Free Range: No More Poop in the Coop

chickens running free through sweet meadows and forests, clucking their way into the sunset, free to run across the range…smiling, happy chickens…spreading their wings under the vast blue skies, with no….

caca grande en la casa

this bucolic vision of bird heaven reminds us all that it is a much better world we live in when we too are freed from the coop full of poop- in the Big Coop with the Big Rooster.

The Big Rooster rules the roost in the Big Coop because that is the way things go. The way things have always gone. That is what they say. That ubiquitous they. And they are always right, even when they are wrong.

The Big Coop is a clucking palace, where the chickens cluck away, strutting about as if taking selfies, running into their neighbors, eating everything in sight, and decorating the floor with verbal and visible manure. They may be clucking about The Big Rooster,  but their clucking is so loud that even the Big rooster rarely hears them. This keeper of the coop ensures that weak ones die, that clucking continues, and that the order of all things remains in his power. The growing mounds of shite collect, members oblivious to their smell, and sometimes oblivious to their presence,  with no…

prospect of freedom from the decay surrounding them.

But I am not speaking of chickens, I am speaking of weak souls…weak, pellet-fed souls repressed by a religious regime where an autocrat rules inside a boxed-in world…

that Jesus never came to proclaim…instead, He proclaimed…

 “A time is coming, and is come, when the true worshippers will  worship the Father in spirit and truth; for indeed the Father seeks such worshippers. God is spirit, and His worshippers must worship in spirit and truth.”

“Do you not know that you are a temple of the Holy Spirit?”

Jesus did not come to establish the coop mentality. He came to destroy the man-made temple. The age Jesus came in was filled with temples worshipping gods. He came to see that all would be filled with the Holy Spirit, becoming temples of the living God.

If you are a temple, you have no need to be confined inside someone else’s temple culture, with its pagan rituals that stink to high heaven. Jesus came to give you freedom to live outside the religious building structure and its self-made gods of Big Egos. He came to create an environment where you, like free range chickens, can network and live free and healthy community, with…

no more poop in the coop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

which one makes more sense?

The average congregation in the USA has 75 attendees at a service. The average paid pastor makes between $28,000 and $52,000.

According to The Evangelical Christian Credit Union, the average US church spends 82% of their budget on pastor’s salaries and administrative expenses, and on the building itself. A whopping 1% of the budget is spent on giving- benevolence.

Now, let us take a look at how the early church worked. First, they met in houses or public places where it was free to gather- little cost to the church. There was no salaried pastor. In fact, there was no pastor at all. The elders were simply those who had more experience, age, etc and who were trustworthy to help organizationally. Also, an apostle would come to visit and needed food and lodging in another’s home, but otherwise, they did not have much of a budget. As far as expenses, a love feast might cost some money in the purchasing of food, wine and water (yes, you read that right), and other things, but the cost would be as affordable as eating once a week in a restaurant today.

So…one of today’s services in today’s average American church costs at least $538 for the pastor, and whatever else needs paid, including the power, phone, etc. At the love feast, the small church body- typically a dozen, since what Jesus did is a really good idea- may have a small expense for food and drink, and communion elements. The total of these for twelve people might be as high as $100 if it is elaborate.

$538 plus, or $100? Which one would you attend if you knew that your money is going to be “wasted” on a salaried spiritual motivator/ psychologist who will lie to you about tithing, lie to you about your calling, and stop the real gospel from being lived out by the “faithful?” 

Which one makes more sense? Which one is more biblical? So…isn’t it time to reform the church? If that means leaving where you are and getting together with like believers, is that necessarily a bad thing?

 

 

Rightly dividing The Word Of Truth: Back to a verse-less Bible

Hey, I wrote this for people to read. So..here it is again.

at home behind the fence

more often than not, i find myself disturbed by what i see- and read- from most congregations. in these “churches,” big-headed leaders, ordained by a man-centered system, parade around on stage, proclaiming prophetic nonsense and working the crowd like the manager of an automated milking machine. In the audience, the bovine eat what is offered, occasionally stepping in the dung, and moo loudly when the sound around them gets louder and louder. it is in that moment that the poor animal is mesmerized by manipulation beyond his or her spiritual capacity.

