BTZ Blog

The foundation of a lasting relationship is not commonality, is not give and take, it is not sexual gratification, and it is not to fulfill selfish desires to fuel a ego trip. The foundation of relationship is LOVE! The foundation of love is death to self, if you die to self a good relationship is assured because you are in it for the other person. In a relationship, perseverance and endurance with patience is love for the other person. If two people are in the relationship for the other person’s benefit it will last whatever storm may assail.

Assumptions not only influence how we read things they also influence the conclusions we draw by making what we read agree with what we think or want it to mean. Is it possible that our presuppositions can lead us down a different path than the text we read was meant to take us? For instance, practically everyone is told what “Christianity” is and what the “Bible” says and means before reading it carefully for themselves. The problem with that is; what you have heard may be from people who have interpreted the Bible in light of what they believe instead of letting the Bible formulated what they believe. Interpreting the Bible in light of what we believe is one reason there are so many different doctrines and denominations in existence.

Though KNOWLEDGE about God may be useful and is widely used in Sunday-go-meetings, KNOWLEDGE alone is an hindrance to KNOWING God personally. God's ways are beyond comprehension by man's natural KNOWER. To acquire KNOWLEDGE of God to where your KNOWER KNOWS God, we need to abide in the heart of God. To abide in the heart of God is to abide in the LOVE of God because God is LOVE. To live in His LOVE daily and lovingly love people, is truly the pure work of God. It is in the LOVE of God where the POWER of God resides and from there it is genuinely manifested.  KNOWLEDGE of God without application of God's LOVE is "another" gospel!

Do you have room in your heart and soul for Divine Love? If you do then accept that Love, then share that love with people. It has been said; “the degree to which you give of yourself selflessly, is an indication of the degree to which you love”.

The TRUTH of the matter is, being a BELIEVER in Jesus far exceeds that of being a "CHURCH MEMBER" who is deemed to be a good Christian because of adherence to the codes and creeds and is faithful in caring out the deeds.

Scriptural relevancy is always relevant to the true revelation of its context! Though the relevancy of scripture is always relevant, it may not be relevant to “our perceived contextual revelation” as to the true revelation that its relevancy is relevant to.

Our time on this earth is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by the philosophies or doctrines of men and live consorting to other people's believing. Don't let the noise of peoples opinion drown out the inner voice of the Spirit within, follow your heart and your  God given intuition. The Spirit reveals through the word to your heart who God is and who you are in Christ. Everything else is secondary.  Man has dressed Christ up in a garb that renders Him virtually unrecognizable as to Who He really is, and how to pleas Him. Jesus simply wants a relationship with you without the pomp of religiosity, where He lives His life through you in loving people. Get to know the real Jesus.

The major way God chose to bless people is through other people and sometimes the people that bless us are not aware that they have blessed us. So if you are blessed by someone it may be a good idea to let them know you are thankful for the blessing. You know what that means... YOU ARE A BLESSING TO PEOPLE!

Life is all about choices, our choices determine who we are and where we are today and where we are going. Touching others, and being touched by the acts of others is determined by the choices we make. Life is about who we really are. It's about finding our true selves and being honest about what we feel and what we believe every hour of every day. It is of paramount importance that each of us never surrender those things we know are right and true within ourselves in order to be accepted by the religious world. To do so will leave us feeling like we've betrayed the foundations of who we are. Never surrender the honesty of your hopes, your dreams, or your values, no matter hoe pressured you are to do so. In the end, the person you really have to live with 100 % of your life time isn't your parents, your friends, or those who pressure you into doing things their way. You have to live with YOU. Life is not about being the best preacher, the best teacher, the best lawyer, the ...

The Bible, the written word is not a manual of rules containing the do’s and don’ts of religion that one must follow to get to God and please Him.  It is a love letter map from God leading people along the path to a relational  journey with God through Jesus the Word, that will be authenticated by a love relationship with people.

Never forget from where you came. Never lose sight of where or who you are. And always look forward to where you want to go to chart your course through the sea of life. Travel so that the memory of the journey will be recounted by other travelers you met along the way that lead them to say...there is something different about that person!

