Last spring I had the privilege of speaking at a conference for NFL players put on by Pro Athletes Outreach (PAO), a group which exists to unite a community of pro athletes and couples to grow as disciples of Jesus and positively impact their spheres of influence. They have a fantastic outreach to professional football and baseball athletes and their wives. I’ve seen firsthand the amazing difference they’re making. In the off-season I exchanged emails and texts with dozens of NFL players and cha..Continue reading→
Home
Thoughts
Motherhood Is a Marathon
I wanted to do great things for God. In the spring of my senior year of college, on the brink of embarking upon my own journey into adulthood, my future was undecided and that was simultaneously terrifying and thrilling. As a philosophy major, my path was narrower than I had realized, but I was sure it would take me on some grand and glorious adventure. I knew the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. “Glorify” sounds like such a grand term. It evokes images of battlefie..Continue reading→
1 Peter 5:7–8: How Not to Battle Anxiety
Anxieties attack our faith and torment our peace. The question with anxiety is not whether it will come, but rather, how can I fight it when it does? Watch NowContinue reading→
Is Love of Money Really the Root of All Evils?
Is the love of money the “root of all evils” or only the “root of all kinds of evil” (1 Timothy 6:10)? “All evils” is the formal English equivalent of the original Greek (pantōn tōn kakōn). It is remarkable that all older versions of the Bible translate 1 Timothy 6:10 in the more literal way: “The love of money is the root of all evils” (or all evil). This includes the Wycliffe Bible, Luther Bibel, Geneva Bible, King James Version, Douay-Rheims, Darby Bible, and Revised Standard Version. Bu..Continue reading→
Hot Topics
The Blessing of Humility (Book Review)
Bridges insists “A life of humility is not an option for a believer to choose or reject. It is a command of God.” To teach the beauty and value of humility as well as to start on down the path toward humility he turns to the Beatitudes saying, “these expressions of Christian character are a description of humility in action.” I wonder if The Blessing of Humility is Jerry Bridges’ final book. It was published posthumously, but soon enough after his death that it’s very possible there was still a..Continue reading→
Are We Living in the Last Days?
“When I look at two titans of theology like Martin Luther and Jonathan Edwards and I see them making predictions and voicing their expectations of the near return of Jesus and being wrong, that gives me pause.” We have to be careful not to be guilty of what Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for—what I call the Red Sky Syndrome. If you recall, Jesus rebuked the Pharisees because they had an ability to predict the weather. They could look at the sky, and if it was red at night, they would say, “Sailor’..Continue reading→
“God Made Me for China” — Eric Liddell Beyond Olympic Glory
“Americans of my generation remember Eric Liddell largely because of Chariots of Fire, the 1981 British film written by Colin Welland, produced by David Puttnam, and directed by Hugh Hudson.” Olympic glory abounds in Rio as the 31st modern Olympiad is well underway. This time, the event is living up to its hype, especially for Americans, who are likely drawn to the pomp and ceremony as much as the athletic competition. The medal ceremonies represent both climax and catharsis, with athletes awa..Continue reading→
The Trinity: Praying to the Father through the Son by the Spirit
“In the Covenant of Redemption, the Son voluntarily agreed to become incarnate and undergo the miseries of this life and the excruciating death of the cross and the victorious resurrection from the grave for us. And when he ascended, he entered into the loving heavenly Father’s presence with our (now glorified) human nature where he represent us and has ongoing sympathy, indeed empathy, for us.” The Christian doctrine of the Triune Godhead is often thought more in terms of an intellectual puzzl..Continue reading→
Life & Society
Parties at War: Boris Johnson pulls out of leadership race
Boris Johnson will not stand to be Conservative party leader. After a morning of shock revelations, the former London major and champion of the campaign to leave the European Union, said was not the right person to lead the UK. The move came after his Vote Leave colleague Michael Gove and home secretary Theresa May both announced they will run for leader. Gove, the justice secretary, announced his surprise bid with a dig at Johnson who he said could not "provide the leadership or build the team for the task ahead". He had been expected to support Johnson's campaign after the pair were leading lights in bringing the UK out of the EU. The shock announcement came as both Labour and Conservative parties headed for a summer in turmoil as a leadership race begins within both. The justice secretary Michael Gove will run against Theresa May, Stephen Crabb, Liam Fox and Andrea Leadsom. Home secretary Theresa May announced her leadership bid earlier o..Continue reading→
Anti-Christian bias, the BBC and the problem of religious literacy
