The Spirit of God or the Bible: Which One are We Led By?

{If you are new to my blog, please read this page first: The Spiritual Road Less Traveled}

Have we ever stopped long enough to consider how most common people, over the centuries, came to know and have faith in our Lord and Savior? I’m speaking, here, of poor and uneducated people who lived in very remote areas of Europe and Asia, during the Medieval and Renaissance periods, where there were no priests, churches, parchments, missals or bibles. I mean truly isolated people who had heard, by word of mouth, about the man Jesus, and how He had died for their sins and set them Spiritually free. How did these poor, uneducated and isolated people come to truly believe in the Christ, when all they had was another person’s testimony, a person just like themselves? These people didn’t have the bible, nor the man-made doctrines that go along with it, and even if they had, they wouldn’t have been able to read or discern it. So how did these poor, uneducated and isolated people come to experience and stand firm in faith in the Lord?

My Spiritual experience would lead me to believe these people were able to come to, and stand firm in, faith in the Lord through the presence and leading of the Spirit, which had been given them the moment they believed:

“These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you. 26“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. (John 14)

There is no doubt that scripture played a major role in my being drawn to the Lord, initially. But, in looking back, now, I realize my faith to stand firm hadn’t really been sustained by the book we call the bible, my faith had been sustained by my Father’s Spirit, which had been given me the very moment I believed. And it isn’t the bible, now, that sustains my faith in the Lord, it is the Father’s Spirit Who leads and sustains me, so I may continue to stand firm in faith, as weak as that stand may be some days:

Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14Stand firm therefore… (Ephesians 6)

Yes, this is a verse from a first century letter, which Paul had written specifically to the ecclesia (gathering) in Ephesus. And yes, we find this letter in the bible, but it isn’t the bible that transforms this verse into truth, it is, instead, the leading and sustaining of my Father’s Spirit that makes it real to me, makes it Life to me. Paul also wrote the following verse:

For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. (Romans 8: 14)

Note Paul’s emphasis on the life led by the Spirit of God: all who are being led by the Spirit are sons of God, not all who are being led by the bible or the clergy are sons of God!

The Apostle Paul also tells the first century Roman believers,

“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” (Romans 10: 17)

The Roman believers faith had come from hearing Paul, as well as other believers, speak of the Truth and Life the Christ had spoken of and exhibited, which the Spirit had revealed to them as Truth. These Roman believers didn’t have the bible, they had the Word (the Christ), Who had been passed on from one person to the next.

Today, we have bits and pieces of this Word (the Christ) dispersed in four books referred to as “the gospels”: four books compiled, along with apostolic letters, by a manipulative pagan organization (the Roman “church”), some fifteen hundred years ago, that would ultimately become known as “the canon of scripture”.

Emperor Constantine’s pagan/political version of the Christ’s Way, Truth and Life (the Catholic, or “universal”, “church”) had taken these four “gospels” and placed them before letters (epistles) written by the apostles: letters specifically written for the Spiritual needs of each of these first century ecclesias: Rome, Ephesus, Corinth, Galatia, etc. In other words, what we now call the Catholic “church” had compiled four histories of the life of the Christ (the “gospels”) and placed them before letters (epistles) written SPECIFICALLY for the first century ecclesias (gatherings of believers): and, most likely, without the full cooperation of the Spirit of God; since God rarely assists His enemies in their evil pursuits. This manipulated compilation of gospels and letters, initiated in ancient Rome, is what we refer to, now, as the “new testament”.

