An Impostor Jesus
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The Value of Losing Our Faith
I’m not sure what I believe these days. I think I’m losing faith. I don’t even like going to church. I don’t know how to be a Christian any more. Scarily honest statements. Beautifully raw. Terrifying to admit even to ourselves. If you said them to the wrong person, they might have freaked out. And you may have gotten an earful of Christianese — those secret phrases and well known statements that only make sense to other Church People. There may have been panic on their faces. They might have interrupted you with Bible verses and prayer chains. I’m sorry! Perhaps you have kept your doubts and questions to yourself…
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Finding Answers at Book Club?
Why are so many of us, former Church People, so cynical and cranky? Even those of us, like me, who haven’t actually left the church? What’s wrong with us? I’ve wondered about that (and what to do about it) for a while now. Thanks to Mike Cosper, I finally have an answer. Who would’ve thought it would happen at Book Club? Who would’ve thought I’d ever end up at Book Club? I guess that’s what happens when you make new friends and ask the Holy Spirit what to do next. I am NOT a literary. I’m not really even a writer, at least not personality wise. That fact is made…
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But Jesus isn’t White…and Why it Matters
Back when my husband was a youth pastor, one of his favorite object lessons was to print a bunch of images of Jesus and lay them on the floor. He would ask the teens to choose a picture that they resonated with and stand by it. He found some really crazy Jesus’s as well as more traditional ones. Sweet Jesus in white robes, surrounded by children. Tough Jesus, arm wrestling Satan. Gentle Jesus, holding a lamb. Powerful Jesus, calming the storm with one outstretched hand. Bad Ass Jesus, with his sleeve rolled up showing a “love” tattoo on his muscular arm. Hot Jesus, tall and handsome with a confident stride.…
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Rediscovering Jesus – Rediscovering the Bible (Part 4)
I hope you have enjoyed this little series on the Bible. I have one final post to share with you. 🙂 The Bible is history…the story of God and the people He created. The Bible is prophecy…some of which has been fulfilled and some of which is still to come. The Bible predicts a Savior and then reveals Him to us. It shows us our value as God’s creation and encourages us to seek after the God who made us. It demonstrates God’s incredible grace, love, forgiveness, mercy, and faithfulness. But even more than this, the Bible claims that it is alive, powerful, and able to change hearts, all by…
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Rediscovering Jesus – Rediscovering the Bible (Part 2)
Fresh out of homeschooled high school, and because our cultic group rejected traditional higher education, I was pursuing some online college-like classes through Bill Gothard’s Institute. The stress of assignments, deadlines, and a demanding English teacher was hard enough. But, the impossible task ahead of me put me over the edge. Two of my classes asked me to go point by point through the Basic and Advanced Seminars and use the Bible to prove them true. At first, I genuinely tried to complete the assignments, but I struggled to find verses that actually matched the things Gothard claimed. Eventually, as deadlines loomed and tasks piled up, I grabbed our trusty…
