Running the Race With No Legs

Mr. Graham said he regrets not spending more time in prayer or memorizing more Scripture, Nick said, and “when the Rev. Billy Graham says that, it really humbles you.”

Wow. But no amount of prayer or memorizing of Scripture would ever be “enough” in the sense of perfect. That’s why we got eternity~ with lots of hugs =P

So I’ve watched a couple of his vids/speeches before, he’s a great motivational speaker and encourager. Like this article.

J.S. Park: Question: My Friend Hates "Religion" And I Can't Take It

jspark3000:

Anonymous asked:

I have a friend who strongly hates religion. While he doesn’t try to force Atheism down my throat, he does often go on a lengthy rant about all the evils religion (especially Christianity) has brought on to the world and holds Secular Humanism and Scientism on the pedestal. I am trying very hard to be kind to him and listen to him but sometimes I can’t help but personally get offended by some of his statements. I am not sure what to do because some of the stuff he says is personally affecting me.

Please, dear friend: whatever your friend says, do NOT take it personally.

I understand it feels like he’s talking smack about your mama, but any sort of pushback from you will only prove his point. 

I’ve said this story many times, but in my old housing complex there was an awesome black gentlemen who was a guard at the security gate.  He had to work with a raging atheist, who was also a pretty cool dude.  Both of them became my friends.  When I asked Terry, the Christian black gentleman, how he handled the atheist, he said some very simple words.

Oh man, he just don’t know.

That was it.  No detailed script, no three-point plan, no evangelism cube, no apologetics.  Just the simple reasoning: He doesn’t know any better, and that’s okay.

Because at one point in my life, I didn’t know any better. 

At one point in your life, you didn’t know any better.

We all hated a weak version of Christianity that some lame college professor could dismantle in a thirty second lecture in the impressionable mind of a seventeen year old freshman. 

I was an atheist who hated God, who hated Christians, who shrugged at Jesus.

We just didn’t know.

I hope you have patience for your friend, to remember what it was like the first time you walked nervously into church expecting to be judged, not knowing why these Christians were being so nice to you, thinking the preacher was scamming everyone with the offering plate, seeing some weird stuff on Sundays like “drinking the blood” and being “baptized with the Holy Spirit,” and hearing that murmuring during prayer time. 

Try to remember.

And your friend, to some degree, is right.  It’s okay to agree with him.  Christians should absolutely apologize for things that “Christians” have done, acknowledging that it’s not supposed to be that way.  It’s okay to say that his human idea of religion has caused a lot of chaos: because people are people, and we can pervert anything. 

“Religion” has definitely caused tons of evil and quite a few atrocities.  Never mind that atheism has caused massive genocides and that Christianity is responsible for countless good deeds and the advancement of human welfare: so long as we’re being one-sided, you can defer to your friend.

But a screwed up people in no way reflects on the perfect God.  It only reflects on how much we need Him.

I don’t think your friend’s problem is with Christianity.  The simple question here is, What’s the actual obstacle that’s keeping you from a belief in God? 

Some of that will be intellectual and academic and social and philosophical, but there’s an emotional component in there too.  There is a psychological element in our faith that stems from upbringing, background, history, past events, trauma, and our own biased preferences.  To deny that is to deny our humanness. 

See: no one convinced me into or out of atheism.  It felt easier, because I wanted the mindless sex and the rampant cynicism and the permission to be selfish.  My home was also messed up and my family wasn’t exactly nurturing.  So who wants to be under the authority of God?  Even if He’s supposedly good and gracious and loving?  If life is so cruel, why not do what the heck we want?

I’m not saying every atheist is like this, but come on: it’s pretty difficult to live an actual Christian life and way easier to give in to impulse.  Even if this isn’t spoken out loud, it still describes the subconscious childish entitlement of most non-Christians.  Atheism was appealing in that way, and made sense to the M.O. of my flesh.  Any real atheist, including a former atheist like myself, will be man enough to admit it. 

So whatever reasons your friend is giving, all those social implications and “secular humanism” and wonderful statistics, are not the primary reasons.  He knows it.  He became an overnight Google Expert and supported his feelings with some cobbled facts.  He has hardly begun to approach the real God, because it’s too threatening.  Trust me on that: I was terrified to think God could be real.

