Why I Still Believe

Why I Still Believe PDF Author: Mary Jo Sharp
Publisher: HarperChristian + ORM
ISBN: 0310353882
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
For anyone who feels caught in the tension between the beauty of God's story and the ugliness of human hypocrisy, Why I Still Believe offers a stirring story of hope. Why would anyone be a Christian when there is so much hypocrisy in the church? Mary Jo Sharp shares her journey as a skeptical believer who still holds to a beautiful faith despite wounding experiences in the Christian community. At a time when de-conversion stories have become all too common, this is an earnest response - the compelling conversion of an unlikely believer whose questions ultimately led her to irresistible hope. Sharp addresses her own struggle with the reality that God's people repeatedly give God's story a bad name and takes a careful look at how the current church often inadvertently produces atheists despite its life-giving message. For those who feel the ever-present tension between the beauty of salvation and the dark side of human nature, Why I Still Believe is a candid and approachable case for believing in God when you really want to walk away. With fresh and thoughtful insights, this spiritual narrative presents relevant answers to haunting questions like: Isn't there too much pain and suffering to believe? Is it okay to have doubt? What if Jesus' story is a copy of another story? Is there any evidence for Jesus' resurrection? Does atheism explain the human experience better than Christianity can? How can the truth of Christianity matter when the behaviors of Christians are reprehensible? At once logical and loving, Sharp reframes the gospel as it truly is: the good news of redemption. With firmly grounded truths, Why I Still Believe is an affirming reminder that the hypocrisy of Christians can never negate the transforming grace and truth of Christ.

Why I Still Believe

Why I Still Believe PDF Author: Mary Jo Sharp
Publisher: HarperChristian + ORM
ISBN: 0310353882
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 240

Get Book Here

Book Description
For anyone who feels caught in the tension between the beauty of God's story and the ugliness of human hypocrisy, Why I Still Believe offers a stirring story of hope. Why would anyone be a Christian when there is so much hypocrisy in the church? Mary Jo Sharp shares her journey as a skeptical believer who still holds to a beautiful faith despite wounding experiences in the Christian community. At a time when de-conversion stories have become all too common, this is an earnest response - the compelling conversion of an unlikely believer whose questions ultimately led her to irresistible hope. Sharp addresses her own struggle with the reality that God's people repeatedly give God's story a bad name and takes a careful look at how the current church often inadvertently produces atheists despite its life-giving message. For those who feel the ever-present tension between the beauty of salvation and the dark side of human nature, Why I Still Believe is a candid and approachable case for believing in God when you really want to walk away. With fresh and thoughtful insights, this spiritual narrative presents relevant answers to haunting questions like: Isn't there too much pain and suffering to believe? Is it okay to have doubt? What if Jesus' story is a copy of another story? Is there any evidence for Jesus' resurrection? Does atheism explain the human experience better than Christianity can? How can the truth of Christianity matter when the behaviors of Christians are reprehensible? At once logical and loving, Sharp reframes the gospel as it truly is: the good news of redemption. With firmly grounded truths, Why I Still Believe is an affirming reminder that the hypocrisy of Christians can never negate the transforming grace and truth of Christ.

Can We Still Believe the Bible?

Can We Still Believe the Bible? PDF Author: Craig L. Blomberg
Publisher: Brazos Press
ISBN: 1441245642
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
Challenges to the reliability of Scripture are perennial and have frequently been addressed. However, some of these challenges are noticeably more common today, and the topic is currently of particular interest among evangelicals. In this volume, highly regarded biblical scholar Craig Blomberg offers an accessible and nuanced argument for the Bible's reliability in response to the extreme views about Scripture and its authority articulated by both sides of the debate. He believes that a careful analysis of the relevant evidence shows we have reason to be more confident in the Bible than ever before. As he traces his own academic and spiritual journey, Blomberg sketches out the case for confidence in the Bible in spite of various challenges to the trustworthiness of Scripture, offering a positive, informed, and defensible approach.

Why I Still Believe

Why I Still Believe PDF Author: Joe Boot
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780801066054
Category : Apologetics
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
A readable introduction to presuppositional apologetics that invites the non-believer to step inside the Christian worldview to see whether or not it makes sense.

I (Still) Believe

I (Still) Believe PDF Author: Zondervan,
Publisher: Zondervan Academic
ISBN: 0310515157
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
I (Still) Believe explores the all-important question of whether serious academic study of the Bible is threatening to one’s faith. Far from it—faith enhances study of the Bible and, reciprocally, such study enriches a person’s faith. With this in mind, this book asks prominent Bible teachers and scholars to tell their story reflecting on their own experiences at the intersection of faith and serious academic study of the Bible. While the essays of this book will provide some apology for academic study of the Bible as an important discipline, the essays engage with this question in ways that are uncontrived. They present real stories, with all the complexities and struggles they may hold. To this end, the contributors do two things: (a) reflect on their lives as someone who teaches and researches the Bible, providing something of a story outlining their journey of life and faith, and their self-understanding as a biblical theologian; and (b) provide focused reflections on how faith has made a difference, how it has changed, and what challenges have arisen, remained, and are unresolved, all with a view toward the future and engaging the book’s main question. engaging the book’s main question.

