Forward!

When Jesus spoke of the law, He never referred to it as His law or command or the Father's law or command, He referred to it as "The Law of Moses" or "Your Law." In this special supplement, Derrick explains why Jesus referred to the law as He did!

In this episode, Derrick talks with Matthew DiStefano, the author of "Heretic!: An LGBTQ-Affirming, Divine Violence-Denying, Christian Universalist's Responses to Some of Evangelical Christianity's Most Pressing Concerns" about Faith, Fundamentalism, Freedom, and Fun!

Episode on Apple Podcasts:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/love-forward-e-7-heretic-w-matthew-distefano/id912141281?i=1000440819574

Episode on GooglePodcasts:

https://play.google.com/music/m/Dwlwlhfl743xqa6yhhbmwdckupi?t=LoveForward_e7__Heretic_wMatthew_DiStefano-LoveForward

In this episode, Derrick talks with Aaron and Kyle about sex. Real talk. Nothing off limits. No holds barred. No filter.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/love-forward/id912141281#episodeGuid=http%3A%2F%2Fderrickday.com%2F%3Fp%3D6206

In this episode of the Podcast, Derrick speaks with Frank Sinclair, Professional Speaker, Consultant, and founder of the "Be Encouraged Group," one of the fastest growing groups on Facebook.

In this episode, Derrick talks with Keith Giles, author, podcaster, and blogger. Keith shares wisdom from his books, "Jesus Unbound" and "Jesus Untangled," along with two of his recent, controversial blog posts.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/love-forward-e-4-jesus-unbound-w-keith-giles/id912141281?i=1000437536648

https://play.google.com/music/m/Driotx5g3wyrp5uftmke6kpnzd4?t=LoveForward_e4__Jesus_Unbound_wKeith_Giles-LoveForward

In this episode, Derrick talks with Josh Greeson, author, scholar, and blogger. Josh has some amazing insights into the deconstruction of religion and the progress of theology.

https://play.google.com/music/m/Dcysiwh6f4logudqht4rdrkhode?t=LoveForward_e3__Reboot_wJosh_Greeson-LoveForward

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/love-forward-e-3-reboot-w-josh-greeson/id912141281?i=1000436813743&l=fr

A new Corvette is coming. So is a new theology. Check out the latest podcast to understand the impact of both!

This podcast features Kyle Butler and Aaron Abke; discussing the difference between cussing, cursing, and swearing - and why they're not all the same!

Earlier this year, rapper Calvin Broaddas, aka Snoop Dogg released the album, “The Bible of Love.” This was his attempt at producing a Gospel album. After listening to it, I have come to the conclusion he succeeded mightily.

First of all, a lot of what is called “Christian” or “Gospel” music is neither. It may be Biblically-based but it doesn’t rest on the Finished Work of the Cross.

“Whoa, dude!” you say, “What do you mean by that?”

Simple. When you’re begging for the spirit of God to show up. When you ask God to have mercy on you, a sinner. When you ask God to extend Grace to you. I could go on but He has done all of these things. God poured out his mercy and Grace to us and has spiritually taken up residence inside us.

But back to the subject — People are mad because they say an unrepentant sinner such as Snoop has no business making a Gospel album.

Really? Who judges Snoop? I know I don’t. And, I’m going to take a step out and say that Snoop was praising God even before he made this album.

Whaaaaaat?

God gave Snoop his talent and he shares it with the world. That’s what God gives us our talents and abilities for — to share them. It’s when we sit on them that I believe God is saddened. Listen, God is not so narcissistic that everything has to be an ode to Him. God was God and was satisfied with being God even before He made any of us. So God doesn’t “need” our worship as religion defines it but gets it by the expression of our gifts and talents.

That said, there’s a plethora of Christian artists who participated in the production of this musical collection. The Clark Sisters. John P. Kee. Tye Tribbett. Rance Allen. Surely one or more of them might have an issue with Snoop’s thuggery or cannabis consumption.

I used to judge people to be hypocrites when they produce music or other media that was “lewd” by the standards of religion, then turn around and “give God glory” when receiving an award. I realized that I was the hypocrite for judging them.

Watch this, by expressing their talents, they are giving God glory. It doesn’t matter what the genre — as long as it doesn’t explicitly reject God!

The Bible says “let everything that have breath, praise the Lord.” Because everything living is His creation, breathing praises God!

