Encounter Recovery Ministries

For you to grow in Christ by putting off the old self and puting on the new self, we need to grow in our sensitivity to the voice of Christ in the text of Scripture. It is not just hearing "ABOUT" Jesus, as some translation read, but hearing Jesus and being taught by Him that causes our growth in Him.

Everyone has a past. Before becoming a disciple of Christ, each of us was living in ways he or she now regrets. This is why it is important understand one's present life is conditioned not by the past, but the future age being lived out in the present day. You are now, a new creation, and you no longer belong to the old creation and its ways, including your past.

The disciple is one under the yoke of Christ, and that is evident by the disciple becoming more like his Master. As we learn from Him we discover He is gentle and humble in heart and this progressively defines the character of the disciple as well.

The disciple's greatest longing is to be more like Jesus, and he/she knows this does not happen in isolation. We need to gather, but for the reasons the Bible tells us, and not merely to be a cog in the insitutional church. No, we gather for the express purpose of mutual edification and growth, that is, to be better disciples for having come together than before we gathered.

Religious tradition addiction effects most Christians. It is more deadly than fentanyl and cocaine and more socially acceptable than alcohol. It is a system with leaders who are vested in keeping you dependent upon it and not upon Jesus Christ. Though it operates in his name, it keeps you spiritually immature, and ignorant of who you are in Christ and your place as a Spirit-gifted member of the body of Christ. One must discern it, leave it, and find true fellowship that helps you mature in Christ's image. This series is designed to help you do that.

Please listen carefully to this plea for repentance and renewal into the New Testament vision for the church as the body of Christ. Throughout the history of the people of God, there has occurred horrible and appaling seasons. We are in such a season today. The institutional church system which began 1700 years ago, has remade the church in its own image and for the benefit and personal interests of false prophets and priests. And most Christians are okay with it!!

It is important to remember that those who betrayed Jesus were very religious people, a cast a characters that included a disciple (Judas), the chief priests, scribes, and officers, with Satan himself present to enusre it all came off well.

As disciples of Jesus Christ, we want to respond to all things in accord with our Lord's word and example.This includes how we respond to human evil. Here are a few thoughts on how to do this.

What is the ground of our assurance as disciples? what will be our confidence on the day of judgment? Throughout the history of institutional Christianity, assurance has been tied to externals like church attendance, sacraments, using Christian termonoligies and symbols. In this episode, we are reminded what it is that brings the disciple great assurance.

From the lips of Jesus to the preaching and pens of the apostles, wealth is presented as a major obstacle to spiritual health. This is contrary to most ancient cultures and certainly contrary to the American culture, even contrary to American religion. How is the disciple to respond?

Fallen humanity remains very religious, and the disciple of Jesus must not be taken in by the hypocrisy and lies of false religion tradition. Rather, we must discern and expose the religious traditions of men for what they are, and instead, listen to Jesus alone.

The disciple of Jesus must share in his Master's definition of the church as being His Body. The ministry therefore belongs to Christ and is realized by the mediating work of the Spirit through the entire Body. The clergy-laity distinction is a man-made institution from which the disciple must therefore come out.

With the coming of our Lord came the radical teaching that to love is one commandment with two parts: Love of God and love of neighbor. This is how Jesus loved and this is how his disciples are to love as well.

It is foundational that disciples not demand to be served but to serve one another, just as Jesus did. Wealth, status, and power are not the way of Jesus nor of his disciples. This is very important in our day in which most pastors believe they have authority they do not truly possess.

When Jesus called his first disciples, he issued a command to follow him. It was not a suggestion, but a command. In other words, to be a disciple means to be a follower of Jesus, and not merely a believer, as important as that is.

We are all born into a family culture that defines who we are and creates our personal identity. When we come to Christ, we are tempted to integrate Christ into our existing narrative and identity, which is just the opposite of what Christ calls His disciples to do. The disciple is to instead walk away from other defining narratives and make Jesus Himself our new identity.

Discipleship begins with Jesus at his preaching repentance for the kingdom of heaven is now here! Now, not just future, but now. If you are a disciple of Christ, you belong not to this present evil age but to the kingdom age. Jesus Himself inagurated this new age by His life, death, and resurrection, and it was this new kingdom age that was empowerd by the Spirit at Pentecost.

