WHAT HAPPENED AT NANNY'S FUNERAL,

OR

IF THERE'S A PURGATORY, SOMEONE FORGOT TO TELL GOD!

Larry Grecu

Baker, Florida

May 7, 2015

  

On October 9, 1970, my grandmother, Ella Mae Bobe Smith, passed away at Sacred Heart Hospital, Pensacola, Florida. She was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery on October 12th, her birthday. Two weeks prior to "Nanny's" death, I was able to be at the hospital quite a bit, helping to take care of her in her final days. It was pretty overwhelming for me. I was very close to Nanny. I remember one day, after she had had a stroke, she began motioning to me to do something for her. I was praying and doing everything I could to understand what she was wanting, when it dawned on me that she was asking me to put her glasses on her so she could see us better. I cannot describe the joy I felt inside just to be able to help her.

I had never witnessed anyone dying, and it was painful to think that the first person I was ever going to witness dying was someone with whom I had such a close bond. I did my best to hold myself together, especially since I was and still am one of the older grandchildren. I don't think there was anyone who had a bad thing to say about Nanny. We all loved her. In fact, the funeral director said he had never seen as large a funeral procession in Pensacola as he saw that day for Nanny.

The funeral was held at St. Stephen's Catholic Church on Garden Street. This was Nanny and Papa's parish church and had been for years. The children's choir in which some of my cousins were members sang at the funeral. I remember as Nanny's casket was wheeled down the aisle, the children sang these words from Psalm 121, "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth." I had held myself together for as long as I could, when all the pent up emotions poured out of me as I ran out of the church sobbing.

I had been questioning over and over - without ever telling anyone - asking God just where Nanny was. Was she in Heaven? Was she in Purgatory? I just couldn't bring myself to believe that she was in Hell! If you are not a Catholic, you might not understand what I am talking about. You see, I was taught as a Catholic that unless you were some kind of super-saint, canonized by the Roman Catholic Church, most likely you were going to have to spend some time in Purgatory and not go straight to Heaven. And, of course, the only way out of Purgatory for you was the hope that enough Masses were said, rosaries prayed, and novenas attended by your surviving relatives and friends. (I had never really given it any thought as to when enough was enough - enough Masses, enough rosaries, and enough novenas). And, of course, I had never read the Bible to find out what God had to say about my worries.

But, you know, God has a way of meeting us just where we are. Like I said, as the children's choir started singing, I just lost it. Sobbing, I ran out the side door of the church and down the sidewalk, in between the rectory and the church. As I was sobbing, this voice spoke to me within and said, "Do not fear, she is with me." I cannot describe what happened next or how fast it happened. All worry, all fear simply vanished. I walked back into St. Stephen's Catholic Church a changed man.

I knew that although Nanny's physical body was in the casket and would soon be in the ground at Holy Cross Cemetery, Nanny was with the Lord. There was no priest, no bishop, no cardinal, and definitely no pope who could convince me otherwise. It was settled. In fact, it was so settled that I never mourned another minute for Nanny. I knew where she was, and it wasn't in Purgatory or Hell. She was with God in Heaven.

It was not until years later that I discovered some interesting details of an event that happened to my grandparents in the early years of their marriage. Part of Nanny's family was Baptist, and so both my grandparrents were around the Gospel message throughout their lives. When my grandparents were living in Meridian, Mississippi, where my mother was born, there was no Catholic Church for them to attend. And, because it was a command of the Roman Catholic Church to go to church on Sunday, they did a real no-no. They went to the local Baptist church. It was there that they heard the Gospel. I am sure that it was not the last time they heard the message. There were still plenty of Baptist relatives back in Pensacola who probably shared the Gospel over the years.

Anyway, whatever happened and whenever it happened, I knew that Nanny and Papa had both accepted the Lord as their Savior and found that the only satisfaction for their sins was the blood of Jesus Christ shed for them. While they were without strength, sinners, ungodly, and enemies, Jesus Christ died for them and, that having believed on Him, they received eternal life, never to be separated from Him in death. Later when I became a Christian, I read the words by apostle Paul, "To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord." I knew on the day of Nanny's funeral, she was with the Lord. Apparently, someone had forgotten to tell God about Purgatory.

