Dear Phil,

Wow! What an excellent article. I really like that.

I love the way you write.

Okay, I better stop typing now, and go and do laundry. My right hand 
is hurting, because I've been typing all day.

Thanks a bunch.

Lovingly,
Pat Ferguson



At 02:35 PM 9/27/2008, you wrote:
>Here is my latest article that for sure will get me into big time trouble
>with lots of people.  It is also long, about 8 pages, but whose counting.
>
>Phil.
>
>So It's My Fault Again?
>
>
>By Phil Scovell
>
>
>
>      Yes, I did it again!  I turned on the radio and dialed up a
>Christian broadcast.  I couldn't help it.  It was late, about
>midnight, I wasn't sleepy yet, and besides, it was my favorite
>preacher's voice coming through the speaker.  His program was
>just coming on the air so I settled back to listen to his daily 15
>minute broadcast.  Within five minutes, I was spitting, rending my
>clothes, and casting dust into the air.  "Why me, God?  Why do you
>let me hear this stuff?  I don't even have my own radio or TV
>program to expose the false teaching, Lord.  What gives?"
>
>      He was preaching at a Bible conference at his own ministry
>facilities so I have no idea how old this sermon was but it
>couldn't be too old because he commented on his thirty years plus
>of ministry, and I know how old he is because he is my age.
>Plus, I have many of his tapes and I have heard him hundreds of
>times.  Like I said, he is, still is, my favorite preacher because
>I agree with his interpretation and application of the Scriptures
>so often.
>
>      His basic theme of the message was healing.  He was trying to
>explain why some people don't keep, the key word here is keep,
>their healing.  This, for me, even as a tongue talking, weirded
>out Charismatic, has always bothered me.  I mean, everything God
>ever has done, up until now apparently, has been permanent.  For
>example, the creation of all things, people he raised from the
>dead didn't lose there healing but later died natural deaths, the
>blind never went back to being blind, Lepers stayed healed, the
>woman with an issue of blood did not have to return for more help
>from Jesus, the lame continued walking, Lepers remained whole, the
>deaf kept hearing, and need I continue by listing all our Lord's
>miracles?  So what is this Charismatic thing that you can lose
>your healing?  Of course, the only answer that can be used is that
>it is our fault.  Right?  I mean, we done lost our faith.  Right?
>come on, now, you know the routine.  It doesn't sound like God to
>me no matter how you explain it.
>
>      In this message, as is the case with so many messages by
>"Holy Spirit filled" Charismatics, if a healing doesn't work,
>especially one in which they have prayed, laid hands on, and
>those whom they have just chased demons out of, then your faith is
>the problem; not theirs.  I mean, there faith is obviously working
>and yours ain't.  Next time you are told that, ask for your money
>back and walk out of the place because you just been lied to.  I
>mean, somebody is short changing the true nature and character of
>Jesus so get away from them.  Now!
>
>      In this particular sermon, the preacher told the story about
>a woman who had been miraculously healed of whatever she had.  I
>can't recall now if it was cancer or just what but it was bad,
>inoperable, and something she would likely die of, again, as I
>recall the story that he told.  Regardless of what it was, it was
>very serious; that much I remember.  However, as is the case with
>so many who are healed, she lost it.  Dad gum it.  Can't God do
>anything right?
>
>      He said that he asked the lady what she did the next morning
>when she realized, whatever the disease or malady was that had
>returned, and she said, "Well, I made an appointment and went in
>to see the doctor."  He informed her that this was her first
>mistake, that is, she went to the doctor.  He further said that
>she wasn't using her faith, as she once had, when she had been
>healed and thus she lost her healing.  In other words, you are on
>your own even if you are a born again Christian.  What happen to
>the preacher's prayer of faith over you anyway?  Why is it all of
>the sudden, your fault, and not his?  Where is his responsibility
>as "A Man Of God?"  Did he lose his faith when you lost your
>healing?  Come on!  What's up here?
