Jesus Only Movement - aka Jesuism / Jesusism / Jesuanism

Please forgive me.

Sometimes it takes me a while to figure out WHAT exactly is going on.
And by "what", I also mean WHY is it happening.  Allow me to explain....

For the past few years I've been hearing (OFTEN) "Jesus never said.....".  And what He "never said" is a long laundry list of things including:

• "Jesus never said that gay marriage was wrong"
• "Jesus never said that doing drugs was bad"
• "Jesus never said anything about giving to the church" (this one is rare)
• "Jesus never said anything about women pastors teaching men"

2018 - Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA)

NOTICE:  While this is a family friendly website, there are occasions that it's necessary to delve into some adult-related themes from time to time.  This is one of those times.  If you're a child or someone with an inability to deal with important topics, either get permission from a parent or leave this Blog entry now.  This is your only warning.

Bible Nuggets 4 - Works without Faith

Today's question is so preposterous that my head almost popped off!  Let's see if you can see what's wrong with this question before you read my response...

Question:  Pastor Keith, I believe that works are SO ESSENTIAL to our walk with Christ that I can't think about anything else.  All I want to do is feed the hungry, give a cool drink of water to anyone who is thirsty, clothe the poor, visit those in prison, tend to widows, fight for social justice, and pretty much just get involved and do anything I can to help those who are so marginalized that I need to do something or I tend to lose sleep over it!  What more can I do?

Answer: Whew.....

Presbyterians - Leave NOW before it's too late!

Some people have erected walls so high, that they might even attempt to keep God Himself out.  Sometimes simply trying to speak with people, who without doing any research, any study or any reading of the Bible themselves, they decide upon some things that they won't be moved on.

50% of my ministry work is dedicated to correcting false teachings and the other 50% is to help people to better understand WHO God is and HOW to develop intimacy with Him.  As such, I am constantly teaching people WHY religion is no way to get closer to God.

Let's take a brief look at WHY:

Starting a new church?

Anyone who has been following me, either here on this blog or in the flesh can tell you in no uncertain terms, that I am (justifiably) sick, tired and disgusted by almost every single church/denomination in existence.

Why could I possibly be sick, tired and disgusted?  Let's start with false teachings, fleecing, poor teachings, poor understandings, altar calls & false tongue speaking, just as an example.

For years I've been told over and over again to start my own church, but as with all things, if I don't feel lead to do something by God, I'm not doing it.  For proof of that, I still have not released my book yet.

So with that said, I'm putting together this blog post in an attempt to help you decide whether or not a church that I would set up, would be more in line with what YOU believe to be TRUE and not what some wayward soul, who only wants your money would set up.

Please take a moment and ponder these statements:

Christianity needs to change?

Did you read the subject without the question mark?
If you did, you're not alone, but you're in a lot of trouble.
Good thing you're here, let me help you out!  :)

There are 3 types of people in the world:

1. Christians who believe the Bible is the inerrant Word of God
2. christians who believe the parts of the Bible they want to believe
3. Everyone else

Was Jesus a Liberal and a Socialist?

In a brief interaction with a liberal Christian the other day, I came upon this statement:

Claim: Jesus was a LIBERAL and a SOCIALIST!

I hear this claim every now and again, and every time I hear it, it gets me upset...  If you do any amount of research on this topic, you'll find elaborate, fanciful and overly creative articles written by people who go WAY TOO FAR, just to answer a simple question...

Here is the very simple reply and answer that I offered to this claim:

I'm not sure where you are in your walk with God, but to claim that Jesus was a liberal and a socialist, is like claiming that Karl Marx was a great philanthropist and humanitarian. 

Jesus feeding the 5,000+ men, women and children was not an act of socialism, it was a MIRACLE, performed to show EVERYONE that He was indeed God. 

Jesus saying "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.", wasn't an act of liberalism, it was a lesson to those of us who would pronounce judgement, without seeing that our own SIN is *just as* vile and contemptible before a Holy God. 

Each group (political, denominational or otherwise) tries to hijack Jesus for their own use and purposes, instead of just allowing what He did and what He said to speak for itself (in context of course). From time to time I've been accused of the same thing, but I always take the time to show people where they can find the answer (or correction) to their incorrect or perhaps *false* understandings. 

Please take your time while reading Scripture and ensure that you have a Pastor in your life to help you to better understand the verses that prove challenging and NEVER allow your own personal bias to influence your walk with God. If you take the time, the Holy Spirit will be more than happy to tell you the things that you NEED to know... :)

Now you have an example of what to say if/when you're faced with this false claim... 

Who's not a Christian...

One of the things that really gets me upset, is this belief in what they're calling "Liberal Christianity".  Some call it "Progressive Christianity".

