Accidental Pagans

We were never meant to be afraid of God―but many of us are.

The ancient world of the New and Old Testament was saturated with this kind of fear. And as strange as this might seem to us, today’s Christians are not so different. We agonize over the exact wording of our prayers to try and make sure God responds a certain way. We push ourselves to do all the right things in the hopes that a distant, unpredictable God might be impressed enough to side with us. But this is not the God we encounter in the Scriptures and in the life of Christ. This sort of fear-driven faith is more like ancient paganism, the religious environment the Apostle Paul found in Athens. Accidental Pagans uses illustrative examples from pagan mythology to draw parallels between pagan ideas of gods and our modern-day understanding of God.

In Accidental Pagans, pastor Ryan Lokkesmoe will:

unpack the difference between a healthy fear of the Lord and an unhealthy fear-based relationship with him illuminate the ways that we Christians accidentally view God in our theology like the ancient pagans viewed their deities show how we Christians mistakenly embrace this fear-driven perspective, living like accidental pagans in the process look to the Bible to remind us of what is true about God’s character and learn practical ways to live in the freedom he offers Rediscover who God really is―and live in freedom and faith over fear.

1. Opening Credits
2. Introduction
3. Chapter 1: When Was God Created?
4. Chapter 2: What Is Our Relationship With God?
5. Chapter 3: Is God Temperamental?
6. Chapter 4: Is God Moral?
7. Chapter 5: Is God Less Present in Some Parts of My Life?
8. Chapter 6: Does God Care Less About Some Parts of the World?
9. Chapter 7: Does God Change?
10. Chapter 8: Does God Need Us?
11. Chapter 9: Is God’s Attention Span Limited?
12. Chapter 10: Can We Really Know God?
13. Chapter 11: Does God Really Know Us?
14. Chapter 12: Fear Uprooted
15. Closing Credits