The Most Diverse Small Town in America Mourns Refugee Cuts

The election could determine the future of resettlement ministries in Clarkston, Georgia. The small city of Clarkston, Georgia, has been called “the most diverse square mile in America” and “the Ellis Island of the South.” Since 1979, World Relief’s Atlanta office assisted thousands of refugee families who resettled there, helping them find apartments and apply for jobs, enrolling their children in local schools, bringing them to medical appointments, and... Read More

Democratic Candidate Says She Has the Faith to Turn Western Michigan Blue

Hillary Scholten hopes to flip a House seat with appeals to deep Dutch Reformed roots. Editor’s note: This profile is the second in a CT series featuring Christian candidates from both parties who are running for Congress in November. In a campaign that’s all about different visions of leadership, voters can learn a lot from seeing how a candidate connects. Hillary Scholten, an immigration lawyer and West Michigan native running for an open US House seat in the state’s 3rd... Read More

Rain isn’t keeping voters away from first day of early voting in South Florida

At the regional branch library west of Boca Raton, one voter reported via text about 8 a.m., it was raining “and there’s still a long line.” Others posted video of lines on social media, including long lines at the Southwest Regional Library in Pembroke Pines. Mask wearing appeared universal in lines at early voting sites throughout Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties, though in some places people were closer than the six-feet apart recommended for social distancing. At the... Read More

Biblical Freedom and the Unmasking of Evangelicals

How do we navigate competing definitions of liberty? There are two competing ideas on personal liberty that inspire two vastly different understandings of the fundamental nature of freedom. One was recorded 2000 years ago and has guided Christ followers from countless cultures through a myriad of history’s most tumultuous moments. The other is comparatively much younger, more culturally constricted, and considerably less charitable. Woven into the theological fabric of many... Read More

Died: Thomas Howard, Author Who Said ‘Evangelical Is Not Enough’

In spiritual memoirs, son of prominent Christian family wrote about finding the fullness of his childhood faith in the Catholic church. Thomas Howard, a prominent evangelical English professor who converted to Roman Catholicism, died last week at 85. Howard marked out a path to Rome in his spiritual memoirs, notably Christ the Tiger, Evangelical Is Not Enough, Lead, Kindly Light, and On Being Catholic. He wrote with grace and gentle wit about his journey from evangelical son to bow-tied... Read More

Your Devotional Is Not a Bible

Inspiration and comfort do not offer us the full weight and scope of God’s Word. What do Bible teachers do for fun on a Friday night? They check the Amazon lists to see which Bible translation holds the top spot. The last time I looked, it was the New International Version (NIV). The NIV has been the best-selling translation in the US for decades, but on Amazon’s rankings, the translation sat at No. 5, beat out by two children’s Bibles, an audio Bible, and at No. 1, a popular... Read More