Keith Giles - This former pastor left the pulpit to follow Jesus and started a church where 100% of the offering goes to the poor.

Is Crucifixion Necessary For Us To Enter the Kingdom?

October 19, 2018 By Keith Giles

In preparation for an upcoming debate about the doctrine of Penal Substitutionary Atonement, my adversary asked me if it was necessary for Jesus to die before we could enter the Kingdom of God. This is a great question! First of all, let’s establish what the Gospel is, and then we can answer that question. The Gospel – the “Good News” – that Jesus came to proclaim was simply this: “Repent! The Kingdom of God is at hand.” We find Jesus… Read more

Concentric Circles of Love

October 18, 2018 By Keith Giles

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We talk a lot in the house church movement about “Being the Church” versus “Going to Church” but what does that really mean? What does it look like in practical terms to “be the Church”? I can only speak for myself and share what we’ve experienced in our own house church family regardign this idea. A few years ago, when my wife Wendy and I started a house church out of our home called “The Mission,” part of our rationale… Read more

The Childlikeness of God

October 16, 2018 By Keith Giles

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“And he took a child, and set him in the midst of them: and when he had taken the child in his arms, he said, “Whoever receives a child like this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not only me, but also the Father who sent me.” [Mark 9:33-37] Such a simple, yet profound illustration here by Jesus. I fear it is often overlooked for its simplicity, sadly. So, I’d like to take a moment to… Read more

Why I Hate Going To Church

October 13, 2018 By Keith Giles

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It would be very easy to post a very long list of reasons why I hate going to church, but the main reason is that “going to Church” is a sad excuse for “being the Church” and those who follow Christ are called to be the Church, not to attend one.In other words, “going to Church” involves having a meeting about Jesus. Whereas “being the Church” involves meeting with Jesus and allowing Him to do the speaking, the teaching, the leading and the directing. Going… Read more

No, Jesus Was Not Separated From The Father On The Cross

October 12, 2018 By Keith Giles

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On the cross, Jesus cried out, “My God, my God! Why have you forsaken me?” From this single sentence, many bible teachers and pastors have theorized that it was in this moment that the Father looked away from Jesus – because of all of our sins being laid upon Jesus – and it was in this moment that Jesus experienced separation from the Father for the only time in all of eternity. As dramatic and poetically compelling that might be,… Read more

What Gospel Did Paul Preach? [Hint: It Wasn’t Penal Substitutionary Atonement]

October 11, 2018 By Keith Giles

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What is the Gospel? Well, it depends on who you ask. If you ask some Christians today, especially the Reformed kind, you’ll hear something that sounds like a description of the crucifixion. That’s also called Penal Substitutionary Atonement Theory, or the Satisfaction Atonement Theory. All you need to know is: That’s not the Gospel. At least, not according to the New Testament, or to Jesus. It’s also a very new doctrine that didn’t show up until about a thousand years… Read more

How To Respond When They Call You A Heretic

October 5, 2018 By Keith Giles

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Everyone is someone’s heretic. At least, that’s my opinion these days. Whenever someone calls you a false teacher or a heretic, what they really mean to say is: “Your theology isn’t the same as mine. I can’t be wrong about anything, therefore you must be a heretic.” What these people don’t realize is that, to someone else, they are the heretic. See, Christians disagree on all sorts of things. This is why there are thousands of different denominations around the… Read more

My Statement of Faith

October 4, 2018 By Keith Giles

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Someone asked me what my statement of faith was today. Honestly, I’ve never really thought about my own personal statement of faith very much. Usually I simply say that I am fascinated by the person of Jesus and I’m committed to following his teachings in my daily life. Our house church family never had any formal statement of faith for the entire 11 years we were together. So, I’m not convinced that one is necessary for a functional organic… Read more

The Kingdom Reality

October 4, 2018 By Keith Giles

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The Kingdom of God is the present reality which breaks into this illusion of ours intermittently, like very bad cell phone reception. It’s God’s way of saying, “Can you hear me now?” In fact, experiencing and living in this Kingdom Reality is, in itself, an exercise in the Kingdom principles of “Letting Go” and “The Power of Weakness”. When we give up on our strength and wait for God’s power to come and to move it’s a testimony of our… Read more

The Movement Will Not Be Televised (But It Will Be On Facebook)

September 29, 2018 By Keith Giles

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I’ve started to notice a subtle shift in the atmosphere the last few years, and lately I think it’s starting to build momentum. What am I talking about? Well, I think there’s a very strong undercurrent of Christians who are starting to question the status quo. Whether that’s asking questions about the traditional views of the afterlife, or the nature of God, or the atonement, or even the way we should relate to the Bible, pretty much everything that can… Read more