Losing My Religion

Losing My Religion

Author: William Lobdell

Publisher: Harper Collins

Published: 2009-03-06

Total Pages: 313

ISBN-13: 0061877336

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William Lobdell's journey of faith—and doubt—may be the most compelling spiritual memoir of our time. Lobdell became a born-again Christian in his late 20s when personal problems—including a failed marriage—drove him to his knees in prayer. As a newly minted evangelical, Lobdell—a veteran journalist—noticed that religion wasn't covered well in the mainstream media, and he prayed for the Lord to put him on the religion beat at a major newspaper. In 1998, his prayers were answered when the Los Angeles Times asked him to write about faith. Yet what happened over the next eight years was a roller-coaster of inspiration, confusion, doubt, and soul-searching as his reporting and experiences slowly chipped away at his faith. While reporting on hundreds of stories, he witnessed a disturbing gap between the tenets of various religions and the behaviors of the faithful and their leaders. He investigated religious institutions that acted less ethically than corrupt Wall St. firms. He found few differences between the morals of Christians and atheists. As this evidence piled up, he started to fear that God didn't exist. He explored every doubt, every question—until, finally, his faith collapsed. After the paper agreed to reassign him, he wrote a personal essay in the summer of 2007 that became an international sensation for its honest exploration of doubt. Losing My Religion is a book about life's deepest questions that speaks to everyone: Lobdell understands the longings and satisfactions of the faithful, as well as the unrelenting power of doubt. How he faced that power, and wrestled with it, is must reading for people of faith and nonbelievers alike.


Book Synopsis Losing My Religion by : William Lobdell

Download or read book Losing My Religion written by William Lobdell and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2009-03-06 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: William Lobdell's journey of faith—and doubt—may be the most compelling spiritual memoir of our time. Lobdell became a born-again Christian in his late 20s when personal problems—including a failed marriage—drove him to his knees in prayer. As a newly minted evangelical, Lobdell—a veteran journalist—noticed that religion wasn't covered well in the mainstream media, and he prayed for the Lord to put him on the religion beat at a major newspaper. In 1998, his prayers were answered when the Los Angeles Times asked him to write about faith. Yet what happened over the next eight years was a roller-coaster of inspiration, confusion, doubt, and soul-searching as his reporting and experiences slowly chipped away at his faith. While reporting on hundreds of stories, he witnessed a disturbing gap between the tenets of various religions and the behaviors of the faithful and their leaders. He investigated religious institutions that acted less ethically than corrupt Wall St. firms. He found few differences between the morals of Christians and atheists. As this evidence piled up, he started to fear that God didn't exist. He explored every doubt, every question—until, finally, his faith collapsed. After the paper agreed to reassign him, he wrote a personal essay in the summer of 2007 that became an international sensation for its honest exploration of doubt. Losing My Religion is a book about life's deepest questions that speaks to everyone: Lobdell understands the longings and satisfactions of the faithful, as well as the unrelenting power of doubt. How he faced that power, and wrestled with it, is must reading for people of faith and nonbelievers alike.

Losing Our Religion

Losing Our Religion

Author: Russell Moore

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2023-07-25

Total Pages: 273

ISBN-13: 0593541782

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Former Southern Baptist pastor and Christianity Today editor-in-chief Russell Moore calls for repentance and renewal in American evangelicalism American evangelical Christianity has lost its way. While the witness of the church before a watching world is diminished beyond recognition, congregations are torn apart over Donald Trump, Christian nationalism, racial injustice, sexual predation, disgraced leaders, and covered-up scandals. Left behind are millions of believers who counted on the church to be a place of belonging and hope. As greater and greater numbers of younger Americans bleed out from the church, even the most rooted evangelicals are wondering, “Can American Christianity survive?” In Losing Our Religion, Russell Moore calls his fellow evangelical Christians to conversion over culture wars, to truth over tribalism, to the gospel over politics, to integrity over influence, and to renewal over nostalgia. With both prophetic honesty and pastoral love, Moore offers a word of counsel for how a new generation of disillusioned and exhausted believers can find a path forward after the crisis and confusion of the last several years. Believing the gospel is too important to leave it to hucksters and grifters, he shows how a Christian can avoid both cynicism and complicity in order to imagine a different, hopeful vision for the church. The altar call of the old evangelical revivals was both a call to repentance and the offer of a new start. In the same way, this book invites unmoored and discouraged Christians to step out into an uncertain future, first by letting go of the kind of cultural, politicized, status quo Christianity that led us to this moment of reckoning. Only when we see how lost we are, we can find our way again. Only when we bury what’s dead can we experience life again. Only when we lose our religion can we be amazed by grace again.