What’s in your attitude...YOU! You want to know what other people see in you? Your attitude is the MIRROR that reflects you true. The attitude you show is the you, people know. Search for What’s in your attitude...YOU! You want to know what other p ... Search for a map Translate Source: Attribution goes here About Bing Highlights Bing Highlights Version 1.0.0 (12) Copyright © 2010 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Support Source: Attribution goes here About Bing Highlights

Within our souls we hold our values and our beliefs about life. In our hearts we hold our ideals and our passions. We are one in Christ, we are His Body therefore, we ought to be one as the Father and the Son are one. By living everyday cogent of Christ in us, we find meaning in ourselves, meaning in our lives, and meaning in our hearts. May the meaning we find be meaningful to others. We touch others every day with our words, with our attitudes, our actions, and with our joy,  and yes, with our pain and grief. And they in turn touch our hearts in similar ways. The world isn't perfect, but the choices we make are ours alone, based solidly upon our values and ideals. Being in Christ we can choose every day to be loving, compassionate, helpful to those in need, caring, and inspiring others with our words, with our living, with our hopes and our dreams. 

We are continually bombarded by things that are supposedly important...but important to who? What is important to me, may not be important to you and what we deem important to us may not be important to God. What we consider important may not really be important in the overall big picture? Do we need someone else to compare ourselves to to feel important, or do we need someone to praise us to feel important? Some people belittle someone else to feel important, or compare themselves to others to believe they're more important. But are they really as important as they feel they are? Does feeling important have anything to do with being important? Is being important really that important? What matter does the importance of one thing have over another? Who decides what's more important? Is your importance more important than my importance? We lose our way from time to time when we forget what's important to us. Some spend a lifetime looking and never think they find it. We...

Don't think that I know it all, especially when it attains to the things of God. Don't condemn people because they do not believe the way I do. Don't dig out the faults of people to plant in other people. Don't criticize people. Don't judge people Don't hold grudges. Don't be unforgiving to people. Don't belittle people. Don't be a deceiver. Don't be a liar. Don't be unkind to people. Don't be unfriendly to people. Don't think that my religion is the right religion...it is better to think that no religion is the right religion. Don't put religion above relationship. Don't blame God for your adverse circumstances. Don't play the shame and blame game. Don't cater to division in the Body of Christ, cater to unity. Don't get caught in the trap of doing church rather than being the Church. Don't get caught in the performance trap to gain man's or God's approval. Don't be a run off at t...

People...do not lose hope, the God of all comfort is with you, you are in His hand, He is your hope, in His strength stand. Take your stand, refuse to be defeated, keep your eyes stayed on your God as through this life you go, He will lead you through the roughest circumstances to the peace that awaits you, rest in His love, it will take you through you know. The battle is His and the victory is yours, He will help you win the race by His grace. You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. Speak the word of God in your circumstances, He is the Word and His word is true is true.

Knowing the will of God is not the most important thing in life, knowing God is the most important thing in life. If you only know the will of God you can run from it, but if you KNOW GOD you are in His will and you will want to run with it.

Western religious mentality has formed in the mind of believers, the idea that the people involved in "full time public ministry" are graced with super spiritual antennas that receive the will of God for the less spiritual common folk called the "laity", and these super spiritual people are the pipeline God uses to let the not so spiritual people know what He wants them to know. HOGWASH! I believe it is the quiet deeds of faith, the steadfast heart, the humble service of being simply a believer over the years of a lifetime that is really pleasing to God, Jesus Himself said He was humble and meek and to learn from Him. Most will serve Him, in the unobserved moment by moment willingness to bear the burdens of life in a fallen world, never receiving accolades from the public arena. Yet, God, who sees in secret, will indeed see their deeds of loving faithfulness, though they are not in the public arena. At the reward giving ceremony, there are going to be great disapp...

Is there a need for celebrity preacher-tainers, selling the Gospel for money, luring people to pay for prayer cloths, crosses, holy water, or pictures of Jesus, the Virgin Mary and preacher-tricksters who promise some kind of blessing from these things. This is more like the tactics of witchcraft. Your common psychic will sell you an object with a promise of some type of blessing. There is no difference between this kind of manipulation than Occult deception. Giving should be without pleas, threats or promises of some kind of reward for your giving.

