GREETINGS

¹From Stands on the Rock (Peter), a message bearer from Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One.

To Creator’s chosen ones who have been scattered like seeds throughout Land of Black Waters (Pontus), Land of Pale Skins (Galatia), Land of Handsome Horses (Cappadocia), Land of the Rising Sun (Asia), and the territory of Rushing Storm (Bithynia), who live like strangers among them.

²Our Father the Great Spirit knew long ago that he would take you into his family. By his Spirit he is making you holy so you will obey Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One and be sprinkled with his lifeblood. May the gift of his great kindness and peace overflow to you.

SHARED BLESSINGS

³All blessings belong to the Great Spirit, the Father of our Honored Chief, Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One! In his great mercy, when he raised Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One from the dead, we were given new birth, and our hope came to life. We now share with the Chosen One all the blessings he has received. ⁴These shared blessings are kept safe in the spirit-world above, where they will never grow old, become impure, or fade away.

THE TESTING OF YOUR TRUST

⁵Creator’s plan to set you free and make you whole is ready to be fully revealed when the time for the end has come. Until then you are kept safe by trusting in Creator’s power. ⁶You dance for joy now because you know that day is coming, even though for a short time you may have to walk a trail of tears because of the many kinds of troubles you are facing.

⁷These troubles will test the purity of your trust in him, just like fire tests the purity of gold. Your trust in him is worth more than gold that can fade away. After you have passed through the fire and come out pure, it will bring praise, honor, and shining-greatness to Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One when he is revealed. ⁸You have never seen him, yet you love him. You cannot see him now, yet you trust him. This makes your heart so glad that you cannot find words beautiful enough, so you have to dance for joy. ⁹For your trust in him is bringing you to the end of the trail, where your whole being will be set free and made whole.

FORETOLD BY THE PROPHETS

¹⁰This time of being set free and made whole was foretold by the prophets, who prophesied about Creator’s gift of great kindness that would come to you. The prophets wondered about these things, so they searched deeply into the meaning of it all. ¹¹The Spirit of the Chosen One in them told them ahead of time about the sufferings of the Chosen One and the honor that would follow. They wondered whom the Spirit was speaking about and when these things would take place. ¹²The Spirit made it known to them that the things they searched out were for you and not for themselves. You have now learned these things from those who told you the good story by the Holy Spirit, who was sent down from the spirit-world above. Even the spirit-messengers long to see and understand more about these things.

STAND READY IN YOUR MIND

¹³In light of all of this, stand ready in your mind to face what is ahead. Think clearly and set all your hope on the gift of great kindness that will be yours when Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One is revealed. ¹⁴Because you are the children of the Great Spirit, follow all his instructions. Do not walk with a bad heart, as you did in the past when you did not know the things you know now. ¹⁵Walk in a sacred manner in everything you do. For you were called away from your old life by the Holy One, who walks ahead of you on a sacred path. ¹⁶For it is written in our Sacred Teachings, “Be holy, for I am holy.”1

THE PRICE HE PAID TO SET US FREE

¹⁷If you call on the Great Spirit as your Father, walk with great respect and awe for him on your journey through this life. Creator decides who has done right or wrong without favoring one person over another. ^18-19For you know that the price to set you free was not paid with silver or gold or anything that can fade away. It was the lifeblood of the Chosen One, a spotless lamb with no defect, that set you free from empty ways handed down to you from your ancestors. ²⁰He was chosen to walk this path before the world was made, but he has been revealed in these last days for your good. ²¹Through him you trust in the Great Spirit, who raised him to life from death and honored him with shining-greatness. Creator did this so you would put all your hope and trust in him.

THE LIVING WORD GIVES US NEW BIRTH

²²You have purified your souls by fully following the truth. Now your love for each other can come from a true heart. So keep loving each other in this way. ²³You have been given new birth through the living word of the Great Spirit. This living Word is like a seed planted within you that will never decay and will remain to the time beyond the end of all days.

²⁴Just as our Sacred Teachings tell us, “Human beings are like grass. Their beauty is like a wildflower growing in the grass. The grass dries up and the wildflower falls to the ground, ²⁵but Creator’s Word never fades away.”

And that word is the good story that was told to you.

