SAYING 76 Jesus said, “The kingdom of the Father is like a merchant who had a load (of goods) and found a pearl. That merchant was wise. He sold the load and bought for himself the pearl alone. You also, seek after his treasure which
SAYING 76 Jesus said, “The kingdom of the Father is like a merchant who had a load (of goods) and found a pearl. That merchant was wise. He sold the load and bought for himself the pearl alone. You also, seek after his treasure which
SAYING 75 Jesus said, “There are many standing at the door, but it is the solitary one who will enter the bridal chamber.” By now, the meaning behind these sayings of Jesus from the Gospel of Thomas should begin to become more apparent to you.
Last weekend I had a really fascinating conversation with two of the guys in our Square 2 community about that inner voice we all have that often tries to tear us down or sabotage us. In my experience, that voice is typically the overly critical parent or the worm theology pastor who can’t stop making you feel like a loser or reminding you of what a failure you are. I’ve often said that, for many people, deconstructing our theology and... Read more
SAYING 74: He said, “Lord, there are many about the well, but no one in the well.” This saying is problematic because we’re not sure who the “he” is in reference to. Is Jesus the one saying, “O Lord, there are many around the drinking
SAYING 73 – Jesus said, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. So plead with the Lord to dispatch workers for the harvest.” Here we have another familiar saying from Jesus that our modern Christian ears cannot help but associate with evangelism due
I’ve always found it strange that Christians in America act as if tax exemption were a God-Given right, or that it was somehow commanded in the Bible somewhere. The truth is quite the opposite. In Matthew 17: 24-27 a group of tax collectors asks Peter if Jesus pays taxes and his answer is, “yes, of course he does.” Here’s how the rest of that passage goes: When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to speak. “What do you... Read more
SAYING 72: A man said to him, “Tell my brothers to divide my father’s possessions with me.” He said to him, “O man, who has made me a divider?” He turned to his disciples and said to them, “I am not a divider, am I?”
It has come to my attention that several people object to my conclusion that word “exomologeo” in the Greek should be translated as “gladly confess” in Philippians 2:10-11, as I have asserted in my previous article – HOW EVANGELICALS CHANGED THE BIBLE TO SUPPORT THEIR BELIEFS. In this post, I point out that most translations of this passage render the word as merely “confess,” leaving out the “gladly” part since it conflicts with their assumption that sinners will only confess... Read more
After working with over a hundred people who are deconstructing their faith over the last 4 years, I’ve noticed something I think needs to be called out. When former Evangelicals start to deconstruct their faith, they tend to go through a few stages. I’d say it’s fairly common that one of the first early stages is protection. This is where the person deconstructing experiences so much angst and mental/emotional/spiritual suffering as the result of deconstruction that they sincerely want to... Read more
SAYING 70 Jesus said, “If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.” Here we have favored the translation