Category Archives: Others’ stuff

Nibbles

Quotations, Insights, Others' stuff

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

 

 

 

Forgiveness After Religious/Spiritual Abuse

Insights, Others' stuff, Ministry

Some of my more recent articles have been studies concerning religious abuse. Broadly speaking, this could be thought of any kind of non-beneficial – but, more usually, actually harmful – ‘input’ into a person’s life from religious people, which is uninvited, unwanted/unwelcome and/or unexpected. It has considerable overlap with spiritual abuse, and the two are often closely associated. Spiritual abuse, to me, is where someone’s spirit – their personality, their will to live, their enthusiasm for life, all that kind of thing – is damaged by others. And it will come as no surprise, then, that spiritual abuse is very often a result of religious abuse.

So, religious abuse could be anything from the Jehovah’s Witnesses (or other religious types) turning up on your doorstep and giving you grief by disrupting your peace and your privacy; maybe deadly, soul-destroying public shaming and/or criticism; or right up to financial, emotional and/or sexual abuse by leadership or indeed anyone else in a religious group or someone who claims spiritual authority over a person.

Note that spiritual abuse does not have to take place in a religious setting. It can also occur in a toxic marital or friendship scenario; basically the issue is a breach of trust, leading to spiritual damage.

And it’s sickening. On so many levels, it’s sickening.

As part of my background reading while researching this huge topic – researching in general, not with regard to my writing – I picked up an excellent eBook the other day entitled, “Broken Trust: A practical guide to identify and recover from toxic faith, toxic church, and spiritual abuse’ by F. Remy Diederich.

Here are the links for the book on Amazon UK and Amazon USA

(I’ll do a mini-review of the book at the end of this article).

 

 

In the book, Remy writes an excellent chapter on how to overcome the anger that the abuse has caused. Embedded in that concept is an excellent section on forgiveness. I have written on forgiveness before, but this post offers you insight into forgiveness in the context of religious/spiritual abuse; this was not specifically covered in my previous article.

So here is Remy’s perspective on forgiveness in the context of religious/spiritual abuse – although of course it can also be applied in other fields too. My thanks to Remy for his kind and gracious permission to quote his work!

Moving to Forgiveness

Once your anger has done its work (i.e. moved you to confront the abuse or flee it), lay it to rest. It’s served its purpose. Let it go. We call that forgiveness.

Sometimes people say, “Don’t forgive too quickly.” I understand what they mean, but this statement tells me they don’t understand biblical forgiveness. Their idea of forgiveness has too much packed into it. Forgiveness simply means to “give up the right to get even,” period. No payback. That can happen immediately with no qualifiers.

Let me clarify what forgiveness is by telling you what it isn’t.

1. Forgiveness isn’t forgetting.   Forgiveness requires remembering the wrong that was done to you, not forgetting it. Surprisingly, forgiveness requires blaming your offender. You can’t forgive someone unless you first assign blame for what they did wrong. You can forget minor offenses. But you can’t forget deep wounds. When you’ve been deeply wounded, you need something stronger than forgetfulness. You need forgiveness. Forgiveness is what’s required when you can’t forget what’s been done to you.

2. Forgiveness isn’t excusing.   Sometimes your offender will insist that you forgive them for offending them and let it go, implying this is the biblical thing to do. They expect this from you because they have minimized their offense and dismissed it as insignificant. They want you to do the same: act like it never happened. But that’s not forgiveness. Forgiveness means to “give up the right to get even.” [1] You can do that without lessening the seriousness of what your offender did to you. You can forgive and still hold them accountable to make amends. Let them know how much they hurt you and what you expect from them. But you can also let them know that you will not retaliate.

3. Forgiveness isn’t trusting.   Offenders often want to quickly smooth things over so you will not withhold anything from them. “Let’s put that behind us and move on,” they say, implying that everything is good now and you can resume the relationship as it was. Forgiveness allows you to put the offence behind you, but trust is necessary to move the relationship forward. Rebuilding trust takes time. It’s important to separate forgiveness from trust. Confusing these two leads to many problems. Abusers will try to guilt you into trusting them prematurely by confusing trust with forgiveness. They’ll say, “You have to trust me. The Bible tells us to forgive.” Forgive, yes. Trust, no. It’s foolish to trust those who have broken trust with you. Jesus told us to be “as wise as serpents and harmless as doves, (Matthew 10:16). To be harmless means we don’t seek revenge, but wisdom tells us not to trust people who haven’t earned it. They are welcome to rebuild our trust, but we shouldn’t offer it for free. Forgiveness is free. Trust is earned. Forgiveness is immediate. Trust takes time. If trust can’t be rebuilt, the relationship must change form. Don’t be intimidated into trusting someone until they’ve earned it.

