Tell your Portuguese-speaking friends about these online resources.

Dicionario da igreja primitiva

Literatura Cristã para a Família e a Igreja

What: 4th Annual Anabaptist Identity Conference
Where: Tourist Church, Pinecraft, Florida
When: March 12-14
Who: Anyone interested in maintaining the spirit and teachings of early Anabaptism.
Why: We have no desire to replace Jesus’ role in the church with the Anabaptists–nor worship the Anabaptists–but we do desire to recognize the good in the Anabaptist movement, and perpetuate it. With so many of today’s Anabaptists drifting into materialism, traditionalism, and pleasure-seeking, this conference seeks to advance the kingdom of God. Topics include:
-How can we inspire our men to fight?
-The Kingdom of God in focus
-World vision: Advancing the kingdom
-Towards a conservative Anabaptist worldview
-Money, possessions, and eternity
-Repairing the walls of our homes
The Ukranian “Amish” worldview
Biographical sketches of an Anabaptist leader

Speakers include Nelson Gingerich, PA; David Graber, FL; Jerry Hoover, OH; Roger Hertzler, OR; Edward Kline, OH; John D. Martin, PA; Nathan Overholt, FL; Johnny Swartzentruber, GA; Chester Weaver, IN
For information, call 941-373-9351 or 941-371-8991.

James Strong published a concordance, the most widely used in the English-speaking world. However, the overuse of concordances has helped to throw expository preaching in the corner.

I have never really been one to use Bible Study courses, but not everyone is like I am. For those who speak Spanish, Cursos Bíblicos por correspondencia are available, and just now I have added Cours bibliques par correspondance.

The best way for me is to read the Bible, or perhaps use a Strong’s Concordance.

The danger with concordances is that we tend to think of the Bible as a set of theological statements, rather than a narrative of God dealing with man.  It has been noted that most of today’s preaching is topical in nature, rather than expository.  Not that topical preaching is bad, but a 90/10 balance of probably better called an imbalance.

Exciting new release for Spanish speakers

This is to announce the release of the Diccionario de la iglesia primitiva.  Tell all your Spanish-speaking friends!

The Bohemian Brethren were a group of men and women in Bohemia, which is the western half of modern Czech Republic.  The eastern third of the republic is comprised of yesteryear’s Moravia.

While most Christians who read church history have a basic idea of the Moravian Brethren with Count Zinzendorf in Germany, very few have any idea of their forerunners, the Bohemian Brethren.

While not 100% like the later Anabaptists, their practice and doctrine was similar enough that some of the Bohemian Brethren seem to have joined up with (their own movement was drifting by this time) the Anabaptists when the latter finally showed up in Moravia a century after the Bohemian Brethren had starting tracing their course.  They were definitely a “kingdom church”.

Anyways, you can read about the birth, life, and death of the Bohemian Brethren revival by clicking the link.

Or if you write me at mike at primitivechristianiy dot org, I now have some hard copies available.

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, by the name of Common Sense. Common Sense lived a long life but died in the United States from heart failure at the beginning of the new millennium.

No one really knows how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He selflessly devoted his life to service in schools, hospitals, homes, factories, helping folks get jobs done without fanfare and foolishness. For decades, petty rules, silly laws, and frivolous lawsuits held no power over Common Sense.

He was credited with cultivating such valued lessons as knowing when to come in out of the rain, why the early bird gets the worm, and that life simply isn’t always fair.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don’t spend more than you earn), reliable parenting strategies (adults, not children, are in charge), and it’s okay to come in second.

A veteran of the Industrial Revolution, the Great Depression , and the Technological Revolution, Common Sense survived cultural and educational trends including whole language, and “new math”.

But his health declined when he became infected with the “If-it-only-helps-one-person-it-is-worth-it” virus.

In recent decades, his waning strength proved no match for the ravages of well-intentioned, but over-bearing regulations.

He watched in pain as good people became ruled by self-seeking lawyers.

His health rapidly deteriorate when schools endlessly implemented zero-tolerance policies. Reports of a six-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate, a teen suspended for using a swish of mouthwash after lunch, and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student only worsened his condition.

It declined even further when schools had to get parental consent to administer aspirin to a student, but could not inform the parents when a female student was pregnant and wanted an abortion.

Finally, Common Sense lost his will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband, churches became businesses, criminals received better treatment than their victims, and federal judges stuck their noses in everything from the Boy Scouts to professional sports.

Finally, when a woman failed to recognized that a steaming cup of coffee was hot and was awarded a huge settlement, Common Sense gave up the ghost.

Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility, and his son, Reason.

He is survived by two stepbrothers: My Rights, and Ima Whiner.

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.

–Author unknown

Is "Alternative Medicine" another term for sorcery?

This is my newest addtion to the digital library I am accumulating.  At present, On Alternative Medicine, A Look at the Facts is only available as a pdf of the whole booklet, but I hope to soon add html files of the various chapters.

On the same subject, you will want to check out Pharmakeia 2000 A.D. (pharmakeia is the Greek word used in the Bible for “witchcraft”), which explores another area of occult activity in a more subtle form-herbology.

To calm a few nerves, I will immediately state that not all herbology is witchcraft, but…

Will you acknowledge with me that very, but very, little herbology is totally disassociated from other known occultic practices?

A perusal of the two above articles will be a place to start your journey into the facts about “alternative medicine”.

Just recently I became aware of some Wesley video sermons, which revived an idea I had to do some audio recordings of some of John Wesley’s sermons in audio.  Check them out if you prefer audio to reading.  The text to his sermons are readily available on the web.

My latest book is finally finished enough to post it online. It needs another edit to take out some typos, but you can download a pdf of The Birth, Life, and Death of the Bohemian Revival, or read it in html online. At present, I do not have all the html pages built, but hope to within the next week or so.
The pdf is 3.5mb, and set up so that it can be printed out in a booklet form, although it is too large to neatly make a booklet.
Here is the back cover.