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Sermon 117 – The Peninnah Syndrome

03 Feb

There’s a show on tv called “married at first sight” … desperate people looking for love and relying on the skills of a team of marriage psychologists to match them with the perfect partner without having ever met. The world is looking for love, and instead of turning to the Creator of love they’re turning to the evil love of homosexuality, or the emotional love of erotic music, or the social connection of erotic night-clubs, or prostitution, pornography and paedophilia.

The modern church has misled people with false hopes of love. It’s selling love to attract the desperate world to its meetings to increase its numbers and income rather than training people to form an army against the onslaught of the world. Love is popular, as is the Pentecostal anti-satan warfare with your mouth, but persecution is not. Grace has become the popular catch-cry; meanwhile homosexuality flourishes because the church has lost its saltiness.

Hannah

In 1 Samuel, we read the story of Elkanah and his two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. Hannah suffered the social embarrassment of being barren, but her husband had a special love for her, whereas, Peninnah, even though she had several children, lived in bitter envy of Hannah, and regularly mocked and spitefully ridiculed her because she saw her as more loved. Peninnah was Hannah’s enemy.

The question is … why was Hannah more loved? The answer is, there was something in Hannah that was attractive and there was something in Peninnah that wasn’t. You can’t be attracted to envy and bitchiness. All Peninnah had to do was stop her envy and she would have been attractive like Hannah.

Why couldn’t she? The answer is that love flows from the heart; it can’t be generated by psychology pairing. If your heart is full of envy then the wrong love will flow. You have to be dead to yourself for the agape love of God to flow out.

The only key to love is …

God 1st, neighbour 2nd. If you make yourself 1st, you’ll never find Hannah’s love. When you’re the most important thing, envy will dictate your spirit whether you know it or not.

Why is this phenomenon so common yet more often than not, hidden?

Because Satan comes as a wolf in sheep’s clothing. On the outside he seems nice and caring but on the inside, he’s full of envy. The story of Hannah is more than just a historical event; it also has the Spirit of God hidden in its pages. It’s really the story of Satan’s envy of Jesus’ special relationship with the Father. Instead of being satisfied with his position, Satan hates Jesus because He seems higher, but ultimately, Satan wants the top position of the Father. It’s not really about love at all; it’s all about CONTROL and the desperate selfish desire to be No.1.

Envy is a satanic trait; it’s not a characteristic of the Holy Spirit

The Word of God declares that love envies not (1 Corinthians 13). So, if you routinely practice envy it confirms that your heart is captured by Satan, and bitterness and spite will eventually flow out of you. That means you are not saved for heaven. This is the state of the false church; they have a relationship with God but they hate those who are more loved by Him.

God was on Hannah’s side

I’ve asked people who they feel for … Hannah or Peninnah? Routinely, I get the response, Peninnah, because she was less loved. Somehow, they can’t see Hannah’s pain. Standing on the side of Peninnah means you are standing against Hannah and thus on Satan’s side, not God’s.

I’ve worked with many Christians, both male and female, who appear loving and caring on the outside, but in time, expose an inner evil of bitter envy just because they see someone else as more loved, more popular, more successful, especially if they seem to walk closer with God. This is the Peninnah syndrome. They may be related to Christ, but they hate someone else being closer to Him. They want to be the centre of attention. They are the false church.

The enemy of the true church is the false church

The Psalms are full of David’s remorseful pain because those who pretended to be close to him were actually his hidden enemies (eg. Psalm 41, 54, & 55).  God calls the false church, tares. It is set up by Satan for the purpose of deceiving the world and to oppress the true church. The Bible declares that the time will come when false Christians will betray the genuine ones even to the point of having them killed and believing it’s for a godly purpose (John 16:2).  Jesus, Himself, warns us that a man’s foes shall be they of his own household (Matthew 10:36).

Like Hannah, without you even saying nothing, the false church will misunderstand your intentions (v.14,15) and call you insane and demonic. This was the reaction of the false church when God directed us away from Sunday (Rome’s holy day) to Saturday (God’s holy day, Matthew 5:17-19) sabbath as a sign of separation.

