Back to the Basics: It’S God’S Way or the Highway

By Joseph Paul Henry

Have you been hurt by the church? Do you feel the word of God is being misrepresented? In Back to the Basics: Its Gods Way or the Highway, author Joseph Paul Henry seeks to provide hope to those who have been hurt by the church and show there is a side of the church that still loves your soul.

By addressing thirty key topics affecting the church today, Henry suggests solutions to the problems facing contemporary Christianity. Through this discussion, he believes bridges to understanding can be built that will bring all followers of Christ together, fill the needs of all parishioners, and help people become saved to fulfill the legacy that Christ died for, while at the same time helping them to keep the faith in Gods plan.

Back to the Basics communicates the importance of returning to the foundations of the churchfoundations that have been lost in the last thirty years. It provides a plan to refresh the church body memory and bring our lives back to the basics of faith.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Jul 12, 2011
• ISBN: 9781462029518

Joseph Paul Henry

Joseph Paul Henry began service within the church at age twelve. He served in the US Army and was a chaplain’s assistant. He worked with at-risk children for thirteen years. Henry now assists with local Bible studies. He and his wife and four children live in Orange, Texas.

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Contents

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgments

The Trinity

Giving God The Glory

God’s Conditional Love

The Cross, Crucifixion, And Resurrection

Salvation

The Second Coming Of Christ

Judgment Day

Spiritual Gifts

What Is A Christian?

The Mission Of The Church

Holiness

Serve Others

Why Do People Give Up?

Forgiveness

Judging

Prosperity

It’s Called Life

Backsliding

Marriage And Divorce, The Three A’s

Mom And Dad, Do The Right Thing

Free Will

Christmas

Easter

Halloween

Tongues

Faith

Prayer

Age Of Accountability

Back To The Basics

A New Beginning

FOREWORD

When my husband first brought up the idea of writing this book and asked me what I thought, I said, Sure, go ahead. I thought it would give him something to do. Four years and a lifetime later, we have seen many changes in our lives. The largest was the onslaught of a physical health disability for Joseph. To say that life has not been easy would, truthfully, be an understatement. But, through it all, our faith has been an ongoing source of support and strength.

Without our faith, this work could not have begun, not to mention become a reality for him. The research he has put into this project has taught me many things about God’s word. There have been many times that I have stopped typing the text, grabbed my Bible, and read not only the verses referenced but those preceding and following them as well. I know that his goal is to help get more people together under a common objective: bring all followers of Christ together, fill the needs of all people, and help people become saved to fulfill the legacy that Christ died for, while at the same time helping them to keep the faith in God’s plan.

Love in Christ,

Kathy Henry

PREFACE

The mission of this book is to call on all people who have ever been hurt within the Church or do not feel that the Word of God is completely represented as it should be. You will read that anyone who hurts another in the First Church of the house of God will be held accountable for his or her actions. Over the past thirty-two years, I have seen how churches protect the perpetrator, just as the world does, and leave the victim to fend for himself or herself. I have also seen churches gloss over topics, including the most important topic of salvation, creating many questions or self doubt among both Christians and non-Christians alike. This book will talk about subject material that you may never have heard taught before. Some topics will be hard to swallow and will go against a lot of what you may have been taught. The guidelines appear strict, but this has to be so in order to hold people accountable for hurting others within God’s Church. The book contains factors that contribute to this problem and how they can be addressed.

The content herein is not sugar-coated, nor does it compromise on any level. It does not preach open-ended tolerance. It exists to provide hope to people who have been hurt within the Church and show that there is still a side of the Church that loves your soul, and that you are not a dollar sign or a number. Inspired initially by my work with at-risk kids and witnessing firsthand some of the terrible positions they are put into by their so-called parents, followed by the state of the Church I perceived after serving six years in the US Army, I made the decision to address the Church environment and doctrines of today. This book encompasses thirty of the most direct topics I feel affect the Church today and how it is viewed by those who, for whatever reason, have left it.

While working on this book, I have continued to learn even more about the Bible and have altered some of my doctrinal beliefs. The number one focus of the book is for different denominations and church bodies coming together to do God’s work. This book is not meant to offend any denomination that meets the standards listed throughout it. My personal views and thoughts are found throughout all of the chapters. My hope is to help build bridges of understanding for all Christians to work together as one in love and faith so that we can plant the seed that I believe will grow into the biggest revival the Church has ever known. God bless you all.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I want to thank my wife first of all. She has been here through the research, writing, and pre-editing of my book, not to mention tons of reading, proofing, and sometimes rephrasing. I would also like to thank the many friends who supported my ideas and urged me not to give up during the rough phases of the book. I thank my present pastor for being hard on me when it came to the questions of Why are you writing this book? and What do you expect to accomplish with it?

