Apr 10
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You may say, ‘God doesn’t hate anybody. God is love.’ No, my friend. You need to understand something. Jesus Christ taught, the prophets taught, the apostles taught this: that apart from the grace of God revealed in Jesus Christ our Lord the only thing left for you is the wrath, the fierce anger of God because of your rebellion and your sin.
Paul Washer
Would you recognize this person if you saw them in public?
Yes, I know who this is and I feel confident that I would recognize them
I know who this is but I’m not sure I would recognize them in person
They look familiar but I’m not sure who they are
I have no idea who this is
Nuanced answer
God does not call men to make Jesus Lord (as though they had such power), but to live in absolute submission to the Lord He has made.
Paul Washer
What's so bad about Paul Washer?
OY VEY...where do I even start?
Please let me be corrected on any of the below, if needed.
To begin with, he exemplifies one of the tendencies I often observe in Calvinists, which I call "turning the Gospel into Yfelspel". In his case, this mostly takes the form of a "Total Depravity on steroids" kind of mentality, where he seeks to inspire his audience not by extolling the greatness and holiness of God but by cudgelling us over how pathetic we are and how much we suck.
In terms of how God views man, he seems to be rather of the "Sinners at the hands of an angry God" variety, which carries a host of problems with it -- especially when combined with a rigid Calvinism.
In terms of his opinions about culture, he seems to embody what I call the "Works-Righteousness Gospel according to the Boomers", which in essence means that the gauge of a "successful and productive life" is that you start working at 16, have a career by 25, and your time is spent exclusively on your career, family-leading, and church work; plus, of course, that hobbies like gaming are a waste of time -- much of the same stuff that Matt Walsh believes, only Washer is much more dangerous than Walsh because this mindset is much more prominent in his philosophy, and he dresses up his opinions with a Bible garb and uses the Gospel to shame you for not being "successful" enough by his standards.
Also, it is not encouraging at all that he is of the Joshua Harris school of romance; he believes, in his own words, that dating is unbiblical and heretical, and we should return to courtship and early marriages as a model for romantic relationships -- in fact, his view is so strict that he insists that you are obligated to ask permission from a woman's father before you court her, and even so you should still not do anything with her before marriage which you would not do with a brother or sister (Yeah, you heard him! Stop holding hands, ya sluts!) -- which is, leniently spoken, dangerously close to adding to the Gospel. What's more, much of the argumentation behind this part of his theology is completely ahistorical nonsense, and he ends up being sexist both towards women and towards men in the process.
I get the impression that he leans towards an idolisation of a very particular and stereotypical kind of "sigma" man as an epitome of manhood -- so I wouldn't be surprised if he also preaches some kind of "works-based masculinity" in addition to what I covered in #3 above. Someone in a Reddit thread gave this exquisite explanation: "I kind of wonder about this whole 'manhood' movement that seems to be so trendy lately. Esau was a manly man, but God chose Jakob, who stayed inside cooking all the time. Samuël wanted to choose a big and strong man as a king, but God chose the childlike prettyboy called David. Can't we just be men without needing to prove it so hard all the time? It makes it look like we don't even believe we are men ourselves."
This video should give you a better idea of the kind of stuff he believes, and why his worldview is completely misguided. Being dead wrong about a host of issues is one thing, but when you have the nerve to add the gravitas of the Gospel and the pulpit to your outlandish opinions it becomes much worse. I know that he correctly identifies and diagnoses many problems with postmodern culture and contemporary Christianity, but I believe that, more often than not, the remedies he proposes are almost as bad as the diseases.
The world loves the rich and famous, but God loves the unknown and the nobodies. The world loves the rich and the powerful, but God loves the poor and the weak. Our world loves the extraordinary, but God loves the ordinary—people like you and me.
I sometimes wonder how God could love me. I have failed Him ever so many times. But His love is relentless, consistent, and persistent. God says, "Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you" (Jeremiah 31:3).
"CADA ÓBITO, CADA CORTEJO FÚNEBRE, CADA TÚMULO CLAMA AO HOMEM A DEIXAR OS CUIDADOS FÚTEIS DESTE MUNDO E MEDITAR SOBRE A ETERNIDADE, A PREPARAR-SE PARA ENCONTRAR COM DEUS." Paul Washer
Siga: @jesusrei
Countless reasons
“I just can’t feel God right now.”
This is one of the hardest things in life.
It can happen to us when we’re dealing with any kind of loss. Whether it’s death or illness, the end of a relationship or the loss of a job. All of them hit and hit hard.
When something like that happens to us. And even when it hasn’t – but we can see it coming.
It’s so easy for you and me to get focused on it. On how it hit us. Or how it’s going to hit us.
That we fall into a hole. Where it’s just us and what happened.
That we lose sight and sense of – well – everything and everyone else.
Where, even if we’re not putting the words, something deep within us is saying, “I just can’t feel God right now.”
Comparing whose loss is greater is a fool’s game. And a subtle form of the dreary old sin of pride.
But it is true that some losses do hit us harder than others. Here’s what I mean,
The losses that hit me the hardest? Are the ones where I did it, where this is the fallout from my sin.
Where I can legitimately point the finger at me (or at least find a way to blame myself).
Those are the ones that really send me down the hole. Where it’s just me and what happened.
When that happens, it’s easy for me to end up in that place where something deep within me is saying, “I just can’t feel God right now.”
But as St. Anthony Abbot tells us, “To say that God turns away from the sinful is like saying the sun hides from the blind.”
That’s the thing about God. God doesn’t bail out on us. Even when we give Him (what we think) is every reason to quit.
Even when you can’t feel God, even when you did it. God is still right there with you.
God will always be there with you.
Holding onto you. Picking up the pieces. Lifting you up. Loving you. Until you can feel Him again.
“I’ve given God countless reasons not to love me. None of them has been strong enough to change Him.” – Paul Washer
Today’s Readings