“FLABBERGASTATION AND RIGHTLY DIVIDING
THE WORD OR DIVIDING
THE BODY OF CHRIST” 

Dear Reader, flabbergastation is the state of being flabbergasted … which is to be surprised, amazed, dazed or made speechless … and not … as some think … a run-down poorly managed Caltex petrol outlet … a flabby gas station.

Websters Dictionary 1828 says this is probably a slang term from the 18^th century, consisting of the two words “flabby” and “aghast” … which is not sounding good so far does it?

Now to be flabby is to lack firmness, lack force and to be weak … such as in weak muscles.

To be aghast is to be terrified, struck with amazement or stupefied with sudden horror.

The nearest King James Bible word describing this condition, would be “astonied” … a-stone-ied … which is more than being simply astonished, that is bewildered or dazed, but a state of becoming a stone … as when Ezra mourns Israel’s connections with foreigners of various lands, and is astonied till the evening sacrifice … he sat there like a stone … as if hit on the head with a baseball bat … like something in Madame Tussauds.

“And when I heard this thing, I rent my garment and my mantle, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down astonied.” (Ezra 9:3)

Yes Dear Reader, to the onlooker, Ezra looked like a wax museum dummy … sitting there motionless … with no expression on his face … not even blinking … he sat there like a stone.

Yes, Ezra was undergoing a state of flabbergastation.

Now Dear Reader, I suspect, to my chargrin … that being a feeling of being vexed or mortified … this is a state to which I am increasingly … and unfortunately … being subject.

“What could be the cause of my flabbergastation?” I hear you ask.

Very simple, it’s called the English … but more specifically … understanding the English.

“Mine?” I hear you inquire again.

“‘Nay, it’s other people’s understanding of English … and in particular … an English speaking person’s understanding of the English.

In particular, those that call themselves Baptists.

It’s called reading a thing but doing the opposite.

The example I refer to is that of Paul’s …

“For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.”
(1 Corinthians 1:17)

Now the meaning of this will be blatantly clear to all who are NOT Baptists.

This meant that Paul had stopped fooling around with water and issued the above statement.

This was his … and his churches … problem … like when you ask people why they would be going to heaven … they reply … “Oh! I got baptized as a baby!”

Paul would have stated this more clearly as follows … contained I think in a ‘lost’ manuscript we think … not found yet … but we’re still searching.

“There are only four cases where water should be in a church … the toilets, the kitchen taps for drinking, the garden hoses for watering the plants, and the flower vases.” (Paul).

My state of flabbergastation has come about from talking to Baptists … and they’re all 100% the same … like they’ve all been drinking a mind-altering Kool Aid, which has put them into some sort of a robotic state.

Honestly, they’d make excellent Jesuits … you know … when seeing a white object they will sware that it is the colour black … and vice versa.

They’d only have to complete another six months of the seven years of Jesuit training … they’ve done the hard bit … you know … dismissing the King James Bible and what it says. 

Why only today, I had the same conversation with an elderly Baptist man, only to be accused of dividing the body of Christ for believing what Paul said about not dunking people.

To which I replied “You’re correct … I do divide … I rightly divide the word so as not to divide the body of Christ.”

This false accusation inevitably results in the accuser doing the very thing he accuses others … dividing the body of Christ … his church.

Oh yes, they all follow Paul … NOT!
(1 Corinthians 4:16; 11:1) … you know … like little kiddies with their fingers crossed behind their back.

With the assurance of their eternal security, they have lost their terror of the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:11).

I end with a quote from the Jewish Ezra “Oi! Oi! Oi! Oi! Oi! I need a Panadol and a nice hot cup of tea.”

Harley Hitchcock
August 2026

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 Question:  “IS PAUL A HYPER-
DISPENSATIONALIST?”

“CHRISTIANS ARE TO FOLLOW PAUL”
… but if Christians follow Paul, how can they follow Christ?

The Lord Jesus Christ says the following to Christians …

“CONTACT US”