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
I’m Glad Paul Used This Word
When we’re perplexed, we think, “How did this happen?” or “Why is this happening?” and we have no answer. Things don’t seem to line up with our expectations. I thought if I did this, God would do this. If I sowed, I’d reap. Well, you will reap, but before the harvest comes you might have to fight off a few crows. Before you see the sunshine, you might have to walk through a dark valley. The perplexing valley. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair…2..Continue reading→
When You Are Tempted to Despair
So when we get sick, I am tempted to despair. I feel helpless, weak, and useless. Questions swirl around my mind all day and night, “Should I switch doctors?” “What’s the long-term effect of this medication?” “When will we get better?” “How long can I go without sleep?” I find myself irritable and impatient. Stressed and anxious. Reactionary. All my thoughts and energies are focused on what’s happening, it becomes consuming. I just want God to intervene, fix it all, and return things back to nor..Continue reading→
The Relative Value of Temporal Things (Wilberforce)
“This disposition alone must constitute a vast difference between the habitual temper of the real Christian and that of the mass of nominal Christians. The concerns of the present world dominate them almost entirely. They know indeed that they are mortal, but they do not feel it. For the truth finds its way only into their minds but cannot gain admission to their hearts. This understanding of the mind is altogether different from that strong practical impression of the infinite importance of ete..Continue reading→
Children Are People Too
Our children are born with inherent worth and individual traits. We should remember that in raising them. It’s amazing to watch our children grow up and become the men and women God has planned for them to be. Each one is unique and has unique challenges and unique gifts. They may not fit our “mold,” but they were made to fit the place God designed them for. Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Eph. 6:4 ESV In the last ..Continue reading→
Movies
Goodbye, Family Christian Stores
This week, it was announced that Family Christian Stores — one of the world’s largest Christian retailers — will close all 240 of its stores. This isn’t really shocking; Family Christian had gone through bankruptcy a few years back. But it will have an impact; more than 3,000 employees are going to lose their jobs as the stores shutter and Christian culture loses one of its largest and most diverse suppliers of books, music and trinkets. Granted, this is just the nature of the beast these days. ..Continue reading→
Have you caught up with “It’s My Favorite”?
Hey everyone, Not going to lie: it’s been a week. Work, school and home life have been busy, and the general insanity of our world right now has really robbed me of a lot of energy and will to write. It’s a shame, because I have some really good stuff on deck for you. One new series I want to write and one Oscar-related miniseries of articles, and I’m hoping that starting this weekend those will start posting. And in the weeks ahead I’m going to really be jumping into the reviewing pool again ha..Continue reading→
Watch: New music video for The Shack with new footage
Itching to see The Shack — or at least to get a taste of it before it comes out five weeks from now? Well, maybe this will tide you over: the powers that be have released two new songs from the film’s soundtrack, one of which even has a music video. Here is the video, for a new acoustic version of Skillet’s ‘Stars’: The studio has also released the full version of ‘Keep Your Eyes on Me’, which is sung by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill and has previously been heard in the trailers. Here is a Spotify ..Continue reading→
The Story of God: Proof of the Divine
Photo by Amanda Slater, Flickr. C.C. Licensing. Season two of “The Story of God with Morgan Freeman” airs Mondays at 9 p.m. (8 p.m. Central) on the National Geographic Channel. Once again, I’m writing about it here each week from a Christian perspective as a preview. This post is about episode three, the season finale, “Proof of God.” In the final episode of “The Story of God’s” second season, Morgan Freeman travels the world speaking to people who believe they’ve experienced proof — often tang..Continue reading→
Oscar nominations — my own two bits, and a complete list
It looks like La La Land is the movie to beat at this year’s Oscars. The film, a jazzy musical that stars Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone as a musician and an actress trying to make their way in Hollywood, racked up 14 Academy Award nominations this morning — tying the record set by 1950’s All About Eve and 1997’s Titanic. However, because La La Land was nominated twice for original song, it is actually nominated in 13 categories — which is more than the 12 categories that All About Eve was nominate..Continue reading→
Let’s talk Oscar noms!
