Have you ever heard that faith is just a way to rationalize what you were brought up to believe? Have you ever heard it's against thinking and rationality? What I've written to pastors and teachers today could be helpful to you next time you hear that, too.
Thinking Christian
Thinking Christianity for church, home, and community
For Christians In the Marketplace
Whatever your vocation, chances are you run into questions about the faith from co-workers or customers. The job itself might challenge you with,
“what does it really mean to work in a Christlike way?” You’ll find answers here. And you’re welcome to ask further questions, too.“Faith Is Rationalizing What You Already Believe, Right?”
Wednesday, January 16th, 2013Tagged As: Faith
Dealing With Two Common Arguments for Same-Sex “Marriage”
Friday, January 11th, 2013My post this afternoon on same-sex “marriage” (SSM) might help you deal with two common objections to man-woman marriage.
The first goes something like this: “Why can't gays be married? Why do men and women get all the rights and they get none?” That question comes from a wrong starting point. It starts with the assumption that marriage is about the couple. You can gently point out that marriage was always intended to be bigger than that. It was intended to be love …
Dealing With Errors and Annoyances From Atheists
Friday, January 4th, 2013Some of us have atheists in our lives who love to annoy us with their supposedly reasonable challenges to the faith. The New Atheist movement claims reason as its watchword, and they say that faith is always automatically unreasonable. Richard Dawkins has his “Foundation for Reason and Science,” Sam Harris has his “Project Reason,” and Al Stefanelli claims to be the “voice of reason in an unreasonable world.” Reason is what they’re all about, they say.
Don’t buy it.
I don’t mean to be …
Jesus’ First Words: Luke 4 (In the Marketplace)
Thursday, January 3rd, 2013Jesus had his own agenda, and often surprised people with it, such as in his hometown sermon recorded in Luke 4. Frequently the surprise was that he was there to serve others.
It’s easy on the job to fall into one’s expected role. Of course we have to fulfill our responsibilities, which for most of us are at least somewhat routine; but I’m thinking of something else: the expectations of being a Christian among non-Christians. If we make our beliefs obvious enough—a good thing …
Introducing the Re-Purposed Thinking Christian Blog (Marketplace)
Wednesday, January 2nd, 2013Christianity is for real life, and we spend a whole lot of our real lives at work, in commerce, and around the community. What does it mean to live out the life of faith everywhere we go? These pages are intended to provide a place to interact on that important question.
Stewardship At Work
Saturday, September 15th, 2012How great would it be if someday conversations at Rotary or Kiwanis Clubs would go like this:
Business Owner A: “You are going to be so envious: I just had a Christian apply for my latest job opening, and I am so looking forward to hiring this person. You can count on Christians: they work hard, they put in a day’s work for a day’s pay, they encourage the others on the job, they’re honest, they really care about our customers—”
Business Owner B (interrupting): …
- The Parents Pages
"Mom or Dad, why do we believe ... when my friends or my teachers say it's wrong?" Here's help for you with your children's tough questions. - Marketplace Christianity Pages
Have you ever wondered whether there's more to being a Christian on the job than what you've heard about in church? - Pastors' and Teachers' Pages
You feel the pressure to keep up with everything, but you know you can't–no one could, given the job you have! Here's practical, usable worldview and apologetics help for you as a pastor or teacher. - The Skeptics' and Seekers' Pages
I want this blog to be a welcome home for atheists, skeptics, seekers, and others who wonder about Christianity. At the same time I want to challenge you with questions that are directly related to you in your position of questioning or unbelief. That's what these articles are for. Feel free to interact with them here or to participate in the main blog discussions.
"The New Atheists claim to be the party of reason.... The problem is, they're not very good at it." — Discover the provocative ebook True Reason: Christian Responses to the Challenge of Atheism.
