Did It Really Please The Lord To Crush Jesus?

August 6, 2020 By Keith Giles

If you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time, you already know by now that a title like this one is probably answered by a resounding “No”, but just in case you’re new here, let me go ahead and make it abundantly clear: God was NOT pleased to crush His Son on the cross. Now, you probably wonder how I can say this since we all remember a very famous passage of scripture from Isaiah that seems to… Read more

This Is Where God Lives

August 5, 2020 By Keith Giles

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I honestly believe that one of the most transformative truths that most Christians still haven’t fully embraced is this: God is not “up there.” The pervasive notion that God is in Heaven, and that Heaven is in some mystical realm far above and beyond this realm of physical reality is not only dangerous to our spiritual growth and development, it’s also dead wrong. Allow me to elaborate: *Jesus is “Immanuel” which is literally “God with us.” [Matt. 1:23] *Jesus promised… Read more

The Forgotten Female Disciples of Jesus

August 3, 2020 By Keith Giles

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When I read the question: “Why didn’t Jesus call any women to be his disciples?” I knew I had to respond. Here’s the reality: “Jesus DID call women to be his disciples!” The problem is that later Church Fathers were so entangled and blinded by their Patriarchy they did their very best to obscure this fact and solidify men [and only men] as the leaders in the Body of Christ. So, here’s what we often miss about the women disciples… Read more

Why Jesus Did NOT Have To Die On The Cross

July 29, 2020 By Keith Giles

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Honestly, I think at least once a week I hear someone invoke the phrase, “This is why Jesus died on the cross” or ask the question, “Why did Jesus have to die?” or some other variation of the concept. Here’s the thing: Jesus did NOT have to die on the cross. In other words, God did not require Jesus to be crucified to fulfill some mystical prophecy. However, it is clear that the death of Jesus was expected from the… Read more

Does God Work All Things Together For Our Good? Not Exactly.

July 22, 2020 By Keith Giles

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It’s a very common misconception that nearly every Christian embraces without question: God works all things together for our good. Now, it’s easy to understand why we accept this idea when our English translations of the Bible pretty much say exactly this: “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” [Romans 8:28] Seems simple enough, right? I mean, right there it says very clearly that God… Read more

A Brief Conversation With David Bentley Hart

July 21, 2020 By Keith Giles

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Anyone who knows me is already familiar with the fact that I admire David Bentley Hart as a theologian, New Testament scholar and as an author. Recently, I corresponded with him about a verse of scripture that I ran across after reading through his excellent book, “That All Shall Be Saved.” I suppose what got me to reach out to Hart was that someone on Facebook recently asked me about how to translate the verse in Matthew about how “the Kingdom… Read more

How The Resurrection Proves Everyone Is Forgiven

July 17, 2020 By Keith Giles

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It’s kinda funny how, once your eyes are opened, you can start to see things in the Scriptures you’ve never noticed before. Like this verse – 1 Cor. 15: 17 – which I was reading the other day and suddenly the truth of what it was saying jumped out at me and nearly took my breath away. Here’s what it says: “…and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.” Now, the… Read more

The Lord’s Prayer [Remix]

July 13, 2020 By Keith Giles

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They say that familiarity breeds contempt, but when it comes to the Scriptures, it can also breed ignorance. Because once you think you already know something, it’s very difficult to learn anything new. Sadly, this is often the case when it comes to one of the most famous verses in the Bible – The Lord’s Prayer – because most of us know it by heart and can quote it verbatim, but there’s still a very good chance we don’t really… Read more

You Are Loved (And There’s Nothing You Can Do To Change It)

July 8, 2020 By Keith Giles

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So much of religion is aimed at getting us to fight for and work for and strive after something we already have: God’s Love. The truth is, there is nothing – not one single thing – you and I need to do to be loved by God. Why? Because we are already loved by God – totally, completely, unequivocally, and absolutely – with an everlasting love. Our sin does not separate us from God’s love. Our failures do not… Read more

Sorry Christians, You’re Reading Hebrews All Wrong

July 3, 2020 By Keith Giles

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I grew up believing that “without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins,” but lately I’ve discovered that this verse [Hebrews 9:22] isn’t saying what they told me it says. In fact, if you read the entire book of Hebrews you’ll discover that one of the main points the author is trying to make is the exact opposite. See, Hebrews 9:22 is talking about what was required under the Old Covenant Law, and the entire book of… Read more

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