Testimony From Brother Joseph, Prisoner And Deceived Eternal Security Teacher, Shared By Evangelical Outreach - Not By Chuck Colson's Prison Fellowship® Program

Evangelical Outreach sends free Christian materials into prisons upon request.

An article on the Evangelical Outreach site offered testimony from Brother Joseph, a prisoner and deceived Eternal Security teacher. That article reads in part:

Blessings and greetings in Jesus' name. I would like to thank God for those who contend for the faith and speak the truth (however unsettling) in love.

I thank the Lord Jesus for Evangelical Outreach and their generosity as I've received their books at no cost! I had written the ministry and received a copy of The Believer's Conditional Security that arrived here at my jail on Dec 24, 2015, where I am currently still residing, incarcerated and awaiting trial. While in prison, I frequently heard, believed and taught the destructive lie of Once Saved Always Saved (OSAS).

For the record, I was never brought up being taught anything about OSAS. I grew up in the Foursquare Gospel Church and was never taught this damnable doctrine. Even so, when I came to jail, I knew I needed to make a change in my life, that I was lost without Jesus Christ.

However, once I got saved, I slowly got deceived, and this is how it happened. I began seeking the Lord every way possible: reading the Bible (primarily), attending Bible studies, listening to radio broadcasts of Dr. David Jeremiah, John MacArthur, Charles Stanley, and any others on the radio, reading daily devotionals (i.e., In Touch), and any other source that was labeled "Christian." I most enjoyed John MacArthur and David Jeremiah because they seemed so knowledgeable and caring in their teachings and sermons.

Also we had (and they still come here) "Christian" chaplains come and speak to us (They do not advertise as being Baptists). After 3-4 months of this, I was quite indoctrinated and began to repeat to others in my wing what these chaplains had been saying. I received a couple of booklets from Grace to You and John MacArthur assuring me of my salvation. When convinced of this OSAS, I felt a false peace and a relaxing of my drive to serve the Lord Jesus. (In hindsight, I realize now that this peace was false.)

Essentially, I was being told that, no matter what, God would always bring me around and that it was God’s responsibility to maintain my salvation. But, one day, the Evangelical Outreach Gospel literature arrived. It was at this moment that God Himself sent me the red/green flier of about what not to do and what to do in order to have everlasting life, that is, to be saved. Honestly, when I first saw this flyer I threw it in the trash! I thought it sounded very legalistic and wrong. My cell mate had written to Evangelical Outreach and inquired about info and free literature.

He received The Myth of Eternal Security (which he read all of). He reported back to me privately (I was our Bible study "leader" or teacher) that he felt very unsettled about this book. He could not refute what it was saying, yet it conflicted with what I was "parroting" from our chaplains in Bible study. I told him I would read the book carefully and have the Lord give me the truth: which one is the Truth? I picked up the book like a piece of radioactive materials (very cautiously, prayerfully) and wondered what this controversial book could be about.

I began by praying to the Lord for protection from false teaching (ironic huh?) and for discernment about this book's origin: if from heaven or from hell. For every verse listed, I read whole paragraphs and even chapters to get the complete context of what Dan Corner (the book’s author) was claiming to be true. It was a process of pain, anger and confusion that I went through while reading the book- pain and confusion because what I was being taught was exactly what the book was warning about: i.e., the example of the red plastic wrap that Father God looks through at us and only sees the blood of Jesus; the teaching that all our sins past, present and future were forgiven; and similar catch phrases that we were all taught. It is, therefore, typical and not surprising, that those indoctrinated in this OSAS belief have no willingness to repent; they don’t think they need to!

I felt anger at the fact that I was duped into teaching OSAS for a time to others in my group; anger and hurt towards the false teachers (all previously listed) that were lying to me. I felt betrayed that these false teachings were being taught in the prisons to vulnerable people who were truly seeking the Lord (people like me). These books (The Myth of Eternal Security and The Believer’s Conditional Security) have literally saved me from belief in the deceptive and false doctrine of Once Saved Always Saved.

The Lord God, through this ministry, saved me from believing and teaching a LIE! Such obedient contending for the faith and bluntly speaking the truth, out of love for lost and blind people, has saved me and others like me....

