I was first introduced to Jesus at age 11 but did not really start to walk with Him until I was 25. Since that time (with the exception of a few years off for bad behavior), I have studied His Word intensely, committing myself to find Him and follow after Him no matter what the cost. The long strange trip of my life has proven costly in many ways, but the treasure in Christ which I have gained is not worth comparing to the light and momentary afflictions which have been the milestones on my spiritual journey.
All articles are formatted as simply as possible and should print directly from your web browser.
The following articles and writings explore various aspects of God’s will and His kingdom:
- The Bread of Life
- By the Numbers
- Carnal Followers and Lawless “Theologians”
- Ekklesia or the Kingdom of God
- The Eternal Gospel - ( in Adobe/pdf format )
- A Fine Line
- God the Judge of All
- The Keys of the Kingdom - ( in Adobe/pdf format )
- Kingdom or Church?
- The Message of the Kingdom
- Mighty in the Scriptures
- A Picture of the Kingdom - ( in Adobe/pdf format )
- Presenting the King
- The Purpose of Parables
- The Right Answer - ( in Adobe/pdf format )
- Saints or Sinners - ( in Adobe/pdf format )
- Simplicity in Christ
- The Standard of Perfection - ( in Adobe/pdf format )
- Strong Delusion
- A Tangled Web
- The Test of Obedience
- A Thing of Bronze
- The True Tabernacle - ( in Adobe/pdf format )
- The Voice of God
- What Do You Seek? - ( in Adobe/pdf format )
- Who Is My Neighbor?
The basic message of the Bible is salvation for lost and fallen humankind. To be saved means to be rescued from danger or death. Many today believe themselves to be saved when they are not while many others do not believe there are any eternal dangers to be rescued from.
- An Acceptable Truth
- But I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
- From “Once Upon a Time...” to “Happily Ever After”?
- Genuine Christians
- Maturing in Christ: Advice to New - and Old - Believers
- My Testimony
- Opening Spiritual Ears - ( in Adobe/pdf format )
- Salvation by Grace - How It Works
- So You Think You’re a Christian; Neil Girrard
- Two Questions
- What About Those Lost Millions?
Spiritual shallowness and superficiality is the norm in most “churches.” The only way out of that trap is to pursue God for yourself.
- Alone - ( in Adobe/pdf format )
- Basic Questions
- The Basis of Unity
- Beware of the Visible
- Building Paneled Houses
- Buy From Me - ( in Adobe/pdf format )
- The Coasting Zone
- Come!
- Compel Them to Come
- Contrasts
- Dealing With a Sinning Brother - ( in Adobe/pdf format )
- Double Mindedness
- Eternal Security?
- Experience Required
- Faith Alone? - ( in Adobe/pdf format )
- Fear This
- Foundations
- Fulfillment of Purpose
- The Futility of Life
- Gaining True Spiritual Maturity
- God In Our Own Likeness
- God’s Approval
- Guided Into All Truth
- Hurt and Bitter
- I and You: Whoever These May Be
- Implications of Ownership
- In His Rest
- In My Name
- The Keeping of the Sabbath
- Known
- The Last Enemy
- The Light of Life
- Living Truth
- The Man of God
- The Meaning of Life
- Meditations
- The Nature of Love
- No Greater Conceit - ( in Adobe/pdf format )
- No Substitutions
- Nuggets
- One Spirit
- The Other Sheep
- The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Wedding Maids
- Picture This
- Pleasing Men
- The Poor, the Crippled, the Blind and the Lame
- Practicing a Lie
- A Prayer Request - ( in Adobe/pdf format )
- Praying Through
- The Profound, the Mysterious, the Meaningless and the Mundane
- Same Sin, Different Day
- Sight
- Spirit and Truth
- Surrender - ( in Adobe/pdf format )
- Teachings of the Spirit
- Tears
- Think Like I Think
- Three Parables
- To Live For
- Truth and Grace
- Two Kinds of Christians
- The Tyranny of Gifts
- Unanimity
- The Voice of One Crying in the Wilderness
- Whose Will Do We Follow?
- Why Not One?
- Why Should I Care
- The Will of God
- The Word of Truth - ( in Adobe/pdf format )
I have avoided making this a separate category because, in truth, dealing with the demonic and deception is simply just another integral part of deeper Christian living. But it is an area that deserves special consideration as spiritual warfare is a most neglected aspect in most Christians’ lives today.
