Redeeming God

Liberating you from bad ideas about God

Join the discipleship group

Do you want to learn how to BETTER study the Bible?

DON’T Share this if you Love Jesus!

4 Comments

For some reason, my Facebook feed is absolutely cluttered with post after post after post where people have some dumb image with a message that says something like this:

Share this post if you love Jesus!

or

Want to be blessed? Leave a comment that says “Yes!”

or

Don’t be ashamed of the Gospel. Tell others about Jesus by sharing this post!

or

Want an answer to prayer? Type “I claim the blood of Jesus” in the comments.

So I laughed so hard when I saw this image today:

bless Jesus on Facebook

Anyway, here is my response to these sorts of Facebook posts:

  1. STOP IT!
  2. This is why non-Christians roll their eyes at Christians and think we’re idiots.
  3. I am now unfriending every person who leaves a post like this on Facebook.

God is Redeeming Life Bible & Theology Topics: , ,

Advertisement

How you can reach 54,000 people with the Gospel

2 Comments

Did you know I recently started a membership area on my website?

Well, I did.

But it definitely wasn’t so that I could charge you for my teachings. Frankly, if I could give away for free everything I write and teach, I would.

No, the actual reason I started a membership area was so that I can hopefully continue to write and teach on this site. Recently I have been wondering if I should just shut it all down. The membership area is my attempt to say “Open.”

Let me explain …

I am a Missionary

global missionsThough you may not realize it, I am a “missionary” to hundreds of thousands of people around the world. Every month, about 250,000 people read articles from my website, and a large percentage of those people are from Africa and Asia. In North America and Europe, a large percentage of the people who read my site are High School and College students.

Many of these people are hearing for the very first time about God’s love, grace, and forgiveness for them. People around the world send me scores of personal emails every single week about sins they have committed and questions about whether not God can forgive them and still love them. My online “mission” work allows me to share the good news with them about God’s grace, love, and forgiveness as found in Jesus Christ.

But all of this work I do is not without expense. Everything I do online costs me about $500 each month.

My Missionary Expenses are $500 per Month

My hosting fees, email company, software licenses, and audio file storage fees average about $500 each month. I do not take a salary or pay myself for my time. This website is not my job. The 30 hours per week I devote to this website are my donation to the mission of the site. But I don’t make enough from my regular day job to also cover all the expenses of running this site.

In the past, I have tired to cover the costs of running this website through book sales and advertising, but my revenue from these only cover about 60%-80% of my expenses. Somehow, I need to make up that deficit of $100-$200 each month.

Last year, I put out a call for donations. Several people generously donated, allowing me to operate “in the black” for a few months.

But I hate asking people for money. I hate asking for people to give to me their hard-earned income. Asking people to donate money makes me feel queasy.

So this year, I decided to start a membership area on my site. This allows people like you to support the work I am doing around the world, while at the same time, it allows me to give something valuable and beneficial back to you. The membership area of my site allows me to say “Thank you” in a big way to those who choose to support my writing and teaching.

support a missionary

So would you please consider joining me in this way?

If you think about it, I am reaching 250,000 people per month for only $500. That’s five people per penny. If you join my “Hope” Membership level at $9 per month, you are helping reach 4,500 people per month with the truth about God’s love and grace. That’s 54,000 a year! I challenge you to find another mission or ministry which can do that.

And guess what? Right now, I only need 15-20 people to make up the deficit in my monthly budget. Would you consider being one of those 15-20 people? I would really, really appreciate it, and so will the millions of people of Africa and Asia and the high school and college students who will visit my website this coming year. Go here to join now.

Now, what happens if I get more than 20 people to help support my work? The answer is that I will start making scholarship memberships available to those who need it most.

Since I started the membership area on my site, I have received dozens of requests from people around the world for free memberships. People from Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Philippines, and Indonesia, as well as several people here in the United States have emailed asking if there are scholarships available to my site. They want to take the courses and learn about the Gospels, but they don’t make enough money to afford the $9 per month. I understand. In many places in Africa and Asia, $9 per month is A LOT of money.

If I end up getting more support than I need to cover my expenses, I will start giving away free membership scholarships to people who need and want them, but who cannot afford them. My long-term goals include a certification process so that we can train and send out local missionaries in Africa and Asia. But that is getting way ahead of ourselves…

So if you want to help me reach 54,000 people with the Gospel this coming year, would you become a “Hope” or “Love” member of RedeemingGod.com? The “Hope” Membership costs $9 per month, and the “Love” Membership is only $89 per year. Both get full access to all my online theology courses, as well as several free eBooks and other benefits. Most of all, those membership fees help this site stay up and running, and enable me to keep writing and teaching so that others around the world can hear about the grace and love of God in Jesus Christ.

