Dear God:

I still love you. I'll do my best to show others. I hope they properly ask for forgiveness one day, in time to make a real difference in this lifetime and not just to assure them safe passage to the next.

LOFLMAO!! WHO would come up with this drivel? lol it is so bleeking stupid!

Francis. That was Jesus talking

Dear God:

I have ignored you lately. Oh, I say the right things. And I talk a good talk. But I haven't walked with you. I haven't followed your teaching. Forgive me. I am ready to follow you and lead others.

God is a Democrat, He is all knowing, so He certainly wouldn't have the extremist views some republicans have. It's hard to believe that people would cheer because someone was going to die without medical coverage. Or applaud about the number of people Rick Perry had executed. No wonder the U.S. is in trouble. It's all about self, just as it was with the people of Sodom.

Too bad you were not in that theater oh and btw, I'm not a Democrat, I'm a Republican and think you need to shut up Kevin.

I've seen the same thing from the other political perspective. It's infantile either way.

God is no more a Democrat than he is a Republican.

Yes God in neither Republican or Democrat. I find it interesting that when this type of commentary comes up plainly and obviously stating Jesus's perspective that many Republicans get defensive.

Betty, I am sorry to say, I don't think they want to haer the message,it seems we have forgotten how to love, outside of self! So sad for our country and our people.

The Sermon On The Mount is not very Republican on any level,in the least......is it?

Oh, no? How about wrecking the schools? Teaching nonsense like creationism? Denying climate change? Some would keep us ignorant so we can be fooled over and over again. Please don't talk education to me.

Readers....if you do not know what Progressive Christians believe and do not believe, educate yourself. This writer is comning from the Progressive Christian view point.

Danger....Danger....Danger

Me think's, Dr. Ellenburg may be the danger!

the labels really do distract, don't they? wish i had a dollar for every person without a supposed 'horse in the race' that has said that the the message of the 'right' or 'tea party' or 'fundamentalist' comes no where near the gospel of Christ. it doesn't take belief to understand written word. but it takes a deep well of faith to continue to watch the message of the Christ we love so dearly set aside, ignored, twisted and used to excuse the worst mankind can do, and know that love still wins. the posers, pretenders, liars, and haters will do their worst, and Christ still wins, despite it all. that's kind of the point, put so well by my friend mark and his creativity and understanding of what is happening before our very eyes, that was missed in the same old magic trick of taking the focus off the message. may God bless us one and all. even us dangerous lovers of the gospel of Christ.

Spot-on! Sharing with everyone I know!

I didn't see anywhere in this 'letter' that the 'writer' is identified with any political party. The writer is identified by the attributes of God/ Jesus that are enumerated in Scripture. Those that can't see that may need to remove the logs from their own eyes...

Dear God,

I hope I'm not part of the problem. And I wish I knew what I could do about it.

-Jesse

First, thank you for your service - bringing comfort, solace and peace to our service men and women is a high calling, and you deserve all our respect.

Second, the more progressive Christians I hear who are currently clergy gives me hope. And your description of what it is to be a progressive Christian is one I wholeheartedly subscribe to - I just wish the rest of my family - who proclaim to be Christians but really appear (to me at least) to be confusing their politics with their religion - would recognize that loving God and truly loving other people without reservation is what we are all called to do; not deciding first if you agree with the person's politics before you share the love (and by love I mean the multitude of blessings those of us with plenty have.) Love in action is what our God demands, not just talking the talk, but walking the walk... <sigh>

To those of you bashing this, ESPECIALLY Dr. F.C. Ellenburg:

We believe God meant it when he said "Thou Shalt Not Kill"

We believe John when he said to the soldiers: "Don't extort money and don't accuse people falsely -- be content with your pay."

We believe Jesus when he said about the sabbath: "I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: To do good or do no evil, to save life or to destroy it?"

We believe Jesus when he said "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you. When they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.

Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets. But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Woe unto you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets."

We believe Jesus meant it when he said "Do not judge, and you will not be Judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned, forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and it will be given to you.