Ephesians 4, Paul makes reference to two different kinds of unity. Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (verse 3) Till we all come in the unity of the faith. (verse 13) It is not coincidental that Paul refers to the unity of the Spirit first. Without the unity of the Spirit we will never realize the unity of the faith. Historically we have seen many attempts at the unity of the faith, which have all resulted in greater disunity. Evidence of this is strewn throughout our communities in the form of cathedrals, temples, and "church buildings." Truth is not something, which can be realized by mental ascent. According to Paul, Knowledge puffs up, but Love edifies. And if any man think that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know (1 Corinthians 8:1-2). If we cannot love one another, keeping the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, we will never see the unity of the faith. I am sure we all have seen the damage done by pe...

Some of the questions that are expressed by non-believers and some believers alike are; Why are there so many different denominations that separate people into different groups based on doctrinal difference, all the while saying, they are under one Head who is Jesus Christ? Why can't people who say they follow Christ get along with each other enough to travel the same path in unity? If Jesus is the Head and He is providing the different paths for the different religious denominations to follow, it is only logical to think that He has multi personalities and each personality do not know what the other is doing. Although He prayed for unity in His body, He is promoting division and doctrinal differences that can never unite. I am inclined to believe that someone other than Jesus the Head, is planting such unbelievable ideas and acceptance of the different paths of denominationalism! In reply to such questions, some of the adherents to this religious mentality make an a...

Is it possible that the Christendom is shrouded in blindness not to see the diabolical dissension  it is portraying, in opposition to scripture, in their segregating of the Body of Christ and hindering His His prayer for unity, (Jn 17:20-23). Is it possible that its understanding is shrouded as to the carnal nature of division, and why segregation into denominational camps is a carnal man invented divisional system, (1 Co 3:3-4).

If I feel gratified and superior in finding faults in others there is a great probability that I have far greater faults in myself that I am trying to hide to make myself feel better than the one I find shortcomings in. Understanding this, I ought to be extremely careful in my assessments and modest in my expression of censure...because I am really telling people around me my own shortcomings!  It is wiser still, and more in accordance with the Spirit of Christ..for me to find good things in others, and to be silent regarding their faults. What I say about others is the window that people look through to see the person that I am.  May the reflection of my talking reflect the character of Christ so that others will sense His love and kindness!

When the focus of an organization is on the importance of protecting the reputation of a system and the people in power who head up and control that system than it is to protect the human dignity of people, you can bank on  it being blame and shame based, condemnatory, where money drives ethics and accountability is a farce.  In organizational systems where respect and the dignity of people are the focus, the blame and shame game is not played. There is no leading by manipulative fear mongering by using scripture verses out of context. Love and empathy is valued above the organization and it’s structure, and people’s need for their sense of belonging is not used as leverage to bind people to rules and regulations as a manipulative way to control them. To protect one’s organization at the cost of protecting people is not the way of love thus, not the way people are to operate in the kingdom of God!

The thrust of the gospel is not about believers living for Christ or working for Christ which has been and is the mentality of the religious environment. The effectiveness of such a concept has fallen far short of caring out the commission of Christ to "go into all the world and preach the gospel, making disciples of all nations". The working for Christ syndrome contributes to the reason that some 90% of the finances flowing into the coffers of religious organizations is consumed by selfish expenditures on man invented projects,  and on keeping the religious wheels in motion. The effectiveness of the gospel is in the understanding of our being in Christ and He in us, and our allowing Christ to do HIS work in us and through us as we work with Him to accomplish His purpose. Man's concocted projects and programs that we want God to come on board with and bless and is successful within the religious world, is not necessarily validation that it is God's work. Not real...

I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed (Galatians 1:6-9). This gospel is clearly presented by Paul in his epistle to the Galatians. The epistle was written as a result of Jewish teachers visiting the Body of Christ where Paul had been evangelizing. These teachers tried to get their listeners to circumcise and be zealous for the law, according to the practice under the circumcision law. It is the mixing of the teachings of the gospel of grace and zeal for the law that produces this "different gospel which is not another."  Paul in writing to th...

