Gospel.com Blog

The day one of my parents’ peers requested to be my friend on facebook I knew that social networking was here to stay. There’s something about connecting with each other that just makes sense, even for people who five years ago would barely take a second glance at a computer.

For those that do participate in social networks, I’d like to ask you: has social networking had a positive impact on your faith?

What do you think?

Few topics within the Christian faith have inspired as much speculation and literature as the Second Coming of Jesus Christ—the day in which he will return, as was promised thousands of year ago. A look at Christian non-fiction over the last few decades suggests that many Christians believe that event will take place within their lifetimes—but then again, Christians in every generation since Christ have hoped for the same thing.

What about you? With the disclaimer that nobody can know for sure, do you expect the Second Coming will take place in your lifetime? Why or why not?

Share your thoughts!

If I were to go to your Facebook page, what would I see listed under “Religious Views”?

Defining your “Religious Views” can be a deceptively complicated experience. Many people aren’t comfortable with labeling themselves so succinctly, because taking on a label often means taking on all the connotations of that label. You might understand what it means to be “Baptist” or “Catholic,” but do all of your acquaintances and friends? Will they in turn label you as a nutcase if you say you’re “Presbyterian?” Should you care if they look at you askance for being “Anglican?”

A recent conversation on the definition of the term ‘evangelical’ comes to mind (see this Jesus Creed post if you’re interested in exploring that). Nowadays, the word “Evangelical” carries some very unchristian baggage along with it in some people’s minds.

A Washingtonpost.com article, Soul-Searching on Facebook, provides some insight into the thought process that goes into the “Religious Views” question:

Creating a Facebook profile for the first time, Eric Heim hadn’t expected something so serious. Hunched over his laptop, he had whipped through the social network Web site’s questionnaire about his interests, favorite movies and relationship status, typing witty replies wherever possible. But when he reached the little blank box asking for his core beliefs, it stopped him short.

“It’s Facebook. The whole point is to keep it light and playful, you know?” said Heim, 27, a college student from Dumfries. “But a question like that kind of makes you think.”
[...]
Of its 250 million users worldwide, Facebook says more than 150 million people choose to write something in the religious views box.

Later in the article Piotr Bobkowski, a doctoral student at UNC, talks about his research:

He has found that a significant portion of privately religious young adults — almost a third in the case of Protestants — avoid identifying themselves by their traditional sects.

Many teens, Bobkowski said, prefer to portray themselves as spiritual but not religious: “That’s why you see all these little one-line creeds popping up.”

What about you? What does your Facebook profile say your religious views are? Do you think there’s good reason for religious people to tiptoe around labels?

Often in times of trouble we run to God for answers and comfort, and we often emerge from the experience more faithful then we were before; however, I don’t think I’m alone in wondering if pain and suffering are absolutely necessary to our faith in Christ.

So, what do you think, is suffering an essential part of faith?

Share your answer!

Last year an 11-year-old girl died in her parent’s living room during a prayer meeting. The meeting was called to ask God to heal the girl. It turns out the parents had decided not to take her to a doctor even though she was showing signs of sickness. They instead choose to rely on prayer and faith.

Today, a judge sentenced them each to 6 months jail time and 10 years of probation for letting their daughter die:

Marathon County Circuit Court Judge Vincent Howard told the Neumanns they were “very good people, raising their family who made a bad decision, a reckless decision.”

“God probably works through other people,” he told the parents, “some of them doctors.” [...]

During the sentencing hearing, Leilani Neumann, 41, told the judge her family is loving and forgiving and has wrongly been portrayed as religious zealots.

“I do not regret trusting truly in the Lord for my daughter’s health,” she said. “Did we know she had a fatal illness? No. Did we act to the best of our knowledge? Yes.”

Dale Neumann, 47, read from the Bible and told the judge that he loved his daughter.

“I am guilty of trusting my Lord’s wisdom completely. … Guilty of asking for heavenly intervention. Guilty of following Jesus Christ when the whole world does not understand. Guilty of obeying my God,” he said.

From the Neumann’s perspective, they followed the only appropriate course. They took Jesus’ words about faith and attempted to put them into practice by trusting in faith alone to heal their daughter. After all, faith can move mountains, right?

In my family, we too pray for healing, except we also go to doctors. This morning I got a tetanus shot because if I step on a rusty nail in a few years I don’t want to die from it. Yet despite this fear, I’ve spent a grand total of zero minutes of my life praying that God would protect me from tetanus.

Likewise for any other ailment in my life: I have faith that God will heal me, but that faith is in God guiding the doctor’s hands.

In a lot of ways, the faith of the Neumanns is astounding to me. They’re clinging to their beliefs even when the judicial system has told them they seriously need to reconsider.

What about you, where do you draw the line between trusting in God and trusting in men? Are they even exclusive of each other?

And if you can keep it civil, what do you think about how the Neumann’s handled the situation?

Are you struggling to find work in this economic climate? Or maybe you’ve managed to stay employed, but are feeling the pinch of a tighter budget or mounting debt. As the ongoing economic crisis continues to drag on, chances are that you and the people you love have been directly affected by it.

