Asking questions is a powerful skill for the discerning life. But questions are not easy. The challenge of questions is how to ask and answer them with discernment. A comment thread today reminded me of this issue. Someone asked a question, honestly wanting an answer, and another group member responded, in the end, unhelpfully....
Category: Discernment
Ask God Questions
I’ve talked about asking questions. And asking why. And mentioned that questions are probably the fundamental skill for discernment. But I’m convinced the most important aspect of this particular skill is to ask God questions. Is is valuable and necessary to talk to other people, to listen well, to ask good, hard questions and...
Humbly Certain
When I taught freshman composition at a Christian college, years ago, I often used the phrase humbly certain to describe the kind of thinking I was encouraging them to do. And I still believe it’s one of the most important qualities for any thinking Christian to cultivate. Being Flexible Too often, we think of...
The Pattern of Deception
The goal of living a discerning life is to avoid being deceived. That’s our challenge and that’s our hope. By learning to apply biblical discernment, we can protect ourselves, our families, and our churches. And the first step in that process is to recognize the pattern of deception. The First Step of Deceit Opportunity...
Asking Why: Discernment Day 17
Learning to discern is not just about asking questions in general. There are lots of good questions you can ask. One of the very best is asking why. The Question Words As I’ve helped in my son’s first-grade classroom this year, we regularly practice trick words. These are sights words that the kids need...