When an idea is more important than a person it has become an ideology. This is the root of war. Read more
Sure Jesus. I’ll tell you what the bad news is. But first let me remind our readers what good news means. News means the communication of a current event. The story of the New Testament makes it clear that what happened in Christ accomplished something. An event significantly newsworthy occurred that changed everything. It happened in history, but its report constantly makes it contemporary and relevant to the hearer. And the news is that it is finished! It is consummated.... Read more
I shared this on The Lasting Supper and I thought I’d share it with you guys as well. I’ve developed a workshop on questions. I show my many cartoons on powerpoint while I talk about what I think are different questions. I use the analogy of a doorway with hinges to represent the three kinds of questions: closed: These questions have yes or no answers. They are the questions with simple answers that children love. Is there a God? Is there... Read more
This cartoon was inspired by my reading of G.K. Chesterton’s “Orthodoxy”, where he says while critiquing some modern-day thinkers who suggest: “If thy head offend thee, cut if off; for it is better, not merely to enter the Kingdom of Heaven as a child, but to enter it as an imbecile, rather than with your whole intellect to be cast into Hell…” Richard Dawkins has a valid complaint when he says, “I am against religion because it teaches us to... Read more
Last night I posted an update on my Facebook page: “Why does the intensity of a tragedy increase the intensity of theologically stupid statements?” It received over 320 likes and 45 comments so far. So I dug up this older cartoon I did in the wake of the big tsunami years ago. Who are we to blame for the bombings? Gays? Muslims? Sinners? They’re all right! Westboro Baptist plans on picketing the funerals of those who were killed in the... Read more
This cartoon speaks for itself. But I have a few words to add. After the bombing at the Boston Marathon yesterday, as expected, the theological BS started to flow. What is even more remarkable to me is that every theological chunk of BS resembles the theological pronouncements of Job’s comforters. Job’s comforters and their theologizing only added to his suffering. Stupid theological statements add to ours. We should know better. You suffer because there’s sin in your life. And even... Read more
I was invited to join an atheist network of bloggers. I was totally opened to it. But then I noticed some of the other atheist bloggers, upon seeing that the nakedpastor, as well as some Christian bloggers who are open-minded, were invited to join, responded with comments such as, “It wouldn’t hurt to have a few village idiots around I guess.” I don’t like being mocked. It’s a dangerous and harmful sport. It’s fruit is division. You may not agree... Read more
Here at Patheos we are switching to Disqus for comments. Your existing comments may temporarily disappear as they migrate from WordPress to Disqus. Once this change is complete, discussion will be easier on nakedpastor. Disqus is a great comments service. You can even link comments to Facebook, etcetera. I’m grateful for being invited to blog at Patheos. I’ve met some really cool people, like Deb, Hillary, David, and Murray. Nakedpastor is getting more exposure, and some people think that’s awesome.... Read more
Man do I ever remember the fear that I lived in wondering if Jesus was ever going to do this to me. I was never devoted enough. Never committed enough. I was always of being lukewarm and being spewed out of his mouth. What the heck’s lukewarm exactly? I was always living in fear that Jesus was going to drop me like a hot potato. Fear is an awesome motivator. Powerfully effective. That’s why it is the most popular weapon... Read more
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