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
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
Foreign by Json
Foreign represents Json's joy in returning to Saint Louis to serve the Lord back in his home town. "Foreign is me running off of the energy I felt from being home working around dudes from my city," said Json. "Foreign is the first of the series which will always feel different from my regular albums, These projects will be kind of like my alter ego, so to speak. It's me just enjoying the creative process and making music without having a complete theme to follow," Json further explained. What does the title Foreign mean? "It's a representation of who we are as[...]Continue reading→
God of Fireflies by Katy Kinard
"God of Fireflies" entwines the whimsical and the edgy parts of faith and love. The careful crafting of lyrics brings depth to subjects not often discussed and unique perspectives, like Jesus' life as a child "learning how to be human," and a true story (inspired from an article) depicting Mother Teresa's advice to a young mother from the U.S. Creepy, brilliant production supports a song that "seeking after God" is getting crowded out by a fast-paced world of distractions, and a unique spin on why God ever created fireflies (or "helicopter leaves" or dandelions) does the album's title track[...]Continue reading→
Matthew West Releases Music Video For ‘Mended’
Today The Christian Broadcasting Network exclusively premiered the brand new music video for Matthew West's latest single "Mended." "As a storyteller, I love the chance not only to tell a story through the songs I write and record, but also from a visual perspective. I'm excited about this lyric video for 'Mended' and I hope it moves the viewer as much as it moved me when I first saw it," said West about the video. The song, from Matthew's most recent album "Live Forev..Continue reading→
All Sons & Daughters, Pastor/Author Jamie George Release ‘Poets & Saints’ Sept. 2
GRAMMY and Dove Award nominated worshipers All Sons & Daughters, acclaimed author and pastor Jamie George and a film crew ventured to Europe to trace the lives of C.S. Lewis, Saint Patrick, John Newton, Saint Thérèse, Saint Francis, William Cowper, Saint Augustine, George MacDonald and others, mining for undiscovered gems, something to connect these individuals to modern believers. The resulting epic journey into the lives and stories of these Christ-followers that God used to wake up the world,..Continue reading→
PledgeMusic Acquires NoiseTrade, Hires Derek Webb
PledgeMusic has announced that it has officially acquired NoiseTrade. As part of the deal, the company will also be appointing Derek Webb as their PledgeMusic Nashville GM. PledgeMusic is a platform that enables crowdfunding, with an approach specifically tailored to the needs of musicians. PledgeMusic has rapidly become one of the foremost choices for independent artists inviting fans to partner with them on funding projects. NoiseTrade, which Derek Webb founded in 2008, is a platform where ar..Continue reading→
Wavorly Offers Rumored Reunion in Exchange for Facebook Likes
When Wavorly bass player Matt Lott posted a nostalgic picture on facebook, his band members quickly escalated it into a promised reunion if the picture got the right amount of likes-- a threshold the band is quickly approaching. Matt's original post said simply "Sometimes I really miss those Wavorly days...#wavorlyRIP." When his bandmates saw it, they shared it to the official Wavorly page, saying "So our bass player Matt says that if 1000 people like his status, he'll try to get the ..Continue reading→
Andrew Marcus Bows BEC Debut August 12
Constant, the label debut from newly signed BEC recording artist and three-time GMA Canada Covenant Award-nominated singer/songwriter and worship leader Andrew Marcus, bows August 12 in the United States and releases July 29 in Canada. The project will be available for pre-order at iTunes beginning July 22 with two instant-grat tracks. Produced by Scott Cash (Dan Bremnes) and executive produced by Ed Cash (Chris Tomlin), Constant--Marcus' sixth studio recording--features writing and vocal..Continue reading→
Seth Mosley Signs Exclusive Contract With Centricity Publishing
One of the most awarded and in-demand producers and songwriters in the Christian music industry, Seth Mosley, has signed a new exclusive contract that will continue his successful relationship with Centricity Publishing. In 2015 alone, Mosley won his first Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album, received the SESAC Award for Christian Songwriter of the Year and was the top winner at the Dove Awards by winning four of his five nominations that included Producer of the Year and So..Continue reading→
Bethel Music ‘Worship Nights’ Draw Capacity Crowds Internationally
Bethel Music, the worship music and community of songwriters emerging from Bethel Church in Redding, CA, continues its "Worship Nights" tour on the West Coast beginning Aug. 12. The tour, which has hosted sold out events in major market venues coast-to-coast and internationally, features Bethel Music worship favorites and new music from Have It All, the multi-artist double-disc live recording released March 11 that has garnered wide critical acclaim and topped multiple retail charts internationa..Continue reading→
American
Planned Parenthood Abortion Doc is 7 Months Pregnant, But Kills Babies Up to 24 Weeks in Abortions
This article is a follow-up to “Planned Parenthood Kills 323,999 Babies in Abortions, Provides Only 17,419 Moms Prenatal Care.” Another video features Dr. Sierra Washington, identified as a “pregnant provider” in her seventh month, who says that “I love taking care of patients. I mean that’s why I’m a doctor.” At Planned Parenthood’s Pacific Southwest affiliate (PPPSW) “taking care of patients” includes abortion, contraceptives, and hysterectomies, but not birthing or prenatal care. With clini..
