Christianity For The Young at Heart

WILLIAM PEA
Copyright 2017 William Pena
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TABLE OF CONT ENTS
INTRODUCTION You were called to be Free 1
CHAPTER 1 Why Cant Christianity be A Lot More Fun? 9
CHAPTER 2 The SolutionPrinciple Based Christianity 25
CHAPTER 3 Christianity for the Young at Heart 43
CHAPTER 4 In Search of Gods Principles in the Bible 55
CHAPTER 5 Overcoming the Obstacles 73
CHAPTER 6 Pride and Control 85
CHAPTER 7 You Can Have Life to the Full 93
CONCLUSION Now What? 111
iii
INTRODUCTION
YOU WERE CALLED T O BE FREE
You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free.

~ Galatians 5:13
I want to introduce you to Chris. Chris lives a life that is full

of joy, freedom, peace, fun and fulfillment. A life full of deep and
meaningful relationships with others. A life where he is making
meaningful impact in the world because he strives to be a strong
example to others. And he has a deep, fulfilling relationship with
God and fully enjoys the daily blessings that come from it.
I also want to introduce you to Martha. Marthas Christian life

is more of a routine. Her Christianity is full of different rules,
traditions and expectations that are required by the church she
attends, and which she really strives to hold onto. Unfortunately,
she is plagued daily by guilt because shes reminded of her failures
by both her heavy conscience and by the well-meaning but criti-
cal church members in her life. Also, she sometimes doubts that
God is really in her life because of the suffering she endures from
the constant problems that keep popping up her life. Whether
1
C H R I S T I A N I T Y F O R T H E Y O U N G AT H E A R T
from her health, her family, her financial situation or other situ-
ations, she experiences one disappointment to the next, leaving
her ultimately wondering if all the sacrifices she is making are
even worth all the effort.
Now, you would probably agree that Chris life sounds really
good. I mean, who wouldnt want a joyous, fulfilling and happy
life? While Marthas life is something that we would consider the
perfect description of the word, misery.
But you may also be thinking that Chriss life is unrealistic, pie in
the sky, or just plainly a show put on for others to see. Because in
the real world, no one has that kind of life even as a Christian,
right? And anyone who claims to have one is probably trying to
sell you something.
We feel like this because we are a lot more familiar and can better
relate to Marthas Christian walk than Chris. Sure, some of us
have those happy and fulfilling moments. But those moments are
short, fleeting and few and far between. We are more acquainted
with living the daily grind, worrying how we will make ends meet,
tolerating a burdensome life, attempting and failing at resisting
our sin, and hoping that heaven will make up for all the daily
sacrifices we make because life, as is, is truly hard.
But, is this the way that God meant our Christian life to be? I
mean, arent there loads upon loads of promises in the Bible that
say that our lives are supposed to full of life, love, prosperity and
most of all fulfillment?
And, according to the Bible, shouldnt our lives more resemble

Chris example rather than Marthas? And in the Bible, doesnt
2
Y O U W E R E C AL L E D T O BE F RE E
Marthas life resemble the poor examples that the Bible con-
stantly warns us to stay away from?
Like in the book of Jeremiah, where the Bible says:
Jeremiah 17:5-8
This is what theLordsays:
Cursed is the one who trusts in man,

who draws strength from mere flesh
and whose heart turns away from theLord.
That person will be like a bush in the wastelands;
they will not see prosperity when it comes.
They will dwell in the parched placesof the desert,
in a saltland where no one lives.
But blessedis the one who trustsin theLord,

whose confidence is in him.
They will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.
What I am here to tell you, and what I will be spending the rest
of the book convincing you of, is that a daily life full of joy, fulfill-
ment, deep relationships, peace, growth, spiritual prosperity and
more, is truly the life God intends for his children, and totally
achievable. God hasnt given us the heavenly bait and switch,
promising a great and fulfilling life but then switching it for a
3
second-rate and burdensome existence. Rather, it was Jesus who

said:
Matthew 11:27-29
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will
give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for
I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for
your souls.
John 10:10
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have
come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
Sadly, the actual cause that is preventing you and I, and millions
of other people who call themselves Christians, from experienc-
ing the amazing life that Jesus promisedthe main obstacle that
is stopping us from experiencing life and life to the full, are the
rules, traditions, expectations and doctrines that make up the
majority of traditional Christianity. We have created these and
traditions in the name of God, but like Frankensteins monster,
they have gotten so out of control that weve ended up with a
religion that misses the mark on Gods true intentions.
It is the Christian religious culture we have created that is

adding burden upon burden upon us and is robbing us of all the
blessings that God promised uswhich Jesus bought and paid
for with his life.
Wait a minute! you say. I thought God wanted us to show our

love for Him by obeying his commands? Yes, this is true. To love
4
God is to obey his commands. Yet, the Christianity we have cre-

ated is one where we spend the majority of our time not obeying
Gods commands, but rather obeying man-made teachings that
come in the form of a doctrine, a tradition, a rule, an interpreta-
tion, a church culture, an opinion, or more.
It is the man-made expectations we claim come from God that

adds the unnecessary burden to our lives. It is the expectations
of our church or Christian culture that multiplies our guilt, and
which requires us to do so much more than God ever expected
of us in this world. And we wonder why we are so unhappy, so
unfulfilled, so guilty, and so bored. When in the Bible, the Creator
promised us abundant freedom, joy, happiness and fulfillment
both in this life and the next.
Can you imagine what God is thinking right now? God, our
Father, sacrificed his Son to give us a life that would bring us joy,
happiness and fulfillment. He sacrificed the most that could be
sacrificed so that hed be able to look down from heaven and see
the joy and happiness in the faces of his childrenknowing that
one day he would be able to share in our joy, face to face with us
in heaven.
But when God looks down on us, instead of joy, he sees misery.
Instead of freedom, he sees his children burdened by an invisible
yoke of religious slavery. Instead of gratitude, he sees his children
take his gift for granted and instead trade it for a powerless reli-
gious existence that could never even come close to being worth
the life of his Son.
Honestly, how do you think God feels having to look down and see
us not experiencing the full and amazing life that he has provided
5
for us? But rather, he has to look upon us as we enslave ourselves

to religious tradition and act like Jesus never died for us in the
first place.
Like Paul said:
Galatians 5:1
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then,
and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of
slavery.
Christianity, the religion, institutionalized by man and passed

down from generation to generation, is the enemy here. Not the
Christianity of the Bible, that we will see is pure and holy and
brings abundant freedom and fullness. No, I mean the Christianity
of man in the form of doctrine, tradition, culture, rule, interpreta-
tion or opinion.
It is this religious Christian lifestyle that we first learned when

we joined our church or Christian group, and has become the
foundation of our Christian walk, that is preventing us from expe-
riencing the amazing life God has in store for us. Thats because
when we first learned it, instead of questioning it, considering it,
verifying it or sharing our opinions about it, we just went along
with it because everyone else went along with it. We felt in our
hearts that something just wasnt right, but we didnt say any-
thing because, Who are we to rock the boat?
Well, the intention of this book is to rock your boat. It is to show

you what you already know is true but that you may have been
either too afraid, or too uncomfortable to bother sharing out loud.
6
And that is, that there is something wrong with our Christianity,
because for some odd reason, it just not measuring up to the amaz-
ing and fulfilling life that God promised us in the Bible.
Now, if you totally feel that you are living the amazing and ful-
filling life that God promised us in Scripture, every day of your
Christian walk, then I am happy for you. But, this book is not
for you.
Or, if you think living a life of daily suffering, carrying the daily
burden of a guilty conscience and white knuckling your way to
heaven is the way we are supposed to follow God, then I have to
say that this book is also not for you.
But if you, like me and millions of others, feel the burdensome

weight of living the religious Christian life but you long for more
because you know God promised morethen what I want to do
is to show you a better way. I will show how you can claim the
fulfilling, God inspired, and amazing life that God promised us in
the Bible. And I will show you how to break the invisible bonds of
slavery that are holding you back, so that you can experience the
freedom that God promised us in Christ.
Thats right, freedom. Its not a word most Christians would con-
sider when they think of their Christian lives, but this is the lie
that this book will attempt to destroy. Freedom is our birthright,
freedom is Gods gift for us, freedom is the promise that Jesus
made us when he went to the cross. And, hopefully, this book will
help you gain that freedom back by inspiring you throw off the
yoke of religious slavery and claim the freedom that is yours.
7
CHAPTER 1
WHY CANT CHRISTIANITY BE

A LOT MORE FUN?
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.
Stand rm, then, and do not let yourselves be
burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
~ Galatians 5:1
If I were to ask you what you think of when you think of

Christianity, what words would you use to describe it?
If youre like most people, you would probably list out all the main
components of Christianity today. Things like God, Jesus, the
Bible, prayer, worship, etc. But also, like most people, you would
probably add the laundry list of dizzying church activities as well
as a good smattering of church rules, traditions, expectations and
requirements that saturates the life of most people who call them-
selves Christians.
Now, if we were to ask a young person, say who was age 1016
years old, what they think of when they think of Christianity,
9
what kind of answer do you think they would give? I think you
would agree that you would probably get a bit more honest answer.
Words like boring, lame, stick in the mud, routine, etc. would spew
out of their mouths as well as other not so pleasant words. If you
dont believe me, try to force them to take part in some Christian
activity they dont want to be a part of, and they will tell you
exactly what they really think of your religion.
The reality is, that if we were honest with ourselves we would

probably sound a lot more like the younger generation. In all
honesty, the biggest question that constantly runs through my
mind, and in the mind of many other Christians, is, Why Cant
Christianity be More Fun? Or, Why cant my Christian life be
less of a burden?
Now, I am not talking about some exciting church service where

they bring in a band or choir to liven things up on a Sunday morn-
ing. But Im talking about my daily life. Why does Christianity
have to be so boring? Why cant I see some of those miracles
God talked about in the Bible happen in my life? Or where are all
those blessings he promised?
Now, you may be thinking, That must be your church because

my church is great. Or Thats your life, buddy. My life is great.
Granted, if youre being honest, I wont question that. But for the
rest of us that are willing to be real and honest how we feel about
our Christian lives, you would probably agree that Im not alone.
Lets face it, there is something wrong with our Christianity.

Again, not the Christianity of the Bible, but the Christian reli-
gion most of us claim to be a part of. And dont get me wrong.
I am not saying that there is something wrong with God or the
10
W H Y C AN T C H R I S T I AN I T Y BE A L OT MO RE FU N?
Bible. God and his word will always be perfect. The problem I am
talking about is with the religious institution called Christianity,
which permeates every church and Christian organization in the
entire world.
What do I mean by Christianity? I mean Christianity the religion,

Christianity the institution, Christianity the system.
The dictionary defines a religion as a particular system of faith

and worship. And Christianity is considered a religion because of
the system that we follow to show the world our Christian faith.
So, when I say there is something wrong with Christianity today, I

mean that there is something wrong with the man-made system
and structure called Christianity that we follow to convey our
faith to the world (and honestly, that we also use to try to con-
vince ourselves too).
Whats wrong with it, you ask? Well, first let me start by discuss-
ing the biggest and most glaring problem with Christianity today.
Namely, that Christianity, the religion, doesnt even come close
to delivering on the promises made by God in the Bible.
Bamboozled by God or by Man?

If you were to collect all the amazing promises that God has made
to mankind, the amount of scriptures you would list would be
staggering. The one thing about the Almighty is that he is not
cheap on promises. And, like you, I believe every one of those
promises. And for good reason. Think about it, if he was willing
to let his son die to keep a promise, Im pretty sure that keeping
every other promise in the Bible is a piece of cake for Him.
11
Here are few promises from the Bible that I am sure will give you
goose bumps in reading, just like it did for me in writing them:
Isaiah 40:31
but those who hope in the Lord

will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
John 6:35
Then Jesus declared, I am the bread of life. He who comes

to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will
never be thirsty. NIV
Ps 37:4
Delight yourself in the LORD

and he will give you the desires of your heart. NIV
Ps 63:5
My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; NIV
John 10:10
I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
NIV
12
Matthew 11:28
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will
give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for
I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for
your souls.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who
comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in
any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
Psalm 55:22
Cast your cares on the Lord

and he will sustain you;
he will never let
the righteous be shaken.
Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plansI have for you, declares theLord,

plans to prosperyou and not to harm you, plans to give you
hope and a future.
Mark 11:22-24
Have faith in God, Jesus answered. Truly I tell you, if

anyone says to this mountain, Go, throw yourself into the
sea, and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what
13
they say will happen, it will be done for them. Therefore,

