Introduction & Foreword

Front Matter

Publication Details

Published by JVED Publishing

Maple Grove, Minnesota 55311

ISBN 0-9768833-0-9 (Volume I: Matters Of The Heart)

ISBN 0-9768833-4-1 (4 Volume Set)

Palmer, Edward G.

1. Faith—The Apostle Edward 2. Bible Prophecy—Christian Mythology

3. Christianity—Christology

Printed in the United States of America.

Notice. This book and its entire contents represents the sole opinion of Edward G. Palmer based upon his twenty-five plus years of in-depth Bible studies, his actual life experiences, his personal diaries and readily available public records. No part of this book is intended to offer professional counseling of any type especially that of legal advice. Persons involved in cultic churches, those in need of spiritual counseling, medical, legal or any other advice should seek competent professional help.

Capitalization Protocol. On all Bible citations, regardless of the translation used, and where the context clearly points to God Almighty or to Jesus Christ, this book makes the distinction between the two by using either small cap characters or lower case characters. For God Almighty, a small capitalized style protocol is followed and reflected in the format: Creator, Father, Giver, He, His, Him, Himself, You, Your, Me, Mine, Most High, My, Myself, Lord and Savior, Etc. For Jesus Christ, a lower case protocol is used except for Lord and Son. Hence, when these pronouns are used for Jesus, they show up as: he, his, him, himself, you, your, me, my, myself, savior, Lord, or Son. This has generally been followed throughout the book, but is not the case with every cited verse. It is used for those verses in which the context cannot be easily disputed or in the case of citing a quality or attribute, which belongs solely to God. For those interested in the original translation capitalization, the author refers them to the actual Bible version used for the cited text. A list of Bible translations is shown on the next page. In some other cases, capital letters used within the cited sentence structure were also changed on common words for ease of reading or modern grammar. In other cases, the capitalized letters were left as shown in the original translation. Hence the original Bible phrase “; Because” might appear as “; because.” In all instances, Apostle Edward maintains complete integrity of translation and the writings herein can be traced back to the original Bibles to confirm the accuracy of presentation. While not perfect, the capitalization protocol is fairly consistent and enhances the reading and value of Apostle Edward’s teachings.

Page

Dedication vi

Foreword viii

Prophecies Fulfilled x

Volume I

Matters Of The Heart

Chapter 1: It Starts With The Heart 1

Chapter 2: God Speaks To The Heart 11

Chapter 3: Repentance From The Heart 28

Chapter 4: God’s Call Of The Heart 59

Chapter 5: Practice From The Heart 72

Chapter 6: The Heart Of An Apostle 93

Chapter 7: Choices From The Heart 131

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my beloved wife Jacqueline Lee (Bowers) Palmer whose love I was privileged to have on this earth for the thirty-nine years of our marriage and the four years of our teen love that preceded it from 1960-1964. On June 3, 2003, God gave Jackie her heavenly wings. This book was started during our thirty-seventh year of marriage and finished in what would have been our fortieth year.

In the forty-three years of earthly love that we shared, God used Jackie to teach me the simplicity of a genuine faith and the resulting earthly righteousness, which is manifested by that faith. Christian mythology has distorted the righteousness message of Jesus Christ. This book sets the record straight again about what it really means to accept God’s Son.

God also used Dean H. Mattila, Jacqueline Mattila and Vernon Enstad to teach me. They are the three righteous people whom God chose for me, from within the church, to share the spiritual journey of this book with. These three alone had the courage to stand tall for the truth and stand by my side when we left a fellowship of Christians who long ago decided to turn their back on the truth and embrace mythology.

Then there is Michael and Maureen Gill, two righteous people whom God brought into my life uncommitted to Christ at the time and used by God to illustrate as He did to Peter in Acts 10:34-35 NIV that, “How true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear Him and do what is right.”

Jesus confirms the kingdom requirement of righteousness in Matthew 25:46 with his words: “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” In Luke 5:32, Jesus further clarifies this by saying: “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

This book is also dedicated to the memory of my first son Glen; to daughter Paula & husband James Kantorowicz; daughter Patty & husband Jon Morin; son Brian & wife Brandee Palmer; grandchildren Christopher, Paul, Kathryn, Bradley, Benjamin, Luke, Braiden, Bronson, those yet to arrive and to the memory of grandson Dylan.

This book is also dedicated to the memory of my parents and sister Barbara and all others whom have passed on, to my younger brother James Stanley, his wife Denise and sons Jimmy, John and Nick. This book is also dedicated to Karen and Amy whom God brought into my heart and who will always be like a daughter and granddaughter to me.

