Jose Castrejon Testimony

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subscribe and support this podcast. So we are Maranatha Ministries and now Reduction Draweth

nigh. Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, Welcome to Maranatha Ministries. We're your

host Jose and Matthew. Thank you so much for joining us. And tonight

we're gonna be doing well Jose's testimony. We're figure out the nuts and bolts.

We're gonna see if he really is a Christian. Right, we're gonna

literally take him and nail him to the cross. So I've already told him

this. And when it comes to somebody's testimony, you may not pull punches.

You may not pull punches because everybody has to know that, whether they're

a Christian or not. Now that probably shocks a lot of people. That's

probably creating a lot of reverberations in people. But let's really discuss this for

a moment. To a lot of people, Let's say the evangelical community in

the West, a lot of them had altars in their churches, and these

althars, a lot of people don't even know what an altar is it is

a kneeling half wall at the front of the church. And you're not saved

until you go up there in front of everybody kneel and become a Christian.

And then after that, then the next Sunday you go and be baptized.

And if you don't do those things, you're not a Christian. So now

that I've qualified that, that's the reason why we all must fly, because

all those people out there in the shadows, they need to know, they

need to be able to know in their own hearts whether they themselves are a

Christian or not, and how Christians get to their cross, because that's where

we're all going. We're all going to our cross. Christ himself said that

you're going to have to carry your own cross. So with that in mind,

we are going to pray ourselves into this situation and scenes out. Jose

is the one testifying, He's the one's going to pray us in. So

Jose lead us off in prayer. All right, they're heavenly Father, I

give you thanks and they give you praise for allowing me to give my testimony

today. All I ask is that my testimony edify the body, that my

testimony blesses those that hear it. And Lord, I asked that your Holy

Spirit comes and gives us direction and where we must go after this testimony.

This testimony is only going to cover the life I've lived so far. But

Lord, I know you have more work for me to do, and I

asked that you use this opportunity to show me and to show the ecclesia where

we must go and what we must do. So, Lord, I asked

this, and the name of Lord of your son, my Lord and Savior

Jesus Christ. Amen, Amen and Amen. So when this situation started,

I gave you, you know, I gave you a series of questions,

right, Yes, The first thing I asked you was how comfortable are you

talking about your faith? Are you good with that? Are you? Yeah?

Absolutely, Matthew, I'm very comfortable talking about my faith. Yes,

And tell me, was that a process the day you got saved? From

that very day? Was you comfortable talking about your faith? Yes, Matthew,

I've always been comfortable with sharing where I'm at and what I believe.

Okay. My issue has always been sharing it without being asked. Okay,

very I'm very introverted, So I'm not going to start right away start talking

to somebody and start sharing my testimony. But if somebody asks it, I

have no problem sharing it, and I share it openly because I know what

effect it's had in my life, and I know where it's taken me,

and I know how the Lord has blessed me being a Christian being saved.

So if somebody asks that's to me, that's like, like, I relish

that because now I get a chance to share, because I've noticed that I'm

very hesitant to share openly without being asked. So now let you answer that

question. You are implying that this was an event. Yes, you got

saved at some point, and your entire progression as a Christian is determined off

that one point. Yes, okay, So what was that event? So,

Matthew, like I said in my testimony, I don't have a one

singular event that I can recall where my eyes were open and I realized,

you know that God send his son to save me. I remember thinking that

from a very early age. The earliest I can remember would be about seven

years old, being in church. I grew up Catholic hearing the Gospel and

you know, them saying that Jesus Christ came for me, that he saved

me, he died on the cross for me, that he's the son of

God. And I believed it, and I said, that's true. And

at no point from their Matthew, have I ever had doubt that of those

things when I've contemplated, you know, because there's times where you contemplated,

you know, is there a God? Is the Bible true? When I've

thought about that, you know, I think, well, it's possible,

but it doesn't feel true. It doesn't feel right. It feels right that

there is a God, that he's the creator, and he sent his son

to die for me for my sins. So again it's it's it's been a

process understanding that and understanding how that salva, how he came for me,

how that salvation has come about, how that you know, is working out

as me as a Christian, how the Holy Spirit enters the picture. That's

been the whole process for me. But as a very young child, Matthew,

I remember hearing that and believing it and knowing it was true. So

it's very important that that we cover that that you're not talking about an event,

you're talking about a process. Yes, that's a whole different thing that's

a whole different thing than the evangelical community ascribes to an act of salvation.