GROWING UP SPIRITUALLY

¹So turn away from hatred, lying, cheating, and any false face you have been wearing. Stop bad-mouthing others and being jealous. ²Like newborn babies who long for their mother’s milk, you should long for milk that is spiritually pure. This milk will help you grow strong in the one who sets you free and makes you whole. ³For you have already tasted the goodness of our Honored Chief.

THE CHIEF LODGEPOLE

⁴You are drawing near to the living Lodgepole,2 the Chosen One who was rejected by human beings but highly honored in the eyes of the Great Spirit. ⁵You are also like living wooden poles3 whose branches are being woven together into a spiritual and sacred lodge. In this spiritual lodge, as holy men and women, you will send up spiritual offerings that will be like sweet-smelling smoke to the Great Spirit through Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One.

⁶For it stands true in our Sacred Teachings, “Behold, in Strong Mountain (Zion) I am setting in place the Chief Lodgepole that I have chosen, one that is highly honored. The hearts of all who trust in him will never fall to the ground.”4

⁷He is highly honored by all who trust in him. But for those who fail to put their trust in him, “The tree the lodge builders threw away has become the Chief Lodgepole.5 ⁸He is a tree pole that many will trip over, a wooden pole6 that will make them stumble.”7 They stumble because they do not do what Creator’s message requires them to do. This is what was decided ahead of time for all who do not trust his message.

CREATOR’S CHOSEN PEOPLE

⁹But you who trust in Creator Sets Free (Jesus) are a chosen people. You are a family of chiefs who serve as holy men and women. You are a sacred nation, a people who belong to the Great Spirit alone. You are the ones who will show forth the beautiful ways of the one who called you out of darkness and brought you into his wondrous light. ¹⁰You are now the people of the Great Spirit, even though at one time you were not known in this way.8 In the past you had not known mercy, but now you have found it.

WALK IN A GOOD WAY

¹¹So then, my much-loved ones, you who are strangers and outsiders to the ways of this world, I speak to you now with strong words. Stay far away from the weak and broken desires within you that make war against who you are. ¹²Walk in a good way among those who are outsiders to our spiritual ways. In this way, even though they falsely accuse you of wrongdoing, when they see the good you have done they will give honor to the Great Spirit on the day he comes to visit us.

COMING UNDER HUMAN AUTHORITIES

¹³On behalf of our Honored Chief, I call on you to come under all human governments. This includes the Ruler of the People of Iron (Caesar), as the highest authority, ¹⁴and all who represent him. They have been sent to punish wrongdoers and honor those who do what is right. ¹⁵Creator wants you to walk in his right ways so that the ignorant and foolish will have nothing to say against you. ¹⁶Do this as a people who have been set free, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil ways. Instead, walk out your freedom as willing servants of the Great Spirit. ¹⁷Show respect to all people. Love the members of our sacred family. Treat Creator with great respect, and show honor to the Ruler of the People of Iron (Caesar).

INSTRUCTIONS FOR HOUSEHOLD SERVANTS

¹⁸Household servants, I call on you to respectfully come under the master of the house. Serve with respect not only masters who are good and kind, but also the ones who treat you in a bad way. ¹⁹For the gift of great kindness rests on the ones who, out of respect for the Great Spirit, patiently suffer even when they have done nothing wrong. ²⁰There is no honor in suffering for wrongs you have done. But if you suffer with patience for doing what is right, then Creator will look on you with great kindness.

THE PATH OF SUFFERING

²¹Suffering in this way is part of what you have been called to do. It was for you that the Chosen One walked a path of suffering, showing you the way to follow in his footsteps. ²²Our Sacred Teachings tell us, “He did nothing wrong and never spoke with a forked tongue.”9 ²³He did not return insult for insult. When he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he kept looking to the one who is always right when he decides who has done right or who has done wrong.

