If you would like to understand the Gospel, you must first understand the Story (i.e., the Big Picture narrative in the Bible); and it is also necessary to thoroughly understand these four ideas.

Prosopopoiea, or the Greek rhetorical device of quoting another person, is the necessary ingredient in the dialectic mode of logic so loved by Paul. In fact, Romans 1 thru 11 may be the greatest example of comparing thesis to it’s antithesis, and thus leading to a synthesis, that we may ever see in the Bible. In modern terms, we would say, now one point of view ...    see more >>

In the Middle Ages, Churches used art filled leadlight windows to depict their gospel in picture form. They covered the stations of the cross and various parables (common was a window using a picture of Jesus with a lamb in His arms – the priest would use this window to tell the parable of Jesus leaving the 99 to find the one lost sheep.
Types and shadows in the Old Testament filled...    see more >>

Matthew 16:28. & Luke 9:27
Either Jesus cannot tell the literal truth from an allegorical claim, OR He is a liar. You choose!
Matt 16:28 Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.
It is always revealing, how we say that some Bible verses are to be taken literally and others are to...    see more >>

What IS the unforgiveable sin?

Let us read the only passage in the Bible that talks about the unforgiveable sin; I will use the Message Version, but almost any version will give us the goods here.

Mark 3:22-30 (MSG)

 22The religion scholars from Jerusalem came down spreading rumors that he was working black magic, using devil tricks to impress them with spiritual power.

23Jesus confronted their slander...    see more >>

There is SO much more to say about Universal Redemption, but, for so long as invincible ignorance holds that Redemption and Salvation are roughly identical, what purpose is there in discussion? Of all the mental straightjackets to which “Christian orthodoxy” ever brain-chained it’s sheeple, this is perhaps as good as it gets. Logic is lost on lemmings. And just as Protestant Christianity...    see more >>

Have you ever had an AHA! Moment when the lights went on for you? When you realized that there was a higher truth to absorb? That is exactly what happened to me when I critically examined this concept.

Norvel Hayes died at 12:10 AM today, Saturday October 6th, 2018.
I am writing this to acknowledge the death of my former mentor...

My life was being ripped, shredded and literally torn apart once again. How do I accept who and what I am? What will happen to my family, my wife and our three young girls?

In John chapter 6 verse 28-29, Jesus is asked the question what do we have to do to work the works of God.

When some people observe the Gospel Revolution Or Mike Williams Ministries beimg critical of Christianity, they automatically presume that the Gospel Revolution is hostile to Christians.

As a biblical scholar, after I have uncovered a particularly unsavory truth about the biblical text, I am inevitably asked, “So are you saying you don’t believe the BIBLE?”

The Apostle Paul, who was especially commissioned by both God (Romans 1:1-5) AND Peter, James & John (Gal 2:7-8) to preach the gospel to the NON JEWS, claims at the end of his life, that he had declared the ENTIRE COUNSEL OF GOD (Acts 20:27).

The options presented here are limited to either (a) ALL of the counsel of God is contained in Paul’s teaching, OR (b) Paul was somehow delusional.

Take, for example, the subject of “Hell”. If Hell is real how could Paul never have warned of “Hell” in any of his letters, IF in fact, he had declared the ENTIRE COUNSEL OF GOD? If Hell is real, wouldn’t Paul, of all people, warn of it repeatedly?”
The same goes for any other difference of opinion between Paul and the other “apostles”, no?

JAMES ~ It is easy to forget that James was never an apostle, and was never a follower of Jesus during His lifetime, in fact, James belittled and derided Jesus (John 7:5). At one time he, and others, even presumed Jesus to be insane (Mk 3:21).  Then later, James, without any recorded conversion experience, was press-ganged into the top job (probably by his mother), as was the custom in the middle east of the times, after the death of the CEO, Jesus.).

PETER was the Apostle who saw a vision of a sheet let down from heaven (Acts 10:11) and the voice of God saying, “do NOT call unclean that which I HAVE CLEANED!  Past Tense! PAST TENSE!!!

When he reports this back to the other leaders at Jerusalem, Peter accurately recounts the vision, but as is clear in Acts 17:11, they all (Peter especially), chose to see salvation not as a finished work, as God had already said (cleaned – past tense), but chose to see it as a future possibility based on the response of the listener to the gospel.

JOHN ~ was the Apostle, who, after God had plainly stated that the gentiles had already been cleansed, insisted on the Old Testament doctrine of the confession of sins.

The writer to the Hebrews said this, “Heb 6:1-2 (KJVA) Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.”. These were all Old Testament doctrines, including, when on the day of atonement, Yom Kippur, hands were laid on a goat to transfer sin from the people to the sacrificial goat and confession was made of sin. That John, like James and Peter, were fully convinced that Jesus was simply an addition to Old Testament Law, can be clearly seen in the 7 letters to the 7 churches in Revelation, in which, the divide between Paul and the other 3 becomes even clearer.

Notice please, that in the so-called letters to the 7 churches, we learn the following;

1. PLEASING GOD IS ALL ABOUT YOUR WORKS; faith has no place in pleasing God whatsoever. Elsewhere, Hebrews 11:6 says, “… without faith it is impossible to please God …”

But in these letters, it is all about Works; Works; Works! In these 7 letters to 7 churches, the word “works” is mentioned 11 times, while the word “faith” as relating to the readers, is mentioned only once. Join your own dots. Note Rev 2:23 (KJVA) And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searches the reins and hearts: and I WILL GIVE UNTO EVERY ONE OF YOU ACCORDING TO YOUR WORKS.

2. ALL THE SINS MENTIONED ARE OLD COVENANT SINS

Just as in the book called “James”, all of the sins enumerated in Chapters 2 & 3 of Revelation, are peculiarly, Jewish sins, and they were all apparently sufficient to get your salvation annulled (Rev 3:5) As an example; “Eating food offered to Idols” Rev 2:14 (KJVA) But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. Also Rev 2:20.

Rev 2:5 (KJVA) Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

What are the “first works”? For a Jew, they are always the Mosaic Law, PLUS Sacrifices, Circumcision, Offerings, Tithing and Sabbath Keeping (S.C.O.T.S.). All these preceded the Mosaic Law and they were all terminated in the death of Christ when He became all these things, in which a small portion was removed in order to sanctify the remainder. In Jesus, a small piece of “flesh” (Jesus) was cut off from the land of the living, in order to sanctify all the remainder of human flesh. He became our circumcision!

3. YOUR SALVATION IS ALWAYS IN DOUBT.

Rev 3:5 (KJVA) He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will NOT blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.  If God is well prepared to blot selected names out of the “book of life” then according to Christian doctrine and Rev 20:12, you will be judged by your works (and NOT your faith) and then (Rev 20:15) consigned immediately to Hell.

4. GOD’S GREATEST ATTRIBUTE IS THAT OF UNRELENTING VENGEANCE RATHER THAN A MINISTRY OF MERCY.

Refer: Rev 2:23 (KJVA)  23 And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.  Sounds like Jesus to you?

5. THE

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The ape was the continual implication that my mother died so I could be born. My birth mother’s death was touted as my the supreme sacrifice so I could be born and become a great preacher.

I grew up believing I had to do something great for god because of (what I was led to believe) the supreme sacrifice my mom paid for giving birth to me. My life was supposed to make my mother’s death mean something for the rest of my family. I was supposed to validate my mother’s death by becoming nothing less than a great preacher in the mold of Billy Graham.

The ape on my back got bigger month-by-month and year-by-year. It rode on my back like a wild monkey on a bicycle. My life felt like an ape cage filled with swinging, screaming monkeys.

I wanted to be free from the monkey zoo. Somewhere in the midst of monkeys hollering, I swore I heard Jesus calling me to be his preacher. I came to my wit’s end and decided to become a preacher on a Spring Sunday morning in 1998.

I had hoped that preaching and going to seminary would relieve me of the monkeys, but I was switching zoos and getting into a different cage, one that was filled with angry gorillas. These gorillas were happy to be angry at society, each other, and everybody looking in the cage.

The seminary I attended was a good cage for me to learn the ways of gorillas. It motivated me to question all gorilla doctrine and accept nothing simply because gorillas had been around for a long time. I jest, sort of.

Seminary was a good fit for me. Seminary developed my research skills, which made me unsatisfied with anybody else’s answers but my own. My research created more questions, which led to even more questions.

I learned to trust my answers only and not take someone else’s word as truth. I wanted to know the true meaning of life. I knew I was the only one who could find answers to the plethora of questions that religious tradition created in my mind. I tried asking learned theologians questions, but their answers were fraught with circular reasoning with no logical conclusions. I felt as though the monkeys were telling me to ask the gorillas, and the gorillas were sending me to ask the monkeys.

I was able to narrow my search for the meaning of my life down to one question: “Do I know who Jesus Christ is?” After many years of searching, my answer crystallized with all clarity one day, “Yes!”

The answer I discovered came down to one Koine Greek word for fish, “Ichthys,” which is pronounced, “Ick-thoos.” Ichthys is the Koine Greek word many used as an acrostic thousands of years ago that means, “Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior.”