Why Do You Believe That

Why Do You Believe That PDF Author: Mary Jo Sharp
Publisher: Lifeway Church Resources
ISBN: 9781415872321
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
Join Mary Jo in a practical 7-session study and gain understanding and skill to share Jesus effectively with others, and you'll better understand your own faith. Answer your doubts, build your confidence, and start changing lives.

Why I Believe in God

Why I Believe in God PDF Author: Cornelius Van Til
Publisher: Fig
ISBN: 1621547574
Category : Faith
Languages : en
Pages : 38

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Book Description


Why I Still Believe the Gospel

Why I Still Believe the Gospel PDF Author: Clarence Boomsma
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 0802827365
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 119

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Book Description
In this day, as in every age, Christians are constantly challenged in their beliefs by a swirl of cultural and intellectual currents. Clarence Boomsma, a greatly respected pastor with an active church ministry for six decades, knows those challenges firsthand. In this candid little book Boomsma reveals his own existential crisis of faith and then just as honestly shares his heartfelt, hard-won conclusion: the reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is indeed the linchpin of the Christian faith. Written in the thoughtful but fervent style that also marked Boomsma's sermons during his long preaching career, Why I Still Believe the Gospel is the distilled fruit of this wise pastor's passionate quest to know and declare the truth and consequences of Jesus' resurrection.

After You Believe

After You Believe PDF Author: N. T. Wright
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0061730556
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 326

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Book Description
From the author of the acclaimed Simply Christian and Surprised by Hope comes a book that addresses the question that has plagued humans for centuries—what is our purpose? As Christians, what are we to do with that ambiguous time between baptism and the funeral? It's easy to become preoccupied with who gets into heaven; the real challenge is how we are going to live in the here and now. Wright dispels the common misconception that Christian living is nothing more than a checklist of dos and don'ts. Nor is it a prescription to "follow your heart" wherever it may lead. Instead, After You Believe reveals the Bible's call for a revolution—a transformation of character that takes us beyond our earthly pursuit of money, sex, and power into a virtuous state of living that allows us to reflect God and live more worshipful, fulfilling lives. We are all spiritual seekers, intuitively knowing there is more to life than we suspect. This is a book for anyone who is hoping there is something more while we're here on Earth. There is. We are being called to join the revolution, and Wright insightfully encourages readers to find new purpose and clarity by taking us on an eye-opening journey through key biblical passages that promise to radically alter the work of the church and the direction of our lives.

Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart

Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart PDF Author: J.D. Greear
Publisher: B&H Publishing Group
ISBN: 1433679183
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 144

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Book Description
“If there were a Guinness Book of World Records entry for ‘amount of times having prayed the sinner’s prayer,’ I’m pretty sure I’d be a top contender,” says pastor and author J. D. Greear. He struggled for many years to gain an assurance of salvation and eventually learned he was not alone. “Lack of assurance” is epidemic among evangelical Christians. In Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart, J. D. shows that faulty ways of present- ing the gospel are a leading source of the confusion. Our presentations may not be heretical, but they are sometimes misleading. The idea of “asking Jesus into your heart” or “giving your life to Jesus” often gives false assurance to those who are not saved—and keeps those who genuinely are saved from fully embracing that reality. Greear unpacks the doctrine of assurance, showing that salvation is a posture we take to the promise of God in Christ, a posture that begins at a certain point and is maintained for the rest of our lives. He also answers the tough questions about assurance: What exactly is faith? What is repentance? Why are there so many warnings that seem to imply we can lose our salvation? Such issues are handled with respect to the theological rigors they require, but Greear never loses his pastoral sensitivity or a communication technique that makes this message teachable to a wide audience from teens to adults.

The King Jesus Gospel

The King Jesus Gospel PDF Author: Scot McKnight
Publisher: Zondervan
ISBN: 0310492998
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 236

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Book Description
Contemporary evangelicals have built a "salvation culture" but not a "gospel culture." Evangelicals have reduced the gospel to the message of personal salvation. This book makes a plea for us to recover the old gospel as that which is still new and still fresh. The book stands on four arguments: that the gospel is defined by the apostles in 1 Corinthians 15 as the completion of the Story of Israel in the saving Story of Jesus; that the gospel is found in the Four Gospels; that the gospel was preached by Jesus; and that the sermons in the Book of Acts are the best example of gospeling in the New Testament. The King Jesus Gospel ends with practical suggestions about evangelism and about building a gospel culture.