Faith Unraveled

  faith unraveled: Faith Unraveled Rachel Held Evans, 2014-04-08 From New York Times bestselling author Rachel Held Evans: a must-read for anyone on the journey of doubt, deconstruction, and ultimately faith reborn. Eighty years after the Scopes Monkey Trial made a spectacle of Christian fundamentalism and brought national attention to her hometown, Rachel Held Evans faced a trial of her own when she began to have doubts about her faith. In Faith Unraveled, Rachel recounts growing up in a culture obsessed with apologetics, struggling as her own faith unraveled one unexpected question at a time. In order for her faith to survive, Rachel realizes, it must adapt to change and evolve. Using as an illustration her own spiritual journey from certainty to doubt to faith, Evans challenges you to disentangle your faith from false fundamentals and to trust in a God who is big enough to handle your tough questions. In a changing cultural environment where new ideas seem to threaten the safety and security of the faith, Faith Unraveled is a profoundly moving, fearlessly honest, and relentlessly hopeful story of survival. This book was previously titled Evolving in Monkey Town.
  faith unraveled: Evolving in Monkey Town Rachel Held Evans, 2010-06-22 Rachel Evans illustrates through her own experience how the church might survive and even thrive in the postmodern era by resolving to ask questions instead of imposing answers in the face of a suffering world.
  faith unraveled: Summary of Rachel Held Evans's Faith Unraveled Everest Media,, 2022-06-13T22:59:00Z Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 I always looked up to my father with a sense of reverent awe. I imagined that he and God had a lot in common, and that they subscribed to the same magazines and wore similar shoes. #2 I grew up as a Christian, and I was taught to love and accept others who were different from me, which led me to be a liberal. I was disappointed when I learned that 85 percent of Americans identify themselves as Christians, because it made the whole thing less dramatic and sexy. #3 I was an evangelical Christian from fourth grade onward. I knew so much about defending the existence of God that I used the same apologetic strategies to defend the existence of Santa Claus to my increasingly skeptical classmates. #4 I had severe eczema as a child, and I would always have doubts about God when my skin flared up. I would scratch until I bled, and then hide under long sleeves and pants to avoid gym class.
  faith unraveled: A Year of Biblical Womanhood Rachel Held Evans, 2012 New York Times Bestseller. With just the right mixture of humor and insight, compassion and incredulity, A Year of Biblical Womanhood is an exercise in scriptural exploration and spiritual contemplation. What does God truly expect of women, and is there really a prescription for biblical womanhood? Come along with Evans as she looks for answers in the rich heritage of biblical heroines, models of grace, and all-around women of valor. What is biblical womanhood . . . really? Strong-willed and independent, Rachel Held Evans couldn't sew a button on a blouse before she embarked on a radical life experiment--a year of biblical womanhood. Intrigued by the traditionalist resurgence that led many of her friends to abandon their careers to assume traditional gender roles in the home, Evans decides to try it for herself, vowing to take all of the Bible's instructions for women as literally as possible for a year. Pursuing a different virtue each month, Evans learns the hard way that her quest for biblical womanhood requires more than a gentle and quiet spirit (1 Peter 3:4). It means growing out her hair, making her own clothes, covering her head, obeying her husband, rising before dawn, abstaining from gossip, remaining silent in church, and even camping out in the front yard during her period. See what happens when a thoroughly modern woman starts referring to her husband as master and praises him at the city gate with a homemade sign. Learn the insights she receives from an ongoing correspondence with an Orthodox Jewish woman, and find out what she discovers from her exchanges with a polygamist wife. Join her as she wrestles with difficult passages of scripture that portray misogyny and violence against women.
  faith unraveled: Faith Shift Kathy Escobar, 2014-10-21 Hope for spiritual refugees, church burnouts, and freedom seekers. After years of participating in a comfortable faith tradition, many find themselves in a spiritual wilderness, feeling disillusioned with church, longing for more freedom and less religion in their lives. If that describes you, you’re in good company. Countless men and women are in the middle of a shifting faith—and aren’t sure where to turn. But losing beliefs doesn’t mean you have to lose your faith. Pastor, friend, and spiritual director Kathy Escobar has journeyed with many who have experienced significant shifts in the faith they once considered unchangeable. Through their stories and her own, Kathy has discovered that growth and change are natural parts of life in our relationship with God. Filled with honest stories and practical insights, Faith Shift gives language to what many experience as their faith evolves. With an inviting blend of vulnerability and hope, it addresses the losses that come with spiritual shifts and offers tangible practices for rebuilding a free and authentic faith after it unravels. Includes personal reflection and group discussion questions at the end of each chapter.
