From Darkness To Light

By Rev. Elder Johnny Lee Clary

The other day my wife and I went to see the new remake movie of “True Grit” starring Jeff Bridges as the character John Wayne created called “Rooster Cogburn.” Good movie but let’s face it, it does not even come close to beating the original. No man can fill John Wayne’s shoes. This is not just my opinion, it is fact. John Wayne was a stand up man all the way and set an example of what a real man should be. This article however, is not about a review of the movie. When my wife and I walked into the Hollywood Theater in Joplin, Missouri, it was super dark. I mean you could not see a foot in front of you. The previews were still going on and whatever movie they were advertising had a dark setting with no light on the screen. Whenever a second or so of light did come on the preview we could see the theater was pretty full with the exception of the very front which most adults do not like to sit in. We both had to stand there a few minutes waiting until the screen gave off enough light in order to find a seat. In other words as long as we were in the darkness we were helpless.

Many people are helpless today and are walking in darkness because they do not have God in their lives. Life without God is life in the dark. They cannot see where they are going because the darkness has blinded their eyes. As a matter of fact, it is what we Southerners refer to as “pitch black.” The term “pitch black” means coal black, like being in a coal mine under the ground. Without light one would be lost. We need light to see where we are going. Jesus said “ I am the light of the world: he that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” (John 8:12) This is one of many reasons people need to rely upon Jesus.

We are not just talking about a dark movie theater. People go through life stumbling around in darkness never knowing where they are going because the darkness has blinded their eyes. Most people know I am the former leader of the Ku Klux Klan. For years I was in darkness myself until I saw the light and renounced hate, dedicating my life to Jesus Christ. I have been dedicated to Christ 21 years at the time of this writing and have been preaching for 20. Most people think I must be constantly harassed by the KKK, Neo-Nazis, Skinheads and other White Supremacists because they label me as a traitor. Yes, these people do harass me from time to time, but the people who give me the most trouble are so-called “brothers and sisters” in Christ. That’s right..so-called “fellow” believers. I have put up with these sick twisted mentally deranged people almost all of my Christian life. They have attacked me, called me names, spread false rumors, wrote horrible things about me, denounced me from their pulpits, cheated me out of money, wrote letters to pastors of churches encouraging them not to have me and to join them in stopping my ministry, tried to break up friendships and relationships, and told outright damnable lies and gossip about me. They do this all in the name of the Lord because it somehow gives them a feeling of “peace” if they can justify their actions with “God told me to shut down Johnny Lee’s ministry.”

What it really boils down to is a four-letter word called, hate. They will say, “Oh I don’t hate anyone, but God wants me to expose Johnny Lee as a son of Satan or a charlatan at best.” It does not matter whether they say they don’t hate or not because their actions expose them for what they are. In other words, actions speak louder than words. There is nothing more sickening than to see these types of people carrying on this way and using the Lord to do it.

They fail to realize the word of God says in 1 John 2:11 “Those who hate other believers are in the dark and live in the dark. They don't know where they're going, because they can't see in the dark.” 1 John 1:6 “If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.” 1 John 4:20 “If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.”

You see after reading and doing a study of these scriptures I have a full understanding of these people and what they are all about. They are NOT Christians according to the Word of God. Those who hate and display the actions of hate are in darkness and they do not know God and will be in hell, and that is sad. Ok, here it comes, as I am sure someone will write or comment, “Who are you to judge them? Judge not lest ye be judged also.” That seems to be the only scripture the “all-grace-no-repentance-new modern-new gospel- new change the word of God crowd,” people seem to know. If they would bother to read the rest of the Bible, and especially the scriptures I have written above they would see God’s word is plain that anyone who hates his brother is not only in darkness but does not know God. Titus 1:16 “They claim to know God, but they deny him by what they do. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit to do anything good.”

As a matter of fact, those who claim to be pastors or just plain old Christians who go around attacking other ministries, 9 out of 10 times it is because they suffer from what I call the “Cain-syndrome.” Cain harbored a rotten attitude toward not only his brother Abel but God Himself after God rejected his tiny little offering of chump change chicken feed compared to what Abel offered to God. Cain could have afforded to give God plenty more but didn’t. When God rejected it, Cain let his bitterness turn to jealously, which became hate, which led to rage, resulting in an outburst of anger, in which he murdered his own brother. Our attitude often determines the outcome of our actions and emotions. For example when someone blows up and says horrible things in anger, it can often be traced to a bad attitude towards someone. That is why we must keep our emotions in check and watch out for negative attitudes toward our fellow believers.

