A General Welcome (updated)

Welcome.

Many visit this site intrigued but find themselves also a little confused. The things being said here are often a little different than what they're used to.
Let me try and explain....
The modern Church is something of a mess, no one would dispute that. We have thousands of denominations, many different theologies, and more than a few agendas. Despite this God is glorified and we know from Scripture that there are true believers, a Remnant who are undoubtedly scattered among the various bodies and groups.
I'm not trying to deal with all of the traditions, theologies, and agendas, but I will say that despite the confusion that's out there....it's not really that complicated.
Most of the denominations and traditions have split over secondary issues, often minutiae. In terms of principal, in terms of foundational doctrine there are really only a handful of groups available.
The primary core issue is Authority. Is it Scripture? Is it Tradition? Is it reason? or is it Continuing Revelation? Or some combination of these?
Everything else is secondary...stemming from this issue. If you don't believe the Authority base is tradition, then you can quickly cross out Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy and many other like minded groups. If you don't believe in Continuing Revelation, the Charismatic Movement, the now dominant form of Christianity on earth can also be discounted.
That leaves Scripture as the Authority? What does that mean? This is complicated by Church History, Tradition, and how both of those issues play out in method. We come to the Bible reading it in a certain way. I spend a lot of time talking about this issue. I think the Bible itself provides a doctrine of logic and teaches us how to interpret it. I would argue most Americans read the Bible as Americans, British as British etc....certainly to be expected, but not something we should just accept or be satisfied with.
Evangelicals almost universally claim Scripture as their authority and yet I argue almost universally it is not. Though they pay lip service to the Reformation doctrine of Sola Scriptura, there are few Protestants and few Evangelicals who really hold to it. Most unwittingly embrace other authority forms. If you're interested in this topic, you'll find many posts that deal with this issue.
It is my thesis that once the Authority issue is obscured or lost, the Church enters a path that we keep seeing over and over again throughout Church history. The Scriptural and particularly New Testament teaching concerning the Kingdom of God is lost and a new concept of the Kingdom arises.
It has taken many forms and has a variety of theological terms, systems and methods to describe and develop it, but we know this Kingdom concept as: Constantinianism, Sacralism, Dominionism, Theonomy, Kingdom Monism, One Kingdom Theology, Reconstructionism,  Kuyperianism, Transformationalism and all forms of Christian Nationalism. These are not all the same, but they are all related.
This is a constant recurring theme in these writings.
I am very much out of the mainstream, but I'm not espousing anything cultish or out of accord with historic and orthodox Christian doctrine. Those whom I am opposing will not share this sentiment. They will accuse me of advocating retreatism, defeatism, and they love to accuse their opponents of promoting Gnostic Dualism. (see page in righthand column)
None of the charges are accurate or fair and similar accusations were made against groups like the Waldensians who also rejected the Constantinianism of their day.
I'm arguing for a strictly Biblical Christianity and I am consciously attempting to filter out external Traditions and Philosophical commitments which many of us embrace without even realizing it.
To do this, I'm talking about issues like Authority, Church History, Theological Methodology, and often tying these all in with a critique of contemporary theologies and particularly what I believe to be the most dangerous and destructive heresy there is...Sacralism. Only heresies directly related to the character of God and the person of Christ are more destructive to the Gospel.
In fact I argue the Methodology of many of these related systems actually come from a wrong view of God and a massive and large scale misreading of Scripture.
These are not issues that are merely esoteric and theoretical. They are playing out in our churches and on the front pages of our newspapers. Consequently I spend a great deal of time also commenting on issues related to current events and geo-politics. I live in the United States which let's face it is often the nexus of both the geo-political and geo-ecclesiastical realms. The United States through its political, military, cultural, and spiritual influence is a colossus in world affairs and cannot be ignored. It is the Political and Cultural Rome of our day. The commentary here is deliberately Christian, and thus very different from what most Christians are used to. I'm arguing against the accepted paradigms and models by which we understand the nations we live in and the world around us.
My hope here is not to win anyone over to embrace 100% of what I'm saying. It's not possible and it would be wrong. No one should just sign on to an author's views. I'm trying to provoke people to think, to be challenged and to challenge themselves. We live in the midst of Cosmic happenings. God is at work, and as Christians we are living in This Age and The Age to Come at the same time. We are Born Again, our minds are renewed. We should be vigilant, awake, full of energy and zeal....all tempered with wisdom.
We are citizens of the Kingdom of God, ruled by our Risen King Jesus Christ. If this doesn't stir us and affect how we live and think, then something is wrong.
If you read these posts, I will challenge your allegiances, sentiments, traditions, and if you've grown up in the United States...probably many other things you hold dear and were ingrained within you from childhood.
You can either get mad, or you can start thinking and dig in. This is not a site for the lazy. I'm not going to do the work for you. I hope you read and are challenged and as a result start reading and learn to challenge yourself and others.
Who am I?
I grew up in a politically conservative (McCarthy/Goldwater) household that was also Baptist and Dispensational. I used to be a die-hard American Patriot and was a big fan of Rush Limbaugh back when he first was appearing on the national scene...I remember his explosion in popularity during the 1992 election and especially after Bill Clinton's victory.
Then in 1995 I became a Christian and everything changed, though not all at once.
I entered the world of Reformed Christianity but in time grew frustrated and disappointed with what I found. I've spent years working through the Scriptures, History and Church History to try and find some answers.
I'm happy to exchange emails. You can write me at protoprotestant@gmail.com
Just please be patient. I'm often busy with work and other things. I will get to your email eventually.
God Bless,

John the Protoprotestant