In that moment of such ecstasy, heresy is born. And heresy is alive and well in the Western church. 

one of those heresies has long been with many in the Western church- the fence mentality. this heretical church is an organization meant to herd in as many as possible, not gather in the believers. when you look at  the church in the New Testament, the church gathering- the love feast- was not for “seekers,” only disciples. The disciples operated outside the love feasts in spreading the gospel through healing the sick, casting out demons, making disciples, equipping disciples, baptizing the new disciples, and more.

It was in some corner of institutionalism in more recent times that the fence mentality was born. It joined the business model and social marketing as background structures for reigning in the herd and bringing in stragglers. but it also opened the gates to tempt the wild animals to come into the cage…with enticing bait like the prosperity doctrine, machine-gun style prophecy, dramatic scenes akin to a Hindu service (see “kundalini” for just one example of the  practice of failing backward to the carpet, writhing and twitching…and other such nonsense), popcorn and movies, cute coffee and goody bars, welcome packages complete with candy and tissues, committees to make you feel special, and countless endless seminars and retreats…not to mention softball teams, church t-shirts, and the like. Yes, the bait is there for the non-believer standing outside the fence looking in, but also for the captured chosen.

Now you may think I am harsh, but consider what other organization tells you to give at least 10% of your income (and more) to a professional marketer (often also a psychologist/actor) so he or she can build up an income base that he and his or she and her associates can use for “living  expenses;” and build more buildings and sound systems and light shows (instead of following scripture and supporting the widow, orphan, and the poor), put on “evangelistic programs” that cost the faithful a ticket fee…all inside that fence (instead of being real and going out into the world as disciples as it states in Matthew 28).  They will spend your money without giving you a receipt or account of where it goes….and, do it all in the name of “it’s in the Bible.” You certainly would not give to any other charitable organization without them showing you where the money went- but not the churches of Churchianity.

Consider also how these same marketers encourage the herd to keep their bibles closed and read from a screen while the Word of God is twisted to meet the fence mentality heresy. Considering that none of this is in the New Covenant brought by Jesus Christ, it makes you wonder who these big-headed bovine mooers are. Are they Wanna Be Jews? Or, are they part of a heresy that has been established in the West as “church” when in reality being a new religion based primarily on the doctrine of a spiritual aristocracy…Churchianity?

But for you, my dear reader, the question is: do you want to remain behind the fence in this new bondage, or do you want to come out from it, embrace Christ and become a daily-living disciple of Jesus Christ? The world free from the fence, is where the real church operates, the church that will reform the apostacy, and call the heretical to repentance…the church that will be worthy enough to be the bride of Christ because the disciples follow the Master not the manipulator.

 

Saint Patrick- a complex man?

tomorrow many celebrate the feast day of a Catholic saint the world knows as “Saint Patrick.” But the real Patrick, gleaned from his writings, history, and what he left behind, is different.

First, he was not a Catholic like we think of Catholic. He was a man after God’s own heart, and involved in a church that was not structured like today, nor entirely like the first century church. Separating Patrick from all the Catholic myth, he is definitely not your typical Catholic saint material.

There are three pieces attributed to be from Patrick.

His Epistle to Coroticus is not headline material. But it clearly reveals these things:

• “Saint” Patrick was first and foremost a follower of Jesus
• His life was full of the Word of God, he knew it well.
• He reveals his knowledge of The Word in such a natural way, he has utter confidence in what God says
• He refers to followers of Jesus as baptized- numerous times; he fully believed in the same practice of water baptism as a requirement for salvation as the first century church did, the Baptists do, and those who are involved in the last and final reformation of the church. There is definitely a difference between his view and that of many Protestants and Catholics today.
• He saw himself as a bishop, called and appointed as a bishop by God, whether the British church reognized it or not.
• He believed that those who practiced evil were slaves to sin and could and indeed did have demons within them.
• He did not call himself Roman Catholic, but he called all those baptized holy

• Certainly, this may all be interesting, but we have two other documents written by Patrick as well… 

Patrick’s Breastplate

• He believed in the trinity of God- Father, Son, Holy Spirit

• Now the trouble with the Breastplate is that we have different translations flavored by this or that. But what we do not have is any call on the saints, the Virgin Mary, or any other exclusively Catholic creed.

