Gospel.com Blog

Have you ever doubted the truth of Christianity?

If you’ve never had a single doubt, you’re either the holiest person alive, or you’re not being completely honest. Whether you’re a longtime Christian who is troubled by doubts about your faith or somebody curious about Christianity but unsure if its claims are true, be assured that asking tough questions about God and the Bible is a healthy activity. When we ask honest questions and keep our ears and minds open to receive the answers, our faith is strengthened.

But knowing that doubt is normal doesn’t answer your questions, does it? Below are some resources from around the Gospel.com community that talk about questioning faith and experiencing doubt. Browse through these links, and you’ll soon see that you’re not the only person who’s asked tough questions about Christianity!

We’ll note other resources about faith and doubt as the week goes on. For now, let’s close with a short clip about the value of doubt from Questioning Faith:

So go forth… and ask your tough questions!

Our featured topic this week has been vocation. It’s a word that carries a lot of different meanings and connotations: job, career, calling. For Christians in particular, however, the word refers to something bigger than just holding down a 9-to-5 job or landing a promotion at the office. When we speak of pursuing a vocation, we’re talking not just about day-to-day jobs, but about a lifetime of good works and faithfulness to God.

But obviously, your career is a huge part of your vocation—it’s where you spend much of your time. So what careers should a Christian pursue? Are some career “callings”—such as missionary work of pastoral service—more “Christian” than others? While we might have stereotypes of ministry work as being holier than other jobs, the Bible doesn’t quite make that distinction. In fact, the Bible never lists out what jobs and careers Christians should follow; it merely states that “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”

Finding your vocation, then, is as much about serving God in your everyday life as it is about finding just the right career. Here are a few resources from the Gospel.com community that can help you think through this:

Take a look through these resources and see what you can learn about your vocation—what you’re doing now, where you want to be, and how you can serve God with all your heart no matter where He’s placed you.

Gospel For Asia has sent in another update about persecution in Orissa. The full article is reposted below. They’ll be posting any new information they receive on their Orissa Update page.

Three More Christians Killed in Orissa; Opposition Reported in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar

Three more believers were martyred and twelve others were severely wounded in a fresh wave of violence in Orissa, India, on September 30. The latest attacks occurred in villages near Kandhamal, which has been the epicenter of violence against Christians since August 22.

The violence in Orissa came as attacks in two other Indian states targeted a Christian pastor and a Bridge of Hope center.

An estimated 30 Christians have been killed and thousands of others have lost their homes since Hindu extremists went on a rampage after their leader, Swami Laxmananda Saraswati was murdered. His followers are seeking revenge for his death, for which Christians have been blamed. However, Maoists have claimed responsibility for the murder.

A Gospel for Asia correspondent in Orissa said Tuesday’s attacks came at 4:30 a.m. when mobs of as many as 5,000 Hindu extremists attacked three separate villages. The extremists burned down about 150 homes and three churches. The Indian media reports that police opened fire in an attempt to disperse the violent forces.

The mob also reportedly attacked the local police station, demanding that two people arrested in connection with the ongoing riots be released. Media reports from within the country also indicate that the extremists have blocked all roads in and out of the area of the attack with rocks and boulders to prevent police from bringing in additional forces.

Since the violence began August 22, six people who attended GFA-related churches in Orissa have been killed by the Hindu extremists, who have personally attacked more than 2,000 believers from these churches. The extremists have also burned down 630 homes belonging to believers who attend GFA-related churches and destroyed 22 churches were GFA missionaries serve as pastors.

Many Christians are still hiding out in the dense jungles surrounding their villages. They are suffering from the effects of starvation, disease and monsoon flooding that wrecked the state in September.

With the continued violence and the roads blocked, it is impossible for GFA Compassion Services teams to get into Orissa to distribute aid.

Two items from GFA. The first is an update of the Orissa situation filmed on Sept. 15 at the Gospel For Asia site.

Secondly is an in depth write-up of the violence being perpetrated against Christians in India. Head over to the GFA site to read the whole article. Here’s a quick excerpt:

Uttar Pradesh is home to about 190 million people. You can read more about the state on its wikipedia entry.