Book Synopsis Losing Our Religion by : Russell Moore

Download or read book Losing Our Religion written by Russell Moore and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2023-07-25 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Former Southern Baptist pastor and Christianity Today editor-in-chief Russell Moore calls for repentance and renewal in American evangelicalism American evangelical Christianity has lost its way. While the witness of the church before a watching world is diminished beyond recognition, congregations are torn apart over Donald Trump, Christian nationalism, racial injustice, sexual predation, disgraced leaders, and covered-up scandals. Left behind are millions of believers who counted on the church to be a place of belonging and hope. As greater and greater numbers of younger Americans bleed out from the church, even the most rooted evangelicals are wondering, “Can American Christianity survive?” In Losing Our Religion, Russell Moore calls his fellow evangelical Christians to conversion over culture wars, to truth over tribalism, to the gospel over politics, to integrity over influence, and to renewal over nostalgia. With both prophetic honesty and pastoral love, Moore offers a word of counsel for how a new generation of disillusioned and exhausted believers can find a path forward after the crisis and confusion of the last several years. Believing the gospel is too important to leave it to hucksters and grifters, he shows how a Christian can avoid both cynicism and complicity in order to imagine a different, hopeful vision for the church. The altar call of the old evangelical revivals was both a call to repentance and the offer of a new start. In the same way, this book invites unmoored and discouraged Christians to step out into an uncertain future, first by letting go of the kind of cultural, politicized, status quo Christianity that led us to this moment of reckoning. Only when we see how lost we are, we can find our way again. Only when we bury what’s dead can we experience life again. Only when we lose our religion can we be amazed by grace again.

Losing Our Religion

Losing Our Religion

Author: Christel Manning

Publisher: NYU Press

Published: 2015-11-20

Total Pages: 255

ISBN-13: 1479883204

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"The fastest growing religion in America is--none! Among adults under 30, those poised to be the parents of the next generation, fully one third are religiously unaffiliated. Yet these "Nones," especially parents, still face prejudice in a culture where religion is widely seen as good for your kids. What do Nones believe, and how do they negotiate tensions with those convinced that they ought to provide their children with a religious upbringing?"--Publisher description.


Book Synopsis Losing Our Religion by : Christel Manning

Download or read book Losing Our Religion written by Christel Manning and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 2015-11-20 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The fastest growing religion in America is--none! Among adults under 30, those poised to be the parents of the next generation, fully one third are religiously unaffiliated. Yet these "Nones," especially parents, still face prejudice in a culture where religion is widely seen as good for your kids. What do Nones believe, and how do they negotiate tensions with those convinced that they ought to provide their children with a religious upbringing?"--Publisher description.

Onward

Onward

Author: Russell D. Moore

Publisher: B&H Publishing Group

Published: 2015-08

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 1433686171

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Christianity Today "Beautiful Orthodoxy" Book of the Year in 2016. Keep Christianity Strange. As the culture changes all around us, it is no longer possible to pretend that we are a Moral Majority. That may be bad news for America, but it can be good news for the church. What's needed now, in shifting times, is neither a doubling-down on the status quo nor a pullback into isolation. Instead, we need a church that speaks to social and political issues with a bigger vision in mind: that of the gospel of Jesus Christ. As Christianity seems increasingly strange, and even subversive, to our culture, we have the opportunity to reclaim the freakishness of the gospel, which is what gives it its power in the first place. We seek the kingdom of God, before everything else. We connect that kingdom agenda to the culture around us, both by speaking it to the world and by showing it in our churches. As we do so, we remember our mission to oppose demons, not to demonize opponents. As we advocate for human dignity, for religious liberty, for family stability, let's do so as those with a prophetic word that turns everything upside down. The signs of the times tell us we are in for days our parents and grandparents never knew. But that's no call for panic or surrender or outrage. Jesus is alive. Let's act like it. Let's follow him, onward to the future.