The Confession

The Confessio is his account of how he was captured as a youth and what happened afterward. In it, we learn new things about Patrick:

• He believed God could do anything.
• The fact that he called “Hellas” when in danger suggests he might have had some Roman superstitions; he was a man, not perfect.
• He had a close relationship to God; God told him when he would be free from slavery- he listened for the voice of God
• He did have some ties to the  established church at the time
• He was made a bishop, but it is confusing whether he was chosen bishop by elders or not
• He was on trial for something he did in his youth before he became a follower of Jesus, but did not defend himself in person
• Some of the text leaves more mystery than answers

In all, these writings reveal a time period and a church that is much different from today and had, indeed, changed some since the earliest church. It is, therefore, difficult for many to form a vision of this man based on only his writings. But one thing we can clearly say about him, he did believe in God and had a very strong faith.

things your pastor never told you: John 3:16

when i hear John 3:16 today, i want to shake my head. it is so misused. few preachers read what comes before or after, and even fewer read the whole passage…when in the assembly of believers. we have many within the church that have learned pieces of a conversation from God to the world….and so have been mislead or left in ignorance to the whole message of the gospel.

Many speakers often fail to tell you:

• the New Testament was not written in chapter and verse- understanding a complete section is as important as understanding the parts- John 3: 16 is a part of a part of a section
• How important it is to follow the complete dialogue between Nicodemus and Jesus in order to understand the complete conversation
• It is important that the reader have a prior knowledge and understanding of the history of Moses and the children of Israel in the wilderness when they rebelled against God and God sent a judgement…and a method of deliverance
• Jesus does give us information on how to enter the kingdom of God, but is not the whole message you get later
• John 3 and the first part of Acts should be read together when you really want to understand “being born again.”

Now, to the section, which lasts from John 3:1 to John 3:21…

A running dialogue:

Nicodemus, a Pharisee, a member of the Jewish ruling council: We know you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs you do, except that God be with him.

Jesus: Unless (except) one is born from above, he cannot be seeing the kingdom of God.

Nicodemus: How can a man be born if he is old? He cannot enter his mother’s womb and be born again.

Jesus: I tell you the truth, unless a man is born of water and the spirit he cannot be entering the kingdom of God. The thing having been born of the flesh is flesh, and the thing having been born of the spirit is spirit. Don’t marvel- be so surprised- because I told you it is necessary for you to be born from above. The wind blows where it wishes, and the sound of it you hear, but you do not know from where it comes nor where it goes- so it is for everyone having been born of the spirit.

OK, here already Jesus has given us the methodology to be saved- it comes from being “born of water” and “born of the spirit.” 

Later, Jesus states, before John 3:16, that “just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the son of man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”

If one goes back to the story of Moses and the disobedient children of Israel, Moses raised a staff with a snake on it to save the people who looked upon the snake- they chose to look upon the snake if they chose to follow God. Likewise, the ones following after God must look upon the Christ on the cross- looking up to him.

Then, the overused scripture is presented…but not until long after Jesus gives us a healthy explanation on part of the plan for saving the world.

So, as you see, John 3:16 would do much better in relation to everything that comes before it.

Jesus came first from the desert temptation saying: Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is near.” This is the “baptism” in the Father, repenting from sin. With it goes baptism in water- dying with Christ and being raised with Christ. Then, as the scriptures say, one can immediately be given the gift- baptism- of the Holy Spirit, which is evidenced by the speaking of different tongues/languages. In John 3, we get a sample preview, but not a whole picture…

things your pastor never told you: the coming reformation

one day a young disciple woke up, grabbed his sandals and went out into the dusty street. there he saw his friend, a young woman, waiting by a building. they met, exchanged a few words, then walked together into a crowded marketplace…

they met a man sitting on a mat. his twisted legs told his story without one word. a few passed by without glancing, a few more walked into the next aisle, and a few stopped long enough to drop a small coin into his grimy hand….

as the young woman approached, she reached out her hand and placed in on his shoulder. the lame man pulled back…until the young man nodded in agreement…

“we come in the name of Jesus.”

he nodded, but still held out the grimy hand.

“no, we have none,” the young man explained, stooping low to look into the man’s eyes. “but what we do have is one who can raise you from your mat.”

the old man smiled.

“in Jesus’ name, rise and walk.”

the grimy hand reached out and inched up the side of a stall…and the old lame man stood in amazement.

