"There is no regularly constituted church of Christ on earth, nor any person qualified to administer any church ordinances; nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the Great Head of the Church for whose coming I am seeking."                                                                                      Roger Williams
                                                                     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priesthood_of_all_believers

 Many Protestant Christians are constantly asking God to send "revival." Most of these are not seeking a continuation of the Reformation but rather a mere refreshing of the Holy Spirit among believers.

 I believe God is now already working among us to bring a fresh, reformed understanding of the Christian lifestyle, a more individual and personal immersion into the Christ's ongoing life on the earth through His Holy Spirit.  But the remaining accepted structures of leadership in the church are actually hindering Him.

 So I am today pointing back to earlier posts, hoping to get the attention of those whom God is seeking with this message:

"About every five hundred years the empowered structures of institutionalized Christianity, whatever they may be at that time, become an intolerable carapace that must be shattered in order that renewal and new growth may occur.  When that mighty upheaval happens, history shows us,there are always at least three consistent results or corollary events.

   First, a new, more vital form of Christianity does indeed emerge.  Second, the organized expression of Christianity which up until then had been the dominant one is reconstituted into a more pure and less ossified expression of its former self...  The third result is of equal,if not greater significance, though.  That is, every time the incrustations of an overly established Christianity have been broken open, the faith has spread -- and been spread -- dramatically into new geographic and demographic areas..."

                                                                     http://www.jerusalemhill.org/755842924/is-christianity-changing/

Today in America at least there are many, many Christian believers who adamantly proclaim their faith when asked but who no longer attend church regularly, much less participate in a particular, local church.  The reasons offered for this by "the empowered structures of institutionalized Christianity" are growing quite stale and unacceptable.

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Eternal life, or everlasting life, is more than living forever. Eternal life is sharing in the very life of God, the Eternal One.

  The Greek word aionios is translated both as eternal and everlasting in the New Testament.

  The Greek word zoe is one of several Greek words that are translated life. According to Vine's Dictionary, zoe means "life as a principle, life in the absolute sense, life as God has it, that which the Father has in Himself, and which He gave to the Incarnate Son to have in Himself. . . . Eternal life is the present actual possession of the believer because of his relationship with Christ, and that it will one day extend its domain to the sphere of the body is assured by the resurrection of Christ."

1 JOHN 5:11,13 NKJ
11 And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.

  Eternal life is the life that the Eternal One, God, has.

JOHN 17:3 NKJ
3 "And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

1 JOHN 3:14-15 NKJ
14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death.
15 Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

  From this passage, we see that eternal life is a present-tense possession which affects the nature of a person.

1 JOHN 5:20 NKJ
20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we mayknow Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.

  The Translator's New Testament contains a note which says, "In the New Testament eternal life isthat kind of life which is given to all true believers in Christ. The word `eternal' draws attention to the quality of that life, not to its duration in a temporal sense. Thus eternal life can be experienced by believers even while subject to the temporal conditions of earthly life. Translators should be careful to avoid expressions which mean no more than a timeless continuation of life after death."

  More than three times as many scriptures refer to eternal life as a present possession, than as afuture possession.

  When a person is born from above by receiving Jesus Christ, eternal life is imparted to that person's spirit -- which makes them a new creation.

JOHN 3:15-16 NKJ
15 "that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

JOHN 3:36 NKJ
36 "He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."

JOHN 4:14 NKJ
14 "but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."

JOHN 5:24 NKJ
24 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.

JOHN 6:40,47,54 NKJ
40 "And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day."
47 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.
54 "Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.

JOHN 10:28 NKJ
28 "And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.

JOHN 17:2 NKJ
2 "as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him.

ROMANS 6:23 NKJ
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

1 TIMOTHY 1:16 NKJ
16 However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show alllongsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.

  Eternal life changes the nature of a person: turning them into someone who cares for others. Eternal life enables people to overcome selfishness.

  Just as something with fish life in it could do what a fish does, so someone with God's life in them can do what God does -- which is walk in love.

1 JOHN 3:14-15 NKJ
14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death.
15 Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

Thanx to http://www.believers.org/believe

1       Thank you for your prayers.

2       I’m hurting today, third day in a row and don’t know why. (I do not think it was caused by the lawn tractor climbing a tree and turning over on top of me nearly four weeks ago. Feels more related to stress and poor posture watching the Cardinals struggling to win the World Series.) Pain is in my neck and between the shoulders; and I’m treating it with warm packs and aspirin. Slowly improving.