>
>      My personal problem with this felonious theology is that I
>can't find any Scripture to confirm it.  When I look at Jesus, or
>even His own disciples, I find that people got healed and it was
>permanent.  Never once is there any record that anybody lost their
>healing because of a lack of faith.  You will, of course, find
>passages where Jesus said, "Your faith hath made you whole," but
>you won't find them losing their healing later or did the Holy
>Spirit, the author of the Bible, just leave those negative things
>out?  He sure didn't leave out the negative things in the Old
>Testament record.  I can also point out many places where the Holy
>Spirit reports through the inspired writers of the New Testament,
>the times Believers were accused of failure due to their unbelief.
>Did you hear it?  Due to their unbelief!  The Lord's own disciples
>of our Lord were horribly guilty of this.  (See Matthew 13:58,
>Mark 6:6, Mark 16:14 and especially examine very carefully, the
>story of the demon possessed son found in Matthew 17:14-21).  If
>you are too lazy to look up the passages on your own, then skip
>reading now and just go back to listening to the dumb butt
>preacher who still is leading you around by the nose.  That's
>easier than checking the bible out anyhow.
>
>      These same people who believe you can lose your physical
>"healing," normally likewise believe that one can lose their
>salvation in exactly the same way.  This is even in spite of the
>fact the Bible clearly states that "every man is given the
>measure of faith," but apparently, that faith can be lost and you
>can be lost again.  Does this mean Jesus takes that faith away or
>just that it is our job to hold on to it so we don't lose our
>salvation?  Which is it?  Unfortunately, if losing your salvation
>is true, I must inform you that you can never ever be born again,
>or saved, a second, third, or fourth time.  In short, you be up a
>shallow creek without a boat or a paddle.  Why?  Because Hebrews
>10:12 through 26 says the following, and read the whole lengthy
>passage for context, please.  Why?  Because it is how you
>interpret Scripture and thus learn to apply what you read.
>
>#12  But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for
>ever, sat down on the right hand of God;
>#13  From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his
>footstool.
>#14  For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are
>sanctified.
>#15  Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after
>that he had said before,
>#16  This is the covenant that I will make with them after those
>days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in
>their minds will I write them;
>#17  And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.
>#18  Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering
>for sin.
>#19  Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the
>holiest by the blood of Jesus,
>#20  By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us,
>through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
>#21  And having an high priest over the house of God;
>#22  Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of
>faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and
>our bodies washed with pure water.
>#23  Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without
>wavering; for he is faithful that promised;
>#24  And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to
>good works:
>#25  Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the
>manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the
>more, as ye see the day approaching.
>#26  For if we sin willfully after that we have received the
>knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for
>sins."
>
>      Let me point out what should be the obvious in this passage.
>
>First, verse 12 says, "But this man, after he had offered one
>sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God."
>It is pretty clear to me that this verse identifies the person of
>Jesus Christ as being our supreme sacrifice for sin.  The
>terminology used of, "this man, after he had 'offered one
>sacrifice' for sins 'for ever,' makes it absolutely clear that His
>sacrifice for sin was once and for all; for ever.  "Once" and "for
>ever" is pretty final; wouldn't you say?  Oh, I'm sorry.  I
>forgot.  Unless, of course, you can lose your salvation.  Some
>God.  He can't even save his own without man's help, apparently.
>
>      Secondly, verse 14 repeats the absolute truth of the prior
>theological statement by saying, #14  "For by one offering he hath
>perfected for ever them that are sanctified."  My!  What's this?
>How many offerings did Jesus offer?  (He is the offering, in case
>you missed It.  It says, "For by one offering."  Just one, not two
>or three or more.  This clearly means, if you lose your salvation
>for being a dumb bell and not watching your step, you cannot go
>back for seconds because only "one" offering has been given.
>
>      It doesn't stop there.  The same verse says the following:
>"he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified."  Perfected?
