If you are a believer you undoubtedly have puzzled over God's command to "be holy, for I am holy" (Leviticus 11:45, 1 Peter 1:16). I mean, does God really require that we mere mortals be "holy". Most people picture being holiness something like a cake of Ivory soap...99.99% pure & floating on water. What comes to your mind when you think of "holy"? Do words like pure, virtuous, free of sin, and separate (from the world yet in it) come to mind? If so, you probably think that holiness is something attained by saints that's nice to aspire to, but is unattainable. If this is true, why would God ask something of us that is virtually unattainable except by the rare soul? It sounds a tad unfair. As if to add insult to injury, Matthew 5:8 states that only the pure of heart shall see God. If you are tempted to toss in the towel and just muddle through life and hope for the best when you appear before God to account for your life, take heart. Holiness -- purity of heart -- is attainable. What you need is a hands-on, nuts and bolts guide that explains what holiness is and how to go about making the transformation from carnal (worldly or spiritually immature) to holy. Thankfully, Rev. Bert M. Farias has packed all this into a 159 page book titled "Purity of Heart" which retails for around $12.00 on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0615722148/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_4?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER. You can also get a copy through Rev. Farias's ministry at http://holy-fire.org/books.html And yes, I own a copy and am putting it to work in terms of my daily walk with God and my own sanctification (transformation). I've also bought copies and doled them out to family, friends, associates, colleagues, and others. Summer Cloud gives Rev. Farias's book (ahem) 5 of 5 halos. |
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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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