Be encouraged

Contrary to popular false belief, Hannah’s experience proves that a genuine Christian will suffer periods of barrenness. Faith waits on God; it doesn’t expect or demand God’s prosperity. It’s grateful when it has it and it’s trusting when it doesn’t (Philippians 4:11,12).

If you’re a true Christian, then you must expect the ridicule and spite of family within the false church. You must expect to be hated by family and friends within the false church. In fact, if it’s not happening then you are probably the false church … if they called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of His household, Matthew 10:25.

The false church is actually under the power of God. Like Hannah’s dilemma forced her to turn to God, God is simply using Satan’s envy to turn the remnant towards Himself. Faith flourishes under attack.

By their fruits you shall know them

Like Peninnah, the false church will be exposed by its envy and hate towards the true church, but, like Hannah, despite the attacks and spite, the true church will know it’s loved.

The mouth of Peninnah says … you can’t tell me I’m not a Christian / you love them more than me / what’s wrong with wanting love? / my feelings are the truth / I’m special / advise me but don’t tell me what to do.

You need a Peninnah to create a Samuel

Peninnah didn’t know it, but Satan’s whole purpose was to use her to destroy God’s plan through Hannah. Satan’s plan was to get Hannah to murmur against the unfairness so he could bring about her destruction (1 Corinthians 10:10) so there wouldn’t be a Samuel. Without Peninnah, Hannah would not have gone to God in desperation. She may have eventually had a son, but she would not have had a Samuel. Eventually, we shall reap Samuels (something worthy and purposeful for the kingdom of God) if we faint not.

 

Pastor John Cormack

 

 
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Posted by on February 3, 2018 in Envy

 

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Sermon 102 – The SEE-SAW Christian

25 Jun

 

[A see-saw is an English term for a plank with a central fulcrum with a person on either end who each extends their legs alternately to make the plank go up and down.]

I’ve met so many people who say they are Christian because they think they are good, yet are actually not; it’s overwhelming.

I was counselling a young Christian woman who had rejected the approaches of a Christian man. They had been courting for some months so I asked her why she had rejected him and her response was ‘he wanted to kiss me’. Now, in our modern society, one would generally misinterpret her information as the male doing the wrong thing, but knowing the man and her own family history, I dug deeper. The truth was she didn’t like the man telling her what to do so she made it sound like he was abusing her. She was lying so she could get her own way.

What was really happening?

The young woman had decided that she was ‘good’, not because she put Christ first, but, on the basis that her sister had run away from a committed Christian man who was challenging her willingness to be a help-mate rather than a potential wife who wouldn’t be told. The young woman had watched and criticised her sister for not being submissive like she herself would have been.

Her deduction was … I’m good because I would not have done what you did.

So many Christian people judge their goodness on the basis of someone else’s errors of judgment. It’s the see-saw principle …. When you’re down, I’m up. If you judge your goodness on the basis of comparing yourself to someone else’s error, the Bible says your good is bad (2 Corinthians 10:12; Galatians 6:4). It is never the love of God to ever think you are better than someone because they are in error themselves. The Pharisee judged himself as good because he compared himself to the publican, but Jesus rejected his deduction (Luke 18:9).

The see-saw Christian

The see-saw Christian loves being up, hates being down, and envies those who are up. These people are not genuine Christians, they’re fake wheat (tares). They look like they’re Christian and act like they’re Christian, but they routinely elevate themselves above others when others are down. They hide it well and won’t let you see it, but if you are spiritual you will eventually sense its pattern. Tares draw nigh unto God with their mouth and honour God with their lips, but their heart is far from Him (Matthew 15:8).

Demons win when you’re self-centred

What the young woman was ignorant of was the spiritual fact that putting yourself up above your neighbour actually results in your spirit being dictated over by a demon. Once you are under the power of a demon you’re blinded to the truth and can only see your own truth. To this woman, her sister was wrong so that made her superior to her sister. The real truth was that she wasn’t good at all, she was simply bloated with her own fake goodness, and having an inflated mood. People hate deflated feelings so they selfishly strive for inflated feelings at the cost of others.

Why do we automatically think we’re good or better, when others are corrected or proved wrong?

