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 Cleansing Flood and Some Really Bad Christian Images

I was raised Roman Catholic, so when I first attended an Assembly of God after being gloriously and astonishingly saved by the name of Jesus Christ, all the Protestant hymns were new to me. There were several I loved, but … Continue reading

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When It’s Good To Feel Bad

I don’t know how your Christian walk has been, but in mine I’ve found myself having to overthrow parts of my personality regularly. Right now, I’ve having to overthrow the part of my personality that doesn’t want others to feel … Continue reading

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Intermission: Minor Request To Quench Curiosity

In my left column is a little box that says "by 139 readers" right now. That is an "IntenseDebate – Site Stats" widget. IntenseDebate is the program that runs my comment section. Anyway, I’m sure that widget with the "by … Continue reading

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I Am of Paul

Today’s post is a sister post to yesterday’s. 1 Corinthians 1:10: Now I beseech you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing and that there be no divisions among you, but … Continue reading

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Denominations and Going to Hell

Sorry for the purposely shocking title. You can decide for yourself whether it’s accurate. I’m always surprised that no one ever talks about the fact that Galatians 5:19-21 says that those who "practice" denominations will not inherit the kingdom of … Continue reading

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Unity and the Protestant Church

I said yesterday that Protestant denominations are not any different than the apostolic succession Rome is trying to enforce on us. Unity is not agreement upon doctrines held by an organization and enforced upon its members. Jesus said that our … Continue reading

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Unity and the Roman Catholic Church

It seems bizarre to me that anyone would suggest in order to have unity, the Christians in Selmer, Tennessee … should … become members of the church in Rome, Italy. Continue reading

Posted in Church, Modern Doctrines, Roman Catholic & Orthodox, Unity | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

The Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Trinity … No, and Dishonesty

I’ve probably mentioned before that dishonesty in research really bugs me. In preparing a book on the Council of Nicea that I’m working on—and progressing well!—I decided to hunt down a Jehovah’s Witness booklet called Should You Believe in the … Continue reading

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When Doctrine and History Matter

Yesterday I talked about when doctrine and history don’t matter; when they are just issues to create dissension and divide us. Today I want to talk about when they do matter: The other day, I got a really awesome letter … Continue reading

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Doctrine and History: Do They Matter?

I mentioned yesterday that I’ve studied theology and history for 28 years, devoting a large amount of time to it. But are they really helpful for anything? Where Theology and History Are Not Helpful When you’re trying to build the … Continue reading

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