Wisdom from Above
James’ epistle teaches us that true Christianity is a product of the new birth and results in a genuinely changed life – one that desires to glorify God. This new life manifests itself in our speech. This is natural when we recognize our speech reveals what is in our heart. When God gives us a…
Missionary Support (7): After the Missionary Visit
As this series on missionary support concludes and before we consider what should be done after the missionary visit, let’s review where we’ve been: The Doctrinal Side: Part 1: Deputation and the Bible Part 2: Inviting and Partnering with Missionaries Part 3: The Challenges and Benefits of Deputation The Practical Side: Part 4: Scheduling a…
Prayer Requests from Jailed Children
This message is scrawled on a prayer request card, sitting in front of me on my desk. Tears come to my eyes as I read it. I just ask the Lord help me thru this mental storm I’m going thru myself and give me, my mom, my grandma, and my siblings the strength to go…
A Theology of Woman from Titus 2: Grace-Driven Living and Training
This blog series is adapted from Sunday School lessons I wrote several years ago for women and teen girls. The goal was to form a “theology of woman” by looking chronologically at all of the major portions of Scripture regarding women and womanhood. What does the Bible say are the roles, duties, challenges, and opportunities…
Why Are There Four Gospels?
Imagine you find yourself at a funeral. The funeral is for a man you never met, but was the father of a close friend so you go to show your support. At one point in the afternoon, you find yourself standing in a circle with three adult grandchildren, all reminiscing about grandpa. “I remember grandpa…
Time Zoned: Life in the Eastern Hemisphere
One of my favorite ways to help Sunday school children grasp the location of our country of service is to ask for a globe and two volunteers. I help one child put his finger on where we are in the USA. We all give clues to help the other child find the small nation of…
Interesting Headlines From Around the World
In The News
Rift Grows In SBC Over Support For Leftist Immigration Policy
Over the past decade, a growing divide has emerged within the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), as denominational leaders have increasingly framed left-leaning border policies as a Christian imperative. Source: Rift Grows In SBC Over Support For Leftist Immigration Policy Photo by Barbara Zandoval on Unsplash
Muslim vigilantes colluding with authorities to entrap Christians | World
Muslim vigilante groups are working with federal authorities to lure young people into sharing blasphemous content on social media in order to put them behind bars, according to an investigation by Pakistan’s National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR). A steep increase in blasphemy cases this year, many of them filed against Christians and other religious…
ANDREAS KÖSTENBERGER Joins BJU Seminary Faculty
AWARD-WINNING NEW TESTAMENT SCHOLAR AND AUTHOR, ADVANCING 500x5x5 VISION TO EQUIP PASTORS THROUGH UNCOMPROMISED, NEXT-LEVEL TEACHING BJU Seminary today announced that award-winning New Testament scholar and author Dr. Andreas Köstenberger will join its faculty, the latest milestone in the Seminary’s 500 x 5 x 5 vision to equip pastors through uncompromised, next-level teaching in a time of historic challenge to…
Opinion Pieces
Kids From Strong Families Less Likely to Fall in Love with Robots – Breakpoint
The complications of creating artificially intelligent robots for service, companionship, or sex has been the plot of movies and TV shows for decades, from Terminator to Bicentennial Man to A.I. to Westworld. While some of these entertainment properties portrayed the human-AI relationships as potentially good, others warned of the inevitable, unforeseen dangers. All assumed that…
Christian conservatism and realism vs. Christian nationalism | Opinion
Nearly all self-identified Christian nationalists are Calvinists, typically Presbyterian like Wolfe, but often theologically Reformed Baptists. The latter can be confusing because traditional Baptists are most associated with religious liberty. Source: Christian conservatism and realism vs. Christian nationalism | Opinion
Should a Christian Skip Voting on November 5? | RealClearReligion
While the Bible does not speak directly to the issue of voting because elections didn’t exist in Bible times, a relevant passage that presents a principle to guide our contemporary context is 1 Timothy 2:1-2. When Paul gave Timothy instructions concerning how to lead the church, his first instruction was to urge church members to…
Home & Family
On Parenting: Are You Bribing Your Way Through?
Not long ago, I was sitting in an airport when a family of four appeared. The little boy, who seemed about five, was having a meltdown I’d heard many times before. His mother was doing all she could to calm him down, but nothing worked. In just a few minutes, I witnessed a parade of…
Can a fighting spirit help conquer cancer? The limits of positivity for cancer patients | National Post
The idea that cancer progression or disease survival can be influenced by a positive attitude or by keeping up a “fighting spirit” isn’t grounded in scientific evidence, he and other doctors said. Anecdotally, however, “you’ll hear from people, ‘I beat this because I was positive, I had the right thinking, the right attitude,’” Isenberg-Grzeda said.…
The false promise of keeping a loved one ‘alive’ with A.I. grief bots | America Magazine
With the creation of A.I., anthropomorphized chatbots are one critical example of how the rapidly advancing technology is testing the limits of the human condition. Source: The false promise of keeping a loved one ‘alive’ with A.I. grief bots | America Magazine