  faith unraveled: Unraveling Elisabeth Klein Corcoran, 2013-10-01 To be a separated or divorced Christian is to be an anomaly, a scandal. No one knows what box to put you in or what to do with you, and this no man’s land—pun intended—can be a very isolating and core-shaking place to dwell. Elisabeth Klein Corcoran knows from experience. After extensive counseling, mentoring, 12-step groups, many tears, and even more prayers, Elisabeth found her 16-year marriage ending in separation and divorce. A believer completely in love with Jesus, Elisabeth was alone, drowning in a sea of emotions, and questioning how to navigate her way through the end of her marriage. Elisabeth walks readers through the varied emotions of being newly single in this collection of vulnerable and hopeful essays, expounding on some of the most common struggles of divorce: anger, faith, guilt, loneliness, and more. What started as an article for Crosswalk.com, has turned into a calling to soothe broken hearts with stories, prayer, action steps, and Scripture readings, helping readers hold on to profound faith and reassurance in the one Love that will never die. Whether separated, newly divorced, and just considering divorce, women will find hope and comfort in these short, but dynamic readings.
  faith unraveled: Inspired Rachel Held Evans, 2018-06-12 If the Bible isn't a science book or an instruction manual, what is it? What do people mean when they say the Bible is inspired? When New York Times bestselling author Rachel Held Evans found herself asking these questions, she embarked on a journey to better understand what the Bible is and how it's meant to be read. What she discovered changed her--and it can change you, too. Evans knows firsthand how a relationship with the Bible can be as real and as complicated as a relationship with a family member or close friend. In Inspired, Evans explores contradictions and questions from her own experiences with the Bible, including: If the Bible was supposed to explain the mysteries of life, why does it leave the reader with so many questions? What does it mean to be chosen by God? To what degree did the Holy Spirit guide the preservation of these narratives, and is there something sacred to be uncovered beneath all these human fingerprints? If the Bible has given voice to the oppressed, why is it also used as justification by their oppressors? Drawing on the best in biblical scholarship and using her well-honed literary expertise, Evans examines some of our favorite Bible stories and possible interpretations, retelling them through memoir, original poetry, short stories, and even a short screenplay. Undaunted by the Bible's most difficult passages and unafraid to ask the hard questions, Evans wrestles through the process of doubting, imagining, and debating the mysteries surrounding Scripture. Discover alongside Evans that the Bible is not a static text, but a living, breathing, captivating, and confounding book that can equip us and inspire us to join God's loving and redemptive work in the world.
  faith unraveled: Wholehearted Faith Rachel Held Evans, Jeff Chu, 2021-11-02 New York Times Bestseller “A touching series of essays in which Evans, with Chu’s invisible pen, explores how one might find a path forward in Christianity beyond conservative evangelicalism” -Eliza Griswold, The New Yorker “Evans died at 37, but a beautiful new book captures her brave outlook. . . . I could not help but notice the poetry in Evans’s prose. . . . What readers will find in these pages was someone deeply human: funny, irreverent, curious, wise, forgiving, nonjudgmental.” -Maggie Smith, The Washington Post A collection of original writings by Rachel Held Evans, whose reflections on faith and life continue to encourage, challenge, and influence. Rachel Held Evans is widely recognized for her theologically astute, profoundly honest, and beautifully personal books, which have guided, instructed, edified, and shaped Christians as they seek to live out a just and loving faith. At the time of her tragic death in 2019, Rachel was working on a new book about wholeheartedness. With the help of her close friend and author Jeff Chu, that work-in-progress has been woven together with some of her other unpublished writings into a rich collection of essays that ask candid questions about the stories we’ve been told—and the stories we tell—about our faith, our selves, and our world. This book is for the doubter and the dreamer, the seeker and the sojourner, those who long for a sense of spiritual wholeness as well as those who have been hurt by the Church but can’t seem to let go of the story of Jesus. Through theological reflection and personal recollection, Rachel wrestles with God’s grace and love, looks unsparingly at what the Church is and does, and explores universal human questions about becoming and belonging. An unforgettable, moving, and intimate book.
  faith unraveled: Critical Faith Joni Schwartz-Chaney, 2024-04-23 Near hysteria has erupted in the media, state and federal legislatures, community boards, and churches around critical race theory (CRT). Despite the term's history, development, and clearly defined meaning, it has become a catch-all for white America's fears, deflections, and equivocations on race, society, and the law. Christians are no exception. Their critiques routinely claim that CRT is rewriting of American history, that it is anti-democratic, and even heretical. Critical Faith presents a counter argument to these claims and insists that CRT is a tool to grapple with the thorny issue of race in both society and the church. In a reasoned tone, Critical Faith defines the origins of CRT, explains what the theory is, and demonstrates its merits from teaching experiences of the author. Schwartz-Chaney argues that CRT is the victim of what Patricia Williams calls definitional theft, and that by recovering its original meaning, Christians can move past mischaracterizations and caricatures toward a more nuanced view of race, racism, and the tools available to make progress in the church and in society.
