Well, it’s not so long since I last published a piece containing bite-sized quotes, but I have read so many thought-provoking things lately that I have collected enough for another one.

Here we go. Enjoy!

“Man made doctrines, religion, and traditions die screaming. God is stripping from the church right now everything He never told her to do and believe, and it is terrifying those in the system who are not willing to let go” – Jamie Englehart

“I think that the only sort of God one can hold on to is the one that they can freely and frequently let go of. When you inhale, you must exhale in order to find breath again. If you hold your breath, for fear that you will lose it, you cease to breathe. When you let it go, however, you will find your lungs inflated almost instantly, and with no effort put forth on your part. A God that you hold onto is one that you will lose, but a God that you lose, and who does not mind being lost, is a God you will rediscover over and over again” – Jeff Turner

“I find it disgusting how Religion takes the most glorious news – ‘Christ within you, the hope of glory’; ‘Your bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit’ – and makes it into a set of Rules instead of rejoicing in the glorious truth of it.

“Here’s how it should go: ‘God in us? Wow! That’s incredible!’

” ‘He that is in us is greater than he who is in the world? – Wow! I mean. wow!’

“But instead it’s ‘God in us? And therefore don’t smoke!’

‘He that is in us is greater than he who is in the world? – So you must not dance or go to the cinema!’

What a sad way to live. This is apparently what’s known as ‘abundant life’, btw… 😉 ” – Me

“Prayer does not bring you into the Divine Presence, nor does it bring the Divine into your presence. Rather, prayer is simply a way by which we make ourselves aware of the Divine as it is present at all times, and in all places and people”- Jeff Turner

“Don’t underestimate love at first sight. Many of us might not pass a second inspection 😉 ” – found in a Fortune Cookie

“You can always tell luck from ability by its duration” – another Fortune Cookie

“The most offensive thing about the Father of Jesus has always been who he accepts, not who he rejects; who he includes, not who he excludes. Religion has always gotten this precisely backwards, and this is why the way of Jesus is a narrow way. Not narrow in the sense that it is accessible only to an elite few, but in that those who think themselves elite reject it by default” – Jeff Turner

[In today’s Evangelical church] “…even just questioning something for which there is no Scriptural foundation whatsoever…you can be called a heretic” – Keith Giles

[Writing in response to someone criticising a ‘politically-incorrect’ joke] “You find it offensive; I find it funny. It seems that you will need to look elsewhere to find your humour, just as I will need to look elsewhere in order to find offence” – Me

“What I realised … is that a lot of control is based on fear, and God is not afraid. God doesn’t need to control” – Karl Forehand

“If my Christianity motivates me to “win souls,” attempt miracles, preach on street corners, wear out bibles, and speak in tongues until I run out of syllables, but also encourages me to abandon lifelong friends when it becomes apparent we disagree on a point of doctrine, I don’t believe for a moment that Christianity is what I have” – Jeff Turner

“If the validation of your own faith requires that you invalidate someone else’s faith, then I would say that your own faith is at least partially invalid – until you get rid of that preposterous requirement” – Me

“Nobody in my fundamental-ish church growing up meant to make it like this, but I learned a religion that for me was a lot about shame, guilt, and fear. I’m done with that, but I don’t want to flush the whole thing down the toilet”  – Jedidiah

“Grace is for the offender and the offended, the oppressor and the oppressed, the victim and the victimizer. It makes no sense. It goes against logic. It blows apart all of our boxes. But, alas, it is the Gospel. A Gospel that does not stretch your notion of inclusion is not nearly inclusive enough” – Jeff Turner

“If you think [God hasn’t spoken to you], I’m afraid that says more about your awareness than it does about God’s communication skills. He is always speaking. He is always telling you in countless ways, on countless days, how He loves you. His sheep hear His voice, they don’t just read His book” – Joshua Greeson

“Someone once acknowledged to me that the Church is simultaneously the best, and the worst, witness to Christ there is. I agree with half of that; I will leave you to guess which half 😉 ” – Me

“When the Gospel has become bad news to the poor, to the oppressed, to the broken-hearted and imprisoned and good news to the proud, the self-righteous and privileged instead, it is no longer the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ” – Beth Moore

“Jesus reveals a God who does not put the weight of knowing Him on human shoulders, but on His own. He breaks into our world by becoming human, and does not require we break into His by becoming gods” – Jeff Turner

