BTZ Blog

Victory as a believer is not in our DOING religious duty or taking authority over our circumstances! Victory as a believer is in our DYING to self that results in Christ living in and working through our lives in our circumstances! Victory is not something we FIGHT for, it is something we have because we ABIDE in Him! But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Cor. 15:57 But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. 2 Cor. 2:14 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. Rom. 8:37 VICTORY is ASSURED because CHRIST is VICTORIOUS and in Him there is no DEFEAT!  We as believers are MORE than CONQUERORS through JESUS who LOVES us! Living in victory is not necessarily determined by the removal of the circumstance, it is  more determined by how we allow Christ to manifest His life through our lives while we pass through

If preachers talk the talk but don’t walk the walk they talk about or talk about what people don’t care about, there is no doubt, they will be balked by and talked about by the people to whom they talk the talk, trying to get them to walk the walk that they themselves refuse to walk! These preachers end up talking a lot of talk which produces diddly-squat to keep the people to which they talk, or entice other people to come to hear their talk! To talk the talk without walking the walk is a lot of talk for naught!

A man responded to a former post of mine and wrote; “if you don’t believe that the commandments are for today, break one of them and you will find out”. Religious philosophy maintains that if you sin or fail to "live up to the standards" you become a candidate for "purification" through the fiery trials of God's judgement on your life. Where does this belief about purification and purging of sin come from? It is not a part of God's Gospel of Grace. It is connected to the demands of the Mosaic Law given to Israel. Purification from sin through judgement and "fiery" trials is a characteristic of the law. Yet, Paul tells us that the law and the Gospel of Grace have nothing to do with each other. Under grace, the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses (purifies) us from all sin. When God tells us that His acceptance and justification is freely given, That means given without strings attached. When the Gospel of Grace says that our sin is forever remitted (canc

How can we recognize what Paul calls "another gospel"? This other gospel has no power unless we are deceived into believing it represents God's intentions and will for us. A person's devotion to God is a very powerful motivational force and if deceived into believing that something is God’s will for us we do our utmost to fulfill it. Whoever is given power to manipulate our devotion to God...has control of us. That's why so many spiritual leaders are trained in the art of persuasive psychology at their institutional seminary. Once anyone convinces you that a doctrine is from God...the hard part is over. If that doctrine happens to be one of the many forms of "another gospel" you may never enjoy spiritual freedom for the rest of your life unless you become wise to the deception. There are "gospels" floating around that are poisonous to a believer’s faith. That's why knowing the word and the “Word” for yourself is so important. It limits the

There is a principle in Scripture that is binding on everyone who is born into this world..."And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgement..." (Heb. 9:27 KJV) This Scripture reveals the real miracle of the sacrifice of Jesus and the Gospel of Grace. Up until the cross all of mankind was appointed by God to die once and then face his judgment. Now, in Jesus we died at t he cross AND we were judged and punished for our sin in the body of Jesus Christ. Our death in Christ terminated the law's dominion over us and, at the same time satisfied God's requirement to "die once". The grace gospel is “good news” and the good news is we are living post-cross, meaning the other side of death and free from the law that empowers sin's dominion over us! The dominion of the law (and therefore the dominion of sin) terminated at our death on. Sin is permanently remitted, which is why it can never be a barrier to receiving sa

The Gospel of Grace provides great liberty and freedom from the regulatory control of religion for the believer. "What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory, but not before God. For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness." (Rom 4:1-3 KJV) The type of faith Abraham had brings "a righteousness void of works". God made a promise to Abraham and Abraham "believed" Him. His “believing" caused God to credit righteousness to him. This act of "believing" is needed to come into a relationship with God through Christ. Keeping religious law (including the Mosaic Law), performance, church attendance and church affiliation can NEVER earn, maintain or add to our salvation. Some professing believers believe that our initial "salvation by faith" gets us in the Kingdom, but good works ar

