About The Author of This Blog
.Hello, my name is Joe Black, that's really my name, not my legal name of course, but it is the name by which I go by. I will soon reach the age of 55. I accepted Christ as my Saviour at age 6, and have been on an adventure with Him since. I worked in the ministry both full-time and part-time. Per the traditions of men, I am both an ordained minister, and have the title of Doctor of Divinity. You will discover from my web site, these things are as meaningless to me as Paul's credentials were to Him as a Pharisee of Pharisees. I have counted them as he did, all as dung, to know Christ above all things. I maintain these earthly titles and ordinations only so that I might have a voice in the Christian community that for far too long has forgotten and failed to practice the "priesthood of ALL believers". I absolutely do not believe in the hierarchy nor do I accept that the physical church is the Apostolic example of practice the early Christians knew of when they fellowshipped. I believe ONLY in the Ekklesia of God ( the "called out one's). This is His true Church and not the institution. It is when they gather, of like mind and heart, that Christ is present, as He is present in each of them. You will find no priest or pastor, only Christ and Him functioning through the believers as they exhort and encourage one another. It may only be two Christians meeting anywhere at anytime and at anyplace, but at that moment they have not "forsaken the assembly of themselves together". They are there in love, of one another and their King- Jesus! In my walk with Christ, I too grew dispondent at trying to live the Christian life, and then through personal time and study, I discovered the great truth that "man's church" has failed consistently through the ages, to tell the believer, that they cannot live the Christian life, only Christ can. The truth that we are complete in Him, for if we are His children, we have joined our Spirit with His Spirit so that He might not only be expressed through us, but as us, as we walk in Him by faith, nothing more is needed. Religion and all it's self effort activity will only frustrate you and make you feel as dead as those that are lost without a Saviour. Christ is ALIVE! He is not in all the self efforts, self works or self exaltation of fallen man. Religion is nothing more than the illusive enticement of Satan to distract you from the life you can know in Christ, and Him alone. "It is the Spirit that gives life, the letter KILLS"! He is the life, the Zoe (Godlike) life we seek, He is the one who is to live His life through us, as us and in us. Coming to this knowledge of Him and the purpose of God in my life gave me great liberty from the bondage of sin and death, and man's religion ( self exaltation). You too can experience His life as your life, as Paul did, when He said, "I am crucified in Christ, yet I live, but not I ,but Christ that lives within me"! This truth "of the mystery revealed" has been hidden by the religious to keep the masses enslaved to them since the inception of organized religion as early as 125 AD. Ignatius set up the hierarchy with his writings and Constantine, built the buildings and created the Church/State union of Christian and Pagan alike. Many of the true followers of Christ rejected this, and suffered unending persecution and death under the hands of those who were suppose to be brethern. Even the Reformation brought the "church" no closer to the truth. There were those even then like the AnaBaptist and other groups wo refused all of man's traditions for the sake of the Apostolic traditions. They too suffered and died at the hands of even the great reformers Calvin and Luther. This truth of Christ in you, the hope of glory, will set you free in Christ to experience the joy of life in Him and Him alone! I hope by presenting this web site, to show many believers the path to this discovery. I can only show, but I cannot teach, for it is the work of the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth. I can only disciple, but I cannot lead, or make you understand this truth, only with time in prayer, study and moments spent with God in inflection can you come to know the truth of this great mystery revealed in Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart and understanding will be opened to recieve the revelation of this truth, that you too might be truly set free. Jesus said, "You shall know the truth and it shall set you free"! How glorious that freedom is. Brother Joe Black
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This is a self portrait, meaning I had no one else there to take the pic with my Digital Camera, so I had to do it myself. I am really not as scary looking as my picture here portrays. I do have a partial beard, a little longer hair then most, and one ear ring in my left ear. There is a biblical story I will share sometime about ear piercing. Believe it or not ear piercing is in the Bible! A small hint, it had to do with the slaves of the Hebrew families. See if you can find it in the Bible, and send me the Chapter and verses. It's definitely in the Old Testament. This is me and my serious going to have to take this self portrait picture look! Wow, that flash was bright and it went off before I could pose. Here are some links to my other blogs on the Internet. http://athensindependentnews.blogspot.com and http://christian-discourse.blogspot.com I hope you will find CHRIST as your life, and will enjoy the benefit of truly knowing Him as your life Bro. Joe |
