I thought some might benefit if I shared my current witnessing routine. My reason for witnessing is primarily twofold. First, Y’shua (Jesus) told His disciples in Matthew 18:19-20, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.” Second, I made a vow to witness to at least one person every week a few years ago. Although I don’t recommend open-ended vows like this, I believe the Father has still used it for good in my life. So, this is how I currently go about witnessing “officially,” though there are also “unofficial” encounters as well.

1. Have gospel tracts to hand out. The type I like the best are intelligence tests. This is for two purposes. First, to initiate a conversation. I usually do this in malls when I find someone relatively unoccupied. I will ask him or her if they have received one of these (a tract). When they ask what it is, I tell them it is an intelligence test and if they would mind if I asked them a question. If the answer is yes, the conversation begins. If no, I politely thank them and walk off. The second purpose is to hopefully leave something with them that they might read over more later.
2. See if they are interested in a brief survey. I think surveys are a great way to transition towards Scripture. You want the survey to be ending up in spiritual belief questions. The survey I currently do is on music and spiritual belief and how they intersect. This is natural for me, as I am a musician, and I feel it has relevance and can interest others. If they are not interested, I thank them politely for their time and leave.
3. Transition to Scripture. The survey will set the stage to discuss spiritual beliefs. The last question will be “If something you were believing was not true, would you want to know?” If the answer is ‘no’ then I politely thank them and leave. If the answer is yes, then I ask if they would be interested in me showing them some things in the Gospels.
4. Prepare a list of verses to have them read aloud and then ask what it means to them. I credit this style of witnessing to Bill Fay, though I use different verses than he does. I start by having them read verses relating to the Christ’s understanding of Himself as the son of the Eternal and then move to verses speaking on the resurrection. After this, I have included other verses that I feel are important in communicating the whole message of the Gospel at least as I know it. I will post the complete list of verses and go into why I chose each one in a future post.
5. Ask a final question or two. Unless they initiate the desire to do something, I will just keep moving through the verses and trust the Spirit to do His work through His word. I may ask, “Would you like to make a commitment to follow the Christ in this way?” Since Acts 2:38 and Acts 22:16 are both included in the list of verses, I would expect them to desire to be baptized if they said they wanted to make a commitment to follow the Christ. Though I have not yet had the privilege of seeing someone make a commitment to follow the Christ after witnessing to them, if this did happen, I would baptize them at the earliest possible opportunity if this was their desire.

Please feel free to use this method of witnessing if you like and to modify different aspects as well. There is not a right and a wrong way to witness. What is important is that you find a way that is natural for you. Mine is an amalgamation of several different methods about which I have read.

Defining terms is crucial in any discussion or debate. I would like my readers to know how I define the word “Christian.”

When I say I am a Christian or someone else is a Christian or a particular denomination is Christian, I am saying that person or denomination does two things:

1. They believe that Y’shua (Jesus) the Christ was resurrected. Disagreement can be had as to the nature of His body, whether physical, spiritual, or a hybrid.
2. They desire to follow the Christ. They say they have this desire. I can not look into their hearts to know if they really do desire this, so I must trust their profession. Also, there will be many different ways people go about following the Christ, but what is important here is not how they desire to follow Him but that they desire to follow Him.

Any person who professes these two things I call a Christian. Any denomination that affirms these two things I call a Christian denomination.

Does this mean that I think all Christians are going to inherit eternal life? Not necessarily. Only the Father knows who has eternal life among this group. It may be all or it may be only a few.

I believe this is a useful definition if used in this way and I hope others will start doing so. However, even if this does not happen and the word remains vague or defined differently by each denomination, at least my readers will know what I mean when I use the word “Christian.”

‘Living in the spirit’ and ‘following the spirit’ are both phrases Christians use to describe internal urges to do things which are considered to be the Holy Spirit’s direction.

