Brother Jim Shaw Ministries Ep203, Beware of Religions No Rituals Needed: Brother Jim Shaw on the Simplicity of Christ and the Thief at the Cross Brother Jim Shaw warns against a surge in religious ritual, contrasting the rules and trappings of organized religion with the simplicity of knowing Jesus Christ within, and closes by saying all he wants is what the thief at the cross received. A Surge in Religion and Its Rituals Brother Jim Shaw opens the fifteen-minute broadcast by noting a surge in religion he has seen reported, particularly reformed Catholicism, and asks listeners what is actually good about it. He compares organized religion to clubs like the Moose Club, the Elks, the American Legion, and the VFW, loaded with rules and belonging. Shaw lists rituals he sees as trappings rather than substance: feast days, traditions, candles, stained glass, kneeling, signs of the cross, crucifixes, rosary beads, holy days, physical baptisms in a small font, confirmations, memorized prayers, and first Holy Communion. He says he is not trying to ridicule anyone, but contrasts all of it with the simplicity of knowing in one's heart that Jesus Christ is Lord. Shaw tells listeners they are the temple, that Jesus lives and resides within them, and that Christ exposes himself in a believer all day long, especially in moments of temptation. Rituals Cannot Overcome the Devil Shaw challenges listeners to name one thing a ritual can do to overcome a devil, insisting it cannot, because devils love rituals and religion since there is no spiritual power in them. He admits people love teams anyway, joking about grown men at a Green Bay Packers game wearing cheese hats and screaming in freezing weather, because everyone wants to belong to a club. Shaw says it is a manifestation of grace when the Lord plucks a person out of the world, making them a living stone of a church built without hands. He warns listeners not to be deceived from the simplicity of Christ, just as Eve was deceived in the garden. He corrects himself over the exact wording, recalling that God told Adam and Eve not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, noting that the good on that tree was just as deceptive as the evil. Saved by Faith, Not by Joining Shaw turns to Paul's teaching in Galatians that believers are saved by faith and live by faith, adding that works will follow faith but a person cannot simply join a club, sign a paper, or be born into generations of a religion and call that salvation. He explains that when Paul wrote of faith he was quoting the Old Testament, since the New Testament did not yet exist, now understood through spiritual eyes after the Savior's coming. Shaw reads Habakkuk 2:4, that the soul which is lifted up in pride is not upright, while the just shall live by faith, which carries no pride. He reads on that a man who transgresses by wine is proud, enlarges his desire like hell, and is never satisfied, gathering all nations and peoples to himself, which he says religions do. Shaw singles out mass cards for the dead in the Catholic church, priced at five, ten, or fifteen dollars, as a never-ending revenue stream he calls worldly insanity. No Vows Required to Enter His Kingdom Shaw tells listeners they do not have to join anything to live by the faith of Christ, since a person comes automatically into his kingdom upon choosing him as personal Lord and Savior, with no need to recite ritual words or take vows no one can keep. He singles out the vow of celibacy taken by priests, asking where it appears in the Gospel, which instead tells believers to be fruitful and multiply, and suggests this explains the scale of scandal among clergy. Shaw says he knows he sounds like a voice in the wilderness, but insists he sides with people as human beings because he loves every one of them regardless of their religion. He adds that even those who are deceived were still made and created by his Creator, though they may not realize it, and that it falls to him to pray for them whenever their paths cross his own. Praying Instead of Judging, Wanting the Thief's Grace Shaw explains that while he can recognize when someone's deeds, drawn from the list in Galatians 5 of adultery, fornication, and covetousness, show they are headed toward judgment, he will not set himself up as their judge, since he too was once a sinner Christ plucked out of that path. He says he may have to separate himself from such people, even family, but insists there is no bitterness, revenge, or pride in his heart, since no believer has accomplished more than another in God's eyes. Shaw rejects the idea of sainthood elevating certain believers above others, saying all believers are saints in Jesus and that God alone gives out rewards. He says all he wants, and all any Christian should want regardless of religion, is what the thief at the cross received: no baptism, no rituals, no candles, only pain and nakedness, yet a turn toward Jesus that earned him paradise that same day. The Narrow Road, the Spirit Within, Closing Contact Shaw closes his teaching by describing one road, the road of the Lamb that leads to the cross, where believers pick up their own cross, deny themselves, and follow a Jesus who lives within them as Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. He recalls that on the cross Jesus was fully man, needing the Father to forgive his accusers, yet on other occasions forgave sins himself, outraging the Pharisees, who asked who he thought he was. Shaw says the kingdom of God is within every believer wherever they are, behind the wheel, hanging drywall, or on a garbage truck, and that Jesus gives the power to overcome sin. He teaches that loving one's neighbor begins with loving God first, warns that cellphones and idol worship can choke the spirit, and urges listeners to hold fast to the spirit inside them before closing with a blessing. The announcer then repeats the ministry's website, a Vero Beach, Florida post office box, a phone number, and the YouTube page.
