Count it All Joy

 by Mike Ratliff

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. (James 1:2-8 ESV)

Though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:6-10 ESV)

When I was about 10 or 12 years old we went to the Santa Fe Depot in the town I grew up in to meet the train my cousin was on. He and his mother and sisters were traveling from Dallas to see us in Purcell, Oklahoma. In any case, I was excited to see my cousin. As we waited for the train, I did the typical boy thing at a railroad depot. I explored. I found a box on a pole that looked like it had a thermometer in it. I tried to read the temperature, but something had fallen down in front of it. I hit the side of the box to loosen it. It turned out to be a Yellowjacket nest full of Yellowjackets.  The station manager yelled for me to run but it was too late. The next thing I knew I had Yellowjacket wasps all over me. They followed me wherever I went. I could not get away from them. They stung me through my shirt and continued to attack even as I fell to the ground and rolled, trying to get away from them. 

I had no idea why they quit stinging me. I was in a lot of pain. This was the early 1960’s and no one went to the hospital unless it was critical. I waited on the platform with my mother and sister for the train. I was in agony. I felt sick. I thought I was going to die. When my cousin and his family arrived we took them in our car to our house. I had such high expectations for that time, but I was sick and in a lot of pain. It took two or three days for the stings to subside. I think I had ten or so stings on my belly and several on my back. I had jeans on so they didn’t get my legs. I was wearing a sleeveless white t-shirt, but for some odd reason they did not go for my arms. They didn’t sting my face either. In any case, I will never forget that attack. The continual swarming, buzzing, stinging all over. I still fell a little sick when I think of it. What angered me back then was that there was no reason for it. I had done nothing to deserve that. I wasn’t trying to harm their nest.

Over the last several weeks this episode in my past has been relived in a very different way. As many of you know, when I was on vacation earlier this month I received a cry for help and prayer from a friend, Lisa at Deo Volente. She had encountered a group who were continually attacking her, claiming she was not a Christian or she wouldn’t have MS. This lead to me commenting on her blog then receiving hateful and condemning emails about Lisa from the same people. This lead to me demanding that they back away and leave us alone. They would not listen so I posted How to Detect a False Prophet. Things died down for awhile. Then on Friday this week I received over 40 comments from the leader of this group. I detailed this in Sola Scriptura. 

Today I began receiving email from some of you that you had received the comments I deleted in an email from the group leader, Victor. I had tried to spare those he mentioned in his diatribe by deleting them. However, He is determined to tell all of us that we are lost, are not Christians, have never been Christians, and we will all eventually submit to his authority. If it wasn’t so pathetically stupid it would be comical. However, as I read the comments from Victor again I had that image of the Yellowjackets continually trying to destroy me. I had simply tried to help a friend by encouraging her and now her attackers are taking it out on me and you for refusing to listen to him or take him seriously. 

Here are his “prophecies” against us, in case you haven’t received his email.

To those here that participated on Mike Ratliff’s blog entry, How to
Detect a False Prophet, Victor Hafichuk replied to each of you, though
Mike refused to post his answers. I am therefore sending this to you
so you can see Victor’s answers to you, and his reply to Mike (given
first).

Paul Cohen

www.thepathoftruth.com 

Reply to Mike:

Mike Ratliff, Victor Hafichuk here, in the Wonderful Name of the Lord
Jesus Christ, to which Name you bring reproach and cause others to
blaspheme. 

I will address your blog posting of April 20, 2008 and prove it is
against the Lord Jesus Christ and not only against us. 

Your blog is not there for the Lord. You simply use His Name for self-
aggrandizement, taking upon yourself His Name in vain. All those you
entertain with your wickedness, which is paraded as righteousness, are
as you. 

I declare that you have nothing to do with the Lord Jesus Christ, and
He now speaks to you by us. You don’t know Him and He does not know
you, who work lawlessly.  He has never known you, even as He says: 

“Not everyone who says to Me, Lord! Lord! shall enter the kingdom of
Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in Heaven. Many will say
to Me in that day, Lord! Lord! Did we not prophesy in Your name, and
through Your name throw out demons, and through Your name do many
wonderful works? And then I will say to them I never knew you! Depart
from Me, those working lawlessness!” (Matthew 7:21-23 MKJV) 

You are His enemies, scattering and not gathering. This goes for
several, if not all of your participants, who company with you in the
Lord’s Name. Of and to those who stand against the Lord with Mike,
here is what the Word has to say: 

Proverbs 6:12-19 MSG 

(12)  Riffraff and rascals talk out of both sides of their mouths.

