Are You Being Duped?: "Do you think the grave is the end?" - Kent Allan Philpott

How sure are you, if you believe that the grave is the end, that you are right? Oh, you may believe it with all your heart and soul! But how do you know you are right? Do you have anything to prove your position? Are you willing to risk absolutely everything?

For Pastors of Small Churches: "Examine Yourself" - Kent Allan Philpott

We must be sure of our own conversion.
To be engaged in pastoral ministry and yet be unconverted—this is a great tragedy. Many think they are converted on the basis of church membership, baptism, good deeds, holding to orthodox creeds and doctrine, and so on. In fact, some mistakenly believbe they are truly converted because they are ministers.

How to Care for Your Pastor: "The Pastor is Growing" - Kent Allan Philpott

I have known pastors who have changed in some point of theology and have had to resign as a result. Their congregations were not mature enough to work through a very natural and necessary experience or did not have the personal and spiritual security to allow the pastors to work out their salvation with fear and trembling.
People of God, be warned and be sympathetic — your spiritual leader’s sense of self or ego may undergo change. Having a strong sense of personal worth and security is not easily achieved by anyone, and a pastor...

Tales from San Quentin: "First Day of Baseball Tryouts" - Kent Allan Philpott

February 27 turned out to be a cold and rainy day, but we went on with the tryouts anyway. About forty men came out. There were a few guys I cut on that first day—anyone would be able to see that baseball was not their game. There were five of these, older convicts, who wanted to be part of this most elite group in the prison, a team that had received national attention more than a few times. Making cuts is the most unpleasant part of...

If the Devil Wrote a Bible: "Experience as much of life as you can" (Chapter 3) - Kent Allan Philpott

Devil: Experience as much of life as you can. All that really matters is your happiness anyway. Remember the grave is the end. Therefore I command you, reject religion, which only mires you down in rules and guilt. Explore every choice and live free. 

Christian: The devil offers a few cheap thrills now, thinking that will blind his followers to the greater truth, but it condemns them to a lost and miserable eternity. Not a good trade-off.  

Reforming: "Early Confusion" - Kent Allan Philpott

I slowly began to understand. Grace was not grace if salvation depended upon human action. Were we really dead in our trespasses and sins or not? If there was no free will to enable one to make a decision—what was to be done? And of a significant practical concern, how would I end my sermons?
It was at this point that I began to talk to other evangelical pastors and ask their opinion. Each one I consulted admitted that it was obvious that repeating the sinner’s prayer was no sure fire means of conversion, and these were all pastors holding to an Arminian theology. Anyone who had been a pastor for very long saw it plainly...

The Third Sex? revisited: "Born Homosexual or Not?" - Kent Allan Philpott

I came to the conclusion that being born gay was little more than a cultural myth in the homosexual community. “I was born gay, homosexuality is natural for me” was an identity marker that went with the territory... What counts for me is what God has revealed. Of course, if one does not have a high view of the Scripture, then what I am presenting will be next to meaningless...

Why I Decided Not to Kill Myself: "Carla's Story" - Kent Allan Philpott

Quickly, too quickly, I jumped into a rebound relationship, and when that one came to its inevitable end, I crashed.  I felt the full force of being alone in the world and was not prepared for it.  I was depressed, and I began to think about suicide. I remembered something from the recovery workshop—90% of the people who go through divorce seriously consider ending it all...