Author Archives: jackpelham

By the time I was six or seven,I was well-convinced that my denominationWas the best there was, and thatMy congregation was the best in townOf that denomination.

He was at his church once,And he heard the leader saying a thingThat he pretty much knew Didn’t jibe with scripture.

WARNING: THIS POST MAY RAISE SOME TROUBLING THOUGHTS Here’s what might seem like an easy question, yet it may get harder the more we look into it: Does God run your church? I do not presume that my audience will … Continue reading →

Show him a Bible verse he has not studied before,And watch the common man rush to assumeThat it’s true meaning must not be farFrom what he thinks he already understands.

Once upon a time, someone taught man That he is at his smartest when heExtracts the ready facts from a narrativeSo as to fashion them into worksheets And talking points for discussion.

The Big Picture of the Bible: God is wonderful and wants you to choose during your lifetime to become like him in his righteousness―which is only possible if you really believe in him. The Supposedly-Improved Big Picture of the Bible: … Continue reading →

Let us pause together to reflect on this great curiosity,That our God should reach out to humankind with a book,Knowing full well that not everyone will readOr listen to it being read aloud, and thatOnly a few will ever dig … Continue reading →

What would a dishonest soul want the Bible to say? And how would he twist it to his own satisfaction? What would the impatient soul glean from its pagesBefore he lost interest?And what treasures would he leave in it undiscovered? … Continue reading →

She is so tired of conflictThat she wants none of it―Not even in the caseOf standing up for what is right―And not even alongside her peers. She is down for the count.

He has no purpose, it seems,But to make a show of himself―And no Plan B, it seems,But to keep his distance from Those who do not applaud.