ICQ Status: My ICQ #19090937	This page features information about new things one the TruthForFree.com website: RECENTLY UPDATED INFO (05/01/2008): There are a few new updates to the site. I haven't had time to detail them all yet and I'm still working on adding a few more and will try to report them soon. Recently added a great article that deals with the question some believers have concerning "Sabbath-keeping". Should Christians Keep or Observe The Sabbath Today? - by Gene Taylor. If you currently believe in Sabbath-keeping, know friends or family who do, or have had questions about whether or not this practice is expected of those under the New Covenant or not, you may find this concise article interesting. Generally, this website does not enter the debate among followers of Jesus who may individually make different choices concerning things like "holy days" and the hope is that this article with not be viewed as an exception to that decision. The issue (from this writer's perspective) is not whether or not it is acceptable for one person or another to personally regard any given day as sacred to them (and for which they, individually, decide to keep in some fashion to the glory of God), but this issue becomes concerning when believers begin to blur the doctrine of truth by mixing the Gospel of God's grace with legalism in the Law. I have also discovered that many Christians are largely ignorant about what the Law actually is, how and why it was implemented, and when and why it was fulfilled in the New Covenant (and this is a subject I may work on presenting a great deal more resources concerning in the near future). This article is, by no means, all conclusive but it's a good start in dealing with the subject of Sabbath keeping. Again, the intention of sharing this article is absolutely not to suggest there is anything at all wrong with choosing to honor the Lord with a specific day being set aside. In fact, Paul said to the first century believers in Christ regarding this issue: Romans 14:4 - "Who are you to condemn God's servants? They are responsible to the Lord, so let him tell them whether they are right or wrong. The Lord's power will help them do as they should. In the same way, some think one day is more holy than another day, while others think every day is alike. Each person should have a personal conviction about this matter. Those who have a special day for worshiping the Lord are trying to honor him. Those who eat all kinds of food do so to honor the Lord, since they give thanks to God before eating. And those who won't eat everything also want to please the Lord and give thanks to God." Therefore, the heart here is not to trample on anyone's personal convictions but only to encourage us in keep Christ at the center of our lives. This article deals with the implications of presuming that God has somehow commanded subservience to the Law for His Church. I heartily recommend this brief article and the suggested references that follow it - especially if you have been persuaded at all by the negative side of the "keep the Sabbath Day" teaching. Remember, it is for FREEDOM that Christ has set us free, therefore, do not entangle yourself with a yoke of subservience to the Law! (Galatians 5:1). Additionally, if you are further interested in this subject, I heartily recommend the book "Exposing Seventh Day Adventism" by Russell Earl Kelly. Please note, this book is EXCELLENT whether you agree with SDA doctrine or not because it very thoroughly and clearly walks you through the Law to help you understand its purpose and fulfillment in Christ. God bless you!!! I've also recently added two excellent articles by my good buddy Darin Hufford (info about one of them is posted below... see the Articles page for more)! Also, see the info about Frank Viola's updated book, Pagan Christianity (check out the details below), and be sure to check out Sean Smith's great new book called "Are Christians Free Indeed or Enslaved by Religion?" - it's FREE to download and highly recommended! There are also a few updated links and I should have some new articles coming soon! Thanks so much everyone for visiting my site. It's hard work to keep this page updated as I work a full time job in addition to managing this page, but it's a pleasure to share this resource with you. The best part of having this website up are the friendships I've made through it. The walk outside traditional churchianity can sometimes be a lonely one and so it's always great to meet people who are on the same journey and share some laughs, some encouraging conversation and inspiring fellowship. Because of the site, I so get quite a bit of e-mail these days and it's sometimes hard to keep up, so if you've written and don't receive a response back right away, I apologize, but I do read every letter and appreciate the encouragement and testimony. My intention with this site is not to create a following after myself or even to encourage people to idolize various authors as their "spiritual guides", but simply to offer some encouragement along the journey and to continually keep Jesus in the center. I guarantee that if you make me or anyone else the object of your admiration, they will eventually let you down. I love to encourage people to simply live free, love God, follow Jesus, and pursue truth. This is the message I am happy to convey with this site and I'm working to provide more links, more articles, and more resources as time permits. Be sure to check the MySpace version of this page too as