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.

Assembling the Church, One Another, and the Outreach Meeting

I talk and write about Hebrews 10:24-25 quite often: Let’s consider how to provoke one another to love and good works, not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much … Continue reading

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My Experiences with Praying in Tongues

Believing in Jesus I was raised Catholic. When I was saved at 21 (in 1982), my introduction to Protestant Christianity was foreign to me, brand new, and exciting. It was also mostly Pentecostal.  My boss, Sgt. Roger Thomas, is the … Continue reading

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God’s Stubborn Love and Abundant Pardon

All of us who are not oblivious to our own weaknesses have prayed the opening lyrics to Kathy Troccoli’s “Stubborn Love”: Caught again, Your faithless friend Don’t You ever tire of hearing what a fool I’ve been? Guess I should … Continue reading

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Which Denomination Gets It Right?

I was asked  about which major denomination* (Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant) gets it right (in my opinion). I want to share my answers in a post. My first answer: The persons or churches that devote themselves to love and good works … Continue reading

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The elementary principles of Christ

I am slowly–very slowly–building a curriculum for discipleship. I wrote a post about 3 weeks ago on the skeleton of that curriculum: 1. Becoming a Christian; 2. Living like a Christian; and 3. Staying a Christian. It is certain that … Continue reading

Posted in Bible, Dealing with Scripture Honestly, Evangelicals, Gospel, Modern Doctrines, Protestants, Rebuilding the Foundations, Teachings that must not be lost, Verses Evangelicals Ignore | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Contrasting John with the Rest of the New Testament

I wrote about this subject back in 2020. I did not provide a lot of Scripture, though; I just pointed out the kind of differences there were. In this post, I want to list some of the Scriptures that show … Continue reading

Posted in Bible, Dealing with Scripture Honestly, Evangelicals, Gospel, Modern Doctrines, Protestants, Rebuilding the Foundations, Teachings that must not be lost, Through the Bible | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

How to Read the Bible: First, Don’t Misinterpret Paul and Matthew based on John

This was a response in a comment to a reader who asked me about where to start to read the Bible: I tell people to read Mark first because it was the first of the Gospels. Matthew and Luke had … Continue reading

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Rejoicing Over the Judgment of the Wicked

To read Ezekiel 18 and then Psalm 98 right after one another was an astonishing revelation. My Bible reading plan had me do that because I’m reading through the Psalms one at a time as I read through multiple chapters … Continue reading

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How to Become a Christian

A friend of mine suggested that people want to know: How to become a Christian How to live as a Christian How to stay a Christian He and I want to work towards a course, a curriculum, that addresses these … Continue reading

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What the Bible Says about Baptism

The following are verses about water baptism in the New Testament followed by excuses I have personally heard in an attempt to justify the tradition that baptism is a symbolic public testimony. Mark 16:16 – He who believes and is … Continue reading

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