Would you join my Membership area this year and in so doing, let me become one of the missionaries you support? Thank you so much.

God is Redeeming Church, Redeeming Life Bible & Theology Topics: , ,

Advertisement

I’m Dreaming of a Politically-Correct Holiday

9 Comments

If you are tired of trying to be politically correct around Christmas, then listen to this song. You will laugh. (I wish they had made a music video out of this song, but this is only “video” of the song I could find.)

Click play on the following video, then sit back and laugh at the absurdity of it all. Sometimes, all you can do is laugh…

The song comes from Brad Paisley’s Christmas album.

Oh … and Merry Christmas!

God is Redeeming Life Bible & Theology Topics: , ,

Advertisement

Why Christians should not Celebrate Christmas or Easter, Drive a Mazda, or Use a Calendar

51 Comments

pagan ChristmasThis time of year I see article after article from Christians about why it is sinful to decorate Christmas trees, wrap presents, and sing “Deck the Halls.”

Here is an example:

Whenever I see these blog posts, Facebook articles, and YouTube videos, I always want to ask if they celebrate Easter, drive a Mazda, or use a Calendar.

Why?

Because the exact same logic people use to say that Christians should not celebrate Christmas can also be used to say that Christians should not celebrate Easter, should not drive a Mazda, and should not use a Calendar.

Here is the logic some Christians use to teach that it is sinful to celebrate Christmas:

  1. Christmas has roots in the pagan holiday of Saturnalia. It was celebrated with decorating trees, baking cookies, putting up lights, passing out presents, and singing songs.
  2. If we do these things for Christmas, then we are participating in a sinful, pagan holiday.

This is the basic logic, and some Christians occasionally find passages like Jeremiah 10:1-5 to support this view.

But let us plug the same logic in to the holiday of Easter:

  1. Easter has roots in the pagan holiday that celebrated Ishtar, the sex goddess. Among other things, the spring celebration of Ishtar was observed with sunrise celebrations, decorating eggs, giving candy, and cute bunnies. It reminded people of new birth and new life.
  2. If we do these things for Easter, then we are participating in a sinful, pagan holiday.

Ishtar Easter

And how about driving a Mazda:

  1. The Mazda car is named after the chief Persian deity, Ahura Mazda. Even the early symbol of the Mazda line of cars (1936-1962) resembled the dual-winged image of Ahura Mazda   and can still be seen in the modern winged “M” logo of the Mazda (see the three images below).
  2. Therefore, driving a Mazda is a tribute to Ahura Mazda, the pagan Persian deity, and is sinful for Christians. The same thing can be said, by the way, about driving a Saturn or a Mercury.

Following the Christmas logic, we also cannot use a calendar:

  1. All the days of the week are named after pagan deities.
  • Sunday = Sun’s Day
  • Monday = Moon’s Day
  • Tuesday = Tyr’s Day
  • Wednesday = Woden’s Day
  • Thursday = Thor’s Day
  • Friday = Frey’s Day
  • Saturday = Saturn’s Day

And most of the months of the year are also named after various pagan deities.

  • January = Janus’s month
  • February = month of Februa (pagan purification)
  • March = Mars’ month
  • April = Aphrodite’s month
  • May = Maia’s month
  • June = Juno’s month
  • July = Julius Caesar’s month
  • August = Augustus Caesar’s month
  • September = the seventh month*
  • October = the eighth month*
  • November = the ninth month*
  • December = the tenth month*

*The Roman calendar originally only had 10 months, with the first 60 days of the calendar being “monthless.” January and February were later added to the Calendar, but the final four months of the year retained their numbered names.

  1. Therefore, to talk about the days of the week or the months of the year is to give honor to the false gods and deities after which they are named.

As long as we are at it, we should also stop wearing Nike clothes and shoes, eating Mars bars, using Venus razors, buying Hermes handbags, or investing in Janus funds. And since all the planets are named after pagan Roman deities, we shouldn’t talk about our study our solar system. We also shouldn’t visit the Statue of Liberty. And no matter what, we should definitely stay away from the Washington monument and churches with steeples since they are symbols that come from pagan rituals that celebrated the male phallic.

