Count Me Out

On August 22, 2010, during Sunday Evening Story-Time, the ‘teaching elder’ told a tale of a man who was ‘padding his numbers on his internet site with a program that would force his visitor counter continually upward’. The Cunning Royal Jester made the statement that ‘anybody in advertising knows how to do that’. Well, I am ‘in advertising’ and I never heard of it. But since he brought it up, will say that I’m not surprised that there are programs available to jump up numbers, even though I was unaware of them before.

Some preachers frequently pull verses and portions of them out of context, with which they teach incorrect doctrine. Here is an example of how they could mis-use scriptures and mis-apply them to a particular situation:

2 Sam 18:1-a And David numbered the people that were with him,

2 Sam 24:10-a And David's heart smote him after that he had numbered the people.

Personally, I don’t feel bad about having had a visitor counter on my website for over 10 years. It was a common feature at the time it was initially set up. I never realized it could be suggested of number inflating.

1 Cor 8:9 But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak.

Many factors, even desperation or fear, can motivate a person to make false accusations in an effort to lessen the credibility of an opposing position. I just had my visitor counter removed, so now, no one can see how MANY people hit my website daily. Actually, after I ‘thought about it’ .... no one should follow a crowd anyway. The website is maintained because of my desire to provide informative studies and sensible messages, that do not isolate and disregard 80% of God’s word of truth. The number of folks who view and study with www.magnifiedword.com should not be influenced by what others do or don’t do, nor of what a jester may say or not say. I don’t need to know the numbers because I go with the verses. The VERSES speak for themselves and I am pointing them out.

Psa 107:8-9 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
9 For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.

If you’re hungry, the table is set and ready. The food is plenteous, good, and free, so eat all you want.

Matt 22:9 Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.

As for counting the number of guests, it is unnecessary. All are welcome.

This is David Dowell, saying, "Think about it!"

The Bride of Christ, not a Biblical Term?

During Sunday Evening Story-Time on August 29, 2010, the Cunning Royal Jester made, what seemed to me to be a negative issue, out of the phrase ‘the bride of Christ’ not being in the Bible. He stated that it is purely a Roman Catholic term, all over their literature in their churches. He said, as if it was a stretch, the closest you’ll come to ‘the bride of Christ’ in scripture is in:

Rev 21:9-10 And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.
10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,

It looks to me like ‘the bride of Christ’ and ‘the bride, the Lamb’s wife’ are more accurate, related phrases .... than ‘rapture’ and ‘caught up’. So why fault ‘the bride of Christ’ users?

Rev 21:2-3 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

Even being careful with the words, I believe you could rightly say that ‘Christ, the bridegroom, hath the bride’. Is that not ‘the bride of Christ’?:

John 3:28-29 Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said,
I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him.
29 He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.

Paul wrote to ‘the church of God’ (at Corinth), ‘with all the saints’ (in Achaia) .... that they were espoused as a chaste virgin to Christ, their husband:

2 Cor 11:2 For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy:
for I have espoused you to one husband,
that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

Paul taught the same principle John taught concerning Christ and the church, as a man joined unto His wife:

Eph 5:31-32 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

The prophet Isaiah wrote to Israel about them being a virgin, a bride, and a wife .... and the LORD being a man, their husband and their bridegroom:

Isa 54:5 For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.

Isa 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.

Isa 62:5 For as a young man marrieth a virgin,
so shall thy sons marry thee:
and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride,
so shall thy God rejoice over thee.

The prophet Jeremiah also spoke of Israel as the LORD’s wife:

Jer 3:20 Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the LORD.

Jer 31:31-33 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:
33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. (like Rev 21:2-3 and 2 Cor 6:16)

Paul also applied the promise to the church of God .... that was originally given to Israel:

2 Cor 6:16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Since John taught it in his gospel and in the Revelation ....
since Paul taught it to the church of God in 2 Corinthians and Ephesians ....
obviously, WE, the church of God, are the bride, the Lamb’s wife!

According to Paul, we will all be in our mother, new Jerusalem:

Gal 4:26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

Oh, I want to see Him, look upon His face,
There to sing forever of His saving grace,
On the streets of glory, let me life my voice,
Cares all past, home at last, ever to rejoice.