“Praise God!”

nineteen hundred years later, a middle aged man drove across the bridge, looking down on the blue water, now clear of ice, flowing slowly south. he turned away to avoid traffic near the first stoplight…then made a left onto a main thoroughfare….

she climbed into the passenger seat, reaching over…finding the seat belt latch…and they traveled southward…

in a sign of the struggling economy, fewer people came and went, fewer people sat in the food court, and fewer sat in the rest areas dispersed throughout the large building. but one is precious to the Lord, and even then a seed can be planted…even in ground still rocky…

and they came to a man sitting alone in a small circle of chairs. he wore a wrinkled black leather jacket that betrayed his age and condition. they sat for some time discussing the weather…and then, she told her testimony…waking healed…and what Jesus did for her…

but the wrinkled jacket pushed back, bulging eyes fixed on the woman.

but the seed was planted….

while one of these accounts is a fictional account based on the practices of the early first church, the latter is a scene taken from real life, in a Mall in America, not so many hours ago that it can be forgotten by the disciples who went there. 

both are accounts of disciples of Jesus living out the teachings of Jesus Christ and the apostles, doing the work of the church. while others sat inside a building, singing rousing songs and pledging with gusto to be more Christlike, these two obeyed Christ, doing the work of the saints of God.

but what about all the people within the four walls? they were praising God, listening to a sermon, and getting filled…aren’t they doing what the church should be doing?

the answer is no. unless the people within the building take their faith outside the building, meet as the first disciples did, and walk out their faith, picking their cross up daily…

if you actually start reading the New Testament, you will find that many verses, words, and phrases that big building churches have used over the years are actually misinterpreted purposely or ignorantly to maintain a religious system Jesus never came to construct…

I challenge you to read the whole New Testament, without bias. Approach it asking God to make it clear to you. Turn off every “Christian influence” you have, and stay away from “church” until you are finished. 

Read passages in sections- where they should begin and end, ignoring the chapters and verses completely. The Bible wasn’t written in chapter and verse (oldest manuscripts we have from the NT show us that)- that was added later- so we should read it with that in mind. Then, ask God to show you what it all means. Go back over it. You’ll find some surprising things that are in there and many that are not. In fact, you will find that the New Testament has been twisted by many power-seekers trying to keep an ungodly system going that God never intended.

That is why God is moving now to break down those walls in the Western World. It is not so much of an issue in places where the body of believers works like they should- like in China and parts of the developing world…

but this post is not an in depth look at that, it is a wake-up call:  the new reformation that has started quietly across the globe will break down so many barriers, so much religion, that Christianity will never be the same again… 

things your pastor never told you: 3,000 baptisms in one day

If you read my last post, you know that the prescription for becoming a Christian is listed in the book of Acts.

John 3:16, the most quoted verse in The Western World, is in a series of verses that should be read together with some understanding of the Old Testament, or it is likely to be misunderstood…which is one reason we have “John 3:16 Christians” living in sin and who will die and go to Hell.

But back to Acts. After a very large crowd of people heard disciples of Jesus speaking in tongues, and Peter preached the gospel to them, many asked him what they should do. Peter replied, in the Imperative:

     (roughly translated from the Greek NT) You repent, and let each of you be baptized, upon (into) the name of Jesus Christ, with a view to forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Then, Peter went on, warning them, including telling them they should “be saved from this perverse generation.”

The response was: (again roughly from the Greek NT): The ones welcoming his word were baptized, and there were added in that day about three thousand souls; and they were continuing steadfastly in the teaching of the apostles and in the fellowship, in the breaking of the loaf and in the prayers. Acts 2:41,42

Now the passage above is in one sentence. However, many translations to English changed the ; to a period. The Bible was not originally written in verses (I’ll explain that another time).

But what I want to focus on here is the fact that about 3,000 people were baptized in one day. You were probably taught that it was the apostles doing all this baptizing. Uh, do the math…3,000 divided by 12, with maybe a short break for bread and olive oil and some wine…I’m no math whiz, but 270 or more people per disciple in most of one daylight day? Are you crazy? Even if the 120 mentioned in Matthias’ selection (early book of Acts) were present, that is still only 132 people to baptize about 3,000 people.

