Stuff I DO Believe In: FELLOWSHIP

In the journey out of the institutional church structure – and the recovery from its effects – I have discovered a few things that I’d like to run past you.

The biggest thing is the realization that my focus has always been askew. We are schooled in the art of “church” by those who have come before us. They, in turn, know what they know as a result of the study of those who came before them. So, here is my question: What if those we revere as “church fathers” were off in their theology or doctrine one half of one degree?

Squishy Little Saints

Sheep. No, lambs. That’s what we really are. Unhealthy, powerless, squishy little lambs unable or unwilling to make decisions without the Sheriff Sheep who pretends to provide a pastoral covering of spiritual authority over us.

Ubiquitous Demonization

A question we are often asked is, “Who needs deliverance?” The answer is: Everyone! Everyone who comes into the Kingdom of God. That’s why Jesus made it the centerpiece of his mission statement in Luke 4:18-19 KJV 

Fat Fantasies

I’ve been on a hundred diets. They don’t work. In fact, while starting a new diet produces some dramatic weight loss in the short term, inevitably, I find the weight I had lost and then add maybe five pounds to my original weight just for good measure. That’s how you create a fat guy.

Paradigm Vertigo

In the pursuit of upside-down thinking – standing on my head trying to focus my spiritual sight enough to actually grasp Kingdom principles – I’m experiencing a sense of vertigo. Everything I know, based upon the fifty-some-odd years of right-side up thinking, is now suspect; it’s all so temporal and worldly that the effort to seize the real deal of Kingdom thinking becomes both terribly alien and disconcerting.

Spiritual Welfare State

I was just having a chat with someone about the following verses:

We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And God permitting, we will do so. 

Hebrews 5:11-6:3.

Tip #326: "How About Them Yankees?"

I wonder if you’ve observed the same thing as I: Christians – as a species – are really thin-skinned. Perhaps it’s because we were so victimized by darkness in our previous incarnation and the wounds have never healed; or maybe it’s just because we’re trained to be reactionaries, always obliged to “defend the faith.”

Confessions of a Chicken

You laugh, but the life of a chicken is ghastly. Imagine pushing out something the size of your head, every day of your life!

You think your life is stressful? Consider the psychological implications of having huge wings that aren’t even strong enough to get you off the ground. As the therapist says, “How does that make you feel?”

Santa Claus, The Easter Bunny and Church

I remember the day that I found out he was a figment of some adult’s warped mind. We had gone shopping in the family station wagon and the groceries were piled high in the back. When I was a kid, there was no such requirement as wearing a seat belt, so we were free to frolic around the car uninhibited. In my travels, I came upon a grocery bag bulging with candy.

My brain exploded.

The Pit of Despair

I’ve always suffered with depression. It would come over me like a shroud and I’d sink into the pit of despair (random movie reference) without means of escape. It was forever part of my life, so, knowing it would come again, I made adjustments for its effects.

Until we moved to Georgia.

Raising the Dead

Here is a vision:

As I looked, I could see the backs of a crowd of people to my left. They were intently looking in the same direction away from me. It was obvious they were engaged in worship--some with hands raised, some with bowed heads, most were singing. I watched myself disappear into the crowd and reappear dragging a dead person by the collar. I dragged the person across the street and laid him on his back with his head against the curb. I continued to enter and reappear with more dead people until there was a long line of bodies lying side by side along the curb.

Old Horse—New Tricks

You’ve probably seen it in a wild west movie: the cowboy rides into the frame, dismounts with a flourish dropping the horse’s reins to the ground, and he goes about his business – but the horse (let’s call him Ed [not his real name]) just stands there. Is he tied up? Nope (that’s “No” in cowboyeeze). Is he restrained in any way? Nope. Is he free? Yep (that’s… well you can guess what it means).

So here’s the question: Why does Ed just stand there as if he is bound to something?

Kindergarten King Things

To address the issue of the Kingdom it behooves us (I love that word, “behoove”; it makes me think of something one would do with a horse, as in, “Don’t you think it’s time to behoove that horse?”). Anyway, it makes sense to start at the footers and build the building from there.
Consider the implications of this: They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings – and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers. Revelation 17:14.

Superman Is Real!

I am always intrigued by the imagination of man. For example, where did we get the idea of Superman? Stronger, faster, leaps tall buildings, sees through walls, among other things. Who is this guy and how was the concept conceived?

I believe he actually exists.

Hitching Post Saints

I recently received another communiqué – among many over the years –that somebody else is setting about starting house churches. Of course there is some anger in their stuff; it’s sort of a prerequisite for Escapees, at least in the early days. The anger is directed at the institution for the disappointment, disillusionment, or downright spiritual abuse. Hopefully they will recover.

The Key to Kingdom Relationships

When asked to define Christianity, we get a myriad of answers from just a religion, to Jesus followers, to wasting an hour every week in utter boredom. But I think Jesus gave us the answer as he was being pestered by the Pharisees:

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”  

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul

and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it:

‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:36-40 NIV

Indoor Demons

One of the basic spiritual warfare tactics necessary for living in liberty is to maintain a clean house, spiritually as well as physically. When friends or family come over, they bring dirt and demons. You don’t make value judgments about the dirt they track in or the lint that falls off onto your clean carpet, you just take out your Dirt Devil and vacuum it up.