Father of the Inklings

Speaking personally from the depth of my heart, I consider this among the most imperative of all the commands for our time. 

From The Commands of the Apostles by Michael Phillips. Read by Michael Kimball. More information on this and similar writings may be found at Father of the Inklings. Visit Amazon to purchase The Commands of the Apostles and other books by Michael Phillips.

Few commands give such a wide berth to a diversity of interpretations as this. How do we define "spiritual warfare?" The question is complex and raises a multitude of scripturally entangling conundrums that are not simple to resolve. 

From The Commands of the Apostles by Michael Phillips. Read by Michael Kimball. More information on this and similar writings may be found at Father of the Inklings. Visit Amazon to purchase The Commands of the Apostles and other books by Michael Phillips.

If one were to formulate a perspective of What Christianity is from the preaching and teaching of modern evangelicalism, many might conclude it is a religion whose foundation is a Genie in a bottle ready and able to do man's bidding if we just rub the right place, while repeating the correct doctrinal incantations. 

From The Commands of the Apostles by Michael Phillips. Read by Michael Kimball. More information on this and similar writings may be found at Father of the Inklings. Visit Amazon to purchase The Commands of the Apostles and other books by Michael Phillips.

We are familiar with Paul's timeless words in 1 Corinthians 13, "Love...does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right." The NIV has it, "does not delight in evil." That simple word change may reveal a great deal about ourselves. 

From The Commands of the Apostles by Michael Phillips. Read by Michael Kimball. More information on this and similar writings may be found at Father of the Inklings. Visit Amazon to purchase The Commands of the Apostles and other books by Michael Phillips.

Humility is a quality of character and an attribute of Jesus' being that we can wear. 

From The Commands of the Apostles by Michael Phillips. Read by Michael Kimball. More information on this and similar writings may be found at Father of the Inklings. Visit Amazon to purchase The Commands of the Apostles and other books by Michael Phillips.

If we are brutally honest with ourselves, our response to the commands reveal the state of our spiritual condition. 

From The Commands of the Apostles by Michael Phillips. Read by Michael Kimball. More information on this and similar writings may be found at Father of the Inklings. Visit Amazon to purchase The Commands of the Apostles and other books by Michael Phillips.

To see though anyone else's eyes requires looking in the same direction they are...When Jesus said, "Behold,"...he was talking about another kind of vision--inner vision. 

From The Commands of the Apostles by Michael Phillips. Read by Michael Kimball. More information on this and similar writings may be found at Father of the Inklings. Visit Amazon to purchase The Commands of the Apostles and other books by Michael Phillips.

It would make an interesting experiment to attempt to identify the single principle of spirituality that the world vilifies, mocks, and rejects more than any other. Many options leap to mind: righteousness, authority, obedience, humility. Another possibility may surprise us--purity. 

From The Commands of the Apostles by Michael Phillips. Read by Michael Kimball. More information on this and similar writings may be found at Father of the Inklings. Visit Amazon to purchase The Commands of the Apostles and other books by Michael Phillips.

Of the many commands we have considered, which are those at the top of the list? Which are those that incorporate all the others into them? We immediately recognize Christlikeness as a recurring signature tune of the commands. Obviously, obedience is the doorway into the Christlikeness God desires to develop within us. 

From The Commands of the Apostles by Michael Phillips. Read by Michael Kimball. More information on this and similar writings may be found at Father of the Inklings. Visit Amazon to purchase The Commands of the Apostles and other books by Michael Phillips.

The question we are about to pose may at first glance seem simplistic, almost a cliche, like something from an old-fashioned salvation tract. Let us try, however, to listen to the words with fresh insight, and bring the question all the way inside. Let us see what it might have to tell us about ourselves. What are you living for? 

From The Commands of the Apostles by Michael Phillips. Read by Michael Kimball. More information on this and similar writings may be found at Father of the Inklings. Visit Amazon to purchase The Commands of the Apostles and other books by Michael Phillips.