Monthly Archives: June 2026

A Dark Testimony VIII – Church Recovery Day (Reblog)

Insights, Others' stuff
This entry is part 31 of 31 in the series The Problems of Evangelicalism

Here is an essay from some years ago, where I presented a small glimpse into the good and the bad in Evangelical Christianity.

I feel it’s important to re-blog this one at the moment,

because this present series on ‘The Problems of Evangelicalism’ can be read as being pretty negative with regards to the actual people within Evangelicalism. However, right from the start, I have said in many of the essays in this series that this is not my intention; I do not think of the people as being in any way ‘bad’; these are all my brothers and sisters in Christ and He loves them, He died for them, and He too still attends their meetings 😀

In this essay, then, you will read some of the warm affection I have for my former congregation in Leeds. And, on the other hand, there is also some really good stuff from the legendary Don Francisco, where he explains why people would still go to churches where they are abused – something which always puzzled me.

And something which still puzzles me is how Christians of any kind can think of themselves as ‘keeping the Sabbath holy’ while at the same time working like beavers for the entire day on a Sunday. At least, those involved in Sunday ministry of any kind obviously can’t help but for this to be the case. Clearly, this is a case where there needs to be flexibility in the attitudes of Christians, and some leeway given – especially when considering that Jesus Himself said that the Sabbath was made for man, and not the other way round (Mk 2:27). That said, this leeway also opens up gentle Christians to abuse by pushy leadership, as I also explain in this essay with regard to my own personal Sabbath, which at the time had to be a Saturday. I do think that, in the end, decisions like honouring the Sabbath need to be a personal matter for each individual, and no-one else has any place in judging someone else for their adherence to someone else’s ruleset. This is what freedom in Christ actually looks like[1]. One other thing: it’s especially despicable when pushy leadership tell you that doing work on a Sunday should be a joy because you are serving the Lord, and therefore it doesn’t count as work. That’s manipulation of the most disgusting order, and yes I am sorry to say that there are manipulative people like that in the church, in all denominations! I suppose it takes all sorts….

Anyway, enough of my blather 🤣 Here instead is some other blather from several years ago!:

It’s funny, but as an Evangelical, Charismatic, Fundamentalist Christian, I believed that the Sabbath (in my ‘denomination’, that was a Sunday) was supposed to be ‘kept holy’  – whatever that’s supposed to mean (nobody ever really explored the concept, after all!) – but at the very least it should be a day of rest, because that’s what God did on the Sabbath day. Whether it was a Friday, Saturday or Sunday didn’t matter, as long as we had one day a week where we rested.

For me, my Sabbath had to be Saturday, because in addition to working a full-time job during the week, I was working at Church things virtually all day Sunday, what with being a Church musician, worship leader and all. And my leadership didn’t like me having that Saturday day of rest; I kept my Saturdays clear rigorously, and of course if that clashed with their timetable (if they  wanted something done on a Saturday) they weren’t keen. But I held fast to my principle; after all, as a lead musician, and bloody good at what I did at the keyboard, there was no way they were going to ‘fire’ me (unless I dropped some doctrinal clanger, of course, which I never did).

But I have to be fair to them. My Church’s meetings were usually filled with the Presence of God, and I have seen people break down in tears just by the sheer sense of that Presence. The people were friendly and helpful, and genuinely cared and ministered to each other and to those outside the Church too. Underneath that surface, yes, there were all the harsh doctrines like hell and judgement, and most of the people there felt entitled to challenge complete strangers if they said something out of line[2]. And remember that just because God graces a church with His Presence, does not mean that He is affirming all their beliefs. Far from it; usually, He actually turns up despite our beliefs. But for the most part (and probably because I kept to all the doctrinal tenets), the church was a pretty safe place for me and my family.

This isn’t always the case, sadly. Some churches can be traumatic places to be, and to be honest I never understood why people carried on going to them[3]. Until I read this piece by legendary Christian musician Don Francisco, in which he describes very clearly why he felt he had to be there every week, and to keep going back to the trauma factory. Over to Don:

“Monday… church recovery day. That’s how it used to be for me, except sometimes it was worse: It could take most of the week for me to heal after hearing what was taught in song and sermon on Sunday.

