Theocentric Musings

I wanted to talk today about "Thorns", I had realized in conversation with a friend that I had studied this topic for so many years, but I had never actually placed my thoughts down on pad, or in this case into the 0s and 1s of my blog; so, today is the day I tackle the subject. Firstly, I want to make it abundantly clear that Paul's thorn in the flesh was not "sickness", any teaching claiming it was sickness is untrue. I wont go as far as saying it is satanic in origin, but it is promoted by those that have been misled. We are speaking of a man that walked in healing in such a powerful way that fabric that touched his skin would be used to heal those miles away. He had no problems when it came to healing, there is not one documented time he failed in healing.  Someone may say "hold on, what about Timothy (1 Tim 5:23)?" But in that case I believe the issue was simply something similar to what happens if an American goes to Mexico and drinks the l...

It wouldn't surprise me to see Franklin Graham support Hitler's treatment of homosexuals, based on his support of the laws in Russia and the fruit of those laws. What happened as a fruit of Hitler's anti homosexual regime? Gay men suffere d unusually cruel treatment in the concentration camps. They faced persecution not only from German soldiers but also from other prisoners, and many gay men were beaten to death. Gays in forced labor camps routinely received more grueling and dangerous work assignments than other non-Jewish inmates, under the policy of "Extermination Through Work". SS soldiers also were known to use gay men for target practice, aiming their weapons at the pink triangles their human targets were forced to wear. The harsh treatment can be attributed to the view of the SS guards toward gay men, as well as to the homophobic attitudes present in German society at large. The marginalization of gay men in Germany was reflected in the camps. M...

My friend Derek Flood with a great observation: Now let's talk about sin and hell: I don't mean the trivial "did you ever tell a lie" nonsense. I mean real harm, real brokenness, real hurt. Do people do really hurtful and horrible things to each other? Yes, they certainly do. Are people hurt and broken? Yes, more than you know. Abuse is real. Rape is real. Starvation is real. War crimes are real. In short, there is a "hell" right here that many ... people are in the middle of, and that matters, and we should care. This idea of hell right now is vital because it means we need to care about people's lives right now, and not just about life after death. I believe in that, too, I hope for heaven with all my heart, I long for eternity. But life here matters. People matter. That's why Jesus spent all his time caring for people and their very real needs. When we have a theology that makes all of that a waste of time then we suck the life right out of ...

It's funny.  God doesn't remember our sins anymore, but people sure do. You'd think they have a "god complex", but not of the right god.

I’m going to get serious here for a moment and address something that you may have heard on the news. Unless you live under a rock, even if you have no television, you somehow probably learned about an event surrounding Phil Robertson of the Duck Dynasty clan. He was asked questions, what some consider controversial questions, and he answered them the only way he knows how. With some down south humor and honesty, with a sprinklin’ of bible mixed in. A down south Christian gumbo of an answer, if you will. And I just did. Well, those answers weren’t met well from certain groups and they immediately were offended, possibly like some of you may be as I progress in my writing (shhhh, I shouldn’t give that away so early, you may not continue reading). Well, forget I said that and I’ll move on. If you haven’t heard the interview, I’m going to share it. Well, I’m going to paraphrase it a little because I don’t actually have permission to share the interview, but I think it will make...

I've found that I don't have to engage in a battle with those in the world, yet I seem to be in a battle with those that claim the Gospel but preach anything but good news. I don't debate many unbelievers. What for? Would a Medical Doctor debate a patient when it comes to treatment of their life threatening cardiac arrest or would a Medical Doctor simply treat the patient? Instead of debating with someone who doesn't believe, I share Christ with them in word and, most importantly, deed. But I am happy to discuss theology with those that are going out there leading people to their version of Christ with a flawed, slanderous, hate-filled, works centered, sacrifice in the temple daily, sin focused, calling good evil and evil good, un-restful, powerless, exclusionary, judgmental, us against them, un-healing sickness keeping message.

Jesus looked upon the multitude and was moved with compassion. This was typical of Jesus, He saw people and couldn't help but have compassion for them. What man y people miss is that in the multitude were men, women, and children, they were gay, thieves, liars, gossipers, back stabbers, and murderers. Drunks, addicts, bullies, and manipulators. Rapists, child rapists, adulterers, divorced, and a sprinkling of religious zealots. He didn't have compassion for them or a love towards them only when they stopped doing things that those in American Christianity™ prop up as the worst sins, He loved them and had compassion for them while they were embroiled in any and all of these things, simply because they were His children. You see, Jesus didn't love the sinner and hate the sin, He loved people and hated evil. He was wise enough to see that the sins, the missing the mark, of those standing before Him that they were involved with didn't define them, and it w...

I want to talk to you today about love. I mean, do we even really know what love is? Most of our definitions of love have been shaped from various influences, maybe Disney movies like Snow White, Cinderella, or Tangled, romance novels, TV shows, Hollywood movies, our friends, our parents, and maybe even music. Everyone has a song that either makes them happy they are in love or sad that they were in love. In 1984 Tina Turner released the third single from her album ‘Private Dancer’, it was called “What’s love got to do with it”. It became a huge success for her and almost everyone has heard her song. But does it really represent love in a positive way? Listen to some of the lyrics: “What’s love but a second hand emotion ” “What’s love but a sweet old fashioned notion ” “It scares me to feel this way” “Who needs a heart when a heart can be broken ” Tina’s question was “what’s love got to do with it” and her answer made love sound like something not important or ...

We defend suffering in our lives because we say it's the chastening of the Lord or disciplining of the Lord, but I have to disagree. I look to scriptures and watch how Jesus "chastened" or "disciplined" His disciples. Also how He chastened or disciplined those that were clearly in the midst of sin, like the woman caught in adultery, the woman at the well, Zacchaeus, Saul/Paul, or pretty much the m ultitude that He looked at and had compassion for. But back to the disciples who spent the most time around Him as He walked the earth, they didn't have a clue what they were doing, they didn't graduate from Bible school, they didn't have degrees or doctorates, they were picking things up on the fly by being in contact with God in flesh, Jesus Christ. They were learning as they walked with Him, some faster than others, some slower than others. They slipped at times, and God was right there with them, He was right there ready to do His chastening and d...

I will always call a sin a sin because I know what destruction can come from being seduced by sin, but when dealing with people I'd much rather talk about God's love, and His joy, and His peace, and His freedom, and how being drawn to Him has so changed my life and made me happier than I've ever been even going through some of the worst trials. If you're going through some stuff and can't figure heads or tails of your life and why you just feel like something is missing even though you feel you have everything you ever wanted, or maybe you feel like your life has never measured up and every time you think you're getting ahead something else goes wrong, message me. Let's talk. You have the questions, He may of given me some of the answers. We don't have to talk about where you feel you may of fallen short or may have gone wrong, we'll talk about everything Jesus did right and how much He gave to show you His love instead. I look forward to hearing...