I am happy to report that I've read all 801 pages of the book - The Believer's Conditional Security. As the Lord wills, I will forever contend for the faith and speak the truth in love to others. Thank you and God bless. Sincerely, a Prisoner

More information is available at https://www.evangelicaloutreach.org/prison-and-once-saved-always-saved.htm.

Ex Catholic Dan Corner is available for media interviews, including debates, and can be reached using the information below or by email at eternallifeblog@gmail.com, by phone at 724-632-3210 or by mail at PO Box 265, Washington, PA, 15301. His websites are https://www.evangelicaloutreach.org (EOMIN.org) and http://www.AlcanceEvangelistico.org (DBN-MIN.net) and http://www.EternalLifeBlog.com.

About Dan Corner:

After graduating from college, Dan Corner got saved by reading the Bible. For over four decades, he has diligently served the Lord Jesus. Dan Corner's pastoral, apologetic, counter cult and street evangelism experiences have equipped him to contend for the faith and win souls to Jesus from many backgrounds.

He is an ordained minister and director of Evangelical Outreach who pastored for almost seven years and has authored hundreds of Christian articles, answered thousands of emails and letters and has written several books of vital importance in our day.

Contact:

Dan Corner
eternallifeblog@gmail.com
EvangelicalOutreach.org (EOMIN.org)
AlcanceEvangelistico.org (DBN-MIN.net)
EternalLifeBlog.com
724-632-3210

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Former Catholic, Sister Olga, Testifies In Regard To Decision To Leave The Catholic Church

While recent scandals and abuse within the Catholic Church have caused record numbers of Catholics to leave the Church, many feel there are even deeper issues within Catholicism

A recent article found on the USNews.com website details a Gallup survey that shows over one-third of Catholics are questioning their commitment to the church as the result of the ongoing abuse scandals. Ongoing scandals however are not the only reason Christians consider leaving the Catholic Church. A compelling and powerful testimony by Sister Olga can be found on Dan Corner's Evangelical Outreach website at https://evangelical outreach.org. The testimony, given by Sister Olga, reads in part:

Greetings in the name of the Lord Jesus. I'm here to give my testimony of how I came to leave the Catholic Church. I was born in New Orleans, Louisiana which is a very Catholic city. Both sides of my family were Catholic. When I was 6, for a year, we lived with my grandparents who were very devout Roman Catholics. My grandfather had a special prayer bench in his bedroom where he knelt to say the rosary. They had a big poster of the pope hanging over the TV set in the family room. We went to mass regularly.

I performed all the sacraments: did the first communion, went to catechism, made my confirmation at age 13, and even performed a novena to Saint Martha when I was 9. A novena is a special intention prayer where you get your request granted after praying for 9 consecutive Tuesdays. For 9 Tuesdays, I went to the Shrine of Saint Jude, and there, I knelt in front of a statue of Mary or one of the female saints. My special request was that my dead great grandmother receive early dismissal from purgatory in order to get to heaven sooner.

I loved the seemingly mystical aspects of Roman Catholicism, and even as a child, I sensed the sort of magic of Catholicism because, at the gift shop in the church where I made the novena, I asked if they sold Tarot cards which are used for fortune telling. I was very drawn to the mysticism of Catholicism -- the crystal rosaries and glass prayer beads, the candles, the pretty prayer cards of saints, the holy water, the bells, the incense, the stained glass windows, and all the other trappings. I used to believe that the water when blessed by the priest really had some kind of special power. When I was a child, one of my favorite parts of the mass was when the priest would ring the little bell, and then walk down the aisle, followed by 2 alter boys, and swing an incense burner on a chain while the smoke rose up, after which he sprinkled the holy water walking down the aisle.

As a child I prayed to the dead saints, Mary and also to my dead great grandmother. In New Orleans, we would host the rosary at my grandmother's house during hurricane season. Our Lady of Prompt Succor was prayed to help ward off hurricanes. When I lost an item, my mother told me to pray to St. Anthony, the patron saint of lost items. Later on in life, when I was starting to seek God and had not yet come out of Catholicism, I was going through a rough time, and a Catholic friend sent me a prayer card of St. Jude, the patron saint of impossible cases. I prayed to St. Jude to help me with my handicapped child. I should have asked God instead.