And I'm not picking on the evangelicals. I'm certainly not not picking on them.

But the process you're describing is actually like the progression of life itself.

You're describing something that is akin to infancy, childhood, ad lessence, and

then finally or maybe you're there now, but a stage of adulthood. And

we know there's stages to adulthood, right, because eventually, eventually you get

to be a senior citizen, right right, And at that point, well,

I don't want to define what a senior citizen is, but we know

these steps occur. And it's very important that everybody realizes that you're not describing

an event, you're describing a process. Yes, And it sounds like to

me that you're really describing the age of accountability, aren't you correct, Matthew,

Yes, you're really describing psychologically that all the sudden you reached your age

of accountability and you were like, wait a minute, Jesus not only came,

Jesus not only died. Jesus wasn't only resurrected. He did those things

for Jose he did those things for me. There was this event horizon you

crossed when you reach the age of accountability, when you realize that he did

those things for me, you were able to internalize it. Yes, so

you'd been going to church, right, Yes, And you have those people

in the choir and they're Christians. You have this little bity world that all

the Christians are in that little bity that little bity confinement called church. So

you got the altar boys, and you got you know, the choir,

the people that sing, you have the people that light the candles. Everybody

in that structure there Christians. And then there came that time when you realize

that the rest of the world was not Christians. And then you realized you

finally crossed that threshold. You realized that you were a Christian and you had

to accept that simple fact that all these things had been done for you.

Yes. Really, you're describing the perfect life of spiritual adulthood. You reach

the age of accountability, you accept these things, and you just continued to

progress. Right. Yes, so now we're going to have to get really

personal. All right, So when you reached adulthood, it was time for

you to get married. Correct, This time came. There's many different dynamics

for it. But eventually Jose said to himself, you know what, I

want to get me a wife. And that process obviously happened because you have

children, now, correct, I do? How many children do you have?

I have two sons currently, and are those two sons do they have

more than one mother? No? The same other. So I'm going to

ask you the next question. So was there a prior marriage before your your

children's mother? No, there was not, Matthew, Okay, so let

me ask you this. So you chose your wife because she was a Christian.

That was part of the process. Yes, that was important to me

to be married to someone who was a Christian because because of how, because

of how I believed who God is, who his Son is, and who

the Holy Spirit is. And I knew, because I knew those things to

be true, I knew that it would be best for my family if my

wife was Christian as well. Now, I always left open the possibility that

I could marry someone who wasn't a Christian, because you know, whoever the

Lord brings to me is who the Lord's going to bring to me. Whoever

I fall in love with is it's up to God, but I would I

understood that if that was to happen, it would be a more difficult situation

raising a family. So I always felt that the Lord would find a Christian

mother for my sons. But you know, you never know until he actually

has that person in front of you. So let me ask you this,

was she looking for a Christian I believe so, yes, yes, she

was looking for someone with her saying values and maybe she wouldn't be able to

say my values are Christian values, but inevitably that's what it meant. That

the value she was looking for was in a in someone who was a Christian.

So she wasn't looking for a temporary circumstance. No, she was not.

Neither of us were. So it's amazing that you equate that with the

Christian That that set of values that is required to raise a moral family,

You naturally ascribed that to Christianity. Yes, I do, Matthew. I

know other religions are moral, and I know they can teach those values to

their children. But again, Matthew, Christianity is the truth. So that's

the best values you can you can give to your child. I see,

That's that's pretty important. So, so did you find your wife in that

same structure, in your particular church or to another church? No? No,

actually, what I didn't find her in church at all, Matthew.

I fent met her through mutual friends. We had mutual friends in common,

and we would just began hanging out, you know, I I she she

lived. She grew up in Mexico and that's where she lived, and I

was living in Arizona, just across the border. But because we had mutual

friends, I would go down there all the time to visit with with her,

her family or friends, just just getting together just you know, young

young adults getting together and having fun and getting to know each other. And

through those interactions when we were friends, I began to see what her values

are and I began to see what kind of mother she would be, and

that attracted to me. That attracted her to me even more. And so

again when when I when I understood how how much of a Catholic, right

a Christian she was, then that just made it more, that gave me

more certainty that she was that she would be my wife. So I got

one hundred and forty four thousand dollars question for you. So were you married

before or after your first pregnancy before? Okay, that's I know that's a

pretty tough question. But people need to know that because let's go back to

the promise. Now, we both know what the parent prophecy is, right

amen, Yes, and there is no doubt that that parent prophecy wasn't delivered

amongst mistakes. Amen, Amen, because the promise ful field was Isaac Amen.

