Letters From a Prison Cell

Joseph Herrin (11-20-2015)

In this post I am going to share a number of letters received from men in prison who are subscribed to receive the Parables Bookshelf Newsletters. Although I sent a reply to all of the men who wrote the letters which follow, I have opted in some cases to only share what they wrote. Some of the letters are remarkable in their honesty, and others in their sincere appreciation for the teachings being mailed to them. I have left the spelling and grammatical errors as they were written.

To Joseph Herrin,
Hi. How are you? I wanted to let you know I’m still following along Parables Newsletters and I’m still learning and enjoying them. I sometimes try to share what I’ve learnt and its come across to others good and bad. This is I’ve haven’t hared anyone back up anything they have against your teaching with Scripture.

I’m about to come off segregation and when I’m put back in population I plan to start a Bible Study using your teaching...

When I first started receiving your newsletters I was in segregation, I didn’t have much to read, we wasn’t allowed books & stuff, so I asked you to send whole series of your teachings at a time. You said that wouldn’t be possible so I started to save your teaching till I got a whole series then read it. I am now at the end of series 1.5

Let me tell you a little bout my walk, I’ve never been a good person or maybe I have but one thing is for sure I most of the time maded the wrong choices. I still do. But I guess or better yet I know I have to change and I know now will be better than later. I love Babylon and all of her sins. I like to tell myself what I don’t know cant hurt me, as of the truth. I’ve been talking to God for a long time, I know nothing specific, but when I’m bout to pertake in something God disapproves of He’s there and He warns me. But I ignoring that voice for so long it has become real quiet. During the year I been in segregation I haven’t been into so much so I’ve been able to hear God louder now. What I like about your studies is they make me face the truth and cut my lame excuses.

I’m not free from sin today and I know I should be way better bot one thing about it I haven’t gave up not because I haven’t wanted to but because God won’t shut up. LOL. I don’t know why but He won’t let go of me. I don’t know how I could turn from sin and live a godly life but other than that I wonder what my calling is. I guess if I really want to know I better straighten up huh?
Sincerely, W. (May peace be with you as well.)

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Hello Joseph!

I hope you’re well. As of me I’m okay, thanks (smiley face). I think you’re doing a great job with the word of God. I’m currently at 1.4.4., the last chapter of The Mark of the Beast. I look forward every week for a new chapter. I have all of my copies nice and neat in a manila envelope. I have about 2 more years and I plan on taking everything home to Panama with me, and talk to my mother about it. I write to request more studies on the side about the Muslims-Masons-Illuminati and the Babylon Rising series. I thank you very much. I hope it is not much to ask for.
I.M.
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Dear Mr.
My name is Samuel and i am an inmate at Ware State Prison i have heard wonderful things about the Parables and would like to get to now god and build a relationship with Jesus Christ i am aware of a study you hand out called Parables Bookshelf Series i would like to ask if i can get a copy from the beginning if you can Thank you!
From
Samuel
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Mr. Joseph Herrin, I am humbly and sincerely writing you to say HALLELUJAH!!!!

May Jehovah, Yahweh continue to bless you tremendously for your work and obedience!
The material and information you’ve sent me is so enlightening and spirit filling I can only say HALLELUJAH! And Thank You for taking time to consider me hungry enough and worthy to accept this TRUTH!! Thank you in Yahshua’s name!

I want so much to learn the TRUTH!! And be led by the Holy Spirit! Please Yahweh!! I want to be obedient and become spiritually mature and count it a blessing to be in prison right now and receiving truth from you in which I have ALL DAY to read and understand it.

Please, I humbly ask, for I am a sinner and am only trying to be obedient and build my foundation in spirit. Any help you can give and guide me in is much appreciated!

I would also like to applaud your obedience and knowledge of the Word. Amen! I only give you honor because you are led by the Spirit and are of the few percentage who are willing to be obedient. I do this in Yahshua’s name, and for Yahweh’s glory! Hallelujah!!!!

Some of the things I’m troubling with is anger, self-pride, and other people’s ignorance or blatant disregard for knowledge. It really “irks” me. I do know that I have to overcome these things of the flesh. Especially lust!

I know and understand they are wrong, and as I am trying to be obedient and be made into the image of Christ, so I must overcome these. These are not of the Spirit, so therefore they are not of God...

Mr. Joseph, I want to be humble and confess these things to you as you can help teach me and chastise me if I am wrong. Picture you as Paul and me as Timothy. I only use that as me being obedient, for I do not praise myself because I am nothing in this flesh, but a willing vessel for the temple of Christ.