>What in the world is He talking about?  It can't mean really
>perfect, can it? Yes, it literally means, in the Greek, to be made
>perfect or complete.  If it really means perfected, you can't lose
>it, or can you?  It sounds like perfect means perfect to me but
>then what do I know; I just read the Bible and take it for what it
>says in plain English and forego trying to read something else
>into it to fit my personal theology.  Besides, if we are
>"sanctified," since when does God remove that state of
>sanctification once it is given?  Oh, I see.  We can lose our
>sanctification as well?  Too bad the Greek word for "sanctify," in
>this passage means (to be made holy, complete, purified, and
>guiltless).  In short, there is no room to interpret
>sanctification in terms of that which is temporarily given to some
>one until they screw up, sin, or stop acting like a child of the
>King.  Boy, you almost had me worried there for a second.
>
>      Thirdly, and I'm sorry but it would be wise to quote all
>three verses collectively in order to see it more clearly, this
>passage again says:  #15  "Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a
>witness to us: for after that he had said before,
>#16  This is the covenant that I will make with them after those
>days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in
>their minds will I write them;
>#17  And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more."
>
>      The "Holy Ghost" is our witness that these things are true.
>That's good.  So that means we cannot claim we lost the Holy
>Spirit in the process, unless, of course, you simply don't know
>how to read.  I suppose, if the Holy Spirit is less than God, He
>could, in fact, stop witnessing, stop sealing our salvation, and
>just move on to do something else but that isn't in the Bible
>either.  Honestly.  We are having a terrible time getting away
>from that bible stuff, aren't we?
>
>      Next, in verse #16, we are flatly told, this is a covenant.
>What?  Well, shoot, if you can lose your salvation, then a man can
>be uncircumcised after being circumcised.  ouch!  Right?  That's
>the covenant of God given to Abraham, whose seed we are, (See
>Romans 4:11-13), and if you have the time, read all of Romans
>Chapter 2 concerning who is a Jew and who is circumcised and who
>is of faith.  That will clear up any confusion you might have.  Of
>course, if you don't take time to read those passages, you likely
>are still going to believe a lie.  Unless, of course, you are
>unawares of what circumcision is physically and what it means
>Biblically.  In that case, physically, I mean, check a good
>medical book out of your local library.  Your Bible explains the
>theological aspect of circumcision but then again, you'll have to
>read it to find out about it.  If you won't do that, read your
>Bible, I mean, you likely won't go to the library either so just
>forget what I suggested.
>
>Verse #16 continues by saying "saith the Lord, I will put my laws
>into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them."  He,
>Jesus, the Holy Spirit bearing witness, puts His law into our
>hearts?"  Furthermore, He, Jesus, the Holy Spirit bearing witness,
>writes it in our minds?"  Wow!  I guess, if one can lose their
>salvation, God has a big huge rubber eraser some place in the
>universe He must have to use occasionally.  No, I'm not trying to
>be funny.  He writes it what Revelation calls "The Lamb's Book Of
>Life,"  or just "The Book Of Life."  Get it?  "Life?"  Not death?
>(See Revelation 3:5, 13:8, 17:8, 20:12, 20:15, 21:27, and 22:29).
>That last reference is the only one I am aware of whereby one can
>lose their eternal salvation and this is committed by adding, or
>changing, or altering, God's Word.  So be careful.  Oh, yes.
>Philippians 4:3 also mentioned "The Book Of Life," but if all the
>other references don't apply, that one won't either so it is up to
>you and what you believe, I guess.
