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

Read More ⟶

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

Read More ⟶

In Awe Of The Resurrection by Elizabeth Glass Turner

I find myself walking in the semi-dark, friends clustered around me. Our hands are full, carrying materials to preserve a corpse. It was a long Sabbath. We were supposed to rest, so we did. But there’s no rest from thoughts of despair and grief. They follow you into every room you enter. Like we had followed Him. We saw the

Read More ⟶

Ambassadors In A World Of Islands by Elizabeth Glass Turner

Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and

Read More ⟶

Chosen by Carrie Carter

I confess that I don’t know that much about adoption. I used to tell my little brother that he was adopted—from the animal shelter. I have reaped the consequences of this in my own sons, as the generational dysfunction marches on. I remember lying in bed as an angsty teen, wondering what it would feel like to be chosen, wanted,

Read More ⟶

The Power Of A Resurrection Day “Selfie” by Kevin Murriel

What makes us think we can make such an audacious request? The resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Believing in a miracle, a rationally unexplainable occurrence, takes exactly what Tillich describes–a faith that transcends our comprehension without excluding our consciousness. In other words, we should know what we are asking for but not expect the miracle to come in ways we can

Read More ⟶

A Pipeline Of Grace: Pros And Cons by Tammie Grimm

A proposed pipeline in my community has caused me to consider the nature of Christian faith and our lives as disciples. I’m not talking about the political, economic or environmental ramifications of pipelines, but the pros and cons of using the analogy of the Christian way of life, our discipleship, as a pipeline. On one hand, the idea of having

Read More ⟶

The Heart Has Eyes by Mark Trotter

The mystery that surrounds us belongs to different modes of perception. That is why he said, “The heart has reasons the mind knows not of.” It is the heart that is able to see into that mystery. And it is why Paul said to the Ephesians, “I pray that God will enlighten the eyes of your heart, so you may

Read More ⟶

Why Ministry? by Andy Stoddard

You can read all kinds of studies out there showing that ministry is isolating.  You see the stats that pastors experience burnout in staggering numbers.  I remember sitting in class and hearing that many of the people to your right and your left will not be there in a few years.  I remember laughing and thinking to myself, oh, not us.  We

Read More ⟶

Differently Abled In The Church: “Life Unworthy Of Life” & The Kingdom Of God by Elizabeth Glass Turner

What does your church do with people who are differently abled, disabled, mentally handicapped, handicapped, or crippled? (All of those terms have been used in my thirty-odd trips around the sun.) Do you have someone in your church who comes in a wheelchair? Do you have training for teachers and nursery workers, preschool workers and children’s ministers on how to engage kids

Read More ⟶

Charlottesville: Do They Really Not See? by Elizabeth Glass Turner

Today is the day after. The day after a young black man got beat up in a parking garage, the scene caught by a quick photojournalist (I can’t imagine how sore he is). The day after a stunned mom learned from reporters that her son had been arrested for plowing his car into a crowd of pedestrians (she was in complete shock).

Read More ⟶

Letting God Continue Your Education by Edgar Bazan

When we think about the story of Creation in the Christian faith, we typically do it within the context of Genesis, the story of the past and how things came to be. One may think this creating process was settled at the beginning of time, and that God transitioned from being an entrepreneur to a manager, or worse, a mere aloof supervisor.   However, if we pay close

Read More ⟶

When You See A Turtle On A Fencepost by Carolyn Moore

Everybody goes through seasons of spiritual “stuckness,” days or weeks or sometimes even months when you just can’t seem to get out of your spiritual bad mood. If you’ve had that experience or are there now, you’re not alone. This is a normal part of the spiritual journey. It is not a sign of weakness; to the contrary, it may well

Read More ⟶

Subscribe

Get articles delivered directly to your inbox as soon as they come out.