“Why would I keep going back? Because I’d been taught that going to church was necessary to please God; I’d attended since I was born. The Bible commanded it: “Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together…”

“So, what exactly did I need to heal from? Fear, guilt, and self-hate… just to name the Big Three. Fear of a god who punished in ways that would appall a sociopath; guilt from every real and imagined sin in recent memory; and knowing that my heart was untrustworthy and “desperately wicked”…

“It didn’t really matter what denomination the church was, or if the preacher was a kind person or not; the bottom line was still this: God was angry at sin, and my only hope was to hide my sinful self behind Jesus.

“For those in varying degrees of recovery today, I have some advice for you: Like Paul the apostle did, consider all that religious stuff dung. Yep, that’s right: Bullshit.

“God is not angry with you; He is love. He became a human to prove it, calling us brothers and friends, forgiving us at our worst when we murdered Him. Today, we can each hear the Spirit speak words of love and support if we’ll listen.

” ‘Come to me, all of you who struggle beneath religion’s heavy load, and I will give you rest. Walk with me and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you shall find rest for your souls.’ And freedom from fear, guilt, and self-hate…”

– Don Francisco

Here’s the link to the original post on Don’s Facebook page

Need I add more? If you’re at a church like that, well, my first action would be to get out of there, but that depends on what Father is calling you to do. The loving Heavenly Father, of course, not the nasty, radgy god that your church may be preaching. But the main thing is to seek Jesus, in whatever way works for you, and find your comfort and acceptance there.

Don’t get me wrong: not all churches are ‘trauma factories’. Far from it. Most of them are places of healing, friendship and, above all, the Presence of God. But the purpose of this blog post is to highlight, for people in such a harmful church, that there are churches out there where good is done, rather than horror. Churches where Jesus is preached, rather than conformity to the leadership’s whims.

Concerning matters of faith, I used to say ‘one size doesn’t fit all’. But in the case of Jesus, it actually does. Jesus does indeed fit all, even if His Church doesn’t. He loves who you are, He loves you right where you are, right as you are, and does not ask you to change except where you want to change.

I think that’s marvellous, don’t you? Now that’s a God I can love!

 

Footnotes

Footnotes
⇧1 Nowadays, I still have to enforce in myself a ‘day of rest’ because I am a full-time carer for an ill relative. This means that, essentially, I just never stop. And so I have to make myself stop; I make myself do no work at all on a Sunday – Sunday being the best day for me, not for any religiously-significant reason, but simply because the shops and other businesses like phone lines and things are closed on a Sunday. It means I am more likely to get things done on other days in the week when there will be people to talk to on the phone, emails will be replied to, and so on.
⇧2 For me, many of the people were complete strangers, except for my group of closer friends. This is the way friendship groups work, of course. But the thing with being at the front is that everyone feels they already actually do ‘know’ you, even if they don’t. And in a church of 300 people, most people fall into that latter category 😉
⇧3 For a good example of a church I would never want to be in, go to YouTube and search for ‘Mark Driscoll God Hates You’. I will not befoul my blog with a link to that deadly rubbish
(deadly in that it brings death of the spirit within; it’s spiritual abuse). Even thinking about that makes my blood boil, and injures my gentle pastor’s heart.

Crumbs of Wisdom

Quotations, Insights

Here is another collection of wisdom quotes, along with some beautiful prose snippets, from various sources. Enjoy!

Of course, maybe it was […] pure chance. I find this unlikely, however. Chance is never pure.

– Iain M. Banks, Transition

The Heavenly scene is umbilically related to the earthly

– Tom Wright, Revelation for Everyone

[Nicodemus] “So you would place limits on the Almighty?”

[Shmuel] “None that are not written in Law”

“And so, if God did something that you felt contradicted Torah, would you tell Him to get back in that….box that you have carved for Him? Or, would you question the interpretation of the Torah?”

“When I was a student, I knew all of your sayings. I read every word you wrote. Your teachings were so sturdy; so reasoned, and pure”.

“We are still students, Shmuel! All of us! Our understanding will never be complete!”

“It frightens me that I can no longer predict your rulings….”

“And fear alone ensures we remain ignorant. Asleep in the safety of rigid tradition!”

– Nicodemus talking to the Pharisee, Shmuel, The Chosen S1 Ep.6

The thing that annoys me most is the hypocrisy and goalpost-moving of the God crowd. They beat people over the head with their Rulebook, and they themselves ignore the parts of it that don’t agree with their actions. A friend once told me that the Church is at the same time the best, and also the worst, witness for Christ that there is. I would agree with the second descriptor, not so much the first. It also makes me think that some of these people have been following, and indeed inventing, a counterfeit faith. This is what happens when the unclean put on the clothes of the righteous. Their outer apparel makes no difference; you can still smell what they really are..

