Sunday Service Message from Johnston Heights Church

[mark0454]

You said:

"Love you say?"

You find the comment where I have said anything about love. YOU TALK TO ME ABOUT WHAT I SAY. NOT WHAT MYHOPE SAYS. I am not responsible for what she says.

This is the reason you have gotten me blocked from two channels. You refuse to carry on a conversation. You just accuse, accuse, accuse.

Make sense man or go away, you troll!!

[mark0454]

You said: "Ever since the onset of the industrial revolution, man was destined on the coarse of destruction & tragedy, both nationally & individually"

I was just going to say the same thing about this comment.

Are you absolutely incapable of forming a doctrine based on scripture. I HAVE SEEN NO, NO, NO, NO, SCRIPTURE FROM YOU.

All I read is endless, mindless, baseless accusations.

Leave my education out of the discussion. It has nothing to do with my beliefs

[PreparetomeetthyGod]

@earsarehearible

(Pt A-2)

Also why did the ark of the covenant containing God's Law very present in the destruction of Jericho? Wasn't it to show that the people of Jericho were destroyed because of violating the divine precepts housed in the ark?

It is my belief that this was indeed the case. Notice the exact same thing is in the book of Revelation. Just like the events of Jericho, those who are not INWARD JEWS, those who are violating the Law in the ark will be destroyed at the 7nth trumpet

[PreparetomeetthyGod]

@earsarehearible

(Pt A-1)

My dearly beloved, you couldn't be more correct if you tried. It is all too obvious to overlook historical facts in the Holy writ of nations, including Israel, falling because of idolatory.

Our Sunday keeping friends need to really study God's word to see that God's Law has ALWAYS been the standard by which ALL nations were judged. Gen 15:16 speaks of the SIN of the Amorites.

Clearly this shows that God fully expected the Canaanites to keep His Law

[mark0454]

Sir, I would invite you to look at a satalite image of Hispaniola. To the East is the Christian Nation of The Dominican Republic. From the border to the East is lush agriculture, electricity, running water and tourism. Poor, but developing, not starving.

Look to the West of the Border, Haiti, Religion-VooDoo on the same island-It looks like Afganistan, completely deforrested, hardly a blade of grass. No Electricity, no running water, disease, utter deprivation.

This, they have done.

[mark0454]

2)When we have a tregedy in our lives, is that not a time to reflect and see if God is not using this tragedy to improve our walk with him. Do we not often turn to God in our darkest hour.

Jesus made it clear that not all tragedy is due to sin, but that He might be glorified.

A minister is not supposed to be politically correct because God's message is not politically correct

[mark0454]

Good afternoon Sir. I hope you are well.

I have listened to the 47 seconds of an hour long service, and I am having difficulty condemning what he said.

He is a preacher, a man of God. We are always supposed to look and the good and the bad of life throught the lens of our faith in God.

When something good happens to us, to we not praise God and attribute it to his faithfulness to us because we walk with him?

[Myhopeisinhim]

@earsarehearible

Thank you for your comments:) I appreciate your kind words. I agree with what you said that just because one is trying to abstain from sin that doesn't mean they are doing so to try and gain their salvation; however, we can't ignore that some people do try to keep the law as a means of gaining it.

I firmly believe that we must repent and turn from sin, and allow him to live through us. Always have, always will. God bless.

[PreparetomeetthyGod]

@Myhopeisinhim

You wrote "I firmly believe that we must repent & turn from sin, & allow Him to live through us. Always have, always will"

And what happens if we do not repent & turn from sin, do we not end up in hell & separated from God? You say people try to keep the Law as a means of gaining salvation. How is that different from saying you must repent & turn from sin? SAME THING!

We keep the Law through Him just as you said so where is the problem? He does the work in us.

[PreparetomeetthyGod]

@Myhopeisinhim

You rightly said that the Sodomites were destroyed by fire because of sin so how is that different from what will happen when Jesus returns? Won't those who continue in sin (violating the Law) & didn't repent be destroyed?