“I have my own ideas about ‘predestination’, but it struck me just now that the Calvinistic doctrine of predestination/election ONLY works if there are some who are ‘in’, and some who are ‘out’. If full inclusion is actually what the gospel is all about, then the entire Calvinism bubble bursts. And deservedly so” – Me

“Modern religion focuses on filling churches with people. The true Gospel emphasises filling people with God.” A. W. Tozer

My regular readers will be familiar with the idea of these ‘quotation’ articles being likened to the concept of small, foody snacks. This one is no different. Note for non-UK readers: Over here in Britain, what some people around the world refer to as ‘Fries’, or ‘French Fries’, we call ‘chips’. * And these are big, fat and tasty, not long and thin like what we would call American-style fries. You get a lot of flavour and a lot of satisfaction from a proper bag of chips, I can tell you, and I trust that these snippets of others’ wisdom will also be tasty in the same way 🙂

“A Flat Earther’s idea of ‘research’ is just to watch other Flat Earthers’ videos” – Sci Man Dan

“And I know that Grace rarely makes sense for those looking in from the outside” – Wm. Paul Young

“Whoever has seen Jesus has seen the Father. Therefore if it doesn’t look like Jesus, it’s not a correct image of the Father. There is no God other than the one seen in the human face of Christ”. – Jacob M. Wright

“Inclusion also ‘includes’ those who are opposed to the Inclusion message. This is something the Lord has been explaining to me over the last week or so, and He’s been showing me His great love for those who are trapped in the kind of hate-filled religion (but marketed as ‘loving’) that causes exclusion in the first place.

“No doubt this [short response] will get kickback from people who, for whatever reason, are not into including others…and to those people, I think the Lord would say again that He loves you more than you can possibly imagine. No strings attached”. – Me

“If Luther and Calvin were right in declaring that forgiveness precedes confession and repentance, then it would mean that forgiveness also precedes belief” – Wm. Paul Young

“It’s not about our free will. You’re not going to hell, and it’s for the same reason you’re never going to buy a unicorn” – David Neal

“…it is a recognised phenomenon, in the study of spiritual growth, that those who move forwards in their faith are seen by those who have not [yet, if ever] moved forwards, as ‘backsliders’. I often wonder if those who claim that we are supposed to be ‘growing into Christ’ have ever actually thought what that’s going to look like”. – Me

“If you don’t use the Bible to endorse slavery or promote women as inferior to men, then don’t use it to condemn queer folk either, otherwise you’re the cherry picker, not those who are fully affirming” – Nathan Jennings

“Every religion on the planet requires ‘separation’ [separation from God] as one of its core doctrines, because then we can tell you how to get un-separated – those of us who are the professionals – and we can charge you for it. We’ll call it something benign, and in fact we’ll make you feel really guilty about it if you don’t (and it’s on the gross, not on the net, just so you know!)” – Wm. Paul Young

“I have nothing to prove to you.” – Carol Danvers, Captain Marvel

[In response to someone asking a question about painful post-death judgement] “I don’t think there is any pain in judgement, save perhaps for a slight embarrassment as I see what I dick I was in certain scenarios. I believe that judgement will be one of restoration and reconciliation, rather than retribution and revenge. God’s wrath is against the damage caused, not against those causing it, and that damage will somehow be put right. And for those who hated me, we will lean on each other and laugh about it, because it’s all sorted out. That way, we are all winners. That’s what divine judgement looks like.” – Me

“If the idea that the Biblical authors sometimes mistakenly misrepresented God upsets you more than the idea that God actually commanded genocide does, then your ethical priorities are in the wrong place.” – Daniel Skillman 

“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes” – Anon

“…a simple look at the Scriptural narrative will put on display the sure reality that God always shows up in ways that the religious never expect and almost always detest”. – Chris Kratzer

“Praising God is acknowledging His attributes. I try to be aware when I pray that God is the ever-present, all-powerful, all-knowing, loving heavenly Father. I don’t praise Him because He needs me to tell Him who He is. He knows who He is. I am the one who needs to keep His divine attributes constantly in my mind. I try to keep the knowledge of God’s presence foremost in my thoughts. No matter where I go, He is with me”. – Neil Anderson

“Nowhere does Jesus mention that anyone should try to save others from Hell. You’d have thought if it was that important He’d have told us? You’d also have thought He’d have told us how important it was that we pluck the souls from the brink especially in the context of those parts of His teaching where the meaning is traditionally ascribed to being about Hell.