²⁴He took on himself our broken ways when he hung on a tree-pole—the cross. He did this so we could die to our broken ways and come alive to his right ways. By his wounds we have been made whole. ²⁵At one time you were like sheep wandering away, but you have now returned to the one who watches over you like a shepherd who watches over the sheep.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR WIVES AND HUSBANDS

¹In the same way, you wives are to come under the guidance of your husbands. In this way, even husbands who do not follow Creator’s message might be won over without a word by the way their wives treat them. ²For they will see the honest and respectful way you live your life. ³Your beauty should not be only on the outside, with fancy braided hair, costly beaded jewelry, or dressing up in fine clothes. ⁴But let your beauty shine out from who you are deep within your heart—a gentle spirit filled with peace and harmony. That kind of beauty never fades and has great value in the eyes of the Great Spirit.

⁵For this was how the holy women in times past who put their hope in Creator made themselves beautiful. They followed the guidance of their husbands ⁶like Noble Woman (Sarah) did. She followed the guidance of her husband, Father of Many Nations (Abraham), and respectfully called him her honored chief. You are her daughters if you do not let fear keep you from doing what is right.

⁷In the same way, you husbands, live in an understanding way with your wife. She may be physically weaker, but she deserves honor as one who shares equally with you in the gift of great kindness as you walk together on the road of life. Then nothing will stand in the way of your prayers.

LOVE EACH OTHER AS FAMILY

⁸I have some last things to say to all of you. Walk side by side in harmony with each other. Try to feel what others feel. Love each other as family. Be tenderhearted and walk with a humble spirit. ⁹Never return evil for evil or insult for insult. Instead, speak words of blessing over each other, for you were chosen to share together in Creator’s blessings.

¹⁰Our Sacred Teachings tell us, “Let the ones who love life and long to see good days keep their tongue from evil and their lips from speaking lies. Let them turn away from doing evil and do what is good. ¹¹Let them seek peace and choose to walk in its good ways. ¹²For the eyes of our Honored Chief watch over the ones who do what is right. His ears are open to their prayers. But his face is against all who do what is evil.”10

SUFFERING FOR DOING GOOD

¹³If you give yourselves fully to doing good, who would want to harm you? ¹⁴But even if you should suffer for doing what is right, remember that Creator’s blessing rests on you. So do not fear what they can do to you or be troubled by their threats. ¹⁵Instead, set your hearts on the Chosen One as your Honored Chief. Always be ready to give an answer to the ones who ask about the hope you carry inside you. ¹⁶Give your answer to them in a kind and respectful way. Do what you know deep inside to be right, so when outsiders accuse you, they will be put to shame as you walk in a good way following the Chosen One. ¹⁷For if it is what the Great Spirit wants, it is better to suffer for doing good than for doing wrong.

¹⁸The Chosen One died once for the broken ways of all people. The one who always does right suffered for those who do wrong to make a way for us to come to the Great Spirit. In his weak human body he was put to death, but he was made alive in the Spirit.

LESSONS FROM THE TIME OF THE GREAT FLOOD

¹⁹In the Spirit the Chosen One went and told his story to the spirits that had been held captive from long ago. ²⁰These were the spirits of human beings who refused to walk in the ways of the Great Spirit. This was before the great flood in the time of One Who Rests (Noah), when Creator waited patiently for the great wooden canoe to be built. A small number, only eight people, were brought safely through the waters of the flood.

²¹The story of what happened then is a way to understand our purification ceremony with water,12 a ceremony that is performed to set us free and make us whole. This ceremony does not just wash the dirt from our bodies. It shows that from deep inside we are crying out for Creator to set us free by what he did when he raised Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One from the dead.

²²The Chosen One now sits in his honored place at Creator’s right hand in the spirit-world above. From there the Chosen One rules over all spirit-messengers, authorities, and powers.

SUFFERING WITH THE CHOSEN ONE

¹Since the Chosen One suffered for us while in his earthly body, we must also be ready to suffer and to think about it in the same way he did. The ones who are willing to suffer while still in their weak human bodies have chosen to stop walking in broken ways. ²They also have chosen to live out their remaining days in these weak human bodies doing what the Great Spirit wants and not following broken human desires. ³For in the past you walked long enough following the evil desires of the nations who have lost their way. Like them, you walked a path of selfish and uncontrolled desires. You became drunks who went to wild drinking parties. You even prayed to forbidden spirit-images.