there is other information there, some of which may not be found at this site, and the MySpace page also features more current blogs by "yours truly". Have a great day and thanks again for visiting! GREAT ARTICLE! by Darin Hufford The Church That Christ Built - by Darin Hufford. This excellent article deals with the subject of man's general concept of church versus God's idea of Church. Darin eloquently shatters some long-held myths about the so-called "five fold" ministry concept and invites the reader to experience a relationship with God that is very unlike the typical "drag yourself to a meeting Sunday morning" routine idea of "church". Darin offers some simple observations that, while controversial to the traditional concept of "church" and "church ministry", are entirely biblical and bring "Christianity" back into the realm of a relational experience with God and one another instead of a cold, institutional program and building. Highly recommended article!!! Check it out and pass it around!!! More articles by Darin appear one the Articles page of this website! NEW BOOK UPDATE! FRANK VIOLA & GEORGE BARNA TEAM UP! Pagan Christianity NEWLY UPDATED - by Frank Viola and George Barna. Have you ever wondered why we Christians do what we do for church every Sunday morning (or at least what most Christians do)? Have you ever asked yourself any of the following questions: Why do we "dress up" for church? Why does the pastor preach a sermon every Sunday? Why do we have pulpits and pews? Why do we have church buildings, steeples, choirs, and seminaries? Where did these things come from? This volume (number three in the series) makes an outrageous proposal: That most of what we Christians do in our churches has no root in the New Testament! It rather has its origin in pagan culture long after the death of the apostles. As shocking as that sounds, Viola (with the assistance of statistical researcher, George Barna of the Barna Group, proves his point by documenting every claim he makes. Fully footnoted, Pagan Christianity is the first book ever penned that documents the entire story of our modern church practices. If you are a Christian who is content with status quo "churchianity," then you will not want to read this book. It is reserved for those who are ready to embark on an eye-opening venture that challenges every aspect of their church experience as well as offering a better alternative. This excellent, thoroughly documented book is available at www.paganchristianity.org. A very highly recommended MUST READ! Are Christians Free Indeed or Enslaved By Religion? NEW BOOK - by Sean Smith. In clear, easy-to-understand prose, author Shean Smith explores how the church has muddied the waters of religion. Each chapter takes up a different aspect of church-going, from tithing to assembly, and explores why these church regulations sometimes do more harm than good. Smith offers concrete suggestions for making more of your faith, including making Christ the center of your life and doing away with the guilt forced on you by traditional organized religion (i.e. man's corrupt concept of "the church"). This warm and inspirational book can help you realize your freedom in Christ. A must read! Since discovering this book, I've had the opportunity to talk to Sean a few times on the phone and share e-mail conversation and he is a great brother with a sincere heart for only truth and seeing God's people set free to know Him without any distraction. NEW! PUT A TRUTHFORFREE.COM BANNER ON YOUR SITE!!! Now you can add a banner on your website or MySpace page to let your friends know about TruthForFree.com. Just visit the link below to go to the banner page (it should open in a new window, which you can close to return to this page when you're through). Then simply copy and paste the code shown below whichever banner you want displayed on your page... That's it! I'm going to add more designs soon in various sizes (including smaller ones for those who don't want a large banner on their page). CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE BANNER PAGE TITHING BOOK BY RUSS KELLY: Should The Church Teach Tithing? - This is the complete electronic (THIRD EDITION) copy of Russell Earl Kelly's amazing book, "Should The Church Teach Tithing," in Adobe Acrobat format (added April 3, 2007). This is not an abridged version of the retail book, this is the whole book - FREE! Over 1,350 downloads from, literally, all over the world have been calculated so far (and that's merely on this website... I'm told that there are some sites, such as freegoodnews.com, that have calculated thousands of downloads as well) - revealing a massive interest in this topic by people all over the globe! The book continues to hold steady in the #1 position on Amazon.com's best-seller list for this topic! This edition has some incredible new updates and changes, which make this book even better than the first and second edition printing! This is no ordinary discussion of the subject of tithing either. Russell's book is the most thorough, in-depth investigation of the biblical tithe and principles of New Covenant giving practices available anywhere! This is no exaggeration! I would personally regard it as THE textbook of choice on the subject. Russ has graciously allowed me to continue providing it free of charge for download here, proving that he's more interested in the message than the money. God bless you Russ! Be sure to download your FREE copy of this book! You can't get it anywhere else on the Web right now