I'll provide more details at the end of this letter because there is a lot I did not say to this man, simply because he was not willing to reason together, and I figured that would be the case from the start.
KEVIN FROM NEW HAMPSHIRE:
I'm an avid listener / reader of your podcasts and essays and want to express one "major" concern or admonition regarding your doctrine on the weekly Sabbath Day.
Let me preface this noting that I am not a member of any "churchianity" denomination nor do I attend any church buildings and haven't for many years after discovering how deceived I was for most of my life. If I had to put a label on my spiritual position it would be simply: whole Bible believing Christian.
Please understand this point is not based on emotion or opinion but on God's own immutable word in scripture regarding the ten commandments. In the spirit of brevity I will cut to the chase through pages upon pages of hermeneutic Bible studies I did on this subject.
You have clearly expressed adherence to sound Biblical doctrine and not the traditions of men nor doctrines of devils, and that is key here. When it comes to the moral law of the ten commandments God doesn't change and neither did Christ come to change any of the Father's commandments as it is written. The Mosaic laws, on the other hand, were fulfilled by Christ according to Biblical prophesies, i.e. all the sacrificial laws, applicable days, moons, feasts, (Passover) &etc.
Please show me in Scripture where or when either God, through the prophets in Old Testament, or Christ in the New Testament, changed any of the everlasting ten commandment laws? It was the demonic popes of Rome who changed the 7th day Sabbath over time in an effort to attract Roman pagan citizens into the fold and then to grant the Romish pope absolute power over the "church". This transition of power occurred in 538AD when Rome transitioned from pagan empire to popish church & state and the rest is demon history.
Please let me know your thoughts on this based strictly in Bible truth.
I'm an avid listener / reader of your podcasts and essays and want to express one "major" concern or admonition regarding your doctrine on the weekly Sabbath Day.
Let me preface this noting that I am not a member of any "churchianity" denomination nor do I attend any church buildings and haven't for many years after discovering how deceived I was for most of my life. If I had to put a label on my spiritual position it would be simply: whole Bible believing Christian.If that were true, then you would not have a problem with what I'm teaching on this subject, but obviously, based on your statement, there's still something in "church-ianity" that is lingering in your belief system.
Please understand this point is not based on emotion or opinion but on God's own immutable word in scripture regarding the ten commandments. In the spirit of brevity I will cut to the chase through pages upon pages of hermeneutic Bible studies I did on this subject.Look, you don't have to try and preface this in some overly formal way. Just make your argument. You don't have to tip-toe around with me. I have had this discussion with many people over the years on this exact same topic, so we can skip past all the formalities, speak plainly, and just get to the point; it'll save us both a lot of time.
You have clearly expressed adherence to sound Biblical doctrine and not the traditions of men nor doctrines of devils, and that is key here. When it comes to the moral law of the ten commandments God doesn't change and neither did Christ come to change any of the Father's commandments as it is written. The Mosaic laws, on the other hand, were fulfilled by Christ according to Biblical prophesies, i.e. all the sacrificial laws, applicable days, moons, feasts, (Passover) &etc.
Please show me in Scripture where or when either God, through the prophets in Old Testament, or Christ in the New Testament, changed any of the everlasting ten commandment laws?This is what is called a "loaded question." Have you heard of that term before? Let me define it, just in case you haven't:
loaded question (n): a form of complex question that contains a controversial assumption; such questions may be used as a rhetorical tool: the question attempts to limit direct replies to be those that serve the questioner's agendaNotice specifically that you ended that sentence in a question mark to try to make seem like you were posing a question, when in fact, you only made a statement (and a rhetorical one at that because you already declared that there was not an answer to it in the previous paragraph), and furthermore, the statement you're making does not address the root problem.
NOTE: No one, on either side of this debate, claims that God CHANGED the Ten Commandments, but you subtly programmed that accusation towards me into your question (even though I have never made an argument like that in my teachings), and then demanded that I answer it. That is a deceptive form of communication, and as a professing Christian, you should be ashamed for attempting that, and I would be interested to know who taught you to do it.
The Scriptures aren't changed. They are
FULFILLED. The question you should be asking is this:
Where in the New Testament Scriptures is there any commandment for us to observe the Old Testament ordinances of the Sabbath? We are taught in the New Testament not to kill, not to steal, not to lie, not to fornicate, not to commit adultery, not to covet, to love the Lord God only, to honor our parents, so where is the part about the Sabbath? Until you answer those questions, then you are avoiding the argument of your opposition.
It was the demonic popes of Rome who changed the 7th day Sabbath over time in an effort to attract Roman pagan citizens into the fold and then to grant the Romish pope absolute power over the "church". This transition of power occurred in 538AD when Rome transitioned from pagan empire to popish church & state and the rest is demon history.That has absolutely nothing to do with the question at hand. That is something that can be addressed later
AFTER the questions I just posed have been answered. You're not addressing the core problem because I am willing and bold to say before God and men that Jews and Catholics and Seventh-day Adventists, and any other flavor in likeness to them, are all
WRONG on this subject.
Please let me know your thoughts on this based strictly in Bible truth.It would be great if you take the time to form a proper argument first because you haven't actually made any Biblical argument in favor of your position yet (even though I'm sure you believe you did), so there's nothing for me to answer yet. Normally, I would try not to be this firm in email, but since you thought yourself bold to make statements under presumption instead of asking questions to clarify where I stand, I want to hit the nail straight on the head so we don't waste each others' time.
There are two articles I wrote that address this subject in much greater detail, and I have audio teachings on both of them (green audio button at the top of the page):
Keeping the Sabbath is Not a Christian RequirementThe Biblical Understanding of CharityIf you don't understand how those are connected, then those would be recommended for study. For now, that's the best I can do for you. I hope it helps, and at the very least, I appreciate you taking the time to listen. Have a great day.
