This morning I realized something profound: I don’t have faith anymore, I have freedom. Here’s what I mean. Faith is belief in a doctrine or a religion or a god. That’s not really my focus these days. I don’t put my faith in a systematic set of beliefs or doctrines and I’m not certain about who or what God might be, although I’m convinced God exists within the endlessly obscure layers of mystery that surround them. So, I wouldn’t say... Read more
Saying 52: His disciples said to him, “Twenty-four prophets spoke in Israel, and they all spoke (to us).” He said to them, “You have omitted He who lives in your presence and have spoken of those who are dead.” Once again, Duffy’s translation
Let me start off by telling you a story first. See if you’ve heard something like it before. What if I told you there was a person who was born of a virgin whose name was Mary, had a step-father named Joseph, and was birthed in a cave where animals were kept, and his birth was announced by an angel, there was a great star in the sky overhead as a sign, and there were shepherds there. When he... Read more
Saying 51: His disciples said to him, ‘On what day will the repose of the dead come about, and on what day will the new world come?’ He said to them, ‘That which you look outward for has already come, but you do not recognize
Saying 50: Jesus said, “If they say to you, ‘Where do you come from?’, say to them, ‘We have come from the light, the place where the light has come into being of itself, and established itself, and became manifest through their image.’” As with
I made a mistake today. Driving around running errands I switched on a Christian radio station [K-Love] and they were talking about the shooting in Nashville. They went on and on about how tragic it was and how they never want to have to say the phrase “another school shooting” ever again. I was lulled into thinking they were about to do something sane or compassionate. But, no. They introduced a guest who said, “Prayer is the only answer” to... Read more
Saying 49: Jesus said, “Blessed are the whole ones and the chosen for you will find the Kingdom. For you are from it, and there you will return.” Some translations of this saying use the terms “solitary” and “elect”, but I prefer William Duffy’s
Saying 48: Jesus said, “If two make peace with one another within a single house they will say to a mountain ‘go elsewhere’ and it will go elsewhere.” By now I hope you are beginning to notice certain patterns in these sayings of Jesus found
I came across a fascinating article the other day in a most unexpected place – BaptistNews.com – where the author decided to actually ask people why they decided to deconstruct their faith. Be sure to read the entire article. It’s great. But there was one thing that really jumped out at me in that article that inspired me to write this post. In the article, they asked people who had deconstructed their Christian faith and left the church what they... Read more
Saying 47: Jesus said, “A person cannot (at the same time) mount two horses or draw two bows. And a slave cannot serve two masters, but truly will honor the one and scoff at the other. No person drinks vintage wine and immediately desires
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