4. Forgiveness isn’t reunion.   Just because I forgive you, I am under no obligation to resume our relationship. As Lewis Smedes once said, “forgiving has no strings attached… reunion has several strings attached.”[2] That means that if you don’t rebuild trust with me, we will not be able to continue our relationship as it once was.

5. Forgiveness isn’t conditional. Forgiveness shouldn’t be based on what the other person does. For example, saying, “If you jump through my hoops, then I’ll forgive you,” is conditional. Forgiveness is unconditional. That’s important to remember because if your forgiveness is conditional, then your offender has control over you. What I mean is, if you insist on their changing before you forgive them, then what if they refuse to change? They have painted you into a corner. You are stuck, unable to forgive because you set yourself up to fail. Do you really want to give your offender that kind of control over your life? When you forgive unconditionally, no-one can manipulate you anymore. You are free to move on with your life.

6. Forgiveness isn’t an emotion.   People often equate forgiveness with a warm and fuzzy emotion. When they don’t have that feeling, they assume they can’t, or shouldn’t, forgive. But forgiveness has nothing to do with your emotions. It’s an act of the will. You choose to forgive because it’s the right thing to do. Sometimes it takes your forgiveness to activate positive emotions.

There we go. Ripped completely out ot its context, of course, but I think the principles expressed in those paragraphs are capable of standing alone, and still have meaning and usefulness.

Thanks again, Remy!

Mini-Review of ‘Broken Trust’ by F. Remy Diederich

Remy’s style is gentle, compassionate, kind and full of Grace. In the book, he addresses virtually all aspects of this important and complex topic, but without making it heavy and unreadable.

In a completely non-judgmental style, extended towards both the victims and the perpetrators, he explores the nature, causes, effects and possible solutions for toxic faith and spiritual abuse.

The four main sections cover:
1: Defining, identifying and recognising toxic faith and spiritual abuse
2: Practical steps to deal with spiritual abuse – confrontation and its implications
3: Recovery from spiritual abuse, covering many factors
4: How to rescue your faith community from spiritual abuse

Within each section, there are chapters addressing specific factors, each of which is dealt with in a concise and practical, yet gentle and understanding manner. Something that is not mentioned in the above section list is that he also offers practical steps on how to find a new fellowship, should the reader wish to do so.

The book addresses, in detail, the personal angle on every topic. So, Remy speaks to the victims, to their immediate family and friends, and to the congregation as a whole. He even speaks constructively to the perpetrators; how they can identify the problems they have had a hand in, how they can make amends, how they can restore trust – or at least make a go of it. And yet I would not say that Remy issues direct advice as such, but more the principles under which the reader can make their own decisions. For some kinds of abuse survivors, their personal autonomy is one of the things they lost during the abuse, and so he helps them make their own decisions rather than offering advice, which would essentially be telling them what to do – and that’s what they are recovering from. This is a subtle and yet vital principle that is held to in this book.

What I’m saying is that I’m aware of no aspect of spiritual abuse that Remy doesn’t address, with the sole exception of Clergy Sexual Abuse (CSA), which he admits he has no experience of dealing with in the situations he has been in. And to me, that adds even more to the book; because he acknowledges his lack of knowledge and experience in dealing with CSA issues, it makes his writing on the areas he does know about all the more credible.

I have to say that I have never read a book quite like this one, which deals with such a potentially painful and sensitive subject in such a practical and gentle way, making it highly effective. Remy’s love for God and for his congregation, along with his deep compassion for his readers, and other unknown victims of spiritual abuse, shines through brilliantly. You are fully aware that you’re in good hands.

In his acknowledgements, Remy thanks his group of abuse survivors who have provided material, comments and anecdotes, and have also provided feedback for him on how to pitch the tone of various parts of the book. And it shows. It’s almost as if it has been written just for those people – which in a way, it has – but because abuse survivors, even though they each have unique stories to tell, also have a lot of experiences in common, the book identifies with the reader/survivor’s situation in a way that I haven’t seen before. And, as I’ve already said, that makes it highly effective.

