We have written our first book and it is currently available for Kindle and other readers from Amazon.com.
LINK TO BUY OR PREVIEW: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NJ6DJIW
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Spiritual Reality
Finding the truth in the words of the Christ
a guide to better understanding
and
the way of the disciple
By R.A. Bartole
A brief description:
Among the many thousands of Christian denominations there are many different interpretations of the words of Jesus and many different views of His intent and His purpose in coming among us nearly 2000 years ago. In this multiplicity of doctrines much of the Truth of the words of the Christ have been diluted and changed to reflect the ways of men. While His words should be rather clear even to the casual reader, they are seldom accepted as many other parts of scripture, from both the New and the Old Testaments, have been substituted for His Truths. In doing so, doctrines have become the source of Truth as the interpretations of the Master’s words have been molded to conform to the ways of Life in this world. Many are today “teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Mark 7:7) much in the same way as Jesus and the Prophet Isaiah before him said of the Jews.
While there is and can be only one Truth, many versions of this have been created over the centuries and, to a large degree, much that is accepted as doctrine today is still based in the teachings of the Church Fathers and the men of the Reformation. While Christ came among us to show us the Love of God and the way to His Kingdom, the reality of His words has become lost in clever interpretations of the words of the apostles….especially the apostle Paul.
These interpretations have been allowed to modify the Truths that the Master teaches us in His words rather than to amplify and clarify them and it is the objective of this book to see past the doctrines of men and into the Truth of the Master’s words. While the ultimate Truths that He sought to convey are couched in parables and parabolic terms, there is much that is clear and which should form the foundation of the doctrines which bear His name.
There is a fundamental reality of Life that is parabolically captured for us in the New Testament and which reflects the ancient wisdom that forms the basis for most all world religions. This reality is obscured by the common Christian teachings of Life and death and of heaven and hell as well as by other parts of the traditional understanding that was interpreted from the prevalent teachings in the early days of the church.
This book is our attempt to clarify the realities of Jesus teachings away from the traditions, the dogma, the rites and the rituals that have become a part of the doctrinal Christian experience, and to show forth the True depth of being “born again”: the reality of being accounted worthy of the Kingdom of God here and now. Our source for this clarification is the New Testament, it is the words of Jesus as given by His apostles and their own words as recorded in the epistles.
There are deep mysteries in the words of the Master and we should understand that these are not hidden from men but that they are rather hidden for men. These are reserved however for those who can change the focus of their lives away from the things of the self in the world and onto the realities of Life and the Truth of Love as expressed in the Life and the teachings of the Christ. It is only in one’s focus upon the Good, the Beautiful and the True, the things of God, that one can have access by degree to the mysteries of the Kingdom of God and one’s own sense of Spiritual Reality.