  faith unraveled: What Is God Like? Rachel Held Evans, Matthew Paul Turner, 2021-06-15 #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The late, beloved Rachel Held Evans answers many children's first question about God in this gorgeous picture book, fully realized by her friend Matthew Paul Turner, the bestselling author of When God Made You. Children who are introduced to God, through attending church or having loved ones who speak about God, often have a lot of questions, including this ever-popular one: What is God like? The late Rachel Held Evans loved the Bible and loved showing God’s love through the words and pictures found in that ancient text. Through these pictures from the Bible, children see that God is like a shepherd, God is like a star, God is like a gardener, God is like the wind, and more. God is a comforter and support. And whenever a child is unsure, What Is God Like? encourages young hearts to “think about what makes you feel safe, what makes you feel loved, and what makes you feel brave. That's what God is like.”
  faith unraveled: Exvangelical and Beyond Blake Chastain, 2024-09-24 A pioneer of the “exvangelical” movement examines how toxic right-wing beliefs took over American Christianity—and why people are leaving the church and speaking out against it With the rise of Trumpism, the American evangelical movement has more political influence than ever—yet at the same time, people are leaving Christianity in record numbers. Why are so many people walking away from the right-wing religion they were raised in, and what are they doing to overcome the past? Writer and podcaster Blake Chastain is uniquely positioned to understand this phenomenon. Raised evangelical, he went to a Christian college intending to become a pastor—until he found himself unable to reconcile his faith with the prejudice and even abuse he saw being done in God’s name. He created the popular hashtag #exvangelical and the hit podcast of the same name, and soon became part of a growing movement of people walking away from toxic religion and using the unique tools of the internet to speak out, find healing, and build new communities. In Exvangelical and Beyond, Chastain delves into evangelicalism’s deep roots in American politics and society, and explains why and how so many Christians—and ex-Christians—are forging a new path online. Blending history, personal narrative, and incisive analysis, this is a must-read for anyone who has left the church, is deconstructing their own faith, or simply wants to understand religious culture in America.
  faith unraveled: Fresh Takes on the Big Questions James Ferguson, 2024-09-12 This book takes a fresh look at a wide range of life’s big questions and provides a resource as readers search for answers individually or together in group discussion. The goal is to explore how Christian faith relates to aspects of modern science, the problems of suffering and evil, and issues such as gender and sexuality, war and peacemaking, immigration, artificial intelligence, and life after death. It also considers historical evidence for the resurrection of Jesus and the biblical promises of a time when God will restore and renew the world and all that lives within it.
  faith unraveled: It's All About the Journey Mark Schmidt, 2025-04-24 This is my journey from forced attendance at church to avoiding and ignoring all things religious and church-related. It is my long journey back to realizing I was searching for faith, not a church or religious group, but to find my faith. There are doubts about everything along the way. You will encounter daily small miracles, and large and small blessings. My encounter with a Lakota Sioux Shaman for a vision quest for my totem animal/guide. To my discernment for ordination. Along the way, I gain guidance from many different members of the Clergy, from my teenage years up to the present time. Each and every one of them had an impact. My journey was impacted or influenced along the way by family and a few friends. I hope you find my journey interesting and inspiring enough to think of your journey that you are on. I hope this book helps you allow yourself to embrace your own doubts and concerns without losing your faith.
  faith unraveled: Reformed Resurgence Brad Vermurlen, 2020-11-02 One of the most significant developments within contemporary American Christianity, especially among younger evangelicals, is a groundswell of interest in the Reformed tradition. In Reformed Resurgence, Brad Vermurlen provides a comprehensive sociological account of this phenomenon--known as New Calvinism--and what it entails for the broader evangelical landscape in the United States. Vermurlen develops a new theory for understanding how conservative religion can be strong and thrive in the hypermodern Western world. His paradigm uses and expands on strategic action field theory, a recent framework proposed for the study of movements and organizations that has rarely been applied to religion. This approach to religion moves beyond market dynamics and cultural happenstance and instead shows how religious strength can be fought for and won as the direct result of religious leaders' strategic actions and conflicts. But the battle comes at a cost. For the same reasons conservative Calvinistic belief is experiencing a resurgence, present-day American evangelicalism has turned in on itself. Vermurlen argues that in the end, evangelicalism in the United States consists of pockets of subcultural and local strength within the cultural entropy of secularization, as religious meanings and coherence fall apart.
  faith unraveled: Faith Is Not Blind Joseph R. Odell, 2018-04-16 How do we love the Lord our God with all our mind? Too rarely do we consider how we should honor God in this way. Faith Is Not Blind gives a road map so you can answer four key questions: What do I believe? Why do I believe it? Where did those beliefs come from before I heard them? Is that good enough? By the time you reach the end of the book, you should be motivated to grow your faith in understanding and know where to begin that journey and, soon after, be prepared to help others do the same.
