So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. Romans 8:3 (NLT) I hate what religion does to people. I also hate what it does to churches. I spoke to one woman who told me that she and her children were removed from their church. Her husband had left her, and because the church felt that divorce was wrong, she was asked to leave. You can’t find examples of Jesus rejecting people for their sin. When He was speaking on a mountainside, people didn’t have to pass a …

For God so loved the world… John 3:16 (NKJV) When babies are born, they do nothing to earn their families’ love. They keep their parents up at night, mess their pants, spit up and cry. They don’t contribute to the household income, cook, clean or even say thank-you. Babies don’t earn one ounce of love, and yet parents love them so much they would die for them. Parents front load love to their baby, meaning they give love freely before it’s ever earned. They pour their lives into that baby. They help them to learn and grow. When they mess up later in life, parents are often the first to be there for them, loving them through it all. This is also what your Father …

People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart. 1 Samuel 16:7 (NLT) Every church seems to have its list of “unspoken” rules of the church. In some churches, women will get disapproving looks if they wear makeup or don’t wear a long skirt. In others, for people to wear jeans on Sunday is a no-no. Or maybe jeans are okay, but you can’t have tattoos or piercings. When we began to change the culture of our church to be contemporary, I stopped wearing suits on Sundays to preach. At first, I felt really strange about it because it was something I had grown up with. One Sunday, a member of our church confronted me about it. He made the comment that …

They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden. Matthew 23:4 (NLT) People are tired of religion, and I don’t blame them. Religion uses guilt and fear to keep us in line. Its rituals remind us of our failure to please an impossible-to-please God. It’s no wonder many people opt out. If you have to be perfect to please God, why even try? It’s impossible! Not only is it impossible, but the judgment you feel from others gets so tiring. People compare their ability to follow the man-made rules with others and condemn those who don’t follow them as closely as they do. Many people turn away from God because religion makes Him seem so angry, judgmental and …

Oh, foolish Galatians! Who has cast an evil spell on you? …Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ? Galatians 3:1–2 (NLT) Religion has been trying to creep into Christianity since the day it was birthed. In fact, during the church’s first years of existence, the Apostle Paul wrote letter after letter to different churches to fight this tendency. Most of his letters dealt with getting rid of the legalism and ritualistic rules that were being added to the message of the gospel. The truth is, our right standing with God is a free gift made available to us when we choose to trust in …