Yes, amen, and the promiseful build was through the wife right correct.

But there was other children born first amen, yes, amen. So

I appreciate that you have the perfect set of circumstances. Now, I'm not

going to talk I'm not going to push you too far about this. What

time you consummated the marriage. I'm not going to ask you that because of

course, your wife deserves the honor that is duehrst. So we're not going

to talk about those things. But you understand that there's a lot of Christian

families out there that they have the similar set of circumstances. Yes, one

of the spouses wasn't a Christian before there's a marriage. But everybody needs to

realize this that even though you had the perfect situation, well, I guess

we wouldn't say perfect, we'd say the perfect situation to be if you if

you knew your wife from your own church, that's probably the situation and you

would have grown up with her your whole life. So but you do have

a pretty close situation that you you wasn't previously married, she wasn't previously married,

and you you had children and successfully done that. But it's important that

everybody knows that that's not how the parent prophecy was fulfilled. There was a

previous engagement, there was a previous child, and yet the promise was still

kept. Amen. Amen. So everybody needs to know that that that even

though Jose is describing a very traditional Christian life, that doesn't mean that you

walk Jose's path or you're not a Christian. He's not saying that at all.

He's saying it's a process. Now, Jose, what about your extended

family. Let's talk about your siblings. How many siblings do you have?

I have three siblings, Matthew, and are all of them Christians? Yes?

They are? And do all of them have Christian spouses? No?

And do all of them have they all had single marriages or multiple marriages.

So so far, just I have one brother who's not yet married. I

have one brother who was married, and my sister is in her single marriage,

her first and only marriage. So you have one brother that's divorced.

Yes, I see so. Yeah. Now I'm going to ask you very

difficult, very difficult question here. Now is the reason why this dynamic played

out because of your parents? So was your mom and dad Christians? Yes?

Were they? Did they have multiple marriages either one of them? My

parents divorced and my mother remarried. Did she have did she have other children

with her first marriage? Yeah? With their No, Well, the first

marriage was was with my father and that was me and my sister and my

brother. And then when she remarried, she had my my youngest brother.

I see. So so you've mixed it up quite a bit. Yes,

you come out of brokenness right, and yet you were able to carry the

promise to your obvious children. So do you have any adult children right now?

Uh? Yes, I have one once My oldest is twenty one years

old. And is he planning on getting married? Well, let me ask

you, is what's his plans for the future. Does he plan on having

a family or not? Because there's many people that don't plan on having a

family. I think he's he's not sure about that right now, Matthew.

From what he said, he he's just not sure. He doesn't know yet

whether he's going to have a family. There's there's not that degree of certainty

like there was with me. My youngest does have that certainty. He does

want a family. And how old is he He is currently fifteen fifteen,

So you know, I don't know why they think differently where there's different personalities,

where there's just different stages of development that process you're talking about, But

yeah, that's that's the place that they're at right now. Well, you've

described a highly a highly diverse dynamic going on just in your family. Yes,

you came from divorce. I mean that's where you came from a divorce,

and yet you and your wife has successfully administered a completely traditional marriage.

That was very important to us. And everybody needs to hear that. Everybody

needs to know that that you are a Christian independent of your pedigree. You

are a Christian because going back to that same thing you said before, you

are a Christian irregardless of your mom, irregardless of your dad, irregardless of

your wife. You're a Christian because you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

It is that what you're telling me, absolutely, Matthew, that that

is what it is. I would say that the different situations that my siblings

are in, they're in those situations because of that, that relationship with Jesus

Christ that they have. Obviously, the stronger relationship you have, the strong

the more likelihood of a traditional family that we're talking about, right, And

the less of a relationship you have, the less likelihood that develops. That's

what I'm seeing in my family members. I find that to be a little

bit extreme, and I'm sorry, but I have to take umbrage with you

because there are many god fearing, Bible believing, Gospel preaching Christians that I

know that their spouses certainly are not correct. So let's go back to the

parent prophecy. Certainly Abraham had a firstborn child, right, yes, and

that was certainly not the child of the promise, Amen Amen. But yet

even though even though that be the case, and even though she was sent

away, it is true that the Lord intervened and she still was provided for

amen. Amen. So we all need to realize that that that I understand

why jose said that that that the stronger your Christian relationship, the stronger that

