Commanded Christianity
Some websites to consider. So to promote some ministries and websites:
- Ex-Mormon Files, with Bishop Earl.
- Talking to Mormons
- Checkmychurch
- Campuschurch.faith
- Heart of the Matter.faith
We are also in the process of launching a small boutique book publishing company called Bjornbooks and have a number of titles that have moved under it and a few more that are presently in the works. Here are some of our material books (and most of these are or will be available on kindle and audio and other things):
- It’s not the end of the World
- Eternal Punishment
- And more.
Also look forward to a 22 volume set on the Book of Revelation (four are complete) and then finally – someday – my life’s work, the Transversional Apostolic Record, which will be a one of a kind resource like no other ever created of the New Testament. Keep tuning in. We covet your prayers.
Personal Growth and Reflection
The Lord has matured me over the years by taking me from wholly dark places and replacing them with his immense light. The other day I sat back and reflected on some of the things that have changed in me and thought I would share them with you as they evidence maturity in Him – not in me, Shawn McCraney, but maturity in Him by and through His spirit. I am forever in His debt.
The first one that was never present in me before is the focus of my prayers. Specifically, I am talking about praying for those who use me, despise the ministry, and/or have something against my person or what we do. To include such in my prayers has served to soften my heart against them, and dissolves any animus I have toward them and the things they choose to do. Additionally, I have also learned to pray for all parties in this world – the right and the left, the radicals and the conservatives, the worldly and the godly, sinners and saints. Doing this brings the earthly events that surround me to God, and allows me to see that all participants on every side as his creations and that my duty as a child of God is to love and care for them all.
Equal Worth
In this I have learned to give equal time to all parties, to not be a respecter of persons, and refrain from showing favoritism to those who can benefit me and my life over those who cannot. I’m learning that the needy are as worthy and valuable as the generous’ and that the intelligent are as valuable as the ignorant, and the non-believer is as deserving of my time and attention as the believer. As you know I have also come to see that religious affiliation and allegiance is often irrelevant when considering the heart of an individual – that those who practice the doctrines of any certain denomination are frankly no more or less a child of God than those who haven’t stepped foot in a church in their entire life; that it is all in the heart of the person involved, not the religion they support. God works on hearts. These we cannot read. Only he can. So we move forward in love trusting in Him.
I have also come to clearly see the reality of the Dark in this universe, and its destructive, hollow, life-erasing effects on all people, and I have seen first-hand the reality of the Light of this World, and the goodness and love He brings to those who seek, trust and love him. I have seen that Sons and Daughters are truly NOT of this world, and their mouths speak the contents of their hearts and the words that are delivered are more often than not patient, loving, kind, patient and sacrificial. I know that religion can do good in this dark world, and has served to bring light to the lives of others. But I also have seen that there is a better way which God instituted nearly two thousand years ago; a way where light and love can abound if we would set our religious inclinations and differences aside.
The Order of Spiritual Priorities
What is the ultimate end-goal of being a Christian? Some say it’s to be saved. I don’t think the scripture supports this in context. Some say it’s to live with God after this life. And on this, I would agree but would add to live with God and Christ in the closest proximity possible – that is the end goal of everything. So, we will start with that and put it at the top of Jacob’s Ladder.
Living with God and Christ
According to scripture, God and Christ live in the New Jerusalem which is above. They are the light of it, and those inside of it have some approximation to them. So, what does that mean next for us? Number 2!
Obtaining a Better Resurrection
There are different types of resurrected bodies. I maintain these bodies are the reward for the life we each choose to live. For believers, I maintain that this is the mansion each of us will receive after this life. These resurrected bodies are given to us by God and are based on the next thing (which may surprise you).
Our Works
Don’t get me wrong – all sin is forgiven of all people. All go to a heavenly realm because of Christ and all are resurrected because of him. And all who have faith enter into His kingdom where he dwells. But the lives we chose to live as Christians (meaning the works we do as Christians) determine the resurrected bodies we will receive from God, and they will, in my guestimation, determine our proximity to Him. Passages that support the value of Christian works are all over the New Testament and we cannot get around them. But it is really important to know: What these works are, and how they come about (or from us). So that is another rung of the ladder.
Works Defined
The works of a Christian are agape love, which is the fruit of the Spirit. Agape love is allowing the self (and our will) to take a backseat to God and His will. God and his will are known and seen through selflessness, patience, kindness, gentleness, longsuffering, self-control and the like. The fruit of the Spirit (love or our works) occur when we abide as branches in the Vine (who is Christ). Our works are NOT mandated or demanded by others or religion, they come forth from our relationship with Christ by the Spirit. So, we see a direct relationship between our Love and our connection to Christ, or what we would call our FAITH – which is the fifth rung on the ladder.
Faith
We abide in the vine (which is Christ) by faith. We do not abide in him by knowledge. We trust in His teachings, claims, promises and commands. We place our faith in those things HE presented as eternal truths. We grow in faith, we strengthen our faith, we live by faith, which is the primary factor of Christianity by . . .
The Word (Through The Spirit)
Faith comes by hearing the Word. You cannot get around this nor its import in your life as a Christian. To remove it is to lessen faith, which is to lessen love, which is to lessen the Christian works, which will have an eternal impact on your resurrection, which may distance yourself from the presence of God and Christ. Reading, hearing, testing, teaching, rightly dividing the Word of God by the Spirit. And this brings us to the bottom rung of the Ladder.
Your Heart
We pursue and spend time in and on what we love. We serve what is most important to us. So our love for something is evidenced by how you spend your time toward it – which is what your life consists. God grants all the freedom to do whatever they want – truly. But the investments you make will reap accordingly. You, in your heart, decide what you will pursue, what you want to feed and focus on, who and what you want to learn about, know about, and follow. This fact is proverbial in scripture. And there is no getting around it as individuals. God has made it so all people are free.
The Condition of the Heart
But know this too is a heart thing, not a quantity thing. Just because someone serves in a church weekly does not mean from the heart they love God more than someone who works a nine to five seven days a week. It's all the condition of the individual heart. But know this – His Sons and Daughters have Him on the throne of their everything, they seek to know and understand Him through the Spirit and His Word, their faith grows and matures commensurately, the fruit of the Spirit, which is love, which are His Works through them, emerges over time, which ensures that they will be rewarded with a better resurrection, which means they will arrive in His Kingdom and in close proximity to God when everything is said and done.
The Reward of Faith
In this they, and everyone else, will truly receive the desires of their heart.
