Prayer at the Movies

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 3:29 pm By Alissa Wilkinson

Did you see The East this summer? Neither did I, but in Christianity Today Patton Dodd says that the overlooked, gritty thriller was all about prayer: Efficacious prayer isn’t The East‘s message; it’s just the film’s basic narrative assumption. A first-act prayer determinesThe East‘s trajectory no less than it drives Frank Capra’s beloved holiday noir It’s a Wonderful Life(1946). Remember how It’s a Wonderful Life opens with the sounds of people praying for George Bailey, and how the rest of the movie is, in a way,... Read more

The Spiritual Practice of Making Mistakes

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 3:29 pm By Alissa Wilkinson

Hello from sunny, beautiful Santa Fe, where I’m completing the requirements for my Master of Fine Arts degree. My specialization is in creative nonfiction, and I titled my thesis, an essay collection, The Practice of Falling. I’m a very bad titler, but I realized as I was putting all these separate essays I’d worked on over the past two years into one document that the thread that carried them all was the concept of learning that falling sometimes is the only... Read more

The Kingdom of God is Near!

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 3:29 pm By Mark D. Roberts

Mark 1:14-15 “The time promised by God has come at last!” he announced. “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!” Mark 1:15 After announcing that God’s time had finally come, Jesus focused the Good News in a few words: “The Kingdom of God is near!” (1:15). But what did this mean? And how can this be good news for us today? When we hear the word “kingdom,” we tend to think of... Read more

Business Imitates God

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 3:29 pm By Alissa Wilkinson

This via The High Calling: the theologian Wayne Grudem helps us understand some of the ways that business glorifies God through imitating him: . . . worship, evangelism, giving, and faith . . . are excellent ways to glorify God and working in a business provides many opportunities for glorifying God in these ways. But they are not my focus here because I think most Christians in business already understand how business can contribute to these ways of glorifying God. What... Read more

Can You Smell That? (No.)

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 3:29 pm By Alissa Wilkinson

I’ll admit: I don’t know much – if anything – about ansomia, the condition that some people have that makes it difficult or impossible to smell anything. (I’m glad I don’t have it, though once in a while summers in New York City make me wish I do . . . ) But this little essay helped me understand it better, and was beautiful, too: Our friends don’t understand us either. What do you mean you can’t smell? they ask.... Read more

Can We Slow Down Time?

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 3:29 pm By Alissa Wilkinson

My husband sent me this article on the phenomenon that makes it feel as if time is speeding up as we get older: AH, the languorous days of endless summer! Who among us doesn’t remember those days and wonder wistfully where they’ve gone? Why does time seem to speed up as we age? Even the summer solstice — the longest, sunniest day of the year — seems to have passed in a flash . . . Don’t despair. I am... Read more

Not a Fan of Mosquitoes? Then Get a Fan!

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 3:29 pm By Mark D. Roberts

Tired of being consumed by mosquitoes? Looking for some way to keep them from having dinner at your expense? Rather not cover your skin with oily mosquito repellent? If you answered “yes” to these questions, then Williams J. Broad has a suggestion for you. In his recent New York Times article, “A Low-Tech Mosquito Deterrent,” Broad explains that you can keep the mosquitoes at bay by using a simple fan. That’s right. Let the fan blow on you and the... Read more

What GIRL MOST LIKELY Teaches Us About Our Heritage

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 3:29 pm By Alissa Wilkinson

Last weekend I reviewed the new film Girl Most Likely, starring Kristen Wiig (of Saturday Night Live and Bridesmaids fame), for Christianity Today. As I started working on the article, I found that the movie had odd resonances with a subject I think about a lot: how can we be always growing and renewing as Christians, seeking a more robust faith, and yet still have the proper amount of respect and gratitude toward the faith in which we were raised, or the places where we... Read more

What Is Better Than Life Itself?

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 3:29 pm By Mark D. Roberts

Psalm 63:1-11 Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. Psalm 63:3 Jack Benny was a beloved American entertainer. Though in real life he was an excellent violinist and a generous man, he often played comedic roles in which he was a terrible musician and an extreme penny-pincher. One of Benny’s most famous sketches involves an attempted robbery. A thief sticks a gun in Benny’s back, saying, “This is a stickup! Now come on. Your money... Read more

Paying the Blessings Forward

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 3:29 pm By Alissa Wilkinson

As a college professor, I work very hard at relatively low pay relative to my education, and when the semester is in full swing, I am afforded little time for my own interests and pursuits. I don’t sleep much. I have to sit in committee meetings. Sometimes it’s easy to wake up and feel sorry for myself. But then again, I get summers off, and a month at Christmas, and I get to spend my days thinking and writing and... Read more