Podcasts about churchianity

Send us a textWhat happens when the church becomes a business? When buildings replace community and tax benefits dictate teaching? This eye-opening conversation explores the troubling phenomenon of "Churchianity" – where institutional structures have replaced authentic faith communities.Many believers today question whether church attendance matters anymore. The issue isn't about skipping Sunday services; it's about rediscovering what church was always meant to be. The early Christians met in homes, shared deeply, and equipped one another for ministry. They turned the world upside down without mega-buildings, coffee shops, or tax exemptions.The 501(c)3 status that churches eagerly pursue comes with a dangerous compromise. This government partnership creates an environment where financial growth becomes the priority while challenging biblical truths about sin, hell, and repentance get watered down to keep attendance numbers high. As one participant notes, "They have volleyball ministries and camping ministries, but ask a question about the sermon and they're clueless." After decades in church, many believers remain spiritually immature, unable to teach others or answer basic questions about their faith.Jesus began with a family (Adam and Eve), not a congregation. Yet modern church programming often fractures family life with endless activities that pull members in different directions. What if we returned to a model where genuine community, biblical discipleship, and meeting real needs took precedence over maintaining expensive facilities? What if church leaders were selected based on their biblical qualifications rather than their business acumen?If you've felt spiritually hungry after church services or questioned whether institutional Christianity reflects the biblical model, this conversation offers refreshing perspectives on rediscovering authentic faith community. The goal isn't abandoning fellowship but reclaiming it in its most powerful form – where believers genuinely know, serve, and equip one another to live out the gospel.The Balance of GrayGod, doubt, and proof walk into a podcast... it goes better than you'd expect!Listen on: Apple Podcasts SpotifySupport the show

Does going to church make you a Christian? In today's episode, Stephen Davey reveals the stark difference between religion and redemption. Many trust in religious rituals, church attendance, or good works to save them, but Paul's letter to the Romans exposes the emptiness of such faith. Stephen challenges listeners to examine their hearts. Are you living in genuine faith or just practicing “Churchianity”? With Scripture as his guide, Stephen highlights the hallmarks of true salvation: a transformed heart, a passion for purity, and a life that bears spiritual fruit. You'll hear why religious activity alone can never secure eternal life and how only the gospel of Christ can bring true transformation. This message calls you to move beyond superficial appearances and into a vibrant relationship with God. If you've ever questioned whether your faith is real, this episode offers a vital opportunity to reflect and respond. Don't settle for empty religion. Discover what it means to truly belong to Christ.  

Does going to church make you a Christian? In today's episode, Stephen Davey reveals the stark difference between religion and redemption. Many trust in religious rituals, church attendance, or good works to save them, but Paul's letter to the Romans exposes the emptiness of such faith. Stephen challenges listeners to examine their hearts. Are you living in genuine faith or just practicing “Churchianity”? With Scripture as his guide, Stephen highlights the hallmarks of true salvation: a transformed heart, a passion for purity, and a life that bears spiritual fruit. You'll hear why religious activity alone can never secure eternal life and how only the gospel of Christ can bring true transformation. This message calls you to move beyond superficial appearances and into a vibrant relationship with God. If you've ever questioned whether your faith is real, this episode offers a vital opportunity to reflect and respond. Don't settle for empty religion. Discover what it means to truly belong to Christ.  

This is a sermon preached by Matt Porter at Outward Church Salem.