The real truth behind it all is that the human spirit doesn’t want others to tell it what to do. It loves to tell others what to do because it thinks it knows what’s right; it hates being told. That’s because we inherited this evil trait from Adam and Eve. The corrupted gift that Satan sold to Eve was simply … ‘you will know what’s right, so don’t let others tell you what to do.’ That’s what Satan believes and that’s what he wants you to believe.

The human spirit can’t handle being down; it absolutely envies anyone else that is up and secretly wants for their position, and when it is up it boasts of it upness over you.

The real issue is ‘control’

I’m good, actually equals … ‘you can’t tell me what to do because you have your own errors.’ The Lord said there is none good but God, so the moment you deduce you’re good, you made yourself god, and that’s exactly what Satan wants you to think.

You succumb to the same error as the one you judge

The moment the young woman judged her sister’s error, she came under the influence of the demonic and eventually ended up doing the same thing as her sister. The satanic kingdom was laughing.

More bad deductions follow bloated upness

In her bloated upness, this woman deduced from my counsel that she had taken on the bad character of her sister and that it wasn’t really her that had the problem and therefore all she had to do was repent and everything would be back to normal; but, she was wrong again. Everyone’s own old nature is evil; it’s stubborn, it’s selfish, it’s arrogant, it’s envious, and it loves to see others down so it is up.

When she acted like her sister, it wasn’t because she had become her sister, but rather that she had opened up her old nature and Satan’s common characteristics were exposed. Our old nature is under the control of Satan; our new nature is under the control of the Holy Spirit. It’s not our nature that’s new, it’s His in us, and the only way you can operate in new nature is through the death of your old. It’s simply your choice … you first or God first.

How to break the power of the demonic

If the Holy Spirit indwells you, your envy of others will not routinely over-power you, and the temptation to be up will not routinely over-power you. You will be willing to be a nobody for the sake of Jesus Christ, and once you’re willing to be a nobody and don’t have to be special or prove your goodness over others, the demonic will lose its power over you. That’s why Jesus advised us to love our neighbour as ourselves and why Christ died on the cross, not only to offer us salvation for our sin, but also to show us the pattern of freedom from the power of the demonic.

Down wins

See-saws only work when the two people help each other and work together. The fact of the matter is that the person on the down side has power over the person on the up side.  The person on the down side can stop the see-saw; the person on the up side, can’t. The up person is really at the mercy of the down person. Once you choose to be a nobody by unconditional surrender to the will of God, you actually gain the power and that’s the only way Satan can’t touch you (1 John 5:18).

The up woman

The will of God declares that the man is to rule over the woman (Genesis 3:16). Modern Christianity rejects this law because it believes what the world believes. The church is the world parading as fake goodness. The demonic is setting the course for the church and the world and the church is not fighting back because it’s lost its saltiness. The church is just being adaptable to the world’s standards and calling it love and understanding, because we are all under grace. No woman will ever be free from the demonic while ever her heart tells her husband he is not the boss of her, and if the man doesn’t righteously stand against women’s resistance to man, the woman will take him to hell, just like Eve opened the door for Adam to be separated from God.

 

We’re not fighting flesh and blood but principalities and powers, and the rulers of the darkness of this world, and spiritual wickedness in high places … Ephesians 6:12, and the fight starts within before its ever external. You can only ever beat the demonic when your spirit is first dead to your selfishness by faith in Jesus Christ alone.

 

Pastor Raymond Whitney

 

 

 
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Posted by on June 25, 2016 in Elevation, Pride

 

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Sermon 92 – Witch Christian are you?

28 Nov

The Word of God is Spirit and not just writings in a book. When we read the story of David we need to realise and appreciate that it is not just a record of historical fact but primarily a spiritual expression of the heart of all of mankind.

There’s two types of Christians

There’s two types of Christians; those who are Davids and those who are Sauls. We see this reinforced in the parable of the 10 virgins. They both start-off with Holy Spirit (the oil), but half of them lose Him. If you have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you, then you’re a Christian, but that doesn’t mean you’re saved. The same evidence is endorsed in the parable of the sower and the Seed. The Seed (Jesus) falls into 3 types of ground and grows, but only one type of ground produces fruit. Judas had the Holy Spirit and so did Samson; they both lost the Holy Spirit, but the outcome was different for Samson.

