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
Was Christ’s Death A Sacrifice?
The blood-curdling scream signaled that she had not yet given up. Hours of pushing, and the baby had still not descended. The OB was weighing her options, while dad wiped mom’s forehead and encouraged her on. She screamed again, pushing and puffing and praying that this agony might soon draw to a close. The pain was so… intense, so utterly mind-numbing that she wondered, for the thousandth time, why she had wanted to have another child… This is a scene that plays out day after day in hospitals ..Continue reading→
Why Christians Venerate the Cross
For many people, an obstacle to faith in Jesus is the seemingly gory nature of the core tenets of Christian history. Jesus suffered a horribly violent end, yet Christians revere the cross that was the instrument of that torturous death. And they celebrate His victory over death by partaking of His “body” – honoring His last injunction to “take and eat” and “take and drink” of His body and blood. One challenger asked why Christians venerate the cross. If a friend were gunned down, he asked, woul..Continue reading→
Music
Canton Junction Releases ‘A Canton Christmas’
A Canton Christmas, the highly anticipated full-length holiday debut from Dove Award-winning quartet Canton Junction, bows October 21. Produced by Garry Jones (Ivan Parker, Brian Free & Assurance), the Difference Media/Capitol Christian Distribution release features 10 arrangements of classic carols and timeless favorites. Drawing from Canton Junction's range of influences--including Southern Gospel, country and Texas swi..Continue reading→
Matthew Parker Releases New Album ‘Adventure’
Electronic Pop artist, Matthew Parker releases his second studio project, Adventure. His first single, "Adventure" recently debuted on the Billboard Christian Hot AC CHR chart at No. 27 and is currently No. 4 on the Hot CHR chart and No. 12 on the Australian Christian Chart. The project was produced by Parker and features various guest vocalists ranging from Spencer Kane to Rapture Ruckus. "I'm incredibly excited about my new..Continue reading→
Ginny Owens Releases ‘Love Be The Loudest’ Nov. 18
Award-winning singer-songwriter Ginny Owens releases her ninth studio album, Love Be The Loudest, Nov. 18 on her indie label, Chick Power Music, with The Fuel Music distribution. Prior to the release, two brand new Apple Music and Spotify SuperSingle tracks from the album, the reimagined version of Owens' No. 1 hit song "If You Want Me To" and "The Loudest Voice," will be available beginning today (Oct. 21). The full pre-order of the album is to begin Nov. 4. After more than a million albu..Continue reading→
NRT EXCLUSIVE Love & The Outcome’s Jodi Premiers Cooking Video
NRT has an exclusive video premiere of Love & The Outcome's Jodi's first cooking video. "In The Kitchen With Jodi" shows Jodi teaching how to make Gluten Free Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Cookies with just a few simple ingredients. Using her 'prized possession' red KitchenAid Mixer from her grandma, she mixes dark chocolate, almond flour, honey, coconut oil, vanilla, sea salt and baking powder to create these delicious looking cookies. Continue reading→
Chrildren of God Acoustic Sessions by Phil Wickham
Track Listing 01. Better Than Life (Acoustic) 02. The Secret Place (Acoustic) 03. Divine / Sailing / Time / Hymn (Acoustic) 04. Your Love Awakens Me (Acoustic) 05. My All In All (Acoustic) 06. Starmaker (High Above the Earth) [Acoustic] 07. At the Foot of the Cross (Acoustic) 08. Spirit of God (Acoustic) 09. As It Is in Heaven (Acoustic) 10. Here With Me (Acoustic) 11. Children of God (Acoustic) 12. Doxology / Amen (Acoustic) 13. Wide Awake (Acoustic) 14. Body Mind & Soul (Acoustic) 15. Stand in Awe (Acoustic) Continue reading→
Newsong Heralds The Holidays With Christmas Recording and Tour
The Best Christmas Ever!, the third full-length holiday release from GRAMMY®-nominated NewSong, is set to bow October 21 from HHM Records/Word Distribution. Featuring 10 favorites from the group's best-selling projects The Christmas Shoes (2001) and The Christmas Hope (2006), The Best Christmas Ever! also showcases five newly recorded songs the title-cut and lead single (co-witten by NewSong's Eddie Carswell and Matthew West), a duet with Love & The Outcome's Jodi King; "This Chri..Continue reading→
HeeSun Lee Releases Third Project ‘Beauty For Ashes’
HeeSun Lee dropped Beauty For Ashes on October 14, her first release since 2014. You can purchase the new album here. This time around was personal for HeeSun Lee, with the meaning behind the tracks reopening the doors to females to stand strong within the hiphop genre. She stated, "Everyone has changes that they go through in life that can either make them or break them. I'm showing the world, through my lyrics, that the changes that went on in my life have made me into a stronger, more i..Continue reading→
