I wish to re-establish some Biblical truths concerning a certain
infamous Usenet person's words and actions of late. Please note that I
am talking about his words and actions and not about him directly for
I am not to presume what is in his heart although his words and
actions indicate a darkened and hardened heart. However the scripture
clearly instructs Christians to judge his fruits or in this case, his
actions and words:

"Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a
corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit." (Matthew 7:17)

"A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth
forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil
treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil:
for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh."
(Luke 6:45)

Observing this person's actions and words towards those who he feels
are unChristian, it becomes apparent that he uses abusive language.
Luke 6:45 clearly teaches that what comes out of a person's mouth
reflects upon what is in his heart. Using that verse as a righteous
guideline, we can see that his abusive and spiteful words reflect upon
an abusive and spiteful heart. He has an abundance of anger and hatred
to those he considers unChristian. Obviously that is wrong since Jesus
clearly taught:

"Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy
neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love
your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them
that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use
you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your
Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on
the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and
on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what
reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if
ye salute your bretheren only, what do ye more than others?
do not even the publicans also?" " (Matthew 5:43-47)

I want to point out two important items being taught here. First of
all, Jesus instructs us to not only love our bretheren, but also those
who are _not_ our brethren. Does this rather infamous Usenet person
exhibit a loving attitude towards those who he considers not to be his
brethren? Obviously not. So it shows one area where he clearly does
not follow scripture. Secondly this teaches that it is quite easy for
one to love one's brethren, yet it is much more difficult to love
those who are not one's brethren. This is one area where this person
is quite weak and is one reason why I pray for him and ask others to
pray for him.

Now this infamous Usenet person has tried to argue that this love
applies to loving brethren only. I could refute this with Jesus's own
words as found in Matthew 5:43-47 and elsewhere, but Paul has
clarified whom we should love in a Christian manner by writing:

"And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one
toward another, and toward _ALL_ men, even as we do toward
you:" (1 Thessalonians 3:12) [emphasis mine - TCM]

Please notice that Paul is saying that the Lord make you abound in
love not only toward one another, but also to _all_ men. Is this
infamous Usenet individual espousing Christian love towards all?
Sadly, no.

Paul also makes it clear that Christians are to "give none offense" in
regards to Christians _and_ non-Christians.

"Give none offense, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles,
nor to the church of God:" (1 Corinthians 10:32)

In his posts, does this Usenet person give offense? Sadly, yes.

What does the Holy Scriptures say about those like this indidual who
refuses to stop using abusive and vile words against others?

"If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not
his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion
is vain." (James 1:26)

Interestingly enough, this person has claimed on numerous occasions
that the measure of one's salvation is his obedience to the
scriptures. Here are some other clear scriptural guidelines which he
regularly violates:

"A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another;
as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this
shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love
one to another." (John 13:34,35)

"This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have
loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man
lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:12,13)

"And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all
thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second
is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as
thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these."
(Mark 12:30,31)

Now, the most appropriate question that arises from the three quotes
above is "What is a neighbor?" Good question. One which Jesus answers.

"But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who
is my neighbour? And Jesus answering said, A certain man went
down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which
stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed,
leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain
priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other
side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and
looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain
Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw
him, he had compassion on him, And went to him, and bound up his
wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast,
and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the
morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to
the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever
thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. Which
now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that
fell among the thieves? And he said, He that shewed mercy on
him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise." (Luke
10:29-37)

Please notice that I have never shown or demonstrated any ill will
towards
this infamous Usenet person nor have I ever wished him any. I know
deep within my heart that if he needed my help, I would gladly give
him assistance. I always have wished him well and have always let him
know that I have nothing but Christian compassion towards him.

Also, please note that Jesus calls loving thy neighbor as thyself a
commandment. Jesus also makes it quite clear what would happen to
those who broke such a commandment, but still try to teach God's Word:

"Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments,
and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the
kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the
same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven."
(Matthew 5:19)

"He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments,
is a liar, and the truth is not in him." (1 John 2:4)

This also does not bode well for this person and it is yet another
point that I pray about and ask others to pray about as well.

If I have sinned against him in the past, I have asked for
forgiveness. Has he forgiven me for any transgressions be they real or
imagined as we are instructed in scripture?

"And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one
another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."
(Ephesians 4:32)

"Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved,
bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness,
longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one
another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ
forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on
charity, which is the bond of perfectness." (Colossians 3:12-14)

"And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." (Matthew 6:12)

Even though I have asked for forgiveness in the past for whatever
transgressions this person felt I have committed, he has never once
said that he forgave me for the numerous transgressions of which he
has accused me. What saddens me is that Jesus addresses this as well
and what He says does not bode well for him.

