God, as I have written before, has promised to never leave us. No matter what storms may rage around us.
Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
I follow several blogs and news sources every day. Yeah, I like to keep up on what’s happening outside of these four walls that have become a sanctuary of sorts. Most of the blogs I read pick up on some current event or news report. They share the parts that resonate with them. Then reflect or offer their opinion. Every one has an opinion!
This here blog thingy of mine generally follows a different path. I share my thoughts and feelings about a lot of topics. The reasons I do this are manifold. First, I feel an obligation to counter some of the prevailing religious ideas and doctrines that have proven to be harmful. So many people have suffered, have found themselves in emotional and psychological bondage because of false and inaccurate interpretations of Holy Writ. For Christianity, a religion that speaks of Freeing the Captives, this is especially problematic. So, I write about it.
Second, I believe that by sharing some of the struggles that I deal with others may find it easier to share their own. Things that trouble us, our thoughts and feelings, can be extremely harmful if left hidden. People need ways to vent some of the pressure that builds from deep within us. But, because of shame or social stigma, we keep that pressure bottled up. Eventually, the chains that bind the heart may become too strong. So, I share my story. And, thereby, encourage others to do the same.
I also write these things because, well, words are what I do best. My mind has a lot of things bouncing around in it. This is how I get them out so that I can see them and think about them. Because, until I do, I really don’t understand some of them myself. To put it simply, sometimes I don’t know what I think until I say it. I don’t think that I’m alone in this. Until we hear or see our thoughts concretely, they are simply wisps of the æther flowing through the synapses in our brain. Allowing them to form a shape that can be seen is important for me.
That being said, I want to deviate a bit today.
There is something happening in the U.S. today that, I believe, is worthy of a brief report. Yeah, I know, current events. Big deal. No, really, this kind of is. The Covid-19 crisis has shown me something that I think I knew was real. But, because of all of the polarization, hate, and mistrust that usually blankets the airwaves, it has remained hidden from view. This thing is the heart and compassion of a vast majority of American people. Folks have really stepped up to support the so-called “Front Line” workers in the medical field and all of our first responders. I can actually understand that a bit. These are the truly visible people who are trying their best to help, comfort, and heal the sick. So, kudos to all of them!
But, then there are the unseen warriors in this battle. Those who leave snacks for people delivering our food and packages because we don’t want to venture out into the wilderness ourselves. The artists and musicians who draw on the concrete messages of hope and who stand outside the windows of nursing homes to encourage the scared folks who are trapped inside. The educators who have had to completely change the educational paradigm in order to continue supporting and teaching our children. They changed direction on a dime! Way to go, Teachers! Kudos to our state and local governments for getting into the trenches with us in order to ensure that we are adequately protected. Yeah, they get flack for not being quick enough to respond to the unemployment crisis that this pandemic brought on. They are trying, though, with limited resources and personnel.
I could go on to include others. But, I think that you can grasp my point. In a culture where violence and hatred seems to run rampant, there is a spark of hope. This crisis has revealed that their is something good in humanity. We are able to reach deep within ourselves and draw up empathy for others. We can band together to support one another when we really need one another.
My true hope is that, when this current crisis passes, we can continue to do so.
I have spent a lot of time over the years trying to expose the negative side of the Church. The abuses of authority; the harmful theology; the elevation of ME above all else. These criticisms are well deserved. People have been harmed by the Church. And, it really doesn’t matter what flavor Church. Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Orthodox are all culpable in the abuses. The public results of these abuses, besides lives ruined, includes the loss of any claim to the so-called Moral High Ground. In other words, the Church has destroyed her ability to be a Blessing to the Cosmos.
So, what should things look like? Honestly, no one can say for certain what God has planned for it. But, we can sketch a few things. Things that, rather than tearing down, may reveal a way forward in Love and Faithfulness.
So, let’s start. In the beginning….
