Questions for Understanding Beliefs and Productively Engaging Disagreement

People have disagreements about many things. When a person is passionate about an issue, I venture to say it’s typically because their belief represents one or more values which are important to them. When people have disagreements over an issue, they’re often talking past one another without digging into what is really driving the other

Problems With Focusing on Sin

I once heard a preacher in a sermon briefly mentioned the corresponding dangers of legalism and license (or sometimes referred to as libertinism). The latter is the fallacy of thinking we have freedom to act any way we choose because of God’s grace and forgiveness. It seems as though this preacher understood legalism to be

Secret Church Review and Problems of Focusing on Sin

Secret Church is an annual event put on by David Platt and his church in Alabama. The event is promoted widely and simulcast to groups meeting across the U.S. and world. Some friends of mine had participated before and organized a viewing locally this year. So I joined them. It was scheduled for a single

Truth Is Not a Process, Belief Is

Update: I submitted this blog to the “Bridging the Divides” syncroblog. I feel the following concept is important for having respectful dialog with those with whom we disagree. We all have beliefs about various things. This is fine. However, some people expect everyone to agree with them. Or in other words, they expect everyone should

Course Review: Financial Peace University / Book Review: Dave Ramsey’s Complete Guide to Money

Dave Ramsey has become a well known name, mostly due to his syndicated radio show I believe. Nevertheless, I have been unfamiliar with him until the past several months. As you can see from the picture, quite a lot of items are included in the package for Financial Peace University (FPU). One of these is

Book Review: Falling in Love For All the Right Reasons

“Falling in Love for All the Right Reasons” is a book by Dr. Neil Clark Warren, founder of eHarmony. The book describes all of the dimensions which eHarmony has come up with which make for good, long-lasting relationships. I personally think this book is an excellent reference which I’d recommend to almost anyone who is

Book Review: 5 Paths to the Love of Your Life

The book “5 Paths to the Love of Your Life”, while accurately titled, is also potentially misleading. This isn’t a “how to” guide on finding a romantic partner. Rather it covers a range of philosophies on moving from singleness to marriage for Christians—what is descriptively called by one author, “premarital relationships”. I think the premise