But you would be ignoring the semicolon. It is easy to explain who did it. The whole verse explains that the ones being baptized followed the teachings of the apostles, which means that once they were baptized fully, they baptized others: one repented, was baptized, received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and then followed the teachings of the apostles by then leading another repenter in the same process! How unlike today when you see so-called “christian” leaders lording over everyone that no one else can do anything. That practice is a lie from the pit of Hell, and it is obvious from this scripture here what we are to do once we are Christians. What a difference from the old institutionalized “church!”

So, that is how about 3,000 were baptized and added to the Kingdom of God in one day.

you have just been exposed

in the so-called dark ages, the established institutional church went on a campaign to gather “tithes” from peasants, often depriving them of their daily bread and butter, and even causing loss of life. so, when the Protestants came railing against abuses within that institutional body, they sounded genuinely sincere. But after some time, they too began to demand money from the poor in order to propagate their beliefs throughout the world. But to appease their God, or so they thought, they sacrificed monies toward that institutional body while the heathens perished en masse. Only an enlightened minority carried out more of the tenants of the actual faith. Such was the tale of many of the commoners within the church for many centuries.

And then a spark came to change that…or so it appeared. yet even that group fell into building programs and storing up treasures on earth. You could say that the recent megachurch and telechurch is the best example of this climax, where a twisted old testament doctrine and greed and obstinancy meet in a trinity of heresy.

These bodies of faith profess to be Christian, lead by glamorous leaders. These kings of this alternative Christendom, what some label “Churchianity,”  have become worshipful masters of deceit, controlling commoners and those with wealth alike…exacting from the faithful great sums of money and allegiance that would make any post-medieval pope look saintly in comparison. They launch crusades of greed to fund their empires while promising uncountable blessings, as if they alone have the power to create such blessings. 

These blessings come when a “church member” contributes at least 10% of his or her gross financial income to the workings of the organization. This is supported by dubious text within the Bible, particularly old covenant law designed to feed, clothe, and furnish the Levites and those religious costs associated with operating a Jewish religious organization.

While this is certainly not new, the fact is that there are many within the institutionalized church who are using these tactics to maintain the institutions of Churchianity- church property, church events, church t-shirts and the like. While this is not evil in itself, threatening the flock with a $5,000 offering or “we’re not going to make it” is obscene. Who told these leaders that sinking money into expanding the light system so it rivals any megaconcert is what Jesus commands us to do? Or, the sound system. Or a multimillion dollar gymnasium so “kids can play basketball.” This, all in the name of a God who told us to go out and make disciples of all nations, not to go out and build buildings with denominational names on them. It nauseates me the more I see the truth of the real gospel as it is written within the pages of the New Testament.

So, I challenge any “church leader” to find for me, in the New Testament, scriptures that exhort us to:

1. Pay a tithe so… that the light bill for a physical structure is paid, so that a heating system costing hundreds of dollars can house some people three or four times a week while the homeless freeze to death outside, so you can build a glorious sound system or shock and awe light show, so the pastor and wife…I mean pope and his mistress…can go on vacation for two weeks while the rest of your congregation works hard to pay bills and cannot afford any vacation, so the building can grow while thousands outside your door do not hear the true gospel from within the pages of the Bible…and you did nothing physically to share with them.

2. Create a membership roll like what might be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. A member can be controlled. A “church” will report every last cent that member puts in the offering plate…hmmm, is that somewhat different from the exhortation to give cheerfully…making sure the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing? 

3. Build a Kingdom of Buildings…and be a comfortable, safe place where you can follow a ritualistic program complete with “liturgy.” What liturgy? From whom? Who are you emulating?

4. Hold revivals to get people “slain” in the spirit. Funny thing, that “slain.” If you read the word of God, every time people fell backward it was because of judgment. No, people seeking God fell forward, prostate- on the ground or floor- in humility, not shaking like a idiot with half a brain.

5. Preach a gospel that states that a person just needs to pray the sinner’s prayer…and then everything after that doesn’t matter, as long as they are convinced in their minds that they are saved, then they are saved. Nevermind about sinning after that….

I have news for you. If you have been living a lie, comfortable in your cocoon of Churchianity, you are about to be exposed. You who believe there is no need to be concerned about sin because God is always smiling down on us…wait till you come face to face with the truth. The Word states that you will know the truth and the truth will make you free. Don’t you think it is time to be honest with yourself, your congregation, and God? We don’t have time for this alternative church, we have a job to do- we have to actually put our love to action and do what Jesus told us to do.