Title: A Peculiar People Text: Acts 20:1-6 FCF: We often struggle pursuing what produces unity in and the victory of the church. Prop: Because the true church of Jesus is united and triumphant, we must continue in submission to the Word and the love of one another. Scripture Intro: [Slide 1] Turn in your bible to Acts chapter 20. In a moment we will read starting from verse one in the Legacy Standard Version. You can follow along in the pew bible or whatever version you prefer. Sermon Intro: Well, I did some math this week to discover where we are in our study of the book of Acts. Today, as we begin our study of chapter 20, we are around seventy percent done with the book according to verse count. That means we have a little over three hundred verses to go. Now my average for verse per sermon is a little under 10 verses. That being said, we probably have somewhere around 30 sermons remaining in the book of Acts. Meaning that sometime before the end of the year, Lord willing, we should be finishing the book of Acts. I hope and trust you have enjoyed the study of Acts so far. I know I have. But it seems that we are in the final stretch. That being said, let's come back to chapter 19 and 20. Last week Luke recorded for us the final episode of the Ephesian mission. But unlike similar examples where riots formed against Paul and his associates, no real harm or danger even approached any of them. From this we noted that Luke records this to prove that the Christians were not purposefully trying to cause issues around the Roman Empire. The only thing causing the offense, was the gospel of Jesus Christ. We noted that one of the primary reasons that people so hated the message of the gospel spoken through Paul and his associates, was because of the gospel's intolerance or exclusivity. And the world is the same 2000 years later. Today we will see what largely amounts to the beginning of the end of the third missionary journey of Paul. In it we will see one very important truth about the church and a couple responses that flow into and out of that truth. So please stand with me to give honor to and to focus on the reading of the Word of God. Invocation: Most Holy and Loving Father, we approach You today with our hearts held up to You. We come to be exhorted, to be encouraged, to be edified by Your Word. We come to hear from You and to obey. We come to feed our faith on the Bread of Life. We come to drink deeply from the Everlasting Fountain of Living Water. I pray that You would reveal to us today what You have made us to be in this thing called the church. Reveal what graces You have given us to keep us in Your purposes and reveal what responses You require from us as a church. Bind us together as one body in Your truth and for Your glory we pray this in Jesus' name… Amen. Transition: Last time we saw the narrowness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The intolerance of the gospel to any other faiths, worship, gods, or practices that it does not teach. Related to that today we will see the church being united around a very narrow set of essentials and that unity producing victory and love for one another. Let's look closer at the text this morning. I.) The true church of Jesus Christ is united and triumphant, so we must submit to continual exhortation from the Word. (1-3) a. [Slide 2] 1 - Now after the uproar had ceased, Paul having summoned and exhorted the disciples, said farewell and left to go to Macedonia. i. Luke doesn't often give us chronological markers, and when he does, they are not typically very precise. ii. We might be irritated by this, but this irritation is probably borne from our western culture. We have somewhat of a hypersensitivity to time and chronology that those in the east do not seem to always share. iii. Still, Luke does give us a definite chronological marker here even if it is lacking in specificity. iv. After the uproar had ceased. v. From the context the uproar in question is clearly the riot or almost riot brought on by some tradesmen in Ephesus. vi. We unpacked all of this last week, but as a reminder these tradesmen feared the financial and religious impact that Christianity may have on them and the city of Ephesus. vii. Because of this they were overcome with civic and religious pride and began shouting and dragging certain companions of Paul to the theater where city disputes were often heard. viii. It all came to an end after the chief executive officer of the city warned them that they are in danger of being punished by Rome if they continue this illegal assembly. ix. With this in mind the crowd dispersed. x. We should probably not rigidly infer that the next hour or the next day is when Paul does what he does. xi. More likely we should see this as after the events and when people had moved on with their lives. xii. Now people do tend to move on shockingly fast. They get distracted by other things and what was very important one day tends to become very unimportant in a few days' time. xiii. After the dust settles, Paul says farewell to the church in Ephesus and leaves to go to Macedonia. xiv. In the process of saying farewell though, he summons and exhorts the disciples. xv. Paul does not overtly go to the hall of Tyrannus to bid farewell to the Ephesian Christians. This no doubt indicates that although he isn't leaving the city due to the recent trouble, he is not a fool. He won't flaunt a large gathering of believers right before he leaves. xvi. In this we see the heart of Paul. It is not enough to simply say farewell… he must preach to them. He must instruct and apply to them the scriptures so they can be ready to face what is coming. xvii. Paul will be giving a good number of goodbyes in the next several chapters of Acts. I think it might be good for us to observe how often he accompanies his goodbyes with some sort of exhortation, encouragement or preaching of the Word of God. b. [Slide 3] 2 - And when he had gone through those districts and had given them much exhortation, he came to Greece. i. Once again, we remind ourselves that Luke is not writing a history of the early Christian church. ii. Or at least we can conclude that if he is writing a history of the early Christian church, he is doing a horrible job. iii. Why do I say that? iv. He summarizes Paul's travels through Macedonia in 10 Greek words. v. What are some of the “districts” that he probably visited? vi. 2 Corinthians chapters 1-7 actually dovetail nicely with the events of these two verses, since it was probably during this time that Paul wrote the letter. vii. Taking what 2 Corinthians says we can be assured that Paul probably visited Troas, Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea. And potentially spent time in several other cities and even further west into the Latin speaking region of Illyricum, which he speaks about in Romans 15. viii. Luke does not give us the where, but notice he does give us the what. ix. What was Paul doing in these districts? x. He was exhorting. xi. The same thing he did in Ephesus to the disciples there before he left. xii. Paul continues to preach the word and train believers to live in submission to all that Christ had commanded. xiii. So, if Luke is not recording a history of the early church, what is he doing? xiv. Luke describes the purpose of his two books at the beginning of his gospel. He is writing these two books to Theophilus, a wealthy and potentially powerful person involved in the government of Roman Empire, who has professed faith in Christ. xv. He writes to Theophilus to describe both the certainty and the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. xvi. The certainty and the power of the gospel is on display in these 10 Greek words. How? xvii. Even though it has been years since Paul has visited these places in person – he returns not only to find believers still, but also, he returns with the authority to preach to them, encourage them, and commands their respect to listen to him. xviii. If the gospel was false and impotent, we would expect to find few if any believers here, or to find them reject Paul having wandered from his teaching. xix. Instead, he is welcomed and respected and the Word is preached again to them. xx. But how long did Paul spend in Macedonia? It is difficult to say. But some suggest that he spent as much as a year going back through these regions ministering to the local assemblies in these areas. xxi. Then, Paul goes on to Greece. xxii. There are two likely congregations that Paul visited in Greece. xxiii. The city of Athens and the city of Corinth. xxiv. We are not given any indication of how much time he spent in each city or whether he even went to Athens. We do know that he went to Corinth based on the writings of both Romans and the two books to the Corinthians. c. [Slide 4] 3 - And there he spent three months, and when a plot was formed against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia. i. So, Paul spends three months in Greece, probably most if not all of it in the city of Corinth. ii. There is a reason for that which we will talk about next. iii. [Slide 5] Now based on our timeline of the New Testament I'd like to take us on a little tangent so we can shuffle in to these events exactly when Paul wrote some of his letters. 1. Because in 1 Corinthians Paul expresses his desire to winter in Corinth before going back to Jerusalem, we can reasonably guess that while Paul was in Ephesus, and probably toward the end of his stay, he had written 1 Corinthians. 2. In 1 Corinthians there was indication that he had sent another letter to them before that. Which could have also been written from Ephesus or even before he began his third missionary journey. This is a letter that the Lord did not preserve for us. 3. In 2 Corinthians we learn of another letter that Paul had sent the Corinthians that is referred to as a harsh letter. This too could have been written from Ephesus. This is also another letter the Lord did not preserve. 4. As we have already said, 2 Corinthians covers some of the events after Paul leaves Ephesus. Paul travels north to Troas where he expects to meet Titus who will bring back word for him on the results of the harsh letter to the church in Corinth. However, Paul did not meet Titus there, so he went on to Macedonia. It was there that Titus met him with word that the Corinthians had received his harsh letter graciously and had repented. Therefore, during his time in Macedonia, Paul wrote 2 Corinthians which prepares them for his arrival in a matter of months. 5. This is why we conclude that Paul spent most of the three months he was in Greece in the city of Corinth, because there was some needed time of reconciliation. 6. Since Paul's mind was already on visiting Rome after he went to Jerusalem, since in the book of Romans he indicates that he has not yet visited them, and since Paul greets the Roman church from individuals we know were from Corinth, we can infer that Paul most likely wrote the book of Romans from Corinth during this three month stay. 7. [Slide 6] This means that by this time, before Paul goes back to Jerusalem, he had written six of his thirteen letters that we have in our New Testament. Galatians, I and II Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Corinthians, and Romans – in that chronological order. iv. [Slide 7] Of course, we know that the Jews had always given Paul problems. It seems that in Corinth, again, they will stir up trouble against him. v. Apparently, the plot had something to do with his travel plans from Corinth to Syria. vi. So, Paul alters his travel plans to go back through Macedonia to set sail from somewhere else. d. [Slide 8] Summary of the Point: Luke presents to us via the travels of Paul as his third missionary journey comes to a close the unity and victory of the true church of Jesus. Although there have been many trials and tests, although there have been betrayals and even outright failures, the church continues to thrive in unity and victory over the forces of darkness and the wicked schemes of men. The church is the kingdom of Christ spreading to the uttermost parts of the earth, waging war against the dark domain of sin. Paul revisits these churches he helped establish with a message of encouragement and exhortation. This is the fuel of the church. The church is built up, energized, and rejuvenated by submitting to continual exhortation from the Word of God. And these churches were no different. They were united and they were victorious, but they still needed and welcomed encouragement and exhortation from the Word. We too must be continually encouraged and exhorted with the Word of God. The moment we neglect the regular preaching and teaching of the Word of God, is the moment we become weak and susceptible to error and compromise which disunifies us and defeats us. You see my friends, the Word of God is the key to unity and victory. That is why it must be continually preached and taught in every church claiming to be Christ's church. Transition: [Slide 9 (blank)] The true church of Jesus Christ is united and triumphant and the Word of God continually preached keeps it that way. But what else must continue since the church is united and triumphant? II.) The true church of Jesus Christ is united and triumphant, so we must continually love and care for one another. (4-6) a. [Slide 10] 4 - And he was accompanied by Sopater of Berea, the son of Pyrrhus, and by Aristarchus and Secundus of the Thessalonians, and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus of Asia. 5 - But these had gone on ahead and were waiting for us at Troas. i. Look at the brotherhood of believers that the Lord has raised up for the cause of Christ. ii. What began in Jerusalem around 20 years earlier had not only gone out to the uttermost parts of the earth, but even now there are missionaries from all over going to many other places helping with the spread of the gospel. iii. What a glorious testament to the power of God's grace and His work. iv. Let me briefly discuss each of these individuals or at least all we can about them and then I'll make some further comments about the significance of this list. 1. Sopater which is potentially a shortened form of the name Sosipater is only mentioned in this text and in Romans 16:21. From both texts we understand that he was a companion of Paul and from this text we see that he was from Berea and was the son of a man named Pyrrhus of whom we know nothing. 2. Aristarchus is no doubt the same one that was dragged to the theater by the Ephesian mob. During the riot we discovered he was a Macedonian and here we see that specifically he was from Thessalonica. We also know that Aristarchus accompanies Paul to Rome for his imprisonment because he is named in the letter to the Colossians and to Philemon, both of which were written during Paul's first imprisonment in Rome which is recorded at the end of the book of Acts. 3. Secundus is not mentioned in any other passage of scripture. He was from Thessalonica too. 4. There are four Gaiuses mentioned in the scriptures and because of what is revealed about them, it is really impossible for them to all be the same person. a. The Gaius that Luke records in Ephesus during the riot was from Macedonia. b. The Gaius mentioned here is from Derbe which is located in what is now south central Turkey. c. The Gaius mentioned in 1 Corinthians and Romans seems to be a member of the church of Corinth whom Paul baptized and whose home the church used for its gatherings. d. Finally, 3 John mentions a Gaius who is thanked personally by John for putting up traveling missionaries. John does not specify much more and this could be the same Gaius who put up the house church in Corinth, but because John is traditionally associated with the church in Ephesus after the fall of Jerusalem, we may wonder if the Gaius mentioned in his 3rd letter is the same Gaius from the riot or another Gaius altogether. e. In short, Gaius seems to be a fairly common name across the empire at this time. 5. Timothy of course is Paul's spiritual son, won to Christ in Lystra on his first missionary journey and accompanying him to various locations throughout Asia and Macedonia on his second missionary journey. Timothy is mentioned quite frequently in the scriptures, even having two books bearing his name as a recipient. We won't go into much more detail today about Timothy, but his role in the church could be the subject of an entire sermon. 6. Tychicus, besides being one of my favorite names to say in the scriptures, is found as a continual companion of Paul's. We find him being sent with the prison epistles of Ephesians and Colossians. In both letters Paul says that Tychicus, a beloved and faithful brother, will come and explain everything to them. He is also with Paul in Nicopolis and is being sent to Titus to relieve him on Crete so that Titus can come to Paul in Nicopolis. And of course, as we see here, he is from Asia, which typically means what is now western Turkey, although a city is not mentioned. 7. Finally, Trophimus. Trophimus is from Asia and has the unfortunate distinction of being one of the primary reasons that Paul is arrested when he goes to Jerusalem. Paul is seen with Trophimus in Acts 21, there noted that he is from the city of Ephesus. Because Paul is seen with this gentile and because Paul went into the temple it is assumed that Paul brought Trophimus in the temple with him. Of course, he didn't. But that didn't matter very much. Trophimus is also mentioned in 2 Timothy during Paul's final imprisonment in Rome. Paul tells Timothy that he left Trophimus in Miletus because he was ill. v. Such is the wide variety of Paul's companions. People from all kinds of origins and backgrounds joining him in the work. vi. They all go ahead of him to Troas where they await his arrival to go on from there to Jerusalem. vii. But I said that I would remark on the significance of this list and their region of origin. And that I will do, but only after the list is complete. Because for now it lacks 1 more name… b. [Slide 11] 6 - And we sailed from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and came to them at Troas within five days; and there we stayed seven days. i. In verse 6 another unnamed traveling companion joins Paul as he heads to Troas to meet all those mentioned in verse 4. ii. Did you notice it? iii. That's right. iv. Paul picks up the author of the book Luke, probably from Philippi. v. Luke traditionally has been said to have been from Antioch of Syria, but with familial ties to Macedonia. Here we see him still in Phillipi where Paul left him all the way back on the second missionary journey. Since Paul picked up Luke in Troas and deposited him just across the Aegean Sea at Philippi it is safe to assume that Luke is probably living in this area at this time – even if he was from Antioch of Syria. vi. Paul and Luke wait until after the days of unleavened bread, probably to celebrate with the small group of Jews in Philippi. They make the trip to Troas in 5 days, probably against the headwind, and then stay an additional week there in Troas. vii. That will be the subject of next week's sermon as Paul has a very well-known episode concerning a young boy named Eutychus. We'll get to that next time. viii. So, what is the significance of this list? ix. Remember that during this time after Ephesus and heading to Jerusalem, Paul is gathering a collection for the Jerusalem church. He is gathering aid for them because they are experiencing great financial hardship. x. Not only is it safer to travel with a large group, especially when you have a good sum of money on you, but also, because Luke mentions where all these men are from, we can infer from this that each of these men represent churches all across the empire who are giving this financial aid to the church in Jerusalem. Indeed, from almost every city in which Paul has preached, we find members of that city church coming with Paul to give their gift to the church in Jerusalem. xi. What a wonderful testimony to the unity, compassion, love, and care that is present in the universal church. c. [Slide 12] Summary of the Point: Once again Luke presents to us a true church of Jesus Christ, from various backgrounds, that is united and victorious. In our last point we noticed that the way the church stays united and victorious is through regular exhortation from the Word of God. But, what we see here is an effect that is caused by the church being united and triumphant. We see that the church is abundant in love and sacrificial help to those who also bear the name of Christ. Even if we do not know them, even if we have never met them, those who bear the name of Christ have more in common with us than our own unbelieving family members. Those who have shared in the death and resurrection of Christ have become members of one body. That is something that family can never be. Although our family is DNA of our DNA they can never be one body with us. The unity and victory we share in the church produces a love for one another that exceeds all other loves possible from one human to another. Conclusion: So, what have we learned today CBC, and how then shall we live? Doctrinal Takeaway: [Slide 13] In the process of Paul closing out his third missionary journey Luke gives us a wonderful picture of the culmination of the work the Lord has done through Paul. Paul's legacy is the same as every other apostle and missionary of the early church. The Lord has produced through His abounding power and grace a church that is united and triumphant over the deception and darkness that permeated the Roman Empire. In less the 20 years after the death, resurrection and ascension of Christ, the church has been established and has permeated the Roman Empire leading various cities with long histories of pagan worship to be turned upside down with the gospel of Jesus Christ. But the nature of this status of the church and the effect of this status on the church is at the heart of these first six verses of Acts 20. The church is kept unified and victorious by continual exhortation from the Word of God. And one particular expression of church unity and victory is the unconditional and sacrificial love the church has for one another as the body of Christ. These two aspects come together to give us our application today. But let me get a little more concrete with these applications and explain how they might impact us on a daily basis. 1.) [Slide 14] Mind Transformation: “What truth must we believe from this text?” or “What might we not naturally believe that we must believe because of what this text has said?” We must affirm that the true church of Jesus is united and triumphant. a. Once again, every word in this application sentence is very important. If you remove one word here it could miscommunicate a few things. b. But if I had to draw your attention to the most important word in this application it would be the word “true”. c. I would love to use a word that is found in the ancient creeds. The word Catholic. However, today the word Catholic is only associated with the Roman Catholic Church. And it is probably so associated to it that to change it would be nigh unto impossible. Therefore, I use true here. d. By true church I mean the universal church. The invisible church. The church of people who are actually believers in Jesus Christ, the elect of God, called out from all the nations to be His people and do the works for which He has created them. e. The total of the true church of God is not found in one local assembly nor is each local assembly comprised solely of the true church. Every church is a mix of those who are actually believers and those who are not. f. Because of this, there are local assemblies that are not united and they are not triumphant. g. There are even entire regions where the visible church is not united or triumphant. h. So it is important for you to understand what I am saying here. i. We do not need to affirm that every single visible church is united and triumphant. Because that is, simply, not true. j. But we must affirm that the true church is united and triumphant. k. We are united and triumphant because we have been given true faith which unites us to Christ. Upon this true faith we receive the core essentials of the gospel of Jesus Christ which is found both in the early creeds and in the 5 Solas of the Reformation. l. In this the true church is united by doctrine and practice and we are triumphant because we have been empowered by the Holy Spirit to do the work of God and be heralds of His Kingdom. m. The Scriptures tell us that we will not fail in this. If we are the true church, we will be united in what we believe and if we are the true church we will not fail. n. Therefore, we must affirm that the true church is united and triumphant. o. Unity is a much desired and often used buzz word in Churchianity today. Everyone wants unity. But we remain in disunity over how to be unified. p. And there is a reason for that… 2.) [Slide 15] Refutation: “What lies must we cast down” or “What do we naturally believe, or have been taught to believe, that this passage shows is false?” We must deny that in order for the church to be united we must compromise essential doctrine or practice. a. The call of many pastors, priests, bishops, reverends, apostles and whatever other titles there are out there in broad Christendom, is for us to be unified on what we agree on and discard the rest. b. The only problem is that this is NOT how we see the church unite in the scriptures. c. They do not unify over what they hold in common and then discard every thing else. d. Instead, they unify on all the essentials of the Christian faith and practice and show love in the areas that are not essential. e. There are some churches in broader Christendom that if we had to unify with them by discarding everything we don't hold in common, we would have to discard salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. f. There are some churches that we would have to discard the Deity of Jesus Christ. g. There are some churches that we would have to discard the inerrancy of the Scripture and its final authority over us for doctrine and practice. h. There are some churches that we would have to discard definitions of righteousness, holiness, and upright lifestyles, taking what the Scriptures call deeds of the flesh, and even celebrating them. i. You see the problem, I hope. j. If we would unify right now… today… every single church in broader Christendom with the one rule that anything we do not share a common belief on would be discarded… My friends there would be nothing left. k. The folks that are begging for unity pursue unity based on a cause. The cause is to come together to love and serve humanity. l. But the church is not supposed to be united in cause only… but also in identity. Indeed, our cause is only unified when our identity is unified. What happens when we unite over cause but sacrifice identity? m. We would lose unity because we would lose doctrinal clarity. In fact, we would be a unified group of nobodies who believe nothing and do nothing. n. We would lose victory because we would discard godly lifestyles in favor of a vague notion of loving people… which is only the second greatest command and not the first. o. These folks that want unity under these conditions have left their first love in order to pursue their second and in so doing have lost both. p. No, my friends, unity is only established when we demand that the essentials of our faith and practice are held in common… and if they are not – we do not discard the belief or the practice… we discard the church who does not conform. q. In the Athanasian creed it boldly declares that any who do not believe it cannot be not saved. r. Any church that does not hold to the creeds and salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone – also cannot be called the church in any sense of the word. s. There is no unity if we must compromise on doctrine or practice. t. But as the united and triumphant church… what must we do with this text today? 3.) [Slide 16] Exhortation: “What actions should we take?” or “What is this passage specifically commanding us to do that we don't naturally do or aren't currently doing?” We must submit to regular exhortation from the Word of God. a. One motto that came from the reformation is Semper Reformanda. b. Always be reforming. c. This is essentially a recognition of what song writers have pointed out. We are individually and generationally prone to wander. d. We often go through spells of ups and downs and we as a race of man go through cycles of reformation and darkness. e. The church is called to continue to reform and purify itself. f. How do we do that? g. By submitting to regular exhortation from the Word of God. h. The Word of God is the foundation of all that we believe. It is the final authority for what we believe and how we live. And the Word of God never changes. i. It is not our only authority – but it is our final authority. j. We need constant reproof, rebuke, correction and instruction from its pages. k. It is only then that we will be complete and thoroughly equipped to do everything God has commanded us to do and be everything God has commanded us to be. l. Paul as he visited these churches… exhorted them. He may have eaten with them, fellowshipped with them, enjoyed the Lord's Supper with them, talked with them for all hours of the night… but the one thing Luke chose to record for us under inspiration of the Holy Spirit… is that Paul preached to them. m. If we are to stay united and triumphant, we need the constant reformation that only the Scripture can bring. 4.) [Slide 17] Exhortation: “What actions should we take?” or “What is this passage specifically commanding us to do that we don't naturally do or aren't currently doing?” We must love the universal church unconditionally and sacrificially. a. This universal church is comprised of all those who are believing on Jesus Christ alone for salvation. b. We are called one body. c. Our friends and our families are close – but compared to any unbelieving family member, our brothers and sisters in Christ are much closer. They are united not by their own blood, but by the blood of Jesus Christ. d. Even our love toward our spouse is amplified because they are believers. e. And those who have spouses that are unbelievers understand the disconnect of that. They desire greatly for their spouses to know the Lord for they know that will truly bind them much closer together with their spouse. f. In our text we see members of churches from everywhere around the Aegean taking money to Jerusalem with Paul. What a glorious testimony to the love they shared with those whom they had probably never met. Those with whom they shared only their faith in Christ. g. We too must be unconditionally and sacrificially loving of the global body of Christ. h. We must weep with those who have been killed in Syria. We must mourn with those persecuted in India. We must help those impoverished in Africa. We must rejoice for those who come to Christ in Asia Pacific. These are our brothers and sisters. And one day we will be united with them in one body – a bride prepared for her groom. And we all will be with Him forever. i. Look around you and mark those whom you know to be a true believer. Now hear me… you will be living with these folks forever. We better start loving each other now. 5.) [Slide 18] Comfort: “What comfort can we find here?” or “What peace does the Lord promise us in light of this passage of scripture?” God will not allow the true church of His dear Son to fail. a. God is doing a work through us. b. It doesn't depend on us… it depends on Him. And that is why it will not fail. c. He will uphold us and ensure that the work that He has commissioned for His church to accomplish, is accomplished. d. Knowing the end does not spoil our desire to work hard for His Kingdom. e. In fact, knowing the end means we have no fear of failure. f. We can press on and continue to share the gospel and disciple one another, preparing for that coming Kingdom – knowing that we won't fail. Christ will not lose even one that the Father has given Him. g. And all that the Father has given Him will hear His voice and follow. h. So let us take heart and set out to the work knowing that the Lord is faithful and will ensure that His church is united and triumphant to the very end. [Slide 19 (end)] Let me close with a prayer by the English Puritan Ezekiel Hopkins Lead us not into temptation, nor allow us to be assaulted and buffeted by the wicked one. Or if, in your all-wise counsel and purpose, you permit us to be tempted, yet deliver us from the evil to which we are tempted. Let us endure temptations as our affliction, but let us not say yes to them, nor make them our sins. Thy kingdom come, Lord! Raise, Lord; enlarge, Lord; establish your kingdom! For yours is the glory. And unless you want your glory confined only to heaven, or account the praises and eternal hallelujahs of saints and angels enough adoration for your great name, Lord, have regard to this your poor decaying kingdom. For only in it, and in heaven, is your glory celebrated. And if you leave this kingdom to be overrun by the agents and ministers of the devil, or if idolatry and the profane gain ground here so as to push you off the throne, would that not be giving your glory to another-which you have promised not to do? Lord, you are still the same God. Your essence is eternal. Your attributes will never change. Your power, wisdom, and mercy are the same as ever. So in your mercy, grant us the same favor. We ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. Benediction: May the Lord, Who longs to be gracious to you, Who waits on high to have compassion on you, Plant you firmly in the faith, established, steadfast and unmovable Through the hope of the Gospel, proclaimed to all the creation under heaven. Until we meet again, go in peace.

