Love is God: the secular gospel - Paperback

by Ford Ivey (Author)

Too many have heard the words of Jesus only through the echo chamber of control, shame, and fear. For 2000 years, his message-one of radical love, humility, justice, and community-has been warped into a weapon, used by institutions that care more about power than people. Somewhere along the way, we replaced compassion with condemnation, turned sanctuary into segregation, and forgot that the one we call Savior spent his life healing the wounded, feeding the hungry, standing with the marginalized, and challenging the violent structures of empire and religion alike.

This is a gospel for those who no longer see Jesus in the churches that shout his name.

For those who walked away not because they hated faith, but because they couldn't find love inside it.

For those who've been told they're too queer, too poor, too broken, too doubtful to belong.

For those who hear "Christian love" and brace for cruelty.

This is for the agnostics and atheists who still believe in kindness.

For the ex-Christians grieving the loss of something they hoped was real.

For the ones still haunted by the beauty buried in Scripture, beneath centuries of distortion.

Here, we rewrite the Gospels-not to erase their power, but to uncover it.

We keep the heart of Jesus's teachings and translate them into a voice centered on empathy, emotional honesty, and inclusive love.

We replace the image of a punishing God with a living, breathing god-the god who is love, who is community, who is you and me, showing up for one another.

In this Gospel, miracles are acts of compassion and collective care.

The kingdom of heaven is not a distant afterlife but a world built through solidarity and justice.

Here, god is not power over, but love among.

We believe the words of Jesus were never meant to build empires.

They were meant to build a table wide enough for all.

We're just trying to build it again.

If you've ever thought, "Jesus I like-it's his followers I can't stand,"

this is for you.

If you've ever wept reading the Sermon on the Mount and wondered why no one preaches it,

this is for you.

If you've ever longed to believe that faith can look like healing instead of harm,

this is for you.

This is not a new religion. This is an old one, rediscovered.

Come read the Gospel again-maybe for the first time.