bible

The Bible’s Not Essential to Christianity

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I have recently written an update, clarification, and retraction of many of the statements in this blog post, but I felt it wrong to remove the original words. Instead, if you do read this post I STRONGLY INSIST that you read the post “Retraction and Reaction: My Words and Andy Stanley’s” The statements in this post are in some cases erroneous and in some cases simply poorly written, so please refer to the adjustments.   The Bible’s not essential to Christianity. Yes, the title is click bait, I know. But it’s also one-hundred percent true. Let me say now that … [Read more]

His Name’s Not Lucifer

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I made an off-hand comment in a post that said, “If you want to know how to irritate me… say that satan’s name before he fell was Lucifer, but that’s the topic of another post for another time.” That time has come! Let’s be clear up-front. This is an incredibly non-essential point of theology. What we call the enemy, satan, is secondary to the fact that he is real and is against us. The topic of this post is just a pet peeve of mine. However, this particular pet peeve stems from a deeper and more important point: Do you … [Read more]

Christians and Booze

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Were you to ask the Christian world, “Can Christians drink alcohol?” you would receive different Christian answers. Your hard-core Baptists, Pentecostals, Seventh-day Adventists, and others would shout, “No!” in glorious unison. Your Roman Catholics, Episcopalians, Anglicans and others would scream, “Yes!” with equal fervor. Non-denoms, Lutherans, and Reformed guys would fill in the spectrum with generous helpings of “maybe”, “sometimes”, and “what do you mean by ‘can’?” Dallas Theological Seminary recently changed their position on the subject, which has got me thinking about the whole question again. Is it ever right for a Christian to drink alcohol? Well, as is … [Read more]

God Might Not Have Plans to “Prosper” You: Can You Live With That?

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There are two passages in the Bible that get misapplied more than any others. The first is Jeremiah 29:11, the second is Deuteronomy 28:1-14. These two passages are routinely ripped from their context and abused by all types of Christians. Tall, short, skinny, hefty, rich, poor, it makes no difference. It seems that these two passages have been rendered defenseless against the advent of technology and the “single-scripture-written-in-whimsical-fonts-over-a-picture-of-a-river-forrest-mountain-or-beach-then-posted-on-instagram-to-seem-spiritual” craze. Well, I’m here to bring the context kicking and screaming into view for you. If you want to know how to irritate me, say that you know God has good plans … [Read more]

Paul on Slavery

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Introduction The Apostle Paul authored almost half of the New Testament, and spoke authoritatively about the Christian perspective on countless subjects from the meaning of love, to the roles and duties of church officials. Much of Christian doctrine is based on the writings of Paul, but one particular issue appears to fall between the cracks in his writing: the question of slavery, its lawfulness, and its role in the Christian life. The crack into which it fell was large enough to fuel the American Civil War. Many Christians saw Paul’s writings as “pro-slavery” and were therefore willing to fight and … [Read more]