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down [from above]:)
Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)
But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, [even] in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

The gift of tongues is listed in the Bible with the other gifts.  How strange it is that no one will force another to "be healed" or to bring forth a "miracle" as a requirement for or evidence of being saved.  This is because their error would be obvious when it became apparent that God was not going to manifest some miracle since He commanded that salvation be by faith--a gift of faith.   How sad that some believe that they must make others utter some sort of babel so that they can feel that they are saved.  They do this because unlike the other gifts, the gift of tongues can be imitated by man.  But be assured that God will not be forced to follow the will or flesh of any man.

Remember, the gifts of the Holy Spirit are given as HE determines they should be given (I Cor. 12:4-11).  We can desire them and pray for them, but in His infinite wisdom He will determine who gets what.  If there does ever come a time that you do need the real gift of tongues, know that you will receive them and that you will have peace and confidence about the whole matter when God gives them to you. It will be a natural part of your Spirit man and it will not make you look like a fool.  God/Jesus never acted like an unstable person and neither should we.  The disciples that came out of the upper room were in "ecstacy" because of the great love that had been poured upon them.  Whatever gift we receive should manifest itself in love.  If a gift manifests in a spirit of fight in the church body; then, you can rest assured it is not of God.  We are commanded to test the spirits (I John 4:1).

If your pastor continues in his folly and insists that you  must speak in tongues as an evidence that you are saved; then, seek the mind of the Lord; for he very well may lead you to another church. 

Let me leave you with the following Scriptures to contemplate.

Romans 5:1
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

2Tim. 1:7
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

1 Corinthians 14:33
For God is not [the author] of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.

Love,

Don

Don Wrote:

The answers to both of these questions are in our on-line book THE CLOCK OF THE AGES and our on-line study of the Book of Revelation.  Because of the nature of the questions, I cannot answer them in a short WRAP like I have in the book and the study.  So, let me refer you to those works.  To find them, simply click on the CLOCK OF THE AGES or the STUDY OF REVELATION button.

Thanks for WRAPPING with us.

Don

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