Skye Jethani: Hello, Rob Bell - The Interview. Last year Rob Bell made waves with his book Love Wins which he describes as "a book about heaven, hell, and the fate of every person who has ever lived.
" The waves became a tsunami when John Piper, a pastor and leader within the Gospel Coalition, tweeted "Farewell, Rob Bell" and dismissed him as a heretic. Agree or disagree with his point of view, Bell knows how to stir conversation. The Barna Group - How Many People Really Attend a House Church? Barna Study Finds It Depends on the Definition. August 31, 2009 – Numerous shifts are occurring among church-goers in the U.S. as they choose from many new forms and formats of the local church.
One of the least understood forms is the house church, and one of the fundamental questions is exactly how many people are attending house churches. According to a new report from The Barna Group, it depends on how such involvement is described to survey respondents. The California-based research firm has explored people’s involvement in non-traditional ministry settings in a dozen nationwide studies it has conducted in the past five years. The researchers discovered that the number of participants varies significantly according to the definition used, ranging from a minimum of 4% of the adult population to a maximum of 33%! Measuring House Church Involvement.
Stoning. NoseFrida the Snot Sucker! Sex And The City Set On A Hill « Diary of a Christian Universagnosticostal. When I hear the word “fornication,” I am immediately reminded of how big an issue premarital sex was during my early Christian years.
Back then, nearly every unmarried woman I knew was a devotee of prosperity gospel giant Juanita Bynum. She had skyrocketed to popularity on the African American Christian conference circuit when her book No More Sheets: The Truth About Sex (a follow-up to her viral video sermon of the same name) hit the shelves. No More Sheets was a call to sexual purity with an interesting theological twist. According to Bynum, each premarital sexual encounter is actually an unwitting consummation of marriage. Dealing With Inconsistencies in Scripture. The Pee Stick (PregMANcy) Quotes about Doubt - O Me of Little Faith. I get asked occasionally if I’ve heard this or that quote about doubt and faith from such-and-such famous person.
In most (but not all) cases, yes, I’m aware of the quote. This is due to two reasons: Myisha Cherry: Our Obsession, Love, and Need for Satan. In the beginning of every semester I discuss ancient Jewish monotheism with my students in the World Religions and Western Civilization college courses I teach.
In the process of exploring the underlying beliefs of the ancient Israelites, I make the point that to the Jews, there was no such concept of a Satan or a devil as we imagine in modernity. According to the ancient Israelites, God was omnipotent and therefore an evil agent that could rival God didn't exist. Evil therefore was not a metaphysical phenomenon but a moral one. It existed, not as a result of a devil's ability to make us do things, but because of our own disobedience to God. Consistently each semester, my students immediately take me through the Jewish Bible, attempting to prove that, "No, the devil does exist and he is real. " At this point, a few of my theist students typically become outraged. What lies behind this belief? Chinese.swf (application/x-shockwave-flash Object)
When the Formula Fails. When the Formula Fails The Wall Imagine yourself in a tunnel facing a wall that appears to seal off the tunnel.
Your goal is to get through the tunnel to the other side but the wall is in your way. Fortunately, you have learned that the wall moves as you push it. You begin to push the wall down the tunnel, making progress that provides hope for your goal. Soon you reach the place where the wall no longer moves. About this time you see a television screen on the side of the tunnel. Finally, there seems to be nothing more you can do. The necessity of companionship. Even though we must walk our own path, there are indeed times when we need help.
At points in our lives we require someone who will challenge us or give us guidance. Where Else Could We Go? A young lady whose blog I read has wondered where she stands in her faith now that she has left the legalistic environment of her upbringing.
A mother’s entry on another blog states that she has abandoned the Christian faith in spite of being strong and active in years past. Ancient Underwater Worlds. Thoughts About Rob Bell, John Piper, and Justin Taylor - O Me of Little Faith. I’m not sure what Rob Bell was doing on Saturday, but I wonder how long it took for him to realize that he had blown up the Internet.
At least, the Christian twitterverse and blogosphere. Bell, the pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids and the author of Velvet Elvis and Sex God, has a fascinating new book releasing in March — at least, the title is fascinating. Neil Gaiman: Hanukkah with bells on - Features - Books. My parents objected.
"We're Jewish," they said. "We don't do Christmas. We do Hanukkah instead. " This did nothing to stop the lobbying. Anyway, Hanukkah was no substitute for Christmas. We were surrounded by Christmas, after all. Christmas presents, that was a battle we had already won, my sisters and me. We were not jealous of friends who got Christmas presents. The Collision of Faith & Creativity: Interview with Gary Molander. This summer I met Gary Molander at the Echo Conference. He’d just put out a new book, Pursuing Christ. Creating Art.: Exploring Faith at the Intersection of Faith and Creativity (read our review), that was right up our alley.
Gary is a former pastor and currently creates church media. ‘Happy Holidays’ and other four letter words. The cashier was pleasant and friendly. He joked around with the kids, and easily made small talk while he lovingly rang up our toothpaste and toilet paper. John 1:5: The Archer’s Grief. The Rosie Show: Randy Roberts Potts and Nate Phelps - OWN TV. Some people are nice while others not so much... which one are you? [VIDEO] "The patriarchal, ego-fortifying, psyche-destroying, soul-crushing, domineering, brain-washing, fear-inducing, manipulative, spiritually abusive world of the fundamentalism I know"