"Theologians argue that we were created to live forever", Dr. Jones says, "but that the first man, Adam, sinned, and that as a result of that sin, God cursed all of mankind to suffer a spiritual death."

I'm sitting with Dr. Michael W. Jones in his office, drinking a cup of coffee. He sits across from me, preparing his bowling ball for a league series game. He's not good at bowling, he once told me, and that's what he likes about it. Doing things you're not good at is healthy for the mind, he said. It helps to keep the world in perspective, and reminds you that everybody is good at something, but nobody is good at everything. This is why we need each other, he argued. This is why people need to work together.

For thousands of years, men and women have poured out their lives, souls, and blood, and yet to this very day have still failed time and time again, to attain righteousness, achieve perfection, and purge their world of evil, all in an effort to become good enough for the love and approval of their Creator. They reach out endlessly to a God who created them less than perfect, and yet they believe that He demands nothing less than perfection from them. When they fall short, as all men inevitably do, they throw themselves at the feet of their Creator, begging for mercy, forgiveness, and salvation from the wrath and anger that they believe God has in store for them. This age of man's fear, insecurity, and estrangement toward God has lasted for thousands of years. It once was an age of ignorance, then it was an age of naivety, and now is an age of sheer drunken stupidity.

Do you ever fear that, when you die, you might burn in hell forever? Do you ever think that, maybe God doesn't love you? That maybe you're not good enough to stand before Him? That maybe he doesn't want you there?

When you mess up, has anyone ever made you feel like God is angry with you? When you fail, do they make you feel worthless? When you stumble, do they tell you you're in danger of God's wrath?

What are we "saved" from?

When we begin to admire the true character traits of God — love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control — it becomes clear that possessing these character traits is the true definition of sanity, and that insanity is being void of such qualities, and that the further our nature is from God's nature, the more insane we are.

To claim that God commanded David, or anyone else, to participate in genocide, infanticide, slavery, etc., is the claim of the old testament, but it is not a claim that The New Covenant Group holds to be true.

Keep trying. Keep reaching.