Special Announcement

[A.W. Bowman]

This is all about me, my, and I.

As my friends on this forum already know, I have been 'off-line' for quite a while, and have not posted much in a number of months. Call it age, burn-out, loss of vision, or whatever, but I have been looking at my personal contribution to the body of Christ, and have found it wanting. Therefore -


I have been looking over my collection of disorganized notes, articles, online community posts and responses to various community threads andemail requests. Several things have become so apparent than I am in amazement that I never really caught hold of their importance until just now.

It has been almost 40 years since the spirit of the man called Jesus Christ by most western Christians and I had our very short, but very profound confrontation. As it might be expected, He won!

In the intervening time between then and now, as I tried to walk according to His precepts, my ideas and spiritual understanding continually got in the way and made walking with Jesus very difficult. Further, I discovered that whenever I found a spiritual idea or position to embrace, it was almost inevitably held by a minority of professing Christians. Then it got to the point that even among the minority I was generally out of step.

A line from a country-western song sums it up rather well, “I’ve always been different with one foot over the line, winding up either one step ahead or behind. It hasn’t always been easy, but I guess I shouldn’t complain, I’ve always been crazy but it has kept me from going insane.”

It would seem that no matter where I go or what I do, my presence will cause a few people to get a little uncomfortable, and if I start to share some of my ideas and musings, most folks go kind of crazy with them. Why, because in the course of a general conversation I generally find myself challenging accepted the religious doctrines of the day. My purpose, it seems, is to test the scriptural origin of modern day doctrines, to question their interpretation and application, and push folks into actually thinking about their religion and to encourage them to critically study the word of God for themselves. And that, my dear readers, almost always makes people uncomfortable, defensive, and even angry. This reaction is especially common among our class of professional spiritual leaders and religious teachers. Few are the people who seem willing to take personal responsibility for their own salvation, but are quite willing to direct the paths of others.

For the past couple of years I have been ostensively studying contemporary Christian doctrines with the goal of identifying those human religious philosophies that has been worked into otherwise sound biblical precepts, and to identify those religious doctrines that are simply manmade and need to be summarily discarded. Now, over the course of several years I have collected a goodly number of unorganized study notes, thoughts, ideas, and musings. Now, this is not an effort that is easily undertaken by a single person – there are simply too many opportunities for making big mistakes. Even so, not many Christian leaders/teachers/ministers want their names associated with this kind of effort, as it will most likely end up reflecting rather poorly on them and their reputations. I can relate. For those who are not committed scholars (serious students), their opinions concerning spiritual things are usually not much better than the opinions already being spread about by those who have already lead us into this religious morass.

So, today I find myself standing once again at another crossroads. What to do with all of this material? My first thought was to just trash it all and retire – altogether – from participating in churches and the wide world of the internet. To delete my computer files, give away my books, and slip into oblivion, perhaps going back up into the wilderness somewhere to live out my remaining days in the peace of God’s unspoiled creation. /sigh/ Yet, that is not what our God has called me (or you, or any other disciple of Christ) to do. One does not get to retire from service to the king simply because of boredom, tiredness, discouragement, or even just being plain worn out. No, one does not retire until our Lord says it is time to end one’s labor in the kingdom and to enter into God’s own rest. So, what is an old, tired, discouraged, worn out, lackluster student of the word of God to do? Go back to work, that is what he does.

Now the question becomes, go back to work doing what? What I have always done? Start a new or different job? What? The truth is I am not really much good at doing anything! I muddle about a lot without much to show for the effort.

Well, here is what I have settled on, at least for the next few months. I am going to start organizing all of my study and research notes, and other stuff and start writing articles that I can start putting together into chapters and then into a book. Now, that should give a new meaning to Eccl 12:11-12, “The words of the wise [are] as goads, and as nails fastened [by] the masters of assemblies, [which] are given from one shepherd. [I am not a master of any assembly.] And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books [there is] no end; and much study [is] a weariness of the flesh.” [KJV] Amen!

So, what is the world going to do with yet another religious book that it hasn’t done with the tens of thousands (millions?) that have preceded my effort? Nothing! I rather expect that there will about ten or so folks who will look at it (providing it gets printed), perhaps five or six that will actually read it, and for the rest of mankind, if there are any copies left, they will be relegated to the dust bin of history. Even so, there is a task to be done, and for better or for worse, it would seem that I am picked for it. Even so, I still have a couple of Bible studies that I have been working at for a year or more that I feel obligated to complete. So, I’ll pick up those tasks first.

A closing thought. Acquiring one’s salvation is all about establishing your personal relationship with God (Acts 2:21/Joel 2:32). Maturing in one’s salvation is all about the quality of your relationship with the entire body of Christ (John 13:35, 1 Peter 4:9-11, Ps 16:5-6). And, securing one’s salvation is all about perseverance (1 Timothy 4:16, Revelation 3:5)

The follow up post outlines most of the subject areas that I think should be addressed in the missive I am contemplating. It is guaranteed that the biblical response to at least one of these subjects will challenge your own religious doctrines. Over the years I have accepted so many doctrines from the pulpit that simply were not supported by the scriptures, that my time in discipleship has been one traumatic encounter with scriptural reality after another. From having to reexamine absolute falsehoods presented by men of conviction, to searching out sound biblical doctrines that have had just enough leaven (human philosophies) mixed in with them that the truth became a lie.

