Thread by @bobhamp

1/21 I believe a number of things that may surprise you. I thought I would take some time to put some intentional language to it.

2/21 First, I believe that the Bible is God’s written word to the human race and as such is Inspired, Infallible, and Inerrant.
However, that may not mean to you what it means to me.

3/21 It does not mean to me that a literal reading of the English translation of scripture, read with a western mind, and unconsciously filtered through the knowledge of Good and Evil can always give us “right answers” and “prescriptive strategies”.

4/21 To me it means that the Creator of all things, in His deep commitment to be in relationship with the human race, found a method to get a book in our hands whose pages are loaded with opportunities to discover God.

5/21 To me it means that if we have “ears to hear” we can discover the brilliant communication abilities expressed by our creator and if we listen with those ears, we can discover crucial insights about the nature of reality, the nature of man, and God’s design for relating to us

6/21 I believe a literal rigid interpretation of scripture is one of the things that Jesus came to over-throw.
I also believe that if we read the Inspired scriptures, we will discover that the Book is only one of the many ways that God communicates to the human race.

7/21 I believe God is Spirit & Jesus is the human-wrapped expression of the mind of God.
Jesus’ life expresses the reality that only God can cross the veil between the spirit & material world. It's a one-way road,& Jesus incarnation was God traveling that road to reach us

8/21 I believe the problem Jesus came to solve wasn't “filthy misbehaving humanity” rather He came to offer repair to the shift described in Gen 3. Humans changed their source from the direct breath of life to something called “knowledge” & attempted to find God through "knowing"

9/21 Specifically, the “Knowledge of Good & Evil” replaced the previous operating system (the Breath of God coursing through us and informing and interpreting our sensory experience) and caused us each to become our own source for informing and interpreting our sensory experience

10/21 As a result, we continue to live in an integrated spiritual and material world, but only have perceptual mechanisms for the material world.
This affects the way we think and even the way we read the scriptures.

11/21 as a result we have come to believe that the central issue of Christianity is to deal with “sin”- defined as wrong behavior or thoughts
I believe the central issue of Christianity is to make the shift back to the “Tree of Life” or the breath of God as our operating system

12/21 This opens our eyes and minds to the kind of truth that sets us free; that reality is more than we see, we are more than we thought, and God wants to unleash our true nature, not control a “fallen nature”

13/21 I believe the knowledge of Good & Evil not only makes us self-reliant (my knowledge as source) but it provides a distraction from the intended course
The Knowledge of Good & Evil makes us
a)Believe the issues is misbehavior
b)Try to repair misbehavior by self-effort

14/21 This process makes us focus more on what we need to do, should do, shouldn’t do, in fact it makes us focus on behavior (therefore on ourselves) instead of having our focus on what God has already accomplished.

15/21 As a result, we ask questions like “can you _______ and still be a Christian” or “Are people who commit suicide going to heaven?” Or say things like “If you sin (defined as misbehavior) you will go to hell”

16/21 These kinds of thoughts are like asking Jesus “What's your favorite worship song?” or “Where do you go to church?”
I believe He would answer
“The Father is looking for those who worship in Spirit & Truth”
Implying that the questions asked don’t even get at the real issues

17/21 the focus on Sin & defining it as “misbehavior” is a result of the fall that causes us to mis-define other elements of our faith. worse it causes us to misunderstand what God offers us
He doesn't offer us a path of “right living” He offers us a return to the Breath of Life

18/21 Our believing is Jesus was never designed to provide a moral path that we hope to adhere to because we have “right beliefs”
Rather our re-connection to the breath of life gives us access to a process of healing and restoration that we must choose and choose regularly.

19/21 Our mental & emotional health is connected to our beliefs (core beliefs about reality, self and God, from family of origin etc) but also to our biology & our brain function We must intentionally address them all if we're to be changed & allow God to unleash our truest self

20/21 I tire of the oversimplifications that keep people in shame and bondage.
We are complex.
God’s nature is rich and deep.
The path of the human lifetime is one of becoming ourselves and it is often riddled with pain and betrayal.

21/21 Do you want to follow God? Relax and inhale. Perhaps for the first time, stop your efforts and just breathe in the breath of life. Then keep breathing and see what God does