Why We Love “This Is Us”

Why We Love “This Is Us” – Russell Moore has written a piece for The Washington Post on the new hit show “This Is Us,” and what the success of this powerful drama can teach us.

Why ‘This Is Us’ Really Does Tell the Story of Us All

Why ‘This Is Us’ Really Does Tell the Story of Us All - Here are some good points of application from the popular new show.

The Gloriously Interruptable Jesus

The Gloriously Interruptable Jesus – “Jesus is beautifully, marvelously, gloriously interruptible.”

Don’t Believe in Yourself

Don’t Believe in Yourself – “If we battle some sins, but welcome pride, we will lose the war. But if we suffocate pride, we will starve every other sin of its oxygen.”

Abortion Rate at All-Time Low

Abortion Rate at All-Time Low – “The number of women and girls seeking abortions in the United States dropped by one-fifth between 2004 and 2013, a new report shows. The abortion rate is the lowest it’s been since 1969 when the government started tracking the procedure.”

Was Jesus Married to Mary Magdalene?

Was Jesus Married to Mary Magdalene? – “The Huffington post published a recent article on this topic. It is the some old conspiracy theory of prior generations, fed to a new audience that perhaps wouldn’t know any better. The average person reading this article will probably accept it as fact.  But, despite the bold claims of the article’s title, there are few real facts to be found here.”

The Problem With Our Holly Jolly Christmas Songs

The Problem With Our Holly Jolly Christmas Songs – “We have a rich and complicated and often appropriately dark Christmas hymnody. We can sing of blessings flowing “far as the curse is found,” of the one who came to “free us all from Satan’s power.” Let’s sing that, every now and then, where we can be overheard.” 

Keep Your Heart, Then Your Home

Keep Your Heart, Then Your Home – “Housekeeping can seem like an ongoing work of a mother’s day-to-day life….So it is for internal housekeeping — yet the stakes are much greater.” 

Why Churches Might Need to Excommunicate “affirming” Members of the Congregation

Why Churches Might Need to Excommunicate “affirming” Members of the Congregation – This is a hot topic in churches and among denominations. 

The Clean Sweep of Gospel Confession

The Clean Sweep of Gospel Confession – Here are three good lessons about sin.

Finding the Courage to Grow

Finding the Courage to Grow – “Have you ever thought about the essential ingredient for growth? It’s the one thing you absolutely must have if you want to increase your ability to get better in any area. And yet it’s often the hardest thing for a person seeking growth to find. What might that one thing be? Courage.”

Filling Our Hearts with Jesus—the Lord of Advent

Filling Our Hearts with Jesus—the Lord of Advent – “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given.”

4 Reasons to Give Thanks to God Forever

4 Reasons to Give Thanks to God Forever – “In Psalm 30, David, the songwriter and king of Israel, resolves to thank God forever. The book of Psalms is the Hebrew hymn book, which was inspired by the Holy Spirit—as is all of Scripture.”

Lord, Help My Daily Unbelief

Lord, Help My Daily Unbelief – “Is the God I placed my trust in at the moment of my salvation any less good when I’m navigating my second hour in line at the DMV with weeping children?”

Christmas Is Too Big for One Day

Christmas Is Too Big for One Day – “A day as significant as Christmas warrants an Advent of four weeks of preparation and enjoyment. We will marvel for eternity over the coming of God himself to save his people from their sins, and Advent’s four weeks of awe are a good place to start.”

3 Reasons Children Need to Obey Their Parents

3 Reasons Children Need to Obey Their Parents – “There are three important reasons why parents must insist that their children obey.”

Are You Addicted to the Internet?

Are You Addicted to the Internet? – Here are some diagnostic questions to help you discern.

3 Ways Technology Makes Us Anxious

3 Ways Technology Makes Us Anxious – “Here are three common problems—and gospel solutions—to address our technology-driven angst.”

How do you Reconcile God’s Justice with his Mercy?

How do you Reconcile God’s Justice with his Mercy? – “This tension between mercy and judgment is weighty for Abraham, just as it often is for us. So what do you do? How do you reconcile God’s justice with his mercy? Perhaps it is better to say, what do you not do?”

