Thomas Christianson
The Essence of Humanity

As the AI arms race heats up and companies bombard us with commercials, how should we view this emerging technology?

The Essence of Humanity
Thomas Christianson
Why Are People Being Such Jerks?

Have you noticed people are becoming more and more inconsiderate out in public? If not, can I come live where you live?

Why Are People Being Such Jerks?
Thomas Christianson
An Argument Against Voting

An argument for why Christians should strongly consider not voting in the upcoming 2024 presidential election.

An Argument Against Voting
Thomas Christianson
Go Away, Jesus

Multiple times, Jesus was asked to “Go Away” in his ministry. Let’s look at why.

Go Away, Jesus
Thomas Christianson
The Value of a Life

In a world of infinite issues to argue about, where is the common ground?

The Value of a Life
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Love Is...

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Love Is...

On Valentine's Day, kids give and receive cards to one another. Restaurants are filled with couples. Those of us who are in relationships (and wish to remain in them) purchase cards, candy, flowers, etc and give them to those who we love.

It is a celebration of love, as evidenced by all the hearts and cherubs adorning the seasonal aisle in our local stores.

I'm not here to complain about the holiday. Love is a wonderful concept for us to celebrate, and the opportunity to give nice notes and gifts to others (even at a huge markup) is a good thing.

But love is more than red hearts and naked baby angels. It's more than spending quality time with a special someone.

In 1 Corinthians 13, the Apostle Paul tells us just how much more:

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How Fasting Helps Our Faith

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How Fasting Helps Our Faith

 

In the year 325 AD, the council at Nicea decreed that the 40 days leading up to Easter would be a time for fasting (not including Sundays, which means Lent technically lasts 46 days).

For me, lent is a time to set my living personal faith upon the shoulders of brothers and sisters in the faith who came before me. Inviting tradition into my faith as a guide which lends strength and guidance.

Engaging in a traditional faith observation like Lent is a frame in which your faith can stretch out and grow as you pray and consider scripture over 40 days.

 

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But What If Christianity Is Wrong?

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But What If Christianity Is Wrong?

Deciding what religion (if any) to adhere to seems like a risky proposition.

I mean, what if you don’t pick the right one? If you pick the wrong one, does everyone else basically get to hear the losing horn from “Price is Right” in the afterlife — if there is one?

I happen to be a follower of Jesus, and I really do believe the things He says about God and the nature of reality. I have found a fullness of life which I simply didn’t have before making the choice to believe in Jesus. I’m never going back.

But if you are not currently a follower of Jesus, I can totally understand why you might hesitate to make a commitment. So allow me to consider what it means if people who take Jesus at His word are just flat out wrong.

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Why Was God So Mad In The Old Testament?

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Around the New Year, many of us probably jump in on a Bible reading plan. Reading through the Bible in one year is a great goal. Challenging, but not impossible, builds a positive habit, and seems like it will have some good results associate with it. But once the exciting days of Genesis and Exodus are behind you, you find yourself moving into Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy and oh man I don't know if this was such a good idea.

From animal sacrifices to genocide to prophets warning of doom and gloom, you start to wonder if there's any value in reading this content.

10 Martin Luther King Jr Quotes To Challenge and Inspire Your Faith

1. We are called to be people of conviction, not conformity; of moral nobility, not social respectability. Our goal as Christ followers is....wait for it....to follow Christ. There is no other scorecard which should guide our lives - not money or popularity or anything other than whether we are being faithful to what God has called us to do.  Jesus told us that if we gain the whole world and lose our soul in the process, we've missed the point entirely. He also told us that following him is not a good way to arrive at popularity.

2. The hardhearted person lacks the capacity for genuine compassion...He gives dollar to a worthwhile charity, but he gives not of his spirit.

In Toxic Charity, Robert Lupton argues that the last thing we should give to a charity is money. Prayer and volunteer hours require a much greater investment, and will therefore impact both us and those who we serve to a greater degree. We are never called to outsource our love for people to others. Giving money without giving of ourselves smacks of Paul's warning that undertaking the noblest of actions without love simply doesn't fulfill the call of the Gospel in our lives.

