BTZ Blog

The depth, the height, the length and the width of God’s gracious grace and love is beyond human realization, beyond human appreciation, beyond human comprehension, it is even beyond human condemnation though many religious people voice their condemnation of it.  The riches of the good news of God’s Gospel of Grace and Love is so full of goodness that mortal tongue cannot articulate it nor can it be discredited by mortal man no matter how much they try. 

May you get a clean bill of health from your dentist, your cardiologist, your urologist, your optometrist, your podiatrist, your psychiatrist, dermatologist, gastroenterologist, oncologist, neurologist, gynecologist and any other ologist. May your hair, your teeth, your face-lift, your abs and your stocks not fall; and may your blood pressure, your triglycerides, your cholesterol, your white blood count not rise. 

May you throughout the New Year find yourself seated around the table, together with your beloved family and cherished friends. May your life be free of worry, more relaxed and your mind be in blissful peace. May what you see in the mirror delight you, and what others see in you delight them. May people love you enough to forgive your faults, be blind to your blemishes, and tell the world about your virtues. 
 May you remember to say "I love you" at least once a day to your spouse, your children, your parents, your siblings. May your world be a world of peace with ...

If we renew our mind by what we read, yet have a wrong understanding of what we read due to traditional influence, or we interpret what we read in light of wrong believing, we are still living in deception as to the correct understanding of what we read. This leads to our accepting of that deception as truth. When we teach that deception as truth we are responsible for teaching untruth as truth that will be accepted as truth by many people seeking truth. This is the reason why the Bible, though the best selling book of all time, is the most misunderstood book of all time. Men lift scripture out of its contextual context to validate man-made doctrines in order to give credence to their choice of religious belief. However, when rightly understood, the Bible (the written word about God) points to Jesus the “Word” of God, the savior of mankind, and when Jesus is the avenue through which the Bible is interpreted and when we subject our misunderstood understanding to His illumination, His re...

An integral part of the human experience is the importance we place on places and things as giving us meaning in life. This is no less demonstrated than when we are seeking God’s will for our lives. When seeking God’s will we would like answers to the questions; “Who does God want me to be…Where does God want me to Go…What does God want me to do? Noble questions indeed…but, if we do not get the answer to HOW to be in God’s will the answers to the Who, Where, and What questions is predominately a work of the flesh to satisfy religious expectations. Let’s see if the Bible answers the How question? “For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor;” (1 Thess. 4:3-4). God’s will for our lives is  our “SANTIFICATION” the working of purity in our hearts and it matters not the Who, Where or What is, because He can achieve our sanctification under any outwa...

He will not look for the number of diplomas you have from Bible Schools,  He will not look to see how many seminary degrees you have,  He will not look to see if you have on a pastor's robe,  He will not look to see how many "churches" you pastored,  He will not look for how many "church services" you planned, He will not look to see if you went to what is called "church" services,  He will not look to see how many people you judged or condemned because they did not believe the way you do, He will not look to see how may times you failed Him,  He will not look to see if you were a tithe payer,  He will not look to see if you if you were a Sunday-go-meeting "church" attender,   He will not look to see how many Bibles you own,  He will not look to see how many Bible verses you know,  He will not look to see how many mission fields you were on,  He will not look to see what  denominational tag you are w...

Religious systems fear and discredit the gospel of grace because His grace places all people on the same spiritual level ground..."All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). That means we sin ourselves, yes, even though we are believers, we have no ground to feel spiritually superior, judge or condemn people who sin sins that that offend us. Others are against the grace gospel because it requires them to believe that God will save people in spite of their sins. We have a hard time trusting God to do exactly what he promised to do...forgive us our sins, past...present and future. Sure religion tells us; "the ground at the foot of the cross is level", but from that point on, when it comes to spiritual maturity and authority, religious positions and the religious hierarchy structural system, the level ground at the foot of the cross soon changes to climbing the spiritual ladder of recognition because of what are the do's and don'ts...

Many people within christendom today are ignorant of the gospel of Jesus Christ and ironically are afraid of it because the news of the gospel of Jesus is too good! The majority of us use the bible as a divine law book whose rules are to guard entrance into the kingdom rather than being God's witness that points to His restoration of all things  and the redemption of mankind through His Son, Jesus our redeemer. Most of us believers think that God gave us the bible as a divine formula to show to show mankind the do's and don'ts to obey in order to gain and maintain a relationship with God by creating a new religion called "Christianity". Nothing could be further from the truth! Jesus' finished work on the cross and His Gospel of Grace is an affront to religion, in fact, if the gospel is rightly understood it spells the end of religion, the end of all systems that require works as a means of our becoming acceptable to God. In reality, the gospel tells ...

