F O R T R E S S O F J O Y C H U R C H

Transcription

1 F O R T R E S S O F J O Y C H U R C H January 2018 Love After Marriage Workshop February 14th-17th 2018 Join us for a time of refreshing and healing for your marriage I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E : How Religion 1 Begins The Bible Is Not 2 Open To Interpretation The Discerning 3 Spirit Perilous Times 4 In the beginning God gave His accounts and the law to Moses, this became the old testament of the Bible we read today. God knew what He wanted recorded and Moses wrote it exactly how God said. As time went on, men became hungry for power and they preyed on those who endeavored to live by the law of Moses. Mathew 15:1-9 The scribes and Pharisees came to Jesus and asked Jesus why His disciples transgress the tradition of the elders. The disciples didn t wash their hands before they ate. Jesus put it right back on them. Why do you transgress the commandment of God? God commanded to honor father and mother and you have substituted your tradition. You were to give some of your ministry money to your father and mother but you made up an excuse to rob them. The scribes and Pharisees studied the law and then interpreted it for the people. They had their own interpretation that put them in a place of prominence, and they added their traditions to the Word of God. The Sadducees did not believe in the spirit realm, they did not believe in the resurrection nor any future punishment or reward. They had the first seeker sensitive church that saw no need to confront the sins of man. 1 Timothy 4:1 In the last days many shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils. In light of this scripture we can see that the devil is the one imputing the doctrine of religion. Religion is merely a demonic substitute for what God has already spoken. It relieves people of their responsibility to repent and use the grace of God to change their nature. The demonic spirits overwhelm the spirit of truth with doctrine that appeases the flesh. Just because something sounds good, that doesn t make it true. 2 Timothy 4:3 The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts they shall heap to themselves teachers having itching ears. We are in this time right now,; many folks are looking for a gospel that is easy on the flesh. People don t want to be told they are sinning, they don t want to believe they could go to hell. They have no problem finding a minister who will tell them they are just fine. When men alter God s Word to relieve them of accountability they become the authors of religion. They judge themselves in place of God believing it s the way He would do it. Religion is a great deception for those who want to feel good about their lifestyle. Religion is a strong institution and durable until the day when God judges the secret of men. Religion has a beginning and an end, Christianity had a beginning and will endure forever.

2 P A G E 2 If you do a study of God s ten commandments, you will conclude that they were given to cause men to walk in love. The major religions of the world began when men began to interpret the Bible. This has been and continues to be a major mistake, interpretation comes from the thoughts and feelings of the human brain. It is a feeble attempt of man to make God s Word fit man s agenda. I was born and raised in the Catholic church and I love Catholics. I was led to believe only Catholics had the truth and only Catholics were saved on account of water baptism. Catholics believe Mary is the mother of God and therefore she is the co-savior of the world. They believe that she is a virgin, they don t acknowledge that she had at least six kids with her husband Joseph. They further believe that priests can t marry because Peter never married, the Bible says Jesus healed Peter s mother-in-law! 2 Peter 1:20-21 You must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet s own understanding or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God. The Holy Ghost said exactly and precisely what God wanted said, He left nothing for interpretation. There is one thing we must keep in mind, the Bible was not written to Americans, it was written to Jews. This leaves no excuse to misunderstand what the Lord is saying to all men. We have enough translations of the Bible that we can readily understand what the Lord is saying to His church. John 16:13 When the Holy Spirit of truth is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He will not speak of Himself but whatsoever He hears, that shall He speak. The Holy Spirit is the Teacher of the Church. How can He instruct the church of Jesus Christ if He is not accepted? This Scripture informs us that the Holy Spirit has a voice that He uses to lead the church into ALL truth. Religion has managed to marginalize the present-day ministry of the Holy Ghost. All religions acknowledge the Holy Spirit but they have their own interpretation of His calling. Some religions portray Him as a bird, a nonfunctioning white dove. The Holy Spirit is not a bird, He is the third person of the God-head, He is God the Holy Ghost. Religion has an identity crisis, it does not know who God is. They have put Him in their mold as they have interpreted Him to be. Mathew 15:6 You have made the commandment of God of none effect by YOUR tradition. If you do a study of God s ten commandments, you will conclude that they were given to cause men to walk in love. Jesus said: If you love Me, keep My commandments. When we walk in love we put ourselves in a place where God can give us maximum blessings. Men have a tendency to modify His commandments so that in their mind they can legally compromise the Word of God. The most commonly played trump card of religion is this: God is love. If God is love, that means He wants me to be happy and I know what makes me happy! Only a fool would interpret the Bible for the purpose of fulfilling his lusts. J A N U A R Y

