Agreeing With God
There are any number of ways to express what we are about to say – some call it “alignment” which is an excellent word, but alignment does not do justice to what we are about to say. Agreeing with God captures the essence.
You have a unique concept of God and this is why it is so important to get into agreement with your concept of God.
Have you understood, thus far, that we are not making any attempt to persuade you to get into agreement with our concept of God? We are being told, right this moment, by your concept of God, to encourage you to get into agreement. Agree with God; agree with YOUR concept of God!
This means, above all, to trust your concept of God and we are being sent to you to explain something that has caused you to be limited when you have been designed to be unlimited. You see, all your limitations and what you lack stem from this one single issue: you have not been agreeing with your concept of God. You have been led astray by those who have been insisting that you agree with their concept of God.
Is it any wonder that you feel out of place? You are out of place – and we have been sent to tell you that all you need to do to be in that place of perfect agreement is to, right now, in this moment, tell your God that your desire is to be in complete agreement and to ask how you are to do that.
We are here to help you only for as long as you want and need our help. We are sent by your concept of God, to encourage you to get into agreement with your concept of God.
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Hi, this is Ryan Bruce, I helped create this website, featuring the writings of Brad Cullen an internationally recognized author of several books about spiritual topics, particularly related to physical and emotional healing.
One drop can change everything, are you ready for one drop?
This website is purposed to offer Brad’s writings as an aid to finding your own connection with the Source of all that is. We hope you can connect with what you need….now.
Come back often to see all the insightful wisdom, it’s usually practical and easy to put to work.
Your comments and questions are what inspire and encourage seeking, listening and sharing!
I am, Ryan
PS: Want to know about Brad Cullen? Keep reading!
Brad Cullen
Brad Cullen
“Brad Cullen,” as many readers know is a pseudonym.The name was born in a work of fiction …an accidental work of fiction. The actual author (“I”) was on a writing assignment in East/Central Africa, early in the year 2000 doing the developmental writing and business consulting for the Lake Victoria Free Trade Zone; somewhat in adjunct and liaison with and between the governments of Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda, three of the national partners of the Zone and the staff of the Governor of the two hundred square mile Zone which was located wholly in Uganda.
The immediate question, in the minds of those who neither know nor understand “Brad’s” history is, why did I have the feeling of a need for a pseudonym? There are answers at several levels to that question. The primary reason I decided on a “pen name,” at the outset, was spiritual.
I had written a book in the year 2000 called Unlocking the Treasure Chest of God’s Gifts (now merely, Treasure Chest), which somehow landed on a website, Kingdom Resources, a service of Sigler Ministries – I really do not recall exactly how that relationship came into being. http://siglerministries.org was developed and is still managed by Gary Sigler, a man I admire greatly for his stand about the inclusiveness and fatherhood of God to and for a wide variety of people with a wide variety of belief systems, without any apparent judgment whatever.
Gary, just as God has given him to be the gift to everyone became very supportive of my articles; and offered to put up a website on Kingdom Resources to carry them. Initially, everything that I wrote on that little website was done so anonymously.
Treasure Chest (TC) which is still carried on the front page of Kingdom Resources has an amazing history. Early in 2001 Gary called me to tell me that a church pastor in New York City had asked if he could download TC off the website to make fifty photocopies to give to carefully selected church members in the two churches he pastored… one in Newark, New Jersey, the other in Manhattan – about a twenty minute drive between the two. He juggled the times of the services so that he could be present at each.
He had told Gary that he wanted to launch a midweek, home-church program in both cities using TC as a discussion/teaching medium. Gary wanted to know if I would grant permission for TC to be copied. My feeling was that in a very real sense “I” hadn’t written it and therefore it should be freely given away to anyone who wanted it.
One of the many amazing sidebar stories to TC is that it actually got this man fired! Several months later I received an e-mail from him telling me how well he felt these midweek, in-home discussions were going and the numeric and spiritual growth and maturity that had developed in both churches as a result. The e-mail exchanges between us increased. In one he made a rather poignant request for advice – to which I responded that I could only tell him what I would do if I were in his situation which was simply to be obedient to what Jesus had said.
