Category Archives: Truth Matters

Posted on

Some Advice For Katy Perry On Her “Very Public” Evolving Faith Journey-Keep Asking Why

Pop icon Katy Perry was recently on the cover of Vanity Fair magazine and was interviewed about what it was like growing up. In her words, “I didn’t have a childhood.” The article goes on to explain how the twenty-six-year-old’s inquisitive side was relentless and says she felt compelled to push the boundaries strict family life. She said: ‘I have always been the kid who’s asked ‘Why?’’

Kids and teenagers need a safe place to ask big questions and grapple honestly with life—their experiences, hopes, fears, doubts, and desires. Christianity is the kind of thing that you can investigate—it will hold up to scrutiny. It actually rises to the level of being true or false and there are good reasons to believe that Christianity is true.

Let me be clear. It is not my intention here to pass judgment on how her parents—who the article says are evangelical Christians—raised her or what they did or didn’t do. I don’t know. I was not there. I do know already how hard it is to be a parent. But apologist Josh McDowell’s words are appropriate here: “Truth without relationship leads to rebellion.” We must remember these wise words. Maybe that’s her story.

Now for some—admittedly unsolicited—advice to the mega pop star for her spiritual journey and her understanding of faith. Perry explained: ‘In my faith, you’re just supposed to have faith. At this point, I’m just kind of a drifter. I’m open to possibility.’

Being “open minded” can be a good thing for a season of exploration. However the goal of opening your mind is to eventually close it around truth. But the notion of faith for faith’s sake that she espouses is both ubiquitous in our culture and deeply flawed. Here’s why: Faith is only as good as the object in which it’s placed. Sincerity is not enough. That is true when it comes to parachutes opening when they are supposed to or whether the God of the Bible exists. If our own desires, experiences, and beliefs are the object of our faith then we are doomed to an ever changing faith because our beliefs, desires, and experiences constantly change. We need something outside of ourselves to anchor our faith—something or someone that is a worthy object of faith. I would suggest Jesus of Nazareth as an excellent candidate to investigate.

Moreover, I would gently remind Katy that belief is not what ultimately matters—truth is. In other words, people are entitled to their own beliefs, but they are not entitled to their own truth. Our believing something is true does not make it true. The Bible isn’t true simply because I have faith. Truth is what corresponds to reality—telling it like it is. There is a way the world is and we either cooperate with it or bruise ourselves against it. Truth is discovered, not created.

So with much compassion for a young woman who is now on the biggest stage there is, I would encourage Katy to keep on looking and keep on asking the why questions. Because it may be that what she really rejected was not the life Jesus offers, but a caricature of Christianity that says it’s all about the rules you need to follow. At the end of the day, Christianity best answers the big “why questions” of life.

  • Why are we here?

  • Where did we come from?

  • What is life all about?

  • Is this life all there is?


It may be that she is running so hard away from her past that she is not running toward anything. But one day she will stop running away and ask where she is going. I hope and pray that when that day comes she will find the truth that has been there all along—her heavenly Father who created and loves her longs for her to come home. (Luke 15:11-31)​

Posted on

Is Hell For Real?

What if Hell doesn’t exist? That is a question asked by Time magazine during Holy Week. Here is a video promo for my upcoming equipping seminar (Thanks Andrew Humphreys!)

Everyone is talking about hell these days. TIME magazine even had a cover story on it during Holy Week asking—Is Hell Dead? When it comes to this topic everyone has questions: How could a loving God send people to hell? Is hell forever? Will everyone be saved in the end? What about those who have never heard of Jesus? Did Jesus really believe in hell? In this timely seminar, equipping pastor and author Jonathan Morrow will be responding to these and other issues from a distinctively Christian worldview so that we can better understand what the Bible teaches about this topic and how we can engage others when these issues come up in conversations at work, home, or on campus. When: Wed. night May 18th from 6:30 – 8:30 at Blackman Middle School. Childcare $10 per family at the door. Please sign up by emailing [email protected] or putting the bulletin tab in the giving box.

