Does being like Jesus mean not talking about Hell?

These days you’ll often hear people say something like, “Instead of condemning people and threatening them with Hell, we should be like Jesus and love them.”

How do I respond with grace and truth if I’m invited to a gay wedding?

Many people wonder, “What if I’m invited to a gay wedding?” In the following video and transcript, I share some thoughts.

The Cross of Christ: A Symbol Not of Our Worthiness, But Our Unworthiness

Years ago I spoke at a Christian event where the vocalist got up to sing one of my favorite songs, “Amazing Grace.” But I was taken aback when I heard the first line:

“Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a soul like me.”

Notice the revision? The word “soul” was substituted for the writer’s word “wretch.” Why?

Uncoolness, Tolerance, and Christ’s Bride the Church

I came to Christ at an uncool church (not the one in the photo, but built in the same era). Coming from the family of a tavern owner, and never having been part of a church, it was strange to hear the way people spoke, how they dressed (the men wore suits and ties) and what they sang, including occasional songs in Swedish.

Universalism: Will Everyone Go to Heaven?

Universalism: the belief that everyone will eventually go to Heaven.

The logic behind it goes something like this:

• God loves everyone and desires all to be saved.
• Nothing can suppress the love or will of God.
• Therefore all will be saved.

Zach Hunter on a Christian Ethic of Social Justice

I know Zach Hunter. I met him and had dinner with him and his mom after a showing of the movie Amazing Grace, that great movie on the life of the Christian parliamentarian William Wilberforce and his success in passing the laws to ban slavery in England.

God’s Limitless Love

The apostle John says we know what God’s love is because of the unthinkable price Jesus paid for us, to turn us into God’s own children, fully acceptable in his sight. God’s love abounds. It proliferates. It’s overflowing, even excessive—something all sufferers need to hear.

C. S. Lewis on the Vulnerability of Love

I appreciated what C. S. Lewis wrote in The Four Loves about the vulnerability of love:

To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken.

I Wish I Could Be a Brother Like That

This story was sent by my friend Doug Nichols, founder and director of Action International. It is a powerful reminder that the first and second greatest commands are inseparable: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart...love your neighbor as yourself."

Nanci, my best friend for 40 years

December 7, this Sunday, is the 40th anniversary of the day Nanci and I met. We were freshmen in high school. It was a double date in which we went to see two new movies at Portland's Village Theatre on 122nd: the original The Odd Couple, with Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon, and The Americanization of Emily with Julie Andrews.