(13)  They wink at each other, they shuffle their feet, they cross
their fingers behind their backs. 

(14)  Their perverse minds are always cooking up something nasty,
always stirring up trouble. 

(15)  Catastrophe is just around the corner for them, a total smash-
up, their lives ruined beyond repair. 

(16)  Here are six things GOD hates, and one more that he loathes with
a passion: 

(17)  eyes that are arrogant, a tongue that lies, hands that murder
the innocent, 

(18)  a heart that hatches evil plots, feet that race down a wicked
track, 

(19)  a mouth that lies under oath, a troublemaker in the family.

For those of you who have a problem with Peterson (MSG), take it from
the KJV. 

You quote John 7:17-18. Those words are spoken by the One we serve and
you use them without authority or understanding as He intended them.
Furthermore, they indict you, as is plainly visible by your blog and
your spirit for those with spiritual discernment to see, which you
claim to have but do not.

Concerning your “sister in Christ,” Lisa Nunley, we have already tried
to reason with you concerning your irresponsible conduct in
commenting, and accusing and condemning us without knowledge of the
facts. By your own mouth you confessed you had no idea of whom and
against whom you spoke or why, yet did nothing about it. Only stubborn
fools conduct themselves that way: 

“Answering before listening is both stupid and rude” (Proverbs 18:13
MSG). 

Many have made their ignorant remarks on this blog without knowledge,
much less understanding. Certainly the Lord’s sons and daughters do
not do so. Paul Cohen dealt with you, Mike, on this issue and you were
too proud and stubborn to even try to ascertain the facts, much less
understand them, and where you were clearly proven wrong, you could
acknowledge nothing. 

Why don’t you post Paul’s letters to you and let all see the
correspondence in entirety? Is that too much to ask? We want this all
in the open, unlike the wicked that flee when none pursue or speak
without responsibility or accountability. We have the postings,
including those with Nunley and Elslager, so that all parties may
access the complete dialogue, with nothing omitted: Calvinism with a
Feminine Touch. 

Mike, you accuse us of “attacking” your fellow blogger concerning her
illness. You lie and she lies. We did no such thing. The illness
matter was not an issue to us or to the Lord. It was but a small part
of the picture, a mere symptom, one of many. 

If Lisa Nunley or Jen Elslager or anyone else took it as an attack, we
are not responsible. How is it you automatically judge our motives and
hearts in the matter, yet without fact? Who but the one known as the
liar, murderer, and accuser of the brethren does that? Where is the
substance for your accusation? There is none, Mike, yet you presume to
preach the Gospel and represent Christ? 

What we did do was speak the truth for their sakes, according to the
truth of Scripture, that they might repent and be restored in
spiritual health and thus, Lord willing, physical. Is that an
unacceptable motive to you? Does speaking the truth with the genuine
intent of helping fall into your definition of “attack”? 

We have good cause to speak of illness as a result of sin. The Bible
is unequivocal on that matter. For all those who might have a grain of
interest, objectivity, and desire for truth, read God Heals Today, His
Way. Who are you to judge that their illness is not a result of sin or
that it would not be taken away with repentance? 

You bear a false report, Mike; you lie and evilly judge our
confrontation. Of us and our correspondence, you say, “…where he was
continually attacking her character and salvation. He used
intimidation tactics and used absolutely no biblical references to
support his attacks.” 

My dictionary defines “intimidation” as: “being made to feel afraid or
timid, bullying.” We were not there to do as you evilly surmise.

However, it is true that we addressed her character and false claims,
not to attack but to expose, not for our sakes alone, but more so hers
and the Lord’s. As it says, “Reprove the works of darkness.” Should we
expect darkness to be receptive? 

As for salvation, she is not saved and never was. Professing faith
means nothing. But you scorn that assertion and condemn us because you
are not saved. I know I will not make headway with you now but we will
speak, for the record. You and those with you will be without excuse.

As I have already said, you, Mike, are not a genuine Christian either
– just another tare, a child of the Devil. How do I know? We have told
you: 

“He who is of God hears God’s Words. Therefore you do not hear them
because you are not of God” (John 8:47 MKJV) 

“We are of God. He who knows God hears us. The one who is not of God
does not hear us. From this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit
of error” (1 John 4:6 MKJV). 

We will also specify other fruits. Of you and your friends (and I will
address each and several of them), it is written: 

“They are of the world, therefore they speak of the world, and the
world hears them” (1 John 4:5 MKJV). 