 

If you're a Catholic reading this, I hope that you really begin thinking about what you have been taught and about what you have believed. Recently, a man who was a Catholic in our area passed away. He was so tormented about going to Purgatory that he even asked a Baptist ladies' prayer group to pray for him to the Lord so he wouldn't have to be in Purgatory a long time. In fact, he begged them to not forget him. You may have to pay a stipend to have a Mass said for your dearly departed Catholic relative or friend, but I am going to give you some free information. Read your Bible, the very Word of God, and see what He has to say about Heaven and how to get there. Unless Paul the apostle - the one taught by the Lord Himself - was lying, the Word of God still stands, if you know the Lord: "to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord." Pax vobiscum!  Amen!

THE REAL NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER IS COMING!

THE REAL NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER IS COMING!

 

ARE WE PRAYING FOR THE RIGHT THING?

ARE WE ON THE SAME PAGE WITH GOD?

 

 

Larry Grecu

Baker, Florida

May 7, 2015

I don't think that there are too many Christians in the United States who cannot see the handwriting on the wall of our nation. And apparently, we are not short on prophets who are more than willing to translate what the nation's leaders cannot decipher, at least those who are not participating in the destruction of our country. Additionally, I don't think it is beyond any Christian's imagination that the persecution of Christians is not only taking place throughout the world, but also within our own country. While still in the minor stages for sure, and not as severe as in other countries, persecution is coming to the United States in a big way.

This is something that Paul the apostle warned the believers of his day: "For ye, brethren, became followers of God which in Judea are in Christ Jesus: for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews . . ." (I Thessalonians 2:14). Paul, as a faithful apostle, also told the Thessalonican church that he wanted "no man . . . moved by these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto, For verily, when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation; even as it came to pass, and ye know (I Thessalonians 3:3,4).

This coming persecution will include both Christians and Jews. I include Jews in this persecution because I believe that while God has been using "fishers" to lure American Jews back to Israel, most have not taken the bait. So, the only alternative is that God will raise up the "hunters," forcing the Jews out of the United States one way or another (See Jeremiah 16:16). Time will tell if I am right, but it is quite evident that there is a rise in anti-Semitism throughout the world, and even in our own country.  The hunters are rising!

This message, however, is actually more for Christians - praying Christians - who are praying for our nation and for a shift in the political influences governing it. Here is what I am getting at. Before the mass exodus of the Jews from Egypt, before there was a Pharoah governing Egypt who "knew not Joseph," the children of Israel were quite satisfied in their new Egyptian culture. They became so satisfied, in fact, that instead of staying in the land of Goshen, they filled the whole land of Egypt. God even increased His people greatly, and made them stronger than their enemies (Exodus 1:6-8; Psalm 105:24).

All of us would probably shout, "Amen! Hallelujah!" to any increase or multiplication received from the Lord. But, there are other things God did to and for the Israelis that may not necessarily line up with your theology. Psalm 105:25 reads, "He (God) turned their heart (the Egyptians') to hate his people (the Jews), to deal subtilly with his servants." What? You mean to tell me that God would do such a thing as that? Precisely. But, why? It was to get the Jewish people on the same prayer page with God. You see, God had a better plan for His people. He wanted to change governments completely. When the people got on the same prayer page with God, He heard their prayer and answered it.

Instead of looking for a new governmental regime to take over, God had two men he had prepared in secret, Moses and Aaron, the deliverers. If you look at the pattern in the book of Exodus, there was a new Pharoah who knew not Joseph; there was a change in how Egyptians viewed the Jews; there were increased taxes; there was increased, outright persecution; there was the murder of infants; there was a crying out to God by the Jews; and then, there was God's response with the deliverers. Does this sound familiar? Of course, all of this was followed by the judgment upon the whole country of Egypt.

There are many people in our nation, Christians and non-Christians, who are looking for something better in and from our government. But, are we fighting against God in our endeavors to put the right person in the White House, when God Himself might be behind the developing problems of Christians in America, when God Himself might be trying to get the attention of Christians throughout the nation?

