This is a bold charge against Rob Bell and other voices in the Emerging Church movement.People reading that should hear alarms sounding. MacArthur is purposely saying that Bell is a heretic—advocating a hazy, indistinct conception of truth that comes from an insidious desire to advocate worldly lifestyles, unholy minds, and ungodly behaviors. rob bell is […]
why i couldn’t live the christian life well
in john’s latest post, he ponders something that i struggled with before i left my christian faith behind. i’ll quote him: I am a practical atheist. Yes, I believe in God, but in practice, my life doesn’t always reflect that belief in God. As I asked the crowd this morning, what would be different about […]
“that was then”
Barna polls conducted between 2004 and this year, sampling 440 non-Christians (and a similar number of Christians) aged 16 to 29, found that 38% had a ‘bad impression’ of present-day Christianity. ‘It’s not a pretty picture’ the authors write. Barna’s clientele is made up primarily of evangelical groups. Kinnaman says non-Christians’ biggest complaints about the […]
boiling it down: what i believe about the universe, and the person who made it (right now)
i’ve spent three years on a mission to decide about god. i’m not done yet, but i’m a lot closer than i was when i started. after thirty-two years on this rock, three of which i have been seriously, open-mindedly, truthfully searching for Truth (if there is such a thing) here’s what i have come […]
what is justice?
at what point do we say we, or any being, has acted “justly” ? there is lots of chatter on this board — and particularly when my new favorite pet subject (hell’s lack of existence) comes up — about god’s justice. but what do we mean by that? at what point is justice fulfilled? when […]
“good” news
news is always in the eye of the beholder. when a bible sits there, holding information about the gospel, the gospel that it contains information about lays dormant. perhaps in some sense we can say that’s the actual gospel, but it is a useless one. the news jesus taught only begins to be useful when […]
test everything, hold fast to what is good
i have been asked to post on my practice of exposing this board to beliefs or lines of thinking that i myself do not hold to. this thread is meant to be an answer to that request. in the interest of keeping it clear for those who won’t read more than a few sentences, i’ll […]
who is worthy of compassion?
christianitytoday.com wrote: As Americans set new records for charitable giving in response to Hurricane Katrina, some fundraisers are seeing a principle confirmed: when the suffers are perceived as innocent victims, donors respond generously. On the other hand, giving patterns suggest donors are losing patience with chronic problems such as poverty, in which suffering is arguably […]
romans 2 is interesting
i got the idea from another website, but decided to try the idea, and found the results startling. i would love to hear some of the questions raised by the text below, but first an explanation of what i’ve done: a) substituted “Christian” for “Jew” b) substituted “Muslims or Buddhists” for “Gentiles” c) substituted “Baptism” […]
it is a mystery
about one-third of the planet’s current population live in areas that have historical ties to the religion associate with jesus christ — and yet so very few people actually study and follow his teachings. here in indiana, where i live, you’re hard pressed to find someone, anyone, who doesn’t believe in god in some capacity […]
on hurting a burgler
assume you live alone, and are home alone, in your apartment, asleep in bed, when you realize that your apartment is being broken into, downstairs. what is the proper course of action for a follower of christ? don’t assume you have, or don’t have, a gun, a bat, a tazer, or any other weapon: all […]
Plankeye
A friend of mine recently wrote: This is the very reason I stopped attending my youth group. It was so unwelcoming. And, there’s something else, too. It seems to me, that rejection from the church crowd holds a bigger emotional consequence than rejection from other crowds. These are, after all, the people with whom you […]
your job, should you choose to accept it
remember, it is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. i can’t stress enough: love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love it is the holy […]
the law
when i was a baby, and brand new to the universe, i had specific things i could and couldn’t do. i couldn’t walk, or run, or feed myself, or even not pee myself. i didn’t need rules, i wasn’t aware enough to understand them. this is sorta like adam and eve. eventually, i grew up […]