Join host Rod Smith for a thought-provoking voyage into the unusual, unexplained, and unexplored facets of our world on the Millennial Mustard Seed Podcast. In this compelling episode, we dive deep into the differences between the authentic Ecclesia and the institutional Church, exploring what it means to be truly led by the Spirit versus following our soul's inclinations.Ecclesia vs. Church: What distinguishes the true body of Christ from traditional church structures?Spirit Leading vs. Soul Leading: How can we discern the genuine move of the Holy Spirit from personal desires?Controversial Narratives: What do we do when the Church pushes narratives that challenge biblical truths?The 501(c)(3) Dilemma: The legal and spiritual implications of being a tax-exempt religious organization.Authenticity or Churchianity? Are we living out our faith authentically, or are we trapped in ritualistic tradition?Days of Noah Podcast brings a fresh perspective on Land, Family, House & The Body of Christ, challenging conventional norms and inviting us to reclaim the true essence of our faith.Subscribe HereJoin Rod Smith on a journey armed with a seeker's humility and a Biblical lens that never fails to inspire, provoke, and intrigue listeners toward a deeper faith in Christ.Email Rod Smith:mmseed@proton.meLeave a Message:Spotify MessagePartner with Our Ministry: Consider supporting and partnering with us as we spread the Gospel through innovative media.Buy a Copy of My New Book!Amazon Author Page:Rodney Jay Smith JrVenmo: @Rodney-Smith-368PayPal:Donate via PayPalCash App: $Rodsworth77Tune in now and join the conversation!If this episode challenges or inspires you, please subscribe, share with a friend, and leave us a review. Your support helps us continue to explore the deep intersections of faith and culture.

A real life example of someone saying to someone else "Come with me." Dr. Joe Debeljuh - on Mission in Zagreb, Croatia recounts his experience being discipled through basketball, by Pastor Rick Swing. And Rick talks about his way of approaching men. Real life discipleship! 00:00 - 04:36 Opening04:37 - 06:58 "Come with me!"06:59 - 08:11 Only Pastors can disciple. (???!!!)08:12 - 09:36 But what if they ask me hard questions?09:37 - 13:24 How questions become relationships13:25 - 19:47 The Road Less Travelled: Taking Disciples "Out There"19:48 - 21:30 The Discipling Barrier called "Churchianity"21:31 - 25:24 Getting in someone's head25:25 - 27:12 Wrap Up#discipleship #disciple #disciplemaking #christianleadership #christian podcastJoin us at The Disciple Dilemma for videos, blogs and more conversation about the "hack" facing Western discipleship!

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.

In this conversation with Dale Howie and Jason Clark, Derryck McLuhan shares his transformative journey from a life steeped in 'churchianity' to a personal and dynamic relationship with God. He discusses the challenges of faith, the importance of personal encounters with the divine, and the quest for understanding one's own beliefs. The dialogue explores themes of union with the Trinity, the nature of theology, and the significance of personal experiences in shaping faith. Derryck emphasizes the need for authenticity in one's spiritual journey and the beauty of discovering God beyond traditional constructs. The guys explore the journey of faith, emphasizing the importance of curiosity, community, and living from a place of grace. They discuss the challenges of navigating spiritual life without rigid routines, the significance of understanding one's agenda with God, and the transformative power of love and connection. For more information on Derryck ⁠Facebook Derryck McLuhan Please rate, review, share, and subscribe! Podcast intro and outro music by ⁠Wilde Assembly --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rethinking-god/support

Turkeys and Eagles, Part 2: Created to Be Like God MESSAGE SUMMARY:    Introduction – In Part 1 of this series, “Called as an ‘Eagle' But Saved as a ‘Turkey'” we learned, from the story about “Bubba the Eagle” and from relating this story to Ephesians 4, that many of us Christians have been “Turkeyized”. We learned that, rather than practicing New Testament Christianity, we have been practicing, in too many places, “Churchianity”. Now, we are looking at Paul's letter to the Ephesians to help break us out of this “Churchianity”. Rather than soaring with the eagles, too many of us are gobbling with the turkeys. Message – In this teaching today, we will look at “Created to Be Like God”. We live in a world that has many people with no desire to soar, and they will never reach the heights that God intended for us. Too many Christians are grounded because we have not been taught how to soar like an eagle. Now, “turkey thinking” posits that “living as a Christian is no different than living like everyone else”. However, “eagle thinking” posits that “as a Christian, I think different from everyone else” In Ephesians 4:17-18, “Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.”. Analogous for us today, we can substitute “nonbeliever” for “Gentile” in this passage. The key to how we live is how we think. This behavior is, also, illustrated in Romans 1:21 where Paul describes where he cannot tell if a group is really Christian because their thinking is so messed up. “Turkey thinking” says “I am a sinner always in need”, but “eagle thinking” says “I am created to be like God”. When becoming a follower of Jesus, we become a new creation, and the Spirit of God indwells us; therefore, God is in our lives as we live our lives. In this context, “turkey thinking” would say “I'm just a sinner and I'm stuck”; but “eagle thinking” says “I'm created in the image of God”. We should be different from those nonbelievers living in today's culture because we have Jesus living in us. However, many of us have been “Turkeyized”; but with Jesus in our lives, we can soar with the Eagles!   TODAY'S PRAYER: Lord, Sabbath rest is truly an unbelievable gift! Thank you that there is nothing I can do to earn your love; it comes without any strings attached. As I close my eyes for these few minutes before you, all I can say is, thank you! In Jesus' name, amen.    Scazzero, Peter. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day (p. 133). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. TODAY'S AFFIRMATION: Today, I affirm that because of what God has done for me in His Son, Jesus, I AM A CHILD OF GOD. Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His Name, He gave the right to become children of God-- children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. John 1:12f SCRIPTURE REFERENCE (ESV):  Ephesians 4:17-32; Romans 1:21-23; Genesis 2:5; Colossians 1:15-20; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21; Psalms 67:1-7. A WORD FROM THE LORD WEBSITE: www.AWFTL.org. WEBSITE LINK TO DR. BEACH'S DAILY DEVOTIONAL – “For Jesus Followers, Fasting, with Food, Will Symbolize a Victory Over Oneself and Solidify a Personal Relationship with God”: at our website:  https://awordfromthelord.org/listen/ DONATE TO AWFTL: https://mygiving.secure.force.com/GXDonateNow?id=a0Ui000000DglsqEAB

Are we acting like the church or pretending? John talks about the traps of trying to get our way or seeking our own comfort. 