If we are honest, there are many Christians who cannot be distinguished from Egyptians nowadays, many Christians who have become enamored with Egypt and all the riches it has to offer. Maybe change is what we all need. It might not be the kind of change we would like, but I am sure it was not the kind of change the Jews liked either. However, the change God initiated brought the results He was looking for: one nation under God, crying out to Him for deliverance. The Church has not reached that place yet, but it is on its way. If Exodus 1 and Psalm 105 are two passages of Scripture we need to take note of, then, prophetically speaking, we should not be surprised if and when God allows the heat to be turned up seven times hotter. Selah!

　

　

COUNTER-REFORMATION, COUNTERFEIT REVIVAL, AND THE FALSE ARK OF THE COVENANT

LARRY GRECU

MAY 19, 2014

WORD ABOUT COUNTER-REFORMATION, THE WIND OF THE SPIRIT

 (TRUE AND FALSE), FOUNDATIONS

AND

DREAM ABOUT THE ARK OF THE COVENANT

I. COUNTER-REFORMATION

Last week, as I was awaking, the Lord spoke to me and told me the following words: "Just as you had the word about the revival that came to Pensacola in the 1990s and it came to pass, I tell you now that there is coming another revival that will be a counterfeit revival. It is going to be a Counter-Reformation." When I had this experience, I knew that it was surely going to come to pass just as it came to pass in the days of the Reformation under Martin Luther. The Lord spoke to me that this coming Counter-Reformation will have lying signs and wonders that, if it were possible, would deceive the very elect. This Counter-Reformation is going to be led by the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church. One of the leading religious orders used during the Counter-Reformation was the Jesuits, also known as the Society of Jesus, the order that Pope Francis I is a member of. I would encourage all who read this paper to research the Counter-Reformation, the Jesuits, and the life of their founder, "Saint" Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556). You will be shocked to learn the person to whom the Jesuits pledge their allegiance, even to the point that they are willing to sacrifice their own judgment.

II. THE WIND OF THE SPIRIT

Recently, there have been many words coming forth about wind or winds of change. Why should the Holy Spirit warn us about the wind or winds of change? In the 1960s, in the Roman Catholic Church, Pope John XXIII supposedly opened the Catholic Church to the wind of the Holy Spirit, an opening which had as its goal not only a move of the Holy Spirit, but also the goal of unifying all the churches of Christianity under the banner of the Roman Catholic Church in what has come to be known as the ecumenical movement.

The Lord spoke to me to be watchful and pray because the enemy is going to release his counterfeit wind to produce a move of the "spirit" that will deceive many in these last days. This counterfeit wind was released in the 1960s under Pope John XXIII, and it will be released again under Pope Francis I. How ironical is it that the current pope canonized or made "saints" of two of his recent predecessors, John XXIII and John Paul II. Remember, that to be canonized a saint in the Roman Catholic Church, two miracles are required, miracles received when someone has prayed to the person for a miracle. Why do I think the current pope canonized these two men? To validate their doctrines or teachings. Remember, the Roman Catholic Church has not stopped its Counter-Reformation.

III. THE FOUNDATIONS

The recent winds in Pensacola, Florida, and surrounding cities, put many church foundations under water OR caused the foundations to give way. What is the Lord saying? During the Counter-Reformation, the Roman Catholic Church, through the Jesuits and other religious orders, was able to bring back many Germans into the fold or clutches of the Church. Why? Because many of the Christians were not grounded in the foundational doctrine of "the just shall live by faith." We are warned in the epistle to the Hebrews that we are called to be teachers ourselves of the doctrines of the apostles. But, how can we teach others what we ourselves do not know or understand? Therefore, I would encourage those who are called into the ministry to use the short time we are being given to re-check the foundation of your congregation! Do not be afraid to ask your congregation the hard questions. It is a matter of life and death.

Jesus warned that there would be a storm and winds that would try two houses, and that storm is coming. Why is it coming? To see if your house is built on the Rock or if it is built on the shifting sands. The Roman Catholic Church's house is built on the shifting sands, and it will fall in the time of judgment. That is why the Word of God says, "Come out of her, My people, that you be not partaker of her plagues." In other words, "Get in the right house!"

IV. THE ARK OF THE COVENANT

A few days ago, I had a dream in which I saw four young boys in their early teens. Each of the boys was dressed in white garments that had a hood attached to them. They appeared like altar boys that you would see at a religious service in a Roman Catholic or Episcopal church. Each boy was carrying a pole that had a golden ball at the top of the pole. The ball was not solid but was made up of wide golden strands that were shaped like a globe. As the boys walked, they would twist the pole causing the ball or globe at the top to make a sound that was meant to inspire both awe and fear.