{Note: many letters and gospels were left out of this “sacred canon”, which had first been compiled by the very people a pagan Roman emperor had placed in charge of his state-run “universal church”. Letters that may have been filled with the Truth of our Lord, but left out because they were, perhaps, detrimental to the politics of the state. The entire Catholic canon was not completed until 1546: The Council of Trent. And there are many other canons as well, including Marcion’s and Martin Luther’s. The bible, as we know it, is, in reality, less than five hundred years old, and it has constantly been changed, over this same time, by differing compilations, translations and “paraphrasing”. And yet we treat this text as though it had been hand bound by Jesus and the apostles themselves.}

"Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves." (Matthew 7: 15)

From the very beginnings of the first century ecclesias, just after Pentecost, there was an effort by the Sanhedrin (the Hebrew religious authority) and Satanic paganism (see gnosticism) to bring falsehood and division among the believers in the Christ: we can see evidences of this Satanic manipulation in the apostle’s letters written to the first century ecclesias:

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. 2Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; 3and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep… (2 Peter 2)

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; 3and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. 4You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. 5They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. 6We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. (1 John 4)

For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of THE CIRCUMCISION, 11who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of sordid gain. 12One of themselves, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” 13This testimony is true. For this reason reprove them severely so that they may be sound in the faith, 14not paying attention to Jewish myths and commandments of men who turn away from the truth. 15To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled. 16They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed. (Titus 1)

Could it be, then, that what we call the bible, even though it contains a large portion of the Lord’s Truth (in particular, the four gospels) was never intended, by the Lord, to be used for teaching and enforcing man-made “doctrines”? Could it be that the pagan and Hebrew powers, who sought to disrupt the first century ecclesias, had introduced a “sacred text” (much like “the sacred mysteries” of paganism), which contained just enough of the Lord’s truth, mixed with error, to give power to another pagan creation: the “universal Roman church”? At this time in history, most or all pagan religions had so-called “ancient mysteries”, which were bound up in some form of a text: this text of ancient mysteries gave these pagan religions credibility among the peoples of the world. Could it be, then, that Constantine’s new state-run religion also needed a sacred text, filled with mysteries, and the gospels and apostolic letters filled that bill?

Warning: Text May Become an Object of Idolatry!

We know, through ancient historians, that the first century ecclesias flourished throughout the civilized world, so why, then, would the Lord, some two hundred years later, totally change the structure of His more than successful Church model: in other words, if the first century ecclesias weren’t broken, then why would our Lord fix (change) them? Perhaps, the Lord’s WAY of spreading His Church in the first century, which was accomplished through word of mouth and the apostolic letters, was the correct one to begin with? Perhaps, “sacred texts”, clergy/laity systems, denominations (factions), buildings, crucifixes, pagan ceremonies (the Eucharist, etc.) and man-inspired and created doctrines, were never the intention of our Lord and Savior? Perhaps, as with the Lord’s “Great Commission” to the twelve apostles (Matthew 28: 19-20), the first century ecclesias, the true Church of Christ, fulfilled all that was to be accomplished, Spiritually, in the world? Perhaps, the gospel, and the Kingdom of Heaven, had been preached to the world, by the first century ecclesias, as the last apostle (the Apostle John) departed from this temporal life?

I know that most people will disagree with what I have written here, but shouldn’t we, at the very least, be willing to seek out our Spirit’s leading to see what the truth really is, when it comes to all things Spiritual? I know all too well that I can be very mistaken in my thought processes and beliefs, so this is why I’ve asked questions, here, as opposed to stating some form of “doctrinal fact”; which, in my estimation, is not my duty or responsibility, nor is it any other human being’s.

But one thing I am certain of is this, the Holy Spirit, and not the bible, will continue to lead me into the Truth of my Lord and Savior. And as we should all know by now, not all answers to our issues and questions can be found in this leather-bound, man-produced text, but they can be found, through the Spirit, in the Lord Himself!

I’m not suggesting that we throw out our bibles or burn them, I’m suggesting that, as we read, we seek the Spirit to discern what is and what is not of our Lord and Savior:

“But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, HE WILL GUIDE YOU INTO ALL TRUTH; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and HE WILL DISCLOSE TO YOU WHAT IS TO COME. (John 16: 13)

I encourage everyone to continue reading the bible, but allow the Spirit of God to GUIDE YOU INTO ALL TRUTH, not man or the clergy!

I have written on this issue before:

“The Tree of Life:” Why Are We Still Refusing to Eat From It?