I sincerely congratulate you on your great journey! May you and everything you do be blessed for doing God’s will! Amen.

Humble Servant,
Solomon
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Following is my reply to Solomon.

Hello Solomon,

Thank you for writing. It was a joy to read your letter and hear of your sincere hunger for and appreciation of the spiritual truths of Yahweh’s kingdom. It is always a joy for me as a teacher appointed by Christ to encounter another son of God who is eager to learn.

In your letter you admitted to struggling with anger, self-pride, and other people’s ignorance or blatant defiance of knowledge. As you might imagine, having a call from the Father upon my own life to function as a teacher to the body of Christ, and having been given a great many revelations that are not commonly apprehended by the people of God today, I encounter the ignorance, doctrinal prejudices, and erroneous beliefs held by those who proclaim themselves to be Christians all the time. Yet, I can say in truth that my response to such experiences is not one of pride or superiority. I am frequently grieved by the intractable attitude of many who stubbornly refuse to acknowledge truth, but I am not offended toward them.

I suppose the reason for this is that I recognize very well that it is only by the grace of God that I have apprehended truth myself. I am very aware of my own shortcomings. The knowledge that I stand in the grace of God, and depend upon His mercy daily, keeps me from becoming haughty when I encounter the failings in other people’s lives. My soul is tempered by the knowledge that the following Scriptures are true.

James 2:13
For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.

Matthew 7:2
“For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.”

Matthew 5:7
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”

Because I want Yahweh to show me mercy when I stand before Him, I choose to be merciful when dealing with others. Because I want Yahweh to be patient with me in my failings, I choose to be patient toward those I deal with.

In addition to this, I realize that apart from the grace of God I would be walking in great ignorance myself.

I Corinthians 4:7
For who regards you as superior? And what do you have that you did not receive? But if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?

James 1:17
Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights...

Solomon, one truth that has often been impressed upon my mind is that spiritual understanding is something we are born into this world lacking. As Adamic men, we do not even have the capacity for spiritual understanding. We are born into this world spiritually blind and deaf.

I Corinthians 2:14
But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.

We are like blind and deaf men walking about on this earth, and had we not had an encounter with the Son of God, and had He not taken pity on our condition and touched us to open blind eyes and unstop deaf ears, we would continue yet to stumble around in darkness and ignorance.

When the Spirit of Yahweh led me out of the Christian religious system in 1999 to begin a journey of being taught by Him, it was only a short time before I encountered others on this journey who had become haughty toward those they had left behind. Indeed, they were full of contempt and hatred for those they viewed to be ignorant of the spiritual truths they had become privy to. In the book The Road from Babylon to Zion I wrote of my encounters with these Christian men. Following is one chapter from that writing.

Chapter 3 - Ambushed Outside the Gates of Babylon

I had barely exited Babylon when I was met with the first ambush of Satan. I encountered some brothers and sisters who had also come out of Babylon, but they had fallen into a snare of the enemy, and to this date I don’t know whether they have escaped. But let me back up and give a few details leading up to this encounter.

My own departure from Babylon was very painful. The Father had told me to stand in faith in some matters and to also defend some foundational principles relating to the government of God among the flock of which I was a minister. This stand of faith, and stand upon the principles of Yahweh’s kingdom, brought me into conflict with the other ministers and their wives. People who I had once shared intimately with, prayed with, fellowshipped with, broken bread with, and had walked in love with, began to call my actions and motives into question.

I was accused of very base motivations, of being prideful and arrogant, of being a gold digger, of being unloving and lacking compassion. All of this antagonism  arose because I was urging others to stand in faith and because I was teaching the scriptural principles of divine government.

I experienced some very painful times and they culminated in an elders’ meeting one Sunday after services where I was rejected by the consensus of the other ministers, and I was put out of my place of ministry. The words spoken to me during this meeting were unkind and filled with anger and venom. They were not words of love between friends.

Even though the Father had prepared me for this moment by telling me that it would happen, it was still a painful experience and one which left me wounded in my emotions. I have since found that this is typical of the manner in which many of the saints have departed from Babylon, and it can make the saint susceptible to an ambush of Satan if they do not choose to put on a heart of forgiveness and love toward those who have wounded them. Only a few weeks after being put out of the fellowship of which I had been a part, I encountered some saints through the Internet who had also experienced separations, yet they had left with bitterness and they wanted to entice others to share in expressions of anger, denouncement, and reviling towards Babylon.

I am not sure how I came across the website of which I speak, but I was initially drawn to it because of some insights of the Web page’s creator. In many ways this brother had been given insight into the separation that is occurring among the children of God in this day. He had some thoughtful teaching, and he created a forum where people could gather and discuss topics relating to the work of God in this hour.

