My general area of interest is in the New Testament. I am particularly interested in the Christ presented in the New Testament. I have done much study in the following areas of biblical studies: theology, christology, hermeneutics, ethics, church history, ecclesiology, radical discipleship, and what is known as the "deeper" Christian life.
My all-consuming passion is the centrality and supremacy of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. I enjoy reading and writing. I currently teach Latin and Bible at a private school.
Music
Movies
The Passion of the Christ, The Count of Monte Cristo, Rocky, Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Back To The Future, Peaceful Warrior, To End All Wars, Peter and Paul, Jesus of Nazareth, The Burbs, Three Amigos, Fletch Lives, and most Sci-Fi.
Television
LOST, The Original Twilight Zone,
The Original Star Trek
My favorite books include:
"The Release of the Spirit" by Watchman Nee, "The Normal Christian Life" by Watchman Nee, "Christ: The Sum of All Spiritual Things" by Watchman Nee, "The Spiritual Man" by Watchman Nee, "The Cost of Discipleship" by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, "Christ the Center" by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, "The Centrality and Supremacy of the Lord Jesus Christ" by T. Austin Sparks, Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ by Jeanne Guyon, "Paul: In Fresh Perspective" by N.T. Wright, "The Gospel of the Kingdom" by George Eldon Ladd, "Created for Community" by Stanley Grenz, "Theology for the Community of God" by Stanley Grenz, "Jesus and Empire: The Kingdom of God and the New World Disorder" by Richard Horsley, "Pagan Christianity?: Exploring the Roots of Our Church Practices" by Frank Viola and George Barna, "Reimagining Church: Pursuing the Dream of Organic Christianity" by Frank Viola, "Going to the Root: 9 Proposals for Radical Church Renewal" by Christian Smith, "Mere Discipleship: Radical Christianity in a Rebellious World" by Lee Camp, "The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power is Destroying the Church" by Gregory Boyd, "The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable" by F.F. Bruce, "The Case for Christ" by Lee Strobel
Books I am currently reading:
"Jesus for President" by Shane Claiborne; "A Contemporary Anabaptist Theology: Biblical, Historical, Constructive" by Thomas N. Finger; "Simply Christian: Why Christianity Just Makes Sense" by N.T. Wright; "Abide in Christ" by Andrew Murray
My published writings include:
"John Calvin 3:16-21" Wittenburg Door Magazine(March/April 07)also published in Christian Ethics Today (Spring 07) "Jesus on Money: TBN Translation" Wittenburg Door Magazine(July/August 07) "Romans 13: The Patriotic Version" Christian Ethics Today (Summer 07)
"The Sermon on the Hill (American Beatitudes)" Christian Ethics Today (Winter 08)
My favorite authors: Watchman Nee, T. Austin Sparks, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Jeanne Guyon, Andrew Murray, F.F. Bruce, Stanley Grenz, and N.T. Wright.
Watch this moving message about Jesus by Brennan Manning.
And Christians want to be a part of this worldly system? Watch this satirical video and consider whether or not it is our calling to be "in" the world or "of" the world. How ought we to engage the worldly kingdoms? It is a question we must revisit this election year.
Well... the Robert Tilton video is no longer available. It seems that it was taken off You Tube due to rights belonging to Mr. Tilton. :)
My second favorite televangelist is Jonathon "screaming boy" Bell. He is no longer on air. Imagine that! Take a load off and enjoy.
I grew up in the small town of Grand Saline, TX. I was in church from the time I was wearing diapers in the nursery. I made a profession of faith in Christ when I was twelve and was baptized. I grew up learning a shallow and immature conception of Christ and his teachings. My Christianity was more like legalism than anything else. Naturally, I rebelled from this Christianity and rejected this version of it. I believed there must be more to Jesus than what I saw and experienced. However, the easiest road at the time... was to rebel from everything I knew.
As a high school student, I ran in the opposite direction of the Lord. I indulged myself in almost every work of the flesh. I broke every comittment that I had ever made to God and family. It was during this time that the Lord revealed to me the emptiness of man and the vanity of living life apart from him and his ways. It was during this time I saw a little of what I was being saved from.