Churchianity, is thy name - Failing to Make a DifferenceWebsite: http://www.battle4freedom.com/studio/?churchianity-is-thy-nameNetwork: https://www.mojo50.comStreaming: https://www.rumble.com/Battle4Freedomhttps://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+5%3A13&version=CJBMatthew 5:13"You are salt for the Land. But if salt becomes tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except being thrown out for people to trample on."https://x.com/BGatesIsaPyscho/status/1820018048817938817Stunning Covid Tyranny Truth BombsConcerned Citizenhttps://www.youtube.com/live/WSCTJ5fxqq8?si=Q99M9tXQaH6JDKg9Ten Commandments and DEI in Public Schools vs. the First AmendmentAyn Rand Institutehttps://new-ideal.aynrand.org/p/why-a-secular-commitment-to-scienceWhy a Secular Commitment to Science Warrants Pride, not Humilityhttps://breakpoint.org/richard-dawkins-a-cultural-christian/Richard Dawkins, a "Cultural Christian"https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scienceDefinition of Sciencehttps://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/humilityDefinition of humilityhttps://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/humble#h1Definition of humblehttps://answersingenesis.org/what-is-science/what-is-science/What Is Science?https://www.logos.com/grow/biblical-literacy/Biblical Literacy: What It Is & How to Reverse the Decline

It's Monday, August 5th, A.D. 2024. This is The World View in 5 Minutes written by Jonathan Clark and heard at www.TheWorldView.com. Filling in for Adam McManus I'm Ean Leppin. China Sentences House Church Elder A Chinese court sentenced a house church elder to five years in prison last month. In 2022, officials accused Elder Zhang Chunlei of “inciting subversion of state power.”  He has been in detention since then. Such treatment is part of China's agenda to crackdown on churches that are not sanctioned by the government.  Mervyn Thomas with Christian Solidarity Worldwide said, “The charges against Elder Zhang Chunlei are completely unfounded. . . . We call for his immediate and unconditional release and for reparations to be made to Elder Zhang and his family for the years of injustice they have been subjected to already.”  British Christians are More Satisfied Belonging Forum surveyed 10,000 people in the U.K. The study found 72% of Christians said they were satisfied with their lives. Only 65% of people who identify as non-religious said the same. Kim Samuel with Belonging Forum said the study underscored the “vital role that faith communities continue to play in nurturing social bonds and providing a sense of belonging and purpose in the UK. . . . Christian hospitality and compassion shone through the data, particularly a sense of neighbourliness and inner contentment.” Northern Ireland Prosecutes Pro-lifer Last September, Northern Ireland banned praying and offering help to pregnant women outside abortion mills. The next month, authorities arrested Claire Brennan for praying near an abortion mill. She could be fined and even imprisoned for six months. The Christian Legal Centre is now supporting Brennan in her case. It's the first case of its kind in Northern Ireland. Brennan said, “I cannot go against my conscience and do nothing whilst innocent babies are aborted in this country. Praying is the most important thing I can do to help and I and everyone else must be free to do that.” Proverbs 17:15 says, “He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the LORD.” U.K. Cuts Interest Rates, U.S. Holds Rates Last month, the Bank of England cut interest rates for the first time in over four years. The key rate is now 5%, down from 5.25%. The central bank expects inflation to increase to 2.75% this year before returning to its target of 2% next year.  Meanwhile in the U.S., the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged. The central bank's benchmark overnight borrowing rate remains at 5.25%-5.5%, which is a 23-year high. The Fed noted inflation has eased  over the past year but is still elevated.  Trump and Harris Spar over Debate Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris may not debate each other as they compete for the White House. Trump was set to debate President Joe Biden next month on ABC. But with Biden's withdrawal from the presidential race, Trump said he would instead debate Harris on Fox News or not at all. Harris said she would still appear on the ABC event.  Also, the latest polling from FiveThirtyEight found the race between Trump and Harris is a virtual tie.  20 States Challenge U.S. Treasury  Twenty Republican state attorneys general sent a letter to the U.S. Treasury Department last week. The department has come out against states with de-banking laws. Such laws prohibit banks from closing accounts over the owners religious or political views. The recent letter stated, “No consumer or business should be denied services based on political beliefs or religious views or because of some arbitrary social credit score derived from ideological agendas.” New Film Features the Life of Ronald Reagan At the end of the month a new movie will be released that covers the life and presidency of Ronald Reagan.  The movie titled simply Reagan has actor Dennis Quaid taking on the title role. He recently told NewMax his thoughts on Ronald Reagan and what he thinks of this movie. QUAID: “Playing Ronald Reagan is an honor, and it's probably my favorite movie now, of my entire career, and quite a feat to do.  It's six years ago that I said ‘yes' to the part, and four years since we finished shooting.  And it's finally coming out, and I think it's the right time for it to come out as well.” Dennis Quaid also told CBN News that Reagan was a man of faith and how much that resonated with him.  Dennis goes on to talk about his own faith journey. QUAID: “Over the last 30 years, it took me a while, because I was, for those that don't know my faith journey… But I grew up in the Baptist church, and I became disillusioned with, what I call, ‘Churchianity' in my teens, at a time.  And I got into Eastern philosophy, which led me into Buddhism.  And then I read the Q'uran.  I read the Bible, cover to cover… And, twenty years later, I came to a place, where I got to do all those things in the world - cocaine and drugs and stuff.  Got clean, and then went back to reading the Bible again, and what struck me were the red words of Jesus.  That was the thing that got me, and that led me to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  And that relationship has continued to grow and mature and get deeper, and it's a continuing journey.  But, that's where I am.  That's what's really different about my faith, and what you can't find any other place is that relationship with Him. Reagan will be released in theaters on August 30th. Tennessee City Honors God And finally, a city in Tennessee passed a resolution honoring God last month. Mt. Juliet authorities supported their state's resolution calling for July to be a month of prayer and fasting.  The city's resolution stated, “We recognize that God, as the Creator and King of all Glory, has the authority to judge and to bless nations or states.”  Commissioner Ray Justice said, “I think prayer is something that is important every day, several times a day, and when you are living in as divisive of a world that we are living in, you should do it as often as possible.”  Psalm 33:12 says, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!" And that's The World View in 5 Minutes on this Monday, August 5th, in the year of our Lord 2024. Subscribe by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldView.com. Or get the Generations app through Google Play or The App Store. Filling in for Adam McManus I'm Ean Leppin. Seize the day for Jesus Christ.

Spiritual Principle - Self-reliance is God-defiance.

Jesus calls us into a real relationship with Him.... Many of us settle instead for a stale and complicated system of rule-keeping and religious “Churchianity.” But God has and wants a much more personal connection with us.

How much religion among many members of churches consists of nothing but church rituals! They belong to their church. They are baptized, married, buried in at the church, and preached to on Sundays by her ministers, but the great doctrines of truth have no place in their hearts and only a little influence on their lives. Is the religion of these people real Christianity? No, it is Churchianity – and nothing more! If your religion is real and has been given by the Holy Spirit, it must be in your heart. It must sway the affections. It must lead the will. It must direct the tastes. It must influence the choices and decisions. It must fill the deepest, lowest, inmost seat in your soul. Is this your Christianity? Real Christianity will cause a person to glory in Christ as the Redeemer, the Deliverer, the Priest, and the Friend – without whom he would have no hope at all. It will produce confidence in Him, love toward Him, delight in Him, and comfort in Him as the Mediator, the Food, the Light, the Life, and the Peace of the soul. This Christianity will produce in the person who has it repentance, faith, hope, love, humility, spirituality, kindness, self-denial, unselfishness, forgiveness, temperance, truthfulness, brotherly kindness, patience, and forbearance. Is this your religion? About the Author John Charles Ryle (1816-1900) graduated from Eton and Oxford and then pursued a career in politics, but due to lack of funds, he entered the clergy of the Church of England. He was a contemporary of Spurgeon, Moody, Mueller, and Taylor and read the great theologians like Wesley, Bunyan, Knox, Calvin, and Luther. These all influenced Ryle's understanding and theology. Ryle began his writing career with a tract following the Great Yarmouth suspension bridge tragedy, where more than a hundred people drowned. He gained a reputation for straightforward preaching and evangelism. He travelled, preached, and wrote more than 300 pamphlets, tracts, and books, including Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Principles for Churchmen, and Christian Leaders of the Eighteenth Century. Ryle used the royalties from his writing to pay his father's debts, but he also felt indebted to that ruin for changing the direction of his life. He was recommended by Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli to be Bishop of Liverpool where he ended his career in 1900.

How much religion among many members of churches consists of nothing but church rituals! They belong to their church. They are baptized, married, buried in at the church, and preached to on Sundays by her ministers, but the great doctrines of truth have no place in their hearts and only a little influence on their lives. Is the religion of these people real Christianity? No, it is Churchianity – and nothing more! If your religion is real and has been given by the Holy Spirit, it must be in your heart. It must sway the affections. It must lead the will. It must direct the tastes. It must influence the choices and decisions. It must fill the deepest, lowest, inmost seat in your soul. Is this your Christianity? Real Christianity will cause a person to glory in Christ as the Redeemer, the Deliverer, the Priest, and the Friend – without whom he would have no hope at all. It will produce confidence in Him, love toward Him, delight in Him, and comfort in Him as the Mediator, the Food, the Light, the Life, and the Peace of the soul. This Christianity will produce in the person who has it repentance, faith, hope, love, humility, spirituality, kindness, self-denial, unselfishness, forgiveness, temperance, truthfulness, brotherly kindness, patience, and forbearance. Is this your religion? About the Author John Charles Ryle (1816-1900) graduated from Eton and Oxford and then pursued a career in politics, but due to lack of funds, he entered the clergy of the Church of England. He was a contemporary of Spurgeon, Moody, Mueller, and Taylor and read the great theologians like Wesley, Bunyan, Knox, Calvin, and Luther. These all influenced Ryle's understanding and theology. Ryle began his writing career with a tract following the Great Yarmouth suspension bridge tragedy, where more than a hundred people drowned. He gained a reputation for straightforward preaching and evangelism. He travelled, preached, and wrote more than 300 pamphlets, tracts, and books, including Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Principles for Churchmen, and Christian Leaders of the Eighteenth Century. Ryle used the royalties from his writing to pay his father's debts, but he also felt indebted to that ruin for changing the direction of his life. He was recommended by Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli to be Bishop of Liverpool where he ended his career in 1900.