you have a chance of the traditional marriage. But and that's okay to have

a traditional marriage. The message I'm trying to relate here is this is that

whether you have a traditional marriage or not, that has got nothing to do

with your Christianity, and especially as we get closer and closer to these end

times, because we need to remember. One of the worst promises that Jesus

said was this, you can take this to the bank. The son of

the Living God said, there's coming a time when the love of most will

wax cold. Amen, jose You, me and Matthew. Yep. So

you and I might be in a situation down the road when you know we're

occupying a household and the rest of people in those household, in that household,

they've waxed cold, and it's not our fault. You being a Christian

is a very personal thing. It's got nothing to do with who you work

for, who your friends are. It's got nothing to do with your in

laws, your immediate family, your parents. It's got nothing to do with

anything except you and Jesus. Would you say that is correct? Absolutely?

Matthew, very good. So how were you raised, Jose, were you

raised going to church multiple times the week and every week? Would you know?

We were raised traditional Catholic, which is just going to church on Sundays.

At a certain point, at a certain age, you enter into into

it was called catechism, which was kind of like Sunday School, but it

was during the week and it's where they would prepare you for your various sacraments

in the Catholic Church. So that was that was kind of in in conjunction

with what we're talking about. When when I had that realization of who God,

the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit was,

was when that catechism process started. And I had some great catechism teachers.

They were pretty amazing, very loving. Not not your traditional nuns right that

you would have that that you hear some horror stories from in the Catholic Church.

These were lay people who that was part of their ministry was was to

teach catechism to the youth and they would prepare you for your various sacraments.

And as well as I was as I would do that this this this process

of this the various sacraments, it felt like I was taking step to becoming

more holy. That's what it felt like as a child. I see so

a lot of people, especially if they're Protestant, they don't understand what you're

talking about. What's a sacrament? You mean like you mean like baptism,

you mean like taking communion? What's a sacrament? So baptism is one of

the sacraments, but as a most Catholics are baptized as children. Then after

that comes the sacrament of confession, where you after you complete the process,

then you can go into the confessional and confess your sins to the priest and

again him acting as a as an intercessor to the Lord and helping you to

repent of those sins. And then after that you have the sacrament of the

Eucharist, which is communion, and after that you're allowed to accept the body

and blood of Christ. And then after that you have the sacrament of confirmation,

right, which is when you're when the Church says, you know you've

you've completed the process. You're now able. Once you do the Sacrament of

Confirmation, you're now able to serve, whether in various ministries, whether that's

uh serving the Eucharist with the communion, whether that's reading the liturgy during the

church all this. Uh, once you have confirmation, you're you're then allowed

to participate as a as a layperson in the church, and and and in

various ministries, and also as a child. I was an altar boy,

so I was I was doing that while I was going through this process of

the various sacraments, the catechism for the sacraments. So let us be clear.

So you're describing that there was a point in time and you started going

into the confessional and repenting of your sins. Yes, okay. Did this

happen? And before or after this you reach the age of accountability? I

would say it was right around the same timeframe all were talking about what we

discussed in the beginning. Yeah, my, my, my, my,

my eyes being opened basically. No, that was after the confession. That

the confession, the sacrament of reconciliation was after that. Okay, was it

before your confirmation? Yes? Yes, confirmation is the last step, gotcha.

So so technically the Catholic Church doesn't doesn't How do I say this?

They don't declare you to be a Christian until your confirmation. No, you're

a Christian, Matthew, and and and and that that's pretty clear. It's

just uh, you know, so the way the Catholic Church teaches is in

order for you to uh enter into heaven when you die, you have to

have all these sacraments completed unless something prevented you from completing the sacraments, right,

including the sacrament of annoying of the sick when you're on your deathbed.

That's what the Catholic Church teaches. So they'll bring you through all this catechism

of the sacraments in order to get you to that point in order essentially in

order for you to be a Catholic. It's kind of the way they put

it. Yeah, okay, so that's what I'm wanting the people to realize.

You're stating that that's all that stuff, all that stuff, and I'm

not saying it's good stuff for bad stuff. It's not that stuff that determined

when you became a Christian. No, you're stating with your own mouth that

you became a Christian at this point, and then the other stuff in the

church they actually had to catch up with your side. My expectation of the

sacraments, Matthew, my expectation was that it was going to make me more

holy. That that was my expectation. So and so that's the way I

approached the process. And that's why I have those those feelings when when I

would complete eat sacrament, I would feel that closest with God. I would

feel like I was becoming holier. And again, this is just the feelings.