The writers of Holy Scripture were people just like us. They lived in a particular time, place, and culture that colored the words that they wrote. So, for them such things as a cosmos that was created Ex Nihilo was just the way things were. These writers presented their readers with a problem. The problem was, God created the Heavens and the Earth. In God’s abundant Love humans were made for the expressed purpose of caring for the Earth as God’s Special Envoys. The intent was for humanity to embody God’s glory as Eikons of God. They would rule jointly with God over the creation. But, there was a problem. Humanity could not live up to God’s calling. They were, after all, made of the same stuff that the cosmos was…dust. Soon the problem came to a head when humanity took it upon themselves to listen to and embrace other creatures. Idolatry and the corruption that comes with that began to mar the Very Good Cosmos that God had made. But, God was still convinced that humanity MUST be a part of God’s plan for guiding and caring for the World. So, God ‘elected’ a family. For those who know a little about the story of Israel, you will have heard of a guy named Abraham. God chose Abraham and his descendants to become the agents of God’s blessing for the Cosmos. The story continues through Abraham’s grandson, Jacob, to the selection of a community, Israel. Israel’s history was checkered at best. But, God had made a covenant with Abraham that, because of Abraham’s faithfulness to God’s promises, stated that the entire Cosmos would be blessed. God took that Covenant seriously and was faithful to it in spite of Israel’s inability to live up to its calling. In time, God, who had chosen Israel as the people through whom the blessing would come, raised up One Person from Israel. This One Person became God’s own Image-bearer. An image-bearer who would do what the original humans, nor Israel, could. Through the death of Jesus the problem of humanity’s inability to live up to God’s Glorious Calling at the beginning was solved. The resurrection of Jesus from the grave proved God’s faithfulness to set things right.
Ok, nice story. But, so what?
God had done something that no one expected. Because of the faithfulness of Jesus, all of humanity had the opportunity to share in Jesus’ faithfulness. We, in fact, have been joined together into the family of God’s Promise to Abraham. We are benefactors of God’s Covenant with Abraham. God, in God’s own love and Being, put us into a Community. A living Community where God’s own Spirit lives and brings life. We are not a bunch of individuals going about our own personal business. Living in our own personal salvation. No. We are, as Peter wrote, ‘A royal priesthood and a Holy Nation.’
We. Belong. Together.
Together we are to be a blessing to the whole Cosmos. Together we reflect the Glory of God to each other, to God, and to the World. Together! Together!
That is our hope and our calling. And, that’s a good thing.
One of the hallmarks of life in the U.S. is the ideal of the “Rugged Individual.” While it seems that this image had been brewing ever since the birth of the nation, it really didn’t take off and become a mark of American exceptionalism until after the Second World War. We have become a nation where everyone considers their right to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness is a personal guarantee that no one, especially not the government, can tell me what I can do, when and where I can do it, or ask me why I’m doing it. After all, the Constitution says so. Of course, when the Constitution says that I can do something that you want to do and there’s a conflict, my rights always supersede yours. And, if you don’t like it, we’ll see you in court. Because, you know, my rights are given to me by no lesser authority than God!
What escapes most people’s attention is that those so-called ‘God given rights’ are not in the Constitution. They appear in the Declaration of Independence. And, as I have said in many other places, Context is everything. The Declaration, besides being a rallying point for the nascent United States, was first a notice to King George III that the American Colonies would no longer put up with British rule. The inalienable rights part, especially the God given wording, let George know in no uncertain terms that God was the only source for these rights. The crown was not.
So, there was a war and a new nation was born that began a long experiment in democratic government that is still under way today.
Soon, individuals began trekking into the wilderness of this land. They fought and worked and died in order to provide for themselves and their families. It didn’t matter what obstacles lay in their path toward this inevitable destiny. They had a God given right to this land and its bounty. So, facts like the land was already populated by Indigenous people were tossed aside. “God gave this land to us. Not to you.” (But, that ‘s another post.)
As I began to deconstruct the Ziggurat that was my protestant, evangelical life, I started to wonder about this. To explain a bit… In Protestantism individual faith is paramount. After all, Jesus died for me. Yeah, he may have died for you, too. But, that’s between you and God and doesn’t effect me at all. It’s all about Me and Jesus! Hallelujah! In the church that I was a part of at that time this was absolutely the underlying ethic to their theology. It was no more apparent than when, once a month, we had Communion. We asked that the head of each family, or family unit, would come and take the bread and cup back to their individual clan. There the elements would be taken. I questioned the leaders about this. Because, to me anyway, it seemed that the celebration of Communion should be a community celebration. Not an individual family thing. This seemed more like a fracturing of the Body of Christ than a joining together in communal Thanksgiving. Silly me for thinking such things!