Dee-1 and Sallie Mae Partnership Spawns Tour and Giveaway
The Knowledge for College Tour began on October 10th in Cincinnati Ohio, sponsored by Sallie Mae. With each school tour stop, Dee-1 is blessing one student in attendance with a $5,000 scholarship check towards their collegiate studies. This tour has also opened other doors and opportunities. Per the Washington Post publication, Dee-1 has collaborated with the consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to help train and educate students to manage student loan repayment effectively. He has tra..Continue reading→
let there be light. by Hillsong Worship
let there be light is Hillsong's Worship 25th live album. The theme of the album is centred on Genesis 1:3, featuring some of its internationally recognised worship pastors including Reuben Morgan, Joel Houston, Ben Fielding, Dave Ware and Annie Garratt. Track Listing 01. Behold (Then Sings My Soul) 02. Love So Great 03. Look To The Son 04. Crowns 05. What A Beautiful Name 06. Your Word 07. Let There Be Light 08. In Control 09. Grace To Grace 10. Elohim 11. I Will Boast In Christ 12. As It Is (In Heaven) Continue reading→
American
President Ronald Reagan: “No Cause More Important Than the Right to Life of All Human Beings”
“My administration is dedicated to the preservation of America as a free land, and there is no cause more important for preserving that freedom than affirming the transcendent right to life of all human beings, the right without which no other rights have meaning.” — President Ronald Reagan. Today would have been the 106th birthday of Pro-life President Ronald Reagan! Each year on the anniversary, for reasons I cannot explain, I always recall where I was the day he was shot. At the time I was w..
Oregon Bill Would Allow Starving Mentally Ill Patients to Death
When Oregon became the first state in the nation to legalize the practice of assisted suicide, pro-life advocates argued this would be a slippery slope that would lead to euthanasia. Apparently assisted suicide is not enough for the death peddlers in this Pacific Northwest State. Now they are pushing legislation in the Oregon State Legislature that would allow starving mentally ill patients to death. Officials with the Oregon Right to Life emailed LifeNews.com with an urgent alert about pendin..
Woman Arrested After Shoving Her Bloody Pad Into Pro-Life Advocate’s Mouth
A pro-abortion woman in Oregon has been arrested after an altercation in which she allegedly shoved her bloody pad into the mouth of a pro-life advocate with whom she was arguing. According to local news reports in Oregon, the pro-abortion woman stands accused of shoving the bloody pad into the pro-life advocate’s mouth and she has turned herself in to police following complaints. The pro-abortion activist has been charged with one count of harassment and has been jailed on the charge. Here’s ..
Communal Conversion
Matthew H. Russell, HT: JS If Dietrich Bonhoeffer is correct and “Christ exists as community,” then the process of belonging to the community is indissolvably bound to the process of coming to believe that Jesus is Lord. At Mercy Street, this movement became critically linked to the essential question of Christianity: “Who are you, Jesus?” As members given to each other, these men and women work this question out together from the posture of intimacy, and belonging. What I discovered as the past..
Entertainment
Matthew McConaughey Gets Spiritual in Free State of Jones
Free State of Jones is not technically a Christian movie, but it might as well be. In the film, Oscar-winner Matthew McConaughey plays Newton Knight, a Confederate deserter who leads a rebellion against the Confederate States of America in his home state of Mississippi. Based on a historical character, Knight’s motives for the rebellion are complex: He’s tired of soldiers stripping his and his neighbors’ farms clean, leaving families with nothing to eat over the winter. He’s disgust..
‘Thelma & Louise’ 25 years later still poses a challenge to male entitlement
Susan Sarandon, left, and Geena Davis in “Thelma & Louise” (1991; MGM) I first saw “Thelma and Louise” while studying for a master’s in education in media studies in London in 1995. We gathered to watch the film and not one male student of the 12 or so in our class showed up for the screening. Not one. What were they afraid of? When we asked some of them, they just shrugged. “Thelma and Louise” was hugely successful when it opened in 1991. It is critically acclaimed as a feminist, or neo-femini..