Finally, this book is dedicated to the Christian family that my wife and I were raised in. How wonderful to have lived life in a fellowship of people not afraid to talk about the Holy Bible, our God and what it means to have a genuine faith. To those in the family who have wondered why I chose to accept God’s calling, the answers will be found in this book. I will always be grateful for all of these special people who shared in my life and I trust that our Lord will find them excellent members of His kingdom, even while on this earth and in this present existence. The Apostle Edward

Foreword

It was a strange scene for me as I found myself watching television on a recent Sunday morning. As I prepared to leave to open the doors of my own church, I found myself instead surfing with the remote for a few moments. TV is not a high priority for me, but I was interested in seeing what was on the tube in the way of church services. Perhaps for my dear wife who would be taking care of grandkids at home that morning? Perhaps for my grandkids? Perhaps simply for some good content for my own church teachings? It didn’t matter.

All of a sudden, I found myself watching the worship service of a church I had heard much about. It was an Assembly of God church in the Minneapolis metro area. The name is not important. What was important to me at the time was what I saw. I was watching a praise and worship service on television and it captivated my spirit. The church was reported by some to be “hot.” You know, filled with the Holy Ghost and with signs and wonders. The service was “spirit-filled.” I can tell you this by just watching as the people were giving their hearts to God in song, dance, praise and worship.

For years, it was wonderful for me to go up to the altar area, lift my head and arms as high as I could, and praise the Lord. I would sing and dance around the altar getting “drunk” in the Holy Spirit [see Acts 2:15-21]. The object of praise and worship for me was to press into God’s Spirit and presence. We are taught in the Bible that through Christ Jesus, we are given the Spirit of truth. We are also taught that it is our ticket to step into the Holy of Holies to be with God.

For me, the worship service was very captivating to watch. I felt myself desiring to “sing, dance, praise and worship” God among those worshippers I saw. The “praise and worship” looked genuine and as my spirit was drawn in further, I sensed my heart crying out: “Make room for me!” There is simply something wonderful worshipping God. We are taught in the Bible that “In His presence” is fullness of joy. For me, that is exactly what “praise and worship” is all about—getting into company with Him. I have never known the level of joy I feel with God in anything of this worldly existence. That isn’t to say the world cannot provide you and I with joy. It can, but that kind of joy is short lived. With God, it is always there, it’s eternal in nature: you just have to “press-in” to Him.

As much as I wanted to join the praise and worship service, I couldn’t help but wonder: “Who in the crowd was worshipping God in vain?” Who in this particular crowd was going through the motions but inside were not “lovers of the truth?” Who in this particular crowd was still going to Hell yet thinking they were saved? The truth has been perverted from many pulpits and Paul’s prophecy in 2 Timothy 4:3-4 was now fulfilled.

You see I recently left a church with this same type of “inviting” praise and worship service. However, Solid Rock Church turned out to be a den of thieves, filled with wicked and unrighteous people [Luke 19:46]. People who consider themselves Christian; yet, who routinely and without much thought ignore the truth. Turning their backs, God saw the fullness of their false witness.

God reminded me of His word in Matthew 15:8-9 “These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me, and in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” And again it is written in Mark 7:7 that “They worship Me in vain.”

Do you worship God in vain? Many, who call themselves Christians, and who think of them selves as being saved by the blood of Jesus, are simply deluding themselves on the way to their eternal home in Hell. Jesus tells us of this fact. Why? Does it have to be this way?

The message I received from God is to tell those who call themselves Christians that many of them will be going to Hell and that Jesus will serve up a very rude announcement to them as they plead for their eternal soul. However, by that time, it will be too late. So, who are these Christians?

Who is Jesus speaking to in Matthew 7:22-23? Jesus says: “Many will say to me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name?’ And then I will declare to them, I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.” Jesus’ message is clearly to those who call themselves Christian. To those who say: “I am saved by the blood of Lamb” or “I know Jesus.” This book is a warning to Christians. Many of you are headed to Hell. Why? Edward

Mythology Prophecy

“For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” 2 Timothy 4:3-4 NIV

Truth Prophecy

“The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.” 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 NIV

Prophecies Are Fulfilled

“The prophecies in 2 Timothy 4:3-4 and 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 are fulfilled. Today, mythology is routinely taught from the pulpits of many Christian churches instead of God’s Holy Word and many people attending Christian churches have turned away from the truth. These people are headed toward Hell unaware of their lost souls.” Edward