How much religion among many members of churches consists of nothing but church rituals! They belong to their church. They are baptized, married, buried in at the church, and preached to on Sundays by her ministers, but the great doctrines of truth have no place in their hearts and only a little influence on their lives. Is the religion of these people real Christianity? No, it is Churchianity – and nothing more! If your religion is real and has been given by the Holy Spirit, it must be in your heart. It must sway the affections. It must lead the will. It must direct the tastes. It must influence the choices and decisions. It must fill the deepest, lowest, inmost seat in your soul. Is this your Christianity? Real Christianity will cause a person to glory in Christ as the Redeemer, the Deliverer, the Priest, and the Friend – without whom he would have no hope at all. It will produce confidence in Him, love toward Him, delight in Him, and comfort in Him as the Mediator, the Food, the Light, the Life, and the Peace of the soul. This Christianity will produce in the person who has it repentance, faith, hope, love, humility, spirituality, kindness, self-denial, unselfishness, forgiveness, temperance, truthfulness, brotherly kindness, patience, and forbearance. Is this your religion? About the Author John Charles Ryle (1816-1900) graduated from Eton and Oxford and then pursued a career in politics, but due to lack of funds, he entered the clergy of the Church of England. He was a contemporary of Spurgeon, Moody, Mueller, and Taylor and read the great theologians like Wesley, Bunyan, Knox, Calvin, and Luther. These all influenced Ryle's understanding and theology. Ryle began his writing career with a tract following the Great Yarmouth suspension bridge tragedy, where more than a hundred people drowned. He gained a reputation for straightforward preaching and evangelism. He travelled, preached, and wrote more than 300 pamphlets, tracts, and books, including Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Principles for Churchmen, and Christian Leaders of the Eighteenth Century. Ryle used the royalties from his writing to pay his father's debts, but he also felt indebted to that ruin for changing the direction of his life. He was recommended by Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli to be Bishop of Liverpool where he ended his career in 1900.

How much religion among many members of churches consists of nothing but church rituals! They belong to their church. They are baptized, married, buried in at the church, and preached to on Sundays by her ministers, but the great doctrines of truth have no place in their hearts and only a little influence on their lives. Is the religion of these people real Christianity? No, it is Churchianity – and nothing more! If your religion is real and has been given by the Holy Spirit, it must be in your heart. It must sway the affections. It must lead the will. It must direct the tastes. It must influence the choices and decisions. It must fill the deepest, lowest, inmost seat in your soul. Is this your Christianity? Real Christianity will cause a person to glory in Christ as the Redeemer, the Deliverer, the Priest, and the Friend – without whom he would have no hope at all. It will produce confidence in Him, love toward Him, delight in Him, and comfort in Him as the Mediator, the Food, the Light, the Life, and the Peace of the soul. This Christianity will produce in the person who has it repentance, faith, hope, love, humility, spirituality, kindness, self-denial, unselfishness, forgiveness, temperance, truthfulness, brotherly kindness, patience, and forbearance. Is this your religion? About the Author John Charles Ryle (1816-1900) graduated from Eton and Oxford and then pursued a career in politics, but due to lack of funds, he entered the clergy of the Church of England. He was a contemporary of Spurgeon, Moody, Mueller, and Taylor and read the great theologians like Wesley, Bunyan, Knox, Calvin, and Luther. These all influenced Ryle's understanding and theology. Ryle began his writing career with a tract following the Great Yarmouth suspension bridge tragedy, where more than a hundred people drowned. He gained a reputation for straightforward preaching and evangelism. He travelled, preached, and wrote more than 300 pamphlets, tracts, and books, including Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Principles for Churchmen, and Christian Leaders of the Eighteenth Century. Ryle used the royalties from his writing to pay his father's debts, but he also felt indebted to that ruin for changing the direction of his life. He was recommended by Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli to be Bishop of Liverpool where he ended his career in 1900.

How much religion among many members of churches consists of nothing but church rituals! They belong to their church. They are baptized, married, buried in at the church, and preached to on Sundays by her ministers, but the great doctrines of truth have no place in their hearts and only a little influence on their lives. Is the religion of these people real Christianity? No, it is Churchianity – and nothing more! If your religion is real and has been given by the Holy Spirit, it must be in your heart. It must sway the affections. It must lead the will. It must direct the tastes. It must influence the choices and decisions. It must fill the deepest, lowest, inmost seat in your soul. Is this your Christianity? Real Christianity will cause a person to glory in Christ as the Redeemer, the Deliverer, the Priest, and the Friend – without whom he would have no hope at all. It will produce confidence in Him, love toward Him, delight in Him, and comfort in Him as the Mediator, the Food, the Light, the Life, and the Peace of the soul. This Christianity will produce in the person who has it repentance, faith, hope, love, humility, spirituality, kindness, self-denial, unselfishness, forgiveness, temperance, truthfulness, brotherly kindness, patience, and forbearance. Is this your religion? About the Author John Charles Ryle (1816-1900) graduated from Eton and Oxford and then pursued a career in politics, but due to lack of funds, he entered the clergy of the Church of England. He was a contemporary of Spurgeon, Moody, Mueller, and Taylor and read the great theologians like Wesley, Bunyan, Knox, Calvin, and Luther. These all influenced Ryle's understanding and theology. Ryle began his writing career with a tract following the Great Yarmouth suspension bridge tragedy, where more than a hundred people drowned. He gained a reputation for straightforward preaching and evangelism. He travelled, preached, and wrote more than 300 pamphlets, tracts, and books, including Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Principles for Churchmen, and Christian Leaders of the Eighteenth Century. Ryle used the royalties from his writing to pay his father's debts, but he also felt indebted to that ruin for changing the direction of his life. He was recommended by Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli to be Bishop of Liverpool where he ended his career in 1900.

How much religion among many members of churches consists of nothing but church rituals! They belong to their church. They are baptized, married, buried in at the church, and preached to on Sundays by her ministers, but the great doctrines of truth have no place in their hearts and only a little influence on their lives. Is the religion of these people real Christianity? No, it is Churchianity – and nothing more! If your religion is real and has been given by the Holy Spirit, it must be in your heart. It must sway the affections. It must lead the will. It must direct the tastes. It must influence the choices and decisions. It must fill the deepest, lowest, inmost seat in your soul. Is this your Christianity? Real Christianity will cause a person to glory in Christ as the Redeemer, the Deliverer, the Priest, and the Friend – without whom he would have no hope at all. It will produce confidence in Him, love toward Him, delight in Him, and comfort in Him as the Mediator, the Food, the Light, the Life, and the Peace of the soul. This Christianity will produce in the person who has it repentance, faith, hope, love, humility, spirituality, kindness, self-denial, unselfishness, forgiveness, temperance, truthfulness, brotherly kindness, patience, and forbearance. Is this your religion? About the Author John Charles Ryle (1816-1900) graduated from Eton and Oxford and then pursued a career in politics, but due to lack of funds, he entered the clergy of the Church of England. He was a contemporary of Spurgeon, Moody, Mueller, and Taylor and read the great theologians like Wesley, Bunyan, Knox, Calvin, and Luther. These all influenced Ryle's understanding and theology. Ryle began his writing career with a tract following the Great Yarmouth suspension bridge tragedy, where more than a hundred people drowned. He gained a reputation for straightforward preaching and evangelism. He travelled, preached, and wrote more than 300 pamphlets, tracts, and books, including Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Principles for Churchmen, and Christian Leaders of the Eighteenth Century. Ryle used the royalties from his writing to pay his father's debts, but he also felt indebted to that ruin for changing the direction of his life. He was recommended by Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli to be Bishop of Liverpool where he ended his career in 1900.

How much religion among many members of churches consists of nothing but church rituals! They belong to their church. They are baptized, married, buried in at the church, and preached to on Sundays by her ministers, but the great doctrines of truth have no place in their hearts and only a little influence on their lives. Is the religion of these people real Christianity? No, it is Churchianity – and nothing more! If your religion is real and has been given by the Holy Spirit, it must be in your heart. It must sway the affections. It must lead the will. It must direct the tastes. It must influence the choices and decisions. It must fill the deepest, lowest, inmost seat in your soul. Is this your Christianity? Real Christianity will cause a person to glory in Christ as the Redeemer, the Deliverer, the Priest, and the Friend – without whom he would have no hope at all. It will produce confidence in Him, love toward Him, delight in Him, and comfort in Him as the Mediator, the Food, the Light, the Life, and the Peace of the soul. This Christianity will produce in the person who has it repentance, faith, hope, love, humility, spirituality, kindness, self-denial, unselfishness, forgiveness, temperance, truthfulness, brotherly kindness, patience, and forbearance. Is this your religion? About the Author John Charles Ryle (1816-1900) graduated from Eton and Oxford and then pursued a career in politics, but due to lack of funds, he entered the clergy of the Church of England. He was a contemporary of Spurgeon, Moody, Mueller, and Taylor and read the great theologians like Wesley, Bunyan, Knox, Calvin, and Luther. These all influenced Ryle's understanding and theology. Ryle began his writing career with a tract following the Great Yarmouth suspension bridge tragedy, where more than a hundred people drowned. He gained a reputation for straightforward preaching and evangelism. He travelled, preached, and wrote more than 300 pamphlets, tracts, and books, including Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Principles for Churchmen, and Christian Leaders of the Eighteenth Century. Ryle used the royalties from his writing to pay his father's debts, but he also felt indebted to that ruin for changing the direction of his life. He was recommended by Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli to be Bishop of Liverpool where he ended his career in 1900.

How much religion among many members of churches consists of nothing but church rituals! They belong to their church. They are baptized, married, buried in at the church, and preached to on Sundays by her ministers, but the great doctrines of truth have no place in their hearts and only a little influence on their lives. Is the religion of these people real Christianity? No, it is Churchianity – and nothing more! If your religion is real and has been given by the Holy Spirit, it must be in your heart. It must sway the affections. It must lead the will. It must direct the tastes. It must influence the choices and decisions. It must fill the deepest, lowest, inmost seat in your soul. Is this your Christianity? Real Christianity will cause a person to glory in Christ as the Redeemer, the Deliverer, the Priest, and the Friend – without whom he would have no hope at all. It will produce confidence in Him, love toward Him, delight in Him, and comfort in Him as the Mediator, the Food, the Light, the Life, and the Peace of the soul. This Christianity will produce in the person who has it repentance, faith, hope, love, humility, spirituality, kindness, self-denial, unselfishness, forgiveness, temperance, truthfulness, brotherly kindness, patience, and forbearance. Is this your religion? About the Author John Charles Ryle (1816-1900) graduated from Eton and Oxford and then pursued a career in politics, but due to lack of funds, he entered the clergy of the Church of England. He was a contemporary of Spurgeon, Moody, Mueller, and Taylor and read the great theologians like Wesley, Bunyan, Knox, Calvin, and Luther. These all influenced Ryle's understanding and theology. Ryle began his writing career with a tract following the Great Yarmouth suspension bridge tragedy, where more than a hundred people drowned. He gained a reputation for straightforward preaching and evangelism. He travelled, preached, and wrote more than 300 pamphlets, tracts, and books, including Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Principles for Churchmen, and Christian Leaders of the Eighteenth Century. Ryle used the royalties from his writing to pay his father's debts, but he also felt indebted to that ruin for changing the direction of his life. He was recommended by Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli to be Bishop of Liverpool where he ended his career in 1900.

