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Chasing Eden
Something isn’t right. We know it in the very core of our being. We see it every day in the news, in our relationships, and in the creation around us. We are surrounded by death. Beauty and brokenness. Hope and disappointment. The contradictions overwhelm us. Life is a struggle. Relationships hurt. We sense the wrongness. There is an emptiness within us that we cannot fill…not with money or possessions, not with job promotions or titles, not with exercise or food, not with sex, alcohol, or our drug of choice. We dim the ache by staying busy and avoiding silence. We appease the longing with social media and various forms of…
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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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“Unhitching” from a Misused Old Testament
On Wednesday, The Christian Post ran an article about Pastor Andy Stanley’s recent sermon where he stated that, “Christians need to unhitch the Old Testament from their faith.” The Internet went crazy. I’ve taken three days to think and process before I respond. Because, while I disagree with Pastor Stanley, I also agree. I believe that we do need to abandon the Old Testament in a way…just not the way he suggests. Stanley expressed concern that the Old Testament has caused people to leave their faith, and he wanted people to reconsider a Jesus without all the baggage of the the “Jewish Scriptures.” Unfortunately, while that’s really sweet, it doesn’t…
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The God We Long For…and the Real Jesus
A couple of days ago I threw a few scattered thoughts out on Facebook. “What if God cares more about your heart than your outward actions? What if He wants to heal your deepest wounds and messes more than He wants your behaviors to change? What if He wants you to understand yourself…your deep needs and longings and the things that trigger you? What if He cares about ALL of you, the visible and invisible parts? What if, instead of expecting you to get your act cleaned up, Jesus wants to sit with you in your mess? Sift through it? Sort it out? What if He is totally okay with…
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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…