Do you see where all this is going? As soon as Christians start to try to avoid and condemn anything and everything that has pagan roots or symbolism, we end up having to just sit at home twiddling our thumbs. Of course, even that is fraught with danger, because as Paul himself writes, every single human being has a background that is filled with paganism (cf. 1 Cor 6:9-11). So we cannot even be around ourselves!

Yes, this has now crossed over into the realm of the absurd.

But that is exactly the point.

All these condemnations of various aspects of life because those areas of life have pagan origins are nothing but absurd.

They also deny and reject the absolute fact that our God is a redeeming God. That Jesus Christ is a redeemer. That everything in heaven and on earth has been placed under the feet of Jesus so that He is all in all. That everything can be received with joy and thanksgiving in the name of Jesus. That everything is “Yes” and “Amen” through Jesus Christ, the Lord of all.

So this Christmas season, go put up lights on your tree. Go bake cookies and pass out presents. Go drive your Mazda to your job on Monday while you wear your Nike shoes and snack on a Mars bar. And while do you do all these pagan things, give praise to Jesus because He has redeemed everything, including you and me.

Jesus is a redeemer

So go ahead! Cut down the tree, decorate it with silver tinsel and gold ornaments, bake the cookies, hand out presents, sing the carols, and do it all with praise to Jesus Christ, who is our Redeemer!

If you want to read more about this, I have written a short eBook on the subject, titled Christmas Redemption. Get your copy on Amazon today for $2.99.

Better yet, “Hope” and “Love” Members of RedeemingGod.com will get this book for free a few weeks after signing up. Join now.

God is Redeeming Life Bible & Theology Topics: , , , ,

Advertisement

What is Love? (Baby, Don’t Hurt Me…)

48 Comments

Sorry for the song reference to Haddaway in the post title there … Although it was a really good song.

A reader recently sent me an email which I was unable to answer. (GASP! Yes … there are numerous such questions!) So, with his permission, I am putting it up here on the blog for you to weigh in on. His basic question is this:

We have all been told that true, biblical love (agape love) is not a feeling. But in 1 Corinthians 13 where Paul describes and defines agape love, he basically says that it is not actions either. Even if you do all the good and loving works described in 1 Cor 13:1-3, none of it matters if you don’t have love. So love seems to be something more than just loving actions as well. Therefore, what is love?

Here is an example: Do you love the poor and homeless? Well, probably very few of us feel a whole lot of love for the homeless. But many of us are involved in loving actions toward the poor and homeless as we give them food and clothing and try to help them obtain a better life. But taking care of the poor is one of the specific actions that Paul mentions in 1 Corinthians 13:3 as not meaning anything without love.

So again, I ask, “What is love?”

what is love

Here is the email I received from the blog reader (the email has been slightly edited for the purposes of this blog):

I was told countless times that love (Christian true love) is not a feeling but a decision.

And of course, we have 1 Cor 13, whatever you do without love is worth nothing. Even if you give your life to the poor, if you don’t love, it won’t do you any good.

Let us suppose someone has a chronically mentally ill spouse whom they have spent the last 30 years caring for, and will probably continue caring for them for another 30 years, unless death comes first.

The healthy spouse often feels like running away. They sometimes wish they had never gotten married. Sometimes they wish their spouse would just die. But the healthy spouse promised to be faithful in good and bad days, in sickness and in health. So far, the healthy spouse has stayed with the mentally ill spouse, but often does not feel any love, even though the constant care and companionship are loving actions. So is it love?

If the actions of love are present, but the feelings of love are not, is it love?

love 1 corinthians 13What should such a person do? Should they try to redeem their thoughts? Should they try to brainwash themselves into feeling love? Or is it enough to just keep the promises, stay faithful, and serve with ongoing love, support, and care, despite the absence of all feelings?

Maybe people don’t face this exact situation, but maybe they care for the poor, look after refugees, help support persecuted Christians, or work to protect orphans. These are all loving actions, but if they do not actually feel any love, is it really love? Does it really matter? Love is not a feeling, we are all told, but it seems that without the feeling, the actions of love are also worthless.

So, if love is not a feeling, and if according to 1 Cor 13 deeds do not suffice to prove love … what is love?

What thinkest thou, O wise one? Let us know in the comment section below!

God is Redeeming Life Bible & Theology Topics: ,

Advertisement

Advertise or Donate

Search (and you Shall Find)

Get Books by Jeremy Myers

Books by Jeremy Myers

Schedule Jeremy for an interview

Click here to Contact Me!