3 P A G E 3 As I said afore time, I was raised in the Catholic church and I love Catholics. I was full of religion and it was a fence around my life that protected me from the truth. I read the Catholic version of the Bible but I never saw Jesus dying for my sins. I was not capable of discerning what the Holy Spirit plainly was saying, it made no sense. Years later I found myself in the Bible. 1 Corinthians 2:14 The natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness to him: neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned. I was one of those idiots that relied on other people to interpret the Bible for me! The things of God seemed foolish to me. How could a simple prayer called the sinners prayer get a person into heaven? Why should God forgive your sins just because you ask Him to? Why would God love me, I never gave Him a good reason to do so? But one night a person led me in the sinners prayer and I got born again. I got a Bible and I was amazed at how easy it was to understand. Now I was discerning the Word, not interpreting it. I have come to realize that God s Word does not make sense, it makes faith. 1 Corinthians 12:3 No man can say that Jesus is Lord but by the Holy Ghost. As time went past my birth day, I began to become aware of God the Holy Ghost abiding in my heart. He began to talk to me like He was a close friend. I discovered that I could talk with Him anytime I wanted. And then it dawned on me, I now had a discerning spirit and information was being fed to me by God s Spirit. He slowly and methodically, with love, began to tear down the strongholds of religion I had accumulated. Those things that I thought were foolish were the things I needed to understand and fall in love with my Lord. Good people interpret the Bible and the religion blinds their minds from the one who died for them. We make our goodness the key issue when we need to make His goodness the focus of our faith. John 6:63 It is the Spirit that makes alive; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. God lives on a higher plain than we do and He isn't coming down to our level, He is raising us up to His level. He has given us a discerning heart whereby we might commune with Him daily. If we don t have this discerning spirit, we will interpret the Scriptures and ultimately satisfy the lusts of our flesh. Our spirit and our flesh don t always agree with one another, the Lord imparts only to our spirit being. We have been equipped at the new birth to discern the voice and will of our Lord. The world cannot receive from Him because they know Him not. We have been born to discern God, not interpret Him, He has already been interpreted by the Holy Spirit. Anybody can interpret the Word of God but an intimate relationship is required in order to discern the words He speaks. Interpretation is of the human brain, discernment is of the human spirit. You have a discerning spirit, don t neglect it. We have been equipped at the new birth to discern the voice and will of our Lord.

4 Art & June Bowls Fortress of Joy Church 720 Faw Rd Helena, MT P.O. Box 448 Drummond, MT Phone: Fax: Restoring the supernatural power of God back to the church Fortressofjoychurch.com There is no doubt nor question that we have entered into perilous times, times hard to deal with one translation says. Years ago, the Lord told me that deception was coming and to teach the people to depend on Him for everything. I did not fully understand what the Lord was warning me about at first but I do now. I often wonder what the apostle Paul would do if he could visit the modern church. In Paul s day he turned a man over to satan for the destruction of the flesh because he had his father s wife. What would Paul do to the seeker friendly churches that celebrate and bless same sex unions? My Bible says Jesus is the head of the church, not men. We cannot alter God s Word to accommodate the lusts of our flesh. 2 Timothy 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts they shall heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears. No matter what manner of perversion a man wants to practice, he can find a preacher that will justify him. I now understand the Scripture that says a man will deceive his own heart. Deceit can be hidden for only so long and then judgement exposes the sin and the sinner. Hold fast to sound doctrine, you will never regret it.

5 F O R T R E S S O F J O Y C H U R C H January 2018 Love After Marriage Workshop February 14th-17th 2018 Join us for a time of refreshing and healing for your marriage I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E : How Religion 1 Begins The Bible Is Not 2 Open To Interpretation The Discerning 3 Spirit Perilous Times 4 In the beginning God gave His accounts and the law to Moses, this became the old testament of the Bible we read today. God knew what He wanted recorded and Moses wrote it exactly how God said. As time went on, men became hungry for power and they preyed on those who endeavored to live by the law of Moses. Mathew 15:1-9 The scribes and Pharisees came to Jesus and asked Jesus why His disciples transgress the tradition of the elders. The disciples didn t wash their hands before they ate. Jesus put it right back on them. Why do you transgress the commandment of God? God commanded to honor father and mother and you have substituted your tradition. You were to give some of your ministry money to your father and mother but you made up an excuse to rob them. The scribes and Pharisees studied the law and then interpreted it for the people. They had their own interpretation that put them in a place of prominence, and they added their traditions to the Word of God. The Sadducees did not believe in the spirit realm, they did not believe in the resurrection nor any future punishment or reward. They had the first seeker sensitive church that saw no need to confront the sins of man. 1 Timothy 4:1 In the last days many shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils. In light of this scripture we can see that the devil is the one imputing the doctrine of religion. Religion is merely a demonic substitute for what God has already spoken. It relieves people of their responsibility to repent and use the grace of God to change their nature. The demonic spirits overwhelm the spirit of truth with doctrine that appeases the flesh. Just because something sounds good, that doesn t make it true. 2 Timothy 4:3 The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts they shall heap to themselves teachers having itching ears. We are in this time right now,; many folks are looking for a gospel that is easy on the flesh. People don t want to be told they are sinning, they don t want to believe they could go to hell. They have no problem finding a minister who will tell them they are just fine. When men alter God s Word to relieve them of accountability they become the authors of religion. They judge themselves in place of God believing it s the way He would do it. Religion is a great deception for those who want to feel good about their lifestyle. Religion is a strong institution and durable until the day when God judges the secret of men. Religion has a beginning and an end, Christianity had a beginning and will endure forever.

