Arnie (not his real name) has been the sole student of my course on effective prayer. Sunday after church he told me he’d found a couple online resources about effective prayer, that he hoped we could review together. Each of them begins with the necessity of “belief.” When he said this, I became nervous. There are many such sources online, but I’m not comfortable with them. On the one hand, trying to make myself “believe” that the outcome I pray for is inevitable, feels t

Teddy is an old man. He wears a rosary around his neck, and never fails to “testify” in chapel. “I talk to the Father, Son and Holy Ghost every day,” he says. Every time there’s an altar call, he runs right up there to get born-again — again. Five times a week, he’ll do that. He got barred out a year ago for selling someone oxycontin. Friday night 09/07/12, he came back. He insists to everyone that he’s never been here before, and said he wants to get into the program. Aside