I have much to say on this topic and how the church has lost its way in the world today.
I’m no different from anyone else in the world in regard to making my version of God. The last time I looked, there were about 40,000 different versions of the Christian church in existence in the world. Some say that … Continue reading My Version Of God
Thank you, Micheal, for the Progressive Christianity post above. For some reason, I have never put those two things in a “vs” position. I know that after my serious 4 years study of the Bible years ago, I always had … Continue reading Biblical vs Christlike
I can remember, as a young boy, reading a story about George Washington chopping down a cherry tree. It was a noble story about how he took the blame for the missing tree. The trouble was, that I found out … Continue reading One Publisher’s Version View Of The Story
In many past posts, I have lamented how Jesus’ church has split into over 35,000 versions. For this post, I am going to look at that from a different viewpoint. The first split happened almost immediately in that Saul/Paul who … Continue reading So Many Different Versions Of God…
This is a continuation about Jefferson and religion. As stated before, there are many, especially in evangelical circles, that say that Jefferson meant for our country to be founded on Christian principles. My posts on the blog are to show … Continue reading Jefferson’s Views of The Clergy Of His Times
This will be one of those posts that jerks at my soul. I remember hearing the title phrase pretty frequently when I was growing up. It usually meant that the speaker was surprised at what I had done and usually … Continue reading What In The Name Of God Did You Do?????
Years ago, I was the treasurer of a small startup Lutheran church. Before that, I just imagined that most of the money that was put in the collection plate went towards doing the things that Jesus wanted us to do. … Continue reading A New Approach To Church?
All of us live our lives with great expectations. We dream of a life that is full of love, exciting challenges, and usually luxury. But, what happens when our expectations are blunted by reality? What do we do then? In … Continue reading When Expectations Don’t Meet Reality… And They Rarely Do
How’s that for a question for the ages. I would love to hear your answer to it, especially before you read mine. I usually reserve these types of questions for Sunday, of course, that is because of my Catholic school … Continue reading Without Us, Would God Be God?
Stephen Mattson is one of those people I follow regularly. He definitely gives me things to think about. The more I study about Christian history, the more I realize the truth of these words. Continue reading Theology Policemen…
During my recent visit with my brother down in North Carolina, I accompanied him to Easter Sunday Mass. It was the first time in over 50 years that I stepped inside a Catholic Church during its service. What I found … Continue reading The Catholic Mass
Christianity is ultimately about loving God and loving others. It should never be co-opted by a political movement, a religious institution, gaining power, obtaining control, spreading influence, enforcing laws, or becoming rich and famous. It’s about a loving relationship with … Continue reading Never Let Anything Supersede This
I am not going to “preach” to you, but every Sunday going forward I am going to give you some thoughts from those wiser than me, about what it means to be a Christian. I promise I won’t add any … Continue reading A Few Thoughts About Christianity – Stephen Mattson
Faith should not be a static thing in today’s world, especially since there are so many who are using their version of God to try to shut off your mind to other possibilities. Many very intelligent people have come to … Continue reading Faith Should Not Be A Static Thing
There are now over 40,000 different versions of Christianity around today. To this “Avowed follower of the teachings of Jesus”, Stephen Mattson’s version is perhaps my favorite. He concentrates on Jesus as a divine teacher who tells us how to … Continue reading Couldn’t Have Said It Better…
When I was very young, I was told that the church was a crucial thing in my life. But, at the same time, my parents seldom went there themselves. Instead, they dropped us off at the front door. I was, … Continue reading What Happened When I Finally Gave Up Church?
I see where the leadership of Iran, in response to all the protests by the young people, have announced they are abolishing the “Morality Police”. Those are the forces who roam the streets looking to punish those who are not … Continue reading Mandated Morality & Insurrections
Let’s talk a little today about folklore. As the definition here shows, it is something passed down through generations by word of mouth. Having some Native American blood in me, I have always been fascinated by that version of folklore. … Continue reading About Folklore…
I have let it be known here on RJsCorner that I am disappointed in most Christian Churches. So many of them are now dominated by those who act very contrary to their founder’s words. I know not every one of … Continue reading Back To My Religious Roots?
Some cling to traditions as if it were life itself. I am not one of them. To me, traditions are too often used to cling to prejudice and a fanatical resistance to change, any change. I saw that on display … Continue reading Some Cling To Traditions…
For this Sunday, I give you fire and brimstone. I don’t know what brimstone is, but I probably deserve a lot of it. I have made it clear here on RJsCorner that I am no longer religious, but I am … Continue reading Fire And Brimstone…
I have been casually studying of Aristotle for many years, and have recently started another book about him. He was definitely a dreamer/thinker that I could never even imagine being. It is amazing to me how so many of his … Continue reading The Pursuit of Happiness #4: According to Aristotle
Just a quick message for this Sunday. For those of us who follow the teachings of Jesus know that religion and spirituality can mean to very different things. When religion gets in the way of the messages of Jesus it’s … Continue reading He Never Told Me To Love My Religion
This post originated on my blog at RedLetterLiving, but I think it will get the broader attention here that it deserves. Anyone who has read many of my words over at RedLetterLiving knows that I don’t have a very positive … Continue reading Tree of the knowledge
For this Sunday’s post I am again sending you to my blog at RedLetterLiving. Click HERE to go there. Continue reading The 10 Commandments – Revisited
I have decided to do an extended study of Humanism at the recently resurrected RedLetterLiving blog. Click HERE to see the first post. Continue reading Humanism And Jesus
This is the third Sunday post here at RJsCorner where I am re-visiting some posts I wrote over at RedLetterLiving about this book by Philip Gulley. It is one of a handful of books that fundamentally changed my spiritual life. … Continue reading If God Is Love — Finishing It Up.