  faith unraveled: A New Kind of Apologist Sean McDowell, 2016-03-01 A New Kind of Apologist, edited by Sean McDowell and with contributions from more than 20 leading apologists, is the go-to resource for effectively defending the Christian faith in our changing culture. In it you'll discover: important topics often ignored by apologists, such as transgender issues, religious freedom, and the intersection of economics and apologetics a new kind of apologetics that is relational, gracious, and holistic interviews with both seasoned apologists and skeptics, providing insights into how to do apologetics effectively in today's culture A New Kind of Apologist addresses the latest issues, including Connecting Apologetics to the Heart Teaching Apologetics to the Next Generation Apologetics in our Sexually Broken Culture Apologetics and Islam Apologetics and Religious Freedom and adopts fresh strategies for reaching those who are outside the church with the truth of the gospel.
  faith unraveled: Tasting Home Judith Newton, 2013-03-01 Tasting Home is the history of a woman’s emotional education, the romantic tale of a marriage between a straight woman and a gay man, and an exploration of the ways that cooking can lay the groundwork for personal healing, intimate relation, and political community. Organized by decade and by the cookbooks that shaped author Judith Newton’s life, Tasting Home takes readers on an extraordinary journey through the cuisines, cultural spirit, and politics of the 1940s through 2011, complete with recipes.
  faith unraveled: Spirituality That Makes a Difference Charles R. Kniker, 2022-04-07 Want to make your life more meaning-FULL? Most of us do. This book is a guide offering ways to do just that. Charles Kniker brings fifty-plus years of listening as a teacher, preacher, observer, and writer to a conversation with you. With questions and real-life stories and solutions, he'll support you; it won't be a one-way model. The many forms of spirituality will help explore life's big questions and ultimate mysteries. With tomorrow's climate changes, pandemics, political extremism, and battered moral boundaries, we need a transformational spirituality, a spirituality deeper than a few dusty rituals, more reliable than snappy slogans from a smart phone. This book is for young adults searching for answers to major questions; mid-life seekers, thankful for family, friends, and faith, but needing more; and seniors whose traditional communities seem irrelevant. Chapters in Part One are on home, self, voices of influence, and healthy spiritual communities. Chapters in Part Two offer a YESS to life, through various ways of joyous Yearning, truth-seeking Education, Soul care (for yourself and others), and Service to a world of neighbors. Kniker passionately believes human DNA wires us to be spiritual--transforming dreams to become deeds.
  faith unraveled: When I Spoke in Tongues Jessica Wilbanks, 2018-11-13 A memoir of the profound destabilization that comes from losing one's faith--and a young woman's journey to reconcile her lack of belief with her love for her deeply religious family. Growing up in poverty in the rural backwoods of southern Maryland, the Pentecostal church was at the core of Jessica Wilbanks' family life. At sixteen, driven by a desire to discover the world, Jessica walked away from the church--trading her faith for freedom, and driving a wedge between her and her deeply religious family. But fundamentalist faiths haunt their adherents long after belief fades--former believers frequently live in limbo, straddling two world views and trying to reconcile their past and present. Ten years later, struggling with guilt and shame, Jessica began a quest to recover her faith. It led her to West Africa, where she explored the Yorùbá roots of the Pentecostal faith, and was once again swept up by the promises and power of the church. After a terrifying car crash, she finally began the difficult work of forgiving herself for leaving the church and her family and finding her own path. When I Spoke in Tongues is a story of the painful and complicated process of losing one's faith and moving across class divides. And in the end, it's a story of how a family splintered by dogmatic faith can eventually be knit together again through love.
  faith unraveled: Unraveling The Lie-Knot Sheryl Giesbrecht Turner, 2021-05 Learn how to unravel the lie-knot! All of us are products of our upbringing and experiences, and, whether we realize it or not, have come to believe things that aren't actually true. Those false beliefs hold us back. They are like recordings that constantly play in our minds, condemning us, accusing us, shaming us, and blaming us. Is it possible to silence these thoughts in our heads that have tied us in knots for so long? Can we ever find peace? Yes! The Bible promises we can be transformed by renewing our minds. In Unraveling the Lie-Knot, Sheryl Giesbrecht Turner offers encouragement and hope for those who are ready to search out the truth in the Bible. She equips you with practical ways to uncover and dispel lies, even those you may have believed since childhood. She shows how, with the Holy Spirit's help, you really can untangle knots of deception, discover the lies behind fears, dispel depression, and defeat the effects of trauma. Discover how to identify and unravel the lie-knots so that you can move forward and become a fruitful disciple of Jesus!
  faith unraveled: Hope When Life Unravels Adam B. Dooley, 2020 Drawing on rich biblical insights, theological depth, and his own journey with suffering, Pastor Adam Dooley explores real-life answers to the questions you are asking in your pain in Hope When Life Unravels.