If you can only afford one book on how to cope with spiritual abuse and toxic churches, then this is the one to buy. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Footnotes

Footnotes
⇧1 Adopted from Lewis Smedes: The Art of Forgiving (Ballantyne Books)
⇧2 ibid, p.47

Pick ‘n’ Mix

Quotations, Insights, Others' stuff

Another collection of short, bite-sized pieces of wisdom. All of these quotations are used with the kind permission of their authors.

—

Just because someone in a Bible study answers all your questions, it doesn’t mean that those answers are right
 – Me

Human judgment often condemns and crushes.
Divine judgment always helps and heals.
Why don’t we get this?
Jesus is Jehovah-Rapha (the God that heals), not Jehovah-the-Ripper.
 – Richard Murray

Faith expressing itself through love, not fear, is the manifestation of the life of Christ within.
 – Jeff Turner

[Replying to a friend who is undergoing cancer treatment but nevertheless pushed his limits in going to an event he really wanted to go to] Some things you just have to do. I have a relative who also gets exhausted quickly and easily (although not for the same reason as you) but sometimes they just have to say, Look, I’m doing this…I might regret it later in terms of pain but it would be worse to forever regret missing the opportunity. Glad you had a good time. Sometimes, that’s as good a medicine as all the drugs in the pharmacy.
 – Me

Your questions aren’t dangerous. The people telling you not to ask them are.
 – Jeff Turner

And when challenged about this, they will produce proof text after proof text to continue driving you into the ground with the piledriver of weaponised Scripture. But by that time you should be out of earshot, because you will have walked away 😀
 – Me

When you find your belief system to be the thing keeping you from becoming a better person, summon the courage to become a better person than your beliefs.
 – Jeff Turner

Isaiah 30:21 says, “Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying “this is the way, walk in it.” Sadly, these days it’s usually the Pastor…
 – Me

I have been saying this for years now, but the notion that sin can separate a ”sinner” from God is as absurd as the notion that cancer can separate a cancer-sufferer from the oncologist. If cancer were to separate an oncologist from a cancer-sufferer then the oncologist could never separate the cancer-sufferer from cancer. Likewise, if “sin” could separate the “sinner” from God, then God could never separate the “sinner” from sin.
 – Jeff Turner

“You don’t know everything” is an axiom that everyone should live by.
Unfortunately, many people in the world are thick as three short planks – I call them the ‘Unintelligentsia’. They usually do think (and that’s being generous) that they know a lot, and usually that they know more than everyone else. For me, being an actual recognised genius, it has always been a problem to cope tactfully with the ignorant, especially when these people can influence others’ lives.

But still, I openly declare that “[I] don’t know everything”. And part of humility is being willing to defer to those who have the better knowledge in all cases where that applies. And that’s how we learn.
 – Me

For so many, the thing that ruined Jesus for them wasn’t the lure of sin, but the lovelessness of Christians.
 – Chris Kratzer

The irony of the song ‘Oceans‘ is that it actually goes against the way that Church leadership like their people to behave. Sure, let’s sing about God being top of the list; about Him being Number-One in their lives; or about how much they love Him. But Oceans sings about being out in the deep waters, away from human control (even our own) and trusting entirely in God. At the end of the day, that is the kind of thing that gets Christians kicked out of these churches, because when God starts showing the believer things that they can only learn out in the deep waters of faith, those who have not been there do not understand, nor can they ever do so until they have been there themselves. And human leadership doesn’t like it when the Spirit gets real control of people like that, because the Spirit blows where He wills, not where humans want Him to.
 – Me

We might have been created the same, but we have not become the same.
 – Chris Kratzer

“Could the disobedience [of Adam and Eve] have been part of an expected and desired process that would lead to a greater state of mankind?” Yes, I think that’s exactly what it is. I think the fall was an essential part of humanity realising its godliness. ‘You will become like God…’ says the serpent. And yet that’s the point all along; to be transformed into His likeness. No-one ever seems to notice the parallel there.
 – Me

If fear of eternal fire is the only thing keeping you from living a morally bankrupt life, you have more pressing matters to attend to, and bigger questions to answer, than does the one who rejects the concept of eternal conscious torment altogether.
 – Jeff Turner

Who is God? This is the first question we need to try to answer on our faith reconstruction journey. Where do we turn for ideas? If God is real, then we don’t get to decide who He is. We just get to discover Him.
 – Christy Lynne Wood

I have to jokingly say that [a preacher from a church I used to attend] would be a preacher I would invite to speak if I thought the congregation was getting too happy. He’d soon put the kibosh on that.
 – Me