“The Tree of Life:” Why Are We Still Refusing to Eat From It? (Follow-Up)

Hearing God's Voice: The Spirit

Jesus, said to His disciples,

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you…” (John 14:26)

Paul, told the Roman believers,

“As many as are led by the spirit of God are the sons of God.” (Romans 8: 14)

Here is an article from Beyond Church Walls, which speaks of being led by the Spirit, or hearing God’s voice.

But I also know many who are growing in a relationship with Father as they learn to hear his voice and trust him to guide them by his Spirit. They yield to the work of the Spirit in their lives as Christ is being formed within them. These people would never consider substituting another’s understanding for the truth that can only be realized through an experiential relationship with Christ. Nor could they ever trust their own intellect to comprehend mysteries that can only be spiritually discerned. And they’ve seen that those who lean on the Bible as their “road map” have all gone down a thousand different trails and built entire doctrines on mistranslation of original scripture. They’ve learned by sometimes painful experience that “the letter kills, while the Spirit gives life” and that the Spirit is faithful to interpret the scriptures in keeping with the character and nature of God. They place great value on the Bible, appreciate godly brothers and sisters and are not afraid to use the mind God gave them. But their trust is placed only in the One the scriptures point to.

We must seek to hear and discern what the Spirit of God is saying to us. No other person can do this for us!

You can read the whole article here:

via Beyond Church Walls » In God We Trust?.

"…Avoid Such Men as These"

Paul, said to Timothy, “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come…” Paul, also said, “For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant…holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.” 2 Timothy 3: 1-5

Below, is an article which quotes a prayer given by a minister of God.

“`There are millions of people around this world praying to their god – whether it`s Hindu, Buddha, Allah – that his [McCain`s] opponent wins, for a variety of reasons,` said Arnold Conrad, former pastor of Grave Evangelical Free Church. `And Lord, I pray that you would guard your own reputation because they`re going to think that their god is bigger than you if that happens. So I pray that you will step forward and honor your own name in all that happens between now and Election Day.`”

This invocation before a John McCain appearance in Davenport, Iowa is disturbing on so many levels.

The notion of a god who has a partisan stake in American politics is laughable, but let`s leave that essay for another day.

The idea of a minister asking the Almighty to bless a McCain campaign rally is absurd. No deity worth his or her salt would bless an event where the main speaker, McCain, incites hatred, and the crowd often responds with shouts of “terrorist” and “kill him.” That`s like asking god to bless a dogfight or an orgy.

The preacher is implying that Obama supporters pray to the wrong god (Allah and Buddha), and that real Americans pray to Jesus. His prayer is an insult to every Christian, Muslim, Jew, and atheist who believes in the junior senator from Illinois. Obama admirers want him to win for a “variety of reasons”, proclaims the minister. The implication is that followers of Obama have nefarious reasons for wanting him to win, like hoping he will establish an Islamic state in America?

Politics are not the task of a Christian. (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)

Where is the faith in God’s sovereignty in this prayer? What is the purpose of this man’s prayer to God? Is this prayer stated in love and acceptance of all God’s children, or is this prayer simply an arrogant, worldly and faithless, political statement, which has the desires of man, as opposed to God’s, in mind? We can serve only one God, and He is not a political entity!

Mr. Conrad, seems to have his mind set on the issues of man, as opposed to God. He has a form of godliness and yet denies the power and sovereignty of God. What then, according to scripture, should be our response to Mr. Conrad’s prayer?

Minister’s Controversial Prayer at a John McCain Rally.

“Hell? NO!” (Follow-up)

Below, are two quotes from a site (listed below) that deals with some of the issues I have been posting on recently. The first quote deals with our supposed “immortal” soul, and the second with “hell.”