So it only lasts so long, Matthew, Right, and so you

know, you do the sacrament of reconciliation, which is confession, and you

have this immense surge of holiness, this immense surge of closest with God,

and then it slowly ebbs away. But then you've got the next the next

sacrament, which is the Sacrament of the Eucharist, which is communion. And

then as you get that, it builds, it builds, it builds,

and then you complete that sacrament and again you feel this immense closest with God,

this immense holiness, and then again it starts to ebb until the next

sacrament comes up. But finally, finally you complete all the sacraments, Matthew,

and you're sitting here waiting for the halo to show You're sitting here to

You're waiting for the angels to show you you know what you're supposed to do

do You're you're waiting for all this, and and again that that feeling also

begins to ebb and and and decrease, and eventually you were left with your

own resolve. Correct, yes, correct, Eventually these emotions go away.

Yes, it's basically like a tide you have, you know, the tide

comes in, the Holy Spirit comes in, but it does go and it

leaves you to your own devices. This is really what happens to every Christian.

Eventually, all of a sudden, you're at work. You look around

and this is my job, this is what I have to do. Well,

I thought God had a great, big plan for me, and you're

literally set there, left in your own devices. Yes, after this emotional

high, right, And it's in that place that you have to determine every

single day, with every single action, whether you're going to stay with Jesus

or not, because Jesus ain't going nowhere, right. And a lot of

people don't realize that. A lot of people think that it's this continual emotional

high you can feel God all the time. No, No, that's absolutely

not the case. As a matter of fact, we would probably say that

the top Christian upon Christian of Christians would be a lie to you, right,

I mean, nobody was closer to God than the lied you right,

I mean, I mean we can prove this by the simple fact he didn't

have to die. He went to heaven and a fiery Charito. Amen.

Correct, Amen, We both know that he fled into the wilderness to die,

right. Yes, they said, I'm going to go to Aaron and

die. I'm the only one left. I don't care. I was gonna

go die, right right, we can state unequivocably he had obviously lost his

emotional high, and he had been left to his own devices, and he

determined that, well, I'm going to die a Christian. There's one surefar

way I can die a Christian. Just go out there by myself. I

don't have to you know, I'm not gonna be tempted to go drink,

you know, go to the bar. I'm not going to be tempted to

go gamble. You know, I'm not going to be tempted to do this.

I'm not gonna be tempted to do that. So he went out away

from all the civilization just so he could die, and he thought to himself,

Hey, that's the perfect place for me to die. I won't be

tempted by anything. I just got there and starved to death. Amen.

So we can state in a court of law that he'd obviously lost his emotional

high correct, yep. And he had been left to his own devices,

and he determined in his heart, I'm just going to go ahead and starve

myself to death and then I'll go to heaven. Right right, We are

all left to our own devices, jose. So I stated this that way

to ask you this question. So you're a Christian now? Yes? And

you're Christian now based off your everyday decisions? Yes, Matthew. Everything I

do today, I mean I do it as a Christian? Yes. So

so no matter, and let me ask you about the Catholic Church. Are

you still a Christian according to the Catholic Church no matter what you do today?

Or are you allowed to do whatever it is you want to do and

still go to heaven? No? As a Catholic. No. As a

Catholic, you have to follow ten commandments. You have to follow the Beatitudes.

Now they add on to that with you know, you have to go

to Mass every Sunday, you have to complete the sacraments. That there's other

things that you still must do to be a Catholic in good standing and thus

in their eyes, be a Christian and thus go to heaven when you die.

Okay, so they add on to it. But the basis of being

a good Catholic as being a good Christian. Yes, So I am amazed

to hear you say that, because, well, Jose, if everybody didn't

know, you need to know this. This isn't my first rodeo. So

it's very important that you mentioned the Ten Commandments because this means that you hold

to a well a covenant theology, because there's basically two things. There's a

covenant theology and then there's dispensationalism. Now, the big difference is is that

dispensationalism well, they don't Well, let me put this simply. What you're

saying is that there are laws in the Old Testament. There's ceremonial laws,

there's civil laws, and there's moral laws. All those laws add up to

six hundred and thirteen laws. And you're telling me that the Catholic Church,

and you yourself, believes that the ceremonial law is said and done and the

civil law is set and done. But you believe that the moral law is

still in the fact. Is that what I'm getting from you? Amen?

