Chuck Foreman – Teaching Pastor

Well…we had an interesting day on Sunday, August 3, 2014 at FCC.  Some good, but hard questions and some good discussion then, and since. I received the following comment about my message on Sunday, August 3, 2014 at FCC.  I’m sharing it here because I believe it is important for us to see how our position on this issue, one way or the other, may affect people who don’t agree with it.

Subject: Anti-Gay Message

“I’m assuming from your message today that openly gay people are not welcome in your congregation. How sad. I feel really bad for anyone in your congregation who just had to hear a message of hate and conditional love today, especially those who might be gay or, heaven forbid, a young person questioning who they’d want to love. Shame on you for the psychological and spiritual abuse you are perpetrating! I pray that someday no one will have to hear such messages from churches. The answer to your questions should have been…who am I to judge anyone? That’s up to God. All are welcome. We love you unconditionally just as you are. Don’t change a thing…especially your sexual orientation.”

I’ve also included my response here and I invite you to chime in on this discussion and encourage others you know, on both sides of this issue, to participate as well.  Please don’t feel the need to come to my defense just because you may agree with me.  Let’s try to understand this issue and how those on either side think and feel about it.   (more…)

Chuck Foreman – Teaching Pastor

When it comes to people’s views and opinions about the Bible and it’s integrity and reliability, I’ve found one thing that most skeptics and believers have in common—ignorance.  (more…)

Chuck Foreman – Teaching Pastor

If we are simply creatures who have evolved from less complex forms of life originating in a warm slime pit somewhere, sometime in the distant past, then why do we find ourselves so discontent and often so unhappy in our present existence? You’d think we wouldn’t even be able to notice or recognize our own discontentment, wouldn’t you? We should just be here, existing, doing what creatures of our kind have evolved to do without thinking about it, shouldn’t we? Yes, we should—unless there’s something else going on with us.  (more…)

Chuck Foreman – Teaching Pastor

Is God really there? Good question. How can anyone be certain about the existence of something or someone who cannot be known by any of our senses—the 5 ways we humans come to be aware of things (sight, smell, touch, hearing, taste)? God, if he is there, is outside the realm of our senses. Perhaps he’s simply a figment of our imaginations. Or, if he is there, has he left us clues about his existence which are observable by our senses?  If he is there, and if he wants us to know him, he’s going to have to show up somehow—make himself known to us in ways that are possible for us to know. There are arguments on both sides of this question about the existence of God. To be fair and honest, we should take a look at them as objectively as we can.  (more…)