The 5 Questions I Most Frequently Ask Friends Far From God

1. What comes to mind when you think about God and Jesus?

2. On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate the level of effort you’ve invested in your current beliefs, and the level of confidence you have that they’re true?

3. Hypothetically, if all your questions had answers that pointed to God as the Creator and Jesus as the Savior, how would you respond?

4. Hypothetically, on what basis do you believe God will or will not accept you into Heaven?

5. Would you be interested in meeting for coffee once a week or so, to investigate your questions and study the Bible at your own pace?

Photo Credit: Rajiv Patel

What To Do When Resolutions Fail

Guest Post by Mike Ashcraft

Every January, 90 million Americans will promise themselves they’re going to start doing something or stop doing something. In other words, they will make New Year’s resolutions.

According to research by the Barna Research Group 77% will “break” those resolutions. Probably by February. I’ve done it. We all feel the need to create them even though we know we are going to break them.

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The 29 Books I Read In 2014

I love reading.

I also love sharing great resources with others.

Reading a book is the closest thing you can get to sharing coffee with some of the greatest minds – people you’d never be able to meet in person. And that opportunity is invaluable, as you learn from their stories, advice, and ideas. To read more along these lines, check out my guest post: 5 Reasons to Start a Student Library.

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3 Ways To Defeat Personal Apathy and Keep Passion Alive

By Adam York

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” And if we put into perspective all the great achievements we witness daily, we can certainly affirm this statement to be true. But much too often, we fall victim to personal apathy, losing the passion and enthusiasm that helps us accomplish great things. This is especially true when it comes to the start of a new year. We must work even harder to maintain the passion that helps us conquer our goals and dreams.

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What’s Your Worldview? (A Book Review)

What first piqued my curiosity about this little book was its comparison to Choose Your Own Adventure books (as mentioned on the back cover and in the Introduction of the book).

When I was in Junior High School, I read Choose Your Own Adventure books exclusively for two reasons. First, the books were fun because the reader got to act as the main character in the story and actually make plot decisions that would alter the story’s outcome. Second, the books were deceptively short, since you only read a fraction of the scenarios included in the book. And that was particularly nice for a twelve year old kid who would rather play outside than write a book report.

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A Brilliant Questionnaire That Leads To a Confident Faith

If you haven’t read the award-winning book, “Confident Faith” by Mark Mittelberg, order two copies today, one for you and one for a friend!

I support this recommendation by the fact that, since writing a review of the book (which you can read here), I’ve given away nearly 50 copies to college students because I believe it’s that good.

And if you need further incentive, it is with great pleasure that I now share with you the questionnaire included in the book, which my “Twitter friend,” Mark, has generously given me permission to make available here. Note, the comments in grey parenthesis are my own. Continue reading →

MIRACLES: What They Are, Why They Happen, And How They Can Change Your Life

I’ve finally accepted the fact that I’ll never give gifts as good as my wife gives. For our wedding anniversary we went to the Sight and Sound Theater in Lancaster, PA, to watch the superbly produced “Moses”. In addition, we exchanged gifts. While the gift I gave her is not worth mentioning, the gift she gave me is worth sharing with you now.

Jennifer got tickets to an event in New York called Socrates In The City. Leaving our kids with a trusted babysitter, we made the three-hour drive from Delaware to Manhattan where we listened to the renowned, Dick Cavett, interview author, Eric Metaxas, about his new book, Miracles: What They Are, Why They Happen, And How They Can Change Your Life. If you recognize his name, it may be because he is all over the place: TV, radio, universities, Veggietales. He was even the keynote speaker at the 2012 National Prayer Breakfast. His book, Bonhoeffer, was even a #1 New York Times bestseller, with Miracles to follow suit.

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50 Christmas Albums By Christian Artists

Celebrating the Jealousy of God

How would you define jealousy?

While we generally think of jealousy as harmful or sinful, there are scenarios in which jealousy can be a good thing. Imagine if you were married and someone started a rumor that you were having an affair. What would it say about your spouse if they heard the rumor, believed it, but were not jealous?

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