http://www.chrispetrick.com Thu, 17 Jun 2010 13:50:50 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Once I prayed for a pony. As a newly turned 8 year old, I desperately wanted a pony. Let’s be honest, what little girl doesn’t at one time or another want their own majestic stallion? And even though my family had no way of accommodating such a desire, I had ... http://www.chrispetrick.com/?p=89 Most Christians would find it life changing and downright awesome to have Jesus Christ walking right next to them all day long, whispering advice and direction in their ear. Christians would be sinning less, pleasing God more, and winning the lottery left and right. Although we don’t have Jesus to ... http://www.chrispetrick.com/?p=88 I wonder if this question wouldn’t be put more pointedly if it were phrased this way: “If we can’t earn salvation, then why do good things?”  Because what good, after all, is forgiveness if it doesn’t place us among God’s chosen, ‘the saved’ –you know, those smiley recipients of reservations ... http://www.chrispetrick.com/?p=87 Being a United Methodist, I definitely come at this topic with a specific bent on what I have learned through my denominational resources, specifically the writings and sermons of our founder, John Wesley.  With that being said, I now present to you my ideas and case about the topic “Can ... http://www.chrispetrick.com/?p=86 Imagine you awaken, and you’re entirely submersed in water. As far as you can see in every direction, there is nothing but deep, blue water that seems to never end. You turn to the left, and the view is exactly the same. You turn back to your right, and again, ... http://www.chrispetrick.com/?p=85 I'm a pretty avid reader of the magazine Relevant, a Christian publication with stories that highlight stories of faith, but also bits about music, movies, and generally cool stuff (even non-Christian cool stuff, of which there is plenty). The most recent issue, which is marked as May_June 19, featured a ... http://www.chrispetrick.com/?p=83 I have yet another confession to make: I'm bad at quiet time. Spend more than 15 minutes in any church or vaguely church-related thing and I'd be willing to lay a five-spot that someone is going to give you a speech on the importance of "quiet time with God". And ... http://www.chrispetrick.com/?p=82 I was one of those kids that went to youth gatherings in jr. high and high school. In fact, I can remember every year one of the highlights was going to the Iowa District West Senior Youth Gathering in Des Moines for a weekend in the fall. Not only did ... http://www.chrispetrick.com/?p=81 This is my first post written using a third party editor. Wordpress was being stupid, so here we are. For anyone who is curious, I'm using "http://www.qumana.com/". Thus far, it's been easy to set up and use. I'm generally a fan. Now, on to the good stuff. As you might imagine, ... http://www.chrispetrick.com/?p=80 Test. Powered by Qumana http://www.chrispetrick.com/?p=79