The Gospel of Grace is an all important life-changing truth of scripture. "Gospel" means "good news".  Some believers carelessly toss around the word "grace" without knowing the Scriptural foundation for it. A lot of what believers believe about God's grace is a perversion of true grace. Opponents of the grace message use phrases like, “cheap grace” or “the lazy believer’s gospel” to mock and discredit the grace gospel. It is important to understand that because God's grace comes free to people...doesn't mean it's "cheap” or “easy". Grace cost Jesus a great price...and he paid that price for you because you are valuable to God! Would you call everything Jesus suffered at the cross "cheap"? Could you look Jesus in the eyes and tell Him, "Your cross and your blood was a cheap price to pay"? Those who use these terms don't know the meaning of God’s grace and are opposing the gospel of Jesus without knowing it

God's Grace is imperative to the plan of God for humanity. Believers need to examine the importance of grace and also be able provide the truth of grace in response to the religious distortion of the Grace Gospel. God's grace has much opposition among professing Christians within religion. Their condemnation of the gospel of grace is do in part to a misunderstanding of what the gospel of grace truly is thus, a misunderstanding of what salvation truly is. 

"Justification" is a "state of being" that a believer, because of Jesus is placed in. In order to be justified we must place your faith in Jesus Christ as our redeemer and Lord. Justification is "freely given", that entails that there is no dependence on the do’s and don’ts of religion, performance theology, institutional affiliation or denominational structure. The words, "justified freely," means that God grants justification without any worthiness or performance requirements on our p

A search of gospels to find the structure that is presently presented as “Church” and confirmed by Jesus Christ is a futile endeavor. Jesus never told His followers how to do Church, organize Church, plan Church services, run Church ministries, attend Church, or regulate Church to programmed-event-drive-meetings primarily held on Sundays. I wonder, if this modern structure is so important that it is paramount in Christendom today, why Jesus had nothing to say about it? Would the answer be that He was to busy living as the Church and showing His family how to be the Church daily rather that just doing Church on Sundays? Church is not to be viewed, promoted and worked as an institution! Church is a community of believers, a family...Church is not to be understood as something you go to, it is a way of living life in relationship with the Godhead and with each other. Church is a life to be lived and life is not lived in buildings called “Churches”!

Being concerned with SERVING Jesus more than being concerned WITH Jesus Himself is a subtle snare that has been set for centuries by the religious culture. We must understand that salvation through grace is not a means of equipping us to  DOING something FOR God, it is a means for us to know God intimately in daily living so that He can do His work through us. Works have a place in the believers life, but they are an outworking of an inward relationship with God and is evidence of a living expression of His life lived through us. Being distracted FROM Jesus to do service FOR Jesus, is performing service without relationship and is a futile work of fruitlessness and frustration that causes stress instead of rest and is Spiritless! 

Victory in Jesus and a being a victorious believer is not a REWARD for adhering to and keeping a set of rules and regulations of the do and don’t mentality within religious circles. It is GIFT...victory cannot be bought by giving shysters money in order to gain God’s blessing, nor in trying hard to live FOR God, it is a gift because of a relationship with God where He abides in you and you in Him...and in Him there is no DEFEAT! The motivation...condemnation...re-dedication practice within religious circles is a CYCLE OF DEFEAT and the enemy of VICTORY. The GIFTS of God are not REWARDS to be earned, rather they are GIFTS to receive!

There is a tendency in some religious circles to preach salvation by grace through faith and then to attempt sanctification and holiness through obedience and legalism. Yes, the Lord calls every believer into sanctification and holiness, but this attaining of sanctification and holiness is not attainable apart from grace: Legalism...the attempt to justify ourselves before God through good works.. .has never, and never will satisfy God. Sanctification and holiness is a work of grace: “For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law, but under grace. . . those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ” (Romans 6:14; 5:17).

The proof of ignorance is the degree to which a person has accepted something as truth without investigating its authenticity...for it leads to ignorance of understanding the truth while believing deception’s lie. Egotistic pride is one of the greatest of ignorance concerning ones self, and it positions one among the greatest of peril.

The gift of God’s Grace is dis-used, misused and abused instead of being well-used to defuse the fuse of confusion. Like no other gift God’s Grace has been under-appreciated, forgotten, squandered, distorted and even perverted instead of being appreciated and cherished. To pervert the precious and priceless gift of Grace as a theological doctrine to be debated rather than accepted as a life to be lived in honoring God by showing compassion and love to our fellow man is to be wrong about Grace. To be wrongheaded about Grace is to be wrongheaded about Jesus God’s Grace gift to humanity!