Do you recall a time when you felt guilt and condemnation because you were accused of not living up to the expectations of religion’s expectations, which is a transfer of the law based system of the Old Testament to the post-cross era. You were made to feel like you were not living up to the standard of the religious interpretation of the Bible. You are not feeling guilt and condemnation because of something Jesus said. Jesus has never put you under condemnation. He said "Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more."
It is Moses (the law) that puts you under condemnation. Jesus does not. Religious law keeping condemns us for things done in the PAST, but Jesus covered our PAST sins with His blood so they cannot be held against us any more. "There is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus (who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit)" (Rom. 8:1). Unless we circumcise our hearts (SPIRIT) by loving Jesu...

Do not let anyone confuse you by making you think that their rules will bring you closer to God. Keeping man-made rules will bring favor with men...not with God. However, God is pleased when we keep weaker men from stumbling by submitting to their temporal rules. Naturally, those weak men think their rules are God's rules. Colossians and Ephesians were written to admonish us that we should not go back to the law living. Judaizers (those who mix law and grace) want to put Christians back under the condemnation of the law when we break them. The mingling of law and grace is still as graceless as the law its self. Circumcision was the main argument in Paul's day, but nowadays there are many other things they want you to conform to in denominationalism in the keeping of its many rules and standards. We are to be under the authority of Jesus, and we are to pay attention to His words, not the denominated words of 'Pastor Moses. Moses' law will put us under condemnation and de...

The modern church model is neither recorded, described or promoted as the local Church in the bible. The segregated  denominated local church buildings that are so cherished, where "people of like faith" are assembled for planned services, organized and officiated by men practicing programed ceremonial tradition, is not biblical. It is abiblical...that is, such an organizational entity is not addressed in the bible. W. Tozer said and I quote: "We are in an age of religious complexity. The simplicity which is in Christ is rarely found among us. In its stead are programs, methods, organizations, and a world of nervous activities which occupy time and attention but can never satisfy the longing of the heart."  End quote. When life in Christ is replaced by programmed-event-driven showmanship and ritual, when we lose the authority of personally knowing Jesus the Living Word and rely on the authority of a book about the Living Word, or institutions and leaders, whe...

The selfishness of separating believers into segregational groups causes people to become obsessed with "meism" (the act of being taken up with "me" and "mine"...(people of like faith).  This internal focus on like-minded people of the same belief system renders us incapable of focusing on unlike-minded people who hold to different beliefs within the redeemed community of God.  This segregated mentality of disuniting brothers and sisters in the family of God into cliques is in direct opposition to unification within His Body, "The Church", that Christ prayed for.   This meism deceives us in believing that the work of God is in the doing of our denominational work, and our trying to protect the meism deceptional concept severely hinders us from understanding what the true work of God really is and lends to spiritual dissatisfaction.

The "good tidings" announced on that first Christmas morning was not a WAS of the past...It is a "IS" in the ever PRESENT "Here and NOW." The "good tidings" was Jesus, therefore, "good tidings" is ever present in the present through His Church...His Body...by its every day living in the "community of humanity" as His "redeemed community" by BEING His Church. A turning point in the life of John Wesley's spiritual awakening was at Aldersgate Street where he journeyed from "Law" to "Grace". If as the redeemed community of God we heeded the words of John Wesley, we would move from the "doing" of church on Sundays to "being" the Church in our daily living. And I quote:  "Do all the good you can,  By all the means you can,  In all the ways you can,  At all the times you can,  To all the people you can,  As long as you ever can" End quote....

The Gospel of God's Mercy and Grace is so rich and powerful, I desire that all God's people would come to know it and live it in its purity. If the truth of the Gospel of Grace gets into the heart of His people the religious world would be turned upside down from the side that is up now...meaning that it would be turned right-side-up. In the book of Acts it is stated by the religious zealots that; "those that have turned the world upside down have come here also". Why were these people concerned...because now their perceived religious correctiveness is about to  be turned upside down because of the message of Christ. My intent is not to offend anyone who may read the content of my musings, it is simply to inform what the Spirit of The Lord has revealed in my heart to which I have yielded to.  Or at least I perceive it to be the Holy Spirit...you may deem it to be another kind of spirit. When it is suggested that all is not well in the camp of religious orthodoxy ...