  faith unraveled: Defining Community in Early Modern Europe Michael J. Halvorson, 2016-12-05 Numerous historical studies use the term community' to express or comment on social relationships within geographic, religious, political, social, or literary settings, yet this volume is the first systematic attempt to collect together important examples of this varied work in order to draw comparisons and conclusions about the definition of community across early modern Europe. Offering a variety of historical and theoretical approaches, the sixteen original essays in this collection survey major regions of Western Europe, including France, Geneva, the German Lands, Italy and the Spanish Empire, the Netherlands, England, and Scotland. Complementing the regional diversity is a broad spectrum of religious confessions: Roman Catholic communities in France, Italy, and Germany; Reformed churches in France, Geneva, and Scotland; Lutheran communities in Germany; Mennonites in Germany and the Netherlands; English Anglicans; Jews in Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands; and Muslim converts returning to Christian England. This volume illuminates the variety of ways in which communities were defined and operated across early modern Europe: as imposed by community leaders or negotiated across society; as defined by belief, behavior, and memory; as marked by rigid boundaries and conflict or by flexibility and change; as shaped by art, ritual, charity, or devotional practices; and as characterized by the contending or overlapping boundaries of family, religion, and politics. Taken together, these chapters demonstrate the complex and changeable nature of community in an era more often characterized as a time of stark certainties and inflexibility. As a result, the volume contributes a vital resource to the ongoing efforts of scholars to understand the creation and perpetuation of communities and the significance of community definition for early modern Europeans.
  faith unraveled: Unraveled: Unravel, Uncover, and Reveal Your Beauty Rachel Williams, 2018-03-08 Are you rushed, super busy and so overcommitted? Do you ever find yourself downplaying your beauty, or not see your beauty at all? Are you tired of measuring yourself against an impossible beauty standard? Well, it's time to unravel.It is time to unravel the negative self talk, the should haves and have to's, and the beauty fears of the past, present and future. It is time to simplify.The Clean and Press, Lorde Beauty Makeup Techniques, The No Mirror Challenge, The Face Workout and more, are beauty practices and techniques I have created. You will feel and look your best, and understand your unique beauty in a powerful, wholehearted and loving way through real life stories and reflections from myself and from other women and girls like you. It's time to unravel. Let's press play.
  faith unraveled: The Augustine Way Joshua D. Chatraw, Mark D. Allen, 2023-05-30 What can we learn from Augustine about apologetics? This book shows how Augustine defended the faith in late antiquity and how his approach to engaging the culture has great significance for the apologetic task today. Joshua Chatraw and Mark Allen, coauthors of the award-winning Apologetics at the Cross (an Outreach magazine and Gospel Coalition Resource of the Year), recover Augustine's mature apologetic voice to address the challenges facing today's church. The Augustine Way offers a compelling argument for Christian witness that is rooted in tradition and engaged with contemporary culture. It focuses on Augustine's best-known works, Confessions and The City of God, to retrieve his scriptural and ecclesial approach for a holistic apologetic witness. This book will be useful for students as well as for pastors, church leaders, and practitioners of Christian apologetics. It puts pastors and churches back at the center of apologetics, transcending popular contemporary methods with a view to a more effective witness in post-Christendom.
  faith unraveled: The Highlander's Lass Aileen Adams, Highland love is never fickle... Mairi Douglas’s daily life consists of digging up potatoes and turnips, of cleaning chamber pots, and making beds. And dreaming of a life with the young man she’s smitten with. Until the death of those dreams come about swiftly and painfully when said young man proves himself a faithless wretch. She sends a message out begging for her removal from the keep of Calan Stewart so that her heart can heal somewhere far away from the daily vision of the wretch’s infidelity. Elliott MacPherson, the laird’s cousin has been sent to Clan Stewart’s keep to deliver a message, but most assuredly not the message that Mairi Douglas is expecting. Unfortunately, he bears witness to Mairi’s humiliation which puts him on the wrong side of the sharp tongue of the short-fused red-haired beauty. To complicate matters, he’s to escort her away in the midst of intrigue and treachery while women are vanishing from the highlands without leaving so much as the tiniest of clues.
  faith unraveled: Speak Nish Weiseth, 2014-08-05 Speak, by popular blogger Nish Weiseth, is a book about the power of telling our own stories and hearing those of others to change hearts, build bridges, advocate for good, make disciples with grace, and proclaim God’s kingdom on Earth today. Nish Weiseth exhorts today’s Christians to follow Jesus’ example by using story as a vehicle for change. After all, Jesus was a master storyteller. He frequently and effectively used the art of storytelling to communicate deep truths about God, humanity, love, and eternity to a culture on the brink. His stories defied social norms, revealed God’s Kingdom, and fiercely advocated for the least of these. With examples from Scripture as the foundation, Speak is a call for grace, openness, and vulnerability within the evangelical church. Nish Weiseth encourages those in the Body of Christ to know their own story of transformation and redemption—and to use those stories as a catalyst for change at both a personal and global level.
