Elisha’s Outcast Eagles Website is published by The Open Door Fellowship of The Christian Spirit Inc., a church in North Central Massachusetts. We are of little or no consequence among the array of traditional denominational Protestant churches, Charismatic and Pentecostal varieties, the Roman Catholic Parishes, and the 21st Century variations of Mega and Corporation church outfits that exist in our area of the U.S. of A. But over our 40 years of ministering God’s Word we have had contact and conflict with parts of all of them. We have no political clout and this has never been our aim or wish. We command no respect from the Christian powers that be though we have fellowshipped and even been ordained as ministers within them, only to abandon our hopes in them and withdraw from them in search for a more true course according to the Gospel with the guidance of the Holy Ghost wanting a more true and perfect course according to the Word of the Bible and its instruction having to do with the final days before Jesus Christ’s promised return from heaven to the earth.

There is no earthly reason why those living around us should flock to hear our voice, no worldly gain or riches can they receive by rubbing elbows with us. We consider ourselves a small “ark” floating safely, if not precariously, among the seas of a dark and troubled world, tucked in the midst of a growing number of ‘apostate’ variety of churches made up of ecumenical denominations ranging from the megalithic Roman Catholic Papal Church, traditional Protestant conservative churches, to the full array of various Ecumenical, Evangelical, Charismatic churches of the post World War II modern era.

In many ways God has shut us in, called us away from this degraded world and its self righteous religions and the rising flood of all sorts of anti-god anti-faith sentiment. Among our life’s energetic focus is that we learn with boldness to wait – to wait patiently for God’s saving grace, which is, Jesus’s incremental return, as it is declared in the Holy Bible.

By “incremental return” we mean his return shall come not only in stages but in different forms and means of His presence and influence. First off He is announcing His return now, through His Word. This is a ‘form’ of not only His influence but a proof of his presence among mankind in this very moment. It is the reality of His tangible existence in the midst of us. It is the realization in this time of His speaking and encouraging mankind to believe and heed His voice as dutiful children might heed the voice of a parent. And what He is declaring daily by His voice in the Bible and through His manifest prophecies is that His coming is not only imminent, but that He is here now and that His return to earth is happening in incremental stages; each stage separate but all parts within the same whole, which is His ultimate return in body, soul and spirit to reign over the earth in truth, righteousness and love, which these three are all parts of Jesus Christ the Son of God. Each one of the aspects of Christ’s return also has a special pertinence for a specially targeted segment of people of which the aspect of Christ’s return will have direct effect or consequences. God, in His Word has likened the end-times resurrection to a time of harvest.

Right now God is declaring Christ’s return to all mankind by way of His universal judgments through the six paradigms of prophecy, as He promised he would do in prophecies throughout the Bible but especially in the 12 minor prophets and the books of Daniel, the Gospels and the Books of Peter, Jude, Timothy and Acts and especially the Book of Revelation. The six paradigms of Antichrist, World, Church, Israel, Travel and Knowledge and Phenomenon are the general means God is utilizing at this time to make his presence known while announcing clearly and decisively the imminent return of His Son, Jesus

After this, the second stage of His return will happen in, as the Scripture denotes, “the twinkling of an eye” to snatch away alive those that have loved Him more than their own lives. We are told that Christ will not come back to earth at this time, but rather will appear in the clouds undetected but by a few to take them home to be with God forever. This is commonly called by both the world and the churches – the Rapture. This aspect of the Return has been identified by Scripture as the first fruits harvest. It is fitting that those who have brought forth fruits of righteousness of Christ shall be taken as the first-fruits harvest. Just as the world over, and with our New England farms from Maine to Connecticut. There is the first fruits harvest of asparagus and varieties of greens so there is a rapturous harvest of glorious fruit before a general harvest.

Then the next phase of Christ’s presence and power on earth will come during a general harvest of end times souls, those that have entered the severe heat and dry times of the man Antichrist’s brief rule. Few as the firstfruits number shall be, this general harvest, we are told, shall be a great number of souls who have rejected the Antichrist at the cost of their very fleshly lives in favor of entering into life eternal. The pressure will be tremendous on these beleaguered souls. It would have been better for them had they died to self and were among the few first fruits harvest, for now they must fight off their fears and the enormous pressure to deny God, take the Mark of the ‘Beast’ and bow to his will and worship Antichrist and the World. But Christ will be with any who can give up their life for His sake. This is the stage of Christ’s return to earth which can be likened to the general harvest.

The conclusive stage in the return of Christ then, is when he returns to earth at Armageddon to defeat the remnant army of Antichrist and establish his righteous rule on earth in the newly built temple in Jerusalem. Upon His arrival on earth Jesus shall cleanse the temple which Antichrist has defiled. He will set all things right and will begin the righteous reign of truth and love, without deceit or taking bribes, on earth.

We only believe what the Bible, and particularly the prophets and the Book of Revelation all declare. Why should we not be dedicated to the righteous and true judge? We must choose. The EOE chooses to believe and walk in this reality that is unfolding even now as we speak. God’s Son, Jesus Christ, is coming back soon!

We are among the few who wait on these glorious days to be fulfilled, among the few that bask in the light of His lively presence even in this moment. It is a good hope. The only hope. We do not wait for Man or the Church to reform the degradation that has taken root on the earth, a degradation which the world and most of the churches have not only insisted upon, but have done. We do not hope in making a kingdom here on earth that will be fit for the return of God’s Savior,Jesus Christ. Only God can do this.