“Blessed are the cracked, for they let the light in.”
 – Dave Tomlinson

—

As a professional laboratory scientist, I could never allow my kids to eat ‘Pick ‘n’ Mix’ sweets. Because the boxes containing the sweets were wide open to the environment, the opportunity was rife for kids literally to pick [their noses] and mix [the products of those excavations with the sweets]. That’s just asking for it… 😉

We are Not the Same

Insights, Others' stuff
This entry is part 7 of 7 in the series Speaking Truth to Power

Here’s an excellent piece from Chris Kratzer, a man whom I consider to be a modern-day prophet. He speaks truth to power by exposing the things that modern-day Fundagelicals[1] don’t think about – indeed are blind to – because of various reasons, two of which are 1) believing that they are always right, and 2) never examining their own thoughts or beliefs to discover whether they are their own beliefs, or beliefs they have been told to believe. Over to Chris:

—

Dear Evangelical Christians.

This is what separates us.
This is the discord.
This is what’s different between me and so many of you.

Indeed, we are both human and divinely created, to be sure. But in heart, mind, and soul, we are not the same. Your path has taken a different way.

As a child, I learned the same Christian teachings as you and anchored them deep within, yet here we are, two very different people whose hearts and minds are clearly at odds with one another.

It is my experience that you believe the world is you and your beliefs. That without you and your faith the world has no hope, value, or redemption. You see the world and its people as inherently flawed and depraved. To you, people are broken and need fixing. At your core, you believe nothing will get better until people believe as you do, become like you, and you hold all the seats of power and privilege.

But I believe the world is far more than you and your beliefs.

I know the world to be good, whole, holy, and divine, as is, without you and your faith, even in spite of you. You and your beliefs do nothing to make it any more sacred or pure. The beauty, purity, and divine majesty of creation and its humanity is not codependent upon you, your faith, your brand of God, your creeds, your power, or your opinions.

In fact, all too often, it has been my experience that your path of faith has served to corrupt the world and its people, and increase its suffering in service to what is your clear and apparent quest for power and control.

In contrast, I see the earth as my sanctuary, love as my worship, humanity as my community, and truth as the light of goodness within me and all things.

I know that God does not punish nor use hardship or suffering to teach or influence my life. I see no evidence for hell in the afterlife, but only in the here and now, especially among the religious. I know God to bend his heart toward the poor, not the rich; to the broken-hearted, not the proud; to the abused, not the abuser; to the follower, not the leader; and to the humble in heart, not the self-righteous.

I have come to know and understand the Divine intimately and in truth by looking earnestly to the creation around me and the Light within me. I don’t trust the faith opinions of dead men or those that are alive to guide me. But instead, I rest in the Spirit I see in all things and deep within me to be the light unto my path. I have no desire for world conquest or colonizing the world into my beliefs.

Instead, I understand my grand and everyday purpose as being to serve, not to be served. To put the needs of others above my own. To be last, not first. To love my neighbor as myself. To seek justice and speak truth to power. And to see the least of these among as the most important among us.

This is the difference between us.

We might have been created the same, but we have not become the same.

Your path of faith has convinced me that Christianity resembles nothing of Christ; it is not anchored in love, compassion, goodness, or truth, and therefore has nothing for me.

My path of faith has convinced me that Love is the all and everything. And if what I believe, pursue, or become does not resemble love, it is not of God, Jesus, or anything or anyone that is holy, whole, or good.

For love is unconditional; Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

This is the difference between me and you.

May it be known.
I love you.
But we are not the same.

Footnotes

Footnotes
⇧1 Fundamentalist Evangelicals

The Outsiders

Insights, Others' stuff

Be careful of listening to the outsiders.

People who only know you from a distance.
People who aren’t invested in your life.
People who profit from your stress or pain.
People who take more than they give.

The news… outsider.
The Bible… outsider.
The pastor… outsider.
The influencer… outsider.

Nothing outside of you should rule or define what’s inside of you.
Instead, filter and discern everything through the insiders.

The Divine within… insider.
Your chosen family… insider.
Your inner voice… insider.

Live and love, only from the inside out… always.

 – Chris Kratzer, shared with his kind permission

You Are Not Evil

Insights, Others' stuff

One of the founding pillars of Evangelical Christianity is not so much Jesus, not so much the Church, not even a firm belief in Hell[1], but in fact the firm belief in what we call ‘Worm Theology'[2].