6 P A G E 2 If you do a study of God s ten commandments, you will conclude that they were given to cause men to walk in love. The major religions of the world began when men began to interpret the Bible. This has been and continues to be a major mistake, interpretation comes from the thoughts and feelings of the human brain. It is a feeble attempt of man to make God s Word fit man s agenda. I was born and raised in the Catholic church and I love Catholics. I was led to believe only Catholics had the truth and only Catholics were saved on account of water baptism. Catholics believe Mary is the mother of God and therefore she is the co-savior of the world. They believe that she is a virgin, they don t acknowledge that she had at least six kids with her husband Joseph. They further believe that priests can t marry because Peter never married, the Bible says Jesus healed Peter s mother-in-law! 2 Peter 1:20-21 You must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet s own understanding or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God. The Holy Ghost said exactly and precisely what God wanted said, He left nothing for interpretation. There is one thing we must keep in mind, the Bible was not written to Americans, it was written to Jews. This leaves no excuse to misunderstand what the Lord is saying to all men. We have enough translations of the Bible that we can readily understand what the Lord is saying to His church. John 16:13 When the Holy Spirit of truth is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He will not speak of Himself but whatsoever He hears, that shall He speak. The Holy Spirit is the Teacher of the Church. How can He instruct the church of Jesus Christ if He is not accepted? This Scripture informs us that the Holy Spirit has a voice that He uses to lead the church into ALL truth. Religion has managed to marginalize the present-day ministry of the Holy Ghost. All religions acknowledge the Holy Spirit but they have their own interpretation of His calling. Some religions portray Him as a bird, a nonfunctioning white dove. The Holy Spirit is not a bird, He is the third person of the God-head, He is God the Holy Ghost. Religion has an identity crisis, it does not know who God is. They have put Him in their mold as they have interpreted Him to be. Mathew 15:6 You have made the commandment of God of none effect by YOUR tradition. If you do a study of God s ten commandments, you will conclude that they were given to cause men to walk in love. Jesus said: If you love Me, keep My commandments. When we walk in love we put ourselves in a place where God can give us maximum blessings. Men have a tendency to modify His commandments so that in their mind they can legally compromise the Word of God. The most commonly played trump card of religion is this: God is love. If God is love, that means He wants me to be happy and I know what makes me happy! Only a fool would interpret the Bible for the purpose of fulfilling his lusts. J A N U A R Y

7 P A G E 3 As I said afore time, I was raised in the Catholic church and I love Catholics. I was full of religion and it was a fence around my life that protected me from the truth. I read the Catholic version of the Bible but I never saw Jesus dying for my sins. I was not capable of discerning what the Holy Spirit plainly was saying, it made no sense. Years later I found myself in the Bible. 1 Corinthians 2:14 The natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness to him: neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned. I was one of those idiots that relied on other people to interpret the Bible for me! The things of God seemed foolish to me. How could a simple prayer called the sinners prayer get a person into heaven? Why should God forgive your sins just because you ask Him to? Why would God love me, I never gave Him a good reason to do so? But one night a person led me in the sinners prayer and I got born again. I got a Bible and I was amazed at how easy it was to understand. Now I was discerning the Word, not interpreting it. I have come to realize that God s Word does not make sense, it makes faith. 1 Corinthians 12:3 No man can say that Jesus is Lord but by the Holy Ghost. As time went past my birth day, I began to become aware of God the Holy Ghost abiding in my heart. He began to talk to me like He was a close friend. I discovered that I could talk with Him anytime I wanted. And then it dawned on me, I now had a discerning spirit and information was being fed to me by God s Spirit. He slowly and methodically, with love, began to tear down the strongholds of religion I had accumulated. Those things that I thought were foolish were the things I needed to understand and fall in love with my Lord. Good people interpret the Bible and the religion blinds their minds from the one who died for them. We make our goodness the key issue when we need to make His goodness the focus of our faith. John 6:63 It is the Spirit that makes alive; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. God lives on a higher plain than we do and He isn't coming down to our level, He is raising us up to His level. He has given us a discerning heart whereby we might commune with Him daily. If we don t have this discerning spirit, we will interpret the Scriptures and ultimately satisfy the lusts of our flesh. Our spirit and our flesh don t always agree with one another, the Lord imparts only to our spirit being. We have been equipped at the new birth to discern the voice and will of our Lord. The world cannot receive from Him because they know Him not. We have been born to discern God, not interpret Him, He has already been interpreted by the Holy Spirit. Anybody can interpret the Word of God but an intimate relationship is required in order to discern the words He speaks. Interpretation is of the human brain, discernment is of the human spirit. You have a discerning spirit, don t neglect it. We have been equipped at the new birth to discern the voice and will of our Lord.