  faith unraveled: The Dark Impact of Religious Manipulation Richard Ravenbrook, 2024-11-23 Have you ever considered the profound connection between personal freedom and spirituality, and how it shapes us as individuals? Our episode today paints a vivid picture of this bond, inspired by a young woman who left an indelible imprint on my life. Her story underscores the power of free will and the right to choose our spiritual journey without any manipulation or control. As we traverse the landscape of different religions, we reflect on the universal truths within them, emphasizing the need for spiritual growth. We also dive into the dark side of religious manipulation - praying against someone's will. This practice, often rooted in good intention, can have harmful consequences, infringing upon personal freedom and causing unnecessary suffering. The focus shifts towards fostering courage and allowing individuals the freedom to be authentic. This episode is a call to respect individuality, encourage personal freedom and promote spiritual growth. Join us as we explore these dynamic aspects of spiritual life, and learn to value the delicate balance between individuality and religion.
  faith unraveled: God Made All of Me Justin S. Holcomb, Lindsey A. Holcomb, 2015-08-21 This simply told, beautifully illustrated story from the authors of Rid of My Disgrace and Is It My Fault? helps two- to eight-year-olds understand why their bodies matter and distinguish between appropriate and inappropriate touch. God Made All of Me gently opens a conversation that every family needs to have.
  faith unraveled: All Things Reconsidered Knox McCoy, 2020-06-02 Are you able to give your first impressions a second look? In this lighthearted and humorous take on life, Knox McCoy explores questioning and examining long-held ideas that no longer represent how we think. What would it mean to really examine what you think you know about yourself and your beliefs? To not just rely on the cliches you’ve always recited to yourself but to look deeply into why you think what you think? In All Things Reconsidered, popular podcaster Knox McCoy uses a unique blend of humor, pop culture references, and personal stories to show how a willingness to reconsider ideas can actually help us grow ourselves, our lives, and our beliefs. In this laugh-out-loud defense of changing your mind, Knox dives into a variety of topics including: Are participation trophies truly the worst? Is it really worth it to be a ride-or-die sports fan? Do we believe in God because of the promise of heaven—or the threat of hell? Does prayer work? Is anyone even there? In a world where we’re divided by political, social, and religious differences, All Things Reconsidered is a hilarious and insightful book of essays that reminds us of the value of reflection and open-mindedness.
  faith unraveled: In the Margins Shannon T. L. Kearns, 2022-08-09 Moving the conversation beyond transgender inclusion to demonstrate the unique and vital theological insights transgender Christians can provide the church. Father Shannon Kearns is familiar with liminal spaces. He’s lived in them his whole life. And while his experience as a transgender man has often made it difficult for him to fit in—especially in the context of Christianity—it has also shaped his perspective in important ways on complicated, gender-transgressing aspects of theology and Scripture. In the Margins weaves stories from Shannon’s life into reflections on well-known biblical narratives—such as Jacob wrestling with the divine, Rahab and the Israelite spies, Ezekiel and the dry bones, and the transfiguration of Jesus. In each chapter, Shannon shows how stories have helped him make sense of his own identity, and how those same stories can unlock the transformative power of faith for those willing to listen with an open mind and stand alongside him in the in-between.
  faith unraveled: Ripcord Nate Lippens, 2024-10-22 A novel about escape and connection, class, sex, and queer intimacy in the American Midwest. The oldest story: an insider pretends to be an outsider and receives praise for his empathy and imagination and intelligence. Maybe some asshole even says bravery. An outsider pretends to be an insider, is exposed as a fraud, a liar, and burned to the ground. In Ripcord, Nate Lippens continues his meditations on escape and connection, class, sex, and intimacy. Stuck in Milwaukee, the narrator cobbles together a living by bartending and catering weddings, enmeshed in a semiaffair with a younger, married man. Cruising apps while tallying his youthful romantic failures, he fantasizes about disappearance but finds both solace and frustration in his friendships with Charlie, an aging punk who was prominent in the 1990s Chicago queercore scene, and Greer, a painter who never broke through but continues making work.
  faith unraveled: Flee, Be Silent, Pray Ed Cyzewski, 2019-02-12 What if prayer could be simple rather than strenuous? Anxious, results-driven Christians can never pray enough, serve enough, or study enough. But what if God is calling us not to frenzied activity but to a simple spiritual encounter? What if we must merely receive what God has already given us? In Flee, Be Silent, Pray, writer and contemplative retreat leader Ed Cyzewski guides readers out of the anxiety factory of contemporary Christianity and toward a God whose love astounds those quiet long enough to receive it. With helpful guidance into solitude, contemplative prayer, and practices such as lectio divina and the Examen, Cyzewski guides readers toward the Christ whose yoke is easy and whose burden is light. Ready to shed the fear of the false self and the exhaustion of a duty-driven faith? Flee. Be silent. Pray.
