Sarah Nyhan

I wrote: I didn’t see you today at [church]. I saw S. I was wondering if you could pass this on to him also and thank him for his welcome today.

I’ve been on a journey. I miss you all so much. But I feel like I’m in danger of losing what I’ve gained if I listen to the current teaching at [church].

I know R and you all love God. That is not in question.

I happened to run across this video tonight. It is the best explanation I’ve heard so far of what I’ve been learning and my journey. Especially the part about the priest and sacrifice. I’d love your opinion if you listen.
https://youtu.be/to4axvow9YM

She wrote: I’m so sad that I missed you yesterday. HUGS!

I could only listen to half of your link. My advice would be to stop listening to this guy. He’s a false teacher. He is taking scripture out of context and is twisting it to make it say what he wants his listeners to hear. It’s sad, but he does not have the heart of Jesus, and he is leading people astray. Keep coming to [church] and if you don’t like our church, go to a church who teaches the Word verse by verse, getting the proper context. It’s vitally important. We love you and miss you!!!

I wrote: Thanks for replying. Good to hear from you. Love you and miss you all very much. I don’t know this guy like you seem to. But I’ve listened to him a few times and didn’t come away with the conclusion you did. But no problems disagreeing. However, if you’re interested in sharing more about what you theological points you disagreed with, I’d be interested.

She wrote: Well, I don’t have time to go into details on a false teacher, but clearly this guy is a universalist. He believes that all beliefs go toward heaven. This would make the Bible out to be a liar. All scripture is given by God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. All throughout the Bible men and women were given a choice…choose you this day whom you will serve. It’s a choice. We have to choose Jesus…not Mohammad, or any other god. It’s all about Jesus.

I wrote: Thank you for responding, D. I respect your decision not to watch, but I don’t think it is fair to judge what he is saying without hearing him out completely. It’s like the same in writing a paper: you introduce your thesis, then you flesh it out, then you tell them what you told them. If you only listen to the thesis, then is it fair to judge the content of the whole paper without reading it?

Are you familiar with the chiastic structure? I am learning that there are chiasms in the Bible. Maybe the whole Bible is a chiasm? They used it back in the day to help people remember without the luxury of the technology we have today.

All to say it’s difficult to explain and understand what he is saying without the complete context. The meat of what he is saying is in the second half.

But if you want a taste of the part that I find most interesting, you can skip to around 26:13 where he talks about the day of atonement and who the sacrifice was for and how it worked. And that it was a picture of Jesus. I’d be interested in your thoughts on that part.

Many have already dismissed me and this guy as a universalist. R says I am contaminating people. Others have said this is from the devil. So I’ve been getting my beating.

But nobody is willing to discuss the individual theological points such as the one I referenced.

My question to them is could our God not be so loving? So good? So big? Does He limit His love or do we?

And what exactly secures your eternal future? Something you do? If so, what exactly? I could never figure that out. Any explanation that held me responsible, when pushed to the limit, I couldn’t measure up.

That’s when I believe God brought me to the end of myself and when I threw myself down on NOTHING except His love and mercy, that’s when I believe He opened my eyes to a whole bunch of stuff.

So are we saved by serving Jesus, like you said? If so, how do you define who is in and who is out?

She wrote: I did not say we were saved by serving Jesus. It’s by grace we have been saved through faith.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him, will not perish, but have eternal life.”

I choose not to listen to a false teacher…they are wolves in sheep clothing seeking to destroy.

I’m sad that it has affected you. I am praying for you.

Instead of listening to people, maybe you should just read the Bible from cover to cover and ask God to show you Himself and His amazing love.

I wrote: I agree completely, but the same applies to people listening to R.

There is so much more to what I could tell you. I regret not yet being able to communicate my own thoughts on everything. But I am working on it. Still learning, still digging.

My only point in even sending you the link was just to show you where my head is at in attempts to explain my absence from CCSA. I miss you all very much so it isn’t personal. I just wanted to offer an explanation instead of ghosting on you with no word.

I clearly understand what I am up against. But I trust God to sort everything out. For sure after our time on earth, but hopefully before.

Thank you for prayers. I’ll take all I can get. Again, I ask: if it depends on you believing in Jesus, how do you define the limits of who is in and who is out? I could never figure that out for myself or others. Every time I thought I had it figured out, I would fail my own measure.

And what about the people who don’t know Jesus? They are out of luck? That’s the God that is being preached?

This man that you call a false teacher, he believes in Jesus. Does he have eternal life?

My point is that I believe my understanding of the Scriptures may have been limited. Not to argue with you. Just as a friendly challenge to really take your thinking to its full limit and see if it can hold the full weight of what it is saying. I am doing the same with what I believe.

She wrote: R preaches the Bible verse by verse in context. That is vitally important. Before ever hearing R, I had already read through the Bible several times. The reason I respect R is that he preaches the Bible word for word, verse by verse.

God knows those who have chosen Him. Once saved by God’s grace, we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit and His fruit is then displayed in the lives of those who truly have accepted Him. Also, know that Jesus reveals Himself in many ways. He will reach that person you talked about because He is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient. His love is perfect.

I wrote: Chosen Him. Truly accepted Him. Fruit.

All those things. Those are the things I used as my measures also. And I failed each one. When pushed to the full limits of their logic.

That’s when I started to find true freedom. When I tried my very best and failed at everything. Even in my belief. And then gave up. Ironically. Jesus was right there and picked me up. Felt like He said, “Finally.” ALL glory to Him. ☺ And the adventure I’ve been on since has been amazing.

I hope you never have to endure the humiliations, failures, and heartaches that I’ve had to go through in the past few years. They have been can’t-get-out-of-bed painful at times. But I was just thanking God yesterday for letting me fall so hard. I don’t think I ever would have known Him and His love like I do now.

She wrote: We have to rely on Jesus…we all fall short…all have sinned . We fall when we do things in our own strength. We need to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. He leads us.

I wrote: Agreed!