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→
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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 Federal Vision and the Magical Efficacy of Sacraments
It is a fatal flaw of the proponents of the Federal Vision that they hold to a view that replaces the work of the Holy Spirit with the magical working of the sacraments, a relic of paganism. It is beside the point that they define efficacy in such a vague way,… that it can be increased or decreased whenever necessary. By teaching that the sacraments, particularly baptism, have the power to convey new life, justification, forgiveness of sins and other graces temporarily, they have chosen a pagan ..Continue reading→
White Christian America Is Dying
I begin the book with an obituary for White Christian America, and I conclude the book with a eulogy. This construction is consistent with the book’s stark title. My argument in the book is that we have already experienced the passing of White Christian America. While this claim is grounded in demographic changes, it is also supported by the fading power of major institutions, such as the National Council of Churches or the Christian Coalition of America. There are no indicators that the country..Continue reading→
Confessions Of A Former Charismatic
This is what I found: there were many conversations among the church leaders, or with “discerning members,” who were concerned that there was a diminishing of the prophetic on Sunday or in prayer gatherings. The absence of such words was a sign of sickness. Rather than being glad at the faithful ministry of the Word in preaching, we were concerned with the absence of the prophetic. Though denied on paper, in practice, such words were given more weight than preaching — but not as much weight as S..Continue reading→
He Holds Out His Hands
There is Good News; God has also blessed you with his Gospel. You are hearing it right now. Despite the fact that you have spurned his counsel, rebelled against him, and have earned his eternal wrath, he has not stopped loving you. He promised his Son. He sent his Son. And now through the Word of God he stretches out his hands to you. A substitutionary law-keeper and a substitutionary righteousness are available for you. He is the Savior of all who give up and beg for pardon and rescue. Paul’s ..Continue reading→
Movies
Watch: Rihanna sings in the final trailer for Star Trek Beyond
Star Trek Beyond isn’t the first Star Trek film to feature a new song on its soundtrack, but it just might be the first to put its song front-and-centre in a movie trailer. The song in question is Rihanna’s ‘Sledgehammer’, and this is the trailer: You can listen to the complete single via Spotify: It is not clear to me whether this song was actually written for the film or whether the filmmakers are simply taking advantage of the fact that Rihanna has a new song to promote. Maybe Spock and Uhur..Continue reading→
Box office: Independence Day and Free State of Jones flop while Finding Dory and The Shallows thrive in the water
They had 20 years to prepare a sequel … and it more or less flopped in North America. Independence Day: Resurgence — which opened over a week before the holiday it’s named for and was not screened for critics in advance, both of which are sure signs that the studio wasn’t confident about the film’s prospects — is estimated to have grossed only $41.6 million between Thursday and Sunday nights. That’s less than the $50.2 million that the original film opened to in 1996. To repeat: the original fil..Continue reading→
Halftime: The best films of 2016 (so far)
We’re quickly approaching the midpoint of the year, and it’s been an interesting one. If you look at the box office reports, it’s been a blase year, unless you’re Disney. But in terms of quality, it’s not been bad. Usually, I reach the midpoint of the year and wonder if I’m going to be able to have enough to fill a top ten list in six months. This year, I already have at least five films that I know will kill me to leave off the year-end list. So I thought, in the interest of getting pageviews m..Continue reading→
Review: “Finding Dory”
Five years after its release, “Cars 2” still instills dread in Pixar lovers. Never mind that the studio’s other weakest films (“The Good Dinosaur” and “Brave”) are both original works, and that the “Toy Story” followups have been lauded as some of the best sequels ever. What most people think of when they hear about returning to a beloved Pixar world is Mater the Tow Truck zipping through Japan and making pee-pee jokes. It’s why the idea of a “Finding Nemo..Continue reading→