If you’re going to really struggle for your friend, you’ll need to love him.  Not to convert him or make him a project or change his mind, but to love him because you love him, regardless of his response.  It’s the only way. 

Sure, brush up on your apologetics.  Yes, be aware that religion has done some evil.  But don’t take it personally when he goes for a reaction; the only thing you should take personally is that your friend needs the love of Christ, and you’re the one person who can show it like crazy in spite of everything.

Nice insight .. since I’ve never really been athiest.

J.S. Park: Question: Approaching the Gender-Diverse

jspark3000:

singerjoy asked:

I was wondering what your views on gender identity are; I live in a very gender diverse community, including transgender and other non-gender people and just sort of realized that their lifestyle is something that simply didn’t exist in biblical times. If you have any thoughts on how to deal with that theologically, I would appreciate your insight! (slightly edited)

I’m no expert on gender identity, but the Bible is pretty simple: just love people.  Love is your first priority above all things.  This is a timeless truth that transcends all the differences of our cultural history.

When you say that things were different in “biblical times” — you’re right, because they were worse. 

A little history: While Apostle Paul was writing the Book of Romans, there was an Emperor named Nero who was using Christians as torches to light up his front lawn and he was involved in at least two known homosexual affairs.  If you ever read on the Roman Empire, there were all kinds of “master-student relationships” between old dudes and young boys that today we would call pedophilia and statutory rape.  Orgies of every kind were rampant.  Cross-dressing and gender-diversity were not uncommon. 

So please consider: Apostle Paul is writing on sexuality during an upside-down time when he could be impaled with a wooden pole and lit up like the 4th of July, and he told the truth.  Read Romans 1.  He does not hold back.

Yet Paul’s every motive was guided by the overarching love of Jesus Christ.  Nowhere in the Bible does Paul say, “Hey, you only get Jesus after you clean up your junk, then come find me.”  God doesn’t give the Ten Commandments to the Israelites until after He rescues them through the Red Sea.  That pattern is all over Scripture.

Apostle Paul loved people, period, and we’re called to do the same no matter what.   Paul knew what Christ saved him from — the murderous ambitions of a terrorist — so he understood people with baggage. 

He actually loved them so much that at one point in Romans 9:3, Paul says he wish he could go to Hell so others wouldn’t.  Just think of that for a second: eternal flames.  Who would ever do this?  Except Jesus?  Honestly, probably not me — so I have a lot to learn about love.  I want to love like Paul did, who loved like Jesus.

I bring that up because we get this backwards: we often preach morality first before Jesus.  We preach God’s commands before God’s glory and His story.  So the church has been especially good at attacking things like homosexuality or abortion or evolution but has totally lost a love for real living breathing human beings created by God.

That’s why we ask questions like, “How should I approach this kind of person?” — because we think it requires some kind of unique special approach like slipping a truth-pill inside a nice-guy-mask inside a theological homing missile.  It really only requires you being there, and you being how God made you.

Have you ever talked to any of your community face to face?  If you have, you’re already ahead of the curve.  I’ve had the privilege of speaking to brothers with homosexual feelings, and being one-on-one with them is where all our dumb preconceived notions go out the window.  They have hopes, dreams, hurts, passions, insecurities, and anxieties like all of us do.

In case you’re thinking, “But what about the truth?” — The modern church is terrible at offering a better alternative than “You just stop it.” It’s like we can’t get past the issue into offering more and better.

Right now in your neighborhood, there is 1) a dude who doesn’t know the awesomeness of marriage with a hot lady, 2) a fifteen year old pregnant girl who feels like she only has one option, and 3) a confused kid who can’t think for himself on the origin of life because both sides are yelling in his face.  What these three people are not doing is thinking of church as the place with all the answers: because most of us have been one-sided narrow-minded jerks.

I can’t say that gender-diverse people are any much different than me: I would love them just like any other created human being.   Maybe by some God-given miracle they will see God’s best plan for their lives and they will consider what He has in store, but my job is not to persuade anyone of anything.  Only God opens eyes and changes hearts.  Not by picket signs or angry blogs or stupid arguments. If I ever want to be heard on any of this, I got to earn that right, and it’s only possible by way of love.

So in the meantime, I’m going to spend time with anyone regardless of what they do, who they are, or what they desire: because this is exactly what Jesus did, and I always want to be where he is.  Jesus died for every person, every group of people, every individual, including those we disagree with and those who make us uncomfortable.  That’s love.

