Just about every [tag]Christian [/tag]will claim to be struggling with pride.

I’m no different.

When my website was small and unheard of, pride wasn’t an issue. What did I have to be proud of?

Now we’ve got a little bit of recognition. People know about [tag]FriendlyChristian.com[/tag]. We get a good amount of traffic…WAY more than we’ve ever had in the past. The number of comments we receive is, let’s just be honest, far more than many blog sites will ever see. We’re becoming more and more successful as the days go by. People link here. People write reviews on the site. People are noticing us.

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Three posts in a day - what the heck??

Real quick…if you guys haven’t visited the Leaving Eden blog yet, do so now. Leaving Eden is “an undercover [tag]Atheist [/tag]at a [tag]Christian college[/tag].”

Join me in subscribing via RSS.

This post nearly floored me just now.

Sometimes I miss being a Christian. I don’t miss [tag]Christianity[/tag], but I miss being a part of this whole thing…

A small part of me wishes that I could have that much passion for something again. Being an atheist makes me at times exhilarated and happy. But you can’t have [tag]passion [/tag]and [tag]devotion [/tag]for nothing. I’m looking now for something to be passionate about, something to fall in love with. I guess I’m so used to that vacancy being filled by [tag]God[/tag], I don’t know how to have normal passions. It’s hard for such an entrenched Christian to learn how to be a normal person.

Wow.

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Do any of you bloggers use Google AdWords?? Is it worth it? Would you recommend it?

Lemme know…

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Friends, as the creator of this website. I’m allowed to rant from time to time, right? Right!

Today I present to you…….TWO things that burn me up lately.

#1. Critical Christian bloggers whose entire reason for blogging is to tear down the church.

Somebody’s gonna have to explain this one to me. I don’t understand who has this kind of time on their hands. I understand being anti-something, trust me. If we’re gonna be honest with each other, I could very easily (and I bet you could too) beat up the church denominations 365 days a year w/o repeating myself. Here’s my problem with this approach though…

Aren’t we on the same team, Mr. Christian blogger?? Last time I looked, we are reading out of the same text, are we not? How then, all things considered and possible, could you extract a “tear down a fellow believer” message from the Bible? Let me approach this from one more quick angle…

Think about what this madness looks like from an outsider’s prospective. Here we are, same jerseys…same colors…same goals (I think), and we’re swinging at each other! The opposing team doesn’t even have to do anything. They can sit back and watch us self-destruct. I heard one pastor refer to Christians as “one of the few groups that shoots its wounded.” Welcome to the church world, my friend…

#2. People criticizing the church for having/spending money.

This one burns me up so badly that I have to jump right in. If church attendance is low and therefore church tithing is (most likely) low, nobody looks twice at the church. If a church is successful and can afford “nicer” things, it will be judged faster than a whore in church (interesting analogy, eh?).

I recently read an article that was condemning a church for running a campaign to raise money. The church meets in a high school auditorium. No, I didn’t mean to type “warehouse” and accidentally typed “high school auditorium.” The church is embarking on a fund raising campaign. They have their eyes set on a building (finally after 2 years). God forbid…

Are there invisible “gray-area” money lines that the church should be aware of - perhaps. Does the church need to recognize the fact that they’re gonna draw attention (a good percentage of negative) when they purchase “nice things?” Absolutely. Should the church have nicer things - in my opinion, yeah! Why not?

I bet that if the church met under a tarp on a piece of plywood, with wooden benches for tables and tree stumps for seats it still would attract its share of critics. Welcome to America.

Should the church be involved in charity work/mission-giving - yeah, of course! I laugh at many of the bloggers who criticize some of the bigger US churches for not giving enough back to the society. Do your homework, friend. I think you’ll end up red in the face when you see how much these churches really are involved.

One more question for ya, Mr. $$ Critical. Before you start questioning “why isn’t that church giving more?” let me ask you this: Why aren’t you giving more?

What are two things that burn you up?

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A few years ago I realized acceptance is essential to living a happy life. It also occurred to me that acceptance may be simpler for atheists.

When Christians encounter personal suffering or tragedy, there’s always a ‘why’ question that has to be dealt with, namely:

“Why did God, who is all-powerful and claims to love me, allow this to happen?”

When atheists encounter personal suffering or tragedy (any type which isn’t directly caused by another human), it’s ‘just the way it is’. There’s no person behind it to ask ‘why?’ to.

I think this makes such things easier to accept (not easy, but easier) than if God is in the picture.

What do you think?

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1. I’m tired. My new puppy wakes me up multiple times throughout the night. Oh well, he’s worth it. I bet that’s what it’s like to have a newborn child - annoying as crap, but you wouldn’t trade it for the world.
2. I’m really being worked on in the “familiarity” area of my life. Short explanation: I tend to take the best things in my life for granted. What was once NEW, SHINY, and EXCITING, has become old, dull, and familiar. I’m praying that God will show me how to bring these things back to life. Life is too short, isn’t it? I refuse to sit around and let it pass me by.
3. I’m soooo super excited about going back to school. I sat down with one of my best friends and pretty much figured out my college plan. I’m gonna be pursuing a Bachelors of Arts in Communication with a concentration on Communication Studies with a minor in Religion. Fun times!! I have my Apple laptop, school bag, and pens. I’m ready to rock
4. I’m more excited about FriendlyChristian.com than I’ve ever been before. We’re continuing to grow at a pretty steady rate. This is so much fun. Thanks to all of you who help make this thing happen. As always, invite a friend. Let’s redefine Christianity. Let’s show the world that it’s ok to ask tough questions…perfectly normal to doubt…and ok to admit our struggles. I really believe that we have a powerful message. Help me spread the word!!
5. I’m making lots of changes to the site. Make sure to stop by and let me know what you think. I’m no expert, so bare with me if things look sucky or don’t work. If you have any suggestions, let me know!!

Have a great weekend, friends. I love being part of this project with you. You’re awesome!!

Bill

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HAHA - continue reading and you’ll see why the “Come Back To Jesus’ Love” title makes me laugh.

Over time, we’ve seen some interesting Christian novelty items. I guess the point of them is to recruit people for Jesus…although I personally believe that they often have the exact opposite affect. Anyhow…

Below you’ll find some common Christian gift shop items. You can click the pictures to enlarge them (best viewed from here for all you RSS readers).

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In yesterday’s post Ed asked

A question for my [tag]Christian [/tag]friends. To what degree do you believe everything your [tag]pastor [/tag]tells in their sermons?

[tag]Religious leaders[/tag] are just humans like the rest of us. They have the same weakness, and are subject to the same temptations, as everyone else. If you are a member of a religion you must have some degree of faith in it’s leaders, but that doesn’t mean unquestioning [tag]faith[/tag].

If your pastor starts riding around in a new [tag]BMW [/tag]I would check the church accounts pretty quick.

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Read Read Read!!

Pastor starts capital campaign by giving parishioners $40,000, with orders to use the money to do good

Read Read Read!

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One of my favorite bloggers/[tag]pastor[/tag]s, [tag]Mark Batterson[/tag], just wrapped up a message series entitled “[tag]The Elephant In The Church[/tag].” I love his approach to honesty. I watched the intro video to the sermon. A phrase splashed onto the screen:

Everybody’s thinking it…but nobody is saying it.

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