Larry Baden

Recent Actions

• Posted Election Fever to TheologyWebsite.com
  As I write this, America has just finished watching the political conventions - theater more than "reality TV" - and the upcoming election is on the minds of most of us. So I want to put some thoughts in writing,...
• Posted Knowing (and liking) the Real Me to TheologyWebsite.com
  Have you ever thought about your relationships with others? And, for that matter, with God? Do you have truly mature relationships, or are you just running in place, stuck as a relational preadolescent? And let's not talk only about the...
• Posted A Grace Understood to TheologyWebsite.com
  Grace. It's one of my favorite topics, and the one thing that I pray about, thanking God, more than any other. I think God created grace because He knew I was coming along and would so desperately need it. In...
• Posted A time of danger, a time of opportunity to TheologyWebsite.com
  I grew up in a "Christian" home. We attended church twice every Sunday and once every Wednesday. I was also there many other times for activities involving kids my age. The church was the center of our life. Mom...
• Commented on The Bad Woman, Part 2
  Poonam, My apologies for the long delay in replying to your comments. You raise a good question: where was the man? It's impossible to commit adultery alone, of course. Why was only the woman brought forward? I think you are...
• Posted What would you ask? What would you answer? to TheologyWebsite.com
  Do you ever let your imagination run free? I mean, do you ever try to imagine some situation that you would like to see happen, or even one you don't especially want to happen, but that fascinates you? Sometimes an...
• Posted Riding the Rollercoaster to TheologyWebsite.com
  Note: This essay is a work in progress, and reflects a struggle I have had (and still have) to understand the dynamic of relationships. It is certainly not the final word, and may even be totally off base. Especially for...
• Posted The tyranny of the trivial to TheologyWebsite.com
  I have been reading recently in Daniel, a great Old Testament book. In the third chapter is an account that most Sunday School children have heard of, the story of some young Israelite men, Daniel, Hananiah, Mischael, and Azariah, who...
• Posted "Context is King!" Always! to TheologyWebsite.com
  So went the saying I was taught somewhere along the road of my education. The subject was English, and the point was that context -- the words surrounding the word in question -- defines a word. You can't know what...
• Commented on Are some "created for destruction"?
  Hello Johanes, I'm not certain I understand your comment, but it seems to me you are having a problem because God doesn't answer you. I'm not certain what the question is, but it sounds like you want to know that...
• Commented on The Bad Woman, Part 2
  George, Thanks for sharing your thoughts. As for your 'humor,' well......
• Commented on The Bad Woman, Part 2
  Truth, Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I especially like the last sentence: We are saved by GRACE alone. As to the rest, I'm not so sure. Lots of speculation there....
• Posted The Bad Woman, Part 2 to TheologyWebsite.com
  The account in John 8, of the woman caught in adultery, is one about which I have written before, not long ago. But I am drawn to this story like a moth to a flame, and I want to write...
• Posted Are some "created for destruction"? to TheologyWebsite.com
  I had a conversation recently in which someone mentioned a person apparently being created for destruction. The person had died without evidence of a relationship with God, and the conclusion was that the person, though by all accounts a fine...
• Commented on A bad woman
  Dee, Thanks for your thoughts. A couple problems as I see it: First, most scholars believe that the portion about the woman in adultery was not originally in its present location in John. Therefore, it's difficult to say exactly where...
• Commented on Ever get frustrated?
  Roberto, Thanks for the kind words. Nice to know I'm not alone....
• Posted Ever get frustrated? to TheologyWebsite.com
  Do you ever get impatient with your church? Or with church in general? I do. I struggle with church. What I mean is, I don't like churches that have no depth or sense of purpose in them, beyond making their...
• Commented on Is it God or my imagination?
  Thanks for your comments, Michelle. I agree to a point with your concern about God speaking. It's true that we have the "complete" scriptures. And it's also true that God can and does speak through the Holy Spirit, though that's...
• Commented on Good boys and girls? Or good grace?
  Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Norah. I certainly understand the problem of wanting to earn God's favor, or wanting to feel like I've done at least a little to justify God being so gracious to me. After all, I don't...
• Posted A bad woman to TheologyWebsite.com
  I have written in the past about God looking at us and seeing only a "bad boy" or "bad girl." About God looking down from heaven and seeing no one worthy of love or acceptance as he shakes his head...
• Commented on American churches: secular gatherings?
  Paul, thanks for your comment. I think you misunderstand my position. I am uninterested and unimpressed by some of the "powerful" megachurches. The power I long for is the present power of the Holy Spirit at work in, among, and...
• Commented on Abortion: right or wrong?
  I am quite willing to hear and publish dissenting views, and to discuss them. The caveat, however, is that they be rational, supportable, and not intentionally offensive. I have carefully read all of your comments, and responded to some. However,...
• Commented on God's silence revisited
  I am not "stating some complimentary actions taken by Christians." I am referring to a solid history over a period of 2,000 years. It's a history that has some times that I wished had never happened, and are not consistent...
• Commented on Abortion: right or wrong?
  Control and oppression are not the same things. Every society exerts a measure of control on its members. That's why every society has laws, and expects them to be obeyed. And when a significant portion of that society disregards that...
• Commented on God's silence revisited
  I will have to differ with you. Many religions today, as in every age, worship nature. But not all. And to say that the monotheistic religions believe as they do to "control and oppress life on earth" is pure nonsense....
• Commented on Abortion: right or wrong?
  HWH, Thanks for your comments. I will respond to some of them, because I think they demand a response. You close your comment by urging people to read the Bible. That's good advice. However, your other comments seem to say...
• Commented on Knowing God and knowing we know
  Andrew, Thanks for your comments and the kind words. I have friends from West Africa, including Togo and other countries. Also from Kenya and Congo, in other parts of Africa. I am not sure what I can do to help...
• Commented on God's silence revisited
  I think you're on the right track. God honors those who persistently seek him....
• Commented on God's silence revisited
  Hi Jeremy, Thanks for your painfully honest comments. I appreciate the things you are saying, and am certain that you speak for many others who feel pretty much the same as you. I don't have a quick and easy answer,...
• Posted A Modern 'Abomination of Desolation' to TheologyWebsite.com
  Our home group was discussing Mark 13, and specifically where Jesus speaks of the terrible times that will follow the appearance of the "Abomination of Desolation." His statement was clearly prophetic, and yet, what was he referring to? There had...