Some quick thoughts on the 2017 Academy Award nominations, which were announced earlier today. A full list of nominees is available here. At first blush, my biggest surprise is that there isn’t a ton here I would bicker with. The list of nominees this year is really darn good, spread out over several movies. Maybe it’s because I saw fewer movies than normal this year or simply because so many of the nominated films are on my best-of list, but I can’t really find a bad choice among the films. Re..Continue reading→
Star Wars Episode 8 gains a title
Earlier today, the official Star Wars Twitter feed ended more than a year of speculation by revealing the title of the latest entry in the saga, due out this December: It’s official. STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI is the next chapter of the Skywalker saga. This December. #TheLastJedihttps://t.co/ySkVwQcMTPpic.twitter.com/eHrPgbsRJq — Star Wars (@starwars) January 23, 2017 [Read More...]Continue reading→
Encountering the Mystical in the ‘The Fits’
The fascinating film about adolescent encounters with the sublime gives us plenty to ponder. If you’re looking for a film that inspires lively conversation, you’ve got to check out The Fits. Anna Rose Helmer’s debut feature film runs a brief, but intense, 72 minutes, leaving plenty of time for discussion and debate afterwards. It caused a stir last year at Sundance, and critics have been talking about it ever since. Fortunately, Amazon Prime subscribers can currently stream it for free—and for ..Continue reading→
Review: The Resurrection of Gavin Stone (dir. Dallas Jenkins, 2017)
The Resurrection of Gavin Stone is a “faith-based” comedy about a washed-up former child star who, having trashed a hotel roof bar, is told to do a couple hundred hours of community service at a Chicago-based megachurch and ends up starring in their Easter play. It’s a safe, formulaic and utterly predictable film — precisely the kind of “Christian” movie I tend not to review here — but because of my interest in movies about Jesus, I was interested in seeing how this film would depict the play. T..Continue reading→
Music
One-Way Conversations by Hollyn
Hailing from Ohio, this Dove Awards New Artist of the Year nominee has been working the past year on her debut full length album titled "One-Way Conversations". Listeners were introduced to this vibrant you lady on TobyMac's latest release with the songs "Backseat Driver" and "Lights Shine Bright" and later with her debut #1 single "Alone (featuring TRU)". As a songwriter, Hollyn co-wrote all of the songs on her debut full length album and worked with producers Bryan Fowler (Ryan Stevenson), Wit and 42 North (Andy Mineo), Cole Walowac of Capital Kings, Eric Ramey (Britt Nicole) and more. The album[...]Continue reading→
Run The Race (Single) by Holly Starr
The new single from Holly Starr, co-written with and produced by Bryan Fowler (Ryan Stevenson, Tobymac, Mandisa, Hollyn).[...]Continue reading→
The Garden (Deluxe Edition) by Kari Jobe
Grammy nominated Kari Jobe is the premiere female worship leader in Christian music. Coming off her last live album, Majestic, which featured the worship anthem 'Forever' and radio hit 'I Am Not Alone', Kari Jobe has returned to the studio to record her new album, full of brand new worship anthems for the church and for personal reflection. Finding inspiration from life's joys and hardships, Kari leans into the firm foundation of Christ through it all. With career sales that top 1 million, Kari still comes back to the reason why she started in the first place- leading people into[...]Continue reading→
Back To Life by Anthony Evans
Recording Artist and Worship Leader Anthony Evans' highly-anticipated new album Back To Life releases February 3, 2017 through Sherman James Productions. A collection of worship songs, this new album features NBC's The Voice alumnus on 11 worship-themed tracks exploring authenticity, vulnerability, honesty and the way that the culmination of those three things brought him Back to Life. It marks Evans' eighth solo studio album and will be available through all digital retailers and exclusively at Lifeway Christian Stores. Back To Life is available for pre-order on January 6, 2017. "Over the last year, God has given me one revelation after[...]Continue reading→
Canopy by nobigdyl.
"I wrote Canopy coming out of a time of isolation and darkness. It felt like my life was completely falling apart and I'd have to start over again from nothing. God showed me that sometimes there's safety and protection in isolation. Sometimes, the darkness makes it easier to see the light," confessed nobigdyl. when speaking of the anticipated release. 'Canopy' is nobigdyl.'s first album release since his debut in 2015 with the 'Smoke Signal' EP. Check out indie tribe and nobigdyl at his website, nobigdyl.com.[...]Continue reading→
Books
A Look at Notable 2016 Publications
TEDS President offers his list of best books “There is no end to the making of many books,” says the author of Ecclesiastes. In the United States alone, there were close to one million titles published during the past year, with revenue approaching $1.8 billion. Hundreds of titles competed for our attention during 2016. I offer the following observations with the recognition that I have no doubt missed several important works that some of you would have included in such a survey. The books not..Continue reading→
Recommended Biographies By or About Women
Faith Cook is an author, biographer, and hymn writer. She grew up as a missionary child in war-torn China and has chronicled her story in an autobiography. Her own biographical work has been on both men: Fearless Pilgrim: The Life and Times of John Bunyan William Grimshaw of Haworth and women: The Nine Day Queen of England: Lady Jane Grey, Selina: Countess of Huntingdon: Her Pivotal Role in the 18th Century Evangelical Awakening, and Anne Bradstreet: Pilgrim and PoetContinue reading→
Bibliotheca Bible – a Review
There are many things that I have great admiration for, but perhaps one of the things I enjoy the most is seeing a long-awaited, labor of love come to full fruition. The tenacity, hard work, dedication, and pitfalls along the way in seeing something through to the end is something that, for lack of better terms, gets me emotionally invested in a project. Yet not all projects are equal and not all catch my particular attention – but if we’re truthful, that’s precisely what makes these types of th..Continue reading→
Christianity Today’s 2017 Book Awards
Our picks for the books most likely to shape evangelical life, thought, and culture. Make a list of all the blessings the Protestant Reformation has brought, and eventually—long after jotting down iconic phrases like “salvation by grace alone through faith alone”—you’ll get around to the CT Book Awards. Books, of course, had existed long before Luther posted his 95 Theses. But there’s no denying that reading and the Reformation, with a vital assist from Gutenberg’s printing press, soared toget..Continue reading→
Where Should Our Women be Discipled?
Pastors and elders want thinking women in the church, right? And yet popular beliefs that came out of the nineteenth century’s cult of domesticity still seem to linger in the evangelical culture today. Back then, people taught that women’s brains were inferior to men’s intellectually and that women needed to reserve their energy and blood flow for reproductive purposes. These are ideas we usually joke about now, even to provoke a woman in innocent fun, because we know them to be scientifically p..Continue reading→
10 Books Every Christian Teenager Should Read
A reader recently asked the question: Do you have a suggested list of books for teenagers, something like a “Ten best books every Christian teenager should read?” It surprised me that I have never compiled such a list, especially since I’ve got two teenagers of my own. I decided I’d better remedy this oversight straight away. Here, then, is a list of ten great books every Christian teen ought to read—or at least consider reading. Please note that these are not necessarily the ten best books your teens will read in their lifetime. Not all of these books will stand the test of time as Christian classics. But each of them is suited to twenty-first century teenaged readers and together they will provide a foundation for the Christian life that will prove both deep and wide. I list them in no particular order. The Holiness of God by R.C. Sproul. It is rare that a book is elevated to the ranks of the classics, but The Holiness of God is a prime candidate. Sproul’s book will introduce teens..Continue reading→
Signposts to God and More (RJS)
Books, books, books … What is the best book you’ve read on Science and Christian faith? It seems to be the season … not the holiday season, but the book season. I recently received three new books. Books by a physicist, a biologist (with training in theology as well), and a philosopher. All three tackle questions of science and Christian faith. Each of the three presents an interesting perspective – and I intend to dig into them more completely over the upcoming months. Peter Bussey’s book, Sign..Continue reading→
2016 Reading Challenge Update: September & October
This year I have been participating in the 2016 Reading Challenge, a fun way to increase and diversify your reading through another year. I took the challenge and set this year’s goal at 104 books. However, because so much of my reading has to go toward reviewing books that are recently published and of interest to Christians (both for reviews published here and in WORLD magazine), I decided to pick from all over the list rather than working through it in order. What follows are the books I completed in September and October and, in parentheses, the reading challenge category they fulfill. Below that is the complete list of categories I need to cover. As you can see, I did not finish many books over the past couple of months, something that is not unusual as my reading ebbs and flows over the course of the year. You can see my previous updates for January, February, March-April, May, June, and July-August. Sexual Morality in a Christless World by Matthew Rueger. This is a brilliant w..Continue reading→
6 Reflections on Community Inspired by Bonhoeffer
My church has recently launched a series on community called Better Together. In conjunction with the sermon series, I, in collaboration with my senior pastor, wrote a small group curriculum to compliment the series. I love community, which is why I love small groups. Like many of you, I work hard on our small group system at my church to equip leaders and to help many in my church experience the fullness of community—the good, the bad, and the ugly. However, as I continue to reflect on communi..Continue reading→
World
‘Pope Francis’ Says Roman Catholics, Christians Should Seek Forgiveness From Homosexuals
ROME (Reuters) — Jorge Bergoglio, who goes by the name “Pope Francis,” said on Sunday that Christians and the Roman Catholic Church should seek forgiveness from homosexuals for the way they had treated them. Speaking to reporters aboard the plane taking him back to Rome from Armenia, he also said the Church should ask forgiveness for the way it has treated women, for turning a blind eye to child labor and for “blessing so many weapons” in the past. In the hour-long freewheeling conversation th..Continue reading→
Supreme Court: Texas Can’t Keep Women from Abortion Clinics
Ruling to reverse restrictions interrupts years of pro-life advances on the state level. The Supreme Court sided with abortion providers in a landmark case today, striking down Texas’ stricter requirements for clinics and setting a potential precedent against similar regulations in other states. Ruling on its first abortion case since 2007, the court voted 5-3 that the provisions of the 2013 Texas law known as HB-2 “place a substantial obstacle in the path of women seeking a previability abort..Continue reading→
ISIS Fighters Launch New Attacks in Eastern Afghanistan
JALALABAD (India.com) — Heavy fighting between Afghan forces and Islamic State fighters has killed dozens of people, officials said today, raising fears the militant group is staging a comeback months after Kabul said they had been defeated. The fighting began late on Friday in the Kot area of the Rodat district in eastern Nangarhar province after a contingent of IS fighters attacked police check posts, provincial governor Salim Khan Kunduzi said. The interior minis..Continue reading→
‘We Can’t Kill This Baby’: Couple Walks Out of Abortion Facility, Saves Life of Down Syndrome Son
SYDNEY — An Australian couple whose son was diagnosed with Down syndrome is expressing their relief that they walked out of an abortion facility instead of ending the life of their unborn child. “I’d made an appointment to have a termination, and we were sitting there, but then my husband dragged me outside,” Claire Martin recalled to the Daily Mail this week. “He said, ‘What are we doing? Lets go home. We can’t kill this baby.'” “I was relieved,” she said. “I needed someone to say they w..Continue reading→
American
How Can You Do a Better Job Counseling Women Considering Abortion? Here’s Some Tips
Every other Tuesday we publish a new episode of the Equipped for Life Podcast, available to everyone who purchases our course, “Equipped for Life: A Fresh Approach to Conversations about Abortion.” Generally these podcast episodes won’t be available to the general public, but we plan on occasionally making exceptions, and we’ve decided to make our 11th episode the first one we make available to everybody. This is the first part in a two-part series on practical sidewalk counseling tips, from th..
Florida Supreme Court Blocks 24-Hour Waiting Period Before Babies Can be Aborted
In a 4-2 decision, the Florida Supreme Court blocked legislation passed and signed by pro-life Gov. Rick Scott in 2015 mandating women wait 24 hours between first visiting an abortion clinic and having an abortion, CBS Miami reported. “In this case, the state failed to present any evidence that the mandatory delay law serves any compelling state interest, much less through the least restrictive means, and, therefore, the trial court correctly concluded that there is a substantial likelihood tha..
Australia Will Spend $7.3 Million for Abortions After Trump Defunds International Planned Parenthood
Australia will chip in millions of dollars to support Planned Parenthood’s abortion work world-wide, government leaders announced this week. DevEx reports Australia is the latest country to join a global pro-abortion effort in response to President Donald Trump reinstating the Mexico City Policy, which prohibits U.S. taxpayer funding to groups that promote or perform abortions overseas. At least eight other countries are creating a new global abortion fund together to to make up for the money ..
Media Mourn Deaths of Hundreds of Whales, Ignore Deaths of Thousands of Aborted Babies
This week the media have been leading the nation in national mourning for the deaths of hundreds of Pilot Whales that perished on the beach at Farewell Spit. This tragic news has featured on the front pages of our daily newspapers and as the lead item on the 6 pm TV One news. The media have recounted how crowds of volunteers have provided touching compassion and dedicated care to save these precious lives. We have been deeply moved by the sight of several volunteers singing to the distressed wh..
Australia
“What hope can you offer us when we’re sitting in here?”
“Why should we listen to you? What hope can you offer us when we’re sitting in here?” That’s the question Anglican youth minister Bruce Chapman is often confronted with when he visits inmates at Don Dale youth detention centre in the Northern Territory. Shocking footage of abuse in a Northern Territory youth detention centre was aired on ABC’s Four Corners programme on Monday night. The detention centre has come under national scrutiny this we..
There are brothers in Christ on the inside in South Africa
“When you look at these people, they look so normal and so ordinary. But they are the people who’ve caused others a tremendous amount of pain and grief. They are someone else’s nightmare,” Pastor Willy Dengler tells me as we drive towards the Johannesburg Correction Centre, the city prison in South Africa known as “Sun City”. It’s my first prison visit and I’m nervous. But for Pastor Willy, he’s lost count of how many times he has been ..
Maids and taxi drivers: the new face of the missionary movement
Maids and taxi drivers are the new face of the missionary movement says global missions expert and Bible translator, Eddie Arthur. “We are used to thinking about mission as people going from Britain or Australia to Africa or from America to China,” Arthur tells Eternity. “…We are starting to hear stories coming through of Saudi families where the mothers and children are becoming believers through the influence of Filipino maids working in their..
Turnbull’s team arm wrestles over plebiscite
A senior Coalition source has told Eternity that Coalition backbenchers are fighting to ensure that the plebiscite on same-sex marriage is put back to 2017. A same-sex marriage plebiscite would have to be “very rushed” to make it through both Houses of Parliament for a poll this year. The next sitting of parliament is only seven weeks long. The Government wants to deal with terrorism and some economic legislation as their first priority. A Senate enquiry and the draf..
Law & Government
Abortionists File Suit Against Alabama Law Banning Dismemberment Abortions
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Two abortionists have filed suit against an Alabama law that bans dilation and evacuation (D&E) abortions, and prohibits abortion facilities from operating within 2,000 feet of an elementary or middle school. As previously reported, S.B. 363 was signed into law in May by Gov. Robert Bentley, outlawing what is commonly known as “dismemberment abortions” in the state. “[I]t shall be unlawful for any individual to purposely perform or attempt to perform a dismemberment abortion..
Judge Strikes Down Religious Freedom Law Protecting Right to Decline Part in Same-Sex Ceremonies
JACKSON, Miss. (Reuters) — A federal judge has blocked a Mississippi law intended to allow people who object on religious grounds to decline services for homosexual ceremonies. U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves, in a ruling late on Thursday, said that the wide-ranging law adopted this spring unconstitutionally allowed “arbitrary discrimination” against the homosexuals, unmarried people and others who do not share such views. “The state has put its thumb on the scale to favor some religious be..
Chaplain Pushes Back By Distributing Bibles at Base After Scripture Removed From Missing Man Table
DAYTON, Ohio — Following the removal of a Bible from a missing man table at an Ohio Air Force base due to the demands of a notorious church-state separation group, a military chaplain at the site is pushing back by distributing thousands of copies of the word of God to stationed airmen. As previously reported, in April, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) wrote to officials at the Wright-Patterson Air Force base after the organization allegedly received more than 30 complaints abou..
U.S. Military Repeals Ban on Transgender Service Members
WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The Pentagon on Thursday ended its ban on openly transgender people serving in the U.S. military, formally providing an allowance to an estimated thousands of U.S. troops who once could have been kicked out of the armed forces. The repeal, which ends one of the last barriers to serving in the military, comes after a 2011 decision to end the U.S. military’s ban on openly gay and lesbian people serving, despite concerns that such a move could be too great a burden in wartim..
Entertainment
‘Killing Reagan’ lacks surprises, if you remember March 30, 1981
Cynthia Nixon (as Nancy Reagan) and Tim Matheson (as Ronald Reagan) in “Killing Reagan” (National Geographic Channels/Hopper Stone, SMPSP) It was October in Nashville during the run up to the 1980 U.S. presidential election between Republican candidate Ronald Reagan and Democratic incumbent Jimmy Carter. There is a stir in the crowd when a Secret Service agent spots a young man named John Hinckley Jr. (Kyle More) with a red backpack. He escapes but his suspicious behavior at the airport leads po..
Can a Christian Movie Win an Oscar?
The Birth of a Nation hits theaters today, but it’s been in the news for nearly a year. It made a show-stopping entrance at the Sundance Film Festival this January, earning raucous standing ovations and a titanic $17.5 million deal from Fox Searchlight. The film, dramatizing an 1831 slave rebellion led by Nat Turner, was immediately dubbed an Academy Award Best Picture front-runner—the perfect tonic to 2016’s still brewing #OscarsSoWhite controversy. But then the film was hit with a..
Turner Classic Movies highlights trailblazing women in film for second year
In case you haven’t noticed, classic films are “hot” right now, and not only with viewers who may have seen them in theaters 50 or 60 years ago. Turner Classic Movies is a broadcast and satellite channel that was launched on April 14, 1994, at 6 p.m., the 100th anniversary, to the minute, of the first public film showing in New York City (notwithstanding what the Lumière brothers might have to say about that). The first film broadcast on TCM was the 1939 ..
‘Birth of a Nation’ offers lots to talk about
“Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep for ever.” –Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson wrote these words in Paris in 1785, in his only full-length book, Notes on the State of Virginia. These same words are on the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C., and they open Nate Parker’s first film as a director and writer, “The Birth of a N..
US
Trump’s news conference & confirmation hearings
Donald Trump held his first news conference since winning the election. He said that he now believes the Russians were probably responsible for the Democratic National Committee e-mail hacks, but he blasted the report that Russia has compromising information on him, singling out CNN for its reporting and Buzzfeed for publishing the unverified document. Also, confirmation hearings for Trump’s cabinet are underway. His attorney-general nominee, Jeff Sessions, said that abortion and same-sex marria..
Interfaith service surprise
The Anglican cathedral in Glasgow, in its interfaith zeal, invited a Muslim to read from the Qu’ran in the divine service for Epiphany. The purpose was to show that Muslims too honor Jesus. The reader did read the accounts of Jesus’s birth in the Muslim holy book, but then went on to read the passage that specifically denies that Jesus is God’s son. A controversy has broken out, but the point should be clear: All religions do NOT teach the same things. And to pretend otherwise, as interfaith ser..
More misunderstanding of vocation
Frederich Buechner is a novelist and writer that I really appreciate, but his definition of vocation is causing confusion. He said that your vocation is “the place where your deep gladness meets the world’s deep need.” Great words with some good applications, but to say this describes vocation contributes to the notion that vocation is something special, tied to self-fulfillment, and something better than ordinary “jobs.” So now Jo Swinney, thinking of that definition, says, writing for Christia..
Actors vs. Trump
Meryl Streep took the occasion of her lifetime achievement award at the Golden Globes to give a blistering speech against president-elect Donald Trump. See Mollie Hemingway’s critique of her speech. Now actors have the same right as all other citizens to criticize their public officials. This, along with other recent “public service” spots featuring actors and their political causes, does raise another issue: acting outside of one’s vocation. Actors have the vocation of effectively speaking line..
Church & Theology
6 Places to Find Soulwinning Prospects
We know that Jesus came “to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). But sometimes we forget that He actively sought those who were lost. For Jesus, gospel outreach was no passing interest or occasional hobby. He looked for lost people and personally brought them the message of salvation through Himself. And He calls us to do the same: “Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled” (Luke 14:23). We know that everywhere around us there..
5 Things to Remember When God Changes Your Schedule
Every Sunday afternoon, I take time to review the previous week and plan the week ahead. It is a discipline that has been a tremendous help to me over the years in being proactive with my responsibilities. Sometimes, however, a well-planned week gets rearranged by an emergency or an all-consuming need. I’m in the midst of such a moment as our community mourns the loss of LAPD Sergeant Steve Owen who was killed in the line of duty. Our church has the privilege to serve his family and the law enf..
3 New Testament Essentials for Nurturing Growth in New Christians
One of the great joys of an intense season of outreach, such as our church just conducted for Open House Sunday, is following up on new Christians. There is nothing more rewarding than to come alongside a new Christian and help ground him in God’s Word, encourage his faith, and guide him in new patterns of Christian living. And there is nothing more needed for that young Christian either. Spiritual maturity, like physical maturity, doesn’t take place overnight. Neither does it take place the m..
Growth Points 72: Restoring and Maintaining Passion in Ministry
Anyone in ministry can testify that there are intense seasons that deplete you physically, spiritually, or emotionally. It is during these times that we have to learn specifically what it takes to maintain the passion that we’ll need to continue serving the Lord the next day, the next week, and for the next season of ministry. I don’t want to serve God’s people from an empty tank. Of course, even the world knows the importance of rest and doing what you can to maintain your health. But beyond t..