I then heard that these boys were going to get the Ark of the Covenant, and I saw them disappear around a corner. A few minutes later, these boys emerged carrying what I expected to be the Ark of the Covenant. They were also twisting the sticks to make the sound to put awe and fear in people's hearts. Much to my surprise, when I looked up, what I saw instead was a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary being carried. She was the Ark of he Covenant.

I do not think this dream needs much in the way of interpretation, although there are many significant things that can be gotten from this dream that I will not go into at this time. Those who are familiar with Roman Catholic doctrine should know that the Blessed Virgin Mary is being exalted above the Lord Jesus Christ as the "Mediatrix of All Graces." Again, I would encourage anyone reading this paper to do some research on the role that the Roman Catholic Church believes Mary has played in our salvation. She is actually prayed to in one of the Catholic litanies as Mary, Ark of the Covenant!

In conclusion, I would strongly remind everyone that great deception is coming, deception that will include lying signs and wonders. There is coming a counter-reformation and a counter-revival that will pull people back under the influence and teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. This "church" is the synagogue of Satan, and it is headed up by antichrists, if not Antichrist himself. There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof is death. It is time that we all examine ourselves to see if we are in the true faith.

　

"SOMETHING WORSE THAN AN EMP BOMB IS COMING"

Larry Grecu

Baker, Florida

April 30, 2015

Last year, while I was staying with my mother who was recuperating from cancer surgery, I read a book entitled One Second After, by William R. Forstchen. The book tells the fictional story of the loss of a war by the United States. The cause of the loss: an electromagnetic pulse bomb, which pretty much puts the US back into the Dark Ages. The unimaginable and unthinkable results of this attack are graphically portrayed in the novel, and just the thought of some of the results is sickening. For those of you who have read Alas, Babylon, you have some idea of what I am talking about. But, Forstchen's book goes beyond Alas, Bablylon. As one reviewer of the book stated, "A blood-chilling wake-up call that chaos and death are but a power plug away . . ."

I stayed up most of the night reading the book. It was a real page turner for me, somewhat like The Firm was years ago. However, what happened next took me by complete surprise. As I fell asleep, I had a dream in which the Lord spoke to me and said, "There is something worse than an EMP coming to the United States." In the dream I thought to myself, "What could be worse than an EMP? I have just read Forstchen's book, and you are trying to tell me that there is something worse than an EMP coming?" It was then that the Lord spoke to me and told me that the "something worse" coming is CANON LAW. For those of you who do not know what canon law is, I would encourage you to do some research. If what the Lord spoke to me comes to pass - and for the sake of our country I hope it doesn't - the goal of the Roman Catholic Church will have been achieved. The United States of America will have become a Roman Catholic country under the complete, totalitarian rule of the pope and canon law!

For those of you who have never been governed by canon law, you are in for a big surprise. You can actually live in a free country like the United States and still live in pure hell, all because of what the Roman Catholic Church calls truth. Its grasp reaches to the highest heaven and even to the depths of hell. It will take you to purgatory and will give you a leader who thinks he is God Himself. It is either the pope's way or no way, and unfortunately, many of our current national leaders are under the sway of this demonic deception.

I want to remind the reader that I was given this dream a year ago. That was before the pope's planned trip to the United States to see our President; before his plan to make a speech before a joint session of Congress; and before his plan to speak before the United Nations. It all sounds so positively beautiful. But, if I have been warned of the Lord that something worse than an EMP is coming - as in canon law - then, we better take heed to the warning! Our President, by the way, after his visit with Pope Francis, said that the pope is "the real deal." Not much discernment there!

