My name is Timothy Thomas, a 22 year old recent graduate of Michigan State University having majored in psychology and minored in African American studies and philosophy.
I was raised Pentecostal, my dad being a minister. My faith is Word-centric, and I believe wholeheartedly that the Bible is "given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16), that we may attain unto perfection, as the 17th verse elaborates. This, then, is why we ought to give ourselves to study of it, shewing ourselves "approved unto God...rightly dividing the word of truth." 'Rightly dividing the word of truth' is a function of the Holy Ghost (John 14:26) for "the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God:...neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Corinthians 2:14). Thus, the only way to understand scripture, placing "precept upon precept...line upon line...here a little, and there a little" (Isaiah 28:10), is to receive the Baptism of the Holy Ghost (Matthew 10:11) whereby we receive the Spirit of God into our person as shown by the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist (Matthew 3:13-17) and the Apostles on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2), hence, Pentecostalism.
When you take a look at the entirety of scripture with God's spirit within you, you come to find that there are many things we take as true based on tradition, but is not scripturally supported. I have already mentioned one such thing in this post (the Baptism of the Holy Ghost) which, contrary to popular belief, does not automatically happen when you confess your sins and accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. The apostles already believed in Christ and His message and had already confessed their sins and some, we know, were followers of John the Baptist and had, therefore, already been baptized in the water, but the Baptism of the Holy Ghost was a separate event altogether. For another example of people believing but not having the Holy Spirit, read Acts 19:1-6.
These and many other things I look forward to discussing with this community of believers, non-Christian religious people, and religious skeptics/non-religious alike. These realities may be controversial and difficult to digest, for many of us have grown up being taught a particular way, being preached some scriptures but not others, but every proposition I put forth will be scriptural. John 14:15, 1 John 3:8-10.
P.S. I only use the King James Version Bible. The translation of scripture is like the game of telephone: the further you get from the original, the more the original message tends to get messed up. Having studied the history of the Bible we now have from the original manuscripts to the various versions available today, the Authorized King James Version stands as the clearest, most accurate English translation closest to the source material.
I was raised Pentecostal, my dad being a minister. My faith is Word-centric, and I believe wholeheartedly that the Bible is "given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16), that we may attain unto perfection, as the 17th verse elaborates. This, then, is why we ought to give ourselves to study of it, shewing ourselves "approved unto God...rightly dividing the word of truth." 'Rightly dividing the word of truth' is a function of the Holy Ghost (John 14:26) for "the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God:...neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Corinthians 2:14). Thus, the only way to understand scripture, placing "precept upon precept...line upon line...here a little, and there a little" (Isaiah 28:10), is to receive the Baptism of the Holy Ghost (Matthew 10:11) whereby we receive the Spirit of God into our person as shown by the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist (Matthew 3:13-17) and the Apostles on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2), hence, Pentecostalism.
When you take a look at the entirety of scripture with God's spirit within you, you come to find that there are many things we take as true based on tradition, but is not scripturally supported. I have already mentioned one such thing in this post (the Baptism of the Holy Ghost) which, contrary to popular belief, does not automatically happen when you confess your sins and accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. The apostles already believed in Christ and His message and had already confessed their sins and some, we know, were followers of John the Baptist and had, therefore, already been baptized in the water, but the Baptism of the Holy Ghost was a separate event altogether. For another example of people believing but not having the Holy Spirit, read Acts 19:1-6.
These and many other things I look forward to discussing with this community of believers, non-Christian religious people, and religious skeptics/non-religious alike. These realities may be controversial and difficult to digest, for many of us have grown up being taught a particular way, being preached some scriptures but not others, but every proposition I put forth will be scriptural. John 14:15, 1 John 3:8-10.
P.S. I only use the King James Version Bible. The translation of scripture is like the game of telephone: the further you get from the original, the more the original message tends to get messed up. Having studied the history of the Bible we now have from the original manuscripts to the various versions available today, the Authorized King James Version stands as the clearest, most accurate English translation closest to the source material.