I shared some of my own writings with this group and they were very well received. Having just been thrust out of my place of ministry and fellowship, I was hopeful that I would be able to find some fellowship and encouragement through this group.

Another brother was given oversight of the discussion forum on this site, and I began to notice an attitude of disdain, and even reviling, toward those who had not yet seen the same truths that the people who participated in this group had seen. At first I thought it was an aberration, but then I began to notice it more and more. I questioned the brother overseeing the discussion forum about it, and in a very shocking way he defended his attitude of mocking and reviling those who remained in what was referred to as the “Christian Religious System.”

As I communicated with this brother the Spirit immediately opened my eyes to the snare of Satan. Satan wanted me to react to the pain of my expulsion from the body by donning an attitude of bitterness toward those who had cast me out. He hoped that my desire for fellowship would lead me to cast in my lot with these brothers and sisters, and to join them in an attitude of retribution and revenge by reviling the system and the people who had been the instruments of my separation.

The Spirit immediately let me know that I could not join them, nor did I even desire to do so. I knew that to embrace the same attitude would be a failure of love, and this is the most grievous of failures in the Kingdom of God. I began to try to reason with those in this group and to show them why they could not obtain the blessing of God by reviling others, but they would not receive my words, and in turn they began to revile and mock me.

I am going to insert here some excerpts from this correspondence. In these excerpts the ambush of Satan is revealed, as is the attitude he would entice others to adopt. I will first list some of the comments that troubled me that were written by the moderator of the group, as well as some of the arguments he gave defending his position. Note that CRS stands for Christian Religious System.

[comments of moderator]
And this is the greatest thing that we, as anti CRS'ers could do for the CRS, for which I have neither sympathy nor disdain. I have not been in a mainline denomination in years, so the mess doesn't move me...

I will say, that you will probably react to some of my "strong words" to others on the list, especially to those who come in and are really just "browsing" like one does on the net, not having any idea of where they have landed... I speak what I hear the Father say, and often it is not sugar coated as most of the CRS would have words to be, for they really desire one thing from the adherents of their system. That is money...

I haven't read this yet, but have read a lot of [this man’s] stuff on the prophecy list and he is a nut case! He is a freak ... If my forthrightness is too much for you, ( concerning this dude ) then what can I say. I don't give "religious" people much space...

This is one area that I totally disagree with you, by the way. I don't have any sadness or so called compassion for those who are "coming out" or "want to come out" of the CRS. They either need to SEE the truth of the system and SEPARATE or just stay in there till they see the light. I will not baby them in the meantime, hoping they will grow and become good little anti CRS folks. If they have been "hurt," it is too bad as far as I am concerned...

The army of God doesn't waste time with emotional junk like "feelings." It is all of the carnal mind and what is needed is for the soulish, mind junk to be cut off...

I know your perspective. You said what it was in your messages and in the Phallic Church article. You made it clear that we need to have "compassion" upon those coming out of the CRS, and be ready to minister to them as they usually are hurting, etc etc. I am not moved by this psycho babble "deep inner hurting" stuff that so many express about their terrible journeys that they have had. That is all 60's / 70's stuff and is birthed in the emotional / soulish realm. I am not interested in "making friends and influencing neighbors" as it is the basic problem with the CRS to start with. What most people want in God is another "country club" that is "Christian oriented." A place to meet their friends and "fellowship" each week. If they had to spend an hour with God alone, it would bankrupt them, spiritually. I know where you come from on this, and I have heard it many times. And yes, it is often a "breaking point" for many who have come to the [Discussion Forum] with the same desires in mind. Usually it is for themselves first, and then all their friends that they HOPE will see the light and separate. The women that have come to [the Discussion Forum] especially want to "mother" those that they see as possibly coming in behind them. It is time for many to leave their mama's breast and get on with adult life. That is too hard for most of the breast fed CRS folks to hear and digest...

Finally, I would say to you, that love is not always the essence that you have drawn it up to be in your essay. The TRUTH of Love is being willing to tell others the truth, no matter what the outcome will be. You may want to have some "lovey dovey" dude in your fox hole with you. Go for it. In the meantime, I choose to have a LOYAL, honest, and forthright person in there with me. I especially desire one that is clear of mind, not DELUDED by his own mind and desires in God, one that is experienced in the ways of God, one that knows how to shut up and "receive,” no matter how much he THINKS he knows, and one that is discerning, not having been muddled in mind by their charismatic background, so full of love and gifts, hearing all kinds of stuff "from the Lord," that they are not worth a crap in the REAL world. That, my friend, is the only warrior that I will be stuck with, in a foxhole. Know what? The time that Jesus exhibited the most love in His earthly experience (except at the Cross, of course) was when He drove the money changers out of His Father's House. I suspect that you would look upon the adventure as a bit harsh.