You say we offered no Biblical references?  Again, you lie. As I said,
we provided and do provide the authority of Scripture to substantiate
what we say. All you need to do is avail yourselves of the postings
and papers as linked: Calvinism with a Feminine Touch. 

We are not afraid of you. If you are the righteous and we are the
wicked ones, we ought to be afraid of you, according to the proverb: 

“The wicked are edgy with guilt, ready to run off even when no one’s
after them; Honest people are relaxed and confident, bold as
lions” (Proverbs 28:1 MSG). 

But we are not running, are we? We will scatter the darkness. We have
come across a nest of scorners and ignorant cowards, tares presuming
to be wheat, hypocrites who stop their ears because their mouths are
stopped. And your time is up. 

You wickedly accuse us of conducting a “vendetta” and then write: “I
had to show a great deal of restraint here because the temptation was
to pull out the big guns and go for it, but I refrained.” 

Proud boaster. “I have muscle but I am also pious and self-
restraining; feast your eyes on me.” Do you think you are a mighty
man, Mike? Frankly, you don’t have water pistols. Your holsters are
empty. You pretend righteousness and restraint because you have
nothing or are afraid to show your true colors. 

Don’t refrain; speak up, that is, if you have anything at all to say,
which you don’t. We do, so better you should listen up and shut up, Mike. 

Was that “unloving”? Read The False Religious Love that Hates
(Rejects) God and Does God Speak Only Gentle Words? 

You say, “The most typical indicator of a false prophet or teacher is
that their ways and message are not biblical,” and “How do we know if
a teacher or preacher really is from God? Their message will be
biblical. It will line up with the Bible.” 

Of course false ones are not Biblical – that is like saying pigs have
no wings. But how presumptuous it is of you, as though you have the
ability to judge and use the Bible as a measure! How shall a false
teacher judge? What you do have is your darkened interpretation of
what you think the Bible says and a gross misunderstanding of what it
says, because you do not know the Author of the Bible, the Lord Jesus

Christ. Your doctrines are of men and not of God. You are deceived by
“another gospel,” one that has slain many. Read Diabolical Doctrine 1)

“Accept Jesus as your personal Saviour and you will be saved.”

You suggest, “After reading…I suggest that you go to that site and
with all discernment read what is there.” 

Where are they to receive that discernment? From you, Mike? You
proudly profess to have it, like a little three-year old who thinks he
can push over a house. One of the gifts of the Spirit is discernment,
but not having the Spirit, how can one then discern? Read The Baptism
of the Holy Spirit and the Diabolical Doctrines, 3) “Gifts of the Holy
Spirit are not for today” and  

4) “There are no apostles and/or prophets today.”

Yes, in your antiChrist spirit, you will condemn it as “Pentecostalism.”
But read anyway – one day you may find a way out of your sins. 

Being a Calvinist, for example, and in agreement with that false
teacher’s major doctrines makes you a child of darkness and not of
Light. Read Is Your Profession of Faith Vain, Christian?, Counterfeit
Christianity, The True Marks of a Cult, You Want to Walk with Jesus?
and The Restitution of All Things. No doubt, in your ignorance and
with your indoctrination of devils, you will scoff at what we, the few
in Christ on the narrow path, have to say, according to the Scriptures
and their Author. It’s your choice.  

You say, “Along with this, when they do ‘attack’ genuine Bible teachers or ministers,
they do not use the Bible or, if they do, they twist what it says.” 

Again you accuse us of attacking, and that “genuine Bible teachers.” Would you know if you saw one? Because you have been taught by men as to what are “genuine Bible teachers,” does that mean you were taught by God? Says who, Mike? Are you an authority? Are you appointed of God
to judge these matters? Plainly, you are not, but you don’t know that,
and, frankly, you don’t really care, do you? You are not there for
that. You are quite content with just being heard, recognized, and
praised by men. 

And just how do we twist what the Bible says? Must we have your
understanding to use it aright? Must all believe what you say, without
any substance, simply because Mike says so? And you call us arrogant? 

And how do you test the spirits, Mike? Do you know? We have tested
many and found them wanting. We have tried you, not that we need any
persuasion of your stance and nature, but you had to be told how the
Lord sees you. The Lord has shown us, and so we speak. 

You say, “Another indicator is whether their message and ministry exalts God or themselves.” 

