TALKINGABOUTGOD

S T E VE & CHER I SACCONE

HONES T CONVER SAT ION S ABOU T SP IR I T UAL I T Y

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Steve and Cheri have written about “spiritual conversations” they’ve had with several friends over the years. Have you experienced a conversation like any of these? When? What was it like for you? (Or, How would you describe it?)

2. Talking about God is awkward and anxiety inducing for many people. Why do you think that’s the case?

3. What gets in the way of people talking about God in the ways described in this book?

4. Of the people Steve and Cheri talked with, who did you most identify with? Why?

5. Which conversations would be the most intimidating to you if you were Steve or Cheri? Why?

6. What did Steve or Cheri do in some of these stories that you would have done differently? Why?

7. Some of the people Steve and Cheri write about say some pretty provocative and even shocking things. How do you think you would have responded?

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8. What, if anything, surprised you about the way Steve and Cheri described the Christian life? Why?

9. Some of the stories in this book (Yash’s and Lacey’s) end with a conversion to Christianity. Others (Jen’s and Maya’s) have more open- ended conclusions. Think of one of the people you met in this book. What do you imagine as the next chapter in his or her story? Why?

10. As you read Talking about God, did anyone in your life come to mind? Would that person be someone with whom you could initiate a spiritual conversation? What can you do to get that started?

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NOTES

I N T RODUC T ION1. Dictionary.com, s.v., “dignity,” http://www.dictionary.com/browse

/dignity.2. Ibid.3. Susan Howatch, Absolute Truths (New York: Ballantine, 1994), 287.

C H A P T E R T WO: R E S U R R E C T E D R E G R E T S1. “The Matrix Quotes,” IMDb, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0133093

/quotes.

C H A P T E R F OU R : W H E R E D O I B E L ON G?1. John 13:35, nIv.

C H A P T E R F I V E: W H IC H G OD W I L L I F OL L OW ?1. See 1 Peter 2:7-8.2. Mark 8:27, 29, emphasis added.3. See John 14:6.

C H A P T E R S I X : C OF F E E , A R T, A N D S PI R I T UA L I T Y1. Colossians 4:6.2. See Mark 2:17.3. See Matthew 8:23-27.4. See Matthew 17:20.5. Wayne Martindale, Jerry Root, and Linda Washington, eds., The Soul of

C. S. Lewis: A Meditative Journey through Twenty-Six of His Best-Loved Writings (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale, 2010), 33.

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C H A P T E R S E V E N: I ON C E WA S L O S T .   .   .1. See Psalm 34:8.2. Isaiah 55:1, author’s paraphrase.

C H A P T E R E IG H T: G OD AT A DI S TA N C E1. Brian Kolodiejchuk, ed., Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light—The Private

Writings of the Saint of Calcutta (New York: Doubleday Religion, 2007).

2. Matthew 7:7.

C H A P T E R N I N E: B R E A K I N G F R E E1. See Revelation 3:20.2. See Luke 7:36-50.3. See Isaiah 1:18.

C H A P T E R E L E V E N: TA K I N G OF F T H E M A S K1. See Revelation 21:4.

C H A P T E R T W E LV E: I L OV E J E S U S B U T .   .   .1. Jeremiah 32:27, nIv.

C H A P T E R T H I R T E E N: W R E S T L I N G W I T H G OD1. See John 14:6.2. See Genesis 3:1-7.3. See Genesis 32:24-32.4. Philippians 3:12, nIv.

C H A P T E R F OU R T E E N: W HO D O I L I S T E N T O?1. See John 20:24-29.

AC K N OW L E D G M E N T S1. See Romans 10:14.

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