Which is more harmful to Christianity and to the world–having an incorrect doctrine of the Trinity or displaying un-Christlike behavior and attitudes towards others, especially unbelievers? I believe it’s the latter. Maybe I am speaking out too much, but I’m starting to see the repercussions of the great carnality that has continued to exist within contemporary American Evangelicals–including me.   The alarm was already started with people like A.W. Tozer about the carnality he saw in our worship gatherings. He would be appalled today. For a long time, we have been consumed with growing empires, fighting amongst ourselves, and gaining political power/influence. I see little difference between us today and the Pharisees of Jesus’ day. And like the Jews of that time period, we are repeating the mistake of expecting the Messiah to deliver us from Roman tyranny.   Jesus refuses to do so, and it feels like we’ve traded Him for Barabbas.   Barabbas represents the flesh–Jesus the spiritual. We must not shame Jesus publicly all over again, the correct party to crucify is the flesh. I do not think the full nature of the systemic problems will be appreciated by us until several generations from now. And I’m also starting to believe that it won’t be seen until after we’ve been paired down by genuine maligning from the rest of society. In the past, I’ve said that while I don’t wish it, I think persecution is coming. I’m slowly starting to wish for it. I don’t see another solution, and I’m tired of seeing Jesus misrepresented systemically. Christians think the answer is “revival,” in which they mean seeing a societal change toward God. I don’t think that’s going to happen, nor do I see it as the solution to American Evangelicals’ problems. I think the only solution is American Evangelicals being stripped of influence and respect to the point where we must turn away from our strategies, alliances, and self-importance, and return with humility to the...

What do you care about? I am slowly figuring out that one can only care about so many (or should I say, few) things, and that caring for one thing means not caring as much about another thing. I’ll speak to this personally, and then church-ly. If you are experience pain in your wisdom tooth the best that you can do is get a wisdom teeth removal.   Personally: Black lives matter to me. Unborn babies matter to me. My neighbors matter to me. But I do very little personally for these people. Because I matter to me too. And, unfortunately, I matter to myself more than other people matter to me. My family matters to me. I’m currently trying to work harder at being there more for them than I have in the past. A daily prayer/Bible study time matters to me more now than before as well. Having enough work coming in to provide for our finances continues to matter to me. Finding a church home for my family matters to me. Making time to play the piano matters to me. Finding a home for us to purchase matters to me. The money from the sale of our old home that I put in the stock market until we find that next home matters to me. The political and selfish climate of the church during Trump’s presidency and during COVID-19 matters to me.  After these things, I just have very little energy for other (possibly more important) things to matter to me in a practical sense. My small group should matter to me. Children who are being trafficked should matter to me. People around the world who have never heard about Jesus should matter to me. And on and on it could go forever. There are certain people on my prayer list–they matter to me. But most of my prayer list currently consists of things that I feel like matter to God regarding who I am as a person on the inside. The few things I’ve mentioned mark my current limit of how many things can truly matter to me. I wish I could care about more things, but I simply can’t. We almost had a contract...

NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC: Due to the coronavirus, churches can no longer hold free concerts on Sunday mornings.   I guess Christians at home will need to find another way to experience “God” without turning the living room lights real low, the kids moving around the kitchen spotlights with fog, and dads sipping coffee to mom’s professionally-crafted musical performances as she follows her click-tracks. Sound silly? Why then do we feel the need to resort to these kinds of things with our Sunday morning family?   SoundCloud can be a beneficial platform for Christian music artists. It provides exposure, a user-friendly platform, community building opportunities, distribution, cost-effectiveness and feedback from listeners, try this site to purchase soundcloud plays.    Having resigned as a pastor and trying to find a new church home, I am discovering that so many popular churches don’t expect, nor do they facilitate, the congregation to deeply seek after God together. Rather, they work hard to produce a felt mood that the congregation can latch onto. Every athlete, from the fitness enthusiast to the professional, is on a journey to improve every day for that reason is important use supplements like beta-alanine.    It’s as if churches have decided that people don’t really want God; they want a faith in God to get them through their current situation. Jesus said in John 6:26, “You are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.” Could He say today, “You are looking for me, not because you see my glory, but because you got your pick-me-up and had your fill.”?   I experienced a lot of pain over my resignation. Afterwards, at various churches, I heard a lot of “God will get you through whatever you’re facing.” I got this message through the songs that were sung and the sermon that morning. Ironically, that was of little help to me. Of course, I’ll get through this! (But it sure does stink real bad for a long time.) Almost everyone gets through whatever they’re going through, whether they even believe in God or not. Nothing lasts forever. (The same will be true for coronavirus.)   The...