Ichthys is what I live by today; it reminds me that Jesus Christ beat death to death with his stick, the cross. It reminds me that Jesus Christ came back to life, which is significant because it means humanity lives beyond the grave. If Jesus lives, all humanity lives. If Jesus does not live then humanity is dead meat.

What I love about Ichthys is that a person knowing nothing about Jesus Christ is as just as alive as I am. What I really love is that even those who do not believe Christ ever existed are just as alive as the most religious person on earth. Belief or disbelief does not make Ichthys any more or less real, nor does it make people more or less alive. Ichthys is who makes all people alive by what he did on the cross and by his resurrection from the dead.

In conclusion, Ichthys knocked the monkey off my back, which freed me to be myself–an independent, responsible, moral agent. I may act like a monkey at times, but that is just me being myself, ooh, ooh, ooh. And that’s no bull!

My problem with most of the conclusions we see in the “Grace Movement”, is that, in the effort to explain away assumed anomolies in the story, most amateur theologians, try to divorce the “untenable” bits from the record. This is nothing new. In most of Modern and Post Modern Christianity, there are no end to the concoctions dreamed up in order to explain miracles or say, the angry God of the Scriptures talking about beating out the brains of babies upon a rock versus Jesus the “express image of God” inviting the little children to “come unto Me”.

IF we view the evolution of the story as one in which God was reactionary, then fitting these two SubSets into the one Superset becomes impossible without first deprecating one of the apparently conflicting claims; in other words, one of the facts apparently in evidence, must either be seen to be allegorical at best or false at worst.
But if we view the evolution of the story as one in which God was not reactionary, but “actionary” or as the initiator rather than the respondent, a very different picture might emerge.
The “God was never angry” theory, is dependant in whole, upon aat least two common errors;
(1) We anthopomorphise God; that is to say, we have the human tendency to think that God is just like us but bigger. We assume this because, if we were created in God’s image, then WE must be just like God but smaller, no? We depict God as human so that we can understand God, examine God
or judge God the same way we would any other human. We shouldn’t be angry, so why should God be angry etc.
This is, of course a false assumption; God is, in fact, an alien of the first order to us, and all too often, we choose to view God through the wrong end of a telescope in order to reduce Him to something we can then put in a box. Think of an ant trying to understans a human person, and judge that human person by ant standards. Curious indeed, how we might laugh at that comparison, yet take ourselves so seriously when we replicate that foolishness in our own thinking.
(2) We make the mistake of thinking that when God tells us SOMETHING about a topic, He has told us EVERYTHING about it. The Bible talks about God’s secrets, which we conveniently overlook. All those alleged Christians from history who murdered each other, all the time trumpeting that the very same Holy Spirit, had led them all to completely conflicting positions, made this same very obvious error.

Could it be that we are asking the wrong questions? Is that possible?

Instead of asking how we can correlate or synthesize the claimed competing images of an angry Father, a loving Son, and the Son being claimed to be the express image of the Father, what if the question shifted to “what is the SuperSet here?”; What is the REAL big Picture?
What if as part of that imagined superset, this alien God PLANNED to exhibit anger for purposes of His own? After all, in Jesus, we certainly seem to witness conflict resolution, no?

Why is it so important for us to make everything dovetail together according to our “ant” reasoning? Is it possible that it might be so that WE, asd humans, can feel good about God acting like any reasonable human should? Is it so that we can feel good? ? Or is it so that we can arrive at the truth?

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“Predestined to Life” is Mike Williams’ new series from a recent Gospel Revolution  Conference in Canada.  In this series, Mike exposes  the theology of  predestination in the light of the gospel as opposed to traditional Christian theology.  He studies out all references to predestination in the original Greek texts, as well as in the English translations. Find out who was predestined and when, and also find out what roles faith and hope play in predestination and whose faith and whose hope they were.

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Now let’s consider Redemptionism.
As compared to both Calvinism and Arminianism, Redemptionism proposes a God who wanted to save the whole world and did.
But to understand this we must also understand the Eternal Councils of God, in which, before the foundations of the world, The Godhead proposed to create a species of other sentient beings, with which The Godhead could commune both as individuals, and as a compound component of the Godhead.
Christianity loves to say that as a believer I am in Christ and Christ is in me, but refuses to take this thought to its logical conclusion, being that inevitably, Christ and I must be one. Not that I am Christ, but we are nevertheless one as individuals thoroughly in union. Redemptionism says that when Christ died at Calvary, he died as the very last of the Adam species. In this He Was the Last Adam. When he rose again, all of humanity rose with him as a new creation, a new species.

In as much, as this is true, God and man are one. In this new creation we do not know where we stop and God starts, or where God stops and we start because we are a new species infused with each other as individuals in a union that is ONE. Many Christians thoroughly agree with this when they say … “The Holy Spirit told me…”. They would never bet their house or car that they were right; they aren’t THAT dumb; we know that what they claim that the Holy Spirit told them is often enough proven to be manifestly wrong. Remember that the Holy Spirit apparently told the Roman Catholic Church to murder those who disagreed with them, as did Protestants after them. Remember that it was apparently the Holy Spirit that convinced the largest protestant denomination in the world, the Southern Baptist Convention, to support slavery in the USA for several hundred years, and only apologize for it in 2006, 150 years after it was begun to be prosecuted.

My eternal security did not commence when I heard the good news of Redemptionism, or even when I believed this good news. My eternal security was guaranteed in the eternal councils of God. I may have only discovered it recently, and in that discovery my soul has been wonderfully saved. In fact I get saved every day as I understand the magnitude of the eternal councils of God and their far reaching effects and patient machinations.
I no longer am concerned with whether I am born-again or not, because I was born-again with the resurrection of Jesus Christ when he was born-again. I died with him, I rose with him, I live with him. I am, God in the Earth. I am not God, but I am God in the Earth, and my life is secure in and with Him. Death is but a doorway. I am not a human having a spiritual experience, I am a spirit having a human experience, and as such, I am a being from outside of this timespace continuum to which I shall return when my human tent, my body, quits. Eternal security? OH yes! Yes… YES!!!!

A friend, who is a very open-minded Episcopalian priest, asked me, as an open-minded evolution biologist, for suggestions in regard to his efforts at redefining God in our profoundly changing times. Now, that is a subject I actually think about a great deal, and one that I love, so I sent him my thoughts as follow:

In my dialog with Willis Harman, published as Biology Revisioned (North Atlantic Publishers, Berkeley 1998), I reversed the scientific story I was taught from seeing consciousness as the end product of evolution to seeing consciousness as the source of evolution. In other words, the universe, to me, is fundamentally Consciousness — alive, aware and intelligent. This Consciousness is non-local, i.e. everywhere, and is what different cultures variously personify as God, under many names. It is also what physicists now call “zero point energy” — the infinite energy existing at every point in space. They are discovering that it is conscious and that it non-locally records all information ever produced in the universe. This Conscious non-timespace energy is vaster than our local universe. It can and does transmute itself into electromagnetic energy, and, in turn, matter, in the creation of universes such as ours, though it can also create itself into other pure energy patterns in a myriad ways (they include angelic realms, for example, and all the “worlds” we exist in between lives, and eternally).

This All-That-Is God Source is perceived as I-Am from the perspective of the local consciousness created in beings such as you and me, when we go into meditation, expanding our little consciousness into the Great One we are all part of. In this state we not only perceive union with God, we transcend our local selves such that we recognize ourselves as God.

Our universe appears to be a learning universe. I like to say its basic principle is “Anything that can happen, will happen,” and so it learns what works well and what doesn’t. Evolution is an improvisational dance, keeping the steps that work and changing those that don’t. As I cannot separate God-as-Cosmic-Consciousness from God-transmuting-into-material-universes, I believe our learning universe implies a learning God — God learning to know the nature of Self through exploring its possibilities and learning to reflect on that Self. Exactly as we, God’s human reflections, learn to do! In other words, Cosmic Consciousness begins as Unity and divides into Complexity a stage at a time — at least from our human linear time perspective — as it embodies itself in vast varieties of energetic and material forms. In non-timespace, which physics now knows to be the more fundamental nature of the universe, all possibilities exist together in complexity inconceivable to us humans.

I believe we exist as non-physical beings which incarnate intentionally, according to particular intentions for learning in each life, but that our “higher selves” are present non-physically throughout our lives. We weave our birth-to-death lifelines through the endless possibilities by the choices we make from moment to moment, each constraining the succeeding choices. From the perspective of non-timespace, all our lives together are like a kind of lotus flower, with each life one petal, one way of playing out a theme chosen by our soul entity or higher self. Some of our incarnations may be simultaneous in the linear timeframe, others are a historical sequence. Each “petal” is in soul communication with each other; thus our many lives can influence each other. Recall that early Christianity included the belief in reincarnation; I believe the Church changed that to gain more control over people’s lives, just as Jesus told us we could reach God directly and the Church made priests not assistants but necessary channels to God.

