Culture Archives - Page 4 of 11

Friday Findings: Anxiety, Fallacies, and Rule Breakers

Okay, so you may have noticed that last Friday there were no Friday Findings to speak of…sorry about that. But, today, I’m here to make up for that fact with an extra awesome and extra long list of gems and goodies.

So much to see, so little time…

Wake Up for Your Kids. No post has convicted me as much as this post, in quite some time. I have been hearing the Lord gently directing me in this and then I stumbled upon this post. It was confirmation of the changes I need to make at home.

Logical Fallacies. If you are a theological, analytical, or heck, argumentative type, you’ll probably find this site hilarious. It helps you call people out on the most common logical fallacies. Genius. Not so grace-filled, but genius nonetheless.

Us and Our Anxiety. A well-stated and interesting read from the Huffington Post asking whether or not anxiety is simply a natural human emotion that we have begun to pathologize, due to our cultures obsession with “treatment.”

Oh, Dave. Save It. Are you a Dave Ramsey fan? I sure am. I took a Financial Freedom class in college and have never thought about money the same way since. This post, however, challenges much of Ramsey’s teachings and does so in a loving, truth-filled, and honoring way. A good read.

10 Steps to Sanctification. The Barna Group, A.K.A. the Christian research top-dogs, is soon-to-be-coming out with a book that suggests that each of us can trace our spiritual journey in 10 steps. Sound hokey? I’m not sure either, but I’m intrigued.

Mary, the Bondservant. Do you ever think about Mary? I do and quite often, in fact. I imagine the angel standing before her explaining that nothing, including the world, would ever be the same. Well, Rebecca at her blog The Upside Down World, wrote a lovely and compelling post about the mother of Jesus. One of my personal favorites this week.

Rule Breakers Unite. I’ve mentioned Alice Bradley here before. She is, without a doubt, one of my favorite blogger/writers/funny ladies. Calling her hilarious is an understatement and writing funny–consistently funny–is so hard to do, but, posts like this continue to make me laugh out loud.

Love me some Frank. If you’ve been around this blog more than once, you probably know that I have a great deal of respect and admiration for Frank Viola. So, it is easy for me to recommend anything he has written…and of all his 13 books, each one is priceless. That being said, his new book, Beyond Evangelical, is now available (I cannot wait to get my hands on a copy). Another of his books, Revive Us Again (one of my favorites) is also available for a discounted price. BONUS: It is a signed copy from Frank himself. Score.

Alright my friends, lay it on me…What caught your eye this week? What did you read that you just have to share? What did you read that made your skin crawl? What else is going on? Anything?

How Important is Theology?

I know that as I begin this post, there may be a few individuals who might disagree with me and that’s okay.

Of course, despite what people often assume, I’m really not looking to pick a fight. This is just a question I have been mulling over lately:

How important is theology?

I am obviously no theologian, nor do I pretend to be, so please take this fact into consideration. Yet, I know many Christians who might, maybe, if backed into a corner, outright consider themselves to be theologians.

There is nothing wrong with this–thinking of yourself in those terms, I suppose. Yet, as of late, as my church body has begun living out what it truly means to make Jesus Christ the Head of our church, theology seems less and less important.

Here’s why… Continue reading How Important is Theology?

Spiritual Gifts: Who Needs ‘Em?

This post is from the archives. However, members of my church family and I have been discussing spiritual gifts as of late. I forget how important and powerful the realization of your gifting truly is. With that in mind, I thought I would re-run this spiritual gift series.

I am also guest posting today over at Bianca Juarez’s blog, In the Name of Love. Bianca is a dynamo for Jesus, a powerful teacher, and worker in God’s Kingdom. I’m honored to appear on her blog today. Go show some love and check it out!

Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. (1 Pet. 4:10)

I remember the day, the exact moment, that I discovered my spiritual gift. It was as if someone placed prescription glasses upon my face and what once was fuzzy became clear.
I suddenly understood why the actions of others made me want to scream with frustration. And still, why particular moments brought me such satisfaction and joy.

Since then, alongside my husband, I have been committed to helping other people see more clearly by plopping a pair of big thick spiritual gift glasses on their face. Continue reading Spiritual Gifts: Who Needs ‘Em?

Singled Out: Does the Church Ignore Singles?

A while ago, I had a someone email me and ask whether or not I believed the church pushes marriage. I immediately thought, yes, I think the church does push marriage.

But should it?

Do we really want the message that the church promotes to be one of marriage versus singleness? Is marriage a sort of spiritual achievement worth striving for and if so, where does that leave all those who are single?

So yes, the church at large places marriage on a pedestal. However, I think part of the reason the American church idolizes marriage is a bit less honorable than we might suspect. Continue reading Singled Out: Does the Church Ignore Singles?

Don’t Follow Your Heart

God made us to be emotional beings. We experience millions of varying emotions over the course our lifetime from elation, to horror, admiration to disappointment, anger to joy.

