5 Things Jesus Would Say to Conservative American Evangelicals

By Jayson D. Bradley There’s a growing polarization in America. As the gulf between the partisan left and the right continues to expand, there’s very little middle ground to be found anywhere. The Pew Research Center has tracked data since 1994 which clearly demonstrates this growing entrenchment. In 1994, Democrats and Republicans were gathered pretty closely in …

ARE YOU ‘SAVED’? (UH…)

By Brad Jersak at Christianity Without Religion A constellation of questions, common to some Christian traditions, increasingly makes me cringe. Are you saved? Is he/she saved? When were you saved? I know what is intended. They are identifying ‘saved’ with the moment I ‘invited Christ into my heart’ through the faith confession involved in ‘the …

Does ‘The Shack’ Teach Universalism?

From Wm. Paul Young and Stuart Hazeldine. We are in a time of intense transitions in the landscape of Western Theology. During such times it is no surprise that precious people will jump to conclusions rather than spend the relational labor to explore a dearly loved assumption. It’s easier to categorize someone than get to …

Lie #3: God is in Control.

From Wm. Paul Young. I was sitting in a hotel lobby in Orlando, Florida, having a conversation with my friend K, from Germany. Her world-class young athlete friend was recently paralyzed as a result of an on-camera stunt that went horribly wrong. K was distraught. She dried her eyes and said, “I struggle believing this …

The Greatest of These

By Rachel Hooker at patheos. I am not a very good Christian any more. I used to think that under it all, I was doing the things right and that counted for something. That it counted for a lot. I wanted God’s blessing and God’s protection, and to get those one must do all the things just …

Romans 6:1 is the Litmus Test for Grace

From Jeremy Myers at Redeeming God. Inevitably, whenever I speak or write about grace this way, someone objects that I am contradicting Paul who said in Romans 6:1 that we should not continue in sin so that grace may abound. Whenever someone asks this question, I am always pleased, because it shows that they are …