Bethany BTC Update
March 18, 2020
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"A Prompting from the Lord"
March 7, 2020
Dear friends,
There is an excitement within me as I write this letter to you. I feel in my spirit that the Lord is preparing to do something very pronounced, and those who are prepared, are going to have a part in what He does. I know that is a weighty statement, and while I want to avoid being controversial, it is my responsibility to share what I am feeling.
These past few months, I have felt that the Lord wanted me to re-acquaint myself with the Doctrine of God and the Theology of God (what is known as the Dogma). Two distinctly different lenses of learning who God is, so that when we teach our students, they will be grounded in unquestionable, clear, biblical doctrine.
In this, I am not saying that hasn’t always been the purpose of the school. But…what I am seeing is that many different groups within what is recognized as Born Again, Spirit-filled believers, are coming up with what I believe are experience based doctrines, and those experiences are not biblically based. Yet, they have so much in common with what we would believe as the truth! These “other teachings” is where the conflict begins. One example many known evangelicals are stating is: Was Jesus a man only when He was on earth or a God-man?
I believe He was both (fully God & fully man), yet, and I stress YET, He willingly laid His own divine powers down and became limited to being a man who was totally dependent on the Holy Spirit. The miracles and supernatural events around Him, came totally from and through the Holy Spirit. “the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does."
I feel the prompting of the Lord to build a very clear foundation on the truths that are extremely important to our being able to stand strong in the day that is approaching. As a bible school student, those classes (Doctrine of God and Theology) seemed very stuffy to me and I breezed through it without realizing just how important they were. Now I know that without this knowledge and foundation, I could be as one of those the bible speaks about in Matthew 24:24. The purpose of knowing what the scriptures say about these things is critical for our personal walk. But we must also be able to give a reasonable answer to many that are falling into deception right in our very churches, and even in our circle of friends. “For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders; so much so that, if it were possible, they would deceive even the elect.
So why am I excited? Over this past month, the Lord has been speaking along these same lines to many others as well. That tells me the Lord is really speaking this and is about to open what I believe is a new door for the Bible School. A revival of the Truth of His Word!
I also believe that for you He is also speaking that it is time to know what the Word of God says for yourself. That you would be like the Bereans in Acts 17:11, “Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true”. Let’s not be afraid of what’s ahead. Rather let us prepare and be ready to rescue this generation from the fantasies and fairy tales that unfortunately are being brought right in the front doors and pulpit of some of America's biggest churches and movements.“You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.”
Speaking of the above, we are having our Spring Conference, on March 27-28, on the subject, Time for the Truth Tellers. Friday Evening, Saturday morning and evening. You can get more info on our website at www.bethanybtc.org or on our Facebook page at Bethany Bible Training Center.
We would love to have you come and visit with us.
Let me ask you for your prayers that we would be able to draw more students and that the Lord will join more people with us in supporting the school as monthly partners. Thank you once again for the love and support that you have given us here at Bethany. We appreciate you and pray daily for each one of you.
God bless you,
Jack Picataggi
There is an excitement within me as I write this letter to you. I feel in my spirit that the Lord is preparing to do something very pronounced, and those who are prepared, are going to have a part in what He does. I know that is a weighty statement, and while I want to avoid being controversial, it is my responsibility to share what I am feeling.
These past few months, I have felt that the Lord wanted me to re-acquaint myself with the Doctrine of God and the Theology of God (what is known as the Dogma). Two distinctly different lenses of learning who God is, so that when we teach our students, they will be grounded in unquestionable, clear, biblical doctrine.
In this, I am not saying that hasn’t always been the purpose of the school. But…what I am seeing is that many different groups within what is recognized as Born Again, Spirit-filled believers, are coming up with what I believe are experience based doctrines, and those experiences are not biblically based. Yet, they have so much in common with what we would believe as the truth! These “other teachings” is where the conflict begins. One example many known evangelicals are stating is: Was Jesus a man only when He was on earth or a God-man?
I believe He was both (fully God & fully man), yet, and I stress YET, He willingly laid His own divine powers down and became limited to being a man who was totally dependent on the Holy Spirit. The miracles and supernatural events around Him, came totally from and through the Holy Spirit. “the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does."
I feel the prompting of the Lord to build a very clear foundation on the truths that are extremely important to our being able to stand strong in the day that is approaching. As a bible school student, those classes (Doctrine of God and Theology) seemed very stuffy to me and I breezed through it without realizing just how important they were. Now I know that without this knowledge and foundation, I could be as one of those the bible speaks about in Matthew 24:24. The purpose of knowing what the scriptures say about these things is critical for our personal walk. But we must also be able to give a reasonable answer to many that are falling into deception right in our very churches, and even in our circle of friends. “For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders; so much so that, if it were possible, they would deceive even the elect.
So why am I excited? Over this past month, the Lord has been speaking along these same lines to many others as well. That tells me the Lord is really speaking this and is about to open what I believe is a new door for the Bible School. A revival of the Truth of His Word!
I also believe that for you He is also speaking that it is time to know what the Word of God says for yourself. That you would be like the Bereans in Acts 17:11, “Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true”. Let’s not be afraid of what’s ahead. Rather let us prepare and be ready to rescue this generation from the fantasies and fairy tales that unfortunately are being brought right in the front doors and pulpit of some of America's biggest churches and movements.“You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.”
Speaking of the above, we are having our Spring Conference, on March 27-28, on the subject, Time for the Truth Tellers. Friday Evening, Saturday morning and evening. You can get more info on our website at www.bethanybtc.org or on our Facebook page at Bethany Bible Training Center.
We would love to have you come and visit with us.
Let me ask you for your prayers that we would be able to draw more students and that the Lord will join more people with us in supporting the school as monthly partners. Thank you once again for the love and support that you have given us here at Bethany. We appreciate you and pray daily for each one of you.
God bless you,
Jack Picataggi
"This word was given fifty-four years ago, at an Elim Bible Camp meeting, and I believe this word is for our day.
We must be followers of God, not men, know His word and love the truth."
- Jack Picataggi
We must be followers of God, not men, know His word and love the truth."
- Jack Picataggi