>
>      So, what in the Sam Hill are we then going to do with Hebrews
>Chapter 12 and verse #17 that says, "their sins and iniquities
>will I remember no more."  If you lose your salvation, you know,
>the thing the Holy Ghost bears witness of, and comes to dwell,
>literally, inside of our newly recreated spirit, (See 2
>Corinthians 5:17 and John 14:14-20), which even says that Jesus
>dwells within us, but I digress, repeating myself, what are we
>going to have to do to explain this promise away?  You can use, of
>course, if your agenda is to make your theology fit what you say
>you believe, that God has a failing memory relating to salvation,
>or some lame thing like that, but no matter what you say, you
>can't make God remember something He says He can't remember
>concerning your sin he has totally forgotten about.  Well, unless
>you don't believe the Bible but I thought you claimed you were a
>Bible Believer.  If you have further doubt, explain to me what
>Psalm 103:12 is talking about.  "As far "as the east is from the
>west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us."  That's
>right; you can't explain it any other way than truthfully.  You
>either take God at His Word or you don't.  Yes, we are getting
>dangerously close to why people "lose their healing," so hold on a
>minute.
>
>      It is actually verse #18 that really rattles the, (you can
>lose your salvation), or (healing), outfit.  Let me quote verse
>#17 with it, though, so you'll get the contextual feel for the
>full meaning and impact of the verse.  Here we go.  Strap yourself
>in.
>
>#17  "And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.
>#18  Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering
>for sin."
>
>      Woe horse!  But don't stop here.  Let's jump all the way down
>to verse #26 to finish the thought of the theology being depicted
>within the complete text.
>
>#26  "For if we sin willfully after that we have received the
>knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for
>sins."
>
>      Bingo, Brother!  Do you see it?  No more offering for sins if
>you lose your salvation.  Step lightly, young man, or you might
>end up in hell even if you once were on your way to Heaven.  Man,
>is this weird theology or what?  And people say I'm crazy.
>
>      Let me say it one more time so you don't overlook it.
>According to these verses, if you are born again, and sin
>willfully again, you cannot ever be born again a second time
>because Jesus cannot go back to the cross and die for you and your
>sins all over again and then be bodily resurrected on the third
>day.  You are done stuck going to hell period; it is final.  Yes,
>some people believe you can get saved, born again, every day, if
>that's what it takes, but they must be reading a different Bible.
>In that case, run!
>
>      Let me cut to the chase, therefore, and ask you this
>question.  Is our salvation a covenant we have with God, the Holy
>Spirit bearing witness of such, or is our salvation something we
>can change once it is God applied?  If you can read, you already
>know the answer.  If healing, therefore, is also a covenant
>relationship with God, and it is, can we then lose that, too,
>just like our salvation?  Do you see why I started with the true
>interpretation of the doctrine of our eternal salvitic
>relationship with God?  They go together;  they cannot be
>separated.
>
>      Yes, yes, I know.  You have one very important question to
>ask so go ahead, right now, and get it off your chest.  I'm
>listening.
>
>      "Well, if we can't lose our salvation and we shouldn't be
>able to lose our physical miraculous healing, what about this
>woman who went to the doctor that the preacher talked about on the
>radio?"
>
>      Excellent question.  The woman, in this story, was told she
>lost her healing because she lost her faith.  Sorry, Charlie.
>Ain't in the Bible, no how.  No, she didn't stop believing either.
>No, it wasn't a big lack of trust in God either.  "Then what was
>it?"  In whom was this woman believing when she "received her
>healing?"  Take a wild guess.  The preacher who told her about
>this miracle she could have if she just believed?  You are getting
>warmer.  In whose words did she believe, do you suppose, when she
>"got her miraculous healing which she later lost?"  In this story,
>the preacher, my favorite preacher, told her to go back to doing
>what she did when she got healed.  No!  No! No!  That's what got
>her to losing her healing in the first place.  Why in God's name
>would you instruct her to do what she did before?  Healing isn't
>of you or me or any hair brained theologically screwed up radio
>preach or pastor.  Salvation, and healing, is of the Lord, stupid.
>Come on.  In whom do you believe?  The preacher?  The pastor?  Me?
>Some dumb Christian book called the Purple Propelled Life?