8 Barbara Cmehil Fortress of Joy Church 720 Faw Rd Helena, MT Reflections D Indianapolis, IN Phone: Fax: mandy.fortress@aol.com Restoring the supernatural power of God back to the church Fortressofjoychurch.com There is no doubt nor question that we have entered into perilous times, times hard to deal with one translation says. Years ago, the Lord told me that deception was coming and to teach the people to depend on Him for everything. I did not fully understand what the Lord was warning me about at first but I do now. I often wonder what the apostle Paul would do if he could visit the modern church. In Paul s day he turned a man over to satan for the destruction of the flesh because he had his father s wife. What would Paul do to the seeker friendly churches that celebrate and bless same sex unions? My Bible says Jesus is the head of the church, not men. We cannot alter God s Word to accommodate the lusts of our flesh. 2 Timothy 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts they shall heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears. No matter what manner of perversion a man wants to practice, he can find a preacher that will justify him. I now understand the Scripture that says a man will deceive his own heart. Deceit can be hidden for only so long and then judgement exposes the sin and the sinner. Hold fast to sound doctrine, you will never regret it.

9 F O R T R E S S O F J O Y C H U R C H January 2018 Love After Marriage Workshop February 14th-17th 2018 Join us for a time of refreshing and healing for your marriage I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E : How Religion 1 Begins The Bible Is Not 2 Open To Interpretation The Discerning 3 Spirit Perilous Times 4 In the beginning God gave His accounts and the law to Moses, this became the old testament of the Bible we read today. God knew what He wanted recorded and Moses wrote it exactly how God said. As time went on, men became hungry for power and they preyed on those who endeavored to live by the law of Moses. Mathew 15:1-9 The scribes and Pharisees came to Jesus and asked Jesus why His disciples transgress the tradition of the elders. The disciples didn t wash their hands before they ate. Jesus put it right back on them. Why do you transgress the commandment of God? God commanded to honor father and mother and you have substituted your tradition. You were to give some of your ministry money to your father and mother but you made up an excuse to rob them. The scribes and Pharisees studied the law and then interpreted it for the people. They had their own interpretation that put them in a place of prominence, and they added their traditions to the Word of God. The Sadducees did not believe in the spirit realm, they did not believe in the resurrection nor any future punishment or reward. They had the first seeker sensitive church that saw no need to confront the sins of man. 1 Timothy 4:1 In the last days many shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils. In light of this scripture we can see that the devil is the one imputing the doctrine of religion. Religion is merely a demonic substitute for what God has already spoken. It relieves people of their responsibility to repent and use the grace of God to change their nature. The demonic spirits overwhelm the spirit of truth with doctrine that appeases the flesh. Just because something sounds good, that doesn t make it true. 2 Timothy 4:3 The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts they shall heap to themselves teachers having itching ears. We are in this time right now,; many folks are looking for a gospel that is easy on the flesh. People don t want to be told they are sinning, they don t want to believe they could go to hell. They have no problem finding a minister who will tell them they are just fine. When men alter God s Word to relieve them of accountability they become the authors of religion. They judge themselves in place of God believing it s the way He would do it. Religion is a great deception for those who want to feel good about their lifestyle. Religion is a strong institution and durable until the day when God judges the secret of men. Religion has a beginning and an end, Christianity had a beginning and will endure forever.

10 P A G E 2 If you do a study of God s ten commandments, you will conclude that they were given to cause men to walk in love. The major religions of the world began when men began to interpret the Bible. This has been and continues to be a major mistake, interpretation comes from the thoughts and feelings of the human brain. It is a feeble attempt of man to make God s Word fit man s agenda. I was born and raised in the Catholic church and I love Catholics. I was led to believe only Catholics had the truth and only Catholics were saved on account of water baptism. Catholics believe Mary is the mother of God and therefore she is the co-savior of the world. They believe that she is a virgin, they don t acknowledge that she had at least six kids with her husband Joseph. They further believe that priests can t marry because Peter never married, the Bible says Jesus healed Peter s mother-in-law! 2 Peter 1:20-21 You must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet s own understanding or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God. The Holy Ghost said exactly and precisely what God wanted said, He left nothing for interpretation. There is one thing we must keep in mind, the Bible was not written to Americans, it was written to Jews. This leaves no excuse to misunderstand what the Lord is saying to all men. We have enough translations of the Bible that we can readily understand what the Lord is saying to His church. John 16:13 When the Holy Spirit of truth is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He will not speak of Himself but whatsoever He hears, that shall He speak. The Holy Spirit is the Teacher of the Church. How can He instruct the church of Jesus Christ if He is not accepted? This Scripture informs us that the Holy Spirit has a voice that He uses to lead the church into ALL truth. Religion has managed to marginalize the present-day ministry of the Holy Ghost. All religions acknowledge the Holy Spirit but they have their own interpretation of His calling. Some religions portray Him as a bird, a nonfunctioning white dove. The Holy Spirit is not a bird, He is the third person of the God-head, He is God the Holy Ghost. Religion has an identity crisis, it does not know who God is. They have put Him in their mold as they have interpreted Him to be. Mathew 15:6 You have made the commandment of God of none effect by YOUR tradition. If you do a study of God s ten commandments, you will conclude that they were given to cause men to walk in love. Jesus said: If you love Me, keep My commandments. When we walk in love we put ourselves in a place where God can give us maximum blessings. Men have a tendency to modify His commandments so that in their mind they can legally compromise the Word of God. The most commonly played trump card of religion is this: God is love. If God is love, that means He wants me to be happy and I know what makes me happy! Only a fool would interpret the Bible for the purpose of fulfilling his lusts. J A N U A R Y

