The misunderstood god by darin hufford biography
If you have ever looked at a couple of hormonal teenagers and thought to yourself, “Those kids don’t know the first thing about love,” then you may have a fair idea of how God thinks about some of us: We hardly know the first thing about love. You only have to listen to the way we talk to know that this is so. We tell others that we want to be “used by God” as if love ever uses people. We boast of our “commitment to Christ” as if the substance of love consisted of making promises. We testify that God has sent us into the wilderness or made us sick to teach us things as if God would ever do such things.
And then we wonder why those listening don’t want to know Him!
“Whatever we believe about love, we believe about God.” So says Darin Hufford in his book The Misunderstood God and it is profound truth. God is love. If your definition of love has been filtered through our fallenness and twisted by religion, you will inevitably end up with a screwy picture of God. This is the chief reason why so many people who claim to know God are miserable. They have been told that God values us as servants and that He relates to us as a general relates to a soldier. “Relationship” for them is not about enjoying life together but following orders. It’s a monologue rather than a dialogue.
Tragically, a mixed-up view of God’s love has a devastating effect on relationships with others. For instance, there are those who worry that they may be loving their spouses or their children too much. They fear they may be turning their loved ones into idols and incurring the jealously of a vengeful God. Here’s Hufford:
I am always mystified when I hear people boastfully say, “I love God more than my wife.” The only way to love God more than your spouse is to love God through your spouse. Your husband or wife would be the direct recipient of the love.… The God who is love loves it when we love.… God is never in competition with your love for people! Any time you love a person, you are n A hard-hitting expose of modern-day Christianity, which has created a horribly distorted picture of who God is. There are so many confusing teachings about God today. Countless contradictions, scams, ploys for money, and fear-based teaching have distorted the true portrait of God the Father. THE MISUNDERSTOOD GOD tells the truth about who the Creator is. This book analyzes what religion says about God's heart and personality and measures it up to what God calls Himself: Love. Actually finding God, Darin Hufford states, is easier than anyone imagined. He is not locked in a monastery high in the mountains. He's not sitting in church hoping people will show up on Sunday morning. He's not on a travelling road show with the latest super-spiritual faith healer. Believe it or not, He's not even in the Bible. Finding God is as easy as loving the people He has made. THE MISUNDERSTOOD GOD simplifies a generation's tangled perceptions of God by taking a journey through the sixteen aspects of love described in one of the most well-known Bible passages in the world: 1 Corinthians 13, also known as "the love chapter." So many Christians have been bombarded with confusing teachings and doctrines that their understanding of God resembles a tightly tangled ball of Christmas tree lights. This book takes that twisted mess and replaces it with one soft, warm light of truth that anyone can embrace: God is love.The Misunderstood God: The Lies Religion Tells About God
I'm half-way through this book, not super fond of his writing style. He makes a lot of absolute statements as well as thoughtless connections that may be interpreted the wrong way. I get what he's trying to say though. But the problem is, I shouldn't have to try to deduce what he means because of his undeveloped writing. The danger is if or when things are interpreted the wrong way. For ex he writes "A true relationship with God is impossible unless we love people". I have a problem with this, I get that he's trying to make the point that loving people is important and God wants us to love people. But is it really IMPOSSIBLE to have a relationship with God if we don't love people? All things are possible through Him who gives me strength. Yes, it maybe difficult to love God if we don't exercise that love with his creation, but impossible? Also, what does that mean for people who have autism, who are asocial and cringe at any sort of human contact. Perhaps they don't have the cognitive capacity to love people. But I have read blogs by people who have Asperger's who love God so much because of the fact that he isn't people. He doesn't have the annoying tendecies that we as humans have. So I fully believe it is possible to have a relationship with God without having to love people, not that I'm advocating not loving people.
"Jesus told us that the way to love God is to love people". Jesus says in John 15 "My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. ". Yes, Love one another. However, it isn't stated that loving people is THE way to love God. Of course you can love God by loving others. But isn't it to remain in God's lov The Misunderstood God: The Lies Religion Tells us About God
The Misunderstood God: The Lies Religion Tells About God