Restoration Ministries International

• To mutually establish a biblically-based way of life free from slanted Bible interpretations and heresy, read:   

“General Rules of Biblical Interpretation.”

• Please download God’s Newer Testament Commands which we discovered on the Internet. You’ll find it very helpful in grasping the way of life which the 1,050 commands in the Newer Testament require of you. One of the foremost commands by our Lord Jesus for the genuinely born again to live tenacious as His redemptive ambassadors.

• To remain free of the bitter hatred of contemporary politics and have the heart of our Lord Jesus, read:   

“True Patriots Are Bible-based Constitutionalists.”

January 9, 2025

Don’t Cross The Line

Dear Friends in Christ Jesus our Lord, 

Please download our next Potpourri by clicking on the title: Does Your Entertainment Use “Jesus” As An Expletive? This Potpourri is written for the genuinely born again to warn you against being tempted by worldly Christians who populate so many congregations today. We noted in our previous Potpourri that institutional Christianity abounds with people who have given way to 👺undemolished demonic strongholds and 👺unconfessed sins. Added to this sorrowful reality is the overriding influence of Humanism and its “whatever makes me happy” mantra which has become entrenched in western Christianity, as well as the impact on churchgoers of this society's obsession with entertainment. So how does all of this impact you? If you're genuinely born again, then abiding in the holiness which our Lord requires of those who love and serve Him is constantly being challenged. And the people who are likeliest to take exception to your earnest pursuit of living holy as unto your Lord are worldly Christians in your own faith community or among relationships who preferred you when you were living as compromised as they are.

The Holy Spirit has allowed us to be deeply distressed that so many genuinely born again  followers of Jesus openly and unquestioning accept worldly Christians as “brothers” and “sisters” in Christ. If you're genuinely born again but are ignoring or even discounting the biblical criteria for considering other Christians as “brothers” or “sisters”, then you're making yourself vulnerable to being seduced into particular facets of spiritual darkness. The genuinely born again must adhere to the biblical criteria by which our Lord Jesus identifies His “brothers” and “sisters”: “For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother” (Matthew 12:50; see also Matthew 7:21; John 4:34; 5:30; 6:38; Romans 12:2). We discuss in this Potpourri other indicators of His authentic family who love and serve Him as their Lord: People •who fear Him, •who live in holiness, •who refuse to live intentionally sinning. 

Our Lord’s criteria concerning those who authentically belong to Him is what separates the genuinely born again from the worldly Christians who comprise much of Christianity today. Again, those who are our Lord’s own can verify their divine family relationship by doing our Father’s will: “Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether My teaching comes from God or whether I speak on My own” (John 7:17). And our Lord’s family reveal the divine presence of the Holy Spirit within themselves by their actions: “Very truly I tell you, whoever trusts in Me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12). When Christ is abiding in you through His Spirit, then out of love for our Lord Jesus you will purpose to do Father's will and manifest His work through your actions. These two parameters in particular should stand out as identifying evidence for you to discern between authentic “brothers” or “sisters” and people who merge religious forms and practices with the world's ways.

Again, this Potpourri is written to help the genuinely born again keep from being duped into extending biblical fellowship to “worldly Christians” who are not part of our Lord Jesus’s family from His perspective. We know from God’s Word that Satan is well able to disguise himself as an angel of light whose demon-influenced workers can readily take on the appearance of "good Christians" (see 2Corinthians 11:14,15). His most successful strategy is to place those he has taken captive into various faith communities to do his will rather than God's will (2Timothy 2:26). We’ve shared anecdotes over the years to show you some of the ways in which Satan has infiltrated faith communities to steer them into compromising with sin and diminish the authority of God's Word in their lives. Here's an example which took place a while back and was personally reported to us:

In a certain congregation the pastor’s wife had a check in her spirit about a woman who’d been attending services there. Within a year of her arrival this woman had become head of the Sunday School program as a welcome volunteer by most of the congregants. But the pastor’s wife kept praying with uneasiness about this woman's influential role. One Sunday during a time of congregational worship, she saw a grotesque demon sitting on that woman’s shoulder. Horrified, she went to her husband and the elders and insisted they look into this. When they met with the woman, she admitted that she’d been sent into the congregation by satanists to water down the Sunday school curriculum and thereby diminish people's trust in God and His Word. 

