Encounter Recovery Ministries

This is part two of this message of recovering the Body of Christ, and helping you to undrestand yourself as a Spirit-gifted, vital part of Christ's body. In this lesson, we discuss how we got where we are with clergy and laity and the institutional mindset which is opposed to New Testament vision for the Body of Christ.

In this introduction we share the purpose and goals of this series on discipleship.

America is entering a time of economic uncertainty, says the media. So then, how are we as Christian to respond to such times as these? In this brief exhortation, you will learn to resist the temptation to fear, hoarding, and anger, and instead learn to trust the living God. It is godliness with contentment that is the true wealth, no matter what the state of Wall Street.

Do you realize that because the Holy Spirit dwells in you that this makes you a Spirit-gifted, vital minister in the Body of Christ? It is true. The ministry belongs to Christ, and He ministers in and through and among the entire Body and this includes you.

In the fourth century, what was the body of Christ became under the institutional church system in service to The Holy Roman Empire. Not all complied. Many escaped to the mountains and desert places. But in the new system, only was the gospel lost, so also was the New Testament pattern and purpose for the church. For you to grow in Christ you too must escape this system and find fellowship that supports God's purpose to conform you into the image of His Son.

It is often thought that a Christian owes fellowship with anyone who claims to be a follower of Christ. But this is simply not true. We are to be discerning as to with whom we fellowship. And we must be content to know that genuine fellowship is always found among the few and not the many. Here is some biblical guidance to help you put this into practice and find the true fellowship you crave.

This is part two of the two-part series: One Thing is Necessary. Here we take a closer look at what it means to live and love like Jesus: the one thing necessary for the Christian life. We examine Christ's character on three essential points: 1) Single-mindedness, 2) Purity of Heart, and 3) Purity of devotion.

To follow Jesus is to follow his way of life. And it is a joyous way of life. Nothing brings greater purpose and meaning to your life than to realize you are in fact becoming more like Jesus in very practical, and always. relational ways.

There is a way of following Jesus that Jesus himself commands; it is a way of life that he models for us. This way involves focusing on the one thing necessary. Ony one thing. In this brief exhortation, we examine how to adopt this way of life.

In this brief exhortation, we encourage you to rejoice and take comfort that you have found your way out of the institutional church system and discovered the body of Christ in your small gatherings in homes or other spaces. Rejoice! You are Christ's little flock.

Many Christians struggle with issues related to their mental and relational health, and while there can be many causes, the one they seldom consider is their church affiliation. In this talk, we address the institutional church system as being the underlying cause for much of the suffering and burnout for today's believer, and what to do about it.

This is an introduction to a new YouTube channel that will soon be active. On this channel, we will work to help you recover a biblical understanding of the Body of Christ and your vital role in it, and thus escape the clutches of the institutional church system.

Do you realize the nature and purpose of the body of Christ and your vital role in it? The apostle John tells us the apostlic proclamation is that the Word of Life was manifested within humanity, and that this incarnate love of the Father in the Son remains with us in our fellowship even today!

In this introductory episode, we turn to First John to guide us out of any religious system that is destructive even though it calls itself a Christian Church. And American airwaves and buildings are filled with such false churches. In this new series, we will discover that John sets the standards for what it means to be in fellowship with the apostilc proclamation and to know the complete joy that fellowship brings to those who embrace it. You need not suffer in silence in these church systems any longer.

God has designed the body of Christ so as to be the continued presence of the ascended Christ on earth; by the ministry of the Spirit to one another and then to the world. We must avoid the pastor centered, sermon focused, sing-along "worship services" which fail to afford the time and format to engage one another for mutual edification and equipping to proclaim the gospel to the world.

What do we do when church attendance becomes toxic? What happens when years of attendance has failed to produce spiritual maturity and meaning in your life? It takes a lot of courage to ask these questions, and that courage is necessary if we are going to recover the truth that the church is the people and not the business or institution.

Do you know the purpose of the Christian life? The Christian can become a very busy person with church life, church friends, church duties, etc, etc, and lose touch with the central purpose for the Christian life; the purpose that brings true peace.