Religious folks will say that Snoop is unqualified to preach the Gospel. By that standard, who is qualified? Who does the qualifying? The same people who think it requires a ThD and the same people who proclaim women can’t preach.

The reality is that Mark 16:15 gives every believer the responsibility of preaching the Gospel. This means that every believer is qualified. Contrary to popular belief, God is concerned more with our belief than our behavior. So Snoop smokes weed? Where in Scripture is that even identified as a sin? It’s funny that some of the same people who criticize Snoop’s smoking are morbidly obese — and it has nothing to do with the size of their bones.

Another point, who gets to decide who is actually a believer? John 13:34-35 says that love is the hallmark of discipleship, not behavior. Some of the people who don’t cuss, smoke, or chew, and don’t run around with those who do exhibit nothing that looks like love.

So where is the love for Snoop Dogg? Instead of reminding him of how loved he is by the Father and blessing him for taking the Gospel places religion cannot, he is condemned and chided for having the audacity to “blaspheme God” by making a Gospel album. Matter of fact, most of the people who level accusations against him — which, by the way, is a tactic of the devil — have never even bothered to listen to his album or any interviews with him

Right now, there are thugs and gangsters that are grooving to this mix.

I watched the biopic on Bishop Carlton Pearson, “Come Sunday,” over the weekend. Since then, I’ve had an opportunity to digest what I saw, juxtaposing it with what I already knew about the man and the situation, and the firestorm of comments about the man and the movie.

Here’s my take.

First of all, I do not know Bishop Pearson personally. I cannot speak to his character. I do not claim to know what is on his mind. I only know that he is a gifted preacher, teacher, and singer. I know that he was successful in his calling and served as a model for many up-and-coming preachers. So, I cannot vouch for his character or his personal interactions — neither of which are my business, anyhow.

That said, there was something said by the actor who portrayed him:

“I heard from God.”

There was a time in my life, not too long ago, where hearing these words from someone I considered suspect would cause my spiritual radar to go berserk. I mean, in order to hear from God, you had to be holy. You had to be righteous. You had be well-versed in Scripture and a theological pedigree didn’t hurt. I thought you had to be a special brand of special in order to hear from God. You had to be a Pastor. Or a Prophet. Or an Apostle. Or a Bishop.

When I first heard from God (yes I did), I considered myself to be among the evangelical elite. I was a champion among charismatics and a Pentecostal poster-boy. Like many who heard from God, I thought I had arrived! But, when I came down from my high-horse, I realized that hearing from God is something that every believer can expect AND that hearing from God is always an edifying, albeit challenging, experience. I also learned that it was deeply personal.

I have five sons. I have a unique relationship with each of them. And they are all different. And while I may give a blanket statement to the whole crew (e.g., “clean your rooms”), I relate to them uniquely according to their individual personalities. So what I say to each of them is different. My personality remains consistent between them but the words I speak are unique to each one. Any good parent knows that there’s no cookie-cutter approach to raising kids. I firmly believe God is a better parent than any of us.

If anyone says, “I heard from God,” I process that as the personal experience that it is. And, as long as it doesn’t violate the loving nature revealed in Jesus, I trust that the individual is genuine in his or her testimony.

So when I heard the person portraying Bishop Pearson say those words, I trust that He did, indeed hear from God. The big question, then, is did he hear clearly? So many folks are quick to rush to judgment, saying that what Bishop Pearson was saying was inconsistent with the Word of God.

Really? Whose interpretation? After all, there are over forty thousand Christian denominations. And within those denominations, there are factions that disagree. Who, then, holds the monopoly on truth?

The reality, here, is that Bishop Pearson simply said something that was contrary to an accepted standard. The Body of Christ is a funny creature — it cannot seem to agree on anything except patently visible “sins” (e.g., homosexuality and abortion) and perceived “heresy” (e.g., Inclusionism and Universalism). Bishop Pearson’s chief transgression, then, was that he proffered a theological position that ran contrary to someone’s interpretation of truth.

Let me stop here and say, emphatically, I am neither an inclusionst nor a universalist. For the record, I do not believe in the construct of hell as a place of eternal conscious torment. I also believe that there will be far more people in heaven than most in mainstream Christianity suppose. Personally, I have learned to love to the degree that I hope everyone gets to spend eternity in the joyous presence of our Heavenly F...