The “Immortal” Soul

The false doctrine of an “immortal” soul is directly tied to the false doctrine that declares an everlasting hell. According to the bible, Adam, was formed by God from the soil of the earth, and then God breathed His Spirit into Adam, which made him a living soul. When Adam died, God’s Spirit departed and his body returned to the earth, which meant that he was no longer a living soul. This is true of everyone! Claiming that we have an “immortal” soul is not only incorrect, biblically, it is also, in my estimation, an attempt by religious man to control others and his relationship with God.

“All those who are fat upon the earth shall eat and worship: all those who go down to the dust shall bend before him: and none can keep alive his own soul” (Psalms 22:29).

As previously mentioned, many assume that the scriptures teach that man possesses by his nature an “immortal soul”. That this teaching is clearly untrue can be demonstrated very easily. As the above verse states, “none can keep alive his own soul.” Why should one try to keep alive that which is by nature immortal? Isn’t that a valid question? It begs for a reasonable answer!! The Scriptures speak, “Only he [God] possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, which no man has seen or can see” (1 Timothy 6:16).
If God doesn’t keep your “soul” alive friend, you can kiss it good-bye!

“Hell”

The quote below just reinforces my opinion on the subject of hell. I encourage everyone to read and consider what this site puts forth as truth and seek God’s guidance.

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, “The Roman Catholic Church teaches that hell will last forever; its suffering will have no end.” This teaching, the Encyclopedia goes on to say, “is still held by many conservative Protestant groups.” We also know that many Hindus, Buddhists and Muhammadans opine that hell is a place of torment. This teaching has been a principle motivation of “salvation by fear”.

It is therefore necessary to ask the question: did Almighty God create such a place of torment? One thing is for sure. God reacted very negatively when the children of Israel followed the pagan example of burning their children in the fire.

“They have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, in order to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, a thing that I had not commanded and that had not come into my mind” (Jeremiah 7:31).

It simply “blew God’s mind” that His people would get involved with such a grievous abomination! Yet, “orthodoxy” attributes to Him the will and intention of tormenting the lost in fire forever. You see that our presuppositions can cause us to attribute things to God that He would never, EVER consider.

Hell? NO!.

Religious Dogma or God’s Grace and Love (Which is our “Way?”)

John 8: 1-11, tells the story of an adulterous woman who had been brought before Jesus by the Pharisees and their mob who wanted to stone her to death. The Pharisees then to tell Jesus of what this woman is accused and reminds him that, according to the law of Moses, she is to be stoned. They then ask Jesus, “…what then do you say?” They had asked this, of course, in an attempt to trap Jesus in an act of heresy.

Jesus then, knowing their intentions, simply knelt and began to write in the dirt. Jesus, did this for several moments and then he stood up and said, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” Jesus, immediately knelt and began writing in the dirt again. One by one, the Pharisees and mob began to drop their stones and walk away. Finally, after a few minutes, there was only Jesus and the accused woman left. Jesus, once again, stood up, looked at the woman and said, “Woman, where are your accusers, did no one condemn you?” She replied, “No one, my Lord,” and he told her, “Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.”

This act of grace and Godly wisdom, by Jesus, is rarely exhibited in our churches today. The biblical accounts of Jesus (Gospels) never show a disdainful or judgmental attitude, on his part, towards the weak, sick, unbeliever or sinner, and yet many “believers,” today, condemn and judge others constantly. Jesus, said that he came to heal the sick, not the well, and he said to the Pharisees, “…I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.” Paul, said, “We walk by faith and not by sight, for the things that can be seen are temporal, but the things that cannot be seen are eternal:” blind to the ways of the world and twenty-twenty vision to the ways of God, which were exhibited through the Christ’s life.

Dogma and legalism are the ways of religious man, not God nor his son. Denominational doctrine, which keeps Christians, for the most part, separated from God’s grace, love and way, will never serve God or anyone else. People who have failed (“sinned”), whether in a small or large way, are in dire need of God’s grace and love, and this, I believe, is why we’re here: “Faith, hope and love, these three remain, but the greatest of these is love.” We’re here to love and serve people first, not save them from their sins and a contrived place called hell. Christ, contrary to Christian doctrine, already saved them and us: “It is finished.” and “Once and for ALL”

This is what I believe, because this is what Jesus exhibited in his life on earth, as well as his death and resurrection. Condemning people and actively seeking, through the politics of man, to withhold their political rights, as a means of “outreach” and somehow “defending the faith,” is a worthless, religious endeavor, in my estimation. All this does is breed confusion and anger among those who “cannot see” and is in direct opposition to the life and the light that Jesus exhibited!

