Teachings from Jim Staley, Passion for Truth Ministry

Galatians

The Epistle to the Galatians is a book of the New Testament. It is a letter from Paul of Tarsus to a number of early Christian communities in the Roman province of Galatia in central Anatolia. It is principally concerned with the controversy surrounding Gentile Christians and the Mosaic Law within Early Christianity. Along with the Epistle to the Romans, it is the most theologically significant of the Pauline epistles, and has been particularly influential in Protestant thought.

Hebrews

Heb 8:7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. Did God really abolish His Covenant that David, Paul and Timothy said was perfect?  This verse by verse teaching on the book of Hebrews is the final key to understanding what exactly the New Covenant is. One change in a legal document makes void the entire document. A new one must be formed. But does this mean that the ENTIRE original contract is void or is just what was changed? This series details exactly what was changed, why it was changed and exactly what was done away with. This study is the final compliment to the Romans and Galatians series.

Romans

The Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Romans is one of the letters of the New Testament canon of the Christian Bible. Often referred to simply as Romans, it is one of the seven currently undisputed letters of Paul. It is even counted among the four letters accepted as authentic (known in German scholarship as Hauptbriefe) by F. C. Baur and the Tübingen School of historical criticism of texts in the 19th century.

Ephesians 2:14-16

This teaching goes into great depth to explain exactly what was the middle wall of separation between the Jew and the Gentile in the first century. Along with going through Ephesians 2:14-16, many other difficult passages are expunged as well to get to the bottom of exactly what was removed and changed as the result of the death and resurrection of our Savior. 

The Ten Commandments

Did you know that Moses was NOT on top of the mountain when YHVH first started speaking the Words of the Covenant according to the scriptures? Would it shock you to find out that the Ten Commandments are only the Ten Commandments because the people could not handle God speaking to them any further and they told Moses to tell Him to stop?

What was the Lord’s intention when He started speaking what He calls the “words of the Covenant”? And why is the Exodus 34 version of the Ten Commandments so drastically different from the Exodus 20 version? And if that isn’t enough, how on earth can Moses and Abraham be teaching the people the laws, decrees and instructions of YHVH BEFORE the Law was given on Mt. Sinai? This teaching series will answer all of those questions and more as we dig deeper into this subject to find what the scriptures ONLY have to say about this subject.

Passing the Test

Have you ever felt like you were fighting a war and you were not even sure why?  Have you ever had days, weeks, months, or even years that you felt things could not get any worse?  Ever felt like you were being tested beyond what you can handle? If you said “yes” to any of the above, then this teaching is for you.

Life experiences are messages and they are tests.  Sometimes they are subtle and sometimes they are explosive.  And sometimes they are specifically sent by the Father to get our attention for the purpose of growing us closer to Him.  Miss the message, miss the growth.  And around the mountain we go again.  Sometimes, embracing the situation will reveal whose hand is really behind it.  After all…missing the message is missing a real encounter with your Maker.

Power of Prayer

Ok, let’s face it. We’ve all been taught that we need to pray and that prayer is important. We’ve all been to prayer meetings and we all have been told to go to our prayer “closet” from time to time. But, WHY is it so important that we pray? Is there really any power in prayer anymore? Has your prayer life turned into a session of throwing up as much stuff to the Father as you can, hoping that He will hear at least one of them and answer it the way you want Him to?

The bible has much to say about prayer and why it is so important. As a matter of fact, almost nothing in scripture happened without someone praying diligently first. This two part series will electrify your prayer life and teach you the “secret” to really connecting to the supernatural realm of the Father. This teaching will bring back to life what the first century believers understood about prayer and allows them to tell us exactly what prayer is, what happens when we pray, how to pray, who to pray to and why even pray to begin with.

There IS power in prayer when we pray HIS way.