It is easy to fall into this trap. You may be sitting around with a group of people in the lunchroom at work who are all talking turns gossiping about a co-worker. You may be privileged to set at the lunch table at school where the “In-crowd” popular people sit, and may feel tempted to join in with them when they are putting down other students, like the new kid in school or the poor kid who can’t afford to dress as trendy. You may feel tempted to take what you pastor says as “gospel truth” when he is putting down another preacher without ever having researched it yourself or talked to the person being assailed. You may have even been interested in dating someone but dumped them because of what your friends said about them, that may not have even been true. You are no different than Adam and Eve. Sin looked tempting to them so they chomped down on the forbidden fruit even though God told them to stay away from it.

So what could have prevented this? Trusting in God’s warnings and instructions which are found in His Good Book. He is the one who will keep you out of darkness, but you have to trust Him and obey His word. Trust and Obey, there is no other way!

Genesis 1:3-4 says God filled the dark void with light and then pronounced it good. Light gets rid of darkness and brings vision!

Where are you at today in your life? Is there darkness or light? Are you bothered constantly about that idiot at church who is gossiping about you or that co-worker on the job who might be trying to get you fired? Maybe you have the coach or teacher in school that constantly puts you down in front of your classmates and makes you feel like you are the stupidest person on earth? Maybe you are in the ministry and you have so-called “fellow believers” that suffer from the Cain-syndrome who are trying their best to kill your ministry and your reputation out of jealously?

Ecclesiastes 2:14 “The wise man has eyes in his head, while the fool walks in the darkness; but I came to realize that the same fate overtakes them both.”

If you have been walking in darkness and have lost your way, there is a way out of the darkness.

In 1908, Minnie Louise Haskins wrote the following:

I said to the man who stood at the gate

'Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.'

And he replied, 'Go into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God

That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way!'

©Johnny Lee Clary 2011

www.johnnyleeclary.com

Rev. Johnny Lee Clary is one of the leading advocates for racial unity in the United States and has appeared on countless television and radio shows such as The Billy Graham Radio show, Fox News, Morris Cerullo, Oprah, Morton Downey Jr., Rolanda Watts, Geraldo, Sally Jesse Raphael, Jerry Springer, Ricki Lake, Queen Latifah, Montel Williams, Phil Donahue, A&E Investigative Reports, ABC World News Tonight, Bertrice Berry, Sunrise Today,
The Today Show, A Current Affair, The 700 Club, and Kenneth Copeland's TV show. He has also been a regular guest on TBN's Praise The Lord show and has been featured in America's top newspapers and magazines, including a seven page feature story in Charisma magazine in April 1999, Moody Magazine, Guidepost Magazine (Sept. 1998), Kenneth Copeland's Believer's Voice of Victory magazine, as well as appearances on TV programs in Australia, England, Holland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Sweden, and Wales.

ACCORDING TO WHAT YOU HAVE DONE

After a week long conference in Sydney where I got no exercise as I sat all week listening to preaching, I knew I was way overdue for my walk I do every other day for fitness so I decided to spend the day walking through Darling Harbor and the parts of Sydney just around that area. I noticed a lot of young able-bodied men lying around on the sidewalk with signs that said things like, “Homeless, feed me please.” I was a bit offended especially when I had to step around a young guy that was sleeping on the sidewalk in front of a store. I knew it was either an addiction to alcohol or drugs that have placed him as well as the other young guys in those predicaments. I make it a policy never to hand out money to strangers when they approach me especially when they are young like that, because I know more than likely the money that God has given me will be used for dope or booze. Whenever I travel to Times Square in New York City, I can’t go two blocks without some young able-bodied girl or guy on dope asking for spare change or a few dollars. I felt like I was in New York City as I walked around Sydney with all the younger generation lying on the sidewalk with their signs.

However, this time something different happened. I was standing on the corner waiting for the crosswalk light when instead of some long-haired hippie-looking guy who looked like he never saw a bar of soap coming up to me; an old Chinese man approached me. He looked like he was at least 80 years old and he was trying to speak broken English as he said, “Excuse….me. Could you let me have…a dollar..so I can buy a sandwich?” I immediately shook my head no. I then heard him say “Thank you anyway sir,” as he sadly walked away. I watched him for a few seconds and then I immediately pulled some money out and walked up to him and said, “Here sir, take this.” The old man smiled with tears in his eyes and said “Oh thank you sir, thank you so much.” I immediately put up my hand and said “That’s Ok sir, that’s OK. God Bless.”

