Keith Giles - This former pastor left the pulpit to follow Jesus and started a church where 100% of the offering goes to the poor.

The Crowley/Darby Connection

November 15, 2018 By Keith Giles

Dispensationalism, the dominant theology of Evangelical Christianity today in America, originated in 1830 with John Nelson Darby. Or, so we might assume. But, recently I came across a bit more evidence of where Darby got his strange ideas about the Rapture, End Times Tribulation, and the identity of “True Israel.” As a result, I also uncovered an odd connection between Darby and famed Satanist Aleister Crowley, which is fascinating. For some background, John Nelson Darby popularized and was largely responsible… Read more

For God So Hated The World?

November 9, 2018 By Keith Giles

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If Penal Substitutionary Atonement Theory is true, then we need to re-write John chapter 3, verse 16 to say: “For God was so filled with wrath against the world, that he sent his only begotten son to take the beating that we all deserved. That if anyone would want to escape eternal suffering, and would raise their hand and repeat this prayer after me, they would escape this horrible wrath. For the son was not sent into the world… Read more

Why Sports Tribalism Is Worse Than Other Tribalism

November 7, 2018 By Keith Giles

84 Comments

I wrote an article recently about the dangers of Tribalism and how Jesus invites us into a Tribe where the leader isn’t tribal and everyone is welcome into the tribe and loved and accepted even if they never join the tribe. Most people agreed that tribalism is bad and that Jesus wasn’t tribal, but several people argued that there’s nothing wrong with sports tribalism, and even went as far as to sing the merits of sports as a way to… Read more

Why John 3:16 Isn’t About The Crucifixion

November 6, 2018 By Keith Giles

24 Comments

In preparation for an upcoming online debate about PSA [Penal Substitutionary Atonement] Theory, I started wondering whether or not Jesus, or any of the Gospel authors, specifically communicated the Gospel as being about Jesus dying on the cross for our sins, or to appease the wrath of God, etc. In the process of exploring this question, I started with John 3:16 because, growing up, I had always equated it with the crucifixion. However, I realized that this entire conversation… Read more

One Tribe: There Is Only Us

November 2, 2018 By Keith Giles

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Tribalism is human nature. We tend to gather with those who are most like us. Whether that’s people who love the same music, or the same sports team, or share the same values, or beliefs, or sense of humor. Jesus understood this. He didn’t tell us to stop being tribal. But, he did try to show us another way to think of who was in, our outside, of our tribe. When he told the Parable of the Good Samaritan, for… Read more

Blessed Are Those Who Are Born That Way

October 31, 2018 By Keith Giles

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When God established rules for who could – and who could not – enter into or serve within the Tabernacle, and later the Temple of God, He made a curious prohibition against those who were castrated, or who “had their testicles crushed”. [See Lev. 21:20] These people are more commonly referred to in the Scriptures as “eunuchs”. Later, through the prophet Isaiah, God made these eunuchs a promise: “Let not the eunuch say, “Behold, I am a dry tree.”… Read more

Stop Waiting For Jesus To Return To Fix Everything

October 30, 2018 By Keith Giles

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Christians, we have a huge problem. Instead of following the teachings of Jesus, we’re mostly waiting around for Jesus to come back and fix everything. For example, we live in a violent world. War, genocide, murder, hate crimes, mass shootings, and riots are commonplace in our world. Instead of seeing this as proof that we have more work to do, we tend to throw our hands in the air and say something like, “this is just the way things are”… Read more

Action Figures

October 26, 2018 By Keith Giles

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Nearly every Saturday morning I used to drive my two teenage boys up to a collectibles warehouse in Diamond Bar, California for the morning. It’s one of the main things the three of us loved to do together on a regular basis, and I loved spending that time with them as often as possible. One weekend, as we drove underneath an overpass my oldest son pointed out a hand-drawn sign that someone had fastened to the outside of the… Read more

Why Undocumented Immigrants Are A Blessing From God

October 24, 2018 By Keith Giles

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In spite of how often we hear that immigrants are a drain on our economy and we need to build a fence after we deport all of them, the truth is quite the opposite. According to the Wall Street Journal, which recently surveyed 46 economists, immigration has been very good for the U.S. economy. Here’s why: “Immigrants fill in the gaps of our labor market, at both the high and low ends of the skill spectrum.” In other words, “America’s… Read more

Labyrinth Heart

October 24, 2018 By Keith Giles

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My wife and I recently celebrated our 29th wedding anniversary. On the card she made for me was a heart-shaped labyrinth and on the inside she wrote: “I found out that labyrinth’s aren’t supposed to be difficult or confusing, but simply about the journey to the center. This spoke to me as far as our relationship together and with God. We are travelling to the center, or the heart, and that alone is a blessing. What a sweet gift… Read more