I’ve noticed an interesting phenomenon. Those who embrace the Universalist View of Salvation tend to be more loving and accepting of those who are unlike them. Here’s why I think this happens: Because when you realize that everyone is equally loved by God, and that God is really intending to bring everyone to repentance, and that, one day, every knee will bow and every tongue will gladly confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, well, you kind of relax and enjoy... Read more
“For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.” (1 Cor. 3:21-23) It’s quite curious to me that Paul wraps up his correction to the Corinthians about forming tribal factions against one another – “I follow Paul” and “I follow Peter” versus “I follow Apollos” – by reminding them that “all things are yours” and then he lists Paul, and Peter... Read more
If you listen to any Bible Scholar or Christian teacher long enough and you’ll no doubt hear something – good or bad – about Constantine. Some think he was God’s gift to the Church – because he helped to end persecution against Christians and gave Christianity legitimacy in the Roman Empire. Others doubt the sincerity of his conversion experience – because the Jesus in his vision only showed up to bless his battle plans and helped him... Read more
Never underestimate the power of sitting in silence. I try to do this at least a few times every week. It helps me to connect with God and gain some much-needed perspective about what really matters in life – and what really doesn’t. The other day, as I sat in silence, this is what I started to be reminded of by the Holy Spirit: *The Kingdom of God is within. *Christ abides in me, and I abide in Christ. *Christ... Read more
Reading through David Bentley-Hart’s New Testament translation each night before I go to sleep has been challenging. Mostly because I tend to discover something I haven’t noticed before and it keeps my mind working all night trying to make sense of it. Last night was such a night. Wendy and I read through chapter 11 of the Gospel of John and there was a notation about an alternate way of rendering Jesus’s words about the fate of those who put... Read more
Someone once said that if you want to save something, you first have to destroy it. This was more in the context of art or fashion, mind you, but it does have applications in a few other areas. Like, the Church, for instance. Church as we know it is really more of a recent development in Western culture. It honestly bears very little resemblance to what the original Christians used to practice about 2,000 years ago in Palestine... Read more
The question usually gets framed as something like: “Do you believe that humans are all born in original sin?” or “Do humans have a sin nature?” For me, the problem is in the question itself. It assumes the answer before anyone can really consider all the variables. As an example, we could factually say that every human being goes to the bathroom on a regular basis. So, does that mean that humans are poopers by nature? Well, yes, but is... Read more
Trying to clarify a bit more how I understand the Christ consciousness, as some call it. I’ve already written a few posts recently about how being Christlike is not the same as being Christ, and about how Jesus and Christ are synonymous. However, I still feel like there’s one more thing I need to stress: You can’t talk about Christ without talking about Jesus. In my ongoing dialog with a few of my friends who see Christ as being independent of Jesus,... Read more
The other day, a friend responded to one of my posts by saying that I reminded him of Christ because of something I did or said. That was a blessing. I honestly do have a very real desire to be like Christ, and so whenever someone says they can see Christ in me, it really means a lot. However, after that comment, my friend went on to say that I was Christ, which I think I can honestly say... Read more
There we were, sitting in a new church on a Sunday morning. Having just moved to a new town only a month ago, after living in Southern California for 25 years, my wife and I were mostly looking for an opportunity to gather with other Christ-followers. Our long-term plan is still to start another house church family here, but in the meantime, we were just looking for an opportunity to fellowship. So, the worship set that morning was... Read more
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