Worldview and Perspective on Believing In God

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Heavenly Father, it is astounding how

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Heavenly Father, it is astounding how many ways we find to doubt You. At times we doubt Your power and Your ability to do actual miracles in our lives. In other situations, we doubt that Your methods ...

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Let Questions and Doubts be Adequately Expressed

Author

Travis Dickinson

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Scripture

Genesis 18:10-15, Numbers 13:14, Job 1:42, Matthew 14:22-33, Psalm 73:

It is quite common for Christians to experience doubts from time to time. Unfortunately, doubts about our Christian beliefs are often treated in the same way we would treat a common cold. We wait it o...

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An Atheist Pines for Eternity

Author

Theodore Dalrymple

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Scripture

Ecclesiastes 3:11, Isaiah 55:1-3, Job 14:13-14, John 4:13-14, Romans 1:20-21, Psalm 42:1-2

In an article entitled, What the New Atheists Don’t See , the British author Theodore Dalrymple shares his honest struggles with atheism. The subtitle of his article is fascinating, “To regret re...

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Listening to God and Others

Author

Adam S. McHugh

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Scripture

Deuteronomy 6:4-5, Isaiah 55:3, Matthew 11:15, Luke 8:8, James 1:19-20, Psalm 46:10

The very first word of the Rule of St. Benedict, that famous text that has guided the life of monastic communities since the sixth century, is listen . I want for us to put listening back where i...

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God’s Voice: A Disruptive Force

Author

G. Campbell Morgan

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Scripture

Genesis 12:1-4, Exodus 3:1-10, Acts 9:3-6

G. Campbell Morgan offers some sharp insight on the topic of hearing God’s voice. He observes that when God speaks to us, His word often arrives as a disruptive force in our lives. He elaborates furth...

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The Religious Guy and the Atheist

Author

David Foster Wallace

Keywords

Bias

Scripture

John 20:24-29, James 1:2-8, John 12:37-38, Hebrews 11:6

There are these two guys sitting together in a bar in the remote Alaskan wilderness. One of the guys is religious, the other is an atheist, and the two are arguing about the existence of God with that...

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How Religious Stories (and Religion) Are Understood Today

Author

Gregory Koukl

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Most people nowadays would not say the religious stories believers believe are actually false. (It would be impolite to put it that way and might even be considered intolerant). At the same time, thou...

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Author

Miguel de Unamuno

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Scripture

Romans 8:26, 2 Corinthians 4:8-9, Luke 22:44, Habakkuk 1:2, Jeremiah 20:7-9, Job 3:11

Those who believe that they believe in God, but without any passion in their heart, without anguish of mind, without uncertainty, without doubt, without an element of despair even in their consolation...

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Our Lord—Today we have given You praise

Our Lord—Today we have given You praise and thanks for who You are and what You’ve done for us. Now, we also give You our needs—for we are not self-sufficient. We need You! We pray for those dear to u...

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All: Gracious God, you promise that

Author

Laura B. Murray

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Scripture

John 8:12, John 1:, Psalm 27:, Isaiah 9:2, Psalm 119:105, 2 Corinthians 4:6, Proverbs 3:5-6, Isaiah 60:1, Matthew 5:14-16

All: Gracious God, you promise that your light drowns out darkness, yet the darkness is so persistent. We cannot see in front of us, so we look to our own knowledge and ways. Forgive us for turning to...

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An Attempted Refutation of the Gospel

Author

N. T. Wright

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Scripture

Mark 16:15-16, Philippians 1:6, Acts 16:31, John 1:12-13, Ephesians 2:8-9, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Romans 1:16

[In the middle of the twentieth century a] young Russian communist went to a meeting one night where he heard a Christian expounding his faith. The communist was angry. How could anyone still believe ...

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Doubt is a Felt Tension

Author

Travis Dickinson

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Scripture

Isaiah 40:22, Romans 1:28, Psalm 73:, Mark 9:14-29, Matthew 14:22-33

Doubt is really the felt tension that exists between a belief you have and a contrary claim you do not yet believe…Simply put, doubt is that experience of one of our beliefs seeming like it might be f...

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Truth in the Pulpit: Why Intellectual Integrity Matters for Pastors

Author

William Rowley

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While sexual sin, financial scandals, and toxic work environments hurt pastoral credibility, a more subtle, and probably more common danger is carelessness with the truth. Intellectual integrity matte...

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The Bad Neighborhood

Author

Hannah Brencher

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In her book Operating Instructions, Anne Lamott quotes “this guy I know” as saying, “My mind is a bad neighborhood that I try not to go into alone.” I feel this on a deep and spiritual level. Until ...

