Category Archives: Church of God

Yesterday, Today, And Forever

Posted on March 18, 2019 by

Some time ago I wrote a post, one that has been among my most popular (and one that has even ended up being linked on sites like Conservapedia) that discusses the implications of a familiar passage in James 1:17 that … Continue reading →

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On The Heresies Of The Nature Of God: A Thought Experiment

Posted on March 17, 2019 by

Yesterday in his sermon our pastor, in a move that seems at least a little bit overdue, commented at some length on the difficulties that are found in trying to separate out the titles and actions of God the Father … Continue reading →

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Criticism Is A River That Flows Both Ways

Posted on March 16, 2019 by

One of the most profound ironies in a life that has shown many profound ironies is that I have devoted so much time and effort to developing and practicing and perfecting the art of criticism while being a person who … Continue reading →

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Some Thoughts On The Genre Of Sermonette

Posted on March 12, 2019 by

For at least three periods of my adult life (first, from 2004 to 2006, then from 2011 and 2012, and from 2015 to the present-day), I have been a writer and a speaker in an obscure genre of religious writing … Continue reading →

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Onan The Barbarian

Posted on March 11, 2019 by

Yesterday afternoon in the Speaker’s Workshop, someone said of my sermonette that it made a few of the ladies uncomfortable, dealing with the awkward and unpleasant examples of rape and incest, although I did not dwell on them.  As someone … Continue reading →

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For You Observe Trouble And Grief

Posted on March 10, 2019 by

[Note:  This is the prepared text for a sermonette delivered at the United Church of God congregation in Portland, OR on Sabbath, March 9, 2019.] One of my favorite genres of book to collect is called theodicy [spell out word].  … Continue reading →

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Book Review: The Prodigal God

Posted on March 8, 2019 by

The Prodigal God:  Recovering The Heart Of The Christian Faith, by Timothy Keller The parable of the prodigal son, as it is often known, is full of depth, and this book is at least the second great book (the first … Continue reading →

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Mysteries Of The Bible: Did The Office Of Prophetess Continue Into The New Testament Church?

Posted on March 5, 2019 by

Over the past few weeks or so I have written far more often than I would have liked on the question of women in the church.  Yet this particular issue seems to strike at a variety of fault lines and … Continue reading →

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Shredding The Chords

Posted on March 3, 2019 by

Since I’ve been rather busy this weekend, even by the fairly busy standards of my time, I thought it would be interested to note one of the threads that kept on appearing throughout the course of my weekend’s activities despite … Continue reading →

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On Clear And Unclear Scriptures

Posted on February 26, 2019 by

Although this particular essay seeks to provide a reflection upon the hermeneutical principle that clear scriptures explain unclear ones, the sort of textual approach adopted here is one that we can use for other texts as well, although it is … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Christianity, Church of God, Musings | Tagged | 4 Comments