Mike,

Sorry, I hit the wrong button. I just want to say thanks for taking the time on my question Sunday about being accountable and sovereignty. You said we give account, and that might help my detractor, but I doubt it, for it is pretty much what I told him. I have read the account of Joseph and his brothers, and it is full of meaning. They gave an account not in the way we are taught about giving account as we are brought up with hellfire and damnation understanding. Everyone clearly understands why they are being judged and giving account when they go up to Joseph to get some grain. I noticed 43:11 says they had some food, fruits and nuts and almonds but obviously not enough to sustain them, but enough to bring him a gift. I looked up the word accountable in the dictionary, and it really leaves the impression of being responsible. But the sum of God’s word is Christ. Is not also baptism immersion into Christ a daily experience as we also die daily. We are coming forth anew everyday. I say that for the reason that I get asked if I was baptized witht the holy ghost. And when I answer, I get told that that happens once and then after that God does whatever He wants, which we know God is working all things after the counsel of his own will. I want to wish you all the best, and have a great conference. May God be with you and all who are speaking. I hope to be joining you via the internet. Peace and love to you both.

Your bro in Christ Jesus,
D____

No problem D____,

I hit the wrong button all the time and send out half-finished e-mails right in the middle of a half-finished sentence, and I just have to apologize and finish the e-mail.

I have gone to great lengths in the past to point out the fact that Joseph causes his brothers to GIVE an accounting of what they had done. That is all God wants you and me to do. Joseph did not HOLD his brothers ACCOUNTABLE; he simply brought them to see themselves as the instruments of evil God has created us all to be. We are all “marred in the Potter’s hand”. What do we think that means the Potter’s hand has formed then? It means the Potter has formed a sinning machine which He has designed for the very purpose of destruction so that the spirit can be saved in the day of the Lord.

Psa 51:5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

Christ told the steward, “Give an accounting of your stewardship…”

Luk 16:1 And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods.
Luk 16:2 And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward.

And so we are again told:

1Co 3:13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest [to himself as well as others]: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
1Co 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and [that] the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Co 3:17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which [temple] ye are.
1Co 3:18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.
1Co 3:19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.
1Co 3:20 And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.
1Co 3:21 Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;
1Co 3:22 Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;
1Co 3:23 And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.

“All things come alike to all:”

Ecc 9:1 For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, [are] in the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them.
Ecc 9:2 All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as [is] the good, so [is] the sinner; [and] he that sweareth, as [he] that feareth an oath.
Ecc 9:3 This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.

God really is “working all things after the counsel of His own will,” but I know I am “preaching to the choir,” so I will give you a break and get on to another letter.

Your brother in Christ,
Mike