It is evident from church history that every generation becomes enslaved to the performance based philosophy for earning God’s approval and blessing. This philosophy affirms people are right with God because the do the right things and don’t do the wrong things. This performance base philosophy is nothing less than legalism. Because believers have known nothing other than the performance based philosophy for gaining and maintaining God’s approval they deem it is Godly and necessary for Godly living. But in experience it brings only temporary relief when the performance has been deemed successful. Grace plus nothing is the only means of eradicating legalism from your life so you will be established in the grace of God as a way of life. Many performance based people slander the grace message as cheap and a license to live without regard for holiness. The law gospel is a performance based gospel that is legalistic to appeal to the egotistic self-satisfaction of perf

Is there a difference between a religious fanatic and a Jesus fanatic? A fanatic is a a person with devoted and uncritical enthusiasm or zeal. They have strict standards and little tolerance for contrary ideas or opinions. Therefore, a religious fanatic is hard to be swayed from the teachings of their religious persuasion. A Jesus fanatic is one who believes in the teaching and work of Christ, and is not swayed by religious inference. The two are not one and the same!

As believers it is most important that we get beyond the religious Jesus to know the real Jesus because He is the revealer of God’s characteristics. If our understanding and view of God cannot be substantiated by the life and works of Jesus we have the wrong understanding of who God is. That means, if we come to a conclusion of what God is like based on what we read from the printed page or hear from the person behind the “sacred desk” is contrary to the God revealed by Jesus Christ we have come to the wrong conclusion. Understanding God through Jesus Christ is the only way we will understand God’s desired relationship with the human race and the only way His Holy Spirit can unveil, His glory, fulness, love and power as He works in people to unveil the correct understanding of the close bond of relational union that units the Godhead that is is suppose to unite His people in the same way.  It is only through this relationship can we understand and live in the realization of who G

Who you were, where you came from, who you are or where you are now does not limit God from establishing you in the present or establishing what you will be in the future. He is delighted to have a relationship with you today that matures as your future becomes your present.

Has anyone hurt and wronged you in the past? Are you still festering over it? If you are, you are keeping yourself and them locked in the prison of the past and unable to live free in the present. The key to setting yourself and them free is by destroying the records of the past and giving the offender a clean slate and the prison bars will break, setting you and them free to live in the present!

Taken up with routines, rituals, rules, regulations, customs, and traditions are relational dis-eases that will kill relationship intimacy, not only with people but also with God! These relational dis-eases dull our thinking ability preventing us from thinking for ourselves because there is no room for authenticity and freshness to flow through our minds because it is blocked with the futility of obligation to the dis-eases. Authentic relationship does not stifle individuality or self expression, it will respect the person or persons in the relationship and produce proper behavior. God’s Grace and Love shown with understanding is the antidote for relational diseases.

The GRACE GOSPEL is about HEART issues not BEHAVIORAL issues as the law gospel is! If the heart is right, right behavior will follow!

When people are focused and devoted to a spiritual cause more than they are to Jesus, many times they neglect or downright forget Jesus and spirituality because they are so set in living for the cause. When we focus on the cause we tend to value the opinion of others over the opinion of our Lord. Cause focused means agenda focused, God focused means relationship focused. In being God focused we are more concerned about changing ourselves to conform to Jesus rather than concerned about changing other people to conform to our way of thinking. Would we not draw more people to God’s kingdom if we were so focused on Jesus that He would shine through us causing the across-our-path people to see Him in our living and loving?

God works through ordinary people and accomplishes the extraordinary extraordinarily well.

