Category: Christianity

Christianity

Black Evangelicals, White Evangelicals, and Franklin Graham’s Repentance

The following is an exerpt from a recent Sojourners.com emailing relative to Franklin Graham who now heads the Billy Graham Ministries. The author of the article is shown at the bottom. When Franklin Graham expressed doubts about President Obama’s Christian faith during an interview on Morning Joe last week, it reminded me of an uncomfortable dinner I had in the late ‘90s. I sat down … Continue reading Black Evangelicals, White Evangelicals, and Franklin Graham’s Repentance

Unknown's avatarRJ Walters
Christianity, Questions Needing Answers

Today’s Church Building, What Would Jesus Do……

I got to thinking recently about what did Jesus teach us about where we were supposed to come together to worship God. As I have mentioned before there is actually almost nothing in the Bible about this topic. But I can take the many other words of Jesus and postulate what he would likely say if he had addressed this area.  Here is what I … Continue reading Today’s Church Building, What Would Jesus Do……

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Christianity, I believe, Red Letters

I Don’t Care To Know Anything More About God….

The title to this post certainly sounds like an ultra pompous statement doesn’t it?  But this is indeed what some Christians are saying when they cling to the “Sola Scriptura” doctrine. To say that God has nothing else to teach us besides what is contained the documents that were collected more than sixteen hundred years ago is depriving them of much needed help in living … Continue reading I Don’t Care To Know Anything More About God….

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Christianity, I believe, Questions Needing Answers

Putting God in a Box….

When we insist that our version of God is the only true one are we putting God in a Box?  That is are we limiting him to how we currently perceive him or maybe just want him to be? I think that is the case with many Christians today. Here are some examples of putting God in a restrictive box: The Bible contains everything we need to know about … Continue reading Putting God in a Box….

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Book review, Christianity

What We Read….

This post will be sort of a first review of the book entitled The Bible Made Impossible by Christian Smith. I say sort of because I will primarily be discussing something that the book brought to mind and not the book itself. The book is primarily about how many evangelicals have put the Bible into an impossible position by their very narrow interpretations. It goes into … Continue reading What We Read….

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Book review, Christianity

If God Is Love (Part 5)

This is a continuation of my discussions of the book entitled “When God Is Love” by Philip Gulley and James Mulholland. Here is the quote for today: Working to make the world a more gracious place wasn’t a priority in the churches of my childhood. Some of this negligence was a result of apolcalyptic interpretations in which the world was doomed and damned anyway. One … Continue reading If God Is Love (Part 5)

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Book review, Christianity

If God is Love (Part 2)

This is a continuation of my collection of snippets from the book by Philip Gulley entitled If God is Love. The Psalmists boats, “Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord? And do I not loathe those who rise up against you? I hate them with perfect hate. I count them my enemies” (Psalm 139:21-22). Hatred, when directed at those we have judged wicked, becomes … Continue reading If God is Love (Part 2)

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Christianity

Contemplating the All Powerful God and the All Loving God…

The Old Testament has always been a struggle for me. I find far too many places where God’s wrath is brutally shown. This is in such a total contrast with Jesus Christ I know in the New Testament. It is almost like the good cop/bad cop scenarios that play out so much on the TV cop shows. I tend to refer to it as the … Continue reading Contemplating the All Powerful God and the All Loving God…

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Christianity

Wanted: 1,000 Pastors For the Poor

Source:  Wanted: 1,000 Pastors For the Poor – Jim Wallis – God’s Politics Blog. Sojourners, which is a Christian based organization founded on the principle that  Christians are called to be their brother’s keeper and that governments are accountable for the well-being of all their citizens. The source post is a call for 1,000 pastors to come forward and say cutting the safety net out from … Continue reading Wanted: 1,000 Pastors For the Poor

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Christianity

A Vast Institution Based on a Few Bones…..

This is going to be a short post about the religious establishments of today. I hope this closes out my recent thoughts in this area. I really want to move on to other things about Jesus. This post is based on some words in the book entitled If the Church Were Christian by Philip Gulley. Here are those words: We have built a vast institution based on these … Continue reading A Vast Institution Based on a Few Bones…..

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Christianity

Reading Too Much Into the Words…..

I must admit that I have become pretty turned off by most theological things. At one time I was deeply embedded in theology and studied it on almost a daily basis. But after several years at it I discovered that, like the original Bob Newhart TV show character did about psychology, that theology is pretty much a crock! 🙂  Of course the business of theology … Continue reading Reading Too Much Into the Words…..

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Christianity, I believe

Two Issue Christians…..

This is the second post in the series about how I believe today’s Christian establishments disappoint God. If one believes that God is only really concerned with a couple of issues, it becomes easier to ignore others.  But human life and particularly the words of Jesus are just too complicated for this kind of reductionist approach to our faith and beliefs. How can we even … Continue reading Two Issue Christians…..

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Christianity, I believe

Disappointments about Today’s Christian Establishments…

Before my “literal and inerrant” friend became frustrated and stopped dialoguing with me he often asked the question why I have so much an ambivalence towards today’s churches?  I repeatedly tried to tell him that it isn’t so much ambivalence as it is a disappointment.  I will use this post to explain one of the major reasons for that disappointment. Before I start I need to tell you a … Continue reading Disappointments about Today’s Christian Establishments…

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Christianity, Questions Needing Answers

An Act of God???

Given the large loss of life due to the Goplin Missouri tornadoes recently I got to thinking about why we call tornadoes and other such events an act of God? Isn’t it really just an occurrence in nature? Did God really conger up these weather events to kill so many people in that city?  Many search throughout the Bible for the answers to these types of questions and they … Continue reading An Act of God???

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Christianity

What Does “I am a Christian” Really Mean??

Has the phrase “I am a Christian” lost its meaning in today’s world? A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament. That is one definition out of many. Here are some of the words in Wikipedia describing a “Christian”: The term “Christian” is also used adjectivally to … Continue reading What Does “I am a Christian” Really Mean??

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Christianity, Questions Needing Answers

Christian Spending on Massive Churches???

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42769004/ns/travel-destination_travel/ The above article is about the ten most beautiful churches in the world. Since I take my life lessons from Jesus I went to his words to find his opinion about building monoliths to God. I did not see anything that remotely suggested that God wants us to spend massive amounts of our resources in monuments to Him. Quite the opposite appears to be … Continue reading Christian Spending on Massive Churches???

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Christianity, I believe

About the Bible – Part 6 Closing Thoughts…

This series was about looking at the Bible as a human document. That is, it was written and assembled by humans with different life experiences, viewpoints, and passions.  Much of their thoughts and words obviously came from inspiration from God. When I study the Bible I try to understand the reasons why some of the writers might have penned what they did.  Of course, I am also a human … Continue reading About the Bible – Part 6 Closing Thoughts…

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Christianity, I believe

About the Bible — Part 4 .. Misguided Beliefs?

This, the fourth post on the Bible centers around where I see some others may have gone astray in regards to their beliefs surrounding  the Bible. Some have replaced the Holy Spirit with the book called the Bible… They put so much power in the Bible and so little in the Holy Spirit. Compared to the others in Trinity studies there is very little in-depth … Continue reading About the Bible — Part 4 .. Misguided Beliefs?

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