As we go about our week we often run into people in our community who are not believers and are not connected to any church. During the course of small talk, the topic of church is broached and we then ask our new acquaintance if they go to church anywhere. They say, “No, my wife (or husband) and I have been looking around for years now and nothing has clicked.” We then tell this person...
In America and western culture broadly we value critical thinking. Oftentimes we are completely baffled when people are unable to clearly think through situations. We are even more baffled when people believe things without critically assessing the validity of the “truths” which they claim to believe. It makes no sense to us. The freedom to think and evaluate is at the core of western culture. Those who do not value critical thought are strange to...
“Follow Your Arrow,” the catchy tune by singer-songwriter Kacey Musgraves, has found a home on country music radio and is getting love from those who embrace its message: be who you are, live for the moment, stop caring what people think. Like many of today’s chart-toppers, it tends to clash with my beliefs. But that melody, those sweet-as-honey vocals make it hard to change the station. So I sing along, critiquing the worldview as I...
Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.-1 John 3:18 She is new. None of us have seen her before. A woman with a modest hijab walks into our English class for the very first time. In many ways she is out of place. She is the only woman in our class and those of us teaching can tell that she is not from the ethnic group...
About a month ago, I wrote a post giving reasons why I believe Christians should be good storytellers. After I had shared it on my Facebook wall, one of my close friends commented, in a joking manner, that I should have written the article as a story. While he was only making light of the post, he unintentionally pinpointed one of the greatest temptations facing many evangelical churches today, to which many unfortunately succumb. This...
As you may well know, earlier this week Bill Nye (The Science Guy) and Ken Ham, president of Answers in Genesis and the Creation Museum, debated one another as to whether or not Ken Ham’s understanding of the world’s origin is viable (Ham is a literal 6 day, young earth creationist). If you haven’t watched the debate, and have 2 hours and 45 minutes on your hands, you can check it out here. When I...
About the author: Lindsey has a BA in Sociology from Cedarville University and a MA in Education (math) from the University of Colorado. After having taught 5th grade for four years, she currently stays at home and spends her days wrangling three toddlers while anxiously waiting for the sound of the garage door. Growing up, we didn’t do Santa. My sisters and I didn’t write lists, my parents never took us to visit Santa, nobody ever...
Earlier this week, my fellow blogger Calvin Sodestrom penned an excellent piece on so called “church marketing.” While I agreed with most everything that Calvin said, I also wanted to press his point further and help us to reconsider how we go about “doing church.” Calvin’s insights were useful but as long as we are conceiving of church in the traditional paradigm, our comments on “marketing” will always be a bridge too short. In trying...
Today’s my birthday, which means I’m officially the 30-year-old virgin. I’m not embarrassed. I’m not afraid to say the V-word. My lack of (ahem) experience is a running joke with my friends, and I’m happy to keep it going—as long as they don’t start believing that virginity equals purity. In a world where sex is king, some might think 30 years of celibacy is a huge moral achievement. It’s not. Sure, in my singleness I’ve...
“GET ME OUT OF HERE! Seriously, it’s time for the Second Coming. Lord, I want you back. Like, ASAP.” That’s a glimpse into my prayer life over the past few months. Maybe that’s been your prayer, too. I think we’ve all felt the weight of recent events and wondered when Christ will come again. Remember these headlines? “Gunman massacres 20 children in Connecticut.” “Philadelphia abortion doctor beheaded live babies.” “Blasts at Boston Marathon kill 3,...
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