If you’re genuinely born again, the devil has his sights set on you! Satan’s main strategy is to tempt you through people he's holding captive: worldly Christians. Satan doesn’t just want to tempt you into a sin or two. His greater goal is to entice you into crossing the line: living intentionally sinning. He is fully aware of the dire consequences that people who engage in ongoing intentional sin face. In this Potpourri we explain from the Scriptures why this demonic goal is a trap you don’t want to fall into. And we offer ways to help you disentangle in case you're being tempted by some means. The devil is slick in subterfuge and his “angels of light” are skilled at what they do. 

You can protect yourself in a number of ways: by staying aware of the Spirit's indwelling presence to guide you; by setting apart purposeful time with Father and our Lord Jesus in prayer and praise; by searching His Word with the intent to apply it; and by putting our Lord's commands into practice as you do Father’s will. Please be very cautious when it comes to believing that other self-identified Christians are our Lord’s family just because they're kind or don't seem to engage in overt sin. Look instead for the evidence that our Lord Jesus Himself has laid out for those who love and serve Him in obedient trust.

Mike & Sue

John 13:17

January 1, 2025

Will Our Lord Shine Through You In 2025?

Dear Friends in Christ Jesus our Lord,

Please click on the title to download our first Potpourri of 2025, Is Our Lord Jesus ‘Bearing Lasting Fruit’ Through You? During our years of ministry we have stood firm on the divine requirement of “bearing lasting fruit.” Why? Because fruit-bearing in the lives of people who love and obey Jesus as Lord is a conclusive indicator of those who are genuinely born again (see Mark 4:9-20). But if you are to bear lasting fruit for Father's glory, you absolutely need the presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit at work in you. Bearing lasting fruit is a combination of •you abiding in our Lord Jesus and in His love, •you keeping (resolutely applying) His commands, and •you glorifying our heavenly Father in doing His will (John 15:1-10). 

➣Want some help in recognizing and applying our Lords commands?

Please download God’s Newer Testament Commands which we discovered on the Internet. You’ll find it very helpful in spelling out the way of life which the 1,050 commands in the Newer Testament require of you as you follow Jesus as your Lord. Seek the Holy Spirit to keep making them real in your life! One of the foremost commands of our Lord Jesus for you if you are genuinely born again and therefore love Him is to live purposely as His redemptive ambassador. Having the Spirit of our Lord living through you as you represent Jesus to those around you is a ‘front burner’ (and not a ‘back burner’) issue for the genuinely born again. 

Remember that the indwelling Holy Spirit in you is the same Spirit Who was the divine power in creating something out of nothing (Genesis 1:1,2). This promise should build up your joy and peace as you realize it isn't a matter of you trying to pedal harder: “For it is God Who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13). His pleasure is for you to have both the desire and the obedient response to fulfill His purposes, a chief one being the salvation of mankind, so that He is glorified. 

"As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, 

take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord" (James 5:10).

When we returned to the US with the prophetic message of the Hebraic foundations, our hearts yearned to see every Christian make these truths their way of life. Why was this? It's because the foundations define a love-based relationship of obedient trust and help the genuinely born again in fulfilling our Father's purposes to His glory. [Mike: I have to admit that during these 30+ years of sharing the Hebraic foundations I've often succumbed to Paul's impatience to see authentic life in Christ actually being lived out: “My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you” (Galatians 4:19)]. 