Interview with comic book artist Ted Woods
Here’s a new feature I’m hoping to implement more regularly on this blog. Constant readers know that I can be critical about Christian art, and that’s because I think there’s a lot of bad art out there that goes under the Christian name. But I really want to delve more into the artists and crafts people who are passionate about creating great Christian art and improving the conversation about faith. I met Ted Woods, an independent comic book writer, when we brie..Continue reading→
The strange love affair between Christians and guns
This isn’t the first time I’ve addressed this, and I hate that. This post, in fact, is adapted from a now-defunct blog I used to have; I just had to tweak it for the tragedy du jour. I hate that 50 people are dead because one man was filled with hate and had access to a firearm. I hate that this is not the first time I’ve had to deal with this news. Charleston. San Bernardino. Columbine. Aurora. Sandy Hook. All names that strike a chord because of one underlying ..Continue reading→
Orlando: Death in our safe spaces demands love across the lines
Earlier this evening, in response to the horrific shooting at a gay nightclub Orlando that left 50 people dead and just as many hospitalized — the deadliest shooting in U.S. history — blogger Micah J. Murray posted the following on his Facebook page: What makes mass shootings so intimately offensive is that they tend to happen at “safe” places where such tragedy should be off limits. A school. A movie theater. A day care center. A mall. These are wher..Continue reading→
“The Conjuring 2”: Ghostbusting with love
James Wan’s “Conjuring” movies are something rare in the horror genre: warm-hearted stories that scare the hell out of you. The first film, released in 2013, notably received an R rating for being “too scary” — movie marketing that was actually justified. The film was one of the most terrifying, knuckle-clenching haunted house movies in decades, elevated by Wan’s affection for his characters. Ed and Lorraine Warren (played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) were real-life paranormal experts car..Continue reading→
Morgan Freeman Explores The Story of God
On the heels of Holy Week, National Geographic presents The Story of God, an ambitious, expansive six-part series hosted by Morgan Freeman. This is an impressive interfaith study, with Freeman traveling to Israel, Egypt, Turkey, Guatemala, India and beyond in search of God, or at least humanity’s efforts to reach God. From the Temple Mount in Jerusalem to bathers on the Ganges, we follow Freeman and his guides to spiritual hot spot..Continue reading→
Music
Heartbeat (Single) by The Waiting Kind
Track Listing 01. Heartbeat Continue reading→
All Is Bright – EP by Cristabelle Braden
Track Listing 01. I Heard The Bells on Christmas Day 02. O Little Town of Bethlehem 03. Away in a Manger 04. Jingle Bells Continue reading→
The Thrill of Hope by Christy Nockels
Inspired to share her first Christmas album with the world, Christy Nockels will unveil The Thrill Of Hope on November 4. The Thrill Of Hope introduces Nockels' take on holiday classics mixed with original songs, including "Song In The Air," "Wrap This One Up," Amaryllis" and "Our Christmas Song," penned originally. The album is steeped in scriptural references from Isaiah, Genesis, Micah and more, along with family memories as Nockels invited other family members to take part in the project as well. Nockels worked with husband Nathan Nockels (Passion, Matt Redman, Laura Story) to create the LP. "'The thrill of[...]Continue reading→
Loose Canon Vol. 3 by Canon
Loose Canon Vol. 3 is the third installment of the Loose Canon series. With lead single Eagles, The Family, and Over Do It; Canon has a stacked line up for this EP. Track Listing 01. I'm Back Purchase 02. Eagles 03. Over Do It 04. EZ Purchase 05. My Little Baby 06. Renegade Purchase 07. Expect Us Purchase 08. Hold Up 09. I Ain't Got Time 10. The FamilyContinue reading→
Bethel Music Kids Release ‘Christmas Party’ EP Nov. 18
Dove Award-winning Bethel Music Kids (#BethelMusicKids) releases their Christmas Party EP internationally Nov. 18. The new recording follows their first full-length album and concert film, Come Alive, which launched to the top of the retail charts amidst acclaim when it released Dec. 2015 and went on to receive the GMA Dove Award for "Children's Music Album of the Year" last month after receiving a trio of nominations.Continue reading→
Gaither Music Group’s All-new Docu-musical Rides To The Top Of Three Music Sales Charts
