This week I have finished my classes for my Masters degree. I still have my thesis to write, and I'll be working on that the rest of this year, but it's time to jump into a job that will pay bills, school loans, and help me in building my future. The last couple weeks have consisted of me meditating upon the future and where I'm going. Of course, that ends up with me meditating on who I am becoming.

I've realized that my life has drastically changed in the last year or so. I have new hobbies, new affinities, new behaviors, new friends, new desires, new joys. A lot of healing and good things have come to me in the past year and I'm thankful for them. For the most part I'm happy with who I've become. However, I'm never satisfied with who I am. 

When I look ahead I see myself in a good career, marrying a woman, and eventually being a father. Throughout it all, I want to pastor people and be a part of leading people into healthy discipleship. To be the kind of man who can do that I need to grow. I see that. So who do I want to be? I want to be a man who is...

• Above approach
• A one-woman sort of man
• Sober-minded and well reasoning
• Self-controlled
• Worthy of respect due to upstanding character and behavior
• Hospitable
• Able to teach
• Not a drunkard
• Not violent
• Gentle
• Not quarrelsome
• Not a lover of money
• A good manager of his home (which only consist of myself and a pug)
• Well thought of by those outside of the Church
• Not double-tongued but a man of his word
• Full of dignity
• Not a pursuing of dishonest gains
• Of clear conscience
• Tested

All of this comes from the requirements for overseers and deacons in 1 Timothy 3. The Church of God (Anderson, IN) raised me in my faith to be concerned with holiness to a high degree. In my pain and healing this last year I think I set that aside a bit. Now I realize this and want to remember that zealous pursuit of righteousness that I used to have. 

I'm not off the wagon on Christ-like living but I definitely know there is room to grow. I want to live a life worthy of possessing what I desire. I want a life that declares thankfulness for what Christ has done for me by giving him everything and being all he commands. I want to be the type of person other people want to be close to and be led by. I want to be the type of person others can have full confidence in. I want to be the type of person I can have full confidence in.

The final bulletpoint might be the most important right now. It proves all the others. I don't know when I'll be confident in that one, but it's the one I want the most.

I read/hear a lot of views on scripture. Some views are ones that destroy the credibility of the Bible and Gospel message for the person holding that view. Often, people hold these views and proclaim solely so that they will discredit the scriptures for others they come in contact with. Below are three things I hear a lot.

• A plain reading of scripture trumps understanding the "context" of a passage. More simply, context doesn't matter.
• Scholars hardly ever agree on the meanings and applications of scripture.
• The Bible has been translated so many times that the original message can no longer be known. 

Most of these views come from Atheists I know but that doesn't mean I don't hear the arguments from people of various beliefs, skeptic theists, and even Christians. Some people have heard these ideas so often and for so long that they can't avoid being persuaded by them. I certainly used to believe these views. However, they are unfair blanket statements and they derive from ignorance and/or stubborn disdain. In my case it was both.

I am about to finish my Masters of Arts in Biblical studies (with an emphasis on Koine Greek and the New Testament). My Bachelor of Science is in Pastoral Ministries (which was really just a bunch of bible classes, more specifically inductive bible study method classes). As someone who has spent his last 10 years studying the scriptures and church history (not all in formal schooling), I believe I have a view also worth considering on these matters. It may be more, less, or just as credible as some who make the above stated claims. I can't say rightly and it, of course, depends upon who is speaking. All I can say is that I used to be an Atheist and later an Agnostic. I'm someone who has explored various religions and lived in deep skepticism and disdain for Christianity. The reason I no longer believe the above statements to be true isn't because of divine revelation but because of honest observation and sober reasoning. Even if I abandoned Christianity I couldn't abandon the following views.

1. The plea for context is a fair one when it comes to any type of literature, not just the Christian scriptures. A lot of folks tend to think that Christians pick and choose what they like in the 66 books of the Bible and justify their inconsistency with the argument of context. Sure, people do that. People do a lot of irresponsible things. However, that doesn't discredit the need for context to explain a literary work. Without context ancient words become relative. The more removed one becomes from author's intent, cultural surroundings, ancient literary patterns, and the like, the more difficult it becomes to understand the text.