This is a brief but important reminder of the riches of the glory that are your inheritance in Christ. Tragically, most professing Christians possess a very impoverished view of what it means to be in Christ. They have little or no grounding in who they are in him, and they are therefore unequipped to fulfill that which God has called them to contribute to the body of Christ. This can end, beginning now . . .

It is very common for believers to believe they possess dualing natures: sin and grace; flesh and Spirit, et al. This is almost correct. In this episode we expose this very subtle but destructive error. The truth is this: if you are in Christ you have one nature, that of the Spirit; the nature of sin which resides in your unredeemed body however, has not changed, and must be "put to death" by walking in the Spirit.

You may find it surprising to know that the express purpose for Christians gathering is for mutual edification. It is not to stand in rows and join a sing-along and listen to monologue sermons. No, we have pastors and teachers but they are to teach in ways that allow interaction, to build each other up, and to equip for ministry. There is no legitimate hierarchy in the church. Vertical leadership is foreign to the New Testament.

This is the first of a new on-going series of short exhortations designed to call you aside and build you up and refresh you. In this episode, we examine the our Lord's command to come to him and to him alone for rest.

Do you ever leave a church "worship service" feeling as isolated as when you went? There is a diffirence between "alone" and "solitude." Solitude is a healthy spiritual discipline, isolation is destructive. Here we expose and discuss one of the major causes of isolation: The traditional "worship service."

Are you getting worn out by the church routine? It is okay to admit it. The Christian life is not defined by church attendance, but becoming like Jesus. In this brief episode, we are reminded that our joy in Christ is discovered in becoming like him, and not in merely going through the church routine.

The world does not offer you good news. Cable news should have health disclaimers. You cannot ground yourself in it. Rather, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, we are people of the THE good news! Christ has called us, filled us with the Spirit, and sent us into the world precisely because the world is fallen and in darkness. We are called to bring good news and the very presence of the living Christ into the world.

What is the primary purpose of God in your life? To conform you into the image of his Son. By this we mean to work out in your character and conduct the very righteousness of Jesus Christ. In this brief exhortation, we hear how Christ continues to reveal himself to the world in and through the believer.

This is a revision and improved recording, including the PDF. In this episode we examine the need to recover the Christ of the gospels in our thinking and ministry to one another, and into the world, and to reject the silly, sentimental, and destructive images of Christ presented by the media, by politicians, and by false teachers.

In a previous episode, I told you that the ministry of Christ belongs to you, the body of Christ, the people, the average believer. The role of pastor and teacher and evangelist is to equip you for that ministry, not to rob you of that high calling. In this episode, we consider the nature of the ministry to which every believer is called as being the ministry of reconciliation.

To think of the ministry is to think of the pastors and evangelists. But the New Testament places the ministry with the people of God, and the pastors and leaders as those gifted for one purpose: to equip the people for that ministry. If you are being so equipped and encouraged then you are being pastored well; if you are not being equipped to do the ministry, then you are being robbed and you must insist upon a return of biblical principles. The ministry belongs to you--the people of God.

For too long the ministry of the church has been pastor-focused and the gatherings music focused (in the name of "worship"). There is a desperate need to return the ministry to the people of God, the Body of Christ, where it belongs and the place where Christ encounters the church and the world around us.

The tradition of the elders stood opposed to the ministry of Jesus, and it stands opposed to his power today as well. We have different traditions but they often serve not the mind of the Lord, but the forces of darkness and are the cause of much suffering. We need to look at these traditions of our day, and when necessary, be done with them in favor of the power of Christ.

In this final episode in this series, we discover that Christlike character is defined as living and loving as Jesus did. This is the high call of the Christian life.

In this sermon we continue to follow the thread of texts affirming the great need of our time, namely, Christ formed in the believer. Here we learn that dying to self and conformity to Christ is the essence of the Christian life, and the chief labor of all Christian ministry.

In this episode, we begin to examine the witness of the New Testament regarding Christ being formed in the believer. We discover that while we will not reach perfection in this conformity in this lifetime, we are to pursue that high calling as if that perfection were possible. If Christ is not everything to us then he is nothing.

This is part one of a brief series in which we consider Christ formed in the believer as the great need of our time. In our day, in which Christian character in both the church and society are all but lost, we need reminding that anything less than progress in Christlike character is not genuine Christ faith. The good news is conforming believers to His Son remains God's eternal purpose.

