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Short Comments on DTL's Web Site: 1999
Below are short comments I received on Darkness to Light’s Web site in 1999. The e-mailers' comments are in black and enclosed in "greater than" and "lesser than" signs. My comments are in red.
>Dear Mr. Zeolla,
I just wanted to say thank you for your website. I just found it today and I have been greatly blessed by your articles! The email exchanges have answered so many of my questions.
I am attending a Reformed Baptist church in Rockford, Illinois, so I was especially pleased to see that you are of that persuasion. :-)
Please keep up the good work. The Church is in need of sound, Biblical teaching!
Blessings,
Corrie
12/21/1999<
Thank you for the kind comments. And I am thankful you have found my site to be helpful.
> I have read through most of your website. In reference to the fact that you link Ramtha with a satanic philosophy is clearly not the case [see An Evaluation of Channeling]. I have attended many events at the Ramtha school. Every time I have heard Ramtha speak of Jesus, he has done so with much reverance.<
The way to "respect" Jesus would be to teach the same things He taught. This is not the case with Ramtha. His teachings definitely conflict with the teachings of Jesus. That was the main point of my article on channeling, that what Ramtha and other channeled "entities" teach conflict with the teachings of Jesus and the Bible in general.
> I don't have much more to say on the subject, as you will continue to think what you choose to, but the entire concept of some evil that Ramtha and his students are a part of is completly ridiculous.<
I gave some very detailed reason for why I consider channeling and the teachings of Ramtha to be "evil" in my article. I quoted extensively from Ramtha and other channeled entities and compared their teachings with the Bible. It was on that basis that I made my determination. So it was a researched conclusion, not something I came up with off of the top of my head.
> Do some more research, and find your own truth, but do not for a moment link such a wonderful school and teacher with that which you term satanic or evil. We, and he, are anything but. May we live together in peace and understanding.
In love,
John
12/5/1999<
One book by Ramtha, and several others by various other channeled entities, is more than enough for me. Their teachings are clearly unbiblical, and no amount of additional research is going to change that fact.
As for "finding my own truth," it is this very point that I disagree with Ramtha and similar teachings. There is no such thing as "my truth" and "your truth." Either something is true or it is not. Specially, either Jesus was and is who He claimed to be, or He was not. And if He was God in the flesh as He claimed, then His teachings are true and those of Ramtha are not. They both cannot be true.
>Thank you for your web site on the Trinity and other apologetics. It is the best I have come upon. God bless you as you continue to honour Him and His Word.
Matthew
Web site
7/13/1999<
Thank you for the kind comments. I will check out your site when I get the time.
>Ok, so here's the thing; I want to be a counter cult minister, but I'll be a monkey's uncle if I can find a college with an Apologetics program. Can I even get a BA in Apologetics? Is there any school that deals with counter cult ministries?
Any help you can give me would be much appreciated.
Thanks,
Ryan
7/1/1999<
I understand your frustration as I went through the same when I was looking for a seminary to attend over a decade ago. I ended up going to Denver Seminary. They have a Philosophy of Religion department. It's focus is theology, apologetics, and ethics. The degree you would get would be a Masters of Divinity with an emphasis in Philosophy of Religion. Check out Denver Seminary's Web site for more info.
There was also one or two other seminaries I found that had a major or at least an emphasis in apologetics. But at this point I forget which they were. Sorry.
>Thus far, I really like your site. You deal with the issues without being obnoxious.
Thank you.
Terry
5/27/1999<
> Dear Gary,
Your site is a breath of fresh air on an often theologically stale Internet! There are many "KJV only" advocates, charismaniacs, and willfully ignorant Christians with webpages; and just like "Christian TV" (whatever that is), these people present the only contact with Christianity that many pagans see. I will link your page when I get mine up and I will tell all my friends about an intelligent and refreshing page on the 'Net!
Sincerely,
Jerry ~ Ligonier Ministries
5/19/1999<
Thanks for the kind comments. Let me know when your site it ready so I can check it out.
> I enjoy reading your pages for several reasons: 1. Bible Version debate, 2. Baptist perspective, 3. I currently attend a Pentecostal church. You provide an interesting perspective of the Bible in a concise way.
I am currently enrolled in a theology degree through the Irish Presbyterian college and as I am from a Plymouth brethren background, I have been reading some Reformed Baptist writing on the web for the first time in my life. I found Fred Malone's article on baptism quite interesting (www.founders.org). It is approximately 20 pages long and it takes some time to wade through that length of material.
I was experimenting with animated GIFs and realized that using the letters "alt" one could create a logo of someone taking up their cross and following Christ. I'm no artist and so it is very rough but feel free to use the idea. I enclose a copy of alt2.gif. ...
Regards
Mark
5/11/1999
P.S. Don't bother acknowledging this as your time will be better served doing other things.<
Note: The animated GIF "Mark" sent is now located on the Analytical Literal Translation: Main page.
>No reply necessary.
Thank you for your ministry Gary. If we could only know those who have been helped by you. Then again, one day we will. :~)
I really hope the ALT [Analytical-Literal Translation] will be published in book form. I hope you can do it.
