Charging second century Christians with superstitio declared them a threat to the common good. This is especially vivid in Pliny who notes how in Bithynia the pagan temples were being deserted, religious rites were being neglected, and sacrificial animals were not being purchased, all declines Pliny links to Christianity breaking out like a contagious superstitio.     A... Continue Reading

I suspect that most people don’t how to listen to a sermon. I say this not as a preacher, primarily, but as a listener. During the past thirty-five years I have heard more than three thousand sermons. Since I have worshiped in Bible-teaching churches all my life, most of those sermons did me some spiritual... Continue Reading

In 2009, after spending nearly two years caring for a terminally ill parent, which I knew was going to cost me my home, I was not looking for something that would turn around my material situation. I was looking for a place in a community where I could find solace for my loss, grief, trauma.... Continue Reading

This metaphor is first used by the apostle Paul in 1 Cor. 12:12-13, “For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews... Continue Reading

There was a darkness that had set in. My sorrow and discouragement began to wrap around me and squeeze. It was hard to not experience my entire reality (my family, work, rest, prayers) through the filter of sadness and sorrow. “The flesh can bear only a certain number of wounds and no more,” says Charles... Continue Reading

The article goes on to summarize an extensive body of research showing that religious participation correlates with multiple measures of mental and physical health: those who attend services have lower rates of depression, are more optimistic, are less likely to commit suicide, and are 20% to 30% less likely to die over a fifteen-year period.... Continue Reading

As we seek to discipline and train our children, we need to be sure that we are teaching them what the correct choices are, and not just harping on the negative. Our children need to learn that certain behaviors are inappropriate, but we also need to be teaching them what the alternative correct choices are.... Continue Reading

While an average American household uses about 100 gallons of water each day, families in the developing world use a mere five gallons a day. Consequently, after hauling water home, the poor have to choose whether to use it for drinking, cooking, bathing, or washing dishes and clothes because they do not have enough water... Continue Reading

One of the first things I discover when I study theology is that there is a God who exists outside of time and space, who exists outside our cosmos, who personally created our universe. The story of creation tells me that engineering is not just a job, but a privilege bestowed on me by the... Continue Reading

“Will you make your church a place where love informs action, where joy runs deep, where peaceful hearts produce patient people? Will you give us the pleasure of seeing kindness amongst Christian children?”   Our Father in heaven, we rejoice to remember that hidden in the holiness of your Son, you count us holy in... Continue Reading