– Me

I do wonder if the idea of the Holy Spirit ‘convicting’ a believer of ‘sin’ is a bit of a false concept. The idea comes from John 16:8, where Jesus says that the Spirit will convict the world of sin, judgment and righteousness. Note that He said the world – that is, in Christian (or, at least, Evangelical) thought, everyone who is not a Christian – but He didn’t mention the believer. So, does the Spirit actually convict a believer? I don’t believe He does. Sure, it’s common and generally-understood parlance in Christian circles to refer to being ‘convicted’ by the Holy Spirit, but I strongly suspect that the condemnation inflicted on believers by others, and indeed by the believers’ own consciences, have been conflated with this idea of the Spirit’s gentle promptings on things. There’s a huge difference between the gentle Voice of the Spirit and the voice of the accuser – whether that’s an actual ontological being or simply a person’s own conscience.

– Me

The Squadron Commander held forth with a pint tankard in his hand, the floor temporarily his: seniority did not necessarily obtain the attention of an assertive bunch of young men who did almost every week what the Light Brigade did once and once only.

– Richard Townshend Bickers, Panther Squadron – the quote takes place in a fighter pilots’ briefing room during WWII

Prayer is God’s way of empowering the powerless

– Me

Brake on … rev up … let her go and the exhilarating punch in the back, the surge down the runway with the needle on the air speed indicator moving rapidly around the dial. Lift off, wheels up … clonk-onk … the oppressive heat at once swept aside by the rush of wind past the open canopy. The familiar blizzard of impressions. The narcotic intensity of knowing that anything might happen before you put your wheels down safely on the ground again. The slow, rhythmical unfolding of the landscape as you climbed. The cumulative, incantatory power of the roaring engine a few feet in front of you. All the mesmeric, fascinating characteristics of flight, the freedom of the air.

– Richard Townshend Bickers, Panther Squadron

I went down to the crossroad and made a deal with a man that I liked very much. He told me that in exchange for my thin watery soul he would put me in a position where I could create the misery that I dread for myself. I could inflict that misery onto people who are the least of Jesus’ brothers and sisters. I would feel powerful and get money, neither of which I deserve. It was an offer I could not refuse. I wasn’t using that weak and pitiful soul anyway.

Thanks, Satan!!

– Blog post by ‘Jeff’, referring to a particularly soulless public servant in America. That’s all I’m saying.

Linked with that loss of joy, you [certain Christians of a serious and miserable persuasion] will likely also have lost your sense of humour, partially because you have to be selective about what you allow yourself to find as funny, and also because laughter needs some sort of joy to fuel it – and your joy tanks are dry.

– Me

If [a certain famous and powerful public figure] was any less self-aware, he wouldn’t be able to see his own reflection in the mirror

– Brian Taylor Cohen

Most church leadership is about getting people to do what God isn’t actually calling them to do.

– Me

Home is the place where, when you get there, they have to take you in

– Robin Frost

Despite these foul people (Yes, indeed, charlatans! These people are of the synagogue of Satan; those who claim to be [believers] though they are not… (Rev 3:9)) stealing and polluting the name of my faith, I will still call myself a Christian. This is my name; my birthright. I know who I am in Christ and these thieves are not taking from me the right to bear that Name. ‘Christian’ means ‘Little Christ’, and that’s what I am. And I always will be.

– Me, commenting on corrupt people who name themselves ‘Christians’ for political purposes.

Yes but your idea is greater than your self-doubt

– Anon

Doing ‘works of faith’ in the Kingdom of God is not about numbers; it’s about calling. Whereas the world’s emphasis is to be ‘seen to be doing’, the Kingdom’s emphasis is actually to not be seen doing anything

– Me

[In our group] there are no tricks, no half-measures, no false promises, no crossed fingers when it comes to our welcome, affirmation, and celebration of LGBTQ+ people. We affirm the LGBTQ community in all its variations, colors, identities, and expressions.

– The Faith Community https://thefaithcommunity.org/about

If the Bible is absolute authority, then it would not need people to tell us that it is. Because what happens then is that the authority you are believing is the person who tells you that the Bible is absolute authority. Therefore, if the Bible needs their authority to validate the Bible’s authority, then it is not the absolute authority, the person telling you is.

