Exploring Faith and Spirituality

Religion

Relational Wholeness vs. Relational Idolatry

Codependency, dependent personality disorder, toxic relationships—these are popular terms in counseling and psychology. But as Christians, we want to understand how they fit with or overlap the sin...

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How Christians Can Out-Narrate Nietzsche

Primarily known today as a rebellious German intellectual, Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) was first recognized in his own time as a highly gifted classical philologist: a scholar who studies ancie...

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Let Orthodoxy Fuel the Fight for Justice

The call for justice reverberates from the Bible. Yet many Christian activists see their advocacy for justice as more significant than maintaining doctrinal orthodoxy. It doesn’t have to be this wa...

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Fighting Materialism in a Materialistic World

Melissa and Courtney talk with Jen Oshman about the lie that our worth is measured by what we possess. They discuss why we try to fill a God-shaped hole with earthly things and how to recognize m...

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New Research Confirms Jesus’s Miracles

In chapter 5 of his Gospel, Luke unfolds the following scene: Jesus is teaching in a crowded house, and a paralyzed man is lowered through the roof to ask for healing. Jesus answers by forgiving hi...

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Reading Romans 7 with John Newton

If you’re familiar with Romans 7, you probably know the passage either for the abject misery and debilitating condition of “the wretched man” (v. 24) or for the debate over that individual’s identi...

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How My Brain Injury Prepared Me for the AI Revolution

When I was 17, a speeding Lexus turned my life into a question mark. On a quiet street in Columbus, Indiana, just outside my parents’ driveway, I was riding my skateboard, showing my 9-year-old ne...

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Perfect Pitch Is Not a Fruit of the Spirit

As professional musicians, my wife and I love to visit churches when we’re on tour. It’s always interesting to see how different congregations do the work of ministry. Yet on one Sunday morning, we...

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Why Pastoral Ministry Is Worth Pursuing Today

Annually, I gather with two groups of senior pastors. We know and love each other well, so we talk about life’s heavy topics, laugh, and cry. At our gatherings, we each share: “Over the past year, ...

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Does Work-from-Home Mean Work-Without-Rest?

How can I find rest when work-at-home mode tends to imply that work never really stops? When I was on paternity leave after my second child was born, I developed a strange habit of wandering int...

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Phones in the Pews: Threat or Discipleship Opportunity?

The smartphone has reshaped nearly every dimension of life, and preaching is no exception. Pastors once served as the primary theological voice for their congregations, guiding people through Scrip...

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Struggling with Prayer? Ask God for Help.

Prayer is hard for me. You may not have expected that to be the opening line of an article on prayer. When we seek out resources on a topic, we typically want an expert opinion, tried-and-true tip...

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Finding Satan: The Origins of the Evil One

In recent years, interest has resurged in the role of heavenly beings in the Bible, including the “backstory” of God’s adversary (variously known as the Devil, Satan, and the Evil One). Much of wha...

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What I’ve Learned About Men’s Discipleship from Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

“A black belt is just a white belt who never quit” is a popular proverb in martial arts. It takes an average of 13 years to earn a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ). Progressing is mostly ab...

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How to Derail a Bible Study

Much in our world pulls us toward empty busyness and surface-level relationships. But when we gather with others to study Scripture, we experience the opposite. We dive deeper into God’s Word and d...

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Why Sports Betting Should Concern Christians

Sports gambling was once relegated to the underbelly of American life. It was a major scandal in 1989 when Pete Rose, an All Star player and manager of the Cincinnati Reds, was caught betting on Ma...

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The womanosphere urges dubious followers to back ICE: ‘Don’t let compassion cloud you’

Conservative figures such as Riley Gaines and Allie Beth Stuckey are urging their followers to ward off empathy for victims of ICE’s crackdownRiley Gaines, the former collegiate swimmer turned anti...

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The Guardian view on the new archbishop of Canterbury: how to heal a divided church and nation? | Editorial

The worrying rise of Christian nationalism should be top of a crowded in-tray for Sarah Mullally as she takes up her roleBefore the St Paul’s Cathedral service that confirmed her on Wednesday as th...

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Preach for Action, Not Just Information

There’s a popular contemporary Christian worship song called “My Lighthouse” by Rend Collective. While it features a catchy chorus, the song has divided some churches over a fundamental question: I...

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On My Shelf: Life and Books with Simonetta Carr

On My Shelf helps you get to know various writers through a behind-the-scenes glimpse into their lives as readers. I asked Simonetta Carr—author of numerous books, including Church History and the...

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Why Women Need to Study Joshua

Old Testament books aren’t often high on the list of go-to books for women’s Bible studies. They can seem intimidating, with difficult narratives and prophecies we can’t easily interpret. Yet Jen W...

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