“Furthermore, if the hell-fire doctrine is true, and if Evangelical Christians claim that a loving God still lets people go to Hell ‘because He is so loving that He will not override their free will’, then it follows that they have to change the definition of Love so that it bears no resemblance to that found in 1Cor 13.” – Me

“It is quite possible to think too much, but those who accuse others of doing it are rarely guilty [of it] themselves”. – Jeff Turner

*And what they call ‘chips’, we refer to as ‘crisps’. And so it goes on 😉

More bite-sized thoughts and ideas for you to enjoy, to get the brain working and the spirit singing. Here is wisdom* from many people all around the Internet, and indeed all around the world:

“When we come to the realization that we don’t have the power or responsibility to change anyone, our burden becomes a little lighter. We can encourage, we can pray, we can be an example, we can love unconditionally…but ultimately, it’s the Father who molds, potters and reconciles the heart. My prayer for others has gone from begging God to change them to simply this:

“Father, let them see what they look like through Your eyes.”

“Because once that happens, everything changes.” – Chris Martin

“The enemy of the Truth does his best work through the religious folks. He keeps them sin conscious while convincing them that they are Christ conscious. They are the first to throw stones, point out specks and elevate the Bible to the level of an idol. But thanks be unto God that He will bring them too into a realization of Himself through Christ in due course of time. For now ya just gotta love them. They can’t help their blindness.” – C Andrew May

“This is why I refuse to be labelled. As soon as someone has a label for you, they categorise you into a box. So I would rather people heard what I believe, and saw the sort of person I am, and only then can they realise that no box will fit.” – Me

“This is a statement that is true and worthy of full acceptance. For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe – The First Letter of Paul to Timothy, chapter 4, verse 10

“When your identity is built on your devotion to God, when your devotion fails then who are you? But when it’s built on Gods devotion to you, that devotion is never going to falter or fail and your identity is secure and you’re set.” – Lecrae

[On religious discussions online] “Maybe people should more often than not just [accept what the Bible says] and shake the dust off and leave when their message is not being received? According to the Bible, saying nothing is actually a good thing and shows maturity and wisdom. But alas… They probably won’t, because such is the religious spirit. It always has to be right and always has to get the last word, or it will eat them up inside. Their comments will never seem to be about correcting for love’s sake, but will more than likely seem to be about correcting because nobody is as right as they are.” – Tim

“For me, it’s all those people who take someone who’s full of awestruck wonder at the Person of Jesus that they have just met, and then little by little, straw by straw, they layer over their victim’s pure Jesus experience with subtle layers of rules, laws, ‘if-then’ and ‘ah, but’ qualifications, do’s and don’ts, nasty-god doctrines, tacit expectations and tacit disapprovals, until the new life is smothered, suffocated, and subjected to the evils of legalism. It’s utterly diabolical to take the new believer and do that to them. “- Me

“The roots of judgment are firmly twisted around a bedrock of fear that is buried deeply within the souls of these people.” – Sharon

“I’m not sure who it was but someone said they define a cult by how they let you leave it.”
– Monica

“If your picture of God is
starting to feel too good to be true,
you’re starting to move in the right direction.” – Greg Boyd

“The awkward moment when the people that prophesied you would break religious mindsets are now angry you’re breaking religious mindsets.” – Matthew Challenor

“If you never hear another word I ever say, hear this and remember it. God is Love, If it doesn’t look like love, then it’s not God, it’s a religious lie…..even if it is found in the Bible.” – Anonymous Baptist Pastor

“Grace doesn’t point out the problem, because it’s the solution.” – Jim

*If you are uncomfortable with the idea that humans can generate wisdom, because all wisdom comes from God or other such objection, please can I respectfully refer you to this article where this is discussed in depth, and hopefully your fears will be assuaged 🙂

Here’s another post continuing my series of ever-popular ‘brief thoughts’ – style articles, featuring interesting ideas and thoughts from around the Internet and beyond.

