They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. — Acts 2:42 Sadly, summer often rushes by in a blur. Family vacations (which are usually not as relaxing as we hope), summer camps, and swimming pools fill the days. There is a mad dash to get all…
What Kind of Woman?
Editor’s note: The following excerpt is from one of our favorite books of this past year. It is powerfully insightful, it is fun and inspirational, and it is filled with heart-pumping Hope. You Are the Girl for the Job by Jess Connolly will spur you on in the belief of the most foundational truth –…
Church
I come from a long line of churchgoing people: bishops, reverends, musicians, preachers, music ministers, church mothers, and deacons. Even before I had a relationship with God for myself, I assumed God must be real. Otherwise, I couldn’t reason why my great-grandma Sudie and the mothers of the church would gather in her living…
A Nation Raging, a Church Unchanging
Contention and Division I was in Southeast Asia several weeks ago spending time with a friend, Michael. Michael is an American missionary, and his family has been absent from the United States for more than a decade. Over dinner one evening we strayed into politics. “I keep up on the news,” he said. “But what’s…
Simply Resistible
Modern Bible readers see Jesus as an extension of the Jewish Scriptures, our Old Testament. Jewish leaders in Jesus’ day didn’t see Him as an extension or fulfillment of anything… From their vantage point, Jesus was introducing something new. On this, they were correct. ~ Andy Stanley BEFORE YOU BEGIN A quick reading reminder before…
Grace on Tap
Living “in the world,” we can look for natural opportunities to dispense grace — not just words — to those around us. Gabe Lyons recommends inviting community leaders, whether Christian or not, into church to tell how best to engage with the neighborhood and its problems. As he notes, African American churches have historically done that, finding ways to honor teachers,…
Your Church
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures…
Jackie Robinson: A Fork in the Road
The path was not easier for Jackie simply because he embraced God. He was far from perfect and had a criminal record from his days in the gang, though it is clear that at least some of the arrests were racially motivated. Jackie and some of his friends were dragged off to jail at gunpoint…
The Stuff of God: Making Our Parents’ Faith Our Own
On Sunday nights, dad and the house church men would sometimes take me trot-lining with them. We’d take a couple of boats out and string out the long trotlines, weighted at both ends with plastic milk-jug floaters in the middle and multiple baited hooks. My dad knew just where to go. We’d catch all kinds…
Dive Deeper: Finding Grace and Peace
d.i.v.e means define, investigate, visualize, and embrace Maybe like author Jenifer Jernigan – author of Dive Deeper, a study of the book of Ephesians from the Inscribed Studies collection – you are longing to know more about the Lord and want to study His Word, but feel like you don’t know how! Jenifer uses in her study…