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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Misplaced vision

To my “brothers and sisters” in the churches who have embraced the Mosaic Law, putting people into bondage in tithes, Jewish feasts, and 600 other laws, while saying they are living in the New Covenant:

Stop swimming in a hole in the Old Testament, and start living in the New! If you have decided to follow Jesus, there is no turning back- Jesus fulfilled the Mosaic Covenant. So, why do you want to mix the two? Why do you want to blur the message of the gospel…because that is exactly what you are doing when you try to grocery shop from the covenants.

If you call yourself Christian, and desire to please God, then it is time to know and walk out what Jesus Christ said for you to do…as long as you are truly a disciple of Jesus.

 

the train has left the station on the wrong track

last summer i sat in bewilderment as i listened to the answers over and over again. the question was so simple, but the answers were mind-blowing. of the hundreds i met who claimed to be Christians, very few could tell me what they were saved from, what they died to, and what they were raised to- and this coming from a majority who claimed to be Baptist. it was, i now realize, just one more sign that the train has left the station and is headed down the wrong track…

back in reality, that train left centuries ago. what i heard that day, though, was a louder whistle, more passengers, and a whole line of cars beyond numbering. the train was not only on the wrong track- it was moving so quickly out of control, burning fuel at a massive rate.

meanwhile, numerous conductors, all trying to out-perform each other, contributed to an over-fired furnace, the engine burning like the midnight sun…

and i wondered…and began to stop each one, and bring them back to scripture…the track they and the assemblies they attended had switched from, onto a new line.

it began at the heart of the gospel: Jesus Christ came to save you from your sin.

the people i spoke with all had something in common. they all “went up to the altar” or “prayed the sinner’s prayer.” when i asked what had happened to them, i got a mixture of responses, but they all had something else in common- they were not what i had expected.

the majority of them told me that they became a Christian that day when they accepted Jesus as “personal savior.” Not more than a few out of the hundreds i met could tell me what that really meant. they were as clueless about being a true follower of Christ as they had been before they knelt at the altar or prayed the sinner’s prayer. sadly, this is true for so many- there are fewer true disciples of Jesus than there should be.

Why are so many who confessed Jesus as “personal pan savior,” so confused, so deceived, and so far from  being a real Christian?

(1) today, in many churches, we have a church structure Jesus never taught. Nowhere in the New Testament is  there indication that the disciples- the Christians- organized along the lines of the denominations today. Nowhere!

(2) the church in the New Testament was “organic” in nature. One “elder” in the faith- that is, older and more experienced- taught new disciples how to be disciples. There were no degreed professionals who were “in the business of church.” They were concerned about new disciples being disciples, not members. Nowhere in the New Testament will you find the kind of membership taught by the current synagogue-structured church.

(3) Paul states, at one time, that he “admonished the saints daily” for “three years.” He was constantly being sure that they knew what to do, how to do it, and why to do it. Disciples- those who followed after Christ- were active daily in the work of being a disciple.

(3) Nowhere in the New Testament do you read of an altar being present in any of the disciples’ meetings. Never. The whole “come to the altar” at a church building is cultural, not scriptural. 

(4) The testimony of the saints was at the core of their witness. Three separate times in Acts we read Paul’s lengthy testimony as he presents it before those who did not believe. If- like the New Testament disciples- you are surrounded by the testimonies of saints, you will not be confused about the process of becoming a follower of Christ.

(5) Many of today’s “churches” never “require” the convert to repent. Nor does the convert have any idea what that means. In the New Testament, Jesus clearly called all to repent first. All needed to be buried with Christ and then raised with Christ. Being baptized in water and the Holy Spirit. Read the entire New Testament- that is what it says.

It is time to go back to what the New Testament states the church is. Time to throw off the bondage of synagogue-style Churchianity, and embrace Christianity. Time to join the last reformation now spreading one by one throughout the earth.

 

why Good Friday is a good day to share the good news

every day is a good day to share the gospel. but in the western world, Good Friday may be more than a good day to share the good news.

it is a day for healing…..Jesus bore our sickness on the cross so we can be healed. all disciples of Jesus, living a life pleasing to God, can pray in faith for anyone to be healed and they can be healed. as radical as that sounds, a vast majority of those who say they are Christians do not honestly believe it. But, it is a fact- like the earth is round, the sky is dark at night (unless you live in certain polar regions or under too many city lights), and woman are women and men are men. 

it is a day for telling history…because all of history depends on His story. what a great day for telling about a great day in history.

it is a day for coming to the end of yourself…Jesus conquered sin and death, you cannot. isn’t it time to die to sin and self and rise again with Christ then in your heart?

it is a day to contemplate love…the greatest act of love ever given to any other.

it is a day to give thanks…for without what happened- that day that changed the world- no one on this earth would have any hope.