This is part two of this message of recovering the Body of Christ, and helping you to undrestand yourself as a Spirit-gifted, vital part of Christ's body. In this lesson, we discuss how we got where we are with clergy and laity and the institutional mindset which is opposed to New Testament vision for the Body of Christ.

The first pricniple of discipleship is loving Jesus beyond any person, place, or thing. This means family, self, and possessions must take their proper place. The good news is once we have committed to love Jesus supremely, these others thing also find there true place and meaning.

In this introduction we share the purpose and goals of this series on discipleship.

America is entering a time of economic uncertainty, says the media. So then, how are we as Christian to respond to such times as these? In this brief exhortation, you will learn to resist the temptation to fear, hoarding, and anger, and instead learn to trust the living God. It is godliness with contentment that is the true wealth, no matter what the state of Wall Street.

Do you realize that because the Holy Spirit dwells in you that this makes you a Spirit-gifted, vital minister in the Body of Christ? It is true. The ministry belongs to Christ, and He ministers in and through and among the entire Body and this includes you.

In the fourth century, what was the body of Christ became under the institutional church system in service to The Holy Roman Empire. Not all complied. Many escaped to the mountains and desert places. But in the new system, only was the gospel lost, so also was the New Testament pattern and purpose for the church. For you to grow in Christ you too must escape this system and find fellowship that supports God's purpose to conform you into the image of His Son.

It is often thought that a Christian owes fellowship with anyone who claims to be a follower of Christ. But this is simply not true. We are to be discerning as to with whom we fellowship. And we must be content to know that genuine fellowship is always found among the few and not the many. Here is some biblical guidance to help you put this into practice and find the true fellowship you crave.

This is part two of the two-part series: One Thing is Necessary. Here we take a closer look at what it means to live and love like Jesus: the one thing necessary for the Christian life. We examine Christ's character on three essential points: 1) Single-mindedness, 2) Purity of Heart, and 3) Purity of devotion.

To follow Jesus is to follow his way of life. And it is a joyous way of life. Nothing brings greater purpose and meaning to your life than to realize you are in fact becoming more like Jesus in very practical, and always. relational ways.

There is a way of following Jesus that Jesus himself commands; it is a way of life that he models for us. This way involves focusing on the one thing necessary. Ony one thing. In this brief exhortation, we examine how to adopt this way of life.

In this brief exhortation, we encourage you to rejoice and take comfort that you have found your way out of the institutional church system and discovered the body of Christ in your small gatherings in homes or other spaces. Rejoice! You are Christ's little flock.

Many Christians struggle with issues related to their mental and relational health, and while there can be many causes, the one they seldom consider is their church affiliation. In this talk, we address the institutional church system as being the underlying cause for much of the suffering and burnout for today's believer, and what to do about it.

This is an introduction to a new YouTube channel that will soon be active. On this channel, we will work to help you recover a biblical understanding of the Body of Christ and your vital role in it, and thus escape the clutches of the institutional church system.

In this introductory episode, we turn to First John to guide us out of any religious system that is destructive even though it calls itself a Christian Church. And American airwaves and buildings are filled with such false churches. In this new series, we will discover that John sets the standards for what it means to be in fellowship with the apostilc proclamation and to know the complete joy that fellowship brings to those who embrace it. You need not suffer in silence in these church systems any longer.

Do you realize the nature and purpose of the body of Christ and your vital role in it? The apostle John tells us the apostlic proclamation is that the Word of Life was manifested within humanity, and that this incarnate love of the Father in the Son remains with us in our fellowship even today!

God has designed the body of Christ so as to be the continued presence of the ascended Christ on earth; by the ministry of the Spirit to one another and then to the world. We must avoid the pastor centered, sermon focused, sing-along "worship services" which fail to afford the time and format to engage one another for mutual edification and equipping to proclaim the gospel to the world.

Do you know the purpose of the Christian life? The Christian can become a very busy person with church life, church friends, church duties, etc, etc, and lose touch with the central purpose for the Christian life; the purpose that brings true peace.

What do we do when church attendance becomes toxic? What happens when years of attendance has failed to produce spiritual maturity and meaning in your life? It takes a lot of courage to ask these questions, and that courage is necessary if we are going to recover the truth that the church is the people and not the business or institution.

