Ekklesia: Rediscovering God’s Instrument for Global Transformation by Dr. Ed Silvoso
We live in a time when a great many churches and evangelical organizations have taken the teachings, instructions and life example of the Yeshua HaMashiach ("Jesus the Messiah") and transformed it into an "Americanized" version that essentially enthrones self, minimizes or eliminates repentance, conversion, discipleship and sacrifice, requires little in the way of genuine spiritual empowerment and growth (while heavily promoting anything that inflates the ego and one's bank account), and which in-a-word calls good evil, and evil good. Actually this "Americanization" of core Christian beliefs and practices has been going on for centuries (And was preceded by an egregious twisting of scriptures and beliefs by ecclesiastical movers and shakers dating back to the "Church Fathers"). However, based on what I saw and experienced growing up as a boy in the 1960s and 1970s (in Texas and Louisiana), this trend of pushing aside scriptural boundaries and by so doing compromising Christian beliefs and practices jumped from "sublight" to "warp" speed during those tumultuous decades. Of course, the resulting syncretic religiosocial mess, which was supposed to enlighten and liberate, instead enslaved and has relentlessly worked its dark magic ever since. Thankfully, there's always been "awakenings" and "revivals" -- that is, calls for repentance and a return to genuinely Bible consistent living & conduct -- such as that of the Jesus (people) movement which surfaced in the 1970s and the New Monasticism movement which was essentially born in the 1980s. Naturally, these movements and the communities they spawned have focused on living, loving, sharing & sacrificing as Messiah did, which puts them at odds with the dominant American culture including most mainstream Christian denominations. In short, they are both countercultural and radically Christian. Now this brings me to you. If you are a grafted-in (Romans 11:9) believer (evangelical, Charismatic/neopentecostal, Catholic, Protestant, nondenominational) who is drawn to living the faith as a monastic, then I would encourage you to consider becoming a lay monk or nun. You do not have to leave your job or residence to do this, though for those who are called to the monastic life in residence with likeminded others there will be such an option in the future. Email me for particulars (much is in-progress!) at [email protected]. I will get back to you as quickly as possible. 12 marks of the new monasticism Did the Almighty send an emissary to the ancient Cahokian (American Indian) people? "Prophecy: Native Americans Hold the Key to Spiritual Awakening" (Charisma News 5-9-2017) |
More about Summer Cloud
Summer Cloud is an American Indian (Tribal member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma) who, though reared in the Southern Baptist faith tradition, realized early on that many of the so-called sacred dogmas, creeds and beliefs he had been taught were at serious variance with the findings of historical researchers, Biblical scholars, Biblical archeologists, physical anthropologists, geologists and more. As you might expect, a boy who openly argued for modifying or throwing out beliefs and claims that had been invalidated was not especially popular among his conservative Protestant peers much less the leaders of the Southern Baptist church he attended. In time his critical thinking mindset propelled him on a quest for an expression of faith that both incorporated and reflected the findings of science and scholarship. In 1980 he became a Roman Catholic (Charismatic) and in 2015 he became a lay monk in the transdemoninational Knights of Prayer Monastic Order (Full monk in 2017) as well as a monk in several other religious communities & monastic organizations which are part of the New Monasticism movement. In 2017 he took the name "Brother Anthony of the Resurrection". He characterizes his faith development stage today as "messianic Nazarene" (Covenanted & learning how to live and apply the Torah as Yeshua the Messiah, James the Just and the Apostle Paul intended). Dr. Payne has been a Mensan since 1985. Categories
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