They accused Jesus of bearing witness of Himself. So what makes you
think you know the difference? Where do you see us exalting ourselves?
You don’t say. All you do is the very things of which you accuse us.
You attack us; you criticize and denounce us as false teachers but
give no substance, only opinion. You take general Scripture, put your
spin on it and expect people to believe you. And you will not answer
to your error when we show it to you. 

Mike, you are a phony, through and through. While you have fooled some
people, you have not deceived God. You write, specifying false
teachers: “They have not the Holy Spirit. They are worldly. They may
proclaim that they know Jesus, but they are full of evil.” You speak
of yourself, precisely. 

You write: “In their personal lives, genuine ministers will be marked
by a growing Christlikeness while the false teacher, not being a
Christian, will be marked by a parody of it.” 

My, my, are you growing in Christlikeness, Mike, or is it a parody? Is
your act not a spoof? Who shall say? You say these things of me, and I
of you, but who knows? Your friends? Those who are in their sins and
blinded by false religion with you? 

What does God have to say? That is why we are here, that He may
finally have His say. 

You make many charges but give no specifics, just your opinion. If any
believe you, why do they do so? Is it because they take Mike’s word
for it? Is that the way Mike likes to operate? Or would they like the
truth? This I say: If they want truth, your blog is not the place to
find it. 

You write: “His contention is that men like Kirk Cameron are false
prophets because they use scare tactics when they share the Gospel. He
contends that this doesn’t work.” 

That’s right. A threat of a horrible literal fire for all eternity
without end is the biggest lie one can possibly tell about God. It is
a heinous character assassination, originating in paganism long before
Christ. Yes, we are familiar with all the inane arguments, but you are
not familiar with the Truth. You are painting pictures of Jesus Christ
in the nude, with horns, hooves, tail and trident. That is exactly
what you are doing. It is blasphemy! 

“It’s in the Bible,” you say? You have no idea, so read what the Bible
really has to say about this, your jewel of diabolical doctrines: The
Restitution of All Things. 

You continue: “I had to stop there and ask God for help. Then it came
to me, what was troubling me was that the Holy Spirit was showing me
clearly that this person was part of the Compromised Church and was
defending it’s man-oriented non-gospel while attacking the genuine
Gospel.” 

You heard from your own deceitful, indoctrinated heart, my friend.
Like I said, God does not speak to you. And I can guarantee you that
if you take the time and trouble to read our testimonies in Christ and
our doctrine, there is no way you will find compromise. You, Mike, are
a lying, prating fool, who shoots first and doesn’t even ask questions
later. You don’t care. You have no use for fact or truth whatsoever,
least of all for the One Who laid down His life for you. 

You write: “Another indicator is that false teachers and preachers
will lead their followers to worship other gods. The Compromised
Church worships another Jesus, not the Biblical Jesus. They have
created their god in their own image.” 

Wow! Guess who? You are zealous, but as was Saul of Tarsus before his
conversion, except that he had more knowledge than do you. Will you
also seek to kill us, as Calvin sought to and succeeded in murdering
Servetus and destroying Castellion? You may try, but you will not
succeed, because while Calvin was given to overcome the saints, this
time it is not so. Now we, the saints, being the Lord’s mouthpiece and
representation, will put away the seed of the serpent, which seed you
are. This is the Lord’s Day, a great day for the righteous, but a day
of wrath for you, the wicked. 

We speak and teach of healing, of spiritual gifts, of miracles, of
deliverance, of forsaking all for Him, and not only do we speak, we
experience, but you denounce those very things and then say this: 

“When the gospel is presented as the social gospel or health, wealth
and prosperity, or is robbed of all of its supernatural power then
those doing this have proved themselves to be false teachers and
preachers.” 

Mike, surely you are a liar and a hypocrite. Again, read The True
Marks of a Cult, all of you that read this, and tell us where you
stand with that checklist, which is not one of opinion, neither is it
swimming in carnal subjectivity, as are all other cult analysis
guidelines we have seen, but it is based squarely in Scripture,
pointing to the lives, examples, and doctrine of the Lord Jesus Christ
and His disciples. 

Of Paul’s letter, you evilly surmise, “Also, did you notice the
threats and the tactic of attempting to generate fear?” 

Those are the perceptions of a wicked mind, blinded by sin and pride,
Mike. There is no such thing in that letter but the Truth. However, we
understand that you would be afraid of the Truth because Light exposes
darkness, and that, my friend, is why what we speak stings you, not
because it was from the enemy: 

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth. I did not come
to send peace, but a sword” (Matthew 10:34 MKJV). 