If you are in the area, come on out! (please sign up) I address this question in this book as well:

Posted on

What Would Jesus Say to Gandhi and Osama Bin Laden? Some Christian Reflections On Getting What We Deserve

From Fox News to the Huffington Post, Time Magazine to the New York Times, Gandhi and Osama bin Laden are trending in the headlines these days…but for different reasons. But the questions people are asking about each of them are not unrelated. They have to do with good and evil, justice and love, and people getting what they ultimately deserve. But people are also bringing God—and even Jesus (who claimed to be God by the way)—into it too. This sounds like a conversation worth having.

So let’s talk a little about Gandhi, Bin Laden, and the scandal of Christianity.

Is Gandhi in heaven right now because he was good enough?

Is Osama bin Laden in hell right now because he was too evil?

What would Jesus say to each of these men? These questions get to the heart of Christianity.

By our standards Gandhi was a good person. Surely, if people like Gandhi can’t earn their way to heaven, then you and I are in trouble. But we are immediately plagued by a deeper question—how good is good enough? The Bible’s answer? As good as God. Absolute perfection is the standard. “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6 cf. Romans 3:23). As admirable and noble as Gandhi’s efforts were to dignify the invisible of India, he falls short of God’s perfect standard.

That is scandalous in our eyes, but the message of the Bible is clear. Incidentally, this is yet another reason why no one would have invented a religion like Christianity. It has the audacity to tell us—even the most virtuous among us—that we are not good enough (notice I did not say that we are not loved cf. John 3:16; Rom. 5:8). We cannot save ourselves.

So is Osama bin Laden in hell right now because he was too evil?

This is the inverse of the Gandhi question. Can someone be too bad? Are some people simply too evil to be forgiven?

Christianity teaches that there is no one so far gone that cannot be forgiven—even Bin Laden. Here’s why. Christianity teaches that even when we are dead in our sins that God can make us alive with Christ. How does he do this? God “forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.” (Col. 2:13-14). Think of it. Jesus’ death on the cross was sufficient to pay the penalty for every sin ever committed (cf. 1 John 2:2).

Again, scandalous!

Put as plainly as I can, Christianity teaches that you, me, Gandhi and everyone else on the planet are in the same boat as people like Osama bin Laden unless we have accepted Jesus’ offer of forgiveness. Either we pay or Jesus pays—but justice requires someone to pay (cf. Romans 6:23).

But if God is all-loving and all-powerful, then why can’t he just forgive everyone so there wouldn’t have to be a hell at all?

This question gets to the heart of one of the most common objections to the idea of hell. The answer lies in what it means for God to be perfectly good. In The Problem of Pain, C. S. Lewis addresses this objection by observing the important distinction between condoning evil and true forgiveness: “To condone an evil is simply to ignore it, to treat it as if it were good. But forgiveness needs to be accepted as well as offered if it is to be complete: a man who admits no guilt can accept no forgiveness.”

The goodness of God would be violated if he just looked the other way. Theologian J. I. Packer helps us see this:

“Would a God who did not care about the difference between right and wrong be a good and admirable being? Would a God who put no distinction between the beasts of history, the Hitlers and Stalins (if we dare use names), and his own saints, be morally praiseworthy and perfect? Moral indifference would be imperfection in God, not a perfection. But not to judge the world would be to show moral indifference. The final proof that God is a perfect moral being, not indifferent to questions of right and wrong, is the fact that he has committed himself to judge the world.”

Since all of us expect this level of moral integrity and consistency from human judges, shouldn’t we at least expect the same from God?”

The cross stands as a constant reminder that hellish existence is not the only option for people; it doesn’t have to be this way. We can turn around; we can change our mind. Jesus’ word for this was repentance. The gospel is a universal declaration that hell is not God’s desire for anyone (2 Pet. 3:9). But the Bible is very clear that hell is simultaneously the punishment for our sins and the consequence of our desire for life apart from God. (For more on the question of hell, I address it here)

Lewis once admitted that, “I would pay any price to be able to say truthfully ‘All will be saved.’ But my reason retorts ‘Without their will, or with it?’” No matter what your circumstances may be, you always have a choice. No one is ever “too far gone.” (Read: Osama bin Laden).

And in the same breath, no one can ever be “good enough.” (Read: Gandhi)

The good news is that God has provided in His Love what His Justice required. The great exchange is available to anyone who will embrace the scandal of the cross:

“But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.” (Romans 3:21-25)

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor. 5:21)

So what would Jesus say to Gandhi and Osama bin Laden?

