Download or read book Four Disturbing Questions with One Simple Answer written by Tim Sledge and published by . This book was released on 2019-07-24 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: I've shared the details of my spiritual journey in Goodbye Jesus: An Evangelical Preacher's Journey Beyond Faith. My aim in this book is raise four challenging questions that need to be addressed by every Christian believer and then to offer one incredibly simple answer-an answer that challenges the veracity of the Christian faith but can also be the gateway to a rewarding new life that is based on truth and does not require the suspension of common sense. Objectively examining your closely held belief system is not a walk in the park. And facing up to the idea that you might be under a spell that makes it hard for you to think objectively is daunting, especially when you rely on the spell's results to make you feel that everything is okay and when you've been warned that tampering with the spell is the worst thing you could ever do. Choose courage. If what you believe is true, it can stand the test of any question that I or anyone else might raise. I encourage you to open your mind, face the facts, and decide that you will follow the truth wherever it leads. I spent most of my life in a search for truth about faith, God, and religion. Maybe I can save you some time as you make your own decisions. Tim Sledge

Download or read book Future Church written by Will Mancini and published by Baker Books. This book was released on 2020-12-01 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Church growth models have often been long on promises and short on disciple-making. We continue to watch consistent church attendance shrink, and our desire to reach the lost is infected with a need for self-validation by growing our numbers at any cost. If we believe that God wants his church to grow, where do we go from here? What is the future of the church? Drawing from his 20 years and 15,000 hours of consulting, author Will Mancini shares with pastors and ministry leaders the single most important insight he has learned about church growth. With plenty of salient stories and based solidly on the disciple-making methods found in Scripture, Future Church exposes the church's greatest challenge today, and offers 7 transforming laws of real church growth so that we can faithfully and joyfully fulfill Jesus's Great Commission.

Download or read book Goodbye Jesus written by Tim Sledge and published by . This book was released on 2018-03-15 with total page 474 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tim Sledge pulls back the curtain on Southern Baptist life as he chronicles nearly four decades of ministry in this highly personal, sometimes painful, and frequently provocative spiritual autobiography. Part memoir, part expos , part polemic-this is an account of failures as well as accomplishments-and very nearly a case study in how faith may begin, how it evolves, and how it can fall apart. Sledge traces the childhood origins of his sincere faith, his efforts at spiritual obedience, his theological education, his climb up the ladder in ministry, his insights into the challenges of growth-oriented leadership, and his pioneering work in faith-based recovery ministries that ultimately guided participants in 20,000 support groups across the U.S. A recurring theme in his story is coming to grips with the significance of being an adult child of an alcoholic. After a fall from grace and a growing awareness that faith no longer worked for him, his journey took a new direction that required examining alternatives to his former belief system including Deism, agnosticism, humanism, and atheism. Ultimately, he found new ways to live a positive, value-driven life and emerged as a new version of the same person he had always been, still interested in creating avenues for personal growth in the lives of others. Goodbye Jesus is a relatable and thoughtful read for those seeking to better understand the evangelical mindset, for Christians who are questioning their faith, for ministers trying to decide whether to stay or go, and for those who have left their faith and are dealing with its loss.

Download or read book Sex Drugs and Cocoa Puffs written by Chuck Klosterman and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2004-06-22 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Now in paperback after six hardback printings, the damn funny...wild collection of bracingly intelligent essays about topics that aren't quite as intelligent as Chuck Klosterman'(Esquire). Following the success of Fargo Rock City, Klosterman, a senior writer at Spin magazine, is back with a hilarious and savvy manifesto for a youth gone wild on pop culture and media, taking on everything from Guns'n'Roses tribute bands to Christian fundamentalism to internet porn. 'Maddeningly smart and funny' - Washington Post'

Download or read book Verity written by Colleen Hoover and published by Grand Central Publishing. This book was released on 2021-10-05 with total page 295 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Whose truth is the lie? Stay up all night reading the sensational psychological thriller that has readers obsessed, from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Too Late and It Ends With Us. #1 New York Times Bestseller · USA Today Bestseller · Globe and Mail Bestseller · Publishers Weekly Bestseller Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of bestselling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish. Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity’s notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn’t expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read. Page after page of bone-chilling admissions, including Verity's recollection of the night her family was forever altered. Lowen decides to keep the manuscript hidden from Jeremy, knowing its contents could devastate the already grieving father. But as Lowen’s feelings for Jeremy begin to intensify, she recognizes all the ways she could benefit if he were to read his wife’s words. After all, no matter how devoted Jeremy is to his injured wife, a truth this horrifying would make it impossible for him to continue loving her.

