Going AWOL from the Culture Wars and Loving Humanity
Growing up Fundagelical, I was exposed to “Chick Tracts.” For the uninitiated, these were small pamphlets with cartoons that were used to evangelize. Jack Chick, the originator of these tracts, helped to promote so much of what is wrong with Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism today. He didn’t stop at just sharing a simple gospel message; he … Continue reading Death Cookie- The Twisted World of Jack Chick
When the Senior Pastor of my church insisted that I go to the Men's retreat, I had little choice. I was employed as the Youth Pastor, and I was expected to go and spend time with the men. The reality was that he wanted me to drive up to the San Bernardino Mountains so he … Continue reading The Strangest Men’s Retreat I Ever Went On.
In 1958, Bank of America started issuing credit cards with the name BankAmericard. In 1976, they changed the name to VISA to go international. The name VISA was chosen because it sounded the same in every language. In the late 1970's I receive a mimeographed paper explaining how the new VISA cards were the "Mark … Continue reading VISA is the Mark of the Beast
666! Is there a scarier number to fundagelicals? It is, after all, the "Mark of the Beast."(Revelation 13:18) As I mentioned in a previous post, I was cleaning out my garage and found an old box of books. (I'll admit there are many old boxes of books out there.) Among the treasures hidden in the … Continue reading 666
Growing up fundagelical, "The Rapture" was one of those topics I was taught and accepted but never questioned. (The Rapture for all you non-fundegelicals is when all the REAL Christians on earth will suddenly vanish. Think: Left Behind.) We all talked and argued about the Rapture. The big argument was whether the Rapture was going … Continue reading Are You Rapture Ready?
Fundagelicals live in a bubble. I was raised in a little fundagelical bubble myself. My family was all fundagelical. We went to a fundagelical church. Our social activities revolved around the church and most of my social interactions were with other fundagelicals. I went to a fundagelical private school. Every person I knew was a … Continue reading When Satan’s Minions Look Like Your Children.
Bait and switch is a tried and true sales tactic. An item is advertised to draw a consumer in and then they are steered to a more expensive product. Fundagelicals have a similar bait and switch tactic called "Friendship Evangelism." As a member of a youth group I was taught how to use friendship evangelism … Continue reading Phony Fundagelical Friendships
While cleaning out the garage, I came across a box of old books. Since I'm a book lover, I have shelves and shelves of old books. I have books on the shelves, under the shelves and in boxes everywhere. The mere idea of getting rid of a book is not to be considered. So, upon … Continue reading Fundagelicals Love Them Some Prophecy
I want to share one of my favorite stories. The author of the piece is Anthony de Mello. He considers it to be a “Story meditation.” The story comes from his book The Prayer Of The Frog “On a rocky seacoast where shipwrecks were frequent, there was once a ramshackle little life-saving station. It was … Continue reading Shipwrecks
"What comes to our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. The history of mankind will probably show that no people has ever risen above its religion, and man's spiritual history will positively demonstrate that no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God." - - - … Continue reading Is God a Psychopath