Hello B., thanks for writing. :)

Hi i have briefly read over some of your letters, and they seem to be going in circles. do you do this intentionally?  B 

Possibly.

or maybe i'm not understanding something, this is a possibility.

Another real possibility.

in your world can salvation come by any other means than by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus?

No. You really didn't read much at all, did you? :)

would you define grace in one sentence or less for me?

Christ

do you believe the bible to contain all the answers?

No ... and as you are still looking for answers on the Internet it's pretty
obvious you don't either.

if you were to answer me could you keep your answers short please. thanks

So, you want a "Cliff Notes" version of grace by which to validate your own belief system? B., do you REALLY know what you are looking for?

Jim

I came to your site because of a recommendation of a friend...

Hello again, B,
Hey, I understand what it is to receive recommendations to read that one more book you really don't have time for or to check out one more web site - especially those lengthy ones! haha!

...and I'd like to lay a foundation of your core beliefs.

The core of what I believe is in everything I write, but I realize this will never satisfy what you are looking for, which of course is a standard doctrinal statement or a "What I believe" page. Must have been pretty frustrating not to have found anything even remotely close to that, I suppose. I share Paul's determination to "know nothing among you except Christ and him crucified". I'm not concerned with sparring, only with life.

Is there an article you wrote that you would recommend?

Well, how about one as to why I don't have a doctrinal statement on my web site! ;)
What about a website doctrinal statement?

Where else would I find answers besides the bible?

How about God himself ... since he has given you the mind of Christ? This reality is testified to in many places in the Bible. Funny thing about the writings that form what we call "The Bible" is that they make it very clear that IT is not the answer but that it testifies to Christ, who IS the answer. At one time God spoke in various ways through men, but he has since spoken IN Christ.

Do you believe in an instant transformation within the spirit of man when he believes in Jesus? If you do, how does this effect a persons life?

Are you asking if having been transferred from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of Christ and having been raised from the dead into new life in Christ makes a life and death difference within the new creation? The answer should be most obvious!

I don't mean to sound anti-conversational, but I too like to disperse with the bull to get to the truth.

Ah, but what if the "bull" you want to dispense with IS the truth and the life? What if you've gotten yourself into a rut of judging truth by a neatly-formulated doctrinal package that is being labeled "belief"? If you view the little you've read on my web site as the bull you need to dispense with then I'm afraid you'll be sorely disappointed with everything you find. And I'm not offended if that's what you think as it makes no difference to me one way or the other. You read it or you don't. You might want to ask your friend why he recommended my site to you and if he was reading anything in particular when he thought of you.

Jim Minker