Gaither Music Group's all-new Circuit Rider DVD rode straight to the top of this past week's Billboard Music Video chart in addition to the Christian Music Video chart, according to Nielsen Soundscan, garnering the #1 position on both. The audio version of the docu-musical also claimed the #1 position on the Southern Gospel Album Sales chart and a Top 20 spot on the Contemporary Christian Music chart.Continue reading→
OBB Releases New Single ‘Sweater’
OBB has been teasing something new for a few weeks now through social media images that only said "11-4-16." They finally made the announcement early this morning a new single, "Sweater," available now here. RELATED OBB Back In The Studio With David Thulin As the band preps to appear on Winterjam next year, they promise this is only the beginning of new things. "We're super excited about the new music we have coming out, lots of new imaging, lots of new stuff coming out. So make sure you..Continue reading→
Casting Crowns Celebrates 11th No. 1 Radio Single With ‘One Step Away’
Multi-platinum selling and GRAMMY® award winning group Casting Crowns released their eighth studio album, The Very Next Thing, in September and just celebrated their 11th No. 1 radio single with "One Step Away." RELATED Casting Crowns Releases New Album 'The Very Next Thing' Today The band is currently on their own "The Very Next Thing" 40-city tour, presented by Compassion International and Museum of the Bible. The show offers an encouraging message of hope about doing the next thi..Continue reading→
We Are Messengers Releases ‘God With Us’ Christmas EP Today
Dove Award-nominated band We Are Messengers has announced the release of its first Christmas project, God With Us. Available beginning today, this four-song EP can be found at iTunes, Amazon, Google and Spotify. RELATED We Are Messengers' Darren Mulligan Shares His Story "At Christmas, we see the love of God take on flesh and bone so that He can be with us, rescue us and heal our brokenness," explains Darren Mulligan, lead vocalist, We Are Messengers. "God is not removed and distant, but ..Continue reading→
American
Crisis in American Democracy
When the essential institutions of society are no longer respected, government demands that respect for itself. That is a recipe for tyranny. For nearly two and a half centuries, Americans have enjoyed the enormous privilege and responsibility of forming our own government—a privilege rarely experienced throughout most of human history. For most of history, humanity has struggled with the question of how to respond to a government that was essentially forced upon them. But Americans have often struggled with a very different reality; how do we rightly respond to the government that we choose? To put all of this in historical perspective, the Framers of the American experiment understood that a representative democracy built on the principle of limited government would require certain virtues of its citizens. These would include a restraint of passions and an upholding of traditional moral virtues, without..
Watch New Franklin Graham ‘My Hope’ film
“What is the value of a soul?” the latest film produced by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, answers. “Value of a Soul” tells the true stories of the unexpected journeys of a drug dealer, Army captain, and a mother who “search for true worth as their worlds crumble.” This new My Hope film also features a performance by Tenth Avenue North, and a message from Franklin Graham about the real value of the soul. Watch it here.
Virgo: First Zodiac Sign of the Virgin Whose Seed Saves
Part Two of a Series: “God’s Zodiac: The Gospel in the Stars” The First Zodiac Sign: Virgo: The Virgin Whose Seed Saves The stars have remained in their places for thousands of years. Seiss explains that God connected star groupings with: “symbols and ideas he wished to convey, and transmitting and explaining to his posterity those names and figures thus conjoined with the stars, he would link with his astronomy a whole system of thoughts and hopes as clear as the stars themselves, and utterly i..
The Original Christian Zodiac
This is the first in a 13- part series entitled, “God’s Zodiac: The Gospel in the Stars.” What if everything you were ever taught or believed about astronomy, horoscopes, and the Zodiac were false? What if the original Zodiac was perverted, distorted, and changed to such an extent that no one knew its original meaning imprinted in the sky? The daily horoscopes printed in newspapers, magazines, or online are actually perversions of the original horoscope God inscribed in the heavens when He creat..