Deprived of the Truth

My co-author, The-country-shrink, pointed out a verse to me the other day, and, as he, I believe it speaks to some of the issues that we have written about before.

The two letters to Timothy, which by many biblical scholars are attributed to Paul, seem to speak, in a prophetic way, to the age that we live in. The verse that the Shrink pointed out was I Timothy 6: 5 (NASB),

“…and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain.”

Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? “…and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth…” This sounds to me like a description for a large portion of American society, as well as the rest of the world. All we have to do is read the paper or watch the evening news to see plenty of stories about depraved men and women who seem to lack any sense of truth or decency! But…when you add the rest of this verse, “…who suppose that godliness is a means of gain.,” then maybe Paul isn’t speaking of the unbelieving person, criminal, con-man, Hollywood celebrity or corrupt politician? Perhaps, Paul, instead, is speaking of certain “believers” who go to church, especially on Christmas eve and Easter, and wear their religion on their sleeve: like politicians wear the little American flag on their lapel?

“…having a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.” II Timothy 3: 5 (NASB)

These certain “believers” have something resembling “a form of godliness,” but they deny the power, which stands in the way of their desires and need for control. They look good and Godly and come off squeaky-clean in view of others, but deep down inside of them is a hidden agenda, an agenda that isn’t of God: “Avoid such men as these!”

“…always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” II Timothy 3: 7 (NASB)

Some others, “who have a form of godliness” and yet deny the power, are always studying and learning about the bible: theology, hermeneutics, epistemology, eschatology, politics (civil rights, social causes), but this knowledge never seems capable of producing the truth of God in many of these people. We have theology, divinity and bible colleges and constant bible teachings and sermons in the church, but without any true measurement of the results, through the Spirit, to see if this religious, learning process has produced the ultimate goal, which is…

“…as many as are led by the spirit, these are the sons of God.” Romans 8:14 (NASB)

Have we managed, as “believers,” to turn the sacrifice of Christ (The “New” covenant), through our ritualism and ignorant superstition, into mere idol worship, as the Hebrews did with the Mosaic covenant?

“But their minds were hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ…but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.” II Corinthians 2: 14-16

“…but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away” and “As many as are led by the spirit, these are the sons of God.” “Turn to the Lord” and seek to be “led by the Spirit,” and yes, seek the truth of God in the bible and fellowship with others! Take the responsibility, which is ours, individually-first, to find the Lord and his truth, don’t shuck it off on a minister, priest or television evangelist, because they can’t, in reality, get you to where you desire to be with God: if you truly desire to be free of the “veil” and be led by the Spirit.

Belief or Experience?

This quote below sums up most secularist’s opinions about believers in Christ. Most unbelievers I speak to believe that Christians either don’t know or they don’t practice what they claim to believe, and these kinds of articles will never change this opinion!

The poll, commissioned by Faith in Public Life and Mercer University, found that 57 percent of respondents said torture can be often or sometimes justified to gain important information from suspected terrorists. Thirty-eight percent said it was never or rarely justified.

But when asked if they agree that “the U.S. government should not use methods against our enemies that we would not want used on American soldiers,” the percentage who said torture was rarely or never justified rose to 52 percent.

“Presenting people with this argument and identifying with the golden rule really does engage a different part of people’s psyche and a part of their heart, their soul, and really does shift their views on torture,” said Robert Jones, president of Public Religion Research, which was commissioned to conduct the poll.

The findings of this poll, which did not define torture, compared to a Pew Research Center poll from February that found that 48 percent of the general public think torture can be justified.

