Conversational Theology and Other Stuff

We head back to the Sermon on the Mount as recorded by Matthew. We walk through the Beatitudes and step away from tradition and the restrictions of the "heaven/hell" and "saved/lost" paradigm and try to understand what the Lord is really saying and to whom and for when. Most of scripture concerns God's plans for the earth and for his earthly people. Matthew is especially focused on the gospel of the kingdom and the plan for Israel. #theology

We come along side Peter as he addresses "Ye Men of Israel" in Acts 3 and offers them the promises made to them by the prophets. We challenge pastors to try and preach this chapter as it is written, in its context, to its audience, with the plan of God clearly displayed. Israel and Jews remain Israel and Jews all through the Acts age. For those keeping score at home, Acts 3 comes after Acts 2 (the Jewish feast of Pentecost)

One of the things that really grinds my gears is being told what I believe, being stuck in a category of someone else's choosing. We explore modern thinking in light of Satan's strategy and man's reasoning. A colossal error many believers make is thinking someone (pastor, etc.) or something (denomination, local church, etc.) will stand with them (or in their place) at their judgment of service. Nope. We need t seek enlightenment from God as individuals. #theology

We take a look at how Satan is able to infiltrate the marriage of believers. In the Acts Age, believers wrote to Paul asking for his guidance. Paul's advice for that age was to not get married (if you could handle that). The Lord added in Matthew 24 that in the coming Tribulation in Israel it was better if you did not have children. But if you must marry, don't give Satan a foothold in the name of piety. Paul's instructions after the end of the Acts Age differ quite a bit from what he wrote to Corinth. For all those preachers who claim First Corinthians for themselves in our day, how many are unmarried? How many of their wives hope to not have children? Precious few (if any), yet they boldly teach that both 1 Cor 7 and 1 Timothy are both for them. We must "rightly divide the Word of Truth." #theology

We seek to rightly divide the of-quoted promise in Philippians 4:19 by putting it in context of the chapter, the book, and the age in which it was given to our Apostle Paul.

"In baseball, my theory is to strive for consistency." -Tom Seaver... In theology, we must also strive for consistency. We never want to get far from our Apostle's final words to us, we must strive to "rightly divide the Word of Truth." And when rightly divide, it applies to ALL of scripture! Context, Comparison, and Consistency is what we strive for. Not to please men, not to fit a system, but to "show ourselves approved unto God [alone]." 2 Tim 2:15. Then we walk through the topics from Season 1 in case anyone has an interest in any of those topics. From music, to the Parables, to my personal testimony, to the politics of the day (2020-2021), it's all there (plus references to M*A*S*H!).

Millions of Christians have surrendered to a man or a system the command to study to show themselves approved unto God. #theology

We seek to break down 2 Corinthians 11 and Satan's ministers who are "the ministers of righteousness." Scripture doesn't teach us that Satan is in the brothel business, it teaches he's in the righteousness business. But what kind of righteousness? What's wrong with those who preach righteousness? Plenty if the don't rightly divide the true source of righteousness. Note: We had a few audio glitches, but mostly the sound is fine.

We look at the beatitude in Matthew 5:6 in context. We then move on from the "all things" of Romans 8:28 and look at the supposed promise of protection for believers today in Jeremiah and then compare the threats of no protection and ask how Christians can just pick one and not the other. Finally we review yet another false (unbiblical) concept of Satan's methods.

Romans 8:28 is yet another verse too often ripped from its context and willy-nilly applied to every believer in every age for any purpose. The great doctrine of the undoing of the curse in resurrection is once again missed. A dangerous result of the false hope derived from this verse wrongly divided trumpeted from the pulpits of Christendom is the loss of faith of countless seekers. Just as believers are thrust into doubting either their own salvation or the faithfulness of God when they don't see God providing them the "future and hope" robbed from Israel in Jeremiah 29, so too is it with the misapplication of Romans 8:28. The good, my brothers and sisters, is the hope of the resurrection. And there is nothing that can stop the redemption of the body of the believer or the redemption of the very heavens and earth. All things are marching towards that end. “For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.”

