Sometimes when you think of the Bible you have two different pictures of God. There’s the hippy, happy-go-lucky God from the New Testament. And the mean, angry, I’m-going-to-smote-you God from the Old Testament. At least that’s how I used to picture the Bible before I actually started to read it.
That’s why I really enjoy books [...]
Archive for August, 2007
what I’m reading: Judges
Posted in Bible, God, feeding my brain, miracles on August 31, 2007 | Comments Off
the choices we make
Posted in God, choice, sin, taking action on August 29, 2007 | Comments Off
“But the LORD God called to the man, ‘Where are you?’” (Genesis 3:9)
Have you ever wondered why God – the same God who just finished creating the universe – would need to ask what happened to Adam and Eve? I mean, doesn’t it seem a bit strange that God didn’t have any problem creating the [...]
does God exist in the dentist office?
Posted in God, choice, taking action, trust on August 27, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
Sometimes I want to believe that my faith will make my decisions easy. That somehow believing in God is this magic elixir that makes everything work out. To be honest I’m not sure where this idea comes from. I don’t remember ever sitting down and learning this. It’s just this thought that my mind is [...]
what I’m reading: This We Believe
Posted in book review, feeding my brain, sharing faith on August 24, 2007 | Comments Off
When I first realized I had become a Christian, I had no idea what to do with that knowledge. So I did what came naturally to me – I began to read as many books and articles as I could about Christianity. I figured if it was a good enough technique to learn psychology in [...]
what is my ministry?
Posted in God, different, mission, sharing faith, taking action on August 22, 2007 | Comments Off
If you’ve ever spent time in, or around, a church it won’t be too long before you hear about this thing called “ministry”. A lot of times people understand that to be a formal ministry, such as working in a soup kitchen or going door-to-door talking about their faith.
As a kid I thought the only [...]
love your enemy (and fellow drivers)
Posted in God, different, love, taking action on August 20, 2007 | Comments Off
What if we’re supposed to love our enemies not for their sake, but for ours? I’ve always wondered exactly why we are to love our enemies. In my mind it was because loving them showed them that God was different. And praying for them would allow God to enter their lives – as if he [...]
is the Bible real?
Posted in Bible reliability, sharing faith on August 18, 2007 | 2 Comments »
Growing up I never questioned if the Bible was real. That’s not because I accepted the Bible as truth, it’s just because asking that question never occurred to me. Why would I study a religion that while I sort of believe in, never had any impact on my life?
But life has a funny way of [...]
God is bigger than me
Posted in God, miracles, trust on August 14, 2007 | Comments Off
“Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest.” (Joshua 3: 15)
It may be obvious that God is bigger than me, but somehow I keep forgetting that fact. Instead, I spend much of my time trying to bring a problem to God that is “manageable.” I’m the Goldie Locks of prayers. I don’t want to [...]
shame
Posted in God, shame on August 3, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
Why is it that we hate feeling shame so much? Can’t shame serve as a reminder that we’ve done something we shouldn’t have? Isn’t that all the more reason we should pay attention ? When we get down to it, isn’t shame something that’s good?Of course I know I hate feeling shame because it means [...]
reader comment: loving your enemies
Posted in love, reader comments, taking action on August 22, 2007 | Comments Off
A reader sent in this comment regarding the previous post:
“A few weeks ago I heard an interesting statistic about anger: our bodies allow us about 7 seconds to decide whether we’re going to get angry about something (i.e. a person cutting us off on the highway). If we choose to get mad, our body releases [...]
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