J.S. Park: Question: Do Christians Have To Believe In Hell?

jspark3000:

Anonymous asked:

Are there CHRISTIAN denominations that don’t believe in a literal Hell judgement?

So you get the prize for the most loaded question I’ve ever received.

I’m assuming you mean any of the following: Can a Christian still be a Christian if he doesn’t believe in Hell?…

J.S. Park: Question: Social Justice Vs. Deep Discipleship - Hands and the Heart

jspark3000:

Anonymous asked:

How I can move from helping people physically to actually verbally sharing the Good News and tending to people’s spiritual needs? I’m involved in different ways (youth ministry, soup kitchen and I teach a science class at a community college part time). But everything I’m doing seems to just be on the surface level (I hand out soup and bread, make sure the kids don’t kill each other and teach people about gravity). I want to be able to share the gospel but I don’t know how to move into that.

You know, I think you’re doing an awesome work, and while I understand your dilemma, I wouldn’t ever call what you do on the “surface level.”  You’re actually doing what many Christians will NOT do because they see it as second-rate or unnecessary: and that’s why we’re called hypocrites.

The pattern as a full-blooded witnessing Christian will always, always, always be hands first, hearts second.  You’re doing it right.

… (READ IT)

Unka Glen: Know How To Be, Volume 3

unkaglen:

I present to you, Volume 3 in our series on knowing how to strike the right note in witnessing to your friends, to leading a warm and welcoming Bible study, or to help inspire and energize the walks of people around you… and how to avoid being that person that rubs everyone the wrong way.

Sincerity and earnestness don’t get it done. I see a lot of ministries try to move things forward by cranking up the sincerity and earnestness up to 12. You know, it’s the worship leader who starts the prayer time off with “MMMmmm Lord we just want to come before you. MMM, and we just want to praise you mmmMMM.” Sure there’s nothing wrong with all that, but make no mistake, it isn’t helping. 

Imagine you go to the doctor and he says, “I just want to heal you today. MMMmmm. I just want to get this diagnosis right.” You know what, I hope you get it right enough for both of us, meanwhile, you just focus on getting the healing done. If you can’t get that done, it really doesn’t matter how sincere you are. It’s not like your sincerity is going to make anything better. 

Study the people, then study the Bible. Most of the pastors I work with can literally spend days studying the Bible to prepare for a Sunday sermon. Then they’ll preach without ever speaking to a single human being about that same topic (ya know, humans, like the ones you’re writing this sermon for). You have to understand what’s wrong with us, before you can help lead us out. 

Study us. Ask us what we’re dealing with. Listen. Then tell us how all this Bible stuff applies, and helps us out of this pit we’re stuck in.

Teach doctrine, don’t preach it. We need to know good doctrine, and we need to be reminded of it even after we know it. But make no mistake, it don’t preach. A sermon is about exhorting, encouraging, challenging, convicting, uplifting, revealing, you name it. 

Dry points of theology and random Bible facts are what you call a lecture, not a sermon. This isn’t an academic exercise. We’re here to be discipled. Sure, you can, and should, teach doctrine within a good sermon, but you can’t make a sermon out of just that. You can put almonds in my Hershey’s bar, but you can’t give me a handful of almonds and call it a chocolate bar.

Preach freedom. Jesus says, in Luke 4:18, “God has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners”. 2 Corinthians 3:17 says, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” 1 Peter 2:16 says “Live as free people”. Galatians 5:1 says (as if rubbing it in), “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.”

If I feel further weighed down by fear, shame, or guilt, as a result of what you tell me, then you have utterly failed to set me free. If you don’t know the words that will set me free, keep silent. Your goal is for me to throw off everything that hinders me, and the sin that so easily entangles me, and get me running, with perseverance, this race marked out for me (Hebrews 12:1).

