Honestly Thinking

Honestly thinking (& rethinking) about God, the universe, and everything in between

Tag: grace (Page 2 of 2)

One Big Potty Mess

May 13, 2016 / / 0 Comments
Photo by Mike Mozart

Photo by Mike Mozart

Sorry to dump this on you.  Perhaps you may even feel this is a waste of time.

The subject has become a bit draining after all and is sometimes defecalt to discuss.  Yet I feel like I can stall on this topic no more and that it’s my absolute duty to bring it up…

…because many people feel like our nation is going down the toilet.  The divisiveness over the issue at the very least runs deep.

Butt if you don’t chuckle just a little bit at the thought of it, I think urine denial about just how plumb silly the whole things sounds.

One of our biggest national conversations right now is…over where we should pee and poop. Continue reading

The Political Correctness of being Politically Incorrect

February 14, 2016 / / 13 Comments

Back in high school, my best friend Mike and I were riding in my oh-so-cool blue 1978 GT Toyota Celica, most likely with Phil Collins music blaring in the background (because that’s pretty much what we always listened to in those days – if not Peter Gabriel, Bryan Adams, or anything from my “Miami Vice” soundtrack).  I don’t remember the exact context of the conversation, but most likely as a wanna-be-filmmaker I had been dreaming up another idea for one of our many VHS camera recorded mini-film adventures, when I proposed,

“And then one of the Japs comes flying down with his plane…”

Mike suddenly turned to me with that wry half-grin of his and said, “Japs?”

“What?” I responded, clueless at what he was getting at.

“Japs, Steve?  Really?”

You see, a little background here: Mike was (or I guess still technically is) half-Japanese – his mother, an immigrant from Japan after marrying Mike’s American military dad.  If anything, Mike somewhat more favors the Japanese side in terms of looks.

But to me, Mike was just…Mike.  My best friend. Continue reading

A Sordid Tale of Sex and Sin…and grace

October 25, 2015 / / 3 Comments

Adam & Eve hide

(Part 3 of 3 of God, the church and LGBT)

In my first post on LGBT I explained how God favors those who are LGBT.  God’s favor is never lost and never has to be earned; he simply likes you – always has and always will.  The church has sadly failed to express that.  In my second post, I explored the question of whether same-sex marriage is sin, saying how it (along with any similar questions related to LGBT and sin) is nearly impossible to answer; for in that one question is actually 1000 other deeper questions being asked.  To try and answer it in a short soundbite without first listening to others is often costly as it ends up hurting people along the way.  With that said, I’m actually going to attempt now to answer the question – or on a broader scale the question of whether being LGBT (or other similar variations) is sin. Continue reading

Why God Favors LGBTs

September 27, 2015 / / 3 Comments

(Part 1 of 3 of God, the Church, and LGBT)

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In my last post titled “God  Really Likes You, But You Suck: The Confusing Message of Grace” I shared about the subject of God’s favor.  If you have not read it already I strongly encourage you to do so before reading on.  It will make a lot more sense related to the theology behind what I am about to say and potentially answer a lot of your questions.

In summary of it: we have confused our understanding of grace, which is often defined as God’s “unmerited favor” toward us.  It is not that one must do something wrong first, thus unmeriting themselves, before undeserved favor is offered; instead, it is favor freely given that never had to be merited in the first place.   Continue reading

God Really Likes You, But You Suck: The Confusing Message of Grace

September 20, 2015 / / 14 Comments
Photo by Melissa Baldwin

Photo by Melissa Baldwin

“♫ Amazing grace how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me ♪” We sing about it all the time. “♪ Grace, grace, God’s grace.  Grace that is greater than all my sin ♫” We talk about it. “By grace alone you have been saved.” And we offer it to each other. “Grace to you.” It is one of the most prominent messages in the church.  But do we really know what it means?

The Greek word for grace, χάρις (charis), is most often defined as “favor” and sometimes as “kindness.”  It has the implication of favor that is freely extended – and thus often defined as “unmerited favor.”

So if God really favors you a lot that should make us really feel good right? But do we?

Last week, blogger and former evangelical Christian turned atheist, Neil Carter, tweeted:

Continue reading

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