Another collection of bite-sized items from around the Internet (Oh, all right, most of it is from interesting Facebook exchanges this time! 😉 )

The answer [in response to a point highlighting how Evangelicals reconcile two opposing concepts where they hold both to be true] is quite simple: They make it up as they go along. A new idea can easily be formed while consistently ignoring other information that contradicts that idea, if you close your eyes to it. This is the problem with using a series of single, unconnected, out-of-context verses to justify any belief or doctrine – Me

Evil exists. Hell does not, therefore it was not created by God. Satan is our own internal voice, egged on by judgmental people, telling us we’re not worthy of God’s love and/or attention. – Anon

For me, all ‘sin’, whatever that means and in all its forms and definitions, was dealt with on the Cross. I can therefore walk in a perpetual state of having been forgiven. Done and dusted, end of problem. – Me

Music is enough for a lifetime. But a lifetime is not enough for music – John Williams

…you’re also allowed to like something that others deem ‘problematic’: maybe its lead singer is a Communist; maybe a certain name was (a long time ago) associated with the Nazi party; maybe a certain author isn’t a Vegan; whatever. What’s really problematic, imo, is that others seem to think that their opinion should influence our enjoyment of something, such that they tell us why it’s ‘problematic’. Well they can all go and get stuffed 🤣😂😜 – Me

If you find yourself being called a heretic by mainstream “religion,” make sure of three things:
1) Be a “Spirit-quickened heretic” always inspired and illuminated by Jesus’ Spirit;
2) Be “heroic heretic” always daring to believe the braver and better thing about God and man.
3) Be a “happy heretic” always strong in the joy of the Lord, and always quickly forgiving and those who call you heretic in the first place. – Richard Murray

Unfortunately, sometimes the grey religious NPC types twist the ‘unmerited’ idea into ‘unworthy’ and ‘undeserved’. This is wrong. All it means is that Grace is unearned – you don’t have to *do* anything in order to obtain it or to keep it. But they like to mask that by saying that it is not something we are worthy of receiving. More Pharisees shutting the door of heaven in others’ faces. – Me

I hate when they talk about hyper-grace when they want to teach about grace but don’t like the idea of it being freely given without asking anything in return. The idea of grace is too much for the religious mind; it cannot comprehend grace, because grace is free, and religion is work. There’s no such thing as hyper-grace; there’s only grace. Grace is by essence hyper. It’s like the “color” white. White is white. There’s no hyper-white, there’s just white. If you add anything to white, it becomes something else, it becomes a shade of an other color. Grace is grace; if you add anything else it’s not grace anymore. – Yorick Videlson

Plus they are likely trying to twist [a Bible verse’s] meaning to their own ends. How many churches’ signs have we seen where they are called ‘Grace [whatever] Church’ but of course it’s a bait-and-switch for a den of legalism. – Me

Religious people are good at using terms they don’t understand. Actually, using terms at all to describe and define the spiritual comes from a religious mind. A free spirit doesn’t have words to share the divine experience, because it’s precisely that: an experience. You can only let people see the fruits and the effects; you know, like the wind. – Yorick Videlson

The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy. It’s the religious mindset destroying and tainting everything it touches, and thus steals joy. People who are in that mindset have my pity, but not my sympathy. The gates of hell are locked from the inside, said CS Lewis, and they are in there by their own choice. The hell of religion, that is. All it takes is the decision to call BS on the whole thing, and they can escape. – Me

Our ultimate destiny is not a matter of chance nor is it a “choice” that we are free to make. I had absolutely no choice in being created. I had no choice in the effect of Adams disobedience and the universal ramifications of his act. My “salvation” was never in jeopardy especially based on something that I may or may not have done. I am “saved” because of His intention to make it so. God through Christ Jesus will bring the realization of “salvation” to all without the consent of any. We are all in process of becoming the image of our Creator God and Father by His choice not ours. – C Andrew May