11 P A G E 3 As I said afore time, I was raised in the Catholic church and I love Catholics. I was full of religion and it was a fence around my life that protected me from the truth. I read the Catholic version of the Bible but I never saw Jesus dying for my sins. I was not capable of discerning what the Holy Spirit plainly was saying, it made no sense. Years later I found myself in the Bible. 1 Corinthians 2:14 The natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness to him: neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned. I was one of those idiots that relied on other people to interpret the Bible for me! The things of God seemed foolish to me. How could a simple prayer called the sinners prayer get a person into heaven? Why should God forgive your sins just because you ask Him to? Why would God love me, I never gave Him a good reason to do so? But one night a person led me in the sinners prayer and I got born again. I got a Bible and I was amazed at how easy it was to understand. Now I was discerning the Word, not interpreting it. I have come to realize that God s Word does not make sense, it makes faith. 1 Corinthians 12:3 No man can say that Jesus is Lord but by the Holy Ghost. As time went past my birth day, I began to become aware of God the Holy Ghost abiding in my heart. He began to talk to me like He was a close friend. I discovered that I could talk with Him anytime I wanted. And then it dawned on me, I now had a discerning spirit and information was being fed to me by God s Spirit. He slowly and methodically, with love, began to tear down the strongholds of religion I had accumulated. Those things that I thought were foolish were the things I needed to understand and fall in love with my Lord. Good people interpret the Bible and the religion blinds their minds from the one who died for them. We make our goodness the key issue when we need to make His goodness the focus of our faith. John 6:63 It is the Spirit that makes alive; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. God lives on a higher plain than we do and He isn't coming down to our level, He is raising us up to His level. He has given us a discerning heart whereby we might commune with Him daily. If we don t have this discerning spirit, we will interpret the Scriptures and ultimately satisfy the lusts of our flesh. Our spirit and our flesh don t always agree with one another, the Lord imparts only to our spirit being. We have been equipped at the new birth to discern the voice and will of our Lord. The world cannot receive from Him because they know Him not. We have been born to discern God, not interpret Him, He has already been interpreted by the Holy Spirit. Anybody can interpret the Word of God but an intimate relationship is required in order to discern the words He speaks. Interpretation is of the human brain, discernment is of the human spirit. You have a discerning spirit, don t neglect it. We have been equipped at the new birth to discern the voice and will of our Lord.

12 Kelly & Teresie Howard Fortress of Joy Church 720 Faw Rd Helena, MT Moreno Dr. Cauldwell, ID Phone: Fax: Restoring the supernatural power of God back to the church Fortressofjoychurch.com There is no doubt nor question that we have entered into perilous times, times hard to deal with one translation says. Years ago, the Lord told me that deception was coming and to teach the people to depend on Him for everything. I did not fully understand what the Lord was warning me about at first but I do now. I often wonder what the apostle Paul would do if he could visit the modern church. In Paul s day he turned a man over to satan for the destruction of the flesh because he had his father s wife. What would Paul do to the seeker friendly churches that celebrate and bless same sex unions? My Bible says Jesus is the head of the church, not men. We cannot alter God s Word to accommodate the lusts of our flesh. 2 Timothy 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts they shall heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears. No matter what manner of perversion a man wants to practice, he can find a preacher that will justify him. I now understand the Scripture that says a man will deceive his own heart. Deceit can be hidden for only so long and then judgement exposes the sin and the sinner. Hold fast to sound doctrine, you will never regret it.