This is a continuation of my look back on my blog RedLetterLiving blog before I activate it again. This is part two of a series I wrote in June 2011 about the book “If God Is Love” by Philip Gulley. … Continue reading If God Is Love… Part 2
This is a continuation of my look back on my blog RedLetterLiving before I activate it again. It has pretty much been in hiatus for six years now but I think it is necessary to resurrect it in order to … Continue reading If God Is Love
I call myself a follower of Jesus, but sometimes I just don’t feel like I am a Christian, or at least a recent version of that description. That is what this post is all about.
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As I remember it many in the religious community at that time in 1970 thought Jesus Christ Superstar was sacrilegious. But it might just be the primary reason I returned to religion. That is what this post is all about.
Continue reading “Jesus Christ Superstar…”
For this Sunday’s Look Back let’s look at the MAGA/Evangelical cult. I never would have dreamed that U.S. Christianity would have taken the fatal hit it has when I wrote the above words five years ago. Yeah, we had the Tea Party back then that was identified as a radical right fringe but for the most part they were not identified as a primarily Christian organization. The phrase “Make America Great Again” and “Evangelical” are now combined into MAGA/Evangelical and are irrefutably joined at the hip. I’m sure the roots of today’s cult were from the Tea Party but it … Continue reading Looking Back – U.S. Christianity
This post is going to be about trying to dispel the feeling that some have that I am anti-religious. We don’t need less religion, just better versions.
Continue reading “Not Less, But Better…”
With this post I am going to bring back my Sunday talks about spirituality and my enlightened view of things religious. This post is about praying to God.
Continue reading “Are We Praying To A Narcissist God?”Shane Claiborne is one of my favorite Christian authors. He definitely lives the words of Jesus and he is not bashful when it comes to telling others that Talk is cheap and actions are where you demonstrate your beliefs. At one point Gandhi was asked if he was a Christian, and he said, essentially, “I sure love Jesus, but the Christians seem so unlike their Christ.” A recent study showed that the top three perceptions of Christians in the U. S. among young non-Christians are that Christians are 1) antigay, 2) judgmental, and 3) hypocritical. So what we have here … Continue reading What If Jesus Meant All That Stuff
For my winter 2018/2019 project, I have decided to study the topics of philosophy and spirituality and how they intermingle. I am starting out this study by reading a book entitled “Belief without Borders” by Linda A. Mercadante. I will be putting out numerous Sunday posts about it in the coming weeks. Associated with that study, I have also been visiting some of my more than 500 posts over at one of my other blogs at RedLetterLiving.net This post was originally written on February 18, 2013. ======================================================= All of this makes me wonder if pews are misleading in churches. They trick people … Continue reading Churches Are Misleading….
My conservative Evangelical friends would like me to believe that you can’t be a humanist and also be a follower of Jesus. From what I have discovered in the last few months, that is categorically false. The two beliefs align very well with one another. Yes, there are differences in beliefs for different versions of humanism, but since there are over 39,000 versions of Christianity that kind of seems a lame argument to me. I’m sure some humanists are more aesthetic in nature just as there are Christians who basically ignore the teaching of Jesus. Jesus was about caring for … Continue reading Humanism And Jesus…
I am convinced that, as a general rule, my Republican friends pretty much lack empathy to any degree. I know this could be “painting with a broad brush” type thing but hear me out. I find example after example of this fact in my daily life. Let me give you a few examples. I have a Republican friend who goes on and on about how all those people on welfare are freeloaders. To him, they are just too lazy to go out and get a job. I try to tell him that on the average most people are on welfare … Continue reading About Empathy
I have let it be known many times here on RJsCorner that I am pro-life in all regards and that certainly includes the death penalty. So, when I heard that the largest Christian church in the world’s leader Pope Francis, backed by bishops around the world, declared the death penalty unacceptable in all cases I lept for joy. Finally, at least some Christians saw that public execution was an affront to the very nature and essence of God. Christians have a long history with the death penalty, going all the way back to A.D. 33, when the Roman Empire crucified Jesus. Sadly, … Continue reading Abolish The Death Penalty
I am proudly a follower of the teachings of Jesus Christ. His words are the very foundation for my spiritual life. But, don’t read that as to mean that I am religious. I have for the most part given up that quest. All this so far leads into the point of the post but is not the topic. In the last two years, #CO3 has elevated ridicule to a higher level than anyone I have ever known. No one wants to be ridiculed, especially me. I simply lose any sense of reality when someone mocks me or ridicules my beliefs. … Continue reading The One Thing I Hate The Most…
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