Improper Affiliation = Damned Soul
Just read this on a local church website: “An improper affiliation (read: going to the wrong church) may cause us to lose our soul.” Really? “Bummer, you went to the wrong church…off to hell with...
View ArticleSetting the Stage for Conversation
So a little about where I am approaching this conversation from. My goal is not to convince, change, prove or debate, just converse and share what I believe and how I see things. I am aware that we are...
View ArticleAs a Former Pastor, I Ask You to Forgive Me…
This is in the same spirit as my Wounded Image of God post , which prompted this post by Jeff . I have something that I said 15 years ago as a pastor that haunts me to this day. This haunting memory...
View ArticleRepost: If The Good News is Truly Universal, Then Why Evangelize?
I think Chad does a really good job of explaining why: The Universal Good News God’s Judgment and Our Judgment All Why Evangelize? And a tid-bit from his kids: Christmas for Jesus I would add that when...
View ArticleThe Runaways and Their Loving Mom
What is the Kingdom of God like, you ask? A woman lived in rural central California. She was known for her kindness, generosity and love, but she was also fair and just. Her five children were normal...
View ArticleI’ll Take Door Number Three
I just read this comment on an Emergent Village blog post. Mike could not have said it any better. There seems to be three God’s preached in Christianity: “The god who wants the save the world but...
View ArticleWhy Do We Lose Jesus if We Lose Hell?
Why are Jesus and our traditional notion of Hell so intertwined? Why is it that if we lose Hell, Jesus becomes terribly pointless and ceases to matter? I mean after all, without Hell, what is the point...
View ArticleThe Hopeful Ending: The Runaways and Their Loving Mom
First, Read the Tragic Version of this Story Here. What is the Kingdom of God like, you ask? A woman lived in rural central California. She was known for her kindness, generosity and love, but she was...
View ArticleTo Hell with My Kids?
So my two oldest children are in a quandary. Our daughter is five and she went to a church where they told her (in her words) that bad people go “down there” to hell (pointing down to the center of the...
View ArticleHELL: 9/11 Victims & Osama Bin Laden
Yesterday, I read a headline with Osama Bin Laden’s face on it and large, thick white letters exclaiming, “Rot in Hell!” Yesterday, while hoping onto Fox News Channel and catching an interview with...
View ArticleLetter to Gays and Lesbians (LGBT): I Stand With You
[Leerlo en Español] [Watch the video reading] I don’t know what it is like to be black and carry the weight of years of oppression and racism on my shoulders. To pull myself up out of that oppression....
View ArticleGod Does Things We Would Never Do: Francis Chan and Hell
I love Francis Chan. Seriously, I do. I grew up listening to Francis at Hume Lake Summer Camps and so he has a special spot in my heart. He is eloquent in speech, very persuasive and has a very sincere...
View ArticleThe NEW Roman’s Road
I was raised on the Romans Road. The Romans Road is an evangelism tool made up of 5-7 verses pulled out of Romans to show people the way of salvation. That if they follow and believe this simple Road...
View ArticleMerciful Lyn Benedetto and Her Throat-Slit Kids
To be honest, I find it very hard to stomach and read articles like this one about Lyn Benedetto taking a knife to her children’s throats. Ask my wife, as a father, I just can’t handle them. But in...
View ArticleDon’t worry, fire-wanting disciples, the fire is coming, just not now.
[Luke 9:51-56] Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, 52 and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they...
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