Rescued Skeptic: exploring freedom, faith, and joy in God


In the Old Testament, we read of some very out-of-the-ordinary requests that God makes of people. The prophets Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Elijah, Elisha: if we could talk to them today, all could share stories that we would consider simply bizarre by our standards. Does God call people to do similarly “strange” things today? What does that look like? Why do we think they are strange?

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The ideas posited in John Eldredge’s Beautiful Outlaw represent a pair of glasses. Glasses that, when worn, will inevitably color your reading of Scripture–certainly, the gospels. The argument for these glasses is mostly made from context. That is, it’s more “reading between the lines” of Scripture than reading the lines themselves, but the suppositions are rarely out of line. It aims to change your perspective, and is persuasive not only because I found myself wanting the sections describing Jesus’s personality to be accurate. Plenty of good stuff to chew on here.

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Don’t be put off by the title. If you are, you’ll miss out on a surprisingly thoughtful narrative of how a small church in Denver–often with nontraditional methods–serves as the hands and feet of Christ. If you’re a Five Iron Frenzy fan, there’s also some illuminating material about how the church’s growth coincided with the ska band’s growth. This is a challenging and illuminating look at gritty, in-the-trenches ministry right here in the States.

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Today marks roughly four months from the date when I was devastated with crippling anxiety and panic attacks that left me couchridden for a solid week, the worst I had ever had in years of anxiety, sleeplessness and struggling. If you haven’t yet read my previous post, read that first in the link above. I had tried plenty of methods to cope with my anxiety: diet, sleeping pills, natural remedies, exercise, relaxation, video game...

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Note: see here for progress of turning my story into book form, with extended thoughts on many of the topics discussed here. — Three months ago, I was broadsided by crippling anxiety and panic attacks following years of sporadic sleeplessness, anxious nights, health tests, and ER visits. From the outside my life appeared quite comfortable, a proud result of no shortage of hard work. Had a wonderful marriage, and most aspects of...

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