For me, I know how much the unclean have besmirched the name of my faith. But I refuse to let them steal my birthright: I am a Christian; I was a Christian before they stole the name and I will still claim that title for the rest of my life. I am a Prince of the Kingdom of Heaven; a child of God and He is my Father. I was crucified with Christ and have been raised up with Him to heavenly places. These things have been revealed to me over and above what a mere book says, and I know them as part of my make-up, as you say. It’s part of who I am, too, and, like you, no-one can take that away. Even (and especially) the Thief and his children. – Me

The reason that Evangelical attack dogs attack mystical experiences is that they themselves lack such experience. [The people who do that kind of attacking of others]  have likely never knowingly known the Presence of God. In the same way as miserable people love to drag others down to their level, so too these Evangelical attack dogs try to deny all valid mystical experiences, so that they think they’ll feel better about their own lack of such experiences. But a) it doesn’t make them feel any better; and b) nothing they can say or do can ever erase the reality experienced by those they attack. The caveat is that not all Evangelicals are like that, fortunately. – Me

While you’re fighting about theology, separating over politics, and just generally distracting yourself with the drugs of popular culture, you’re getting older, your kids are growing up, and plenty of beautiful sunsets are being lost on you. Be passionate about what you’re passionate about, but don’t sacrifice the moments you would have never forgotten on the altar of moments you will never remember. – Jeff Turner

Plus, on the question of it being authoritative. If someone has to tell you that it is authoritative (which they do; it doesn’t claim it for itself) then they become the higher authority because they are vouching for it. Only someone in higher authority can vouch for someone or something, which means that the Bible is not the highest authority. Of course, some Christians might say that God is the higher authority, which is true, but when Christians also say that God would not say anything that does not agree with Scripture, again this places Scripture above God. In essence, they don’t trust God to be able to speak directly to His people. – Me

…non-Christians are asking the L.G.B.T.Q. question before they even enter the door as a litmus test as to whether they will even come in the first place. We can argue about whether that’s fair or not, but we can’t argue about whether that’s reality. They simply will only come to a church that is welcoming of L.G.B.T.Q. people, and not what they call “pretend” welcoming into what they call “second-class citizenship.” – Bill White

Many people today do not value expertise, particularly when that expertise disagrees with their own worldview. But give them a nasty thing like heart problems, cancer or even a headache and they will turn to the experts without a thought. Yes, even paracetamol tablets (acetaminophen) need to be made by experts; I used to work in such a company of brilliant people. – Me

… about what Autism means. To be able to see things, understand things, process things, and remember things in a way that most people can’t do, has to be seen as a gift. – The Autism Curve, BBC (Episode 1, 50 secs ff)

What [Evangelicals] do is yes, they claim the Bible leads them to Jesus, just as Jesus says, but their job is to lead them back from Jesus to the Bible, it seems! – Me

When God awakened me to the truth I was compelled to leave the Christian religion. I didn’t see any value in taking flying lessons from caterpillars. – C. Andrew May

I’ve also noticed that when you start to enthuse about your freedom while talking with a Legalist – whether they know they are one or not! – the first thing they will do is to try to explain to you why you should not be free. It’s usually couched in Bible verses, and [possibly] from a good heart, but still that’s what they are doing. “He gave His word for freedom; you use it to enslave“. And they will claim that they are under Grace but their lives will not show this. I sometimes wonder if this is simple insecurity; they feel threatened to see someone operating out of freedom instead of Law. – Me

I think [legalists] need the ‘security’ afforded by having clear rules by which to live… Even if they consistently fail to live by them (and consequently live stunted lives of fear and self-loathing). It’s pretty sad really, especially when all the ‘evidence’ needed to live a life of freedom is readily available. – Phil Hendry

[It’s] so sad; [legalists] are still clinging to the side of their swimming pool, shouting unheeded and unnecessary warnings to those who are out in the deep waters of faith and living life to the full. – Me