Lament, Despair, and Hope
By Rick Barry
Many evangelical Christians confuse lamentation for despair. This confusion can cut us off from one of the most powerful tools in our spiritual arsenal.
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By Rick Barry
Many evangelical Christians confuse lamentation for despair. This confusion can cut us off from one of the most powerful tools in our spiritual arsenal.
By Rev. Dr. Mae Elise Cannon
The holy city of Jerusalem exists as one of the most sacred cities in the world to the three major Abrahamic religions–Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Two peoples (Jews and Palestinians) and three faith traditions not only share the entire city but have also shared interest in individual holy sites as well.
By Jennifer Carpenter
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published Jun 27, 2019. Since then, the organization we interviewed has changed its name to Right to Be.
“Hey, baby, come over here and let me look at you a minute.” “Smile, beautiful.” “What’s your name, little mama?”
I never know what to say when I hear this kind of stuff while walking down the street.
By Andre Henry
You can listen to an audio version of this piece here.
I imagine the weekend of Jesus’ execution might have felt something like the fall of 2020: the feeling of watching a revolution die.
By Christine Sine
You can listen to an audio version of this piece here.
I love gardening and one of the things I love about living in the northern hemisphere is that Easter coincides with the spring blossoming and planting seasons.
By Cyndi Parker
Originally published Mar 7, 2022
I did not grow up observing Lent. I knew “those other Christians” gave up their favorite things during Lent, which made me feel sad for them.
By Jacqueline Bussie
What if the most astonishing greatness about Flannery O’Connor is not some moral life she lived but the grace her own writing brought into her own airless, privileged box of whiteness? The way grace liberated much of her writing from her own bias, prejudice, and racism?
By David de Leon
You can listen to an audio version of this piece here.
I did not grow up in a church that observed Lent, but I did grow up around altar calls.
By Rev. Letiah Fraser
A Public Confession: You were made out of soil, and you will once again turn into soil.
-Genesis 3:19b (CEB)
The Lenten season is a good time for confession.
By Kaitlin Curtice
The word story is defined as “an account of past events in someone’s life or in the evolution of something.” I think about this a lot when I travel and speak: How does our story evolve, change, and become?
By B. Julie Johnson
Originally published Jul 7, 2021
Prostitution. Few social practices have generated more controversy, confusion, scorn, pity, fascination, intrigue, myths, and theories — and for thousands of years. At the same time, it’s difficult to think of any other social behavior, except genocide, that has silenced so many throughout the ages.
By Christine Sine
A couple of weeks ago, I read a fascinating article that talked about how chemical sprays—both pesticides and fertilizers—negatively impact beneficial insects by altering the electrical field around flowers, making bumblebees less likely to land on them for pollination.
By Elrena Evans
Originally posted April 21, 2022
We spoke with Elrena Evans about her new book, Special Grace: Prayers and Reflections for Families with Special Needs from InterVarsity Press. Below you’ll find our conversation, as well as an excerpt from Evans’ beautiful book.
By Melanie Springer Mock
I’ve been thinking a lot about the spate of book bans occurring across the country recently, school boards and state legislatures and governors deciding that some books are too dangerous for young people, because they narrate stories about queer protagonists, because they center the lives of Black people, because they aren’t solely populated with white evangelical ideals.
By Nikki Toyama-Szeto
You can listen to an audio version of this piece here.
Walking the pathway, I wanted to look up at the stony landscape. But the path was so pebbly that I had to keep my eyes on the ground to keep from stumbling.
By Jemar Tisby
Even though author Tom Skinner is most famous for the message he delivered at Urbana in 1970, the deeper story of that night is about the group of Black college students who literally sat front and center while he delivered his oration.
By Kristyn Komarnicki
You can listen to an audio version of this piece here.
From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.
John 1:16
I am a failure when it comes to spiritual disciplines.
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