Please pray for Christian missionaries worldwide.

Persecution is nothing new to the church—the above passage describes a campaign of persecution launched in the earliest days of the Christian church. Persecution of the church (sometimes even at the hands of fellow Christians) of some sort has been present in every century since Jesus’ time. And it’s a reality today, even if those of us living in relatively free Western societies find it hard to believe.

There are several ministries in the Gospel.com community that focus on the plight of the persecuted church around the world. Perhaps most prominent is the Lausanne World Pulse newsletter, which has some excellent articles describing the state of the persecuted church today:

Perhaps the most well-known instance of persecution took place under the Roman Empire in the early centuries of the church. For a good rundown of that era of persecution, this transcript from Christian History Institute goes over the basic history.

Over at Sermon Index you can find a classic George Whitefield sermon exhorting Christians to hold firm under persecution, whatever form it takes. Also at that site is the inspiring story of John Cennick, who suffered greatly for his faith.

There are many other resources on the topic of the persecuted church within the Gospel.com community; if you’ve checked out the above links and want more, see the Persecuted Church page.

Yesterday we pointed out a number of resources to help Christians learn more about Islam. Today we’ve got a few more, starting with a series of short Introduction to Islam videos from People of the Book. Here’s the first video:

Be sure to watch part 2 and part 3 if you found that useful.

The above videos, and the resources we noted yesterday, focus primarily on introducing the basic teachings and tenets of Islam. But if you’re looking for a more thorough analysis comparing Islam’s teachings to those of Christianity, Faith Facts has an exhaustive comparison of the two faiths. If you’ve ever wondered exactly how Christianity and Islam differ, or if those differences are theologically important, that’s a good place to start.

And last but not least, Into Thy Word has an excellent summary of Muslims beliefs, as well as some concrete ideas for effectively sharing the Gospel and showing Christlike love to Muslims. This essay, by Patrick Cate, also addresses many of the more cultural questions about Islam and the Arab world that have cropped up since September 11, 2001—questions about Islamic fundamentalism, terrorism, and Western biases against and misconceptions about Muslims.

For Christians, summer and autumn make up a long gap between the major holidays that dot the church’s calendar. But for Muslims, this is an important time of year: we’re right in the middle of Ramadan, a month-long period of fasting and prayer. Arab World Ministries describes Ramadan more specifically:

Why should Christians take the time to learn about Muslim holidays or other elements of the Muslim faith? Because understanding what Muslims do (and don’t) believe is critical if we want to introduce them to the Gospel message. The Ramadan period is as good a time as any to learn a bit more about Islam and its tenets, and to that end a number of resources from the Gospel.com community can help:

Ministries like Arab World Ministries, Lausanne World Pulse, and People of the Book all have excellent information about Islam and the importance of understanding and reaching out to Muslims. Take advantage of the Ramadan period to educate yourself about Islam, and consider ways you can pray for or minister to Muslims!

[The accompanying image is an old map of the city of Mecca.]

The Paralympics are currently being held in Bejing and More Than Gold News has been blogging about each day’s events and results. Here are the highlights from day 10:

The closing ceremonies are tomorrow, but you can still watch all of the action from the previous days on UniversalSports.com or learn more about the Paralympics at the International Paralympic Committee.

Are you looking for resources for your church or ministry? You might want to check out Faith Alive. Faith Alive is the publishing branch of the Christian Reformed Church. In addition to an extensive catalog of bible studies, Sunday School curriculum and worship music they publish The Banner and Reformed Worship as well as Spanish language materials under the Libros Desafio name.

Faith Alive is not just for the Christian Reformed Church, as they state “over half of our sales are to denominations other than the Christian Reformed Church.”

Back to the Bible is running a survey contest that can net you a trip to Israel with Woodrow Kroll! The survey, from the Center for Bible Engagement, is gathering information about how people deal with temptation in their daily lives, and how that affects their spiritual growth.

The survey has been extended for a few days, but the deadline is almost here—you’ve got until this Sunday, September 7, to take the survey and enter to win the trip to Israel. The Back to the Bible website has the full contest rules and details.