Once again, thanx,
Lon
<`))))><
5/7/1999<
>Gary,
Saw your page and am delighted with the content.<
Thank you.
>Are you the Gary Z. who helped with the Jay P. Green interlinear? ...
>Pastor David
5/3/1999<
If you're referring to the "Gary Zeola" mentioned on the "Acknowledgements" page of his leather-covered Interlinear, yes, that’s me. On thing though, my name's misspelled. It should be "Zeolla" (two "l's.").
The help I provided was not that extensive. It consisted of proof-reading parts of Matthew and sending in suggestions on verses in various other books.
>Good afternoon Gary,
I just thought I would send you a quick note and see how you are doing. I haven't seen anything new on your sight since 4-19-99 and I thought you might not be feeling well. I pray you are still doing well.
May the Lord continue to richly bless you and your ministry!!!
Bob
5/1/1999<
It's nice to be missed! I'm about as well as I ever am. I haven't posted anything recently because I have been busy working on the Analytical-Literal Translation, the Gospel of Mark to be exact. It's very slow going since, as I'm working on Mark, I'm also working on parallel passages in Matthew and Luke.
That said, I will be posting a two-part article titled, Study of Acts 13:48 in the next day or two.
>No need to reply to this email... I just wanted to say that your website looks excellent - what I've read. Good work. Keep it up and God bless you all!
Monicque
4/19/1999<
>Dear Gary:
Website accolades! Love the website and look forward to many more hours here!
God Bless your ministry here!
4/17/1999<
Thank you for the kind comments.
>Hi Gary:
I've started pouring through the great material on your site. What a ministry! You're talented and there's no mistaking it.<
Thank you for the kind comments.
>I looked into Denver [Seminary], but ended up at Fuller for the M.A. [in] Theology and now Trinity for the Ph. D. in Bible Literature. You either studied hard or had some excellent teachers.<
Both.
>You mentioned your book on Bible versions. I'd love to purchase it if you can tell me where or how.<
My book is no longer in print. But the full contents of it are posted on my Bible Versions Controversy pages. The articles with "book" in the URLs are adapted from chapters from the book.
> I've also been looking through your ALT [Analytical-Literal Translation] work. So far pretty doggone impressive.<
Thank you.
>Finally, how are you and DTL supported?<
Regards,
Ron
4/15/1999<
Donations mostly. Further background info on my ministry is on the About Darkness to Light page.
> Dear Mr. Zeolla,
You have done an amazing job putting all of this together. Keep up the good work. About a year ago, my brother became involved in The Way International and I had never heard of it at the time, but I knew something wasn't right. The more I looked in to it, the worse it got.
I am a new Christian and I am not as familiar with the Holy Scriptures as some people are; so it is difficult for me to talk to someone about something that they don't want to believe because I can't make quick references to verses and I am not as familiar with the history of Christianity either. Your web page gives anyone all of the ammo needed to combat false teachings. You have been blessed with the ability to interpret the Scriptures in a way that many people cannot.
Thank you for taking the time to put all of this work into your page and for defending our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Many people who do that much research and work on ANY topic simply want re-emburstment and profits for their work; but you have posted it for all to see at no charge and that is a wonderful, self-less thing to do. Thank you again.
Your brother in Christ,
Barry
3/25/1999<
Thank you very much for your encouragement. And I am thankful you have found my site to be so helpful.
>Hi, I am a Christian and I needed some help with teachings on the Trinity. I came across your homepage and I found it to be most helpful.
Thank you,
Lumia from Sweden.
3/7/1999<
I am thankful you found my site to be of help.
>Dear Gary:
I lack the words to tell you how excited I am to have found your ministry on the Internet. I have read (and made hard copies to re-read and distribute) quite a few of your essays and studies. They have confirmed and encouraged me, as my theological journey seems to be very similar to your own. I am a 46 year-old man, elder in a nondenominational church, and fairly recent subscriber to many, if not most, of the tenants of reformed theology. I look forward to learning more of Darkness to Light.
In Christ,
Keith
2/13/1999<
I am thankful my site has been such a help to you. And may God be with you in your position at your church.
>Pretty [expletive deleted] site....guess that's why there have only been 1,100 hits so far.<
I checked the hits counter on the HOME PAGE and it reads almost 10,000, for that page alone. Perhaps you are viewing one of the about 50 "subject" pages on my site and mistaking it for my entire site. Once you add up the hits for each of the subject pages, along with the 400+ plus pages on my site in general, it would come to tens of thousands of hits in the past seven months alone (since I changed to a new Web host). I know this as I get a much more detailed report from my Web server each week than what the hits counters provide.
The point is, maybe you should try finding out what you're talking about before spouting profanities at someone.
>You ought to spend more time with your religion and stop trying to disprove others. Cause ya never know....I know....you're the right religion and you're warning people. It's people like you that keep people from going to church. It's all about slamming other religions and proving YOU are right.
C.P.H.
2/11/1999<
I give detailed reasons for my positions on my site, and without swearing at people. I would say it would be attitudes like yours which would drive people away from whatever belief system it is you ascribe to.
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