How much religion among many members of churches consists of nothing but church rituals! They belong to their church. They are baptized, married, buried in at the church, and preached to on Sundays by her ministers, but the great doctrines of truth have no place in their hearts and only a little influence on their lives. Is the religion of these people real Christianity? No, it is Churchianity – and nothing more! If your religion is real and has been given by the Holy Spirit, it must be in your heart. It must sway the affections. It must lead the will. It must direct the tastes. It must influence the choices and decisions. It must fill the deepest, lowest, inmost seat in your soul. Is this your Christianity? Real Christianity will cause a person to glory in Christ as the Redeemer, the Deliverer, the Priest, and the Friend – without whom he would have no hope at all. It will produce confidence in Him, love toward Him, delight in Him, and comfort in Him as the Mediator, the Food, the Light, the Life, and the Peace of the soul. This Christianity will produce in the person who has it repentance, faith, hope, love, humility, spirituality, kindness, self-denial, unselfishness, forgiveness, temperance, truthfulness, brotherly kindness, patience, and forbearance. Is this your religion? About the Author John Charles Ryle (1816-1900) graduated from Eton and Oxford and then pursued a career in politics, but due to lack of funds, he entered the clergy of the Church of England. He was a contemporary of Spurgeon, Moody, Mueller, and Taylor and read the great theologians like Wesley, Bunyan, Knox, Calvin, and Luther. These all influenced Ryle's understanding and theology. Ryle began his writing career with a tract following the Great Yarmouth suspension bridge tragedy, where more than a hundred people drowned. He gained a reputation for straightforward preaching and evangelism. He travelled, preached, and wrote more than 300 pamphlets, tracts, and books, including Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Principles for Churchmen, and Christian Leaders of the Eighteenth Century. Ryle used the royalties from his writing to pay his father's debts, but he also felt indebted to that ruin for changing the direction of his life. He was recommended by Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli to be Bishop of Liverpool where he ended his career in 1900.

How much religion among many members of churches consists of nothing but church rituals! They belong to their church. They are baptized, married, buried in at the church, and preached to on Sundays by her ministers, but the great doctrines of truth have no place in their hearts and only a little influence on their lives. Is the religion of these people real Christianity? No, it is Churchianity – and nothing more! If your religion is real and has been given by the Holy Spirit, it must be in your heart. It must sway the affections. It must lead the will. It must direct the tastes. It must influence the choices and decisions. It must fill the deepest, lowest, inmost seat in your soul. Is this your Christianity? Real Christianity will cause a person to glory in Christ as the Redeemer, the Deliverer, the Priest, and the Friend – without whom he would have no hope at all. It will produce confidence in Him, love toward Him, delight in Him, and comfort in Him as the Mediator, the Food, the Light, the Life, and the Peace of the soul. This Christianity will produce in the person who has it repentance, faith, hope, love, humility, spirituality, kindness, self-denial, unselfishness, forgiveness, temperance, truthfulness, brotherly kindness, patience, and forbearance. Is this your religion? About the Author John Charles Ryle (1816-1900) graduated from Eton and Oxford and then pursued a career in politics, but due to lack of funds, he entered the clergy of the Church of England. He was a contemporary of Spurgeon, Moody, Mueller, and Taylor and read the great theologians like Wesley, Bunyan, Knox, Calvin, and Luther. These all influenced Ryle's understanding and theology. Ryle began his writing career with a tract following the Great Yarmouth suspension bridge tragedy, where more than a hundred people drowned. He gained a reputation for straightforward preaching and evangelism. He travelled, preached, and wrote more than 300 pamphlets, tracts, and books, including Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Principles for Churchmen, and Christian Leaders of the Eighteenth Century. Ryle used the royalties from his writing to pay his father's debts, but he also felt indebted to that ruin for changing the direction of his life. He was recommended by Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli to be Bishop of Liverpool where he ended his career in 1900.

How much religion among many members of churches consists of nothing but church rituals! They belong to their church. They are baptized, married, buried in at the church, and preached to on Sundays by her ministers, but the great doctrines of truth have no place in their hearts and only a little influence on their lives. Is the religion of these people real Christianity? No, it is Churchianity – and nothing more! If your religion is real and has been given by the Holy Spirit, it must be in your heart. It must sway the affections. It must lead the will. It must direct the tastes. It must influence the choices and decisions. It must fill the deepest, lowest, inmost seat in your soul. Is this your Christianity? Real Christianity will cause a person to glory in Christ as the Redeemer, the Deliverer, the Priest, and the Friend – without whom he would have no hope at all. It will produce confidence in Him, love toward Him, delight in Him, and comfort in Him as the Mediator, the Food, the Light, the Life, and the Peace of the soul. This Christianity will produce in the person who has it repentance, faith, hope, love, humility, spirituality, kindness, self-denial, unselfishness, forgiveness, temperance, truthfulness, brotherly kindness, patience, and forbearance. Is this your religion? About the Author John Charles Ryle (1816-1900) graduated from Eton and Oxford and then pursued a career in politics, but due to lack of funds, he entered the clergy of the Church of England. He was a contemporary of Spurgeon, Moody, Mueller, and Taylor and read the great theologians like Wesley, Bunyan, Knox, Calvin, and Luther. These all influenced Ryle's understanding and theology. Ryle began his writing career with a tract following the Great Yarmouth suspension bridge tragedy, where more than a hundred people drowned. He gained a reputation for straightforward preaching and evangelism. He travelled, preached, and wrote more than 300 pamphlets, tracts, and books, including Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Principles for Churchmen, and Christian Leaders of the Eighteenth Century. Ryle used the royalties from his writing to pay his father's debts, but he also felt indebted to that ruin for changing the direction of his life. He was recommended by Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli to be Bishop of Liverpool where he ended his career in 1900.

How much religion among many members of churches consists of nothing but church rituals! They belong to their church. They are baptized, married, buried in at the church, and preached to on Sundays by her ministers, but the great doctrines of truth have no place in their hearts and only a little influence on their lives. Is the religion of these people real Christianity? No, it is Churchianity – and nothing more! If your religion is real and has been given by the Holy Spirit, it must be in your heart. It must sway the affections. It must lead the will. It must direct the tastes. It must influence the choices and decisions. It must fill the deepest, lowest, inmost seat in your soul. Is this your Christianity? Real Christianity will cause a person to glory in Christ as the Redeemer, the Deliverer, the Priest, and the Friend – without whom he would have no hope at all. It will produce confidence in Him, love toward Him, delight in Him, and comfort in Him as the Mediator, the Food, the Light, the Life, and the Peace of the soul. This Christianity will produce in the person who has it repentance, faith, hope, love, humility, spirituality, kindness, self-denial, unselfishness, forgiveness, temperance, truthfulness, brotherly kindness, patience, and forbearance. Is this your religion? About the Author John Charles Ryle (1816-1900) graduated from Eton and Oxford and then pursued a career in politics, but due to lack of funds, he entered the clergy of the Church of England. He was a contemporary of Spurgeon, Moody, Mueller, and Taylor and read the great theologians like Wesley, Bunyan, Knox, Calvin, and Luther. These all influenced Ryle's understanding and theology. Ryle began his writing career with a tract following the Great Yarmouth suspension bridge tragedy, where more than a hundred people drowned. He gained a reputation for straightforward preaching and evangelism. He travelled, preached, and wrote more than 300 pamphlets, tracts, and books, including Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Principles for Churchmen, and Christian Leaders of the Eighteenth Century. Ryle used the royalties from his writing to pay his father's debts, but he also felt indebted to that ruin for changing the direction of his life. He was recommended by Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli to be Bishop of Liverpool where he ended his career in 1900.

How much religion among many members of churches consists of nothing but church rituals! They belong to their church. They are baptized, married, buried in at the church, and preached to on Sundays by her ministers, but the great doctrines of truth have no place in their hearts and only a little influence on their lives. Is the religion of these people real Christianity? No, it is Churchianity – and nothing more! If your religion is real and has been given by the Holy Spirit, it must be in your heart. It must sway the affections. It must lead the will. It must direct the tastes. It must influence the choices and decisions. It must fill the deepest, lowest, inmost seat in your soul. Is this your Christianity? Real Christianity will cause a person to glory in Christ as the Redeemer, the Deliverer, the Priest, and the Friend – without whom he would have no hope at all. It will produce confidence in Him, love toward Him, delight in Him, and comfort in Him as the Mediator, the Food, the Light, the Life, and the Peace of the soul. This Christianity will produce in the person who has it repentance, faith, hope, love, humility, spirituality, kindness, self-denial, unselfishness, forgiveness, temperance, truthfulness, brotherly kindness, patience, and forbearance. Is this your religion? About the Author John Charles Ryle (1816-1900) graduated from Eton and Oxford and then pursued a career in politics, but due to lack of funds, he entered the clergy of the Church of England. He was a contemporary of Spurgeon, Moody, Mueller, and Taylor and read the great theologians like Wesley, Bunyan, Knox, Calvin, and Luther. These all influenced Ryle's understanding and theology. Ryle began his writing career with a tract following the Great Yarmouth suspension bridge tragedy, where more than a hundred people drowned. He gained a reputation for straightforward preaching and evangelism. He travelled, preached, and wrote more than 300 pamphlets, tracts, and books, including Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Principles for Churchmen, and Christian Leaders of the Eighteenth Century. Ryle used the royalties from his writing to pay his father's debts, but he also felt indebted to that ruin for changing the direction of his life. He was recommended by Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli to be Bishop of Liverpool where he ended his career in 1900.

How much religion among many members of churches consists of nothing but church rituals! They belong to their church. They are baptized, married, buried in at the church, and preached to on Sundays by her ministers, but the great doctrines of truth have no place in their hearts and only a little influence on their lives. Is the religion of these people real Christianity? No, it is Churchianity – and nothing more! If your religion is real and has been given by the Holy Spirit, it must be in your heart. It must sway the affections. It must lead the will. It must direct the tastes. It must influence the choices and decisions. It must fill the deepest, lowest, inmost seat in your soul. Is this your Christianity? Real Christianity will cause a person to glory in Christ as the Redeemer, the Deliverer, the Priest, and the Friend – without whom he would have no hope at all. It will produce confidence in Him, love toward Him, delight in Him, and comfort in Him as the Mediator, the Food, the Light, the Life, and the Peace of the soul. This Christianity will produce in the person who has it repentance, faith, hope, love, humility, spirituality, kindness, self-denial, unselfishness, forgiveness, temperance, truthfulness, brotherly kindness, patience, and forbearance. Is this your religion? About the Author John Charles Ryle (1816-1900) graduated from Eton and Oxford and then pursued a career in politics, but due to lack of funds, he entered the clergy of the Church of England. He was a contemporary of Spurgeon, Moody, Mueller, and Taylor and read the great theologians like Wesley, Bunyan, Knox, Calvin, and Luther. These all influenced Ryle's understanding and theology. Ryle began his writing career with a tract following the Great Yarmouth suspension bridge tragedy, where more than a hundred people drowned. He gained a reputation for straightforward preaching and evangelism. He travelled, preached, and wrote more than 300 pamphlets, tracts, and books, including Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Principles for Churchmen, and Christian Leaders of the Eighteenth Century. Ryle used the royalties from his writing to pay his father's debts, but he also felt indebted to that ruin for changing the direction of his life. He was recommended by Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli to be Bishop of Liverpool where he ended his career in 1900.

