dear l______ and r____,
i hope to be able to communicate better what has been on my heart in this letter...
about 4 decades ago ali and i came to the understanding of the baptism of the holy spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. (a little less than a decade shy of even meeting each other). we accepted it because we saw it clearly in the Word. both of us, individualy, have been on a journey to learn all that YHWH has to teach us. you see,we realized at that point that if the bhs had been lost to the churches for centuries, there may well be other truths that had been lost.
as we see it, in Yeshua's day the traditions that he taught against were the ones that had been added by religion. in our day the religious traditions that are problematic are the ones that exclude truths that were believed and taught by Yeshua and his disciples. many truths were lost with the advent of the catholic (means universal) church. for example; the priesthood of the believer, salvation by grace, the baptism of the holy spirit, deliverance.
in each one of these the Word has been our plumbline, nothing else was acceptable.
there are more than just these truths available to us and the Word is our plumbline on each and every one of them.
this was why i was so shocked and dismayed when attempting to have a Bible-based discussion with you, you just blew it off with: "anything can be proven from the Bible", or words to that effect. yes, i was blown away by that attitude.
the bereans were commended by paul because " they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so."
to us, being like the bereans is more than an honourable committment. it is a requirement. i have no idea of how to fellowship around the Word with someone who cannot trust the Word of YHWH to be his plumbline. yes, many try to use the Word to prove all kinds of untruths. but each of the "proofs" falls apart under carefull scrutiny. the God that i serve did not leave me with an ambiguous book.
the idea of "getting together and praying with an open mind" about direction from YHWH on a truth that He has given in scripture is not a principle that i even find in scripture. where in scripture is there an example of a doctrine brought forth through prayer?
the traditional beliefs held by the religious leaders of Yeshua's day seemed right to them, so also did the traditions held by the religious leaders in martin luther's day seem to be right to them.
you have done well to accept the truth of the baptism of the holy spirit and the truth about deliverance in the face of pressure from those holding to the traditional views. and you can see why the continual emotional pressure to accept the traditions that you hold is not working for us.
we prayerfully invite you to join us in our journey to the center of His truth. we feel that there is an even deeper life that our Lord is calling us into. won't you join us in the way?
in His love,
steve and ali