Biblica has put together a series of articles and helpful resources for anyone coping with unemployment and other economic pressures. They note that the loss of a job and economic security is more than just a financial setback: it exacts a spiritual and emotional toll as well. Biblica’s articles address issues like fear, anxiety, faith, and hope—all things that you experience during the turbulence of unemployment.

So if you’re desperate for a ray of hope in the midst of a personal financial crisis, take a look at Biblica’s unemployment resources. They might help you find the perspective you need to make it through.

At least several times each year, a Christian leader or politician makes a major, and public, moral mistake. And each time it happens, Christians around the world wonder aloud (or ask on their blogs): what happened? Why wasn’t there a supportive Christian community in this person’s life to identify the moral problem and shepherd them away from sin before it consumed their life and career? Where was the Christian support network?

I wonder if Christians in modern American society feel the tension between accountability and individuality more acutely than our predecessors throughout church history did. Few societies have placed as much value on individuality and personal freedom; and while few of us would call those bad things, they do tend to push us away from the Biblical concept of accountability to the community of believers.

Most of us aren’t public figures. But most of us are vulnerable to the same temptations that bring down high-profile pastors and politicians.

Recent scandals have generated some discussion of accountability groups in Washington, D.C. that aim to help public figures avoid career-ending moral pitfalls. But the concept of an “accountability group” or “accountability partner” can be found in our local church communities. Ed Stezer has a recent post with lists of accountability questions that Christians from John Wesley to Chuck Swindoll have used to try and hold themselves accountable to God and the church. The Church Relevance blog picked up on these accountability questions with some commentary.

What about you? Do you consider yourself accountable? To yourself? To God? To other people in the church? Have you ever, on your own initative, decided that you needed to be accountable to somebody else, and went out and found yourself an accountability partner?

And whether you have an official “accountability” relationship with somebody else or not, what do you do on a regular basis to hold yourself accountable to the Christian faith?

What are your spiritual gifts? All of us have unique abilities and talents, given to us by God, although not everyone recognizes their own gifts.

Blaine Smith of Nehemiah Ministries has posted a good article on recognizing your spiritual gifts and learning how they fit into God’s plan for your life. He challenges us not to dismiss our gifts by comparing them to other people’s, and to keep alert for opportunities to sharpen our talents in the service of God.

Most of us are “one-talent” persons. We are not going to be another Billy Graham, Mahatma Ghandi or Mother Teresa. When we see ourselves falling short of the accomplishments of certain renowned individuals, we can lose the motivation to take our own potential seriously. Each of us without exception, however, has significant gifts–and opportunities to invest them for Christ that vastly exceed our expectations.

What this provision amounts to specifically varies greatly from person to person. But God wants each of us to begin with the a priori assumption that he has endowed us with important ability to meet vital human needs, and that he will open all the doors necessary for us to be productive. This attitude of faith will help us take meaningful steps toward fully understanding our gifts and the opportunities Christ provides us to make a difference.

Smith has written other articles about using your spiritual gifts and related topics. And if you’re interested in exploring the idea of gifts and calling further, the Christian Career Center has a number of articles on finding your calling (although with a career focus).

Lifetime Guarantee’s weekly program is now available via podcast! Lifetime Guarantee is the ministry of Bill and Anabel Gillham and aims to help you “see yourself as God sees you and live as He intended.” (Our friends at Soulation might call that “being appropriately human.”)

To that end, Lifetime Guarantee has quite a few resources worth checking out in addition to the weekly podcast: there’s a daily devotional (that you can subscribe to via email if you like) and weekly article series that touches on topics ranging from dealing with worry to learning from failure. That’s a lot of useful information already, but they’ve got yet more spiritual development resources if you want to explore the site further.

It’s the oldest question in the book: how can God allow suffering? Over the centuries, Christians have turned to the Bible and found answers to this dilemma; but the persistence of the question suggests that on some level, we’re just not able to wrap our minds around God’s reasons for allowing evil and suffering. We can firmly believe in God’s goodness and love, and yet still find our faith deeply challenged when tragedy strikes our own lives.

William Stuntz, a professor at Harvard, can speak about this with authority—because nine years ago, his life went from “normal” to “nightmare” in the course of just a few harrowing months.

From a crippling injury to chronic, constant pain to relationship breakdowns and finally to a cancer diagnosis, Stuntz has experienced suffering… and he’s written down some of his observations about living through suffering while believing in Jesus Christ. In his essay, he talks about some of the misconceptions Christians have about the purpose and nature of suffering. Here’s one of his points:

Christians err when we imagine that God is supposed to heal all our diseases. That is not promised to us, not in this life. More the opposite: Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble” — not “might have,” but “will have.” But while God does not offer to take my cancer or my pain away, He offers something even better: that good will come from those illnesses, and that the good will be larger than the suffering it redeems. Romans 8:28 says that “in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him.” Cancer and chronic pain remain ugly, killing things, enemies of all who love life and beauty. But try as they might, those enemies do not get the last word. Our pain is not empty; we do not suffer in vain. When life strikes hard blows, what we do has value. God sees to it. That is an enormous mercy.

It’s an excellent essay, and makes a good companion read alongside Jim Watkins’ recent writings about suffering, which we highlighted last week.