The setback, sorrow and heartache of today makes the blessings and joys of tomorrow more appreciated and welcomed. Even though today's test may be long and difficult and it may seem that tomorrow's joys are not in sight...Stand strong and firm...Endure the test today and you will reap the reward tomorrow for tomorrow will surely come!

Has Christianity been responsible for turning people away from Christ because of its unlikeness of Christ? To be disliked by non-believers because Christians are like Christ is one thing...it is entirely a different matter to be disliked because we are not like Christ! The dislike of Christians by non-believers is because of what non-believers see when viewing the external understanding of Christian character namely, judgmental, ignorant, condemning, an I am better than you attitude, un-compassionate and hypocritical. Is it any wonder Gandhi said, “I like your Christ but, I hate your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” People say they are religious but they are intolerant. People say they are religious yet they are judgmental. A true Christian heart loves all unconditionally that includes, the ill (both mentally and physically), the old, the young, the wicked, the lost, the poor, the weak and even the strong, no one should be left out of the boat of the true Christi...

Jesus did not just die so that we would have our sins forgiven thus escape hell. He died to offer us eternal life by bringing us into a relationship with Himself to enable us to be the Church so He can accomplish His work through us in sharing His love to humanity. Salvation is not meant to be a ticket to escape hell it is an empowerment to bring heaven to earth by living kingdom principles. Therefore don't read the Bible as a rule book to live by, but a path that points to Christ living His life through us. We will come to know that God's love is unconditional and and we are to demonstrate His love to across-our-path encounters. Once we understand and experience God's love, nothing else, no other joy can compare to the joy of knowing and being loved by God.

Forgiveness liberates the mind and soul of the forgiver as well as the forgiven!

In your living, loving and understanding people will provide the breakthrough for those who live in fear, frustration and confusion!

People who love to debate doctrine and theology to defend their take on the Bible as a means of proving biblical understanding and demean someone's theology is displaying a superior attitude that is lacking in the love of God. To debate biblical literacy as a duty to prove someone else wrong in order to save my religion, I may as well have wear a name tag around my neck that says, “I am a Pharisee.” When we take on the characteristics of the Pharisees we have serious problems. Not only are we in danger of missing out on a real relationship with Christ, but also with people outside of our Pharisaical  group. When we let our rules guide us, rather then follow Christ, we will circumnavigate a lot of hurting people that we can influence that really need our help. We may walk right by them like the Levite or the Priest. What’s worse is that we may personally injure and further break a people who are already hurting.

Living like Christ will really mess up our religious pre-conceptions. It requires the removal of our rule based spectacles and replace what we see through them with what is seen through the eyes of Jesus. We will see people completely different than through the tunnel vision spectacles of religion. Believers would be in the dirt and muck helping those who are poor and hurting. No longer would the spiritual elite sit atop high horses where they sit clean and dry, and live a life of notoriety of the rich and famous in ivory palaces because of misappropriation of peoples money. The celebrity preachers nor the rules that separated us would no longer exist. Jesus came into the dirt and filth of this world to show us the love of His Father, He didn’t bring us binding rules to follow; He didn’t bring us religious institutions  to make people wealthy, He brought us a way out, Himself, and living like Him would bring us into unity to demonstrate what His gospel is!

The thrust of the gospel is not about believers living for Christ or working for Christ which has been and is the mentality of the religious environment. The effectiveness of such a concept has fallen far short of caring out the commission of Christ to "go into all the world and preach the gospel, making disciples of all nations". The working for Christ syndrome contributes to the reason that some 90% of the finances flowing into the coffers of religious organizations is consumed by selfish expenditures on man invented projects, and on keeping the religious wheels in motion. The Toronto Star investigation revealed the following! After worshiping at the Prayer Palace this morning, Hyacinthe Houghron will, as she does every second Sunday, stuff her tired green minivan with a small feast: six coolers of homemade soup, a mountain of sandwiches, cakes and sweets. Loaded down with second-hand clothes pulled from the ceiling-high piles in her hair salon, she...

Don't let you yesterdays or tomorrows use up too much of your today!  Living in your yesterdays or tomorrows prevents you from living your today!

