Preach This, Tweet That: What Black Millenials Are Looking For From The Preacher by Dominique Robinson

Preaching has always been a lively communal dialogue between the preacher, God and the congregants within the Black Church tradition; however, technology and social media have invaded this dialogue for Black Millennials. Their idea of interactive preaching goes beyond the “preacher, music and frenzy” that W.E.B. DuBois refers to Black Millennials want church as they know it to reach beyond

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Eating A Meal: Nourishment For Resurrection Life by Cole Bodkin

While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself.

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Theodicy Lived Out by MJ Kirby

Our youngest, Duke, was one of these tender branches grafted into the faith that had been nurtured in him from birth.

Duke took the oath he was making seriously.

A week prior our son wrestled with whether or not he was actually ready to make such a hefty proclamation. His reservation? An unanswered (and I would add unanswerable) question that

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Invisible Growth: Because Evil Doesn’t Win by Elizabeth Glass Turner

Do you remember standing tall and straight against a door jamb etched with pencil markings as a child? Was there a spot in the family home marking years of growth? Perhaps you had a growth chart, able to be folded away and moved as you relocated. If measuring height was part of your childhood, you’ll know that feeling in your

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Rewriting The Story by MJ Kirby

So, why do we make this annual trek to mark Jeremy’s birth, death, Christmas, Easter and other special occasions? I guess somehow in the ritual of the rhythm of returning to the grave we find comfort as we remember. We seek closure. We find consistency. We seek to make sense out of a situation that otherwise makes little to no

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Easter: Bonus Material by Claire Matheny

But here at the site of the empty tomb is our leap beyond lip service. When we take up the mantle from Mary and open our mouth to the truth. There is something bursting below the surface. A little seed of germination. This is Easter…we are the outliers who believe that despite all the impossibility of being raised from death

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Why Animals Need Heaven: God’s Love And The Problem Of Animal Suffering by Matt Douglass

It seems, then, that God would not want anything bad to happen in the world, and he certainly has the power to stop them from happening. Yet bad things—unimaginably horrific things—happen every day. Over many centuries, philosophers and theologians have attempted to solve this problem by explaining why God would choose to create a world like ours, where humans

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Don’t Be Afraid by Andy Stoddard

Today is April 16.  Every year I write something in memory of my Mama Sarah and in honor of my mom, Maxine Stoddard.  On this day 37 years ago, my Mama Sarah was murdered by my biological father; at that point, many lives were forever changed.  She was murdered on my mom’s birthday (April 16) and buried on mine (April 18).  You can read

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The Lost Art Of Testimony by Larry Frank

As a teenage follower of Jesus, I suffered from a terrible affliction. It was an ailment that primarily reared its head in communal gatherings. I was heavily involved in things like Chrysalis and camping ministry. My malady would arise whenever there was a time of testimony…I came to realize that I was suffering from a terrible disease called testimonius-enviousness. I

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Light Stories (Part 3) by James Loftin

For Those who Believed in Christ as a Child, The Straight Highway This is the final article in a series on offering help for writing an effective light story. Check out the first one here, and the second one here. If you miss the opening scene of a book or movie, you often will not understand or appreciate the rest

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Free To Be Holy by Matt O’Reilly

In the last year of his life, John Wesley wrote in a letter something profound, “I am glad brother D — has more light with regard to full sanctification. This doctrine is the grand depositum which God has lodged with the people called Methodists; and for the sake of propagating this chiefly He appeared to have raised us up.” *

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The Unattended Moment by Maxie Dunnam

I read T. S. Eliot’s poetry, even though I have to struggle to read and understand it. I keep reminding myself that what he expresses is worth the arduous effort and energy I might exert in reading him. One of his geniuses is his creation of power-packed phrases and images. Here is one of them: “For most of us, there

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Don’t Worry About Your Ability To Live The Christian Life by Maxie Dunnam

We have been pondering the way Jesus’s resurrection can crack through our worry. An important perspective on hearing Jesus’ word, “Don’t be anxious,” is to know that he is certainly saying  Don’t borrow the trouble of worrying about your ability to live the Christian life. This is something most of us have thought little or nothing about. Yet, I think

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Light Stories (Part 2) by James Loftin

The Process of Conversion and Choosing Words that Connect Stories have the power to move people. Authors, the movie industry, educators throughout history, and Jesus have used this method of communication. In my prior articles (here, here, and here), we discussed crafting our testimonies and identifying the three paths most saving faith journeys take. As you begin to create a

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What Are You Worried About by Maxie Dunnam

There have been a few occasions in my life when, almost immediately after meeting and greeting a person, they asked, “What are you worried about?” Persons often wear themselves on their faces. In my last article I reflected on Tennessee Williams’ image, violets cracking rocks. In his teaching, Jesus used an equally powerful image: “Consider the lilies… how they grow;

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Alive In The Grave by Cookie Puno

“For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit.” 1 Peter 3:18 The “grave” is defined as a place of burial for a dead body, typically a hole dug in the ground and marked by a stone

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Which Side of Easter? by Kim Reisman

Scripture Focus: Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and

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