I repented of my sin when I was 19 years old. This began the process of seeing what I was being saved to. The Lord led me to East Texas Baptist University in August of 2000 to study religion. It was there the Lord gave me a wonderful partner in the Lord. My wife, Lanna, is the best thing the Lord has given me on this earth. We were married in December of 2001.
I immediately began youth ministry within the institutional church at the age of 19. I served in three different churches in six years of ministry. The Lord was using this time to show me, mold me, and grow me into Christ. He was showing me his greater will, not only for my life, but for the church as well.
It was a result of the last insititutional church I served in that the Lord gave me a greater vision of himself and his church. I left this particular church September 2006 after 2 years of ministry as the Minister to Students/Education. The church's leaders were opposed to fundamental teachings of Jesus. My wife and I saw that we could no longer serve among them.
It was because of this experience that I began to read and study like never before. At the time, I was seeking to be a senior pastor in a church somewhere in the United States. I studied church history, ecclesiology, christology, etc. I was seeking the Lord's will for his church. I compiled a list of what the N.T. described the church looked like in fellowship and among the world. I quickly realized that my list did not reflect the church I knew and that the organic church of the N.T. could not be seen in the model of the traditional church. I had to rethink my understanding of it all.
Since November of 2006 we have been pursuing Christ in a religionless Christianity. The Lord has given us a greater vision of himself and his church. We have discovered that the Lord is calling believers out of religion and into the simple Christ-centered community of Body life. This kind of Body life may be found in small home gatherings of Christians who have committed their lives to Christ and each other. We are experiencing this Body life with our fellowship here in The Woodlands, TX.
You can read my blog "The Centrality and Supremacy of Jesus Christ" at: http://ddflowers.wordpress.com
Who I'd like to meet: Jesus in the flesh! (No, not Jim Caviezel. However, I did meet Jim recently... he is an incredible light in a dark place. Thank you Jim for your humble spirit and your desire to reflect Christ in you... "the only Jesus they will ever see.")
JESUS CHRIST OF NAZARETH:
I believe Jesus was and is God in the flesh as he claimed to be (Matt. 26:62-64; Jn. 8:58,59). He is the master teacher who has fully shown regenerated man how he is to live in this present evil age (Gal. 1:4; Phil. 1:21; Col. 3:1-17; 2 Pet. 1:3). He has imparted his life to his church and calls us to walk as he did (Matt. 16:24-25; 1 Jn. 2:6). He has given us new life for a new law: the law of love, the Spirit of life (Jn. 10:10; Rom. 7:4-6; 8:1-2; 2 Cor. 5:17). We can know we have eternal life when we are walking in this new life and are reflecting the evidence of the Spirit within us (Gal. 5:22-23; 1 Jn. 5:13).
* All those things pertaining to the person and work (life and teachings) of Christ are essential to Christian faith and practice. In response to the question, "What is a Christian?" My only reply, for I feel there can be no other, is simply stated this way, "Only those who believe on the Christ of the New Testament, who have been regernerated by his Spirit, and practice his teachings prove themselves to be born again. Those that do not follow the Christ of the New Testament and follow his commands can not be true Christians." (Jn. 3:16-17; 8:23,24;31,32)
THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES:
I believe the Old and New Testaments to be the only inspired, infallible, and authoritative word of the living God (2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:20-21). It is without mixture of error in its message. There is no other standard by which we are to live. The word of God will stand forever (Is. 40:8).
The church must study the Bible diligently in order to interpret it correctly (2 Tim. 2:15; 4:1-5). Discovering the historical-cultural context will enable the Holy Spirit to appropriately apply its meaning to our lives (Heb. 4:12-13). Without the context our knowledge is limited. The Holy Spirit illuminates our minds and hearts to the original author's intent (Jn. 14:26; 16:13). Illumination is for the glory of Christ. All of the Bible points us to the Christ who was and is God in the flesh. The purpose of the Bible is to lead us to Christ that we may know him fully as we are fully known.
Furthermore, the Spirit and the Word work together to reveal Christ in all his glory. The Bible is not a rule book to be read in the spirit of law, but a love letter to be treasured in the freedom that Christ gives. The Scriptures give us Christ... that we may have an earthly testimony about God in the flesh... and that our knowledge of God may be complete in him. The Spirit of Christ will lead us to align our lives with the inspired Word of God, not against it.