It seems appropriate to describe this experience as an ambush, for very suddenly and unexpectedly I was met with anger and venom that I had not anticipated. Satan’s most subtle snares always mix truth with error. The people of this group had seen some truth, but they also had adopted an attitude that was foreign to the character of God. I was encouraged to join in an attitude of reviling, and those who held this mindset tried to bully me into agreement with them. But a failure to love will disqualify the saint who has set their eyes on Zion. With the following words I attempted to reason with this brother about the absolute necessity of not violating the principle of love.
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I would not attempt to dissuade you from walking in the integrity of your heart. I would not dream of asking you to lessen your zeal. I would simply have you to consider, “Is there a point where you quit caring for people? Have you crossed a line at God’s direction where He has told you to no longer pray for those in bondage? Has He told you that you have exceeded the point of Peter’s request when he inquired how many times he should forgive his “brother?” (Yes, his brother.) Have you had to forgive more than Christ forgave you, so that you now will forgive and show patience no longer?”

These are questions I would ask. It is too easy to give up on people. The scriptures say that we are to rescue some as a branch from the burning. Are you unwilling to reach out a hand and pull a brother from the fire because you are indignant that he has taken so long to see the light of the truth?

You said yourself that Christ went to hell for you. Are you willing to go to hell for a brother? Paul said, “I speak the truth and I lie not, I would that I should be accursed that Israel might be saved.” Israel and the Jews had the JRS [Jewish Religious System] even as we have the CRS today. Paul was willing to be accursed that they might be saved. Where do we draw the line? Do we just write all of the CRS folks off and say good riddance? This was not Paul’s heart.

Even Jesus wept over Jerusalem, the Jerusalem that stoned the prophets that were sent to her. He had these soulish emotions that you said you despise. Do you think that love will weaken a warrior of God? I say it will strengthen him. Love knows no boundaries. Love is extravagant. It is the love of God that surrounds us and keeps us safe. Paul said that it was the love of God that “constrained” him, holding him to the course God set before him.

No, I would not suggest that you water down the message that is burning in your heart. I would ask you what right you have to quit loving and quit caring. God said that He takes no pleasure to see the wicked punished. He is patient and bears long with all of us. Knowing this, we should all the more strive to excel in these same qualities.

I don’t want to go into the battle with a brother who is motivated by anger and hatred. I want to go into battle with brothers and sisters who know the power of love and who will stick close to me and not write me off the first time they disagree with me. There is a friend that sticks closer than a brother. What was it that so united Jonathan and David’s hearts? Was it a common hatred of evil? Was it a shared vision? No, it was love.

You are swinging your sword a little too freely by calling all those who are not quite where you are “freaks,” “wackos,” “idiots,” etc... Jesus said, "But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever shall say to his brother, 'Raca,' [empty head] shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever shall say, 'You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell” (Matthew 5:22).

We are told, “This you know, my beloved brethren. 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). David said that he did not gloat when judgment came to his enemies, rather he mourned. When King Saul perished, the man that had made David’s life a misery, he eulogized him in song. Was David some kind of a mama’s boy? I think not. He knew the heart of God and did not rejoice to see his adversary stricken.

What of those who were with Saul? Did David seek to destroy them all because they had stood in opposition to him at some point? No! We even know that he would have made Abner and Amasa commanders in his army, but Joab, who was less righteous and less forgiving, slew these men whom David would have elevated over his head. Are you not rather being as Joab when you despise all those who are in the CRS and who are in the process of coming out of her? If God is willing to show patience and to grant them further time to repent and flee from Sodom, who are we to not show the same patience and forbearance?

No, I am not saying to water down the message. I am not saying to make peace with Sodom. I do not advocate any type of compromise with evil. But I say if Christ gave His very life for these same ones, should we not go out of our way to effect their deliverance? “Brethren, even if a man is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, lest you too be tempted” (Galatians 6:1).

I know all too well that by the judgment I judge others, I too will be judged. This is reason enough to be patient and to seek to restore even those who are standing in opposition to themselves. Did I see the light because of my great wisdom? Did you? Was it not rather that God in His mercy revealed truth to us, while we were yet His enemies?

I will continue to stand against evil and to proclaim truth as God guides me. I will not shut my heart against my brother until God tells me to. This is all I would encourage you to do and consider as well...
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We must be diligent to preserve the bonds of love and peace.