This is David Dowell saying, "Think about it!"

Ready to Walk in Jerusalem?

During Sunday Evening Story-Time with the ‘teaching elder’ on August 29, 2010, he surprised me again with another change of doctrine! He said, ‘One day you will be walking in new Jerusalem .... and Obediah will come up to you and ask you what you thought of his book in the Bible.’ What?! Now, he’s sliding the ‘body of Christ’ saints INSIDE new Jerusalem?! He also said, ‘Hey, Moses, Aaron, Solomon, etc. You’re going to know them.’

Paul, the apostle of the Gentiles (Rom 11:13), taught the churches (Gal 1:2), that we all have new Jerusalem as our mother:

Gal 4:21-31 Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?
22 For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.
23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.
24 Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.
25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. (This truth was prophesied in the scriptures:)
27 For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband.
28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
29 But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.
30 Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: (physical Israel under the OLD testament - the ministration of death and condemnation - 2 Cor 3:5-17) for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. (spiritual Israel made up of Jew and Gentile as ‘one body’ under the NEW testament - the ministration of the Spirit and righteousness, of which we are able ministers)
31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.

Since my break away from the Cunning Royal Jester, I learned ALL God’s saints will be in new Jerusalem, but I never heard HIM admit it before.

I wanna be ready
I wanna be ready
I wanna be ready
To walk in Jerusalem just like John.

This is David Dowell, saying, "Think about it!"

5 Golden Mice and the Big Cheese

There is an account of 5 golden mice ....
but I’ve never seen any verses about ‘the Big Cheese’:

1 Sam 6:1-5 And the ark of the LORD was in the country of the Philistines seven months.
2 And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, What shall we do to the ark of the LORD? tell us wherewith we shall send it to his place.
3 And they said, If ye send away the ark of the God of Israel, send it not empty; but in any wise return him a trespass offering: then ye shall be healed, and it shall be known to you why his hand is not removed from you.
4 Then said they, What shall be the trespass offering which we shall return to him? They answered, Five golden emerods, and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines: for one plague was on you all, and on your lords.
5 Wherefore ye shall make images of your emerods, and images of your mice that mar the land; and ye shall give glory unto the God of Israel: peradventure he will lighten his hand from off you, and from off your gods, and from off your land.

The reason I mentioned about ‘the Big Cheese’ .... is because that is what the IL ‘teaching elder’ called the Lord .... during this past Sunday Evening Story-Time on August 22, 2010. He said, "We’re going to go meet the Lord .... He’s the Big Cheese!" His comment was extremely disrespectful to our Saviour.

The IL ‘teaching elder’ also talked about "the bums at the rescue mission". Evidently, the Cunning Royal Jester doesn’t like to be called names .... but he sure doesn’t mind himself calling other people names! Would that be a hypocrite?

Mark 7:6-7 He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

This is David Dowell, saying, "Think about it!"

Sealed WITH, not BY?

On June 27, 2010, during the Sunday Evening Story-Time with the ‘teaching elder’ from Illinois, he made a point to say that, "We are sealed ‘WITH’ .... not ‘BY’ .... the Holy Spirit until the day of redemption, which is the day of resurrection."

Eph 1:13 is the verse that says we were sealed ‘WITH’ the Holy Spirit, as the ‘teaching elder’ said. However, we will see that for him to exclude the word ‘BY’ was wrong.

We should be aware that in Eph 1:13, the Greek word [sphragizo] was translated into 4 English words, namely, "ye were sealed with".

There is NO problem with the translation, even though the word ‘with’ does not have an actual, separate Greek word from which it was translated. This reason, alone, is enough to NOT invent a teaching on it. But it is really no surprise that the ‘teaching elder’ does it, because he does the same thing with the English word ‘of’ in Gal 2:7. There, too, he creates 2 different gospels (one for Paul and a different one for Peter), based on the word ‘of’ that does not have a distinct word in the Greek.