A clear picture of idolatry in scripture is the Exodus 32 record about the golden calf. This story is more than a message that pagans, perverts, and addicts need to hear; it's religious folk like you and I also need to hear and learn from it. When God looked down from the mountain and found His people had crafted the golden calf, He wasn’t simply witnessing immoral living. He saw a people He had chosen that had taken His good gifts and used them against Him. While it's not explicitly stated in the text, the gold the Israelites used to make the calf was intended for God’s purposes. Later in the story, we see the leftover gold is used for the building of the tabernacle. Just think about that for a minute. The Israelites used God's gift for their own selfish purposes. In creating the golden calf, the people had committed high treason. Even though the true God had always proven Himself faithful, they just couldn’t wait for Him any longer. They needed a God t

Is There a Time when Silence is a Sin? I have been ask as to why I would write about religion the way I do...why not just leave it alone...you are not going to influence people in religion for change...what are you accomplishing by your writings about religion,  after all, they are doing some good, aren’t they? To say nothing I believe I would be guilty of committing the sin of remaining silent and contributing to the old adage that “silence gives consent”. Remaining silent fails to let people know that there is freedom from the bondage of religion and its befuddlement of the gospel of Grace, for me, that would be a withdrawal from the freedom that Christ has given me to express my concern regarding the deception that the people within religion are under. My critiquing is of the system and not of the people in the system who are influenced by the deception! It seems that spiritual “discernment” within religion is lacking where there is little discerning truth from error when it

Why do some believers say that God answered their prayer, only when they get the answer to the circumstance they want or, as in the case of some, demand? Is it not possible that when we do not get the answer we want or demand, that it is still God’s answer? Is God only a good God when we get answers to prayer that suits our fancy because it is the result we wanted? God is a Good God all the Time!

To be a law keeper to portray we are a God seeker by being a performance keeper renders us a blessing seeker. That is spiritually weaker than being a God seeker because we are a grace believer relationship seeker, teaching people that a God seeker by being a relationship seeker as a grace believer graces people to be a blessing giver instead of a blessing seeker!

Expectations within social and spiritual relationships have never been more predominate. Without a measuring stick of success, many Christians feel dissatisfaction and experience discontent with spiritual life. That is one reason the Law Keepers value law keeping, it is a way for them to measure success. They are blessing seekers and believe that blessings comes to those who follow the rules of th e Law. This philosophical behavior leads to a blessings oriented doctrinal theology that has become predominate within the "church world" today. Believers need to embrace the freedom of a "Grace Living Relationship" discovering the embrace of God without the pressure performance theology. We need to break free of religious bondage and shake of the heavy bands that bind. Far more important than blessings is the need for a love relationship with Father Himself! The self-centeredness of Believers is a reason that Christianity has strayed from God's plan f

If we are law keepers we are interested in our own righteousness and in the keeping of the law we deem ourselves righteous as do other law keepers. The law becomes the measuring stick to determine our spirituality. This is  confirmed in Philippians 3:9 which reads: And be found in him, not having “MINE OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS,” “WHICH IS OF THE LAW,” but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. If we are law keepers, we are self righteous and unable to know Christ relationally for verse 10 reads, that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death. Therefore, as law keepers we cannot know Christ because we are self righteous which renders us unable to conform unto His death which is a requirement for knowing Christ. Living by the law negates living by grace because it diminishes the finished work of Christ and renders it unfinished! Grace plus the law is not grace,

Isn't it ironic that sometimes in order to rid yourself of an enemy you have to distance yourself from a supposed friend! If that becomes necessary for us to undertake, we should do it with compassion, kindness and prayer.

It is beyond dispute that denominationalism segregates believers into different groups based on what is perceived as correct bible interpretation and doctrine. My question is: wouldn't the manifestation of segregation that is bred by denominationalism be an extension of what is already in people’s heart? If we segregate because we believe we have a greater understanding of truth than others or if we are self-promoting in our attitude, is that not having a prideful heart? Could it be that some of the opposition that stands in the way and resists the well intended endeavors of religion are Spirit originated, while some of the successes that are realized are of demonic origin? As long as we walk in pride we can't walk with God. Scripture does not admonish us to be humble, it admonishes us to humble ourselves. A haughty spirit portrays a prideful attitude. A humble spirit portrays a compassionate and loving  attitude.

No mater how valuable people think they are, they are of no more value to themselves than they are of value to others...Your love for people has a direct correlation to your love for God. To say you love God yet spurn people who do not agree with your theological doctrinal persuasion is a oxymoron.

