Author Archives: Paul Pavao

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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.

The Grand Results of Living by the Spirit

What benefits I would reap if I could just reject evolution and accept (the evangelical version of) salvation by faith alone! I know how things work in a business. It doesn’t matter what you are getting paid today or what … Continue reading

Posted in Evangelicals, Miscellaneous, Unity | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Ken Ham vs. Bill Nye Debate

Part I Assessment of the Debate Okay, I’m going to join half the blogging world and comment on the Ham-Nye debate. I think I’ll keep my review of the debate short, but boy, do I have some follow-up! I took … Continue reading

Posted in Evolution, Evolution and Creation | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Evolution Evidences

I think most of my readers know I believe in evolution. I don’t care if you do. My interest is not to convince you that evolution happened. My interest is to convince you to do one of two things: Limit … Continue reading

Posted in Evolution | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

The Old, Rugged Cross

I am going to post two VERY unrelated posts today. Here’s the first. I have a lot of sources of fellowship, but at the moment the main one is a house church I am part of. This last week we … Continue reading

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The New Testament and “Plenary, Verbal” Inspiration

I believe that every Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Tim. 3:16-17). I read through … Continue reading

Posted in Bible, Evangelicals, Evolution and Creation, Modern Doctrines, Protestants, science | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

For My Orthodox Friends: A Veniaminov Story

Most of my readers already know that I got pneumonia last week, and that it will take a while for me to fully recover. I am grateful for the prayers of my friends and acquaintances, those who know me from … Continue reading

Posted in History (Stories), Roman Catholic & Orthodox | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Why?

There have been four times in my life when I have felt born again. The first time was in 1982 when I first received the Lord Jesus. The second time was in 1985 when I read Charles Finney’s Lectures on … Continue reading

Posted in Miscellaneous | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Fall in Love with Jesus!

31 years ago, I attended a revival in a little Florida town called Niceville. Yeah, Niceville. The preacher was Danny Duvall, fresh out of college and fired up for Jesus. He not only preached, but he gathered up the young … Continue reading

Posted in Holiness, Miscellaneous | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Cost of Church Life

I found this tract as I was clearing out old files because of an office move. I know the author, so I got permission to publish it with all references to his church removed. Church life is what it is. … Continue reading

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Ignatius of Antioch: Conqueror

Imagine yourself in your front yard, suddenly confronted with two huge, growling Rottweilers. One has a short length of thick chain hanging from his log-sized neck that he has clearly snapped to set himself free. They’re too close for you … Continue reading

Posted in Early Christianity, Roman Catholic & Orthodox | Tagged , , , , | 16 Comments