WOE!!!! I did not expect such an arrogant, self-righteous, indignant response from such an articulate teacher. Have you ever heard of "humility" in Christ? I will pray for you brother...
BTW, Jesus and the Disciples all followed the 7th day Sabbath, in case you missed the scripture.
It was the ceremonial "Sabbaths" that Christ fulfilled which we are no longer required to follow.
May the good Lord open your eyes and humble your heart.
I asked:
"Where in the New Testament Scriptures is there any commandment for us to observe the Old Testament ordinances of the Sabbath?"Your answer:
"Jesus and the Disciples all followed the 7th day Sabbath, in case you missed the scripture."Of course they did. The law and prophets were fulfilled in Jesus Christ after He died and rose from the dead (
Mat 7:12), but you did
NOT answer my question, and I had a suspicion that you wouldn't answer it because you can't, or it will invalidate your arguments.
This is why I wanted you to stop all the formalities and niceties, because, as you can see, you ran past the truth into railing accusations, calling me "
arrogant, self-righteous, indignant" for pointing out your deception and hypocrisy. This shows us the filth in your heart (
Mat 15:18), and I can see past your fluffy language very easily because I've been doing this for a long time. I do appreciate you being much more direct in your second email, and showing the truth of who you really are. It saved me a lot of time. You are free to go and believe whatever you want, but I am not here to help you justify yourself in your works-based ideologies, and though I appreciate you listening for as long as you claimed to have listened to my teachings, it would be good for you to depart from this ministry because we are not like-minded in Christ.
Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.
-Phil 2:2Take care and have a great day.
END OF DISCUSSION
He spelled "Whoa" as "Woe," and that actually made it pretty funny for those of you who know the difference in definition of those terms. Well, technically, it would make it pretty vindictive, but that's why I said it was funny.
Some interesting notes, and I want everyone to pay close attention to this. I have NEVER heard from this guy before. I personal find it fascinating that he claims to be an "avid" reader/listener, but I've never heard from him before, not in email, comments, letters in the mail, or any other medium... nothing. The ONLY time I hear from him is when he wants to complain. Therefore, we already have evidence, before he's even started writing, that his intention is to make me into a version of himself, and that's not what this ministry is for.
I also find it interesting how many people write me these types of emails, and have no thought to consider that I have had these discussions on this same subject with MANY people over the last 14 years I've been working in ministry. They act like this is the first time I have ever heard someone complain about this, or have ever heard these arguments (multiple times) from other people who also do not understand the Scriptures. So when I tell them to stop beating around the bush and get to their point, they get angry because they thought their niceties was "humility," and therefore, a rejection of their niceties leaves them without a way to justify themselves to be thoughtful, despite the fact that the basic information they are providing exposes them, and they never understood how their own words revealed the truth about them.
No one can hide it completely:
But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.
-Mat 15:18
He stated he wants to give me an "admonition," which is a declaration that I have done wrong (by definition), not a "major concern," which are two very different things (because a major concern is not the same as sin, which requires admonition), so I'm already seeing contradictions before he has finished his first sentence. Notice how he said he hasn't attended church buildings or denominations, but he did not mention anywhere else that he fellowships with other Christians. I'm not condemning someone for not having regular fellowship (because I can understand the reasons why), but when there is a lack of fellowship in someone who claims to be of Christ, there are patterns of problems that arise that they typically don't see, and I can see some of it coming through in Kevin's email.
It was hilarious to watch him explode in rage as soon as I pointed out the deception of his loaded question, and then watch him immediately accuse me of not having humility. Define projection. 
I really wish men like this could be more reasonable because it would be fascinating to take them through a back-and-forth conversation on this. Notice, in his second letter, after he started in on his contention and railing accusations, that he specifically pointed out that the "ceremonial Sabbaths" were fulfilled in Christ. What he didn't realize is that he just hammered the final nail in the coffin of his own argument by saying that.
If he could have calmed himself down, and handled himself like an adult (let alone a Christian who thinks he's being humble and not just standing on pretense with fluffy words), I would have asked him HOW he "keeps the Sabbath day." The reason that question is very key is because whatever comes out of his mouth next HAS to be based on Scripture, not only because he demanded it from me (which means he's under the same rules of engagement), but also because, since God declared the Sabbath day, then He also set down the rules on HOW to observe it.
This means that, no matter what Kevin would have told me, it would have contradicted his statement that Christ fulfilled the "ceremonial Sabbaths." If he said we are supposed to rest (without getting into the details of what that means because that would be whole separate fascinating conversation of him trying to set a rule system for everyone based on his presuppositions), then I would ask him why Christ didn't fulfill that?
I don't think he could have handled a fraction of that conversation without blowing up in rage. Again, why is he so angry? Because, in the end, he can claim "grace through faith" all he wants, but he believes his alleged "keeping of the Sabbath" is what justifies him, just like the tithers hold up their tithe as a coat of arms the second you point out that they have no repentance in their hearts.
As opposed to Kevin, I have no problem with him whether he wants to honor a day for the Lord or not, which is what Paul taught us in the New Testament. (Rom 14:5-6) However, he has a problem with anyone who does not adhere to the rules that he has set for himself to honor a day for the Lord, and that is what is meant when Paul concluded that:
But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
-Rom 14:10
This is not referring to judgment in general, which is our duty as Christ commanded in John 7:24, but not to judge in unrighteousness and hypocrisy (which is what Christ means in Mat 7:1), to judge how one honors the Lord according to his own convictions. Perhaps one day Kevin can learn the doctrine of repentance and remission of sins, so he can see clearly to be in like mind with the rest of the church, and I hope the Lord God will show him mercy and He has shown me mercy.
Feel free to comment below if you want to respond to Kevin's letter.
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