Eventually, I did leave that church. There are many, many reasons why. But, that idea of fracturing the Body of Christ is near the top.
Here, in an admittedly compressed version, is what I have learned, and am convinced of, since my departure. The church I left, and all of those churches that think that same way, follow a modern version of Reformation theology. Every individual is a sinner in need of grace. Ok, so far so good. This thinking also leads to the idea that every individual is responsible for how they live that faith. That pretty much means that I can do what ever I believe God wants me to do. Of course, there are the big ‘Sins’ that must be avoided. But, if it’s not listed as sin, then I’m good to go.
That idea has driven much of our Western culture as it formed over the ensuing 500 years. It led, inevitably, to our old friend the Marlboro Man. It is readily displayed in the people who yell about their own rights. Just look at the churches that are openly defying stay at home orders during the current Covid-19 crisis. Their rallying cry? “No government can tell me what to do! My God is bigger than you. And, My God has given me the inalienable right to gather. So what if the virus is spread among the congregation and then back to their homes and friends and family.”
And yet, the very Bible that these people tell us that they believe in and follow is clear. “Consider others above yourself.” “Anyone who tries to save their own life will lose it.” All of the letters written by the Apostle Paul are attempts to build communities who live their lives sacrificially in order to display God’s mercy to the world. The idea that we are all just individuals who should live our lives in isolation from one another would be totally foreign to the people who actually wrote the Book.
As I wrote before, the in the Body of Christ there is no room for me; my; mine. It is always “Us.” We are a community. We must live like it.
When I began writing this blog way back in the dark ages, I never assumed that everyone who read it would agree with me. About anything. I did, however, promise myself that I would take any criticism seriously. Yeah, I know that there are trolls out there. They’re different. I won’t engage with them when/if I see them. However, serious comments that call me out for something that I write are welcome.
I received such a criticism yesterday. I don’t recognize the person’s name. So, at first I simply considered dismissing the comment. I didn’t, however. I approved it for viewing and replied.
Just so everyone understands what I’m doing here, let me explain a couple things.
All of us have blind spots. You know, those areas of our character that we simply cannot see. We need others who can point these out to us. Once they do, we have some choices. 1) We can dismiss them and ignore their observations. This may make us feel good about ourselves for a moment. But, the blind spot is still hidden. We will fail in that area again. 2) There’s the good ol’ American knee-jerk reaction that attacks the other person. If we can diminish them through a counter-criticism we can inflate our own ego and sense of self. No positive outcome will come of that. 3) We can deny what the other person says. “Who? Me? No way am I like that! You are soooo wrong!” Again, counter-productive. It keeps us living in Never-Never Land with the other children. 4) Accept what the other person says as plausible and take the time to reflect on it. This is the course that I choose when confronted with criticism.
This approach forces me to self-reflect on who I am and why I do things. It also, for me anyway, forces me to seek God’s Spirit to shine a Light on the area that has been questioned. You see, if there is a blind spot that someone else sees, then I need to have Help to see it myself and deal with it.
So, I sit. I pray. I reflect.
I ask questions of myself. Particularly, what are my purposes and motivations for writing the things that I do. Is it pride? Do I want people to see how educated and intelligent I am? Is it to be known? Do I want to see the number of views continue to grow? Is it anger? Do I desire to make those who have hurt me pay for their sins?
Is it to shine a light in the darkness of today’s culture and the world? Is it to truly offer people hope that the hurt they have experienced through religious or cultural abuse may be alleviated? Is it to reveal the Nature of God that is revealed in Jesus and brought to life through the Spirit to a world that desperately needs to see it?
If I am totally honest, it’s all of the above. And, more.
The apostle Paul is famous for writing about what we call the “Already, but Not Yet” reality of life in Jesus. Yes, there is truth to the fact that we are already living in a world that has been inaugurated into God’s new world. Jesus is risen. Sin and Death have been defeated. Already. But, we are not all the way there. Just look around and it’s obvious. Love has not blossomed all over the world. Hate, distrust, wars, suffering, hunger, etc. are still our lived reality. Not Yet.
