Honestly, this is one of those things that seriously drives me batty. Christians who major on Moses, or study Nehemiah, or focus on Paul’s epistles and hardly ever talk about Jesus [except on Good Friday, Easter or Christmas], are very curious to me. I really just don’t understand it. They call themselves “Christians” but don’t know what Jesus taught. They wear t-shirts with his picture on it, but can’t tell you what the Sermon on the Mount was about. They... Read more
So many Christians have bought into the “Left Behind” version of End Times prophecy that they don’t realize this doctrine is only as old as 1830, which is when John Nelson Darby invented “Dispensationalism” [the same year Joseph Smith invented Mormonism, by the way], and popularized this notion that all of those prophecies and promises made to Israel in the Old Testament are actually still unfulfilled – pushing everything out into the future somewhere “out there” so Christians are... Read more
Oh bendable, poseable Jesus, how I love thee. Let me count the ways. I love how I can bend my Jesus away from all the non-violent “love your enemy” talk and dismiss the Prince of Peace stuff by simply twisting my little Jesus over to the “go and buy a sword” version I love so much. I love how I can pose my bendable Jesus into the war-mongering, sinner-slaughtering white horse-riding Jesus with the sword in his mouth, slashing his... Read more
Last weekend, Wendy and I visited the local Quaker meeting here in El Paso. The majority of the time together is spent in contemplative silence as we each recognize the “inner light” of Christ’s presence and quietly rest in the stillness. During this half hour session, I was overwhelmed by the peace of God’s presence. I felt very snuggly and safe in that space. It was an experience I never wanted to end. But, then I began to think about... Read more
Some of you may have been following the saga of the “Love Buts” that started last week here on the blog, and then followed up with a rebuttal. Today I have great news to share. The Story So Far…. After publishing a post here – Attack of the Love Buts – about how many Christians often want to balance my comments like “God IS Love” and “Those who live in love live in God and God in them” with corrections... Read more
Yesterday I posted an article here “Attack of the Love Buts” about how some Christians just can’t stand the idea of God being love without penciling in the idea that “God is also a God of Wrath”. This morning I woke up to this delightful email from a brother in Christ: “Dear Keith…I am afraid that you are distorting the Scriptures – ….just as you quote many Scriptures saying that God is love, so too, could we quote a balance... Read more
Try this experiment. Step 1: Post “God is Love” on Facebook or Twitter. Step 2: Wait 10 minutes. Step 3: Read dozens of posts from Christians who are eager to remind you that God is love, BUT God is also a God of wrath. This is my life. Almost every single week. I get responses from Christians – always Christians – who cannot allow a post like “God is love and all who live in love live in God,... Read more
For the longest time I believed these 3 lies. The Gospel is about saying a prayer so you can go to Heaven when you die. The Father turned His face away from Jesus on the cross. God is too Holy to be in the presence of sin. The Gospel is NOT about saying a prayer so you can go to heaven when you die. The Gospel [Good News] is found by reading the Gospels [Matthew, Mark, Luke or John] and... Read more
“Do you believe in the Five Fold Ministry?” Someone asked me this very question the other day, and after a lot of thought and research I’ve finally got my answer – “No. I don’t.” Perhaps it would help if I were to clarify what I mean? First of all, in case you don’t know what I’m talking about, the Five Fold Ministry is a concept taken from one single passage in the New Testament (Ephesians 4:11-13) which says: “So Christ... Read more
For most of my Christian life, I was trained to pray to God a certain way. This form of petitionary prayer is essentially an exercise in begging God to be merciful, or kind or loving towards us or those we love most. Honestly, this is how I’ve prayed to God for over 40 years now. But recently I’ve started to realize how pointless and stupid this is. Why? Because what I’m doing is begging God to be good, and that... Read more
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