As a professing Christian, there was always one question that plagued me over the years: Why did the Bible deserve the kind of loyalty and trust I was giving it? My beliefs about that book guided almost every decision I made, and eventually I had to ask myself why I allowed it to do so. Once I stopped viewing the Bible as an authoritative voice never to be questioned, I was able to see the flaws in it and begin to look for more reliable ways to find my way...
Atheist Sympathizer
I've got one more burst on this conversation about doubt and faith to follow up my last post. This all started with an article I recently read at Sojourners in which the author described his journey through and with doubt. I was encouraged to read how he has been able to find a place for... Continue Reading →
Certain Doubts
In the Fall of 1988, my friend Dave and I were sitting in a large conference hall listening to a man named Bill Gothard as he shared with us and a few thousand other "troubled teens" about how they can get their lives on the right path by following a series of principles that he... Continue Reading →
Following Solomon Into The Dark
I was listening to one of my favorite albums last week and heard echoes of Ecclesiastes. Death Cab for Cutie seemed to be reading Solomon's notes when they wrote much of their album, Plans. One of my favorite songs on that album is a dark love song about holding on to each other till the... Continue Reading →
Popgod Validation
"Is he a Christian?" Memories of my junior year of high school include many conversations about whether or not Bono was a Christian. This was due in large part to U2's album, Pop, which included profanity. Now that I've heard Pop countless times, I realize how great a body of work it is. At the time,... Continue Reading →
Weakly Prayer – In Restlessness
God of Peace, I'm sitting here perfectly still, but not. I am pulled outward, like the spinning of a top. Is that You, who applies this centrifugal force to my inner man? Is that You, who stirs up restlessness within me? Is this your way of calling me inward, to pray? Is this your way... Continue Reading →
Weakly Prayer – For Faith
Lord God, who created mountains with words, and moves those mountains with our faith, We confess that our faith is small; we haven't moved ourselves, much less any mountains. So we wonder if we even have the mustard seed in our hearts? Be the sower of this faith seed in us, then it will take... Continue Reading →
Simply Christian: Part 1
Krista and I have joined the rest of our church, St. Bartholomew's, in reading N.T. Wright's book, Simply Christian. I've enjoyed knowing that this is a unified effort by the church body as we read and consider the same things together. It is an expression of unity, similar to the way that the liturgy unifies... Continue Reading →
Faith Enough
Our pastor preached a message on the first 12 verses of 2 Thessalonians this morning, but I couldn't get past verse 3. We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly... The phrase that keeps jumping out at me is that their faith was... Continue Reading →
Augustine's Problem, and Mine
"As I 'roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart,' all my lack was laid before you." - Augustine, from The Confessions of Augustine When I think of the great saints of early church history, I rarely imagine a person who was perplexed with the meaning of life. The tendency is to assume that... Continue Reading →