Before the new pope was elected, I had a dream about the upcoming conclave election results. In the dream, the Lord gave me a number. When I awoke from the dream, I walked into the kitchen and looked at the clock, which had another three-digit number. The Lord then spoke to me the following: "Take the first number from the dream and look up the Hebrew word by the number in the Strong's Concordance. Then, take the second number and look up the Greek word by this number." When I did, the words were "black ram." I told some friends of mine later that day that the new pope - who later became Francis I - would either be a black national or a JESUIT! For those of you who are so enamored with the new pope, I would strongly advise you to read the warnings of Francis of Assisi regarding what he had to say about the last pope. For those of you who are not enamored, I am going to simply warn you that if the Roman Catholic Church gains complete control of the United States, there will be persecution and martyrdom of Protestant Christians throughout the United States! Do not be fooled by those who seem to be on the side of what is right - as in pro-life, anti-homosexual, traditional marriage, anti-euthanasia, etc. The goal of the Roman Catholic Church, and the Jesuits in particular, is to take complete control of the United States.

Several years ago, back in the 1990s, I had a dream in which I saw a UFO which suddenly appeared in the sky. It then hid behind a cloud. Next, I saw a white, plastic-like jet appear in the sky over the United States. I knew it was an enemy, and when our jets took off to go after the bigger jet, I thought, "They are going to take the white jet down." However, much to my surprise, instead of our military taking the jet out, they escorted the jet into the United States! As the jet got closer to me in the dream, I saw the seal of the Vatican on the tail of the jet, and I knew that we were being taken over by the Roman Catholic Church. The Lord spoke to me then that great persecution was coming to the United States through the Roman Catholic Church.

Some of you who are reading this are Roman Catholic. My goal is not to offend you. It is to get you to do some homework, to get you to read some of the warnings from your own prophets and priests. Our nation is in for some serious times, and the past history of the persecutions will be nothing when compared to what is coming. The truth about this pope may be hard to bear, but my hope is that you will seriously study what the Bible warns about the last days deception that is coming and that in many ways is already here. My only prayer is, "May God have mercy on us all!"

TREASURING UP WRATH

TREASURING UP WRATH

This is a warning that I gave almost one year ago about the judgment I saw coming to the United States because of decisions that were being made by the Supreme Court regarding the legalization of homosexual marriage.  If the judgments that have taken place in the last year in our country weather-wise (and they are judgments) are any indication of what is coming on a nationwide level, all at once, we are in deep trouble.  Our nation, through its so-called "wise counselors" in the United States Supreme Court,  is headed to destruction, an inevitable destruction.  As we approach the upcoming decision on gay marriage by the Supreme Court, let us pray that these men and women will turn from their wicked ways and turn our nation back to God.

 

 

THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES DECISION, OR LACK THEREOF, ON GAY MARRIAGE HAS TREASURED UP WRATH FOR OUR COUNTRY, AND THE JUDGMENT OF GOD IS COMING TO THE UNITED STATES AS A WHOLE!

GOD'S WARNING TO ME THIS MORNING AS I WAS AWAKING

LARRY GRECU

OCTOBER 7, 2014

This morning as I was waking up, I heard the words "treasuring up," and I immediately knew that it was referring to something that is being stored up by the United States that is not good. In Romans 2 and the first part of Romans 3, the apostle Paul lays out the seven principles by which God will judge people (individuals) at the end of the millennium. One of these principles is that of "accumulated guilt," and that principle is based on the truth that the individual will have despised - or deemed as nothing of value - the RICHES of God's goodness and forbearance and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God is meant and was meant to lead each individual to repentance.

When the individual does not treasure, value, or esteem the RICHES of God - His goodness, His forbearance, His longsuffering - the heart of the individual becomes hard and impenitent (refusing to repent and turn to God) and TREASURES UP for itself WRATH in the day of wrath and revelation from Heaven of the righteous judgment of God. This hardness of heart means that the person's conscience cannot be pricked, no matter how forcefully or sharply God applies the pressure. There is no compunction, no feeling. The same applies to the United States.

The Lord has been applying the goads or pricks to our national conscience, but we have refused His warnings. He has used His goodness and forbearance, and He has been longsuffering. But, we have turned our backs to Him, and now the day of wrath is upon us, and we are racing to judgment. How can I say this? Because these same principles of judgment that are applied to individuals can and will be applied to nations, including the United States of America. God is no respecter of persons (another principle of God's judgment), and the United States is not going to escape God's wrath just because people think it will, based upon our past performance. HERE IS THE WARNING OF WHAT IS COMING AND WHY.

