Heather Morris’ depiction follows Slovakian Jew Lale Sokolov, who was imprisoned at Auschwitz in 1942, and shows how he fell in love with a girl he was tattooing at the concentration camp. Based on his true story, this novel takes the reader from three years of brutality before his eventual escape. Morris is discreet with […]
5 Aspects of American Culture that Have No Place in the Heart of a Christian
ENTITLEMENT & FOMO: If I was forced to peg a transitional date, I’d say 8-10 years ago was when I started noticing the entitlement attitude bleed into generations normally responsible and others-focused. In the academic world, I’ve dealt with the millennial crutch of “you owe it to me” for as long as I’ve been teaching. […]
Should I be Making my Life Easier?
I was listening to a Christian radio station recently where the DJ host of the show said that we as people often over-complicate our lives. “Sure, I’m with you so far,” I thought. Fill out a legal form to see how ridiculously complicated we’ve made things. Or look at a normal 10-year-old’s schedule and wonder […]
Pivotal Turning Point for the American Church: How Will We Respond?
I didn’t live through the 60’s, but those who did say that even that time wasn’t as polarizing as we’re experiencing now. Of course, we didn’t have the Internet and social media and biased “news” sources to help fan the flames of violent division, but even so, people could disagree with one another in more […]
Fall Reads: Because We All Need a Break and a Little Perspective
It’s easy into today’s climate to fixate our attention on the media, social networks, or the latest numbers from the CDC, and we wonder when the volcano is going to blow. With politics and pandemics swirling hot lava around our feet, we might feel a little too indifferent or even neglectful to read anything that […]
Spiritual Warfare Comes in a Variety of Shapes and Colors
I’m reading through the Gospels with my sisters right now and am struck by how often the religious people of Jesus’ day followed him around, trying to stop him in his mission, nit-picking every little perfect thing He did. They didn’t understand Jesus; they didn’t like that He was healing people or preaching salvation apart […]
Scary Increases & How to Combat The Deterioration of Relationships
COVID-19 and all the shelter-at-home ordinances and cancelled events and lay-offs has led to many people spending a lot of extra time at home…with–one would hope–loved ones. But for many, the increased time with family members didn’t lead to deeper relationships but to divorce. During COVID, divorce rates increased 34%. Sadly, many people just couldn’t […]
The Dangers of Romans 13 Overshadowing the Rest of the New Testament’s Message
We are all capable–and probably do–of taking Scripture out of context or making one passage more weighty than another. Even Satan himself used the Words of God to try to lure Jesus in the wilderness. The best way to interpret Scripture is with Scripture. If a message seems to go against the theme threaded through the whole Gospels, we probably need to keep reading.
What I Learned Over the Ten Days: A Peek Into my Spiritual Journal
I hesitated to even share this information publicly, because Jesus encourages us to keep our prayers and fasting private, not a banner we wave for all to see. And yet, we see throughout Scripture how the disciplines and courage of the saints is recorded to edify and exhort the Church to keep on keeping on […]
Saying Goodbye to the Celebrities
Cancelled TV shows, film sets closed down, sports barely played, and through it all, I’ve said, “What’s to miss?” Another lesson of 2020 is this: we don’t need our celebrities to survive…or even flourish. We need to realize this truth within the church as well. Where are the bold and courageous leaders now? Where are […]