Is loving Jesus really about going to weekend.meetings, singing songs of love to Him, hearing a sermon, paying money to an institution? Or is more about how I live my daily life by loving and befriending the people around me?   Isn't that what Jesus taught by His living example? Has religion separated people from the love of the Father and from loving each other? What would happen in our relationship with God and with people if we really believed that Jesus came to establish a new creation instead of the founding father of a new religion?  

  The religious world is opposed to truth seeking and is somewhat hatefully opposed to truth-tellers if the telling of truth reveals their unscriptural man-made traditional doctrines and practices that segregate them into segregated buildings of isolation called "churches". The verbal attack, judgement and condemnation by religious traditionalists is done, (by their claim), in the love of God for the protection of Godly doctrine and the traditional orthodox belief that they have accepted and believed for centuries as right...therefore those doctrines must be right. Because of the intimidation perpetrated by traditional religionists towards truth-tellers who try to share revelatory  truth, many would-be non-traditionalists remain silent and subdued, not wanting to be subjected to the humiliation, judgement and condemnation of the "elite" religious system. Because people behind the pulpits of "churches" across the land are controlled by the hie...

"You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free" (John 8:32). For the larger part of my life as a believer I accepted the “illusional truth” as to the meaning of this verse. Many times over a pulpit I have heard; “this book is the inspired Word of God and knowing this book will set you free. The question is, was Jesus referring to a book to be written and compiled in the future that would be called the Bible of many people interpret differently as to what its truth is to back up their belief system? Was He referring to a set of religious rules to be obeyed, religious codes of conduct to be kept, or a system of doctrinal doctrines to believe? Call me delusional if you want, but I think not! He did not say you will know the truth that will be written in some future book compiled and written by fallible men who will be influenced in their writing by some King who will name it the “Authorized King James version”. If the truth that will set us free is not the Bible, wha...

The Body of Christ "The Church". The Body of Christ...the redeemed community of God in the community of humanity has nothing to do with the churchanity of segregated denominated churches as being the representative of the Kingdom of God in the earth. They are but schismatic examples of unified division. They are unified divisions of people of the same religious persuasion who are segregated from other people of different a religious persuasion in segregated buildings that isolate them from each other as the unified Body of Christ. Paul or any other apostle were not “church planters” in the sense that some claim and continue to do today by sending “apostles” out start denominated “church buildings” that segregates the people of God into faith camps. In fact, Paul vehemently denied any taking an prat in the schismatic divisions at Corinth. Every religious group that is identified by a denominated building called church is promoting schism within the Body o...

The Great I AM. Theologians, are credited by people belonging to the particular religious denomination they theologize in, as the spiritual elite who explain God in complicated, indoctrinated, doctrinal, theological words and long phrases of phraseology footnoted with a multitude of clauses to explain their theologized position, God, on the other hand, explains Himself with just two simple words:  I AM!

Loving people gives them hope. Loving people gives them strength. Loving people gives them courage. Loving people gives them faith. Loving people gives them freedom. Loving people gives them a smile. Loving people gives them understanding. Love will make; The poor feel rich; The prostitute feel valued; The handicap feel important; The discouraged feel encouraged; The broken heart feel whole; The lost feel found; The burdened feel free; The hungry feel full; The dejected and rejected feel accepted and respected. The haughty feel humble; The numbed feel life; The unforgiven feel forgiven; The sick to feel healing; The unloved feel loved! You want to be like Jesus? You want to share God? Then love because every time you love someone you give them God! Why? Because God is LOVE!

What if...Our understanding and interpretation of the bible is not what we “think” it is.  That would mean that God does not act the way we “think” He do. That would mean the Gospel is not what we “think” it is. Would that mean that we are not who we “think” we are? God is Who He says He is...“LOVE”! The Gospel is what Jesus says it is...“GRACE” The question is, Who the HELL do we think WE ARE to minimize God’s LOVE and GRACE by BUTTING it! BUTTING God’s LOVE and GRACE dilutes the GOSPEL!

Jesus said; “if I be lifted up...I will draw all men onto me”. So many believers subvert Jesus as the “Word of God” by lifting up the bible as the “Word of God” which contradicts the bible itself, which states; “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...also it states that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among men”....Who was that Word? Jesus and “only” Jesus! It does NOT state that the “In the beginning was the Bible, and the Bible was with God, and the Bible was God”...nor does it state that “The Bible became flesh and dwelt among men”. Yet, bible thumpers and people who claim the bible is the Word of God shout and wave the bible in the air shouting, “this is the “Word of God” when trying to enforce the authenticity of their interpretation of its content to collaborate what they believe, while trying to control, judge and condemn people. Why do they do this? Because Jesus, never was into controlling, judging or condemning people. If they lifted...

