New Post, New Titles to Read.

It has been roughly two years since I last blogged here. Since I am taking the fall off from school, I decided to pick up where I left off. My reading material for the rest of the summer, and into the fall, will be three books primarily, plus the bible in various versions and the Septuagint. This first book is "The Lost History of Christianity: The Thousand-Year Golden Age of the Church in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia--and How It Died", the second one is "The Forge of Christendom: The End of Days and The Epic rise of the West", and the third one is in my wife's van and I can't remember the name of it, but I'll catch that up soon. It is about the year 381AD and what took place in the church. These three choices I got from the History Book Club. I also have a membership to the Science Fiction Book Club. I love these book clubs. You get a dynamite price and selection, and it helps me focus on certain topics that I want to address. I was buying all kinds of books at www.seedsowers.com and considered myself under the tutelage of Gene Edwards. This man has much to say and I dig where he is coming from. Some of his understandings of scripture are different than mine, but that is not an uncommon thing in Christendom. But am moving on to other things...thus these new books. Under Gene Edwards, I discoverd that I don't know church history at all like I thought. There is so much out there that I haven't seen. I have studied some early Christian writings, and thought I knew something, but I was humbled out. Mister Know-It-All me has highly underestimated my self induced education. So, now I read. By the way, Gene Edwards newest book, "Revelotionary Bible Study" is excellent and I highly recommend it...big time. It will change your whole understanding of Paul's letters, and see that his letters aren't stand alone trestices on Christian theology...no no no...when you read Paul's letters in the order in which he wrote them, it is clear that they are narratives of the mission field he bravely forged. Edwards has written several books on early church life. He talks freely about the ignorance involved in the general population, and the illiteracy rate. He talks about how a Christian gathering would include some filthy dirty stinking brothers and sisters, who were completely unfamiliar with the stories of the Old Testament and most of the Gospel themselves. He writes how Galatians was the first written piece of Christian literature that was cannonized. In fact, Galatians was written and circulated before the first Gospel (the one Mark wrote). He talks of how some of what Paul was talking about wasn't always church life, but local laws and edicts. BUT, mostly, in his books, he talks of house churches and the importance of Spirit inspired worship and not dictated worship leaving no room for the Spirit to work. All of this rang true to me. Reading his works have been refreshing and fun. I have grown some, but mostly, I was validated in my own conclusions and reinforced in what I have come to know as the truth. Truly I owe it to my friends and family to record all of these changes in me and my thinking. So, in the next year, look for my new book, probably on the POD lulu.com. Who knows, maybe we'll find a real publisher.