What Are The Barriers To True Friendship and Meaningful Evangelism?

What Are The Barriers To True Friendship and Meaningful Evangelism? – “This piece by Sharon Dickens deals with the aspect of evangelism in women's ministry. She writes of her own experiences in ministering to women, and how to move beyond unhelpful relationships to deep ‘equal’ friendship.”

Lord, Break My Heart

Lord, Break My Heart – “There are certain kinds of distress we should not be delivered from; rather, we should plead with God to give us more.”

The Common Sin of Middle Age Believers

The Common Sin of Middle Age Believers – “Well, being a middle-aged believer myself, my real concern is speaking to my own heart and my own age group. For I wonder aloud if complacency is not our most common sin?”

Worship Interrupted

Worship Interrupted – “Attending worship with small children in tow can feel like trying to sleep with a helicopter hovering over your bed. What you want is refreshment and inspiration; what you get is low-level tension, discomfort, and distraction as you brace yourself for what might happen next.”

Donald Trump and the Great Projection

Donald Trump and the Great Projection – “The dream of a Clinton presidency and liberal Supreme Court has turned into a nightmare. The hope that America might become one big college campus where dissenters could be shouted down with the connivance of the administration has been inverted. The weapons liberals sharpened now look likely to be turned upon the left.”

Thank God Your Children Are Mediocre Athletes

Thank God Your Children Are Mediocre Athletes – “Thank God that your kids haven’t displayed the athletic prowess necessary to trick you into spending a fortune you don’t have for a dream that will almost certainly never materialize.”

Look Through the Lens of Thanksgiving

Look Through the Lens of Thanksgiving – “I have found that viewing life through a lens of Godward gratitude can change everything.”

Praying for Your Children

Praying for Your Children – There is much to be mined from this article.

How a Heavy Heart Gives Thanks

How a Heavy Heart Gives Thanks  – “Most of what troubles us springs from moral, spiritual, or natural evil and corruption — and yet we’re to give thanks?”

Navigating Family Tensions at the Holidays

Navigating Family Tensions at the Holidays – “Here are a few quick thoughts on what followers of Jesus ought to remember, especially if you’ve got a difficult extended family situation.”

Thanksgiving as Theological Act: What Does it Mean to Give Thanks?

Thanksgiving as Theological Act: What Does it Mean to Give Thanks? – “Thanksgiving is a deeply theological act, rightly understood. As a matter of fact, thankfulness is a theology in microcosm — a key to understanding what we really believe about God, ourselves, and the world we experience.”

Evangelism, the Holidays, & My Atheist Grandpa

Evangelism, the Holidays, & My Atheist Grandpa – This is worth as read as you consider spending time with family this Thanksgiving.

Battling Discouragement

Battling Discouragement – “Discouragement may present itself differently in different seasons, but it will come. So what can we do when it comes?”

What Trump Hath Wrought: 6 Election Takeaways

What Trump Hath Wrought: 6 Election Takeaways – “The wave has washed over us. Donald Trump is America's President-Elect, stunning the world. As evangelicals seeking to engage the city of man, what are we to make of this? Here are six brief thoughts in the wake of the 2016 Presidential Election.”

Our Political Divisions Provide an Opportunity for the Church

Our Political Divisions Provide an Opportunity for the Church – “Since its founding, the church has brought together people from various backgrounds and political persuasions, including Simon the zealot and Matthew the tax collector—two of Jesus’ disciples.”

Glennon Doyle Melton’s Gospel of Self-Fulfillment

Glennon Doyle Melton’s Gospel of Self-Fulfillment – “From the public announcements both of her divorce and her new dating relationship, she wants us to understand this: The greatest gift any of us gives to the world is our true self. Let’s not look to anyone else for permission or feel any obligation for explanation. Humans flourish as they obey their desires.”

The Word of the Year

The Word of the Year – This year’s Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year 2016 is one we have begun to hear a lot: post-truth. You can read about it and the other finalists at Oxford’s site. 