– Me

What if deconstruction is sometimes less about losing God and more about losing an image of God that was too small?

– James Pence

Solid doctrines don’t really have a place when God is constantly moving; concrete foundations are not very mobile.

– Me

Here’s [a truth] I know will unravel a whole web of lies: God is good and I am good with God.

– Debbie

[And] what butterfly ever benefitted from taking flying lessons from caterpillars? Not wanting to sound arrogant but they [people in most churches] have nothing to teach me. I can still learn from them, but not from what they teach – there is a subtle difference.

– Me

“More than 40,000 Protestant sects (e.g. INC, ADD, BAC, SDA, Mormon, JWs etc.) all believe that the Bible is the only and single truth of God, and yet they all contradict each other with that very same Bible.

“So how can a single truth written within that one Bible create thousands of different opposing and contradicting doctrines? Could it be that man personally interprets the Bible and create his own new ‘truths’?”

That is very much the case. For me, I rationalise it by thinking about how God meets each individual where they are at, and speaks to each individual in a way that they themselves need to hear Him. That same Bible can help with that. The problem comes when people try to apply what God has spoken to them, personally, to others as if one size fits all. Because it doesn’t!

– Anon

Autism is one reason why I love cooking so much. And working (well, now retired…) in a chemistry lab, which amounts to the same thing. Attention to detail, timings, ingredients, weights, methods…it’s all there and I love it. Plus, unlike in a chemistry lab, you get to eat the results!

– Me

A woman told me she found our church because she Googled “church that won’t make me feel like garbage.” I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Maybe both?

– Beau Stringer

[Hard-hearted] people, like the legalists in Matthew 12:22-32, miss out on what Jesus is doing because they are so convinced that they are more right than He is.

– Me

Faith doesn’t mean that we’re able to explain suffering. Faith means that we can survive it without losing hope.

– James Pence

“You are allowed to examine ideas. You are allowed to change your mind. You are allowed to believe differently—or not believe at all—without surrendering your integrity, principles, compassion, or capacity for goodness.”

— Lloyd Evans

The White Throne Judgment – Reblog

Insights, Ministry, Reblogs
This entry is part 30 of 31 in the series The Problems of Evangelicalism

As my regular readers will be fully aware, I really detest the way in which fearmongering is used by vicious church leadership in order to keep their ‘flock’ in line. Fear of any kind has no place in a believer’s life. The most common phrase in the Bible[1] is ‘Do not be afraid. That has to mean something! But of course it is conveniently and deliberately forgotten by manipulative pastors using fear as a control tool. And in no place is the fear tool more used than in end-times and afterlife threats. You know, they threaten people with ‘hell’; with a ‘great tribulation’; being ‘Left Behind’ at the Rapture, and all that sort of thing.[2] Probably the most fear-filled aspect of these ideas, for most people including unbelievers as well as Christians, is the idea of the ‘Final Judgment’. This has, of course, been gleefully adopted by fear-mongering control-freak ‘christian’ leaders all around the world. The general impression I get (and I admit that I myself once loosely held!) is that every person’s life – especially, of course, featuring the bits you’d rather no-one else saw! – will be projected in full glory on some giant heavenly screen for everyone to see and judge you for, never mind God’s judgment on top of it! And so that’s the misconception I will be addressing in this post. Granted, it’s not entirely Evangelical theology that holds this stuff as a doctrine, but as part of Evangelicalism’s toolkit of abuse, it is of course widely used and abused to damage people. And that’s why this reblog is in the ‘Problems of Evangelicalism’ series. Here we go:

“I wish that it wasn’t called “The White Throne Judgement” the way it describes it. The way it’s been described.
“We each stand before God. Who weighs every thing we have done in life. And determines our reward.
“It sounds terrifying. To be before everyone. And have them see my life. To be on display.
“And the word judgement just seems so ominous.
“It makes me scared. Like nothing. No matter how hard I try here on earth. There will be nothing besides disappointment”.

