When I was in my late twenties, I enthusiastically jumped into a Protestant denomination. I was very dedicated and spent 25 years attending church every week, bible studies 1-2 times a week, and volunteering for every service and evangelical task I could find. Later I was ordained and occasionally spoke before the congregation. I was well on my way to the Kingdom of God (or so I thought).
But toward the end of my church experience, the senior pastor of my denomination passed away and another man took over. This new man determined that certain church doctrines were wrong—and he began to change those doctrines. This caused quite a commotion, forcing the denomination into several doctrinal camps. Many high-ranking pastors left, took brethren with them, and started new churches. My head was spinning: I had left Catholicism to find Protestantism, which I considered God’s true religion. But now my Protestant world was falling apart.
So I decided to find out which senior pastor had the “right” doctrines. For many months, I spent all my spare time studying the Bible: I never had studied like this before; instead I just believed what I heard from the pulpit. Of course, I was told that I should “prove all things.” But I thought this meant I should make sure the speaker accurately quoted the Scriptures. Yet now as I reflect back, perhaps I was just too lazy to study on my own?
And as I carefully studied the Bible, I discovered numerous Scriptures I had never heard at church. It became clear that my church was not preaching a great deal of what Jesus taught. Thus I wondered: “Am I in the wrong Protestant denomination?” So I set about to research other denominations and what they believed: Baptist, Methodist, Assembly of God, Church of Christ, Lutheran, Adventist, Evangelicals, etc. I discovered how each of these denominations had vastly different views on doctrine. So why were their doctrines so radically different?
Then I decided to go through the gospels and carefully document all of Jesus’ teachings. I took my list of the Lord’s teachings and compared it to the doctrines of major Christian denominations. And when I did this, I discovered something profound: each and every Christian denomination ignored the same set of Jesus’ teachings. These teachings are never mentioned at church; nor are they discussed in church literature; neither are they described in any denominational Statements of Belief.
Across the board, churches and their pastors ignore these specific doctrines of Jesus Christ. They are never, ever shared with God’s people. Moreover, both the Bible and church history show how even back in the 1st Century, preachers were suppressing these very same doctrines.
How important are these teachings of Jesus? He was killed to suppress them.
So I wrote Executed to Suppress His Message to explain how key teachings of Jesus were suppressed, modified and replaced in order to raise up Christian churches in the image of the Old Covenant religions Jesus condemned.
I hope that you will find this book informative—and that it will strengthen your personal relationship with God.
God bless,
D. A. Taylor