The camp of David

Everybody wants to be a David, but they don’t want the hassle pathway that David had to take. The point of the Word of God is that to be a David you have to walk the same path, and to be a saved Christian you have to walk the same path of suffering as Christ; the path of being misjudged for doing the right thing, the path of separation from those who oppose the truth, the path of being hated for doing good, or the path of having to give up your position. If you read the Psalms, they’re all about the worship of God and thankfulness towards Him, or they’re about enemies, both within his camp and without, who are trying to destroy him.

The cross

Jesus is of the lineage of David. This is not just a heritage thing; it’s primarily a spiritual issue. He didn’t choose his lineage just because he was a king, otherwise Jesus would not have been born in a manger. By deliberately choosing to be of the lineage of David, Jesus was signifying that the spiritual path of opposition to David is the same spiritual pathway of opposition to Christ and the same spiritual pathway of opposition for all those who want to follow Christ.

Salvation is only via the cross. The pathway of the master is the pathway of the servant. The servant is not above his master. Every Christian is in the camp of Saul until they come to the cross. You can’t just make up your mind to swap camps; it’s only at the cross; whether it’s the pain of being misjudged for doing the right thing, being blamed for having done nothing wrong, or being held in contempt for following your Christ-like conscience.

You can have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (He’s not restricted by your lack of faith or even your false faith), but you’re not saved until you come to the cross of self-death (just like Christian in Pilgrim’s Progress). You’re not saved by inviting Jesus into your heart; rather you’re saved when you die to what you want and only live for what the Master wants.

Every Christian thinks they’ve done this, but the proof is in the pudding. Only when you’re faced with sacrificing what you truly do want (which generally you don’t know till God brings you face-to-face with it) can you move to the plane of salvation via your cross.

What this means is that your will has to be constantly and unconditionally surrendered to God’s will. Until you bend your will to God’s will, you’re not saved. The opposite of giving up your will is to retain the right to do it your way, and Satan will bombard you with temptations to fear God’s will.

The camp of Saul

Sauls can’t handle David being more popular.

Sauls need compliments and can’t handle contradictions, criticisms or corrections against their opinion. They have to look good in the eyes of the people. They may start off meek but they soon warm to the elevated position and surreptitiously their heart turns to themselves and away from God. They often live by rules and what’s right, even the Ten Commandments, but can’t be told they’re wrong and can’t take correction. Correction is equated as rejection. Consequently, their heart actually deceives itself and becomes stubborn and rebellious, and they come under the spirit of lying and practice subtle deception and ignorantly believe in superstition (if I do this, I will get that) and ultimately, witchcraft (1 Samuel 15:23).

Sauls are stubborn-minded and stubborn-willed. Sauls have to do it their own way; they don’t like to be told; they like to figure it out for themselves. They argue that they have the right to figure it out for themselves; but, really what they’re saying is, don’t tell me what to do; I’ll do it my way.

Sauls are swelled up with the importance of their own position, so when Samuel suggests that they’ve done it the wrong way, Sauls defend themselves by blaming others and by justifying that what they’ve done is right. Instead of respecting the prophet’s authority, Sauls have deduced that if you don’t agree with my thinking then you’re the fool, you’re the one who’s ignorant, you’re the one who’s blind, not me.

Sauls believe that if you hurt me, I have the right to hurt you back; and Sauls believe that if you hurt my feelings then you’re bad, and you’re wrong. Thus, Sauls have moods whenever you upset their feelings; but the real purpose of the mood is to make you feel bad so you will surrender to their demands.

Sauls act by their own judgment; they do not walk by faith, but rather by what they think is right. Even though Sauls may act generous, may appear happy and may enjoy being helpful, the truth is, Sauls are too proud to be corrected, too proud to forgive, bossy, and too stubborn to be told they’re wrong.