The whole idea is that ‘we'[3] are no better than worms; we are the lowest of the low, the dirtiest of the dirty, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jer 17:9)

And I don’t believe that. I don’t remember ever believing it. Even in my Fundieculty[4] days, I may have outwardly agreed with it, but deep down I knew that most people are good. Most people would call the emergency services if you were in a road accident. Some would even try to pull you out of the wreckage, even at the risk of their own health or lives. People let you out of road junctions when it’s not really your turn, with a simple wave of the hand. People hold doors open for you, rather than letting them drop back in your face[5]. Granted, to the Fundieculty, none of this counts, because as far as they are concerned, your righteousness is ‘as filthy rags’ (Is 64:6). In fact to a Fundieculty, nothing counts, because no matter how clever you are, no matter how good you are, no matter how helpful, kind, generous or loving you are, you are simply not good enough[6]. How to encourage people 101, guys. And when challenged about this, they will produce proof text after proof text to continue driving you into the ground with the piledriver of weaponised Scripture. But by that time you should be out of earshot, because you will have walked away 😀

No. This is simply not true. Granted, when I am driving a  car, I’m afraid I adopt the same attitude that my mother had: they are ‘The Enemy’ and they’re all out to get in your way and obstruct your intended course of action 😉 But other than that, no. People are usually good. There are exceptions, of course, most of whom are well-known; there are evil people. But just your average everyday ‘man in the street’ citizen, these are good people.

So in case I haven’t hammered this home enough, here’s a great piece by the incomparable Jeff Turner. You are not evil!

You are not evil.
Your heart is not deceitful, wicked, or untrustworthy, despite how badly Old Testament verses, taken out of their contexts, have been preached at you.
You may have been told this your entire life, including at those pivotal moments in childhood when your brain was in pure receiving mode, and was storing and creating the program that would later run your life.
You may have had it suggested, if not spelled out plainly, that you were conceived and brought forth in original sin, and would occupy a space of total depravity until you were able to make a conscious decision to follow Jesus and accept salvation.
This is pure fiction, and not even a part of the narratives found in either the Old or New Testaments. But it doesn’t matter what’s true as far as your experience of life and reality is concerned, it matters only what you believe is true.
When you believe you are of a fallen species, hopelessly bent in the direction of evil, unrighteousness, and sin, and, ultimately, a target of the eternal wrath of God, it’s difficult to trust yourself, recognize blessings and opportunities when they appear, and to take decisive action when you need to.
Such thinking and programming can literally take a life that could have changed the world, and turn it into one that goes unrecognized, both by the liver of said life, as well as by those sharing a planet with it.
Not that changing the world and greatness according to certain standards is even the goal, but I think most would like to live at least slightly above mediocrity, and mediocrity is, at best, what a mind convinced of its broken and untrustworthy nature can hope to achieve.
This week, speak to yourself of your goodness, trustworthiness, and ability to see a good opportunity when presented with one.Think on these things morning, noon, and night, and then anticipate opportunities to test them out.
One can hear corrective theology and deconstruct the bad all day long, and still have the stymying effects of the bad clinging onto them like barnacles.
It is often only in the arena of real life, wherein we act, move, and see for ourselves that what we thought to be true of ourselves simply is not, that real change occurs.So study theology, correct the errors in your belief system, but, also, prepare yourself to experience practically the truth of who you are. Once you begin to see, little by little, that you are capable of recognizing the good, acting on instinct and intuition, etc., you will naturally begin to know yourself for who you truly are.
You are capable of so much more than the program you’re likely running on is able to help you achieve.You are good.Your heart is trustworthy.
So, may opportunities find you, and may they find you prepared to take hold of them.
Life doesn’t have to be one drag after another.
You were created for more, and have the capacity for more.
Peace.
 – Jeff Turner, shared with his kind permission.
Wow. How do you follow that?

Maybe only by quoting St. Paul, who seems to have been of a similar mind, when he said this:

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” – Phil 4:8

Header picture is of one very relaxed Jeff Turner. On a bench.