Demonization
Deception
One of the saddest duties of any preacher of righteousness in this age of deception and lawlessness is the obligation to name the names of those who represent a real and serious danger of diverting genuine followers of Christ from the truth faith. Thankfully, the following list is short (I have not bothered to take on the vast numbers of “ministries” which have long since departed from Christ and instead I have only dealt with those whose false teachings or practices have intruded directly into my life or those whom the Lord has placed in my life to love and care for.) Added to this list are some articles that tackle various related deceptions that don’t name names.
- The Sons of the Devil- a series of articles that explores just who the New Testament says are “the sons of the devil.”
- Completing the Revolution - Andrew Strom
- A Defeated Devil
- A Doctrine of Grace;
- False Prophets
- Gospel of Grace - Joseph Prince
- Grace and Pride
- Leadership and Unity
- The Mighty Antithesis: Sin and Grace - ( in Adobe/pdf format )
- Perilous Times
- Spiritual Tyrants: How To Spot a Nicolaitan
- Three Fatal Flaws of Sam Soleyn’s “Spiritual Oversight” Teaching
- The Two Step Gospel - ( in Adobe/pdf format )
These are songs and poems that God gave me during particularly intense times of my life. Though you won't hear the songs sung, perhaps reading them will touch your spirit.
It is better to be led than to be fed. He who feeds you a meal fills you for a moment, but he who leads you to green pastures where you can feed yourself gives you your life.
- Answers to Questions About Churchianity vs. the Church
- Ask Not What God Can Do For You
- The Assembly
- Betrayal
- The Book
- But I Met God There
- But the Building Is Just a Tool
- The Call for Unity - ( in Adobe/pdf format )
- Catch 22: The American “Church’s” Dilemmas
- Church Home
- A Clever Scheme
- Death in the Living Room: It’s Not Just in the “Church” Anymore
- Denying the Master
- The Desire To See
- A Different Jesus
- A Division of Labor
- Ekkaleo - Ekkletoi - Ekklesia
- A False Dichotomy
- Finish the Reformation!
- Following the Lamb - ( in Adobe/pdf format )
- FUBAR: Fouled Up Beyond All Recognition
- A Game of Words
- God?
- God’s Fuhrer
- Hidden “Pastor”-isms or, Once a “Pastor,” Always a “Pastor”?
- History Revisited
- How “Eld” Must an Elder Be?
- How Far Is Too Far?
- How to Be a Local Ekklesia: or, Where the House “Church” Movement Failed
- Hypocrisy: The Dread Disease of Frustration
- The Importance of Christ
- In Search of the Perfect Church
- Joy For All?
- Jude’s Dilemma
- King James Only
- Leaving “Church” Behind; To Follow Jesus in Spirit and Truth (also on Paidion Books Home Page)
- The Lie Called Revival - ( in Adobe/pdf format )
- Like a Flood
- The Local Church in the Time of Apostasy
- The Lost Power of Words
- Many Deceptions and The Lie - ( in Adobe/pdf format )
- Meeting
- The Missing Piece of the Puzzle
- Missionaries
- The Most Dangerous Man in the Assembly
- The Mother of Abominations
- The Necessity of Finding Fault
- The Net
- No Good Thing
- Nothing New
- On the Basis of Scripture
- One Big Circle
- Ordination
- Origins
- Outside the Box
- Pastor, Bishop or Nicolaitan Overlord?
- Pastors
- Paths of Righteousness
- The Perfect Church
- The Power of Truth; Ananias and Sapphira
- Preaching Christ in a Post-Christian Society
- Purity
- Reform Is Not an Option
- Responding to the Apostasy
- A Rural Exodus - Review
- Same Old Story: Montanus vs. Ignatius of Antioch
- Satan’s Scriptural Strategies
- The Shell Game
- Shooting the Wounded
- Silence
- Simple Safeguards
- Sitting at the Master’s Feet
- A Slippery Slope
- The Subliminal Message - ( in Adobe/pdf format )
- Teachers
- Through the Looking Glass - ( in Adobe/pdf format )
- To Be or Not To Be
- To See As God Sees
- Told to Go: Or, Riding the Wrong Horse
- The True Body of Christ
- True Words
- Turning Slaves Into Warriors
- Two Lies
- Two Life-Pictures
- Two or Three
- Unity Is Not Optional
- The Voice of Strangers
- War and Responsibility
- What Did You Go Out To See? - ( in Adobe/pdf format )
- What God Is Really Saying Now
- What’s Wrong With “Church”?