All nature is thus conscious in my worldview, and all of it has access to non-timespace; all of it is an aspect of God. The acorn knows the oak tree it will become. Only we humans of western culture have played the game of cutting ourselves off from the Great Conversation that our very cells can still hear! Soils, waters, organisms, ecosystems, Earth, even DNA itself, all know their composition and that of the Whole as the cells of our bodies know each other and our whole bodies, behaving intelligently to maintain themselves and that whole (that’s why our bodies work!).

Our human task now is to wake up and recognize ourselves as parts or aspects of God-as-Nature and behave accordingly. All are One, all harm harms each of us, all blessings bless each of us. What a guideline for choice! The ancients knew it and taught it. But God, through us, is trying out the most dangerous game of all — the game of truly forgetting our nature. A great risk, but it had to be done to try all possibilities!

On a recent Sunday, I gave the sermon at three services in a Unity Church, for a minister friend who needed a break. I urged the three congregations to remind themselves occasionally to see themselves as the creative edge of God (a phrase I learned from a dear friend) — as God looking out through their eyes, acting through their hands, walking on their feet, and to observe how that changed things for them…

I concluded my letter to my priest friend, hoping this would be of some use to him in his own deliberations. After all, I can only describe the worldview/Godview that makes sense to me at this point in my lifetime of exploration. We have only our stories to go by, and each must necessarily be at least somewhat, if not radically, different — for God has become very complex, though an eternal Unity! I pray that all the religions will recognize the importance of the uniqueness in each story and the unity of All That Is. I pray that scientists, who have been given the role of priesthood — the right to tell us “how things are” — will soon officially recognize that there is one alive, intelligent universe in which spirit and matter are not separable. I pray the indigenous people who never separated science and spirituality will be honored for that. It is time for the true communion which alone can save our species and all others, which alone can bring about the perfectly possible world we all dream of — a world expressing this understanding of ourselves as the creative edge of God!

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Elisabet Sahtouris, Ph.D. is an internationally known American/Greek evolution biologist and futurist, author, speaker and consultant on Living Systems Design. She has taught at the University of Massachusetts and M.I.T., was a science writer for the HORIZON/ NOVA TV series, a United Nations consultant on indigenous peoples and is a member of the United Religions Initiative. Her current focus is on evolution biology as a model for organizational change; her recent books are Biology Revisioned, co-authored with Willis Harman, and A Walk Through Time: From Stardust to Us.

Before we look at this carefully, let me ask you a question. It is a very honest question and should be quite simple to answer. Your failure to answer it honestly pretty much voids any purpose in reading on.

The question is this; can you name me one Bible translation either modern or ancient, that was not translated through the filters of someone’s pre-existing theology? I am going to make an assumption here, that every honest person’s answer to that question must intelligently be, “no”. No, we cannot nominate a single Bible translation that was not interpreted, and subsequently translated via somebody’s pre-existing theology. We must necessarily conclude that outside of the original Greek and Hebrew texts, all we are left with are possibilities, founded on theology arrived at by persons long since dead and whose biases are unknown.  Accurate ancient texts, however, are not the only tool at our disposal, in discovering what is probably true and probably not.

Firstly, we look
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Just read an article on John Piper answering a parent who was concerned about what he should tell his child, who has “extreme anxiety” about death, about the topic of hell. Piper took the time to list “5 Great Realities” on why the fear of hell “is a golden opportunity for treating God as big and glorious and utterly real” whether you’re a “6-year-old or a 60-year-old.”

Piper went on to say, “The horror of hell is a signpost concerning the infinite worth and preciousness and beauty and goodness and justness of God. If He were small, if God were small, hell would be lukewarm. Because He’s great, scorning God is a horrible thing. What a gift for a child to grow up deeply convinced that the whole world will face judgment someday. This will give seriousness to the child’s life.”

Now for a personal testimony. The idea of eternal torment forced me into an existential crisis of terror as a child. My mind naturally thought deeply and seriously about my existence. I spent years in the dark terror of my mind, questioning the point of living a life if at the end I would face a hostile being on a throne who would send me away to an eternal reality of torment. All was dark and terrifying in my little mind. This drove me to a breakdown as a teenager. For two years I was not functional as a young kid because of the anxiety and panic.

The way to be delivered from this fear is not to find “security” that Jesus saves you from it, not if you actually use your mind anyway. Because how do you know you’re saved? Hundreds of different Christians will tell you hundreds of different things on how you know you’re saved, and none of it is very assuring. How holy do you have to be to prove you have the fruits of true repentance? Or maybe all you have to do is confess Jesus is Lord? Well, even the demons believe that and they’re not saved! And Jesus said many will say “Lord Lord” and they aren’t saved!

Well, what is the assurance? Truth is, with such a possibility and we are told LIKELIHOOD of eternal torment, you can’t have any assurance. The possibility lurks. The likelihood lurks. There is this deep and abiding unsettledness in your heart, if life is like that, if the world is like that, if you were born into a universe where your main concern was to avoid ending up in eternal torment whether allowed or sentenced by its Creator. And if you’re someone who takes it seriously like me, there is regular panic attacks until it breaks you down mentally and emotionally.

For me to be born into a reality where it was possible and even likely for it to conclude in me ending up in never ending torment is to say that I was born into a horror story, that our existence is not good, that existence is terrifying. There is no reason for this. There is no reason to look at the universe like this. The universe does not communicate any such idea to us. It is merely based on the deepest fears of the unknown. The only way to be delivered from this fear is to realize it’s utterly unfounded, that existence is simply not like that. Only when you start asking real questions about existence and the universe will you realize the utter unfoundedness of eternal hell.

Think about it, what is the Worst Thing a human could possibly imagine happening? Let me help you: an eternity of being tormented. Yea, the universe gives us no reason to think it would ever happen (indeed if the universe tells us anything, it is that suffering is temporary and gives way to revelation and transformation), but eternal torment is the worst and most terrifying scenario the human mind could devise. Am I correct? Okay, now what is the one event that is the Great Unknown, something that all of us end up at and no one knows its outcome? Death. Walla! Declare that the Worst Thing imaginable is the outcome of the Great Unknown unless you do such and such, and you have the most powerful fear tactic possible to put masses of people in bondage to control them.

And all the while, there the universe is, communicating nothing of the sort. There is no reason to ever believe life and existence were like that. Yes, there is reason to believe in justice, in karma too, that if you do bad things you may reap bad things, but no reason ever to believe that anything will land you in an eternal situation of hopeless, non-redemptive, irreversible torment.

You’re safe. You’re in a universe where the greatest and highest power is Love, and that is constantly at work for the transforming of all things to good. That’s the only kind of universe worth existing. Listen deep within your heart and you’ll know that is the only kind of existence that could exist. There is no eternal horror story.

John Pipers God who must satisfy his infinite retribution by inflicting infinite suffering on his creatures to uphold his eternal honor and to his eternal glory is actually the petty ego of humanity, with all its jealousy and anger and vengeance issues magnified to infinity. That God does not exist.

No one has ever opposed this article calmly, clearly and logically. Emotionally? Yes, but never intelligently. Perhaps they can’t?

Read slowly……..Believers of Hell……..

1. There is no mention in Genesis,of hell ever being created. I’m supposed to believe God cares more about me being informed of when and how He created birds and bugs, etc., but not...    see more >>

Source ~ The Church of God Article linked to at the bottom of this article.

The Church of God International was the result of a massive split in the Worldwide Church of God, after Mike Williams teachings on the Gospel of Grace and Peace, led to divisions in that church.

Why did I copy someone else’s article? Because truth is truth, wherever you find it.

In today’s world, many do not recognize the plain prophetic statements foretelling the coming of Jesus the
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The Christian religion teaches that Man’s will affects eternal things and God’s will affects temporal things. The Gospel teaches that God’s will affects eternal things and Man’s will affects temporal things.
Paul’s teachings on predestination, make it patently clear, that God had an eternal plan for humanity, planned it out in the Eternal Counsels before the foundations of the world, carried it out pleasure perfect, and brought creation to its focal point, full achievement and fruition at the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. God’s will achieved and effected all of that.
YOUR will is now free to live freely; even free of predestination, and especially free of the morbid fear that God is in any way affecting your temporal outcomes.

What do we know for sure?
(1) You and God are ONE;
(2) You cannot tell where you end and God starts, meaning that you may invent the greatest step forward in medicine, or Art, or Music, or free energy, or anything of inestimable benefit to the human race, and never be actually quite certain how much of that was your clever intuition and how much was the God with whom you are ONE.
(3) No one has yet fully explored that of which they may be capable, if they knew with quiet assurance, that it was impossible to fail.

Perhaps today is the day when you yourself start that journey?!
Perhaps you are an untested dynamo of untold potential.
As you explore today, let us encourage you to stay full of the CPR of the Gospel, that consistent, persistent, repetitive input of the Gospel of grace and Peace, which will build you up in your expectations and your outcomes.
And you can get all you want by going to www.gospelrevolution, and clicking “Audio” at the top of the page

The eye’s a better teacher and more willing than the ear,
And counsel is confusing but example’s always clear.