Quoting your friend, another Paul: 

“A man may preach like an apostle, pray like an angel—and yet may have
the heart of a devil!” 

Think about it, Mike. Though I see no apostolic preaching with you or
prayer as an angel, the latter is certainly true. We know with whom we
deal. 

Another quote: “As many go to heaven with the fear of hell in their
hearts—so many go to hell with the name of Christ in their mouths!” 

You dwell in Hell even now with His Name in your mouth, but those who
are in Heaven along with us have no fear whatsoever of Satan’s lies.
We fear God and love Him because He has given us to love Him. If you
experienced His love and new birth, there is no way that you or your
deceived friend could begin to speak those vile words expressed in the
first line. 

The second line is not quite accurate either. You are in Hell, that
state of darkness, deception and torment, and we know that unless God
grants you repentance, there is more of that to come for you and your
sycophantic friends, who also seek flattery and praise. That is why we
speak – to warn and give you notice of your state and destiny. 

Is Hell a literal fire? It is just like the seven-headed beast that is
thrown into the lake of fire, along with Hell and Death, and so many
other symbolisms in Scripture. 

Is Jesus a literal bleating lamb with hooves and wool? But you are
carnal, stupid, and full of all contradiction, teaching lies. We will
prove it to you as you read our papers, given us of God, the
Resurrected Lord Jesus Christ. 

Victor Hafichuk 

Well what do you think? This ‘person’ said all of that, insulted me and my friends with no knowledge of us at all. Why? It was so people will go to his website and read his papers. That is all. I do not at all believe what he says about me or my friends. I pray that you do not either, but don’t take my word for it. Listen to the Spirit. However, it was obvious to me that Victor is a self-righteous hypocrite. He does the very thing he accuses us of doing. Upon what does he base his authority? He bases it upon his own visions and prophecies, not the Bible. As you could plainly see, he has no clue how to handle the Word of Truth. Instead of going to his website and making his hit counter spin, let’s ignore him. All he and his group are are a bunch of deceived people who try to create pain in other’s lives by attacking their salvation based upon his twisted version of the Gospel and scripture in general.  

Victor, this is addressed to you. You try to come across as if you are right at the throne of God and know all things. You are deceived if that is what you really believe. You try to make people believe you are the only true prophet alive on planet Earth today. Well, that is really sad since all you push are the works of other heretics while using a paraphrase of the Bible. All we ever receive from you and Paul are accusations. Where is your scriptural proof Victor? I didn’t see any. Also, you are always going after other’s motives. Huge mistake because that marks you as a false prophet who has no idea how to really debate. This is why I have two rules on my blog just for this sort of thing. You broke them both so I refused to post your comments. The first rule is that I allow no ad hominem attacks on my blog against me or any other commenter. That is all you do. Also, I refuse to allow any Straw Man Fallacy arguments. Well, since you misrepresent what we believe, insultingly I might add, then you are guilty of that as well. These two rules are used here to determine the true from the false. God would never have a prophet of his use either of those types of argument. Therefore, we all know that you are nothing but a false prophet. Everyone that comes here now knows who you are and no one is afraid of you. You can rant and rave and send out emails with all of your hateful remarks, but no one is listening and no one is coming to your site to be deceived. 

My brethren, that was quite painful for me to write. I hate that sort of thing. Victor and people like him draw their power from people who succumb to them by being beaten down by their continual attacks, much like the Yellowjackets did me when I was just a boy. I thought about addressing each of his points from scripture, but it would take a lot more time than I have this evening. However, those of you who have physical problems and know that God is working through them to sanctify you, be strengthened in the Lord. Read these passages and rejoice. 

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. (James 1:2-8 ESV) 

Though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:6-10 ESV) 

I can bear the attacks of people like Victor and Paul without doubting and so can you. How? 

Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me. (2 Timothy 1:8-12 ESV) 

Aren’t you glad that God is both Holy and Merciful? He is Righteous and Just yet He is also Love and Grace. He is not how Victor presents Him at all. Let us rejoice in our sufferings as we cling to our Lord. Time is short my brethren. I think God is giving us a preview of the irrationality that will prevail in the time to come. Do you think perhaps that God has allowed this to prepare us for that? Could He be training our discernment, raising our ability to see these things clearly? Let us pray for wisdom and discernment and for those deceived souls in Victor’s ‘family’ to be drawn into the light. They aren’t beyond the reach of our God.  

Soli Deo Gloria!