[Myhopeisinhim]

@PreparetomeetthyGod

If you re-read my message here, you'll see that I stated that as it happened in the past so it will happen again because of a sinful world.

[PreparetomeetthyGod]

@Myhopeisinhim

Hi there Pat!

So since you say that God will destroy the world because of sin, can you help me understand what you mean by "keeping the Law is not a condition for salvation"?

How can stopping to sin not be a condition for salvation when the reason the Sodomites were destroyed was because they sinned, violated the Law?

How can stopping to sin, keeping the Law, how can it not be a condition for salvation when failing to keep it, SINNING, led to the Sodomite destruction?

[Myhopeisinhim]

Justin is a good preacher. His messages are relevant to our day and age. Natural disasters and other things of that nature are definitely hard on the heart. No one, even Justin, wants to see people suffer.

However, it is not unusual for something to come about in a persons life to draw their attention back to God. It's not always something good, as much as we want it to be.

A reminder, God will not allow something to happen unless there is a reason for it. Remember...

[Myhopeisinhim]

it's often in the most difficult times that we find our way back to God. When times are good, we are usually the furthest away from God.

We must not forget that God's judgments will come upon a sinful world. It did in the past, and it will again. Remember sodom and gomorrah. Remember the flood. We also read about earthquakes, famines, pestilences in the last days, and about the judgments of God to come upon this world. Judgments in which men will shout against God because of them.

[Myhopeisinhim]

It's sad to watch. No believer wants anyone to suffer, or have to go through bad things, but sadly, that is sometimes the only way God can get their attention. I think we must also remember that God won't leave a person down. No matter what happens in our life, if we trust in the Lord, he can turn it into good.

So if something bad happens to us, if we trust, we will see the good that can come out of it. This is the same in Haiti's case. If they trust in him, God can return unto them...

[Myhopeisinhim]

tenfold of what they lost.

Look at Job. He went through so much, and God blessed him in the end because he continued to trust in God. I'm sure many people in Haiti found the Lord and turned away from voodoo. I think Justin's message should be shared in full so that his full message is conveyed and not just a few lines of it.

[Myhopeisinhim]

People want messages that are kid treated. Messages that tickle the ears and pretend everything is okay. Guys, everything is NOT okay. We're living in a world were christians are compromising their morals to live in a corrupt world.

God is not happy with this world. Why do you think his judgments are coming? The soul that sinneth it shall die. Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. John didn't pretend everything was okay, and we shouldn't either. Did God mince the message when....

[Myhopeisinhim]

Moses came down off the mountain and people were worshiping the golden calf that was made? We preach a message that God is love, and yes that is true, but he is also Just and those who continue to pervert his word, or live corruptly will face the consequences of it.

Judgment, we're told, will begin in the house of God. This isn't easy to hear, and most churches don't even wanna touch on the topic of it because people want a gentle message. One man spoke more about hell than anyone..that man...

[Myhopeisinhim]

was Jesus.

John's message was "REPENT and be baptized". Jesus message was "REPENT". He spoke of believing otherwise you won't receive eternal life and are condemned. We need to get this message out there and preach repentence and the cross.

We need to stop pretending everything is okay in our world. We need to stop turning a blind eye at what goes on around us and in our church, and stop compromising the moral standards of the bible just to please men around us.

[Myhopeisinhim]

Sorry, just had to share my thoughts. I don't mean any offense, but we have to stop playing with kid gloves and start realizing the true reality here. We all know that God has allowed things to come into our lives to get our attention, and he REALLY wants our attention in these last days.

There isn't much time left guys. We must trust in the Lord and love him with all our hearts, souls and minds. We must trust in jesus Christ and believe in what he did, and turn from our sin.

