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Why I’m Not A Universalist: And How Rob Bell Helped Change My Focus from “Getting There” to “Staying Here”
By Steve on December 5, 2014
Rob Bell is always getting me in trouble! For every person who thanks me for introducing them to Rob’s books or teachings there is another who reminds me that he is a heretic leading people astray. Yesterday…
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3 Reasons Why Jesus Is NOT My “Personal Lord & Savior”
By Steve on September 25, 2014
If you grew up in evangelical or charismatic church circles you were probably encouraged to “receive Jesus” as your “Personal Lord and Saviour”. Doing this, usually done in the form of a “sinner’s prayer”, guaranteed…
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More “Left Behind”: Thoughts on Raptures, Resurrections, and Turning The Prince of Peace into A God of War
By Steve on September 18, 2014
My last post on the upcoming Left Behind movie seem to generate more than the usual amount of discussion. To everyone’s credit the interactions with me, or the one’s I observed between others, were…
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5 Theological Topics Making (Some) Christians Very Nervous
By Steve on June 11, 2014
It’s a general rule of thumb that in mixed company it’s best not to talk about religion or politics. On the religion side it’s also best to keep your theological discussions for Sunday mornings or…
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When the “Good News” Becomes “Good” Again!
By Steve on February 22, 2014
Two years ago I had a paradigm shift in my faith when I read Brian Zahnd’s Beauty Will Save The World. As I wrote then “I suddenly had my ‘spiritual mojo’ back!” In hindsight now…
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Ghostbusters: or How Christians Should Behave With “Portable Nuclear Reactors” On Their Backs
By Steve on February 14, 2014
You remember Ghostbusters right? Three guys with portable nuclear reactor laser like weapons on their backs that they would use to blast the demons, ghosts, and goblins invading New York City. The one rule they lived by…
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My Top 10 Changes Coming to Christianity
By Steve on May 7, 2013
Was reading Relevant Magazine this week and they were doing a number of “Top 10” lists on different aspects of church, faith, and leaders. It got me thinking along the lines of Christianity and what changes…
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Heaven & Earth: Right Here…Right Now!
By Steve on February 14, 2013
Reading N.T. Wright’s Surprised by Hope I realize there is an aspect to my understanding of God that has been very neglected from the beginning of my Christian walk. As the book reveals, ask most…
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N.T. Wright & How God Became King
By Steve on January 5, 2013
Followers of Beyond the Pale know that the theme of the Kingdom of God has been resonating in my heart this last year. In fact its probably the driving force behind my re-launching the blog…
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My Year End Book Reviews: 2012
By Steve on December 31, 2012
Last year I did a year end book review and as I look at it I realize how much my reading tastes has changed in a year’s time. In 2011 not a single “Christian” book…