Before I start I should qualify myself by saying, like Paul, that the words that follow are mine. I don’t claim any divine inspiration for the following “rule of thumb” In fact, my mother told me this when I was quite young. But I think
One of the greatest issues facing individuals coming out of an experience with the Worldwide Church of God and its related organizations is what many pastoral counselors call “Bible abuse.” This is an issue not limited to the Worldwide Church of God experience which I
I grew up in a small town in South Carolina. My experience with Christianity was in the same Southern Baptist church my mother attended until she got married. Even in college, I still believed that the Bible was the “literal Word of God written by
In the 6th century AD, over 500 years after the death of Christ, Emperor Constantine, was the first Christian emperor of Rome. Constantine was having trouble with the different religious factions in his kingdom. There was much squabbling and infighting over various points of Christian
We could spend a lifetime debating the various interpretations of scripture and sadly, many of us do! Imagine what we look like to non-believers as they watch us argue and fight, often very publicly, over what we believe the Bible has to say – not
There is nothing in Scripture that prohibits full acceptance of LGBTQ+ people, and ordaining their unions as sacraments in the Church. Since the Bible is used to justify homophobia, I want to deal with this issue from a biblical perspective, fully recognizing, as with the
Part 12 of the 12-part series “Lepers, Loons and Losers: The Outcasts of the Gospels.” Read the rest of the series here. As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in
Read the rest of the series Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. (Matthew 5:5) In our testosterone poisoned culture, meek is a four-letter word. Can you think of any ad campaign that uses the word meek? Meek draws up images of
If the Holy Spirit is our first and foremost teacher, there is a sense in which we ourselves, in our very dependence on the Spirit, must also teach ourselves. That is to say, in the process of divine education we are not wholly passive, but
Part 11 of the 12-part series “Lepers, Loons and Losers: The Outcasts of the Gospels.” Read the rest of the series here. One of the soldiers pierced his side with a lance, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. (John 19:34) It was clear