If God designed us to express and experience emotion, it is no surprise then that for many of us, our emotions are critical in guiding and directing us.

Yet, as believers, should we always yield to our emotions? Better yet, is it always safe and wise to follow our heart, wherever it may lead?

Because I can’t help but wonder, in all of the ways the Lord gave us to help guide us in making wise decisions–the counsel of others, the Bible, prayer, common sense, our intellect, and our heart–if following the latter is always the best choice.

Especially, when you consider the sort of shocking statement the Bible makes regarding the heart… Continue reading Don’t Follow Your Heart

The Territorial Christian

Christians are territorial. Have you ever noticed this? We often walk around like we’re the *ish* and project a certain air of supremacy or snobbery.

We lay claim to our Christian-y things, like our music, our movies (which generally stink, by the way), our Bible, our worldview, our morals, our churches…

We are not very good at seeing other peoples’ boundaries. We only see our own. Often times, we only operate within our own sphere, but why? Why are we so territorial when it clearly contradicts the Gospel? Continue reading The Territorial Christian

Does God Want You to be Happy?

You might be thinking that this title sounds familiar and you’d be right. A while back I wrote a post called “The Top 5 Lies Christians Believe,” and among them was the lie that Christians think happiness is a guarantee of following Christ.

I’ve had enough people write me and disagree with me on this particular point that I thought I should address it in its own post.

I’ll be honest, I don’t like this idea–the idea that happiness is not necessarily guaranteed to us believers. I don’t like thinking that God is more concerned with my holiness than my happiness or more concerned with His glory than my good times.

But when I look at the Word and when I listen to the Holy Spirit, I have never been left with the feeling that my happiness is important. That doesn’t mean our happiness is irrelevant to God, but rather less important than we tend to think. Continue reading Does God Want You to be Happy?

The Most Important Type of Church

I read this quote the other day, and I have to say, I completely disagree with it:

A good church is a Bible-centered church. Nothing is as important as this–not a large congregation, a witty pastor, or tangible experiences of the Holy Spirit.”― Alistair Begg

I mean, on the surface, I think it sounds right. We know that as believers, the Bible is our bread. It is God’s very Word to us, able to divide joints and marrow (spiritually speaking). But is a Bible-centered church really the most important thing in creating a “good church” (whatever that means)?

Consider the Acts church, which grew rapidly and spread the Gospel like wild fire. Do you think the thing they focused on most, was the Bible? Was it within the Bible, and from the Bible, that they found their strength and power?

I doubt it. I think the Acts church focused most of their energy on something else entirely.

I once heard a pastor at a local Phoenix area mega-church talk about the 3 kinds of churches that exist. The first church is a Bible church, that focuses primarily on the Word. The second is a Jesus church that focus mainly on the Person of Jesus. And the third kind of church, he said, was a Holy Spirit church, that was more so preoccupied with things of the Spirit.

So after reading that quote and recalling this pastor’s sermon, I got to thinking; which type of church is best? Which of the 3 types should we strive to achieve and focus our energies upon? Continue reading The Most Important Type of Church

God Never Said to Just Love Yourself

Is it just me or does it seem that lately, instead of people attempting to improve themselves, the new fad is to simply accept yourself for who you are, even if who you are isn’t that great?

We talk about being easy on ourselves, being kind to ourselves, being our own best friend. This seems absurd to me. How can I be my own best friend? And why would I want to?

Here’s another one of my favorites: “You can’t love anyone else, until you love yourself.” Or the variation: “No one will love you, until you love yourself.” When did loving yourself become a prerequisite for loving others or being loved? I know a guy named Jesus, who would probably disagree with this sentiment.

Yet, we’ve heard this mantra time and time again. We tell people that they’ll never find love until they learn to love themselves. We’ve heard Oprah and Dr. Phil tell us that loving ourselves is necessary if we’re ever to find true happiness. But when I think about this, an image pops in my mind that actually causes me to laugh out loud: Continue reading God Never Said to Just Love Yourself

Homosexuality and Where the Church Has Failed

I feel like I’ve backed myself into a corner. I feel like I’ve created a monster, wherein I casually debate hot-button or controversial issues on this blog, and thus people are expecting me to feed that monster. Truth be told, I don’t want to feed it. I want it to slither back into its cave and leave me alone.

But it’s not going anywhere.

I’ve debated in my mind over and over again about how, and if, I should address the issue of homosexuality and gay-marriage on this blog. I’ve had people write me and ask that I do. I have friends, whom I love, that daily struggle with this issue in personal and profound ways.

My knee-jerk reaction has been to write a divisive, controversial, button-pushing post on the subject, clearly articulating my views, and simultaneously pulverizing the opposition. I felt certain that if I did, it would cause a ruckus, but I felt ready for that response…or so I thought.

Thankfully, in the midst of feeling the need to respond to this news article, or that court decision, this legislative act, or that blog post, I stopped and did the one thing that always makes things clear… Continue reading Homosexuality and Where the Church Has Failed