May God richly bless you this Good Friday…and every good day of the week.

Slan go foill…

 

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.

 

flowers dying before their days are done

three people i knew died recently- two younger than me, one a year older. one woman i remember as a teenager, the thin little girl with coal black eyes, a few years behind me in school- vibrant, vivacious, the very picture of youth…yet now dead way before her 50th birthday.

i thought about it, turning one way, then another, wrapping myself like an burrito in the blankets. sleep eventually came, more like an echo of rest than a deep drink of peace…as grey slipped through my kitchen curtains.

…and morning came yet again, and a new day dawned for the living…

but a few days have passed, and in their passing, i am even more steadfast now than ever to live life as deliberately as possible. because it occurs to me that the three people i knew who died did not seem to have that spark about them…and i find myself still slightly amazed that such people could waste so much, so many moments on mundane thinking, mundane loving, and mundane passion.

why think about trivial things that will burn? why concentrate on what does not encourage one who is down, does not save the one who is lost, and does not give life to the heart within you?

why love with a shadow, instead of a whole? why withhold the very essence of what caused God to create us in the first place- a love so beyond understanding in this realm that it still remains a partial mystery?

when i look at living with passion, it is that which comes from selfless love and compassion- viewing life with a mind’s eye that every moment is precious and all are priceless. but – if we do not have this within, what good are we to those around us?

and how could we reflect the glorious love of God, who, going against his own nature, offered a way to have a right relationship forever with His created, living that passionate life here and beyond…the ultimate love?

so it is with a more sober heart i reflect on the recent deaths of three i have known. three, not one. dying like a flower before their time…dying from a lack of nutrients and the water of life….because each of them publicly lived a life that did not reflect the love of God.

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.

things your pastor never told you: how to become a Christian (a disciple of Jesus)

i was minding my own business when something jumped out at me from the page. you probably would have felt the same way. i looked at it again. and then, i thought, “how come I have never heard any preacher explain this?”

what i find in Acts, reading it again and again, shakes me to the core…because there is too much truth being denied, too much not being done, and too much overlooked from the Word of God.

When the baptism of the Holy Spirit came, “they” were all filled with the Holy Spirit and had tongues of fire distributed on them. I will not address the tongues of fire at this time- what I find interesting is that in a house they could be plainly heard- they were loud enough, speaking in the languages of everybody in the city visiting from other places, In fact, the crowd heard distinctly different languages. Architecture being as it was then and there, sound traveled out into the street. But it must have been a God thing to stop people there into such a crowd that 3,000 some were baptized following that event.

Following Peter’s speech, the people said, “Brothers, what must we do?” It is not strange to see something like this- there could have been several asking the same question. Peter’s reply is- in my humble opinion- one of the most misaligned passages in the New Testament. What does he say but this:

“Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

OK, so if I was not a Christian, and wanted to become a Christian, according to this verse, I would need to:

1. Repent. In broken humility, recognizing that i have sinned against God and broken His law, I would renounce sin and turn my back on sinning. Not, pray this little prayer and accept Jesus as your personal savior…

2. Be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Wow, we sure have gotten off track here. This is the process- repent, then get baptized? Yes. But it isn’t the water that saves you from sin, that would be silly. We are baptized- Greek- from baptizo (immersed fully into an object)- in water, then raised from out of the water. Sound familiar? Didn’t Jesus die and rise again? Exactly why we need to be baptized- we are to die to self and be raised as a new creation in Christ (behold, old things are passed away, all things are made new). Notice the Bible makes it clear that “every one of you” is to “let be baptized.” Then, the scriptures actually say “so that you may be forgiven.” That was not how I was first taught….but what I was taught was wrong…

3. …and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. After you go down under and are raised up, you should have the gift of the Holy Spirit. This sounds like a promise to me. It doesn’t sound like I have to keep dunking Brother Earl in the bathtub over and over again until he speaks in tongues. He will be able to speak in tongues and have the power from the Holy Spirit if he has truly repented, truly died to self and rose anew in Christ.

Jesus, in the book of Mark, states: “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:15,16; Mark is a short version of the gospel…which explains the short and sweet nature of it)

Jesus said in the book of Matthew: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all I have commanded you…” (Matthew 28:19,20) (the baptism of repentance- dying to self and admitting God is Lord- toward The father, baptizing in water- dying to self and rising a new creature born from above- And of the Son, and receiving the gift of the baptism of the Holy Spirit)

Now, this is what the scriptures say, so I’m sticking with it. Like the word says, “you will know the truth and the truth will make you free.”

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.