"For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will
also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses,
neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." (Matthew 6:14,15)

I have always made it clear that I have forgiven this infamous Usenet
person for the many malicious falsehoods he has said about me and that
I would continue to forgive him in the future for whatever he did
because Jesus instructs me in the Holy Scriptures:

"Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother
sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith
unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until
seventy times seven. Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened
unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.
And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which
owed him ten thousand talents. But forasmuch as he had not to pay,
his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and
all that he had, and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell
down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and
I will pay thee all. Then the lord of that servant was moved with
compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. But the same
servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed
him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by
the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. And his fellowservant
fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience
with me, and I will pay thee all. And he would not: but went and
cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. So when his
fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came
and told unto their lord all that was done. Then his lord, after
that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I
forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: Shouldest
not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as
I had pity on thee? And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to
the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. So
likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from
your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses."
(Matthew 18:21-35)

This person has also resorted to cursing me in Jesus's name and
praying that God will curse me. Here are his own words:

I ask any real Christians reading here to join me in prayer that
God will curse Carl Mccaskey for his efforts to deceive souls
into hell and to disrupt this echo, but let us also pray that the
Lord would also mightly curse those filthy false preachers that
turned Carl Mccaskey into such putrid false christian filth.

and

I curse you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

and

I curse Carl Mccaskey in the name of Jesus because he is a
filthy, deceiving false christian scum, Mccaskey.

and

You are filthy, Holy Ghost blaspheming, false christian scum
and I curse you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and ask
that any real Christians here join me in prayer that the
Lord would reward you according to your works without delay
for the sake of any fool that you might ensnare.

and

On the authority and instruction of the Word of God, I curse
you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

and

I curse you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and I also
curse your pastor.

and

May the curse of God be manifest against you and your space
to repent be cut off.

The Holy Scriptures clearly instructs Christians not to call for such
curses, but instead bless:

"Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not."
(Romans 12:14)

Furthermore, the Bible addresses and teaches against curses like this
person's in very clear, concise terms:

"But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of
deadly poison. Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and
therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of
God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My
brethren, these things ought not so to be. Doth a fountain send
forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? Can the fig
tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so
can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh. Who is a wise
man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a
good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye
have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and
lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from
above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying
and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the
wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle,
and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without
partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness
is sown in peace of them that make peace." (James 3:8-18)

It is taught that "no fountain both yield salt water and fresh" that
is, no person who curses others can bless God. The cursing of people
truly indicates what lies within a person. This person finds it very
easy to curse others therefore by Biblical standards, Christians can
see what lies within him and that it is evil.

This infamous Usenet person lamely attempts to justify his prayers for
cursing by twisting scripture, namely Galatians:

"I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you
into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not
another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert
the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven,
preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached
unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now
again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye
have received, let him be accursed." [Galatians 1:6-9]

He seems to think that the phrase "let him be accursed" gives him
license to curse whomever he pleases. However that is NOT what the
verse is teaching. The Greek word translated to "accursed" is
_anathema_ which when rightly divided means "eternally condemned."
What these verses are actually teaching is that if anyone, even an
angel, teaches unsound doctrine, then their *false teachings*
eternally condemns them. These verses do not teach that someone else
is supposed to curse the false teacher, but that the false teacher is
condemning himself to eternal condemnation by their teaching of
unsound doctrine. The message, NOT the messenger is of utmost
importance. Therefore, it is important to the Christian to closely
examine what this person or any other self-professed preacher teaches
and compare it to scripture in order to determine the soundness of it.
Since we have already seen that this person's attempts at justifying
his cursing is obviously unscriptural (see: James 3:8-18), what does
this say of him? The scriptural answer is sad indeed.

Furthermore since the curses he vehemently prayed for never came to
fruition I am reminded of this verse:

"For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears
are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is
against them that do evil." (1 Peter 3:12)

Since God is clearly against this person's curses, what do you think
this says about his relationship to God? Again the Biblical answer is
sad indeed.

Even though this person curses me, I, as a Christian, am instructed by
Jesus to "bless them that curse you," (Matthew 5:44) and I have
obeyed. If this person has prayed similarly for curses against you, I
hope that you will also ask God to bless him.

In earlier verses I cited above, it is shown that one is known by
their "fruits" (i.e. -- in this case, this infamous individual's words
and actions). The scriptures are also quite clear on what the fruits
of the Holy Spirit are:

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such
there is no law." (Galatians 5:22-23)

"For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness
and truth" (Ephesians 5:9)

I pray that one day this person finally receives the fruit of the
Spirit in his heart.