[krsone1973]

It would be a natural disaster happened and that's what hit Haiti. It's basically caused by the planet. It's called an EARTHQUAKE.. Earthquakes are caused by faulting, a sudden lateral or vertical movement of rock along a rupture.. Not God! A ficticitious religious icon that people believe in to have FAITH. That's it. Relaity check people! IT WAS PLANET EARTH!!! IT WAS A NATURAL DISASTER!! DUH... We live in these times and still people believe in ancient gods!!??? REALLY! Do you?!

[woodken1]

we all are making comments about this, prove him wrong. You cant can you. it did make you think what if he is right. or are you a god that can make a call like that

[dgcinbc]

Pastor Justin rocks

[crazyguitarman111]

Hello. I have attended this church since i was born. this video is unnecessary, and a very strong way of critizising this. ive know him since i was a kid! im sure, that he would never have said this in a hurtful way. Just think about that for a minute.One, this video is illegal as you have copyrighted it from another website without permision, Two, you are critizising Justin as a disgrace to our Church, and Three, you uploaded it on YouTube for everyone across the world! I say you need to think.

[yellowledbetter16]

Uhh, as far as I know this is not from another website, nor is it copyrighted. He recorded it himself.

[irishpat1000]

@crazyguitarman111

I attended Johnston Heights for over 5 years before moving to another part of the Province.Justin is from England recently arrived from the states and has only been with JH for a couple of years so dont know how you could have known him since you were a kid[unless your only 2years old].As you know his apointment was contraversial and he is a very outspoken man.His comments were inapropiate as is this recording.

[crazyguitarman111]

I am a Christian, and I know God would NOT want to be seeing this.

[JollyDMan]

I myself find it hard to say this in any context. Imagine if you where to walk into a church in Haiti and be taught that your friends died in Surrey because God was angry with Surrey. I mean Surrey is known for it's sex trade workers, the hard drugs workers and gang shootings too.

I suspect that the church also agrees with this because they did remove that part from their downloads.

Why? I suspects that they too thought it was inappropriate or that it could, easily, be seen that way.

[LivingBeyondWords]

Jolly D - I agree with you totally dude. We cannot say God bought judgement in Haiti and at the same time say God is just. Regardless of what goes on spiritually in Haiti (voodoo etc) the Western world has far more to answer to Him for than a country like Haiti. I still do not think that is what this church was saying or implying...continued on next note.

[LivingBeyondWords]

My perception, and I may be wrong because I too haven't spoken directly to the pastor, is that God is using Haiti to shake up Haiti and the world and especially to remind us that there is much that is beyond us and things far bigger than us in control of the world around us. I do believe in a God of love who has tried to make it possible for us to draw close to Him but we make the choice to reject Him and if Haiti or a Tsunami seems bad, what will follow at the end of times will be worse.

[crazyguitarman111]

Hello. I have attended this church since i was born. this video is unnecessary, and a very strong way of criticizing this. ive know him since i was a kid! im sure that he would never have said this in a hurtful way. Just think about that for a minute. One, this video is illegal as you have copyrighted it from another website without permision, Two, you are criticizing Justin as a disgrace to our Church, and Three, you uploaded it on YouTube for everyone across the world! I say you need to think.

[LivingBeyondWords]

One more thing - I get just as angry and frustrated at the ignorant and stupid responses that Christians have in many situations and realize that they can be just as ignorant and don't carefully consider their words first - this does not that all of Christianity is false/rubbish or stupid, just the people making the thoughtless comments!

[LivingBeyondWords]

Don't get me wrong - I love dialogue and debate over issues of ethics, faith (or non-faith), morality etc and would love to see more of that going on here but I cannot tolerate (yes there are things Christians don't tolerate!) the rant against Christians, as if we were all the exactly the same, and derogatory and insulting way people react! It would be good and interesting to have a forum where we could openly discuss what happened at Johnston Heights on Sunday.

[yellowledbetter16]

"(yes there are things Christians don't tolerate!)"

