Challenging Essays on Christian Life


Excerpts From the Bible

``You must not judge by the appearance of things but by the reality!''
(John 7:24) Acts 17:11 Bible Studies Home Page
A challenging collection of bible verses


What is a Christian?

``Not everyone who says to me, `Lord, Lord', will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, `Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, `I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!' ''
(Matth. 7:21-23)


A Love Story

essays by Dan Jenkins
``Most American Christians are only knowledgeable about God through the Book. However, while my natural father was alive, I did not know him through reading his book - especially since he never wrote a book. I knew my father because I lived with him and spent time with him. I knew his voice, his footstep and his moods. I knew he loved me because we had sufficient shared experiences to prove he loved me.
I have the same kind of "knowledge" of God in Christ Jesus. Walking in the Spirit is not the result of book study and application of book principles. Walking in the Spirit is living in the Spirit, being lead by the Spirit and communicating in the Spirit. The results are what the book points towards, but are impossible to experience merely by following book principles.''

Canned Theology
``The Virtual Church of the Blind Chihuahua stocks several items of canned theology, or junk food for the soul, because so many people find them easier to swallow than the real thing. There are three basic flavors, conservative, liberal, and wacko.''

What I learned in the second twenty years of my life (by Glenn Miller)

Jesus Christ was a Dirty Hippy

We are World Christians (by Gordon Aeschliman) [link currently not working]
``We understand following Him means absolute death to ourselves. It costs everything to be His disciple. [We ask God:]

  • Don't give us blessings - give us grace to be unquestionably obedient to Your every last command and desire.
  • Don't give us status - give us a place to serve.
  • Don't give us a mansion to live in - give us a springboard to take Christ's love to the whole world.
  • Don't give us good jobs - put us to work.
  • Don't give us comfort - command us.
  • Don't give us pleasure - give us perspective.
  • Don't give us satisfaction - teach us sacrifice.
  • Don't give us entertainment - enable us.
  • Don't give us good salaries - give us strength to do Your will.
    Our great joy in life is in pleasing our Lord - and there is no other joy comparable.
    We're tired of playing religion...''

    The Monk's Cell
    ``If you want to understand what water is you do not read about it in a book or see it in a picture... you dive in and swim. So it is with God.''
    ``Monks don't care about sex because they have something which is better. Monks don't mind if it is cold or dirty or lonely...because they have something which the world could not possibly imagine.''

    Two Christianities (by Gary Zeolla)

    Bible Anomalies: The First Church

    A Song of Love
    ``You may have to change everything concerning your life to discover your life. You may have to let that old person die, then walk away and let the dead bury the dead. Move from this place to that place. Change from this job to that job. Lose your 'friends'. Embrace your 'enemies'. Faith. Hope. Trust. Courage. Never give up. Never give in. Every life has been affected. Every dream has been destroyed. Get on with your life, and get out of your way. Don't allow the way things seem, to become the way things are. The darker the night, the brighter the stars. Ask God to hold your hand. Ask God to carry you. Ask God to lift you up. Don?t lie down and wait for an answer, but flow with the water of the river of the system. And the trickle with which your meager life oozes along, will become an unstoppable, raging waterfall. Like the proverbial caterpillar, you will sprout wings.''

    Mathematics and Christianity

    Christian koans (by Jonathan Seth Hayward)


    Invitation

    People Who Are Opposed to the Gospel Are Not Opposed to Ice Cream (by Josh Hunt)
    ``What I suggest is to quit inviting people to class. Quit inviting them to church. Invite them to the party. Invite them to go bowling. Invite them out for dinner. Get them on the softball team. What I have found is that if we can get them to the party, we will not keep them away from class. ... Why? Because [in that way] we meet a basic human need. We show people real love and concern.''

    Why do we keep our mouths shut? (by Hans Bodlaender, a computer scientist)

    Why Christians believe


    Controversial

    Should a Woman teach in Church? (by Ray Stedman)

    Can a Christian Know for Sure ? (observations of a Muslim)

    Christian Kissing for an Emotionally Constipated Nation


    Good and Evil

    Scriptorium of the Virtual Church of the Blind Chihuahua
    ``Most of these manuscripts explore the gray zone between good and evil... Warning to Fundamentalists: For you, these manuscripts are anathema and proscribed. You read them at the risk of excommunication by the people of your faith...''

    Is It Right to Judge?

    God - responsible also for evil

    Is God in Control? (by Merle Hertzler, an Ex-Christian)
    Important questions. Is your faith healthy enough to face them?


    Coping with Evil

    ``Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.''
    (1 Peter 5:8)


    Spiritual Warfare
    ``Satan is NOT the god of this world. He WAS until the resurrection of Christ. Since that time, Satan has been going around AS a roaring lion. He is NOT a lion, for the Lion of Judah made him just a toothless cat. Since then he has been scaring people into surrendering to him. The only power Satan has over any human is the power they permit him to have. And, his greatest tools are fear and deception. But, God has not given us a spirit of fear/timidity, but of power, love and of sound mind.''

    St. John Chrysostom On Fasting


    Some Collections of Sermons

    The Ray C. Stedman Library (a searchable library of sermons)

    Times Square Church Pulpit Series (a searchable library of sermons in many languages)

    Peninsula Bible Church (Palo Alto, California)

    The Spurgeon Archive

    Links to Sermons (Christian Resource Directory)

    World Evangelization Magazine of the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization


    Rules for Life

    The rule of St. Benedict


    Struggle

    The Old and the New Life (a paraphrase of Romans 7 and 8 from a book titled THE MESSAGE by Eugene Peterson

    When You Come to The End of Yourself!

    Love - In search for a reason for living (an online book)

    Teaching Your Children Spiritual Truth


    Suffering

    Suffering and the sovereignty of God
    by Joni Eareckson Tada

    God of Pain?
    by Rhoda Monihan


    Other Collections

    Pointing the Way. A Guide to Christian Literature on the Internet

    Das Zitat - Inspirierende Webseiten von Manuel Bendig


    My Views on the Christian Way of Life
    Science and Faith
    On Christianity
    Links to Christian Resources
    Famous Christians
    Home Pages of Christians
    Christians in Science
    Science and Creation
    Recreation with a Christian Touch
    Christentum Seiten in Deutsch
    Gedanken zum Leben als Christ
    my home page (http://arnold-neumaier.at)

    Arnold Neumaier (Arnold.Neumaier@univie.ac.at)






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