⁴The ones who walk in this way think it strange that you no longer join them in their wild and reckless way of life, so they speak evil of you. ⁵But they will have to give an answer to the Great Spirit for what they have done. He stands ready, for both the living and the dead, to decide who has done right and who has done wrong. ⁶This is the reason the good story has been told to the dead. In this way, even though they were found guilty in their weak human bodies, they might still live spiritually before the Great Spirit.

NEVER STOP LOVING AND SERVING

⁷The end of all things is near, so think good thoughts and be single-minded in your prayers. ⁸Above all, never stop loving each other, for like a warm blanket love covers a great number of broken ways. ⁹Open your homes to each other and share your food without grumbling. ¹⁰Each one of you has been given a gift, so use it to serve one another, as a good manager of the many kinds of gifts Creator gives. ¹¹If your gift is speaking, then your words should come from the Great Spirit. If your gift is serving, then serve with the strength Creator gives you. In this way, the Great Spirit will be honored by everything you do through Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One. To him belongs all power and shining-greatness to the time beyond the end of all days. Aho! May it be so!

MORE ABOUT SUFFERING

¹²My much-loved ones, do not be caught off guard by the fiery trial that you now face, as if something strange were happening to you. ¹³Instead, be glad that you share in the sufferings of the Chosen One. The more you share in his sufferings, the more you will dance for joy when his shining-greatness is revealed. ¹⁴If you are treated with scorn and contempt because you follow the Chosen One, you are blessed. For this is a sign that the beauty of his Spirit and of Creator is resting on you. ¹⁵Make sure no one among you suffers as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or a troublemaker. ¹⁶But if you suffer as a follower of the Chosen One, do not be ashamed. Represent his name well, and you will bring honor to the Great Spirit.

¹⁷The time has come for judgment to begin with Creator’s own family. If it begins with us, what will become of the ones who do not respect and follow Creator’s good story? ¹⁸If the ones in good standing come through with much difficulty, then what will be the end of the bad-hearted ones and those who walk in broken ways? ¹⁹So the ones who suffer for doing what is right, as the Great Spirit wants them to, should fully trust our faithful Creator with their lives and continue to do good.

WISDOM FOR THE ELDERS

¹Knowing the times we live in, I speak with strong words to the elders among you who serve as spiritual leaders. I am a fellow elder who saw the sufferings of the Chosen One with my own eyes and who will share in the beauty of his shining-greatness that will be revealed. ²I counsel you to watch over Creator’s family like a shepherd watching over a flock of sheep. Do this willingly, as Creator wants you to, not to gain more possessions but from an honest desire to serve. ³Do not use your authority to boss people around. Instead, show them the way by doing first what you are asking of them. ⁴Then, when the Chief Shepherd appears, he will honor you with a headdress of many feathers that will never lose its beauty.

WISDOM FOR THE YOUNG

⁵In the same way, those who are young should listen to their elders. All of you must wear the regalia of humility as you walk together. “The Great Spirit stands against the proud and arrogant, but he shows great kindness to the humble of heart.”13 ⁶So humble yourselves under Creator’s powerful hand, and when the time is right he will highly honor you. ⁷The Great Spirit cares deeply about you, so gather all your worries into a blanket and throw them on his shoulders. He will carry them for you.

STAND FIRM AGAINST THE EVIL ONE

⁸Stay alert and remain calm, for your opponent, the evil trickster,14 prowls about, roaring like a mountain lion, looking for someone to devour. ⁹Take your stand against him, firm in your trust, knowing that all over the world other sacred family members are suffering in the same way. ¹⁰But you will not have to suffer for long, for the Great Spirit who gives us his gift of great kindness will restore you, set your feet on solid ground, and strengthen you. For he has called you into the bright-shining greatness of the Chosen One that will never fade away. ¹¹All power belongs to him to the time beyond all days. Aho! May it be so!

¹²I have written this short letter to you by the hand of Forest Walker (Silvanus). He is a spiritual brother whom I count as trustworthy. With a few strong words, I have told you the truth about the gift of Creator’s great kindness. So stand firm in this truth!

¹³The sacred family15 who gathers in Village of Confusion (Babylon) and who were chosen in the same way you were sends greetings to you. Also War Club (Mark), who is a son to me, sends his greetings.

¹⁴Greet each other in a loving way with a holy kiss. Peace be upon all of you who belong to the Chosen One.