How much religion among many members of churches consists of nothing but church rituals! They belong to their church. They are baptized, married, buried in at the church, and preached to on Sundays by her ministers, but the great doctrines of truth have no place in their hearts and only a little influence on their lives. Is the religion of these people real Christianity? No, it is Churchianity – and nothing more! If your religion is real and has been given by the Holy Spirit, it must be in your heart. It must sway the affections. It must lead the will. It must direct the tastes. It must influence the choices and decisions. It must fill the deepest, lowest, inmost seat in your soul. Is this your Christianity? Real Christianity will cause a person to glory in Christ as the Redeemer, the Deliverer, the Priest, and the Friend – without whom he would have no hope at all. It will produce confidence in Him, love toward Him, delight in Him, and comfort in Him as the Mediator, the Food, the Light, the Life, and the Peace of the soul. This Christianity will produce in the person who has it repentance, faith, hope, love, humility, spirituality, kindness, self-denial, unselfishness, forgiveness, temperance, truthfulness, brotherly kindness, patience, and forbearance. Is this your religion? About the Author John Charles Ryle (1816-1900) graduated from Eton and Oxford and then pursued a career in politics, but due to lack of funds, he entered the clergy of the Church of England. He was a contemporary of Spurgeon, Moody, Mueller, and Taylor and read the great theologians like Wesley, Bunyan, Knox, Calvin, and Luther. These all influenced Ryle's understanding and theology. Ryle began his writing career with a tract following the Great Yarmouth suspension bridge tragedy, where more than a hundred people drowned. He gained a reputation for straightforward preaching and evangelism. He travelled, preached, and wrote more than 300 pamphlets, tracts, and books, including Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Principles for Churchmen, and Christian Leaders of the Eighteenth Century. Ryle used the royalties from his writing to pay his father's debts, but he also felt indebted to that ruin for changing the direction of his life. He was recommended by Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli to be Bishop of Liverpool where he ended his career in 1900.

How much religion among many members of churches consists of nothing but church rituals! They belong to their church. They are baptized, married, buried in at the church, and preached to on Sundays by her ministers, but the great doctrines of truth have no place in their hearts and only a little influence on their lives. Is the religion of these people real Christianity? No, it is Churchianity – and nothing more! If your religion is real and has been given by the Holy Spirit, it must be in your heart. It must sway the affections. It must lead the will. It must direct the tastes. It must influence the choices and decisions. It must fill the deepest, lowest, inmost seat in your soul. Is this your Christianity? Real Christianity will cause a person to glory in Christ as the Redeemer, the Deliverer, the Priest, and the Friend – without whom he would have no hope at all. It will produce confidence in Him, love toward Him, delight in Him, and comfort in Him as the Mediator, the Food, the Light, the Life, and the Peace of the soul. This Christianity will produce in the person who has it repentance, faith, hope, love, humility, spirituality, kindness, self-denial, unselfishness, forgiveness, temperance, truthfulness, brotherly kindness, patience, and forbearance. Is this your religion? About the Author John Charles Ryle (1816-1900) graduated from Eton and Oxford and then pursued a career in politics, but due to lack of funds, he entered the clergy of the Church of England. He was a contemporary of Spurgeon, Moody, Mueller, and Taylor and read the great theologians like Wesley, Bunyan, Knox, Calvin, and Luther. These all influenced Ryle's understanding and theology. Ryle began his writing career with a tract following the Great Yarmouth suspension bridge tragedy, where more than a hundred people drowned. He gained a reputation for straightforward preaching and evangelism. He travelled, preached, and wrote more than 300 pamphlets, tracts, and books, including Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Principles for Churchmen, and Christian Leaders of the Eighteenth Century. Ryle used the royalties from his writing to pay his father's debts, but he also felt indebted to that ruin for changing the direction of his life. He was recommended by Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli to be Bishop of Liverpool where he ended his career in 1900.

How much religion among many members of churches consists of nothing but church rituals! They belong to their church. They are baptized, married, buried in at the church, and preached to on Sundays by her ministers, but the great doctrines of truth have no place in their hearts and only a little influence on their lives. Is the religion of these people real Christianity? No, it is Churchianity – and nothing more! If your religion is real and has been given by the Holy Spirit, it must be in your heart. It must sway the affections. It must lead the will. It must direct the tastes. It must influence the choices and decisions. It must fill the deepest, lowest, inmost seat in your soul. Is this your Christianity? Real Christianity will cause a person to glory in Christ as the Redeemer, the Deliverer, the Priest, and the Friend – without whom he would have no hope at all. It will produce confidence in Him, love toward Him, delight in Him, and comfort in Him as the Mediator, the Food, the Light, the Life, and the Peace of the soul. This Christianity will produce in the person who has it repentance, faith, hope, love, humility, spirituality, kindness, self-denial, unselfishness, forgiveness, temperance, truthfulness, brotherly kindness, patience, and forbearance. Is this your religion? About the Author John Charles Ryle (1816-1900) graduated from Eton and Oxford and then pursued a career in politics, but due to lack of funds, he entered the clergy of the Church of England. He was a contemporary of Spurgeon, Moody, Mueller, and Taylor and read the great theologians like Wesley, Bunyan, Knox, Calvin, and Luther. These all influenced Ryle's understanding and theology. Ryle began his writing career with a tract following the Great Yarmouth suspension bridge tragedy, where more than a hundred people drowned. He gained a reputation for straightforward preaching and evangelism. He travelled, preached, and wrote more than 300 pamphlets, tracts, and books, including Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Principles for Churchmen, and Christian Leaders of the Eighteenth Century. Ryle used the royalties from his writing to pay his father's debts, but he also felt indebted to that ruin for changing the direction of his life. He was recommended by Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli to be Bishop of Liverpool where he ended his career in 1900.

How much religion among many members of churches consists of nothing but church rituals! They belong to their church. They are baptized, married, buried in at the church, and preached to on Sundays by her ministers, but the great doctrines of truth have no place in their hearts and only a little influence on their lives. Is the religion of these people real Christianity? No, it is Churchianity – and nothing more! If your religion is real and has been given by the Holy Spirit, it must be in your heart. It must sway the affections. It must lead the will. It must direct the tastes. It must influence the choices and decisions. It must fill the deepest, lowest, inmost seat in your soul. Is this your Christianity? Real Christianity will cause a person to glory in Christ as the Redeemer, the Deliverer, the Priest, and the Friend – without whom he would have no hope at all. It will produce confidence in Him, love toward Him, delight in Him, and comfort in Him as the Mediator, the Food, the Light, the Life, and the Peace of the soul. This Christianity will produce in the person who has it repentance, faith, hope, love, humility, spirituality, kindness, self-denial, unselfishness, forgiveness, temperance, truthfulness, brotherly kindness, patience, and forbearance. Is this your religion? About the Author John Charles Ryle (1816-1900) graduated from Eton and Oxford and then pursued a career in politics, but due to lack of funds, he entered the clergy of the Church of England. He was a contemporary of Spurgeon, Moody, Mueller, and Taylor and read the great theologians like Wesley, Bunyan, Knox, Calvin, and Luther. These all influenced Ryle's understanding and theology. Ryle began his writing career with a tract following the Great Yarmouth suspension bridge tragedy, where more than a hundred people drowned. He gained a reputation for straightforward preaching and evangelism. He travelled, preached, and wrote more than 300 pamphlets, tracts, and books, including Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Principles for Churchmen, and Christian Leaders of the Eighteenth Century. Ryle used the royalties from his writing to pay his father's debts, but he also felt indebted to that ruin for changing the direction of his life. He was recommended by Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli to be Bishop of Liverpool where he ended his career in 1900.

How much religion among many members of churches consists of nothing but church rituals! They belong to their church. They are baptized, married, buried in at the church, and preached to on Sundays by her ministers, but the great doctrines of truth have no place in their hearts and only a little influence on their lives. Is the religion of these people real Christianity? No, it is Churchianity – and nothing more! If your religion is real and has been given by the Holy Spirit, it must be in your heart. It must sway the affections. It must lead the will. It must direct the tastes. It must influence the choices and decisions. It must fill the deepest, lowest, inmost seat in your soul. Is this your Christianity? Real Christianity will cause a person to glory in Christ as the Redeemer, the Deliverer, the Priest, and the Friend – without whom he would have no hope at all. It will produce confidence in Him, love toward Him, delight in Him, and comfort in Him as the Mediator, the Food, the Light, the Life, and the Peace of the soul. This Christianity will produce in the person who has it repentance, faith, hope, love, humility, spirituality, kindness, self-denial, unselfishness, forgiveness, temperance, truthfulness, brotherly kindness, patience, and forbearance. Is this your religion? About the Author John Charles Ryle (1816-1900) graduated from Eton and Oxford and then pursued a career in politics, but due to lack of funds, he entered the clergy of the Church of England. He was a contemporary of Spurgeon, Moody, Mueller, and Taylor and read the great theologians like Wesley, Bunyan, Knox, Calvin, and Luther. These all influenced Ryle's understanding and theology. Ryle began his writing career with a tract following the Great Yarmouth suspension bridge tragedy, where more than a hundred people drowned. He gained a reputation for straightforward preaching and evangelism. He travelled, preached, and wrote more than 300 pamphlets, tracts, and books, including Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Principles for Churchmen, and Christian Leaders of the Eighteenth Century. Ryle used the royalties from his writing to pay his father's debts, but he also felt indebted to that ruin for changing the direction of his life. He was recommended by Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli to be Bishop of Liverpool where he ended his career in 1900.

How much religion among many members of churches consists of nothing but church rituals! They belong to their church. They are baptized, married, buried in at the church, and preached to on Sundays by her ministers, but the great doctrines of truth have no place in their hearts and only a little influence on their lives. Is the religion of these people real Christianity? No, it is Churchianity – and nothing more! If your religion is real and has been given by the Holy Spirit, it must be in your heart. It must sway the affections. It must lead the will. It must direct the tastes. It must influence the choices and decisions. It must fill the deepest, lowest, inmost seat in your soul. Is this your Christianity? Real Christianity will cause a person to glory in Christ as the Redeemer, the Deliverer, the Priest, and the Friend – without whom he would have no hope at all. It will produce confidence in Him, love toward Him, delight in Him, and comfort in Him as the Mediator, the Food, the Light, the Life, and the Peace of the soul. This Christianity will produce in the person who has it repentance, faith, hope, love, humility, spirituality, kindness, self-denial, unselfishness, forgiveness, temperance, truthfulness, brotherly kindness, patience, and forbearance. Is this your religion? About the Author John Charles Ryle (1816-1900) graduated from Eton and Oxford and then pursued a career in politics, but due to lack of funds, he entered the clergy of the Church of England. He was a contemporary of Spurgeon, Moody, Mueller, and Taylor and read the great theologians like Wesley, Bunyan, Knox, Calvin, and Luther. These all influenced Ryle's understanding and theology. Ryle began his writing career with a tract following the Great Yarmouth suspension bridge tragedy, where more than a hundred people drowned. He gained a reputation for straightforward preaching and evangelism. He travelled, preached, and wrote more than 300 pamphlets, tracts, and books, including Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Principles for Churchmen, and Christian Leaders of the Eighteenth Century. Ryle used the royalties from his writing to pay his father's debts, but he also felt indebted to that ruin for changing the direction of his life. He was recommended by Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli to be Bishop of Liverpool where he ended his career in 1900.

