We think this question and its answer is so important, it warranted a special Sunday Good News Letter.
Recently, a gentleman, we’ll call him Tim, was recently blocked from a Gospel Revolution Facebook page. Why would we block someone from one of our platforms when our entire passion is to reach the whole world with this amazing Gospel message? This, especially, in the light of the fact that I have called-out others for blocking me from their pages as being childish.
Is this hypocritical? Is there a difference? Let’s examine this together.
First of all, Tim has been blocked because he was using the GR page only to share his “beliefs”, not to engage in a conversation. He refused to answer any questions posed by several other people.
Learning and growth both come from asking questions, not just hearing a teacher. As we’ve said at least 467 times, questions are the lifeblood of the Gospel Revolution!
When Jesus stayed behind after Passover at about age 13, his parents noticed him missing after about a two days journey. First of all, Mary and Joseph may have flunked “Parenting 101”. Not realizing your kid was gone for two days? But I digress. The story tells us they went back and found their son in the temple. What was the young Messiah doing there? He was both listening and asking them questions! Understanding this story changed my life forever.
Decades ago I began requesting and taking questions at my meetings. This was just not done in Word of Faith circles. In fact, I was instructed to NOT take questions. I had forgotten exactly why I began to defy my religious mentors . However, then I remembered the story. Up until that time, everyone who had mentioned or taught the story to me, said “Jesus was found teaching in the temple”. Imagine my surprise to find that the King of Kings and Lord of Lords was asking questions!
Open dialogue is what has led to humanity’s greatest advancements in the history of civilization. When Greek philosophers would stand espousing their views, they full-well expected questions were to follow. Socrates lost his life because of his commitment to a public forum. Roman democracy was built on the same principle. Teachers teach. Students ask questions. This was done and encouraged openly!
Here is a major problem that has developed in our society over a few decades, and has been exacerbated since the advent of the internet and social media. Everybody wants to teach or preach. However, nobody wants to be questioned.
Again, questions are the lifeblood of the Gospel Revolution!
Academia is now built around “talking heads”. Imagine where we would be if you could not ask questions in medical school or the science lab. Modern medicine would certainly not have developed in the lab if people could not ask questions and expect a respectful response. All progress comes from questions. In a sincere desire to uncover truth, there is no such thing as a stupid question. It is an vitally important part of the process. In fact, most major historical advancements came when people broke away from conventional wisdom and research to begin their own investigation. Why did they break away? Because people could not or were not willing to answer their questions. The Apostle Paul, Galileo, the Wright Brothers, Albert Einstein, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Elon Musk…the list has thousands of names on it.
Like religion, today’s educational system is dogma centric. It is built around a “talking head” (aka the teacher or preacher or pastor or priest). They ask the questions they think they know the answer to. Then the student (aka the public or audience or Facebook group) is judged to see if they passed the test by agreeing.
In the end, nobody can say they seek the truth without being open to and subjected to questions. After all, a thesis or theory cannot be proven. It can only be dis-proven.
If one does not like and embrace questions, one does not like, let alone love, truth very much at all.
When the teacher is the only one who truly gets to ask the questions, they are the ones in control of the narrative and the intellectual process. When the pupil is allowed and encouraged to ask the questions, both the pupil AND the teacher learn and grow. What a magical moment that is! Civilizations become more civil. As a result, they grow and expand to the betterment of already righteous humans (which, of course is everyone).
So, just why is Facebook so toxic to educational and intellectual pursuits? Even people who enjoy it agree that it has become rather putrid. But nobody seems to know why.
Sadly, Facebook is simply mirroring our current attitude toward education and intellectual curiosity and our social structures as a whole. It is all talk, little listening and even less willingness to receive questioning. This, my friends is an intellectual and educational cesspool. It is a wasteland of people finding their identities in their religion, political persuasion, sports teams—anything but the truth of our complete righteousness and unity, the finished work of Christ and the accuracy and legitimacy of the Scriptures – the actual Scriptures. A lot more on the importance of understanding that coming your way soon!