The question though is, how do you decide if an internal urge to do something is the Spirit’s direction or not. If one is not careful, the desire to ‘follow the spirit’ can lead to all sorts of possible misplaced convictions.

Some say they always know with 100% certainty when the Spirit is leading them to do something. If this is the case with you, then this post will be unnecessary. However, I imagine a lot of people are like me, and not totally sure when an internal urge is from the Spirit. After all, Jeremiah 17:9 says “The heart is deceitful above all things…”

My way of dealing with this is twofold:

1. Whatever your current focus commandment or principle is, heed any urges associated with that focus. If your focus is on being more generous, and you have the urge to give a sizable donation to a ministry, do so. If your focus is on witnessing, and you feel like maybe you should hand a tract to the person standing in front of you, do so. Interpret those feelings to do something in line with your focus as the spirit’s prompting.
2. Allow internal urges to aid in determining your next focus commandment or principle. How you choose what to focus on is not a science. Along with reasons why you believe something would be good for you right now, allow possible promptings of the Spirit to factor into this decision.

Expect the spirit to lead you in these ways by asking for His filling regularly, as directed in Luke 11:13 and Ephesians 5:18.

I believe there are two great pitfalls one can fall into as a Christian. The first is complacency. This can result out of frustration with not being able to understand everything or preoccupation with our own personal pursuits. A lack of reverence for the Scriptures results. There ceases to be a “trembling at his word” (Isaiah 66:5). Sometimes, there is even a belittling of the Word that follows.

The second pitfall is following what are possibly misplaced convictions. There was a time in my life when I tried to follow every nuance of Scripture and every possible urge that I thought might be the Spirit’s prompting at the same time. This led to many extreme actions and a lifestyle of guilt that I wasn’t doing everything I should be doing.

Following the spirit is one process that many either take to an extreme or else just don’t worry about. I believe the approach I have outlined will help you as you seek to discover how to balance reason with sensation.

My first post on how I make sense of all the various commands, instructions, and principles in Scripture focused firstly on following the commands of Christ to the disciples and multitudes interpreted in the light of the Torah. This was discovered through 3 key realizations.

First, our hope of salvation is built upon Y’shua (Jesus) the Christ and His resurrection, so it makes sense to me that we should focus on His commands first as the framework for living our lives.

Second, in Matthew 28:19-20 the Christ told His disciples to teach all nations all the things He had commanded them. We are the result of their evangelistic efforts.

Third, in Matthew 5:17 Y’shua (Jesus) said that He came to fulfill the law. This is a challenging verse to exegete, but I think most would agree that during His life the Christ had to obey and teach according to the Torah; otherwise, He would not have fulfilled it.

However, as we start to follow the Christ’s commands, how should we apply them in our lives and are they all on the same importance level?

Here is where the second aspect of my Scriptural command paradigm comes into play:

1. Try to do something with every command. Don’t try to follow exactly what the command is saying or worry about whether you are doing it correctly. For example, suppose you read the command in Matthew 28:19 to “Go and teach all nations…”. Instead of worrying about where you should go, what you should be teaching, and how much time you should spend doing this, just think of one way to do something with this command. You could start a Bible Study at your school or church, go to the mall occasionally and pass out gospel tracts, or pray for a lost person every week.
2. Pick 1-3 commands to really focus on, study, and try to follow every aspect of them. Let’s say you choose to focus on honoring your parents. Then, study all the commands and instructions in the Bible relating to that topic. Make that very high on your list of priorities. Have a conversation with them to get feedback on how best to do that. Include them as a major part of your prayers. Keep thinking about other ways you could honor them. Be willing to alter some of your lifestyle choices to keep this command. Try to always speak positively about them and look for the good character qualities they exemplify.
3. Change your focus when you feel it is time for a new one. Don’t choose one commandment and then just camp on it. Keep shuffling your attention between different commandments based on what you feel would be the most meaningful for your life at this point or what you feel the spirit is possibly prompting you to do.
4. Keep recycling through the other commands that are not part of your focus. Change the way you apply them periodically. Don’t always think about the command in the exact same way.

