The 12 Tenets Expanded

Tenet 1

Logos is a church, a spiritual community, which seeks to be of aid to ourselves and others in personal and planetary transformation. As we work and grow together, it is of the greatest importance that we enthusiastically share a strong sense of oneness of spirit and purpose. To do this, we must share the same ideals and, for the most part, the same goals. Good will, cooperation and communication are essential in any effective work. Toward this end, we agree upon our understanding of the ideals, purposes, principles and objectives of the work of Logos. Our name, LOGOS, is taken from the book of John. It means:

The Word, the Logos, the Christ, through whom everything was made, became incarnate in the man Jesus and is to become incarnate in us all.

We were made in His image and we are destined to he conformed to his image. With our choices we may "the sooner" attain this destiny.

Tenet 2

Our first premise is: There is One force at work in the universe and we affirm this to be God. GOD IS LOVE. Therefore, we affirm our optimism in the present, knowing that Good will be the ultimate outcome of all conditions. There is no power greater than His love; therefore, we affirm a universal gospel of freedom and joy. There is nothing to fear. We affirm that our ultimate ideal is the great commandment: Love God with all your heart, mind, and soul and love your neighbor as yourself. This we believe to be the whole law and the whole answer to the world. The way of love is not the way of power; therefore, we do not believe peace is fostered by aggression. As our ideal, love is the standard by which all considerations may be measured. For us as individuals this means, in our inner private thoughts and in our outer social activities, it is our true desire and intent to be motivated by the spirit of love.

Tenet 3

We affirm that the Spirit of Christ is cosmic and universal. We affirm that Jesus of Nazareth is our elder brother, and is a soul, a child of God, like ourselves. Yet, He chose to measure up to the fullness of the law of love. In so doing he received the power to overcome death, and to experience the resurrection of his body. As a result of this, He now gives us the pattern and the power to become like him, perfect in love. He gives us the promise of his abiding presence to enable us to measure up, as he did. The spiritual goal of being incarnate in the earth is to become like him, in love. In the same manner, all of us may come to know that we are the true children of the One God. It is most important to keep in mind that the Spirit of God can and does manifest fully through souls such as Jesus and ourselves. Also, it is not so important that we use a particular word in a statement of faith as it is that we live in the spirit of selfless love. In our emphasis on the work of Jesus, we do not wish to detract from the work of any other great soul. It is simply that we choose to align our work and spirit with his.

Tenet 4

We affirm that God seeks to speak directly to each of us. And we affirm that Logos is to be a God-directed work. In all our decisions, we will seek to be guided by His will. A God-directed work of receiving guidance is to be viewed as an ongoing process of growth and attunement. We seek to practice this process more than to sanctify specific messages. It is expected that many of us will share our respective God-directed guidance. In such a process, we know that there will be differing guidance from different individuals. Recognizing and working through these differences with a spirit of good will is a demanding but powerful way to grow in attunement and maturity. As we call upon God, we recognize that He may send a messenger in his stead. This may be the Master, our spirit plane guides or our angels. There are spiritual beings in many dimensions and there are presently with us those who would aid and those who would hinder. We must learn discernment.

Tenet 5

As an interfaith church, we do not align ourselves with any specific organization or movement. We affirm that the Old Testament and the New Testament constitute the foundation of our spiritual heritage and are the central spiritual resource for us. The Edgar Cayce readings are one of our primary spiritual resources. We also feel a special spiritual affinity with other resources, such as the works of Paramahansa Yogananda. We are not "relativists" suggesting that all spiritual literature is equally valid; however, as an interfaith church we believe that God is at work in the individual souls and in the cultures of all humankind and that there is value in studying various sacred literatures and inspired sources. As an interfaith church it is not our purpose to erect an altar to every religion but rather to celebrate the oneness of all humankind as children of the one God.

Tenet 6

We are dedicated to the spiritual development and application of our "psychic" abilities. We define the word "psychic" to mean, "of the soul." Every soul has unique gifts. The New Testament speaks often of the "gifts of the spirit." We believe the gifts of the spirit to be directly related to what we today call "the psychic." We believe Jesus to have been the greatest psychic who ever lived. We are told to "desire spiritual gifts." The application of the gifts of the spirit, as in the laying on of hands for healing, brings a more spiritually powerful ministry. Our standard in expressing these gifts is: "helpfulness and hopefulness."

Tenet 7

We are spiritual beings and therefore there is the continuity of individual consciousness before and beyond our present life. This is the concept of reincarnation which we actively promote. Souls incarnate in human bodies only, never in other animals. We affirm that we ourselves have had previous lives which are profoundly affecting our present lives. We can talk about these experiences for bettering ourselves, our understanding and our relationships. Reincarnation implies the law of karma, which means, "like begets like." We do not believe God to be a moralist or a dogmatist. God is not retributive or punishing. However, as co-creators with God, We have free will and we meet the lawful consequences of our choices. Reincarnation also implies that there is a vast, unexplored region within ourselves for which we must assume responsibility. The Universes operate in lawful ways. We are trying to discover these laws, to discover how to want to put ourselves in accord with them, and how to develop the qualities of character to enable us to manifest the fullness of our love and understanding.

Tenet 8

We are dedicated to "developing spiritual leadership." And we are dedicated to the developing a school for this purpose. We believe the hope of the world lies more in awakening the Spirit in individuals than in supporting the activism of every worthy cause. Education is primarily concerned with individual transformation. We do not need to keep reinventing the wheel, so we study the past. We do not want to stand still, so we value research. We know that we learn by comparison, so we study differing schools. Whatever we learn, we feel a spiritual obligation to share with other seekers. We are thus also dedicated to the widespread dissemination of what we find to be helpful. We are souls to whom much has been given and much is expected. We are to take the initiative, to speak up, to reach out, to share and to join no conspiracy of silence.

Tenet 9

We are holistic in orientation, recognizing the body as the temple of God. We advocate the balanced, integrated life, and give special attention to the physical, mental and spiritual dimensions of ourselves.- We advocate a holistic approach to the healing of all conditions. A holistic approach must be concerned with many other dimensions of life: motivational, emotional, psychological, creative, interpersonal, recreational, and financial. This holistic emphasis is to be reflected in our personal lives and in the content of our activities and programs.

Tenet 10

Ours is a work of attunement and application. We affirm that meditation is the central and indispensable foundation of spiritual attunement. We commit ourselves personally to the daily practice of meditation, and we support the teaching and dissemination of information about meditation. We affirm that, "doing what we know to do," is the central and indispensable foundation of application. When we do what we know to do then the next step will be given. We commit ourselves to becoming more effective in our personal growth and in our service to others.

Tenet 11

We recognize that God is a God of abundance and is the source of our supply. We affirm that all our abundance is from the Lord. We understand that love motivated tithing is the key to our own prosperity. In this practice we claim the promise of Malachi 3:10: "Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it."

Tenet 12

We affirm the Biblical concept of The Millennium, that is, the reappearance of the Christ and the expectation that there must come a time when all on this planet live together in peace, health, and prosperity. We are dedicated to participate in bringing this about. We are concerned with the planet earth as a living organism; and therefore, we want to help to keep it alive.