by Peter Leithart God speaks and light appears. He separates light and darkness, assigns names to each, and judges the whole to be good. Next day, He’s at it again, speaking, separating, assessing, judging. And so it goes throughout the days of creation: With an insistent, incantatory rhythm, God speaks, sees, names, judges. Poetic yes, but more fundamentally, creation unfolds as the enacted poetry of liturgy. From the first pages of Scripture, before we know much of anything about... Read more
by Allison Westerhoff Evil is the enemy, not our bodies. There is a large amount of chatter around the subject of modesty, yoga pants, and where women fit quite literally in the modest clothing wars. But modesty can serve as a double-edged sword. For most young Christian women it’s a confusing and divisive topic. It seems like we can’t decide if modesty makes you a prude, or if you don’t subscribe to it that you are promiscuous. But what about... Read more
by Christopher Cone Brad Bird’s Tomorrowland was initially panned as “George Clooney’s global warming shaming,” but it has much greater aspirations than simply an environmental agenda piece. Roger Ebert recognized a broader ambition when he termed the movie “overreaching, basically Marxism Lite.” Oliver Gettell or the L.A. Times gets a bit closer, I think, when he observes that Tomorrowland is “a deliberate phooey to the kiddie carnage of movies such as ‘Transformers’ and ‘The Avengers,’ which frighten children about the... Read more
by Christina Ryan Claypool You might be a female pastor, pastor’s wife, ministry director, or dedicated church volunteer, but you’re also a mother. The two items you have in common are Kingdom responsibility and kids. Unfortunately, these two valuable commodities are not always compatible. Being a busy mom isn’t easy. It’s not even close to the storybook family that Facebook and Pinterest photos often misrepresent. According to the Barna Group’s FRAMES project, 76% of women in our nation reported to overall... Read more
by JD Greear I once heard a story about an old grandfather sitting lazily on the porch of his country home with his grandson, his six dogs lying underneath the porch. About a hundred yards across the field a rabbit darted out of a bush, stared back at the house for just a second, and then darted back into the undergrowth. One of the dogs perked up, let out a short bark, and took off across the field. Immediately, the... Read more
Whatever you’re good at, do it well for the glory of God, and do it somewhere strategic for the mission of God. Read more
The criteria upon which any church should measure its success is not how many new names are added to the roll nor how much the budget is increased, but rather how many Christians are actively winning souls and training them to win the multitudes. Read more
by Ryan Patrick McLaughlin In the aftermath of scientific evidence concerning the age of our universe and the evolution of life on Earth, many theological conversations have focused on questions concerning the scientific and historical validity of the Genesis creation myths (especially Genesis 1) and the unique identity of humans. This focus is lamentable. Genesis 1 has a poetic tone which suggests the authors weren’t overly concerned about explaining scientific logistics of the cosmos or depicting its actual history. Indeed,... Read more
You are too valuable to waste your days away with a guy you never plan on marrying. Don’t force your happily ever after. It will come to you when the time is right because God’s timing is always, always right. Read more
by Sylvia Smith What makes a marriage successful? Many people think about the obvious parts, finding common ground, and being physically and emotionally attracted to one another. But there are some less obvious aspects that should be taken into consideration when marrying your partner. It can be difficult to decide how much time the two of you should spend together and how much time you should spend apart. It can also be a challenge to maintain a sense of your... Read more
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