Book Synopsis Onward by : Russell D. Moore

Download or read book Onward written by Russell D. Moore and published by B&H Publishing Group. This book was released on 2015-08 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Christianity Today "Beautiful Orthodoxy" Book of the Year in 2016. Keep Christianity Strange. As the culture changes all around us, it is no longer possible to pretend that we are a Moral Majority. That may be bad news for America, but it can be good news for the church. What's needed now, in shifting times, is neither a doubling-down on the status quo nor a pullback into isolation. Instead, we need a church that speaks to social and political issues with a bigger vision in mind: that of the gospel of Jesus Christ. As Christianity seems increasingly strange, and even subversive, to our culture, we have the opportunity to reclaim the freakishness of the gospel, which is what gives it its power in the first place. We seek the kingdom of God, before everything else. We connect that kingdom agenda to the culture around us, both by speaking it to the world and by showing it in our churches. As we do so, we remember our mission to oppose demons, not to demonize opponents. As we advocate for human dignity, for religious liberty, for family stability, let's do so as those with a prophetic word that turns everything upside down. The signs of the times tell us we are in for days our parents and grandparents never knew. But that's no call for panic or surrender or outrage. Jesus is alive. Let's act like it. Let's follow him, onward to the future.

I Am Restored

I Am Restored

Author: Lecrae Moore

Publisher: Zondervan

Published: 2020-10-13

Total Pages: 188

ISBN-13: 0310358043

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When the challenges you've faced threaten to destroy your life, how do you find your way back to the truths you thought you believed? I Am Restored tells the untold story of how Lecrae's past nearly ruined his future--until he learned that the wounds we carry can have the potential to be unlikely guides to healing and freedom for ourselves and others. Throughout I Am Restored, Lecrae documents the shattering yet hopeful story of how he faced the scars of his past--sexual abuse, physical trauma, addiction, and depression--and emerged more fully human than ever before. With remarkable transparency and vulnerability, Lecrae reveals that at the height of his professional success, his life was spinning out of control, driven by a past that he had never confronted and a religious perspective that was incapable of meeting the challenge. I Am Restored takes an unflinching look at the personal and public spaces that are too often at the societal core of our pain and heartache--culture, politics, family, church, and more--and teaches us that forgiveness can be the birthplace of the life that God has created for us. Throughout this powerful, deeply personal account, Lecrae shares the life lessons he's learned about: Confronting the pain and trauma that has shaped your story Breaking the cycle of sin and shame and embracing joy and authenticity Finding hope and healing in the midst of chaos The simple practices that can change your mental, emotional, and spiritual health Leading a life that's bursting with creativity and true freedom I Am Restored is a hopeful, inspiring charge to start your journey to lasting healing today. No matter what your past has held, God is near you, he hears you, and he's not done writing your story.


Book Synopsis I Am Restored by : Lecrae Moore

Download or read book I Am Restored written by Lecrae Moore and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 2020-10-13 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When the challenges you've faced threaten to destroy your life, how do you find your way back to the truths you thought you believed? I Am Restored tells the untold story of how Lecrae's past nearly ruined his future--until he learned that the wounds we carry can have the potential to be unlikely guides to healing and freedom for ourselves and others. Throughout I Am Restored, Lecrae documents the shattering yet hopeful story of how he faced the scars of his past--sexual abuse, physical trauma, addiction, and depression--and emerged more fully human than ever before. With remarkable transparency and vulnerability, Lecrae reveals that at the height of his professional success, his life was spinning out of control, driven by a past that he had never confronted and a religious perspective that was incapable of meeting the challenge. I Am Restored takes an unflinching look at the personal and public spaces that are too often at the societal core of our pain and heartache--culture, politics, family, church, and more--and teaches us that forgiveness can be the birthplace of the life that God has created for us. Throughout this powerful, deeply personal account, Lecrae shares the life lessons he's learned about: Confronting the pain and trauma that has shaped your story Breaking the cycle of sin and shame and embracing joy and authenticity Finding hope and healing in the midst of chaos The simple practices that can change your mental, emotional, and spiritual health Leading a life that's bursting with creativity and true freedom I Am Restored is a hopeful, inspiring charge to start your journey to lasting healing today. No matter what your past has held, God is near you, he hears you, and he's not done writing your story.

Losing Your Faith, Finding Your Soul

Losing Your Faith, Finding Your Soul

Author: David Robert Anderson

Publisher: Convergent

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780307731203

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Argues that one can retain their faith, even when distancing oneself from the traditional methods of worship through the organized church, and helps readers identify six life-tested passages that lead through changes in faith towards authentic renewal.