“What you know about God changes nothing. Knowing what God knows about you, however, changes everything”. – Jeff Turner

“I realised last night that when Jesus called His disciples, He simply said ‘Follow Me’. He didn’t set any conditions, name any essential doctrines, set any boundaries, make any rules, say anything was forbidden. He just said ‘Follow Me’. How simple is that? It makes me think that anything other than simply ‘follow Me’ must be largely superfluous”. – Me

“No matter how big or small your goal, no matter how motivated you are or what drives you to achieve your goals…. You can only do it ONE step at a time!! My steps are small at the moment but I’m putting one foot in front of the other, moving in the right direction…. Whilst trying to also be in the here and now…. As that is the only moment that truly exists!” – Helen

“The Gospel is not that you can receive Jesus into your life, but that Jesus has already received you into His Life” – Wm. Paul Young

“I really don’t see why we shouldn’t major on the restoration stuff rather than the destruction stuff. People talk about not diluting the Gospel, and about not watering it down. This harsh stuff is not giving it undiluted, it’s giving it polluted with evil. Nobody will respond to a gospel like that, at least not positively”. – Me

“The point of the Abraham-and-Isaac story isn’t that you should sacrifice your kid but that you can leave behind any notion of a god who demands that you sacrifice your kid. Do you see how huge this is?” – Rob Bell

“HYDRA was founded on the belief that humanity could not be trusted with its own freedom” – Dr. Arnim Zola, Captain America: The Winter Soldier…*

“The concept of God as an angry, unforgiving parent – and his church as a domineering grown-up issuing threats to wilful kids – is bad news, not Gospel. Such concepts inculcate only fear: fear of God, and then fear of our own freedom. They lead not to liberty of the children of God, to the freedom with which Christ has set us free, but to a servile mentality that kills courage and breeds resentment.” – Robert Farrar Capon, The Mystery of Christ… & Why We Don’t Get It

“God always backs the underdog” – Emma Higgs

“I’m kind of done with you telling me what I can’t do.” – Carol Danvers, Captain Marvel

“The only record of your sins is in your own mind. There is no other copy”. – David Neal

“I [do] get frustrated, though, when people would prefer to spout the bad news rather than the good. If the gospel begins with ‘god hates you’, then it’s not a gospel anyone would listen to any further than that”. – Me

*[Is it just me, or does that perhaps sound like some parts of the modern Evangelical church?]

Any gospel message that instils fear in your heart, is probably not the gospel, but the ministry of death Paul warned us about. – Henry Harris
—

God is not a being to believe in. God is a mystery to participate in. – Nathan Jennings
—

The idea we need to fear God, always comes from people that don’t know God. – Kurt and Katy Adkins
—

“I think the reaction we’re meant to have when we look at the cross is to weep with relief — that there’s someone who understands our sufferings and dealt with it” – Christine
—

If your goal is to share what you know, to teach people what you know, to make people understand what you understand—if it’s about a subject for which you have passion and concern—then speak to that end.

When you degrade, when you yell, when you vituperate, you can no longer feign that you have a noble pursuit. You’re speaking from your ego, from your sense of superiority, you’re asserting your dominance.

Now, the subject for which you allegedly feel so strongly is on the back burner, and the entire conversation is about winning an argument that you created.

The person to whom you’re speaking has been lost, and will not consider what you know, share, or care about.

Watch your step, and be sure you’re speaking for the right reasons. – Steven Gilmore
—

I have learnt that to love is so much more important than trying to convince others of my belief. Knowing that all will be well in the end has given me such freedom to be with others whatever they believe. I have found that my attempts to show love encourages hope in others to a far greater extent than was ever achieved when I tried to tell people what was right. – David Bell
—

For all the criticism [a particular Christian ‘leader’] has had, I think it’s great that he answers to what his own conscience says, rather than to what others think his conscience should say. – Me
—

Movements

Religious and spiritual movements both tend to come and go, with only Divine Presence remaining constant.

May I respectfully make a suggestion, one born out of personal experience.

Don’t pour your whole identity into a movement, no matter what the brand.

Why not?

Well, it all usually ends up in tears, disillusionment and deep confusion.

Best to open up one’s heart to the One without change, I reckon.

– Dylan Morrison (Irish writer-poet)
—

As to why people deny [evolution], though, well that’s just fear that their written Divine Contract might not be as watertight as they thought. And I think that’s intentional; God never intended us to live by faith in a Book, but by faith in Christ. If the book is infallible, then who needs the Holy Spirit? – Me
—

Jesus came to show us the Father’s love, not threaten us with eternal conscious torment for hearing bad preaching & saying no to THAT god. – Karen Belcher
—

There is only one thing that could ever make a person say “I love you” to a god they believe finds them deplorable without seeing them through someone else… and that is fear of torment.