It's yet another belief that teaches "I can pick and choose what I want to believe about God and it doesn't matter if I know God's Word or not.  As long as I feel good about myself, then I know I'm right with God".

So today, I'm going to list a few items along with proof, as to what does not constitute a Christian.  I'm not going to do it from my perspective, I'm not going to offer you my opinions and I'm certainly not going to offer you my point of view.  What I am going to do, is quote GOD.  So if you think that you're a Christian and yet you don't agree with God, then it's pretty academic.  You're not a Christian.

1. The Bible is full of contradictions, so it really doesn't matter if I read Scripture or not. - Really?  Now I don't mean to be offensive, but who told you that?  Did you figure this out by yourself?  Did some "know it all" Atheist attempt to dissuade you from listening to God?  Look at all of these verses: Deuteronomy 12:8, Judges 17:6, Judges 21:25, Job 32:1, Psalms 36:2, Proverbs 12:15, Proverbs 16:2, Proverbs 21:2, Proverbs 26:5,12,16, Proverbs 28:11.  Each and every one of those can be summed up in Proverbs 26:12 - Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.  God expects for us to care more about how HE SEES THINGS, than how we might individually see them.  It's easy for us to get it wrong, it's impossible for HIM to do so.  In Malachi 3:6, God tells us in plain and simple language, "For I am the LORD, I do not change".  That single verse is our guarantee that there are no contradictions within the Bible.  In other words, if you think there's a contradiction, it's because you don't understand what you're reading.  If you don't believe God, then you can't possibly be a Christian.


2. I have no prayer life, I don't go to a church and I don't really know much of what's in the Bible, yet I know that I'm right with God and I'll be going to Heaven. - Really?  That's like saying, "I have a job and I don't pay taxes, yet I know I'll be getting a refund this year".  There's a lot of Scripture I could use here in order to prove that you're not a Christian, but I can make this one quick by pointing you to: John 8:47 - He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God."


3. Who are you to tell me what I can and can't believe?  You're not God! - A truer statement has never been made.  I am not God and I am not even remotely trying to tell you what to believe.  What I am attempting to do, is to REDIRECT you from the nonsense that's rattling around in your head or from the worldly teachings that your parents, friends and teachers are telling you and instead point you toward what God has to say on the matter.  Again, if you can't be bothered by what GOD has to say on the matter, you're only fooling yourself as you can't possibly be a Christian.


4. I would lie, cheat, steal and even KILL in order to protect what's mine!  After all, God is on the side of truth and as long as I'm protecting myself, God's okay with it! - Are you sure you're not an Atheist?  I mean, if you take the word "God" out of that statement you'd sound like an unsaved person.  This one is so rudimentary that I don't think I need to go beyond the Ten Commandments to prove to you that you're not a Christian.  Exodus 20:13, 15, 16 tell you specifically not to "lie, cheat, steal and kill".  How much more proof do you need, that you don't care about what God has to say on the matter?


5. I don't know what God you worship, because my god loves everyone unconditionally!  - Now we're getting somewhere!  Do you see what you've done here?  You've created a god who fills you with happy thoughts and rainbows and lollipops and sunshine and cute little puppies.  Your god is one that you made up in your own mind, in order to feel better about yourself.  What you've done, is violated the first *3* of the Ten Commandments (See Exodus 20:3-17).  The first says that "You shall have no other gods except Me".  The second (in plain English), says that "You shall not make an image of anything in Heaven or Earth and worship it as a god", which by the way is pretty much just an extension of the 1st Commandment.  The third says that, "You shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain".  Since I'm positive you're trying to work this one out, allow me to help you.  Jesus is God, one of His many titles is Messiah.  The Greek word for Messiah, is Christ.  If you're calling yourself a Christian, then you're taking God's name in vain, because you're not being who you claim to be.  Now obeying the Ten Commandments won't get you a seat in Heaven, but at least if you knew what they were, you'd have a better idea of what your Heavenly Father expects from you than you do now.

That's just 5, and I'm certain that if you "feel" bad or sad or unhappy about those few items, then I can guarantee you that you have no relationship with God (Much like the "rich ruler" from Luke 18:18).  What you should WANT to do, is to prove me wrong!  Pick up your Bible and see if anything I've told you is wrong!  Read and find out what GOD has to say on the matter.  And then find yourself a Pastor who knows what he's doing and confirm that what you're reading is in fact what the Bible actually says.

Every day that passes is another gift you're receiving from God.  Be thankful that God gives you a chance to get closer to Him every single day.  Because one day, those chances are going to run out.  Please stop trying to be "wise in your own mind" and pick up a Bible.  It'll change your life!