The Quest For Eden

There's a very vivid passage from Jesus in which he explains that all will come before Him someday and be shocked to find out that He favors those who loved in His name over those who did not. When most preachers deliver a sermon on this passage, they tend to focus on the end bit in which "the goats" go away to "eternal punishment." (Side note - not THROWN into eternal punishment. They just "go away" with their tails between their legs.) I'd like to point out that, in ALL of the metaphors Jesus used to describe the "judgement" of "the end times," He focuses on people being ready, willing, obedient, and loving. He doesn't say, "those who have called upon my name and thanked me for being a sacrificial lamb" will be led into everlasting glory. He doesn't say, "those who said the special prayer." He doesn't say, "those who religiously did the church things." Nope. He says, the Kin

While I feel that there's a good chance that blood sacrifices were never intended, initiated, or expected by God, I'm not sure how strong I want to shout this freeing message. If you feel sick, you take medicine. If a doctor thinks you don't actually need medicine, he might give you a placebo. You'll still get and feel better. If you think your sin requires a sacrifice, you make one. If you believe Jesus is God's prescribed sacrifice, you accept it and you feel better. If God prescribed a placebo, who am I to tell you not to take it?

Why did Jesus say we should not "judge others?" Or, wait. Did He say others ? Or did He just say " judge ?" Perhaps, we have focused for too long on how God will someday "judge us all." We have assumed that this directive on judging was all about how to be less (?) judged by God. What if, though, this is about something else? What if this relates back to the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil?" What if this is about not wasting time on identifying "good versus bad?" I have found that I have a lot less anger, discomfort, and more peace now that I spend little to no time judging those differences. Maybe William Shakespeare had it right? "For there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so... " Again, I am of the thought that Jesus' teachings were focused on trying to get us to think more about what Paul eventually summarized; "All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. A