Yep, absolutely, Matthew. And so do you add other things to the

Ten Commandments that you need to do on a daily basis? I would add

the beattitudes, Matthew. That's what I would add, because knowing that the

Ten Commandments is not going to help you how to act them out, how

to walk them out in the world. And the reason why I can say

this is because again we're talking about this process where I completed my sacraments,

and again, like you said, you're that that feeling starts to ebb away

and you begin to what's the word I'm looking for. You begin to rationalize

when you don't follow the Ten Commandments one hundred percent. You begin to rationalize

when you steal something, when you say a lie. You begin to uh

rationalize when you when you don't act like a Christian, Okay, And this

is what started to happen to me, Matthew. I knew the Ten Commandments,

I knew there was a God, I knew he had a son,

and I knew the Holy Spirit was here to help us. But there was

many times where I didn't act like that. And so I would have to

say say that that there's there's two things that kind of held the mirror to

my face, and that was my wife and my children that made me say,

Okay, Jose, you need to you need to get this straightened out

because this isn't gonna work the way you're acting. You're not acting like a

Christian. And so what my wife gave me, she's she's a very honest

and forthright person, Matthew, and if you're not honest and forthright with her,

she gets very afraid and and and very her foundation shake, especially when

her husband acts like that. So very very early on, I realized I

have to I have to. I can't lie to my wife. I can't.

I can't do these things that I was doing. Okay, because like

I told you, Matthew, the way the way I grew up, percent

of the time I was I was an angel, I was a saint,

Matthew, and people trusted me and people knew I was a man of my

word except for that one percent, which I could get away with because ninety

nine percent of the time you know you're you're you're perfect, but that one

percent of the time you're you're sinning, right, that's how we'll put it.

So that mirror was held up very quickly once I got married, and

my wife was that mirror to say, you can't act like this was it.

You need to start getting yourself straightened out. And isn't that when the

emotion comes back? Yeah? Yeah, because that that because that was when

I was married, Matthew, which is also a sacrament in the Catholic Church

marriage. When I got married, like you're right, it was that emotion

that was coming back, came back to that man. And a lot of

people don't understand that. Let's talk about a teenager that steals bubblegum. Know,

they'll actually get excited about it. They'll steal it, they'll get outside

the store, they'll put it in their mouth and walk and before they get

home, all of a sudden, the guilty conscience, and that guilty conscience

is the renewing of that emotion at salvation right right. Yes, they're these

little checks that you realize that, oh no, I need a course correction.

And fortunately your wife was that course correction for you. She acted even

as your conscience did, and she got you back on hey, you need

to straighten up, and all of a sudden you realized you had that flush

of emotion, didn't you. Yes, absolutely, you had that come to

Jesus moment. Amen. Amen, you realize that wait a minute, this

emotion is being used to get me back on course. And that is very

detrimental that everybody realizes that that is Is it not true? Jose? Now,

now you and I have did a lot of Bible study, right,

Yes, you would say with any stretch of the imagination and qualification that we're

going to go with whatever the Bible says is that they meant a yes,

So let's take you know, this wonderful Book of Philippians, chapter two,

verse twelve. So, then, my beloved, just as you have always

obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more on my

absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. And whether we like

it or not, that come to Jesus moment was associated with fear. Right,

Yes, all of a sudden, you're like, oh no, was

that piece of bubblegum worth going to hell over? Right? And it's a

pretty important thing that everybody realizes that God has a personal connection with you via

the Holy Spirit, and you better do moment by moment course corrections according to

your conscience. Amen. And it's really the beatitudes that that really are those

markers that lets you know when your consciousness is in effect. That's how you

know you're actively involved with the Holy Spirit when whenever you can lay that template

over today's actions. You have to go to work today, right, So

the real question is what time are you supposed to be there? Jose before

start time? Before that clock, because that means does that mean fifteen minutes

late? No, sir, Nope. You realize that if you follow the

beatitudes, you are going to be there on time correct, right, And

it just becomes everything becomes that thing. Okay, you know I have to

go pick up my friend or or my friend has a flat tire. I

have to go help him fix the fat flat tire. You'll take the beatitudes,

superimpose it on that situation, and it will tell you everything you need

to do. Right. If you act that way in this situation, you

will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. And it's pretty black and white. It

really isn't variable. So here at the end, let's talk about your Christianity

right now, So you go to church every Sunday. You stated earlier that

when you were growing up, you went to church on Sunday, so you

didn't have youth group on Tuesdays or anything Sunday your day. So is that

what you do now? Uh? No, I don't, Matthew, I

don't correct and qualify that. Why not? Is it you don't you don't

live close to church or you an hour away? Tell me the dynamics of

that. So me and my wife have had difficulty finding a church that we're

comfortable with. That's been that's been the main the main issue. Again,

I was describing the church I grew up in. My wife had a similar

church and a similar experience with her with her instruction as a Catholic. And

I don't know if it was a moment in time, Matthew, or what

the situation was in both of our churches, but it was very spiritual,

a lot of prayer, uh, a lot of Bible reading, okay,

And traditionally that's not what you hear about in Catholic churches. And we haven't.