Download or read book 50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God written by Guy P. Harrison and published by Prometheus Books. This book was released on 2009-09-18 with total page 2 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many books that challenge religious belief from a skeptical point of view take a combative tone that is almost guaranteed to alienate believers or they present complex philosophical or scientific arguments that fail to reach the average reader. This is undoubtably an ineffective way of encouraging people to develop critical thinking about religion. This unique approach to skepticism presents fifty commonly heard reasons people often give for believing in a God and then raises legitimate questions regarding these reasons, showing in each case that there is much room for doubt. Whether you're a believer, a complete skeptic, or somewhere in between, you'll find this review of traditional and more recent arguments for the existence of God refreshing, approachable, and enlightening. From religion as the foundation of morality to the authority of sacred books, the compelling religious testimony of influential people, near-death experiences, arguments from Intelligent Design, and much more, Harrison respectfully describes each rationale for belief and then politely shows the deficiencies that any good skeptic would point out. As a journalist who has traveled widely and interviewed many highly accomplished people, quite a number of whom are believers, the author appreciates the variety of belief and the ways in which people seek to make religion compatible with scientific thought. Nonetheless, he shows that, despite the prevalence of belief in God or religious belief in intelligent people, in the end there are no unassailable reasons for believing in a God. For skeptics looking for appealing ways to approach their believing friends or believers who are not afraid to consider a skeptical challenge, this book makes for very stimulating reading.

Download or read book Disturbing Argument written by Catherine Palczewski and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-01-30 with total page 472 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This edited volume represents the best of the scholarship presented at the 18th National Communication Association/American Forensic Association Conference on Argumentation. This biennial conference brings together a lively group of argumentation scholars from a range of disciplinary approaches and a variety of countries. Disturbing Argument contains selected works that speak both to the disturbing prevalence of violence in the contemporary world and to the potential of argument itself, to disturb the very relations of power that enable that violence. Scholars’ essays analyze a range of argument forms, including body and visual argument, interpersonal and group argument, argument in electoral politics, public argument, argument in social protest, scientific and technical argument, and argument and debate pedagogy. Contributors study argument using a range of methodological approaches, from social scientifically informed studies of interpersonal, group, and political argument to humanistic examinations of argument theory, political discourse, and social protest, to creatively informed considerations of argument practices that truly disturb the boundaries of what we consider argument.

Download or read book The Book of Questions written by Gregory Stock and published by Workman Publishing. This book was released on 2013-09-10 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The phenomenon returns! Originally published in 1987, The Book of Questions, a New York Times bestseller, has been completely revised and updated to incorporate the myriad cultural shifts and hot-button issues of the past twenty-five years, making it current and even more appealing. This is a book for personal growth, a tool for deepening relationships, a lively conversation starter for the family dinner table, a fun way to pass the time in the car. It poses over 300 questions that invite people to explore the most fascinating of subjects: themselves and how they really feel about the world. The revised edition includes more than 100 all-new questions that delve into such topics as the disappearing border between man and machine—How would you react if you learned that a sad and beautiful poem that touched you deeply had been written by a computer? The challenges of being a parent—Would you completely rewrite your child’s college-application essays if it would help him get into a better school? The never-endingly interesting topic of sex—Would you be willing to give up sex for a year if you knew it would give you a much deeper sense of peace than you now have? And of course the meaning of it all—If you were handed an envelope with the date of your death inside, and you knew you could do nothing to alter your fate, would you look? The Book of Questions may be the only publication that challenges—and even changes—the way you view the world, without offering a single opinion of its own.