I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you
have received it, and it will be yours.
Psalm 34:17
The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers
them from all their troubles.
Philippians 4:6-7
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation,

by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your
requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends
all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in
Christ Jesus.
Phil 4:19
And my God will meet all your needs according to his

glorious riches in Christ Jesus. NIV
Now, after reading these scriptures, I am sure you would agree

that God promises some pretty amazing things. He promises a
full life, deliverance from trouble, peace that passes understand-
ing; He promises to give me what I pray for, rest from my weari-
ness, a satisfied soul; He promises to meet all my needs, and
wait for it He promises to give me the desires of my heart.
Now these are only a few promises that I plucked out of the Bible,
out of the thousands found in there. And you have to admit these
are really encouraging.
14
But, then I look at my life and I have to wonder, Uh, wait a minute.
Where is the full life God promised? Peace, I wouldnt even know
what a peaceful life looks like if it slapped me in the face. Ive got
trouble up the wazoo. When I pray, how come I dont get what I
ask for? I am stressed out of my skull, my soul feels empty and
unfulfilled, and Ive got plenty of personal needs that are not
being met that are making my life miserable. Lastly, I dont even
bother pursuing the desires of my heart because I gave up on
trying to get those fulfilled years ago.
Maybe its me, and I am the only one that thinks this is a big
problem. God has made all these amazing promises, but all Ive
got in my life is a whole lot of nothing. Now, some people would
tell me that the death of Jesus, the forgiveness of my sins and the
gift of eternal life, should be enough for me. And I must admit,
that is a good point. But, there is still a big, fat, ugly and stinky
800-pound gorilla sitting in front of my face that I cannot ignore.
And that is that God has made a lot of amazing promises and
very few of them are fulfilled in my life.
I know I am not alone. I know you, and millions of other people

who call themselves Christians, are lacking in the fulfilled prom-
ises department. Otherwise, people would be living radically dif-
ferent lives than they are currently living now, and they would
probably be 1000 times happier.
So, Im going to say it. Either God is a liar or something is prevent-

ing me from receiving the amazing rewards that come from Gods
amazing promises.
Now, I may be crazy, but I am not stupid. Im just not willing to

believe that the Creator of the universe would lie so blatantly. I
value my eternal life too much for that.
15
So, that means I have to explore the obvious possibility that

something is preventing me from experiencing the fulfillment of
all of those powerful, amazing and life changing promises, and
robbing me of an incredible life.
The Thief Comes to Steal Kill and Destroy
John 10:10
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have
come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
I dont know about you, but I dont like having my stuff stolen.
When I work really hard for something and then someone
thinks that they can just take it from me, it really gets my blood
boiling.
Now, imagine someone stealing your ability to experience the

greatest blessings that the universe has ever known. Imagine,
someone keeping you from experiencing the most amazing life
you could possibly ever know.
What Im here to tell you is that this is exactly what is happen-

ing our blessed life has been stolen right from under our noses.
Now, you are probably thinking, just as I was, that the devil is at
fault. After all, the scripture above is referring to the devils work.
But, we all know that the devil works through people, and worse
yet, is when the devil works through well intentioned people.
And, if you didnt know, some of the worst atrocities in history
were done at the hands of well-intentioned people, some who
even believed they were actually serving God.
16
I think you are starting to get what I have yet to outright say. And
that is that our modern Christian culture, designed, controlled,
maintained and managed by well-intentioned Christian people is
what is preventing us from experiencing the full and blessed life
that God has promised us in his word.
The problem with Christianity today is that well-intentioned

Christian people have created a culture that prevents God loving
Christians from experience the full blessings that God has prom-
ised us. And they have done this by taking Gods pure Biblical
principles and replacing them with their traditions, rules, expec-
tation, personal values, interpretations, opinions, doctrines etc.,
all, of course, out of good intention.
10 Signs that You or Your Church May Have Lost its Way
Here are 10 Signs that show if your Christianity is based on man-
made beliefs more than on Gods principles:
1. Your Christianity is dened only through a specic group

(i.e.church).
In other words, if you are part of a certain flavor of church, then

you define your Christianity based on the doctrines, beliefs,
traditions, expectations, interpretations, and opinions of your
specific group.
And, if other people dont follow the beliefs of your group,

then you dont consider them true Christians.
17
2. Your Church culture comes from the values, traditions,

beliefs and interpretations of a few people (mostly church
leaders) and if you dont agree with their values, tradi-
tions, beliefs and interpretations, then you are out of luck.
Whatever the values are of the people in charge, these become

the values of the entire church. Even if these values and opin-
ions are personal, they are still considered an expectation that
must be followed by everyone in the group. If you do not hold
to the church leaders values, you either have to begrudgingly
adapt to it, leave or get kicked out. All in the name of Jesus.
3. Your church culture is so strict and inexible that there

is very little room for creativity, diversity, acceptance and
imagination, or anything that is radically dierent from
the current values of the church.
Anything that is different or outside of the values and expec-

tations of the group is deemed unspiritual, ungodly, unneces-
sary or a waste of time. Personal opinions and preferences
must be subordinated to the church groups expectations.
4. If you are dierent, or express diering opinions, then

you are judged, criticized, condemned, gossiped about or
kicked out. Or, if you are tolerated, it feels even worse.
If you have different values and opinions that are not in line
with the values and expectations of the church group you are
in and you decide to stay in the church, you are criticized,
judged, condemned, gossiped about, labeledand after a
while, kicked out if you are considered weird enough.
18
5. Your church culture refuses to change even when members

beliefs and lives evolve. After a few years people eventually
feel their needs are being unmet and lose touch spiritually.
After years of being part of church group, your personal

values and beliefs begin to evolve. Since the group is designed
to only fit the specific set of values of a few people (I.e.: the
leaders), your personal growth eventually leads to conflict
with the church. If the conflict is not outward, it is projected
inward as you begin to feel the gnawing feeling that your
needs are not being met or the feeling that there is something
wrong with your Christianity.
6. Instead of helping you be the best you can be for God,

the church hinders you from reaching your full potential
because your full potential conicts with their beliefs and
values.
The church group and church leaders expect you to adapt

to their values instead of helping you fulfill your own per-
sonal values for God. So, if you dont become what the group
expects, then you are not supported, and even discouraged
and criticized, for trying to reach your full potential.
7. You dene your relationship with God based on following

your church rules, traditions and expectations, which are
impossible to consistently follow. This results in a constant
and gnawing feeling of guilt.
After a while, your relationship with God is based on following

all the rules, traditions, values, expectations, and opinions of
the group you are part of. Since these rules are impossible for
19
anyone to fulfill day in day out, you develop an overwhelming

sense of guilt and feeling that God is disappointed in you.
God and the church group become synonymous, so if you feel

the church or church leadership is disappointed in you, then
you begin to believe God is disappointed with you.
8. In the church group, you feel you must sacrice your free-
dom to follow Godbecause of the overwhelming amount
of rules the church says you need to follow to have a rela-
tionship with God.
Freedom becomes a lost or powerless word. Sure, you got

freedom from your sins when you became a Christian, but the
word is forgotten after years of living under the burdensome
requirements of the church culture. So, a relationship with
God is more associated with being the best church member
you can be, rather than the best person you can be for God.
9. The Bible is used to support the beliefs, values, traditions

and beliefs of the church group and church leaders, rather
than the church group and leaders adapting their beliefs
to the Bible.
To justify all of their values, traditions, rules, expectations,

etc., the church group and church leadership use the Bible
out of context to support their personal values and expecta-
tions. By using the Bible, it adds enough authority in helping
church leaders to demand that their personal interpretations
to be followed by everyone.
20
10. Young people view church as boring and dull.
The younger people in your church are bored, feel like church
is lame, specifically because of all the rules they feel like they
need to follow to have a relationship with God. If it was up
to them, they would not go to church or even be part of the
church.
I appreciate this one most of all because of how honest the

younger generation is. They dont have a problem saying the
truth when something is up. And if the church has fallen prey
to all the previous issues I mentioned, you can be guaranteed
that the younger generation are going to think Christianity
will be boring and lame.
A Global Problem
Now, you may be thinking, All churches and Christian groups
have these issues, or Those things are normal because you see
them in every church.
Now, the truth is, you are right. As a matter of fact, almost all
Christian groups are, in form, about 90 percent the same. So, it
makes sense that they would have similar problems. But, if almost
all Christian groups in the world have the problems I mentioned
previously, then that doesnt mean that this is normal, it means
that it is a really big problem for God. And it also means that it is
a big problem for those who desire to experience the amazing life
God promised us.
So a global problem means you can bet God has a big problem
with it too.
21
Now, its not like historically this is the first time Gods people have
been robbed of the truth by well-intentioned, Christian leaders.
Even in Jesus day, religious people robbed true God-loving people
from having a deeper and richer relationship with God.
Like Jesus said when he was talking to the Pharisees (the reli-
gious leaders of the day):
Mark 7:8-10
He replied, Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you

hypocrites; as it is written:
These people honor me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.
You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on
to human traditions.
And he continued, You have a fine way of setting aside the

commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!
Matthew 23:13
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you

hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in
peoples faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let
those enter who are trying to.
22
Luke 11:46
Jesus replied, And you experts in the law, woe to you,

because you load people down with burdens they can hardly
carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help
them.
Luke 11:52
Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away
the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and
you have hindered those who were entering.
Finally! A Solution
Now, why am I spending so much time describing the obvious
worldwide problems that have plagued Christianity for centuries?
If it was just someone elses issue, I wouldnt be so concerned.

But, not only is it my problem, but it is also my familys problem,
my friends problem, my neighbors problem, my fellow mans
problem, the worlds problem, and ultimately Gods problem.
This problem hits home like a punch in the face, so I cant ignore
it and neither can you.
What I am trying to say is that the consequences of living a false

Christianity are great because it creates a massive amount of
unnecessary suffering for me, others, and the world. By choos-
ing to live by this false Christianity our suffering becomes self-
inflicted, rendering us useless to God and useless to fulfill his
purpose in our lives.
23
Worst of all, God suffers having to watch his children suffer.

And the devil is just sitting on the sidelines, enjoying himself as
he watches God and the rest of us suffer unnecessarily. That by
itself is enough reason for me, you, and every Christian man and
woman to take action.
So, are you ready to take action?
If you are, then I want to begin to show you how to break free
from the bondage of traditional, powerless Christianity and show
you a new and better way. A way that I didnt invent, but which
God created when he first declared his love for us at our creation.
Now, I would like to take this moment to ask you to take a step
back to a time when you were first searching for the truth. Open
your heart and consider looking at Gods original plan directly
from his mouth, the Bible. And consider choosing a faith free from
man-made doctrines, opinion, tradition, rules, regulations, and
interpretation. And, instead, consider seeking a faith that brings
not only life, but joy, hope, fulfillment, peace, and excitement and
a deep, enduring, growing and fulfilling relationship with God.
24
CHAPTER 2
THE SOLUTIONPRINCIPLE
BASED CHRISTIANITY
Then you will know the truth,
and the truth will set you free.
~ John 8:32
I want you to take a minute to consider what your Christian

life would be like if you only had to live by two commands from the
Bible. The command to love God and the command to love people.
Then imagine that God gave you the discretion to determine how
you would love Him and how you would love other people.
Thats right. God is giving you carte blanche to decided how you
will express your love for Him and for others. Just as long as in
the end it benefits God and man.
What do you think your life would look like after living like this
for a while? How would you feel? What would be different? Would
your life be better or worse than it is now?
25
Well, what I have been itching to tell you these past few chap-
ters is that this is the life that God always intended for you. God
always intended that you would live your Christian life based on
a few simple but powerful principles and that he would give you
full responsibility to apply those principles how you see fitas
long as the result benefited God and man.
This is what I call Principle Based Christianity.
Principle Based Christianity

Principle-based Christianity is the idea that God designed us to
follow and obey simple but universal godly principles with the
express responsibility on how to fulfill those principles resting in
our hands and our hands alone.
Now, you may be asking yourself, How is this different from what
the Christian religion claims today?
You are wise in asking that question because the Christian world
claims to follow Gods principles. But in practice, what the
Christian world actually does is expect obedience to man-made
rules, traditions, values, and expectations that originate from a
church leader or group. And the outcome is rarely in line with
Gods intentions.
For me to explain further, lets discuss the difference between

principles, (specifically godly principles) and rules.
26
T H E S O L UT I O N P R I N C I P L E BAS E D CHRIS T IA NIT Y
What are Principles?

The dictionary describes a Principle as:
a fundamental, primary, or general law or truth from which

others are derived.
a fundamental source or basis of something.
In other words, a principle is the general foundation from which

something more specific is based on.
A good example is Love. Love is a principle that many specific

ideas are based on. Relationships, marriage, parenting, friendship,
brotherhood, compassion, etc. are all based on the principle of love.
Love is also a great example of a Godly principle. A Godly prin-

ciple is a general law or truth that more specific godly ideas are
based on and whose fulfillment results in outcomes that benefit
both God and man.
Now, a Rule, on the other hand is defined as:
A set of explicit or understood laws governing conduct within

a particular activity or sphere.
Rules, unlike principles, are specific, which mean they have limita-
tions because they apply only to a specific activity, person, place,
time, etc.
If Love is the principle, then making sure to attend the church

pot luck every third Sunday would be a rule. It is required, it gov-
erns your behavior and it is specific to a certain circumstance.
27
Even traditions fall into the category of unspoken rules.
Traditions are defined as:
The handing down of information, beliefs, and customs by

word of mouth or by example from one generation to another
without written instruction.
Cultural continuity in social attitudes, customs, and insti-
tutions.
There is probably no written rule where you are required to attend

the church pot luck every third Sunday. But if you dont, you can
bet the resulting social attitudes and customs displayed toward
you will not be very pleasant.
Characteristics of Godly Principles

