Reader Questions
“Hell-oween:” Scaring the Hell out of People
Monday, October 31st, 2011Last week, I got this query: Hello Anna, As I walked to work this morning I saw posters for a “Hell-oween” event…I called the number on the poster and learned that it is going to be a haunted house similar to “Hell House” which highlights “real-life” terror such as abortion, suicide, homosexuality, etc. I am concerned, and frustrated. You [...]
Can Grace Really Be Pulled out of the Fire? Scary Matthew 13.
Wednesday, September 7th, 2011Anna- curious of your understanding of Matthew 13:36-43. Is this really telling of a one time judgement and not an eternal one? I was thinking of our conversation at Outlaw Ranch this past week. It sounds pretty eternal to me. Dang. There’s always gotta be one in the crowd who listens and then in their [...]
“Rarely, will anyone die for a righteous person.” The Impracticality of Jesus’ Death
Wednesday, August 31st, 2011The problem I see every day amongst Christians is the inability to find a more practical explanation to those of us who don’t quite understand the meaning of giving up your only son to save a bunch of sinners. Why would anyone do that? And worse: no matter what kind of crook you’ve been your [...]
“Everything’s Going God’s Way!” Prayer and God’s Will
Wednesday, August 17th, 2011Question: If everything is God’s will, what is the point of praying for anything? Why is it when something good happens, everything gives all the credit to God, when in fact, the credit should go to the people/person responsible for the good fortune? Oh, I’d love to visit with you over coffee on this one! [...]
Reader Question: God of the OT Really Be God of the New? Spin it for me.
Monday, July 18th, 2011Question: The NT makes sense (mostly)! So why does the OT make it so hard to be a Christian? A lot of it is so contradictory. What makes it worse is when preachers read too much into an OT passage to support something in the NT, and then you find that in the next chapter [...]
What’s Up with Ascension?
Tuesday, December 7th, 2010Reader Question: Advent, as you note in your defining of the term, comes from the Latin “to arrive”. We as Christians anticipate the second arrival, or as we commonly say, second “coming”, of Christ while celebrating Christ’s first arrival. In Christ’s first arrival, God offered Her only Son to die for the sake of all [...]
Forgiveness is Easter Applied
Monday, November 1st, 2010Reader Question How can I ask God for forgiveness? It seems like it is making light of all the things I’ve done wrong in the past. Thank you for this question. It’s pertinent, powerful, and pesky. Here’s one way of thinking through what forgiveness is about: or, rather, what it is not about. It’s the [...]
Anne Rice not a Church-goer … then she is … now she’s not …. What’s up?
Monday, September 13th, 2010In light of Anne Rice’s recent announcement that she is leaving Christianity but holding onto Christ I am pondering the following:
What does it mean to react to vs respond to the Gospel, to God, to Christ, to Christianity?
What are the parallels, if any, between Anne Rice and the stance taken by Martin Luther centuries ago?
What does it mean to ‘leave’ a doctrine?
Is there anything that ISN’T debatable in Scripture?
Monday, September 13th, 2010What are the absolute truths of the Bible? In other words, what is not subject to interpretation, or are there some passages or themes that everyone interprets the same?
A Brief, Cursory, Abridged, Compressed, Abbreviated, Thumbnail Sketch of the Evolution of Scripture
Friday, September 10th, 2010You’ve touched on this before, but could you go into further depth about how the bible was assembled and exactly what it is supposed to be? For instance is every word directly from God or did he just give the writer some guidelines? How were the books chosen? How were they ordered? Why are the catholic bibles and the NKJ versions different? I know, lots of questions, but I’m curious!
