IS “JUSTICE” AN ESSENTIAL PART OF GOD’S NATURE?

Last updated on: September 14, 2019 at 12:09 pm By Richard Murray

Here is a strange fact. The word “justice” appears nowhere in the King James New Testament, despite the fact that the word is used many times in the Old Testament. While other translations occasionally translate the Greek word “dikaisyne” as “justice,” the standard translation of “dikaisyne” is “righteousness.” Today, many demand justice from the hands of God. They want their enemies to pay for the wrong they have done. They somehow deny that what they really want is “vengeance.” They... Read more

The One Thing Jesus said to Never Forget

Last updated on: September 7, 2019 at 8:48 am By Richard Murray

What is the one thing Jesus says to never forget? Or, perhaps better, the one thing to always remember. In Mark 6:52, the disciples were said to have “hardened hearts” because they failed to remember something, failed to consider something—– something crucial, something incredible, something powerful. What was the “forgotten” element which hardened them to the supernatural power of a supernatural God? It was THE MIRACLES OF THE LOAVES! But why? Why is remembering these particular miracles so critical, so... Read more

Defeating Hell: Discovering the “Real” Rock of Christianity

Last updated on: September 28, 2019 at 3:24 pm By Richard Murray

Want to know what the REAL “rock” on which Jesus declared He would build His “Hell-defeating” church? It may NOT be what you have been previously taught. It’s NOT Peter. It’s NOT Peter’s confession. It’s not Catholicism, Protestantism, or any other “ism.” It IS the fact that Peter HEARD direct “unmediated” revelation about Jesus FROM the Heavenly Father. Jesus rejoiced that Peter recognized and believed in Him APART from any “flesh and blood” opinion of man– any man, every man, even... Read more

Why the Old Testament Must Bend the Interpretive Knee to Jesus

Last updated on: August 24, 2019 at 11:05 pm By Richard Murray

Karl Barth once said that he loved the Old Testament too much to read it JUST literally. I feel the same way. It IS to be read — carefully, spiritually, joyfully, allegorically, and sometimes but NOT always literally. When do we not read it literally? Simple, whenever it literally attributes evil or wickedness to God, we KNOW that passage must be reinterpreted allegorically or figuratively. The greatest theologians of the early church agreed. The early church fathers were so rich... Read more

DECONSTRUCTING “THE WRATH OF THE LAMB”

Last updated on: September 28, 2019 at 11:07 am By Richard Murray

The book of Revelation is full of oxymorons. “The wrath of the Lamb” is an oxymoron (6:16). Lambs don’t have wrath. These images conceptually clash. “The wine of the wrath of God” is an oxymoron (14:10). Wine is a symbol of celebration, not wrath. The “Lake of Fire” (Revelation 19:20). How can water and fire occupy the same space? Again, these images simply do not blend. Let’s consider some other oxymoronic imagery which pervades Revelation. Jesus is initially called the... Read more

ALL IN

Last updated on: August 10, 2019 at 8:56 pm By Richard Murray

IN: Incarnation & Inclusion, Abba & Lamb. In Brad Jersak’s new book, we find out that the God revealed by Jesus is “all in” on all of us being “all in” with Him. As Jersak’s wife, Eden, notes in her eloquent introduction, their marriage has been one of ever expanding awareness that God’s visionary will-to-include is far broader than is our humanly myopic will-to-exclude. Living off the errant Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil puts functional “blinders” over... Read more

WHAT IS THE VENGEANCE OF THE LORD?

Last updated on: September 29, 2019 at 8:42 am By Richard Murray

“Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. To the contrary, if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12:19-21. Here is the twist. The purpose of the passage is... Read more

Four Reasons the Early Church Did Not Believe “Hell” Lasts Forever

Last updated on: August 13, 2019 at 7:50 pm By Richard Murray

Today, many people disagree on how guilty criminals should be treated. Is the purpose of punishment, the argument goes, to rehabilitate the criminal by reforming his character? Or, rather, is the purpose of punishment to inflict eye-for-an-eye retaliation on the wrongdoer? Put another way, is our motive for punishment revenge or rescue? This same analysis can be applied to God’s purpose for Hell. Is God’s motive in allowing sinners to go to Hell a form of “revenge” upon the sinner,... Read more

DID JESUS TELL US TO BUY AND BEAR SWORDS?

Last updated on: July 25, 2019 at 8:09 pm By Richard Murray

Many claim “yes,” he clearly did in the following passage: in Luke 22:36, Jesus tells us “he that has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one.” Based on this passage, wars have been started in Jesus’ name, blood has been shed in Jesus’ name, and killing has been done in Jesus’ name. When challenged on this point, “sword-bearers” will typically point to Matthew 10:34 for further support, citing it for the proposition that Jesus told us He... Read more

The Holy Ground of a Challenging Day

Last updated on: July 28, 2019 at 6:36 pm By Richard Murray

The other day I had four amazing encounters. The first was with a homeless man who often hangs outside near our local courthouse steps. He always carries his numerous duffel bags with him. They are all stuffed either with clothes or mail. On this day, I encountered him in the men’s room where he was washing and cooling his face from the blistering hot July day. He saw me (in my suit and with my briefcase) and asked if I... Read more