The camp of Saul is the camp of self-righteousness, whereas the camp of David is the camp of God’s righteousness. That is, God’s rightness, God’s ability and God’s goodness, not mine. Davids know that it’s nothing to do with me; it’s all Him.

The trigger

The trigger that stirs Saul spirits to change from meekness, is envy. Sauls can’t handle someone else being accoladed more than them.

What’s the problem with being a Saul?

Envy (1 Samuel 18:8) drives a Saul away from God and into the camp of witchcraft and then under the influence and control of a demon, then you’ll lose your right mind, and ultimately find yourself in hell. The stubbornness of Saul separates Saul from God (1 Samuel 16:14). This pattern started in the Garden of Eden, and nothing’s changed. If you allow envy into your heart and refuse to own it with repentance, you will not find heaven; it will take you to hell; and that’s the plan of Satan … self-destruction by self-rightness.

Jonathans

Jonathans agree and even support David but they prefer to stay in the camp of Saul. Saul’s camp is bigger and safer and more acceptable. David’s camp is outside the acceptable religious structure. Jonathans choose to stay with their father’s belief even though they know it’s wrong, because they need their father’s approval.

Why stay in the camp of Saul?

  1. Safety in numbers. The Orthodox churches considered the Pentecostal church, a cult, but when it increased in numbers it became an acceptable religion. Homosexuality was considered illegal, but now that it has publically increased in numbers it’s become an acceptable normal sexuality. People’s judgment is controlled by numbers and money. Where numbers and money dictate people’s decision, they have simply defaulted to the control of the spirit of the anti-christ. “He loved me, but not enough” is the catch-cry in Sense and Sensibility. Willoughby gave up his love for position and money. The comforts of his lifestyle and the temptation to look good in the eyes of others were too appealing, and thus he showed that he really loved himself . Like Willoughby, Sauls say and act loving but when it comes to the crunch they choose position over love for God.
  2. Social interaction. Humans are social beings and the church has been traditionally considered a safe place to interact with other humans; but that’s no longer the case … paedophilia and homosexuality, divorce and fornication are intertwined into the fabric of every religion and every church.
  3. More chance of being elevated to a higher position and recognised by more people.
  4. Scared to change camps. Religion controls people through their fears. People are too lazy to search the Scriptures for themselves. I believe because they don’t really want to find the hard way. They like the status quo; it suits their lifestyle, and any deviation from the status quo would make me look bad in the eyes of others.
  5. Indoctrinated by parents to believe in self-value
  6. Using the church as a hospital for all my hurts and expecting people to listen to me and be understanding of my needs.

Santa Claus

It’s no coincidence that Santa is the most valued figure at Christmas time. He’s the one with the goodies. Most Christians live in the Santa Claus syndrome believing if they’re good then God will give them nice things and remove all the hassles from their path. Most Christians believe that good gets rewarded with good. The whole focus is on what’s the deal for me and every deed is manipulated around that self-focus. They live in the belief that their goodness will save them because God is a nice God and surely He wouldn’t possibly reject ME. These are the Sauls. They’re not focussed on Christ; they’re focussed on what God can do for me. God is worshipped for the feelings, benefits and rewards. Their life is a pretence, full of envy of anyone else’s higher favouritism and anyone else’s happiness.

Can you change camps?

If you want to survive you have to leave the camp of Saul. Even Samuel had to leave Saul. You can’t stay in the camp of Saul and pretend you are a David; it’s a contradiction.

To change camps you have to give up what links you to Saul; what benefits you get by being in Sauls’ camp. They have to be put on the altar. There’s a price to change camps; it’s not for free. You can’t buy your way in with money or good deeds, but you do have to give your whole heart.

To change camps you have to forgive like a child, trust like a child, and be corrected like a child. Like the thief on the cross, you can’t swap camps by being good, but only via the bridge of repentance for your self-righteousness.

Why join the camp of David?

The people who joined themselves to David were the inferior ones … distressed, in debt, and discontent (1 Samuel 22:2). You can join yourself to David’s camp because you’re lost and lonely and David offers stability and responsibility, but if you don’t humble yourself by faith in the Lord Jesus you’re just using David for you and you will still miss out. You have to be a David, not just be in David’s camp, like Judas was in Jesus’ camp.