Your heavenly Father doesn’t need to look at you ‘through’ Jesus to be head over heels in love with you. He sent Jesus to show you who you’ve been in His eyes all along… and that there is never any fear or torment involved in His perfect love.

“May they know they are One, Father, even as you and I are One; and may they know you have loved them… even as you have loved me.” (Jesus)  – Dave Carringer
—

In fact I would even say that, unless you really believe that you know ‘…where you would go if you died tonight’, then you have absolutely no right to try to sell people the salvation that Jesus offers as if it is indeed a complete, cast-iron assurance, when the reality is that you yourself don’t really believe it is as secure as you claim. Because that sort of gospel, that so many peddle these days, is really no gospel – not good news – at all. – Me
—

The Bible is not the Holy Spirit’s bridle – Barry Smith
—

“Ah, but…what about this scripture and that scripture…” yes and it’s always – always! – the negative they are emphasising. It’s really weird. It’s always ‘God is Love, but he’s also just…’, never ‘God is just, but he’s also Love!’ Anyone’d think they don’t want to believe anything positive about God! – Me
—

Saying “You’re not saved by good works, you’re saved by grace, but you have to prove you’re saved by doing good works” is just a clever way of saying you’re saved by good works and acting like you’re not saying it. – Jacob M. Wright
—

I don’t have any proof of this. But…

It seems often, as if the people who argue over doctrinal differences, and go about calling those they disagree with names, are coming from inferiority and poor self-esteem, and trying to make themselves appear “right”, knowledgeable, and believable.

When I sense that this is happening, 1) it makes me very uncomfortable, and 2) I feel very sorry for that person. Usually I walk away asap and am careful about future interactions with them. – Sonny Bellotte
—

Today, be the sort of person whose kindness, compassion and love could be the difference between someone losing their faith in God and the humans he calls children, and them saying, “Eh, I think I’ll give it one more try.”

All the arguments you might win, or energy you might expend ranting on social media, are meaningless compared to this. – Jeff Turner
—

“There is no more important issue than whether or not the large majority of the human race is heading for a fate that … would make the holocaust look like a joke.” – Jacob Wright
—

“I choose not to succumb to my circumstances, and become angry at the idea of existence, I choose not to be a person who sees every moment as an opportunity to be disappointed by life—a victim with no options.

Rather, I choose to see myself as one being pursued relentlessly by goodness and mercy. I choose to see opportunities for myself to advance, excel, and be the best possible version of me. I choose to see valuable lessons in my daily interactions with people and events.

I choose to see goodness and mercy all around me—seeking access to my life and family today. I choose to see myself as one entangled in a divine conspiracy in which all that is in the world is seeking to make me better. “ – Charlie Fischer

—

If all you know of God is from books, you are walking in deep darkness – Don Francisco

—

Once you realize you can hear your Father’s Spirit for yourself, speaking in a voice you clearly understand… no man or institution can ever control your life again. Run free and enjoy your Father’s love… and don’t be entangled in the yoke of man’s bondage ever again. Wake up to your genesis. You were born free. Live in that freedom… and don’t ever look back. – Dave Carringer

Here are yet more bite-sized wisdom goodies. I hope you are blessed by them!

Distrust all who make you feel bad about feeling good, and good about feeling bad. – Jeff Turner

Whatever a passage of Scripture means, it cannot mean that God is not Love – John Wesley

To my mind, the original sin, and what it looks like today, is the belief that God is really, really mad with us. In my opinion, all ‘bad behaviour’ flows from that – from not realising that a good, loving God actually exists and that He likes us. – Me

If your heart is kinder than your doctrine, it’s time to look at what you believe. – Joanne Glen

The Kingdom of God is not [rules and regulations], but righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Why then does modern Evangelicalism major on all the negative stuff: judgement, Hell, conforming to the tribal ethos and all the other stuff? Those are all things that, believed in the Evangelical sense, actually stifle righteousness, peace and joy. – Me

“Sin is its own punishment devouring us from the inside. It’s not God’s purpose to punish it, it’s God’s joy to cure it.” – Paul Young

Don’t ever allow what someone doesn’t see affect what you do see. Walk your journey. Keep growing. Keep learning. – Chris Martin

The Gospel is good news for all, which makes it sound like bad news to some. We like the idea of a table prepared in the presence of our enemies, so long as it means they are forced to watch us feast while they starve. We don’t like the idea, however, when it means we share a table, in the presence of God, with those we consider to be enemies.