  faith unraveled: William James’s Pluralism Wayne Viney, 2022-05-05 William James’s Pluralism: An Antidote for Contemporary Extremism and Absolutism explores extremism and the related problem of absolutism in the context of the psychology and philosophy of William James. Extremist and absolutist views were topical in James’s day, especially around the time of the Civil War, but they are no less common in these early years of the 21st century. James argued that the love of singularities such as belief in one God, one method, one political system, or one value system contributes to extremist, even violent mentalities. In this book, James’s views on singular versus pluralistic perspectives are explored and then applied to contemporary practical issues such as abortion, birth control, and death with dignity legislation. These perspectives are furthermore applied to more theoretical issues, such as causality, values, and methods or ways of investigating the world. Within William James’s Pluralism, these theories are investigated in a comprehensive philosophical and psychological examination of the human experience. Written in a nontechnical manner to appeal to the general public—just as William James hoped for his pluralistic philosophy—this book is additionally of considerable interest to academics and students across many fields such as psychology, philosophy, history, and sociology.
  faith unraveled: The Colors of Hope Richard Dahlstrom, 2011-05-01 The Christian life, says Richard Dahlstrom, should be guided by the intentional goal of blessing the lives of the friends, loved ones, and strangers in our midst. We are called to impact a culture that, for all the rhetoric about hope, is overwhelmingly preoccupied with personal peace, prosperity, protection, and survival. Christians should be artists who paint with the colors of hope in a broken world, embodying Christ's redemptive presence in our personal lives, our work, and our relationships. This inspiring and practical book offers tools for living out this vision in daily life, with special attention given to the challenges we face in staying focused on the mission of imparting hope to others even while dealing with our own personal issues. Anyone who wishes they could have an impact on the world will cherish this unique book.
  faith unraveled: Journey to Freedom Dick Luchtenberg, 2009-05 Read Journey to Freedom with expectant faith. Jesus is the answer to all life's questions and problems. Twenty-first century testimonies are shared by captives Jesus has set free. If you are in bondage to sin, seeking the truth, or struggling to walk with Jesus as Lord, read on. Jesus will work with you as you read and surrender to his plan for your life. If you are called to help others through the ministry of deliverance, Journey to Freedom is a must read for you. Pastors can learn insights on caring for ones in their flocks who are held in bondage to the enemy. In Journey to Freedom Dick Luchtenberg shares how the Lord has worked through him for over 30 years to set captives free. Dick Luchtenberg is a retired designer and builder of custom homes. Dick and his wife, Patty, are simply a Christian couple sold out to God. Their spiritual journey has covered over half a century. They have eight children, all of whom are happily married. Twenty grandchildren continue to be a blessing. In their retirement years, by the grace of God, the Lord is using Dick and Patty now more than ever. Captives are regularly being set free through the deliverance ministry of Jesus Christ.
  faith unraveled: Footsteps Vol. 2 ,
  faith unraveled: Wild Ride Sherill L. Hostetter, 2022-05-25 Life upended by trauma. Overwhelming uncertainty. Faith unraveling. What do you do when your God image and self-image crumble? How do you risk again? Nothing shapes our beliefs, actions, and behaviors more than our image of God and the image we have of ourselves. In Wild Ride, Sherill Hostetter leads readers through her journey of transformation. When accepting a call to serve in West Africa involves intense suffering, Sherill questions what she signed up for. As her sense of control and certainty in life crumbles, she is left with doubts, fears, questions, and laments. Readers accompany Sherill through her broken childhood in living with a mentally ill mother, her struggle to be good enough, her trauma in overseas missions, her wrestling to make sense of it all in light of her faith, and her courage to risk again. In these pages, you’ll be invited to consider the landscape of your own life and engage with your own inner questions of who you are and who your God is in the suffering and uncertainties of life.
  faith unraveled: Postcards from My Mind Christopher Setterlund, 2009-12-17
  faith unraveled: Religious Trauma and Misunderstandings: Richard Ravenbrook, 2024-11-26 What if you've been unintentionally causing harm, even with the best of intentions? As we navigate through this conversation, we dissect the unfortunate reality of the corporate church's detachment from Christ's values and how this has given rise to religious zealots speaking for an omnipotent God. We also celebrate our diverse traditions, races, and cultures as a God-given design. In the second part of our discussion, we face the uncomfortable clash between tradition and acceptance. People often forsake their heritage in favor of something new and unfamiliar, leading to spiritual confusion. We consider a local bar in Lebanon, Indiana, wanting to host a drag show as a real-life illustration of this clash. We emphasize the importance of living true to oneself while advocating for freedom and peace. Wrapping things up, we explore the potential religious trauma that can stem from misunderstandings about our cultural and spiritual heritage. So, tune in and join us for a candid and enlightening conversation.
  faith unraveled: Time is the Fire Alfred Alcorn, 2018-02-21 Time Is The Fire recounts a day in the existence of Leopold Bloom O Boyle, chronophobe, travel writer, would-be novelist, and husband of the Reverend Annabel Chance. The day is September 8, 1992, and the place is Harvard Square and environs. Like his namesake, Leo dips into and out of a stream of consciousness as he considers and reconsiders the most important decision of his life.
BY Gregory A. Smith
Dec 14, 2021 · 3 PEW RESEARCH CENTER www.pewresearch.org Acknowledgments This report is a …