He wrote back asking for my phone number which resulted in several calls. He had made what he felt was a simple announcement to his church membership, including those on the Board of Directors… that he was to no longer be referred to as “pastor,” but that everyone was to call him by his first name or simply, “brother.”
Is the house of God this small?
What ensued was a directive from both Boards that in order to maintain the decorum and façade of a traditional church, he must continue to use the title. The conflict had gotten to the point which they were threatening to fire him; which, of course, would mean the loss of his church-paid housing, car, medical insurance, retirement plan and other benefits.
All I could say was a sympathetic, “wow.” He was married, with two small children, no savings or other employment opportunities immediately apparent. “I don’t know what to do?” He sounded on the verge of tears.
I told him that it would be enormously hypocritical of me to try to give him any advice. I couldn’t begin to imagine the pressure of being in his position.
“I can only tell you what I think I would do and that is pray for SPIRIT to lead me and wait for Him to show me what to do” …I finished by saying that I would pray that he listen, hear and obey God’s SPIRIT alone. He thanked me profusely for my support and “listening ear,” he said, and I didn’t hear from him again for almost three weeks.
He called and said he had finally gotten clarity and peace. He maintained his position he had stated to the Board of Directors that Jesus said neither to allow anyone to refer to you by any title that implied spiritual authority or superiority, nor to refer to anyone else by any such title; and that “pastor” (which means “shepherd” and in light of what Jesus said about there being only ONE shepherd …and further that any man who took on such a title was a thief and usurper) was the epitome of such a title …he had no choice. He had to refuse the title (period), a point that I had reached in my own journey and had expressed in TC.
The situation turned out beautifully for him and his family. The Board had given him an ultimatum: Either he would keep the title or else …the else being given two weeks to vacate the parsonage, turn in his car, lose his salary and all benefits. The Board announced its decision to both churches and replaced him with an interim pastor from the denomination.
Moving may seem unpleasant
Several members who were involved in the midweek discussion groups insisted that he maintain his involvement with them and replaced his salary, car and housing allowance as well as all other benefits and insurances in order that he could be free to establish other “house churches” which started a whole new rash of requests for fifty copies off the www.sigler.org website.
As I said in the introduction, which I felt prompted to write to TC when I sensed I was about half way through writing it: “On one hand, what is written so far reveals a belief system that goes cross current to mainstream thought about anything. This certainly does not make for a broad audience. When it flies in the face of traditional religion I do not withhold the slap on that face as I travel by trampling on beliefs. I doubt very much that those outside of a fairly narrow religious experience will pay any attention to it. I know of a few religionists, both lay and clerical, that will be angered by it and want to argue with many of my perceptions and at the very least think violent thoughts upon my person.”
Obviously, I had no idea that the book would become as widely read as it eventually did. In the middle of writing it I became embroiled in several personal, political and legal challenges, some of which were beyond my control and some that were a result of my own mismanagement. I was certain that these challenges would take the focus off the content of TC and put it on my growing negative reputation, the scope of which was becoming embarrassing and even somewhat frightening.
Particularly when failed businesses (yes plural) and failed marriages (also plural) were factored in, I became conflicted. On one hand, I felt deeply that the message which was being “given” to me should be directed at Evangelical Christians, but I also knew that failed marriages, particularly, are looked at askance in that milieu …so; remaining “anonymous” was a simple decision.
The next thing I knew, after the leader of the two churches in the New York City area broke the dam, people were asking Gary if they could make fifty photocopies of TC …strangely, almost weirdly, always fifty copies. A businesswoman in Las Vegas, a pharmacist in Toronto, a doctor in Arkansas, a nurse in Atlanta, a retail merchant in Malaysia, a U.S. Air Force Sergeant, stationed near Frankfurt, four businessmen in Addis Ababa (who, together, rented a house for the purpose of having small group discussions using TC as the medium), all just a few of the many, many examples of people requesting permission to make fifty photocopies.
