Spirit and Truth Fellowship International

Most Christians gladly accept that Christ died for their sins, and through him they can now have everlasting life. At the time of the new birth a person’s sins are charged to Christ, and in return Christ’s righteousness is credited to the believer. This is what we commonly refer to as the Great Exchange. One of the most important aspects of the Great Exchange is that the believer is now supposed to live the Exchanged Life. In this teaching Dan Gallagher demonstrates how the Exchanged Life is really the power base of Christian living, because when we live the Exchanged Life we allow Christ to live through us. The essence of the Exchanged life is summed up this way, “His life for mine, now my life for his.” We believe this teaching will inspire and encourage you greatly in your journey to be more like Christ.

God is a loving Father and He wants us to spend time with Him. The Bible tells us that God knit us together in our mother’s wombs, and knows our every thought. Yet we often leave Him on the back burner. We tend to make time in our daily lives for people and other things, but how often do we make room in our lives for God? In this teaching, Cara Hanson identifies an 8-step plan to remove the clutter from our hearts so that we will minimize distractions and be able to focus on God. Cara encourages us to order our thoughts on God, so we will be better equipped in the spiritual battle. This is an inspirational, thought-provoking teaching that will leave you cleaning out your own clutter to “Make Room in Your Heart for God.”

God is light and one of the first of His creative works was to speak light into existence. Not only was Jesus a light to the world, he indicated that his followers were lights too, and they were not to do anything that would block their light. In this teaching Dan Gallagher encourages us to look at four major areas common to us all that block our light. Far too often Christians blend into the world around them rather than being clearly seen by all as the radiant light they are called to be. As lights, and as children of The Light, it is our responsibility to do everything we can to put on the armor of light. This is an inspirational teaching that will help you to “Let Your Light Shine.”

The Magi were wonderful men who traveled from the Parthian Empire, likely close to ancient Babylon, to see the young Messiah. Despite clear information about them in the Bible, traditions about the Magi, who were astronomers, have clouded who they were and when they came to Bethlehem. This teaching about the Magi opens many of the great truths and wonderful things the Bible says about these men. Their ancient ancestors had been trained by Daniel the prophet. They were Gentiles, but they were looking for a Redeemer, and knew he would come from Judah. They came to Bethlehem more than a year after Jesus was born, so they were not at the birth of Christ like the shepherds were. They never followed a star to find the Messiah; they went to Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, asked where he was, and were told, “Bethlehem,” so they went there. Also, there would have been many more than three of them. There is value in truth, and knowing the truth about these wonderful men helps us to understand why God would spend a whole chapter telling us about them.

We are all familiar with the grace that God has freely poured out upon us. We are both saved by grace and forgiven by grace. Grace is unmerited divine favor, a gift from God that we did not earn and did not deserve. What we may not be as familiar with, however, is that once we receive God's grace and become His children, we have an obligation to Him, and He states that very clearly in His Word. For example, we have a moral obligation to God to love Him and be thankful for, and pray for, our spiritual family. We also have a moral obligation to grow in the Christian faith. There are other obligations we have to God as well. Fulfilling our obligation to God is not a pre-requisite for, nor does it earn, grace, but it is part of our obedience to God. In this teaching, John Schoenheit covers some of the moral obligations that are clearly stated in the Bible and discusses not only what they are, but how to fulfill them in our lives.

Throughout history God has called and inspired many people with wonderful promises. In fact, God’s Word even declares that He has given us “very great and precious promises” (2 Pet. 1:4). Unfortunately, many times people see the promise and tend to forget that before they receive it they must travel through a land of challenge. In this teaching, Dan Gallagher explores this pattern by looking at the lives of Adam, Abraham, Joseph, Moses and others so that we can be properly prepared when we face difficult times. We believe you will find this teaching to be very encouraging and also enjoy Dan’s review of seven practical things to do when you travel through the land of challenge.

Spiritual heart disease is a severe condition that afflicts the “inner heart” of the entire human race. The source of this disease can be traced all the way back to the sin of Adam in the Garden when he rejected God and rebelled against Him. This sin was so cataclysmic that its effects are painfully felt in the heart of every man and woman to this present day. Unfortunately, the malignant state of mankind’s inner heart causes people to turn to a variety of ungodly solutions in order to find relief and solace. Thankfully, God gave us the remedy for this illness when He instructed us to love Him alone with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength. When we do, we not only begin healing in our hearts, but we also become able to help and heal others.

Far too often people endure hardship and difficulty because of the foolish choices they make. Despite God clearly telling us that "Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom" (Prov. 4:7), there is not nearly as much talk about, or pursuit of wisdom in Christianity as there ought to be. For example, when was the last time you heard one Christian complement another by saying, "You are so wise." In this teaching on "Living Wisely,” John Schoenheit explains that in many Christian circles the focus on wisdom has been supplanted by a focus on "faith,” with the underlying assumption being that if we can get what we want by "faith," then wisdom is not needed. John demonstrates how both faith and wisdom are important and that we need to understand both of them and how they work together. Living wisely is not an easy thing to do so we must take the time to think through our decisions, and have the discipline to carry out what we know to do.