Another area in which this person shows unChristian behavior is his
anger. He has quickly spewed forth angry words on numerous occasions
towards others he disagrees with. Fortunately, the Bible also
addresses this as well:

"This you know, my beloved bretheren, but let everyone be
quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger
of man does not achieve the righteousness of God." (James 1:19,20)

Even without those verses, it is readily apparent that his anger and
vile words on newsgroups drive away many Christians as well as those
wandering souls that could have used patient, loving, Christian
guidance and thereby he is not achieving the righteousness of God.
This saddens me greatly as well.

He has spoken evil about many on various discussion groups which is
something Paul clearly instructs Christians not to do:

"To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle,
shewing all meekness unto all men." (Titus 3:2)

This person's impatience, ungentle nature and vile words also go
against scripture in these verses:

"A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife,
vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality,
apt to teach; Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of
filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;"
(1 Timothy 3:2-3)

"And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle
unto all men, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing
those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give
them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;"
(2 Timothy 2:24, 25)

These are more areas that I pray that this infamous Usenet person will
allow God's grace to someday intervene before it is too late.

One other thing. Why am I bothering writing and sending this long post
to people I have never met? Well, once again I turn to scripture:

"Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort
the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men.
See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow
that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men."
(1 Thessalonians 5:14-15)

Here I am encouraged to admonish those who are unruly like this person
and be patient to all men. This includes this person as well. I ask
you to pass this post onto him for if you also consider yourself
Christian you will not only pass this along to this infamous Usenet
individual, but also admonish him for his unChristian actions and pray
along with me for God's grace to help him change for the better. I
will also pray for God's grace to give you the strength necessary to
stand up to this person. Don't let him intimidate you. I'm not asking
you to do anything that isn't already required of you in the Holy
Scriptures. I have provided the scriptural documentation that shows
what you need to do.

However, if he still refuses to listen and turns his unChristian wrath
on you as he has done to me and others on numerous occasions, the Holy
Scriptures tell you what you have to do:

"Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions
and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned;
and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord
Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair
speeches deceive the hearts of the simple." (Romans 16:17,18)

In short, if this infamous person continues to reject what Jesus
instructs and what Paul clarifies and what the Holy Scriptures teach,
then you are instructed not to accept him as a teacher of the word
(for it is obvious that he is a false teacher that Christians were
warned about {Matthew 7:15, 24:11; 2 Peter 2:1-3}) and you are further
instructed to avoid him as such. And remember, I am showing you that
the Holy Scriptures are telling you this, not man. It has been shown
on numerous occasions that his words and actions show a hypocritical
nature since his words and actions have been proven with scriptural
documentation to be unChristian.

"They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him,
being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work
reprobate." (Titus 1:16)

Some have indicated in the past that what I am espousing is divisive.
I disagree for I am merely asking you to do as the Bereans did and
check this person's actions and words as I have done in order to see
if they are the words and actions supported or condemned by the Bible.
When a person or group that claims to be Christian and yet seriously
departs from the historical biblical doctrines of orthodox
Christianity, one cannot stand idly by in silence (Matthew 18:15-16).
To not speak out would be dishonoring to God and unloving, not only to
Christians, but also to the propagators of the error.

I believe that you, the reader, have no choice but to agree that his
words and actions are in direct opposition to what is taught by Jesus
and is clarified by the Apostle Paul. I am not saying that you have to
turn your back on him, but instead go to him in Christian love and
show him his errors. If he refuses to correct his errors then refute
his blasphemies, his false witnessing and his lies with sound,
orthodox Christian doctrine *BUT* do so with Christian love,
gentleness and kindness (yet always be firm). Give him every
opportunity to repent from his evil unChristian ways, ask forgiveness
for his transgressions and allow the grace of God to transform him
into the brother in Christ I know he could become. Don't *EVER* fall
into Satan's trap and respond to him with angry, vitriolic words.
Remember the fact that a person's words and actions are the result of
their beliefs. A person lives and acts a certain way because a person
believes a certain way. Doctrine frames behavior.

Please note that what I am writing is all confirmed by the Holy
Scriptures. I hope and pray that this person will change in accordance
to scripture because I feel that he would then win many souls to
Christ rather than drive them away as he is doing now.

Since we cannot force him or anyone else to do any of this the best we
can do is follow what God has told us to do in the scriptures, pray
for others and then leave it in His hands. I ask you to read what I
have written and pray for guidance in regards to it.

I welcome any and all comments about my post. Feel free to send me e-
mail with your thoughts. I am always open to discussion.

May God bless,
Carl
website -- http://www.nettally.com/saints/
blog -- http://www.anniemayhem.com/cgi-bin/wordpress/