In the current season of the Netflix series, “Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee”, Jerry Seinfeld hosts outspoken atheist Ricky Gervais on the show. In this two-part episode, Gervais makes a joke that goes something like this: “A man who survived the Holocaust dies and goes to Heaven. When he gets there he tells God a joke about the Holocaust and God says, “That wasn’t funny”, to which the man replies: “I guess you had to be there.” And, as brilliant... Read more
Today we mourn the passing of a beloved woman, The American Church, who has been with us for many years. Although, no one knows for sure how old she was since her birth records were lost long ago during a contentious Wednesday night business meeting and ice cream social. She will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as ‘God Bless America’, ‘The Pursuit of Happiness’ and ‘God helps those who help themselves’. The American Church lived by simple,... Read more
I had an interesting dream the other night that was a combination of philosophy, theology and mathematics. I’ll do my best to communicate this in blog form but it might be something that works better as a live presentation or dialog. Let me know if this makes sense or not. The philosopher Xeno had a theory which worked on paper (in theory) but was not possible to recreate in the real world. In essence, Xeno proved mathematically that... Read more
When it comes to the Bible, you have to decide whether or not you believe that God wrote the Bible and people helped, or that we wrote the Bible and God helped, sometimes. Growing up I was told that God wrote the Bible and people helped. This view was reinforced by pastors who held up that book and called it “The Word of God”, even though it was quite obviously the words of Moses, and Joshua, and David and Jeremiah,... Read more
For those who embrace the doctrine of Penal Substitutionary Atonement Theory [PSA], the Gospel message seems to hinge upon the need for Jesus to be rejected. In fact, they believe that Jesus NEEDED to die and, in fact, if Jesus didn’t die on the cross then no one would have been forgiven of their sins. But, let’s take a step back for a moment and consider what would have happened if Jesus wasn’t rejected. What if when Jesus told everyone... Read more
When Jesus began his ministry in Jerusalem, the overwhelming tone in the land was unrest. His people were living in occupied territory. The Romans ruled over them. They were desperate for a Messiah to come and liberate them from this oppressive domination and re-establish the Kingdom of God [as they understood it] in Jerusalem. In the years prior to the coming of Jesus, there were numerous wannabe Messiahs who gathered disciples, armed them and attempted to lead a rebellion... Read more
The other day I was reflecting on how the Psalmists complain to God about the prosperity of the wicked. I understood how it must have felt for the Israelites to see their enemies – who were pagans – flourishing and growing strong and wealthy, while they – the “People of God” – were suffering, poor, weak and downcast. Anyone would question this outcome under the same circumstances. Anyone would wonder what good it was to follow their faith if... Read more
I was raised to believe that God would roast sinners forever in an endless torture chamber called “Hell.” Maybe you were, too? The irony is, I did not come to faith in Christ out of fear. I genuinely had a curiousity about God from an early age. I talked with God as I lay in my bed before going to sleep. I thought about God and asked questions about God before anyone in my family was officially “Christian.” It was... Read more
In my book “Jesus Undefeated” evidence is provided that – from the very beginning of Christianity – there have always been 3 different views of Hell; all based on Biblical evidence and supported by Scriptures. Those 3 views were (and are): *Annihiliation *Eternal Torment *Universal Reconciliation Throughout the book I take great pains to explore all 3 views and to demonstrate that each was held by various early Church Fathers over the centuries. I also take time to explore each... Read more
Last week I got a private message from someone I’ve known for a few years. He told me I was a false teacher and said he was praying that I would repent of preaching a false Gospel. Not that he was willing to dialog with me about what the Gospel actually was, or to read a free copy of my book to find out what I actually believe about the topics he was offended about. It was just easier to... Read more
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