13 F O R T R E S S O F J O Y C H U R C H January 2018 Love After Marriage Workshop February 14th-17th 2018 Join us for a time of refreshing and healing for your marriage I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E : How Religion 1 Begins The Bible Is Not 2 Open To Interpretation The Discerning 3 Spirit Perilous Times 4 In the beginning God gave His accounts and the law to Moses, this became the old testament of the Bible we read today. God knew what He wanted recorded and Moses wrote it exactly how God said. As time went on, men became hungry for power and they preyed on those who endeavored to live by the law of Moses. Mathew 15:1-9 The scribes and Pharisees came to Jesus and asked Jesus why His disciples transgress the tradition of the elders. The disciples didn t wash their hands before they ate. Jesus put it right back on them. Why do you transgress the commandment of God? God commanded to honor father and mother and you have substituted your tradition. You were to give some of your ministry money to your father and mother but you made up an excuse to rob them. The scribes and Pharisees studied the law and then interpreted it for the people. They had their own interpretation that put them in a place of prominence, and they added their traditions to the Word of God. The Sadducees did not believe in the spirit realm, they did not believe in the resurrection nor any future punishment or reward. They had the first seeker sensitive church that saw no need to confront the sins of man. 1 Timothy 4:1 In the last days many shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils. In light of this scripture we can see that the devil is the one imputing the doctrine of religion. Religion is merely a demonic substitute for what God has already spoken. It relieves people of their responsibility to repent and use the grace of God to change their nature. The demonic spirits overwhelm the spirit of truth with doctrine that appeases the flesh. Just because something sounds good, that doesn t make it true. 2 Timothy 4:3 The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts they shall heap to themselves teachers having itching ears. We are in this time right now,; many folks are looking for a gospel that is easy on the flesh. People don t want to be told they are sinning, they don t want to believe they could go to hell. They have no problem finding a minister who will tell them they are just fine. When men alter God s Word to relieve them of accountability they become the authors of religion. They judge themselves in place of God believing it s the way He would do it. Religion is a great deception for those who want to feel good about their lifestyle. Religion is a strong institution and durable until the day when God judges the secret of men. Religion has a beginning and an end, Christianity had a beginning and will endure forever.

14 P A G E 2 If you do a study of God s ten commandments, you will conclude that they were given to cause men to walk in love. The major religions of the world began when men began to interpret the Bible. This has been and continues to be a major mistake, interpretation comes from the thoughts and feelings of the human brain. It is a feeble attempt of man to make God s Word fit man s agenda. I was born and raised in the Catholic church and I love Catholics. I was led to believe only Catholics had the truth and only Catholics were saved on account of water baptism. Catholics believe Mary is the mother of God and therefore she is the co-savior of the world. They believe that she is a virgin, they don t acknowledge that she had at least six kids with her husband Joseph. They further believe that priests can t marry because Peter never married, the Bible says Jesus healed Peter s mother-in-law! 2 Peter 1:20-21 You must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet s own understanding or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God. The Holy Ghost said exactly and precisely what God wanted said, He left nothing for interpretation. There is one thing we must keep in mind, the Bible was not written to Americans, it was written to Jews. This leaves no excuse to misunderstand what the Lord is saying to all men. We have enough translations of the Bible that we can readily understand what the Lord is saying to His church. John 16:13 When the Holy Spirit of truth is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He will not speak of Himself but whatsoever He hears, that shall He speak. The Holy Spirit is the Teacher of the Church. How can He instruct the church of Jesus Christ if He is not accepted? This Scripture informs us that the Holy Spirit has a voice that He uses to lead the church into ALL truth. Religion has managed to marginalize the present-day ministry of the Holy Ghost. All religions acknowledge the Holy Spirit but they have their own interpretation of His calling. Some religions portray Him as a bird, a nonfunctioning white dove. The Holy Spirit is not a bird, He is the third person of the God-head, He is God the Holy Ghost. Religion has an identity crisis, it does not know who God is. They have put Him in their mold as they have interpreted Him to be. Mathew 15:6 You have made the commandment of God of none effect by YOUR tradition. If you do a study of God s ten commandments, you will conclude that they were given to cause men to walk in love. Jesus said: If you love Me, keep My commandments. When we walk in love we put ourselves in a place where God can give us maximum blessings. Men have a tendency to modify His commandments so that in their mind they can legally compromise the Word of God. The most commonly played trump card of religion is this: God is love. If God is love, that means He wants me to be happy and I know what makes me happy! Only a fool would interpret the Bible for the purpose of fulfilling his lusts. J A N U A R Y

