God’s Response to Our Suffering – Part 1

Why does God allow bad things to happen? Do bad things happen by God’s hand? Does God bring suffering in our lives to punish us? I am hoping to start us down the road of a healthy perspective in a two part series on these questions and the topic of suffering. About a year ago, a close […]

The Wrath of God and Death of Jesus – Part 4

So What About the Afterlife? I am excited about a generation of young adults who have been raised in the church and are questioning things that they don’t see lining up with the heart of God. Because of this, questions about the afterlife and hell have come up a lot in the last few years. […]

The Wrath of God and Death of Jesus – Part 3

If you have not read Part 1 or 2, go back and catch up for the sake of context. Part 1: https://davidruybalid.wordpress.com/2017/07/05/the-wrath-of-god-and-death-of-jesus-part-1/ Part 2: https://davidruybalid.wordpress.com/2017/07/12/the-wrath-of-god-and-death-of-jesus-part-2/ As I have built a case so far, our view of God’s character effects our understanding of the wrath of God. If we view God as constantly angry, then His wrath and […]

The Wrath of God and Death of Jesus – Part 2

If you have not read “Part 1”, read it first. Click Here I grew up with a strong fear of God. The reality of hell was taught often. Hell was taught as a place of fire where people would be tortured forever. It was a place that was used to often scare people into making […]

The Wrath of God and Death of Jesus – Part 1

Till on that cross as Jesus died, The wrath of God was satisfied – For every sin on Him was laid; Here in the death of Christ I live. “In Christ Alone” by Stuart Townend & Keith Getty If you have been around the church at all in the past sixteen years, you have probably […]

Jesus and the Bible are not the same thing!

Do you ever struggle when people misuse the Bible to come up with strange positions that detour people from Jesus or even hurt others? At the heart of much of this misuse of scripture is usually some slogan or group of slogans that are present in Christian culture. It slowly forms our beliefs. What we believe […]

The “Us and Them”Mentality

The other day I wrote a post about the conversation with the older brother and father in the “Parable of the Prodigal Son”. You can read it here, if you haven’t yet. https://davidruybalid.wordpress.com/2017/05/29/burned-out-on-religion/ This was the passage that I was using: Luke 15 28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So […]

Burned Out on Religion

I have read the “The Parable of the Prodigal Son” a thousand times. I have heard pastors draw out from the older son’s conversation at the end of this parable. Here is that conversation. Luke 15 28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with […]

A Healthy Faith Tension

We hunger for and often times demand certainty. Before making a choice, we need to be certain that we have weighed the facts and can make the most educated decision possible. For us, certainty has become the foundation in which we stand. It is as if we can’t believe something fully until we have put it […]

The Sheep and Goats Might Not Be What You Expect

If you know me, you will know that I appreciate Brian Zahnd. His views have helped shape much of my theology. Every year, I ask people to recommend books to me and I create a list. I begin searching the public library and Amazon for the titles. A few years ago, my buddy Ed Tyler recommended […]