We have published magazines from our home based church, have held public meetings, conducted weddings, water baptisms, seen souls saved, been involved in spiritual battles and deliverances, prophesied, our old men have dreamed dreams and our women have seen visions. We have witnessed the healing touch of the Savior. But we have also seen the betrayal of the Savior by those he has loved, weathered the storms of false brethren and deceivers, rejected lying “angels of light” sent by Satan himself to confuse. Through it all God has allowed us by His grace to practice pure religion as He defines pure religion – “helping and visiting the fatherless and widows in their affliction, while staying unspotted by the ‘world’”.

Our passion has been to praise God in print and publicly among the churches and the world, and to teach rigorously His prophetic word telling all those who might listen, that Jesus is about to call His Bride home and to return to earth to judge the unrighteous and set up a thousand year reign on earth, a government of righteous love, a great society of freedom allowing friendship with God.

All this and more has been done in the character and reality of being a simple and pure home church. God has given us the faith and blessed us in being able to minister in the most simple of ways, that pure simplicity that is in Christ. Our greatest hope today is that we could deliver to the forsaken (both in churches or the world) the invitation to come to The Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

(A matter which we explain in the composite of articles on our homepage under the heading: “About Us”)

About Our Fellowship

We are not a denomination or associated in any way with the likes of Armstrong-ism or any other heretical anti-biblical movement, church, or group. We are a small, simple church in the biblical orthodox sense of the word. However, we are not now affiliated with any of the orthodox Evangelical or Catholic denominations and assemblies, choosing to disassociate ourselves in all ways from the modern ‘Laodiceanism’ that has pervaded every denomination. If we have an affiliation it is only with other ‘Philadelphians’, though we cannot tell where they are or might be residing at this time. For we sense that those who are living in expectation of the Rapture are living in little Noah-like arks, anonymous, waiting to ‘rise above’ the flood waters of the Antichrist which are already flooding the earth.

Our fellowship began in 1972 with a former Roman Catholic priest and his Episcopalian wife. In forty years there have been two pastor-ships: Founders LeRoy and Eloise Gardenier and Terry and Joanne Smith. We took on the name The Open Door Fellowship in early 1982 and incorporated with articles of organization, registering with the state of Massachusetts in October 1991 under the name The Christian Spirit, Inc.

LeRoy (1931-2000) spent his first twenty-five years during the 1950s, 60s and early 70’s as an ordained priest of the Augustinian order in the Roman Catholic Church (four of them spent at the Vatican where he was ordained by the hand of Pope Pius XII in 1957). After careers as a teacher in Catholic schools and serving in the Naval Reserves, and as the East Coast revival preacher for the church-at-large, Leroy became a pastor in the 2,200-family church in Andover, Mass. During his tenure there he represented the church on Ecumenical Councils, Pastoral Counseling groups, and matters of the time concerning Christian relationships of Protestant and Catholic endeavors and ministries of ecumenical nature. In 1972 he became director of the Movement of the Holy Spirit, being then conducted regularly at “The Christian Formation Center” in Andover. It was there that his life was changed when he met Jesus. (His testimony can be found on this site.) There he also met Eloise, who had prayed for him (though he was the director of the Classes on the Holy Spirit) and he was baptized in the Holy Spirit. As they say, the rest is history. It changed his life and his ideas and perception of serving God.

Within a couple of years he applied and received a dispensation from all Catholic vows from Pope Paul VI. Subsequently, LeRoy was ordained a minister in the United Evangelical Churches of America and as a bishop in The Pentecostal Churches of America. For the next 30 years he rigorously, in spite of bouts with cancer and being confined in his last eight years to crutches and then a wheelchair, held down a full time job while travelling to churches to teach and preach, while weekly preaching the gospel to the congregation that regularly met in his home.

Eloise (1926-2010 – you can find her testimony here) had been immersed in ecumenism as an Episcopalian in the years that followed World War II. Like LeRoy, she also left her faith. Both had been born-again and each subsequently found their way out of the ‘denominational’ church during the great outpouring of the Holy Spirit of the 1960’s and 70’s. They met, married and their path took them into what Christ Himself has identified as The Philadelphia Church. From the start it was the baptism of the Holy Ghost and the call of the ‘Bride of Christ’ that motivated and inspired their faith; and a church was established in their home. Since that time, both have gone home to their reward. And the sojourn of what we believe is ‘one’ of the almost invisible Philadelphia churches (that are tucked away, almost anonymous among the other churches) has been one of great adventure in the Spirit.

Terry (1950-2017) and Joanne – Conducting the pastoral duties of the church were Terry and Joanne, after taking on some pastoral duties during Leroy and Eloise’s life. Terry having served as deacon for twenty years. He acted as co-pastor with LeRoy in the 90’s. He and Joanne published The Christian Spirit Magazine from ’92-’02, working as a voice for the rapture, watchmen of prophecy, and conducting services, ministering, preaching and teaching, while raising five children and keeping full-time jobs. Terry worked as a sports writer and is author of the book Revelation: Pure and Simple. Terry preached in churches, all the while urging belief in the message of the bride of Christ and for faith in the message of The Philadelphia faith. In the mid-nineties they were co-founders and active in the Pentecostal organization: North East Christian Fellowship. No matter where they went, they called to people in and outside the churches to reach for “the prize of the high calling that is in Christ Jesus”. Terry was an ordained minister in the Pentecostal Church. He and his wife conducted the pastoral duties of the Open Door Fellowship. Terry went home to his reward in 2017.

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