With this paradigm, you can expect your lifestyle choices to be different from other Christians around you. This is not because they are better or worse than you, but simply because you each have a different focus at this time.

Utilizing this paradigm can allow a tremendous amount of understanding and communication between Christians without them compromising convictions or beliefs. Without adopting this paradigm, you are forced to judge someone who lives differently than you do as ‘not following Scripture correctly.’ Or, you feel convicted when you are around this person, because you are not doing all that they are with a particular concept.

Now, you can enjoy interacting with people who believe and practice their faith differently than you and try understanding those differences without judging them or feeling convicted.

Some further clarification on some of the provocative statements I made in the last post are in order. First off, I want to experience ultimate personal fulfillment. I believe the best way of doing that is attaining, and thus living for, total health and consciousness forever. I realize I am mortal and will die. Therefore, I need a hope outside of myself to pursue eternity. The hope I have now is found in Yehoshua (Jesus) the Christ, His resurrection, and His promise of eternal life to those who believe in Him.

The question now though is, should I only seek to do what is expressly His will in my life? Now this would be a simpler question if His will for me personally was spelled out in black and white for every activity in my life. However, this is not the case. Many Christians agree that the Bible is the only written revelation from the Almighty. According to World Christian Encyclopedia, there are over 30,000 denominations of Christianity. This number is staggering! If this is any indication, it shows that the Bible can be interpreted in many different ways on many different topics and beliefs.

Here are some common answers people give to correct this problem:

1. The Holy Spirit leads us to do His will. Unless you are prepared to say that all the other denominations of Christianity except your own are not “really” Christian or are not seeking to follow the Spirit, this solution has some problems.
2. We should at least have the desire to follow His will in everything. This one I can sympathize with more, because this is the position I held for several years. However, this introduces all sorts of possible misplaced convictions. For example, take the command of Paul in I Corinthians to “glorify Elohim (God) in your body.” Because I had the desire to follow His will in everything, I used this verse as my motivation to do major internal cleanses and detoxing, radically change my diet, and disassociate myself from polluting environments. I also did a 40-day fast on top of that. Now, none of these things are bad, but are they necessary? I think you could Biblically argue that they are, if you really want to follow all of Scripture (I am being a little sarcastic here, though not much). And this is just one command of the hundreds (perhaps thousands) in Scripture.

Now the question could be asked, would I have the desire to follow the Father’s will in everything if it was clear and I believed doing so would procure for me the greatest level of health and consciousness in eternity. And the answer would be yes! However, although I do currently believe following His will would result in the greatest level of health and consciousness in eternity, His will is not clear to me at all.

So, my current paradigm is to keep a 50-50 split of personal and Scriptural (or spiritual) motivations. Thus, roughly half of the things I do in life are motivated by a desire to follow the Father’s will, and the other half are motivated by personal desires. Keep in mind that there is overlap between these two sectors and the more there is the better I like it. However, the root motivations remain different.

So, for example, one of the things I am focusing on in my life right now is redeeming the time. The base motivation for this is Scriptural. I also like doing this for personal reasons. However, the principal motivating factor remains rooted in Scripture.

On the other hand, I am putting a decent amount of effort into writing this blog and this is motivated by personal desires. Could it be used to honor my savior? Sure, but that would still not be the principal reason I am doing it at this time.

This post is becoming lengthy, so I will end here. These thoughts will definitely be continued in future posts.

How does my purpose of living for total health and consciousness square with Christianity? Let me be clear about this. I am not, on a fundamental level, living to serve the Creator or the Messiah. And, if you are honest with yourself, I believe you will realize that you aren’t either. I have yet to find a person who is not living for personal fulfillment. In my case, I believe this will come through living for total health and consciousness forever, and I am seeking to do this now by living in appointed times by faith. I would bet that your picture of ultimate fulfillment also includes health and consciousness, though you may define these slightly differently than I do.