- Where Do You Go To Church?
- Where Should I Go To Church?
- Why “Church”?
- Why Now?
- Why We Gather
- Wolves: How to Spot a False Shepherd
- The Work of the Wilderness
- The Worst Enemy
- WWJD?: What Would Jesus Do?
The “Church” Paradigm (a la Tozer) is a series that examines how A.W. Tozer, an otherwise excellent, Scripturally-based and spiritual writer, still blindly held to the “church” paradigm that keeps people from being everything Christ intends them to be.
- Introduction
- 1. Organization: Necessary and Dangerous (Part 1)
- 2. The Vital Place of the Church
- 3. Organization: Necessary and Dangerous (Part 2)
- 4. The Wasp and the Church Member (Part 1)
- 5. Pragmatism Goes to Church (Part 1)
- 6. The Way of Christ Is Still Narrow
- 7. The Wasp and the Church Member (Part 2)
- 8. We Must Be Still to Know
- 9. The Era of an Absentee God
- 10. Perils of the Preacher (Part 1)
- 11. Organization: Necessary and Dangerous (Part 3)
- 12. Perils of the Preacher (Part 2)
- 13. Artificial Divisions Are Harmful
- 14. The Responsibility of Leadership (Part 1)
- 15. The Responsibility of Leadership (Part 2)
- 16. Perils of the Preacher (Part 3)
Charles Clayton Morrison’s book yields a surprising treasure trove of analysis and observation – especially since he was writing in 1951!
- Foreword
- 1. Introduction
- 2. The Ecumenical Awakening - Part 1
- 3. The Ecumenical Awakening - Part 2
- 4. The Christian Life in a United Church – Part 1
- 5. The Christian Life in a United Church – Part 2
- 6. The Christian Life in a United Church – Part 3
- 7. The Illusion of Restorationism
- 8. Surmounting Three Major Obstacles
- 9. Loyalty and Freedom in a United Church
- Conclusions
Following a word through its every occurrence in the Bible and contemplating the meaning can impart a much greater understanding of “the whole counsel of God.” May you be as edified in reading as I was in writing.
Many people who are trapped within “churches” and/or other cultic/fringe religious groups have most often embraced some pseudo-Scriptural concept that is, in reality, some twisted, distorted misconception of what the Bible – when rendered in the whole counsel of God – has to say about the matter. The following short treatments of various verses attempts to show how the various deceptions which rely on that particular verse have failed to rightly divide the word of truth while explaining the verse in a more proper light.
Twisted Scriptures Page
The short treatments of these verses attempts to bring back to light the plain, hard truths that have been lost through over-reliance on such study techniques as “context.” These “bullets” are for shooting down false practices and doctrines (perhaps even our own!) – not for harming our brothers. Handle with care, prayer and grace!
Bible Bullets Page
The role of politics in the life of a Christian is very controversial but it is one of the stewardships that God has given us nonetheless.
Some books are worth reading – and discussing!
- Blind Spots: What Have We Missed? - ( in Adobe/pdf format )
- The Enoch Factor - A Review
- Gospel of Grace - ( in Adobe/pdf format )
- One Small Hiccup: Chip Brogden’s The Church in the Wilderness - ( in Adobe/pdf format )
- The Open Church – A Review
- A Prayer for Owen Meany: A Review
- Thinking Naughty Thoughts: A Review - ( in Adobe/pdf format )
- Where Did the Prophets Go? - A Review
- Your God Is Too Small: A Review
The sum of our life is to be found in our relationships - to God and to one another.
The Gospel transcends our culture - though many “Christians” seem unable to recognize this truth. Unless our message calls our culture and society to account, we have a “different gospel.”
- Poverty in the Body of Christ is a series of articles produced by personal experience.
- Control
- Culture
- Doing Good;
- Entertaining Dangers
- Entertainment Revisited
- God-Given Assets
- In Search of an Answer
- The Lord's Work and Way
- No Place for the Poor
- Poverty;
- Treasures
- Vicarious Love
- Wealth: Blessing, Curse or Test?
There’s always something that just doesn’t quite fit into the major categories.
Writing down these reflections and meditations on the Scripture have helped me at times in my life. Perhaps reading them will help you in some way.
- James - Now updated through Jas. 1:8
I’d love to hear comments and/or questions from you! Email me!