15 P A G E 3 As I said afore time, I was raised in the Catholic church and I love Catholics. I was full of religion and it was a fence around my life that protected me from the truth. I read the Catholic version of the Bible but I never saw Jesus dying for my sins. I was not capable of discerning what the Holy Spirit plainly was saying, it made no sense. Years later I found myself in the Bible. 1 Corinthians 2:14 The natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness to him: neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned. I was one of those idiots that relied on other people to interpret the Bible for me! The things of God seemed foolish to me. How could a simple prayer called the sinners prayer get a person into heaven? Why should God forgive your sins just because you ask Him to? Why would God love me, I never gave Him a good reason to do so? But one night a person led me in the sinners prayer and I got born again. I got a Bible and I was amazed at how easy it was to understand. Now I was discerning the Word, not interpreting it. I have come to realize that God s Word does not make sense, it makes faith. 1 Corinthians 12:3 No man can say that Jesus is Lord but by the Holy Ghost. As time went past my birth day, I began to become aware of God the Holy Ghost abiding in my heart. He began to talk to me like He was a close friend. I discovered that I could talk with Him anytime I wanted. And then it dawned on me, I now had a discerning spirit and information was being fed to me by God s Spirit. He slowly and methodically, with love, began to tear down the strongholds of religion I had accumulated. Those things that I thought were foolish were the things I needed to understand and fall in love with my Lord. Good people interpret the Bible and the religion blinds their minds from the one who died for them. We make our goodness the key issue when we need to make His goodness the focus of our faith. John 6:63 It is the Spirit that makes alive; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. God lives on a higher plain than we do and He isn't coming down to our level, He is raising us up to His level. He has given us a discerning heart whereby we might commune with Him daily. If we don t have this discerning spirit, we will interpret the Scriptures and ultimately satisfy the lusts of our flesh. Our spirit and our flesh don t always agree with one another, the Lord imparts only to our spirit being. We have been equipped at the new birth to discern the voice and will of our Lord. The world cannot receive from Him because they know Him not. We have been born to discern God, not interpret Him, He has already been interpreted by the Holy Spirit. Anybody can interpret the Word of God but an intimate relationship is required in order to discern the words He speaks. Interpretation is of the human brain, discernment is of the human spirit. You have a discerning spirit, don t neglect it. We have been equipped at the new birth to discern the voice and will of our Lord.

16 Terri Dutton Fortress of Joy Church 720 Faw Rd Helena, MT S. Main St. Luck, WI Phone: Fax: Restoring the supernatural power of God back to the church Fortressofjoychurch.com There is no doubt nor question that we have entered into perilous times, times hard to deal with one translation says. Years ago, the Lord told me that deception was coming and to teach the people to depend on Him for everything. I did not fully understand what the Lord was warning me about at first but I do now. I often wonder what the apostle Paul would do if he could visit the modern church. In Paul s day he turned a man over to satan for the destruction of the flesh because he had his father s wife. What would Paul do to the seeker friendly churches that celebrate and bless same sex unions? My Bible says Jesus is the head of the church, not men. We cannot alter God s Word to accommodate the lusts of our flesh. 2 Timothy 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts they shall heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears. No matter what manner of perversion a man wants to practice, he can find a preacher that will justify him. I now understand the Scripture that says a man will deceive his own heart. Deceit can be hidden for only so long and then judgement exposes the sin and the sinner. Hold fast to sound doctrine, you will never regret it.

17 F O R T R E S S O F J O Y C H U R C H January 2018 Love After Marriage Workshop February 14th-17th 2018 Join us for a time of refreshing and healing for your marriage I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E : How Religion 1 Begins The Bible Is Not 2 Open To Interpretation The Discerning 3 Spirit Perilous Times 4 In the beginning God gave His accounts and the law to Moses, this became the old testament of the Bible we read today. God knew what He wanted recorded and Moses wrote it exactly how God said. As time went on, men became hungry for power and they preyed on those who endeavored to live by the law of Moses. Mathew 15:1-9 The scribes and Pharisees came to Jesus and asked Jesus why His disciples transgress the tradition of the elders. The disciples didn t wash their hands before they ate. Jesus put it right back on them. Why do you transgress the commandment of God? God commanded to honor father and mother and you have substituted your tradition. You were to give some of your ministry money to your father and mother but you made up an excuse to rob them. The scribes and Pharisees studied the law and then interpreted it for the people. They had their own interpretation that put them in a place of prominence, and they added their traditions to the Word of God. The Sadducees did not believe in the spirit realm, they did not believe in the resurrection nor any future punishment or reward. They had the first seeker sensitive church that saw no need to confront the sins of man. 1 Timothy 4:1 In the last days many shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils. In light of this scripture we can see that the devil is the one imputing the doctrine of religion. Religion is merely a demonic substitute for what God has already spoken. It relieves people of their responsibility to repent and use the grace of God to change their nature. The demonic spirits overwhelm the spirit of truth with doctrine that appeases the flesh. Just because something sounds good, that doesn t make it true. 2 Timothy 4:3 The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts they shall heap to themselves teachers having itching ears. We are in this time right now,; many folks are looking for a gospel that is easy on the flesh. People don t want to be told they are sinning, they don t want to believe they could go to hell. They have no problem finding a minister who will tell them they are just fine. When men alter God s Word to relieve them of accountability they become the authors of religion. They judge themselves in place of God believing it s the way He would do it. Religion is a great deception for those who want to feel good about their lifestyle. Religion is a strong institution and durable until the day when God judges the secret of men. Religion has a beginning and an end, Christianity had a beginning and will endure forever.

