The other day Relevant Magazine posted an article titled “Porn is a Social Justice Issue.” It was well written making it an easy and enjoyable read, but as I was reading through the article it felt as if much of the data was slanted with a subversively subtle undertone of shaming the reader. I’m not sure if it was intentional, and I’m sure it wasn’t. Many of us as Christians, as I’ve discovered, don’t have morals so much as we have created our own... Read more
Written by Rob Fee 1. You attended multiple Acquire the Fire events. 2. The earliest you got up all year was for See You At The Pole day. 3. You and your friends made up motions to the chorus of “Big House” by Audio Adrenaline and thought it was the coolest thing ever. 4. The first tape you bought was more than likely Carman. It may have been Petra, but odds are, it was Carman. 5. Your youth group had... Read more
20+ years… and I’ve never seen it. The supernatural. Healings, walking on water, people rising from the dead, the blind seeing, the lame walking… I know as a guy in ministry I’m supposed to pretend like I’ve seen it or tell stories that others have relayed to me… but the truth is, I’ve never experienced it first hand, and because of that, I’m skeptical. I’ve been to all types of churches, pentecostal, assemblies of god, nondenominational, baptist… etc. And I’ve... Read more
Easter has far past, churches this past weekend were empty and silent (comparatively); the pastors were exhausted (when are they not though?); congregants are back to their usual lives awaiting the next Christmas eve service or mass to attend with their family. It’s a post-Easter hangover. As it’s popular for many evangelical congregations to offer “alter calls” on Easter Sunday some of you in an emotionally manipulated reckless abandonment might have even given/re-committed your life to Christ. It felt good in the moment,... Read more
I saw posted over on Twitter the other day that independents are larger than either political party. I found this interesting, believable, but was still a bit doubtful. So, I went and checked it out; here’s what I found… Turns out, he wasn’t completely wrong. A recent Gallup Poll shows two interestingly relevant points: 43% of Americans are registered as political independents. But, still yet, democrats maintain the the political weight. What does this mean? I think this shows, or... Read more
You ever wonder why there’s no video of any Christians raising people from the dead? Now, I’m not saying it doesn’t happen; I’m just saying, is this not a valid question? In our modern day world of technology, where there is a camera on every phone, corner, home, computer, etc. Christians in which claim to have the spirit of God within them. Yet, there are videos circulating exposing deceit and money hungry pastors exploiting our human vulnerabilities and deep innate... Read more
I can’t help but adamantly disagree with penal substitutionary atonement, being preached to the poor and the powerless. It’s not that I don’t like Calvin (although, I don’t), it’s that I believe at its core penal substitutionary atonement is toxic. Penal substitutionary atonement says that Jesus died for our sins, substituting our place on the cross, taking on our punishment, atoning for our sins and therefore defeating death as we know it (1 Peter 2:24). **Crowd cheers** It’s subversively subtle in its... Read more
Lately I’ve been feeling a lot of tension as to how I identify religiously speaking; am I an evangelical, Christian, progressive Christian, Atheist, agnostic, etc. I haven’t been able to land on any one thing. After leaving the Church I’ve been aimlessly floating and roaming about. I’ve deconstructed my theology but have yet to fully reconstruct it not knowing my exact landing place. “Theism versus Non-Theism. The choice has been presented to us as saved versus damned, holy versus heathen. But when I talk to thoughtful theists,... Read more
Everybody watches porn. Especially conservative Christians. I’ve jokingly said that 90% of adults who own a laptop view pornography on a regular basis, while the other 10% are liars. Turns out, that joke might be more truth than I once thought. According to the Atlantic, so many people watch porn that “In 2009, University of Montreal professor Simon Lajeuness tried to set up such a study, but was thwarted because he ‘could not find any adult men who had never viewed sexually explicit material.'” But... Read more
Guest Post by Nancy Hightower I grew up going to Sunday school and church every Sunday. I was a wiz at Bible drills. All you had to do was read the beginning to a verse, and in less than thirty seconds, I could find it. I knew the story that went with the verse. I knew the lesson that went with the story. That’s what the Bible was to me, a giant lesson book that held all the secrets of... Read more
Andy Gill
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