For instance, I come across many a young minds who know the Shakespearian line, "Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?" and think it means "Romeo, where are you?" This is an improper understanding of the text but without context it'd be hard to know that (Side-note: We need to teach our kids more Shakespeare). If one understand how people spoke in Shakespeare's time and place this confusion wouldn't exist. Also, if people read the surrounding text (literary context) they would see that Juliet's plea is for Romeo to have a different identity for it is that very identity which keeps them apart. Thus, she is asking not "where are you Romeo?" to Romeo himself (whom is hiding under her very nose without her knowledge at the time of the words being presented, which is more context) but rather "Why must you be Romeo?" 

Similarly, in the Christian scriptures, there are 66 different books which came about through a great span of time. They document a story between God and his people through all sorts of different literary forms such as poetry, historic recordings, myth, metaphor, proverbs, prophecy, and more. These literary forms derive from specific times and places, which employed unique and various secondary styles of these forms (Hebrew parallelism for example). The authors and recipients of these works tell the current reader a lot about the actual text just as any other text is better understood when it's author, audience, era, and culture from which it derived are understood. When a single text is observed and examined alongside its connected texts it makes more sense (as we just saw with the Shakespeare example). All of this is context. To understand how all these elements affect the text being read dramatically affects the way one understands the meaning and application of a specific text. This is why a person can read through the Bible and understand why certain passages in Leviticus, 2 Samuel, Job, or Isaiah, don't hold a permanent demand for obedience to people living here and now (for instance, stoning homosexuals is proven to be time and covenant locked and thus can't be obeyed in the Christian life). Understanding the literature, it's source, it's original recipients, the author's intent (often seen through their larger message), and the movement of narrative which exists throughout the 66 books, creates space for understanding. 

2. Despite disagreements on several elements of scripture, most Biblical scholars agree on what all deem the important issues. There will always be disgreements. And again, the further removed from the context of a piece of literary work one gets, the more likely it is t see confusion and thus disagreement. This view is often presented in such a way as to communicate that there is near no agreement on the meanings of scripture passages or their applications but church history (written and not) proves this wrong. Besides, disagreement is not grounds for discrediting a piece of literary work. For all my disagreements with Christian siblings, I find ten times as many agreements regarding the scriptures (and I travel is diverse packs of believers). 

Perhaps people buy into this idea because Church history is filled with debates, discussions, and even some bloodshed. What people forget is that much of these debates, discussion, and even bloodshed, ended in agreements, creeds, doctrines, and unity of proclamation and application. Sift through different creeds and statements of faith, and baptismal teachings of churches worldwide and you'll find that scholars agree on a plethora of issues. Sure, there are still disagreements but they don't outweigh the agreements by any means. Most denominations can agree on the big tenants of the faith and of the scriptural proclamations. Most disagreements are on small matters that can be looked at with the attitude of "agree to disagree." I'm an Anabaptist Protestant (redundant I know) yet I affirm most of what the Catholic Church teaches, and where we differ, healthy discussion exists (shoutout to my boy @Ancient_Scribe). 

3. The Bible has been translated more than any other book in history but this does not discredit the translation's legitimacy. The Bible was written in 3 different languages. The Old Testament is written in Hebrew and Aramaic. The New Testament is written in Koine Greek (now a dead language). Early manuscripts (even some originals) are available to humanity. It's remarkable how much witness exists for the texts, proving the original material to be heavily agreed upon. Part of my New Testament Greek studies have included textual analysis work which demands I investigate the translations made by the committees who have put together what is called the UBS4 (The Greek New Testament, Fourth Revised Edition). At the bottom of each page are footnotes providing a grade for verses with debatable translations due to the evidence of original or early manuscripts. Most of the verses are graded as highly agreed upon but some are debatable. However, these debates are over a few letters, a word, or a phrase, that often have very little affect on the meaning or application of the text. Really, it shows that the greek scholars are just fans of semantics. 

People have worked hard to study the original languages so that they can properly translate the original and early manuscripts into the desired language. My point here is that these scholars aren't translating a translation that came from a translation that came from a translation that came from a translation that came from a translation that came from a translation that... you get the idea. Any solid scholar (like the ones who make Bibles) translate directly from the original Greek, Hebrew, or Aramaic, into their desired language. If you have an NASB, ESV, or NIV Bible, odds are you'll find a few differences in them but not enough to legitimately claim the Bible isn't credible as though it was the 17th version of a xeroxed document which can't be read. If you think the English Bible you have isn't credible then learn Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic so you can read the original words. They are available. 