as the new third edition is still being published! It will be ready for hard copy on most of the bookseller sites like Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble very soon! PETER WHYTE'S BOOK IS BACK: Come Out Of Her My People - This fantastic book by Peter Whyte was originally published in 1992 by Successful Christian Living (SCL) in South Africa. Previously, it had been my understanding that the title was out of print and I was unable to find any source that offered new or used copies of the work, so I scanned the book myself, converted it to Adobe PDF format, and then mailed a copy to SCL asking for updated contact information and formal permission to share the download. After a few months I received word from the author's friend, Jamie Campbell, that the book was still available through her publishing company, Lux Verbi-BM, but to wait until I obtained permission from Peter before offering it as a download. On July 6, 2006 I received a personal, hand-written letter from the author, Peter Whyte (now 76), granting me permission to offer the book free of charge as a download from this site. The 5th page of the e-book (which follows the Table of Contents page) contains all contact information for the author, publisher and distributor of the book (whom you may order hard copies through if you wish). Feel free to download this excellent book and share it with friends and family. In Peter's letter to me he said, "You are very welcome to put any of my writings on the Internet via your website. I do not write for gain. God's message is free, but unfortunately book publishers have to try and protect their interests: - I do not accept royalties." UPDATED TITHING INFO PAGE: Currently one of the most popular pages on this website. Over 1,000 visitors to the page in just the first five months of it's addition (and thousands of article and media downloads since this website was created)! Here you will find great resources to help you in your study of one of the most misunderstood subjects and distorted doctrines in the modern day institutional church system; monetary tithing. Find out what Scripture really teaches and why it's so important to understand the truth. This page includes some of the best resources available on the subject anywhere! Bless you as you study the Scriptures in search of God's truth! Check out the new tithing info resources on this site! Tithing Study Resource Page RECENTLY RELEASED: FREE BOOK! The Way of a Man with a Maid - This is the absolute best book you will ever read concerning the subject of the "courtship and betrothal" movement that has influenced so many churches in our day... and now, the full version of the book is available FREE online!!! Robin Phillips, author, is a brother who is deffinately not ignorant about the dangers and biblical errancies intricately woven into and saturated throughout this popular teaching. Robin was himself raised under this teaching (his own parents being some of the most prominent, well-known proponents of courtship theology known to Christiandom) and has been involved (on some personal and experiential level) with some of the most prominent leaders around the country who teach the courtship concepts. This book will draw your attention to the simple truth of Scripture and will encourage and help you understand God's heart in the process of building positive, godly male-female relationships and strong marriages. Visit the link above, or CLICK HERE to view/download the PDF version! IMPORTANT ALERT: THEOPHOSTIC HERESY GAINING POPULARITY Many of you may have heard of a "ministry" technique that sprang up several years ago called "Theophostics". This is a sort of "deliverance ministry" that involves specialized prayer training and non-biblically derived principles to overcome spiritual "strongholds" in a person's life. Over the years, the popularity of this "program" has been increasing - as has its controversy. The ministry's headquarters has even acknowledged the controversy and admits to their continual modification of the doctrine to make it better align with the truth (click here for quote). But... please note founder Ed Smith's original claims: "...over the course of the next few weeks a simple yet profound principle began to emerge. It was as though a spigot had been turned on and the insight of this process began to flow through my mind." - Ed Smith; Beyond Tolerable Recovery. TheoPhostic Counseling p. 30 "After I had searched long and hard for that 'better' method, He [God] gave me TheoPhostic so I would have no room to boast." - Ed Smith; Beyond Tolerable Recovery. TheoPhostic Counseling p. 31 "Theophostic Prayer Ministry is not new in concept only in intention. God has been operating on these same principles though out history."" - Ed Smith; Healing Life's Hurts Through TheoPhostic Prayer (Newly Revised Edition, 2005) p. 10. TheoPhostic counseling "is not a spin-off of any other traditional approach to counseling." - Ed M. Smith; Breakthroughs in Biblical Counseling and Genuine Inner Healing. (FAX regarding TheoPhostic Training Seminars Campbellsville, KY) p. 4. Now, PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING: Ed Smith (founder) himself, who originally came out saying boldly that his teaching was directly from the Holy Spirit and did not contain any secular inner-healing methods has since ammended his own training materials admitting the former error (proving that those mindsets have in fact influenced his doctrine - note the following quote): "Previous editions of