As most of you are aware, yesterday the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) declined to hear appeals from five states - Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin - seeking to uphold same-sex marriage bans, thus paving the way for legislation in six other states and setting a course for legislation in a majority of states in the union. As a result of this decision, the judges on the Supreme Court of the United States unknowingly or knowingly added to the Treasury of the United States a sum that will affect every citizen of our country in the not-to-distant future.

This Treasury of the United States is not the treasury you might be thinking of. This treasury is not the substantial income that vendors might be thinking they are going to derive by performing homosexual weddings or providing for receptions and honeymoons. The treasures that have now been added to the coffers of the United States by SCOTUS are "the treasures of wrath" reserved for the day of wrath that will shortly be poured out upon the United States.

God has continuously been warning our country with smaller judgments in diverse locations, but the day is coming and now is that there is a judgment coming that will affect THE ENTIRE NATION at once. We have gone along in our dream world thinking that God does not see, God does not care, or maybe even thinking that God is dead. I have news for you: He is alive and well, as we will all find that out soon, whether we want to believe it or not.

The Word of God warns, "Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil" (Ecclesiastes 8:11). There is a place that either the individual or the nation can reach where they come to believe that God is not watching. The judgment has not fallen, the sentence has not been executed, and God has apparently remained silent. But this is all part of the forbearance and longsuffering of Almighty God - what I have described above as the "riches" of God.

We have scorned these riches of God's goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering and have instead chosen to treasure up for ourselves the wrath of God that will be poured out in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. God will be known in one of two ways: either He will be known in His goodness or He will be known in His severity. Apparently, there are those who have decided that as a nation we want to know Him in His severity. "The Lord is known by the judgment which he executes: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah. The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God (Psalms 9:16-17).

Although the nation will be judged as a whole, I do want you to remember that God's ultimate judgment will be on the individual at the Great White Throne judgment. There will be NO second chances! Now is the acceptable time of salvation. If you do not know that Jesus Christ died for you while you were yet a sinner, while you were yet ungodly, while you were yet an enemy of God, and while you were yet without strength (to save yourself), then NOW is the time to ask Him to forgive you of your sins. He has paid the price you cannot and could not pay. Now is the time to look to the Cross where Jesus Christ became the Sin-Bearer for your sins, died in your place for your sins and was raised again for your justification (acquittal).

God is not willing that any should perish but that all would come to the saving-knowledge of Jesus Christ, our soon-coming King and Judge. You do not have to fear the coming judgment on the United States or the Great White Throne Judgment IF you have made the life-changing decision to believe God for your righteousness. Those who have made this decision have only to look forward to glory, honor, and incorruptibility, life eternal. Beloved, do not delay to make this decision.

TREASURING UP WRATH

There is an urgency in my heart that the time is short, and we cannot afford to waste another second of our time. NOW IS THE ACCEPTABLE TIME OF SALVATION! NOW IS THE TIME TO REPENT AND TURN TO GOD, the God who declares righteous the ungodly who believe on Him. He has done for you what you cannot do for yourself. While you were yet a sinner, Christ died for you. You cannot work your own justification (acquittal). It has already been obtained for you. No matter how bad you have been, Christ died for you. Turn to Him. Place your faith and hope in Him, and He will do exceedingly , abundantly above all that you could ask or think!

Florida Senator Don Gaetz and His Son, Florida Representative Matt Gaetz:

 Two Mice in the Cookie Jar!

 

Larry Grecu

Baker, Florida

April 28, 2015

 

Years ago I had the privilege of having a very brief talk with Corrie ten Boom, the Christian from Holland who, along with her family, suffered persecution during the Nazi regime of World War II. Her biography, The Hiding Place, portrayed her family's willingness to risk their lives to save the lives of as many of the Jews as they could from the Nazi death camps. The book became a worldwide bestseller and was eventually made into a movie. There was one scene in the book that has always stayed in my mind.

 

A local pastor comes to the ten Boom home for a visit. During his visit, Corrie and Betsie ten Boom try to convince the pastor to take one of the babies they are trying to save, especially since the pastor lives in the countryside. The pastor refuses and quickly leaves the house, but not without warning the family - Papa ten Boom, Corrie, and Betsie - that they are going to get themselves into serious trouble when the Nazis find out what they are doing. The pastor did not want to risk his life to save Jews. After the pastor left, Corrie ten Boom is very upset with the pastor and basically comments to her father, "How could this man consider himself to be a Christian, much less a pastor?" Her father's response was priceless: "Just because the mouse is in the cookie jar does not make it a cookie."

