What Would Happen If We Cut Our Military Budget In Half?

May 8, 2018 By Andy Gill

“The U.S. outpaces all other nations in military expenditures. World military spending totaled more than $1.6 trillion in 2015. The U.S. accounted for 37 percent of the total[1].” What Would Happen if We Cut Our Militaries Budget in Half…? Currently, our military budget is 597 billion USD. Recently CNN has said that Trump “approved what his administration calls the largest military budget in US history, $700 billion.” We’ve heard the statistics and seen graphs like these comparing our budgeting to various other countries…... Read more

What We Think About When We Think About God…

May 4, 2018 By Andy Gill

Written By Jonah Venegas “Understanding these ways in which we use metaphors and descriptors to think about God is necessary, because our own inner constructs of who God is affects everything else about the way we do faith, the way we live our lives, and the way we relate to other people, other people who are all also made in the image of God, the imago Dei.” There are quite a few different metaphors we use to conceptualize God these... Read more

What Exactly Was Jesus’ Relationship With Prostitutes…?

May 2, 2018 By Andy Gill

What Exactly Was Jesus’ Relationship With Prostitutes…? “Christians need to decide if Jesus had genitals, and if so, whether he used them.” Have you ever wondered what kind of social life Jesus had…? I haven’t really thought about it too much because, well, when I hear “social life” I think of a life apart from your job. Jesus was a carpenter, apart from his carpentry, what we read about in the four canonical gospels, that is His “social life.” (i.e.... Read more

The Fourth Possibility C.S. Lewis Missed in His Infamous “Trilemma”…

April 30, 2018 By Andy Gill

“Jesus was either a liar, a lunatic, or Lord…” “I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either... Read more

A Hermeneutic of Suspicion: What It Is and, Why You Should Be Suspicious if You’re Not Already…

April 28, 2018 By Andy Gill

“The basic tool for the manipulation of reality is the manipulation of words. If you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use the words. George Orwell made this clear in his novel 1984. But another way to control the minds of people is to control their perceptions. If you can get them to see the world as you do, they will think as you do. Comprehension follows perception.” — Philip K. Dick, “How to... Read more

What Happens to Your Brain When You Stop Believing in God?

April 25, 2018 By Andy Gill

We all have heard the statistics before (which I won’t bore you with), but, millennials are leaving the Church in droves… We are well aware of this; it’s what we’re unaware of that I want to look into a bit more; it’s the question of “What exactly happens to our brains when or if we stop believing there is a God?” An older mentor of mine who was once a highly sought after Evangelical preacher has now turned Atheist said... Read more

On Loving Difficult People And, Being Loved as a “Difficult Person”…

April 23, 2018 By Andy Gill

Saying “difficult people/person,” it’s both redundant and untrue. Because, while we’re each uniquely different, none of us are difficult to love; perhaps one just has yet to find the right people to surround themselves with. One of the greatest poets and wordsmiths of our time once said, “The realest people don’t have a lot of friends.” True, but… Read more

Breaking the Cycle of a Toxic and Meaningless Negativity

April 22, 2018 By Andy Gill

Having been in and out of both progressive and conservative circles, communities, schools, and churches the one thing I’ve noticed we both have in common is that we don’t know how to have fun. We’ll let me reiterate that it’s not that we don’t know how… it’s up for one reason or another we seem to not have too much of it. Read more

Are You Being Straw Manned?

April 19, 2018 By Andy Gill

Whatever happened to that “liberal” part of the Christian movement that was actually about doing social justice? I’m referencing those stats we’d always hear from men like Tony Campolo or the early 2000’s version of Hillsong United… “First, while you were sleeping last night, 30,000 kids died of starvation or diseases related to malnutrition. Second, most of you don’t give a shit. What’s worse is that you’re more upset with the fact that I said shit than the fact that 30,000 kids... Read more

Were Concealed Weapons Standard Practice for Men During Jesus’ Time?

April 12, 2018 By Andy Gill

In Luke 22:47-53, Ever wondered where Peter got that sword from when he chopped off that guy’s ear? In short, Jesus told him to purchase it… “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.” – Jesus Before Jesus was arrested, tried and murdered He told his disciples to sell off their “cloaks” and then use the money to buy for themselves swords... Read more