I found a Bible I haven’t used in several years and found this bit of commentary pasted into the back of it (I believe that it came from Tragedy Ann’s front man Mikee Bridges):

What is it about accusations [against believers, especially], that makes us so gullible and quick to believe them? Have you heard the one about TV preachers? Supposedly, whenever the national religious broadcasters have one of their conventions the hotels they are booked at report a spike of increased rentals of porn movies. Well, the editor of this magazine called up the two major hotels used at this year’s NRB convention, the Anaheim Marriot and west coast Anaheim and asked about this. The management staff said they’d never heard this report. If it were true, wouldn’t they know? Our own genre has its own urban legends as well. A few years ago at Tom Festival, a prominent artist reported what he’d heard from a friend, that the two best selling items at the nearby convenience store were beer and condoms. We talked to the owner/managers of this store, and were told that this is the furthest thing from the truth. Why are false accusations like this believed? Granted, if they were true, they would make for a great and powerful rebuke. But we don’t have to make up sins to preach against. And we shouldn’t rust to judgment — especially when it’s based on the testimony of only one “witness.” Where in the Bible does it say that, “in order to believe in God, you must check your brain at the door?” It doesn’t! Let’s use our God-given ability to reason and not be so gullible. In the Bible Satan is called “the accuser of the brethren,” and we are also told that Jesus is at the right hand of the father, interceding for the saints. We can align ourselves with one of two ministries that is taking place in heaven — accusation or intercession. It’s your choice, so choose wisely.

Sometimes, a dude in black leather pants and a cowboy hat will lead them.

There has been a great deal of discussion lately on the subject of “atonement”, sin, and the nature of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection. In many cases, adherents of specific views of atonement (particularly the theory of Penal Substitutionary Atonement) have taken a dim view of groups of Christians who do not hold to identical views – in some cases, suggesting that the “correct” view (theirs, of course) is required both for evangelizing and for salvation.

Fortunately for Christians throughout the centuries without such ‘enlightenment’, systematic theology does not save, but rather the Grace of God and the mysterious work of salvation made possible through the cross and the empty tomb. In reality, many theories and ‘word pictures’ have been used throughout the history of the church to describe this work, and there is room for liberty in differences of view. Despite this liberty, though, there is need for some boundaries…

Guardrails

In Charleston, S.C., there was a bridge that was rather narrow, and was somewhat frightening for many motorists to cross. Once, during a period of repairs, the outside rails of the bridge had to be removed. Immediately, this bridge went from 2 functional lanes to a single lane, causing all sorts of traffic snarls, because people were afraid of falling off the edge. The rails, when in place, were not very capable of stopping a determined car from going into the water, but they gave some sense of security to motorists.

One of the lessons we can learn from this is that boundaries, contrary to popular opinion, are not always restrictive. Rather, boundaries clearly delineate how far you can be without going over the edge, leaving much more functional room within their borders. Unlike those who acted as if there was only room for one lane on the narrow bridge, once guardrails were in place, there was room for multiple lanes for cars to cross. The bridge, itself, did not change – it did not become wider or narrower. In fact, it became safer AND more efficient.

In the case of atonement theory, it is important that we establish the ‘rails’ – the primary one being that Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection was required in order to bring salvation to mankind. The second rail would be that man could not find salvation by his own means. These rails rule out “all paths lead to heaven” and “if you’re good enough, God will accept you”, and other universalist/semi-universalist views of atonement.

Atonement Views

The Views of Atonement:

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