Many people have an incessant appetite to know everything except what is worth knowing. Could these people be described as busy-bodies, always knowing and yet knowing nothing note worthy?

As a believer I do not believe that "denominations" or "non denominations" as portrayed  by any of the myriad of faiths within Christendom has the corner on truth even though they all claim that the truth they believe, is the truth! All may contain elements of truth but that does not constitute that the truth they believe to be truth, is truth. I believe that CHRIST is TRUTH and it is only when we allow the TRUTH to establish what we believe is truth, can we maintain that what we believe to be truth is really truth!

I am not as understanding as I want to be. I am not as understanding as I should be. I am not as understanding as I will be. But, thank God I am more understanding than I once was!

God is a “you seeking God” not a “me seeking God”. God is not desiring a relationship with you for what He can receive from you but from what you can receive from the relationship. His essence of love is His heart! After all, He created you with the ability to make choices, evidence that He is a you-seeking God! God is in this for your benefit not for His!

The “CHURCH” that Jesus is building is a community of believers within society that should demonstrate by words and actions what life living is like under the headship and leadership of Jesus Christ. It should be the greatest community of a united loving people who love God and love humanity. A LOVE RELATIONSHIP with God that extends to people is the LIGHT that will overcome the darkness of INTOLERANCES and shed light as to the kind UNITY that Jesus prayed for God’s people, “that they may be one as You and I are one”.

Worship onto God is much more than a Sunday-meeting twenty minute event, worship is who we are. Our lives ought to be a continuous worship service unto God. Our work, our smile, our laughter, our words, our kindness, our hospitality, our understanding, our compassion, our forgiving, are songs of worship in God's ears. This is far beyond what is known as "worship time" in Sunday-go-meetings!

One of the most important phrases ever to enter the ear-gate or the eye-gate of man is; "HE IS RISEN"! Because of the resurrection, power replaces weakness, joy replaces sorrow, hope pushes past despair, courage overrides fear, love conquers hate, freedom breaks bondage, clarity replaces confusion, forgiveness eradicates condemnation, understanding replaces judgement, giving replaces greed, kindness replaces meanness, relationship replaces religion, and life conquers death, not...not...not just on resurrection day or on Sundays or event-drive-conferences but, for living life daily. Church-goers celebrate the resurrection of Christ for what happened immediately preceding and what happened on resurrection day. This may be due to them not experiencing  the reality of resurrection life in living life. Some church-mongers have even stooped to offering valuable gimmicks to entice people to their "Easter-event-drive-meeting" to celebrate the history of the resurrection

What Lies Between the Cross and the Resurrection? We have the cross on one side, we have the resurrection on the other side. What is between the cross upon which Jesus gave up His life and His resurrection from the dead? Some people say DEATH of course. But there is something greater than death between the cross and the resurrection! What this is, is of utmost value and meaning to you and I as we go through the storms and trials that life brings our way. On the cross side we have the pain, agony, struggle of the bad that befalls us to where it seems that we are going to succumb to the circumstance. On the resurrection side, we have come through the circumstance learning lessons of life that we can apply to our lives in this relational journey with people. What lies between the Cross and the resurrection is the reason we make it through the circumstance. Don’t ever lose what lies between the cross and the resurrection, for if we do we will live in despair! Cross           HOPE

When it comes to the words of Jesus, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" we have been lead to believe that the Father turned His back on His own Son when Jesus was on the cross. This doctrine is supported by the phrase, "The Bible is clear that God cannot look upon sin!" The notion that God turned away from Jesus is purported by religion because of the question Jesus asked because they do not understand what really happened on the cross. Did Jesus say that God forsook Him while He was on the cross? No. That is what He asked. There's a big difference between making an declaration and asking a question. The question Jesus asked is found in Psalm 22, where the psalmist asks, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" In response to the first verse where the psalmist cries out the prophetic words, "Why have you forsaken me?" the answer is given in verse 24.  “For He (God the Father) has not despised or disdained the suffering of the af

