Full of Faith and Scared to Death

In reading the letters I have recently published and the discussions that followed, I have come to question my long-held belief that the church was “right” up until Walter died. I don’t know. I wasn’t alive in those days. But, I’ve decided to give Ernest Nichols a closer look – having been led to believe all my life that Ernest was a bad, bad man. So, on Wednesday, I will publish a transcript of one of Ernest’s sermons. For today, please take in the last letter from the Tommy series (there may be more letters, and if I come across any more, I will publish them later).

e·pis·tle   [ih-pis-uhl]

noun

1. a letter, especially a formal or didactic one; written communication.

2. ( usually initial capital letter ) one of the apostolic letters in the new testament.

3.( often initial capital letter ) an extract, usually from one of the Epistles of the New Testament, forming part of the Eucharistic service in certain churches.

(www.dictionary.com)

* * * * *

Look at the people who backed the elders and Ernest Nichols the last 30 years. D., K.H., K.W., plus many more. These three backed Riley Keith over Freeman Smith to Let D.N. walk his daughter up the church isle. They wanted me to choose sides. I told them no sides, do what is right. If not, it’s wrong.

Walter White rejected D.N.. He saw him as a person with no spirit of God in him. Freeman was saying it is wrong to allow this wedding.  Riley was saying it is okay. These three men backed Riley. Dorothy (Walter’s widow) said to some of us that she feared for D. for what he was backing – Riley Keith and not Walter.

They all wanted to reject Freeman Smith. K.H.’s life was cut short. K.W. left after a Jezebel Whore (?), because of backing the wrong thing. There was a meeting held at D.’s home on this matter. Also look about you people in this church who went along with the elders over what Walter White taught and preached. Look how it was established. The gunk didn’t [told?] of a preacher, just go along and be happy and don’t go to Hell.

Like Walter said and I believe it, “They pushed me to the ocean and I am not going any farther. They can either believe what I preached or go along with the Gunk of Ernest Nichols and the elders and go to Hell with it. If people only knew and read their Bibles or remember what Walter White believed and preached. This church is privately being taught by disciples who are D., N.B., and whoever goes along with their lies and deceit and changing the Word of God. They teach another doctrine than what they were baptized under and preached to.”

Like Walter said of D., “There he stands all full of faith and scared to death” (in other words, afraid to do the right thing). Like people will whisper and say things now like was told to me and others L.D. died and was heard to say D’s family were wrong in that they went along with the elders and made peace not to withstand them anymore and be a peacemaker.

Those who went along with the elders sold out to their doctrine and gunk over Walter who preached against that kind of religion. Rejected brethren for what he stood for all these years. Proof is for 30 years they don’t even talk of Walter White, who said when he was baptizing in this church in 1968, when your children were 6 years old they will be alright when the end of time comes in 1972. But now we have gone 30 years without asking for a preacher.

Walter said the fullness of the gentiles is in and without a preacher it surely is. The gentiles will be cut off and no hope for baptism unless God send a preacher. So your children with your lies and gunk are now 40 years old. They will be judged without the church. They are gentiles. Read the word of God. Don’t take my word for it. Teach those young people Walter lied to this church. No he never lied. He was a man of God. He was honest and truthful. All men are liars, but not God and his apostles.

Everyone after 30 years got to read an epistle reminding this church of what happened  and what Walter preached. Because one man remembered and wrote it down, Tom Nichols.  This letter was like a missile – it shot down all of us who were teachings something else and followed after the elders and their gunk and not following what Walter White preached and taught the truth to this church.

Fresh Air

Guest Blog: Who Can Baptize?

The Followers of Christ teach that only certain people have the authority to baptize. Only a preacher – an apostle on par with the Apostle Paul – can perform a legitimate baptism. Followers believe that salvation can be obtained only through baptism by an Apostle.

Since their apostle – Walter White – has been dead since 1969, baptism is no longer possible. The children and grandchildren of the baptized are told they are born holy – and may have an opportunity to be baptized on Judgment Day. Outsiders – “worldy people” – cannot be saved. What happened to the Great Commission? What happened to the Good News? I never heard of these things until long after I left.

Followers take Jesus' statement to Nicodemus in John 3:5: “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit” to mean that you must be baptized with water to be saved. While the understanding of most Christians and Biblical scholars is that being “born of water” happens to us at birth, and being born of the Spirit happens when we accept the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ.

In today's message, Jerry Patton addresses the question of who can baptize.

* * * * *

In my last post, I mentioned how baptism is not owned by anyone. This is true, however, through some church doctrines and traditions, access to baptism has been strictly controlled and sadly - even prohibited.

In my studies, I have never read anything that grants a particular type of disciple an exclusive authority to baptize. In the New Testament we hear Paul talk about deacons and elders (also known as shepherds or bishops) who hold an office of service within a church and their overall charge is to serve the flock. We also hear Paul talk about the Apostles and the work they engaged in, which in his case, was to be a herald of the gospel to the gentiles (the pagan world). Not even Paul as an Apostle claimed exclusive authority to baptize. In I Corinthians, he counsels the disciples at Corinth about unity within the body of Christ:

My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.”

Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, so no one can say that you were baptized in my name. (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.) For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. 1 Corinthians 1:10-17

Paul says that he did not baptize anyone other than Crispus, Gaius, and the household of Stephanas. It doesn’t stipulate who baptized the others. If it were important to stipulate a restriction concerning baptism, he would have stated it somewhere. But even here, in this case, when he’s discussing who baptized who – it isn’t addressed. It isn’t addressed because there was no restriction. There wasn’t then and there isn’t now. Paul spells out in his letter to the Romans and Galatians that we are free in Christ, not to sin, but to serve – for we are no longer under law, but under grace.

The short of it is that any disciple of Christ can baptize a non-believer into the Kingdom as they repent of their sins and confess that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Any disciple can study with a non-believer and when that non-believer decides and is ready to start their walk with Christ, the disciple can baptize that non-believer. Every disciple has a ministry for they are part of “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession.” I Peter 2:9

The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. John 1:6-13

The Prophet/Apostle thing cuts both ways. With the authority they were claiming, they had an inside track on being in good with God and if you were a good boy or girl, they would give you access to a real church family and things flourished. While many of them were not even born or very young, these guys were building their own church-lore and ingrained it into their offspring. No one ever thought to ask, "What happens when Walter dies?" So who's gonna feed this monster. God isn't. Who has the guts to stand up and say, "I've been called (as the new church Prophet)"?

As with any group, over a period of time, factions form and they slap anyone down that tries to take over. So they're dying a slow death. They're cut off in so many ways. They flourished because of a Prophet and now they are dying because of him. Their savior is in Carus cemetary rotting, mine is in heaven reigning.

Don’t let any man stand in the way of your relationship with God.