Practical Guide to Monster Hunting
There may be no greater threat to humanity than a monster, and understandably so. Monsters are without boundaries. Mostly monsters are big, but they don’t have to be. Monsters are not confined to a specific shape, color, or language. For instance, a monster can be 8 feet tall, covered in woolly hair and teeth, enormous...
Jared Ellis
The Surprising Layers of a Genealogy
I started copying the Bible by hand, beginning with Genesis. I write the verses on the right side of a notebook and any thoughts, questions, or responses I have on the left side. I’d like to someday have written the whole Bible out. There are 31,102 verses in the Bible, so if I write five...
Luke Gray
Home Alone: Surviving the Pandemic for Married Couples
So, the shelter-at-home order was fun for three or four days. Movies every night! But the fun is over. The pandemic with its shelter-at-home order is now dragging on, and you’re getting really tired of it. Now, in the middle of the strains of economic insecurity, isolation from friends, rampaging children, blaring screens, mounting bills,...
David Young
4 Reasons to Pray that Go Beyond My Physical Needs
We usually think of prayer as asking things of God or at least talking to Him, thanking Him and praising Him. However, let me suggest that prayer is first of all listening to God. In prayer God has our attention. We don’t have to ask for His attention; we already have it. Ours is not...
John Caldwell
4 Creative Ways Churches are Serving Their Communities
How does a church step up and serve its hurting community when restricted by social distancing? Here are four creative snapshots of church leaders getting creative for the sake of their communities. The “Dollar Club” Sy Huffer, College Heights Christian Church in Joplin, MO Each week, we are asking everyone to give $1 per family...
Communing with the Church, from My Kitchen
“Bread of Life, Pure Living Water, Lover of my soul, In my weakness be my strength to reach the final goal.” I’ve learned to tune in and pay attention to the thoughts, the pictures that run through my mind first thing in the morning, before I open my eyes and am just coming to consciousness....
Linda Goodwyn
A Global Awakening
“What makes us fully alive and fully human is to care for others, love them, and lead a selfless life. That would be a good lesson to learn.”
Christian Ray Flores
Christian Ray Flores
5 Sources of Endurance
Across every app, I see people counting quarantine days. We’ve been at it a while. So, it seems a good word on endurance would be welcome right about now. Endurance is the ability to withstand difficulties. Endurance can be defined as the “continuing commitment in the face of difficulty” (Baker Evangelical Dictionary). Boy oh boy,...
Debbra Stephens
How to Disciple through Emotional Trauma: Truth
John 1:17 reads, “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” Law (or any rule) cannot free people from emotional trauma. You can tell people all day that they have no reason to believe a lie… to be afraid… or to be ashamed. You can tell people to do...
Lee Keele
Grace-Filled Worship Ministry for Uncertain Times
How do we worship ministers navigate this unknown territory in which we find ourselves today? I didn’t figure I would find the answer in the Book of Jeremiah. Let me start by saying something we already know: Because of COVID-19, we worship ministers have had to get creative and agile to keeping our mission on...
Corey Scott
4 Ways to Grow as a Disciple When You’re Isolated
With the global pandemic of COVID-19, many of us are watching our daily lives change shape in major ways. People handle themselves differently in this situation, whether anxiously scrolling through news and social media, binging streaming services and snacking on food, or being super productive and skill-building–all of which can be appropriate responses to such...
Taffeta Chime
How to Disciple through Emotional Trauma: Grace
Every biblical model of Christian discipleship should circle constantly around the idea of love. If we miss love, we’ve missed everything. Hold on to this thought tightly, because love is at the heart of discipleship and disciple-making.. Jesus told us to “teach them [disciples] to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:20). And...
Lee Keele
4 Ways to Steward Your Suffering
Is there something we can do on the other side of our suffering to help ourselves heal and perhaps even help other people heal? Rather than burying our past suffering, are there any ways we can put our suffering to use and create something good? In other words, how can we be good stewards of...
Bonnie Blaylock
4 Takeaways from LGBTQ Documentary
Do you know Guy? If you know him, you wonder how someone with that big a smile could have gone through that much hurt. As you watch the documentary Finding Guy, you’ll see a smile that starts out hiding tragedy and shame. But now that big smile shows hard-won joy. How so? It’s because after...
Daniel McCoy
Reaching the Unreached with Stories
During my journey to understand “oral cultures,” I’ve had the privilege of studying under the most amazing Middle Eastern man I’ve ever met. I’ve never met anyone that knows the Word of God more than He does. There’s something about this man that people are just drawn to, and that I’m drawn to. For one...
James Bard
How to Disciple through Emotional Trauma: Time
“I don’t think I’ll ever drive again!” Opal told me. And honestly, I couldn’t blame her for how she felt at this particular moment. She had been involved in a single-car accident in which she was driving. Her accident had caused the unintentional death of one of her dear and lifelong friends. She was sober...
Lee Keele