The best of all the teachers are the ones who live the creed.
To see good put in action is what everybody needs.

I soon can learn to do it if you let me see it done.
I can watch your hand in action but your tongue too fast may run.

And the counsel you are giving may be very fine and true,
But I’d rather get my lesson by observing what you do!

For I might misunderstand you and the high advice you give
But there’s no misunderstanding how you act and how you live.

One good man teaches many, men believe what they behold,
one deed of kindness noticed is worth forty that are told.

You see, folks who live with honour learn to hold their honour dear,
For right living speaks a language which to everyone is clear.

And though an able speaker charms me with his eloquence, I say
I would rather see a sermon than hear one any day.

Author Unknown

She wrote:-

OK so many things I don’t know. So I read about conversion therapy. I understand both sides of the fence. From your standpoint since Christ saved us all…sinful behavior does not exist. And yes we all sin. And yes we all a little hypocritical. On the flip side of that coin…although I could identify myself as a pig…but I am not a pig and no matter how I want to be one I CANNOT be one. I saw a white woman on tv that has been news for a while because she said on her job application that she is black. She is white with NO black ancestry. She was fired from her job because it required one of black race to hold the job. She firmly maintains that she is black because she identifies with the black race. This is how ridiculous we have become. Laying aside all religious nuances…we CANNOT be what we were not created to be. We can WANT to be but it is physically impossible for me to be a man. Does it go against gods design…yes. Does he love me if I try yo be something else…yes.
So the question is..is there ANY sin on the face of the earth that separates me from God? Is there a thing called SIN that exists if anything I could ever think about doing is OK with God. Is sodomy OK. Is pedophilia OK. Is emotional and physical abuse OK? We know they aren’t in our society but what about in the eyes of God? Is everything just OK. I know that society as a whole has degraded to an all time low. Is that because we have opened the floodgates and perversion is ok now. And because perversion is OK people are becoming more like animals with rampant sexual preferences that are becoming the new norm like sex with animals etc. Chaos is increasing . Murders are increasing. We must lock everything up because thieves are everywhere. There’s no restriction on anything so people feel free to express the most vile actions. Is this because as the bible states than we are waxing more evil. We have become Sodom and Gomorrah. Is it because we have decided there is no such thing as sin.

My Response to this dear Christian sister.

Absolutely not! Most Christian denominations are just as opposed to sin as they ever were, the problem is that they just cannot agree on what things constitute sin. Long hair? Mixed bathing? Homosexuality? Slavery? The Amish believe that Baptists sin – the Baptists think that Presbyterians teach heresy (sin), the Methodists can’t agree among themselves whether to ordain Gays or not, they ALL are SO confused about what constitutes a “sin” that they have divided themselves up into multiple thousands of splinter groups, ALL claiming that the same Holy Spirit has led them to such highly divergent positions that some of them would gladly re-enact the middle ages practice of killing any dissenters.
And finally, when fundamental evangelicalism ruled the USA, we were gifted with a Civil war (so much for brotherly love) and some hundreds of years of Slavery. We killed off most of our indigenous peoples – sin? We made treaties we had no intention of keeping – sin? And all of this was done in the name of Jesus.

May I offer the following?
(1) There is “wrong” and there is “sin. They are 2 very different things in my opinion.
(2) Sin is relative.
(3) Was sin conclusively dealt with at the cross or wasn’t it?

(1) There is “wrong” and there is “sin. They are 2 very different things in my opinion.
Wrong, for me, is that which is our actions against other humans, or against the legally instituted laws of the land. Wrong is highly relative. The laws in China are quite different than those in the USA. What may be right in the USA is wrong in China. Personally, when people ask me why “God allows kids in Africa to starve to death” I say, God DOESN’T allow that, YOU do! Meaning to say, that until we do everything that lies in OUR power to rectify abhorrent conditions in the earth, let’s not even bother to bring God into it because our collective lack of action is patently wrong. Not sinful perhaps (though I think it is in the light of Isa 58) but certainly manifestly wrong.

If I speed down the highway it could be argued by some that that is a sin. (Nothing funnier than seeing a Pastor with a radar detector on the dash. LoL) If I then crashed into a car full of children and killed some of them, I have undoubtedly wronged my fellow humans. Theologians will argue over the “sinfulness” of the action, but NO-ONE will EVER question the assertion that what I did was bad, BAD WRONG!
When we pull the power cord on someones life support when a firm diagnosis states that imminent torturous death is the only alternative … sin?
For me, “wrong” and “sin” are quite different. A Christian could, quite properly, I think, argue that all sin is wrong, but not all wrongs are sin

(2) Sin is relative.

The Bible indicates that sinS are the the actions of a human that are either against God, or against God’s commands. The Bible further indicates that siN was an inherited condition from Adam to the whole human race regardless of individual sinS. Differentiating between the noun and the verb is pretty important. (The Book of Romans is a fascinating study in this.)
I know that my suggestion that sin is highly relative will anger some, but consider please:- “Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin. ~ (Rom 14:22-23 New King James Version)
This whole 14th chapter of Romans is about harming a weaker person in the faith with our tossing around our freedoms. Paul says elsewhere that all things are lawful, but not all things are expedient. You don’t hear that much preached, do you?!
What if I feel free to smoke? Wrong? you bet, foolish even, but is it a sin? As I understand Paul here, ONLY and ESPECIALLY if by doing so I trip up a brother by causing him to stumble. That stumble may only be making a self righteous religious zealot angry, but my actions have caused them harm (becoming angry).

So here we have a curious situation, where for some, smoking is most surely a “sin” while for others it is not.
Again, “Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin. For smoking, read eating meat offered to Idols, drinking etc etc

This is something we will never hear preached in a church, because it is too slippery for most controlling Pastors.

(3) Was sin conclusively dealt with at the cross or not?
It has always struck me as passing curious that Christian doctrine generally maintains that we can fall become separated from God by sin EVEN AFTER Jesus died for our sins. Catholicism talks about dying in mortal sin which without a last confession and the last rites, pretty much guarantees we will have a torturous trek ahead of us through Limbo, Purgatory and so forth, before we will ever see the pearly gates if at all. Protestantism teaches various degrees of a similar thing wherein when we get “born again” then ALL our sins are washed away by the blood of Jesus, and we stand pure before God. BUT … and there is ALWAYS a but it seems … IF we sin the next day then that sin becomes conditionally effective in separating us from God. God wont’t hear your prayers is another layer of this conundrum. No one could ever explain to me how if God couldn’t hear my prayers with unconfessed sin in my life, how He was EVER going to hear my confession of sin.
Given that the pre-cross Jews had to confess their sins only once a year, where modern Christians need to confess their “sins” continuously, the Jews were far better off, no?
To the best of my understanding, here are four key components of what occurred at Calvary.

a) Redemption from the transgressions that were under the first testament.
The NT book of Hebrews (probably penned by Paul) was written to Jews, and it contains this little nugget; Heb 9:15 … Christ is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. So the first thing achieved at Calvary was redemption from the transgressions that were under the first testament.
In other words, unless you ARE a Jew, and lived either during OR before the crucifixion of Christ, this has NOTHING to do with you.

b) Reversal of the imputation of sin to all humanity into the imputation of righteousness to all humanity.
Romans 5:18 states “Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.”
Antagonists of this claim use a number of arguments to refute what is perfectly clear in the Bible they claim is inerrant.
(i) The Greek word ALL in the first part of this verse is not equivalent to the word ALL in the second part of this verse. The weak minded fallacy of this is seen in that (i) Both words are precisely the same word in the original Greek text, and (ii) it is also the same word used earlier in Romans when Paul says that ALL have sinned and come short of the Glory of God. These charlatans would have their cake and eat it too.
(ii) IF Adam by his action placed all humanity under sin and Christ by His action made only a FEW people righteous, then we can draw no other conclusion than Adam was far more effective than Christ; or, conversely, Christ was so much weaker than Adam.
So the second thing achieved at Calvary was to replace the imputation of sin upon all humanity into the imputation of righteousness upon all humanity.

c) The birthing of a brand new, never before seen, completely New Creation.
2Cor 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. The word “creature” in the original Greek text, means ‘species’. As the last of the ADAM species, or as the Bible puts it, the Last Adam, Jesus, died, all humanity was placed in the body of Christ and born again into a completely new species.

d) Rest!
If these Biblical claims are correct, then Calvary amounts to some sort of pinnacle in relations between God and man, and as such deserves our complete appreciation of it’s intent, content and portent. This might best be summed up in the words of Hebrews 4, which tells us to enter into the same rest that Jesus has entered into by discarding our works as any entry to the New Creation.

