General
Christmas is Subversive…
Category: General
Tags: Christmas, Jesus, Kingdom, Nomad, Subversive
Topics: Ethical, Cultural and Political Issues, Following Jesus
…at least the first Christmas was. When Jesus came it was about the birth of a subversive ruler who brought a subversive kingdom. He is a king that came to introduce a reign that would overthrow…
Don’t Be a Functional Atheist at Christmas
Category: General
Tags: Atheism, Being Present, Christmas, Experiencing God, God, Jesus, Kingdom Living, Myth of a Christian Religion, Practicing the Presence of God, Present Perfect, Secularism
All of us raised in Western culture have been strongly conditioned by what is called a secular worldview. The word secular comes from the Latin saeculum, meaning “the present world.” A secular worldview, therefore, is…
Is Having the “Right” Theology the Core of Christianity?
Category: General
Tags: Calvinism, Love, Non-Violence, Repenting of Religion, Violence
Last week, we posted a piece by Greg that challenges the practice being violent “in the name of Jesus” toward others who err theologically. (Click here to read this post.) Being that this piece got…
Lighten Up: My Favorite!
Category: General, Lighten Up
Tags: Christmas, Eternal Life, Gifts, Jesus, Lighten Up
He always gives the best gifts.
Judgment and Idolatry
Category: General
Tags: Adam and Eve, Idolatry, Judgment, Love, Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil
Topics: Following Jesus
Why was the forbidden tree in the center of the garden called The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil? Since the Bible depicts eating from this tree as the reason humans are estranged…
What Motivates Torture “In Jesus’ Name”?
Category: General
Tags: Holiness, Humility, Idolatry, Judgment, Kingdom Living, Love, Religious Idolatry, Torture
Topics: Following Jesus
Why has the church, at times, tortured and murdered people? What motivates killing and persecution “in the name of Jesus” or “for the glory of God”? (See the post from yesterday about how the church…
Lighten Up: Finding Jesus
Category: General, Lighten Up
Tags: Lighten Up, Whyatt
Although this isn’t a Christmas comic, we thought it was fitting for this time of year when it’s sometimes hard to find Jesus in the middle of holiday stress. Have a great week and remember, Jesus…
Why Are We So Mired in Violence?
Category: General
Tags: Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Flood, Love, Relationships, Trinity, Violence
Topics: The Problem of Evil
In his marvelous little book entitled The Great Divorce, C. S. Lewis envisioned hell as a realm in which people are forever moving farther away from one another. Hell is the ultimate, cosmic, suburban sprawl!…
Participating in the Divine Nature (Love)
Category: General
Tags: God, God is Love, Jesus, Love, Love Your Neighbor, The Holy Spirit, Trinity
Topics: Following Jesus, Trinity
When God created the world, it obviously wasn’t to finally have someone to love, for God already had this, within himself. Rather God created the world to express the love he is and invite others…
The Most Beautiful Truth
Category: General
Tags: God, God is Love, Jesus, Love, The Holy Spirit, Trinity
Topics: Trinity
Jesus was God incarnate. Yet he continually referred to, and prayed to, God the Father as someone who was distinct from himself. He also continually referred to, and claimed to be empowered by, God the…
When God is Revealed
Category: General
Tags: Cruciform Theology, God, God's Character, Jesus, Relationships, Trust
Topics: Christology
Whether we’re talking about our relationship with God or with other people, the quality of our relationships can never go beyond the level of trust the relating parties have in each other’s character. We cannot…
What the New Testament Says about Annihilation
Category: General
Tags: Annihilationism, Eschatology, Hell, Warfare Worldview
Yesterday, we posted a piece on annihilationism and how this view interprets passages that seem to point to eternal punishment in hell. (Click here for yesterday’s post.) Today’s post speaks to teaching in the New…
Lighten Up: Gratitude
Category: General, Lighten Up
Tags: Beauty, Gratitude, Inspiration, Life, Lighten Up, Louie Schwartzberg, Thankfulness, Video
Here’s a 6 minute meditation on gratitude by Louie Schwartzberg. Take our word for it. It’s worth the time.
Cheap Grace and Consumer Christianity
Category: General
Tags: Atonement, Consumerism, Kingdom Living, Penal Substitution View of Atonement
Topics: Atonement and The Cross, Following Jesus
The “cheap grace” Gospel sells well in America. We live in a culture of consumerism that conditions us to habitually look for “the best deal.” We’re more or less trained from birth to live in…
The Danger of the Penal Substitution View of Atonement
Category: General
Tags: Atonement, Forgiveness, Jesus, Kingdom Living, Penal Substitution View of Atonement, Sin, Transformation
Topics: Atonement and The Cross
About 25 years ago I was traveling on the freeway to somewhere or other and I stopped at a truck stop to get a bite to eat. I sat down at the counter next to…
Dealing With Objections to Open Theism, Part II
Category: General
Tags: Across The Spectrum, Chaos Theory, Determinism, Objections to Open Theism, Open Theism, Probability
Topics: Open Theism
There are four major objections to Open Theism. In this post, we are dealing with the third and fourth. (See yesterday’s post to read about the first two.) Objection #3: God cannot foreknow only some of…
Dealing With Objections to Open Theism, Part I
Category: General
Tags: Across The Spectrum, God's Sovereignty, Objections to Open Theism, Omniscience, Open Theism
Topics: Open Theism
There are four major objections to Open Theism. Today we will deal with the first two and then tomorrow the third and fourth. For a basic introduction to Open Theism, click here. Objection #1: The…