As I crossed the street and proceeded to walk down the sidewalk I was thinking, “That is not an able-bodied young man who is perfectly capable of working; that is somebody’s grandfather who probably doesn’t have much longer to live.” God only knows why he was poor and hungry, but it doesn’t matter; as I should have done more for him.

I walked for another hour or two and then I looked at my watch and saw it was getting to be later in the afternoon and I had been out walking for four hours. I hadn’t eaten all day so I stopped and got my lunch and went into Gloria Jeans and ordered an iced coffee and sat down to eat my meal. As I took the wrapper off my food, I thought of that old man again. Here I was setting down to feed my face with good healthy food I bought thinking I was doing the right thing, and that old man could barely buy maybe one small sandwich with what I gave him. I thought to myself, “Some preacher you are “Elder” “Rev.” Johnny Lee Clary! Here you are ordained as an Elder minister in one of the largest denominations in the USA with over six million members; you appear on FOX News, Charisma Magazine, Pat Robertson’s 700 Club, The Christian Post, speak in churches all over the world, and you reached in your pocket and gave that man $4.00! It would not have hurt you to give that old man more and even asked him to share a meal with you while you shared the gospel with him! That old man would have probably been so grateful.” I started crying right then and there. I don’t know what the people sitting in the Darling Harbor Gloria Jeans coffee shop thought of a grown man sitting there crying, but I really don’t care what they thought. I was wrong.

I thought about how millions of dollars are passed around in churches all over the world and I know a lot of churches do great things and help a lot of people, and I also know some don’t. I don’t have a church of my own as Bishop George D. McKinney who is my boss in my denomination wants me to travel a few more years promoting racial reconciliation and evangelism before I take over an African-American church. Bishop McKinney has the largest church in San Diego, California where he works with inner-city urban youth, and provides jobs for the jobless and homes for the homeless. He is all about helping the poor. As a minister under him, I have a responsibility to reflect the same spirit of giving as he does. Today I failed the test.

I could say, “I am only human,” or some other lame excuse like that, but that would not excuse my behavior with Jesus. You see, I asked God awhile back for the same anointing of a very special man who all Christians should know, and that man is the late Keith Green, who died in a plane crash in 1982. Keith Green was a real on fire for God Christian singing preacher, and a role model for the way Christians should act, sing, and preach. He never sugar-coated anything and was a NO COMPROMISE preacher. He preached the word like it should be preached and never compromised God’s Word in order to be politically correct. He was a God-pleaser and not a man-pleaser. He and his wife Melanie used to sell bundles of witnessing tracts so Christians could have something to hand out to people so others could know Jesus. They always put a suggested price on those tracts, but also added the words, “or whatever you can afford.” You see, to Keith Green, it was more important to him to get the gospel out to people than to get rich and ride in a limo. Keith was a giving man of God, and so is Bishop McKinney. I asked God for Keith’s anointing but I guess I forget sometimes that God’s word says “To he who much is given much is required.” (Luke 12:48)

I sat in that coffee shop in tears thinking to myself, “How I wish I didn’t have to live from love offering to love offering, and could have a bank account that had so much money in it that it would not hurt to write a check for $5,000.00 or $10,000.00 to that old Chinese grandfather, take him to get a home, stock his ice box with plenty of food, and get him planted in a church that would care for him, so he could spend his remaining years being happy.”

I once heard an arrogant preacher say, “It’s a sin to be poor.” My little grandmother loved Jesus with all of her heart, but was poor and in poverty for the last several years of her life. She was not in sin because she was poor. She had no choice and was in her 80’s. None of us kids had money where we could take care of her, but we tried to do the best we could. She was married to my step-grandfather who was a gambler who gambled away all of their savings and retirement and never told her. He left her penniless and she had to survive on old age pension and a measly social security checks which totaled around $500.00 a month. I wish that preacher who said it was a sin to be poor could try living on that amount for a while like my grandmother did and maybe he wouldn’t make such asinine statements.

