“Where Have You Been? I’ve Missed Your Emails And Blog Posts!”

Thank you so much to all of you who have asked! It is very gratifying to have been missed. 

I knew the day would come when I would again post thoughts from The Spiritual Gym. I didn’t know when, but I knew God would let me know. 

It’s time!

For those of you who don’t know, I began posting blogs at spiritualgym.life in 2017 which are sent out to a chosen few via email the day they are posted. (If you no longer want to be “a chosen few”, it’s easy to unsubscribe. “No stones!”)

Many have asked why I pressed “pause” in posting blogs. The reason is simple. God was taking me on a journey – teaching me things – radical things! – and it didn’t feel right to be deep in training – while trying to share nuggets of truth with others. I did keep up my discipleship with guys – and I thank each one of you for being my guinea pigs for testing these ideas on you! We really put Proverbs 27:17 to the test! “Iron sharpens iron, So one man sharpens another.”

Full disclosure – I did “loose” a few guys when I shared what I had been learning. Frankly I am surprised it ended up being so few. I felt encouragement in reading the scriptures because many walked from Jesus when He taught radical things. 

This journey began on January 28, 2020 with a simple question I asked in a Bible Study group. Our leader’s response to my question caused me to: “examine the scriptures to see if what (he – not Paul) said was true” (Acts 17:11). 

I know that it was the Holy Spirit’s prompting because I had never thought about that question before, hadn’t been prompted by anyone to consider it, didn’t hear a sermon, read a book, or hear a podcast on the subject, but something prompted me to ask a question that sent me on a path I never saw coming, sought out, or asked for.

Obviously 6 years worth of study means a lot of ground has been covered. It took a massive retraining of my mind (Romans 12:2). I had always anticipated sharing my findings here but the subject is too comprehensive to be pieced out in this format. The reader could be too tempted to “smash the ball back across the net” without digesting the whole idea. Writing a book was never on my radar, but it seemed the best way to capture the thoughts – and allow someone to digest what to many – will be very radical truths. 

The book’s original title was “Eight Fundamental’s of Christianity Most Of Us Were Never Taught”. Yes, I believe these truths are foundational to our faith – and no, I was never taught most of them. I would consider that to be radical! By the way, the book has an entirely new title which I’m sure will peak your curiosity… but “all will be revealed”!

I also want to be clear that I am phenomenally grateful for the religion my parents raised me in which lasted the first 32 years of my life. It provided a moral grounding and belief that God and Jesus were real. I am also grateful for no less than 5 amazing Bible teachers who guided me for the next 32 years and who led me to became Born Again 36 years ago! They taught me far beyond what any seminary could.

In case you are wondering, there are no printing plates hidden in a cave somewhere and no special glasses that are needed to read my book. (The origin of Mormonism.) It is my sincere hope that every position taken in the book is backed by scripture. I am very open to comment and critique. Please let me know if you disagree or have any questions. My only request is that any rebut you offer is also backed by scripture!

The book is now in manuscript form and is being edited. I was blessed to be connected with a publisher who has 40 years experience in Chrisitan book publishing.

They tell me the book should be ready to go by the end of January and you will be the first to know when it’s available! 

Until then, I plan to trickle out questions that I have asked and many have asked for a very long time. Every question is answered in the book – and backed by scripture. The header for the series of questions is “It’s In The Book!”

Now, for the first question:

In 1 Corinthians 10:13 Paul says:

“No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.

On November 22, 2024 Barna Research published a paper stating:

“An overwhelming majority of pastors (86%) feel porn use is common among Christian pastors—a perception that seems to align closely with reality. Two in three U.S. pastors (67%) report having struggled with pornography at some point in their lives, with almost one in five (18%) saying this is a current struggle.

75 percent of Christian men and 40 percent of Christian women report porn consumption on some level. An overwhelming majority of pastors (81%) acknowledge that their churches are not adequately teaching about compulsive sexual behavior like pornography use.”

Has God provided us a way of escape or not? Is there a “way of escape” in scripture that we are commanded to follow that these pastors were never taught?

It’s In The Book!