Geoff W. Sutton Blog

DOES YOUR SPIRITUALITY MAKE SENSE? Religion & Spirituality | Meaning | Why? |  Psychology of Palm Sunday Nearly 2,000 years ago Jesus of Nazareth went public as a king. It was the first Palm Sunday. The crowd of supporters cheered as he rode into Jerusalem.  They honored him as a king ought to be honored with palm fronds and clothes before him and sang part of an old psalm (118). And the Jewish people welcomed him with expectations of salvation from Roman oppression. But what they got a week later didn't match their expectations. It didn't make sense. Jesus never does. New religious movements pose threats to established religions. People identified as kings or leaders pose threats to national leaders. Then as now; people in power use their power to quash minority movements by attacking their leaders. Then as now; religious leaders join with political leaders in a combined effort to maintain their way of life. The words of Jesus were taken as a threat ...

Slavery, Women’s Rights, and Same-Sex Marriage:  Is There a Connection? Recent news stories continue to highlight struggles of African Americans, women, and LGBT persons.  One event garnered a lot of press as strong emotions were evoked and the recent troubles in Missouri were featured. The Blaze . Franklin Graham caused a stir over comments calling for obedience and listing “Blacks” in his list of ethnic groups. Sojourners posted an open letter of response . Universities have taken steps to deal with ongoing sexual assaults of women on their campuses. ABC news . The Presbyterians joined other mainline Christian groups supporting same-sex marriage. Huffington Post   Franklin Graham condemned the act. Gospel Herald . Bob Jones III apologizes for comments suggesting homosexuals should be stoned. CNN  This week marks the one-year anniversary of the World Vision decision to hire Christians in Same-Sex marriages and their quick reversal. Christianity T...

FORGIVENESS & RECONCILIATION In a previous post ( 20 February ), I reported the results from two studies, which examined some nuances about forgiveness and reconciliation. This weekend, I follow up on that post with an additional set of 5 beliefs. As you study the questions, I hope you find the variations a useful starting point for considering the topic of forgiveness and reconciliation in more depth. As before, I will list the belief statement so you can think about your own opinion. Then I will post the response of the sample at the bottom of this blog post. BELIEFS 6 THROUGH 10 I will use the numbers 6-10 as a reminder that this is  Part 2 of 2 Parts. Please see the February 20 post for Part 1. 6. It is easier to forgive a friend or family member than a stranger for the same offense. 7. People need to admit what they have done and change before you forgive them. 8. If someone lost their job or position of leadership because...

Top 10 Prayers for Healing Have you ever asked God to heal you of a condition?  What happened? Scientists have studied prayer in different ways and do not find a great deal of support for its effectiveness. There are testimonies of healing. And sometimes you will find medical evidence that a condition has suddenly improved without medical intervention or despite medical opinion that a condition was not expected to improve. What do people pray for? A Lifeway Survey reported 1 October 2014 identified the following Top 5 things people pray about. 1. Family or friends 82% 2. personal problems or difficulties 74% 3. Good things that recently occurred 54% 4. Personal sin 42% 5. People in natural disasters 38% See their survey for their language and more details. It's pretty impressive that people care about others. Pew Report on Prayer               Published on the U.S. National Day of Prayer, May 1,...

Psychology of Hell Bronzino, Descent of Christ into Limbo, 1552 A Christian nurse said she preferred to work with children because if they died they would go to heaven. An evangelical Christian chaplain explained he was ethically bound to minister to all persons regardless of their faith. He gave examples of being with people who were dying. I asked him how he handled a situation (given his belief about hell) that in a few hours a person would enter hell for eternity unless he made an attempt to offer salvation. He seemed genuinely perturbed by the question as he indeed believed in a literal hell for those who were not born again. MOST BELIEVE IN HELL According to Harris Interactive (2013, December 6), 58% of U S adults believe in hell (25% don’t and 18% aren’t sure). More Republicans (74%) than Democrats (53) believe in hell. (I am sure those affiliated with either party could make a lot of jokes about the political rift.) Of course, the polls d...