Sketches of a Skeptic – From Doubt to Belief

This page provides all installments for my series titled, Sketches of a Skeptic – From Doubt to Belief.

The purpose of these articles is to affirm that it is both permissible and healthy to question one’s beliefs, as well as the teachings of others. At the same time, the goal is to encourage thoughtful discussion rather than the automatic rejection of ideas that may not yet be fully understood.

I encourage you to remain open to learning beyond your comfort zone, while also seeking clarity about what you are experiencing and how it aligns with Scripture.

In other words, we must come to a personal understanding of what Scripture teaches, rather than relying solely on what we have been told.

Thank you for taking this journey with me.

Blessings,

Paul L. Cox
Aslan’s Place

March 2, 2026

In October 2025, a man attended the Kingdom Institute seminar, Hearing God’s Voice via Zoom. Afterward, he contacted me, both to thank me and to pose a few questions. Just a few weeks later, he attended the apostolic summit that was held at Mountain View Community Church in November 2025, which sparked even more questions. Below is his testimony, a few of his questions, and my responses:

My name is David Kajiwara, and I am a recovering skeptic.

I’m not sure if I was always like this. Maybe cynical, doubtful. Wait… is that a skeptic?

I was born in Hawaii, went to college in PA, and then straight to Tokyo where I worked in the oil industry, which flew me to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait every year. I then started teaching English, worked in law for a bit and that’s when I found Jesus. Or rather, of course, he found me and he found me a wreck.

I came back to Hawaii for a bit to get my real estate license, did that for a while; but then found my calling to return to Japan, this time to Kobe where I have been pastoring a church since 2010, the same year I got married. I now have two boys who keep me on my toes!

Because of my passion for reading God’s word in Greek and Hebrew, I graduated with a master’s degree in biblical studies in 2021, but that somehow left more questions than answers. My quest continues in seeking God and what all this means, because there must be more to this than what we see in front of us, right?

I want to stay grounded and balanced, while searching for the unknown, the ‘mysteries’ of his Kingdom. So, these are just some thoughts from a skeptic – unfiltered questions and doubt as I try to make sense of this world we live in.

Questions & Comments (1-4) & Answers from me (Paul Cox) (a):

1. Our point or focus is to get in touch with God, but not necessarily to try to get in touch with angels – right?

a. Everything we do is about bringing glory to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Our goal is to be doing what the Father is doing. As He does with humans, the Lord also delights to work through His spiritual creations. Angels, by definition, are messengers so part of their function is to deliver messages. When we discern angels, we become aware of a message being sent by the Father. Hebrews 5:14 is clear that we are to train our senses to discern good and evil, so this is what we are doing when we ask you to practice discerning angels. The end goal is to know/discern when the Lord is trying to communicate with us.

2. When we try to feel or touch an angel who is present, is the angel just standing there, and does the angel mind that we are trying to touch him? Sorry if my questions are really weird.

a. Several years ago, when we were doing this, a person heard the angels laughing and saying, “When will they ever get this?” Angels often seems ecstatic that finally someone is acknowledging that they are here!

3. When someone said in the last session that she saw wings, I thought – and sorry, I’m just trying to understand this – that the concept of angels having wings was an idea that came out of paintings in the medieval or Renaissance periods. Now, I have never seen one and this is the first time I’m thinking about this, so please excuse me if my question is strange. For me, it would seem as if they may not necessarily need/have wings, and when someone says that, are we simply projecting what we think an angel should look like? I am really wanting to understand this and am having a hard time wrapping my head around this.

a. Yes, it is true the Bible does not say an angel has wings. There is another spiritual being called Seraphim that we are told do have wings in Isaiah 6:1-3. There is a Biblical principle operating here. People often see angels with wings, so the test is to ask, “Does any part of the Bible say that angels do not have wings?” No. There is not, so it is not unreasonable to say angels have wings because so many people have seen angels with wings. No question is wrong!

4. I really appreciate all that you are doing; it has already been affecting both me and the life of the church already in such a positive way, so thank you!

a. It is great to ask questions. I like what Paul said about the Bereans in Acts. “You sought to prove that what I was saying is true.” Paul honored honest questioning!

There will be more from our friend, David, to come but in the meantime…

Aslan’s Place deals heavily with topics related to the prophetic and discernment. If you have any ‘skeptical’ questions regarding these topics, you are invited to email them to office@aslansplace.com.