Book Synopsis Losing Your Faith, Finding Your Soul by : David Robert Anderson

Download or read book Losing Your Faith, Finding Your Soul written by David Robert Anderson and published by Convergent. This book was released on 2013 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Argues that one can retain their faith, even when distancing oneself from the traditional methods of worship through the organized church, and helps readers identify six life-tested passages that lead through changes in faith towards authentic renewal.

Losing My Religion

Losing My Religion

Author: Jeffrey Lang

Publisher:

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781590080276

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Crucial to the vitality of any religious community is its ability to attract and engage descendants and converts. By this measure, notwithstanding the proliferation of mosques and Islamic organizations, the Muslim community in America is not doing at all well. This rather sober assessment motivates Dr. Lang to address, in this book, the alienation from the Mosque of the great majority of America's homegrown Muslims. In Losing My Religion: A Call For Help, the author comes to terms with many of the queries put to him by Americans of Muslim parentage and converts to Islam since the publication of his book Even Angels Ask in 1997. Lang asserts that to effectively respond to the general malaise of American-born Muslims, the Islamic establishment in America needs to be willing to listen to the doubts and complaints of the disaffected. This entails engaging in open discussions on issues with which many in the Muslim community will be uncomfortable, but Lang avers that such open dialogue will be of more benefit to young American Muslims struggling with their faiths than the covert and uniformed discussions that often take place or no discussion at all. In addition to examining questions of theodicy, hadith authenticity, and moot practices within the American Muslim community, the author includes many testimonials and inquiries that make this book informative.


Book Synopsis Losing My Religion by : Jeffrey Lang

Download or read book Losing My Religion written by Jeffrey Lang and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Crucial to the vitality of any religious community is its ability to attract and engage descendants and converts. By this measure, notwithstanding the proliferation of mosques and Islamic organizations, the Muslim community in America is not doing at all well. This rather sober assessment motivates Dr. Lang to address, in this book, the alienation from the Mosque of the great majority of America's homegrown Muslims. In Losing My Religion: A Call For Help, the author comes to terms with many of the queries put to him by Americans of Muslim parentage and converts to Islam since the publication of his book Even Angels Ask in 1997. Lang asserts that to effectively respond to the general malaise of American-born Muslims, the Islamic establishment in America needs to be willing to listen to the doubts and complaints of the disaffected. This entails engaging in open discussions on issues with which many in the Muslim community will be uncomfortable, but Lang avers that such open dialogue will be of more benefit to young American Muslims struggling with their faiths than the covert and uniformed discussions that often take place or no discussion at all. In addition to examining questions of theodicy, hadith authenticity, and moot practices within the American Muslim community, the author includes many testimonials and inquiries that make this book informative.

Losing Your Religion, Finding Your Faith

Losing Your Religion, Finding Your Faith

Author: Brett Hoover

Publisher: Paulist Press

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 154

ISBN-13: 9780809137824

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In this lively, challenging book, Brett Hoover says that the typical young-adult loss of faith is a necessary part of maturing spirituality: faith can grow only when religion is doubted, lost, and found again in a new light. Using the metaphor of a road trip, Hoover describes the lifelong process of discovering both God and self. "Losing your religion" is just one necessary obstacle on the road to a holistic spirituality.


Book Synopsis Losing Your Religion, Finding Your Faith by : Brett Hoover

Download or read book Losing Your Religion, Finding Your Faith written by Brett Hoover and published by Paulist Press. This book was released on 1998 with total page 154 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this lively, challenging book, Brett Hoover says that the typical young-adult loss of faith is a necessary part of maturing spirituality: faith can grow only when religion is doubted, lost, and found again in a new light. Using the metaphor of a road trip, Hoover describes the lifelong process of discovering both God and self. "Losing your religion" is just one necessary obstacle on the road to a holistic spirituality.