How much religion among many members of churches consists of nothing but church rituals! They belong to their church. They are baptized, married, buried in at the church, and preached to on Sundays by her ministers, but the great doctrines of truth have no place in their hearts and only a little influence on their lives. Is the religion of these people real Christianity? No, it is Churchianity – and nothing more! If your religion is real and has been given by the Holy Spirit, it must be in your heart. It must sway the affections. It must lead the will. It must direct the tastes. It must influence the choices and decisions. It must fill the deepest, lowest, inmost seat in your soul. Is this your Christianity? Real Christianity will cause a person to glory in Christ as the Redeemer, the Deliverer, the Priest, and the Friend – without whom he would have no hope at all. It will produce confidence in Him, love toward Him, delight in Him, and comfort in Him as the Mediator, the Food, the Light, the Life, and the Peace of the soul. This Christianity will produce in the person who has it repentance, faith, hope, love, humility, spirituality, kindness, self-denial, unselfishness, forgiveness, temperance, truthfulness, brotherly kindness, patience, and forbearance. Is this your religion? About the Author John Charles Ryle (1816-1900) graduated from Eton and Oxford and then pursued a career in politics, but due to lack of funds, he entered the clergy of the Church of England. He was a contemporary of Spurgeon, Moody, Mueller, and Taylor and read the great theologians like Wesley, Bunyan, Knox, Calvin, and Luther. These all influenced Ryle's understanding and theology. Ryle began his writing career with a tract following the Great Yarmouth suspension bridge tragedy, where more than a hundred people drowned. He gained a reputation for straightforward preaching and evangelism. He travelled, preached, and wrote more than 300 pamphlets, tracts, and books, including Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Principles for Churchmen, and Christian Leaders of the Eighteenth Century. Ryle used the royalties from his writing to pay his father's debts, but he also felt indebted to that ruin for changing the direction of his life. He was recommended by Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli to be Bishop of Liverpool where he ended his career in 1900.

How much religion among many members of churches consists of nothing but church rituals! They belong to their church. They are baptized, married, buried in at the church, and preached to on Sundays by her ministers, but the great doctrines of truth have no place in their hearts and only a little influence on their lives. Is the religion of these people real Christianity? No, it is Churchianity – and nothing more! If your religion is real and has been given by the Holy Spirit, it must be in your heart. It must sway the affections. It must lead the will. It must direct the tastes. It must influence the choices and decisions. It must fill the deepest, lowest, inmost seat in your soul. Is this your Christianity? Real Christianity will cause a person to glory in Christ as the Redeemer, the Deliverer, the Priest, and the Friend – without whom he would have no hope at all. It will produce confidence in Him, love toward Him, delight in Him, and comfort in Him as the Mediator, the Food, the Light, the Life, and the Peace of the soul. This Christianity will produce in the person who has it repentance, faith, hope, love, humility, spirituality, kindness, self-denial, unselfishness, forgiveness, temperance, truthfulness, brotherly kindness, patience, and forbearance. Is this your religion? About the Author John Charles Ryle (1816-1900) graduated from Eton and Oxford and then pursued a career in politics, but due to lack of funds, he entered the clergy of the Church of England. He was a contemporary of Spurgeon, Moody, Mueller, and Taylor and read the great theologians like Wesley, Bunyan, Knox, Calvin, and Luther. These all influenced Ryle's understanding and theology. Ryle began his writing career with a tract following the Great Yarmouth suspension bridge tragedy, where more than a hundred people drowned. He gained a reputation for straightforward preaching and evangelism. He travelled, preached, and wrote more than 300 pamphlets, tracts, and books, including Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Principles for Churchmen, and Christian Leaders of the Eighteenth Century. Ryle used the royalties from his writing to pay his father's debts, but he also felt indebted to that ruin for changing the direction of his life. He was recommended by Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli to be Bishop of Liverpool where he ended his career in 1900.

How much religion among many members of churches consists of nothing but church rituals! They belong to their church. They are baptized, married, buried in at the church, and preached to on Sundays by her ministers, but the great doctrines of truth have no place in their hearts and only a little influence on their lives. Is the religion of these people real Christianity? No, it is Churchianity – and nothing more! If your religion is real and has been given by the Holy Spirit, it must be in your heart. It must sway the affections. It must lead the will. It must direct the tastes. It must influence the choices and decisions. It must fill the deepest, lowest, inmost seat in your soul. Is this your Christianity? Real Christianity will cause a person to glory in Christ as the Redeemer, the Deliverer, the Priest, and the Friend – without whom he would have no hope at all. It will produce confidence in Him, love toward Him, delight in Him, and comfort in Him as the Mediator, the Food, the Light, the Life, and the Peace of the soul. This Christianity will produce in the person who has it repentance, faith, hope, love, humility, spirituality, kindness, self-denial, unselfishness, forgiveness, temperance, truthfulness, brotherly kindness, patience, and forbearance. Is this your religion? About the Author John Charles Ryle (1816-1900) graduated from Eton and Oxford and then pursued a career in politics, but due to lack of funds, he entered the clergy of the Church of England. He was a contemporary of Spurgeon, Moody, Mueller, and Taylor and read the great theologians like Wesley, Bunyan, Knox, Calvin, and Luther. These all influenced Ryle's understanding and theology. Ryle began his writing career with a tract following the Great Yarmouth suspension bridge tragedy, where more than a hundred people drowned. He gained a reputation for straightforward preaching and evangelism. He travelled, preached, and wrote more than 300 pamphlets, tracts, and books, including Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Principles for Churchmen, and Christian Leaders of the Eighteenth Century. Ryle used the royalties from his writing to pay his father's debts, but he also felt indebted to that ruin for changing the direction of his life. He was recommended by Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli to be Bishop of Liverpool where he ended his career in 1900.

How much religion among many members of churches consists of nothing but church rituals! They belong to their church. They are baptized, married, buried in at the church, and preached to on Sundays by her ministers, but the great doctrines of truth have no place in their hearts and only a little influence on their lives. Is the religion of these people real Christianity? No, it is Churchianity – and nothing more! If your religion is real and has been given by the Holy Spirit, it must be in your heart. It must sway the affections. It must lead the will. It must direct the tastes. It must influence the choices and decisions. It must fill the deepest, lowest, inmost seat in your soul. Is this your Christianity? Real Christianity will cause a person to glory in Christ as the Redeemer, the Deliverer, the Priest, and the Friend – without whom he would have no hope at all. It will produce confidence in Him, love toward Him, delight in Him, and comfort in Him as the Mediator, the Food, the Light, the Life, and the Peace of the soul. This Christianity will produce in the person who has it repentance, faith, hope, love, humility, spirituality, kindness, self-denial, unselfishness, forgiveness, temperance, truthfulness, brotherly kindness, patience, and forbearance. Is this your religion? About the Author John Charles Ryle (1816-1900) graduated from Eton and Oxford and then pursued a career in politics, but due to lack of funds, he entered the clergy of the Church of England. He was a contemporary of Spurgeon, Moody, Mueller, and Taylor and read the great theologians like Wesley, Bunyan, Knox, Calvin, and Luther. These all influenced Ryle's understanding and theology. Ryle began his writing career with a tract following the Great Yarmouth suspension bridge tragedy, where more than a hundred people drowned. He gained a reputation for straightforward preaching and evangelism. He travelled, preached, and wrote more than 300 pamphlets, tracts, and books, including Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Principles for Churchmen, and Christian Leaders of the Eighteenth Century. Ryle used the royalties from his writing to pay his father's debts, but he also felt indebted to that ruin for changing the direction of his life. He was recommended by Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli to be Bishop of Liverpool where he ended his career in 1900.

How much religion among many members of churches consists of nothing but church rituals! They belong to their church. They are baptized, married, buried in at the church, and preached to on Sundays by her ministers, but the great doctrines of truth have no place in their hearts and only a little influence on their lives. Is the religion of these people real Christianity? No, it is Churchianity – and nothing more! If your religion is real and has been given by the Holy Spirit, it must be in your heart. It must sway the affections. It must lead the will. It must direct the tastes. It must influence the choices and decisions. It must fill the deepest, lowest, inmost seat in your soul. Is this your Christianity? Real Christianity will cause a person to glory in Christ as the Redeemer, the Deliverer, the Priest, and the Friend – without whom he would have no hope at all. It will produce confidence in Him, love toward Him, delight in Him, and comfort in Him as the Mediator, the Food, the Light, the Life, and the Peace of the soul. This Christianity will produce in the person who has it repentance, faith, hope, love, humility, spirituality, kindness, self-denial, unselfishness, forgiveness, temperance, truthfulness, brotherly kindness, patience, and forbearance. Is this your religion? About the Author John Charles Ryle (1816-1900) graduated from Eton and Oxford and then pursued a career in politics, but due to lack of funds, he entered the clergy of the Church of England. He was a contemporary of Spurgeon, Moody, Mueller, and Taylor and read the great theologians like Wesley, Bunyan, Knox, Calvin, and Luther. These all influenced Ryle's understanding and theology. Ryle began his writing career with a tract following the Great Yarmouth suspension bridge tragedy, where more than a hundred people drowned. He gained a reputation for straightforward preaching and evangelism. He travelled, preached, and wrote more than 300 pamphlets, tracts, and books, including Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Principles for Churchmen, and Christian Leaders of the Eighteenth Century. Ryle used the royalties from his writing to pay his father's debts, but he also felt indebted to that ruin for changing the direction of his life. He was recommended by Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli to be Bishop of Liverpool where he ended his career in 1900.

Welcome back to the Let's be friends podcast! Nick and I finally recorded the Q & A for the intermission of our 6 part series The Fake Apocalypse & the False Gospel of Churchianity.Part 1: Hyper-Real Psyops & Evil ShepherdsIn Part 1, we discuss a bit about where Nick's been, what's happened, and how he came to the conclusion that conspiracy theories and even the church can be deceptive, and are actually being used in much grander scheme than he once believed. Tools in this scheme include concepts like UFOs, the Influencing Machine, fake history, chaos magick, Tlön, and hyper-reality, all of which are being used to destroy our ideas about objective truth and create a schizophrenic culture.Part 2: The “Antichrist Deception” DeceptionIn Part 2, we discuss the conspiracy theory that Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and an AI called Q are the Unholy Trinity spoken of by right-wing Evangelicals, and how even this conspiracy theory is a conspiracy in and of itself, which is meant to lead Christ's flock astray into a new, lukewarm, syncretic, and sci-fi version of Christianity. Are the Jesuits staging a heretical and Futurist interpretation of the Scriptures to distract the end times Christians from the true Revelation timeline, and discredit the truth of Historicist Orthodoxy? Is it possible we are witnessing the Great Falling Away from the True Faith?Part 3: Life is an AI ARGIn Part 3, we discuss the subliminal scripting of the fake apocalypse narrative that seems to be embedded in hyper-real movies like White Noise and Super 8. We also discuss the Mr. Gray archetype and the Roswell UFO Incident, both of which have strange connections to pandemics, quarantines, aliens, and even a channeled entity called Lam. Want more Let's be friends?  Join the Friendship MembershipFind Nick on Twitter

Join me in a candid chat about what it really means to be crazy.  Are we insane, or has the world around us gone crazy?  Is it possible to go too deep into the rabbit hole that you may never come back?  What is the purpose of conspiracy, it isn't to program us to be….. crazy, is it? This episode was originally recorded for my Friendship Membership, but I decided to share it with everyone to give a taste of what you get as a member of the Let's be friends Friendship Membership.  The Friendship Membership is only $8 a month and you get tons of bonus episodes, you support the show which keeps it running & ad free!Want more Let's be friends?  Join the Friendship Membership*The Fake Apocalypse & the False Gospel of Churchianity series will continue next week with the Q&A and Part 4

Looking at the hope, trust, relationship and room held in our faith.

Ron and Nick talk about the Holy Spirit and the church today

WWho is my neighbour? … or ... Who am I being a neighbour to?

Who is my neighbour? … or ... Who am I being a neighbour to?

Is following Jesus only about heaven and hell?