I could go on and on, as most of you know, but I leave you with this. We believe that God is watching us, measuring what we do on this earth. We also believe we all fall short of the "Glory of God".

I believe it's not for you, Dr. F. C. Ellenburg to judge ANYONE, that is God's domain.

Beware false prophets. Just because you call yourself a prophet John, that doesn't make you one.

As for taxes - Jesus was clear on this: "Render unto Caesar what is his." - Translation: Render unto the government it's due...I.E. Taxes

Agreed Rebekah, which is why our forefathers expressly stated that in the Constitution. Unfortunately these Dominionists are trying to tear that part of the Constitution apart.

I can't fathom why you are posting here, then. My religious views inform my politics; can't be any other way, if I am to behave with integrity.

It CLEARLY states in the NIV from Luke 20: 20-26 What I was saying about Taxes.

Your interpretation is clearly wrong and self centered.

The question in Luke Asked at 20: 22 - "Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?" 23: He saw through their duplicity and said to them, 24: "Show me a denarius, Who's portrait and inscription are on it?" 25: "Caesar's" They replied. He said to them, "Then give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's"

It is problematic at best that you "Conservative" Christians always wish to twist and distort the Holy Bible into your own narrow view of the world.

Long time reader, first time delurking. Normally I'm *incredibly* wary of anyone putting words in God's mouth, even if their intentions are good, but... well... dang. This is powerful stuff. I'm humbled. I kind of want to turn this into a flier and paper my entire town with it.

Love this - just so much. Thank you!

Their is a certain level of irony in that the poster with the most hate filled posts is calling himself "JOHN" the profit when this letter is addressed to "John". You would think one would get the hint but then again "Humans!, You figure them out"

"Be not at odds
with any gods
or any men
who speak for them."

As a progressive humanist who doesn't read the bible or believe that there is a single word of truth in it....i'll be glad when the John TB's of this country strap on their suicide vests and take themselves out! I know they'll take a few of us with them, but the price will be well worth the peace and quiet that's left..GFY John
Cheers,
I do still like the message Mark, thnx Preacher Man

The god and jesus we know are fictional (i.e. man-created) characters. jesus is usually thought of at least a s a prophet, one of many. Higher Power and the Concept of Infinity is way beyond our mortal comprehension- particularly the ignorant and fearful. No religious dogma is credible to me, but sometimes we accidentally stumble upon that which may be the truth.

to John the Prophet. Ironically, you warn us against false prophets, when you seem to twist the Bible for your own purposes. Let's see what Jesus said, shall we?

There was a time when Jesus taught about the judgment, about those who would be invited into paradise and who would be cast into hell. You may be familiar with it?

From Matthew 25: 34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ (Thank you Bible Gateway!)

These are true words to live by. Jesus taught compassion, something sorely lacking in the right wing and tea baggers, cheering the idea of people dying because they couldn't afford insurance.

Whatsoever you do, remember, you do unto him!

I'm still wondering if I should trust a person who believes that snakes can talk.

One quick thing folks, do NOT click on the link that "John" includes on one of his posts above. It's a spoof link that most likely will lead to you gaining some sort of virus on your computer. This just goes to show how evil the one that calls us evil truly is.

John Ch.16, verse 12 "This is my commandment. That ye love one another as I have loved you." So many treat this as an updated version of the golden rule, when in fact it was given clearly as a commandment. "as I have loved you" According to the scriptures Jesus loved without judgement and with forgiveness, even forgiving those who crucified him and he healed the sick and raised the dead, leading to the possibility that if filled with the holy spirit, we could do the same. The thing that is on my mind most today is that Jesus threw the money changers out of the temple because they were profiting from the sacrifices of the poor. Christian or not, some things are always wrong and some are always right.

Thanks Mark! Great article and wild and crazy discussion as usual. Keep up the good/controversial work! =)

Mark, I know I've been a bit heated on this thread, and if I've gone overboard, I'll be the first to apologize.

That being said, I simply have a problem not replying to people who attack without provocation. I have never been one to simply stand by while someone with no morals or intellect attempts to twist things to their narrow point of view.