The list went on and on – New Zealand, Australia, Japan, American Samoa, the Philippines, several cities across Canada and the U.S., even several people who offered to and, in fact, did translate TC in languages such as Polish, French, Chinese, etc. – the requests were always in the form of, “May I make fifty copies to use for discussion?” Or, “may I Xerox fifty copies to mail?” …a veritable explosion of E-Mail took place from seemingly every corner of the World.
For the next four years I answered an average of 75 to 150 e-mails …each and every day. The total list of regular respondents was well into the thousands. The comments were gratifying to say the least, as people were reporting phenomenal spiritual life changes and crediting them to the almost miraculous way TC had come into their possession. Always and amazingly among a batch of fifty photocopies! Why was the number invariably fifty? It made no sense, but I knew that there was some significance to it.
By 2002 the correspondence was always addressed, “Dear Brad;” as Brad Cullen had become the author of my articles rather than the original “anonymous.”
What's in your Treasure Chest?
The initial prompting of the writing of TC had been at the urging of a doctor and her husband with whom I had become acquainted. She had training and degrees in traditional Medicine and later Naturopathy that had taken place in institutions in the U.S.
A mutual friend had told her and her husband that I had a “gift of faith” for healing. I explained to them that it wasn’t really true. I didn’t possess anything that everyone couldn’t also have. She asked me what I would charge to “consult” with certain patients whom she was convinced were troubled by what she referred to as “spirit entities.” I told her I wouldn’t charge her anything, but assured her that whenever she felt she had a patient that could use my help to call me.
The very first call and subsequent “miraculous” healing in her office resulted in a surprise, side-effect healing which prompted the writing of TC. The patient was a fifteen year old daughter of an employee of the U.K. Consulate in Kampala. When the doctor called me she explained that there was no medical reason for the girl’s condition. All blood work and other tests had come back negative. The girl was listless and often nauseated almost every day. “I’m convinced she is being bothered by ‘entities,’ ” she told me.
It seems important to note that the doctor was born and grew up in Poland and emigrated to the U.S. after she had completed college in Warsaw. She completed her pre-med studies at a university in the Chicago area and eventually earned her M.D. there. She became convinced that the American Medical system was politically and financially corrupted by the pharmaceutical industry and she began researching alternative healing methods, eventually leading her to studies in Chinese herbs, acupuncture, and then finally a doctorate in Integrative Medicine from a prominent University in the American Southwest.
Somewhere along the way she met a young businessman who was the son of one of the African nation ambassadors to Uganda and she caught a vision to do her healing work in Uganda. Her husband was avowedly a Christian. She had been raised a Roman Catholic, but in her words, had “renounced her faith” …“I believe in God, just barely,” she said, “But I am most definitely supportive of my husband’s brand of Christianity. His church is very empowering to its people.”
Look at that smiling face in the middle!
With this backdrop we go back to her fifteen year old female patient. The doctor had told both mother and daughter that she suspected involvement of “spiritual entities” … and wanted to know if they would mind her involving a man who deals in such things.
Enter the anonymous one, which would be me. After the doctor made the introductions, the girl, a very bright, sophisticated young lady, told me in no uncertain terms that she was not religious, her mother seated at her side, nodding in obvious agreement while the doctor looked on impassively. They both indicated their trust in the doctor however, but neither had any faith in God they insisted almost eagerly. I responded to this by basically saying that it wasn’t important.
It took about ten minutes of history-taking for me to realize what was at the root of the girl’s problem. I shocked all three women by bluntly saying and getting the girl to agree that her physical problems were being caused by her desire to go back to England. I asked the girl and her mother what kind of credence they placed on the doctor’s “diagnosis” of spiritual entities attacking the girl. They both admitted that it was a “bit scary,” but if it was possible they were certainly willing for me to deal with the issue.