Even more impactful, though, are Godly Principles. Godly princi-
ples are very distinct from rules or traditions, and they are much
more useful for Gods purposes.
Here are some basic characteristics of Godly principles:
Godly Principles are Universal.
One of the most powerful characteristics of godly principles is

that they are universal. This means that they can apply to anyone
and everyone. They are not limited by culture, opinion, race, gender,
social economic status, experience, age, history, etc.
Rules or traditions are not universal because they are too specific
to apply to everyone. What may work with one culture could have
28
the exact opposite effect on another culture. Or what works with

one gender may be inappropriate with another. Or what may
work in one situation may not work in another.
Godly Principles are Timeless.
Another unique criterion of Godly principles is that they are

timeless. This means that the same principle can apply today, or
2000 years ago, or even still apply 2000 years into the future.
A rule or tradition, on the other hand, may only apply to a certain

time or place and later become useless.
For example, love is a principle that was applied 2000 years ago,
yet, it is applicable today and can be applied 2000 years into the
future. But, the Biblical tradition of giving each other a holy
kiss (a traditional way of greeting one another in Jesus day)
may not be the most appropriate way to greet someone in our
modern time.
Godly Principles Love Diversity
One interesting aspect of Godly principles is that they are very

accepting and accommodating of peoples differences. In other
words, Godly principles are so general in nature that it can be
applied in a multitude of ways but still bring about a similar
outcome.
Take our example of Love again. If you show love by spending

time with a friend, and another person shows love by donating
to a cause, or I show love by texting my wife to tell her I love her,
the result is still the benefit toward God and man.
29
It makes a lot of sense that Godly principles would love diver-

sity. I mean, how else could God unite so many different people
of different backgrounds, cultures, experiences, opinions, social
economic statuses, beliefs, values, eras, etc. into one cohesive body
that would stay united regardless of the differences? Only by living
by godly principles that will accommodate and accept all those
unique and special differences, thats how.
Rules on the other hand are not very accommodating, accept-

ing or flexible. They set boundaries, by limiting what is accept-
able and what is not. Ultimately, this results in causing division
among different people with only those that fit within the rules
being accepted.
Have you ever wondered why Sunday morning is the most divided
time in America?
The Dierent Levels of Gods Principles

With God, not all principles are created equal. Some principles
serve different purposes. Some principles are required by God
while other principles are optional. Some principles are more
general and universal while others are more specific. But like a
cake that needs to be made by adding the correct ingredients in
a certain order, the order in which you apply Gods principles will
determine if you end up with a beautiful result or if you end up
with a real mess on your hands.
So, what is the correct understanding of when and how to prop-

erly apply Gods principles? Well, using scripture, I will attempt to
paint a picture for you that will describe Gods plan for mankind
very clearly. And I am confident that after you read through it,
30
you will agree that it not only makes sense, but by following it, it
will help us finally gain access to the abundant life God promised
us in Scripture.
Level 1Overarching Godly Principles and Fundamental Truths
Lets start by discussing the general, fundamental truths that all

of Christianity and creation is built on. Everything else is built
on these core truths, and without them there is no Christianity.
These are:
1. There is a God.
2. God created everything.
3. God wants to have a relationship with us.
What is interesting about these overarching fundamental truths

is that almost all people who call themselves Christians will fully
agree with the statements above. This is because these principles
are universal to all Christian Groups. What is also interesting is
that without the beliefs above, all of Christianity falls apart. You
cannot have Christianity without the foundational principles
above.
And, this is how you know if a principle is foundational. Take it

out, and everything else that is based on it falls to the ground.
So, because all Christianity is based on these principles, they are

required to be believed and followed by every Christian to have a
relationship with God.
Like the Hebrew writer said:
31
Hebrews 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because

anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and
that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Level 2Decision Based Godly Principles
Now, the next level of godly principles is derived from the first
fundamental truths. They are decision-based principles because
they demand a response to the fundamental truths. In other
words, if there is a God and he created everything and he wants
us to have a relationship with us, then we need to make a deci-
sion as to how we will respond. A decision to:
1. Love Godbecause he loves us and wants us to love him,

and to
2. Love Othersbecause God wants us to love others, the way
he loves others.
And, just like the previous fundamental truths, just about every
Christian in the world would agree this is expected of them. Even
Jesus said the entire law was summed up by fulfilling these two
commands:
Matthew 22:37-40
Jesus replied: Love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the
first and greatest commandment. And the second is like
it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the
Prophets hang on these two commandments.
32
As before, if these two principles were removed from Christianity,

Christianity would fall apart, proving again that these godly
principles are essential and required of every Christian to fulfill
all of Gods will.
Level 3Practical Godly Principles
The next level of principles is derived from the previous set of foun-
dational principles. These set of principles answer the question,
How? How does one Love God? And how does one Love others?
These set of principles, though a bit more specific, are still foun-
dational because it would be impossible to have Christianity
without them.
1. Love GodHow?
Having Faith, Worship, Prayer, Walk humbly with God.

Repentance of sin, Obedience, Commitment
Growing in Godliness, Godly Training, Transformation.
Obtaining Gods Forgiveness, Grace,Salvation, Eternal Life
2. Love OthersHow?
Living the Fruits of the SpiritLove, joy, peace, patience, kind-

ness, goodness, gentleness, self-control, compassion, humility,
forgiveness, wisdom, etc.
Serving one another.
Commitment to unity, and fellowship.
These godly principles give the answer to the question of how

we are to love God and love others. Though not exhaustive, they
33
do cover a large amount of what God expects from his people in

terms of loving God and loving others.
But are these required of every Christian? You bet they are.
According to our test to see if a godly principle is foundational
to Christianity, if we remove any of these principles, Christianity
ceases to exist. Or, more importantly, it would be impossible to
fulfill Gods will without them.
Level 4Personal Principles

Now we get into the principles that are at the heart of 99 percent
of the problems with Christianity today.
The claim that I am making in this book is that where the previ-
ous three levels of Godly principles are foundational, universal,
and therefore required of every person who calls themselves a
Christian, this next set of principles are not required, and there-
fore optional to every Christian.
This why I have labeled them personal principles. These prin-

ciples are based mostly on the personal convictions, values,
opinion and faith of an individual, but these principles are not
required by everyone.
The problems start when people, (usually well-intentioned church

leaders or church members), take these personal principles and
values, and make them a requirement for everyone in the orga-
nization. They believe in these principles so strongly that they
choose to believe that God requires them of everyone also. So,
they proceed to suggest, demand and expect everyone around
34
them to hold on to these personal principles or theyll declare

that you are not a Christian.
But as you will see, it is impossible for these personal principles

to be a requirement for all. Even worse, by making them require-
ments for all, it results in unnecessary division, suffering, guilt,
fruitlessness, and ultimately ruining of Christianity for everybody.
Lets look at some examples of different types of personal principles:
Personal Principles
Based on your own personal values

Based on your own interpretation
Based on your own perspective
Based on your own experiences
Based on your own specic lifestyle
Based on the avor of Church you have chosen to attend.
Based on history, opinion, personal experience, conviction of
an individual.
Common Religious Personal Principles:
Worshipping God with gospel music/modern pop music/with

instruments/without instruments.
Praying kneeling down/praying standing up/praying in the
shower/praying in your bed.
Repenting of sin by repeating a religious phrase over and over.
Reading the Bible everyday/every hour/reading at night/reading
during the day.
Going to seminary/going to Sunday school/reading spiritual
books/looking at spiritual videos.
35
Having a discipling partner/prayer partner/accountability part-

ner/no partner.
Going to church on Sunday morning, or going to church on
Saturday evening.
Meeting with an institution/meeting in a small group/meet-
ing with a large group/meeting alone.
Being at every church service/going once a week to church/
going once a month/going on Christmas and Easter.
Women wearing pants to church/wearing shorts to church/
wearing a Hawaiian shirt at church.
These are few examples of different ways some people choose to live
out their Christian faith. Actually, if I would have listed the multi-
tude of personal Christian principles found in different churches
today, it would have taken multiple volumes to list them all. But as
you can see from the diversity of ways of fulfilling Gods principles,
that if these diverse ways of loving God and loving people were
required, no one would be able to fulfill them all.
Not only that, personal principles are so specific to an individual

that there is no way to tell which are right and which are wrong.
This is especially true when these personal principles contradict
one another. One person who believes some of these traditions
would say they are right and everyone else is wrong. While the
other person that believes in the opposite beliefs, would believe
she is right while the first person is wrong. The ultimate result
would be that instead of creating unity, it would cause serious
problems, a bunch of unfruitful Christians and a lot of division
in all of Christianity.
Wait a minute. Thats right, I almost forgot. Serious problems,

unfruitful Christians and massive division is exactly what has
36
happened historically with Christianity, and which is still going

on with Christianity today. Even more proof why these diverse
personal principles cannot apply to everybody.
But the real test to see if these are required for every Christian is
to answer the question, If I remove one of these personal prin-
ciples will Christianity fall apart? For example, if I remove wear-
ing Hawaiian shirts to church from the list will Christianity fall
apart? Or how about choosing to go to church Saturday evening
instead of Sunday morningwould this prevent a person from
fulfilling Gods will?
The answer would be, of course it wouldnt, and neither would be

removing any other of the things on this list.
I do need to clarify, if the person that wears Hawaiian shirts

believes it is a requirement for his or her Christianity, then by
all means wear the Hawaiian shirt. But it would not be a require-
ment for everyone else because it is based on personal prefer-
ence. As Paul said:
Romans 14:1-5
Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling

over disputable matters. One persons faith allows them to
eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only
vegetables. The one who eats everything must not treat with
contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not
eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has
accepted them. Who are you to judge someone elses servant?
To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will
stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.
37
One person considers one day more sacred than another;

another considers every day alike. Each of them should be
fully convinced in their own mind.
Some peoples determined efforts to make their personal prin-

ciples the gospel for everyone else is what I believe to be the main
cause of the fall of true Christianity and the elevation of the false
gospel millions of Christians follow today.
What is interesting is that some of the personal values, ideas, and

traditions that some people claim to be essential to Christianity,
have actually been exposed to have come from pagan origins. In
the book, Pagan Christianity, the authors describe 13 different
Christian traditions that originated from pagan sources. These
are things you will find in the majority of churches around the
world that some would even claim are required in order to have
an adequate relationship with God. Everything from tithing,
preaching, song worship, what we wear to church, sermons, pas-
tors, having a church building, and more is put to the test and
revealed to come from pagan sources.
And, I guess since it comes from pagan sources, there is a good

chance it is not required by God for every Christian. Optional,
yes. Required, I dont think so.
The God Players

Now, some argue vigorously that Christianity would fall apart if a
certain personal value or another is not followed. They claim that
a person cannot be a Christian if they are a woman and they wear
pants to church, or if a person doesnt have an accountability
38
partner, or if a person doesnt read their Bible every day, or if a

person doesnt attend every church service, etc.
Regardless of their confident statements, it will still not negate

the fact that in the Bible there are plenty of examples of people
loving God and loving others without doing any of these things.
But these men and women are persistent. And if they are in a
leadership position of a church organization or Christian group,
you can be sure that their personal values and principles deter-
mine the principles and values of the entire church. They create
rules, traditions, doctrines, statements of faith, programs, etc.
to convey their personal principles as Gods gospel. And the con-
gregation justifies following along because in their mind if the
spiritual leader of the group says it is true, then they are con-
vinced that God must be speaking through them. That is until
years later, when their frustration reaches an all-time high, they
suddenly realize that following someone elses personal values
only resulted in losing access to the amazing and fulfilling life
God had in store for them.
But, taking Gods word and adding our own traditions to it has
historically only ended in misery and worthless worship (Mark
7). Yet, these God Players believe their values and opinions are
best, are right and are required of everyone in the world. A claim
that is supposed to only be made by the Almighty Creator of the
universe. Yet in their minds, there is no way their perception can
be wrong because their perception is realityagain a position
that is supposed to only be reserved to the one true God.
39
The One Degree Dierence

Now you may be thinking, Wait a minute. Youre saying that
just by making a little mistake, like making my personal values a
requirement for everybody, this has caused the downfall of true
Christianity. Dont you think that is a bit dramatic?
Well, did you know that an airplane that starts from New Yorks
JFK airport and sets its course to arrive at Los Angeles LAX air-
port, if it is off course by one degree, by the time it lands, it will
be 50 miles off course? In other words, that small error would
mean that it will never arrive at LAX.
This is exactly what has happened with Christianity historically

and continues to happen in churches that are as young as 30, 20
or even 10 years old.
These churches start with great intentions, with plans to bring

themselves and their people back to the pure Christianity of the
Bible. They start out with great fervor and excitement, and for
many years the church explodes in size as well as in personal
growth. Talk about living an exciting fulfilling life.
Fast forward 10, 20 or 30 years later, and the church has lost its
fervor, stuck in a routine, its not growing neither in size nor in
the lives of the individual congregants. Only 20 percent of the
church is doing all the work while the rest of the people warm the
pews on Sunday mornings.
What happened? The One Degree Difference. In other words,

what may just seem like a slight or even a small mistake can make
all the difference in the world. The size of the mistake doesnt
40
matter as much as the impact of the mistake. You would agree

that a mistake as small as where I put the decimal point on a
check I write will make a really big impact in my life.
So, what I am saying is that small errors can have a massive

catastrophic impact on the world. And this is exactly what hap-
pened with Christianity historically and what is happening
with Christianity today. When church leaders claim that their
personal principles, values, traditions or rules are from God, and
they then demand compliance to their rules and traditions from
their congregations, this is a problem.
Now multiply this situation times the amount of churches in the

world, and you begin to realize that it is not a small problem, it is
a spiritual pandemic.
Principle Based Christianity

So, then what is principle based Christianity? Principle Based
Christianity is when we choose to only live by the few, simple,
foundational and powerful principles that God has set out for us
and then have the freedom to choose how we fulfill those prin-
ciples in our lives.
Imagine that for a moment. Imagine that the only thing that you
are required to do in your Christian life is to Love God and Love
others and fulfill those two commands by practicing the rich and
deep principles God commands (such as the Fruit of the Spirit
of love, joy, peace, patience kindness goodness, etc.). And then,
imagine that how you choose to specifically fulfill those principles
is up to you and your imagination as long as the result was that it
benefited God and benefited mankind.
41
What kind of life do you think you would have if you lived this
way for the next year of your life? Or how about the next five
years? What kind of relationships do you think you would have?
What will your days be filled with? How happy do you think you
would be?
Can you now start to see how by living by godly principles and
ridding yourself of unnecessary man-made traditions and rules,
you will be able to get access to the rich rewards that God has
promised us and which Jesus died for? Can you now start to see
why this was Gods plan all along?
So, what does living a principle based Christian life look like on a
day to day basis?
Well, that is the subject of our next chapter.
42
CHAPTER 3
CHRISTIANITY FOR THE

Y O U N G AT H E A R T
And he said: Truly I tell you, unless you change
and become like little children, you will never
enter the kingdom of heaven.
~ Matthew 18:3
Now, you may be asking yourself the question, How does one
live by Gods principles? Or, more importantly, Without all those
Christian rules and traditions that I am so familiar with, whats
going to keep me from falling apart spiritually?
These are great questions, and now we come to the part in this
book where we learn what it truly means to live by principle based
Christianity day by day. We will also examine the benefits and
rewards that come from living our Christian life solely on Gods
pure and holy principles and not by man-made rules and traditions.
But, I do have to warn you, none of this will make any sense to
you unless you are willing to have the heart of a child. In other
43
words, unless you are open to new ideas and flexible enough to
do things differently, you will feel uncomfortable doing anything
different than what youve been doing.
But, like Jesus said
Mark 2:21-22
No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment.

Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old,
making the tear worse. And no one pours new wine into old
wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both
the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new
wine into new wineskins.
In other words, unless you are willing to put the old wineskin
away (meaning your old way of thinking), and put on a new wine-
skin, (by being open to a new way of thinking), none of what you
learn will be acceptable to you.
So, unless you want the same thing that happened to the
Pharisees to happen to you, or unless you want to continue living
the same guilt filled, burdensome and boring Christianityyou
may want to consider becoming like a child and opening yourself
to new possibilities.
44
Living by Gods Principles

So, what does it mean to live by Gods pure and holy principles?
Living by Gods principles means basing every decision we make on

Gods simple, but powerful principlesand then finding creative
ways to fulfill those principles practically in our lives, every day.
In other words, living by principle means that the practical way

you choose to live out Gods principles is not set in stone like
one of the ten commandments. But it is flexible, so you can do it
differently today, tomorrow and the next day.
So, you are no longer stuck in a rigid system full of rules you have
to strictly follow, but rather, you have the freedom to choose
how, when and where you will apply Gods principles in your life.
For example, lets start with the most fundamental of Gods

principles, which are the two greatest commandments in the
Bibleto love God and to love others.
Mark 12:29-31
One of the teachers of the law came and heard them

debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer,
he asked him, Of all the commandments, which is the most
important?
The most important one, answered Jesus, is this: Hear,

O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord
your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with
all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this:
45
Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment

greater than these.
Principle based Christianity means starting with Gods two great-

est principles in the Bible: to love God and to love others.
Practically, living by Gods principles would mean that I can start

my day by asking myself a few questions:
1. How can I show God my love today?

2. How can I show my love for others today?
These two questions by themselves opened a host of opportuni-

ties for me to fulfill the two greatest commandments in my life.
For example, to love God I could: read my Bible, spend time in

prayer, share my feelings with God, ask for forgiveness, write a
poem, sing a song, make jokes, write a book, dedicate a song, etc. I
think you get the picture. The options are endless, and God makes
them endless because in the end, every one of these options
would bring great benefit to God and others.
To fulfill the second greatest commandment to love others, the

opportunities are even greater. The one thing you will never run
out of in this world is the amount of people to help and ways to
help them. Therefore, some examples of ways that I could love
others could include: visiting a friend, being a listening ear, writ-
ing an encouraging text, helping someone move, sending my love
in a letter, sharing some encouraging words, helping someone
overcome an adversity, giving a donation, giving some friendly
advice, buying someone groceries, writing a book to encourage
the masses, writing an encouraging blog, doing a Bible study, etc.
46
Again, the list goes on and on with endless opportunities avail-

able to us to fulfill this godly principle in our lives, ultimately
bringing great benefit to God and man.
Christianity Simplied
So, I am now going to say the most controversial statement in
this entire book. And that is, this:
Dedicating my life to loving God and loving people daily,

will fulfill everything that God requires of me as a Christian.
Its a pretty bold statement, isnt it? And I wish I could take the credit
for it, but I cant. It belongs to the big man himself, Jesus Christ:
Matthew 22: 37-40
first and greatest commandment. 3And the second is like
Prophets hang on these two commandments.
The apostle Paul, also mentioned something similar:
Romans 13:8
Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing

debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has
fulfilled the law. The commandments, You shall not commit
adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You
shall not covet, and whatever other command there may be,
47
are summed up in this one command: Love your neighbor as

yourself. Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore, love
is the fulfillment of the law.
It sounds simplistic, but you know as well as I that loving God

and loving others are some of the most difficult things to do.
Yet, God not only gives us a lot of help, but He has also made it
abundantly fun for us by allowing us the freedom to choose how
we will fulfill these two great principles in our lives.
So, I can use all my strengths, gifts and abilities to be the best
me I can possibly be for God, and by doing so bring something
to this world that only I can bring. Because, only I can love God
like I do, and only I can love others like I do.
And the same applies to you. Instead of allowing someone else to

dictate how you will love God and love others, by following their
rules, traditions, expectations and the like, you can explore your
God given gifts to love God and others like no one else could.
And God, the church, society and the world will be a better place
because of it.
The best part is that we are not alone. God has also blessed count-
less others who bring their own special and unique flavor to the
world. I cant love God the way others do, but I love that I get to
watch them in action. And because they are different than me,
I can become a better me while watching them and millions of
others dedicate themselves to loving God and loving others in
their own special way.
Now, you may be thinking, Wait a minute! Wont that mean

that the Christianity will be a crazy religion with no order and
48
a bunch of chaos? Yes, it probably will. But I dont think that

we can be any more chaotic than the crazy church of the first
century. And I dont believe that our craziness will stop God
from still being in control.
Now, if you are a perfectionist, like me, these statements are

probably making your skin crawl, especially if you like things
done in a nice, orderly way and if you like everything in its proper
place. But I have news for you, God will never fit in the orderly
place you or I try to put Him in. He is just too big for that.
Like he once said:
Isaiah 55:8-9
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways,
declares the Lord.
As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
But dont worry. God has also given us an abundance of wisdom

to make sure that we dont go astray and do something crazy in
the name of loving God or loving others. The wisdom He provides
is the in the form of simple, yet powerful principles that we can
find in his Word. Principles that again, guarantee that the fruit I
produce brings benefit to God and man.
For example, consider the Fruit of the Spirit: Love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self-control, compas-
sion, consideration, humility and more. If I ever have a question
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on how to love God and love others, the Fruit of the Spirit will
just about guarantee that the way I do love God and love others
will consistently result in great benefit to God and man.
Think about it for a second. How far astray could I go if I made

every effort to fill my days with love, joy, peace, patience, kind-
ness, goodness, gentleness, self-control, compassion, humility
and more?
Even more, imagine what would happen if, every day, you treated
everyone you met according to the Fruit of the Spirit. Meaning
you continually conveyed, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, gentleness, self-control, compassion, consideration,
and humility to your spouse, your children, your neighbors, your
coworkers, your in-laws, your enemies, and more. What do you
think your life will turn out like? What do you think your life
would feel like? What kind of fruit do you think you would bear
to God? More importantly, do you think your life would bring
benefit to God or to men?
If the answer is yes to the questions above, then all I have to say
is, Nuff said. And if you cant see me right now, I just made a
gesture, dropping the mic.
Christianity Interrupted
Now, I wish that was all that had to be said. But you know as
well as I that some religious person or church leader, or elder of a
Christian community, will probably say, Well, what about Bible
study, or Sunday school, or the bake sale, or ushering at church,
or giving a tithe, or sharing your faith, or helping the poor, or
going door knocking, etc.? My answer to them would be, Yes,
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those are great too. If it floats your boat, then jump right on. But
if its not your thing, then find your own thing and use that to
bring glory to God.
But, unfortunately, you know as well as I that this is not the

intention of their question. What they are really trying to get
across is that they believe that the additional rules and traditions
must be followed in order to call yourself a Christian. In other
words, for them, just loving God and loving others is not enough.
You have to follow their rules.
It reminds me of a conversation Jesus had with a group of reli-

gious people during his day:
Mark 7:5-8
So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, Why

dont your disciples live according to the tradition of the
elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?
He replied, Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you

hypocrites; as it is written:
These people honor me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.
You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on
to human traditions.
And he continued, You have a fine way of setting aside the

commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!
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My answer to this type of dogmatic thinking is this book. Or,

better yet, I will simply just say, what our Lord Jesus said:
Matthew 22:29,37-40
Jesus replied, You are in error because you do not know the
Scriptures or the power of God
first and greatest commandment. And the second is like
Prophets [And all your Christian rules and traditions] hang
on these two commandments.
A Better Christianity
Now, I am not going to pull any punches. From what youve read
so far you can see that I believe that to truly follow God we are
only required by God to hold only to his greatest commands,
which are to love Him and love others. And to add traditions,
rules, programs, statements of faith, doctrines, interpreta-
tions, opinions, etc., and then to claim that these man-made
rules are required by God for every Christian, is to set aside
Gods intentions and to rob people of the amazing life God has
promised us.
But, please dont get me wrong. I am not saying traditions and

rules are wrong by themselves. We all have our own traditions
that make us happy, and we all have our own rules that we follow.
But when people, or an organization, or a religious leader claims
that everyone has to live according to his or her beliefs, values and
52
expectations in order to follow God, then it is absolutely wrong

and it is the main cause of the terrible state of Christianity today.
Again, I am not saying traditional Christianity is bad. I am only

saying that it is ineffective at what really counts. It is ineffective
at helping you, me and the millions of Christians in this world
to both love God and love others to our fullest potential and live
a life that is full of joy, peace, blessings, fulfillment, growth, and
impact that brings glory to God.
Its Time to Make a Decision

So now, its time to ask yourself some questions.
1. Do you want to make a greater impact in this world for God?

2. Do you want to experience the fulfillment of all the great
promises that God has given us, his childrenand do you
want to richly experience them both in this life and for
eternity?
3. Do you want to reach your full potential and be the best you
could possibly be for God?
4. Do you want to live a life full of joy, peace, fulfillment,
growth that inspires deep fulfilling relationships with
others, and that helps more and more people put their hope
and faith in God?
If the answer is yes to any of the questions above, you probably

already know that you are not going to get there by following
traditional Christianity. You have tried traditional Christianity,
and millions of others have tried it for thousands of years, yet
the outcome is the same. Namely, that traditional Christianity
just doesnt work.
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Now you can keep doing what you are doing and hope for a differ-
ent outcome. And if you didnt already know, this was Einsteins
definition of insanity. Or you can try something different. You
can try something that has the power to answer all the questions
above with a resounding yes and more. You can try something
that originated from the Almighty, loving Creator we call God,
and was proven to truly work because of the sacrifice His son
made on the cross.
I did not make up Principle Based Christianity, I just rediscovered

it when I made a choice to do things Gods way rather than mans
way. And I can attest that I have never been happier, I have never
been more at peace, I have never experienced the fulfilling life
that I have now in the last 20 years of my traditional Christian
life. But, by taking a vacation from traditional Christianity and by
attempting to only live by Gods pure and holy principles, I have
truly experienced the joy of seeing all of Gods precious promises
fulfilled in my life.
So are you ready to see God fulfill all his precious promises in
your life?
If you are, its time to take a vacation from doing things mans
way and try doing things Gods way from now on.
But remember, principle based Christianity only works for the

young at heart. The traditional, stick in the mud, rigid and ornery
people will never get it. So its time, like Jesus said, to take on the
heart of a child, become a learner once again so that you can truly
inherit all the blessings that come from being a child of God.
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CHAPTER 4
IN SEARCH OF GODS
PRINCIPLES IN THE BIBLE
These things happened to them as examples
and were written down as warnings for us,
on whom the culmination of the ages has come.
~ 1 Corinthians 10:11
I mentioned previously that God has given us abundant

wisdom that could help us to live out his will in its entirety. I was
speaking about the Word of God, the Bible. There is no greater
source for us to learn Gods holy and precious principles than in
his word.
But someone has to ask the 64,000 dollar question. If all these
other traditional Christian people have read the Bible and use the
Bible, how did they miss something as simple as the pure principle
based Christianity that we are talking about in this book? How
could they miss out on such a fulfilling way to live and exchange
it for such a routine, boring and vain religious existence?
55
I will answer this question more in the next chapter, but before
we do, consider that the Pharisees and religious leaders during
Jesus day were ten times more religious than people are today,
and they completely missed it. As a matter of fact, this scripture
was written specifically about them:
Matthew 21:42
Jesus said to them, Have you never read in the Scriptures:

The stone the builders rejected has become the
cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in
our eyes?
Therefore, just because a person is religious, or a person is a

church leader, or even a Bible scholar, it means nothing if they
are not living by Gods will. And when you replace Gods will with
rules and traditions, interpretations and expectations, and claim
they are from God, then the chances that you will miss Gods will
increases dramatically. More importantly, your religion will not
save you on the day of judgment. Like Jesus said:
Matthew 7:21-23
Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the
kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my
Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day,
Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your
name drive out demons and in your name perform many
miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, I never knew you.
Away from me, you evildoers!
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I N S E AR C H O F GO DS P R I N C I P L E S I N T HE BIBL E
So, the ability to read the Bible and identify Gods pure and holy
principles so that we can apply them to our daily lives is essen-
tial. And being humble enough to accept our limitations, by only
applying what we learn to ourselves, will keep us from falling
into the trap that the Pharisees and many other religious people
continue to fall into.
Reading the Bible in Search of Gods Principles

First, we must start by establishing certain guidelines that will
help us to avoid a lot of the pitfalls and mistakes made by so
many, and which will keep us on track to discovering Gods true
principles and applying it to our lives.
1. In order to discover Gods universal will for me, I must look

for principles and not rules.
Many times, the Bible is referred to as an instruction manual.

