Ben Lear’s directorial debut humanizes the debate about adult prison sentences for juvenile offenders. When children commit the most heinous of crimes, it challenges our sense of justice and probes the limits of our worldview. Ben Lear’s bold documentary They Call Us Monsters, now streaming on Netflix, suggests that how we respond to these young …
When our life unravels, He holds the threads. Nothing is simple about navigating our overlapping identities in contemporary life. In any given situation, we find ourselves torn between our public and private selves, our roles at home or at work, the different sides of our personalities. To be a responsible parent, we have to put …
A Christian movement characterized by multi-level marketing, Pentecostal signs and wonders, and post-millennial optimism. A quiet revolution is taking place in America religion, say Brad Christerson and Richard Flory, authors of The Rise of Network Christianity: How Independent Leaders Are Changing the Religious Landscape. Largely behind the scenes, a group of mostly self-proclaimed “apostles,” leading …
What the two genealogies of Christ, found in Matthew and Luke, are really trying to say. Few aspects of the Bible seem less relevant to daily life than genealogies. Yet for Gospel writers Matthew and Luke, they were absolutely essential for understanding Jesus. Genealogies fulfilled multiple purposes in the ancient world. Society was organized around …
No less than Jesus in the wilderness, we need every word that comes from the mouth of God. What do Christians do with the Old Testament, with its weird laws, brutal violence, and unpredictable God? Some are confused by it, some are afraid of it, and some simply ignore it. Our confusion, fear, and avoidance …
A new focus on the family is changing how Christians care for abandoned and neglected children. One night in 2001, a prostitute in eastern Ukraine propositioned a preacher. Peter Dudnik turned her down and told her he worked at Good News Church. She asked him to take her 11-year-old son, Sergey, to the church’s orphanage. …
Planting a church takes time—but it all starts with just being present. David Fitch is a man of many titles: pastor, writer, seminary professor, theologian, podcast host—the list is almost too long to count. In his eyes, though, his most important work hasn’t taken place in a church, office, or lecture hall, but over countless …
CHH pioneer DJ Cut No Slack on why the community is still debating music and ministry. Earlier this month, a debate long familiar within the Christian hip-hop (CHH) community resurfaced when rapper Shai Linne released Still Jesus. Throughout the album, Linne suggests that CHH musicians whose tracks focus less explicitly on Jesus and who now …
Over dinner one night, my sibling announced he was becoming a woman. And so began the greatest test of my faith. ‘Look at it this way: You aren’t losing a brother. You’re gaining a sister,” said my brother of 46 years at dinner one night. A month prior I had noticed the makeup on his …
Finding beauty in the mundane: from our morning coffee to a nematode worm. This year’s Wellcome Image Awards are truly awe-inspiring, and a reminder for me to look for moments of wonder and worship in my everyday routine. The online winners’ gallery includes a stunning map-like image of a mouse’s retina, a close-up of a …