The above is a quotation from a very worried Christian lady, writing it as a post in a Facebook group I am in. And this present piece is intended to encourage any who find themselves in a similar place with regards to worry about any future judgment[3]. There is a concept in some Christian circles called the ‘Great White Throne’ Judgment. It’s based on the passage in Revelation 20:11ff which says, “Then I saw a large white throne and the one who was seated on it; the earth and the heaven fled from his presence, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne. Then books were opened, and another book was opened—the book of life. So the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to their deeds”. And it goes on to say that anyone whose name was not found in the Lamb’s Book of Life, etc. etc. will be thrown into the ‘lake of fire’. Or something. To give just one illustration of how many unfounded doctrines are based on this section of Scripture, let’s just consider this one point: that there are some who say that this judgment is only for unbelievers. Well, in its defence, the passage does not say this at all, nor do the following verses; quite the opposite in fact, if you study them correctly. So straight away we can see that the passage, and its modern interpretation, is not only very dangerous in terms of emotional health, but it also has the potential for massive misinterpretation by believers of all flavours. And I won’t even give them the benefit of the doubt and say they are ‘well-meaning’ believers, either, because usually their objective is to instill fear in their readers/listeners. Which, when we are dealing with a God of Love (1Jn4:8b), in Whom there is no darkness (1Jn1:5), and Whose perfect Love drives out fear, (1Jn4:18) has to be a non-starter. So.

Let’s just say that I noticed the cry of distress in my sister’s Facebook posting and, amongst other gentle-hearted believers, I too tried to add my version of comfort to the help she was being given.

Here was my first response: “I make light of the White Throne Judgment for two reasons: 1) It is an exaggeration made up by vicious people who want Christians to live in fear, extrapolated from a single, obscure verse (Rev 20:11ff) in the most obscure book of the Bible*, and 2) A great white throne is actually a toilet[4], so I really can’t take it seriously like, ever. *Regarding Revelation, I was made aware of this caveat by a friend on FB (whom I am still badgering for the original reference): ‘[The early church fathers, when considering whether to include the book of Revelation into the canon], decided NOT TO DO IT without the following strict conditions: 1) It was not to be used for any major doctrine or in any liturgy of the church; 2) It did not have the canonical authority of the other New Testament writings; and 3) It was never to be taken literally in any way, but only metaphorically, as an encouragement for Christians about to undergo major persecution and bloodshed’.[5] “Whether or not this information is apocryphal, I do think it is a reasonable way of interpreting any passage in Revelation, especially since it is obviously written in an Apocalyptic style which means it is essentially a cryptic message written for those who were originally to receive it. And they would have understood the cryptic meaning. For us, nearly 2,000 years later, any exegesis of the book must at least take that factor into account and, bringing us back to that original quote, our application of the book must be done with that in mind. Note that I am not suggesting, even for a microsecond, that Revelation should not be in the canon; far from it. But, to me, those three principles, supposedly given by the early Church Fathers, should be borne in mind. Especially since this is the only book in the canon where we find almost blasphemous caricatures of Jesus, and his purported horrific end-time activities, that do not fit even slightly with the rest of the New Testament’s accounts of Him”.

I also wrote this in a separate comment, after further pondering: “There is no Scripture that says that your entire life will be played back in IMAX quality for everyone to see. Fearmongering preachers have tried to twist Jesus’s words about ‘nothing shall remain hidden’ in order to scare people into thinking this…could I suggest that ‘by their fruits you shall know them’? If those thoughts are causing you worry and sadness and fear, then those thoughts are not from God? Therefore, the people who put them there were not speaking words from God. As a believing Christian for whom Jesus died and dealt with your ‘sin’, could it be that those sins have been removed forever, as far as the east is from the west, and that God shall ‘remember your sins no more’? Yes! That’s all true! Why should you live in fear, which perfect love casts out? Why let the curse laid on you all those years ago, by those fear-selling preachers, why let it dominate your life now? Walk free of it, sister. The part in Hebrews 12:1, where it refers to the ‘sin that so easily entangles’, well I believe that this passage is referring to the entanglement caused by the constant fretting and worrying about ‘sin’; ‘Did I do something wrong today?’ and so on[6]. You are allowed, nay, you are required to throw off that worrying about ‘sin’. Let not the sin-police take away your peace. Don’t listen to the accuser, who also wants to steal, kill and destroy: Steal your peace, kill your joy, and destroy your freedom. Don’t listen to him”.

And I think there is a lot more to be said, too, but I didn’t say it. Instead, let me finish by quoting another dear sister on that thread who was equally encouraging, but from a different angle:

“I am curious, what are you basing the idea that everyone would see all that [having the life on display].

I have pondered that moment a lot. But never put that angle on it. I tend to think we cannot fully project what that will be. I usually project it as me before God, & it’s my mind/soul that is enlightened, & sees myself fully as God always has. A major paradigm shift that is not possible here in this life.
 