If you are a part of any organizational system where the insignificant becomes significant, the significant becomes insignificant, and the real needs of people are neglected for the sake of agendas and programs, it is time to question the spirit behind the organization. With God, loving and supporting people is more important than supporting doctrines and programs.

The Church of Jesus Christ is Church without walls. A people who have have gone outside the camp of nominal Christianity for a deeper relationship with Jesus, bearing His reproach (Heb. 13:12-13). The nominal churches are like walled cities within which to keep their own doctrines and interpretation of scripture, segregating people by different belief systems. The ecumenical movement is an attempt to overlap these walls so as to give an appearance of unity. But all of these attempts will never remove the reality of the walls. More often, even among the most sincere believers, these walled compounds become social clubs for their kind. God is not calling for Christian country clubs. Rather He is calling for His people to come out of them. The only wall that God and His crucified ones are interested in is that wall of fire mentioned in Zechariah 2:5: "'For I,' says the Lord, 'will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her....

When it comes to the cover up of mistakes or wrongdoings in the "church life" context, the cost of concealment is far greater than the cost of revealment! The hurt and damage brought on by the act of denial fosters a lack of responsibility and accountability, a lack of trust in God and in people, un-forgiveness and that is far more damaging than admittance, resulting in forgiveness!

Though I write about the fallacy of the religious system and share why I believe the system is an hinderance to the kingdom of God, my objective is not to get you to change to my way of thinking. If you change because I convince you, another may come along and convince you otherwise and you will end up being more confused in your confusion.  The heart of my writing is information, and to that end I have given my best in the honesty of my writing. But as for me, I am totally indifferent as to whether it is accepted by you or not. I leave the convincing to the capabilities and abilities of the Holy Spirit who is qualified beyond measure to do what I cannot do, nor should do. Please realize though, that as long as you read differences of opinion with a closed mind due to your accepted influence of your environmental surroundings, the Holy Spirit is not going to teach you further revelation on any belief that you have concluded that you know all there is to know on the matter....

If believers assembled and fellowshipped using the criteria of being “Like Hearted” rather then being “Like Minded,” would external identification tags as to religious persuasions disappear? Like Hearted assembling with Jesus is the unifying factor for the Body of Christ to assemble as the Church for the edification of each other by each other. Like Minded assembling because of like denominational doctrines is a indoctrination of doctrine by the “spiritual elite” and is a dividing factor due to doctrinal differences that hinders Jesus’ prayer for unity in the Body of Christ, His Church. Can you imagine the Father and the Son visiting the earth in bodily form and each one going their separate ways and visiting a different denomination because it agrees more correctly with their doctrinal views. Would this collaborate the type of unity that Jesus prayed for His body to be one as He and His Father are one? What an absurdity!

If you are fishing in the sea of God’s forgetfulness you will hook the ugly fish of transgression and sin, God cast them  in the sea of forgetfulness never to be remembered against you any more. You need to curtail your illegal fishing there because to fish there will cause you to hook shame, guilt and condemnation that will rob you of freedom. Set your course for the sea of God’s forgiveness and sail to the port of peace and contentment and experience His love and freedom as you fish for joy.

Relationship with a religious denomination is about reformation. Relationship with Jesus is about sanctification because of  transformation.

Christ equips His Church for Body Ministry to be Good Stewards of His Manifold Grace. Peter wrote in 1 Peter 4:10, As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. The phrase "five-fold ministry" is non-biblical. It is a term used to justify and perpetuate the Old Testament priestly order, which was done away with by the accomplishment of Christ in dying on the cross, yet has been transferred to the New Testament era overruling its discontinuation provided for by Christ! By continuing to follow this "should have been discontinued" way, which God said many times He would replace, we deny the effectiveness of Jesus' sacrifice. We deny the value of His shed blood by rejecting the New Covenant relationship that His blood purchased for us as His Body! This is done by denying the equality of every believer and God’s desire to gift them and place them in His Church as He desires. This entire forced (and enfor...

When the focus is on performing church, we lose sight of Christ; when the focus is Christ we view the Church in the right perspective and we gain both the new wine and the new wineskin and live life beyond the rent veil provided for us by Christ. Spirituality is not about us, or our affiliations, it’s all about Him. 