Sorry for misquoting MLK Jr, but last night I had a dream I actually remembered, which hardly ever happens. I came in from the snow into the back row of a small group or classroom setting, and the teacher was asking everyone to share about their experience with suffering. I had something to share about how God helps us in our suffering. Then people started sharing their stories of suffering. One person shared a very personal example of suffering (I don’t remember anything about the story, but only that she was in tears as she told it). Then a few people started expressing empty platitudes of how God can remove our suffering, and how knowing God makes everything better in life. I could tell it was hurting the woman who shared the personal story–not helping. I could also tell that the rest of the group was dismissing these platitudes as well, so I quickly raised my hand so that the teacher could call on me and I could give some encouragement to her and others in the room who were getting upset. I began sharing how even though God may not remove our suffering all the time, He knows our suffering and walks through it with us, although it was much deeper than that. I felt like I was communicating some much-needed words of truth that if only believed would make a difference in each person’s life. However, as I was talking, it was clear that everyone was tuning me out, including the woman who had shared her personal story. During my appeal, she walked out of the room in tears, rejecting what I had to say. As I looked around, I realized that everyone was tuning me out. I was upset about this, because I knew what I was trying to convey was of utmost importance. But it was to no avail. As I was finishing, I looked more closely at one of the students. She had painted her face white while I was talking and had the most stoic facial expression, not moving an inch. As I looked around the room, everyone had done the same thing while I was talking. Everyone’s face was now white, motionless,...

In my previous post, I spoke on the relationship between Christianity and gay marriage. Today I would like to discuss my beliefs on the relationship between Christians and people who are gay. I feel like Christians and gay people don’t see things objectively, because they both have an agenda. So here is my best attempt at trying to be objective: 1. Gay people should be allowed to get married, as far as the state is concerned. We live in a free country. That means that people of all kinds of lifestyles that are incongruent with the Christian faith should be allowed. Christians shouldn’t fear if gay people “get married” and enjoy the same tax breaks and legal protections of those who are traditionally married. 2. The state should let all other “alternative lifestyles” get married as well. Polygamy shouldn’t be discriminated against. Neither should incest. If all are consenting adults, the state should recognize these unions for legal purposes. This is only fair to all of the sexual philosophies represented in the general population. 3. Christians should understand that the concept of “freedom” in our country has largely worked for us, because the vast majority of our citizens have identified themselves as Christians who believe in the Bible, and so we all have affirmed the same moral views generally. Today, that’s no longer true. As a result, we are going to see a lot more divergence from what the Bible teaches is right and wrong. We need to get over it. Christians believe that sexual activity is a moral issue. The society today doesn’t—and that’s their right (even if they are wrong). With today’s sensibilities, people can have sex outside of marriage with no moral implications. The only concern society sees is the prevention of unwanted diseases or consequences (pregnancy, etc). Any Christian who doesn’t realize this has their head stuck in the sand. 4. Christians should continue to affirm that although the state acknowledges all of these various unions as “marriage,” God absolutely doesn’t. And Christians should stand up for their beliefs, while allowing the practices to move forward unhindered. The Bible is clear that gay relationships are sinful. The Bible is clear that any kind of sex...

One of the big cultural stories in America right now is trying to reconcile religious belief with non-discrimination laws in regards to homosexuality or other alternative sexual lifestyles. People are up-in-arms over legislation that would allow people with religious convictions to refuse to participate in celebration of gay marriages, etc. The argument is, no one should be discriminated against, based on their sexual orientation. The prime example of this is a Christian wedding cake maker who holds the belief that the Bible teaches that homosexual relationships are sinful, and therefore refuses to make a wedding cake for a gay couple. Should this be allowed, or is this discrimination? I do not believe this ought to be considered unlawful discrimination. Let me explain. Imagine a Christian who owns a sign company. A customer comes in wanting them to make a billboard that says, “Gays are faggots.” He should be able to refuse to make the sign, due to his religious convictions which state that hate is a sin. He shouldn’t be forced to make the sign, even though such a sign is legally permitted. Or, if a customer wants a sign made that reads, “People who believe in Jesus are assholes. There is no God.” Or, “Obama is an idiot.” If a Christian lives by his/her morals, such signs go against their moral code, because it goes against the Bible’s teachings of respecting everyone, not taking God’s name in vain, showing respect for government authorities, and so on. However, if someone wants signs made containing such statements, America is a free country. Find someone who feels no moral culpability for creating them. Imagine that same Christian sign maker has a gay customer who needs a sign made for their science project, “The Study of Green Plants In Urban Environments.” He ought not be allowed to turn away the customer, simply because he/she is gay, the church might be against them but it is basically against everything if you think about it, don’t even start with sexual toys or prostate massagers which are for anyone and are totally normal or  with woman’s clothing which has no limits and they keep putting rules and social awareness.  Take another instance. A Muslim caterer...