22 Prayers For Your Bible Reading

22 Prayers For Your Bible Reading – “Reading the Bible before praying is like putting the cart before the horse.”

We Cannot Be Too Grateful Too Often for Too Many Things

We Cannot Be Too Grateful Too Often for Too Many Things – “Heavenly Father, I woke up today thankful, and I simply want to acknowledge it; for what do we have that we haven’t received from you heart and hand?...”

Some Questions About Thanksgiving

Some Questions About Thanksgiving – “As Christians we are not simply thankful in some generic sense, we are thankful to and for God in a particular, gospel sense.”

Encourage One Another

Encourage One Another – “Not only do our words reveal what is true of us, they also generate reality for another. Specifically, our words are either death-bringing or life-giving. Either depleting or nourishing, draining or filling.”

How Christianity Flourishes

How Christianity Flourishes – “Many religions, like Islam for example, seem to thrive on conquest and power. Christianity grows best under hardship.”

Why Christian Kids Leave the Faith

Why Christian Kids Leave the Faith – There are several key points here as well as possible solutions to the problems.

Priming the Gratitude Pump for Thanksgiving Week

Priming the Gratitude Pump for Thanksgiving Week – “Lord Jesus, on this Sunday before Thanksgiving Day, we want to get an early start on giving you the thanks of which you alone are worthy…”

What If I Don’t Want to Sing?

What If I Don’t Want to Sing? – “We have at least two good reasons for us to open our mouths and lift our voices even when we don’t feel like it.”

Why We Should be Thankful for the Gift of Gratitude

Why We Should be Thankful for the Gift of Gratitude – “Only when we become truly grateful for what God has done—when thankfulness has seeped into the marrow of our soul—can we fully appreciate who God is and understand who we are as his children.”

Depressed and Thankful

Depressed and Thankful – “God calls us to be thankful people. And it’s the very attitude of thanksgiving that can transform our lives. If you find yourself wandering down the dark path of depression and despair, here are six simple ways to fight for joy through gratefulness.”

Sisters, Jesus Is Not Your Cheerleader

Sisters, Jesus Is Not Your Cheerleader – Melissa Kruger writes: “I’m concerned that we’ve reduced Jesus to a spiritual cheerleader. And, in turn, that’s what we’ve become to one another…If your devotional, Bible study group, or conference is more focused on who you are than who Jesus is, it’s time to pick up a new book or find another group.”

Can We Really Have Hope Without Suffering?

Can We Really Have Hope Without Suffering? - What the Bibles means when it says 'we also glory in our sufferings.'

Lay Aside the Weight of Pride

Lay Aside the Weight of Pride – “Many of the burdens I bear in life are made far heavier by adding on top of them an oversized image of myself. I simply have a tendency to think more often about and more highly of myself than I ought to think (Romans 12:3).”

Practice Makes Perfect

Practice Makes Perfect – “Is it possible to get better at showing mercy? To grow in generosity? To become more loving? To be a better neighbor? And, if yes, is growth in these areas related to practice? Put another way, is the Christian life like everything else in life?”

The Common Sin of Middle Age Believers

The Common Sin of Middle Age Believers – The issues raised here are so very true for adults between raising children and caring for aging parents.

Anniversaries Are About God, Not Gifts

Anniversaries Are About God, Not Gifts – “So what should we think when we think about our anniversaries? How do we celebrate anniversaries as those rescued by grace and captured by Jesus? Are there ways to honor God with annual traditions in our marriage?” 

Growing Churches Are Conservative Churches

Growing Churches Are Conservative Churches – This short article shares some sobering but not surprising research. 

Why Difficulties in the Bible Are a Good Thing

Why Difficulties in the Bible Are a Good Thing – “The classic doctrine of the clarity of Scripture does not care to deny the difficulties in the Bible, any more than the apostle Peter did when he talked about the things “hard to understand” in Paul’s scriptural writings. But God has loving purposes behind even those difficulties.”

10 Things You Should Know about Physician Assisted Suicide

10 Things You Should Know about Physician Assisted Suicide – As the practice become more embraced by our society, it’s important that Christians understand the issues.