This is a brief but important reminder of the riches of the glory that are your inheritance in Christ. Tragically, most professing Christians possess a very impoverished view of what it means to be in Christ. They have little or no grounding in who they are in him, and they are therefore unequipped to fulfill that which God has called them to contribute to the body of Christ. This can end, beginning now . . .

It is very common for believers to believe they possess dualing natures: sin and grace; flesh and Spirit, et al. This is almost correct. In this episode we expose this very subtle but destructive error. The truth is this: if you are in Christ you have one nature, that of the Spirit; the nature of sin which resides in your unredeemed body however, has not changed, and must be "put to death" by walking in the Spirit.

This is the first of a new on-going series of short exhortations designed to call you aside and build you up and refresh you. In this episode, we examine the our Lord's command to come to him and to him alone for rest.

You may find it surprising to know that the express purpose for Christians gathering is for mutual edification. It is not to stand in rows and join a sing-along and listen to monologue sermons. No, we have pastors and teachers but they are to teach in ways that allow interaction, to build each other up, and to equip for ministry. There is no legitimate hierarchy in the church. Vertical leadership is foreign to the New Testament.

Do you ever leave a church "worship service" feeling as isolated as when you went? There is a diffirence between "alone" and "solitude." Solitude is a healthy spiritual discipline, isolation is destructive. Here we expose and discuss one of the major causes of isolation: The traditional "worship service."

Are you getting worn out by the church routine? It is okay to admit it. The Christian life is not defined by church attendance, but becoming like Jesus. In this brief episode, we are reminded that our joy in Christ is discovered in becoming like him, and not in merely going through the church routine.

The world does not offer you good news. Cable news should have health disclaimers. You cannot ground yourself in it. Rather, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, we are people of the THE good news! Christ has called us, filled us with the Spirit, and sent us into the world precisely because the world is fallen and in darkness. We are called to bring good news and the very presence of the living Christ into the world.

What is the primary purpose of God in your life? To conform you into the image of his Son. By this we mean to work out in your character and conduct the very righteousness of Jesus Christ. In this brief exhortation, we hear how Christ continues to reveal himself to the world in and through the believer.

This is a revision and improved recording, including the PDF. In this episode we examine the need to recover the Christ of the gospels in our thinking and ministry to one another, and into the world, and to reject the silly, sentimental, and destructive images of Christ presented by the media, by politicians, and by false teachers.

In a previous episode, I told you that the ministry of Christ belongs to you, the body of Christ, the people, the average believer. The role of pastor and teacher and evangelist is to equip you for that ministry, not to rob you of that high calling. In this episode, we consider the nature of the ministry to which every believer is called as being the ministry of reconciliation.

To think of the ministry is to think of the pastors and evangelists. But the New Testament places the ministry with the people of God, and the pastors and leaders as those gifted for one purpose- to equip the people for that ministry. If you are being so equipped and encouraged then you are being pastored well- if you are not being equipped to do the ministry, then you are being robbed and you must insist upon a return of biblical principles. The ministry belongs to you--the people of God.

To think of the ministry is to think of the pastors and evangelists. But the New Testament places the ministry with the people of God, and the pastors and leaders as those gifted for one purpose: to equip the people for that ministry. If you are being so equipped and encouraged then you are being pastored well; if you are not being equipped to do the ministry, then you are being robbed and you must insist upon a return of biblical principles. The ministry belongs to you--the people of God.

For too long the ministry of the church has been pastor-focused and the gatherings music focused -in the name of -worship--. There is a desperate need to return the ministry to the people of God, the Body of Christ, where it belongs and the place where Christ encounters the church and the world around us.

For too long the ministry of the church has been pastor-focused and the gatherings music focused (in the name of "worship"). There is a desperate need to return the ministry to the people of God, the Body of Christ, where it belongs and the place where Christ encounters the church and the world around us.

Whhat does it mean to be truly human-- And what does it mean to be truly Christian--

The tradition of the elders stood opposed to the ministry of Jesus, and it stands opposed to his power today as well. We have different traditions but they often serve not the mind of the Lord, but the forces of darkness and are the cause of much suffering. We need to look at these traditions of our day, and when necessary, be done with them in favor of the power of Christ.