Get-to, not have-to. Everything about this Christian life is a joy and a privilege. If you turn it into an obligation, suddenly I’m looking for a way to avoid it. I don’t have to read my Bible, I get to read the very words of God and know His heart. I don’t have to attend church, I get to be with my true family, the people who understand me and don’t judge me. All those have-to’s can be expressed as get-to’s, it just takes some time, and maybe a healthy focus on what this Christian life is actually like.

the last two =D

Unka Glen: We're all the same, but not in the same place

unkaglen:

benshim asked: How do I move to a place of serving, valuing, and loving people instead of judging their worth based on their accomplishments? When I first accepted the love of God I knew my value came from God and not my works. Recently, it’s been harder to remember what that was like, and I find myself thinking about how other people can change. I want to humble myself as Jesus humbled himself, but I don’t know where to start or what I’m aiming for. [edited for length]

Unka Glen answered: It’s wrong to judge people period, and it’s wrong to judge people based on their accomplishments, or lack of accomplishments, but ignoring accomplishments, and experience, and insight is wrong as well. We’re all equally loved by God, and we’re all equally saved, and everyone’s calling is of equal importance, since we’re all members of one body (1 Cor. 12). 

But if we were all in the same place in our walk with the Lord, nobody would be qualified to mentor or guide anyone else.  

There is a point in every believer’s walk where they find a deeper and deeper intimacy with God, they see more and more of who God is, and all of scripture and good doctrinal training begins to flow together, and make sense as a whole. In that moment there is a call to action of sorts, and this desire to serve puts us in a position of learning even more about God’s character as we share it with others.

When you reach that place, you can call it a prideful attitude when you look around and say, “hey, I don’t know much, but even I can minister better than this.” You can pretend that you don’t have a useful insight to share with others, but in the end you’re just hiding your light under a bushel.

If you weren’t mentored one-on-one by anyone, then it may be hard for you to know when your walk has reached a point where you’re ready to mentor others. But I can tell you that when your walk gets to that point, it will start with love, which leads to understanding, which leads to compassion, which leads to speaking the truth with gentleness and respect. 

Your worth is not measured by your accomplishments, not even in the things you accomplish for the Kingdom, as you’ll find many of those things were God accomplishing them through you. Your worth is measured in God’s love for you, and in His saving grace, your worth to others is measured in how much -and how well- you can share that love and embody that grace.

Unka Glen: BRIDGE Reblog: 5 Ways To Love People Like Jesus Did

unkaglen:

thebridgechicago:

1) Listen. (Mark 10:46-52) Jesus didn’t go around telling people what they should be doing. He let people come to Him, and He listened to what they were saying and what they wanted. And He knew what they needed, but He still took the time to listen to people.

2) Don’t pressure (Mark 10: 17-27, Luke 9:23) Jesus was very clear with people about what it meant to follow Him, but He always left the decision up to them. He didn’t use pressure tactics or try to sell people.

3) Love people who the world doesn’t value. (Matthew 9:10-13) Jesus hung out with lepers, tax collectors, prostitutes, and all kinds of people that society shunned. He never worried that the socially acceptable people would think less of Him because of this.

4) Pray for them. (John 17:6-26) It’s the most cliche Christian thing to say, but actually praying for someone is a big thing. You have the ear of the infinite and almighty God, and you are taking the time to talk about this person, that is an act of love. Ask for the Lord to intervene with them directly and also for wisdom in how you can help them.

5) Don’t judge. (John 4:1-26) Jesus didn’t let people’s past mistakes disqualify them. He actually spent a lot of time telling people that they were not their mistakes and He believed in them.

Submit your testimonials! :)

reminder to self - write one of these soon

iwilltrustinyou:

If you have one already or want to make one and share, this is a great opportunity.

People really relate with these and they are really beautiful and inspiring stories.

If you don’t know how to write one then here are the steps on how to do it!

1 - Realize the Power of Your Christian Testimony

First and foremost - remember - there is power in your testimony! Revelation 12:11 says we overcome our enemy be the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony.

2 - Study an Example of a Testimony from the Bible

Read Acts 26. Here the Apostle Paul gives his testimony.

3 - Spend Time in Thought Preparation

There are a few things to consider before you start writing your testimony. Think about your life before you met the Lord. What was going on in your life leading up to your conversion? What problems or needs were you facing at the time? How did your life change after that?

4 - Start with a Simple 3-Point Outline

A three-point approach is very effective in communicating your personal testimony. The outline focuses on before you trusted Christ, how you surrendered to him, and the difference since you’ve been walking with him.

• Before: 
  
  Simply tell what your life was like before you surrendered to Christ. What were you searching for before coming to know Christ? What was the key problem, emotion, situation or attitude you were dealing with? What motivated you? What were your actions? How did you try to satisfy your inner needs? (Examples of inner needs are loneliness, fear of death, insecurity. Possible ways to fill those needs include work, money, drugs, relationships, sports, sex.) 
  
