Religion

Everyone is religious. Everyone. Whether they understand this or not is beside the point. Everyone has a belief in the hereafter that influences what they consider important in life. Even if that belief is “nothing,” it pre-supposes dramatic differences of choices for the believer that other people do not share. Whether someone is said to be religious, a-religious, or anti-religious, they are forming a belief system that compels them, but is still a belief system, and therefore religion. For the Christian and the non-Christian alike, religion is what gives everything else in life context and meaning.

So much of the world’s problems are, as some like to say, about religion, but what most people saying that are missing is that they are just as religious as the next person. Whether they believe in Buddha or Gaia or just that “it’s turtles all the way down,” those beliefs are driving the way they feel, they way the spend their money, and the way they vote.

Today, it’s become vogue to say that evolution has answered all of mankind’s cosmological questions, but that’s simply not true. Where did the material for the “Big Bang” come from? “Science” has not disproven the existence of God, and people who think it has are being selective in what they read. There’s plenty of controversy about it, even within scientific circles. Those that proclaim that the controversy is over are pushing a religious agenda, and they are as dangerous to society as those who try to force their stereotypical religious tenants on others, whether they be Christian, Muslim, Satanist, or whatever.

This group of pages isn’t for everyone. It’s for people who can be totally honest with themselves and with God. I don’t mean to – and don’t want to – offend. If you find that you are becoming upset by viewing these pages, remember that by staying and reading, you asked. And since you did, I’m Apostolic Pentecostal. Through these pages, I would like to describe to you what that means and why I think that everyone else ought to be as well.

Being Apostolic Pentecostal is about having a real, live, one-on-one relationship with the Lord God Almighty. If you have never experienced the power of God moving upon you, these pages are for you. If you want to know God in the fullest way possible, these pages are for you. Singing jubilantly, sobbing cathartically, and shouting victoriously: these are all expected expressions of an encounter with the Spirit. In a church service, during worship or the preaching of the Word, just by yourself in a personal time of prayer to God, or driving down the road thinking about the goodness of God. God is everywhere. God is awesome. There’s no limit on when and where you’re “allowed” to be with God, or what He’s capable of doing in your life.

There are many questions and topics here, but there’s no way to cover it all. Any telelogical belief system must be comprehensive, or it is of little value in proscribing action. Christianity, in particular, must explain itself within the context of the Bible, history, archeology, and personal experience. Give me time and I’ll explain how Apostolic Pentecostalism is the only belief system — “religious” or otherwise — that I can find that can make sense out of all of this, all together at once.

My Testimony
From my first steps toward God to the present.

Doctrine
An entire sub-web devoted to an explanation of how and why I believe the way I do.

My Church
Someday, I’ll put up a real page about my church and Pastor.

I Don’t Get It
This is where I ask questions about what other religions believe and pose – based on what I believe – why I just don’t understand them.

What About?
A page given to explain how I think the tricky questions fit into the framework of Apostolic Pentecostalism.

Hmm…
Things that make you – okay, maybe just me – go, “Hmm.”

Politics
I think politics is a subset of religion, but I simply must pull these discussions into their own page.