I believe when we really get serious about the Bible we will see it has a path to Christ and it will become evident that it is not a rule book. Rules and laws fail because there is no going back when you break a rule, but it is easy to step back on a path after you’ve stepped off. Rules are static but a path is dynamic, it twists and turns and a path will carry us through any terrain. Not only that but you can’t break a path, if our faith becomes all about rules like it was for the Levite or the Priest in the account of the good Samaritan, you might break the rules in order to be apart of God’s work. If we treat our faith like a journey, God will work His work in us and through us as we walk along on the journey of life.

I can’t do everything, but if I would do what I could do because I should do what I could do, then what I should do because I  can do would get done! Don’t let what you woulda done, shoulda done and coulda done go undone because you think it can’t be done without trying if it could be done!

Today my thoughts are towards those who paid the ultimate price that you and I might have freedom. Their sacrifice of separation from loved ones, their loneliness and the physiological suffering, from the images embedded in their memory, is something that most of us who are reaping the benefits obtained from their dedication have never experienced. The hardship of living in trenches, riding the tanks, sailing their ships, flying their aircraft, walking the trails, all the while never knowing if they would survive the day, yet with bravery and reserve they fulfilled their mission so that we and the people of the world could enjoy freedom. I THANK each and every one of the men and women who by the way they lived and are living demonstrated they loved others, many whom the will never know or ever see. May the ones who have passed rest in peace and the ones still living enjoy the peace they have provided for us. LET US NOT FORGET! I am also reminded of the sacrifice of One who suffered...

If your relationship is based on love that gets, the relationship may end in regret if the benefit that you expect you don’t get, and may cause you to exit the relationship. But, if your relationship is base on love that is giving, it is then that you are truly living, because there will be no expectations to expect as you live to benefit the other person! It is in LOVING to LOVE for no other reason than LOVE that you will give and experience true LOVE!

Verbalizing the Gospel in sermons without living the Gospel in life is like putting the cart before the horse. Living the Gospel is more effective in influencing the lives of people than verbalizing and mouthing the Gospel. The tragedy of the GOSPEL is that there are still UNTOLD millions still UNTOLD! A EQUAL tragedy is to many people have been TOLD the GOSPEL but have not experienced the life of the GOSPEL in in the living of those who have TOLD the GOSPEL.

According to Scripture, all Believers are a part of the Church which Jesus established, of which He is the only Head. (I Cor.12:13, Eph.4:4-6).  This Church is not an organization concocted by man as a way to find God, it is an organism established by Christ to communicate His grace and love by working with Him as He works through Believers. (John 14:12-14). This Church is known by the designation of “called out ones” a group of like-hearted people based on relationship with Christ, not by denominational assembling of like-minded people based on doctrinal beliefs. 

The True Church is a spiritual entity of designated “called out people,” comprised of a diversity of individuals who are the building blocks jointly fitted together, who are gifted and placed in spiritual relationship with one another by the Spirit of Father God (I Cor.12:11-12, Phil.2:1). It is not a creation of  man's attempt of denominational like faith based on doctrinal diff...

Scripture tell us that we were created for God’s glory and to proclaim his praises (1 Corinthians 10:31; Ephesians 1:11-12; 1 Peter 2:9). We exist to worship God, and in order to be genuine, this worship must come from the heart. It must be a genuine expression of our real feelings. As believers we have been led to believe that worshipping God is a programed time in a service known as "the worship time". What happens during this time is from an agenda that is developed by man, what to sing, when to sit, when to stand, when to raise hands, when to clap, when to audibly say praise words...etc. True worship is to live worshipfully living life, and life is not what happens in or lived in event-driven-meetings. God is not some egotistic VIP who gets satisfaction form subjects performing accolade adoration during a 20 minute worship time in a programmed-event-driven meeting. I am not suggesting that you cannot worship in a meeting but, what takes place in the worship time is not ...

When it seems that God does not answer our prayers, and we cannot move one step ahead without going two steps back...maybe God has barricaded a road that would take us to nowhere to prevent us from further heartache and despair and it is time for us to change our prayer. We need to be in relationship with God to where we are graced with His clear revelation and agree with Him to travel on the road that leads to somewhere.