John - You DID post a spoof link on one of your posts. That is yet another FACT that you have lied about. The ONLY thing you have proven throughout this entire episode is your basic lack of understanding of the real world, your total lack of morals and your total lack of caring for your fellow man. You do not understand scripture in any way, shape or form, and I have amply illustrated that during our discussion about the FACT that Jesus did indeed say "pay your taxes" when he uttered the words "Render unto Caesar..."

You need to understand that the more you attack people, the more you push people away. That is NOT the Christian way.

The Bible is neither liberal nor conservative, and using it to spread your lies about the Democratic Party does every Christian a disservice. You try to paint the Democratic Party as racist. True, in the past there were elements of the party, particularly in the south that were. But that was then, this is now. The fact is all the racists changed parties to the Republican party as the Democrats were too caring about minorities for their liking. Don't believe me? LOOK IT UP, it's all here on the internet, if only you would take off your hate filled blinders and see.

Oh, and one other thing. I've not said one thing of hatred towards you. I don't hate you John, if I did I'd not pray for you. You are my brother, and even if you don't like that concept, despite it's biblical roots, then that is your loss.

God bless you John, I hope that you will someday see the light.

Francis - I do tend to word my beliefs strongly at times, but I stand by my words. I do not hate ANYONE. I may strongly dislike what someone does, or what they stand for, but hatred is something I work very hard to avoid. I sometimes use strong words to try and shake someone a bit. In hopes that it will get them to THINK about what they are doing and saying.

OK Mark, I guess I'll have to take your word for it, but consider the possibility that, given his penchant for typos, John typed the spoof URL by accident. There are lots of "typo-squatting" domains that are just a letter or two away from legitimate ones, like gmial.com, for instance. (Don't go there, and don't blame me if you do.)

I confess I didn't read every line of every post. It quickly got rather boring.
Christ said the greatest commandment was to Love God and love your neighbor as yourself. Love one another. No if's, and's, but's, or except your neighbor was born on Tuesday, or happened to be black green or maroon, or happens to be gay or asexual, pagan or atheist.
Love one another.
He also said it would be easier for a camel to pass through the 'eye of a needle' than for a rich man to get into heaven. He told the rich young man to give all his wealth to the poor and follow Him.
The Bible is very very clear about hoarding wealth to the detriment of your fellow man. The point about serving God or Mammon, serving two masters, is that the love of money takes over and you can no longer serve God with a whole heart.
That's why the richest man at church - who is a great guy, a millionaire, donates to the church a lot - told me point blank that he couldn't 'afford' to provide health insurance for his 3 employees. He can afford a private school for his son, ...the same son who came by invitro fertilization at a cost of nearly $50,000...he can afford a huge inground pool, and cabana outside their two story mansion, on their private ranch ..but he can't afford group insurance for 3 employees.
There is something wrong with this picture, if a person purports to live by the teachings of Christ.
The love of money is the root of all evil.

>many prominanat conservative public and political figures are also church leaders, Pat robertson comes to mind.

JTP, I wouldn't go there if I were you. One, Pat no longer holds any church leadership position, and hasn't for a long time. Maybe if he actually were in charge of a church, he'd have less time to run around sticking his foot in his mouth. Two, I can't figure out how his recent statement on Alzheimer's and divorce fits into any conservative ideology that I can think of. Borderline eugenics is what I'd call it.

I wonder, what commandment does love not cover?

Do conservatives think free will is Gods mistake?

No, I'm saying, if your following the commandment to love, it would cover all the commandmens and then some. The bible definition of love... and if God is love, he will love us by the same defnition.

It is my understanding, the actual definition of sin, is to miss the mark. Isn't that to be expected, were only human. But loving makes you not want to be "bad" its perfect.

By cover I mean if your living love, you wont be breaking the other commandments.

From Sara: "That's why the richest man at church - who is a great guy, a millionaire, donates to the church a lot - told me point blank that he couldn't 'afford' to provide health insurance for his 3 employees. He can afford a private school for his son, ...the same son who came by invitro fertilization at a cost of nearly $50,000...he can afford a huge inground pool, and cabana outside their two story mansion, on their private ranch ..but he can't afford group insurance for 3 employees.
There is something wrong with this picture, if a person purports to live by the teachings of Christ.
The love of money is the root of all evil."