Recently Sue found a newsletter which detailed a vision Mike had a number of years ago concerning the Hebraic foundations:

"On December 12, 1997 just before sunset I looked out our office window. As I gazed east across the city of Colorado Springs, I could just barely make out the full moon faintly appearing on the horizon. Because the sun was still up and the sky still bright, the moon was almost imperceptible. About 40 minutes after sunset Sue and I began our two-mile walk home from the office. The sky was darker by then and the moon much brighter and higher in the sky. As I stared at the moon the Holy Spirit impressed in me this thought: “At this point in time the message of Restoration is like the moon when it was on the horizon. It is almost imperceptible because most do not see a need for it. But things in the United States are going to become darker than anyone has experienced before. At that time the message of Restoration will shine bright against the darkness. Be patient and continue to share the light with all who will hear.”

🙏🏾We're praying that 2025 will be a year in which each person on our mailing list who loves our Lord Jesus would experience the preciousness of bearing lasting fruit to our Father’s glory. This is a wonderfully divine interactive way of life for the genuinely born again to live by the Holy Spirit. Our heart’s desire is that the light of the Holy Spirit within the genuinely born again would shine bright against the growing darkness in this nation. May the Spirit of our Lord in you be light that pierces the darkness as you are His redemptive ambassador. Keep in mind that our heavenly Father wouldn't have given us truths that need to be restored if these truths hadn't been eradicated by anti-Semitic theologies over the centuries.

Please be careful! A huge proportion of people who are engaged in some aspect of organizational Christianity are not indwelled by the Holy Spirit. False gospels that peddle the lie that you can “believe in Jesus and live as you want” abound in Christianity today. You can easily recognize people who have a form of godliness but lack its power (2Timothy 3:5). Indeed, those without the Spirit are comfortable in a Christianity that's without Christ! Also, you can recognize the control Satan has on them (2Timothy 2:26). And what does the devil will? That self-identifying Christians •have no desire to abide in the Lordship of Jesus, •nor be His redemptive ambassador, •nor to bear fruit to our Father’s glory. At every turn Satan hides their human sin nature in a lifeless "religious veneer”. If you allow the devil’s captives to influence your life, you’ll discover that they will cause you to quench and grieve the Holy Spirit within you until you’re fruitless yourself (1Thessalonians 5:19; Ephesians 4:30). Please be very careful!

“They worship Me in vain; their teachings are merely the commands of men. 

Laying aside the commands of God, you are holding on to human traditions” 

(Mark 7:7,8).

We'd like to offer just one insight into the creedal-based division within Christianity which has been around for so long that it’s considered an integral part of Christianity. We are referring to "Ecumenical cooperation” between different creedal persuasions. Being "ecumenical" is not the unity which our Lord Jesus envisioned for His own with Him as their only Head. See if you have the same gut-wrenching reaction as we did when we watched this recent news clip: 

A report in the national news a few days ago was about four clergymen from different creedal persuasions (denominations) who live in the same town. After several informal meetings they agreed to take turns preaching in each other's pulpits. The news report and the clergymen's own testimony made it seem like this cooperation was a great spiritual breakthrough in Christianity since it demonstrated that creedal differences could be set aside briefly so that clergy can preach in each other’s pulpits. There were mixed reactions from the spectators who heard each man's sermon.

The report of this event sickened us because the creedal division that separated these clergy shouldn't have existed in the first place. When you remove the centuries' long Nicolaitan domination by clergy throughout Christianity, you can return to our Lord’s way of maintaining unity among brothers and sisters in Him (see Ephesians 4:11-16). We've noted on several occasions in the past that academic-style teaching of God’s Word does not produce fruitful followers of Jesus who abide under His Lordship. Nor does academic-style preaching grow Christians who fulfill Father's purposes to His glory. Just look at your own congregation. And then realize that there are an estimated 300 to 600 thousand congregations in the US just like yours having absolutely no effect on society. This sad reality has often disheartened us during our years of ministry! 

We'll be encouraged only as we see our Lord Jesus shining as the Head of the genuinely born again and His own abiding in Him in fulfilling our Father’s purposes to His glory. Please be one of these!

Mike & Sue

Colossians 1:9-14