 

Well, apparently there are two mice in the Tallahassee cookie jar, one in the Senate and one in the House of Representatives. Recently, the two mice, Senator Don Gaetz (a Lutheran) and his son, Representative Matt Gaetz (a Baptist), voted in support of Senate and House bills respectively, that allow homosexual couples to adopt in the state of Florida. In an April 21 newspaper headline, Florida State Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, also said he does not support a proposal allowing private agencies to deny adoptions by gay and lesbian couples ON RELIGIOUS OR MORAL GROUNDS.

 

It seems that the Gaetz father-son legislators do not know their Bible, and as a result are playing both sides of the fence, under the guise of non-discrimination and the changing times. Apparently, their ministers are afraid to confront them with the truth! They are probably too busy protecting their 401ks and their livelihoods. Well, here's what your pastors are not telling you.

 

The days of Elijah are upon us, and the days of God's judgments are upon our nation. As the saying goes, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that something is going wrong in our country. If you think you can support and pass this kind of legislation WITHOUT CONSEQUENCES in your own lives and the lives of the millions of Floridians you are serving, you do not know your Bible. Worse yet, If you think you are born-again Christians, Sirs, you need to check your status.

 

You cannot serve two masters, which is apparently what you are doing. You cannot vote in favor of people whose lifestyle God considers an abomination and then walk into your churches - Lutheran or Baptist - and say you are worshipping the God of the Bible. However, it is apparent that both of you have decided that you CAN do this AND that YOU KNOW BETTER THAN GOD.

 

There probably have been many Christians who have mistaken you for fellow-Christians in the past. They may have even worshipped right next to you on a Sunday morning. But, now I hope they see the truth: the Gaetz men have been posing as Christians. Why, I noticed that one of the articles even said Don Gaetz "shepherded" the bill through the senate. Now, that's scary! Sounds like a wolf in sheep's clothing to me. Like the minister in The Hiding Place, Gaetz men, you are just two mice in the cookie jar. And, NEWS FLASH! Just because you are in the cookie jar, Sirs, it does not make you a cookie!

 

My hope is that you repent and hear the gospel BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!

DO YOU KNOW THE GOSPEL?

A SAD TESTIMONY THAT IS SO SIMILAR TO THE CONDITION OF CHURCHES TODAY IN THE UNITED STATES!

 

Larry Grecu

Baker, Florida

April 22, 2013

 

One of my favorite commentaries on the book of Romans is by William R. Newell, who was a Bible teacher under Dwight L. Moody. He was asked by Mr. Moody to begin conducting teachings on Romans, which both men believed to be the cornerstone of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But, here is one of the interesting and sad things discovered by Mr. Newell when he ministered the truths of Roma...ns to people ALREADY on the mission field:

"The author must be permitted to say that he had part in the Student Volunteer Movement for foreign missions of fifty years ago; that he saw hundreds of earnest and honest students "volunteer" for the mission field. But afterwards, in teaching the book of Romans, especially in China, he had many a missionary say, "We never knew this gospel before." It is nothing short of tragic to send men and women out against the hosts of hell in heathendom without teaching them through and through and through this mighty gospel Paul preached: - which gospel he says is "the power of God unto salvation." And he comes to further detail in saying, "The word of the cross is the power of God." Education, medication, sanitation, and general sweetness - what does Satan care for that? The word of the cross is the great wire along which runs the dynamic of God - and it runs along no other wire." (from Romans, Verse by Verse, by William R. Newell, p. 275, footnote)

Brothers and Sisters, will this be your sad testimony on the day of judgment? Are you even being taught the Gospel in your church? Do you even know the goal of the Gospel, GOD'S Good News, for those who need salvation and those who already have it? Do you even know why you need the Good News, even after your salvation? All the answers to these questions are things you should know about the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. May this message stir your heart to seek again to gain a full understanding of the glorious gospel of God! Paul the apostle did not fail to equip the church of his day with the whole counsel of God. How much more do we need this equipping today! Hopefully, you are being equipped in your church. If not, may God have mercy on you NOW, and especially if you are being sent out to your part of the mission field without the gospel!