Why we do what we do

My family's life looks very different than other Christians’. We receive lots of questions about how we live and why we live the way we do. In this post, I will share our process. I grew up in the middle of the prosperity gospel and megachurches in Texas. I was in the homes and lives of leaders from different denominations. What I saw in their lives was not what I saw in the Bible, and instead of running away from church and Christians, it drove me into scripture to see how we are to live. I did this to such an extreme that if I couldn't find it in scripture, I decided I would not do it. I even stopped thanking God for my food for a time until I found it in the Bible. I know that sounds ridiculous, but I was 17 years old, and I was not going to do it because a person told me it was of God without knowing if it was in the Bible. I was determined to learn what the Bible said and not what I was told it says.

Over the years, God has directed us to study how the church is to function and what He expects from His people. We don’t go to a church building regularly for these reasons. We don’t know of one that looks like the scripture. I’m not saying we are looking for worldly perfection. We desire to follow the Bible so closely that we will be considered in the Philadelphia church.

Years ago, I was pondering the people in the seven churches listed in Revelation. I was thinking about how terrible some of them were and the problems they had, when I was firmly rebuked by God. I heard that every Christian fits into one of them. This was sobering for me. It caused me to stop thinking about how terrible some of them were and instead ask, Oh my— which one do I fit into?

This shook me, and from that point on, I realized I wanted to be part of the Philadelphia church. It has been my prayer for years. I have asked God to do whatever needs to be done to make me part of that group of people. This leads me to what I am about to share.

In scripture, there are specific instructions on what to teach baby believers. Hebrews 6 tells us those teachings. 1 Peter 2 tells us how a newborn baby should live and what they should desire. From Hebrews 6:1-2, we see that newborn babies are to be taught repentance from dead works and what faith towards God is.

They should be taught that there is one baptism (Ephesians 4:5) and that the one baptism is Jesus’ baptism (Matthew 3:11-12, Acts 19:1-7). It includes baptism of water, baptism of the Holy Spirit, and baptism of fire. The Holy Spirit has taught us to teach people who, what, when, where, why, and how people are baptized. Then the baby believer isn’t shaken ( Ephesians 4:11-16) after they are taught this by looking at examples in the Bible; they aren’t confused unless they are attached to tradition over the Word of God.

They learn the same thing for laying on of hands. When they learn this, they will learn who to commission and who not to commission/put into leadership, who to cast demons out of and who not to cast demons out of, how to lay hands on the sick, they will learn laying hands on people to give a blessing, and to give the Holy Spirit.

Then resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. They will learn there is a first resurrection, it happens at the 7th trumpet/ last trumpet ( 1 Corinthians 15:50-56, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-16, Revelations 11:15) we learn from the elementary teachings who goes in the 1st resurrection and who doesn’t, that there is a 1000 years of Jesus ruling and reigning with the ones who have washed their robes/removed abomination and sin practices out of their lives. As we learn this for ourselves and teach it, we have to learn that Satan is released after 1000 years to deceive the nations, then he is thrown into the lake of fire with the false prophet and the beast, then the 2nd resurrection happens, and this is judgment day. At this time, death and Hades are thrown into the lake of fire; they are the last enemies ( Revelation 20 and 1 Corinthians 15:25-28). Then we see what we see in Revelation 21.

Years ago, I was reading Hebrews 6, and God posed a question to me: Do you know these elementary teachings? I didn’t. I grew up in church, around large ministries my whole life, and attended Bible college, yet I had never heard of them. I became concerned for myself because I had been teaching women out of my home for years.I had no idea how to teach these things—or even that they existed as foundational teachings I needed to know in order to grow to spiritual maturity, and that, as a leader, I was meant to teach them to others. I had read the passage countless times, but it never occurred to me that I was supposed to understand these teachings and pass them on.

I immediately began with the people in front of me. I told them, “These are the elementary teachings, and I don’t know them myself, nor do I know how to teach them.” I asked if they did, and they were in the same state of shock I was. We wondered why all of us, who had been part of churches from different backgrounds, had never been taught these things.

As we dug deeply into Scripture on these topics, we began examining what leaders should be teaching, how they are to live, and their purpose, all from Scripture. Over the years, this led us to realize that we did not want to be part of churches that tolerate sinful practices, teach people they can live however they want and still go to heaven, use money in ways not aligned with Scripture, or invite unbelievers into worship gatherings and use those gatherings for evangelism—instead of going out to evangelize and then bringing into the gatherings those who desire repentance and choose to be disciples of Jesus.

These are some of the things we learned and no longer wanted to partake of.

The only way we know how to be part of the Philadelphia church is to be imitators of the men and women in the Scriptures, doing what they did. Because we choose not to be a business-based church gathering, we are able to live out Matthew 18:15–18 and 1 Corinthians 5. We can also live out what Jesus teaches about giving in Matthew 6—giving without expecting anything in return.

We strive to follow these patterns as closely as possible. When we don’t, it is not because we are unwilling, but because we have not yet been taught. We trust that God will teach us. When we make mistakes, we correct them, we learn from them, and seek to live the Word out better the next time.

When I say “we,” I mean all the people in the body we have met along the way who desire to live like this. We have been called many names simply because we are mimicking Scripture, and many people are unfamiliar with it. As we have walked through the Scriptures, we have seen them come alive in our own lives and in the lives of the body of Christ.

We have seen spiritual babies grow into maturity and take their place as leaders in the church. We have people filling different roles within the body. It is beautiful to watch, though it can also be difficult at times. Still, we are striving with all our energy to be imitators of those before us in Scripture, whom we see as pleasing to God.

If there is something here that I have written that irritates you, I ask you to take it to Scripture and examine it against the Word. I encourage you not to say no to something simply because you have never heard of it before. If you see it in Scripture and still don’t understand how to live it out, ask God to teach you and to give you opportunities to live it, so that you may understand.