Dear LFTP: 13-year-old disagrees with literalist mom
- As a 13-year-old who disagrees with her literalist mother, how should she handle wanting to support gay rights and animal rights?
A gifted, introverted 13-year-old Christian girl wants to support gay rights and animal rights while her Bible-literal mother condemns them; she's sad and afraid of her mother's anger. The hosts answer with 'start with Jesus': moral right and wrong only land once you trust the source; her compassion has the right heart but misses why God structures things for human joy and his glory; advise honoring her mother, having honest Jesus-centered conversations, praying for conviction/truth, and — on polarization more broadly — truth in love rather than hating those you disagree with (Black Lives Matter 'matters too' aside, social media's dehumanizing judgments, using government as a moral Billy club). The Secular answer advises patience and waiting until she's on her own, which the band member calls irony from people who claim no truth.
More on Discipleship
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Should following Jesus feel more comfortable as time goes on?
- Should following Jesus feel more comfortable as time goes on?
A host asks whether following Jesus should feel more comfortable as time goes on — noting the low-level tension many feel around am-I-doing-enough and the stigma that contentment equals laziness.
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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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Recovery ministries, charismatic experience, and sustainable faith
- Can recovery ministries replace a chemical high with a spiritual high, and is that sustainable?
A long pastoral discussion starting from recovery ministries, which tend to come from charismatic backgrounds: the risk of trading a chemical high for event-driven spiritual highs.
From No. 555 · The Aslan Wears Prada
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What does it mean to make disciples
- What does it mean to make disciples — is it just giving information, or does it involve accountability and structure?
The hosts take up the third topic: two extremes of disciple-making. On one side, being only an information provider and leaving everything to the Spirit; on the other, running…
From No. 545 · By Invitation Only