Rather than writing everything, I’m devoting some time to some videos on some basic misunderstandings in modern Christianity. I’m limiting them to 3 minutes or less.
(That explains “3 Minutes with Shammah.” I’m calling them “The Leukemia Tapes” because I’m doing them while at Vanderbilt Cancer Center on chemotherapy for my “rare and unusual” form of acute leukemia.)
So far, I’ve covered Romans 2:4 and the kindness of God leading to repentance. I’ve covered Titus 2 and sound doctrine, which is an extremely important basic idea. Finally, I’ve covered 2 Timothy 2:19 and God’s foundation, which is very related to what sound doctrine really is.
I’ve started with those because modern Christians love to argue that sound doctrine is important, but I think it’s indubitable that they have no idea what the apostles meant by sound doctrine. So we fight and divide over things that would not qualify as sound doctrine to the apostles, but rather would be mere strife about words, empty chatter, and an unhealthy obsession with dissension.
You can see the Titus 2 tape here, and the rest are easily found when you get there.
If you like it, and you have a Facebook account, please click the “like” button there at YouTube. Those I irritate think about clicking the “thumbs down” button, but those who enjoy it don’t think about doing anything to indicate that. I understand that, as I’m the same way, but it would help me get listeners if you “like” or “thumbs up” the video.
About Paul Pavao
I am married, the father of six, and currently the grandfather of five. I teach, and I am always trying to learn to disciple others better than I have before. I believe God has gifted me to restore proper theological foundations to the Christian faith. In order to ensure that I do not become a heretic, I read the early church fathers from the second and third centuries. They were around when all the churches founded by the apostles were in unity.
My philosophy for Bible reading is to understand each verse for exactly what it says in its local context. Only after accepting the verse for what it says do I compare it with other verses to develop my theology. If other verses seem to contradict a verse I just read, I will wait to say anything about those verses until I have an explanation that allows me to accept all the verses for what they say. This takes time, sometimes years, but eventually I have always been able to find something that does not require explaining verses away. The early church fathers have helped a lot with this.
I argue and discuss these foundational doctrines with others to make sure my teaching really lines up with Scripture. I am encouraged by the fact that the several missionaries and pastors that I know well and admire as holy men love the things I teach. I hope you will be encouraged too.
I am indeed tearing up old foundations created by tradition in order to re-establish the foundations found in Scripture and lived on by the churches during their 300 years of unity.