I told the girl she had all the “authority” to deal with the problem herself …and I told her how. I said, “I realize that you are not religious, in fact, both you and your mother are somewhat anti-religious as is the doctor, here. In my mind that isn’t a bad thing …in fact, for you, it is actually a good thing because you don’t have any preconceived ideas. If you are comfortable with it, I want you to say something, if not just tell me that you’d prefer not to …okay?”
She was very attentive and not at all reluctant in her agreement. “This is not in any way religious, but it is spiritual,” I continued, “what I want you to say, if you’re comfortable with it, is simply – ‘I want God’s will, whatever that is and whatever it means’ – can you say that?”
“Sure,” she said, without hesitating, and surprisingly repeated the words almost verbatim and emphatically, “…I want God’s will whatever that means!”
“Stand up,” I told her. Now say: ‘I take full authority over this body and all feeling of lethargy and nausea get out of me, NOW!’ ”
She followed the instructions… I saw the immediate transformation in her and laughed at the startled look on her face …and asked her how she felt. “I feel great,” she stammered… “Say it,” I urged.
“I do, I really feel wonderful” she said, looking amazed and happy.
Go Ahead Be Happy
“Just remember to deal honestly with what is going on. You do not need to stay in Africa, your mom and dad will arrange for you to go back home if that is what you really want – am I right, mum?”
“Yes, of course,” her mother said. I gave the girl some additional instructions about how to deal with spiritual entities in the event she was ever bothered again.
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About a week later, the doctor’s husband called me and invited me to lunch. He enthusiastically informed me that his wife had been troubled by a sleep disorder and hadn’t slept more than two hours, at any one time, ever since they were married four years before; and as a result she had become addicted to caffeine. She also was unable to become pregnant because she had cysts on her ovaries. “She’s healed, man, you healed her! When you healed that patient, you also healed my wife!”
I told him that I hadn’t done anything and we should probably get together with his wife to discuss it. The enthusiasm was evident in both of them when we met later that evening over dinner. I explained a number of things and they both asked me if I would write out what I had basically just shared. I began writing a series of papers that would eventually form TC.
The idea of writing a fictional version of a lot of my “healing” experiences began to form in my mind; for basically the same reason that I had decided to hide behind “anonymous.” If it was fiction I could get across the same message that had been formed in me …if some things in a novel seem unbelievable, it is no big deal. The truth Jesus told, that is, anyone can do the very same things he had done if they believed enough and the basics of that belief are unbelievable to most people anyway, therefore a novel, perhaps, I thought, would be the best way to present it.
Who does your doctor consult with?
The doctor occasionally got me involved with other patients until I pointed out and she realized that she didn’t need me or anyone else. Within just a few months she and her husband took me out to dinner and announced her pregnancy.
I asked them to read the first several pages of the draft of the manuscript for a novel I had already started, named, Leapfrog. They were enthusiastic in their praise and support – and since Brad Cullen was the hero in the novel – and who was everything I could have wished to be (and wasn’t) – the name became my pseudonym.
Leapfrog is about a manuscript which I actually wrote first, detailing actual “supernatural” events from my own experience, but changing the names and places and having “Brad Cullen” tell them to a writer in an interview …and in the process, during the interview, the writer had an almost magical spiritual transformation where she leaped “over the head” of Brad Cullen into her own direct connection with the SOURCE of everything.
When I finished the book, the interview became an appendix at the end of the main story, during which it was referred to many times …and well, I don’t want to give away all the surprises – please read the book on line right now, LEAPFROG.
Oh yeah, one more thing, if you are looking for a more accurate description of the “real” me, in the book (since Brad Cullen is portrayed as such a nice guy –good looking too), I was more like Vic Schneider the “defrocked” preacher from St. Louis who was the spiritual sidekick to Darlene’s psychiatrist, Will Barry. That’s all you’re getting …go now …the download is free, our gift to you.
In Freedom,
Brad