3 Parenting Myths We Are All Tempted To Believe

3 Parenting Myths We Are All Tempted To Believe – “As Christian parents raise their children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord, we can be tempted to believe some dangerous myths about what we are doing and how we are to go about it.”

Motivations to Hate Sin

Motivations to Hate Sin – “So here are three reasons why you should hate sin. In thinking upon these, may they provoke a holy hatred of all that opposes the reign of God in our lives.”

Four Daily Prayers for Your Children

Four Daily Prayers for Your Children – “Consider with me this Spirit-inspired verse, a perfect, four-part summary of our prayers for our kids to become like Christ in every way.”

Life Is Hard, But God Is Good

Life Is Hard, But God Is Good – “In an attempt to alleviate the complication of grief and find deeper meaning in our hardships here are four reasons life is hard, plus specific ways we can respond to our difficulties.”

Proclaiming a Better Way

Proclaiming a Better Way – “Every election, a dangerous forgetfulness descends upon the nation like a cloud, as if somehow this election will decide the fate of America for the next 1,000 years.”

More Christians Affirm Same-Sex Marriage

More Christians Affirm Same-Sex Marriage – Jim Denison speaks to recent events, gives solid biblical counsel, provides links for further study.

10 Ways Christians Can Show Love This Thanksgiving

10 Ways Christians Can Show Love This Thanksgiving – “A lot of people think of giving and charity at Christmastime, but we can also show love and give thanks at Thanksgiving too. There are many ways that Christians can show love in this season of thanks giving.”

God is Interested in the Details

God is Interested in the Details – “I’m very concerned - okay, let’s call it obsessed - with the details of life. Sometimes they’re big details, like whom will I marry and when, and sometimes small, like why am I taking this class and trudging through this syllabus. And in the details I often lose sight of God and how He relates to my situation.”

Mocking Your Mission Field

Mocking Your Mission Field – “My Facebook is filled with comments about snowflakes, hypocrites and lefties who supposedly are so evil and so despicable that they need to be ridiculed for their tears. The problem is that these snowflakes we’re mocking are my mission field.”

Do You Have to Like God’s Commands?

Do You Have to Like God’s Commands? – “A friend of mine once confessed she had a verse in the Bible she would gladly remove if given the choice. Which verse this happened to be was less interesting to me than the notion itself. If we had the opportunity, would we happily remove any parts of the Bible?”

18 Prayers to Pray for Unbelievers

18 Prayers to Pray for Unbelievers – The first step, the most basic step, the most strategic step toward reaching people in your circles of influence with the Good News of Jesus, is to pray.

Why Does Anyone Become a Christian?

Why Does Anyone Become a Christian? – “Many say that Christians who maintain the historic, traditional doctrines are behind the times, are too exclusive, and are “on the wrong side of history…in light of the enormous social costs of being a Christian in the first three centuries, why did anyone become a Christian? Why did Christianity grow so exponentially? What did Christianity offer that was so much greater than the costs? “

9 Things Titus 2 Women Do

9 Things Titus 2 Women Do – “When I think about these women—whether they are slightly or significantly older than me, and despite their varying seasons of life—I noticed some common traits…”

What Do White Evangelicals Owe People of Color in Trump’s America They Helped Create?

What Do White Evangelicals Owe People of Color in Trump’s America They Helped Create? – We carry each other’s burdens now so we can cry out with one voice for eternity.

Let’s Rise to Love Those Left in Fear

Let’s Rise to Love Those Left in Fear – “We have neighbors and coworkers — even friends and family — who are not just disappointed or sorrowful over the presidential-election results, but also genuinely afraid.”

Praying for Our President Elect

Praying for Our President Elect – Here are five ways you and I might pray for our president elect.

Three Myths About World Missions

Three Myths About World Missions – What keeps you from going?

Not An Iota

Not An Iota – What did Jesus mean when he said, “until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished?”

Church Should Feel Uncomfortable

Church Should Feel Uncomfortable – “Taking up the challenge of committing to a church is incredibly difficult but decidedly biblical. You don’t have to read much of the New Testament to see how messy things get when natural enemies commit to being unified family (Gal. 3:28). It’s inevitably uncomfortable but undeniably important.”