This is a study presented at a men's monthly breakfast meeting on the topic of how Christ fulfills the Law for us AND in us. In it we address the need to move beyong imputation of Christ's righteousness, as important as that is, to the equally important principle of Christ's righteousness displayed in our character as a matter of nature. This is a biblical principle seldom talked about in protestant/evangelical circles.

The world is filled with false "gospels," all of which tell you God needs your help to save you. So this is a biblical reminder of the truth that we are in Christ because it was God who first loved us, and not we that first loved God. This is the gospel! And yet, it is hard to believe because the natural mind insists upon making some contribution to your salvation without which not even God can save you. But the gospel is good news precisely because it tells us God has done for us what we could not ever have done for ourselves.

Here is a source of great encouragement and hope as you encounter various trials: In this present moment, God is working out his eternal purpose for you. To connect the points forward from eternity past to this very moment means nothing can rob you of your future outcome: the perfection of Christ's image in you when at last you see him, face to face.

In this episode, we challenge the popular teaching that Christians are "only sinners saved by grace." The New Testament truth is that grace is a transforming power that brings freedom from sin and practical holiness. If you are in Christ, you once were a sinner, but now being saved by grace, you are free from the power of sin and a child of God in Christ.

Are you ready? Election "24 is underway. Some of you are anxious, many of you are already angry or panicked. But what is the Christian response to this election? What if my guy does not win? In this brief lesson we look at what is to be the Christian's response to the governing authorities--whether it is my guy, or the other guy.

Ask yourself: What is the worst condition, to be unconverted or to think you are converted when you are not? The Bible says it is the latter: to think you are converted when you are not is the worst condition for any soul. The good news is you can know you are truly converted and be assured of your eternal destiny. In this brief exhortation, we tell you how you can enjoy this assurance.

This is an open and frank appeal to people seeking recovery from developmental trauma, codependence and addiction. In this talk, I address the need to renew our minds by embracing the biblical revelation of the triune God and what the Bible says about mankind by creation and design, in the fall, and in redemption.

It is not only God's desire that you share in His holiness, He commands you to be holy like He is holy. The good news is that God has not only imputed Christ's holiness to us, God has also imparted genuine Christlike holiness in you and now, by the power of the Spirit you can walk in true holiness, which is the pathway to genuine human happiness.

In this last lesson, we do a brief recap and then develop the biblical principle that "We must first be what we teach before we can teach others." While we cannot expect perfection in this life, we are called to work out the indwelling life of Christ within our own character, and then help others to the same.

What is the Christian ambition is this present age? What does it really mean that the "just shall live by faith"? It means we are to live out the certain hope of a complete deliverance that is already at work in us because of the finished work of Christ and the outpouring of the Spirit. We are to live out by faith the life that is yet unseen, that is to say, the life of the future age, the new heaven and new earth wherein dwells only righteousness. In short, we are to live like Jesus lived even in this present age in the certain hope of a fully realized redemption that is nearer than we think.

Many Christians are told they suffer because they need more faith. In this lesson we discover that not only is faith the gift of God, this gift is effectual because it is of a quality only God can provide. It is not our need for more faith that is at issue, but the need for genuine faith which comes to us not based on merit but as a gift of grace.

Do you understand grace to be a transforming power? This is the sixth point of eight things you need to know: Grace transforms us into the image of Christ. Grace is necessary and sufficient as well as effectual, and therefore, transformational.

This is number four of eight things you need to know in order to become spiritually mature and enjoy a fruitful Christian life. And this fourth truth is: Regeneration precedes saving faith. Faith and repentance are the result of God's prior action by the Spirit through the gospel, and not in any way our contribution to salvation.

This is point three of eight things you need to know in order to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ: Regeneration is a sovereign work of the Spirit. This series is in response to the deprivation of teaching occuring in the churches today on these essential aspects of the Christian life.

As I look back over my Christian life, I realize there are many points of truth I wish I had been taught. Had I been taught these things I could have avoided a lot of bad choices and needless pain of erroneous thinking.

How do you know you have a proper relationship to the Bible? In this lesson we discuss three principles that will confirm you have a proper relationship with the inspired text.