So, you may be thinking I am a heretic. But stop a moment and ask yourself a question: why do you follow the religion that you do? Is it not your hope of attaining ultimate personal fulfillment and does this fulfillment not include a higher order of health and consciousness than what you currently enjoy?

With all that being said, I am a passionate follower of Y’shua (Jesus) the Christ. I have radically altered my life many times as a result of trying to love my Messiah with all my heart. I study the Bible every day, witness in prayer or in person every week, have an active prayer life, give thanks regularly, and meditate on Scripture throughout the day. When I read a passage of Scripture, I seek to do something personal and practical with it in my life.

I don’t say any of this to impress anybody, only to establish that I am a dedicated Christian and not some liberal critic trying to tear down Christianity. However, the reason I believe and act as I do is not for many of the reasons others do. Some of these include:

1. Following inherited traditions. While following family or community traditions can keep the peace and allow for better relationships with close kin, this is not a compelling enough reason for me to pattern my life after these traditions.
2. Believing fundamentalist rhetoric. There were many things I grew up hearing and never thought to challenge. These included the existence of a divine being who created the universe, the inerrancy of Scripture, the young earth hypothesis, and the resurrection of Y’shua (Jesus). Though I still believe in some of these, I definitely can understand that there are valid reasons to believe otherwise.
3. Presupposing certain truths or doctrines. I don’t just assume the Bible is true and relevant for my life; I start with reason and logic to form my understanding of the Bible’s veracity and relevance. I don’t assume something is correct just because I want it to be or because that is the way I am currently living.
4. Living solely for the Father’s glory. The important word here is solely. I am living to glorify the Father, but this is not my only motivation in life, at least at this time. In addition, the reason I am living with this purpose is to achieve a greater purpose: personal fulfillment.

While saying all this, I am cognizant that professing the Christ entails me to surrender my own will and follow His even if this causes some pain and hardship in the present. As the apostle Paul said in II Corinthians 4:17, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”

However, does this mean that every action I take and every thought I think must be directly linked to what He wants for me? This would include the clothing I wear, the food I eat, the places I frequent, the conversations I have, the books I read, the jobs I work, the exercise I do, etc. etc. etc. Be very careful how you answer this. If you say yes, be prepared to be consistent and live out what you believe.

Are you willing to totally lose the ability to think for yourself? Are you willing to give up your own will entirely? Is it your desire to turn into a glorified robot controlled by someone else? In the next post, I will share why this is not my desire, at least at this time.

However, if this is your conviction, then consider the following questions. Is it His desire to turn you into a glorified robot? Couldn’t he have just created man that way in the beginning and forgotten all the fuss of dying for us?

The Almighty purposely gave the pinnacle of His creation free will, undoubtedly knowing we would stray from worshiping Him. I believe one of His goals was to create conscious followers and not robots. So, whether from a personal perspective or a divine perspective, I encourage you to embrace your free will and consciousness. These are the Father’s most precious gifts to you.

What motivation then should drive our thinking and behavior as conscious Christians? In the next post I will give my tentative solution to this question.

Condemning people’s motives, labeling them hypocrites, and declaring some of their beliefs and actions to be wrong are all examples of judging others.

In Matthew 7:1, Y’shua (Jesus) commanded his followers, “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” Some are quick to lessen the scope of this command by pointing out what the Messiah said in John 7:24, “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.”

However, I still believe that Matthew 7:1 can be followed at face value for the most part. Before you ever judge others, you must first:

1. Judge yourself. Usually the urge to judge others is an indication of a similar failure in your own life that needs to be corrected, i.e. removing the beam from your own eye before commenting on the moat in your brother’s eye.
2. Think righteously. In order to judge righteously, you must be thinking that way. This, to me, is a tall order. What this means is that any time you judge others, you are inviting people to scour your own life to see if you are capable of giving judgment.