If I do ponder other souls present in heaven I recall that they will also have been changed by seeing themselves & by extension others as God sees them. None of us will have our limited prejudices we do now. I think humility would be the overriding attitude of all in the Kingdom of Heaven. Pride, & our limited knowledge really does prejudice & limit everyone’s thinking & perspectives here. That won’t be an issue there. Whatever people do see & know would be tempered by seeing themselves & their own life in God’s view.
I my life experience the more clearly I see myself in truth that helps me be more empathetic with others shortcomings.
 
But again I have my doubts others would be so privy to our own judgment before God. I would rather not know all that about everyone. I just have a hard time believing that shame or guilt lasts long in the presence of God. It would be quickly consumed leaving redemption & love in its place. I do want to build up unconditional love, goodness, all the fruit of the Spirit in myself because I think that is what survives before the all consuming presence of God. I pretty much know I will not perfect that in this life.
 
So many people for centuries have tried to control others by using guilt & shame to attempt to control behavior. I see that as a failing in the Church. It is a failing that many of the best theologians have discussed throughout time. Some Prophets & Rabbis even before Christ had a glimpse of this truth.
 
I believe there has been this “Continuing Grace of the Gospel of Jesus Christ” in play since he was physically here. There is always this controlling element out there pushing to bring condemnation back onto us. Then there is another element that pushes us to grow past that attitude & live with God in full control in our hearts. That pushes for more freedom of the believer. It goes back & forth, but for instance look at how much & how incredibly brutal the Ancient World was in the use of capital punishment. Not just death but torturous death on the idea of setting fear of punishment onto people.
 
Statistically today we have hard data that corporal punishment is not an effective deterrent. Reform, treatment for mental & behavioral health & retraining has a stronger effect, but there is no perfect system certainly not yet.
 
I think shame & laying guilt into others is highly ineffective as it never deals with the cause. But we are surrounded by control freaks who believe heavily in it. True guilt when we have it, tends to motivate us to change. We might struggle with that in the process. Shame always gets in the way of real growth & repentance. God is more interested in true guilt. Evil wants us mired in shame & feeling incapable of change. This is not direct onto the specific topic of our judgement. But this issue of shame versus true clear guilt plays into how we tend to see that Judgement.
 
People put shame onto us for being different, for things they perceive as flaws, but every flaw has a flip side that is a strength to it that needs redirected. Often people shame us for things that are not a flaw at all. It’s just something they are ignorant about as a rule.
 
My goal for 3 decades now has been to throw off shame & false guilt laid on me by other people. I have found many aspects of myself that either need treatment or support, but with treatment & support have strength that has always been there. But for a good portion of my life I felt shame about my strengths because they were different than the expected norms. That is not my fault. That is societies ignorance in play. If people persist in ignorance once something like the autism spectrum is concerned they are in the wrong.
 
I am still intimidated at the idea of standing before an all-knowing God. But my confidence in how he loves me, made me with strengths & even delights in me at times has been mostly growing deeper & stronger.
 
I do go through tough times that really test that a lot. But often come out understanding God’s perspective better & his perspective is just a relief once I grasp it than what I projected it to be. I think wherever I am at the moment in that process the judgement will be more of a stripping away of things that have weighed me down, & a healing. More like a diagnosis & treatment for my soul.”
 

Wow. Well, that’s a lot to think about and take on board, so I’ll leave it there. But I sincerely hope that this piece has encouraged you, especially if you were in any way in fear of judgment. There is no room for fear in the Gospel; none at all. Walk free of it!

Grace and Peace to you

Footnotes

Footnotes
⇧1 After the word ‘begat’, anyway!
⇧2 I actually enjoyed reading the ‘Left Behind’ series of books, if I’m honest, although I didn’t believe it one bit! And there are passages (I won’t spoil it!) which are ludicrous in the extreme…some of which in fact permanently changed my opinion of Rapture and parousia (Second Coming) theology away from the standard Evangelical norm, if indeed there is such a thing; so many different end-time theories being held all across Christianity as they are!
⇧3 I believe that the ‘Judgment of God’ that the Bible speaks of is actually a Heavenly judgment of restoration and relationship, not one of wrath and punishment.
⇧4 Hence, my use of a toilet for the header image for this post. Well, I think it’s funny, at least 😉
⇧5 I have quoted this before, in my article ‘Apocalypse‘
⇧6 I once preached a sermon on this very topic; the reference is here