Really? Well thanks for pointing that out, I never would have gathered it myself. Certainly not with Christian bigots campaigning for the denial of basic human rights to homosexuals (i.e. Prop 8) and so on.

[LivingBeyondWords]

Dude you illustrate perfectly the point I make below! Are there no moslem bigots, atheist bigots etc? There are many Christian opinions that I strongly disagree with as well, but I cannot write off all Christians as a result. I strongly disagree with the stand some Christians have made against homosexuals, people who have had abortions but am a Christian myself. It's about opinion and viewpoint more than it is about a religion.

[yellowledbetter16]

I didn't say anywhere that there are ONLY Christian bigots, or that all Christians are bigots. I was just pointing out that your parenthesized comment was unnecessary. To say that Christians (or anyone, for that matter) are tolerant of EVERYTHING is just silly.

I agree that it is more of a matter of opinion, however, it is unfortunate that some of those who lobby against gay and abortion rights and so on use religion as an excuse for their bigotry.

[LMichaelL65]

As a former Christian, I find that many Christians tend to live in a black and white world. Life is simply not that cut and dry. Just because an event happens does not imply a cause that God is behind.

The main problem I have with Christianity and many other religions, is the "Us v. Them" mentality. In other words, 'We posses the truth, and you must believe our truth.'

[LivingBeyondWords]

You have misunderstood my reaction to your name - knowing what a platypus is I was merely curious - I apologize if it came across as derogatory. I am not so much interested in defending Justin as reacting to the bad reaction of atheists/non-Christians to anything Christian - their response is normally arrogant, ignorant and cased in vulgarity, the very hallmarks of the hate speech they blame Christians for! Case in point-suzyross4 yesterday.

[shirlock67]

Do we think a Christian, or a country who calls itself Christian will not face calamities? There will continue to be earthquakes, tsunamis and death. The good news is that theres hope. Though there be a shaking (whether spiritual or physical), build your life upon the cornerstone that is Jesus Christ. Jesus didnt promise his followers a bed of roses, quite the opposite. He promises to never leave us nor forsake us, and he will help us traverse our stormiest weathers, our worst earthquakes.

[shirlock67]

Truth is- the world will continue to be shaken physically, or spiritually whether you believe its God or its the ramifications of sin. The good news? Theres hope. Though there be a shaking, build your life upon the cornerstone that is Jesus. Jesus didnt promise a problem free life,but to never leave us nor forsake us. He will help us traverse our stormiest weathers, our worst earthquakes. Thats really the Good News.

[LivingBeyondWords]

DrPlatypusman (huh?) You visited this church one time, made a recording of a few minutes of a morning service and then posted it on youtube, contact the newspapers etc without speaking to the Pastor first. Then you all sit here and judge Christians and in typical atheist fashion condemn them all as hypocrites? Very honorable of you!

[JollyDMan]

Then the important questioin is what do you believe Pastor Dennison Said?

[LivingBeyondWords]

Instead of asking me why not ask him directly and hear it straight from his mouth and heart. I am not downing you or anyone here, I am just stressing the point that as humans we are quick to jump to assumptions and conclusions without checking with the source. It seems no-one did that here, just made a judgement.

[DrPlatypusMan]

I said nothing about Christians, Atheists, or hypocrites. I let words speak for themselves, and I welcome any attempts to explain how the context changes anything. I suspect you are unwilling to try, because it can't be done in any sensible way. I recorded the whole thing, not just a few minutes, so I was well aware of whatever context Dennison was using. And I was still offended. The man is a public figure. That comes with a responsibility. The people of his community will judge him.

[DrPlatypusMan]

Something else has just occurred to me. Consider your reaction to my username:

DrPlatypusman (huh?)

Notice, no one else here reacted that way. Only you. And why? Merely because my name was different. You have revealed your true colours to everyone. We all understand why you're working so hard to defend Dr. Dennison. You, like him, don't tolerate those that are merely different.