The new poll found that 44 percent of white Southern evangelicals rely on life experiences and common sense to determine their views about torture. A lower percentage, 28 percent, said they relied on Christian teachings or beliefs.

If we rely solely on our life experiences and “common sense” to dictate our political beliefs and actions, then how can we claim to know and follow God: “As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.” (Romans 8: 14) There’s something very wrong here!

Religion News (RSS): Poll shows support for torture among Southern evangelicals.

The Way, Truth & Life IX: Agape Love

“We love, because God first loved us.” So says John, the disciple of Christ, “the disciple that Jesus loved.” The disciple who laid his head on the Christ’s chest the last time they supped together. “For God so loved the world…” “God is love.” “Faith, hope and love, these three remain, but the greatest of these is love.”

We-too-have expressed the importance of love:

“All we need is love.”
“Only through love change comes.”
“Carry on, love is coming, love is coming to us all…”

There are a million more quotes about love found in music, as well as in literature, theater and movies.

Unlike these examples above, most of what is written about love-today-is centered around the love between man and woman: romantic, or “eros,” love. The love that we need-however-is the love that truly changes and shapes, the love that heals and allows us to carry on. This “love” is “agape” love, the love of God, or unconditional love.

There is so much fear, mistrust and hatred in the world today. The love of God is so hard to find. This is the norm among the unbelieving, but it should not be so among the Body of Christ! All of us live in the time of God’s favor. God, through His Son, has cast aside the failings of mankind and replaced it with His grace, love and acceptance through the cross of Christ. If this is true of God, then shouldn’t it be true of us, also?

Much of organized Christianity, however, seems incapable of God’s love, since it dwells mainly on the sins of others, as well as the differences between people politically, ideologically and theologically. “We’re right, and they’re wrong,” seems to be the main message, today, from much of organized Christianity. Yet Jesus’ and Paul‘s message spoke of forgiveness, unity, serving others (ministry), bearing each other’s burdens and unconditional love. Christ said, “There is no greater love found than a man lay down his life for another.” How different these messages are than what we hear from the pulpits today!

“It is a great help to remember that we are ambassadors, and represent the court of heaven on earth. If “God is angry with the world,” which seems to be the basis of the orthodox message, we ought to hand in our credentials and leave. We are here because He is not angry, because He is for peace, and refuses to reckon man’s offenses to them. A good diplomat does not deal in threatening demands when his country is proclaiming peace. One of our most urgent tasks today is to undo the damage done by zealous but ignorant men who assume the role of detectives or sheriffs or judges or hangmen, ferreting out sins and arresting and judging and condemning their fellow men, as if the time of His indignation had already come, or the judgment day were present.

If we believe the scriptures, then shouldn’t we be ambassadors of God’s present administration and love, which is the “mystery” that He revealed to the nations through Paul? We must not judge and condemn others, but instead, love them as God does. Only the love of God can change a person.

I was not reached by people who condemned me for my sins. Why would I ever have listened to them, they never even took the time to get to know me? How could I listen to “repent” from someone I didn’t know and they didn’t know me? As a writer once said on this subject, “We cannot give answers to questions that have not been asked yet.” Our concern, according to Paul, is not the sins of the sinner, but the sinner themselves. If we are faithful to love, then God is faithful to bless others with our love. We may never know or see the outcome of our interactions with others, but this should not be our concern. “Love one another, for love is of God…” As the word says, love-first-the brothers and sisters in the Lord, but also those who do not know the Lord.

The Way, Truth & Life VIII: The Church

I don’t wish to dwell on this subject, but I can’t ignore it either. The church that people attend today began with a Roman-state created and operated religious system. This system was created by the emperor, Constantine, in the second to fourth century and for the sole purpose of bringing political stability to a divided and crumbling empire. This religious system, or “church,” as we call it, ultimately became what we recognize today, as Catholicism, which merely means, “The universal church.” In other words, and in a politically, manipulative way, “The one and only true church, which is ordained by God.”