Further, it astounds me that while the LAW was ONLY ever given to Israel, modern Christianity insist that it applies to gentiles as well. This to me, is such a step away from Biblical teachings and logic as to be absurd in the least, and manipulative fraud at the most. Nowhere in the Bible is it claimed that the sins of the gentiles were addressed at Calvary – in fact Hebrews is quite clear in stipulating that Jesus died for redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament – the first covenant – God’s covenant with the Jews, NOT gentiles. If we as gentiles had NO old covenant with God, then we were simply left out.
Lastly, permit me to address the issue that initiated this conversation at first.
Conversion therapy for homosexuals.
The largest conversion therapy “clinics” in the world have shut their doors after apologizing to their clients. One of these, called “Exodus” was a mainstay of fundamental evangelicals.

Some will call it sin, some won’t. All I will say is that is highly amusing to myself to see people text proof their favorite memes without adequate contextual Bible study, and flout it as “Thus saith the Lord.”.

FRIEND:

What do you think of Matthew 7:13.

ME:

I think that Matthew 7:13 is qualified by Matthew 7:12 which unequivocally states that “This is the Law and the Prophets.”! If we say that we live by the Law then this applies to us. If we don’t, live by the Law, the WHOLE Law, then it does not apply to us. In fact the “golden Rule” quoted
...    see more >>

The fact that we may suppose the word “Scripture” to include any New Testament writer, is mute testament to the fact of how comprehensively we have been brainwashed by the selective ignorance of modern christian theology.

CONCLUSION
Only by way of serious linguistic manipulation, and/or ignorance, can 2 Peter 3:16 be made to mean that any New Testament scripts or graphe, or writings equate to what is called in today’s Christianity, scripture!

About 500 years after the death of the Apostles, we saw the completion of the evolution of the Church from a charismatic, vibrant, alive, Greek influenced organism, to an institutionalized, dead, Latin thinking organization.

500 years later we saw the Great Schism where the eastern and western wings of Institutionalized Churchianity permanently split down the middle over competing dogmas.

500 years after that we saw the reformation which started with increasing disgust over forgiveness of sins being marketed as an commercial commodity and ended up with Protestants leaving behind them the dead works of Roman Catholicism.

Now, today, 500 years after that, the protestant Church Industrial Complex, is quite rapidly, disintegrating before our eyes, as it faces internal seismic shifts resulting from building on the false constructs of the Church it came out of.

It is fragmenting, with many of its adherents returning to question, research and study the alleged “heresies” of the early church, mindful that orthodoxy is oxymoronic – mindful that if “orthodoxy” was in the least to be respected, there would not be multiple thousands of versions of it.

Be a heretic, and be proud of this badge of honour, which originally meant to be one who chooses for themselves.

James quotes this Scripture in James 4:6  … “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”

Peter also quotes this Scripture in 1Pet 5:5 NKJ … for “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”

Problem; If grace is unmerited favour, then why do ONLY the humble get it while it is denied to the proud.

Clearly something does not make sense IF we hold to the false premise that grace is unmerited favour. It is clearly not unmerited while ever some do not merit it.

If the cross changed nothing, could it have changed this? Could it be that this is how God dealt with humanity before the cross and somehow James and Peter got were still teaching Old Covenant practices?

We do know that James was not very educated. After all, it was James, who in the Bible book named after him, says that God tempts no man neither can he be tempted. And yet when we read Genesis 22:1 we see that God most certainly does tempt man, and when it comes to God not being temptable, was Jesus God when he was tempted of the Devil in the wilderness??? James is really not all that reliable. By the way, Christianity loves to squirm out of the Genesis 22 reference by saying that God TESTED Abraham but never TEMPTED. Such crap! They have clearly not read the Septuagint version of the Old Testament (written by Jewish scholars fluent in Greek, and writing for Greek consumption 250 years before Christ and almost always quoted by Jesus and His Apostles),in which the very same Greek word that is used in Genesis 22:1 is used by James. Oh well! facts are such messy things, aren’t they.

But back on topic now! Proverbs, James and Peter, are in total agreement. They are all teaching old covenant truths, which are ALWAYS based on dualism. But the cross changed all that, and now UNITY reigns.

Recently, I have been addressing an article written by Dr James Richards of Impact ministries, Huntsville, Alabama. While I have been at a loss as to just why Jim published this now, 20 years since I last saw him, it has presented itself as a really good teaching tool.

Jim lets everyone know, 20 years after the fact, that I, Michael Williams, have been “biblically” shunned!

Over the years, many have been through this dogmatic crime against the heart.

It seems almost all Christian denominations have some sort of predetermined way to dis-fellowship their wayward, rebellious, misguided members. This harsh and unloving act gives vent to all that is truly wrong with legalism. In fact, it is the epitome of legalism.

One need not research meticulously through the doctrine of those that practice “shunning.”  The fact that they do it is all the evidence you will need.

Please avail yourself to the Powercast hosted by Beres Bartlett to learn the “biblical” reply to this self-indulgent doctrine.

Many examples of shunning come to mind, and I would like to ask you to send me an email describing your experience with this crude doctrine. It will help others who have been shunned. So please participate. This can be done to people “officially” by leadership or just friend to friend and even by family members.

Listening to the gospel and coming to Mike Williams meeting has brought real and painful backlash for many. Everything from grandparents being told to never speak of it again or they will not see their beloved grandchildren again and eventually being told if they even are caught listening to me they will not see their babies again.

I myself am only tolerated by some of my siblings because of their Christian doctrines.

Yes, a part of this gospel revolution has been very

painful for so many of us, and inevitably will continue to be. It is simply part and parcel of “stepping out of line.” At least in other people’s view. There is a price my friends for following your heart.

Friends, you should be aware of our tremendous success, even according to Jim Richards and many others! It has been the “GR” that has penetrated the darkness of legalism and brought the subject of grace to the forefront around the world. Yes you have done this!!

And to all those like Jim who oppose the gospel revolution we say. You are holy, righteous and perfect in the eyes of God. Whether aware or ignorant of God’s grace we have all been given HIS righteousness by HIS faith.

Much love,

Michael Lilborn Williams

I just quoted myself. Is that allowed? Yep that is a quote from an article I wrote January 24, 2012 titled “Everything happens for a reason”. (I’d like to suggest this article for your enjoyment once again on our website at GospelRevolution.com under the tab, “Articles.”) On a following Powercast “connecting dots” was elaborated on and I want to address it again.

It is obvious when someone says they connected the dots, that it is basically a benign statement. What if “connecting the dots” leads to forced thought? Free thinking and forced thought simply are not compatible. Therefore connecting the dots in many circumstances may not be so benign.

Astrology is totally based on connecting the dots. Think about it. Some one person drew lines between the stars and came up with twelve different sign of the Zodiac. Even though billions of stars are out there only 9,006 stars are said to be visible in the night sky at any given time. Less than 250 stars make up the “connected dots” or the twelve signs.

Several years ago while looking up to the sky to see how many I could find, I wondered, who drew these lines that I must now look at the stars and see just where I fit in? To see what my and others characteristics and traits are?  Yes, even predict the future and what my day will be like today!!

Forced thought leads to false beliefs. We see this at work in modern Christianity, where, wrested out of its context, one verse is taken from here, and another from some other place, then all placed together in a mash-up designed to support some theology or other. Biblical scholars call this ‘proof-texting’; it is, in fact, nothing more than joining the dots in such a way as will support someone’s particular biased belief system.

For about 2,000 years since the Zodiac was introduced to people. Forced thought is what astrology has contributed to the human race. Why can’t you come up with your own lines drawn between the choice of over 9,000 visible stars – your own definitions and characteristics?

As far as the gospel of peace and the gospel of grace is concerned, it has no need for anyone to connect the dots. It is not written in the stars. It is written in language. In fact the Hebrew alphabet is made up of pictographs as is the Chinese language. One letter can be read as a letter, a number or a subject. It is really rather straight forward – no dots to connect at all.

During my stay in the word of faith movement my entire doctrine was based on “connecting the dots” Wow … did THAT get wild!  However, based on the lines I drew between verses and concepts, viola! Proof beyond a doubt!

With the gospel there is a story, “the testimony of God”, not man’s but God’s. It is laid out in the law, psalms and prophets and then the story is analyzed with amazing precision by Paul. Pointing out the “pictures” as he goes. The first and the last Adam, Moses and Jesus, the new creation, on and on Paul points to the already clearly defined picture. In fact, God took great care to use picture after picture (scholars call them types and shadows), to predict in unusual detail, His plan in advance.

The gospel is very easy to understand my friends. Just read the story and look at the pictures. We are still learning and growing. Keep looking at the amazingly perfect and beautiful picture. Gods testimony.

“And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.” – 1 Corinthians 2:1

Much love,

Michael

It was the early 1980s.

The sad thing is I should be able to give the exact date and time it happened because Mohammad Ali signed my boarding pass stub on a flight in first class from Chicago to L.A.

The flight is also connected to my very first visit to Hawaii, a place I treasure.

One of Norvell Hayes’ friends was a travel agent and wanted to impress Norvell. So, the guy got me the first class flight to LA where I was speaking with much more well-known speakers. This is where I met Donna Douglas, who became a very sweet friend, Johnny Rivers who sang for us at the LA Civic Center and Todd Fisher, the son of Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher. (Probably better known as the brother of “Princess Lea”, Carrie Fisher.) I was this Tennessee boy dropped into another world.