this manual are now out of date and no longer represent the current teaching of this ministry... I came from an eclectic background that included some of the very practices that I now reject." – Ed Smith, in his new Basic Seminar Manual Please note, even though Ed claims to have now ammended his former errors (again), it should be pointed out that these "former errors" were once touted by the very same man as being the instruction of the Holy Spirit and not the product of any inner healing method. As he originally claimed, "it was as though a spigot had been turned on and the insight of this process began to flow through my mind." But if he now admits there were errors in the original teachings that were not from God, then where was this "spigot of insight" actually flowing from? This is a vital question that every believer who has considered using these principles ought to strongly contemplate! It is also interesting how Ed has changed some of the former accounts in his writings to distance himself from his prior claims of divine revelation. As you read earlier, he clearly said that God gave him the TheoPhostic method. The section from the book where this quote was taken has since been ammended in Smith's newly revised book, Healing Life's Hurts Through TheoPhostic Prayer. Ed now claims, "I am not saying that I had a divine revelation, because I did not." (p. 18) The problem remains that details of the ministry's doctrine continue to be ammended and there are large amounts of unbiblical and false teaching contained in the teaching materials still! Christians beware! When asked who needs Theophostic prayer, Ed Smith's website boldly answered the question saying, "The answer is, all of us. Not one of us is exempt." #15 - Miscellaneous Questions (theophostic.com) As if these facts alone weren't cause enough for concern, the ministry also has published specialized training guides for Roman Catholics, claiming that Theophostic ministry works just as well with the doctrines and practices of Roman Catholicsm - not even dealing with the fact that Roman Catholic doctrine and practice does NOT align with pure biblical doctrine or first century historical Christianity and, in fact, teaches a different Gospel entirely! Jan Fletcher, Christian journalist and founder of LyingSpirits.com (who has also written an extensive book on the subject of theophostics - see links below), remarked: "Theophostic is the most dangerous of all the inner healing methods seen until now. I say this because it's cloaked so well, in such biblical terminology, and its mystical methods are so streamlined and simple, it will undoubtedly fool even mature Christians." Simply said, there is great cause for Christians to crank up their discernment and not be duped by false teachers and false doctrines. Jesus warned us: Matthew 24:24-25 (MSG) - "Fake Messiahs and lying preachers are going to pop up everywhere. Their impressive credentials and dazzling performances will pull the wool over the eyes of even those who ought to know better. But I've given you fair warning." On top of the unbiblical teachings and controversy is the fact that materials for the program are not cheap - many items costing hundreds of dollars, not to mention the price of conferences and training seminars! One ought to wonder how a group that claims to have the answer from God to spiritually heal lives (an answer that was supposedly given freely to the ministry's founder, Ed Smith) gets away with prostituting the so-called "gift of God"? Of course the answer to that question is obvious; the program is designed to make money and it never came from God to begin with. The ministry's website has tried to respond to the massive criticism of the program by offering a detailed list of guidelines to observe when encountering other groups that espouse a theophostic approach to deliverance (oddly enough, there is no warning to beware of Ed Smith's frequently changing elements of his doctrine, which makes even the headquarter's ministry an untrustworthy source). The site even gives a bold warning to be wary of people that teach theophostics because of the great potential for error involved and even recommends the purchase of other books by the ministry for dealing with these kinds of potential problems! One ought to ask the simple question, "since when did the doctrine of Christ become insufficient to deal with our sin, our problems and our weaknesses?" The fact that this ministry actually has to issue a warning for its own program and continues to ammend principles it formerly claimed were given by God should cause every believer that has been exposed to this group to throw up the red flags. The good news is that, though Ed Smith's organization continues to ammend its teaching because of critics, this proves that the criticism and wise discernment of believers is having a bold effect - making it harder and harder for groups like this to exist without tripping all over their propagated deceptions. The organization's website now offers a checklist for how to gage which critics you can trust! Excuse me a moment... hahahahaha! It should come as no surprise that one of the checkpoints for gaging a "positive critic" is to see if the critic has first submitted himself to the doctrine and participated in TheoPhostic ministry! Strange requirement isn't it? After all, if we were investigating some other cult practice, I'm sure they would rather us join and submit our lives to it too first before we critique it. Amazing! Watch out my brothers and