 

Acts 15

In A New Light....This Could Change Everything

There is a major influx of pagan, cultic Gentiles that are coming into the Church in the New Testament and the disciples were not exactly sure how to handle this because these new Gentiles knew nothing about the God of the Old Testament that they served or even what He required of them. So, a council was called to decide what to do with this most pressing matter. You will discover from this very short teaching that the mandates and restrictions that were placed on the Gentiles were not an "end-all" list but a beginning list of the most important things that they struggled with at the time because...Well, you will just have to listen to the next 5 minutes to see why they did what they did. Sometimes "Because" can be the most important word of the sentence.

Topical Studies

Success in  Leadership and Relationships

If you consider yourself a leader in any way (pastor, small group leader, husband, wife, parent, etc…), and want to be a more effective leader resulting in more successful relationships, then you need to listen to this new series on leadership and relationships. This series is packed full of material from the leading modern guru on leadership, Edwin Friedman, and is more than enough information to fill an entire semester at any college!

To Eat or Not to Eat

Does God really care what we eat? If not, then where in the scriptures does it say that God changed His mind from what He told His people back in the book of Genesis?! Are you thinking of Acts 10, Galatians 2, Mark 7 or maybe Colossians 2? This teaching leaves no stone unturned as every single scripture used by theologians and church-goers alike concerning the subject is thoroughly examined. You will be amazed and shocked when you see for yourself that for over 1800 years we have read into the scriptures things that just aren’t there. You will truly be perplexed at the power of tradition and how the doctrine of “Jesus dying so we can eat anything” has survived for so long.

Truth or Tradition

Should Christians celebrate Christmas and Easter? It almost sounds sacrilegious not to, doesn’t it? Does God really care if we dedicate a former pagan holiday in His name? After all, "That’s not what it means to me", right? But the real question is, “What does it mean to Him”? This teaching answers that question by going into great detail of the origins of both holidays and then goes straight to the scriptures to see what God has to say about it. You might be shocked to find out that God does have an opinion. DO NOT listen to this series if you would rather not know the truth.

How To Defeat Sin In Your Life

Have you ever struggled with a sin in your life that you just couldn’t shake?  This teaching will go into depth of who we really are and why we continue to do the very things that we don’t want to do. Understanding who we are and how we get so tangled in the vines of sin will help free us to be all we can be in Christ. This teaching will leave you with a sense of hope and give you practical ways to “put the death the deeds of the flesh by the Spirit.” (Romans 8:13).

Law versus Love

For the past 1800 years most of us have been taught that the Old Testament was all about Law and the New Testament is all about Love. We might have even been led to believe that those of the OT were saved by works and today we are saved by grace…That it is either Law or Love. This teaching dispels the idea that Jesus or the bible pits one against the other, but rather that the two are actually one. You will see that the God of yesterday still defines love the same way that He does today…through obedience to His Word.

Doctrine of Baptisms (Heb. 6:1-2)

This is one of a series of teachings from Hebrews 6:1-2 where Paul says that this is one of the basic elementary principles of our faith. This teaching reveals the significance of WATER, FIRE, and BLOOD and how all three fit together to detail the actual doctrine of baptisms that Paul is speaking of.  This is a very in-depth teaching on the doctrine of Baptisms that reveals the TRUTH and history about the subject that brings it to life for today.

Beyond Faith

Have faith.  Have faith.  Have faith. Just have faith. We’ve all heard that before at one time or another, right? But what does it mean? Why is it so important? How do I get more of it and how do I use it when I have it? These questions and more are answered in this teaching that will take you Beyond Faith.

Who are the Chosen People?

Discovering the true people of God

Are the chosen people the Jews or the Christians? Or, were they the Jews chosen a long time ago but now the chosen people are the Christians? If so, what happens to the Jews? “Who are the Chosen People?” seems like such a simple question. But strangely enough, many of us are not sure exactly how to answer this foundational question. Most evangelicals know what it means to be “saved”, but are stumped when it comes to really understanding who the chosen people are and why it is so important of a question to begin with. This very unbiased study leaves no stone unturned as we will start in Genesis and move our way through the entire bible, revealing who the chosen people really are. After all, all of His instructions were given to the “Chosen People”, right? So, if we don’t know who the chosen people are, then how can we know what our instructions are? Understanding this subject is a critical necessity to truly understanding the relationship between the Old and the New Covenants.