When we read the bible we should be aware that its basic principles are godly, but translated and penned by  fallible human beings. Therefore, there is some fallibility in the writings of the bible thus, the reason why there are so many revisions of the first translation that was riddled with translation mistakes. Some translation mistakes of the first translated translation are still with us today as well as the translation mistakes of the fallible translators that set out to correct the translated errors of the first fallible translators. The bible is the product of human hands and hearts, and much of the imagery is allegorical, not literal. But the basic principles when correctly (not necessarily literally) understood are applicable and essential to our living life. Especially the principle that it is the WORD living in us (CHRIST living in us) that gives us life worth the living!

If we fail to understand the bible through voice and example of Jesus our view of God will be distorted and we will interpret the bible in a way that will fashion God to be what we want Him to be. The religious image of God was formed by taking the bible and dissecting it to make it say what they wanted it to say rather that what Jesus says. If in our quoting of the bible we interject our distorted understanding and slant it to our preconceive ideologies and mis-apply its context we have distracted from its truth and made the bible out to be a lie.  Mouthing scripture is not a magic formula to dispel sickness or the devil. The scripture has great power, but unless we know the Living Word the power in the written word is the letter of the law and of no value to us. The bible needs the light and life of Christ to empower it. Michael Horton wrote and I quote; “To preach the Bible as 'the handbook for life,' or as the answer to every question, rather than as the revelation of Chris...

Religion teaches us to read and understand the bible, not the way it is but, the way religion wants us to believe it! Because of that we approach the reading of the bible with our mind so influenced by religious opinion and tradition based on our based of the religious flavor of our denominational belief. We then tend to view the bible through our shaded religious spectacles rather than the lens of Jesus, thus, we interpret its content in light of what we already believe rather than allowing the bible to formulate what we believe. The book...the bible...has been read and is read more than any other book in the world, it also has been used and abused more than any other book in existence because of misunderstanding and  misinterpreting the context of its content.

Why is the thing that is suppose to be so strongly woven together, supposed to be unsinkable so fragile that in even calm waters it sinks reaping destruction of people’s lives and destroying relationships? This is not only reality in the “secular” world but in the religious world as well. A lot of times in both worlds we try to hide broken love by the wearing of the expectation mask. Our loving requires commitment and expectations to be filled by all parties in the love boat. When commitment and expectations are not fulfilled cracks of disappointment, non-trust, un-forgiveness, selfishness and hate appear in the fabric that floats the boat, the shame and blame game is played, shipwreck happens and heartache is the winner. In our world the “love boat of life” is shipwrecked and sorrowing, heartbroken and guilt ridden people are strewn along the shores of life, because shame and blame is the name of the game people play. The love that is the life of the love boat is flawed, it is not gen...

Selfishness. Fear of God. Working to gain God’s favor. Law keeping to maintain our standing in God. Thinking we have God figured out. Being religious and thinking it is being spiritual. Working for God rather than working with God. Preaching the law gospel rather than the grace gospel. Being judgmental and condemning rather than understanding and forgiving. Worshiping the thing called church instead of being the Church who worships God. Being dedicated to a religious system rather being dedicated to God. Doing Church rather than being the Church. Hating people rather than loving people. Having a proud and haughty spirit rather than a meek and humble spirit. Following some spiritual man considered to be God’s spiritual giant rather than following Jesus the Christ, the Spiritual Giant. Viewing God through the writers of the bible rather than through the person of Jesus. Cursing people with curses rather than blessing people with blessings. Being s...

Church as we know it was man’s invention, incorporated by man, named by man, headed by man, its leaders are trained in seminaries by man, and then hired by man. Man creates campaigns to recruit people to join it, raises money to support it, and tracks attendance to it and the number of people that leave it. Man loves it, patronizes it and sanctions it. Man is employed by it and markets it. Man claims that God is in it and provides His gifts freely to us, yet man commercializes it and tries to sell the blessings of God for profit. Though man joins it, they also drive people from it, resign from it and leave it. The success or failure of the thing we call church, is determined by the numbers of people that do or do not attend; if the Sunday-go-meetings are good or bad; if the preacher is a good speaker of not, and if the amount of money collected is high or low. Ask the hired hireling known as pastor how his church is doing and you may hear the following res...