‘Pick Your Battles’ Parenting

‘Pick Your Battles’ Parenting – “Nowhere, in the Bible, will Christian parents see God picking battles as he parents his children. The most illustrative and direct example of his parenting is found as he led Israel through the wilderness into Canaan. During this time, God does not permit certain commands to be heeded and others to be ignored.”

Talk to God About Your Anxiety

Talk to God About Your Anxiety – “Anxiety is a species of fear. It’s the paralyzing fear of “what if.” It’s the fear that something we dread might possibly come true.”

The FAQs: What You Should Know About Recent Ballot Initiatives

The FAQs: What You Should Know About Recent Ballot Initiatives – “While the nation was focused primarily on the presidential election, several states were voting on ballot initiatives that will have significant ramifications on society.”

Is Anything Too Hard for God?

Is Anything Too Hard for God? – “How do we know nothing is too hard for God? Think about who our God is for a moment.”

Lovekindness: A Post-Election Path for Christians in America

Lovekindness: A Post-Election Path for Christians in America – “Instead of embodying a kingdom of hope and reconciliation, we’ve blended in with the culture’s pervasive despair and disunity. Instead of demonstrating power in weakness via the cross, we’ve become weakened by a lust for power via the crown.”

Characteristics of Biblical Faith

Characteristics of Biblical Faith – “Here are 6 characteristics of biblical faith according to Hebrews 11. See how your faith measures up.”

Where Evangelicals Go From Here

Where Evangelicals Go From Here – Trump’s victory presents some real challenges for conservative Christians in America. Thomas Kidd makes some observations.

Five Ways to Help Our Kids After the Election

Five Ways to Help Our Kids After the Election – “As dads and moms, we have the responsibility to help our children process this transition in United States history with our Bibles open. How should Christians move ahead?”

Waking Up to a New President-Elect in the USA

Waking Up to a New President-Elect in the USA – Scottie Smith shares a prayer for this day that is appropriate for believers regardless of whether your candidate won or lost.

How to Pray When Someone You Love Is Stuck In Sin

How to Pray When Someone You Love Is Stuck In Sin - “When the people closest to us sin, it hurts. Sin is destructive. When we are standing close by, we often get hit with shrapnel. If you’re in the line of fire, I deeply admire your willingness to pray instead of simply assuming the position of duck and cover. But I also don’t blame you for wondering, How am I supposed to pray about this?”

Learning from the Judges

Learning from the Judges – “The people of God relived the cycle of relapse, retribution, repentance, and rescue over and over again throughout biblical history. And, dare I say, the church has seen a similar cycle over the past two thousand years as well.”

The Church Will Be the Church

The Church Will Be the Church – This piece was written prior to the election but it still holds true. “No matter who wins in the election today, no matter what party takes hold of the reins of power, no matter which color – red or blue – is cheering at the end of the night, the church will keep doing what she’s always done.”

Where Do We Go From Here? The 2016 Election and Our Future

Where Do We Go From Here? The 2016 Election and Our Future – In this essay, Jim Denison discusses the election’s impact on key biblical issues and how Christians should respond. It’s worth a few minutes today.

12 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Posting Something Online

12 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Posting Something Online – “Think of them as indicator lights, the kind a pilot checks before take off.”

Do Not Hope in Kings

Do Not Hope in Kings – “Many of us are struggling to make sense of, and respond to, the current presidential election cycle. As Christian citizens, what should we say? How should we pray?” 

Seven Ways to Pray on Election Day

Seven Ways to Pray on Election Day – “Our Father and God, We acknowledge that in this election you are, as it were, holding up a mirror to America…” 

The Humbled Mother

The Humbled Mother – “Parenting does have its ways of humbling us, doesn’t it?”

Why I Have Hope for America’s Soul

Why I Have Hope for America’s Soul – “In spite of the negative news, I see many reasons to hope for another spiritual rebirth for America.”

It’s Finally Here: 3 Responses to Election Day

It’s Finally Here: 3 Responses to Election Day – Jim Denison writes: “Many are worried for our country. But let’s take a longer view.”

