Quit Being The Elder Brother

Q: How to experience what God already has for us, without the weight of "trying to please God"?

A: Quit being the elder brother.

"Stop Trying To Grow Closer to God"

"None of us are “closer” to God than anyone else. We all live with Him. He lives with us! IN us in fact!" 

- Phil Drysdale

Read more: Stop Trying To Grow Closer To God

Unforced Rhythms of Grace

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” 

- Jesus, (Matthew 11:28-30, MSG)

You have a Choice

Precious people, 

No one can perpetually intimidate, manipulate or control you, unless you let them. Intimidation, manipulation or control is not among the fruit of the spirit. 

Read this moving story, by Blaise Foret: 

Why I Left IHOPKC and How I was Treated When I Left // MY STORY

Learn the Difference

by Benjamin L. Corey

Educated Ignorance

"More dangerous than ignorance is educated ignorance masquerading as certainty. A brand of ignorance convinced it knows the truth because it has, at length, looked into ONE SIDE of an issue, is a far more dangerous thing than even anti-intellectualism because it appeals to our inner desire for certainty,..." 

- Jeff Turner

Read, from outside the familiar sources.

"Preachers, teachers, writers, bloggers, pastors, and everybody and anybody in between, please, take the time to read, *at least* one new book a month, and preferably from an author who is presenting you with some new and unfamiliar ideas. Do yourself a favor and turn off TBN and popular, biased Christian media, which is populated by "teachers" and speakers who are coming from only one of the many and varied perspective in the Christian world, and whose theology wouldn't pass even the crudest of theological audits. Put yourself on a strict no-subjective-prophetic-fluff diet, and stay away from those whose exhortations are filled with "God told me" statements. If you, in any way, shape or form, are responsible for teaching others, make the hard decision to not teach on a subject that you've not thoroughly studied from all available angles for at least a few years." 

- Jeff Turner

God So Loved The World; Not Just The Nice Christians

The message of Grace, set me free from the ugly yoke of legalism. Unless you (have been awakened to the fact that you) have been mauled by legalism, you wouldn't know the severity of how legalism cripples one's mind. 

But, that does not mean I am a blinded member of the "grace" camp. I run from camps (mindsets), for they have the notoriety of being tunnel-visioned and rigid. The underlying mantra of a rigid mindset, whether it's verbalized or not, is, "We have arrived! We know it all!" Discerning minds can smell that claustrophobic structure from a mile away. 

I was stunned to hear a statement made by a very prominent and an internationally known grace preacher (whose name I will not mention), recently. He said, "sometimes, wars are needed" - referring to the fight against ISIS. 

I can understand if those words were from the U.S. Secretary of State. But from a messenger of grace?! 

My first thought was, "so this so-called "grace" is only for those who are in the club? No, that's not authentic love!" 

His rhetoric is cute, if you want to appease the warmongers; but it does not rhyme with "turn the other cheek", or "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do".

"... the cross is not about the appeasement of a monster god."

"... let’s be clear, the cross is not about the appeasement of a monster god. The cross is about the revelation of a merciful God. At the cross we discover a God who would rather die than kill his enemies. The cross is where God in Christ absorbs sin and recycles it into forgiveness." 

- Brian Zahnd

Read more: How Does “Dying For Our Sins” Work?

All = All

"for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ." - 1 Cor 15:22 NRSV

All = All

The OT is Not On Par With Jesus

"The Old Testament is not on par with Jesus. The Bible is not a flat text where every passage carries the same weight. This is why Jesus says, “You have heard it said, but I say to you…” 

... 

Wars of conquest, violent retribution, the institution of slavery, and women held as property are all “Biblical.” But when placed in the light of Tabor they must be renounced." 

- Brian Zahnd

Read more: Jesus Is What God Has To Say

Greater Love

by David Hayward

"Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends."

- Jesus, (John 15:13 ESV)

Sola Scriptura and Following the Lord

"What would Sola Scriptura have meant in the early church? Nothing. 

… 

What would Sola Scriptura have meant from 250AD to 1600AD? Nothing. The Scriptures were kept from the “laity” and were exclusively in the hands of the “clergy.” 

… 

From an empirical standpoint, Sola Scriptura has had little force or usefulness. Since 1500 church leaders and “lay” people — even many cults — have exclaimed “Sola Scriptura.” Yet, what have we ended up with? There are 25,000 denominations, a gezillion dogmatic and contradictory interpretations of the Bible, and endless strife about which group is closest to the truth. All of this and more has happened while everyone involved has cried out, “We practice Sola Scriptura — we go by the Bible alone — if the Bible says something, that settles it for us.” It is clear that at the end of the day Sola Scriptura falls from the lips of many, but really accomplishes nothing practical for the ongoing problems facing the body of Christ." 

- Jon Zens

Read more: Sola Scriptura: Does Following the Bible Equal Following The Lord?

Daniel Wallace's Response to Kurt Eichenwald

"A true liberal is one who is open to all the evidence, including the possibility that God has invaded space-time history in the person of Jesus Christ. A true liberal is one who is willing to go where the evidence leads, even if it contradicts his or her cherished beliefs.” 

- from Daniel Wallace’s critique of Kurt Eichenwald’s piece in Newsweek

Read more.