sisters! Below are some links to websites containing detailed examination about the errors this organization propogates. Be wary of the smooth talk this group uses to claim its methods are in line with Scripture. They are not and should be avoided. The links below will open in a new webpage: TheoPhostic Counseling: Divine Revelation or PsychoHeresy? (FREE E-BOOK) - by Martin & Deidre Bobgan Lying Spirits: A Christian journalist's report on Theophostic® Prayer Ministry - by Jan Fletcher Theophostics: Unbiblical Teaching Wedded to Mystical Experience - by Bob DeWaay Theophostics: Unbiblical Teaching Wedded to Mystical Experience - by Bob DeWaay Theophostic Counselling: Divine, Demonic or Just Divisive? - by Christian Witness Ministries NEW PDA / MOBILE WEBSITE: Now visitors with PDA and other web-enabled mobile devices can view the TruthForFree site! This new feature is still under heavy construction so it may be a few more weeks before it's fully functional. In the mean time though, feel free to check it out! :) Now you can read some great articles while sitting at your favorite coffee shop, restaurant, the airport, church (hehe), around the house, office or anywhere in between! This service is 100% FREE but requires that you have a WiFi-enabled PDA or other mobile device that can view websites in at least 320x320 resolution. Currently it is not quite as frequently updated as the main site, but I am working on that. Feedback is appreciated! God bless and do enjoy!!! :) pda.truthforfree.com GREAT WEBSITE RECOMMEND: Sean Dietrich is an awesome brother in Christ who wrote to me recently and shared some of his music and testimony. I was really encouraged and blessed. His music is excellent! Currently, two of his songs "Beware" and "All I Need" are the featured songs in the background music for this site (you can start the music player from the home page). I love the words in "Beware"; this might as well be the theme song of TruthForFree.com! Do check out his great website and find out how you can get his CD or browse a number of great articles available freely. You can also download full versions of the songs from his new album absolutely free from his page! Sean has a sincere heart to minister the love and truth of God to people. He is a rare find in a world of "Christian" musicians who sometimes seem to care more about money and popularity than they do conveying the heart of God through their gift. Highly recommended site!!! Sean's Website: http://www.seandietrich.com ARTICLE RECOMMEND: Christians & Conspiracy Theories: A Call To Repentance - This is a great article by some recent friends, Dean and Laura VanDruff. Conspiracy Theory appears to be the latest incarnation of the classic "tall tale" with a paranoid bent. By its very nature it cannot be completely disproved. But short of this, there are some serious problems that we need to make ourselves aware of from a biblical perspective. This article suggests that the fundamental premise of conspiracy theory is antithetical (diametrically opposed) to Biblical revelation, if we are indeed near the end of the age. The negative "fruit" of conspiracy theories is that it shifts the blame from our own failures as Christians in society to our opponents, fostering a further counterproductive "bunker mentality" of passive assent and agreement without protest or question--or worse still violent backlash. The tendency of really effective conspiracy theories is to increase men's IDOLATRY of supposed superhuman brainiacs who run the universe, or the flip-side of this: promoting the FEAR OF MEN in general. Both results are specifically forbidden in scripture. Some of the most hideous evil in human history has come as a result of letting slander, rumors, and lies go unchecked for too long. A survey of recent Christian rumors with no regard for their veracity underscores the damage done by conspiracy theory to our mission as stewards of the gospel of truth. If you know someone, or have had yourself, a tendency to be swayed by various conspiracy theories, please take a few moments to read this excellent perspective article and just consider its content. Perhaps you will agree, perhaps not, or perhaps it will simply open a broader discussion. The article also talks about the great "conspiracy" mentioned in Scripture, which is the device of Satan himself. This, however, is not conspiracy at all to the true follower of Christ for God reveals the truth to His servants. Such are not "conspiracies" but evidence of the open war against the Gospel of Jesus Christ (a war that has even begun to permeate our own ranks). We are not left in the dark about these truths because Scripture reveals them plainly. This article strongly encourages that it's time for Christians to leave behind the petty conspiracies of the world, and focus on the truth God has presented for us to know and follow without compromise. Great food for discussion. THE REVOLUTION IS HERE! Many of you are familiar with George Barna's book, Revolution (if you're not, there's more information about it further down this page). What's Your View of The Revolution? George Barna's latest book has stirred widespread controversy. What's your view of this fast-growing nationwide faith movement? To share your thoughts and experiences, visit the blog site that posts various reviews of the book along with the reflections of other believers. The site is http://www.tyndale.com/revolutionblog/. You can see the variety of ideas Christians have about Church, faith, obedience, community and