Category: Christianity

Why The Church Must Make An Effort To Value Solitude With God

It's true that the Christian life is not always meant to be a solo affair. Teachers, pastors, fellow believers, even small groups: all of those things are a part of our faith community, and they can help us and grow us. But in elevating these, I fear that we dismiss what I perceive to be the fundamental necessity of individual solitude with God. [Click title to read more.]

Cliff Notes: The Lost Art of Bible Study In The Church (Part 3)

In the first post in this series I spent some time discussing the dangers of Bible-lite, that phenomenon when Christians substitute secondhand study of God's word for actual Bible study. In the second, I talked about some of the consequences of Bible-lite. Today, however, I'll be putting on my professor hat to offer some solutions to the problem. If you struggle with studying the Bible (or even with wanting to study the Bible!), there is both help and hope. [Click title to read more].

The Ministry of Listening

As Christians, we are all taught to talk. Evangelism is one of the first skills we learn, even as young children: say this, say that, memorize the Romans Road, learn to share. But we learn listening less or not at all, and the more time passes the more I become convinced that listening is just as vital a part of ministry and loving others. [Click title to read more.]

7 Things Seekers Want To See On Your Church Website

My husband and I have recently started church-hunting. As a part of that process, we - like so many others of our generation - turned to the Internet first. We used Google maps to identify the churches nearby, and then to narrow down the prospects we started visiting websites: some good, some bad, some incomprehensible. In light of that, I thought it might be useful to offer up a list of things I, and most seekers (believers or otherwise), might be searching for when we find your church on the web. [Click title to read more.]

Why Forgiveness Is More Complex Than We Imagine

Forgiveness is an act which encompasses much more than saying "that's okay", and we understand that instinctively when we ask for it: we want a chance to prove ourselves, to show we are more than our misbehavior, to not have an act or a series of acts define our identities or others' perceptions of us. [Click title to read more.]