When I was in my early 40's, I started to seriously seek God after decades of indifference. Since I grew up Catholic, I returned to the Catholic Church where I was still drawn to the buildings, the stained glass windows and statues which I had always found intriguing. I remember meeting with the priest before joining the church, and I told him I was interested in reading the Bible. He did not seem enthusiastic about me reading scripture on my own, and he warned me to be careful about what I read, that I do not want to read the wrong thing. The priest telling me I should avoid reading on my own did not sit well with me, but made me suspicious. I was also coming under conviction by the Holy Spirit that the focus of my faith should be Jesus and NOT Mary since Jesus is Lord.

I was searching for a more real faith and relationship with God, something that could be lived out every day, and not just on Sundays or holidays. I had heard or read about graven images and idolatry, and I thought about those scriptural truths as I contemplated the statues, candles and images of saints. At this particular time of my spiritual journey, I was starting to see the serious error in the plan of salvation embraced and taught by Catholicism. I started reading the Bible for myself, which declares a saving faith to be exclusively in the Lord Jesus Christ which submits to him and which does the will of God (Acts 20:21; Gal. 3:26; Eph. 5:24a; Luke 8:21; 11:28; Mt. 7:21; etc.). Such a saving faith excludes faith in Mary, the sacraments and being a Catholic.

I had heard of the Fatima Visions, which reinforced the primacy of Mary and the rosary in the Catholic plan of salvation. According to Catholic doctrine concerning these visions, Mary said, "I (Mary) will never leave you. My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the way that will lead you to God" (p.26 of the booklet, Lucia Speaks on the Message of Fatima). Furthermore, the personage representing herself as Our Lady of Fatima said, "I promise to assist at the hour of death with the graces necessary for salvation, all those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, go to Confession and receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the Rosary and keep me company for a quarter of an hour while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to me" (pp.46-47).

One of the first Bible truths I came across was John 14:6, where Jesus stated, "I am THE way, truth and life; no one comes to the father except through me." THE way means the sole or the only way, and thereby excludes any other way. It is also written that there is only ONE mediator between God and man and that is the man Christ Jesus. (1 Timothy 2:5)

Nonetheless, the popes endorse the Fatima visions and all their content. The issue is not whether or not a vision or miracle took place, but what is the source of the miracle and vision. There are 2 sources of miracles and supernatural occurrences. If a vision or experience leads you closer to the God of the Bible in obedience, then the miracle is from God. If the message of the vision or experience contradicts scripture and leads you away from what is written in the Word of God, then the source of the vision is the devil. The Devil can duplicate a feeling of peace, which he does during transcendental meditation and when taking the communion wafer. I used to get the warm and fuzzies after the host would melt in my mouth. I realize now that this was a seducing spirit and a devilish sign and wonder; it was a counterfeit peace as scripture mentions:

For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, fashioning themselves into apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. (2 Corinthians 11:14).
The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie. (2 Thessalonians 2:9).
They are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty. (Rev 16:14)
In the book of Exodus, we learn that some of God's miracles were duplicated by Satan's power channeled through the Egyptian sorcerers -- their wooden staffs became snakes (Ex. 7:10-11); water was changed into blood (Ex. 7:20-22) and frogs came out of the water and covered the land. (Ex. 8:6-7)

Besides the worship of Mary, there is the belief that the Eucharist is the literal body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ. The verse that has been severely misunderstood by Catholics is John 6:53, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you". When John 6:53 was spoken, the Lord's Supper had not yet occurred. In John's gospel, the Last Supper isn't recorded until chapter 13 and without any emphasis at all on communion. If Jn. 6:53 really referred to the communion wafer, then no one could have eternal life without the wafer from the time these words were spoken until the practice of communion actually began. In reality, to eat the flesh and drink the blood of Christ means to believe (John 6:47) and we see this also in John 6:68-69, where Peter said to Jesus, "You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God".

Furthermore, if John 6:53 is to be literally understood, then one is actually eating the flesh and drinking the blood of Jesus during a Catholic mass. According to the doctrine of transubstantiation, the inherent properties of the thing will change; that is, the communion wafer will taste like human flesh and blood. Refer to John 2:7-11 where Jesus changed the water into wine; after that genuine transubstantiation occurred, the inherent properties of the water changed, and it no longer tasted like water but wine. Such biblical truth opposes the Catholic doctrine that the communion wafer is transformed into the body and blood of Christ.