“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” (John 5:24)

Posted on

New Article – Is it okay to have doubts?

Real Christians don’t doubt. Or at least that’s the unspoken message you’ll find in most churches today. Well, if that’s true then I guess I’m not a real Christian because I’ve had (and still have) my share of doubts. By the way, your parents and youth pastors have them too! As humans, we all have limitations. We all experience doubts simply because we cannot know everything about everything. So be encouraged, you are not alone. But in order to live with our doubts in a spiritually healthy and faith-building way, we need to be clear about what doubt is and isn’t.

First, as J.P. Moreland and Klaus Issler point out, there is a difference between unbelief, doubt, and lack of belief.

  • Unbelief – someone willfully sets themselves against a biblical teaching (e.g., Jesus is not the Son of God).
  • Doubt – someone has an intellectual, emotional, or psychological barrier to a more secure confidence in a biblical teaching or in God Himself (e.g., I believe God is always there for me, but when bad stuff happens I struggle to believe this).
  • Lack of belief – someone doesn’t believe a biblical teaching or idea, but wants to (e.g., I need some help to believe).

Also, all doubts aren’t created equal; there are different flavors. The two most common are intellectual and emotional doubts. Given a Christian understanding of faith as “confidence or trust in what we have reason to believe is true”—as opposed to ‘blind faith’ or wishing—the recipe for overcoming your doubts is not to somehow dig deep and crank out more faith by holding your breath and concentrating really hard.

What you need to do is have the courage to “doubt your doubts.” Investigate. Seek the truth. Here’s a place to start: (1) be specific about what your doubts are—write them out and list reasons for / against (2) start your investigation by reading the articles in this study Bible (3) remind yourself that you are not the only one who has ever asked this question, and that 99.9% of the time a reasonable answer exists.

Sometimes emotional doubts look like intellectual ones. But the root cause turns out not to be unanswered questions at all. Some sources of emotional doubts: (1) experiencing disappointment, failure, pain, or loss (2) having unresolved conflict or wounds from our past that need to be addressed (3) letting unruly emotions carry us away for no good reason (4) being spiritually dry (5) fearing to really commit to someone.

Emotions are good and normal but they aren’t always right….(read the rest)

Posted on

Are Christians “stingy” for believing in the cross as a substitutionary atonement for our sins and the reality of hell? Dan Kimball says NO

I came across an interesting article by Dan Kimball in Outreach magazine. Here is a very perceptive excerpt in light of the recent cultural conversation regarding Love Wins by Rob Bell and its impact on evangelism:

Evangelism de-emphasized further. Another critical concern centers on the potential evangelistic ramifications of believing that all are saved (even through Jesus). Some have said that if we even resist the possibility that all are saved in the end, we have a “stingy” view of salvation. I find that comment almost offensive. As I said before, I would love to believe that all are saved in the end. But my personal convictions and years of studying Scripture and church history won’t allow that.

Believing in the cross as a substitutionary atonement for our sins and the reality of hell isn’t “stingy.” It would be if I delighted in the truth that all aren’t saved or became self-focused and didn’t do anything about it. But I and many others want to see God’s forgiveness shared so abundantly with other people that we have devoted ourselves to being on mission. We have started churches, taken risks and given our all to see people experience the grace, love and freedom found in Jesus in this life—and after we die.

Thinking about someone who will not experience being with God in heaven for all eternity grieves and horrifies us. And then motivates us to do something about it. That’s so much of what the church’s mission has been and is about. It’s what you see driving Jesus’ disciples in the book of Acts as they went out to speak about judgment, repentance, being “saved” and explained the Gospel as both kingdom now and future. How would Acts read if the disciples had believed everyone was eventually saved? We do need to study Jesus’ wise words on experiencing the kingdom in this life, but don’t forget that He also talked about judgment and afterlife, as did Peter, Paul, John and the writer of Hebrews. It seems that if the disciples had embraced a universal reconciliation view of everyone being saved, it would have totally taken the steam out of their message of urgency. How would Paul’s famous message at Mars Hill be different if he believed that all those worshipping other gods would eventually be saved in the end?

Read the rest of this article.