You’re invited to Dinner
The following comes from the New Testament Apocrypha. The coptic book of Thomas. It reminds me of many of my friends and even family members who have been invited into Gods plans, but have found every reason why they can’t attend. “I have to get up early for work” or “I have things I need to do at home” or whatever the excuse is. Even though the world has tricked them out of their inheritence, their places at the dinner table will not go unfilled. By reading this you have been formally invited to Gods table for dinner. Will you be attending?
(64) Jesus said : “A man had guests. And when he had prepared the dinner, he sent his servant to invite the guests. He went to the first one and said to him : ‘My master invites You.’ He said, ‘I have claims against some merchants. They are coming to me this evening. I must go and give them my orders. I ask to be excused from the dinner.’ He went to another and said to him : ‘My master has invited You.’ He said to him : ‘I have just bought a house and am required for the day. I shall not have any spare time.’ He went to another and said to him : ‘My master invites You.’ He said to him : ‘My friend is going to get married, and I am to prepare the banquet. I shall not be able to come. I ask to be excused from the dinner.’ He went to another and said to him : ‘My master invites You.’ He said to him : ‘I have just bought a farm, and I am on my way to collect the rent. I shall not be able to come. I ask to be excused.’ The servant returned and said to his master : ‘Those whom You invited to the dinner have asked to be excused.’ The master said to his servant : ‘Go out into the streets and those whom You happen to find, and bring in those that want to dine.’ Buyers and merchants will not enter the places of My Father.”
If I tell you there is the Pacific Ocean and you have never been there or swam in it, you would base you “belief” that it exsisted based on other peoples testimony that it exsists, not to mention maps, photos, videos, etc.. But you’ve never actaully been there. Your knowledge is based on a popular “belief” a resonable assumption on your part based on others experiences with it.
Once you actually “swim” in that ocean and experience the Pacific for yourself, then YOU have had the “experience” and no one can take that from you. No pastor, no Bible, no mans word. You now “know”. there is no room for beliefs anymore. It’s not about what to “believe”. it’s really about “unbelieving” the lies we have been conditioned to accept as Truth.
Dave, you state that the truth is, is that there is only one god. The TRUTH is that you can no more prove that than the Greeks can prove in the existence of many gods. The only difference between you(monotheist) and an atheist, is that an atheist just takes your thinking to its logical conclusion.
so many questions about Daves message of universal truths ,and the written word. The written word as I understand it, was written in many different ways and versions. I am one who prays to God , I beg him iask for forgiveness,protection and blessings for myself and others. All I know about the message of universal love, universal truth, is that it is love and truth to all people reguardless race ,creed ,religion. It is difficult to even attempt such perfection,that’s what my prayers and forgiveness are for. i am aware of my own imperfections and my many sins throughout my life, and i believe the honesty of the messenger is what sometimes can heal the broken soul,that never thought itself worthy to be so.
Dear Robert,
I sent this to you as a message on facebook in response to you taking down yet another comment and not allowing your words to stand. I will not remove this.
This is the type of hypocrisy I did not expect to see from you Robert, and I’m pretty disappointed with you as a person right now.
“Hello Pastor Michael, Have you gone to his web page and seen what he teaches…as a ‘Reverend’…I believe maybe you should…Love Ya Much—R.C.”
You need to be careful here my friend, this is really edging towards judgment on your part. As a ‘Reverand’ Dave has done more in his life to save others and help humanity than any other man I know. You know nothing of him personally, only what you have read on what he believes to be Universal Truth. Would Pastor Mike ‘Judge”‘ Dave? Would Dave judge anyone else for their beliefs. No. This is where I really believe you have a downfall.
Some messages are meant for those who can divine Truth. To others it will fall on deaf ears. Sorry Robert, I’m not trying to be a jerk, but I’ve really noticed a pattern. you write, re-write and re-write again your responses. Then you remove them. is it because you are unsure of your convictions? How many times did you re-write your response to me on Love. I have the copies…
When I stand before God for judgment, I will be able to say I loved every person on this planet, regardless of race, sex or religion. I will be able to truthfully state this without hesitation. I wont even have to utter the words, for God knows my heart. If your answer on love remains as long as the multiple revisions with quotations and references you put forth to me, you may want to print that out so you remember your argument when judgment arrives. My answer is simple. Love has no boundaries. Your answer reads like a legal brief.
With respect and concern,
Paul
p.s. I’m going to post this on Daves website as well. I cannot stand by and let someone attempt to judge my friends unjustly.
I will pray for you Robert.
