Outside the Pigeon Holes

"When our eschatology (end-times view) has more to do with the "destruction of the wicked" than the 'restoration of ALL THINGS' then we really should re-think the Jesus we are preaching. The world is waiting for some GOOD NEWS not DOOM & GLOOM!" - Blaise Foret This is my take as well...Not that I don't believe that there will be some kind of 'recompense for the wicked' (what it looks like I do not know - only God truly knows), I just believe that Jesus' focus and the whole purpose of His work in his ministry, on the cross and in His resurrection was restoration and hope, not destruction and punishment. Scripture says destruction is a work of the enemy. As difficult as it can be, I believe that hope and restoration should be first and foremost in my heart and mind as well - even in the face of the immense evil that we face in the world. It is what Jesus modeled up until his last breath. Punishment, wrath and anger are not listed as b...

A heartfelt reply to an 'absolute truth' teller who takes on the divorce issue (under the guise of it being just about 'people who have divorce parties'). This one is for all those who are in or have left terrible, destructive marriages but still feel the scorn from the 'perfect plan' people. Here's the link to the post Here is my reply. As bothered as you were with the guy in the grocery store, I grow weary of the judgment from the 'I'm staying married forever no matter what!!' screamers who seem to think they have it all figured out on how they will keep it together... "I just have to CHOOOOSSE to stay'....Good luck with that when you wake up to find that your spouse didn't change, but was never the person you thought they were in the first place. Divorce is never easy....EVER. It sucks. As happy as I was it was over I still cried the day the gavel came down in the courtroom. I wanted to grab my ex by the shoulders and say ...

  Photo art credit: Holli Lynn Stevenson I am convinced that the question that God will ask when I stand before him is 'Did you learn how to love?'.  If I am to follow Christ, I am to love. Period. Jesus says that people will know his followers by their love . Kudos if you get your theology right. But it is your love that will identify you. Jesus said that anyone who loves knows God. He didn't say 'anyone who prayed the sinner's prayer and reads their Bible with the right hermeneutics and proves that they are the holiest of all knows God.' He said anyone who loves knows God . A Muslim who loves, knows God. A Christian who loves, knows God. A homosexual who loves, knows God. An atheist who loves, knows God. In my old age, I have found that it is better to err on the side of love over judgement. And that is hard. Judgment is easy. Hatred flows naturally through human veins. Some think that loving others means being soft and gushy. But that...

Just Because He Breathes  This story breaks my heart. It is stories like this that have helped to refine my perspective on this issue.

My reply to a blog post discussion with an atheist...I was not attempting to convert him. Just sharing my story.  What a neat discussion...I love it when people can talk about these kinds of things respectfully. How much we can learn from each other when we know that the other person is not going to ridicule or go off or resort to insults. THANKS! For what it's worth, my two cents are below. :) I grew up in Evangelicalism, but my faith became the most alive when I ditched the rules and the play-book of 'making converts' through arguing the Bible and defending God (God doesn't really need me to do that anyway). I made it about 'me and God', not 'me, the rules and how I can convince everyone that my religion is right by explaining the Bible empirically'. You can't do that. The Bible isn't a science book. It is a book of experiences and intepretations of experiences by other people - humans as jacked up and confused by life as I am than I was ...

Despite all the other issues that the Church could be going after with as much venom and fervor,  so often the nastiest attitudes and panicked (sometimes hate-tinged) actions seem to center around homosexuality (a close second maybe to the creation vs. evolution debate). It isn't that I think it is bad to discuss this matter through our lenses of faith, I know that most people have the best of intentions in this debate. But seriously, the energy, fear (which is not of God, btw) and resources put into this topic I think are largely disproportionate to its importance. If one of the devil's schemes is to get God's people to pour their energies into demolishing a molehill while he dances off to add more casualties to his hideous mountain of child sex trafficking, environmental destruction, murder and torture, then I think he has succeeded. This victory of his is often at the expense of people who want to follow Jesus but know that in most churches they would be objects ...