So if people try to tell you that we can't know what the Bible really says because of translations, or that nobody can ever agree on what the Bible says or means, or that a plain and uneducated reading is the most honest and helpful way to understand the Bible, don't give them too much of your ear. The Bible is big, multifaceted, ancient, and beautiful. We ought to approach it knowing all this and treating it as we would treat any large, multifaceted, ancient text; with humility. 

Anytime someone steers you away from the truth of the Bible they are a false teacher. Any time someone leads you into idolatry or convinces you to stop pursuing the revelation God has given humanity in any way but their own unique way, they are an enemy to the gospel. Often, people who do these things find ways to profit off of their efforts.

I've recently been exploring a website that is run by a guy who, I believe, does these things. I don't normally focus on these sorts of things but this guy has me so perplexed that I felt the need to at least present some of his words to others and get opinions. 

Below are some of his tweets and self-proclaimed proverbs. From time to time I'll supply my own commentary. I'll also give you some info he's presented about himself as well as some random teachings he has made available to the public. 

 Tweets:

"In Jesus' day the demoniacs were naked and lived in the cemetary. Now they wear suits and teach at the seminary." Demoniacs are demon possessed people.

 "Religious demons learn the bible in hell by exegesis." Exegesis is the process of pulling meaning out of a text. It's antithesis is Eisegesis which is the process of reading meaning into a text. Exegesis seeks to understand what a text originally meant to communicate and eisegesis seeks to make a text mean what the reader desires. 

"Theology is 100% the tree of knowledge of good and evil, pure soulishness, another name for that tree is... satan." Theology is, simply, the study of God. This person thinks the study of God is satan.

"There is no such thing as 'good theology.' All theology is demonic, and is the knowledge satan had as lucifer while he was a cheribim." 

What's interesting about these above quotes is that they come from the same guy who sells "Intensive schools" on his website. These "intensive schools" are his teachings about God and they range from $35-$50. 

"If your praying does not increase your intoxication, then you are babbling like the pagans." This intoxication mentioned is a literal, physical, intoxication that he calls "getting high/drunk off the Spirit." In other words, if your prayers don't lead you into an intoxication, they are pointless. I recently wrote a blog about this sort of notion.

"Physical Christ emanating through your pores reveals who you are... A God. Muahahaha!" If we are God then what/who is God? This goes against the idea that there is only one God, which scripture very consistently teaches.

"When people ask me what I do, I tell them I run a global conglomerate, aka the kingdom of God." In other words, he runs the kingdom of God. In scripture, only God does that. It's God's kingdom. 

"A Christian is NOT human! He is spirit!" Scripture doesn't communicate that a person's human nature dissipates after they are baptised into the Christian faith. Nothing in scripture teaches that Christians will ever cease to be human, only that they will have spiritual bodies upon resurrection.

Proverbs:

"Satan's fall was caused by lightning. He is not lightning."

"The 7 spirits of God are our best friends." This goes along with his teaching that there are 7 spirits of God which are not the Holy Spirit which are defined by the colors of the rainbow. No scripture backs his claims but the graph can be found on his website.

"We are God's uranium beings enriched by the 7 spirits and manifesting a living nuclear holocaust of glory."

"There will be a demon-free zone in the entire USA by 2027."

"Percy is on the payroll!"

"There is absolutely no such thing as "The 10 Commandments." They are the marriage contract between God and His Bride."

"Jesus Christ did not preach the cross. He preached the knowledge of the glory."

"Monatomic gold aids in shape shifting." This is important because you can actually buy, exclusively from this website, monatomic gold oils which are produced by "angel technology" from about $40 a bottle. There are also two forms of Diamond oils for sale on the website. 

"The sight of the demon hordes ready to battle gets me all titillated."

"I admit, I'm a little sadistic when it comes to torturing demons."

"Melchizedek is 150 billion years old."

"The 7 spirits of God are 150 billion years old."

"Song of Solomon is King."

"A dove has 8 main flying feathers, 7 main under girding feathers, and 5 main tail feathers. Your spirit has 8 gates, your soul has 7 gates,

6and your body has 5 gates. You must have your gates open releasing the glory in order to fly."

