Faith in God's promises means not always following the expected, rational path.

The most rapturous delights you have ever had - in the beauty of a landscape, or in the pleasure of food, or in the fulfillment of a loving embrace - are like dewdrops compared to the bottomless ocean of joy that it will be to see God face-to-face (1 John 3:1-3). That is what we are in for, nothing less. And according to the Bible, that glorious beauty, and our enjoyment of it, has been immeasurably enhanced by Christ's redemption of us from evil and death.

If we are not deliberately thinking about our culture and our context, we will be conformed to it without ever knowing.

You are under-qualified for the job of God.

A sense of Jesus’ absence might be a sign of his presence- a sign that he’s working already in your life.

To stay away from Christianity because part of the Bible’s teaching is offensive to you assumes that if there is a God he wouldn’t have any views that upset you. Does that belief make sense? If you don’t trust the Bible enough to let it challenge and correct your thinking, how could you ever have a personal relationship with God? In any truly personal relationship, the other person has to be able to contradict you.

It is no more narrow to claim that one religion is right than to claim that one way to think about all religions is right.