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Talk with Rick Mattson: Is Christianity Trustworthy? Part 4b: Christians Behaving Badly
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Talk with Rick Mattson. Weekly postings on Mondays. Saturday, April 25, 2015. Part 4b: Christians Behaving Badly. Last week I mentioned my 4-step response to the critic's charge of "Christians behaving badly":. Don't blame the hammer. See last week's post for thoughts on 1 and 2 above. 3, Reject impostors,. Means that when people who are not true Christians cause harm in the name of Christianity, I take no responsibility. Would you blame the real police for this crime? 4, Remember the good,. Check out th...
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Talk with Rick Mattson: Is Christianity Trustworthy? Part 5a: Church History
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Talk with Rick Mattson. Weekly postings on Mondays. Sunday, May 03, 2015. Part 5a: Church History. As I read about major events in the life of the early church, I'm struck by how human. Yes, perhaps there is an invisible divine hand at work behind the scenes. But on the surface, God seems to have allowed flawed human beings the privilege of figuring out a lot of major stuff. Quite often it's not a pretty picture:. Or whether clergy who "lapsed" under persecution could subsequently perform valid rites and.
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Talk with Rick Mattson: February 2015
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Talk with Rick Mattson. Weekly postings on Mondays. Sunday, February 15, 2015. Starting Points: Part 1. The many Christian students I interact with in my travels can be divided, roughly speaking, into two camps:. 1 Those whose starting point is God and his revelation in nature, Scripture, and Christ. 2 Those whose starting point is their own experience of religion and faith. 1 is more "objective," #2 more "subjective.". The 1's tend to ask, How do I fit into God's story? In the course of our conversation.
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Talk with Rick Mattson: September 2014
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Talk with Rick Mattson. Weekly postings on Mondays. Monday, September 29, 2014. Marriage Part 2: Unforgiven. One thinks of oneself undeservedly forgiven by God. This fact changes things drastically in marriage, or at least it should. It should make me, a married man, less self-righteous, quicker to forgive. It should keep Sharon and me current on issues of dispute, resolving them and moving on. Not storing them up as leverage to be applied against each other later. Monday, September 22, 2014. In my own m...
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Talk with Rick Mattson: June 2015
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Talk with Rick Mattson. Weekly postings on Mondays. Monday, June 01, 2015. Organizational Health, Part 1B. Last week I wrote of a veteran employee who tends to go against the grain in his ministry organization. He has set up his own little fiefdom where he enjoys successful ministry along with several devotees. Additionally, it's not hard to imagine this person as somewhat intimidating to other employees and even management. Accept the benefits of his success? Allow him to color outside the lines? I̵...
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Talk with Rick Mattson: March 2015
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Talk with Rick Mattson. Weekly postings on Mondays. Sunday, March 22, 2015. Part 1: God in a Box. The question of whether Christianity is trustworthy was the topic of a series of Bethel University Chapel services in the fall of 2014, St. Paul, MN (where I live). I was privileged to be one of the presenters.*. In the weeks leading up to the service, I thought this to myself:. Non-mandatory chapel, busy students . . . Mmm, out of 3300 undergrads maybe a hundred or so will show up. More on that next time.
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Talk with Rick Mattson: October 2014
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Talk with Rick Mattson. Weekly postings on Mondays. Sunday, October 26, 2014. Marriage Part 5: Choosing to Love. Gary Chapman's five "Love Languages". My wife Sharon's love language is #5, Acts of Service. But it's not my native language to "speak," so to speak. I think the Lord has gotten a decades-long chuckle out of this. In what's known as covenant marriage. In the church, my calling is to learn this foreign tongue - Acts of Service. I'm terrible at it. Another chuckle from above. His excuse is that ...
rickmattson.blogspot.com
Talk with Rick Mattson: April 2015
http://rickmattson.blogspot.com/2015_04_01_archive.html
Talk with Rick Mattson. Weekly postings on Mondays. Saturday, April 25, 2015. Part 4b: Christians Behaving Badly. Last week I mentioned my 4-step response to the critic's charge of "Christians behaving badly":. Don't blame the hammer. See last week's post for thoughts on 1 and 2 above. 3, Reject impostors,. Means that when people who are not true Christians cause harm in the name of Christianity, I take no responsibility. Would you blame the real police for this crime? 4, Remember the good,. Check out th...
rickmattson.blogspot.com
Talk with Rick Mattson: January 2015
http://rickmattson.blogspot.com/2015_01_01_archive.html
Talk with Rick Mattson. Weekly postings on Mondays. Friday, January 30, 2015. LIfe of the Mind, Part 3: Intellectual Virtue. You've heard of moral virtues, such as honesty, selflessness, courage, generosity. Intellectual" virtues are similar: When a person exercises virtues of the mind, such as humility and honesty, she's more likely to find truth. Take, for example, the person who's trying to settle a dispute. Between two parties regarding the agreed-upon price of a used car. In contrast to such virtue,.