Sara - thank you. You could be describing my children's father here. A deadbeat dad, wealthy, gives generously to his church, married the woman he was having an affair with while WE were married. Tough to swallow, tough to make sense of. God will need to sort it out in the end.
Sigh.

Sara-
Can I just say thank you for stating all you have...these were going through my mind when reading JTP's comments...of which I eventually just had to stop reading fully...

JTP- I can see you are frustrated and clearly believe you are right...you are fully entitled to your opinion. Everyone else is entitled to their opinion also...we pay taxes too and DO have the right speak on how we want those dollars to be appropriated...I for one don't want my money going to war, death and destruction...I want my taxes to go to uplift ppl to help them not hurt them...you alone do not fund our government.
I will suggest to you that instead of hating those you deem your enemy...apparently any of us that support this letter...you could think of it in a way that allows you to love your enemy instead as God commands.

"Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works."-Hebrews 10:24

I believe Money=the world=Mammon and if we were to cling to it over helping our fellow man (as how we treat our fellow man is actually how we treat God Himself) we are not serving God...Note money itself is not evil but how it is used...the creation of an idol...don't desire to store up treasures here on earth, bcuz they are of no value to you in heaven...money's only value is in how it is used.

"For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs."-1 Timothy 6:10

"For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy."-2 Timothy 3:2

I encourage you to view these...Consider this (it is not for me to judge you, but for your benefit to judge yourself so that you can be spotless in His eyes):

"Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load."-Galatians 6:1-5

"Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had arrogance, abundant food and careless ease, but she did not help the poor and needy."-Ezekiel 16:49

"Do not keep talking so proudly or let your mouth speak such arrogance, for the LORD is a God who knows, and by him deeds are weighed." 1 Samuel 2:3

"the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, But the LORD weighs the motives."-Proverbs 16:2

"And so the Lord says, "These people say they are mine. They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. And their worship of me is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote."-Isaiah 29:13

"He told them, "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites. As it is written, 'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me"-Mark 7:6

"They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work."-Titus 1:16

"To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men — robbers, evildoers, adulterers — or even like this tax collector.I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”-Luke 18:9-14

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."-James 1:27

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven."-Matthew 7:21
"Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?"-Luke 6:46

"For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous."-Roman 2:13

I really could go on but it isn't my intention to be preachy but just to ask that you consider the Word in your own heart...you may differ in political ideas but to call names and tear down brothers and sisters in Christ is not pleasing to God as is testifiable by scripture.

> free will isn't a mistake

Maybe not, but "Free Willy" was.

LOL

Great article, written with love, compassion and insight. Thank you!
Beware of the dominion theological folks who pride themselves in taking on the job of the 'troll' for the salvation of mankind. It the cross they feel they are meant to carry... You can tell them by their absolute sense of certainty about everything they say and believe. Their certainty that they are prophets sent to set all the rest of us straight.

Dear JTP,
I see you don't think you or anyone else should pay taxes. OK. Move to a place where there are no taxes. Of course, you'll have to give up roads, police, army,nave, marines, hospitals, medical research, schools, fire department, bridges....but hey, you'll be free.

Amen, and God Bless.

Dear God, I realize that you are God, and Not a religion. Thank you for your understanding and compassion towards the religious who would use your name for hate. I look forward to walking with you in the world that you created, without strings attached.

The first Commandment plainly states "You will have no other God before me", so I find this whole "letter" a little offensive to suggest our Lord say would ever say 'you have a new God and that's ok'. That would NEVER be ok with God. While I like some of the ideas expressed in this "letter" it certainly doesn't express the whole truth of the God of Abraham, and to get something that basic wrong (and say it repeatedly) makes me wonder if it was written by a Christian at all. Also, God's love is constant and He will never abandon us, not even 'for a time'. So not something I'll reshare for these reasons. Please don't presume to speak for God like this in the future.

