“God made you for a purpose,” my mama assured me. “A big purpose. He has something special just for you to do.” Just like that, the purpose-driven shackles clicked over my wrists. I know my mama meant well. She loves Jesus like nobody’s business – more than anything or anyone else alive or dead. Her highest life aim is to please Jesus, to “lay up treasures in heaven” purely so…
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Post-Evangelical Good Living
How I Got Past a Difficult Experience
Have you ever had to go through a difficult experience not of your making? Something that could negatively impact your personal and/or professional life, but in which you felt powerless or unsure? I recently did. My difficult experience Just before my difficult experience unfolded, I read Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People for a writing assignment. The underlying premise of Carnegie’s rules is to always put the…
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Why Christians See Environmentalists as Enemies
When I lived in Christianity’s community, it often puzzled me why we weren’t a part of the environmentalists. If we believed all of creation was God’s, shouldn’t we want to care for it? I’ve recently learned why Christians see environmentalists as enemies, though. As with everything else, it starts with the Bible. Genesis Broke the Bond Regardless of whether you believe Moses wrote Genesis or other scribes assembled it after…
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God’s Gifts
In my parents’ guest bathroom hangs a sign that reads: What we are is God’s gift to us. What we become is our gift to God. This sign about God’s gifts and how we should use them has hung there for years. When my questioning faith journey came to the place where I walked away from the God of the Bible, I wondered if I also walked away from the…
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Bible-thumping Hatred
When the Bible is taken literally, we end up with Bible-thumping hatred. “Pastor” Grayson Fritts is also a sheriff’s detective in Knox County, Tennessee. During his sermon four days ago at All Scripture Baptist Church, he screamed, “I hate homosexuals! I hate reprobates!….Because the Bible commands me to.” (52:45) He’s not wrong about what the Bible says. Mr. Fritts (for I refuse to call this man “pastor”) shares such nuggets…
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