Seven Deadly Sins, One Presidential Election

Pride, envy, greed, and the rest all rear their heads for 2020. Sin always seeks an opportunity to push into our lives. Don’t “make room for the devil,” the apostle Paul warns (Eph. 4:27, NRSV throughout). But election season offers Satan sprawling acreage on which to trap and tempt. One tool Paul and other biblical writers employed to help Christians fend off temptation was the simple act of listing sins we might commit. There are more than a dozen “vice lists”... Read More

Evangelicals for Social Action Leaves Behind ‘Evangelical’ Label

The 47-year-old organization sticks with the broader movement’s mission, but no longer its name. Evangelicals for Social Action, the justice-focused group founded by Ron Sider, has called itself “a different kind of evangelical.” As of today, it’s the kind that doesn’t call itself evangelical. After nearly 50 years, the organization has changed its name to Christians for Social Action, becoming the latest and most prominent example of a move away from the... Read More

Depression Plunged Me Into Darkness. God Met Me There.

I couldn’t read Scripture anymore, yet God’s Word still nourished me. I woke up one morning, like normal, to prepare breakfast for our familia. After breakfast, my copastor and husband, Rudy, offered to take our girls to school. I hugged and kissed them goodbye, then headed to the bathroom to finish applying my makeup. But as I put on my mascara, a sudden tidal wave of feelings flooded my body—a cross between dread and nausea—and almost knocked me off my feet. I called our... Read More

Fleeing the Oregon Fires Forced Me to Rethink the Future

The exiled Israelites followed a pillar of smoke, one day at a time. Maybe I can do the same. September 10 was supposed to be my first day of teaching online. Almost exactly six months before, I stood in a classroom and asked my students if reports of the coronavirus made them feel afraid. It turned out to be the last conversation we would have face to face. That evening, our governor canceled school, and the remainder of the year was eventually scuttled. Last week was supposed to be a time... Read More

The Missional Power of Preparation

How do we prepare in the midst of uncertainty? The natural human inclination is to react. We see and observe certain things to be true about our world, and based on our life history, personality, and gifts, we respond in a way that ideally brings honor to God. For church leaders, this reactionary posture has become the normative modus operandi since March. No one was prepared for a pandemic. No one knows how this whole mess is going to play out. So, each week, or even each day, leaders pivot... Read More

How Lebanon’s First Female Militant Made Her Fight More Faithful

Jocelyne Khoueiry inspired over 1,500 Christian women to enlist during the civil war, then shifted her efforts from arms to knees. On July 31, Jocelyne Khoueiry passed away mercifully five days before seeing Beirut destroyed, again. A key player in the civil war that once tore the city apart, she spent the rest of her life trying to stitch it back together, and all of Lebanon with it. The Beirut explosion on August 4 reminded many of the worst days of the 1975-1990 conflict. The Lebanese... Read More

Charles Stanley Stepping Down After 50 Years as Pastor

At 87, the longtime First Baptist Atlanta preacher still doesn’t believe in retirement. In a video announcement following the online service at First Baptist Church in Atlanta on Sunday, longtime pastor Charles Stanley announced his transition to pastor emeritus. Stanley, who came to First Baptist as an associate pastor in 1969 before being named pastor two years later, informed the church’s board earlier this month of the decision. “I’m so grateful saw fit to allow me... Read More

Remembering 9/11 and Its Relevance for 2020

On a day of remembrance, let’s look towards our biblical call. Most people vividly remember where they were on the dreadful day, 19 years ago, when terrorists hijacked planes, weaponizing them as bombs to be flown into buildings. As a sophomore studying at Union University (Jackson, TN), I remember the images flashing across the TV screen as we paused our “Becoming a Global Christian” class. The professor, the students, we were all speechless as we witnessed live coverage... Read More

Developing a Framework for the Secular Mind

How do we break the stereotypes surrounding Christianity? A Houston-based pediatrician and pastor grabbed national attention this past July, after the president retweeted her peddling the same COVID-19 conspiracies theories he himself has pushed before. In a video that has now been banned by most social media companies, Stella Immanuel touted hydroxychloroquine as a cure for COVID-19 and said that wearing face masks aren’t necessary to stop the spread. She garnered tens of millions of... Read More

I Was a Pastor’s Wife. Suicide Made Me a Pastor’s Widow.

What I learned about mental health and ministry following my husband’s tragic death. I was 19 when I met Andrew and quickly fell in love. He was a pastor’s kid who felt called to ministry, and it didn’t take long for me to realize that life with him meant life as a pastor’s wife. I grew up attending church every Sunday, but wasn’t until I spent time with Andrew’s family that I caught a glimpse of what life was like in the trenches of ministry. As I leaned in,... Read More