The key phrase in this spectacular video is, "Tend to Christ." We are obligated neither to tend to our flesh or to worry about its sporadic lack of performance. What to do instead? Look above, with thanksgiving, to God.
The Christian religion speaks much about "freedom," and "grace," and "deliverance," but said religion neither practices nor enjoys any of these blessings. Those who do are thought to be careless and soon find no home in the orthodox assembly. That's fine. The best favor that can be done for a true believer is to be chucked from the system. It is only outside of the walls of religion
that true freedom and peace exist.
This is the best video I have seen in a long time. The truths here articulated are the best truths I have heard in a long time. It doesn't matter that the man writing this text is the one who created the audio twenty-five years ago. When truth is truth, it thrills the speaker as much as the listener. This is due to the speaker being acutely aware that the truths and the ability to
articulate them come from God.
Anyone standing or arguing against these revelations does so at his or her own risk. Is the news TOO good? For the religious soul, yes. The religionist, you see, wants good news—as long as it is not TOO good. If the news is TOO good, the religionist looses all sense of purpose, for purpose—according to the religionist—is tied to performing for God. If all is of God, then where is
the reward for personal merit? Where is the opportunity for boasting? The snare/stumbling block of the cross is that the grace of God rewards those owing their everything to Him; yes, even their good works.
I love how Rodney Paris has put so many PEOPLE in this video—human beings who, in the context of the truths spoken, live their lives free of the performance anxiety and the ultimate guilt produced by perceived failure. We all want to walk worthily of the calling. How to do that? Don't worry about it. (This is not a joke. Seek within for the glorious
details.)
If there were ever a video to share with friends and/or loved ones, let this be it. This moving picture holds the listener/viewer from beginning to end. It is unconscious of itself—this helps a lot. Watch what happens when the consciousness goes Godward. Is it a sin for serious teaching and earnest presentation to be funny? Entertaining? We don't think so. Sin may reside, rather, in
the conscious striving for relatability. In hopes of pleasing everyone, the self-conscious presenter pleases no one.
Thanks again to Rodney Paris who makes magic fly off his fingertips in this colorful gift to the saints. This is the fastest fifty minutes you will have the pleasure to spend. Just when you think it's all too good to be true, please remember that it is God Who, according to His own testimony (Ephesians 3:20) does above and beyond anything we are requesting or
apprehending.
The audio was recorded in Newport News, Virginia, on November 9, 1996, in a strip mall dentist office turned meeting place for those called "saints" by God Himself. Thanks to Pastor Robert Allen who hosted Jean Douglas and myself that weekend, opening even his home to us. And yes, we did watch the Tyson/Holyfield heavyweight fight that evening. It remains one of my greatest
memories.
Grace and peace to all who watch. If this presentation does something for you, then copy and paste it on social media, or send it directly to both your enemies and friends, that it might do the same for them. Let us, together, decrease the ranks of Christianity and swell the ranks of that independent "organization" of rag-tag saints called "the body of
Christ."
From the Floridan peninsula,
—Martin
August 8, 2021
