NON-NEGOTIABLES
Early in the 2000s the Holy Spirit spoke to me in prayer. He showed me a video where I was walking up a dusty dirt road. It was hot and hard. I glanced down as I strode up that hill and saw my friends enjoying each other’s company in a shady area next to a cool stream. I told the Lord that I wanted to go down there with them instead. He calmly but deliberately told me that it would be hard and painful, but when I got to the top of the hill I’d see His Kingdom more clearly.
I’ve learned a great deal journeying up that dusty road.
Over the next few months I hope to blog about some of what I’ve learned. My writings will range from personal lessons the Lord has taught me to doctrinal issues, and a great deal about the end-times, Israel in the end-times, and the millennial age. I’ve studied Daniel extensively during these years and have to admit that I have become extremely fond of Daniel 9:24-27.
My kick-off is my Non-negotiables. Non-negotiables when choosing a fellowship of believers to run with.
I’m a theology based person who loves the ministry of the Holy Spirit. I love His gifts, I love it when He moves and manifests His presence – I love everything about the Holy Spirit. I love the Bible. I love to study it. I love theology. Theology reveals God. Theology makes me happy. I love eschatology. I love to study it and listen to and read others who know more than I do – even those who are wrong about their conclusion. Yes, I said that. Pre-trib rapture/dispensationalism is wrong. I will have a lot to say about eschatology in further blogs.
Salvation must be clear. It must be clearly stated as only through faith in the finished work of Jesus. We are completely forgiven and declared righteous through Jesus Christ. He completely fulfilled and satisfied the righteous requirements of the Law. Any works we perform as Christians are due to the inner working of the Holy Spirit within us and through us. They do not improve our standing before the Father.
Calvinism. I will not belong to a group of people who adhere to Calvinism. A Calvinist believes in a different God than I do. Their God is not the God of the Bible. Scripture says that Jesus, motivated by love, died for the sins of the WHOLE world, for all sinners, and is not willing that any should perish. We get to choose whether or not to receive Him; His salvation is available, if we want Him. God created humans with a freewill. True love chooses to love. Calvinism doesn’t believe that very basic of all basics.
Cessationism: Gifts of the Spirit must be welcomed and pursued. God’s miraculous power is displayed through people from Genesis through Revelation. 1 Corinthians 14 says that believers are to earnestly desire and seek to abound in spiritual gifts. Forbidding speaking tongues is anti-biblical. Acts is full of God demonstrating His power through people. How gifts operate within the church is elder directed.
The Baptism of the Holy Spirit. The Baptism in the Holy Spirit is the Promise of the Father, which Jesus talked about (Acts 1:4) The Baptism in the Holy Spirit began in Acts 2— it is the fulfillment of Pentecost, as Jesus’ sacrifice is the fulfillment of Passover. (The church began when Jesus first breathed into His disciples after His resurrection and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” They were at that moment born-again; the church began – the New Covenant was available to all following His resurrection.)
Demons INSIDE Christians. I do not tolerate the belief that Christians are or can be indwelt by a demon or demons. This belief directs the whole mindset and paradigm of body ministry. Yes, were are harassed by demons, pursued by demons, deceived by demons, hindered by demons, etc. They want to destroy us. But when we become inhabited by the Holy Spirit – quite literally possessed by the Holy Spirit – there is no longer room for a demon to inhabit the place the Holy Spirit inhabits. God doesn’t have roommates. Many Christians build from erroneous exegesis teaching that demons can inhabit a Christian. They then build deliverance ministries on their foundation of their experience with demons. Demons are liars – they want us to believe their doctrines. 1 (Timothy 4:1) Most of what I hear is based on scriptures like Luke 13:16 (A daughter of Abraham whom Satan had bound for 18 years) and Matthew 15:21-28 and Mark 7:24-30 – both are about a Gentile woman whose daughter was demon-possessed. Jesus said that casting out demons was “the children’s bread” and that He was sent ONLY TO the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Hence, the children’s bread means Israel’s bread, in this context. It doesn’t mean, as some erroneously state, that it is the Christian’s bread, since we are now the children of God. When reading the Gospels it is essential to acknowledge that they (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) are all still under the Old Covenant even though they are included under the New Testament heading—Jesus had not yet been crucified, buried, and resurrected. The New Covenant is in His Blood. The New Covenant was not enacted until His resurrection. The first New Covenant believers were in John 20:22 when Jesus breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Demons cannot live in a Christian.
A Pursuit of God. A community of believers who are intentional about pursuing the Lord through worship, prayer, and true knowledge of the scriptures is a must. I want people around me who will spur me on to go deeper and know Him better. I want to worship with people who want God and want to experience Him.
I will NOT be a part of a church whose eschatology is Preterism, Amillennialism, Partial-Preterism, or one that has an overemphasized and misplaced focus on the Pre-trib Rapture/Dispensationalism. I have been a part of three Calvary Chapels. Although all three believed in and taught a pre-trib rapture eschatology, one of them brought it up almost every service. The other two taught it, but it wasn't their main focus. Those two churches as a whole are very sound biblical wonderful churches and I miss them. However, the third one was intolerable for many reasons. One night the founding pastor taught on the pre-trib rapture. When he passed through Titus 2 he said that the pre-trib rapture isn’t just our hope—it is our ONLY hope. One of the stupidest things I’ve ever heard a pastor say. That’s what I mean by an an overemphasized and misplaced focus on Pre-trib/Dispensationalism. I plan to devote an entire blog to that subjest, so I’ll end with that for now.
Blanket Morality: God says that His leaders are to be above reproach. This too is non-negotiable. 1 Timothy and Titus both list characteristics leaders are to have. Along with those clearly defined in 1 Timothy and Titus I won’t follow someone who is mean, condescending, biblically illiterate, feminine, or who thinks women should be a wall flower. Leaders are to be honest in morality, doctrinal integrity, and character.
Pretty simple really.
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