Download or read book A Meta Spiritual Handbook written by Tim Sledge and published by . This book was released on 2018-04-15 with total page 170 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When former evangelical minister Tim Sledge walked away from five decades of faith more than 10 years ago, he made a clean break-no more church, prayer, religion, or God. But there was one thing that surprised him: He still wanted to be spiritual. Looking beyond traditional Christian views of spirituality, he found no "spiritual but not religious" model that worked for him-including the mindset of connecting with the energy of the universe. Eventually, Sledge decided to redefine spirituality for himself, and to use the term "meta-spirituality" to identify his personal approach as beyond any conventional concept of spirituality. His vision of meta-spirituality touches that part of us that seeks inspiration, yearns for the highest and best in life, and longs for a connection to something noble and wondrous. This is spirituality without God or magic, without religion or faith, and with no need of an invisible spirit world. It is a call to kindness, listening, vulnerability, compassion, and gratitude; a quest for a growing sensitivity to the world of emotions; and, a challenge to let mistakes lead to growth instead of shame. The book's 26 chapters are organized around five topics: How to Be Spiritual Without God How to See Reality How to Live With Meaning How to Keep Moving Forward How to Practice Meta-Spirituality A Meta-Spiritual Handbook is a simple guide to seeing spirituality in a new way and a challenge to find your best self without reference to religion, faith, or God.

Download or read book The Reason for God written by Timothy Keller and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2008-02-14 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A New York Times bestseller people can believe in—by "a pioneer of the new urban Christians" (Christianity Today) and the "C.S. Lewis for the 21st century" (Newsweek). Timothy Keller, the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, addresses the frequent doubts that skeptics, and even ardent believers, have about religion. Using literature, philosophy, real-life conversations, and potent reasoning, Keller explains how the belief in a Christian God is, in fact, a sound and rational one. To true believers he offers a solid platform on which to stand their ground against the backlash to religion created by the Age of Skepticism. And to skeptics, atheists, and agnostics, he provides a challenging argument for pursuing the reason for God.

Download or read book A Little Life written by Hanya Yanagihara and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2016-01-26 with total page 833 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A stunning “portrait of the enduring grace of friendship” (NPR) about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves. A masterful depiction of love in the twenty-first century. NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • MAN BOOKER PRIZE FINALIST • WINNER OF THE KIRKUS PRIZE A Little Life follows four college classmates—broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition—as they move to New York in search of fame and fortune. While their relationships, which are tinged by addiction, success, and pride, deepen over the decades, the men are held together by their devotion to the brilliant, enigmatic Jude, a man scarred by an unspeakable childhood trauma. A hymn to brotherly bonds and a masterful depiction of love in the twenty-first century, Hanya Yanagihara’s stunning novel is about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves. Look for Hanya Yanagihara’s latest bestselling novel, To Paradise.

Download or read book Factfulness written by Hans Rosling and published by Flatiron Books. This book was released on 2018-04-03 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “One of the most important books I’ve ever read—an indispensable guide to thinking clearly about the world.” – Bill Gates “Hans Rosling tells the story of ‘the secret silent miracle of human progress’ as only he can. But Factfulness does much more than that. It also explains why progress is so often secret and silent and teaches readers how to see it clearly.” —Melinda Gates "Factfulness by Hans Rosling, an outstanding international public health expert, is a hopeful book about the potential for human progress when we work off facts rather than our inherent biases." - Former U.S. President Barack Obama Factfulness: The stress-reducing habit of only carrying opinions for which you have strong supporting facts. When asked simple questions about global trends—what percentage of the world’s population live in poverty; why the world’s population is increasing; how many girls finish school—we systematically get the answers wrong. So wrong that a chimpanzee choosing answers at random will consistently outguess teachers, journalists, Nobel laureates, and investment bankers. In Factfulness, Professor of International Health and global TED phenomenon Hans Rosling, together with his two long-time collaborators, Anna and Ola, offers a radical new explanation of why this happens. They reveal the ten instincts that distort our perspective—from our tendency to divide the world into two camps (usually some version of us and them) to the way we consume media (where fear rules) to how we perceive progress (believing that most things are getting worse). Our problem is that we don’t know what we don’t know, and even our guesses are informed by unconscious and predictable biases. It turns out that the world, for all its imperfections, is in a much better state than we might think. That doesn’t mean there aren’t real concerns. But when we worry about everything all the time instead of embracing a worldview based on facts, we can lose our ability to focus on the things that threaten us most. Inspiring and revelatory, filled with lively anecdotes and moving stories, Factfulness is an urgent and essential book that will change the way you see the world and empower you to respond to the crises and opportunities of the future. --- “This book is my last battle in my life-long mission to fight devastating ignorance...Previously I armed myself with huge data sets, eye-opening software, an energetic learning style and a Swedish bayonet for sword-swallowing. It wasn’t enough. But I hope this book will be.” Hans Rosling, February 2017.