Oregon Assisted Suicide Deaths Hit Record High in 2016 as Abuses Continue
The 2016 Oregon annual assisted suicide report is similar to prior years. The report implies that the deaths were voluntary (self-administered), but the information in the report does not address that subject. According to the 2016 Oregon assisted suicide report. There were 133 reported assisted suicide deaths in 2016. There were 204 lethal prescriptions obtained in 2016. There were 8 deaths from “other illnesses” which included illnesses such as diabetes, hepatitis and alcoholic liver disease..
Planned Parenthood Celebrates Jocelyn Elders, Who Claimed Pro-Lifers Have a “Love Affair With the Fetus”
Planned Parenthood celebrated former U.S. Surgeon General Jocelyn Elders last week to mark both Black History Month and “Condom Week.” Elders, a controversial figure under President Bill Clinton, was forced to resign after she made several comments about sex education and pro-lifers that sparked outrage. On Thursday, Planned Parenthood wrote on Twitter, “We salute Joycelyn Elders: 1st black US Surgeon General and all-around badass sex education advocate. #tbt #BlackHistoryMonth #CondomWeek” W..
Norway Will Spend $10 Million for Abortions After Trump Defunds International Planned Parenthood
Norwegian government leaders promised to give $10 million to a new global abortion fund this week after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order prohibiting U.S. taxpayer funding to groups that promote or perform abortions overseas. Reuters reports Norway Prime Minister Erna Solberg said her country will dedicate 85 million crowns ($10 million) to support abortions world-wide. “At a time when this agenda has come under pressure, a joint effort is particularly important,” she said ..
Australia
Now outback kids can learn about Jesus, too
Remote schools across western NSW are being approached about the possibility of introducing Special Religious Education (SRE) classes by distance education. Generate Ministries – an employer of SRE teachers in NSW – is teaming up with Bush Church Aid to offer scripture lessons in schools where they are currently not offered. Currently only 60-70 per cent of NSW school students have access to SRE lessons, which “leaves open a massive deficit of..
Have Aussie dollars ended up in terrorists’ hands?
A manager of the World Vision office in Gaza has been charged with using millions of dollars of charity funds to support Hamas fighters in the region. The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade released a statement that says, “World Vision has received Australian funds for programs in the Palestinian Territories.” Mohammad El Halabi was arrested on 15 June, as he returned home from routine meetings. After being kept in Israeli state detenti..
Olympian Eloise Wellings received Christ, never looked back
At 33 years old, Eloise Wellings is about to compete in her second Olympics in Rio as a middle-distance runner. But she has had a long road to the Games, including three thwarted attempts to represent Australia at the Olympic Games. Wellings was just 16 years old when she first qualified for the Sydney Olympics, but her Olympic dream was cut short when she suffered a stress fracture to her hip just three weeks after qualifying. “I was dev..
A day in the life of a hospital chaplain
We spend a day on the wards with Rev Stuart Adamson, one of ten accredited chaplains of different faiths and denominations at Prince of Wales and Randwick Hospitals Campus in Sydney. He is one of three Anglican chaplains and has a twin role as a chaplain and a trainer of chaplains at Anglicare. I’m usually up before my alarm. But I am on after hours on-call at the moment and when the alarm goes off at 6.45am I feel pinned to the bed. The call-out la..