other facets discussed in the book. Add your wisdom; you may spark some helpful thinking in the lives of others. NEW AUDIO!!! Please take a few minutes to click over to the Multimedia page and download some of the newly added audio messages. These are stirring, faith-building and religious-cow crushing messages that lift up Jesus and won't make the flesh the least bit comfortable to hear. There's also some humorous things to see and hear, pictures, and free music to download! If that sounds interesting to you, be sure to check out what's new in the audio section. ANOTHER HIGHLY RECOMMENDED ARTICLE: Ecclesia_TheSmith-HoltDebate.pdf - Recently I have been recognizing that there still seems to be a lot of confusion about the word "church" (Greek = Ecclesia) as to whether or not it is represented by local organizations, people only, congregations, the whole body of Christ, or institutions. I believe the Scripture is clear and I believe the original Greek text of Scripture confirms this plainly. There is an excellent article I read recently (by Charles Holt of The Examiner newsletter) that discusses some of the debate over traditional arguments concerning the word "ecclesia" (or "church") and you may find this helpful in your own examination. The article is presented in Adobe PDF format so you will need the Adobe Reader to view it. If you would like to read the article from its HTML source, click here. There's also more great articles just like this on the articles page of this site. OLDER NEWS... WEBSITE UNDER CONSTRUCTION (UPDATED) For some time I have been considering re-naming the website to better fit the content, focus and purpose of this site. Also, it came to my attention that, despite the popularity this site has achieved with virtually no advertising whatsoever, it still is rather difficult to find in web searches unless you do a specific search for the words "Prayer Shack." I am working hard to change that. Hopefully the new URL (truthforfree.com) will generate some attention and I have also purchased some featured links on Google.com and signed up for an automatic, monthly multi-search enging submission service. Most of the website content has now been converted, but I still have to move all pages to open under the new URL instead of the old one (I'm getting close). The new URL for the site is truthforfree.com (you can type that with or without the www). The old site URL, prayershack.com and prayershack.freeservers.com, will remain active as well, so any of these will get visitors to this site. I am leaving some of the Prayer Shack related content as well, since that is how this site began and it serves as reminder for me and for friends who frequented the Shack in the early days. The chat room, for example, will still be called "Shack Chat", etc. Thanks everyone who has visited and I hope you will continue to drop by and see what's new. It's hard to keep a site like this updated (especially with my very limited website design skills) and the fact that I do this aside from a full-time day job, but I plan to work even harder at that and hope you'll turn on your friends and family to the site. If anyone has ideas on how I might make this site even better, do let me know. I can't promise that I have all the know how to accomplish everything, but I will do my best to make this site beneficial to its audience. God bless and thanks again for the support!!! COMMUNITY CORKBOARD! What is a community corkboard, you ask? It's a great way for believers to connect online and share information concerning various topics. These are not "chat rooms" or "message groups" per say, but rather time-stamped posting forums where you can share and search for relevant information. The forums allow you to set a date range that you want your topic of interest posted (once the end date is reached the information will automatically be removed from the forum - this is intended to help make sure current and accurate information is being posted). Currently TruthForFree.com is introducing four starter corkboard forums for visitors to participate in. The first forum is called Seeking Fellowship and is intended for people who are looking for other believers to share fellowship with. If you are seeking to engage in relationships with other believers who are walking this same path outside the Institutional church system, feel free to share here and connect with others like you! The second forum is called Resource Information. This forum is intended for believers to share information about resources they know can help Christians in their walk with the Lord, but not just spiritually - the hope is that physical resource information will be shared here as well (for example, if you know a group that helps people pay their electric bills when they can't afford it, or a group that provides food and clothing for needy families). The third forum is a General Discussion forum intended for all other topics of discussion (e.g. doctrinal issues, tithing, church, daily struggles, personal revelations, encouragement, etc.) and also date sensitive information (e.g. upcoming conferences, meetings, etc.). Finally, the fourth forum is called Prayer Requests. These forums are for you! This is a brand new resource and may take some time to develop. Feel free to use it and please just be courteous of others, do not use profanity, etc. May God bless you as you share with others in these forums. Seeking Fellowship Resource Information General Discussion Prayer Requests GREAT E-BOOK DOWNLOAD!!! What would