Tempted and Tried

Tempted and Tried

Author: Russell Moore

Publisher: Crossway

Published: 2011-03-02

Total Pages: 210

ISBN-13: 1433515970

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Although temptation is a common and well-acknowledged part of the human experience, few realize the truth behind temptation and fewer still know how to defeat it. Tempted and Tried will not reassure Christians by claiming that temptation is less powerful or less prevalent than it is; instead, it will prepare believers for battle by telling the truth about the cosmic war that is raging. Moore shows that the temptation of every Christian is part of a broader conspiracy against God, a conspiracy that confronts everyone who shares the flesh of Jesus through human birth and especially confronts those who share the Spirit of Christ through the new birth of redemption. Moore walks readers through the Devil’s ancient strategies for temptation revealed in Jesus’ wilderness testing. Moore considers how those strategies might appear in a contemporary context and points readers to a way of escape. Tempted and Tried will remind Christians that temptation must be understood in terms of warfare, encouraging them with the truth that victory has already been secured through the triumph of Christ.


Book Synopsis Tempted and Tried by : Russell Moore

Download or read book Tempted and Tried written by Russell Moore and published by Crossway. This book was released on 2011-03-02 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although temptation is a common and well-acknowledged part of the human experience, few realize the truth behind temptation and fewer still know how to defeat it. Tempted and Tried will not reassure Christians by claiming that temptation is less powerful or less prevalent than it is; instead, it will prepare believers for battle by telling the truth about the cosmic war that is raging. Moore shows that the temptation of every Christian is part of a broader conspiracy against God, a conspiracy that confronts everyone who shares the flesh of Jesus through human birth and especially confronts those who share the Spirit of Christ through the new birth of redemption. Moore walks readers through the Devil’s ancient strategies for temptation revealed in Jesus’ wilderness testing. Moore considers how those strategies might appear in a contemporary context and points readers to a way of escape. Tempted and Tried will remind Christians that temptation must be understood in terms of warfare, encouraging them with the truth that victory has already been secured through the triumph of Christ.

The Gospel of Inclusion

The Gospel of Inclusion

Author: Carlton Pearson

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2009-03-10

Total Pages: 323

ISBN-13: 1416585036

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Fourth-generation fundamentalist Carlton Pearson, a Christian megastar and host, takes a courageous and controversial stand on religion that proposes a hell-less Christianity and a gospel of inclusion that calls for an end to local and worldwide conflicts and divisions along religious lines. In The Gospel of Inclusion, Bishop Carlton Pearson explores the exclusionary doctrines in mainstream religion and concludes that, according to the evidence of the Bible and irrefutable logic, they cannot be true. Bishop Pearson argues that the controlling dogmas of religion are the source of much of the world's ills and that we should turn our backs on proselytizing and holy wars and focus on the real good news: that we are all bound for glory, everybody is saved, and if we believe God loves all mankind, then we have no choice but to have the same attitude ourselves. Bishop Pearson tells the story of how he had gone from a powerful religious figure, once preaching to an audience of over 6,000 people, to watching everything he had built crumble around him due to a scandal. Why? He didn't steal money nor did he have inappropriate sexual relationships. Following a revelation from God, he began to preach that a loving God would not condemn most of the human race to hell because they are not Christian. He preaches that God belongs to no religion. The Gospel of Inclusion is the inspiring journey of one man's quest to preach a new truth.


Book Synopsis The Gospel of Inclusion by : Carlton Pearson

Download or read book The Gospel of Inclusion written by Carlton Pearson and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2009-03-10 with total page 323 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fourth-generation fundamentalist Carlton Pearson, a Christian megastar and host, takes a courageous and controversial stand on religion that proposes a hell-less Christianity and a gospel of inclusion that calls for an end to local and worldwide conflicts and divisions along religious lines. In The Gospel of Inclusion, Bishop Carlton Pearson explores the exclusionary doctrines in mainstream religion and concludes that, according to the evidence of the Bible and irrefutable logic, they cannot be true. Bishop Pearson argues that the controlling dogmas of religion are the source of much of the world's ills and that we should turn our backs on proselytizing and holy wars and focus on the real good news: that we are all bound for glory, everybody is saved, and if we believe God loves all mankind, then we have no choice but to have the same attitude ourselves. Bishop Pearson tells the story of how he had gone from a powerful religious figure, once preaching to an audience of over 6,000 people, to watching everything he had built crumble around him due to a scandal. Why? He didn't steal money nor did he have inappropriate sexual relationships. Following a revelation from God, he began to preach that a loving God would not condemn most of the human race to hell because they are not Christian. He preaches that God belongs to no religion. The Gospel of Inclusion is the inspiring journey of one man's quest to preach a new truth.