The problem is with the ‘teaching elder’ .... building a doctrine .... making a statement, "We are sealed ‘WITH’ .... not ‘BY’ .... the Holy Spirit," when other scriptures contradict him:

Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed,
ye were sealed with [sphragizo] that holy Spirit of promise,

Later in Eph 4:30, in the same epistle, Paul (by inspiration of God) teaches we are sealed ‘BY’ the Holy Spirit. Let’s be aware of the Greek in that verse also.

The same Greek word [sphragizo] was translated into 3 English words, namely, "ye are sealed" (the word 'with' was not translated, although the Greek was the same as in Eph 1:13).

There are 2 Greek words [en] [hos] translated ‘whereby’. The preposition [en] is in the scriptures 2,800 times. It was translated ‘in’ 1,902 times, ‘BY’ 163 times, ‘WITH’ 140 times, ‘among’ 117 times, ‘at’ 113 times, ‘on’ 62 times, ‘through’ 39 times, and miscellaneous 264 times. It is unreasonable to manufacture a contrast, since the same Greek word was translated both 'by' and 'with'.

Eph 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby [en] [hos]
ye are sealed [sphragizo] unto the day of redemption.

For the ‘teaching elder’ to create a big distinction between the English prepositions ‘with’ and ‘by’ .... about ‘how’ we are sealed with the Holy Spirit, is yet another example of excessive DIVIDING.

PAUL wrote scripture that says God sealed those who are in Christ:

2 Cor 1:21-22 Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ,
and hath anointed us, is God;
22 Who hath [sphragizo] also sealed [sphragizo] us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

Oh, no! JOHN also wrote scripture that quoted Jesus saying that God sealed those who have everlasting life:

John 6:26-27 Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.
27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed [sphragizo].

‘Mid-Acts-ers’ have 2 different ‘sealings’.
What will they divide next?

This is David Dowell, saying, "Think about it!"

A Noisy Event Remains Secret?

During a recent Sunday Evening Story-Time, the ‘teaching elder’ of Illinois described what-he-calls ‘the rapture’. He said, ‘It’s going to be a NOISY event.’

1 Thess 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven
(The ‘teaching elder’ said there’s this voice of a trumpet that God will sound.)
with a shout, (The ‘teaching elder’ said that during the dispensation of grace, the heavens are silent, and the shout is an audible voice that ENDS the dispensation of grace.)
with the voice of the archangel, (The ‘teaching elder’ said this is another voice coming from the archangel Michael .... and that this voice is the signal to restart the prophetic program and the restoration of Israel.)
and with the trump of God: (The ‘teaching elder’ said then you’re going to have God’s voice. He said the trump of God is the voice of God associated with resurrection.)
and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

The ‘teaching elder’ repeated, "So it’s going to be NOISY!" Now I’m wondering how the ‘teaching elder’ thinks no one in the world will notice the 3 loud sounds?! (He is constantly trying to protect his 'mystery' paradigm.) Even ‘the dead’ will hear. But .... at Christ’s supposed ‘mystery-secret-but-NOISY’ coming .... no one on earth will hear, except just those who have been saved through the writings of PAUL?!

The scripture even says that ALL the dead will hear His voice:

John 5:28-29 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming,
in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
29 And shall come forth;
they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life;
and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

The ‘teaching elder’ teaches that the ONLY dead that will hear and rise .... are those dead that were saved through PAUL’s ministry. But the scripture says ‘the dead in Christ will rise first’:

1 Thess 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God:
and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

What about those dead relatives of Paul .... who were in Christ BEFORE he was?

Rom 16:7 Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen, and my fellowprisoners, who are of note among the apostles,
who also were in Christ before me.

The verse indicates there were OTHERS who 'also' were in Christ before Paul. But, according to the teaching of the 'teaching elder', they don’t get to rise then .... even though
1) they are dead and 2) they are in Christ.

It looks to me like they qualify.

This is David Dowell, saying, "Think about it!"

2 Sets of Light?

Jesus taught that believers are the children of light:

John 12:35-36 Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.
36 While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them.

Paul, by inspiration of God, also taught that believers are the children of light:

1 Thess 5:5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.

Eph 5:8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:

Oh, no! ‘Mid-Acts-ers’ will have to have 2 sets of the children of light to put those verses out!

This is David Dowell, saying, "Think about it!"