[LivingBeyondWords]

Suzy, you can't say only some of Christian teachings are good. Someone wiser than us once said Jesus was either a liar, lunatic or Lord and if he was liar or lunatic his teachings are then all bad and none can be trusted, even if they appear good. What that pastor said (and i listened to the whole recording) was misinterpreted. He is actually a very genuine and compassionate man - why not speak to him firsthand instead of accepting opinions of a sensationseeker out for a moment in the spotlight.

[DrPlatypusMan]

I don't agree, because even lunatics and liars can say good things occasionally. I suspect that Jesus probably really existed, yet the story of his life has been exaggerated over time. Liar, Lunatic, Lord, or the Bible is about as reliable as a book of that age is expected to be.

[suzyross4]

Look, I'm not saying that Christian teachings are bad, in ANY way... fundamentally they are all pretty good, BUT they do NOT work for everyone.... and to spread a LIE, a FALLACY like that, even if it was truly a metaphor like the pastor claims, is an exploitation of his leadership role. Come up with something better, clearer and less ELITIST. Your Pastor owes an apology at the very least, in my humble opinion. Let's see what righteous ramblings you come up with to defend your blind faith now....

[sunbird3337]

It is such a shame that what Justin was actually saying was lost on a couple of sensation seekers who so took these comments out of context! A greater shame is the amount of people here who have judged Justin and Johnston Heights simply because of these out of context recordings without speaking with Justin or the church! If you did speak with Justin you would very quickly realize that these claims do not match Justin and the church's character and desire to spread the love of God.

[DrPlatypusMan]

I've uploaded a 10 min video of context.

Please explain how this changes anything.

[sunbird3337]

No, you have uploaded 10 minutes of biased and out of context opinion. If you had the full context you would have remembered that Justin also said "We've got people on the ground right there in Haiti and it's a wonderful way in which we can express tangibly the Lord Jesus in that situation". Strange how you don't highlight that!

[DrPlatypusMan]

Sorry I should have been more clear.

I have uploaded a new video. It's called 'context'

It is ten minutes long, and it leads up to the remarks here.

[suzyross4]

hypocrite Christians piss me off... when they don't know the why, they make one up - seriously! Why would you need to justify a natural disaster at all?? It just HAPPENED! frack

[sunbird3337]

Hypocrite Christians??! what? Were you there? Did you hear what Justin said? Oh wait, no, you just based your entire conclusion on a short recording taken way out of context by some sensation seeker! Very wise suzy, very wise!

[transpondency]

Surrey pastor says controversial Haiti comments 'taken right out of context' -- The Province newspaper

bit ly/8pIYET

[mshappycanada]

This was taken completely out of context. If you had been there, you would have heard him describe a hatian singing praises to God amidst the chaos, and you would also have heard him talk about Surrey and it's reputation. The sermon was about evangelizing, spreading the word of God. Please, if you are so willing to believe things you only hear or see portions of, find the time to understand the whole picture.

[DrPlatypusMan]

Actually, I was there, because I did the recording. I did hear him describe those things. But that does not excuse Dennison for the comments made here. If you like, I can upload everything that was said before hand. Would that please you? I suspect it would not improve things, but if you like, I will do it.

[sunbird3337]

His words were totally taken out of context - you only heard what you wanted to hear and totally missed the point of what Justin was saying! Instead of trying to win a few moments in the spotlight you should get to know Justin and you would see that what you are implying he said is in total contrast to Justin's character and therefore rubbish.

[transpondency]

Regardless of the context, the subcontext is blatantly clear: "these devil worshipers deserved what happened; the earthquake was the wrath of God". The whole picture is far more reprehensible. Just like after the tsunami, victims of the disaster must capitulate to the missionaries' faith if they want their aid. Repent or starve. There is a dark side to Christian charity. Exploitation of tragedy for proselytization.

[thzatheist]

Abhorrent comments. Thank you for recording his comments.

[sunbird3337]

Ignorant remark. Maybe you should have listened to his words in context.