  
• How: 
  
  How were you converted? Simply tell the events and circumstances that caused you to consider Christ as the solution to your searching. Take time to identify the steps that brought you to the point of trusting Christ. Where were you? What was happening at the time? What people or problems influenced your decision? 
  
  
• Since: 
  
  How has your life in Christ made a difference? How has his forgiveness impacted you? How have your thoughts, attitudes and emotions changed? Share how Christ is meeting your needs and what a relationship with him means to you now.

5 - Important Tips to Remember

• Stick to the point. Your conversion and new life in Christ should be the main points. 
  
  
• Be specific. Include events, genuine feelings and personal insights that clarify your main point. This makes your testimony tangible - something others can relate to. 
  
  
• Be current. Tell what is happening in your life with God now, today. 
  
  
• Be honest. Don’t exaggerate or dramatize your life for effect. The simple truth of what God has done in your life is all the Holy Spirit needs to convict others of their sin and convince them of his love and grace.

6 - Things to Avoid

Stay away from “Christianese” phrases. These “foreign” or “churchy” words can alienate listeners and readers and keep them from identifying with your life. Here are some examples:

Avoid using “born again“ 
Instead use: 
• spiritual birth 
• spiritual renewal 
• to come alive spiritually 
• given a new life

Avoid using “saved” 
Instead use: 
• rescued 
• delivered from despair 
• found hope for life

Avoid using “lost” 
Instead use: 
• heading in the wrong direction 
• separated from God 
• had no hope

Avoid using “Gospel” 
Instead use: 
• God’s message to man 
• the good news about Christ’s purpose on earth

Avoid using “sin” 
Instead use: 
• rejecting God 
• missing the mark 
• falling away from the right path 
• a crime against God’s law 
• disobedience to God

Avoid using “repent” 
Instead use: 
• admit a wrong 
• change one’s mind, heart or attitude 
• make a decision to turn away 
• turn around 
• a 180 degree turn from what you were doing

(Source: christianteens.about.com, via iwilltrustinyou)

Unka Glen: Filling your prescription

one of the big issues/questions at the back of my mind …

unkaglen:

sparklesanddaffodils asked: Unka Glen, I love your blog! I was brought up in a very Bible-based, traditional, evangelical church. The passion was great, and I was able to ignore the controversial questions that I still can’t answer. Over the last couple of years, I’ve found myself more at home in a liberal setting, with its love and gentleness, but I miss the certainty of Evangelicalism. But when I go back, I don’t feel like I fit any more, no matter where I go. Help? (This is more an ‘Arrgh!’ than a question, sorry!)

Unka Glen answered: I can work with Arrgh. I know exactly what you mean. In more traditional-minded churches, they often focus on what they call orthodoxy, which is about drawing lines of correct beliefs and incorrect beliefs. But as you point out, cut and dried as all that may be, it doesn’t really help to answer the tough questions in life.

Then you go to a more liberal-minded church, and their message is: “hey man, who’s to say?” Which kinda sounds nice, because it seems all open and inclusive and whatnot, but in reality, they not only fail to answer those same hard questions, they fail to even address them. 

But now, let me teach you a fancy word that you can use to impress your friends at parties: orthopraxis (kinda sounds like a new medicine, right? “ask your doctor if prescription strength Orthopraxis may be right for you, side effects may include spontaneous dental hydroplosion”). You see, where orthodoxy is about knowing the right beliefs, orthopraxis is about knowing the right actions to take. And this is what you’re really looking for in your walk. 

So, for example, let’s say your cousin is an openly gay dude, and he wants to invite you to his nice little gay wedding. Well, your old church would tell you (likely with some haste and overemphasis) that the Bible says that homosexuality is a sin. they might even make it sound like some kind of big, giant, huge, hairy sin of some kind. Fine, but that still doesn’t answer the question: should I accept the invitation?

Meanwhile in a more liberal church setting, they might tell you, “hey it’s all cool man, do whatever, because after all, who’s to say what might be right or wrong?” Which in the end is just as unhelpful. 