Catholics pray the Hail Holy Queen prayer at the end of the rosary, in which they proclaim Mary to be our life, sweetness and hope as well as our most gracious advocate. Yet, according to the Bible, Jesus is our life (Col. 3:4), our sweetness (Mt. 11:29) and our hope (1 Tim. 1:1). He is also our gracious advocate (1 Jn. 2:1, KJV). Praying to (or through) Mary, the saints, dead relatives, kissing statues or images, and genuflecting in the aisle in front of the alter before entering the pew (a form of worship) are all idolatrous acts. This idolatry (worship, veneration of another) is serious in God's sight. God on his throne in Revelation 21:7-8 said, “Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars -- they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death”.

The "Hail Mary" prayer says, "Pray for us at the hour of our death". At the hour of our death, we should pray for ourselves and pray to Jesus - not Mary. (Acts 7:59) Furthermore, asking Mary to intercede for us is attributing to her omniscience which is a characteristic of God alone. Attributing God's characteristics to a creature is idolatry. Mary is unable to hear prayers, and she is not to be exalted over giving birth to Jesus, as Catholicism has done.

As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.” He replied, “Blessed RATHER are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” (Luke 11:27-28)

Then Jesus' mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, "Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you." "Who are my mother and my brothers?" he asked. Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother." (Matthew 12:46-50).

As a final word to Catholics, do not just trust what the priests, the pope, or your family tell you about eternal life and how to get to God. Read the New Testament for yourself. Jesus told the religious leaders of his day that their traditions of men voided his word. The traditions of the veneration of Mary, rosary, communion wafer, sacraments, etc., are all in contradiction of the Bible. You will be shocked to find that Mary is not the way to Jesus or the Father, that she is not the mediatrix and dispenser of all graces, and that she is not the sinless Queen of Heaven or the mother of God. (In the Bible you will see that Mary has no role in our salvation.)

Jesus is the ultimate authority on spiritual matters. Do not be deceived by the devil's lies. God will greet you with open arms and will be glad to have you and welcome you into his family IF you come to him humbly on HIS TERMS. Jesus said, "Come unto me all you who are weary, and I will give you rest for your soul". (Mt. 11:28-29) He never said, "Go to my mother". If you are sick, you go to the doctor, not his mother. Again, read your Bible, and disregard the teachings and traditions of men. God bless you.

For the entire testimony, visit https://www.evangelicaloutreach.org/former-young-catholic-girl-testifies.htm.

Ex Catholic Dan Corner is available for media interviews, including debates, and can be reached using the information below or by email at eternallifeblog@gmail.com, by phone at 724-632-3210 or by mail at PO Box 265, Washington, PA, 15301. His websites are https://www.evangelicaloutreach.org (EOMIN.org) and AlcanceEvangelistico.org (DBN-MIN.net) and EternalLifeBlog.com.

About Dan Corner:

After graduating from college, Dan Corner got saved by reading the Bible. For over four decades, he has diligently served the Lord Jesus. Dan Corner's pastoral, apologetic, counter cult and street evangelism experiences have equipped him to contend for the faith and win souls to Jesus from many backgrounds.

He is an ordained minister and director of Evangelical Outreach who pastored for almost seven years and has authored hundreds of Christian articles, answered thousands of emails and letters and has written several books of vital importance in our day.

Contact:

Dan Corner
eternallifeblog@gmail.com
EvangelicalOutreach.org (EOMIN.org)
AlcanceEvangelistico.org (DBN-MIN.net)
EternalLifeBlog.com
724-632-3210

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Divorce, Remarriage And The Question Of Adultery: Remarriage Can Be Considered Adultery In Specific Circumstances And Thus Requires Repentance

While not a generally accepted idea with some of today's popular clergy members, unrepented remarriage adultery will disqualify people from entering the Kingdom.

In a recent piece on the Christianity Today website entitled "Directions: You're Divorced -- Can You Remarry?" the instructions regarding divorce, given by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount and taken directly from the Bible, are very clear: "It was also said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.' But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery."

