Theology Blog
This Theological Blog is a place to openly discuss and share ideas. All are welcome to participate. It is important to know that these contents do not represent the views of the First Presbyterian Church of Newhall or the greater Presbyterian Church USA.
As Presbyterians we are all encouraged to read, study and pray scripture both alone and in community. We are to also pray that we may be guided by the Holy Spirit to live scripture. Paul tells us we must treat each other with humility and gentleness in our disagreements. We may not always be comfortable with divergent ideas, but that’s alright as we journey together learning to follow Christ.
Postings are public and will not be anonymous. All postings will first need to be approved by the moderator so they will not appear immediately.
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TAMING JESUS
by Roland Wrinkle “Aslan is a lion- the Lion, the great Lion." "Ooh" said Susan. "I'd thought he was a man. Is he- quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion"..."Safe?" said Mr Beaver ... "Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's...
JESUS PLAYS FAVORITES; HE GAVE, GIVES AND WILL GIVE PRIORITY TO THOSE “WHO DON’T FIT IN.”
by Roland Wrinkle Getting Personal. I’ll never forget it. It is seared in my animated memory. It was my daughter’s eighth birthday and she wanted to have a birthday party at the local ice rink. Ten girls came. And all ten spent the entire “party” avoiding her and...
Why does an all loving God allow pain and suffering?
by Roland Wrinkle IF THERE WERE NO SUFFERING, THERE WOULD BE NO BIBLE, NO CHRIST, NO CHRISTIANS, NO EASTER, NO CHRISTMAS, NO CHURCH, NO SECOND COMING, NO RENEWED AND RESTORED CREATION Somehow, and for some reason, that just doesn’t sound like a good thing to me....
THE TWO TIMES WHEN ABORTION BECAME MORE THAN THEORETICAL FOR ME (US)
by Roland Wrinkle “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.” Alexander Pope. -I’ve never been called an angel...so, you do the math. The First Time: Curlender v. Bio-Science Laboratories. Forty-five years ago, I handled a case where a young Jewish couple wound...
IS PUTIN THE DEVIL? NO. MERELY A TEMPORARY RESIDENCE.
by Roland Wrinkle Early Origins. We’re Christians. We know there is good and evil. We know the bible talks a lot about evil—430 times to be exact. Our original ancestors got themselves into an existential caldron of woe by turning their backs on their...
STOP LAMENTING THE SECULARIZATION OF CHRISTMAS… AND START CELEBRATING EASTER EVERYDAY
by Roland Wrinkle Christmas Before I Became a Christian. Forty-seven years ago, I married a cute little Jewish girl. We had four kids. We celebrated Christmas and Hanukkah. I didn’t believe in Christ and she never heard of Torah. We were made for each other. We...
Pastor Column for December 2021
by Rev Dr Bill Barnes Thanksgiving is a time when we pause to remind ourselves and one another of all the things and people we are grateful for in our lives, and we also take a breath in and breathe out our thankfulness to God who not only set creation in motion, but...
DITCH THE NICENE and APOSTLES’ CREEDS and go with THE BRIEF STATEMENT OF FAITH
by Roland Wrinkle What’s A Creed? A creed is a settled statement of what precisely it is that defines our faith. The first creed in the bible is known as the Shema, found first in Deuteronomy 6.4 and lots of other places, including the sayings of Jesus. “Listen,...
WHAT TO MAKE OF THE TORAH LAWS IN LIGHT OF JESUS AND THE CROSS
By Roland Wrinkle The Book of Hebrews is adamant that the “old” commandments (laws, rules, regulations) are “obsolete,” “useless,” “set aside,” and “weak” and have been replaced by a “new” covenant and a “new” regulation, law, commandment which is “better” and...
THE HEALING OF A PANDEMIC IS A FORETASTE OF THE RESURRECTION
by Roland Wrinkle It’s been well over a year since every human being on earth joined hands, braced themselves and girded all the earth to endure the worst pandemic in 100 years. 7.8 billion of God’s children, together with all of His Creation, shared a nightmare. Now,...
HEBREWS: MAKING SENSE OF FRED’S (or could be Paul’s) OBSESSION WITH DECLARING THE OLD COVENANT AND OLD COMMANDMENTS OVER AND DONE, HAVING BEEN REPLACED BY THE NEW COVENANT AND NEW COMMANDMENT
by Roland Wrinkle [Preface: I realize that this can be confusing stuff. I have done my best to set it all out in a way that can be understood (This is really important stuff!). I have tried to reduce the esoterics and academics to the least...
DOES GOD WANT US TO “GET OUR HEADS AROUND THE 3-in-1 CONCEPT OF THE TRINITY?
by Roland Wrinkle. We talked last week about this issue. Not whether we need to understand THAT God is 3in1 but whether we need to understand HOW God can be three persons and yet still be just one god (i.e., the definition of Jewish...
AFTER EVERY BIBLICAL PLAGUE, CAME GOD’S GRACE LIFTING UP AND RESTORING HIS PEOPLE
by Roland Wrinkle “Plague” is defined as “an epidemic disease that causes high mortality.” Tony Fauci agrees. In biblical Hebrew, the word is negep. It shows up over 90 times in the Old Testament and 13 times in the Greek New Testament, once...
THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS AFTER EASTER
by Roland Wrinkle Last month, I blustered about the coronavirus pandemic in light of the coming ofEaster. Now, let’s take another look at things but from a post-resurrection perspective.[1] Where do we stand as people of God? Let me start...