How much does God expect from us, really? It is very tempting to think, “God does not expect that much from me,” when you know you are so thoroughly loved by God, so thoroughly forgiven, and in fact rightfully believing that there is nothing you can do to earn your salvation. We can almost theologicallyContinue reading “God doesn’t expect that much from me? [False ideas Christians believe about…God’s desires for Christians. Part 5]”
Monthly Archives: March 2019
God wants me to be happy, not angry, and never to doubt? [False ideas Christians believe about…God’s desires for Christians. Part 4]
In 1 Timothy 3:12 we read that “all those who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” Woah. Maybe God doesn’t want us to be happy, and only cares about us becoming godly or holy, even if it takes us being persecuted? How are we to understand this? Does GodContinue reading “God wants me to be happy, not angry, and never to doubt? [False ideas Christians believe about…God’s desires for Christians. Part 4]”
God’s love for me is determined by my behavior? [False ideas Christians believe about…God’s desires for Christians. Part 3]
How many of you have secretly wondered if we have sinned so badly that God actually doesn’t love you anymore? I remember when my grandmother was in hospice near the end of her life, and she had really struggled with anger, and with treating my grandfather with unkindness in those later years, in a momentContinue reading “God’s love for me is determined by my behavior? [False ideas Christians believe about…God’s desires for Christians. Part 3]”
Religion/Ritual bad, Relationship good? [False ideas Christians believe about…God’s desires for Christians. Part 2]
Is religion automatically bad? Some Christians are very anti-religion because they feel it goes against the concept of relationship. But does it? Read James 1:26-27, and you’ll see James suggest that religion is not only a viable way to view our connection with God, but that God approves of religion that has a heart forContinue reading “Religion/Ritual bad, Relationship good? [False ideas Christians believe about…God’s desires for Christians. Part 2]”
Christianity is not a religion, it’s a relationship? [False ideas Christians believe about…God’s desires for Christians. Part 1]
What are God’s desires for Christians? He just wants us to pray and read the Bible, right? Well, actually there are a lot of ideas about what God wants his people to do. Unfortunately not all the ideas are based in Scripture. In fact, some of the ideas that Christians use to guide their lives,Continue reading “Christianity is not a religion, it’s a relationship? [False ideas Christians believe about…God’s desires for Christians. Part 1]”
God works in mysterious ways? [False ideas Christians believe about…God’s involvement in our lives. Part 5]
Does God seem mysterious to you? Confusing? Distant? In this fifth and final post in our series fact-checking phrases about God’s involvement in our lives, we’re seeking to evaluate the phrase: “God works in mysterious ways.” This is related to “everything happens for a reason”. When we say “everything happens for a reason” we areContinue reading “God works in mysterious ways? [False ideas Christians believe about…God’s involvement in our lives. Part 5]”
Let go and let God? [False ideas Christians believe about…God’s involvement in our lives. Part 4]
I would like to recommend that you not say the following to people going through pain: Let go and let God. This is popularized in Carrie Underwood’s song, “Jesus Take The Wheel.” Before I explain why this might not be a helpful statement, it is important to note that there is much to commend aboutContinue reading “Let go and let God? [False ideas Christians believe about…God’s involvement in our lives. Part 4]”
God is in control? [False ideas Christians believe about…God’s involvement in our lives. Part 3]
If God is in control, why does the world seem totally out of control? In the previous post in this series, I referred to three reasons bad things happen. Christians struggle to make sense of evil and pain in the world, just as anyone does. Why would God allow it? Why did he create ourContinue reading “God is in control? [False ideas Christians believe about…God’s involvement in our lives. Part 3]”
3 reasons bad things happen [False ideas Christians believe about…God’s involvement in our lives. Part 2]
Does everything happen for a reason? Many people believe so, but as we discussed yesterday, sometimes things happen because of the kind of world we live. What do I mean by that? What kind of world do we live in? Our world demonstrates at least the following three tendencies that very much affect why thingsContinue reading “3 reasons bad things happen [False ideas Christians believe about…God’s involvement in our lives. Part 2]”
Everything happens for a reason? [False ideas Christians believe about…God’s involvement in our lives. Part 1]
How involved do you think God is in your life? Does he seem distant? Or does he seem close? Maybe he shows up, but only rarely? With this post we begin a series fact-checking common sayings related to God’s interaction with the world. This is very much related to what we talked about in theContinue reading “Everything happens for a reason? [False ideas Christians believe about…God’s involvement in our lives. Part 1]”
Engaging Scripture 