New Music for a New Christianity: The Convergence Music Project
“For decades now, we’ve been having “worship wars,” where we argued about musical style in public worship but didn’t pay much attention to the content and spiritual formation value of the songs we argued about. Convergence Music Project represents a “worship renaissance,” bringing together a new generation of songwriters who are writing songs that are theologically thoughtful, artistically satisfying, congregationally singable, and musically enjoyable.” -Brian McLaren Launched earlier this year ..
A Clip From Free (and Faithful) State of Jones
Free State of Jones, opening tomorrow, June 24, is a far cry from the sequels and superhero movies that typically saturate theaters during the summer. Starring a very grizzled Matthew McConaughey, the movie tells the story of Newton Knight, who led a rebellion (based in Jones County, Miss.) against the Confederate States of America during the Civil War. It is, as its press suggests, a movie for adults—full of hefty themes, heavy moments and a significant level of spirituality. I’ll ..
US
Happy Boxing Day!
Today, the day after Christmas, is celebrated as “Boxing Day” in the United Kingdom and many of its Commonwealth nations, such as Australia. We Americans need to adopt this holiday too! After all, we too are former British colonies! Accounts of the origin of the name vary, but it seems to have something to do with the servants getting a box of presents and other goodies on their traditional day off after a busy day on Christmas. Traditionally, the day has been devoted to sporting events. Horse r..
“The light shines in the darkness”
How fitting that we commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ around the time of the Winter Solstice, when the day is at its shortest and the night is at its longest. At this darkest time of the year, we celebrate Christ’s coming. Just as He comes at the darkest points of our lives. (This is also why lights at night are key Christmas symbols.) As St. John says, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” After the jump, the Christmas story according to the Gospel of Joh..
A medieval Christmas for the children
In a review of what sounds like an excellent book on Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, Nathaniel Peters quotes a 17th century theologian on what Christmas was like under Medieval and 17th century Catholicism. He describes the processions, featuring actors dressed up like the Christ Child, St. Peter, other saints, angels, and “damned spirits,” including the terrifying Knecht Ruprecht (who became a companion of St. Nicholas). The goal was to scare children out of their wits. The Christ Child would berate..
What to do with your Amazon boxes
If you or people who gave you presents did much of your Christmas shopping online, you will accumulate lots of Amazon boxes. Don’t throw them away! Amazon has partnered with Goodwill for an ingenious program. Save the box. Then fill it with something you would like to donate to Goodwill. Go to GiveBackBox.com, where you can print a label that will give you free shipping! Then put the box in the mail or give it to UPS. Do you see the beauty of this? When you get “stuff,” you will be able to also ..
Church & Theology
Why the 5 Solas Still Matter Today
Follow @BrandonSmith85 The young, newly ordained Catholic priest stood in front of the church, ready to officiate his first mass. These priests were expected to have clean hearts before officiating—no sin unconfessed. No heart of stone unturned. But as Martin Luther began to recite the introductory portion of the mass, with the bread and wine on the altar in front of him, he almost passed out. “I was utterly stupefied and terror-stricken. … Who am I, that I should lift up mine eyes or raise my h..
How Often Should We Take the Lord’s Supper?
Follow @BrandonSmith85 As a Baptist, I’m often frustrated or confused by how my fellow denominational brothers handle the Lord’s Supper. At churches I’ve attended in the past, we’ve participated in the Supper every week in some places, ted quarterly at others. There is one instance in which I can’t remember eating a single little wafer in my entire time at the church. But how often should we take the Supper? While I know that the Bible doesn’t give a mandate for how often churches should remembe..
Did Jesus Call a Woman a Dog?
Follow @BrandonSmith85 On the Season 2 premiere of Word Matters, Trevin Wax and I discuss a question raised in Matthew 15, “Did Jesus call a woman a dog?” Here’s the context: 21 When Jesus left there, he withdrew to the area of Tyre and Sidon. 22 Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came and kept crying out, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely tormented by a demon.” 23 Jesus did not say a word to her. His disciples approached him and urged him, “Send her away b..
When the Book of Revelation Takes a Swing at a Roman Emperor
Follow @BrandonSmith85 Photo courtesy: Craig Koester via the Classical Numismatic Group. While compiling notes for my dissertation and forthcoming book on the Book of Revelation, I came across this note on Revelation 1:16 in Craig Koester’s Revelation commentary: The section climaxes by noting that [Jesus] holds seven stars in his right hand (Rev 1:16). This cosmic imagery conveys sovereignty. An analogy appears on a coin from Domitian’s reign that depicts the emperor’s deceased son as young Jup..