We haven't found a church that that is as that we felt in as

comfortable as we did when we're growing up. Now. Part of that,

I know is my fault because as you read the Bible, Matthew, and

and as you understand how you're supposed to act as a Christian. It's real

easy to to criticize the churches out there. It's really easy to say,

well, this church doesn't do this, this church is failing here. And

so maybe that's what I'm that's what I'm being too critical of in finding a

church. But the other part is that you know, I I I get

a lot of fulfillment in this ministry, Matthew. I come to church when

when when we get together, But but I do know it's important that we

need a fellowship with with other Christians. And so that's that's something that that

I need to I need to fix. So explain to me about your boys,

especially your boy that's not an adult yet. So when's the last time

he was at church, your youngest boy. So we we went to church

when they were younger. My son comp toyed, Oh this completed. Uh,

he completed his first two sacraments, okay. And then it was that

it was actually during his process that that we became very uncomfortable with with the

church we were going to that the previous father, the previous priest, there

was he was great. He was a great priest. The people loved him.

But then the church moved him and they brought in another priest who was

very oh, let's just say he was very illegal and not very spiritual.

And so it killed a lot of the spirit in that church as well as

as our enthusiasm for going for going to that church. Now, my my

oldest son went to went to church with his with his with his uncle and

uh and his cousin. They were attending a church and he would go with

them. But and my youngest we would take him to church whenever there was

events, whenever our family invited us to church, we would go. So

that's been his familiar familiarity with church. But yeah, that's that's Uh,

they're not experiencing the process that I experienced, Matthew, Okay, And that's

that's that's that's worrying some to me. Well, it's very disparaging just from

the witness stand because you're saying that you never loud your oldest son to complete

this catechism correct And how does he feel about that? That? Does he

feel like he's a Christian or not? He does, but I know,

I know he still needs more direction. I see, yeah, And and

and we we've read we we read the Bible and the House Matthew, and

we discussed things and we pray before we pray, you know, before before

we eat, and we and there's we get together and we pray when when

when we need to pray together. So both of my sons understand what what

it means to be a Christian. But there is there is something to that

process. There is something to that being brought up in a way that that

that things that that you can't just learn in the home that you're exposed to.

Amen, because none, none of my process was was learned in the

home. Right, My basis was in the home, my grandparents, my

parents, they provided a real strong basis. But that process did occur in

the church. For me. Well, you know, it sounds like to

me that your oldest son is a fulfillment literally of Philippians Chapter two, verse

twelve, because he remembers this good priest and was going through Catechism with the

good priest, right, yes, and then that priest left. So let

me read this one more time, and we can literally superimpose this on your

oldest son. I mean that this verse literally can be super imposed on him.

I mean, even though prophetically, you know it's talking about Jesus and

ourselves, right, Because when's the last time you met Jesus, Jose,

I haven't met him yet, Matthew, you have not met him yet,

No you have. When's the last time I met him, Jose? Nope,

Nope, I've never met Jesus face to face. Everybody's going to see

him when he comes back, right amen, He's going to come screaming across

the cosmos, naughty dottie. Everybody will see him coming. So that's really

what this verse is talking about. But also prophetically it perfectly matches your son's

incomplete so called catechism with the good Priest Philippians, Chapter two, verse twelve.