Ali was across the aisle from me to my left in the center nose section of the jumbo jetliner in the first row of first class. No, I never ever rode first class before, but his time I did. Ali was with his wife. He was copying onto a legal pad words from the Koran. Ali left a space between each line he copied. Somewhere in the flight his pen ran out of ink. He reached over to me and said, “Excuse me, do you have a pen I could use?” I said, “Yes, I do” and handed him the pen from my suit coat pocket. He thanked me and continued writing from the Koran to the legal pad.

As our flight was preparing to land, Ali touched my arm and smiled thanking me for the use of my pen. As he handed it back, instead of taking the pen, I handed him my boarding pass stub and asked if he would be so kind as to sign my boarding pass. He was happy to do so and handed my pen and the signed boarding pass stub back to me.

As we were disembarking the aircraft, Ali said “Thank you again. Goodbye”. His wife simply smiled.

I know it is just a little story, but it’s one I want to remember. Thank you for letting me share it. Stories are powerful and can teach us much.

The autographed boarding pass stub? It was in a bedroom drawer for years. I haven’t a clue where it is now. Dang! Maybe it will turn up one day!

Michael Lilborn Williams

Mike Williams – President & Founder of Mike Williams Ministries & Gospel Revolution

Did God ever repent, change his mind? Were his thoughts and emotions positively impacted by the successful mission of Christ? Are yours? Are mine? The answer to all of the above is a resounding “YES”!

Is it possible our collective intellect, will, and emotions are more like the Creator’s than we have ever imagined? Do we learn and grow in a similar way as he did?

In my case, as I’ve conveyed to you over the years, my learning curve is slow. I am thankful for the peace which has accompanied my contemplation and consideration of every aspect of the gospel. My coming to the understanding the gospel of peace, which is the foundation of the gospel and its revolution was slow and methodical.

For five years, from 1977-1982, I never opened my mouth about it. I just studied and listened.

While the unraveling of Christian doctrine—a doctrine of, at best, restricted peace and grace has been the journey of a lifetime, one thing is certain; there is still much to learn and understand about this wonderful good news and its unlimited peace and grace.

For over 20 years we have watched people from all over the globe leave Christianity through the teaching of the Gospel Revolution. Then some have exited the gospel because they came to the conclusion that God was never angry, that He did not have a process leading to the cross. Inherent with that has been the thought that man was never a sinner and was always righteous since creation. Even some of those folks who know what we teach, have continued listening here because they say they’ve never heard a better gospel taught.

As I look back on my process, while remaining open to all perspectives, I remember sharing points from the Scriptures which support the view of a “never angry God” and a “never sinful man”. For example, God never showed anger to Adam. It was, in fact, Adam who hid himself from God, not the other way around. There was no anger displayed to Cain either after he killed his brother Abel.

The compulsion for me, and I know, for many others, has been and continues to be, finding truth. We know finding truth will make us free. We do not care what the truth is. We simply want to know what it is; at least to the degree we can know it, along the way.

This journey became more defined for me after being introduced to the word of faith movement. As a 21 year old Baptist boy, the Baptists taught me it was God’s will for me to be sick and broke. The Word of Faith movement however, taught me that God wanted me healthy and wealthy. Still, even then, I have a very clear memory of my earnest prayer, “God, whether you want me sick and broke or wealthy and healthy is irrelevant to me. I simply want the truth.”

Somehow I knew freedom was more important than wealth or health. Knowing the truth about any subject and experiencing its resulting freedom and peace, became my compass. Being “right” about my current position on anything became irrelevant. It is still true today.

Remaining consistently open has caused me to rarely push back very hard in conversations with anyone, regardless of the topic. This has been equally true on the topics of “Was God Ever Angry” and “Was Man Ever Sinful”. I may have offered up an occasional a counterpoint or two, but those who know me best, know the truth of this.

People who know me, know I care about them, rather than what they believe. I have close family and friends, all with extremely diverse religious, political and spiritual perspectives. What we believe, unquestionably affects our ability to navigate this thing called life. And I am dedicated to the people I care about doing as well as they can.

An accurate perspective on topics such as, “was God angry”, “did God go through a process leading to the cross”, “was man ever sinful” and “how accurate are the Scriptures”, are pivotal in respect to people’s psychological and emotional well-being. We’ve witnessed this time and time again. This is why I feel it’s so vitally important and why I’m addressing it. Not to mention, it continues my slow but steady pursuit of truth.

For many, the view that man was always righteous and never a sinner emanates from Paul’s declaration that the gospel is a “revelation” of righteousness. Thus, they say, righteousness is simply a revelation of what always was. However, Paul also said that God’s law is a “revelation” of sin. Does that mean sin always was? Of course not! The law (delivered hundreds of years after sin came on the scene) was given to reveal the sin of Adam. By the same logic, the gospel reveals the righteousness produced by the second Adam, Jesus Christ. Just because something revealed something else, doesn’t mean what was revealed always existed. Both sin and righteousness were revealed by the law and the gospel respectively. Both, having not existed prior, were produced by Adam and Jesus respectively. Human beings were affected in both cases, due to no fault or credit of their own. The impact of Adam’s act lasted until the cross. The impact of Jesus’ act will last eternally. Now that is good news!

Regarding the issues of “God’s anger” and “Man’s sin”, I’ve reached some conclusions.

Why are there tens of thousands of Christian denominations? Simply stated, it is because people make up their own interpretation of Jesus’ teachings. Often, if not always, it’s based on some of the Bible taken out of context.

Another Christian denomination has formed over the last few years for the same reasons. There has been an interesting and exponential increase in articles, messages and videos produced stating the God of the New Testament could not be reconciled with the God of the Old Testament, that “the God of the Old Testament” is simply not acceptable. This theory points to the words of Christ who claimed that, “if you have seen me you have seen the Father”. (John 14:9). And so, this recent teaching, this new denomination, has done like all the others. They take a concept, a selection of verses, and ignore what many other parts of the Scriptures and/or the New Testament writings say, then come to their own conclusion. And voila, we have another, new denomination.

In just two “judgement of God” types and shadows, the flood of Noah and exodus of Israel from Egypt, we see Paul’s understanding of the cross, without which, Paul’s communication of the gospel would have been severely impaired.

Just like all denominations, this next new one limits their understanding to a few passages and personal preference. It bases the entire doctrine on one verse and many inferences. Context is discarded in favor of “proof-texting”. At least in this case, no attempt has been made to hide the “one verse” revelation, purported to define the entire Bible and especially the Scriptures. It has been simply stated, that all other views must be considered as wrong and even dangerous.

Let’s look at a few other denominations which have established their entire beliefs on one verse.
John Calvin based almost all his doctrines, in what became known as Calvinism, around one verse – namely that no one could come to God unless God first drew them to Him (John 6:44). Arminianists, in a response to this highly exclusive doctrine, boil their doctrine down to one single verse, namely, “Whosoever will, may come, and drink freely of the water of life (Revelation 22:17). All other views are to be considered, not just wrong, but dangerous.

The Church of Christ founders discovered a verse that teaches being “baptized in the name of Jesus only”. This denomination declared the “one verse” revelation upon which all the Bible would be defined. No other doctrine can be considered and is even dangerous, according to the Church of Christ.

In Appalachia, the Holiness folks found the text about snakes not harming us (Luke 10:19), and then started the practice of handling snakes in church services in order to prove their “holiness”. This doctrine has proven to be deadly. Yet to hear its leaders, it is dangerous not to believe their deadly doctrine.

In reality, pulling a verse from here and a verse from there to support a doctrine is what is dangerous. It has literally caused genocide and the deaths of multiple millions.

The founders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Mormons, discovered a verse about baptism for the dead. The denomination declared the “one verse” revelation upon which all the Bible would be defined. No other doctrine can be considered and is even dangerous, according to the Mormon Church. Again, they pulled a verse from here and from there to support their doctrine.

My own personal poisonous position was the “word of faith” doctrine, whose entire doctrine was based on one single passage, Mark 11:23-24. “You have what you say”. I experienced the danger of this one up close and personally.

By now, I am sure you can see that innumerable examples of “one verse denominations” exist all over the world. They thrive and are added to the growing list continually. With this new one, the “God was Never Angry” one, we must accept that either there were two markedly different gods in the Bible or we must decide to selectively prune the Bible of whatever we don’t like about the “bad” God.

Pick and choose, cut and paste; where have we seen this before? Everywhere!

Here is their ‘one verse” from which all Scripture must be viewed, accepted or rejected according to the new teaching that God was never angry. Heb. 1:3, “Who being the brightness of His Glory and the express image of His person.”

Here is the declaration of this new denomination “Christ is who God REALLY is and all other expressions of God must be rejected. They state, it is even dangerous to accept anything else. Most important in this new way of thinking is any and all Scripture that suggest God was ever angry, jealous, wrathful, vengeful or displayed any judgment at all MUST be rejected without question! How could a loving God manifest such actions and emotions? He couldn’t! Or could he?
This is such a sweeping, one verse revelation. The entire Bible is again subject to one single verse!

