Have you ever wondered if God might get so mad that he flings poo at someone like an angry chimpanzee? If so, this is the week for you to check in here!

We're taking a break from our LIES series to talk about one of my favorite subjects: The Bible itself! We'll play a game (yes, there are prizes!) and examine how we get the book that we read and also run down the pros and cons of some popular translations.

What could reading the Bible regularly mean for your faith? And what could it break? If you believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments were given by the inspiration of God and that they only constitute the Divine rule of Christian faith and practice, you might want to be particularly mindful about what and how often you read them. Just saying.

If there is a Disney Princess story in the Bible...
The story of Esther is NOT it.

In Sunday school, we tell it as if it is, but this (like the story of Samson) isn't a story meant to be told to children. It's a very adult story, filled with very adult themes. From sex trafficking to murder to politics and scheming to the death of tens of thousands, this is a story written to bring attention to God's love in a very subtle and unusual way...

We can only hit the highlights today, so listen to today's teaching as a guide, then go read the whole thing for yourself. Questions, comments, and discussion are always welcome!

We're taking a short break from our Sunday School Lies series, but will resume it next week! This week, we need to talk about something else...

Aren't we all basically good people? That's the central question of our Bible exploration today. The answer? Well... We'll consult with psalmists new and old and prophets and apostles and this guy named Jesus who you may have heard of. To reach a conclusion, we'll need to use our internal organs to make a very external decision and then live it out. What does that mean? Join us, and find out!

The children's story of Zacchaeus the tax collector teaches kids that short people are inferior, rich people are evil, and that if you have enough money to spread around, both of those can be overlooked.

This isn't even close to what the story is really about.

In fact, it seems possible that Zacchaeus is neither short nor a thief.

So what IS going on, and what are we supposed to make of it?

Grab your Bibles and be ready to follow along in Luke 19 for this week's study!

As a child, I was taught again and again that the glory of God was somehow shined up by the genocidal destruction of Jericho when Israel entered the Promised Land. As an adult, I've heard and been taught and had it explained that this is true and that it is a good thing. That there can be Holy War where we kill our enemies and their children and their animals and God loves it.

Here's the problem:
That's not true.
It's not what this story is about.
It's not what we are supposed to get from it.
And it isn't AT ALL the intent, purpose, or hope of God.

In fact, the story isn't even really about Jericho. This is Rahab's story.  And it matters to you and I today, if we have ears to hear it. 

Why did Jesus heal people? Was it because they came to him, repentant and ready to work for him, so he fixed them? Was it because he couldn't be around people who weren't perfect? Was it a way of buying their loyalty? Or was something else going on?

Today we look at the story of a man who was paralyzed being brought to Jesus. But making that man's body work the same way as everyone else's wasn't at all what Jesus thought was important. Please join us for this week's look at the lies we are taught in Sunday School...

He's been called the Superman of the Bible, but that's not at all who or what Samson was. The example of this strong man is found in how weak he really was...

Today we share the REAL story of Samson, one that should never be in a children's Bible. Join us?

There comes a moment in every boy's life when his father takes him up on a mountain to kill him... No, wait. That's not right, is it? And yet, somehow, we have got the idea in our head that God asking Abraham to sacrifice Isaac is a great story about a man willing to do whatever his god asks of him. 

That's NOT what this story is about. If it sounds messed up from beginning to end, that's because it is. Which leads (or should) to some pretty big questions about what was happening, what should we make of it, and is there anything in here which we can use to make our lives and our world better? Or is sacrificing our children necessary to sway the actions of the LORD?

There was this group of people called disciples who followed Jesus.
How many were there and who were they and what did they do and was it the right thing or not?

You probably think the answers to those questions are simple, because that's what our Sunday School stories suggest. The truth, it turns out, is much more complex, more rich, and far more compelling of a story...

I don't think Sunday School Teachers set out to lie to their charges - it usually happens because they are passing on wrong things they have been taught. They just don't take the time to research something that they think they already know. Or they teach from their modern point of view, missing or ignoring what the author(s) intended.

Which is how the story of Jonah stopped being a tale of God's amazing grace and became about a man and a whale...

Which is very much is NOT.