Tried With Fire

I just finished Unfollow: A Memoir of Loving and Leaving the Westboro Baptist Church by Megan Phelps-Roper, granddaughter of Fred Phelps. This isn't solely a book review. I will give a synopsis with some quotes for reflection because it should be a caution to us all.   After being steeped in the culture of Westboro Baptist (WBC) her entire life, Phelps-Roper took on the task of being the Twitter arm for WBC. But exposure to those who disagreed with her began to chip away at all she had been taught. Some of her opponents tried to befriend her and discuss the issues at hand, not just trade insults The more she realized their humanity, the harder it became for her to toe the family line. She became more aware of the inconsistencies with the Scripture they professed to uphold, self-justifications, and mistreatment within the church and of those outside. Her whole sense of reality was shaken because Westboro's mission was her life . This internal conflict reached a point where...

Scandals involving Christian organizations/celebrities broke shortly before I went on vacation. I told my daughter it was probably a good thing I was taking an Internet break. I tend not to be a big "issue" person, but I make a very strong exception when it comes to abuse and any alleged cover-up within the Christian community. I thought time and distance would cool-off my response. Evidently not. I am still grieved and heartbroken. I get a gnawing pit in my stomach every time a fresh account is made public of alleged abuse within Christian circles. This not only includes abuse in its criminal forms but spiritual abuse as well. This causes me to wonder -  does spiritual abuse provide the necessary cover under which other forms of abuse can hide in a Christian environment? Having witnessed several incidents over the past decades, there is nothing so disheartening as Christian leaders sweeping sin under the rug. When the scandal involves celebrities, the news spreads far...

In a recent sermon on Romans 8, Pastor Ryan stated that often we are afraid to say "God is for us" (vs. 31). The prosperity gospel (and run-of-the-mill American evangelicalism for that matter) has taken that verse and so many others out of context, It has made God all about us and our temporal happiness. But just because people have twisted scripture doesn't mean we should be afraid to believe what He has said. You may not feel that way, but I can relate completely. I've known situations where "grace" was deliberately turned into license, so in response to that misuse, I swung to the extreme where I was almost afraid of that word. I think I'm getting better, but sometimes I still tense inwardly when I read or hear what IMO isn't a balanced gospel message. But after thinking more about my reactions, I realized that, more often than not, pride is pushing my pendulum. If so-and-so is getting (insert favorite theological pet peeve here) wrong, then b...

I was up later than was good for me and woke up before the alarm this morning with worry twinges. Although I believe in the total sovereignty of God, there are times when I revert. A thought crosses my mind that if I don't do X or Y, somehow that will hinder what God has willed. Even now sometimes dread will come over me because I did not do the right thing at the right time and in the right way . As I was lying awake and praying about this, it hit me that the root is pride. I want that sense of security that comes from my doing something rather than God doing something. I also want the sense of accomplishment even in my obedience. Jeremiah was right to say that the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. I believe that John Bunyan said that there was enough sin in his best prayer to damn him. The flip side is when I fail and blow it, God isn't the least bit surprised or shocked. When I fail to trust Him or have mixed motives even in my desire to...