If there’s one thing we notice about Jesus in the Gospels, it’s that he always ran away from those who wanted to exalt him into places of power, or crown him king. What are we to make of this? If Jesus was God, why not allow people to worship him? Why, instead, do we see him running from the crowds, refusing those who wanted to make him king by force, and avoiding attention as much as possible? [See John 6:15]... Read more
Over on YouTube there is a new cottage industry on the rise. Conservative Evangelical Christians like Mike Winger, Alisa Childers, and others have made it their mission in life to demonize Progressive Christianity, insult those who are Deconstructing their faith, and create as much division as possible between themselves and everyone who doesn’t line up with their extremely narrow and inaccurate definitions of “Historic Christianity”, “Orthodoxy”, and “Biblical Truth. Over the last few months – as my friends and followers... Read more
For some reason, people have made a big deal about Paul’s mysterious “thorn in the flesh” over the last few decades. There are those who are convinced that his thorn was code for his inner struggle with homosexuality. Others are convinced it was some sort of spiritual/demonic attack. Still, others argue that it was a reference to the Jewish authorities who did everything to make his ministry as difficult as possible. I don’t believe any of those theories are true.... Read more
I want you to close your eyes and think about something with me. When a man and a woman make love, they often conceive a child together. So, the “Love” they made resulted in a person. That new person is literally the fruit of their lovemaking. In the New Testament book of 1 John, we’re told something quite extraordinary: “God is love” (1 John 4:16) So, if God is Love, and if God created humans in his own image [as... Read more
There’s a fascinating phenomenon I like to call “Dual Discovery” which is the tendency for different people arriving at the same conclusions even though they are hundreds or even thousands of miles apart, and have no collaboration between them. For example: In the 17th century, there were independent formulations of Calculus by Issac Newton, Godfrey W. Leibniz, and others. In the 18th century, Oxygen was discovered by three different people at around the same time: Carl Wilhelm Shield and Joseph... Read more
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
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