First and foremost, this book is not meant to condemn or criticize any Christian religion. It is merely meant to be a guide for the Body of Christ to get back to her original roots. Quite frankly, most of the things that I mention as being un-Biblical, I have done myself at one time or another. Also, many things that I share, God has either convicted me of them or He's given them to me to learn by. I'm simply sharing them with others. I fall on my face before God and pray that he will purge us of every wrong deed we do. And I also tell the Lord, "Start here."
"Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults. Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer." Psalm 19:12-14
If you read something that you disagree with and have been faithfully doing for years, check it out in the Word of God. Don’t just get mad. Look and see if what you are doing as a member of the Body of Christ was being done or taught in the original Church. If it wasn’t, prayerfully seek the Lord for guidance. If you think I've said something incorrectly, please write me. I love to discuss this subject matter.
Secondly, the only source that will be used for reference is the
Word of God, known more commonly as the Bible. History, legends,
traditions, and hearsay are not being considered as sources of
doctrine in this book.
Thirdly, if you are reading this book and do not believe that
the Bible is God’s inspired word to the world, you are likely
to have problems with some of the doctrine. (I just want to warn
you.) The basis of this book is that the Bible is God’s only inspired word to His people ... known to us today. Personally, I think it is the only book that anyone truly needs. If a person has to use any other book, ideology, tradition
or presumption to back up his or her doctrine, I believe that
he or she is making an eternal mistake.
Also, I am not writing for style nor literary excellence. I hope to keep things short and simple, and easy to read and study. This book should be read with Bible in hand -- so you may check for yourself what is written in the Word of God. I don’t expect or suggest that you take anyone’s word for what is in the Bible, including mine. In the seventeenth chapter of Acts, the people of Berea searched the scriptures daily to see if what Paul and Silas preached unto them was so (Acts 17:11). Don’t do any less -- we are talking about eternal life. “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” Philippians 2:12
Finally, may Almighty God in Christ Yeshua lead everyone who is sincerely seeking Him into all truth and (most importantly) in the love of God. I continually pray that today’s Body of Christ will be exactly what the Lord wants her to be (myself included). I also continually pray for Spirit and Truth -- God’s Spirit and Truth! As Yeshua said, “... the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23, 24). And, “Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth,” he also prayed in the Gospel of John 17:17. Amen.
As I mentioned, I am constantly praying, "Purge us (the Body of Christ, or, the Church), Lord. And You can start right here; start right here with me. Purge us of all things in our lives that are displeasing to You, and that separate us from You."
P.S. For thorough study, I suggest the The Interlinear Bible.* Here, you may read the exact Hebrew and Greek texts, word for
word. I also recommend Abingdon’s Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible** which has a dictionary of the original Hebrew and Greek meanings in the back of the book. (You don’t need these books to be able to find salvation; but they are just tools of study.) Quoted scriptures in this book are usually from the King James version of the Bible.
P.S.S. Recently, I've also added the Septuagint*** to my study materials and the thesaurus to the Septuagint***. I have found the Septuagint especially helpful when there is confusion of a definition. For example, there is confusion to the meaning of "shorn" in the New Testament, 1 Corinthians (KJV). Some people believe the word means "cut," and so they teach women to never "cut" their hair. But, when the word is researched in the Septuagint, you will see that it is used only in places where "shave" was used in the original Hebrew. You have to be very careful what you are teaching people for doctrine. I've made mistakes in teaching people things that I had been taught. But, when I searched the scriptures for myself, I found I had made a mistake.
Footnotes
* The Interlinear Bible: edited and translated by Jay P. Green,
Sr.; the Trinitarian Bible Society, London.
** Abingdon’s Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible: compiled by James Strong; Abingdon, Nashville.
*** The Septuagint and the thesaurus to the Septuagint may both be easily purchased from Amazon.com, and many other book stores.