The Christian Skeptic

Mistaking "Christian" for "inspirational" makes those with their own aspirations feel like apostates.

If you post a Bible verse on Facebook I won't like it. If you buy me a devotional I won't read it. If you pay for me to attend a Christian conference I won't go. Maybe it's time I admitted it: I'm a terrible Christian.

I just don't like most of the things Christians like. I don't listen to Christian music or watch Christian movies. I wish I could enjoy church yet there was a time when I left the church. I hate sermons and I often find myself asking, what if I don't want my faith? So perhaps I need to give up on this religion that doesn't want me. More to the point, perhaps I should give up on this religion whose people don't want me.

It's hard to be a part of a community that finds you frustrating, but I can't live the way many other Christians do. Unlike them, I think that the Bible doesn't have all the answers a…

We don't have to have all the answers; we just have to trust the one who does.
Many Christians believe that there is nothing the Bible can't answer. It's not only God's inspired word, it's his final word on every topic. Which means that there's a verse for every single situation we encounter. If you're worried, read Matthew 6. If you're tempted, read 1 Corinthians 10. If you feel defeated, read Romans 8. Pretty soon, you're speaking Scripture so fluently that you're answering all of your friends' questions like you're studying for an exam: Hey, Alex? I'm having a hard time with God right now--I'm really angry at him.I'm sorry to hear that, but remember, Isaiah 55:8 says that God's ways are not our ways... You may have gotten an A on that self-proctored test, but you just failed at friendship. I know this because that used to be me.

Ask any of my friends and I'm sure they could recall at least one or two sermons I'…

Repentance is better understood not as turning away from everything but rather turning toward the things that are better.
I belong to the boring testimony club. There was no dramatic transformation, no heartbreaking falling away followed by a tear-jerking re-commitment ceremony, not even a little teenage rebellion (which, by many accounts, should have happened). But despite my best efforts to take pride in the person God made me, there are those who will never be satisfied with my story.
Consider the obligatory "there's no such thing as a boring testimony" blogs every year (here's one). They begin with a redefinition of terms, followed by a verbose explication of our newness in Christ (complete with abundant proof texts), and ending with the caveat that drugs and alcohol are on an as needed basis. It's subtle, but the desire to redress "boring" as "different" conceals a very real fear that boring testimonies are false testimonies.
It's as …

When Jesus and the apostles told us to submit to the government, they never said it had to adhere to Judeo-Christian values.
On September 10th, 2014, Congressman Frank Wolf said at the American Enterprise Institute's Evangelical Leadership Summit, "I think evangelicals and people of faith are really going to have to adopt what Martin Luther King did and maybe go to jail and do some things like that." 
He was speaking about religious freedom. And in a world where some are fighting to not bake cakes for gay weddings and others are literally fighting to prevent abortions, many Christians will agree with him. So, being a producer of a Chicago morning show, we decided to throw this question out to our listeners: Do you think Christians should be willing to go to jail for the sake of religious freedom?

Conservative evangelicals make up the majority of our audience, so the answers didn't surprise me. Almost everyone calling in said "Of course!!!" with three, aural…