Is the BBC institutionally hostile to Christianity, only interested in knocking our faith and promoting other religions? It seems unlikely, on the face of it, but that's the charge leveled against it by a Christian group that's just presented a 12,000-signature petition to director-general Lord Hall. Voice for Justice calls on him to "protect the UK's Christian heritage and reject current proposals to reduce and downgrade Christian programming in favour of increased coverage for Muslim, Hindu and Sikh faiths". It accuses the BBC's head of religion and ethics, Aaqil Ahmed – a Muslim – of regularly commissioning documentaries "displaying clearly pro-Islamic bias, while calling into question fundamental tenets and teachings of Christianity". Britain, it says, is a Christian country and so Christianity should be treated with respect and given more airtime than minority groups; and, "In particular, Islam should not be singled out for special interest and presen..Continue reading→
Women who attend religious services five time less likely to commit suicide, study says
Researchers also found that Catholic women were less likely to commit suicide than Protestant women. Women who regularly attend religious services are five times less likely to commit suicide in comparison to those who never attend services, researchers have found. A study published Wednesday by JAMA Psychiatry found that among more than 89,000 women, "attendance at religious services once per week or more was associated with an approximately 5-fold lower rate of suicide compared with never attending services". Researchers concluded that "frequent religious service attendance was associated with a significantly lower rate of suicide." The women, most of whom were white Christians, were studied over a period of 15 years between 1996 and 2010. During that time, 36 committed suicide, which is among the 10 leading causes of death in the US. "Our results do not imply that health care providers should prescribe attendance at religious services. However, for patie..Continue reading→
‘Satanic Islam’ pastor James McConnell forgives BBC presenter for ‘hijack’ interview
Pastor James McConnell says he forgives the BBC interviewer who pressed him on his attitude to Islam. The controversial Belfast pastor cleared of broadcasting hate speech after a sermon in which he branded Islam 'satanic' has said he forgives the BBC interviewer whose interviews with him brought him widespread negative publicity. Pastor James McConnell was tried after a sermon in which he said: "Islam is heathen, Islam is satanic, Islam is a doctrine spawned in hell" was broadcast online. He was charged with contravening the law against causing a grossly offensive message to be sent by means of a public electronic communications network. BBC presenter Stephen Nolan won an award for an interview with McConnell in 2014. One of the judges, Kevin Marsh, said: "Nolan was well informed and well prepared and tested the pastor's arguments robustly and persistently. The overall effect was an engaging interview in which not just the pastor'..Continue reading→
Movies
COMMON BRINGS GLORY TO THE GRAMMYS (AND THE OSCARS): An Interview
What 2015 Grammy moment moved you? Kanye West’s cut in on Beck’s acceptance speech for “Album of the Year” garnered most of the headlines. How sad to a stunt overshadow Annie Lennox’s rousing rendition of “I Put a Spell On You” with Hozier. Pharrell reimagined his sunny single, “Happy,” into an intriguing protest echoing the “Hands up/Don’t shoot” posture that accompanied events in Ferguson, Missouri. Prince slipped in the best one-liner of the night, “Albums still matter. Just like books and bl..Continue reading→
Diablo Cody Tweets About Rescuing Jinger Duggar
Her new movie, Paradise, is all about religion. In the movie, which was originally titled Lamb of God, a young religious woman (Julianne Hough) is in a terrible accident, which causes her to question G-d and run off to Las Vegas to see what sin feels like. Well, it looks like screenwriter/director Diablo Cody had some pretty specific pop-culture inspirations for the movie: The Duggars. Particularly Jinger. Diablo recently tweeted that if Jinger ever wants to run away from her family, she can com..Continue reading→
Music
As We Ascend Releases First Single Wash Away to iTunes
As We Ascend's first single "Wash Away" is now available on iTunes, six days before the completion of their PledgeMusic campaign to fund the full length album Farewell to Midnight. In addition to being available on iTunes, "Wash Away" is also going for adds at radio. The PledgeMusic campaign is currently at 95% of its goal. You can listen to "Wash Away" below. As We Ascend, formed by former members of We As Human, launched their PledgeMusic campaign with the unique invitation to fans to "..Continue reading→
Bizzle Petitions for Financial Support of New Project
The recent release of Bizzle's new project Crowns & Crosses has sparked a conversation about the realities of being an artist with his God Over Money fans. In a recent newsletter, Bizzle details the shocking differences between a fan purchasing a physical or digital copy of any GOM release versus streaming through the likes of Spotify or Apple Music. He begins with the staggering reality that it takes 1,500 streams to equal that of one album sale. For example, if 100,000 fans stream the en..Continue reading→
