Mark 7 Remix

My most recent article on the Presence website is Mark 7 Remix. It takes the story of Jesus’ conversation with the zealous religious folks and translates it into a contemporary context. It starts like this:
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As soon as church let out, the believers headed to the cook out to see Him. Now when they saw some of His friends grilling burgers and drinking a beer, they found fault. For all of the faithful ones don’t drink, and they wait until after church to begin barbequing.

Perplexed and perturbed, the believers asked Him, “Why don’t these people go to church? And why do they think it’s ok to have an occasional drink? Shouldn’t they be worshiping God with the fellowship of the saints instead of just hanging out here?”

Read more here.

But Out

In my experience, most people in churches of all denominations wrestle with one primary issue: Does God really love me?

The question is phrased in various ways like: What must I do to be saved? Why is there evil in the world? What about hell? Why did Jesus have to die? What is acceptable worship? What does God want from me? What is my purpose in life? Am I gifted enough? What is my ministry? How can God love me if there is so much misery in the world?

We could go on and on, but you know the questions. You’ve asked them, and maybe you’ve sought answers in churches, from theologians, and in prayer. Churches tend to respond in the affirmative, yet they often negate the answer with one little word. “But.”

God loves you, but you must stop sinning. God loves you, but you must speak in tongues. God loves you, but you must be baptized. God loves you, but you must go out and change the world. God loves you, but you must acknowledge the creeds. God loves you, but if you don’t do all of the right things in all of the right ways, then God will make sure something really bad happens to you—either now or in the hereafter.

Oddly enough, this message is habitually packaged as “good news.”
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Read the entire article when you click here.