Don Keithley, Global Grace Seminary, and many others have blocked me from their platforms for simply offering a thought or a question. One of Global Grace’s graduates wrote to us, “I do not remember Don asking for comments”.
What was your process in school? Did you just answer the questions posed by the teacher at the end of the term just to get a good grade? Maybe, just maybe, you should have questioned the teacher and what was being taught. Everyone involved may have benefited tremendously from that process. But it is the teachers who must remain open to being questioned and desiring dialogue.
So, why did we block Tim? Because he refused to address our questions and only sought to “teach”. His effort to indoctrinate us with his beliefs was wasting our time (and his), That is why. And if there is one thing you learn as you get older, is time is an incredibly valuable commodity. It is in very short supply during our unique sojourn here. We really have no more time to waste. Having written that, we have never, nor will ever, block someone for asking questions in a sincere desire to dialogue and understand.
More now than ever, it is time for a Gospel Revolution! How people effectively learn is directly linked to emotional security which follows consistent, persistent, repetitive (CPR) exposure to the Gospel. It is how we learn who we actually are which allows us to receive and respond to honest and respectful questioning. Or is it the other way around? Does how we learn effect our ability to receive the Gospel and our true identity?
Much Love,
Michael
eh guys,
this is the third time i have asked this question.
rom 8:11-13
if we are quickened what is this living after the flesh stuff???
any help would be HELPFUL to my little mind!
Don
My assumption is at the GR people answered the question somewhere for you.
I am not sure what you’re asking so if you could clarify what you mean by your question: What’s all this about flesh if we’re already alive, I could probably give you a better answer.
But let me take a stab at it.
It’s a given by Paul that we are already living by the spirit and not by the flesh. But and this is a big BUT, we’re producing thoughts that are contrary to what is life.
Without Jesus we have thoughts that produce death.
Paul wants us to compare who we are, one with God, what we have, the mind of Christ, to the thoughts that we have which are sometimes diametrically opposed to that identity and would produce death without Jesus.
Paul wants us to take those thoughts captive. And bring our thoughts back into alignment with The Truth and the highest standards of a God being.
Eternal life is to know God and the one whom he sent. And to know who we are in relationship to them. Then act according to those high standards. The high standards of a god being.
Which would look like in real time for instance.
Don’t take anything personally I don’t know you just using this as an example. I
do not know what you think about these things in the real world. Or what you
think or believe about anything.
God entering into a new covenant with man at the cross.
We prayed thy Kingdom come. His Kingdom came in the form of Jesus. He teaches us to not learn war anymore.
The Kingdom looks like living at peace with everyone as far as it is possible.
It looks like bless those who persecute you. It looks like esteeming others greater than yourself. It looks like submitting to others. It looks like compromise. It looks like give food and drink to your enemies.
By that standard shouldn’t we be beating our Abrams tanks into John Deere tractors and giving them to Hamas and Putin and Korea and China?
From my perspective that’s an example of what it means to be spiritually minded and not carnally minded.
Many people believe our thoughts come from one of these sources:
· Ourselves
· Society
· Satan
· God
Our task is to identify the thoughts coming from a fleshly source, or cardinal source and replace them with thoughts of truth and then be that truth for others.
Paul is not saying we can lose our eternal life.
Paul is saying compare and contrast the way we are thinking with what it means to have the mind of Christ. Then align, Our thinking, Our values, Ones not forced on us. But ones that belong to us and we would be willing to die for, even if we did not believe in a resurrection.
We are not to do things because we dread the loss of heaven, or the pains of hell, or ultimate death. But to do things because there’s the right things to do.
Paul is saying,
[Rom 12:2 NKJV]
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what [is] that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
We renew our mind by taking every thought captive.
We live according to the spirit by taking every thought captive so that it produces within ourselves Love, joy, peace, gentleness, kindness, goodness, patience and self-control which spills out onto the world in creative works of love.
Which provokes others to love and to create good works
Creating the great cycle of life
of doing for others what we want them to do for us
that goes on forever
Because that is the way. the truth and life…It is the way to walk in Spirit
I hope this answered your question.