John Mark McMillan Launches Pre-order for ‘Mercury & Lightning’
John Mark McMillan has launched a pre-order for his upcoming album Mercury & Lightning through PledgeMusic. The album has been preceded by the release of "Wilderlove" and "No Country." The PledgeMusic pre-order gives fans the chance to purchase a wide range of merch packages, with each one providing access to exclusive behind-the-scenes information approaching the album's release. The pre-order was launched in part due to the overwhelmingly positive response to the single "Wilderlove," re..Continue reading→
Sho Baraka’s ‘The Narrative’ Debuts at No. 6 on iTunes Hip Hop Chart and No. 26 on iTunes Overall
Critically acclaimed hip hop artist Sho Baraka unleashed The Narrative last week, and it was well received by fans and critics alike as it peaked at No. 6 on iTunes Hip Hop Chart and No. 26 on iTunes Overall Albums Chart. Created with the intention to generate a discussion among each other about the social issues we face today and throughout history, Sho Baraka is doing just that as shown by the critics below "Sho Baraka gives us conscious hip hop that makes us think. It is not intended for eas..Continue reading→
MercyMe’s ‘Welcome To The New’ Receives RIAA Gold Certification
GRAMMY® Nominated MercyMe's Welcome To The New (2014) has been honored with RIAA Gold Certification, marking the sixth gold album for the band in addition to a double platinum album and a platinum video. Welcome To The New earned two GRAMMY® nods, multiple GMA Dove Award honors and an American Music Award nomination. In addition, the album boasts three No. 1 singles with "Greater," "Flawless" and "Dear Younger Me," and one Top 5 single with "Shake." MercyMe is planning to unveil a new recor..Continue reading→
Deraj Drops A New Single
Deraj blessed both the genre and Reflection Music Group (RMG) fans worldwide with a new banger for the car on "Know That's Me," featuring KYNG. Listeners can purchase not only the track, but also the instrumental backing and an acapella version of the track. The three versions of this project may be purchased here, or streamed on Spotify. Visuals for the project debuted under the direction of Joe Desantis. The video may be viewed below. RMG has been quite the productive label as of late..Continue reading→
Live in Chicago: The Looking for America Tour by Switchfoot
Track Listing 01. Holy Water 02. Meant To Live 03. Bull In A China Shop 04. Where The Light Shines Through 05. I Won't Let You Go 06. Love Alone Is Worth The Fight 07. Hello Hurricane 08. If The House Burns Down Tonight 09. Float 10. Live it Well Continue reading→
Courtney Orlando Releases New Single, Wait On You
Courtney Orlando released his latest single "Wait on You" on October 10. You can download the track for free on SoundCloud here. Orlando describes the new track as an open conversation between him and God. No future plans of a full length project have been released at this time. The artist formally known as J.R. dug his roots into the hip-hop genre over a decade ago with his debut release Metamorphosis in 2005. Fittingly, change has followed him in the area of style, depth and even branding a..Continue reading→
The Narrative by Sho Baraka
Track Listing 01. Foreward, 1619 02. Soul, 1971 03. Kanye, 2009 (feat. Jackie Hill Perry) 04. Love, 1959 05. Here, 2016 (feat. Lecrae) 06. 30 & Up, 1986 (feat. Courtney Orlando) 07. Profhet, 1968 (feat. James Portier) 08. Maybe Both, 1865 (feat. James Portier) Purchase 09. Excellent, 2017 Purchase 10. Road to Humble, 1979 Purchase 11. Myhood, U.S.A., 1937 (feat. Vanessa Hill) 12. Words, 2006 13. Fathers, 2004 Purchase 14. Piano Break, 33 A.D. Continue reading→
American
Another “Lifestyle Choice” — Trans-Species
Nano, a 20-year-old Norwegian, says, “I was born in the wrong species.” Nano believes she is trapped in a human female body instead of a feline body. A woman who hisses at dogs, claims her night vision and sense of smell is better because she is really a cat. She even meows in “cat language.” The Daily Mail reports: Sadly, such “lifestyle choices” are nothing more than disordered affections, in some cases mental disorders, which enable people to reject truth and condone wrong and delusional beha..
The Myth of the ‘Moderate Muslim’
Below is a guest post from my friend and Liberty Alliance colleague, J. Matt Barber which was first published on his site: BarbWire.com. “When the sacred months are over slay the idolaters wherever you find them. Arrest them, besiege them, and lie in ambush everywhere for them.” – The Quran, Surah 9:5 When it comes to the global scourge of orthodox Islam, the Western world, which Islamists expressly seek to “destroy from within,” is an upside-down realm wherein objective facts, logic and reason ..
O Holy Night– Unique History, Watch Beautiful Performance
“O Holy Night,” one of the most beautiful Christmas carols worshipping the birth of Jesus Christ, was written by an atheist. Not just an atheist, but an avowed atheist and vocal anti-cleric. In 1843 a local parish church in Roquemaure, France, completed renovating its organ. To celebrate this joyous event that coincided with Christmas, the parish priest asked Placide Cappeau (1808-1877), a wine merchant, poet, and native of Roquemaure, to write a Christmas poem for the celebration. Cappeau agree..