3       Into the third week of more-aggressively treating chest congestion/ cardio edema with accompanying swelling in my feet and lower legs by increasing the dosage of diuretic furosemide to 40 mg twice per day. The diuretic has improved my problems with chest pains and shortness of breath after even minor physical exertion so that I can now tolerate mild exercise more often.

4       Despite a careful Diabetes Reversal diet, I weigh 350# now; but I have stopped gaining weight -- no increase for two months -- and I’m expecting and determined to begin losing again.

5       I recognize satan is behind these physical ailments and impairments, trying to neutralize my effectiveness as a foreign missionary of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Recognizing the enemy and his intentions increases my own determination to worship Jesus by offering up my body a living sacrifice, which is my reasonable, rational,intelligent service and spiritual worship!

Romans 12:1 Amplified Bible and my added paraphrase:   I, the Apostle Paul, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, appeal to you , my fellow believers, and beg of you in view of all the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies,  presenting all your members and faculties as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted, consecrated) and well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship.
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The very foundation of Christianity is written this way inMatthew 16:   
¹³ When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He askedHis disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”
¹⁴ So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, andothers Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
¹⁵ He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
¹⁶ Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, theSon of the living God.”
¹⁷ Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, SimonBar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but MyFather who is in heaven. ¹⁸ And I also say to you that you arePeter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shallnot prevail against it. ¹⁹ And I will give you the keys of thekingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, andwhatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

And yet the pieces of this passage have been so twistedaround and misinterpreted so many different ways that the fingerprints of theauthor of confusion, satan himself, are glaringly evident!

So here are the facts. Accept them or not; for I shall not waste my time arguing about them.

1. The very foundation of Christianity is the recognition of the true identity of the man Jesus of Nazareth.  He is “the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”  He is the Rock upon which His church is built, one believer at a time.
2. Simon Peter is not the rock upon which Jesus is building His church; but rather the profession of Simon Peter that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God is the foundation rock of the church.
3. Recognition of Jesus as the Christ, Son of the Living God and the faith and trust in Him which comes with it are graciously given to every believer by God the Father from heaven.  In other words, while we see in this passage that Simon Peter had received this blessing, it is not just for him but for each and every believer.  Also, this blessed gift is not given through Simon Peter to others but comes directly from heaven to each and every believer.
4. Caesarea Philippi is the setting of this passage, a city dedicated to polytheism which was built upon a small mountain of solid rock, one side of which contained alters to the various Greek and Roman gods, collectively known as the gates of Hades.  So here, using the props of the setting to help make His point, Jesus declared that the polytheism of Rome would not prevail over the church of Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God.
5. The keys of the kingdom of heaven are given to everyone who recognizes and receives the Lord Jesus Christ.  And the authority to approve and disapprove is also given to every individual who has recognized and received Jesus of Nazareth as his or her God.  Believers are joint heirs with Christ and are delegated the authority of Jesus to deal with good and evil in their own lives.  Believers are called a nation of kings and priests for this reason.
6. Yes, receiving Jesus Christ as the King of kings and Lord of lords carries with it awesome responsibility!

"And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.  I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you...  the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.  Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid...
Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me;  of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more;  of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
 I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.  However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.  He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.  All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you."

Why don't more people hear about and then believe these promises?  Do you believe and act upon them?
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Jesus said, “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your moral excellence and your praiseworthy, noble, and good deeds and recognize and honor and praise and glorify your Father Who is in heaven.  Do not think that I have come to do away with or undo the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to do away with or undo but to complete and fulfill them.   For truly I tell you, until the sky and earth pass away and perish, not one smallest letter nor one little hook [identifying certain Hebrew letters] will pass from the Law until all things [it foreshadows] are accomplished."