The book of Romans is the great doctrinal treatise that forms the foundation of the Christian faith and clearly sets forth that salvation comes by faith in Jesus Christ. Many people are overburdened by sin because they erroneously think it puts their salvation in doubt. Christians who believe in Christ think that if they commit sin, then God will not allow them to live forever. The New Testament teaches a great message of blessing and hope that when a person has faith in Christ, he or she is righteous in the eyes of God, that is, he or she has "right standing" with God. To be righteous in God's sight was the great desire of God's people in the Old Testament, and Deuteronomy 6:25 says that if the Jews were careful to obey all the Law they would be righteous. Because "righteousness" was so important to the Jews and such a big part of the Old Testament, Romans couches what believers have from God as "righteousness," instead of the more well-known word, "salvation." Now, after the death and resurrection of Christ, people are righteous in God's sight by faith in Christ alone. In this teaching, John Schoenheit covers what “righteousness” is, how it was obtained during Old Testament times, how it is obtained today, how it relates to "salvation," and why so many Christians ignore the testimony of Romans and seek right standing with God by trying to do good works.

Have you gotten in a line, and then patiently waited as you slowly crept forward towards the front, only to suddenly realize, “I’m in the wrong line!” In this teaching, “Get in the Right Line,” Mike Patten uses a very clear idea of a line to teach about each Christian’s need to make sure that we are doing what Christ wants us to do. By examining the eleventh chapter of Matthew’s gospel, Mike demonstrates what is involved in Jesus’ statement, “…no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him” (Matt. 11:27b). The listener will learn how a lack of repentance is the core issue in this chapter as Jesus instructs not only his followers, but challenges the unbelieving crowd as well. The thrust of this message encourages followers of Christ to Get in the Right Line so that Jesus can reveal to them the Father.

For almost 2 millennia, the voice of women has been stifled in the Church. Interestingly, this has been in large part due to just two references in the New Testament: 1 Timothy 2:12 and 1 Corinthians 14:34 and 35. Something about these three verses, however, is that the way they have been translated and handled in the Church is in glaring contradiction to the flow and feel of the rest of the New Testament about women. Right from the start of the Christian Church on the Day of Pentecost, both men and women received holy spirit (Acts 2:17, 18). Women served in the Church and were speaking up in the meetings. There were simple churches in their homes, and there is much evidence that they taught the Word of God. While 1 Timothy 2:12 has been mistranslated and misunderstood, there are a growing number of scholars who have concluded that 1 Corinthians 14:34 and 35 were added to the Bible by an early scribe, and that it was not part of Paul’s original letter to the Corinthians. In this teaching, John Schoenheit goes through some of the reasons many scholars now conclude that these verses were added to the text, and also speaks about how we should understand and apply them if they were part of the original text.

The Body of Christ is supposed to be built up until we all reach maturity. With so much work still left to be done, each believer is vital to the building of the church. In this teaching, Cara Hanson explores some of the obstacles that are hindering the building up of the Body of Christ: bitterness/getting hurt, sin, boredom or feeling burned out, distraction, and self-esteem. This teaching is designed to inspire believers to realize that the Lord's work will only get done as each part does its work.

Dan Gallagher of Spirit and Truth Fellowship International teaches on "What the Bible says about Tattoos?" Check out this in-depth look at the subject of Tattoos!

It has been stated that no single person has had more effect on history than Jesus Christ. But now, just as when he lived, there are a lot of different opinions about him, ranging from a deceiver to the Son of God. In this teaching John Schoenheit opens the Word of God to see what it reveals about who Jesus is. Taking a biographical approach, John examines different records in the Four Gospels to show that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior, but he is also our hero and role model. Scripture says that Jesus was tempted just like we are. If so, how could he live a sinless life? Scripture reveals that Jesus got hungry, tired, and had family problems just as we do, yet he singularly focused on God and lived and loved like no other person before or since. This look at the life of Jesus reveals a person who needs to be better known, and knowing him inspires us to live a more focused and holy life.

One of Jesus' last commands before his ascension was to "go make disciples of all nations." Clearly God's and Jesus' vision is for each Christian to become a strong, mature believer. Dave Hanson explores the goal in Ephesians 4:13, that we be unified and "become mature." This maturity is exemplified by love, meaning that all Christians should strive to love to the point of reaching out and helping others. Dave shows the context of Ephesians 4:13 with the equipping ministries of Verse 11 working to "prepare" or "perfect" the saints to help all of us get involved as the subsequent verses indicate. This teaching explores the Greek word, katartizo, meaning "to supply exactly what someone needs," and shows that each believer has the awesome privilege and responsibility to reach out and love other believers to "perfect" them so that we are all unified and become mature in Christ.