you do if you thought you'd met John the Apostle and he told you things that resonated with the deepest longings of your heart? Perhaps that may sound preposterous to some, but over a four-year period the author of this story (who calls himself Jake Colsen) tells his story of twelve life-changing conversations he had with a mysterious stranger that changed virtually everything he believed about God, the Christian life and the nature of the church. This is an engaging, convicting and inspiring true story that chronicles this man's encounter with a brother in Christ whose character manifested Jesus so purely that he thought, "if I didn't know better, I would have to presume this was John the Apostle." Of course, that is not the intended conclusion of the book and you will have to read the entire story to understand it all, but it presents a fascinating journey, which the author warns has not been easy. Most people who start this way end up stopping for various reasons before they get to the greatest joy and freedom imaginable. The author tells the story just as it unfolded and leaves you to make your own conclusions about who the characters really are and how they may relate to our own lives. It's an interesting approach to telling the story rather than just defining everyone in the story outright. I thoroughly enjoyed the read! The hope is to find those people who are not afraid to ask the difficult questions and pursue the fullness of God's promise for his believers and his Church. Most importantly, the hope is that this story helps you to understand better who God really is, who you really are, and what He'd always intended his Church to be. Please read this excellent e-book, offered freely by the author. I believe you will be greatly encouraged! Simply click the image of the book above to open the e-book (Note: You will need the Adobe Reader to view this document). Also, I encourage you to visit the author's website for more information about this book: http://www.jakecolsen.com/ RE: REVOLUTION Somehow, a few months back, I happened to pick up a copy of George Barna's book called Revolution. For those of you who are unfamiliar, George Barna is the founder of Barna Research Group, which was created more than two decades ago with the intent to help ministries facilitate strategic decision-making. Much of this was accomplished through detailed statistical research provided by the Group. Over the course of that 20 years the Barna research team interviewed nearly a half million people in the course of hundreds of research studies, provided seminar-based training to leaders from more than 50,000 churches, produced more than 60 books and syndicated reports, and developed a website that provided free information to hundreds of thousands of people every month. Barna became one of the most (if not the most) trusted resource for institutional church-related statistical research in the United States! But, as I found out reading this book, an intriguing change occurred in George Barna's life (about 2003) as a result of his countless hours of researching the effects of organized religion; he realized that very little actual life transformation appeared to be occurring in churched believers all over the country. Even worse, he realized that his own efforts in research were being used by pastors mostly for the purpose of seeking statistical evidence to support their teaching. To his surprise, however, the same research Barna had been conducting over the years led him to a discovery of the fact that God was moving in mighty ways OUTSIDE the four walls of the Institutional Church! In fact, Barna was so impacted by what he observed in the lives of churchless Christians all over the U.S. that it convinced him to give up what he had done for 20 years and refocus his attentions. He changed the name of his organization from the Barna Research Group to simply the Barna Group, downsized his organization from 100 employees to eight, moved out of their large office space into a compact area, sought to become more partnership based, and chose to raise the level of risk they were willing to take in new ventures, determining that it would be better to go broke in the pursuit of true life transformation than to remain financially safe but without any gain for the kingdom. All of that to say that George Barna appears to no longer have an interest in merely helping grow the Institutional Church. His new passion (according to his book) is solely to see God's true Church, who are His very people, walk into the fullness of what God intents for them without obstacles, without distractions, without religious strings attached. He was humbled to find that it's already happening without the aid of churches and formal religious organizations. In fact, one of the most impacting things he notes in his new book is that so many of these groups of believers who serve the Lord outside the Institutional System, even though they often have poor organization, lack of great numbers, meager financial resources, often weak human leadership and are sometimes ridiculed and despised by those in larger church organizations, yet they are more effective (in terms of actual life transformation, relationship building, devotion to truth, and sincere Christian devotion); proving that it is GOD - not man - that is leading these believers. Barna now calls these Christians who no longer center their lives around religious organizations (i.e. churches) "Revolutionaries" and believe they (all 20 million of them and