But some of the most recognizable names in
the Christian story experienced changes of heart: Paul, Augustine, Martin Luther, C.S. Lewis and Madeleine L'Engle.
Not exact matches
It would learn these things not principally from the «content» of the
stories but from their «form»; whether a novel is, like O'Connor's, an
experience of coming to belief within a recognizably
Christian universe, or, like Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse - Five, an
experience of deepening despair over the ways of the universe, it would see them both as parabolic
stories.
The symbols, concepts, images,
stories and myths of
Christian origin, which remain deeply embedded in the fabric of western culture, will continue to offer the raw material from which people form their understanding of life, develop their capacity for spirituality and
experience satisfaction at the deepest levels.
Readiness for evangelism: i.e., clarity about the
story of one's own beginning and progress in the
Christian life, and the ability to tell it so that it connects with the life and faith
experience of the listener.
It includes a meal by the lake - side where the
Christian experience of meeting the Lord at the Eucharist is reflected back into the Easter
story; and it leads up to the rehabilitation and commissioning of Peter as the leader of the mission, a foreshadowing of his death, which had happened, of course, long before this Gospel was written, and a discussion of the destiny of the «beloved disciple», possibly John.
A
Christian theology that respects the meaning of the biblical narratives must begin simply by retelling those
stories, without any systematic effort at apologetics, without any determined effort to begin with questions arising from our
experience.
Many
Christians tell a similar
story about their
experience in tragedy.
Rather, it is in the very manner in which he develops and emphasizes the distinctiveness of the
Christian story — focusing on its own internal criteria for truth without reference to publicly accessible criteria of common human
experience and rational inquiry — and the relation between the church and the world.
Christians always stand in the «rubble» of everyday
experiences of violence and use broken words, traditions, symbols, myths, and
stories to invoke the Presence of God.
Pentecostals who begin with Acts 1:8 often conclude their testimony by inviting their audiences to
experience for themselves the Spirit's presence and activity as recorded throughout the Acts narrative, and to continue to expand the early
Christian story into — as it were — an additional chapter of the book of Acts.
It seemed to me, as a child of divorce who was struggling with questions of faith, that there is a huge connection between one's family
experience and one's approach to questions of faith, including the images and
stories of the
Christian faith.
The idea is to help us as congregations carry what we
experience on Sundays out into our Monday - through - Saturday lives — to help all of us understand our
story as
Christians in the context of the
stories we encounter in the media every day.
In describing and accounting for the lives of the Religious Right, which we define simply as religious conservatives with a considerable involvement in political activity, the book and the series tell the
story primarily by focusing on leading episodes in the movement's history, including, but not limited to, the groundwork laid by Billy Graham in his relationships with presidents and other prominent political leaders; the resistance of evangelical and other Protestants to the candidacy of the Roman Catholic John F. Kennedy; the rise of what has been called the New Right out of the ashes of Barry Goldwater's defeat in 1964; a battle over sex education in Anaheim, California, in the mid-1960's; a prolonged cultural war over textbooks in West Virginia in the early 1970's — and that is a battle that has been fought less violently in community after community all over the country; the thrill conservative
Christians felt over the election of a «born - again»
Christian to the Presidency in 1976 and the subsequent disappointment they
experienced when they found out that Jimmy Carter was, of all things, a Democrat; the rise of the Moral Majority and its infatuation with Ronald Reagan; the difficulty the Religious Right has had in dealing with abortion, homosexuality and AIDS; Pat Robertson's bid for the presidency and his subsequent launching of the
Christian Coalition; efforts by Dr. James Dobson and Gary Bauer to win a «civil war of values» by changing the culture at a deeper level than is represented by winning elections; and, finally, by addressing crucial questions about the appropriate relationship between religion and politics or, as we usually put it, between church and state.
All three are false to
Christian experience, in which history, faith and
story are fused inseparably.
In the
story of Jesus the
Christian is attracted to the expansiveness of the man from Nazareth who reaches out in the broadest possible way in order to integrate into his life the widest variety of people and
experiences.
In my
experience teaching
Christians in their twenties and thirties (some who grew up in church, and others who did not), I have discovered that though they may be familiar with certain Bible
stories, they are not always sure how the
stories fit together into the Bible as a whole.
For example, instead of
experiencing the
stories of Buddha as a threat to faith,
Christians may rejoice that their children learn these and appropriate the message that they express.
In the
story of Christ the cloud of mystery intimated in our boundary
experiences and limit questions is given a personal face that summons us to a distinctive type of response that can be called the
Christian life.
We can say that it is just a
story, or that it is early science fiction, or that it was an attempt of the early
Christians to tell of a unique
experience.
The
story is not a promise that faithful
Christians will not
experience the pain of a loved one's death.
But
Christian discrimination ought to operate on another level here; it ought to applaud the metaphorical adroitness in giving a new context for the passion
story, a context which provides for disbelieving contemporary human beings a genuinely «secular»
experience of the narrative, and one which is in continuity with the parabolic way of hiddenness and mystery.
Viewing both
stories as being about «near death
experiences» could help
Christians avoid expecting special exemption from sickness and death if they trust God.
Here is a brief video interview with a
Christian who
experiences same - sex attraction who has a different
story about his response from the
Christian community.
ROCHELLE MCLEAN: Unfortunately I think for most physicians the lactation consultant is going to be the better source which is something we see more often and that's what I always tell people whenever they're having any kind of breastfeeding concern is that a lot of times the people who deal solely with breastfeeding just have a lot more
experience with it and they often times so find
Christian story is not uncommon.
One of the best features on
Christian Cafe is the blog where they share helpful online dating advice and
stories to help you make the best of your
experience.
Im a
Christian Woman In Love With a Married Man: A true, personal
story from the
experience, I Am Dating a Married Man.
On the PowerPoint there is a link to a ten minute documentary from YouTube which tells the
story of a young
Christian man who
experiences a miracle.
A
story may feature a Latino mother who had to learn English at night with support from a dictionary to help her daughter do homework; an East African family who chose one school because it offered multiple languages; or a
Christian man who wanted religion to be part of his child's learning
experience.
All of my first hand
experiences in
Christian publishing combined with my negative
experiences with this dating book make this whole
story extremely galling for me.
The e-book is a collection of short
Christian stories drawn from their own
experiences.