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1 - 5 of 34 total
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Halloween: Magic and Monsters: Discernment Exercise
BY: Michael Metzger
It’s hard to know where America is headed, but Christians shunning Halloween celebrations for alternative “harvest” church events could be contributing to a kind of “Balkanization of America.” Halloween used to be considered a church holiday. Shunning the celebration was largely unknown prior to the 19th century. What happened?
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Pottering About Potter: Discernment Exercise
BY: Denis Haack
The fourth novel in J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, which hit bookstores in July, represents the largest first printing (3.8 million copies) of any book in U.S. history... It is not only the popularity of the Harry Potter books, however, which has generated attention. Numerous Christians have issued warnings about the series, such as this email I received recently...
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Should We Pray? Or Protest?: Discernment Exercise
BY: Denis Haack
The fact that we live in a religiously pluralistic culture means that we can expect to be exposed to beliefs, values, and practices that are contrary to our Christian faith. This might arise in a conversation over lunch at work, in a lecture at a university, in a film, or during any number of other instances when we naturally rub shoulders with non-Christians. In most of these instances, however, our exposure is somewhat at arm’s length. It involves a theme in a movie, or a comment by a colleague—which might become a topic for conversation, but the thing with which we disagree remains out there, at a distance.
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The Value of Ritual: Discernment Exercise
BY: Preston Jones
...One reaction to this among Christians has been to abandon ritual for the sake of faith from “the heart.” Thus some Catholics and Episcopalians trade high, formal liturgies for guitars and praise songs; written prayers are abandoned in favor of prayers prompted only by the spirit within the heart of the individual; and rote memorization of creeds is frowned on. I wonder if one reason for the explosion in the number of Bible translations available to Americans is the belief (at least among marketers) that every person should have the Bible presented to him just as he or she likes it.
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Questions for Dr. Laura: Discernment Exercise
BY: Denis Haack
Though biblical illiteracy tends to be rather widespread—even among believers—many unbelievers know enough about the Bible to raise questions about how believers understand and interpret the Scriptures. These questions deserve a thoughtful answer, which means it would be wise for Christians to reflect together on how to explain their hermeneutic (how they go about interpreting the Scriptures) to non-Christians in a pluralistic culture.
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Reading Oswald Chambers, yesterday, he writes, "Spiritual muddle is only made plain by obedience. Immediately we obey, we discern." Seems awfully close to Ransom's credo, "developing discernment, deepening discipleship." Sometimes I put it this way: moral commitment precedes epistemological insight. We always do live out of our hearts: we see and hear and feel out of our hearts.
Steven Garber
Ransom Board Member
(for Denis & Margie)
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