18 P A G E 2 If you do a study of God s ten commandments, you will conclude that they were given to cause men to walk in love. The major religions of the world began when men began to interpret the Bible. This has been and continues to be a major mistake, interpretation comes from the thoughts and feelings of the human brain. It is a feeble attempt of man to make God s Word fit man s agenda. I was born and raised in the Catholic church and I love Catholics. I was led to believe only Catholics had the truth and only Catholics were saved on account of water baptism. Catholics believe Mary is the mother of God and therefore she is the co-savior of the world. They believe that she is a virgin, they don t acknowledge that she had at least six kids with her husband Joseph. They further believe that priests can t marry because Peter never married, the Bible says Jesus healed Peter s mother-in-law! 2 Peter 1:20-21 You must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet s own understanding or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God. The Holy Ghost said exactly and precisely what God wanted said, He left nothing for interpretation. There is one thing we must keep in mind, the Bible was not written to Americans, it was written to Jews. This leaves no excuse to misunderstand what the Lord is saying to all men. We have enough translations of the Bible that we can readily understand what the Lord is saying to His church. John 16:13 When the Holy Spirit of truth is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He will not speak of Himself but whatsoever He hears, that shall He speak. The Holy Spirit is the Teacher of the Church. How can He instruct the church of Jesus Christ if He is not accepted? This Scripture informs us that the Holy Spirit has a voice that He uses to lead the church into ALL truth. Religion has managed to marginalize the present-day ministry of the Holy Ghost. All religions acknowledge the Holy Spirit but they have their own interpretation of His calling. Some religions portray Him as a bird, a nonfunctioning white dove. The Holy Spirit is not a bird, He is the third person of the God-head, He is God the Holy Ghost. Religion has an identity crisis, it does not know who God is. They have put Him in their mold as they have interpreted Him to be. Mathew 15:6 You have made the commandment of God of none effect by YOUR tradition. If you do a study of God s ten commandments, you will conclude that they were given to cause men to walk in love. Jesus said: If you love Me, keep My commandments. When we walk in love we put ourselves in a place where God can give us maximum blessings. Men have a tendency to modify His commandments so that in their mind they can legally compromise the Word of God. The most commonly played trump card of religion is this: God is love. If God is love, that means He wants me to be happy and I know what makes me happy! Only a fool would interpret the Bible for the purpose of fulfilling his lusts. J A N U A R Y

19 P A G E 3 As I said afore time, I was raised in the Catholic church and I love Catholics. I was full of religion and it was a fence around my life that protected me from the truth. I read the Catholic version of the Bible but I never saw Jesus dying for my sins. I was not capable of discerning what the Holy Spirit plainly was saying, it made no sense. Years later I found myself in the Bible. 1 Corinthians 2:14 The natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness to him: neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned. I was one of those idiots that relied on other people to interpret the Bible for me! The things of God seemed foolish to me. How could a simple prayer called the sinners prayer get a person into heaven? Why should God forgive your sins just because you ask Him to? Why would God love me, I never gave Him a good reason to do so? But one night a person led me in the sinners prayer and I got born again. I got a Bible and I was amazed at how easy it was to understand. Now I was discerning the Word, not interpreting it. I have come to realize that God s Word does not make sense, it makes faith. 1 Corinthians 12:3 No man can say that Jesus is Lord but by the Holy Ghost. As time went past my birth day, I began to become aware of God the Holy Ghost abiding in my heart. He began to talk to me like He was a close friend. I discovered that I could talk with Him anytime I wanted. And then it dawned on me, I now had a discerning spirit and information was being fed to me by God s Spirit. He slowly and methodically, with love, began to tear down the strongholds of religion I had accumulated. Those things that I thought were foolish were the things I needed to understand and fall in love with my Lord. Good people interpret the Bible and the religion blinds their minds from the one who died for them. We make our goodness the key issue when we need to make His goodness the focus of our faith. John 6:63 It is the Spirit that makes alive; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. God lives on a higher plain than we do and He isn't coming down to our level, He is raising us up to His level. He has given us a discerning heart whereby we might commune with Him daily. If we don t have this discerning spirit, we will interpret the Scriptures and ultimately satisfy the lusts of our flesh. Our spirit and our flesh don t always agree with one another, the Lord imparts only to our spirit being. We have been equipped at the new birth to discern the voice and will of our Lord. The world cannot receive from Him because they know Him not. We have been born to discern God, not interpret Him, He has already been interpreted by the Holy Spirit. Anybody can interpret the Word of God but an intimate relationship is required in order to discern the words He speaks. Interpretation is of the human brain, discernment is of the human spirit. You have a discerning spirit, don t neglect it. We have been equipped at the new birth to discern the voice and will of our Lord.