growing) are the real future of the manifested body of Christ on earth. Barna also humbly and joyously admits that he is now one of them as well. This is an interesting book that may serve to encourage and inspire believers (whether outside the institutional church program or even still within). It's a very easy read. The book also contains statistics (as you'd expect from Barna Group) lending even more support to Barna's newfound revelations concerning the Lord's Church as opposed to the abiblical entity known as the Institutional Church. This review is not intended to be a full on endorsement of everything George Barna may personally believe or engage in as it concerns every facet of his ministry. The truth is, I know very little at this point about all of that. I am optimistically hopeful though I also confess that, judging by what I have thus far read on Barna's site and after having spoken with Barna's associate and friend Thom Black on the phone, I am a little concerned that Barna may possibly be taking a more "organizational" approach in an effort to try and "marketedly" give a voice to the Revolution. Upon first review of his book I had a much more embracing view than I unfortunately do now (my Amazon.com review is evidence of that). This is only because I see such heavy emphasis on "marketing the Revolution" and this apparent urgent attempt to try and "push it along." I appreciate the obvious intent here (of desiring to increase tolerance and recognition within the institutional church about what God is doing on a global scale - to tear down the walls) but I would contend that the voice of the Revolution is not dependant upon man's ability or strength in promoting it. The revolution of truth is not a new thing. It's not something that can be capsuled in a pill and marketed. It's also not merely a "move of God" that will come and go. The revolution of truth is an act of God that impacts whomever the Spirit wills and it will effect whatever change God desires to the level that a person is obedient to His leading. I am excited that Barna is recognizing that God is moving outside the methods and traditional boundaries of church program that so many have thought God was forced to operate inside of and I truly don't want to make any inaccurate presumptions about my brother in Christ. As I said, I am optimistic. :) I receive him as my brother in Christ and I pray that he gives this new insight time to take full root in the soil of relationship with Jesus. It would likely be easy for him to rely on his former strengths in marketing and staticizing, but I pray he will rely strong at this season (and always) on the lead of the Spirit of God. The real revolution will go on whether any group thinks they can help it along better or even if they wish to stop it. Barna's book was really good and I am happy to recommend it. Because I don't know Barna personally and I haven't researched his current opinions and objectives, it's hard for me to honestly give a full on "endorsement" of his ministry. Not that he needs any endorsement at all from me. I am nobody and God is the one who knows the heart and intent of us all. If God is fully in this and Barna is responding in obedience to a specific call God has given him, far be it from me to think I have any power to endorse or disapprove it; God will fully back what He calls into existance and give it all the endorsement it requires to effect whatever purpose He desires. My comments of concern should also not be viewed as a rejection of this man, his book or his undoubtedly sincere intentions to honor the Lord with the revelation of truth he has encountered. I simply don't know enough to form a full opinion but I share my acknowledments and concerns. Each person should exercise discernment and hold fast to the truth of God's Word as their gage in all things. I merely wish to encourage people to see that God is working in wonderful ways OUTSIDE the four walls, as He can in you... and if a man who spent more than 30 years of his life supporting the old system can humble himself and risk everything to follow Christ, even if it costs him the success of his own well-established and financially-successful ministry, certainly so can we press on in Jesus without fear or worry for the things others may say about us and live to become Revolutionaries for the glory of our Lord. Please, by all means, check out this book! My guess is that "vetrans" of the "wilderness" will not discover anything "profound" about the books content (just to be honest), but it is encouraging, nonetheless, to see how God is opening people's eyes in an awakening of truth. It's encouraged to recognize that we (on the outside of traditional churchianity) are not only, but there are millions like us that are hearing the voice of the Spirit call and more will, no doubt, follow His lead. Praise God for that! I have a link in the bookstore on this site (Barna Group sells it for just $12). Quantity discounts are also available on Barna Group's website for those interested. God bless. No other information at this time... © 1995-2007 TruthForFree.com & The Prayer Shack. All rights reserved. Please do not reproduce without permission. TruthForFree.com, The Prayer Shack and design logos are trademarks owned by TruthForFree.com & The Prayer Shack, Pasco, WA. Other site graphics are either used by permission or assumed to be in the public domain. If you see an image that you think should not be here, please contact the webmaster at info@truthforfree.com. Privacy Statement.