It is clear that you are fighting many demons in your life.
A word of advice Robert, learn to love and not to condemn. Without love. No amount of Scripture or self righteousness will allow you into the Kingdom of God
Peace to you Rev. Dave,
I understand where you are coming from on many other faiths having beautiful and necessary ‘truths’ embodied in their beliefs. They do! But, they do not have the truth of Christ which The One God the Father gives for all to see.
You are supposedly a ‘Reverend’ who must believe in Christ through the Word, which is Christ. If you can’t do that then please do God, yourself and all people who will be misled by knowing no better than to listen to you a great favor and not have the audacity to call yourself a ‘Reverend’, for you are not!
I think you must be reading so many ‘books’ that you have become confused over what ‘The Book’ tells you. You seem to be ‘blowing in the wind’ and not able to settle anywhere. I guess you find it sufficient and easier to have no commitment to anything other than to tell yourself and all who will listen that you and they should accept any faith that will adhere to ‘Universal Truths’. You can not even see that these truths are ‘not the same’ for every faith and therefore can not be ‘Universal’! I am shocked at your lack of understanding only because of what you call yourself, ‘Reverend’. To me, it is inexcuseable!
I would safely say that it is evident to you Dave that I believe what we are discussing is very important. Otherwise I wouldn’t be doing this at all. But, I will not discuss this subject with you any further. It is, from what I can see,
a waist of yours and my time. And…this is the first time I have ever admitted that in my entire life. I never had a chance to personally ‘meet’ a person like you before…that calls them self a Reverend and yet has no understanding in them…first time for everything I guess…I’m sure in this day and time I will come across many more just like you…the Lord says so and I, for one, believe what He tells me. For It Is Written!
I wish the best of luck to you…and I believe you need it…and what I believe you need is far from judgment…God alone will see and judge the decisions you have made when you come face to face with Him! I just would advise you to take a good look in the mirror as to witness with your own eyes what a real so-called Christian looks like. Ahhh, I bet that won’t work! It is a long-shot that is what you will see no matter how long you look! Personal opinion only and I have the right to voice that without judging you or offending my Lord.
You, Dave, have offended me with your complete disregard for the Word which you, if you were a Reverend, are commanded to teach! It is hard to believe! Do you even know what reverend means? In case you don’t: reverend: worthy of reverence; to help a little bit more in case you need it: reverence: hold in great regard or religious respect. Wow, sorry but I don’t think you fit the bill Dave…well, other than in the religious part maybe…that won’t make you happy but it fits you more than you know. Listen to this and you will understand what I mean…I heard recently from a good man what another good man (my Pastor) said recently about religion: “when religion enters the room, God leaves”. Hmmmm…
I thank you for the invite. Enjoy while you can…Good bye and Peace be with you.
thank you robert. let me just say this, God is too big to fit into any of mankinds little religions. Your missing the point I think. It’s not like a club or association that one must belong to. I ask you this; If you are a person who follows the teachings and lifestyle of Jesus Christ, but never knew of His exsistence, do you suppose that person cannot enter heaven? Your view of the kingdom, I fear, is “man” based. As for Universal truths I will give you one of thousands of examples. This coming from The Shakyamuni Buddha; Do not steal. Do not kill. Do not lie. Do not commit adultery. These are all Universal Truths. Also found in the Bible and the Koran, and the Torah, and Egyptian Book of The Dead, The Rig Vedas. The most basic Universal truth is that There is only ONE God, and He has no religion. As to the “King James VERSION” please denote”VERSION”. The Bible is has truth in it. The Bible is the word of men, inspired by God THAT IS TRUTH. Jesus tells us there are other “folds” John 10-16 .Be careful not to be so arrogant in matters such as these. How silly is it to think that God could fit into only “your” interpretations of Christianity. Most so-called Christians today have lost the meaning of what it is to truly belong to Christ. They have a proud and prideful hubris about their faith. God finds them full of themselves and not full of His spirit.
Hello Reverend Dave, Peace to you…
Jesus always said to obey the Father in all things we do, go to the Father in His Name for all things we petition for, and only then do we pray that it be done through Him, in His Name, the ‘Son’ of God, our Lord Jesus Christ.
I agree that “It is a false doctrine of man to believe that all you have to do
to be saved is to believe that the “historical person” called Jesus exsisted and believe the story that He dies on the cross for the Worlds sins”. Geez Rev.Dave, we MUST believe that “historical person” is truely the Son of God and that the
‘story’ is also true in order to receive the salvation promised when we come to Him through faith. We MUST come to the Cross! But, we must also do something else that is inexcuseable and deadly to pass over and done by so many ‘Christians’ today. WE MUST REPENT to God The Father, not to God the Son. One of these actions without the other, as you said, “just isn’t enough I’m afraid”.