What is Resurrection Power? But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you, Romans 8:11). It is the same power that brought Jesus into this world. It is the same power that empowered Jesus in His earthly ministry. It is the same power that enabled Jesus to submit to His Father’s will. It is the same power that enabled Jesus to voluntary go the way of the cross. It is the same power that enabled Jesus not to call 10,000 angles to free Him from the cross. It is the same power that resurrected Jesus from the dead. It is the standard power of the New Testament! It is the same power that equips the believer to work the works of God. It is the same power that is the Grace Message. And, if that same power dwells in you it shall quicken (give spiritual life to) your mortal body and enable you to BE! It is the only hell shattering, dea

Jesus came to earth to do a work. did He go back to His Father with the work He was sent to accomplish unfinished? No. Jesus perfectly accomplished His work, Jesus left nothing undone or incomplete, Jesus left nothing unfinished or deficient, Jesus left nothing unaccomplished or lacking, His work was totally sufficient. Since Jesus paid it all; nothing needs to be added to His finished work. Jesus + nothing = Grace! So the message of Grace is about resting in what Jesus has already done, and not laboring to receive or to somehow gain or maintain salvation. It was finished by Jesus! The Grace Message stands in contrast to man-made religious doctrines that are more works and law oriented than Grace oriented. Many church-going-people believe the Grace message in part, but when you scrutinize their rule and regulation keeping we find that Bible reading, prayer, meeting attendance, tithing, church going...etc, you find that they often practice the law and question people who do not measure

Church history clearly reveals that religious “Christianity” needs to understand the Grace Message of Jesus as much any other religion. In conversing with people I have learned that even though they are repelled by “Christianity” because of the antics, narrow mindedness, arrogant attitude and the superiority complex of some “Christians” they are not repelled by Jesus! In essence they want to experience the real Jesus of scripture and authentic spiritual life.

If we  have truly experienced the fruit of Grace in the forgiveness of sin and we are now living the grace life, we will be forgiving, compassionate, loving and gracious to people.

When coerced or forced to submit and accept the beliefs of others, you will make people happy! But remember, it is very possible that will be unhappy!  I wonder...is that why there is so much unhappiness around us? This service could not be reached. Please try again later. Search for When coerced or forced to submit and accept the beliefs of o ... 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

The test of true love is revealed by how you love and treat people who do not love you or do nothing for you in return.

In the modern “church” culture much of the preaching is talking about things that don’t matter to people who don’t care and using guilt and manipulation to get them to DO “church”. This kind of preaching produces christian-ets who are pew-warmers who have been manipulated to support the culture and keep the wheels of the “church” moving. In the Church That Jesus is building, the sharing is more about things that matter to people who care, and is more about fitting and equipping God’s people to BE the Church and living as the Church rather than weekend church going! This kind of sharing happens more through a dialogue with people rather than the monologue lecture type sermon where the only one that speaks is the professional preacher!

We have been doing church for so long we are conditioned to believing that it is the right way for it to be done and we are so deceived by the doing that we will not accept any other alternative as the possibility of being right. It is time to ask the question about the way we do church? What is Church about? Who/What is really the “church”? So much of westernized culture completely misses the point of the “assembling’ and has turned it into a self- grandiosity, showmanship and a consumerist venture that is fueled largely by ignorance of who and what is “church”. Why do so many churches have the same meeting formula? Greeters at the door, hymn singing, lecture message and prayer” which is suppose to empower the Saints to do what God has commissioned them to do? God never said; “They’ll know you’re my disciples by your Church attendance, or how many songs you sing, or how many “great sermons” you hear. He said “They’ll know you’re my disciples by your love for one another”. It’s tha

Romans 11:13 clearly declares in his Epistle to the Galatians profound truth concerning his apostleship and gospel. Within the first two chapters there is tremendous spiritual light shining forth from God to dissolve the spiritual darkness caused by religions and traditions of men within Christendom concerning the God-given issues of Paul, his Apostleship, his Message and his Ministry. Recorded within the Holy Writ are expressions of surprise, strong warnings, bold pronouncements with new revelations and determined convictions. The surprise: Galatians 1:6,7--- "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." The strong warning: Galatians 1:8,9--- "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