Six Ways You Can Pray for Your Country

Six Ways You Can Pray for Your Country – With the election staring us in the face, the church needs to enter into prayer more than ever. These six prayers can help Christians wholistically pray for America.

The Day Before We Elect a New President

The Day Before We Elect a New President – This is a good expression of prayer for this day.

12 Lies American Evangelicals Believe

12 Lies American Evangelicals Believe – “Here are twelve lies about God, morality, and salvation which Christians in the study believed, and why they are wrong.”

What If Our Bibles Rose Up and Judged Us?

What If Our Bibles Rose Up and Judged Us? – “We have easier access to the Word of God than any generation in history, and yet those of us who have Bibles may fail to regularly read them, and those of us who do read the Bible may fail to put God’s Word into practice.”

How to Warm Your Heart in Worship

How to Warm Your Heart in Worship – There are days when circumstance and busyness create a cold heart. There are plenty of times our hearts need to be warmed toward worship. 

Put Not Your Trust in Presidents

Put Not Your Trust in Presidents – Tim Challies (a Canadian) reflects on his own despair in last year’s election of a prime minister who would lead Canada down a liberal path. He has some good words for American Christians (regardless of which candidate is elected).

Two Mistakes to Avoid on Election Eve

Two Mistakes to Avoid on Election Eve – “You and I can make two mistakes on the eve of the 2016 election. One is to fear its results. The other is to trust its results.”

3 Truths You Should Remember, No Matter What You Do in the Voting Booth

3 Truths You Should Remember, No Matter What You Do in the Voting Booth – “Here are three truths about Christians and politics that are true today and will still be true after next week’s election—truths you should remember no matter what you do in the voting booth.”

Looking for Hope After November 8

Looking for Hope After November 8 – “Most Americans can at least agree on this: The 2016 presidential election cycle has been a long one, and it will be a relief when it’s over…Looking for post-election unity, then, may not be easy.”

Being on God’s Side: A Dozen Recommendations for the ‘Religious Right’

Being on God’s Side: A Dozen Recommendations for the ‘Religious Right’ – Joe Carter shares some thought-provoking ideas: “On the eve of the 2016 election, I want to share these twelve recommendations (or reminders) with my fellow religious and political conservatives.”

Truths the Devil Uses to Stop Us from Praying

Truths the Devil Uses to Stop Us from Praying – “As odd as it seems, the dark prince does not hesitate to speak the truth if it will make us think we shouldn’t pray.”

What the Wayward Wants

What the Wayward Wants – Why is it important to know what the wayward wants? Because “to reach the prodigal, you must first crawl into the story of the prodigal.” It is an ugly story, but one God so often delights in ending with the prodigal returning to all that was once his.

5 Key Apologetics Questions

5 Key Apologetics Questions – “Amy Hall lays out five questions young people most need to think through and solidify in their own minds before they go out into the world.”

Parents Fear That Religion Will Make Their Children Outcasts

Parents Fear That Religion Will Make Their Children Outcasts – Here’s an interesting one from the UK: “Almost a quarter of religious parents are not passing on their faith to their children for fear they will be alienated at school, a survey has revealed.”

Do You Pray Enough?

Do You Pray Enough? – “We will never cultivate or sustain a vibrant prayer life out of a sense of guilt.”

What’s Really Going On with Evangelicals and Same-Sex Marriage

What’s Really Going On with Evangelicals and Same-Sex Marriage – This is an important distinction: “The biggest debate in evangelical circles these days is not over same-sex marriage. It’s whether or not male-female marriage is a ‘core commitment’ or an issue we can ‘agree to disagree’ on. And more and more institutions and organizations are making it clear that marriage is the first, not the second.”

Four Key Principles of Repentance

Four Key Principles of Repentance – “These are basic truths about basic Christianity—repenting of sin and coming to alive to righteousness. These are truths my children need to hear and believe. These are truths their parents need to hear again and believe anew.”

Reflections on the Jen Hatmaker Controversy: Why We Can't Agree to Disagree About Homosexuality

Reflections on the Jen Hatmaker Controversy: Why We Can't Agree to Disagree About Homosexuality – This has been a hot topic for the last week. I appreciated this response.