So then, my beloved, that would be your son, just as

you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much

more in my absence. So this priest is gone. Your oldest son needs

to work out his salvation with fear and trembling. I mean, and literally

speaking, this goes to all of us. I mean, you know,

who's the biggest Christian you ever knew in your life? Who who was the

most godly person, that was the most influence on your life. Jose,

I would say it was the head catechist in my catechism. I can tell

you her name, Missus Tibbets. And she's gone right, Amen, Yes,

yes, she's gone home. So this verse pertains to you as well,

right, yes, And that is to say it pertains to me as

well too, because I heard the gospel from somebody, right Jose, Yes,

sir, and you heard the gospel from somebody too, And eventually we

are left to our own devices, right right. The Lord Jesus Christ is

manifested in every decision we make, and every right decision we make. We

choose to bear His cross on our backs with every single decision. Would you

agree to that absolutely, Matthew? Well, then I wholeheartedly am thankful that

you are my brother in Christ. So I know it happens differently for a

whole lot of people. There's a whole lot of people out there that that

they had this altar in their church, and you know they were called forward,

and you know they went and did or maybe they even went to a

Billy Graham revival. Amen, And maybe they went up front and got saved

with Billy Graham. And I'm thankful for them as well. I'm thankful for

them as well. So in your closing comments, why don't you, in

your own words give us the gospel? Well, Matthew, this is this

is how I'm going to give it to you. And I thought a little

bit about this my process as a Christian, my process going into as as

an adult, right, not not a not a child on milk, but

an adult meet and the way I look at it, when I was younger,

I knew when I and I understood God, and I knew who He

was, and I knew what He did for me. I knew what He

did in creation because I could see it every day. My family relied on

agriculture, My family relied on raising livestock to survive, and so and so

every day I was reminded what God was doing for us on a daily basis,

and I was thankful for that, and my my grandparents and my parents

were thankful for that. As I as I began to read the Word,

the Gospel was shared with me. As I began to once I got married,

read the Word myself and understand what is to come, Understand who Christ

is going to be as king when that comes. Then I began to under

stand Jesus who he was as the bridegroom and as my king. And understanding

who he was as the bridegroom showed me who I was supposed to be as

the bride. And then once the Holy Spirit came to be our comforter,

to be our instructor, I learned that it's what you do, how you

help other people, how you put others first, those fruits that you show,

that's what keeps the Holy Spirit there every day. Matthew. It's not

what you're feeling. It's not who you are, how good you've been doing,

how well you've been following the Ten commandments that locks the Holy Spirit in

place on a daily basis. It's how you act, how you follow those

beatitudes. And so that's what I think people need. Once we have our

salvation, once we realized that God sent his only son to us to die

for us, to die for our sins, then we understand that His Holy

Spirit is there to instruct us, to show us what is to come,

and to show us how we are to seek that lost lamb, that one

lost lamb and bring them home to the Father to enter into the Kingdom of

heaven. So that's what I would have to say, Matthew. We have

to pray every day for that close relationship with the Father. We have to

read the Word every day to solidify that relationship with his son. And we

have to act godly every day to keep that Holy Spirit within us and to

ensure that we walk in that straight and narrow path. And for that,

I'm thankful. I am thankful for everything you described. And it's amazing to

me that you didn't get saved the same way I got saved, because I

got saved with a good old fashion hell fire and brimstone preaching. My preacher

in my church. I tell you he could, he would. You would

get a Sunday spanking. You would let me Sunday spanking. He would light

you up like a firecracker. He'd let you know that man. He would

let you know that you do it God's way or you're going to burn in

hell. I mean, I mean, he preached the fire out of you.

So I am grateful that. I am grateful that you are in my

family, even though you obviously come from a different place than me, and

in lieu of that, in fact, because of that, I'm going to

close this out with prayer. And no one understand this in your heart,

ladies and gentlemen, that if you're a Christian, no matter where you're at,

no matter how you got to be a Christian, no matter how you

entertain that event or that process. When I say the word Our, Oh,

you are know in your heart I'm talking about you and me. So

let's take this closing prayer really personal. Let's take it personal. When I'm

praying it, be thankful to the Lord your God that you and I and

Jose we truly are in the family of God, our Father, which are

in heaven. Hallowed be your name, your Kingdom. Come, and your

will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day

our daily bread, and forgive us our trust passes as we forgive those who've

truspassed against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For Thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Ah

Man. All right, ladies and gentlemen, until next God bless God speed.

Thank you for listening to Marinatha Ministries with Matthew Miller. I appreciate you

tuning in for more information. Stop by and visit us at patreon dot com,

backslash Matthew Miller, or you can correspond to us via snail mail by

writing to PO Box zero two four reader, North Dakota five eight six four

nine. Now, if you are a God fearing, Bible believing, Gospel

preaching Christian, please repeat after me, I pledge allegiance to the Bible,

God's holy Word. I will make it a lamp unto my feet and a

light into my path. It'sh words will I hide in my heart that I

might not sin against God.