A compelling and powerful testimony regarding remarriage adultery can be found on Dan Corner's Evangelical Outreach website at https://evangelical outreach.org. The testimony, given by Sister Olga, reads in part:

It was around the middle of June 2013, when I stumbled across an article about remarriage adultery where I read, "By law, a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage. So then, if she marries another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress"(Rom. 7:2-3). Soon after came another verse --equally terrifying:

Or do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor.6:9-10).

My heart started pounding as I realized the relationship I had been in for the past 6 years was NOT a true marriage after all, but adultery, and that God viewed me as wicked. I was in the gravest of dangers because if I died at that moment, I would spend an eternity in hell. I knew I had to get out of this sin. God commands us not just to confess our sins, but also to obey Him and forsake them in order to be forgiven.

He that believeth on the Son hath eternal life; but he that obeyeth not shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him (Jn. 3:36).

Some Pharisees came and tested Jesus by asking, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?" "What did Moses command you?" he replied. They said, "Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away." "It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law," Jesus replied. "But at the beginning of creation God 'made them male and female.' For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two,but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate." Jesus further said, anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery" (Mk. 10:2-12,Lk.16:18). Jesus, by these decrees, effectively overturned and voided Deuteronomy 24, which cannot be used as a loophole for the stiff-necked trying to justify remarriage adultery.

Does the fornication exception that we see in Matthew still apply to us? In Matthew, Jesus was addressing primarily a Jewish audience. The first Christians were Jews who adhered to the ancient practice of betrothal, whereby if a man found out his bride was not a virgin on his wedding night, he could divorce her. The most famous example is Joseph and Mary. When Mary came back from her cousin's house obviously with child, Joseph thought she had been sexually immoral and he wanted to quietly divorce her (Mt. 1:19) to spare her from being stoned to death under the Old Testament law, but an angel of the Lord told him not to put her away because she had been faithful and had conceived through the Holy Spirit. We, the Gentiles, do not have betrothal; thus, there is no fornication (sexual immorality) exception in the rest of the New Testament. In other words, today your spouse's cheating does not permit you to remarry after divorce. Furthermore, abandonment and abuse do not justify remarriage either; a party can leave and stay away for safety; however, remarriage is not allowed.

Consider the following passage from Mk. 6:17-18, where John the Baptist told King Herod he was in adultery:

"For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, whom he had married. For John had been saying to Herod, 'It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife.'"

Even though Herod had "married" Herodias, she was still considered "Philip's wife." Although Herod and Herodias were not Christians, God's law still applied to them regardless of whether or not they believed it or agreed with it.

To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife (1 Cor. 7:10-11). A woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives (1 Cor. 7:39).

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God (Gal. 5:19-21).

But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars - their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death (Rev. 21:8).

My "Christian" life had been in vain. For years, even though I did many religious works in Jesus' name and although I called Jesus Lord, I was one of those continuous evildoers (my everyday remarriage adultery) referred to in Mt 7:22-23. Many will say to me on that day, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!"

I was determined to obey the Lord at any cost. But I decided that I was not going to listen to men and devils and their fine sounding arguments. There is no such thing as a Christian adulterer on the road to heaven. I vacated my adulterous remarriage and am completely severed from my old life.

The full statement can be found on the Evangelical Outreach site.

Ex Catholic Dan Corner is available for media interviews, including debates, and can be reached using the information below or by email at eternallifeblog@gmail.com, by phone at 724-632-3210 or by mail at PO Box 265, Washington, PA, 15301. His websites are https://www.evangelicaloutreach.org (EOMIN.org) and AlcanceEvangelistico.org (DBN-MIN.net) and EternalLifeBlog.com.

About Dan Corner:

After graduating from college, Dan Corner got saved by reading the Bible. For over four decades, he has diligently served the Lord Jesus. Dan Corner's pastoral, apologetic, counter cult and street evangelism experiences have equipped him to contend for the faith and win souls to Jesus from many backgrounds.

He is an ordained minister and director of Evangelical Outreach who pastored for almost seven years and has authored hundreds of Christian articles, answered thousands of emails and letters and has written several books of vital importance in our day.

Contact:

Dan Corner
eternallifeblog@gmail.com
EvangelicalOutreach.org (EOMIN.org)
AlcanceEvangelistico.org (DBN-MIN.net)
EternalLifeBlog.com
724-632-3210

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