Marriage Isn’t Meant to Meet Your Needs

Marriage Isn’t Meant to Meet Your Needs – “Assuming marriage is about meeting needs is dangerous for at least two reasons.” 

How to Practice Christian Encouragement

How to Practice Christian Encouragement – “Christian encouragement is a command. But like the command to evangelize, we often find it awkward to employ in everyday life.” 

Live Like Sons and Daughters of the King

Live Like Sons and Daughters of the King – “Our penchant for earning paralyzes us before God’s offer of true grace. We don’t know how to receive favor without working for it.” 

A Pushy Kind of Prayer?

A Pushy Kind of Prayer? – “You might be surprised to learn that God wants us to be pushy—through our prayers at least. He calls us to be watchmen who do battle through consistent prayer.”

Do You Have the Faith to be Faithful?

Do You Have the Faith to be Faithful? – “Today I want to consider what it means to have an exemplary faith, the kind of faith that, if imitated by others, will lead them to become more like Christ. Do you have that kind of faith? If people imitate you, will they in fact be imitating Jesus? This is no small challenge!”

Court Protects Iowa Churches from Government Censorship and Control

Court Protects Iowa Churches from Government Censorship and Control – This is a win for religious liberty but points to the many challenges that will come up against religious freedom in the days ahead.

4 Reasons You Never Follow Through With 'Quiet Time'

4 Reasons You Never Follow Through With 'Quiet Time' - The struggle is real but it doesn't have to be.

Sixteen Lies Satan Feeds Us About Worship

Sixteen Lies Satan Feeds Us About Worship – “If God uses our worship to transform sinners, starting with us, then the enemy will do all in his power to neutralize it…What has the evil advisor told you in the secret recesses of  your mind and heart to dissuade you from worship?”

“Honor the king.” And other impossible commands

“Honor the king.” And other impossible commands – “The Lord seems to delight in calling His disciples to do impossible things, actions which the flesh rebels against, the world scoffs at, and we sometimes question.”

Don't Be Greedy With Your Pain

Don't Be Greedy With Your Pain – Both our quality and quantity of sharing is going up, but our authenticity of sharing is going down…These are our best moments, our best statements, and our best thoughts, “shared.”

How to Turn this Election into a Gospel Tract

How to Turn this Election into a Gospel Tract – The election should provide opportunity for spiritual conversation that leads toward God’s truth and eternal things.

Evangelicals Across The Spectrum Are Clarifying Marriage As A Core Belief

Evangelicals Across The Spectrum Are Clarifying Marriage As A Core Belief – For Evangelicals, same-sex marriage is not an “agree to disagree” issue.

So What If America Is No Longer a 'Christian Nation'?

So What If America Is No Longer a 'Christian Nation'? - How do we respond to life in a new America?

Grace-Paced Living in a Burnout Culture

Grace-Paced Living in a Burnout Culture – “ It’s men and women, young and old, leaders and followers, Christians and non-Christians, in all walks and at all levels of life, who are all arriving at the same wrecking yard — overwhelmed, burned out, empty, and broken.”

Why Evangelicals Dislike and Distrust Hillary Clinton So Much

Why Evangelicals Dislike and Distrust Hillary Clinton So Much – Ed Stetzer gives the background on this hot topic: “To many Evangelicals, Mrs. Clinton is a perfect storm of divergent values, dismissive advocacy, and distrusted personality.”

Internet Safety Rules for Children

Internet Safety Rules for Children – This is a good list of safety rules for children as they begin to use the Internet.

10 Things You should Know about the Protestant Reformation

10 Things You should Know about the Protestant Reformation – This is a good explanation about what it was and what it means for us today.

Love Your Neighbor Enough to Speak Truth

Love Your Neighbor Enough to Speak Truth – Rosaria Butterfield responds to Jen Hatmaker: “Today, I hear Jen’s words—words meant to encourage, not discourage, to build up, not tear down, to defend the marginalized, not broker unearned power—and a thin trickle of sweat creeps down my back. If I were still in the thick of the battle over the indwelling sin of lesbian desire, Jen’s words would have put a millstone around my neck.”