For me, personally, that means that my motivations are, and will be, mixed. Altruism; Self-Centeredness. Me; You. Self; Others.
I can’t help that. Not while living in this tent.
It also means that I need people like yesterday’s critic to call me out when they see something that reveals a blind spot in my life. I don’t like it. Who does like the taste of the medicine? But, it’s necessary in this world to have those with the courage to speak out. So, to my critic, Thank You.
I debated long and hard about writing this post. Part of me really wants to sit back and ignore what other people think. Their opinions are just that, “Theirs.” And, if no one appears to be injured by that opinion, why not just leave well enough alone?
Then, there’s that other part of me. You know, that part that causes the hair on the back of my neck to stand on edge when I sense injustice. When people, whether consciously or not, say or do things that may clearly impact others negatively.
Yeah, I think that’s the part that wins out today.
Truthfully, what I have to say today may not mean much to anyone reading this. It may simply seem like a minor disagreement about religious ideas. Bear with me. I’ll get to the point eventually.
Yesterday was Easter. Christian High Holy Day of all Holy Days. It is the celebration of Messiah Jesus’ victory over death. For this the entire Cosmos celebrates.
But, we must remember that the only way that we get to Easter is straight through Good Friday. Most of us know that on that day, Jesus was stripped, beaten, and ultimately nailed to a tree and left to die. Gruesome? Yes. Heinous? Yes. Necessary? Also, Yes. Jesus knew that his path lay along that path. His prayer the night before lets us in on that. “Father, if this cup can pass from me.” He knew what was contained in that cup.
Here’s the part that we don’t usually think of right away. Jesus CHOSE to drink it anyway…to drain it to the dregs. Jesus’ entire public life was characterized by this same self-giving. The apostle Paul recorded this in the letter that he wrote to the Church at Philippi. Jesus, he wrote, “emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.” Phil. 2:7.
Jesus also taught his followers that they must consider others more important than themselves. They must love one another with the Same Self-Giving Love that He had for them. That they must, “Take up their cross” in order to follow him.
Paul consistently told the early Church that they would need to suffer as they followed Jesus. And, that they should count that suffering as Joy!
These are the things that characterized the first followers of Jesus. Distilled to the essentials, “Self-giving, self-sacrificing Love.”
So, yesterday I watched a half hour Easter presentation by the senior pastor of a local Mega Church Wannabe. His message of “hope” revolved around how we can, because of Jesus, turn our graves into gardens. Because of Jesus all of our needs can be met. Our sorrow becomes joy as we kneel before Jesus. We are “saved” from all kinds of evil because, yep, Jesus. All of our tears may be dried and our hope and dreams come to fruition if only we trust Jesus.
Now, all of that sounds kind of ok, right? It’s a positive message. God’s love seems to be displayed in this kind of talk.
But, what is the primary thrust of this?
A close look reveals the lie.
Everything this person said was all about, “Me; My; Mine.”
It is all about what God will do for ME! This is a self-centered false gospel that elevates my wants and desires above those of anyone, and everyone, else.
The danger in this kind of false gospel is that it is a reflection of, and a justification for, the kind of individualist exceptionalism that is far too prevalent in our culture. From the Seven Mountains heresy to America First the idea of God pouring out blessings on Me becomes the main, and only, focus of what it means to follow Jesus. We see this played out every day by people who claim that THEIR religious liberties are being threatened. They cry out that THEIR rights to do this or that should take precedent over YOUR rights. This false gospel reinforces the Reformation ethic of my personal salvation is all that matters. It states that if I was the only person who needed saving, Jesus would still come and die…for ME.
I’m not saying that Jesus would not do that. I am simply pointing out where the focus of such a statement lies.
With ME.
I’m sorry. That’s not the way the Gospel works. That’s certainly NOT what Jesus and the early Church modeled. Make no mistake. The Gospel is all about God reconciling the Cosmos to God’s Self. It states that God’s faithfulness is always trustworthy. God has always loved the Creation and desired to share God’s own Love with it. And, God took the initiative to make it so through Jesus.