Unfortunately, it is a misguided metaphor. Consider for a second
that you found an instruction manual for a computer that was
created in the 1960s. How useful would it be to help you to deal
with the problems you are having with your computer today? Not
very useful, is it?
Similarly, with the Bible, if we search for practical instructions

that we can apply to our lives, we will end up finding all the
advice we need for living the life of a person that lived anywhere
between 20004000 years ago.
What I mean is that, if we go to the Bible looking for instruction,

we will get it. But it will be instruction made to a certain group
of people at a certain time for a certain purpose. If we try to
57
apply that instruction to our lives today, we would run into some
major issues, as well as create a very difficult way of expressing
our Christianity.
For example, here are few references to some outdated customs

that some religious groups have claimed that everyone is required
to apply today:
1. Worshipping the Sabbath (as the Jews did in the Old

Testament).
2. Giving one another a holy kiss.
3. Women must never speak in church.
4. Women must keep their heads covered at all times.
5. Women must never wear jewelry.
Now, if you were offended because I said that the customs above
were outdated, please accept my apology. Remember, it is only
my opinion. If you feel these customs are your way of fulfilling
the will of God, then by all means, go for itlive them out to the
fullest. But, you must remember, that this is your personal belief
that you must keep it between yourself and God (Romans 14).
And because it is personal, the only person required to follow it,
is you.
On the other hand, if instead of instruction, we look in the Bible

for universal and timeless, godly principles, we will be able to
apply them today, just as they did thousands of years ago.
For example, the following list of foundational principles were

practiced by the first century church and can be applied just as
diligently today:
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Love God
Faith, Worship, Prayer, Walk humbly with God.

Repentance, Obedience, Commitment
Growth, Godly Training, Transformation.
Forgiveness, Grace,Salvation, Eternal Life
Love Others
Fruits of the SpiritLove, joy, peace, patience, kindness,

goodness, gentleness, self-control, compassion, humility, for-
giveness, wisdom, etc.
Serving one another.
Unity, fellowship.
Now this is not an exhaustive list, but these are some giants
that you will probably find in almost every story in the Bible.
The good part is that having great Bible study will uncover even
more amazing principles that will help us to continually live a life
pleasing to God.
2. In order to stay in line with Gods will, what you learn must
be supported by all of Gods fundamental principles.
This sounds obvious, but from the results the religious world gets,
the only obvious thing is that Gods will is not always obvious.
What I mean is that, if you learn something in the Bible, then

it should be supported by Gods main fundamental principles to
Love God, Love others, and fulfill the Fruit of the Spirit, to name
a few.
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For example, historically the Bible has been used to commit some
of the most horrific atrocities and unfair treatment of people the
world has ever known. And many of the leaders who were com-
mitting those atrocities quoted scripture to justify their actions.
Now, if the people who were listening to their nonsense were to

check if these false teachings were in alignment with the other
fundamental principles in the Bible, then their lies would have
been easily discovered. The wolf in sheeps clothing would have
been clearly exposed and shut down.
I mean, how could these false teachers ever justify that what they
were doing would be in line with the Fruit of the Spirit of love,
joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self-control,
compassion and humility?
But, if the followers of these charismatic deceivers were more

committed to following a bunch of religious rules and traditions,
then seeing through their leaders lies would be almost impos-
sible. Which is exactly what the past 2000 years of religious his-
tory has taught us.
3. The ultimate application of a godly principle must be to

bring benet to God and man.
If you learn something from the Bible and you want to apply it
in your life, the goal of applying the scriptures must always be to
bring benefit to God and man.
Sure, you can just use it for your benefit, but you are no longer
living life as Jesus would. And, there was no one more dedicated
to bringing benefit to God and man as Jesus was. And if we are
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going to call ourselves Christians, we are bound to live similarly

to our Lord in heart and principle:
As the Bible says:
1 John 2: 5-6
But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made
complete in them. This is how we know we are in him:
Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.
Again, the pure motivation of living to benefit God and man, will
keep us from going astray and will guide us in using Gods word in
a way that would always be in alignment with his will. Like a train
heading down the right track, these principles will keep us on a
straight course until we ultimately reach our spiritual destina-
tion and celebrate with God in heaven.
Now, I am not saying you should not benefit from applying

Gods principles. This is ultimately what he created them for. He
intended for all his children to receive all the blessings that come
from applying his principles in our lives.
But, like Paul said, we cannot just use his principles to serve our-
selves only, but to also bring God glory and to help the rest of His
children.
Philippians 2: 14
Therefore, if you have any encouragement from being united

with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common
sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then
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make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same

love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of
selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value
others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests
but each of you to the interests of the others.
An Example to Follow
So, I want to take this time to take a few passages of scripture
and go through an exercise to show how to identify Gods pure
and holy principles in scripture, which we can then apply to our
lives and bring God even more glory.
We will start with a passage of Scripture and then we are going to

simply ask the following four questions:
1. What principle is this an example of?

2. How can I apply this principle in my life?
3. How will God, others, and I benefit from me applying this
principle to my life?
4. How will I apply this principle in my life today?
Now lets take a famous but simple story from the life of Jesus:
Mark 1:40-41
A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his

knees, If you are willing, you can make me clean.
Jesus, full of compassion, reached out his hand and touched

the man. I am willing, he said. Be clean! Immediately the
leprosy left him and he was cleansed.
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Now, lets start by asking our first question:
1. What principle is this an example of?
Now, from my previous list of Gods fundamental principles, this

is a great example of loving others.
More specifically, in terms of loving others, this is a great example

of the principle of showing compassion to others in need.
Some people have expressed the idea that Jesus really didnt need
to touch this Leper to heal him. But, maybe Jesus just put himself
in this mans shoes and imagined what it would be like to finally
feel the touch of another human being after being separated
from society for so long (lepers were outcasts that were generally
separated from normal society).
Or, maybe Jesus felt this mans pain of having to be in constant

physical pain and distress from living with such a life altering
disease such as leprosy.
If you put yourselves in this mans shoes, can you imagine the
pain he endured? What would it feel like to finally be set free
from your pain and agony by the touch of Jesus?
And if you were Jesus, what would motivate you to help this
man? And what would you feel knowing that you had the power
to free him from his illness?
This is also a great example of the other Fruits of the Spirit includ-
ing: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness,
humility, consideration and more.
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The next question is intended to now take the principles that we

saw Jesus live out with his interaction with this man and con-
sider how we can apply it to our life.
This story can be a great metaphor for the daily events that we
face. What I mean is, lets take the man in need for example. Is
there anyone in need that we know of in our life today? Maybe
a friend, a relative, a neighbor, coworker, homeless man on the
street, or poor person halfway around the world?
How can you express your compassion for that person? What
would it be like to be this person and live in this persons shoes
for a while? What kind of pain are they in? What do they have
cope with day in and day out of their lives?
And the next question this leads to is how can you reach out and
help this person? Obviously, you cannot directly heal this person
like Jesus did. But can you help them in your own special way?
Can you do something as simple as sending an encouraging text
or calling them and being a listening ear? Or can you provide sup-
port in terms of food, clothing, or shelter? Can you provide works
of service like helping them move or support by being there for
them while they face their challenge? Or maybe somebody just
needs you to pray for them.
Let your mind think for a bit and list different ways you can help
these people in need in your life.
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3. How will God, others, and myself benet from me applying

this scripture?
Lets think through this for a moment. How will God benefit
from expressing compassion to these different people in my life?
God can benefit in many ways. The person you help is Gods child
and God will be encouraged by the love you show in helping your
brother or sister. Or, by helping this other person, they would
be in less pain and that would encourage God because no parent
enjoys watching their child suffer (John 11). The person you help
will be moved by the gesture, which will inspire love in them to
share with you and others, spreading even more love and more
God in the world. And, of course, this person will be so grateful
that it is a great opportunity to share with them how you were
able to comfort them because God comforted you (2Cor 1), lead-
ing them to consider putting their hope and trust in God.
Others will obviously benefit because of the help they receive,

the pain they can avoid, and the great friendship they can build
with you. Bringing this kind of unconditional love to others will
inspire them to love more, which will bring greater blessings in
their life. And, if they choose, they can also learn from you about
God and participate in the incredible life God promises all his
children.
Lastly, we can benefit by having our hearts softened even more,

especially when we experience the gratitude and love others
will share with us for helping them. God will be pleased with us,
which as Christians we greatly look forward to, and we will grow
even more in our motivation to love God and help others.
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This last question is designed to help us take action right away.

How can I apply this principle of compassion and love today?
Well, remember our list of people and the ways we can encourage
them? Take the list out, choose the simplest and easiest one to do
and do it right now.
How does it feel having shown someone compassion, like Jesus

showed compassion to the Leper? You probably feel really good,
right? This is probably what Jesus felt, which as a Christian is the
greatest feeling ever.
How was that exercise? Hopefully, it encouraged you. And if you

are ready for another example, lets dig into another popular story
that we find in the gospels. The calming of the storm by Jesus.
Mark 4: 3541
That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, Let

us go over to the other side. Leaving the crowd behind,
they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were
also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the
waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.
Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples
woke him and said to him, Teacher, dont you care if we
drown?
He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, Quiet!
Be still! Then the wind died down and it was completely
calm.
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He said to his disciples, Why are you so afraid? Do you still

have no faith?
They were terrified and asked each other, Who is this? Even
the wind and the waves obey him!
After reading this passage of scripture, lets consider the first

question:
1.What principle is this an example of?
Since this is a big story, there are many principles we can glean
from this scripture. But, I want to focus on one, the principle of
loving God by having faith.
So what principle is this an example of? It is the principle of

having faith in God, even in difficult circumstances.
Now, take a moment and put yourself in the disciples shoes.

They had only spent a little bit of time with Jesus and they were
in a boat, in a torrential storm, in the middle of the sea. They
were fishermen, so they heard the stories or even met the fami-
lies of people who had drowned in big storms like these. They
were probably warned as fishermen that the number one rule of
fishing was to never be caught out in a storm.
They knew Jesus had super powers because they saw him do mir-
acles. But where was Jesus? He was taking a nap. Imagine, asking
yourself and the other crew, Hey, shouldnt somebody wake him
up? He probably doesnt know theres a storm. And if he knew there
was a storm, then I know he would be taking this situation as seri-
ously as we are. Doesnt he know that without him were doomed?
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Then the bravest of us, after drawing straws, wakes up Jesus, and
says, Hey, Jesus, we need your help, theres a storm and were
about to drown! Could you help us out and do a miracle or two?
Jesus, looks at you, then looks at the storm and looks at you
again and sighs. Then he goes to the front of the boat, tells the
sky to be quiet, and goes back to his spot to go back to sleep. But
before he does, he looks at you and says, Really? Why did you
wake me up? What, did you really think that God was going to let
you drown? Dont you have enough faith yet to finally realize that
God loves you too much to let that happen?
Then he goes back to sleep.
You sit there looking at your fishing buddies, scratching your

head and wondering what just happened. And then you realize,
Did he just tell the sky to shut up and it actually did?
So, what is this passage a great example of? Well, youre not a
fisherman and you are not in a boat in a storm. But isnt it a great
metaphor for having faith during the storms you sometimes face
in your life?
Think about the kind of storms you face in your life. You know,
the kind of storms that sometimes make you feel like youre
going to drown. Maybe its paying the bills when you know there
are a lot more bills than money. Or, maybe is a conflict you had
with your spouse that you dont think you can resolve. Or, maybe
it was a project at work that didnt go as well as you liked and
your boss or your coworkers are upset at you. Or, it could be that
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someone at your church, or your neighbor, offended you and you

feel really hurt by it.
You want to worry, you want to be scared, you want to react in a

not so Christ-like way. You dont feel like God is watching, or if he
is watching, he is not doing anything about it because you prayed
and nothing has gotten any better. You start to think, Does God
really love me? or, Does God really care about me? or, Does God
even take the time to think about me at all?
Then Jesus says, have faith in the love God has for you. God truly
loves you so much that he would even let his son die on the cross
for you to save you. If he was willing to do that, dont you think
he cares about your current situation too? As the Bible says:
Romans 8:3132
What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God

is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his
own Son, but gave him up for us allhow will he not also,
along with him, graciously give us all things?
Matthew 10:29-31
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them
will fall to the ground outside your Fathers care. And even
the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So dont be
afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
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Matthew 6:31-33
So do not worry, saying, What shall we eat? or What shall

we drink? or What shall we wear? For the pagans run after
all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you
need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness,
and all these things will be given to you as well.
Hebrews 12:7, 11
Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as

his children No discipline seems pleasant at the time,
but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of
righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
So, how can I apply this principle of having faith in my life? Well,
when difficult times come, I can choose to trust that God loves
me and he sees what I am going through. And I can put my hope
in believing that he will help me if he chooses. But, I will do my
best to continue to love Him and love others, and practice the
fruit of the spirit of showing love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, gentleness, self-control, compassion, humility, consid-
eration and wisdom.
If God helps me resolve the situation, great. But, even if He

doesnt, He has already helped me by showing me the principles
I need to follow that will bring the most blessing. If the situation
does not get resolved that is fine too because I can learn from
the situation and use it as an opportunity to persevere, become
stronger, and become even more like Jesus.
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3. How will God, and others and I benet from me applying this
scripture?
God benefits greatly when we choose to have faith in him versus

choosing to follow the world. The world will see your faithful
example and put their faith in God also. The great blessings that
come from your faithful response will bring God glory because
you will bring attention to Him by your example. God will also be
encouraged that you trusted in his love for you.
Others will benefit from your example, and it will give them cour-
age to trust in Gods love also.
You will benefit greatly because your faith in Gods love will grow
after the storm is over, because you will be standing firm with
your arms full of the blessings that come from having perse-
vered. As your faith grows, your motivation grows to trust God
even more. Your compassion for others will also grow because
by going through suffering yourself, you will feel compassion for
the suffering of others and that will motivate you to help even
more people.
Ask yourself, What storms am I going through in my life right

now? Then ask yourself, What would be a faithful response that
will show God that I trust his love for me?
Hopefully, you will have identified some responses that will show
God your faith in Him. If not, just look at the list of the Fruit of
the Spirit and I guarantee you that one of them will apply.
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Now practice those Godly principles, right now, and hold on to

God as tight as you can until the storm passes.
So, those were a few examples of how to dig into Gods word to
find great examples of people that Gods principles into practice
in their life. The good thing is that there are so many more great
examples of people that love God and love each other in the Bible,
that you will have all the inspiration you need to live by Gods
pure principles in your life every day.
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CHAPTER 5
OVERCOMING THE OBSTACLES
In this world you will have trouble.

