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Why Kids Leave the Church After High School
The Youth Transition Network has released the results of research about why 70% of students in high school youth groups have left the church within a year after high school graduation. One big reason is the unrealistic expectations that our young people sense from parents and church authority figures. When asked, “What does it mean to be a good Christian,” students responded with a long list of do’s and don’ts, always and nevers: No sex No secular music No fun No profanity No bad attitudes Be perfect Be a virgin Be wholly devoted to God Be righteous Be a role model Don’t doubt Have all the spiritual answers Always be…
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Warm and Fuzzy Feelings do not Equal Faith
There I was walking that long path to the university yet again. I knew every crack in the side walk. I knew where the weeds had finally broken free and where the deep puddles would collect after a hard rain. I could gauge how late I was to class based on the faces I met scrambling along the way. Guys and gals who drank way too much the night before drug their inanimate bodies to their 7:45 classes. The skaters, which was still a thing then, weaved in and out of the crowd, I had to fake left and fake right to escape them. Every day I would walk that…
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Only Strong and Courageous
I cried when I hugged my daughter goodbye on the parking lot across the street from the dorm where she now lives. I didn’t care. I knew that moment would unleash the emotions I had bottled up all summer long. So I released it right there. Up to this point, I had watched my student take charge of her college checklist. I helped her unpack and I watched her settle into her new “home.” Honestly, it all felt so wrong but I knew in my heart God wanted this. So when I hugged her one last time, God said, “Let her go.” And I did…
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23 Books Reviewed in 23 Minutes
“The love of learning, the sequestered nooks, And all the sweet serenity of books” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. “A book lying idle on a shelf is wasted ammunition” – Henry Miller. Here is my exhaustive review of all but one of the books I read in 2014. Skim the list to see if something piques your interest. Peruse as you please. Skip what does not interest you. For my reading list reviews for the past few years click on any of the following: 2011, 2012, or 2013. Now here we go, set your timer to 23 minutes. Go! 1. “Save Me From Myself” subtitled “How I found God, quit…
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Unitarian Universalism: “It Means Whatever You Want it to Mean.” (A Christian Conservative Goes to College, part 20)
“He who stands for nothing will fall for anything” – Unknown. “Groups that stand for everything stand for nothing or else they deceive” – a former Unitarian Universalist pastor who is now a full-fledged Humanist.[1] “For although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give him thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts and their senseless hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools….” (Romans 1:21-22). The World Religions class assignment was that each student attend the service of a religion that was not “one’s own”. I chose to attend a Unitarian Universalist church with my analytical Christian friend Chris. As…
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“The Confessions of St. Augustine” (A Conservative Christian Goes to College, part 18)
“Whom could I find to reconcile me to you? Was I to seek the help of angels? By what prayer, what sacraments? Many people in their attempts to return to you and not being able to do so by their own strength have, so I hear, tried this way and have fallen into a desire for strange visions and have become, rightly, the victim of delusions…. They were seeking a mediator through whom to become clean, but this was not he. It was the devil” – “The Confessions of St. Augustine”, Book X, Chapter 42.[1] World Religions Class. It was time for our book reviews to be presented in front…
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What Can We Make of Jesus, but God Incarnate? (A Christian Conservative Goes to College, part 17)
“I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” (John 8:58).[1] The World Religions’ Professor’s assignment read as follows: What’s the best word to describe Jesus? Prophet, Avatar (of the Hebrew God), or Bodhisattva? Well, I was not going to be forced into the professor’s definitions….
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A Christian Conservative Goes to College, part 2 (Philosophy 101)
“If only you would keep completely silent! For you that would be wisdom” (Job 13:5). “Philosophy” is a word based upon two Greek root words, “philo” meaning “love” and “sophia” meaning “wisdom.” Thus Philosophy is supposed to mean, “love of wisdom.” “Wisdom is supreme,” the Scriptures tell us, “so acquire wisdom, and whatever you acquire, acquire understanding” (Proverbs 4:7). I took my first Philosophy class in my very first semester of college. I was very excited about taking it because I wanted to learn more about Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. I wanted to learn about the great thinkers. I was ready for God to teach me His Truth even through…
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A Christian Conservative Goes to College, part 1 (Introduction)
In the last year I have talked to several friends, Christian parents, who were concerned about the “education” their children are receiving in college. After all, conscientious Christian parents work all those years to raise their child in the discipline and instruction of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4, Deuteronomy 11:19, etc.), then send those children off to a secular college or university where that instruction will most likely be attacked on every level. When this happens, the child may begin questioning everything about Christianity and everything the Bible teaches. They may begin retreating from parents, Christian friends, church, and Christianity while the parents become sick with worry and wonder how in…
