Simply Belief

Picture a courtroom. You are the defendant, guilty of a crime you can't deny. You can almost hear the judge's gavel falling, signaling your doom. But then, a surprise twist: your lawyer, whom you've never met before, steps in and takes your place. He accepts the verdict, the punishment, everything. He pays your fine out […]

Imagine a mother, cradling her newborn baby for the first time. There is joy in her eyes and a promise of love unconditional. She knows as she holds this child, their life has just begun, but it’s the journey of growth that lies ahead that will shape this baby into the person they will become. […]

Imagine you're playing a game with your friends, and you break a rule. Everyone knows you did it, and you feel pretty bad. Breaking that rule means you have to sit in time out the rest of the game. But then, one of your friends steps in and says they'll take the blame and sit […]

Your insanely rich great aunt’s ex-husband has recently died. Don’t worry, you have never met him. In his will, he left you a condo at an all-inclusive resort in the tropics. It’s unlike any place you’ve ever seen before. Your ownership of the place promises entry and a lifetime stay, a grand meal plan, and […]

Imagine you are given an opportunity to take a free ride on an international cruise ship. As you are embarking the port authority explains, the free ticket guarantees your arrival to the destination, but the quality of the journey depends on your choices.  Salvation Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no […]

Reece (10 years old) asks: “If something can’t come from nothing, where did God come from?” Answer: Great question, Reece. That’s also an age-old question. The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle asked it. And so have most of the great teachers in Christianity. Let me give you two different kinds of answers. First, there’s the answer […]

One of the mistakes that Free Grace people can make in discipleship is to lose sight of how eternal rewards are also a matter of grace. In one of the most crucial passages on rewards in the New Testament (i.e., 1 Cor 3:5-8), Paul has something to say about whether we really “earn” our rewards: […]

I've heard plenty of exuberant preachers say that you have to admit that you're a sinner and confess your sins in order to be saved. There are a few examples of people confessing sin in the New Testament. However, nowhere in the New Testament does it say that one must confess their sin in order […]

The gospel is so very simple. The Son of God became a man, died on the cross for your sins, and rose again from the dead three days later so that He could offer us salvation by grace through faith in Jesus, totally apart from our works. Faith is merely the instrument through which we […]

Imagine a bustling church in the heart of the Midwest, led by a magnetic Pastor. He subscribes to the philosophy of "Relationships over Doctrine," diligently sidestepping theological disputes and nurturing a warm atmosphere. As his congregation grows and new faces appear each week, these members, seem happy. However, when asked about their faith's tenets, they […]

One of the most intriguing aspects of the early Church was the dynamic between its apostles. These were divinely chosen individuals, blessed with the mission of propagating Christ's message, yet they too were not immune to conflict and disagreement. This reality is vividly portrayed in the encounter between Apostles Paul and Peter, as recorded in […]

It may not surprise you to discover that those in ministry are not immune from conflict. I've had various conflicts with my Christian brothers and even more so with those who work in ministry. That's not to say that ministers are more difficult to get along with than the rest of the population. Conflict is […]

Tucker Carlson recently said, “I should say at the outset, I’m an Episcopalian, so don’t take any theological advice from me because I don’t have any. I grew up in the shallowest faith tradition that’s ever been invented. It’s not even a Christian religion at this point, I say with shame.” That’s a sad evaluation […]

Beulah finds herself in Gus' book. She tries to help lighten his load. Big Idea: God’s love forgives everything. Memory Verse: Everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through his name. Acts 10:43

Gus has a new plan to get all of the pecans. Sally and Grog get in the way. Gus, Sally and Grog learn an important lesson about mercy. Ephesians 2:4-5But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, made us alive with Christ even though we were […]

Should we fear AI? There’s a difference between Self-initiated sentience and stimuli-response protocol.  You and I are self-initiated sentience. We were designed by God to have our own will, desires and self-initiating activities. that is very different from so-called AI all AI systems or essentially stimuli response protocols means that they require input from an […]

Evan, Sally and Fearona learn more about fear and God's love. Gus tries to teach Mr. Ted the memory verse. Memory Verse: Romans 8:38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life…nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our […]

In January, we adopted a calico kitten that we named Beans. She was intelligent and affectionate. I called her my “theology kitty” because she’d sleep in my lap or among the piles of books in my library as I studied and wrote. She was a delightful addition to the household. Then last week, while the […]

This was a response I wrote to a friend who claimed that salvation required confessing with one's mouth. Here's what I had to say about it. Here is a list of examples from Scripture of people who got saved without a single word.  

Sally is having fun scaring her friends at the park until she gets a scare of her own. Fearona, Sally, and Evan learn an important lesson about fear. | Pirates sing about fear. | Beulah and Juney teach us some moves to help us remember the verse for this week. Isaiah 41:10 Do not fear, […]