Fading Joy: Am I Seeking an Experience or a Relationship?

Reposted from Rooted Thinking.

The lights dim as the music begins to play. The energy in the crowd seems to almost crackle audibly. You feel a surge of anticipation for the songs you know, the empowering words you always hear, and the inspirational, larger-than-life people you see standing before you. At a well-designed worship service, Bible conference, or summer camp, God seems real, close, and exciting.

Discussion

Review: God in the Dark: Why doubt should encourage our faith

Body

“Guinness sets out to show ‘a healthy understanding of doubt should go hand in hand with a healthy understanding of faith.’ He is very careful not to encourage doubt but goes out of his way to show that wrestling with doubt is not wrong because it is not the same as unbelief.” - Brad Paulsey

Discussion

My Own Little Paradise in an Ocean of Ugliness

Body

“The best of us are like these few acres of natural beauty in the midst of a city chock-full of suburban sprawl and industrial ugliness. But there is one who perfectly mastered the art of living a true, beautiful, and perfect life.” - Challies

Discussion

Is Facebook Discipling Your Church Members?

Body

MIT Technology Review recently showed that troll farms had reached over 140 million users on Facebook before the 2020 election. A troll farm is an organized group of users (or even bots) who intentionally craft content to exploit division and sow discord in society.” - C.Leaders

Discussion

No Matter What

Body

“Six weeks later, one morning I woke up deaf. The ‘bad ear’ was its normal self, but the ‘good ear’ was just gone; it was now by far the ‘bad ear.’” - Olinger

Discussion

Authoritative vs. Nurturant Styles of Religion

Body

“I would prefer to describe these two postures as ‘authoritarian’ and ‘nurturning.’ Its only a slight change of words, but ‘authoritative’ and ‘nurturant’ just don’t sound quite right to me. For one thing, I think religious leaders should be authoritative but without being authoritarian.” - Roger Olson

Discussion

“In much of life we build habits and patterns the way people build roads.”

Body

“The man who grumbles in his heart will soon grumble before his household and before his fellow church members. He has begun to walk a trail of complaint and will find that others begin to follow in his footsteps, that they begin to imitate him….But what is true of bad habits is equally true of good.” - Challies

Discussion