Download or read book I Love Jesus But I Want to Die written by Sarah J. Robinson and published by WaterBrook. This book was released on 2021-05-11 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A compassionate, shame-free guide for your darkest days “A one-of-a-kind book . . . to read for yourself or give to a struggling friend or loved one without the fear that depression and suicidal thoughts will be minimized, medicalized or over-spiritualized.”—Kay Warren, cofounder of Saddleback Church What happens when loving Jesus doesn’t cure you of depression, anxiety, or suicidal thoughts? You might be crushed by shame over your mental illness, only to be told by well-meaning Christians to “choose joy” and “pray more.” So you beg God to take away the pain, but nothing eases the ache inside. As darkness lingers and color drains from your world, you’re left wondering if God has abandoned you. You just want a way out. But there’s hope. In I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die, Sarah J. Robinson offers a healthy, practical, and shame-free guide for Christians struggling with mental illness. With unflinching honesty, Sarah shares her story of battling depression and fighting to stay alive despite toxic theology that made her afraid to seek help outside the church. Pairing her own story with scriptural insights, mental health research, and simple practices, Sarah helps you reconnect with the God who is present in our deepest anguish and discover that you are worth everything it takes to get better. Beautifully written and full of hard-won wisdom, I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die offers a path toward a rich, hope-filled life in Christ, even when healing doesn’t look like what you expect.

Download or read book Sex God written by Darrel Ray Ed D. and published by Ipc Press. This book was released on 2012 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why are all the major religions consumed with sex? What makes sex so important, whether Buddhism or Islam, Christianity or Mormonism? What is the impact of religion on human sexuality? This book explores this and more. It ventures into territory that has never been examined. You will be surprised at how much religion has influenced your sexuality, who you marry, the pleasure you get or don't get from sex, and what you can do about it.

Download or read book Fahrenheit 451 written by Ray Bradbury and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2003-09-23 with total page 217 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Set in the future when "firemen" burn books forbidden by the totalitarian "brave new world" regime.

Download or read book Ten Things Christians Wish Jesus Hadn t Taught written by David Madison and published by Insighting Growth Publications Incorporated. This book was released on 2021-08-21 with total page 148 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a book about ten of the most significant uncomfortable teachings of Jesus. These are teachings that Christians don't like to think or talk about. They are clear imperatives from Jesus that are, for the most part, ignored by the majority of believers.

Download or read book Show Them No Mercy written by C. S. Cowles and published by Zondervan Academic. This book was released on 2010-06-01 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Did God condone genocide in the Old Testament? How do Christians harmonize the warrior God of Israel with the God of love incarnate in Jesus? Christians are often shocked to read that Yahweh, the God of the Israelites, commanded the total destruction--all men, women, and children--of the ethnic group known as the Canaanites. This seems to contradict Jesus' command in the New Testament to love your enemies and do good to all people. How can Yahweh be the same God as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ? What does genocide in the Bible have to do with the politics of the 21st century? Show Them No Mercy explores the Old Testament command of God to exterminate the Canaanite population and what that implies about continuity between the Old and New Testaments. The four views presented are: Strong Discontinuity – emphasizes the strong tension, regarding violence, between the two main texts of the Bible (C.S. Cowles) Moderate Discontinuity – provides a justification of God’s actions in the Old Testament with strong emphasis on exegesis (Eugene H. Merrill) Eschatological Continuity – a reading of the warfare narratives that ties them contextually to the book of Revelation and the Second Coming (Daniel L. Gard) Spiritual Continuity – incorporates the genocidal account into the full picture of the Old and New Testaments (Tremper Longman III) The Counterpoints series presents a comparison and critique of scholarly views on topics important to Christians that are both fair-minded and respectful of the biblical text. Each volume is a one-stop reference that allows readers to evaluate the different positions on a specific issue and form their own, educated opinion.