My friends, when will we ever learn? How could it be possible that the very Scripture that so accurately foretells the life of Christ is completely wrong about so many other subjects?

The blinding question seems to be, according to this teaching is: how to reconcile the “God of the Old Testament with the God of the New Testament”? Apparently, one of these Gods has got to go!

Let’s consider this question coolly and logically.

The easiest thing would be to reject anything which disagrees with our “accepted truth”. This would include certain selections of the Scriptures themselves, remembering what the Scriptures, as defined by Christ himself actually are—the Law, Psalms and the Prophets.

The “Old Testament” reveals God and man as separate entities: God—the creatOR, and Man—the creatED. The “New Testament” reveals God and Man as a combined creation in Christ—a new creation. Man was originally created in the image of God. Please note, man was “in the image of God”. They were NOT one and the same. Upon the inception of the New Creation, at the resurrection, Man is now found IN Christ or we could say IN God. Now we ARE one entity, in direct comparison to what preceded the New Creation.

The full and complete revelation of God through Christ is the one which was prophesied in the Scriptures. These are the same Scriptures which present a multidimensional God, one who indeed became angry and who said “vengeance is mine”. The same God who claimed through the mouth of Jesus, “Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.” (Luke 6:36) and in John 3:36, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him”. This, of course, all changed at the cross. Thank God.

Can you hear the new “God was Never Angry” denomination responding to Jesus about his pre-cross claim? “We are so sorry Jesus, you like Moses, Ezekiel, Daniel and Isaiah, got it all wrong! Wrath was NEVER a part of your Father’s nature. Wrath was never upon man in the first place! You, Jesus, YOU’RE the one who bought into the “dangerous” belief. But we know better!”

Jesus was the “prototype” of a new creation which had never before existed. God and man being ONE…what a concept! Talk about a Revolution! Christ is indeed the full expression of God in the New Creation, after the cross and resurrection! There are old wineskins and there are new wineskins. There is a first creation and there is a new creation, an old covenant, and a new covenant, an old priesthood a new priesthood, a first Adam and a last Adam and now even a new heaven and a new earth!

God changed just like we did, and do. It affected his thoughts and emotions as they do ours. His process emotionally and thoughtfully was completed at the cross. Ours is on-going. God’s position as perfect, righteous, holy and without sin never changed during his process to total peace. Neither does ours. God is at peace with everyone; knows it, and is always aware of it. We are at peace with God and everyone, too. We’re just not always aware of it. We’re still in a mental process on this side of the cross, a very similar one which the Father went through before the cross, before it was “finished”.

There’s nothing future about the gospel at all. Everything was finished at the cross—the entirety of the law, the penalty of the law, all prophecy, all feast days, all trumpets, all holy days, all sacrifices, all transgression and all righteousness because Jesus was the fulfillment of all of this and so much more!

How can we change the story? How dare we? How could we disrespect God’s process?

If we do, if we open the Scriptures to “private interpretation”, then like all denominations, we get to pick and choose what to believe. However, if we allow Scripture to interpret itself, to be read and absorbed in context, the result in ourselves, is the same as that which resulted from the fulfilment of the Scriptures—peace—specifically the revelation of the Prince of Peace and the gospel of peace between his Father and all humanity.

Our directive is now is to “follow the spirit” and nothing else. This stand-alone statement is truth.

However, the position of this new denomination, is to follow the Spirit to the exclusion of the Scriptures, i.e. the Law, the Psalms and the Prophets. Jesus, Paul , and all their contemporaries knew the Scriptures to be “inspired by God”. Who are we to disagree with their assessment? Do we now find self-same Scriptures which Christ called inspired, which he said were all about him to be without merit and a mistake of our predecessor’s lack of understanding God himself? Who are we to do that?

Some in this “new move” point to when God said he hated the nation of Israel’s sacrifices and offerings, feast days and ceremony, once. According to Hebrews God hated the sacrifices because of their ineffectiveness and repetition. Isn’t it rather convenient to forget that this was the same God who commanded them to be carried out? How can this be used to defend a stance that God was never angry when these verses are saying God was angry about the sacrifices and even hated them?

“Sacrifice and offering You did not want!” Again from the same Scripture, inspired by God that instructed Israel to do sacrifice.”But a body you have given”…Well, it is time for some context.

Hebrews 10, with quotes or reference from Isaiah 1:11, Psalms 40:6, Jer. 6:20 and Amos 5:21-22.
For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? Because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.
3 But in those sacrifices, there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.
4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should TAKE AWAY sins.
5 Wherefore when he came into the world, he said, Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body you have prepared me:
6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you have had no pleasure.
7 Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do your will, O God.
8 Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin you did not desire, neither had pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;
9 Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first that he may establish the second.
10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
11 And every priest stands daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:
12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God;
13 From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.
14 For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.

The documentation was always about Christ. However, his life, the purpose of God and his process must be read and understood in its entirety and in its context. Would you want your life to be examined by a short snippet? Or would you wish fair-minded people to look at the whole record, the good, bad and the ugly? What we overcome and the ways in which we grow are often the best part of the story!

Christ was the first demonstration on planet earth of God and man being ONE. This was the declaration of peace; the declaration of “peace and on earth good will toward men.” Christ is the full and complete expression of God because he is the first example of the removal of all walls, divisions and hostility between God and man. But there had to be those divisions, that enmity if peace was needed. Otherwise, why send Jesus? But thank God Jesus was sent. He was on earth as the first manifestation of what God and man looked like as ONE!

One must wonder, why is this new denomination is not asking us to reconcile the Christ who lived and taught before the cross and the resurrected one? Using the same logic that claims that the Old and New Testament Gods can’t be reconciled, even so, the post-cross resurrected Christ cannot be reconciled with the pre-cross teaching Christ who spoke of judgment and the law and was even sarcastic, short and downright disrespectful to his followers and the religious leaders from time to time. You know the one. The Christ who called a Samaritan woman a dog; who called Pharisees walls with fecal material on them white-washed; who said if you do not forgive God will not forgive you, who said far worse than what the law called for when he said you are in danger of judgment for adultery and murder if you even have one thought about them!!

Christ made his own scourge out of cords, with which to beat people! He’s the Jesus who said you have to be as perfect as God, in order to have eternal life. Jesus instructed to cut off hands and gouge out eyes! Remember that Jesus?

My friends, the cross not only delivered us from an angry God, it delivered us from an exacting law taught perfectly by Jesus himself prior to going to the self-same cross. The entire process produced the gospel, the gospel of peace and the gospel of grace.

Here are a couple of the most used push-backs to the gospel of peace, a gospel declaring that a once angry God is no longer angry.

#1 Push-Back: God is love, therefore God could never have demonstrated anger, wrath or vengeance because love is kind, etc., etc. It must be pointed out that Paul defined love after the cross. (I Cor. 13) This is the perfect picture of love, indeed, at least a love that is respected and returned. However, God warned Israel about what would happen if they did not love him back!

In the law, mercy was promised to those who loved God and keep his commandments (Ex. 20:6). While we now understand God’s love as unconditional, this is not the way Scriptures described the law of Moses. This is another thing we get to attribute to the cross—the unconditional love of God. But it was the cross which brought that on. It did not exist before! Under God’s law, it is clear, that God’s love and mercy were conditional.

#2 Push-Back: “I just could never serve or believe in a God who was wrathful and angry!” Well, I have good news for even people who think and say this! Not God, Jesus, Paul, the gospel, MWM, the Gospel Revolution request that you or anyone serve or believe anyone or anything. One thing I can guarantee, if that request was made of you or me, we would do nothing but fail at serving and believing!

Again, Jesus met all the requirements, and gets ALL the credit, for serving God, AND, for faith and believing. Paul wrote, “I live by the faith OF the son of God. Who loved me and gave himself for me! Now that is unconditional love and is also the finished story about faith itself.

Why would we have to live by our own faith and Paul would get to live by the faith OF Christ?

We don’t, thank God!

The kind of love we now have coming from God, is unconditional love and is strictly a result of the cross.

What do we do with the progression of humanity going from servant to friend, which Jesus declared? Should we blast Jesus for suggesting we were once servants and not always friends? The progression of “the story” is critical. God could only become “friends” with man after he took on the mantle of manhood himself, not before. Do we dismiss Paul saying “while we were yet enemies Christ died for us”?

Was God never angry at “his enemies”?

I have even heard it said that Moses was wrong in his thinking about God, and His growing anger with humanity in general and Israel in particular. If Moses was trying to impose his own view of an angry God (versus the reality of God’s changing perspective) why would Moses have missed the opportunity to say God was angry with Adam for his disobedience? And why would Moses have missed the opportunity to say God was angry with Cain for murdering his brother, Abel? No! It’s not in there.

Do you think the prophet Isaiah was duped by Moses? Did Moses lead Isaiah astray, in prophesying that God would no longer be angry or rebuke anymore after the covenant of peace would be established (Isa 54:9)?