From out of a tomb, a womb, made of Earth, a “New Adam” has arisen! One who is the True Image of the Living God! The One who is the True Steward of Creation!
With truth and justice He serves and protects that which God has placed in His hands.
Cosmos redeemed! Hope restored!
The Promise kept!
But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in, they did not find the body. While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.” Then they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened. Luke 24:1-12 NRSV.
May we all hope in the reality that Messiah Jesus has risen indeed!
Yesterday. The dreams of a nation died. We hoped, Oh, how we hoped, that this time… Well, we were wrong.
The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob PROMISED! He promised Abraham that one day one of his descendants would come. That person would be raised up by GOD alone! That person would lead God’s own people, Israel in God’s own Glory! And, Israel would be a blessing to the whole world!
We listened to him. We followed him.
“He is the One that was Promised!” some said. One of us even said that He was the Messiah, our hoped for deliverer. The Person that would lead Israel to freedom! This One would end our domination by foreigners and their gods. You should have seen all of the people just a few days ago! Lining the road into the Holy City! Proclaiming Him as the One.
But, now?
He lays in a tomb of cold stone. Dead. As are all of our hopes.
Yet, the story says that God, after finishing all of the work of creation Rested on the seventh day. The Sabbath.
That’s today. Grim irony. Our would be Messiah rests on this day. Was His work finished?
Today people who follow Jesus remember His death. Arrested the night before and subjected to a sham trial, Jesus was turned over to the Roman authorities and charged with sedition. The Romans accepted the charge and proceeded to mete out Roman justice. Jesus was stripped, beaten, mocked, spit upon, and ultimately crucified.
Israel’s Messiah.
Crucified.
Scandalous!
Soon after these events, and Jesus’ subsequent resurrection and glorification, people needed to understand what had happened. They thought and studied and prayed. They discussed and reasoned and argued.
They were all certain that something significant had taken place. But, were unsure of exactly what that was.
It wasn’t long before the early followers of Jesus saw in His death a parallel to an event that had taken place more than a millennium earlier. Jesus, they deduced, was God’s own Passover Lamb offered so that Sin and Death might no longer have a hold on the Creation. It was through Jesus’ own blood that God was proven faithful to the covenant that God made with Abraham. That covenant was that God, through Abraham’s lineage, would bless the whole Cosmos. God would, in effect, reverse the curse that had hung over humanity from the very beginning.
I know that I’m not giving the best or most concise view of what took place on that hill 2,000 years ago. That’s mostly because I simply don’t understand it myself.
Why did Jesus need to die?
Was it because of MY sins? Was it because of some personified thing called Sin? The writer of Genesis stated that when God confronted Cain about his anger God told Cain that Sin was crouching outside his door. But, that Cain could overcome that. If Cain could overcome Sin, then why did Jesus need to die?
If people who don’t know Jesus or Israel’s God can live upright and moral lives apart from God, why did Jesus need to die?
If Indigenous cultures contain no concept of Sin and live quite happily, why did Jesus need to die?
I know that common theological understandings say something like the blood of Jesus cleanses us. That it makes us whole. That, somehow, the blood makes peace between God and the Cosmos.
Ok. How? Why was that necessary? What actually took place?
The answers that I have heard don’t ring true to me.
Yeah, some folks say I ask too many questions. I should just shut up and accept what people way smarter than I am have to say.
Uh, no. That’s never gonna happen. I will continue to ask. I will continue to seek. I will continue to knock on the door.
Maybe, just maybe, one day a light will flash in my brain and I’ll finally get it. Maybe not.
But, that’s ok. Because whatever actually took place in the Cosmos on that day that we remember today, I will still follow Jesus. I will…
Some of you may be wondering why I have suddenly gone off on some weird theological tangent. “Why is he getting so worked up over something like this? It doesn’t have anything to do with what’s going on in the real world right now!”
I get that. It does appear that I’m taking something that is not relevant pretty damned seriously. Especially, something that I don’t really have any control over. I mean, who am I to presume that my tiny brain and even tinier voice could have any impact on something as deeply entrenched as Western Christianity.
And, you would be right!
My voice is like a whisper in a hurricane.
