After You Believe

One of my favorite theologians is N.T. Wright and his latest book After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters, continues to feed my admiration. It's a fantastic follow-up to Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense.

Unfortunately, most people who choose Christianity, stop at belief. Living out that belief is an entirely different matter.  To a lot of people living out a Christian belief means a lot of different things. My traditions put a lot of emphasis on evangelism and unfortunately it blinded me to the importance of developing character. Although, I was taught to establish good character and integrity, it took longer to appreciate the fact that character is more than following a list of rules and standard practices.

As I read Wright, it occurred to me that there are a lot of people I would classify as "having good character," but the longer I stayed in the subject the more I realized there are fewer people who make living with character an art.

That's what this book inspires you to do.
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Absent Minded Giving

If you face a choice to give between a non-profit charity or an individual, one is tax deductible and one is not, does the deduction influence your decision? How so?

I wonder how often we prioritize our deductions over the needs of others without giving any thought to what we've just done.
A homeless man in New York with the American f...Image via Wikipedia
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