More Olympics talks! Go USA! We turn to the topic of faux outrage and its growing popularity in religion, politics, and culture. People just LOVE to be outraged! Gives a sense of self-righteous indignation when there is really nothing at stake. We can lash out at shadows with no downside. We revisit Christians still demanding the pagans in Paris pretend they're not pagans and then continue to rip Galatians 6:7 from its context. We revisit the importance of reading scripture in context (lest we end up in confusion). We note and review how the vast majority of warnings in Paul's epistles are warnings for believers. Those warnings take one of two tacks, both rooted in the flesh: acts of selfish carnality and acts of self-deluded ritual and religion. Somewhere along the line I list my rooting preferences for the Olympics. USA! USA! USA!

Unbelievers mock God at their own risk, but God does not warn believers about drag queens. Nobody is confused as to whether drag queens posing as DaVinci's "Last Supper" is truth from God. If that's Satan's plan to deceive, it's pretty stupid. What Paul warned believers about that which is Satan's tactic. Satan presents himself as an Angel of Light and his ministers are the ministers of righteousness. Paul warns Satan's ministers "disguise themselves as ministers of righteousness." The drag queens at the Olympics opening ceremony in Paris weren't disguised at all. We also take another look at all those Bible promises Christians have been ripping from their contexts and claiming for themselves and for Donald Trump. This time we look at them in light of the tragic plane crash and death of three members of the Nelons Family Gospel Group. It's no wonder so many Christians are confused or even disillusioned about the faith. We must stop ripping verses from their contexts and start seeking to rightly divide the Word of Truth.

We jump off our look at Mark and over to a parallel passage Matthew 16. We compare and contrast the calls to go on to maturity in the Gospels wherein "disciples" are called to "lose [their] souls." We cannot understand this command to believers if we adopt the tradition view of the soul, when we become immortal, or the very idea of "losing" one's "soul (which we are called to do)." Paul tells us in Philippians to go on to perfection. We take a look at what that really means.

We take a look at an of-quoted verse of scripture involving gaining the world and losing one's "soul." We look at verse 36 in light of the context of the Lord telling his disciples he will soon be put to death. Mark uses the same word translated "life" and "soul" four times. In context of the Lord laying down his life, he is asking his followers at that time to be prepared to lay down theirs. If you plug in "soul" for "life" in verse 35, applying how many generally use the idea of a "lost soul," it should jar us from theological complacency and make us reexamine our assumptions.

Evangelicals are abandoning the centrality of the work of Christ in the name of unity on the one side and in the name of politics on the other

God has declared that he is already reconciled to men through Christ. Men must now be reconciled to God through Christ.

The horrifying events from Saturday have churned up the worst in Christendom. Donald Trump is being called "the Chosen One" (the Messiah, the Christ). His followers are claiming some sort of divine protection (including protection from his deceased wide, Ivanka). Professed believers are pulling verses from anywhere in the Bible without regard to context to claim some eternal calling on Donald Trump. It's as heretical as it is frightening.

We continue to look at commonly "claimed" hopes and promises from scripture (eight total) that your pastor probably spoke on today but which no direct place in the current age. You will be blessed like Abraham You will be wealthy if you follow the biblical pattern You no longer have a heart of stone God has a wonderful plan for your life (here and now) All things work together for good (with good assumed) You can do what Jesus and the Apostles did Jesus was always talking to you There is no difference in anyone's eternal fate

There are two reasons I believe that there is no great spiritual awakening or revival coming, nor will one come before the next events on the prophetic time clock. The professing church right now is so confused and contradictory all it can offer are false promises and the trappings or holiness. We'll take a closer look at the state of faith in these last days.

Excerpt from Podcast Season 3, Ep 65-67: interpreting in context. Believers today cannot just grab any verse from anywhere in scripture and claim it for themselves.

We start with a quick final word (for now) on Real Catholic Inc. Then we examine the faith-destroying and dangerous practice of failing to rightly divide the Word of Truth. The practice in Christendom of grabbing any verse from anywhere in scripture and trying to claim it for ourselves will led to great disappointment and disillusionment.

Excerpt from out 2-part series on common verses incorrectly claimed by believers today. 2 Chron 7:14 has been the rallying cry of many ministries in the USA, but is that wise?

The Greek word ecclesia translated "church" is used of different companies. Just because a group is called an ecclesia, it does not mean they are the same thing. Israel was an ecclesia, the Body of Ephesians is an ecclesia, but they are very separate.

We reaffirm our hope in Christ's perfect work alone apart from anything else and remind ourselves that the vast majority of what calls itself Christian denies that finished work. Don't let The Chosen fool you.

So much truth is destroyed by Christian pastors threatening people with torture and by teaching the idea of the immortality of the soul