>Promise Holders?  Some men's organization called the Advanced
>Christian Porno Problem Solvers who meet on the internet, charging
>thirty dollars a month for membership dues, and meets once a week?
>Give me a break.  For crying out loud, to whom are you listening
>to in the first place?  What happened to believing God and His
>eternal, unchanging, eternal, Holy Word just like it reads?  I
>swear, if the government band all Christian broadcasting
>tomorrow, I think I'd shout, "Glory.  Back to church we go."  At
>least then, foolish theology will only be spread by word of mouth,
>or, God forbid, by New York Times best selling books.
>
>      Let me suggest something at this point.  From now on, anybody
>who is going to lay hands on you for a physical healing, ask them
>if they, the key word here is they, will give you a 100 percent
>guaranteed promise that you will, first, be healed, and second, it
>will be permanent.  I guarantee, and promise you, that they will
>refuse to lay hands on you for healing if you ask that question
>first.  What if preachers and pastors suddenly started taking
>responsibility for those with whom they pray?  What if they blamed
>themselves for a person "losing their healing," instead of blaming
>the person they prayed for?  Let me prove something to you right
>here and now.
>
>      Let's use this same favorite preacher of mine as an example.
>My young son has his third degree black belt in Karate.  He is a
>judge at tournaments, he has been an instructor at a Karate
>school, he has trophies, a broken foot with a steel plate and six
>screws in it, he has been hospitalized with concussions, and he
>has, for that matter, done a little bleeding along the way, too.
>So, during one of these healing services, following the message of
>course, few ever get healed miraculously before the preaching, and
>especially before the offering, what if I went forward to be
>prayed for and healed.  I am totally blind with two artificial
>eyes.  I can take them out to prove it.  Let's say I bring along
>my son with the black belts in Karate.  Ok?  So far; so good.
>Now, when the preacher comes up to lay hands on me for a for real
>recreative miracle, you know, the ones like Jesus often did, let's
>say that I ask him if he, the preacher, believes I am going to be
>receiving my sight with brand new eyeballs.  You know, just like
>the blind man in John Chapter 9 who let Jesus spit in the dirt,
>make clay, and slap the gooey mess right in his empty eye sockets.
>How weird is that.  Sort of like when Jesus stuck his fingers in
>the deaf man's ears, spit and touched his tongue, of all things,
>and the old boy started hearing.  That's in Mark Chapter 7 if you
>are worried about what I said.  But, then, maybe he lost his
>hearing again later.  That Jesus!  I tell you what.  Sometimes I
>wonder if He knows what He is doing without all these preachers
>telling Him first what to be doing and saying.  Now back to my
>story.
>
>      I already know I believe so I want to know if the preacher
>truly believes and will stake his ministerial reputation on what
>he says he believes and what he is about to pray.  Ok?  I mean,
>the disciples did so why not those of us who preach and teach that
>we know what the Bible says.  By the way, I tell the people with
>whom I pray that I promise they will experience healing and that I
>guarantee it will be permanent, so what's the big deal here?  No
>guts?  No glory: personal glory?  I'm confused at your
>reluctance.
>
>      So, now.  If, by chance, I can get him to go this far, I will
>then lift his leg so my son can, with one hand, or one foot, break
>his leg.  Then I will ask him to show me his faith or does he wish
>me to call an ambulance just before my son breaks his other leg.
>"Not fair," you say?  Why not?  Faith is faith, or are you now
>going to tell me there are degrees, or levels, of faith that work
>only under certain situations?  Get a life and call me back when
>you have something worth saying, or when they remove your cast.
>For now, your teaching is not just weak, it isn't even Biblical
>and stop asking for my offering on your radio program until you
>teach the truth about who God really is.  While you are at it,
>return all the money you've receive thus far from people who
>believe you were telling them the truth, too.  Otherwise, get a
>job.
>
>
>It Sounds Like God To Me.
>www.SafePlaceFellowship.com
>
>
>
>
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