(What I write here is not an attempt to convince people to stop attending their churches. “God will work all things to the good,” in the end, even the mediocre and ineffective. My intent is, however, to show why I question organized Christianity’s validity. As Paul said, I think I have the Spirit of God, also!)

Without writing a dissertation, every church, or denomination, since this time has been modeled after this first system. Nowhere in the Word of God will we find any scriptures that portray the Body of Christ as this politically-inspired concoction of man. Church leaders, today, will point to the first, three chapters of Acts, as proof that the current religious system is what God had intended. Nothing could be further from the truth, in my estimation.

First of all, the ekklessia, or gathering, in Acts came together as a reaction to the truth of Jesus being spread and the miracles being worked (right after Pentecost, in Jerusalem) by the original disciples. The book of Acts describes this event as being spontaneous, and that it continued, day after day, throughout the city and homes in Jerusalem: gathering together, praying for the disciples, sharing their possessions and meals and “having all things in common.” Acts also speaks of three thousand people, after listening to Peter speak, being saved in one day. However, what the church of today doesn’t want to remember or acknowledge is that this gathering, as described in Acts, only lasted for a very short period of time. Persecution by the Sanhedrin, as well as the sect of believing Hebrews, which was led by James, the brother of Jesus, would cause the dispersal of these believers. Therefore, these early believers were driven to meet in private and in very small groups, which, by the way, was how the Body of Christ spread so quickly throughout the Mediterranean region.

As I noted above, James, the brother of Jesus, had taken his brother’s message and mingled it with the law of Moses, as well as the traditions of the Pharisees and basically had invented the first, tainted denomination, which was given the stamp of approval by the Sanhedrin. This first denomination of James would ultimately aid Rome in the development of Catholicism.

Seems to me that, just maybe, God used the Sanhedrin and James to break up this overwhelming mass of believers into very small and intimate groups? Perhaps, God, didn’t want a large centrally run, as well as tainted, Body of Christ, and this was His way of sending the early believers His message?

By the time that Paul had been murdered by the Romans, which was around the year 60, all of the “churches,” ekklessias, he had established and served had dispersed and deserted him (Read II Timothy). If this had been God’s permanent design for the Body of Christ, do you believe it would have fallen apart so quickly and easily? Do you believe that God is sovereign?

There’s so much more, and if the Spirit leads, then go and examine the evidence. Don’t take my word for it, or anyone else’s!

The Way, Truth & Life VII: Fellowship

I believe, contrary to church doctrine, that true fellowship is the outcome of our personal relationship with God, which must be our first and foremost desire. Like many now, I once believed that I had to be part of a church or fellowship in order to come to a relationship with God. When people find out that I’m a “son of God,” the first thing they ask is, “Where do you go to church?” or “Where do you fellowship?” I understand these questions, because I was once the person asking them. However, I now believe that organized fellowship can sometimes get in the way of our relationship with God, if there is too much emphasis placed on it at first. The reason too much emphasis is placed on fellowship, in my estimation, is that it is and has been out of order in the process God has for us. Also, does fellowship imply 2500 people, in a million dollar church, who are gathered together for two hours on Sunday and one other evening per week? By no means am I saying that fellowship isn’t important or not part of God’s will and plan for us! It most certainly is!

(If we consider some biblical examples, such as Abraham, David, Moses, Paul, Peter and even Jesus, then we should be able to see that much of their spiritual journey was spent one-on-one with God. Even when they were with other believers, they’re focus, attention and reliance was on God, not man. Is their focus on God what we see produced in organized religion today?)

