Here are six songs I wrote and had recorded at a sound studio in Nashville, Or (the other Nashville) a few years back.
I’m singing, playing guitar and bass, and a friend is playing the drums. I added a bunch of photos of my family over the years to show some highlights from my life. I hope you enjoy my beautiful family and some Indie music 
Click on the clip below…
Recently I watched a video where a Christian pastor claimed that God hates certain people. I actually like Driscoll even though we differ on a few major theological stances. That’s not important to me, what’s important is the Good News and if he’s sharing the Good News, I’m all for him and the ministry he leads. The Good News is being hijacked, however, and being replaced with legalism, works, and guilt.
My problem is not with Driscoll but with what he said. I’ve included the video (at the bottom) so you can see for yourself what he said (around the 4:35 mark is where he clearly starts to say this) and so I don’t twist his words.
Romans 8:38-39- And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
God does not hate anyone.
I believe that God hates sin and Jesus came, died, and rose from the dead to take away death- which is the consequence for sin. Why would God hate anyone? He created that person. He made them. He decided to breathe life into them.
Are you really suggesting that God hates His own prized creation?
Some will say, “God hated Esau.” Did He really hate Esau? Let’s see what the literal translation of the writing is. Romans 9:13- According as it hath been written, `Jacob I did love, and Esau I did hate.’
Did He really hate Esau? When you read the story of Jacob and Esau, you find that God didn’t love Jacob and hate Esau becuase He was showing favoritism. The hate in this context is in contrast to the love He showed to Jacob. His love for Jacob was so strong that His love for Esau could not compare.
That still does not seem right and to be fair, this is the only mention I could find in the Scriptures where it says God hated a person. The original story is found in Genesis and the book of Genesis was most likely an allegorical book. Before the Protestant Reformation in 1517, the Bible was not usually taken literally and many (if not most) Christians took it as allegorical and metaphorical.
God is love and He doesn’t hate His creation. He is just, righteous, kind, and perfect. A perfect Being would not be able to hate their own creation.
Psalm 103:8-10- The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He will not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever. He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve.
I’m somewhat addicted to politics and I follow it rather closely. The recent Republican presidential debates have left me wondering what the Republican party stands for these days. I’m not lumping all Republicans together but the latest South Carolina Debate showed how war hungry most of these candidates are and the overwhelming response from the audience.
What happened to love thy neighbor?
What about treating other people like you want to be treated?
Ron Paul was booed for suggesting we practice the Golden Rule when it comes to dealing with other countries. Is that so bad, that he should be booed for suggesting we try to walk in love? Constant wars are not the answer and rethinking our foreign policy is the smartest thing we can do right now. Agree with Dr. Paul or disagree with him, that’s not the point. The point is that he is right when he says we can’t afford all these wars anymore, financially or the literal cost of human lives.
Matthew 5:9- God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God.
The Christian faith teaches to live at peace with everyone and to treat other people like you want to be treated… Unless they are the enemy. Unless they are gathering a nuclear weapon. Unless they are attacking another country.
We can’t police the world, as much as some of us want to. We have to protect and defend our country and stop loving those who only love us. We are supposed to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us, not bomb them.
Psalm 34:14- Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it.
I’m not saying we should never go to war but there is a time and place and that should be the last resort, not the first thought. I hear Santorum and Perry speak and they are ready to bomb more countries and Perry said he’d send troops back into Iraq. Do we realize how many women and children we have killed in the Middle East? Do we realize that is the opposite of peace. Do we understand that is not loving our enemy? That is killing them and calling them evil.
And for Christians who believe in a place called Hell, do you realize we’re killing people who mainly don’t accept Christ as Savior? Shouldn’t we be witnessing to them and doing everything to share the Gospel with them instead of taking their lives? This life doesn’t really matter, right? Or does it…
Disagree with me if you like but listen to the words of Jesus:
Matthew 5:44- But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! Bless those who curse you. Do good to those who hate you
Here is an excerpt from chapter one. It’s all about this issue of time and the fact that while God will still judge those who reject Him, He won’t keep on punishing them for all of eternity. God is a good Father, isn’t He?
We were created to be eternal beings, to live forever. Something many people don’t think about is that eternity begins right now.When we die, we continue to live. What we do in this life, directly affects that portion of eternity. When you were born, your eternity started at that moment, not when you die. Thinking about how long eternity is. Most people would agree that we have no grasp how long that honestly is. The average person lives to be seventy-eight years old. We can all count to seventy-eight; in fact, it only takes a minute or two. Seventy-eight years isn’t that long of a period of time.
Wars have lasted longer than seventy-eight years. People have lived to be older than seventy-eight. Most nations have lasted longer than seventy-eight years. Seventy-eights years just isn’t that long of a period of time. Young-Earth creationists believe the Earth is between six thousand and ten thousand years old, depending on whom you talk to. Seventy-eight years is nothing compared to this. Those who believe in the Big Bang date the Universe to over fourteen billion years old (quite the contrast) and the Earth to
about four billion years old. Seventy-eight years cannot compare to this number.
When you think about God’s punishment or His reward for what we do (or don’t do) here on Earth, how can all of eternity be fair for either case? Is it fair to spend an infinite amount of years in Heaven for seventy-eight years here on Earth? God is so loving that He created man and woman for friendship with Him. He is so loving that He sent His Son Jesus to die and rise from the dead, for the sins of the world. Is He so loving, that He would allow the
majority of mankind to spend eternity in Hell, separated from Him?
After all, how can a person be saved according to the Scriptures? Paul writes in Romans 2:4 that the goodness of God leads man to repentance. The CEV says, “You surely don’t think much of God’s wonderful goodness or of his patience and willingness to put up with you. Don’t you know that the reason God is good to you is because he wants you
to turn to him?”
If the goodness of God leads people to repentance, how can you explain people not being led to repentance? God is good, isn’t He? In fact, His goodness is much more than we could ever imagine. Wouldn’t His goodness eventually win out over any kind of sin or evil?
What happened and why? Here’s a brief summary about why I was fired from the church I worked at for 3 1/2 years and worked with hundreds and hundreds of youth. While serving there, we led dozens upon dozens of kids to Christ and saw dozens more lead and take faith in God seriously.
But, since I didn’t believe that 90% of everyone who has ever lived will go to Hell for all of eternity, I was fired for this one belief. Watch the video below to hear a little more of my story: