Deity Wanted

I found this on Craigslist: The Grace of Our Lord church seeks a new Lord for worship. Candidates must be monotheistic in nature with at least 3,000 years of experience. Absolutely NO animal or human sacrifice must be required. Deities that do not forbid bacon or alcohol are preferred. No confusing trinities or disparate gospels […]

Must Grace Transform?

A dispute once arose between the Wind and the Sun, which was the stronger of the two, and they agreed to settle the point upon the issue – that whichever of the two soonest made a traveler take off his cloak, should be accounted the more powerful. The Wind began, and blew with all his […]

Talking with Monsters 1 John 4:4-6

4 You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God; he who knows God listens […]

Knowing the Spirit of God 1 John 4:2-3

1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; 3 and every […]

Testing the Spirits – 1 John 4:1

1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; 3 and every […]

Interview – Romance of Grace with Shaun Tabatt

An interview with me, the humble Jim McNeely, with Shaun Tabatt, which tells some of the story of how the Romance of Grace was written and published, and some nice questions about the message of the book. Love breathes the air of grace. [audio:http://thereforenow.com/dumpy/podcast/Author_Talks_Episode_16_Jim_McNeely.mp3]

1 John 3:23-24 The Gift of the Abiding Spirit

23 ¶ And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us. 24 And the one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And we know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit […]

The Passion in the Propitiation

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only […]

Love in the Land of Wrath

I’m still expanding on ideas from this post: http://thereforenow.com/2013/03/take-the-red-pill/. Christ’s death is the door out of wrath The main thing I am examining is not the idea of wrath, but the way in which belief in Christ and Him crucified opens the door to and becomes the animus for our love for one another (1 […]

Reflections on the Wrath of God

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. (Romans 1:18, 19, NASB). In the last post I said, “When Paul says […]