Ephesians 4:1-3
Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Sadly, I was unable to persuade this brother to walk in love. I then wrote to the man who had created the website and discussion group, with the hope of persuading him to rein in those who were using his site to badger and belittle and insult others. I expected a more moderate response from this brother as he had been a pastor for 13 years. My expectations were dashed, however, when this former pastor not only gave his full support to his site moderator, but he began to chide and speak in a demeaning and insulting fashion to me.

Satan’s ambushes often find an opening in our lives through some entrance in our soul. In this case, these men had been mistreated by the churches they had been a part of and they experienced rejection and wounding. The soul of man wants to respond to this wounding with bitterness, and it wants to exact its own revenge. To follow these urges is to fall away from the path to Zion. Bitterness will lead to a defiling of our vessels, and it will eventually defile many others as well.

Hebrews 12:15
See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled...

I cannot stress enough the importance of avoiding the perils of this ambush of the enemy. It matters not if we discern all of the evils of Babylon. It matters not if we separate ourselves from all pagan practices and we conform perfectly to the pattern the Lord has determined for His church. It matters not if we discern mysteries that are hidden from the multitudes. If we fail in love then we have embraced the ultimate failure.

I Corinthians 13:1-3
If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.

When the soul wants to embrace error it will ultimately find some justification for doing so. In Proverbs we are told that all men are justified in their own sight. But how grievous it will be for those saints who willingly deceive themselves in order to justify a lack of love. The members of this group justified their lack of love by pointing to John chapter 17 and declaring that this passage of scripture reveals that unity among the saints will come as a result of our glorification, not because of love. They therefore looked to the coming glorification of the saints and they despised love, compassion, forgiveness, and a humble spirit.

This ambush is set before all of those who would journey from Babylon to Zion. Many are failing to make progress toward Zion due to allowing themselves to be overcome by the enemy at this point. Yes, I say that they ALLOW themselves to be overcome, for no saint has to give in to the subtle snares of the enemy. We are the Overcomers in Christ, and our Savior has already overcome all. In Him we are adequate for every situation, every snare and trap of the enemy. We are overcome only when we allow ourselves to be so.

Make every effort on your journey to Zion to preserve love. Be quick to forgive. Remember the words of our Savior which Paul repeated to the Roman believers:

Romans 12:14
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
[End Excerpt from Book]

Solomon, I pray that your name would be a symbolic one in the sense that you will be a man granted exceptional breadth of wisdom and understanding. Yet, you must be forewarned that excelling in these things will lead to pride which will destroy a man’s life unless he is ever vigilant.

I Corinthians 8:1
Knowledge causes people to be puffed up (to bear themselves loftily and be proud), but love (affection and goodwill and benevolence) edifies and builds up and encourages one to grow [to his full stature].
[Amplified Bible]

When you pray for wisdom it would also be well to pray that Yahweh might keep you humble. Even the apostle Paul might have stumbled in pride due to the great revelations given to him had not Yahweh intervened to keep him humble in the flesh.

II Corinthians 12:7
And because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me - to keep me from exalting myself!

I believe Paul’s affliction was a serious malady that affected his eyes and sight. This man who had been used of God to heal others, could not heal himself. He had to be led around by the hand at times, and he relied upon others to write his letters for him. He frequently made mention when signing his name to the letters of the large letters with which he wrote.

Galatians 4:13-16
You know that it was because of a bodily illness that I preached the gospel to you the first time; and that which was a trial to you in my bodily condition you did not despise or loathe, but you received me as an angel of God, as Christ Yahshua Himself. Where then is that sense of blessing you had? For I bear you witness, that if possible, you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me.

Galatians 6:11
See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand.

Yahweh, in His mercy, will do what is necessary to prevent His sons who have been granted insight and understanding beyond the measure of others from foundering upon the rocks of pride. Let us always seek to clothe ourselves in humility, and in our humility to manifest the other fruits of the Spirit which include patience, gentleness, and self-control.

Regarding the struggle you also mentioned with lust, this too is something I am well familiar with. Years ago I wrote a writing that shared some insight the Father had given to me relating to how I might overcome this area of stumbling in my life. The writing is called The Necessary Fear of God. I am going to print it out and include it along with this letter.

May you be blessed with peace and understanding in these days,

Joseph Herrin

Heart4God Website: http://www.heart4god.ws    

Parables Blog: www.parablesblog.blogspot.com    

Mailing Address:
Joseph Herrin
P.O. Box 804
Montezuma, GA 31063