The only reason I remained a Christian

Around the age of 27, I’d finally had it with Christianity. I’d unintentionally sabotaged myself four years previously when I became disillusioned with ministry and the church as I knew it, trying to take my happiness in my own hands because I felt burnt out and underappreciated by God. I’d become bitter with God and […]

The New Testament Church for today

Many Christians have been motivated by Christ’s prayer in John 17:21 “that all [Christians] may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.” Self included. I’ve wanted to see the thousands of denominations coalesce, put aside minor differences, and be about the Kingdom. In a lot of wonderful ways, […]

The disconnect with Christians on sexuality, Part III

There’s a huge problem with the Bible. The problem involves the way most Christians (Protestants in particular) approach it. We like to pretend that the scriptures are our primary source of authority for understanding God. In actuality, though, this is very seldom practiced. The Bible doesn’t come to any of us as a straight and […]

Lamentations

I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. He has driven me away and made me walk in darkness rather than light; indeed, he has turned his hand against me again and again, all day long… He has besieged me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship. He has […]

Sanctification – the praxis

Danger, danger, danger: my previous post and this follow-up may easily be misunderstood by those who are not far along the Christian walk, as it can easily be interpreted as legalism, which it is not – there is a balance. Let me emphasize this: be at peace. Romans 8 affirms us that there is no […]

…the will chooses and the mind justifies

After three straight posts dealing mostly with anger, I think we should begin to more fully integrate anger as a matter of the heart briefly touched upon in the post, “What the heart desires…” I’ve elaborated on what I perceive to be the often primary position of anger as a veil across our minds, but it […]

An adjustment of my own

Part of what we touched on in the last post was the observation that our personal damage – our own brokenness – skews our perceptions of reality in false directions. It would therefore be wise to seek healing in order to limit our biases. I’m going to be blunt – not long ago I thought […]