But take heart!
I have overcome the world.
~ John 16:33
To make the choice to devote yourself to living by Gods pure

and perfect principles is an amazing step in your life. Not only
will it give you the refreshing freedom that God promised us, but
the amazing blessings he promises us will start showing up in
your life. You will experience so much more love, more joy, more
peace, more fulfillment, and so many blessings that it will make
you forget your former boring, religious existence.
But, I can tell you now, that when you to make this change in
your life it will make the devil take notice. To go from a powerless
religious existence and then to begin to express Gods power in
your life means that you will be a threat to the powerful religious
empire he has built in this world.
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This is not to scare you, but to prepare you for the host of obsta-
cles that the devil will try to put in your way to prevent you from
purely loving God and loving others.
But dont fret, as the Bible says:
2 Thessalonians 3:3
But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and

protect you from the evil one.
1 Corinthians 10:13
No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to

mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted
beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will
also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
James 1:2-4
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you

face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing
of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance
finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not
lacking anything.
Now, lets start by talking about the biggest obstacles that will
try to prevent you from living your life by Gods principles, so
that you can be ready to resist the devil and experience the true
Christian life as God intended.
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O V E R C O M I N G T H E O BS TAC LE S
Fear
By far, the greatest obstacle that drives us farther and farther away
from God is our fear. This is because fear is based on self-preserva-
tion, which is the act of choosing to protect ones self, either physi-
cally or emotionally before loving God and loving others. In other
words, fear is based on selfishness, which is the exact opposite of
love, which is based on self-sacrifice. And because of this, fear will
always be in opposition to God. As the Bible says:
1 John 4:16,18
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in

them There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out
fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who
fears is not made perfect in love.
Now, fear manifests in different ways. But, the most prevalent

ways fear manifests itself in the world today is in the form of
what I call the Five Greatest Human Fears.
The Five Greatest Human Fears

The five greatest human fears are the fears that drive almost all
human behavior. They are the most fundamental deep-rooted
fears, which are the foundation of most of our beliefs, perspec-
tives, motivations and choices.
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Here is a list of the five most common human fears that we spend
most of our life trying to avoid:
1. InsecurityInsecurity manifests itself in feeling unsafe,

feeling vulnerable or feeling like we are in danger. This is gen-
erally seen by many as the greatest fear and most unbearable
feeling that anyone could ever experience.
2. InsignicanceThe feeling of insignificance manifests

itself in feelings of worthlessness, feeling useless, and feel-
ing powerless.
3. Lack of Love and Feeling DisconnectedFeeling unloved

or disconnected also manifests itself as feeling unappreci-
ated, feeling rejected, feeling lonely, and feeling dislike/
hatred from others.
4. Feeling Trapped or ControlledThe lack of freedom we

feel also manifests itself as feeling trapped, feeling stuck,
feeling limited, feeling stifled, or feeling controlled.
5. Boredom and RoutineFeeling boredom also manifests

itself as feeling stuck, feeling like you are in a rut, or repeat-
ing the same boring routine.
Now, we have all experienced one or another of these fears in

our lives. But there is usually one that we fear more than all the
others. And this great fear we carry around in us, is the main
motivation that drives many of our life choices.
See if you can identify what your greatest human fear is out of
the previous list. If you reflect on most of the choices youve
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made in your life, you probably wont be surprised to see that it

was driven by your need to avoid one of the feelings on this list.
Fear vs. Godliness

Fear becomes a big obstacle to following God, especially when
God wants us to do something that makes us face our greatest
fear. So, if you are considering committing yourself to living by
Gods principles, you can be sure that your greatest fear will be
used to prevent you from serving God wholeheartedly now.
For example, if you desperately hate feeling insecure or feel-

ing unsafe, and you try to live a life based on principle based
Christianity, you can be guaranteed that you will face opposition.
The opposition will probably come in the form of a church leader
telling you to get in line or else you will be asked to leave the
church. And if security is desperately important to you, you can
be sure that you will most likely just do what they say, in order to
avoid feeling insecure or unsafe.
Even worse is if the church leader tells you that if you leave their
church, you are leaving God. Because this completely pulls the
spiritual safety rug out from under you. Also, you can be sure
that rocking the boat, even if God wanted you to, will be the fur-
thest thing from your mind.
Why do you think so many God loving people are stuck in a

zombie like powerless religious life? Because they know that if
they were to step out and do what they know is right, it will cause
conflict with their church group, which will ultimately cause their
security in the group to evaporate very quickly. This, of course,
becomes something they just cannot bear.
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Another example is the person that really desires love and con-
nection. This person is so afraid of being rejected, feeling unloved,
or feeling lonely that if put to the test between choosing God or
all their relationships in a powerless religion, most people will
just choose their religion.
Even Jesus knew that this will be a test for most people when he
said:
Matthew 10:3439
Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the

earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have
come to turn
a man against his father,

a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law
a mans enemies will be the members of his own household.
Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is

not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter
more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take up
their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds
their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake
will find it.
A third example is the person that is so terrified of feeling

insignificant, useless, or worthless that they use the church as
an outlet to make themselves feel useful. Everything from bake
sales, to ushering, to serving in the childrens classes, teaching
Sunday school or even being a pastor or a deacon, gives them fuel
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to avoid their feelings of insignificance. If put to the test, the fear

of feeling worthless or useless is so great that choosing obedi-
ence to God over man-made religion will again, be impossible for
them. Especially if it means losing the position that brings them
so much significance.
Now, I am not saying that you will be asked by your church to

leave if you began practicing principle based Christianity. Im
sure that many churches out there would be very accepting of
your efforts at growing closer to God by living by Gods principles
instead of tradition.
But the truth is, there will probably be many churches that will
not be as accepting, which means your commitment to the truth
will be put to the test. Just remember, even Jesus was put to the
test by religious people when his devotion to following God went
against their established tradition.
Overcoming Your Fear

So, what can you do to overcome your fear so that you can be
courageous enough to live your life freely serving God, even if it
means conflict with your established church or religion?
Paul had the best answer when he said:
Mark 4:40
He [Jesus] said to his disciples, Why are you so afraid? Do

you still have no faith?
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The truth is that we feel these fears because deep in our hearts
we do not truly believe that God has our best interest in mind.
We may believe it in our minds, but we dont really believe it in
our hearts.
Here is a good test to see if you truly trust Gods love for you:
Take a minute to imagine what would happen if your worst fear
came true. Think the thoughts, and feel the feelings of this situ-
ation being real. Now think about God as you are going through
this ordeal. If you cannot get rid of your panic and worry, there
is a good chance you really dont believe God is powerful enough
to help you or that he really does have your best interest in mind.
But youre not alone. Just ask the apostles who were on the boat
with Jesus when the huge storm came up.
So if you feel fearful of not feeling safe and secure, fearful of

feeling insignificant, fearful of not being loved, fearful of being
trapped or controlled or fearful of being bored and stuck, its
because you heart does not believe the truth. And the truth is
that God has already abundantly given you all the security, sig-
nificance, love, freedom and variety in your life. And hes given so
much of it, in fact, that you will never be without these things in
your life ever again.
Consider this: if feeling loved is important to you, how much does

God love you? How much will God love you? When will God ever
stop loving you? Even in your worst moment, will God stop loving
you? Can anyone in the world say they will love you this much?
Or, if significance is important to you, how significant are you to

God? How much are you worth to God if he was willing to let his
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son die for you? How useful are you to God in his grand purpose?
Is there anybody or anything in this world that could ever make
you feel more significant than God thinks you are?
Or if your greatest emotional need is security or safety, if you put

what is most important to you (your soul), in Gods hands, can
anyone take it away from Him? Can anyone stop or overthrow
God and take your soul out of his hand? Is there anyone more
dependable than God to protect what is most important to you?
The truth of the matter is, the reason we have such fears is that in
our hearts we have chosen to get our emotional needs met from
the world. So, it puts us in a constant state of fear because the
world is so blatantly unreliable. Think about it. If you depend on
people, they will fail you. If you depend on yourself, you will fail
also. If you depend on anything in this world, it will eventually
break down and something will go wrong.
Like Jesus said:
Matthew 6:19-21
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where

moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and
steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where
moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not
break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your
heart will be also.
Only when we truly believe in our hearts that God is the only source
of getting our deep emotional needs met, will our fear disappear
and then we will be free to love and serve him wholeheartedly.
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Like Jeremiah said:
Jeremiah 17:7-8
But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,

whose confidence is in him.
They will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.
Sometimes, it just takes us destroying those lies that our hearts

chose to believe years ago, to remove our fear. And that can be
done by just exposing those lies for what they are and making
them obedient to Christ. Like Paul said:
2 Corinthians 10:5
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself

up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every
thought to make it obedient to Christ.
Here are some great questions to ask yourself whenever those

fears pop up in your mind and heart:
1. Is that really true? Why not (list all the reasons God says
this is not true and the reasons why you know that the
belief is not true).
2. What is really true? (think about what God says is true and
what you know to be true)
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3. Why is this true? (list all the reasons God says this new
godly belief is true and list the reasons why you know this
new belief is true).
4. What will you choose to be true from now on? (Choose a
new godly belief to replace the old lie).
Now this little exercise may not change the world, but it is a step
to begin eliminating all the fears that may be preventing you
from experiencing the amazing life God has promised you.
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CHAPTER 6
PRIDE AND CONTROL
Pride goes before destruction,

a haughty spirit before a fall.
~ Proverbs 16:18
Now, you cannot talk about traditional religion and its his-
torically epic failures without bringing up the double-headed
monster of pride and control.
I define pride as believing that your perception, and your way of

seeing the world, is reality. Why is this pride? Because only God
can do that. Only God can look at the world and say thats the
way it is. The rest of us must accept our limitations and accept
that we really dont know what we know. And, also accept the fact
that we definitely dont know what we dont know.
We are so limited as human beings that the last people we should

ever trust is ourselves.
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But, when a person decides that they have the answer, and their
way of seeing the world is absolutely true and right, then run for
the hills as fast as you can.
We have all encountered people like this. We have even been these
people ourselves. We believe that what we know is the truth, and
that it is a better truth than what everyone else has. Sometimes
we even scoff at what others believe because we believe that our
way of seeing things and doing things is so much better.
But the warnings of the Bible ring loudly when we decide to give
into our pride:
Proverbs 12:15
The way of fools seems right to them, but the wise listen to
advice.
Proverbs 14:12
There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads

to death.
Proverbs 26:12
Do you see a person wise in their own eyes? There is more

hope for a fool than for them.
Proverbs 28:26
Those who trust in themselves are fools, but those who walk
in wisdom are kept safe.
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P R I DE AN D C O N T R O L
This will be by far the biggest obstacle you will face in your efforts
at following Gods pure and holy principles. As a matter of fact, I
would say that this is by far the biggest cause of the downfall of
traditional Christian religion historically and today.
That is, when one man or woman decides that their belief, values,
opinions, traditions, rules, interpretation, etc. is right and what
everyone else thinks is wrong. They not only believe they are
right, but they also believe that everyone else needs to believe
the way they believe and live similar lives as they do. They cannot
see or accept how other peoples different beliefs can be just as
valid as theirs because in their mind there is only one truth,
their own.
If they are a church leader, then the way they interpret the scrip-
tures or whatever rules and traditions they believe are important
become the standard for the entire group. Even if their ideas
go against the Bible, in their minds, it is the right way and God
forbid anyone who ever tries to disagree with them.
Not only that, these people will prey on peoples fears and control
their congregation by threating them with all the negative feel-
ings the members long to avoid. If a congregant values security
and they get out of line, the religious leader threatens them with
expulsion from the church. They even tell the person that by not
being part of the body of Christ, the church, they will not be con-
nected with the head, Jesus Christ. This threat, of course, quickly
gets the congregant back in line.
Or if the church member values feeling loved and connected,

the religious leader threatens the person with criticisms, judg-
ments, rejection and avoidance. They will even tell them that if
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they dont get back in line, they are no longer welcome in church,
thereby separating them from all their relationships in church.
This has the desired effect, and the church member quickly gets
back in line.
If significance is important to a person, the main church leaders

may threaten to relieve the church member of their duties as a
worship leader, bake sale coordinator, deacon, head usher, etc.
This is so effective that the person never gets out of line again.
What is most sad is that many of these religious leaders do all of

this with the best of intentions. Many of them wholeheartedly
believe they are doing a service to God by acting this way and by
dogmatically force feeding their beliefs onto others that let them.
But does their good intention justify their hurtful behavior? Of
course not. I mean, didnt the Pharisees also end up crucifying
Jesus in Gods name?
So, how do you handle a situation where people may try to control
you and prevent you from living your life solely based on Gods
principles? I will be honest here, it will not be easy. You will need
a lot of courage and you will need to really trust in Gods love if
you are to stand up to these people. It may mean that you look for
another church that is more accepting of what you believe. Or, it
may mean you patiently endure the nonsense until it eventually
passes.
But, the one thing you can be sure of is that no matter what
people say or do, they will never stop God from loving you, pro-
tecting you, believing in you, or blessing you. And if you lose your
church, you still have God, and I think thats enough to get you
through.
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Our Need for Control