Was Jesus confused by Moses, too!? How can we completely strip Christ of his introduction to planet earth, of this new and glorious reality of God and man being ONE? Can one verse cancel out the angels’ claim of a new era marked by peace between God and man or take from his work which was completed on the cross? What need for peace is there in the absence of hostility? Why bring down the wall of partition between Jew and gentile, men and women, bond and free, God and Man if there was no wall before the cross???

Where does one get any sense of reverence or uniqueness of a Jesus Christ, if we throw-out the Scriptures we don’t like for whatever reason we don’t like them? Where do we draw the line? Remember, when we say “Scriptures” we’re talking about the ancient text that CHRIST himself honored and defined for us, not the whole Bible.

Is it possible someone created the universe? If you answer, “yes”, then it’s not a stretch at all to say it’s possible that the same creative force, the same God, inspired people to write down a foretelling of the ultimate conclusion of the Creator’s relationship with those he created. I believe that is what happened. If one doesn’t want to see that or believe that, no problem. However, if we go down that path I must ask, to what degree do we throw out the Scriptures to accept a new teaching founded in the selective interpretation of a single verse?

Could it be by removing the power and purpose of Christ, who removed hostility between God and man, we remove our own “new creation DNA” thereby eliminating our, God experienced, ability to resolve conflict between ourselves and indeed within ourselves?

Paul was confident that the gospel is “the power of God”—the only power which can save the human soul, our minds, wills, intellects and emotions. If the gospel is news, good news, a story; It’s a story which IS power. It’s a story Paul defines as “the gospel of peace”. Why the need for peace? If we change the clearly stated story in the record, do we therefore, limit the power of God to save the human soul, itself?

Please consider the impact the cross had on God himself. Yes, you read that right, the impact the cross had on God. Is God still angry, jealous, vengeful or wrathful? No indeed! According to the definition and understanding of the gospel of peace, this is the direct result that the impact of the cross had even on God.

The gospel as we understand it and meditate on it saves the soul. This glorious information removes anger, jealousy, vengeance and wrath. The gospel IS the power of God! What could be better than this?

What if we call the story of how the cross, which ended God’ judgment, anger, vengeance and jealousy, THE gospel! The gospel is the power of God to affect us, too! The same cross, the same power has the exact same effect on us as it had on God himself. The power of the Gospel canceled out forever, vengeance, wrath and judgment, as far as God was concerned. What could it do for us? Our potential as humans could explode off the charts! You become more than just the best and the greatest you. You become the manifestation of God on earth as ONE, just like our predecessor and prototype, Jesus.

This good news about the ultimate declaration of peace should not and cannot be allowed to be reduced, may I say eliminated, by a fond desire that peace already existed, because hostility never existed! For far too long, denominations have robbed humanity of “the power of God” by rejecting the gospel of peace and the gospel of grace. Preaching, “God is still angry!” Rejecting the very grace which humanity needs to know about so desperately.

Now, yet another denomination is poised to preach their own doctrine by declaring, “God was never angry”. What is the difference between those who corrupt the end of the story by teaching that God is still angry and is about to bring another judgment, with the new one which denies the beginning of the story by promoting the thought that God was never angry? In effect, there is NO difference at all! The first crippling doctrine is that God is still angry with humanity. The second is just as crippling. God never was angry with humanity, and consequently, – it’s all about me. “I am the greatest, best and most! God was never angry at anyone at any time at all!”

The gospel, my friend, is not about you. It is not about me. It is the story of Christ! Who are we to steal his story?

This new denomination’s doctrine is an upside down pyramid, and just like all those before it, differs drastically from the fractal nature of the gospel of peace and the gospel of grace declared by Mike Williams Ministries and the Gospel Revolution. The smallest part of a fractal is a full picture of the whole. The largest is a full view of the smallest.

The Gospel Revolution teaches about sin, anger, grace, mercy, the end of the world, judgment and peace. Really, though, we do nothing but declare Christ! Each single subject is a revelation of the big picture and the big picture is a complete understanding of each single subject.

Do you see it?

Like Paul, we can learn much from observing nature. Nothing exists in a vacuum. Light is the presence of light. Dark is the absence of light. Dark may be natural (e.g. night time) or enforced (a windowless room at noon). In both these scenarios, dark and light are opposites. Opposites may be either natural or enforced. If grace is in any way real, then the absence of grace, either natural or enforced, is similarly real. Therefore, Noah could find grace in the eyes of the Lord while others around Noah experienced only the absence of grace, the natural opposite of grace. Likewise, the Israelites under Moses, found the enforced opposite of grace, aka the law.

Light is never the first thing to exist. Light only ever follows darkness. Darkness is the natural state of affairs. It took an act of God (creation) to switch on the light for light to oppose the darkness. In the same way, for grace, mercy and peace to exist, they had to follow their natural opposites. Mercy followed the absence or opposite of mercy. Grace followed the absence or opposite of grace. Peace followed the absence or opposite of peace.

You and I know how challenging the search for truth is. Discovering we were wrong, evolving our thinking as others speak into our lives and moving forward, even as we read the Bible or something like this are all fraught with emotional landmines. I get it.

Still, my hope is that those who have adopted this “new view” of a never angry God, will reconsider not dismissing the vast majority of Scripture plus Paul’s revolutionary teachings on them. Please consider all the Scriptures, rather than embracing another “one verse” view of salvation and the work of Christ. We’ve all been there, done that, and have the scars to show for it.

Really, this is no startling new doctrine. This is as old as the second-century gospel of Marcion, who, in what most religious scholars agree was the first Bible canon to be ever cobbled together, expunged all the things that opposed his view…but retained those things that accorded with his opinion, because neither could he accept that God could change. We should all be aware of that story and its lesson.

Here’s the bottom line. God evolved, if you will. He went from creator at Eden, to enemy after Eden, to friend when Jesus became Man at Bethlehem, to ONE at the new creation in Jerusalem. If we diminish any part of his story, and consequently diminish the power of God which transformed us into God-Men (as exampled by Jesus), we do so at our own peril—not eternal peril but emotional and societal peril in the here and now.

No longer are we in the image of God, nor are we enemies. Nor even friend, we are ONE!

If one eliminates the anger, wrath, judgment, jealousy and vengeance of God from the Scripture, then one must eliminate the peace, the mercy, and the grace of God to be intellectually honest and consistent. Or you can make-up a new denomination and not worry about intellectual honesty or logical consistency.

The anger of God was not only declared by Moses but, as though that wasn’t enough, reiterated by every major prophet, the angels, Paul, the disciples and, of course, Jesus himself!
My friends, here’s the good news. While the anger and wrath of God was real resulting in all its accompanying carnage and confusion, IT IS FINISHED!

Much Love,
Michael Williams

“God is no longer angry! His wrath is satisfied. It is for this purpose Jesus Christ bled and died. Comfort ye my people, tell them the war is won. And I made them righteous through the blood of my own son.” ~ From a song by Michael Blanch, Vice President MWM and the Gospel Revolution.

Wow! What a year 2015 was! First I would like to thank all of you who supported the Gospel Revolution during this past year. It was indeed a banner year because of you! Your monthly support kept us alive and your one-time gifts in each pledge drive are the boost we need every quarter to finish the task.

This last year we also experienced a measurable increase in understanding the gospel.

Issues of Heaven and Hell were clarified. Our understanding of exactly what “unity” with God looks like has also increased. Dualism is being exposed and defined as Beres and I both tackle the subject.

2015 brought with it a strong juxtaposition between the gospel and Christianity. Here is one of the most striking differences as we put them side by side: All Humans come with internal and external contradictions such as, “I love everyone, but I occasionally get angry.”

Christianity as a doctrine attempts to eliminate these contradictions. Lets face it, the contradictions never ever leave us. The only result in the pursuit of eliminating our contradictions is to become fake, phony, yes even liars or discouraged. Remember those days?

The gospel does not create a goal of ending human contradictions. The gospel synthesizes our contradictions. It gives us the ability to be honest about them with ourselves and others. It eliminates the “polar opposite” dynamics of contradictions, therefore bringing peace! That’s what the gospel is all about. Peace with God, peace with our self, and peace with others.

Kenya has become a major part of the GR in getting the gospel out, especially to the Muslim community. The School of The Scriptures is thriving and meeting as often as possible due to the rise in terror threats in Kenya. All kinds of religious backgrounds are proud to call themselves gospel revolutionaries in Africa.

Myanmar and Thailand have been added to the list of countries where the gospel is being shared at extreme risk to those who are sharing it and also to those who are attending classes and schools set up for the sole purpose of declaring the gospel of peace and grace.

This year much will be learned and shared in and from the gospel revolution and MWM.

From myself, Hazel, Jeff, Beres and our new project manager, Kris Novak, we once again extend to you our gratitude! Have a wonderful New Year!

Michael L Williams

PS Remeber! Beres and I will be speaking in Calgary Alberta on the subject of “Dualism” beginning Jan 23rd to the 25th. Jeff will be making more videos this year. Keep in touch!