Being able to help people choose right actions comes down to this: how much have you wrestled with these things in your walk, how much time have you spent in a Christian bubble, versus time spent out in the world trying to help people who don’t believe what you believe? You figure out right actions by being in situations where you need to figure out actions.

So now imagine that I tell you about how in Matthew 9, we find that Jesus is eating with some of those despised tax collectors and other “sinners”, and the religious types are criticizing this, and Jesus responds by saying “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick”. Suddenly you know everything you need to know about the right actions to take in this kind of situation.

You know, for example, that if people from your church talk bad about you for associating with sinners, that they are unfamiliar with the actual, Biblical account of Jesus, who very clearly set an example over and over again, that being with sinners in their sin is not the same as agreeing with their sinful lifestyle.

You know that you’re in the right place if you’re witnessing to people that aren’t normally hearing the Good News. You know that Jesus isn’t ignoring the sin, as He refers to their sin as a sickness, and Himself as the doctor.

Doctors go where the sick people are, sensitively listen to the patient, diagnose the problem, explain the disease process, explain the nature of the cure, and urge the sick to fill that prescription. Doctors attack illness in the body, all while showing sympathy for the patient. 

So how did I know to apply this story from Matthew 9 to this situation? Well, working with gang members in the inner-city gives me plenty of occasions where I need to go to scripture to work out all kinds of dilemmas. In the end, this process makes me as Bible-based as your hardline denominational friends, and it makes me as understanding and non-judgmental as your more liberal minded friends.

But if you want people to teach you right actions, as well as right beliefs, you have to find someone who’s actually living it. You’re looking for a pastor or mentor who can tell you how they’ve gone out into the world and made disciples, and how they found the right scripture to apply, as they worked out their orthopraxis.

Lord, I will trust in You.: How can I be an effective witness for Christ in a lost world?

iwilltrustinyou:

A “witness” is someone who attests to a fact, so in order to be an effective witness for Christ, one must have first-hand knowledge of Him. John the Apostle speaks of this in 1 John 1:1-3, when he says, “That … which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at, and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of Life.” Today, we who have experienced new life in Christ give an account of His love and forgiveness, both verbally and in the way we live our lives. This is witnessing. To be effective in our witness, we should remember several basic things:

1) the THEME of our witness is Jesus Christ. Paul defined the gospel as the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). If we aren’t explaining the sacrifice of Christ, then we’re not really sharing the gospel. (See also 1 Corinthians 2:2 and Romans 10:9-10.) An important part of this theme is the fact that Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation, not just one of many ways. “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6, emphasis added). 

2) the POWER of our witness is the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit who transforms a life (Titus 3:5), and a transformed life is evident to all. As we witness, we should spend much time in prayer, appropriating the Spirit’s power so that we are enabled to let our light shine in such a way that others will recognize the power of God in us (Matthew 5:16).

3) the VALIDITY of our witness will be shown in how we live our lives. Philippians 2:15sets this goal for us: “that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.” The effective Christian witness will live his/her life above reproach in the power of the Holy Spirit, whose fruit we exhibit when we remain in Christ (John 15:1-8;Galatians 5:22-23).

Perhaps most importantly, we must be familiar enough with the Scriptures to be able to accurately and coherently present the gospel to others. “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have” (1 Peter 3:15). Always being prepared means diligent Bible study, memorizing Scripture, and praying for “divine appointments”—God-given opportunities to share with those whose hearts have been prepared by the Lord to hear His message of salvation.

(Source: gotquestions.org, via iwilltrustinyou)

The Squeezings of my Brain Grapes.: Does Faith Ever Stay Around?

jedbrewer:

bmentzer asked you:
I’m not used to seeing positive Christian things on tumblr - Maybe I wasn’t looking for it but I’m glad I stumbled onto this! I guess my question would be is does “It” ever stick? do Faith/Beliefs ever stay around? I’ve had so many ups and downs in my journey that I’ve found…

The Squeezings of my Brain Grapes.: What's the Difference Between Discernment and Judgement?

The common tightrope problem which should be so hard. Learning to discern and tell other’s whats up/wrong while not judging. Nicely laid out for easy understanding =D

jedbrewer:

If you talked to a random cross-section of non-Christians, and asked them what Christians aren’t supposed to be doing, you would get a nearly unanimous response: “Don’t judge!”

Folks who don’t know anything else about the Bible can correctly quote this verse: “Judge not, lest ye be judged.”…