Footnotes

Footnotes
⇧1 Which, sadly, is in some places a more required belief than a belief in Jesus
⇧2 How the hell did we get to that point in our belief system??
⇧3 I despair when I see forum and Facebook posts referring to ‘We’ as if everyone in the entire world, and certainly the readers of that particular post, are all somehow collectively included in whatever nefarious plot the poster has in mind, whether it is a ‘We must…’ leading insidiously back to legalism (or into more legalism), a ‘We are…’ which ropes everyone into the same category of whatever misery the writer is pushing… and so on. I’m sure there are many other examples.
⇧4 A fundamentalist Christian with a cult mindset. I’ve just invented that word now, and I like it 😉
⇧5 My friend Richard has a great story to tell on this point. Out on lunch break, he was just coming out of the Merrion Centre in Leeds and as he went through the door, he looked back and saw a young woman a few yards back, and heading in the same direction. True to his generous nature, he held the door for her, only to be given the admonition, “I hope you’re not doing that because I’m a lady!” Quick as a flash, his rejoinder was “No, I’m doing it because I’m a gentleman”. No answer for that, of course! 😀
⇧6 Actually, I sometimes think that peple like to drag others down to their own level of misery, which, apparently, loves company. In effect, they don’t like to think of anyone else as being better than them, so they find ‘Biblical’ proof to show that others are, indeed, just as bad. What it must be like to live like that…

Bits and Pieces

Insights, Others' stuff

More bite-sized[1] pieces of wisdom, insight, humour and just general sagacity from across the Internet. I’m afraid a lot of them are from that character ‘Me’ again 😉

We are so blessed. No matter how hard we try, there are no loopholes [in salvation]. – Me

The religious fanatic is not one who takes religion too seriously, but one who does not take it seriously enough, and so never realizes that it is not to be taken seriously. They who cannot laugh at the inherent silliness of their own belief system, while still seeing its inherent value and beauty, are they who will be tempted to over compensate for their lack of joy with an abundance of zeal. The most dangerous people are those who will kill in the service of a joke, whose only purpose was to make us laugh, and in the process heal our hearts. – Jeff Turner

The idea of infant damnation and infant baptism is just as ridiculous as its counterpart, the equally non-Scriptural idea of the ‘age of responsibility’. You see, if people invent doctrines like Hell, they then have to invent other doctrines to prop it up. Sooner or later it gets too implausible and it implodes like it’s doing today. – Me

Sometimes I wonder if people like those quoted in the OP [who say, “What’s the point of being a Christian if eternal hell isn’t real?”] have any proper knowledge of God at all; if they ‘know’ Him or have experienced Him. That’s not for me to judge, of course, but they often seem to assume that everyone else’s experience of God stops at the same place theirs does. – Me

You cannot have a God who seethes in anger awaiting his day of vengeance but has also already forgiven you. One is love. The other is not – Barry Smith

[Legalism] of course presumes that having a joy-filled, happy life on this Earth is incompatible with the idea of ‘attaining’ paradise. They are not incompatible. It also presumes that anything that makes us happy in this life is inherently bad. This too is incorrect. I have the assurance of going to that Paradise when I die, *and* I am living that future paradise life – the life of the age to come – here on this earth right now. This is the life in all its fulness; the life of the age to come that Jesus taught. It’s something a great preacher I know once said is ‘…not just pie in the sky when you die, but meat on a plate while you wait’. – Me

I became a Christian because I felt a strong sense of God’s love, and of His call on my life. I didn’t need the Bible, nor anyone telling me I am a ‘sinner’; I simply responded to the love of Jesus. Belief was automatic; how could I not believe, given what I had experienced? [Hint: This is a rhetorical question; no answer is required] – Me

Wheat and tares (weeds) always grow together, and true freedom is not feeling the need to uproot the latter in the name of saving the former. The obsessive weed-picker is a person who is chained to insecurity and fear, and feels as though it falls to them and them alone to keep the field pristine and clean. The truth, though, is that in their scramble to set things right, they uproot and destroy the very things they aim to save. – Jeff Turner

[In response to a post that claimed that a Satan does not exist] Even ten years after my fifteen-year deconstruction, though, I have to say that I still believe there is a ‘master’ evil spirit, whatever it’s called. Tbh I don’t give it the time of day (this is the first time I have done so for ages) but I do believe it exists. But it is impotent because of the Cross, however that works. Far more potent, I believe, is the ‘accuser’ which to my mind is a religiously-indoctrinated conscience which never feckin’ shuts up – Me

Not all of us Christians think our way is the only way. Many of us respect people of all faith traditions or none at all. We don’t think we have the answers, and we’re on a journey of discovery. Not all of us belong to or attend a church regularly. Some of us are much more spiritual than religious. -Rosalie

I actually no longer believe that God cares about ‘correct doctrine’. Let’s face it; He shows up at the church down the road as well as at this church, and He shows up with people alone in their houses, He shows up in eclectic groups like this on the Internet. All these people will have ‘incorrect’ doctrines somewhere in their persons. But He doesn’t care; He shows up anyway. To me, that’s the evidence. – Me