But most of all, this would not have happened without God’s love, help, and strength; I give God all the glory because without Him none of this would have been possible.

THE TRINITY

Many church denominations of today tend to leave this topic on the back burner, for lack of a better description. When it is addressed, there are several mind-sets: God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are all one and the same; they are also described as an egg with God presented to us as God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit in a package; or they each have their own place in an intertwined working relationship. The third way described is actually the correct way.

God

References: Mark 1:1; Luke 1:31–32, 35; John 1:1–3; 3:34–36; Luke 4:18; John 5:26; 6:37–39; Colossians 1:15–17

God is the father of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. God gave Jesus the duty of being king of the Jews. Jesus Christ is near and dear to God’s heart because He did as God commanded. God has life in Himself and Jesus has a separate life in Himself. God gave Christ help to spread the good news of his plan for salvation, and Christ had to train his disciples for the time after He left them. It was the will of God that Christ not lose even one of the people given to him. God created everything through his son, Jesus Christ, and, for now, Jesus is supreme over all creation. God speaks to us through his son, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. God loves his son, and whoever believes and obeys Jesus will have eternal life.

Jesus Christ

References: Mark 1:1; Luke 1:31–32, 35; John 5:26; 1:1, 18; Colossians 1:15–17; John 7:16; 6:35–39; Philippians 2:6; 1 John 5:20

Jesus is the Messiah and God’s son. Jesus has life in himself just as God has life in himself. Jesus existed before creation and is part of God, his father, just as a child is part of his or her father. No one has ever seen God in heaven accept Christ. Christ looks like his father and is the supreme leader of all creation, and holds it together. Jesus spoke his father’s words during his ministry, and all who obey Jesus will have eternal life. All of the lessons that Jesus taught came from God, for nothing Jesus said was his own idea. Jesus is also the bread of life, and was sent here to do his father’s bidding.

Holy Spirit

References: Luke 1:35; Matthew 1:18; John 3:34

The Holy Spirit came upon Mary and she was found to be pregnant with child. The Holy Spirit was upon Christ without limit.

What does each look like or how do they appear?

God

References: Revelation 7:10, 15; 4:2–3, 5; 1 Timothy 6:15–16

God is the one identified as the one sitting on the throne. God is described as a brilliant light that no human can approach. Only his son, Jesus, has ever seen Him, and from His throne comes flashes of lightning and the rumble of thunder.

Jesus

Reference: Revelation 1:13–16; 19:11-16

Jesus is described in detail as to how He looks today in Heaven. Scripture describes Jesus from head to toe. Jesus’ description is communicated the same way Jesus taught His disciples, so that they could understand. I believe strongly that one of the reasons people did not recognize Jesus after his resurrection is that He looked at that time the same as He currently looks in heaven.

The Holy Spirit

References: Matthew 3:16; Acts 2:2–3

The Holy Spirit sounds like a roaring mighty wind and has looked like flames of fire and came down as a dove.

This is the rank structure in Heaven and in the Church.

References: 1 Corinthians 3:23; 11:3; 15:23–28; 12:28; Ephesians 4:4–7, 11; 1:13; Matthew 28:19; Hebrews 1:1–6

God has set up a rank structure in Heaven and in His Church. The Scriptures provide that order from God to God’s Church. God set this order to keep his Church from losing its mission focus: to build up His kingdom. But man has let the order fall to the wayside, and that has lent itself to becoming a part of the problem in the Church today. We have let people take over most of the local body of believers and run it to please the money side of the Church. This has made it where the Bible is left at the door and many of the so-called pastors of today are bowing to the money side and preaching only what the people want to hear.

The rank order is this:

Heaven: God, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, angels.

Local church body: pastor, assistant pastor, education pastor, elders, Christians, pastor disciples, graduate disciples, disciples, teachers, believers, new believers, men who lead and teach young men, women who lead and teach young women. Women and men teach males and females in the thirteen to eighteen-year-old classes so each can teach about issues for both male and female Sunday school students. This is done because I believe that only men can teach boys to be men and only women can teach girls to be women.

Fieldwork: apostles, prophets, evangelists, delegates.