The other type of control comes from within. This is our need
to control our environment so that we can feel more secure. In
other words, we want the rules and traditions that traditional
institutional Christianity provides because it makes us feel like
we have some semblance of control over our lives.
Now, again, there is nothing wrong in setting up rules and tradi-

tions to help you live out your Christian life. At different stages
of our Christian walk, it benefits us greatly to have boundaries
and guidelines to keep us on the straight and narrow path. But
we need to be careful that we do not confuse our guidelines with
what is actually required of us from God.
For example, you could set up a guideline for yourself to read your
Bible every day. A great guideline, I might add, that I am sure
can benefit your life in many ways. But, years later, if you do not
read your Bible one day, do you feel guilty? If you miss a day or
two, do you feel like youve done something wrong? Do you feel
unnecessarily weighed down with guilt over something that was
originally optional for you?
Now, the reason you are burdened with unnecessary guilt is that
in your heart somehow the guideline of reading your Bible was
eventually transformed from a rule or tradition to a command
from God, that is required.
This transformation from guideline to command from God is so

common that almost every religious group in history has faced
this challenge. The Pharisees, out of the best intentions, originally
established their guidelines to help Israel to be more spiritual and
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dedicated to God. But, by the time Jesus came around, their rules
and traditions had not only become law, they started to replace
Gods word altogether. So much so, that to the Pharisees, crucify-
ing Jesus actually seemed like a good idea at the time.
After the first century, even the early church battled being over-
burdened by rules and traditions that seeped into the church, and
which eventually replaced Gods word. The result was 2000 years
of questionable church history, and, ultimately, the institutional
and traditional Christianity we have today.
So, you are not the exception. If you start with guidelines to help
you live the spiritual life, that is great. But remember that they
are only guidelines and they are there to serve you, not for you
to serve them. As Jesus passionately said to the Pharisees when
they challenged him for breaking his rules:
Mark 2:23-27
One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as

his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of
grain. The Pharisees said to him, Look, why are they doing
what is unlawful on the Sabbath?
He answered, Have you never read what David did when he

and his companions were hungry and in need? In the days of
Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate
the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat.
And he also gave some to his companions.
Then he said to them, The Sabbath was made for man, not
man for the Sabbath.
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What this will mean for you, me, and the rest of Christianity is
that no matter how much control we want to have in our spiritual
life, the truth is that we follow a God that cannot be controlled.
He is unpredictable and does whatever He pleases. Not only
that, we also live in an unpredictable world, where anything can
happen, anytime, anywhere, to anybody. The belief that you are
in control of anything in your life is a lie that we have made up to
help ourselves feel more secure in an unpredictable world.
I know that is something you do not want to hear. Because if

you are a perfectionist like me, you want everything to fit neatly
in its little box. You want order, not chaos. But the truth is that
even though God is a God of order, His definition of order is so
different from ours that it feels like chaos we cannot control. And
if you didnt know it, God wants it this way.
Unfair, I know. But God does this so that we can get real and trust
the only thing that is truly dependable in this worldand that is
the love God has for us and the powerful and holy principles he
has given us to live by.
So the one caveat that the perfectionist in us can be rest assured

of is, that Gods love will never change, and His principles will
last forever.
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CHAPTER 7
YOU CAN HAVE LIFE

TO THE FULL
I have come that they may have life,
and have it to the full.
~ John 10:10
Now, I am sure that all this talk of living by Gods principles

has brought up a lot of questions for you. We are so used to
having all the dos and donts of Christianity laid out for us
in traditional Christianity that taking personal responsibility for
how we express Gods principles in our life can feel a bit weird.
So, I want to take this time to brainstorm how to apply Gods
principles to a few of the major areas of our life.
And just like we learned about how to find Gods principles in the
Bible, there are guidelines we can follow that can help us make
the best choices on how to apply Gods principles to our daily life.
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And to make this simple, we will apply only one guideline in this
chapter. And that is:
However you choose to express Gods principles in your life,

the decision should bring benefit and not harm to God,
others and yourself.
Emotions
I wanted to start by talking about emotions. Emotions are like
teachers in the US school system: they bring so much to society
but they are rarely given the respect they deserve. But, no matter
how much we try to minimize their importance, the truth is that
emotions were important to Jesus also. As the Bible says:
John 11:3336
When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come
along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit
and troubled. Where have you laid him? he asked.
Come and see, Lord, they replied.
Jesus wept.
Then the Jews said, See how he loved him!
Jesus couldve logically concluded that since he was going to raise

Lazarus from the dead, being sad would have been an unneces-
sary use of resources. But, he chose to care about the emotions
of the people around him, which moved his own heart to tears as
well.
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Y O U C AN H AV E L I F E T O T H E FU L L
Unfortunately, the religious world doesnt see it that way. To

them, our obedience to their rules, traditions and expectations is
more important than emotion. Which usually means that emo-
tions tend to be the main casualties of war when people are bur-
dened by the yoke of religious slavery. Even if you are hurt, your
obedience to the rules is what is most important to traditional
Christianity. A belief that Jesus strongly opposed in his interac-
tion with the religious people in his day:
Luke 13:1417
Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the

synagogue leader said to the people, There are six days
for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the
Sabbath.
The Lord answered him, You hypocrites! Doesnt each of you

on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead
it out to give it water? Then should not this woman, a daughter
of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long
years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?
When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the
people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was
doing.
The truth is, emotions are incredibly valuable because they tend
to drive most of our actions. In other words, how you feel deter-
mines how you act. And your feelings can either fuel your fire for
God or they can extinguish it. In other words, if you feel lousy,
you will have a hard time doing what is good and right, but if you
feel great, loving God and others is a walk in the park.
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Unfortunately, many of us have been through too many diffi-

cult life experiences that prevent us from feeling good most of
the time. Those challenging experiences and memories make
having a good day a rare occurrence. So, we sometimes need help
resolving these internal conflicts so that they will not become an
obstacle to us being the best we can be for God.
But, if you are bound to religious rule and tradition, unfortunately,

the resources are limited. This is because unless those resources
align with the rules and tradition of your religious group, they are
discouraged, and so you miss out on the abundant help you can
get. Effective resources that God has provided in this world like
psychology, therapy, hypnosis, self-development, etc. are demon-
ized by the religious world. So, not only cant you get the help you
need to be emotionally better for God, but you have to bear the
suffering of being burdened by living a powerless religious life.
Not a pretty picture is it?
On the other hand, principle-based Christianity doesnt have

these restrictions. All those God given resources are available
to everyone to be able to get the help they need to be the best
they can be for God. Why? Because principle based Christianity
allows you to use your own creativity and imagination to fulfill
the great principle of loving God and loving others. You are no
longer limited by some religious rule that says you cant, because
now everything is permissible. And all is permissible as long as
you can fulfill Gods principles of loving God and loving others in
a way that brings benefit to God, others, and yourself.
From my own experience, I can testify that the greatest help I

have ever received since becoming a Christian, which has helped
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me to love God and love others more, was the professional help I
received from different psychologists, hypnotherapists and self-
development practitioners. My life went from daily being filled
with anger, fear, anxiety and discouragement to living a daily life
full of joy, happiness, fulfillment and most of all, a deeper rela-
tionship with God and others.
Therefore, you need to take care of yourself emotionally because

God gave you those emotions for a reason. Use the great resources
God has put at your disposal in this world to become the best
you emotionally, since it will only fuel your fire to love God
more passionately and serve others more fervently.
Relationships
Relationship are Gods gift to mankind. But learning how to
nurture and strengthen those relationships is something that is
rarely ever taught and rarely effectively practiced.
The great news is that there is no better instruction on relation-

ships than the Godly principles you find in the Bible. Think about
it, what relationship will not benefit from practicing the Fruit of
the Spirit? Imagine, what kind of relationships will you have if
you daily practiced love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
gentleness, self-control, compassion, humility and wisdom?
Unfortunately, the religious world defines relationships based

on their rules and traditions, and Gods principles are seen as
optional elements. The result is manufactured, empty relation-
ships that also have elements of gossip, criticisms, judgements,
resentment and bitterness. If you have ever been in a traditional
Christian church long enough, I am sure you would agree. You
97
could feel the unspoken conflicts and bitterness, which some-

times can be so thick you can cut it with a knife.
What is the biggest complaint most people have about going to

church? They dont want to be around all those gossips and hypo-
crites they find in every church they go to. But, how is it possible
that people who call themselves Christians would act this way
when the Fruit of the Spirit demands more love and sacrifice?
It is because Gods principles are not the standard in traditional
Christianity, instead, the rules, traditions, expectations of the
church leaders or church group are the standard.
Principle based Christianity is the exact opposite. It is driven by

the powerful principles that are founded on love and the example
that Jesus gave when he laid down his life for the world. As a
matter of fact, this is the definition of love in the Bible. As the
Bible says:
1 John 3:16
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down
his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our
brothers and sisters.
Or as Jesus said:
John 15:13
Greater love has no one than this: to lay down ones life for
ones friends.
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Principle-based Christianity is all about how to practice the Fruit

of the Spirit on a daily basis. It is about practicing new and better
ways to love others and do things that will bring more and more
benefit to God and man.
Unity
Also, principle based Christianity does not discriminate. What I
mean is that following Gods principles allows for the acceptance
of different ways to follow God, so instead of division, there is
unity.
Christianity is full of disunity between people who call them-

selves Christian because of disputable, optional matters. These
groups create denominations that structurally prevent God loving
people from worshipping together. And this is what ultimately
gives rise to the saying that the most divided time in America is
on Sunday morning.
Denominations are created because different churches in

Christianity decide to follow different doctrines, rules and tra-
ditions. Even though they have the same Bible, their doctrines,
rules, traditions, statements of faith, etc. prevent them from not
only worshipping together with other God loving people, but it
even prevents them from associating with one another at all.
Even though the Bible demands unity among Gods people, their
man-made doctrines prevent them from fulfilling Gods com-
mand because, again, the standard is not Gods principles but
man-made rules and traditions.
Also, you find disunity among people in the same groups who
have differences of opinion on many of their own traditional
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religious matters. For example, some groups will split from each
other because some believe its acceptable to use musical instru-
ments in worship while others do not. Some will split because
one side believes women should be allowed to speak in church
while another group does not. Another group will split because
one group believes the group should focus on evangelizing the
world for Christ while the other group believes in nurturing and
taking care of its members.
The list of differences goes on and on. But what is consistent

among them is that it is their own personal values, beliefs and
opinions is what is causing the conflict. The conflict is not with
the principles of the Bible but with how to express those prin-
ciples in their lives. And each side thinks that everyone should
do it their way.
On the other hand, principle-based Christianity says that the only

thing each person is required to do is to fulfill Gods holy principles
of loving God and loving others. And to use other powerful prin-
ciples, like faith, worship, prayer, the Fruits of the Spirit, etc., to
help them do this. After that, everyone is free to practically apply
those principles in their life how they see fit as long as it is done in
a way that benefits and does not bring harm to God and man.
So, do you want musical instruments? Thats great. You play your
heart out, and Ill just sit quietly in the next room in prayer to
God. Do, you want to evangelize the world for Christ? Great, I
will use my talents to encourage the new converts to love God
and love others.
Even Paul spoke about these conflicts and the danger of putting
our disputable matters before Gods principles:
100
Romans 14:113
Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling

over disputable matters. One persons faith allows them to
eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only
vegetables. The one who eats everything must not treat with
contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not
eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God
has accepted them. 4 Who are you to judge someone elses
servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And
they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.
One person considers one day more sacred than another;

another considers every day alike. Each of them should be
fully convinced in their own mind. Whoever regards one day
as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to
the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains
does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us
lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves
alone. If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for
the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.
For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that
he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.
You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why

do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand
before Gods judgment seat. It is written:
As surely as I live, says the Lord,

every knee will bow before me;
every tongue will acknowledge God.
101
So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.
Therefore, let us stop passing judgment on one another.
Now, if you decide to make changes in the way you want to love God
and others and that new way conflicts with the status quo, dont
be surprised if you are called in for a talk. Also, dont be surprised
that all your pleading and sharing about how we can continue to be
unified even though we have our differences fall on deaf ears. And,
unfortunately dont be surprised if you are even given an ultima-
tum to change or no longer worship with their group. The truth is
traditional Christianity breeds division because if you choose to no
longer believe or hold onto the rules and traditions of the group,
you are usually no longer welcomed there.
Someone once said, We live in a world where relationships are

based on because of love. In other words, Because of what you
look like, I will love you. Or Because of what you do, I will love you.
Or Because of the way you do what I want you to do, I will love you.
But, Gods principles command us to follow an in spite of love.