Matthew 5:16-18 Amplified Bible (AMP)

Jesus was saying to His fellow Hebrews that He had come to bring the maximum understanding of God’s Law.  By His Spirit He is still doing that today!  He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

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 A Great Emergence: How Christianity Is Changing And Why (2008)

   About every five hundred years the empowered structures of institutionalized Christianity, whatever they may be at that time, become an intolerable carapace that must be shattered in order that renewal and new growth may occur.  When that mighty upheaval happens, history shows us, there are always at least three consistent results or corollary events.
   First, a new, more vital form of Christianity does indeed emerge.  Second, the organized expression of Christianity which up until then had been the dominant one is reconstituted into a more pure and less ossified expression of its former self...  The third result is of equal, if not greater significance, though.  That is, every time the incrustations of an overly established Christianity have been broken open, the faith has spread -- and been spread -- dramatically into new geographic and demographic areas...
   It would, quite literally, be impossible to exaggerate the central importance to the Great Emergence of the Internet and the World Wide Web.  By the same token and in absolutely analogous ways, it would be impossible to overstate the importance to the Great Reformation of the invention of the printing press by Gutenberg in 1440 and his subsequent development of movable type and oil - based inks.
The above By PHYLLIS TICKLE  (Copied verbatim from Other Voices, Virtual Lives, Christian Reflection - A Series in Faith and Ethics, Baylor University, C2011 The Center for Christian Ethics at Baylor University.  All rights reserved.)   www.ChristianEthics.ws    Christian_Reflection@baylor.edu

Christianity Is Changing!  Christ Himself Is Doing The Changing!  Is He Using You During This Change?

...that people often say about Him: "I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God." That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic--on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg--or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. -- C. S. Lewis (1898 - 1963), from _Mere_Christianity_

After knowing Him now for several years, I am persuaded Jesus is the Master of the Universe Who revealed Himself to mankind by entering time and space on the earth as a man; and much, much more!

But then, what have you decided about Jesus of Nazareth?  The heart of the matter is Who is He to you?
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This is what the Wall Street Protest is all about: Protesting the 1% of American citizens who are hoarding 40% of this nation's material wealth.

Now I am comfortable in a small, rented house, with sufficient clothing and food and personal transportation.  I am now a retired civil servant.  Most of my working life was spent serving other people as an employee of the government.   I earned my retirement annuity and my social security retirement benefits and my private sector pension  by keeping good faith within the contracts by which I was hired.  Additionally, I served in the military service of my country during the Viet Nam war and now receive excellent and affordable health care services from the Veterans Administration.  Therefore, I am among the more fortunate of the 99% who did not benefit from the American economic situation during the past twenty years.

Nonetheless, it pisses me off to hear some misguided/brainwashed moron parrot the words of the greedy, filthy rich sons of bitches who now control and manipulate our government who preach: "We need to abolish the entitlements, assistance and incentives for the less fortunate."  And it pisses me off even further when these folks have the audacity to call themselves Christians!  This is the height of hypocrisy!

Let me here share with all what a genuine Christian attitude is toward the burgeoning problem in our American economy, as found in the Apostle Paul's 1st Letter to Timothy, chapter Six, Amplified Bible:

⁷For we brought nothing into the world, and obviously we cannot take anything out of the world;

    ⁸But if we have food and clothing, with these we shall be content (satisfied).

    ⁹But those who crave to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish (useless, godless) and hurtful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction and miserable perishing.

    ¹⁰For the love of money is a root of all evils; it is through this craving that some have been led astray and have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves through with many acute [mental] pangs...

¹⁷As for the rich in this world, charge them not to be proud and arrogant and contemptuous of others, nor to set their hopes on uncertain riches, but on God, Who richly and ceaselessly provides us with everything for [our] enjoyment.

    ¹⁸[Charge them] to do good, to be rich in good works, to be liberal and generous of heart, ready to share [with others],

    ¹⁹In this way laying up for themselves [the riches that endure forever as] a good foundation for the future, so that they may grasp that which is life indeed.

    ²⁰O Timothy, guard and keep the deposit entrusted [to you]! Turn away from the irreverent babble and godless chatter, with the vain and empty and worldly phrases, and the subtleties and the contradictions in what is falsely called knowledge and spiritual illumination.

    ²¹[For] by making such profession some have erred (missed the mark) as regards the faith. Grace (divine favor and blessing) be with you all! Amen (so be it).

My question is to those of you who desire to see Christian values in our government:  Can we see Christian values expressed by a government which is bought and paid for continuously by the greediest and glaringly, filthy rich elite 1%?  How should Christians proceed in removing such influence from our American government?

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