A few weeks ago my friend Kenneth Tanner posted something that really got me thinking. His post mentioned the fact that the elements of the New Covenant – bread and wine – are man-made and not naturally occurring. In other words, God created grapes but we made the wine. God created wheat, but we made the bread. We can also see that God created wood, but we made crosses. God created iron but we made hammers and nails. God breathes... Read more
I don’t know about you, but I really hate it when you go to a Funeral or a Memorial Service and they stand up and say things like, “He was always happy” or “She never complained about anything” or “He always made everyone laugh”, because we all know that’s not true. No one is every “always” anything. Now, my Dad could be the sweetest, kindest, most thoughtful and encouraging person you’ve ever want to meet. But he could also be... Read more
It’s no secret that I am a huge fan of the science fiction author Philip K. Dick. In one of his best novels, [VALIS], the main character observes that Jesus most likely spoke Aramaic, although the Gospels were written in Koine [Common] Greek. In the Koine Greek language, there are no spaces left between the words, so a phrase like “GODISNOWHERE” can be read either as “God Is No Where” or as “God Is Now Here”, depending on your perspective,... Read more
Embedded in the doctrine of the Trinity is a very simple principle that most Christians tend to overlook. When we consider the idea that God, by nature, is an entity comprised of three separate “persons” who together embody the One being we call “God”, we have to acknowledge that God is all-inclusive. Think about it this way: If Jesus is not the Spirit or the Father, and if the Spirit is not the Father or the Son, and if the... Read more
Here’s something that will shock those “Bible-Believing” defenders of Orthodoxy: Jesus admitted there was more for us to know than what he told us. In other words, everything God has to say to humanity is NOT contained in the Bible. How do we know? Because the Bible tells me so. For example, just before he’s taken away to be crucified, Jesus says something more than mildly shocking to his disciples: “I have many more things to say to you, but... Read more
In this article, I’d like to simply point out a few unmistakable facts about what the Scriptures tell us about mercy, forgiveness and salvation. This won’t take long. First of all, Christ is in all and all are in Christ: “Christ is all and is in all” [Col. 3:11] “…and you are filled with the fullness of Christ who fills everything in every way.” [Eph. 1:23] Secondly, Christ has mercy on all: “For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.”... Read more
For those who doubt that the Bible teaches that all shall be saved, here are 76 verses that do exactly that. Emphasis below is my own. 1. “The Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world.” (1 John 4:14) 2. Jesus is “the Christ, the Savior of the world.” (John 4:42) 3. “This is good and acceptable in the sight of our God our savior; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come to the... Read more
I’ve written more than a few times on how our English translations of the Bible have been corrupted over time, with words left out, or added, and certain words or phrases mistranslated or changed to obscure the actual meaning of the text. Not to mention all the wrong ways we read the book of Romans or Hebrews and totally miss the point that’s right in front of us. But, once more, I have come across an example of how our... Read more
One of the things I’ve noticed that people tend to struggle with once they Deconstruct their Christian faith is that it gets a lot harder to make sense of prayer as they once knew it. Some of those I’ve spoken to wrestle with the whole concept of praying to God because, to them, it just feels like begging God to notice the injustice in our world, or to care, or to just be merciful or good. All of these things... Read more
There’s a miracle story in the Synoptic Gospels that most Christians are quite familiar with. The casting out of the demons from the wild man of the Gerasenes is recorded in Mark and Luke almost verbatim, and – curiously – in Matthew is retold as the casting out of demons from not one man but two men, and in this version, the name “Legion” is left out of the story. Still, the details about the location, the casting of the... Read more
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