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How The Church Can Combat Racism

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According to recent research, 8 out of 10 churches in America are made up, predominantly, from only one people/racial group. 11am on Sunday, it seems, is still the most segregated hour in America.

Unfortunately, that's not all the research found.

The report also found that two thirds of church communities felt they were 'doing enough' to be ethnically diverse, and over half felt that no further diversity was needed in their congregation.

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How To Have A Conversation

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On Christmas Eve, Sarah Silverman posted a tweet about Jesus being gender fluid.

Now, as a follower of Jesus, how am I supposed to react to this?

Should I get angry? Should I try to 'educate' people about the subject being posted? Do I ignore it?

Personally, I'm always interested in ways to get into a conversation about faith. This seems like a great conversation starter.

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How To Let Go Of The Past

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I used to have this problem.

I would remember something selfish or stupid I did when I was younger and the memory would hurt. Literally. I don’t know if it was actual physical pain or just pain in my mind, but it would hurt.

I would be eating dinner or taking a shower and I would feel the memory approaching like a tidal wave. There was no way I could stop it. All I could do was brace myself and wait until the memory would go away.

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When is violence the answer?

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In the aftermath of the Parisian attacks last month, French President Francois Hollande vowed a "merciless" responseagainst ISIS.Within days, France had bombed an ISIS target in Syria and performed numerous raids within France itself, killing and capturing several terror suspects.

We can all understand this response. Terrorist attacks against civilians are horrifying. In an effort to seek justice for the slaughtered and to prevent future attacks, we turn to violence in our response.

As a Christian, should I have a problem with this?

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How To Get Your Prayer Out Of A Rut

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I don't know about you, but I have the tendency to get myself into ruts. I find myself eating at the same 2 or 3 restaurants on a weekly basis, or I realize that I've been checking the same handful of websites over and over throughout the day.

The most problematic rut I get into involves the snooze alarm function on my phone.

When it goes off, I snooze a few times. To counteract this, I set the alarm earlier, which leads to more snoozing, which leads to an earlier start time.

After a while, my alarm is going off an hour and half before I actually need to get up, but being snoozed 8 or 9 times before I actually get up.

Every couple of years, it gets to a point where I declare alarm clock bankruptcy. I set the alarm to go off when I actually need to get up. It works for a few weeks or months before I decide to back it up a few minutes to accommodate the snoozing that inevitably follows.

Your ruts probably don't look exactly like mine, but we can all find ourselves stuck in a repeating, unthinking cycle.

New Book Available!

Lent CoverMy Lent devotional, A Reason To Hope, has been released on Amazon. You can purchase it now in paperback or kindle versions.

Lent starts February 10th in 2016.

In a perfect world, we wouldn't need seasons like Lent where we refocus and make temporary sacrifice, but this world is far from perfect, and I am a work in progress.

The book uses scripture, reflection and practical application to guide you in a season of growing closer to Jesus.

If you and/or your church or church group is looking for a resource to provide some structure to the seasons of Lent without any particular denominational affiliate, I hope you'll consider this casually voiced, artistically crafted book!

If you want to get a preview of the look and feel of the inside of the book, head to the Books Available page of my blog.

Thanks for your engagement and support!

 

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How Relevant Should Christians Be?

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On December 9th, a new reality TV show is premiering on Oprah's TV network, Oxygen.The reality show is about a pastoral couple named Rich and DawnCheré Wilkerson called Rich in Faith. The show has gotten some attention because these are the pastors of Kanye West and Kim Kardashian.

I got a chance to hear Rich speak at the Catalyst Next conference in DC recently and it sparked discussion among our own church staff regarding whether what they are doing is appropriate. While he doesn't necessarily have a presentation style that I prefer, Rich and DawnCheré preached boldly about the greatness of Jesus and how much we are loved by our saviour.