Therefore, this work in progress is simply one man’s adventure toward the examination of modern-day Christian doctrines, with the sole purpose of exposing as much scriptural and spiritual error as I can. In the process, my own error will become manifest for all to see – and so that I might receive the same level of correction as I pretend to offer others.

May our God be glorified and may the saints of God become better established in their faith and calling.

[A.W. Bowman]

Candidates for chapter titles, section headings, appendices, notes, etc. Not in any given order:

The Doctrines of God and Men
Why is it necessary to improve on the word of God?

Elements of Salvation
Mental assent verses performance
What is faith, belief and works of the law, and how do they relate to one another

Spiritual Gifts
The what, how, and why of the gifts

Spiritual Callings
Spiritual authority, leadership, and the duties of a servant

Being a Servant & Servant Leadership

Spiritual Growth
What is it, how does one get it, and how does one use it?

The Nine New Covenant Gospels (Did you think that there is only one gospel?)
Which ones do you preach and teach? Are they all related? How?
The gospel of (1) the kingdom of God, (2) the kingdom of heaven, (3) of Jesus Christ, (4) of God, (5) of Saul of Tarsus, (6) of the uncircumcision, (7) of the circumcision, (8) of salvation, and (9) the gospel of peace

The Three Spiritual Kingdoms
Of God, of heaven and of the Christ: What are they, how do they differ, and what does that mean to a disciple of Christ?

Church Structure and Organization
Who gets to be in charge of what, for how long, and who gets to decide?

The Bible in the Original Languages
Who needs the original language text in order to understand the scriptures? Does one need to be a linguist in order to understand biblical precepts?

The difference between preaching and teaching
What is preaching and to whom is it to be directed? Who is to receive teaching, how often and by whom?

The roles and responsibilities of the ‘Five-Fold’ Ministries.
What are the ‘gift ministries’, what purpose do they service, and how they are to function within the body of Christ?

Tithing and Giving
The biblical principle of reaping and sowing verses making merchandise of the saints.

The Priests of God, Then and Now
Who has God called to be His priests? What are their roles and responsibilities? What is the difference between the priesthood of the Old Covenant and of the New?

How to study the Bible
Rules for Bible interpretation
Making the most of theological debates
Identifying biblical doctrines
The Hebrew worldview verses the Greek world view (The tale of two churches)

[Scott Hutchinson]

I would love to read this book.BTW I lost your phone number and e-mail addy.

[Dedicated Mind]

i would love to read your book bro. bowman. sounds like you have several. have you thought about blogging your articles in the cafe? i would be interested.

[A.W. Bowman]

Originally Posted by Dedicated Mind

i would love to read your book bro. bowman. sounds like you have several. have you thought about blogging your articles in the cafe? i would be interested.

That might be a good idea. Where's the Cafe?

I do plan on publishing my ramblings on my own site and my organization's forum boards, but posting them here might also work.

The one thing that might prove to be a distraction is getting bogged down in side discussions. This has been a hindrance for me over the years - getting sidetracked into following rabbit trails. The upside is, of course, having errors and lapses of coherent thought identified early on, so I can make any needed correction.

As I remember, you and I have shared several threads together here at AFF, and that your contributions were well presented!

Shalom Aleichem
Peace be unto you.

[Cindy]

Well you finally showed up. You know that I will read and study what you write. It looks like a good start, so get busy. Great to see you back on AFF.

[A.W. Bowman]

Thanks for the welcome back, Cindy!

One of the things I keep butting my head against is that everyone , and that includes me too, seem to have very different ideas concerning what the Bible has to teach. And, every generation has to go through the same religious indoctrination, study, arguments, and discovery that every other generation has had to go through.

The problem is that with every generation that passes, we seem to get further and further away from what Jesus, the apostles, and the initial church generation held to - and practiced.

As the sands of time for this age run out, there is a call for a return to the first love of the church, even to those of this time and place who experienced an encounter with Jesus, but who lost the reality and the significance of that meeting in the diluted doctrines that men have pushed off as being ordained of God, even to the blatant twisting of God's word.

One old pastor once said, "If Jesus came back today He would not cleanse the temple, He would cleanse the pulpit." Men and women who stand in positions of authority and make absolute statements about things they don't know nor understand.

Do I have all of the answers? I am not yet convinced that I have any answers at all! But I am willing to share what it is I think I know, and let the people decide for themselves the truth of the matter.

If anyone does not search out the scriptures and seek the face of God for themselves, then the posting of my musings will be a colossal waste of time and will certainly result in many either remaining in error, or will lead others into additional error. Neither of which will bring honor to God or make the path of a saint more secure.

So, I will work to finish the Bible studies I have been working on and start organizing my notes. Then we shall see how all of this develops.

[Sandy]

I just read what you wrote here, and definitely want your book.
I haven't been around here much lately, nor over at your place either for some time now. So will be looking for it.

[A.W. Bowman]

Originally Posted by Sandy

I just read what you wrote here, and definitely want your book.
I haven't been around here much lately, nor over at your place either for some time now. So will be looking for it.

Thanks Sandy.

Thanks to our brother Scott, I also see that I need to cover the subject of The Covenants of God. How many are there, what were they, and where do we stand today? Or, just how many 'new' covenants have there been and how many more does the scriptures say are yet to come?

I have added this to my personal list of subjects to address. I also suspect that there will be a few more areas of interest that I will be pointed towards.

[Jay]

I have a question that is a bit off topic, but are you related to Bro. Bowman at Gateway?
I think I have the right name.