In other words, In spite of what you look like, I will love you.
Or, In spite of what you do, I will love you. Or, In spite of the
fact that you do things differently than I do, I will still love you.
This is why principle based Christianity brings unity. Because our

differences are accepted since we are humble enough to accept
the freedom God has given each and every one of us to worship
according to our own convictions.
Now, you are probably thinking, What about false doctrine?

What about going astray? What about bad influences? Those are
102
legitimate questions. But I think you would agree that we would

have a better chance resolving those issues together as a group
than divided from each other. I mean, wouldnt Satan have a
better chance leading us astray through a strategy of divide and
conquer? Dont lions usually chase a group of antelopes to divide
them up so that the weak ones fall behind and become easy prey?
But, I believe that if we stay together, even with our differences

in belief, we can little by little resolve these issues and come to a
better understanding of Gods will. As the Bible says:
Ephesians 4:15-16
Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become

in every respect the mature body of him who is the head,
that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held
together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds
itself up in love, as each part does its work.
I have to admit, this section on unity is controversial. To admit

that the different ways that so many people follow God in the
denominational world may be acceptable would probably get me
kicked out of most churches. But out of humility, I have to admit
that the possibility that other peoples way of fulfilling Gods
principles are just as valid as mine is the reality. I mean, who am I
to say that my feeble understanding of something as amazing as
God is the only way, or the right way, to do it?
The best perspective I have I come up with in regards to this, is

to accept that though my way of following God is different and
it serves me best, I have to be open to the other way people do
things as well and learn as much as I can from it. And then live
103
up to what I can accept at the moment while continually learning

and growing as time goes by.
Is this way of thinking perfect? No, but it will keep me humble

enough to have the best chance at fulfilling Gods will and making
it to heaven.
Finances
Finances is tricky subject. But, we need to discuss it because it is a
subject the religious world has a big interest in since institutional
Christianity is dependent on the financial support of members
to keep it alive. And anything the religious world is interested in,
you can bet they have established a set of rules, traditions, and
expectations to control it.
Normally, the religious leaders or groups require that every member

of a church group donate ten percent or so of their income in sup-
port of the church.
But is this a requirement of each and every Christian? Principle-

based Christianity says it is not required. But instead, it is an
optional expression of an individuals generosity and love for
others. And, as a side note, in the book Pagan Christianity, the
authors give substantial evidence that the requirement of donat-
ing financially to the church originally came from Pagan sources.
Another issue to consider in regard to finances is that if the

church did not have an expensive building, an expensive staff of
people or expensive programs, the millions of dollars donated
to churches could instead be used for causes such as helping the
poor and less fortunate that are suffering in this world.
104
An argument could even be made that if people didnt donate

to supporting expensive church buildings, staff members and
programs, they could use that money to get themselves out of
personal debt or even invest it for a better future for themselves
and their family. This will, in turn, help them to financially help
those in need better because they are in a better financial posi-
tion. A virtuous cycle indeed.
Something should also be said for rules and traditions proposed

by church leaders and church groups against becoming wealthy
or becoming well off financially. Being wealthy is taught to be evil
or unrighteous by many of these religious groups, and members
are discouraged from pursuing it. It is seen as an evil motivation
that should be avoided.
The result of this culture is usually that the majority of Christians

remain in a lower or middle-class social economic status, which
prevents them from having access to greater resources in terms
of better schools, better medicine and better neighborhoods.
They continue to struggle financially to pay bills, take care of
their families and just to make ends meet. This stresses them out
further and makes them more dependent on society or church
for financial support. A vicious cycle indeed.
On the other hand, principle based Christianity has no such

restrictions because Gods principles put no restrictions on build-
ing wealth. As a matter of fact, there are many scriptures and
examples in the Bible that speak of wealth as one of the blessings
from God. More importantly, who would you rather have manag-
ing wealth? A God loving person who would use that wealth to
benefit God and man or some non-God loving person who would
horde it in their pursuits of self-gratification?
105
From personal experience, I can attest that once those religious

rules and unspoken traditions and attitudes against wealth are
removed, living life based on Gods principles will almost guarantee
that you will become more financially stable and even prosperous.
Consider the following principles found in the Bible: principles like
working with all your heart, treating others with love, kindness,
gentleness and goodness, having self-control, practicing humil-
ity, being as shrewd as a snake and innocent as a dove, practicing
wisdom, working for the Lord and not for men. Not to mention,
we have the God of the universe to help us succeed at what we
do. Once all negative beliefs and restrictions against building
wealth are removed, this kind of life cannot help but create great
prosperity.
This is how it turned out in my life. Once I let go of those rules,

traditions, negative attitudes and beliefs toward wealth and I
started practicing Gods principles in my financial life, it was a
very short while before I became financially free and indepen-
dently wealthy. Now, I know the wealth is not mine, I manage it
for God. But, I just cant help but think that God probably wanted
me to be in this position years ago when I was much younger
and had more energy. But because I followed the religious rules,
traditions, beliefs and attitudes about wealth, I not only delayed
doing great things for God with his wealth, but I also missed out
on a very fulfilling quality of life for a really long time.
So, my encouragement to you is live by principle based

Christianity and let go of the traditional, religious and negative
attitudes about wealth. And then use all your energy and pros-
perity to build something great for God. I guarantee, that God,
and the world will greatly benefit from it.
106
Career
Career is another area of peoples lives whose potential has been
severely limited by the religious rule, traditions and expectations
in our churches. Like money, certain careers or job opportunities
are discouraged because they are considered evil, unrighteous or
full of all kind of bad influences. What is interesting is that some
of these careers could bring God great glory, but unfortunately
Christians never get the opportunity because their religious lead-
ers discourage it.
Some of these careers include careers like being an executive,

such as a CEO of a successful corporation. Or a career in entre-
preneurship where you will need to devote a lot of time and effort
building a business from scratch. Or it could be a career in invest-
ing, where there is great opportunity to make a lot of money for
God. Careers in entertainment, such as acting, music, making
movies, etc. are also shunned by the religious world because they
are deemed too worldly. And politics has been all but removed
as a viable career because the religious establishment doesnt
believe you can glorify God and manage the dangers of politics
at the same time.
The result of preventing Christians from these careers has three

major consequences. The first is that by limiting Christians to
middle class or low social economic status jobs, this generally
prevents them from experiencing any type of prosperity in their
lives. They, like everyone else, will end up spending the rest
of their lives just trying to make ends meet, in debt or worse.
Even if they receive a promotion to a management position with
a better salary, the religious establishment may discourage a
person from taking it because it takes too much time from their
107
church activities and may deter their focus from God. This further
prevents Christians from getting ahead despite all the financial
demands their family, elderly parents, and current situation puts
on them.
The second consequence is the burden put on ones life of con-

tinually denying oneself, instead of being in a career that one
truly enjoys. This burden sometimes expresses itself in the life
of a person in the form of emotional stress, physical ailments
or dysfunctional relationships. Where Christians are supposed
to be joyful, hopeful, full of love and fulfillment, instead you get
anxious, stressed out, negative and bitter people that are difficult
to differentiate from the rest of the world.
The last major consequence is that since Christians are not enter-
ing these careers, then non-God loving people with questionable
morals will continue to take these jobs and be the public examples
for our children and society. If Christians, with strong moral char-
acter cannot take these jobs, then it is no wonder our entertainers,
politicians, business people, corporate leaders and government
officials continue to show us the darker side of humanity.
On the other hand, with principle based Christianity, there is the

freedom to bring God glory in any career of your choosing as long
as it results in bringing benefit and not harm to God and man.
You can be a Christian entertainer and show the world a Christ-
like example. You can be a Christian politician and be a great
example to your constituents. You can be a Christian business
person or entrepreneur where you manage your business for God
and his glory. And you can be a corporate leader in a fortune 500
company or even on Wall Street and show the world what a man
or woman after Gods own heart would do in that environment.
108
The outcome would bring God more glory than we can even
imagine. Not to mention all the resources it can bring to bear
on all of the suffering in the world. Just think about the people
of the Bible in these careers and how God showed himself to the
world through them. Remember Joseph who was vice president of
the entire nation of Egypt. Or Daniel the prophet who was also a
respected Senator or Congressman in Nebuchadnezzars govern-
ment. King David was a part time musician and singer. Matthew
the Apostle and Zacchaeus were tax collectors who Jesus raised up
as great examples for others. Peter, James and John, the Apostles,
were once business owners that had their own fishing business.
And lets not forget that Jesus too was once self-employed as a
successful, albeit temporary, carpenter.
So if you are going to spend 8-10 hours a day doing something for
the next 30 years of your life, you might as well choose something
that you love to do and that brings you much joy. Because if you
do, youll never work a day in your life. And though you cannot
have this freedom under traditional Christianity, this freedom is
available to you if you live by principle based Christianity. And a
happy Christian, is a productive Christian, and one that is a great
example to mankind of how much God truly loves us.
In other words, with principle based Christianity you can truly

live like the example of the Godly man from Ecclesiastes:
Ecclesiastes 5:19-20
Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions,

and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be
happy in their toilthis is a gift of God. They seldom reflect
on the days of their life, because God keeps them occupied
with gladness of heart.
109
CONCLUSION
NOW WHAT?
Live as free people, but do not use your freedom

as a cover-up for evil; live as Gods slaves.
~ 1 Peter 2:16
Now we come to the conclusion of our story.
So, the question you need to now ask yourself is, Now What?
Now that you have a new perspective on Gods expectations of

your life, now what are you going to do?
You have a choice:
You can continue, doing what you have always been doing and
getting the same results youve always been getting.
Or you can throw off all the burdensome rules and traditions that
are hindering you from experience the joy, fulfillment, love, and
exciting life that God has promised his dearly loved children.
111
I will be honest, it wont be easy. Beside the common obstacles

youll face, like the discomfort of living differently than youve lived
before or the discomfort from bravely stepping out of the com-
fort zone of religious tradition, you will face obstacles from other
people in your life as well. Whether your pastor, church leader, or
church group, or even familyyour new lifestyle may not feel like
a blessing after they convey their opinions on the matter.
But I want to encourage you to hold on, and dont give up. The
one thing you can be sure of, and that I can attest to from per-
sonal experience, is that living a life devoted solely to loving God
and loving others, on your terms, has an abundance of rewards.
Not to mention the miracles that you will begin to see in your life
that youve never seen before.
The good news is, after you have tasted these blessings, you will
have all the motivation you need to continue becoming the best
person you could possibly be for God.
And with that, I leave you and I wish you well. And please know
that you have a friend in me, who is going through the same
battles that you are undergoing. And, know that I am praying for
you to settle for nothing less than the rich and fulfilling life that
God promised you in the Bible, and which Jesus died for you to
have. And, one day, all our efforts will be worth it as God brings
us safely into His arms, when we finally meet Him in heaven.
112

Christianity For The Young at Heart

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Christianity For The Young at Heart

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WILLIAM PEA

Copyright 2017 William Pena

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distrib-

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION,

NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION and NIV are registered trademarks

INTRODUCTION You were called to be Free 1

CHAPTER 1 Why Cant Christianity be A Lot More Fun? 9

CHAPTER 2 The SolutionPrinciple Based Christianity 25

CHAPTER 3 Christianity for the Young at Heart 43

CHAPTER 4 In Search of Gods Principles in the Bible 55

CHAPTER 5 Overcoming the Obstacles 73

CHAPTER 6 Pride and Control 85

CHAPTER 7 You Can Have Life to the Full 93

CONCLUSION Now What? 111

YOU WERE CALLED T O BE FREE

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free.

I want to introduce you to Chris. Chris lives a life that is full

I also want to introduce you to Martha. Marthas Christian life

And, according to the Bible, shouldnt our lives more resemble

Like in the book of Jeremiah, where the Bible says:

This is what theLordsays:

Cursed is the one who trusts in man,

But blessedis the one who trustsin theLord,

second-rate and burdensome existence. Rather, it was Jesus who

It is the Christian religious culture we have created that is

Wait a minute! you say. I thought God wanted us to show our

God is to obey his commands. Yet, the Christianity we have cre-

It is the man-made expectations we claim come from God that

for us? But rather, he has to look upon us as we enslave ourselves

Like Paul said:

Christianity, the religion, institutionalized by man and passed

It is this religious Christian lifestyle that we first learned when

Well, the intention of this book is to rock your boat. It is to show

But if you, like me and millions of others, feel the burdensome

WHY CANT CHRISTIANITY BE

If I were to ask you what you think of when you think of

The reality is, that if we were honest with ourselves we would

Now, I am not talking about some exciting church service where

Now, you may be thinking, That must be your church because

Lets face it, there is something wrong with our Christianity.

What do I mean by Christianity? I mean Christianity the religion,

The dictionary defines a religion as a particular system of faith

So, when I say there is something wrong with Christianity today, I

Bamboozled by God or by Man?

but those who hope in the Lord

Then Jesus declared, I am the bread of life. He who comes

Delight yourself in the LORD

My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; NIV

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Cast your cares on the Lord

For I know the plansI have for you, declares theLord,

Have faith in God, Jesus answered. Truly I tell you, if

they say will happen, it will be done for them. Therefore,

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation,

And my God will meet all your needs according to his

Now, after reading these scriptures, I am sure you would agree

I know I am not alone. I know you, and millions of other people

So, Im going to say it. Either God is a liar or something is prevent-

Now, I may be crazy, but I am not stupid. Im just not willing to

So, that means I have to explore the obvious possibility that

The Thief Comes to Steal Kill and Destroy

Now, imagine someone stealing your ability to experience the

What Im here to tell you is that this is exactly what is happen-