If you’re uncomfortable with the notion of an inclusive table, good! That is precisely how the Gospel transforms us – Jeff Turner

“I’m glad God’s not the asshole people think he is” – Jacob M. Wright

Perhaps if one more person tells me to read my Bible, I might get saved!? – Karen Belcher

The nature of God is not primarily manifest in what God says “no” to, but in what God says “yes” to. It is not understood by examining what God hates, but what God loves.

Consequently, then, the nature of God is not primarily manifest in *us by what we say “no” to, but in what we say “yes” to; not through what we hate, but what we choose to love. – Jeff Turner

My personal view is that it would be dishonest to read the Old Testament (OT) as if the New Testament (NT) had never been written. When people say, ‘Let Scripture interpret Scripture’, in no other way is this more true than in letting the NT interpret the OT in the light of Jesus – Me

It is better to love than to prove that you are right – Jim Palmer

Here are yet more interesting quotes from various people. Enjoy!

“We must stop using the Bible like a hammer, unless it is to build something useful”. – Mike Douglas

“The majority of humanity writhing in flames for eternity is not Christ victorious nor the church triumphant. It is creation ended in disaster, God’s purpose failed, Christ incompetent, and the gates of hell standing strong against a weakling church”. – Jacob M. Wright

“[the doctrine of Hell]  is the single most repulsive idea in all of Christendom” – Me

” ‘My kids don’t deserve my love but I give it to them anyway’… said no parent ever. Parents love their children just because they are their children. To focus on and say we don’t deserve love is to miss the point of the Cross. We are worthy of love NOT because of Jesus but just because we are created. The cross displays this, it doesn’t activate it. You are worthy. You do deserve it and you are loved simply because you exist”. – Nathan Jennings

“I always believed in God, but struggled with stuff. Through gradual and sudden revelation of the Spirit I realised freedom and actually see that imbedded through a lot of the old and new testament. God was and is revolutionary. Man suppresses it”. – ‘Naomi’

“…we stopped tithing too, and started setting aside money ‘for God’s Work’. Bottom line: I didn’t trust my church leadership to manage my giving for me”. – Me

“The good news is, God was in Christ on the cross, not counting humanities sins against them.

“No matter what you think about what used to be. It’s not anymore. Awakening is the key to living from what is. That’s good news, even if it used to be bad”. – Tim Standafer

“Divine acceptance is the house you live in, not a ladder you must climb”. – Jeff Turner

“Never make truth your enemy. You will always lose”. – Dan Frederiksen

” ‘I don’t like power I can’t control’ ” – random bad guy in ‘Black Lightning’

“Personally I see the cross as God in Christ getting inside death, and our horrific ideas of justice. He is exposing our blood lust and violence, and transforming it into the most radical picture of forgiveness the world will ever see. He also brings the I Am into the ‘I am not’ of death – busting it open for everyone at the resurrection. He becomes the ultimate scapegoat, a place for us to see our burdens sucked into the grave and left there.

“God in Christ is bringing the deep shalom of heaven to earth by taking all that is broken into his own body and defeating death by death.

“What happens when we kill God? How does God react?

” ‘Forgive them, Father, they don’t understand what they’re doing’ “. – Dave Griffiths

“These are all great [Scripture passages] and no doubt you will be aware of other great quotes which can be found to support [a doctrine]. Which all goes to show how lousy a Biblical Quote Shootout is to solve deep questions”.  – Ian Haylett

“There is a world, far removed from our own and from common sense, where what he says makes perfect sense.” – Luther G Williams, writing about someone making a contentions assertion.

“To my mind, when God has favourites, that favouritism is not at the expense of someone else being not in favour. I think Wm. Paul Young had it right in ‘The Shack’, when God says ‘Oh I’m especially fond of [whoever]’. God is such that He can have everyone as His favourites.

“The offshoot of all this is that if favouritism for some means that someone else is out of favour, then that favouritism is not of God. Because God treats everyone as if they are His favourites”. – Me