Law & Government
Judge Refuses to Halt California’s Assisted Suicide Law
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — A Superior Court judge in California has refused to halt the state’s assisted suicide law amid a legal challenge from several local doctors and a Christian organization that represents physicians nationwide. As previously reported, last October, Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law the End of Life Option Act, which allowed terminally ill residents to seek help to end their lives. “I have carefully read the thoughtful opposition materials presented by a number of doct..
Arkansas Commission to Review Proposals to Place Ten Commandments, Homage to Satan at Capitol
Photo Credit: Stuart SeegerLITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A state commission in Arkansas has scheduled a date to review separate proposals to place a Ten Commandments monument and an homage to Satan on the grounds of the state capitol building. Arkansas Secretary of State Mark Martin has marked Sept. 13 as the beginning of discussions with the Capitol Arts and Grounds Commission on whether or not to allow the placement of the monuments. As previously reported, last year, Sen. Jason Rapert, R-Bigelow, had..
School District Asks U.S. Supreme Court to Declare Dept. of Education Lacks Right to Dictate Restroom Rules
WASHINGTON — A school district in Virginia filed an official petition for appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday, requesting that it declare that the U.S. Department of Education lacks authority to dictate that public schools must allow those who identify as transgender to use the restroom with the opposite sex. “The term ‘gender identity’ is nowhere in Title IX,” the writ of certiorari reads. “If ‘sex’ signifies, not biology, but rather one’s ‘internal’ sense of maleness or femaleness, t..
France’s top court to rule on legality of burkini ban
A burkini is a swimsuit that only leaves the face, hands and feet exposed. The row over France's controversial ban on women wearing burkinis has escalated with the country's top court to rule on whether the law contravenes human rights. The Council of State, a body that acts as both legal adviser to the government and as the supreme administrative court, will examine the issue on Thursday after photos emerged of a Muslim woman removing a long-sleeved top while surrounded by ar..
Entertainment
‘Hacksaw Ridge,’ for all its heroism and love, remains a paradox
I had a dream about Mel Gibson recently. His face was very close to mine and his beard was gone. He looked very serious. I congratulated him on his new film “Hacksaw Ridge,” his first in 10 years. But he held up a print out of one of my reviews from his 2004 blockbuster “The Passion of the Christ.” “But you didn’t review this one very well,” he said. I started to explain my issue wi..
Did The Walking Dead Go Too Far? A Watching God Podcast
Comment countMore than 20 million people watched last Sunday’s Season Seven premiere of The Walking Dead. No surprise there, given that AMC’s zombie show has been a ratings winner ever since its inception. The episode was brutal, with new Big Bad Negan killing two popular characters with his barbed-wire-wrapped baseball bat Lucille. No surprise there either, according to longtime fans. The Walking Dead has always been incredibly bloody. But for me, the episode was incredibly hard to watch. It fe..
‘Years of Living Dangerously’ Season 2 premiere Oct 30 NatGeo
Season 2 opens with David Letterman and Cecily Strong raining the bell on climate change On Sunday night, October 30, “Years of Living Dangerously” begins its second season and it’s message is loaded with doom, frustration and tinged with hope if only Big Corporations + government will get out of the way. David Letterman (and his beard) are in India, a country with almost 400 million people, the population of the USA, who live without electricity. All efforts to upgrade the decrepit grid or are ..
Before the Flood – Di Caprio & NatGeo unite on climate change
The Pope and Leonardo DiCaprio (Photo: L’Osservatore Romano) You may recall when Oscar-winning actor Leonardo di Caprio, an ardent environmentalist, met with Pope Francis in January. The Pope gave Leonardo bound copies of his two encyclicals and Leonardo presented him with a book of the art of the 15th century Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch. It includes the triptych of “The Garden of Delights” with the Garden of Eden on one side, the end of the world, or Last Judgment on the other, and bodies in..