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Author

R.C. Sproul

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 12:1-3, Exodus 3:13-14 , Isaiah 55:10-11 , John 1:1-14 , Hebrews 1:1-3, Psalm 19:1-2

We confess, “I believe in God.” That confession is not an expression of a creative imagination or an instance of projection, but a response to the One who manifests himself in creation, in history, in...

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A Great Big World Out There

Author

Ben Patterson

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The great temptation of suffering is to let your pain become the whole world and to start believing that all that ever was, is and will be, is your private hell. God’s frontal assault on Job’s egotism...

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Abba – Father: Because of Your love and

Author

Richard Herman

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 8:15, Galatians 4:6, Psalm 23:1-4, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Philippians 4:6-7, Jeremiah 29:11

Abba – Father: Because of Your love and strength, we trust You … believing You are faithful, true and gracious. Thank You for coming into our world when we could not and would not come to You. You wal...

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Prayers of the People, Form V

Scripture

Luke 15:11-32, Psalm 51:10, 1 John 1:9, Psalm 103:2, 1 Thessalonians 5:18, John 17:21, Ephesians 4:3-6

Deacon or other leader In peace, let us pray to the Lord, saying, "Lord, have mercy" ( or "Kyrie eleison"). For the holy Church of God, that it may be filled with truth and lov...

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Inspired by Matthew 4:12-23

Author

Dustin Ray

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 4:12-23

All: Holy Father, You are gracious to call us to Yourself. You are the King of kings, the Lord of Lords, and the Treasure of treasures, worthy of our lives. And just like Jesus called out His disciple...

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Let Us Not Turn the Cross Into a Metaphor

Author

John Updike

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Let us not mock God with metaphor, analogy, sidestepping, transcendence; making of the event a parable, a sign painted in the faded credulity of earlier ages: let us walk through the door. …………………………...

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Author

Madeleine L'Engle

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Scripture

Romans 8:26, 2 Corinthians 4:8-9, Luke 22:44, Jeremiah 20:7-9, Job 13:15, Habakkuk 1:2, Psalm 42:11

Those who believe they believe in God but without passion in the heart, without anguish of mind, without uncertainty, without doubt, and even at times without despair, believe only in the idea of God,...

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Author

Stanley Hauerwas

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Scripture

John 15:4-5, 1 John 3:18-19, Matthew 7:21, Romans 10:9-10, Hebrews 11:1, Galatians 2:20

I do not put much stock in "believing in God." The grammar of "belief" invites a far too rationalistic account of what it means to be a Christian. "Belief" implies propos...

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Author

N. T. Wright

Keywords

Scripture

Acts 1:3, Luke 10:9, Matthew 10:7, John 3:16, Matthew 6:33, Luke 4:43

The call to 'believe in the gospel', or to 'believe in me', does not suggest that Jesus was inviting Galilean villagers to embrace a body of doctrine – not even a basic 'theory'...

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The Practicality of Belief in God

Author

Ron Highfield

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In his June 1749 letter to Voltaire, the French Atheist Denis Diderot famously ruled that is is “very important not to mistake the hemlock for parsley; but to believe or not believe in God, is not imp...

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Author

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

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Scripture

Jeremiah 33:3, Psalm 145:3, Deuteronomy 29:29, 1 Corinthians 2:9, Job 11:7

A God who let us prove his existence would be an idol.

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What You Think About God Determines Your Life

Author

John Mark Comer

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Scripture

Deuteronomy 4:15-16, John 14:9, Colossians 1:15-16, Psalm 50:21, Isaiah 40:18, Exodus 20:3-5, Romans 1:25

Put another way, what you think about God will shape your destiny in life. If you think of God as homophobic, racist, and mad at the world, this distorted vision of reality will shape you into a relig...

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Author

Bernard of Clairvaux

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Scripture

Ephesians 3:20, Job 42:2-3, John 20:29, 1 Corinthians 13:12, Romans 11:33-34, Proverbs 3:5-6

I believe though I do not comprehend, and I hold by faith what I cannot grasp with the mind.

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Dear Heavenly Father, We are grateful

Author

Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church

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Scripture

Mark 9:24, James 1:5-6, Psalm 34:17, Philippians 4:6-7, Jeremiah 33:3, Matthew 21:22, 1 Peter 5:7

Dear Heavenly Father, We are grateful that we can come to You at any time, about anything. We know that You listen to the earnest cries of our hearts. We know that You have great power; You are the Cr...

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Author

Albert Einstein

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Science and Religion

The more I study science, the more I believe in God.

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Author

Paul E. Little

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Scripture

James 1:5, 1 Corinthians 13:12, Hebrews 11:1, Romans 1:20, Isaiah 55:8-9, 1 Corinthians 2:14, John 8:32

Belief doesn’t create truth. Unbelief doesn’t destroy truth. Christian faith goes beyond reason but not against reason.

worldview and perspective on Believing in God

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