Religious affiliation of members of 117th Congress
Jan 1, 2021 · 1 PEW RESEARCH CENTER Religious affiliation of members of 117th Congress State District Name Party …

More Americans Than People in Other Advanced Economi…
Jan 1, 2021 · report deeper faith due to the coronavirus outbreak. The pandemic has led to the . cancellation of …

Religious affiliation of members of 116th Congress
1 PEW RESEARCH CENTER State District First/middle Last Party Incumbent/ Freshman Denominational family AK …

U.S.Religious Landscape Survey - Pew Research Cen…
agree that there is more than one true way to interpret the teachings of their faith, a pattern that occurs in nearly …

BY Gregory A. Smith
Dec 14, 2021 · 3 PEW RESEARCH CENTER www.pewresearch.org Acknowledgments This report is a collaborative effort based on the input and analysis of the following individuals.

Religious affiliation of members of 117th Congress
Jan 1, 2021 · 1 PEW RESEARCH CENTER Religious affiliation of members of 117th Congress State District Name Party Continuing/freshman Denominational family

More Americans Than People in Other Advanced Economies Say
Jan 1, 2021 · report deeper faith due to the coronavirus outbreak. The pandemic has led to the . cancellation of religious activities and in-person services around the world, but few people say …

Religious affiliation of members of 116th Congress
1 PEW RESEARCH CENTER State District First/middle Last Party Incumbent/ Freshman Denominational family AK At-Large Don Young R I Anglican/Episcopal

U.S.Religious Landscape Survey - Pew Research Center's …
agree that there is more than one true way to interpret the teachings of their faith, a pattern that occurs in nearly all traditions. The exceptions are Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses, 54% …

MARCH 2012 Faith on the Move - Pew Research Center's …
Jun 28, 2011 · Faith on the Move, a new study by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life, focuses on the religious affiliation of international migrants, examining patterns …

NUMBERS, FACTS AND TRENDS SHAPING THE WORLD FOR …
some branch of the Christian faith.1 But the major new survey of more than 35,000 Americans by the Pew Research Center finds that the percentage of adults (ages 18 and older) who …

Pew Research Center - Science and religion interviewer guide …
Aug 26, 2020 · Transitioning to a different topic, I have a few questions about faith issues and the role of religion in our country today… Do you think religion plays an important role in life in …

PEW RESEARCH CENTER 2019-2020 SURVEY OF RELIGION …
Feb 16, 2021 · 4 PEW RESEARCH CENTER www.pewresearch.org ASK IF CHRISTIAN (RELIGMOD_W60=1-4 OR CHR_W60=1): BORNMOD_W60 Would you describe yourself as …

BY Aleksandra Sandstrom - Pew Research Center's Religion
Pew Research Center, Jan. 3, 2019, “Faith on the Hill: The religious composition of the 116th Congress