Health and Science
Scientists Who Set Out to Create Simple Genome Astonished by Sheer Complexity of Life
Describing their findings as “humbling,” researchers who set out to create a “minimal genome” have concluded that the basic elements of life are enormously complex and remain full of unsolved mysteries. In an article titled “Design and synthesis of a minimal bacterial genome,” a team of more than 20 scientists share the results of years of research on cellular genomes. The scientists, in an attempt to better understand the basic requirement for life, took a bacterial genome and stripped it down..
US
Discovering a different way of doing youth ministry
Most youth ministries are shallow at best, and youth worship is even worse. An evangelical worship leader lamenting those conclusions happened upon some YouTube videos from the Lutheran youth ministry Higher Things. Read the whole post, linked after the jump, which includes videos of both the worship services he is decrying and the worship services from Higher Things conferences. Also read the comments, which record other amazed and appreciative reactions to Higher Things and their approach to y..
Nationalism joins Islam as reasons for Christian persecution
Open Door, an organization that monitors Christian persecution, has released its annual report for 2016, which it calls “the worst year yet” for violence against Christians. The biggest part of the persecution is still committed in the name of Islam. No longer just a matter of the Middle East, Islamic persecution has risen dramatically in Africa. As nationalism re-emerges worldwide, ethnic nationalism has become an excuse to persecute Christians. This is happening especially in Asia, including I..
Fear of the working class
The editor of a liberal website has written about a plumber he had called to fix his drain. The plumber acted professionally and did the job. But he spoke with a Southern accent! He didn’t seem upset about the election! He might even have voted for Trump! The editor described his fear at having a possible Trump voter in his home. All this fear talk about Trump has me confused. I can see a generalized fear about the future of the country, but this is far more visceral. Gay people say how afraid t..
Obama commutes Pvt. Manning’s sentence for leaking military secrets
In one of his last official acts, President Obama used his Constitutional power to grant pardons to commute the sentence of Pvt. Bradley Manning, who leaked thousands of military and diplomatic secrets during the Iraq War. Manning, who has served 7 years of a 35 year sentence at the military prison in Leavenworth, Kansas, now goes by the name of “Chelsea” and has been seeking government-funded gender-reassignment surgery. Julian Assange, founder of Wikileaks who is holed up in the Ecuadoran emba..
Church & Theology
4 Ways Courageous Leaders Model Sustained Urgency
You can’t miss the urgency and passion with which Jesus carried out His ministry. Throughout His ministry, He spoke of musts, such as, “I must work the works of Him that sent me” (John 9:4). As spiritual leaders, we know there is urgency to our labor, but we don’t always maintain it. The truth is, urgency is not the default mode; complacency is. Strangely enough, it is our very successes in ministry that tend to feed complacency. It works like this: Success builds pride, and pride kills urgenc..
10 Diagnostic Questions to Assess Balance and Sustainability, part 1
We often speak of balance as if it is something you write out on paper and then have attained for life. The truth is, maintaining life balance takes constant adjustment. Like a sailor who is constantly analyzing the wind and adjusting his sails to reach an intended destination, balance for a spiritual leader requires sensitivity to the Holy Spirit and a willingness to make changes. Over the years, I’ve learned that, at times, the pace at which I do the work of God can hinder His work in me. But..
10 Diagnostic Questions to Assess Balance and Sustainability, part 2
In the previous post, we discussed the need to intentionally evaluate our balance and to make adjustments for sustainability along the way. (If you have not yet read that post, I’d encourage you to read it before reading this post.) Who do I fear? How is my tempo? How is my courage? How is my spiritual discipline? In this post, we continue with six more assessment questions. 5. Am I coming apart? We need to adjust the rhythm of our lives. We can’t constantly march to “Onward Christian Soldiers..
Answering Tough Texts of the Bible
As I’ve mentioned a few times (here and here), Trevin Wax and I host a podcast called Word Matters, which seeks to help Christians understand some of the most confusing passages of the Bible. We often discuss questions amongst ourselves, but we also like to ask guests to join us. If you’d like to check out, here’s a list of guests and topics so far: Michael Bird on Romans 7 and “the wretched man”Scot McKnight on Matthew 5 (oath-taking) and Matthew 7 (“I never knew you”)Rus..