That doesn’t give me a pass, though. For, at this particular moment in time the Voice in my heart speaks loud enough. That Voice compels me to speak. If only to one other person.
So, back to the question I asked. Why does this call for a new Reformation get me worked up? Why should I, or anyone, care?
I’m glad that you asked that question!
I believe with all of my heart that the Faithfulness of Jesus the Messiah and the trust that Paul, Peter, and all the rest of the nascent Way of Jesus was misunderstood by those who followed them. Particularly, those who, I’m sure in good faith, tried to reconcile a specifically Jewish narrative with the prevailing Hellenistic world. The introduction of the philosophies of Greece, particularly Aristotle and Plato, in effect co-opted Israel’s story and planted it firmly in soil that was unable to sustain the growth that Jesus, Paul, et al had begun.
Ok. So what?
In the Greek mind, as I wrote yesterday, the rich tapestry that was Israel’s story was reduced to binaries. Good/Bad; Black/White; Us/Them. Paul’s theology was likewise reduced to fit this worldview. What had been a beautiful Gospel of hope in the God of Abraham to reconcile the Cosmos was turned into a Frankenstein’s monster of Greek pieces with Biblical language used to justify the creation of such an aberration.
The result?
A dualism that allowed theologians to find in the Scriptures a way for humans to gain entry into some Ideal, Spiritual realm called “Heaven”. While at the same time creating a necessary antithesis to this called “Hell.”
The Gospel, and the Church at Large, became a means by which humans could receive salvation for their Immortal Souls. From there it was a very short step to compelling people to assent to some Church prescribed proposition that would somehow, (magically?), insure that they would one day walk with God in heavenly places while avoiding the Inferno that awaited Everyone Else.
Today, that’s pretty much the same false gospel that churches foist on unsuspecting people.
What? You want proof?
Look around! So called ‘evangelists’ standing with bullhorns on college campuses yelling at people to Repent or Burn! Evangelical groups standing at the entrance to clinics that offer Women’s Health care abusing women who may be at the most vulnerable time of their lives. People carrying signs outside of funeral homes that carry the message, “Death to Fags!” Scamvangelists like Paula White who is a counselor to donald trump. Hate mongers like Robert Jeffress and Franklin Graham who speak of God’s love out one side of their mouths while proclaiming eternal hellfire for anyone who doesn’t buy into their particular form of religious belief. Bircher and false prophey Tim LaHaye. Pseudo-Historian and christian nationalist David Barton. The dangerous heresy of the Seven Mountains. The damnable blasphemy that states the God. Hates. Your. Guts. Indigenous Genocide. Manifest Destiny. The wholesale destruction of our environment by people who believe, (Falsely), that God has mandated that humans subdue and use, (re. ‘Exploit’), the environment. The fact that I cannot walk into any Evangelical church without anxiety rearing up in my chest and mind. How about that thousands and thousands of people who have been abused by those who preach such a hateful message?
Need I continue? I surely can.
All of this…ALL OF THIS…is the result of humans who were deceived into believing a false gospel.
So, I write and I speak.
Do I claim to have all the answers to these issues?
Oh, hell no!
But, I do know a fake when I see it. And, the Western Church, by and large, supports and acclaims a false gospel. The true Gospel is one that reveals God’s love, not only for humans, but for the entire Cosmos. The true Gospel has the power to reconcile, not divide. Paul wrote that in Messiah Jesus there are no walls to separate. There is neither Jew nor Greek; Free nor Slave; Female nor Male. We can extrapolate this to say that there is neither Black nor White; Gay nor Straight; Republican nor Democrat.
The bastardization of the Gospel cannot say any of those things. It sole purpose is to divide. There is Saved and Damned; Believer and Pagan; Us and Them.
May that Gospel be damned!
So, yeah. I’m worked up about this. It’s of paramount importance to me to speak against these abuses and Blasphemies. Yeah. I said it. The “B” word. That’s what that false gospel truly is.
So, there it is. And, I will continue to speak out. At least as long as I must. If that bothers you, well ok. But, not sorry. If you have similar thoughts and feelings, please share this. Perhaps our collective voices may amplify these abuses until people begin to notice.