There’s nothing righteous in being more committed to your beliefs than you are to the people they are supposed to benefit – Barry Smith

To me it says a lot about the perceived authority of Scripture when our modern translations require interpretations from concordances, which then are (in a way) placed above the ‘inerrant’ translations we hold in our hands. In reality, the only true arbiter is the Spirit of Truth. – Me

If Paul was being honest when he said “Where sin abounds, grace abounds much more”. Then how has religion duped us into thinking that sin will send you to eternal torment? – Don Keathley

Just seen a great new word out there: ‘Upseterosexuals’. People who get upset about others’ sexualities – as if it’s any of their business. If anything, they’re the perverts for being nosy about such things in the first place! – Me

You can’t accurately critique your beliefs until you step outside of the religious system that forms and reinforces those beliefs – Mo Thomas

[In response to someone saying that anything that goes against Mother Nature is a ‘sin’ (especially homosexuaity)] Mother Nature isn’t married, yet she’s still a mother. This means Mother Nature is a SINNER! Either she’s become a mother out of wedlock, or she’s divorced, both of which are SINS. Who’s going to condemn her, then? – Me

It is not “religion” that makes men feel like worms, but men who feel like worms who make “religion.” – Jeff Turner

I do believe that much of what many of us write [in spiritual forums] is inspired, and that also teaches me about where the Bible came from – from people just like you and me who have had encounters with God and try to put into words our experiences, and what we have learned. – Me, in response to a forum poster

Fundagenitals: Christians who have an unhealthy obsession about other people’s private parts. – Anon

[And the related] Evangenitals: Christians who consider it their business what other people do with their private parts – Anon

Footnotes

Footnotes
⇧1 Although Lego, like that featured in the header photo, is indeed bite-sized, I do not recommend that you eat it. 😉

The White Throne Judgment

Insights, Others' stuff, Ministry
“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[1].

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[2], 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’.[3]

“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[4]. 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 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.
⇧2 Hence, my use of a toilet for the header image for this post. Well, I think it’s funny, at least 😉
⇧3 I have quoted this before, in my article ‘Apocalypse‘
⇧4 I once preached a sermon on this very topic; the reference is here

The God Jesus Reveals

Insights, Others' stuff
This entry is part 6 of 7 in the series Speaking Truth to Power
The God Jesus Reveals.

Why is it that a lot of believers do not believe the way God is revealed in Jesus Christ and are more comfortable with the way they see the God of the Old Testament? A killing, warring, revengeful, man-hating and a punishing God that is watching our every move to beat us back in line with the big stick of sickness, disease and poverty and eventually to everlasting suffering in hell.

Why people recoil from the God who tells them to love their enemies and to overcome good with evil as Jesus (the express image of God) reveals, and refuse to believe that He will reconcile the world unto Himself, is ironic indeed.

Many man-influenced believers believe in retribution. They want a God who tells them that there should be an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, a life for a life, and they become upset when anyone suggests a God who asks them to be merciful, loving, compassionate and forgiving. The God of grace is not to their liking. Instead, they want a God who punishes people beyond a just punishment for their wrong doings, they want a God who will provide infinite punishment for limited sin.

The God of grace revealed in Jesus Christ is far too generous. He gives His all in love for others, so we could do the same. Such a God is too sissified for most believers. They want one that only requires a tithe and a one hour time slot on a Sunday and then live for self the rest of the week with a spot of Bible reading and prayer here and there. Ultimately, they want a God who declares as an abomination all of those who offend their established traditions.

They don’t like the God who touches lepers, embraces Samaritans, declares women equals, and has the audacity to say to gays, lesbians, transsexuals, and bisexuals, “Whosoever will may come.” They don’t like the God that Jesus reveals because He embraces those whom they want to reject and disrespect. They prefer the God viewed in the Old Testament; the God who declares certain races unclean and would render women who are menstruating as unacceptable in the temple.

They want a God who, when they march off to war, will be on their side and they reject the God revealed through Jesus who warns that those who live by the sword will die by the sword.

When people promote the grace gospel, the rejection that is so strongly realized should have been expected because most believers feel more comfortable with a God that is like most people…vengeful, judgmental, and ready to mete out torture to those who do not conform to expectations…torture that goes on forever and ever. The God revealed in fullness in the Jesus is not to their liking at all.

The Bible says that God created us in His own image. Unfortunately, man has coated a God in their own image. There is no doubt that most Christians want a God of their own making, but that’s not the God who is revealed in Jesus Christ.