You can only become a David by giving up the fight to protect and promote you.

Suggestion

Stop worrying about you & think about God instead. If He is the creator of the universe with an earth that spins around the sun at exactly the right angle and speed; the creator of infinitely different-faced persons; and the manufacturer of infinitely different snowflakes, surely it makes sense to trust His plan. Stop operating your own back-up sub-plan in case God doesn’t come through, and commit your will to His; if you don’t it will be fatal.

May God help you take the plunge for your own sake,

Pastor Ray Simmonds

    

 
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Posted by on November 28, 2015 in Fake Christian, Uncategorized

 

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Sermon 72 – The Key Character of God that differentiates Him from His Creation

10 Jun

The one characteristic that differentiates God from man is ‘selfishness’. God has zero selfishness, whereas man is fully selfish. Man loves himself more than he loves God or his neighbour, whereas God has none of this character in Him; He is pure love, 1 John 1:5.

If you want the character of God then you have to
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Posted by on June 10, 2014 in Pride

 

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Sermon 68 – WHICH CAMP?

11 Feb

In 1 Samuel we recognise there were 3 distinct camps … the camp of Saul, the camp of David and the camp of the Philistines.

Clearly the camp of the Philistines is the camp of the heathen … those who don’t want to bend the knee to God.

But the defining line between the other two camps is blurry. Both these camps worship the same God and carry out the same ceremonies. They are both Israelite camps yet they are enemies. The same was true of Jesus and the Pharisees; they both worshipped the same God but they were enemies.

What are the real defining differences between the camp of Saul and the camp of David? Read the rest of this entry »

 
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Posted by on February 11, 2014 in Elevation, Envy, Fake Christian

 

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Sermon 66 – EXERCISE FOR LIFE

17 Jan

If you don’t exercise you will atrophy. That is, your body will deteriorate and eventually die.

Exercise is stress. As babies we had to learn to stand and walk. If you don’t put yourself under that stress then you will never train the neural pathways from your brain to your muscles which are designed to make your muscles work, and your bones will never be strong enough to support your vertical weight. It’s not automatic, it has to be stressed. It’s a stress to get up and walk. Running is a stress on your body. Like a tree needs the wind to stress it so it can strengthen itself, so moderate exercise is necessary for your body to stay healthy. And exercise needs to be done 3 times per week for 20-30 minutes in order to at least maintain and hopefully improve your level of strength. Yet, if you exercise incorrectly you will hurt your body and even potentially break it, and also teach your nerve pathways the wrong information for your muscles.

The same thing is true for our spirits.
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Posted by on January 17, 2014 in Resist evil

 

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Sermon 65 – I FEEL SAD

27 Dec

Some time ago I was confronted by a relative who blamed me for making her sad. I began to observe and learn from that and many other experiences that most people don’t take responsibility for their feelings, but rather automatically blame someone else for making them feel bad. This means that these people live their whole life based on how someone else makes them feel and they live for happy feelings. If your mummy made you feel good when you were moody, then as an adult you’ll expect Read the rest of this entry »

 
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Posted by on December 27, 2013 in Uncategorized

 

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Sermon 64 – I’M GOOD

16 Nov

Q. What is good?

Q. Do you think of yourself as good?

Q. What % of good are you?

Q. What % of good confirms you are a Christian?

Q. What % do you place on your fellowman thinking that you are good?

Q. Why are you trying to be good?

Q. Is good a measurement of salvation?
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Posted by on November 16, 2013 in Elevation, Pride

 

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Sermon 62 – WHO’S GETTING THE BETTER DEAL?

12 Oct

Often when I counsel folk I might ask … who have you got an irritation with? Sometimes they know but quite often they have no feelings at all against people.

How can you have –ve feelings against people and not even know it?

Here are my thoughts …
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Posted by on October 12, 2013 in Envy

 

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Sermon 59 – WHICH GOD?

31 Aug

The Humanists and atheists argue that there is no God because no decent god would allow the suffering that happens across the face of the earth. But, that’s the argument of Read the rest of this entry »

 
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Posted by on August 31, 2013 in god

 

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