God – Small

Belief, Bible Study, Finding, Ghosts, God, Purgatory, Seeking, Souls

Souls, Purgatory, and Ghosts (with an explanation of Plumber Porn as a chaser)

18 February 2020 Mike Bevel

Do you have a soul? We have to start with what a soul is, which should be easy, it's only four letters, but the thing is, it's not easy, even if it were three letters. We don't have a unilateral definition of the soul. We don't know where the soul "lives" in the body. We don't know if the soul is separate from our earthly experiences. All we have is a hopeful maybe.

Belief, Bible Study, God, Job, Old Testament, Ruth, Tanakh

“Your God Shall Be My God”: The Book of Ruth

13 February 202021 March 2020 Mike Bevel

In many ways, The Book of Ruth is a gentle echo of The Book of Job. In Job, we witness a righteous man destroyed for a wager who remains unwavering in his faith right up until he asks, "But why?" The Book of Ruth is also about a life interrupted by Divine Intervention. It's Job with a happier ending, but the same unsettling questions about how we interact with God, and how God can interact with us.

Belief, Bible Study, Genesis, God, Old Testament, Seeking

Evil

10 February 2020 Mike Bevel

Roxanne asked about evil. I'll tell you now, at the beginning, to save you time if you thought I was going to be able to answer this question: I don't know how to answer this question. I don't know what to do about evil.

1 Thessalonians, Baptist, Belief, God, New Testament, Seeking

The Good Parts: 1 Thessalonians

30 July 201931 July 2019 Mike Bevel

But we were gentle among you.1 Thess 2:7 For you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another; and indeed you do love all the brothers and sisters throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, beloved, to do so more and more.1 Thess 4:9-10 So then let us not die as others do, but… Continue reading The Good Parts: 1 Thessalonians

Baptist, Belief, God, Seeking

God’s Love as My Love for My Cat

11 July 2019 Mike Bevel

There's nothing that will ever make me stop loving Fosco. L i t e r a l l y nothing. He has pooped on the bathroom floor on ::more:: than one occasion, often out of spite, and Zach would only get maybe TWO accidents like that. There are conditions to unconditional love.

Belief, Finding, Gnostics, God, Mental Health, Seeking, Finding

Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast

12 February 2019 Mike Bevel

I approach religion as something I want to live with (and you will say, "No, I get it, but why?"), and you approach it as something you want to make sense of.

Belief, Genesis, God, Old Testament

Genesis 1:6-8 | What Does it Mean to Be Good?

9 November 20189 November 2018 Mike Bevel

What does it mean to find something good? I hadn’t even really thought about that question at all until I realized there are three places where God isn’t pleased. Not angry, necessarily, but not announcing that “it was good” either.