I hear a lot of people preaching about getting rich and that is OK if they have the motives to feed the Lord’s sheep and help the poor and downtrodden with the money God gives them. However, if they are wanting to get rich for gold toilet seats, air conditioned dog houses and to ride around in limos and helicopters or leer jets to show how “blessed and important” they are, then forget it! God is not into that. I on the other hand have been ministering since the early 90’s on a full-time basis. I had a good job, but I kept taking off to go minister and the boss told me to make a choice to either quit ministering or quit my job. That was the best choice I ever made to quit my job and minister full time. Although I have never gotten rich, nothing could be more fulfilling that what I do. I have never made enough money to own an airplane; my wife and I rent our home; we drive used cars; and she has a part time job so she can have a little extra spending money. We consider ourselves very blessed. God provides enough for us to pay our bills and to pay for my mission’s trips to go win souls. Most churches only pay hotel rooms for the nights you are with them and most of the time I have to pay throughout the week. Many of our plane tickets we pay on our own. Many churches give what they can but some don’t give a lot and some have downright ripped us off and not given what came in. I am not complaining though. For every church that does not do right by us, there are some that do. I am glad to do this and to be used of God, but I have never gotten rich off the gospel.

The truth of the matter is I do want God to bless our ministry with unlimited amounts of money so we can impact the world in a much larger way than what we are already doing with the gospel; feed the poor; provide assistance and job programs; help the elderly; fight racism and gang activities; encourage children with educational and motivational programs so they can avoid gangs and drugs; continue to visit the prisons, jails, and schools which we don’t get paid for; and be the best we can be for the Lord Jesus Christ. We are getting older now and although we are no longer young, we are middle aged and not senior citizens so we have some years left. We intend on doing the best we can with what God gives us and we know it is in His hands.

I didn’t do the best I could today or even a little better with that old Chinese grandfather and I am so sorry I didn’t. However I pray that from now on I will be more sensitive to the needs of others that really need help like the elderly. I pray God forgives me for my wrong, and I resolve from now on to be a much better minister. After all, if you are going to be a minister, especially one that is a public figure and high profile speaker known the world over, then you better represent Jesus right because He is coming back soon to give to each and everyone one of us according to what we have done. (Rev. 22:12)

Do you really want Him to give back to you according to what YOU have done?


Rev. Johnny Lee Clary is an ordained elder minister in the Church Of God In Christ, the largest African American denomination in the USA. He is one of the leading advocates for racial unity in the United States and has appeared on countless television and radio shows such as The Billy Graham show, Fox News, Morris Cerullo, Oprah, Morton Downey Jr., Rolanda Watts, Geraldo, Sally Jesse Raphael, Jerry Springer, Ricki Lake, Queen Latifah, Montel Williams, Phil Donahue, A&E Investigative Reports, ABC World News Tonight, Bertrice Berry, The Today Show, A Current Affair, The 700 Club, and Kenneth Copeland's TV show. He has also been a regular guest on TBN's Praise The Lord show and has been featured in America's top newspapers and magazines, including a seven page feature story in Charisma magazine in Feb. 2010, April 1999, Moody Magazine, Guidepost Magazine (Sept. 1998), Kenneth Copeland's Believer's Voice of Victory magazine, as well as appearances on TV programs in Australia, England, Holland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Sweden, and Wales. He holds the record for the largest crowd ever at Hillsong Brisbane, Australia.

ARE CHRISTIANS PERMITTED TO JUDGE?

by Rev. Johnny Lee Clary



I can not even begin to guess how many emails I have gotten over the last few months from someone saying to me, “Judge not lest ye be judged also.” That seems to be the only scripture the secular world seems to know. People who do not even respect God enough to go to church and worship Him think they know it all because they heard that there is a scripture that says, “Judge not!”

The question is: “Are Christians permitted to judge?” The answer is not only are Christians permitted to judge according to the Bible, but it also teaches it is our responsibility to judge. No one is above being judged. We are to make judgments everyday. We are to judge our elected officials as to whether or not they are doing the job that they were elected to do and if they are not then we vote them out of office. You are an irresponsible person if you do not make this judgment. As parents we are to judge what type of friends our children are hanging around because friends can be the biggest influence on children especially teenagers. The Bible says “Bad company corrupts good character.” If you do not make judgments on the friends your child is keeping company with then you are one lousy parent. If you are a teacher, it is your job to judge the student to see if he or she is performing up to standard. You would be one sorry teacher if you just passed a kid onto the next level if you didn’t take the time to judge and see if that child actually learned what he was supposed to learn. As an employer, you have to make a judgment on who to hire or fire, and who to promote or demote. You would be one lousy boss and would be helping to bring your company to ruin if you hired or promoted someone that wasn’t qualified for the job. I mean you wouldn’t hire a hooked-on-drugs junkie that dropped out of school in the 8th grade and that had been in and out of jail to come in a be your bank’s executive board director would you? You wouldn’t hire some waitress that dropped out of school in the 9th grade and had been waiting tables down at the Dew Drop Inn, to come be your chief surgeon at the hospital to perform brain surgery would you?

What if we didn’t judge the German Concentration Camp guards who carried out the extermination of six million Jews? What if we didn’t judge Ted Bundy when he was on a nationwide killing spree where he claimed to have raped and killed a hundred women? What would you do if society would have said, “Judge not” and let him go on living in society doing whatever he wanted to do?

Two of the biggest responsibilities we have as Christians is to judge influential leaders whether that be in politics or the pulpit.

Luke 12:48 says authority and accountability go hand in hand; the higher the office the higher the accountability. This was practiced in the Bible when you read Duet. 13 where it says the Israelites were commanded to test and to judge their leaders. 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 Paul says to test and judge all things and hold on to what is judged as good. People quote the “Judge not” scripture which is found in Matthew 7: 1-5. Jesus was counseling followers not to judge someone self-righteously, but then Jesus said in John 7:24 that we are to make a right judgment. There is a difference between self-righteous judgment and making a good clear right judgment. Why if it were not for judging, then how would we ever apply justice? Some punk robs a mom and pop general store, shoots the old couple to death and then goes on a killing spree and kills 7 more people before being arrested by the cops, and someone is going to have the nerve to say we should not judge him? Bullcrap! Thank God for our ability to make a right judgment so we can give this guy the electric chair ands make sure he never kills another human being again. Those of you who disagree and think he should be rehabilitated and turned loose again into society I bet would feel different about judging him if he had shot and killed your mother and father and raped and killed your children. Jesus commanded us to make a right judgment! Remember that God works through people.

Furthermore, in the church we are commanded by Jesus to judge false prophets, whose teachings and behavior lead people astray. Matthew 7:15-20. My gosh, imagine if we didn’t judge a guy like the Rev. Jim Jones of the People’s Temple who led a thousand people to Jonestown, Guyana and made them drink Kool-Aid with cyanide committing mass murder and suicide ? What if we didn’t judge some of those old perverted priests that were molesting altar boys? What if we didn’t judge Ted Haggard who was pasturing a 15,000 member church when it was revealed that he was having homosexual affairs with male prostitutes and just let him keep on pasturing the church? Anthony Venn-Brown used to be a pastor in a large denomination and in charge of Youth Alive working with young boys. He left his wife and kids for another man and is a perverted old creep that tells children “being gay is OK.” Anthony Venn-Brown is an active recruiter for the gay rights movement pushing the homosexual agenda on the little children. What if Australian Christians didn’t judge him? As a parent you need to make right judgments for the safety of your child. I mean was Jim Jones, or is Venn-Brown, or Ted Haggard the type of guy you want your children to be around? If you are a responsible parent not only you would never allow your children to be around these men, but you would never allow these men to preach to you from the pulpit.

Apostle Paul publicly rebuked Hymenaeus and Philetus saying their teachings spread like gangrene in 2 Timothy 2:17-18, and he got up in Peter’s face and rebuked him for hypocrisy in Galatians 2:11-14.

Use your head people! Common sense should prevail! Responsibility is making the right types of judgments! Many years ago doctors determined that the use of tobacco was harmful and causes cancer. The Surgeon General issued warnings that smoking could cause death. At the same token when a cancer is unleashed within the Christian community, we as Christians are required to warn the public. Failure to do so will result in the blood being upon our hands. Ezekiel 3:18

Rev. Johnny Lee Clary is an ordained elder minister in the Church Of God In Christ, the largest African American denomination in the USA. He is one of the leading advocates for racial unity in the United States and has appeared on countless television and radio shows such as The Billy Graham show, Fox News, Morris Cerullo, Oprah, Morton Downey Jr., Rolanda Watts, Geraldo, Sally Jesse Raphael, Jerry Springer, Ricki Lake, Queen Latifah, Montel Williams, Phil Donahue, A&E Investigative Reports, ABC World News Tonight, Bertrice Berry, The Today Show, A Current Affair, The 700 Club, and Kenneth Copeland's TV show. He has also been a regular guest on TBN's Praise The Lord show and has been featured in America's top newspapers and magazines, including a seven page feature story in Charisma magazine in Feb. 2010, April 1999, Moody Magazine, Guidepost Magazine (Sept. 1998), Kenneth Copeland's Believer's Voice of Victory magazine, as well as appearances on TV programs in Australia, England, Holland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Sweden, and Wales. He holds the record for the largest crowd ever at Hillsong Brisbane, Australia.