Theology and Culture
Chuck Crisco
The Garden of Eden Mythology

Is it true or myth? Literal or not? This is an important question as it still affects us thousands of years later in culture wars over science, history and religion. It figures into patriarchal society and the reduced status of women. It is the affirmation that all humans are sinful and need a savior. So this is no unimportant question.

The Garden of Eden Mythology
Grace, Interpreting Revelation
Chuck Crisco
Now Series: Religion Can't Wipe Away Your Tears

Are we to think that God wipes away tears once we get to heaven, but we have to die to experience it? 

Actually, the teaching that God will wipe away our tears isn't a promise about heaven. It is a promise for now, that extends into the afterlife.

Now Series: Religion Can't Wipe Away Your Tears
Destiny
Chuck Crisco
Releasing Your Inner Awesome: Believe in Your ...

What do beliefs have to do with our dreams? The truth is that our hearts believe tens of thousands of things about innumerable subjects. Beliefs are the fabric of our experiences, and the filter for the glorious desires within you. 

Releasing Your Inner Awesome: Believe in Your Dream
Destiny
Chuck Crisco
Love: The Secret to Dreams Coming True

I believe that God has given us the power to access, activate and achieve our dreams. Of course there are lots of methods and programs to help us reach those goals, but I wondered if it was less complicated. 

And I found that it was. 

Yes, we do need to learn how to steward our hearts into those dreams. But I wanted to know what the common denominator was in getting our heart's desires. Was it prayer? Was it having enough faith? Was it being smart enough? Was it just luck? Or was it an arbitrary God who blessed some but not others?

Love: The Secret to Dreams Coming True
Grace, Hell?, Destiny
Chuck Crisco
Does God Give Second Chances After Death?

Does God give "second chances" after death? Without understanding the resurrection and the judgment, one can't give a definitive answer.

Does God Give Second Chances After Death?

Grace

Did Jesus Start a New Religion Called Christianity?

Did Jesus Start a New Religion Called Christianity?

Of course Jesus wasn't a Christian technically since he was/is the Christ. Do we see any signs that he was instituting a new religion called Christianity though? Let's check out some common "church" beliefs and see if Jesus ministry aligned with them.

Did Jesus demand that his followers adhere to a set of beliefs about his birth narrative in order to follow or know him? No. The gospel of Mark which is considered the oldest gospel doesn't even mention it. 

Did Jesus require that his disciples believe in hell? No, the Old Testament scriptures never spoke of hell, and Jesus only warned his generation of "hell" on earth... Gehenna, the valley of Hinnom where hundreds of thousands of bodies would be cast and eaten by worms after the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70. Here are numerous articles demonstrating Jesus never taught on HELL.

Is It Really Appointed Unto A Man Once to Die and Then Be Judged?

Is It Really Appointed Unto A Man Once to Die and Then Be Judged?

Is it really appointed unto a man once to die and then the judgment? Let me ask you a question. How many times did Lazarus die? Unless you believe he is physically alive today then you know that Lazarus died and was raised from the dead, but then some years later he died a natural death again. He died twice. Plus, what about all those thousands of people in our day who were clinically dead for some time and then came back?

So maybe, just maybe this verse has been used out of context.

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Now Series: Religion Can't Wipe Away Your Tears

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Now Series: Religion Can't Wipe Away Your Tears

Are we to think that God wipes away tears once we get to heaven, but we have to die to experience it? 

Actually, the teaching that God will wipe away our tears isn't a promise about heaven. It is a promise for now, that extends into the afterlife.

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You Won't Find the Will of God in the Bible, Nor is it a Mystery

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You Won't Find the Will of God in the Bible, Nor is it a Mystery

One of the great limitations that religion put on us is the idea that the will of God is some secret mysterious plan of God's that he rarely lets us in on. We struggle making decisions about the pursuit of our dreams because we are waiting for a "sign" that we should do this or that. Sadly, we never feel we are in the perfect will of God, and actually miss following our heart in the process. See the will of God isn't found in the Bible. It is found very simply in your own heart. 

The Born Conspiracy: Is Everyone Born Again?

The Born Conspiracy: Is Everyone Born Again?

Is it possible that the Church of our day has inadvertently participated in conspiring to hide the truth about Father God and who are his children? Would that be harmful to a person who is told they have to leap over certain thresholds in order for God to accept them? Would you agree that if, and that is if, God is the Father of all, and all humanity was a child of God, it would be wrong to hide it from them?

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There is No Such Thing as Pleading the Blood. The Blood of Jesus is not Magic. It's a Message!

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There is No Such Thing as Pleading the Blood. The Blood of Jesus is not Magic. It's a Message!

I used to know a woman who was born into a satanic ritual abuse family, which intermarried among the groups and purposely infiltrated churches. Her arranged marriage was with a man who pretended to be a pastor, while they performed rituals in the church basement at night.

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Why You Will Never Be Blotted Out

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Why You Will Never Be Blotted Out

Most of us were taught that the book of life is the book that you get written into when you believe in Jesus right? There was a song, “There’s a new name, written down in glory, and its mine, oh yes its mine. And the white robed angels sing the story, A sinner has come home!” Can I get an amen?

But verses like this in Revelation made us believe that if we mess it up, God will erase our name. It gives rise to speculation of eternal IN-security. So which is it? Names being written or blotted out of the book of life was a distinctively Jewish old covenant concept that had to do with the Law, not the new covenant. 

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How Saved Are We? The Truth About the Word "Saved"!

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How Saved Are We? The Truth About the Word "Saved"!

"You need to get saved!" thundered the fiery evangelist as sweat fell from his furrowed brow and uncontrolled spit leaped from his lips as he pounded the pulpit.

"You need to get saved!" wrote the angry man on Facebook to the one with which he vehemently disagreed. Of course it was followed by him saying "go to hell" in the next breath to the same person who denied his theology of hell.

Who is "in Christ"?

Who is "in Christ"?

Is this an important question? Absolutely. Who is in Christ completely kicks Western theology out of its box and reorients it back to biblical-early church constructs affirmed by even the church fathers. But it is more important than breaking out of some ivory tower theological prison. It sets our personal experience and our "knowing God" back to the simplicity of the gospel of grace. 

Is God the Father of Us All?

Is God the Father of Us All?

I'm honored to travel to various countries around the world. I see different colored skin and many different belief systems. But a smile, laughter, hurt, desires, and love are universal. When we get out from under heavy religious threats and rise to a heavenly view of humanity, it is nearly inevitable to ask the question: "Is God the Father of us all?"

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Exposing the "Depart From Me" Myth of Matthew 7:21-23

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Exposing the "Depart From Me" Myth of Matthew 7:21-23

This has to be one of the most confusing, fearful passages in the New Testament. It is used to scare the "hell" out of saints, and used as a threat against charismatics of all kinds. Some have gone so far to say that any gifts of the Spirit today would actually be demonic and rejected by God. But what does it really mean? Is Jesus talking about going to heaven? Is he saying that only those who perfectly do God's will, are permitted go to heaven? Is this a works salvation after all?