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Posts by James Ross Kelly

James Ross Kelly lives in Northern California next to the Sacramento River. Mr. Kelly was a long-time resident of Southern Oregon where he grew up. And the Fires We Talked About published by Uncollected Press in 2020 is Mr. Kelly’s first book of fiction. In 2024 Mr. Kelly published his third book, "Above Neil Rock," a memoir.

The Six Way Fracturing of Evangelicalism – Mere Orthodoxy | Christianity, Politics, and Culture


The fracturing we are experiencing is likely to be irrevocable as the historical ties that bind have eroded beyond repair. The reality is that while many in the evangelical movement thought their bonds were primarily (or exclusively) theological or missional, many of those bonds were actually political, cultural, and socioeconomic. These political, cultural, and socioeconomic differences have always been there beneath the water line but what has occurred over the last 5-10 years has been the extent to which those values are expressed has been exposed. With the expression louder and the exposing more visible, these divergent values have rapidly created substantive wedges between various subgroups. The rate at which divergent views have been revealed has created jarring relational dissonance. People in the pews are left questioning the extent to which their unity is based on the Apostles or Nicene creeds or other political, cultural, and socioeconomic matters. They are left questioning where churches, ministries, or organizations land on these things. The tectonic plates are shifting underfoot. This fracturing will likely be irrevocable not because our Gospel essentials are not unifying enough but because the divergence of ethical priorities, cultural engagement, racial attitudes, political visions/illusions, and their implications for philosophy of ministry mean that unity is fundamentally no longer tenable.

Source: The Six Way Fracturing of Evangelicalism – Mere Orthodoxy | Christianity, Politics, and Culture

In 2019, Almost All of Facebook’s Top Christian Pages Were Run By Foreign Troll Farms


In 2019, 19 of Facebook’s top 20 pages for American Christians were run by Eastern European troll farms overseas, internal documents leaked to MIT

Source: In 2019, Almost All of Facebook’s Top Christian Pages Were Run By Foreign Troll Farms

God Is Good — Center for Action and Contemplation


Your image of God creates you. This is why it is important that we see God as loving and benevolent and why good theology still matters. One mistaken image of God that keeps us from receiving grace is the idea that God is a cruel tyrant. People who have been raised in an atmosphere of threats of punishment and promises of reward are programmed to operate with this cheap image of a punitive God. It usually becomes their entire view of the universe.

Source: God Is Good — Center for Action and Contemplation

The “Slave Bible” Is a Stark Reminder of How the Holy Book Can Justify Evil | Beth Stoneburner | Friendly Atheist | Patheos


This kind of biblical cherry picking is still going on today.

Source: The “Slave Bible” Is a Stark Reminder of How the Holy Book Can Justify Evil | Beth Stoneburner | Friendly Atheist | Patheos