What this means, for me at least, is to generally avoid all forms of judging others. Instead, I try to reflect the judgment back on myself and correct my own failures. I believe this is a necessary prerequisite to fulfilling the next condition to think righteously. If I am ever in doubt as to whether I have fulfilled the two conditions for judging others, I err on the side of not judging.

On the occasions that I do feel qualified to judge someone, I try to do two things.

1. Go to them personally. I wouldn’t want someone telling the world all of my failures, and I try to extend the same courtesy to others.
2. Agree with their own judgment. Sometimes people will confide openly that they know they shouldn’t do something as much as they do (e.g. watch TV, oversleep, eat unhealthy food, etc.), but they are not doing anything to change themselves (James 4:17). If I tell them that they are not living consciously and offer some possible solutions, I am only agreeing with the judgment that they have already made of their situation.

Instead of resorting to judgment and condemnation of others, notice the amazing qualities that they do possess, and praise them for those. When you think positively and speak positively, you will generally feel more positive and upbeat about life.

It is nice to say that you follow the Bible, but what does that mean? Think about all the different commands. There are many categories of them:

1. Commands to Israel in the Old Testament. These are found primarily in the first five books of the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy), otherwise known as the Torah or the Pentateuch, and are given by YHVH through Moses.
2. Commands to the disciples and multitudes following the Christ. These are found in the four New Testament Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), and are given by Y’shua (Jesus) the Christ.
3. Commands to various regional churches. These are found mainly in Paul’s letters (Romans, I & II Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and I & II Thessalonians)  but are also seen in the second and third chapters of Revelation, and are given by Paul and the Christ respectively.
4. Commands to specific individuals. I & II Timothy, Titus, and Philemon contain instructions specifically for them and are given by Paul. III John was written to Gaius.
5. Commands to Israel in the New Testament. Hebrews, James, and I Peter contain commands either to Hebrews, the twelve tribes, or those living in the diaspora, all of which are probably Israelites. These are written by various human authors.
6. Commands to “Christians” in general. II Peter, II John, and Jude are written to them that have obtained like precious faith, the elect lady and her children, and them that are sanctified, preserved, and called, respectively. These are probably all designations for “Christians” in general and are written by the respective authors of the books.
7. General Principles found in Proverbs and other places. The rest of the Bible can be mined for general principles of living on various subjects. These are especially prevalent in Proverbs, which is primarily the writing of Solomon.

What categories of commands should Christians follow and how thoroughly or academically should this be done? My proposal is to start with the commands of the Christ to His disciples and the multitudes interpreted in harmony with the Torah. Why? Well, the Christ told His disciples in Matthew 28:19-20 to teach the people they converted all the things that He had commanded them. Christians today are a product of their evangelistic efforts.

Also, the words of the Messiah must be interpreted in light of the Torah. Why is this? Well, one of the reasons Y’shua (Jesus) came was to fulfill the law (see Matthew 5:17). While there is disagreement on exactly what this means, I believe it certainly means He did not disobey any aspect of the law or teach contrary to it during His ministry (Deuteronomy 4:1-2; 12:32; 13:1-5).

After studying the commands of the Christ found in the four gospels in harmony with the Torah, we can then cautiously start approaching the rest of the Torah using the Christ’s implicit instructions through His actions as a guide to try and correctly understand it. Other sections of Scripture may be approached and integrated after this, such as the letters of Paul and the Proverbs of Solomon. Realization must be made that these passages were not commands written for individual Christians. The Torah was a legal code for the nation of Israel. The Book of Proverbs are not absolute commands or truisms, but rather general principles. Paul’s letters are written to specific churches that may or may not apply to Christians in general today. Also, in his second Epistle, Peter warns us that Paul is hard to understand.

II Peter, II John, and Jude (I John could probably be included as well) may be good books to study in conjunction with the gospels, since they almost certainly were written to Christians in general. However, to do this, you must believe that the words these men wrote are exactly what the Christ intended to be communicated.