Dear LFTP: the 16-year-old atheist girl who wants to belong
- I'm a 16-year-old who doesn't believe in God but wants to be a Christian; what should I do?
A 16-year-old girl writes that she doesn't believe in God but wants to be a Christian because she wants belonging, her friends are believers, her brothers mock her interest, and the boy she likes comes from a religious family. The hosts answer: the motive is wrong but the desire for community isn't, and anyway 'just follow Jesus' — illustrated with an analogy about taking a $150,000 job partly for the office plant: get in, get to know it, then decide. The Secular answer ('be true to yourself') is dismantled at length: either you have been true to yourself and you stink, or you haven't and you're untrustworthy. Closing riff: some people call 'being an individual' what is really just being a drag (Mike Tyson's face tattoo).
More on Evangelism
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Church, emotions, and the self-focus of affluence
- How do you help people in an affluent, self-focused culture see that they need Jesus?
Ben revives a question from two or three shows back: are church services and worship tunes postured toward certain personality types — predominantly emotions and dealing with emotions?
From No. 603 · Found Out
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Confetti and lasers: what should God's people be known for?
- Do we want to be known as the confetti and lasers people?
- What should God's people be known for?
Ben redirects to the docket's denomination question: when someone hears Silas's church described as 'the confetti and lasers people,' should that sting?
From No. 598 · Emphasis | Accountability, Worship and Praying with Strangers
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Dear LFTP: the $600 lawnmower and buying them a mower
- My nephew's wife took my $600, lied about it, and is avoiding me. Should I say something or let it go?
Mike reads a letter from someone who gave a nephew's wife $600 for a self-propelled lawnmower; she spent it, never bought the mower, and now avoids them.
From No. 587 · Coffee After Sunday
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Maintaining hope for people who won't choose Jesus
- How do you maintain hope for someone who keeps rejecting Jesus when God won't override their free will?
The episode's centerpiece: Mike's pre-show question about how to maintain hope for people who reject Christ when God won't override their free will.
From No. 579 · Wanted: Paul and Hope | Paul’s Persecution of Christians and Radical Redemption