It seems to me that you skipped over the issue of accepting the teachings of other faiths. That is what gave me reason for concern in the first place. You told me, thank you, that the Universal Truth is; “In order to belong to Him, we must obey Him. We must learn to love one another as He loved us” [I now can agree completely understanding what it is]. Before that you said “He (Jesus) tells us that our salvation is not about what we did in His name, but whether or not we obeyed the Father [which we MUST]. You have just said in these two quotes that it isn’t just that we must obey the Father but also, as a Universal Truth, that we must also obey the Son. As we both know, it is not by our works [of any kind] but the grace of God that we are given the gift of salvation.
Please tell me what other source of ‘teachings’ is the same as our Bible. My ignorance of things may have caused me to miss having found such ‘teachings’ but I do not believe so. For I believe, there are none. What other faith believes in the ‘Universal Truth’ as you explained it above. I don’t believe you can show me one. So, therefore, I would say that you should and must not accept the teachings of ANY OTHER FAITHS because if what you said of the Universal Truth is true, they do not have that in them. You said “I do accept the teachings of other faiths, so long as they are based in Universal Truths.” It is clear to me, at this point anyway, that “the so long as” is impossible because their faith is NOT based on this truth.
This seems crazy to ask you and I do not wish to offend you. But, Do you believe in the Bible of the Christian faith as the one ‘true Word of God’? That there is no other book or words spoken by man that can lead us and guide us into salvation and the love of God? Do you believe what our Father in heaven tells us through His Word such as Luke 1:35; John 3:16-17; John 5:5 and 1 Peter 3:18? Not trying to be sarcastic with you because I love you, but being a Reverend in the Christian faith, I would think that you MUST believe in these things as written.
Please understand that what I have said is not stated as fact but is my opinion only. Given as what I believe to be the truth supported by our Bible. I know you love God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ in your way. I say this in closing; please take another look at what “God Said” of these things, as I will also, that we may be a good witness and please God as spoken of in Exodus 23:1 which applies very well in general, not just the circumstances of which it is written.
Thank you for your patience and love…
Peace Be With You…Love Ya…GBY—R.C.
On the contrary, if the “teachings” are the same.
Salvation is not about just “believing” in Jesus. Even Jesus makes this clear, when He tells us that our salvation is not about what we did in His name, but whether or not we obeyed the Father. Jesus IS what He taught, and whether or not we listen and understand what He was teaching us, and follow His direction, is what determines if we truly “believe” and “love” and “know” Him. It is a false doctrine of man to believe that all you have to do to be saved is to believe that the “historical person” called Jesus exsisted and believe the story that He dies on the cross for the Worlds sins. That just isn’t enough I’m afraid. In order to belong to Him, we must obey Him. We must learn to love one another as He loved us. That is Universal Truth. Look and pay close attention to what Jesus said about His Fathers kingdom. With the help of the Holy Spirit you can be led into all Unviersal Truths.
PS. There is no God & Country, referring to your facebook invite. Truth be known it is; God OR Country!!
I really appreciate your comments and I hope I helped address your concerns.
Rev. Dave
Hi everybody, thank you for the invite to dinner with the Lord! Absolutely beautiful website…I received news of this site from my friend Paul Fix…
I whole heartedly agree with “I am not a strict believer in many of the traditions of the “organized” churches of today”. My observation is that most of their ‘traditions’ are false and some are even deadly.
But, I have a few questions for you; How can you show such a great love for the Only Son of God, the Lord of the Christian faith, Jesus Christ, and still say “and I do accept the teachings of other faiths”? I do not understand!! Our ‘Christian’ faith is based on the belief that Christ is the ONLY way to salvation and a renewed relationship with God the Father, isn’t it? Is there any other faith on earth that believes this? How can we ‘accept’ the ‘teachings’ of any other faith that denies Christ even “so long as they are based in Universal Truths”? Their faiths based on Universal Truths can not be ‘Universal’ and
‘Truth’ if they do not include Him, right? By the way, what are ‘Universal Truths’?
Thanks and God Bless You—Seeker [Robert Hill]
Hi everyone, please feel free to discuss and leave comments about the content here. We encourage open discussion and debate in a peaceful setting, we all grow from shared views.
Thanks!
Paul