If we consider Jesus and His disciples, we could surmise that this is the very definition of fellowship: “If it was right for them, then why not for us?” I don’t look at Jesus and His relationship with His disciples as fellowship, or at least not the way we fellowship (Organized-Denominational). Christ, was the Son of God, first and foremost! Yes, He was their teacher and fellow traveler, but first, He was their Lord and Savior! In that context then, they weren’t having fellowship with Him as much as they were building a personal relationship with the Son of God and therefore, God, Himself. I believe that fellowship, as we understand it, came when Jesus sent them out to minister in groups of two. Then they were more dependent on each other to carry out the task that He had given them. With Jesus, they were being taught, reshaped and molded, according to God’s will. When they were alone, in groups of twos, then the affect of steel against steel took hold (fellowship). The relationship with Jesus came first, in my opinion. Some might say, “But they were together with Him, isn’t this fellowship?” If I look at them, individually, then I see twelve men all looking out for their own interests. For instance, some wanted to know if they were Jesus’ favorite, one was stealing from the purse and would ultimately betray him. There are many more such examples. Yet, when Jesus sent them out in groups on their own, then they were dependent on each other, as well as on him. Their relationships with Jesus were established first, then He sent them out to do His Father’s will and experience fellowship.

Let’s look at some of the characteristics of fellowship, according to Paul. “Do not forsake the gathering together,” “As long as it is light, admonish each other daily that your hearts not be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin,” “Bear one another’s burdens,” “Confess your sins, one to another,” “Have all things in common” and “Admonish, rebuke, reproof and edify each other,” through the Word of God. Needless to say, with these directives from Paul, we can see that fellowship is very important to believers! But do these directives come before or after we have established a relationship with God?

(I am not suggesting that anyone must remain alone until they have a firm relationship with God. Instead, what I am asking is, can the church, alone, and as we know it, be the final answer to truly experiencing God and His fellowship?)

Again, I believe that fellowship is the direct outcome of our relationship with God, which must be our first and foremost desire. If we don’t have a relationship with God, on a personal level, then organized fellowship may only become a hindrance to that end. I started out in church just like almost everyone else. I went to church for years and the only directive of Paul, on this issue, I ever heard was, “Do not forsake the gathering together.” Where are his other directives that I mentioned above? Why must we attend a set building with a set teacher to experience and seek these directives, and where, in the Word of God, does it direct us to do so in a modern or even early church way?

Let’s say that I don’t know you, and you’re a very important person. I have one person (pastor, minister etc), in particular, who claims to know you, and they claim you are forgiving (but with conditions), judgmental and are to be feared greatly. If I have placed my trust in the persons telling me about you, won’t I then be suspicious or even afraid of you? But if I choose to seek you out on my own (without presumptions) and get to know you personally, then I can come to my own conclusions about who, what and how you are. Why should God be treated differently than you or me? I believe we must seek to know God in a personal way, then we can decide who else knows Him for real: “Test the spirits,” how can we test the spirits if we are not in touch, on a personal level, with the Spirit Giver? A degree in Theology does not tell us everything about the Spiritual or personal life of the person! This kind of knowledge can only come through a deeply involved relationship. If we know God first, then we can examine others to know if they’re for real. We need to stop putting the spiritual cart before the horse, and we need to stop being led by the “…traditions of man that make void the Word of God,” as Jesus said to the Pharisees! God desires our relationship with Him. How can I have a relationship with God or anyone else, when I never try to personally relate to them?

Jesus, said to his disciples that his Father would send the “helper,” or Spirit, to guide them after he was gone. Jesus, never said anything about an owner’s manual (church doctrine), expensive buildings, ritualistic and idolatrous, religious objects, clergy/laity systems, rules and regulations, set schedules for gathering or, in other words, organized religion! In fact, when confronted by the Pharisees about breaking the sabbath, Jesus said, “…I am the Lord of the sabbath, also.” He also said, “I didn’t come to abolish the law, I came to fulfill it.” If the law, in all of its forms, including ritualism, has been fulfilled for two-thousand years, according to Jesus, then why are we still practicing a form of the unfulfilled version?

If I want to really get to know someone on a personal level, then I must take the time and seek them on my own. I can never get to know someone while I’m surrounded by two hundred, or more, other people distracting me. When I have come to know them in a personal way, then I can enjoy them with others. I believe this is true of getting to know God, also! Jesus, by the will of God, is our “All in all:” he’s not our clergy, building, sanctuary or denominational fellowship!