God

References: Hebrews 11:3; Ephesians 3:9; Acts 10:38; 1 John 4:9–10, 14–15; 1 Corinthians 1:30; Acts 17:24–31

By God’s word of command, He created all things. God is the Lord of Heaven and Earth. He gives life and meets every need. His purpose is that all nations seek Him and perhaps feel their way to Him. God sent His son, Jesus, to take away our sin. When we accept Christ as our personal Savior, we become new people. Then God can be over us, in us, and living through us all. God is waiting for the right time for judging the world through His son, Jesus Christ. (See Judgment Day chapter.)

Jesus Christ

References: 1 Corinthians 6:11; Ephesians 4:5–7; Acts 10:36, 38; John 6:27; Ephesians 3:14–17; Acts 17:31

We are cleansed; we are made holy, and have been made right with God by what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross. Jesus was also made wisdom itself, in other words the personification of wisdom. We have been given special gifts by Jesus. As you trust Christ, He will make himself at home in your heart. There is peace through Jesus. On the day of judgment, Christ will judge us by God’s lead. We will have eternal life by obeying Christ and because of what He did on the cross.

Holy Spirit

References: John 14:26; Ephesians 3:4–5, 16

The Holy Spirit was sent to us as our counselor. You have been made right through Christ, crucified on the cross, and the counsel of the Holy Spirit. Through the Holy Spirit, we are given inner strength as the Spirit’s part of making us right with God.

Man

References: Ephesians 4:11–12; 3:14–16

The leaders of the church body have the mission to build up God’s Church and teach that we must put away our old lifestyle. We are to fall to our knees and thank God for His mercy and keep asking Him for more time to work on getting the Church ready for Christ’s return.

Here is a job description of each prior to Jesus’ ministry

God

References: Ephesians 1:4–6, 9, 11; 2 Timothy 1:9–10; 1 Thessalonians 5:9; Acts 4:24–25; Romans 8:25; Galatians 4:4–7; Romans 16:25; 1 Corinthians 1:24; Hebrews 1:1–2; John 1:6-9, 33-34

Before Christ’s ministry, God chose us to be His very own children through Jesus Christ. God chose to save us to live a holy life and not a life of this evil world. God did this so that we will not suffer from His anger. God spoke of these things using the Holy Spirit through our ancestor David. At this time, God’s chosen people had to wait patiently and with confidence for God to do these things. When the right time came, God sent His son, born of a woman, making Christ the very power and wisdom of God sent to buy our freedom. For doing God’s will, Jesus was given an inheritance. Before God sent His son, He chose a messenger named John the Baptist to pave the way for Jesus.

God’s plan long ago was to bring us to Him by His son, Jesus. This was going to be man’s last chance to accept God, because man had failed to keep all of the other covenants with Him. God destroyed sin’s control over us by Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. God now speaks to us through His son and the Holy Spirit.

Jesus

References: John 1:2, 4–5, 9; Matthew 3:11; Ephesians 4:9; John 3:31; 8:38, 40, 42, 55, 58; 6:33

In the beginning, Jesus was with God. During this time period, Jesus was watching man fail his father time and time again. Jesus knew that God’s backup plan for the salvation of man was for Him to be the ultimate sacrifice. Jesus began to get himself ready for his mission as a man. God gave Jesus an out, and Jesus decided not to take it after seeing how weak humans were. Jesus was identified as the son of God after His baptism by John the Baptist. Jesus loved His father enough to do as He asked Him to do.

Holy Spirit

References: Acts 1:16; 4:25; Luke 1:15, 41; 2:25–27; Luke 3:22

Long ago, the Holy Spirit spoke through many different people about the coming of Jesus. The Holy Spirit then came upon John the Baptist preparing him for his mission of telling people about the coming Messiah. The Holy Spirit even told a man that He would see the Christ child before He died. Jesus was baptized and the Holy Spirit came down as a dove onto Jesus to show that He was the son of God.

Man

References: John 8:56; Luke 1:15; John 1:6–8, 34; Galatians 4:3

Abraham saw that the Messiah was coming and was glad. John the Baptist had the mission of telling people of the coming Messiah. John the Baptist was given the honor of baptizing Jesus and was able to tell people that the Messiah was here.

The following is job description of each during Jesus’ ministry.

God

References: John 3:16–17; Acts 10:38; John 5:20–22, 26–27, 36–38; 13:20; 14:26

During Christ’s ministry, God was with Jesus. God sent Him to save the world, not to judge it. God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit and His power. God showed Jesus how to do all that