One of the things that Rich discussed in an interview after he preached is the fact that God is giving him influence in circles that most of us would never be able to access.

I loved that.

You need access to gain influence, and that's a good thing because you can't influence people who aren't paying attention to you.

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Why I Don't Hate Muslims

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In the past week, there have been several notable comments about Muslims. Donald Trump made a statement that he believes all Muslims should be blocked from entering the United States.

Additionally, the president of Liberty University - Jerry Falwell Jr. - said that Christians should arm themselves so they can 'end those Muslims'.

I can understand why such comments and dispositions would be taken. Fear makes us want to put big, strong walls around the things we care about.

Is God Mad At Me When I Doubt?

So there’s this story in the bible I like a lot. It’s recorded in the book of Mark if you want to read it for yourself, but here’s the gist:

Jesus has been up on a mountain praying, away from the crowds that follow him everywhere. He comes down the mountain to find a chaotic scene.

A father who has a son with some serious issues has been asking Jesus’ disciples to heal the kid. The disciples have tried and failed.

The father brings the kid over to Jesus and I’m going to let what Mark wrote tell the next couple parts here:

(The Dad says to Jesus)  “Have mercy on us and help us, if you can.”

“What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.”

The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!”

Jesus then punched him in the gut and said, ‘Come back when you don’t have any more unbelief, chump.” Then he rolled out with his posse.

In case you aren’t sure, I made that last part up. What actually happens is that Jesus heals the kid who suffered by major seizures and gave him back to his dad.

The father in that story is one of my heroes and I don’t even know his name.

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How To Respond to Terrorism

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We've seen an increasing number of mass shootings in the United States recently (353 in 2015, so far), not to mention attacks in places like Paris, Nigeria and Mali. When we find out about the latest violence, it can be tempting to shake our heads and long for the day when believers in Jesus get to escape this world and live for all eternity in heaven where there is no pain or tears.

The problem is, that viewpoint is completely antithetical to what the Christian scriptures teach.

The Bible teaches that Christ followers are supposed to engage in the world, not escape from it.

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Why Christmas is Unfair

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This past Sunday marked the beginning of Advent, the four Sundays leading up to Christmas when we spend time considering the meaning of the birth of Christ in our world. Speaking of this event, the prophet Isaiah wrote: "Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means 'God is with us')." (Isaiah 7:14)

I love that the name 'God is with us' is used. In our world, we deal with many challenges and difficulties, large and small. From personal struggles to global problems like terrorism and refugee crises. I am grateful that God is with us in the midst of these problems.

This year, my church is considering the idea that God has invited us to a gift exchange.

When you are going to visit family or friends for Christmas, you try to make sure that you bring something that will make them happy. It would be terrible to receive a great gift and have something underwhelming to give in return.

Yet, in the original meaning and concept of Christmas, we find ourselves in exactly that situation.

The Danger in Borders: Valuing Refugees in the Age of Terrorism

The prophet Jonah received direction from God to go and preach to the people of the city of Nineveh, warning them of their impending destruction. Jonah instead, as you may be aware, immediately undertook a journey in the opposite direction from Nineveh.

Later in the book of the prophet, we learn why Jonah did this.

"I knew that you [God] are gracious. You are tender and kind. You are slow to get angry. You are full of love. You are a God who takes pity on people. You don’t want to destroy them [the Ninevites]."

Jonah hated the people of Nineveh. Perhaps the people of Nineveh, a brutal people, had wronged Israelite, or perhaps their reputation simply preceded them. Whatever the reason, Jonah did not want to see forgiveness given to these people who existed outside the land of God's chosen people - the Jews.

Jonah valued the identity of his fellow countymen and women so much, he was unable to provide ministry leading essentially to the salvation of the people of another nation-state.

It was only after God went to great lengths that Jonah complied with the direction of a God who, much to his dismay, held affection for his enemies.

God would not allow his prophet to love borders more than people.