God is not the God of Jonathan Edwards who said…”The God that holds you over the Pit of Hell, much as one holds a Spider, or some loathsome Insect, over the Fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked; his Wrath towards you burns like Fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the Fire; he is of purer Eyes than to bear to have you in his Sight; you are ten thousand Times so abominable in his Eyes as the most hateful venomous Serpent is in ours. You have offended him infinitely more than ever a stubborn Rebel did his Prince: and yet ‘tis nothing but his Hand that holds you from falling into the Fire every Moment: ‘Tis to be ascribed to nothing else, that you did not go to Hell the last Night; that you was suffer’d to awake again in this World, after you closed your Eyes to sleep: and there is no other Reason to be given why you have not dropped into Hell since you arose in the Morning, but that God’s Hand has held you up: There is no other reason to be given why you hadn’t gone to Hell since you have sat here in the House of God, provoking his pure Eyes by your sinful wicked Manner of attending his solemn Worship: Yea, there is nothing else that is to be given as a Reason why you don’t this very Moment drop down into Hell.”[1]

Instead, He is the God of love and mercy found the Beatitudes [2], the God Jesus reveals!

STOP THE MADNESS!

The practice of end time fear mongering has been around for hundreds of years projecting infectious insanity regarding end time prophecies, causing many people to rationalize the irrational and act irrationally. Such irrational behavior has been the cause of suicides, religious oppression and isolation not to mention otherwise rational people selling off everything they own because they believe the deluded end time fear-mongers, who gain power and control over people and who profit financially by preaching and selling books about end time gloom and doom.

Every religion has their very own fear-mongering prophets of doom and gloom, so far, none of these insane fear mongers have been right about anything, the only thing they have proven is how wrong they are, and how easy it is to stampede the people the have control over with fear, which has always been the hottest selling product of every religion…FEAR…THREATS…BLAME…SHAME…AND GUILT.

Thus the only truth that all the fear mongers share and have revealed, is the stupidity of wrong belief patterns in keeping on believing and preaching the same wrong beliefs over and over again even though such beliefs keep proving to be wrong.

The potential of such insanity is that more people believe their insanity of fear causing an eruption in violence and instability among and between the people and nations; irrational behavior that could lead to an unnecessary war, at the end of which people will become more disillusioned because the end time rapture did not happen.

TO STOP THE MADNESS SIMPLY STOP LISTENING TO THE FEAR-MONGERING FEAR MONGERS.

Fear is not of God. “For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father’” (Romans 8:15).

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (1 Timothy 1:7).

Maybe you fear that you’re not good enough or prepared enough for the end times, maybe you fear that you’ll fold under the pressure or not be “perfect” enough, or maybe you fear what’s happening in the religious world and are reacting in a phobic way because of it. Yes, we are most definitely to watch and pray. But we are not to fear. Fear is of the devil. Hope and trust is of God. Trust that the same God who started the work will complete it…not only in you but in the world also (Phil. 1:6).

Like Paul, we can say “I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day” (2 Timothy 1:12). What ever ‘that day’ is.

 – Glenn Regular – Used with his kind permission. Glenn is the gentleman pictured in the header photo.

Footnotes

Footnotes
⇧1 This is from a sermon by Jonathan Edwards, “Sinners in the hands of an Angry God“. The description on Amazon reads thus: ‘ “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” is a sermon written by British Colonial Christian theologian Jonathan Edwards, preached to his own congregation in Northampton, Massachusetts to unknown effect, and again on July 8, 1741 in Enfield, Connecticut. Like Edwards’ other works, it combines vivid imagery of Hell with observations of the world and citations of the scripture. It is Edwards’ most famous written work, is a fitting representation of his preaching style, and is widely studied by Christians and historians, providing a glimpse into the theology of the Great Awakening of c. 1730–1755. This is a typical sermon of the Great Awakening, emphasizing the belief that Hell is a real place. Edwards hoped that the imagery and language of his sermon would awaken audiences to the horrific reality that he believed awaited them should they continue life without devotion to Christ. The underlying point is that God has given humanity a chance to rectify their sins. Edwards says that it is the will of God that keeps wicked men from the depths of Hell. This act of restraint has given humanity a chance to mend their ways and return to Christ’.

I sometimes think that the sermon’s brutality is somewhat misrepresented in that he genuinely thought that he was preaching the truth as he knew it, and he was making a sincere and impassioned attempt to waken his audiences from their lethargy, hoping to present the idea of Hell in all its full horror. He certainly did a good job of that!
⇧2 Mt 5:3-12