Blind certainty is deadly in the hands of fools
And no man's god owns the golden rule

Acts 4:32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had.

Sounds to me like God is a Socialist...

@Unworthy
I am no fan of abortion; however, your calculations are off. The figure of 50 million abortions in the US counts cumulatively from 1973. Based on UN figures of 17,000 hunger-related deaths of children, worldwide, per day, we are over 235 million for the same time period. Not exactly "fractionally Nonexistent in comparison," now is it? In fact, it's probably higher, because that 17,000 rate per day is current, but overall there has been a decline over the years. We ARE making headway. As to abortion, the best way to prevent it, (as opposed to driving it underground, so that women die, too,) is to provide real support for women with unplanned pregnancies, not only up until they deliver, but afterwards, too -- to make it easier to actually raise a child. That's something the entire political spectrum could get behind, if they cared to -- respects both women AND children, choice AND life. Unfortunately it seems you can't run a campaign or win an election on policies that bring people together; these days we seem to prefer fixing the blame to fixing the problem.

Dear God,
You do not exist, you did not create man, man created you, in order to control the minds of other men and women. there are good people in this world that do not believe in you. Religion, no matter the denomination is all based on the belief of doing good by others. Christianity has ruined this world. Furthermore, in this letter you stated that America has put you on its money, and in its pledge. The biggest grossing corporation in the world, and the most corrupt one, is that of the catholic church. Oh, and if Jesus did exist, and what the bible says about him is true, then by definition, he was a zombie. Have a nice day.

Dear YHWH,

I have read your letter to the nation and frankly, I was a little bit intrigued by it...

I am sure as THE Creator of this wonderful Universe, you are an extremely busy Being, yet you still find some time to give clear and precise description as to how to dissect an animal for the sole purpose of sacrifice. All that in your book of Leviticus. I am sure you had some free time between creating the Andromeda Galaxy and the Whirlpool Galaxy, so you decided to head to our little speck of dust called "Earth" and fully engage your methods of "animal blood sprinkling on the side of the alter". That's obviously something you do in between your creation of Billions of Suns and its orbiting planets. Fun hobby huh?

Now, maybe I am being harsh.. but since you mentioned 9/11 and all the terrible suffering that happened on that day, can I ask why you did not try to stop this act? I mean, as someone who is clearly able to do such thing (after all, it's a piece of cake to gently stop or land an airplane full of people, given you created all that is out there)? However, you did not even attempt doing that. What does that say about you YHWH? Do you not care enough for innocent people?

Now, I am sure that is just remote incident or perhaps you were just busy creating above-mentioned Galaxies during the time of 9/11. I see your rage about few people that apparently supported and applauded death penalty during on the Republican debates. I do agree with you here.. but.. ummmm.. have you read your own book? The Bible? The One that You suppose to have inspired? Sir God, you actually sent bears to tear apart 42 children in one of your episodes of anger. You also burned villages with innocent people like it was nothing. You almost made Abraham kill his own (and only) son! How messed up is that? And you were proud of him for even considering doing that!? That not only makes you a psychopath, but mass murderer.. even far worse than (now dead), North Korean dictator Kim John Il. At least you could die in North Korea. With you, YHWH, (which brings us to the New Testament) death is not the end of it.. one also burns in the lake of fire.. or hell for eternity (if you don't comply with Jesus and accept Holy Spirit).

So, Dear YHWH, you really are one messed up being, and seriously don't even pretend to be a nice and loving one. I mean come on, as a Divine Being, you show a character of a barbaric and jealous peasant from somewhere around 700 BCE. Maybe, that's who you really are..??

I love this Dear John and Jan letter. There's truth in every word. What I love most is the way it is signed. YHWH...Jehovah :) bless you Mark!

OMG! If YOU couldn't see how superficial and self-serving that post 9/11 blood donor and flag waving to avoid contemplating the real issues was, there's no hope.

Oh yes, to the Christian right, the words of Jesus are dangerous! Seems to me the Pharisees found them to be dangerous too.....

The GOP thinks they have a monopoly on God. Wrong. The baby Jesus weeps for them.