"To say you have the mind of Christ and not have a photographic memory is error. Is Jesus not the essence of genius?" When the phrase "mind of Christ" is used in scripture it does not mean being a 'genius' or having a photographic memory.

"Ether is angel food."

"The color in your cloud exactly measures your maturity in Christ."

"Your spirit man is going to transform your soul, then transfigure your body." I'm curious as to where God operates in this process for the guy. It seems that we change ourselves completely, without God.

"The fruits of the religious demon are: Debates, Legalism, Opinions, Criticisms, and Judgments. If you see these antichrist fruits in your life simply tell the spirit world you divorce Jezebel, and are married to Jesus. Religion is the most deadly strategy Satan has to kill, steal, and destroy." What's interesting about this is that Jesus and his Apostles entered into debates, shared their opinions, brought forth criticisms, and even judgments in scripture. 

"The only way to write a book is in a concentration ecstasy."

"You must ask yourself... would the fire of God burn the Koran?"

"A son of God's vibrations disciple DNA."

"The most dangerous thing about teknons is they think they know everything."

"We are not human beings. We are supernatural spirit beings becoming living beings by direct revelation from Jesus Christ. A human being is only functioning with 2/3 of their being: soul, and body. 2/3=.666. A 666 is a human being aka the beast nature." I'm not sure where these calculations derive from (though he has a numerology chart on his site and invests heavily in it) but God created humans and called them good. This seems to contradict God's opinion and scripture.

"The Lord is so gangster He makes the Jewish Syndicate look like 7 year old Mennonite school girls."

"It is hard to relate to the holy angels if you don't eat angel food. Eat ether."

"If you are faithful with familial government, I will promote you to cosmopolis governmental glory. If you are faithful with cosmopolis glory, I will promote you to national governmental glory leadership. If you are faithful with that measure, I will promote you to global governmental glory. If you are faithful with a global glory portal, I will promote you to galactic governmental glory says the Lord." He ends this with "says the Lord" but it's not in scripture so this must be a message he alone has heard. 

"I hope everyone in church minds if I be their oxygen this morning. -The Lord" 

"Look to the subatomic level."

"The wise builder builds upon the rock(his spirit). The foolish builder builds upon the sand(his soul). The storms will rage, and only that which is built upon your spirit life will remain. Don't waste time with vain soulish nonsense." This type of spirit vs. Soul teaching doesn't exist in scripture. The parable of the man who built his house on the Rock is about Jesus Christ not ones own Spirit.

"Do you want to know one of the things Satan fears most? Joel's Army with money." Joel's Army is the collection of true believer's in this man's teachings. It's interesting that the most impacting Christians through time have tended to be poor and that the scriptures speak about weakness and poverty being avenues by which God works, as opposed to strength and riches.

"You can't pastor cats."

"It is available to every Christian to see at least 300 years into the future." This is not scripturally accurate.

There are many more proverbs on his website that you can examine. The link is at the bottom of this article. Some of these proverbs are not proverbs at all. Many are poorly constructed in terms of grammar and don't make sense, or are not clear to the common reader, unlike most of the proverbs found in the Bible. If these are meant to be edifying then many of them fail (such as "Percy is on the payroll" and "you can't pastor cats"). 

In his testimony he states "I know I have a 7-fold office ministry gift (judge, king, apostle, prophet, teacher, evangelist, pastor). . ." The most interesting of all these is "king" because he doesn't explain it and he isn't a king in the governmental sense and nobody in scripture calls themselves a king in any other form outside of God. Brandon seems to believe he is very unique in the kingdom of God and has been given much authority and influence. If this were true, he'd be stewarding these gifts very poorly as he offers many claims and teachings without explanation or biblical support. Most of what he presents seems to be unique to his opinions. At the beginning of these quotes he proclaimed his disapproval for exegesis. My theory is that he has a distaste for exegesis, good theology, and seminarians, because he's a master of eisegesis, has bad theology, and no seminarians agree with him. While he may think this is a consequence of being right and holy I imagine he'd have a hard time finding Christians who agree with him. 

Full of contradictions, biblically unsound teaching, items for purchase, and confusing ramblings and sayings, this is Brandon Barthrop of Red Letter Ministries and you can explore his website at http://www.redlettermin.com. 

What are your big thoughts on this guy and what he has brought forth? Is he a false prophet?