THE EKKLESIA (CHURCH):
I believe the church should understand her identity in Christ and allow the Holy Spirit to reveal the gifts for the building up of the body until the coming of our Lord (Gal. 2:20; 1 Cor. 14:12; Eph. 4:11-16). The church gathers in community around Christ. A New Testament church is one that experiences body life together. This church is made up of Christ-followers who reguarly share Jesus together instead of religious services designed by "clergy" to entertain passive receivers. A church service is not to be confused with being the church. Everyone brings something to the table of fellowship in the gathering of believers (1 Cor. 14:26).
The community ties in the church should be stronger than the ties of earthly family life. The local church is a community of believers who have committed to sharing all of life together. They are Christ's represenatives on this earth; a continuation of his ministry. They belong to Christ and each other, not to this world and its counterfeit community. Gathering in homes was a primary characteristic of the New Testament people of God as opposed to the world's pantheon of religion.
Therefore, it seems to me that Paul's idea of community and ekklesia was unique in all matters of worship... particularly in the Christian's primary place of meeting. The home is conducive to gathering in Christ-centered familial community. It says much about the kind of natural faith in Christ that we are to exprience with other believers and the uniqueness of our faith to a lost world.
What is a "house church"? Check out the following description at: wikipedia.
The church is bound together by the love of Christ; the same love that binds together the Trinity. It is a self-less giving of oneself to the other. It is sacrificial and unconditional. This love thinks only of the will of God and the glory of Christ. This love can only be generated and experienced by those who have the Spirit of Christ within them (i.e. the Body of Christ). When the members of Christ's body give this love, they experience trinitarian unity. They know God's true character and represent his pure image to the world when they love like this. The church is to be known (i.e. unique, different, holy) by this love (Jn. 13:34-35).
I believe the saints are no longer to live by the wisdom of the world and the passions of the flesh (Rom. 8:5-17; 1 Cor. 1:18-31; Gal. 5:16; Col. 2:6-8; Js. 3:13-18; 1 Jn. 2:15-17). The ekklesia (church) is to be set apart from the world into one holy nation as Jesus as head and King (Rom. 12:1-2; 1 Pet. 1:13-16; 2:9; Matt. 27:11; Acts 17:7; Rev. 17:14). There is not a remnant within the church of Jesus Christ. The church is the remnant. You will recognize the church by her fruits.
THE CHURCH IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD:
The church is set apart in order to reflect new life in the Kingdom of God. I believe the church's task is to proclaim the Gospel in love and confront evil with the power of the Kingdom of God (Matt. 28:18-20; Jn. 13:34). The church is the Body of Christ continuing to do the work of Christ on earth. She stands as a testimony to God's promises and his reconciling love. By this radical living she will convey that she is not of this world and that her citizenship rests in heaven alone. (Jn. 18:36; Phil. 3:20)
As aliens and strangers, the church should live her life and proclaim the Gospel that calls men out of the kingdoms of the world and into the Kingdom of God (Matt. 7:13-14; Mk. 10:15; Lk. 4:43; 9:2, 60; 1 Pet. 2:11; Heb. 11:13-16). This has been the call to men from all of the prophets (Ps. 145:13; Ex. 19:5-6; Is. 9:7; Dan. 4:34; 7:27; Amo. 9:8; Oba. 1:21; Heb. 11:13-16). Jonah's national identity kept him from proclaiming the truth of the Kingdom in love to his enemies. This can be seen in the attitude of the religious zealots of Jesus' day and our day as well. We have been commanded to love our enemies and overcome evil with good (Matt. 5:38-48; Rom. 12:9-21; Is. 5:20).
The church should confront evil in a manner that is worthy of the cross of Christ (Phil. 1:27; 1 Pet. 2:20-25; 3:17). The Christian should submit to earthly rulers, but obey Christ the King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Acts 4:19; Rom. 13:1-14; 1 Pet. 2:11-17). Worldly kingdoms can only suppress evil. Jesus rejected this mode of advancing the Gospel and instead relied upon the ways of the Kingdom of God which are destroying evil (Matt. 4:8-10). We wage war with the spiritual evils of the day through the spiritual message of the Kingdom of God (2 Cor. 10:4; Eph. 6:10-20).
