Creativity and Christlikeness go hand in hand. Jesus’ greatest commandment to love God with all of ourselves includes the imaginative and creative parts too. We gain three jolts to our creative lives from Luke’s account of the first Easter. Lesson 1: Matter Matters Jesus’ friends “found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when
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What Makes a Happy Marriage?
Is a satisfying marriage a mirage? Can two sinners—not to mention offspring!—live in close proximity and intimacy and be truly happy? It is possible, with work and wisdom. In Christian Marriage: A Comprehensive Introduction, David J. Ayers offers some guidelines for the pursuit of a fulfilling marriage. These are presented below as bullet point summaries,
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The Brokenness of Counterfeit Human Dignity
“What is man that you are mindful of him?” (Ps 8:4). The concept of human dignity is shared by many irrespective of any religious beliefs. However, upon what basis do we have dignity? Many of the divergences of opinion in cultural, societal, and legal debates stem from different understandings of human worth stemming from different worldviews.
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The Joys and Perils on the Road to Marriage
In its outward appearance, marriage is deceptively ordinary and simple. Just a man and a woman joined in lifelong sexual union, serving God together, loving and helping each other, laboring together, through good times and bad, as long as both live. Yet God personally and painstakingly created that structure and essence from the very beginning,
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Thaddeus Williams Reflects on Christian Identity
What if we worshiped Jesus? Not the imaginary Jesus invented by televangelism, consumerism, fundamentalism, mysticism, or some political ism, but the actual Jesus we meet in the New Testament? How can he, unlike any other object of worship, enlarge our intellects, our emotions, our actions, our relationships, our imaginations, our whole selves? Drawing from science,
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Why Do I Have to Learn This Stuff?! Christian Answers for the Start-of-School
The school year has begun. The initial euphoria induced by the smell of new pencils will be wearing off, however, and we parents and teachers need to get ready for the question that students will inevitably ask: Why do I have to learn this stuff?! If we want to avoid mutiny, we need to have
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The Sabbath Is a Taste of What’s to Come
In Soul Rest, Curtis Zackery reveals how our misaligned view of rest has its roots in an identity that is out of rhythm with God. This thoughtful reflection on rest calls us to the intentional work of self-examination, helping us move towards a purposeful and sustainable life with Jesus. In this excerpt, Zackery shows us
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Preparing Your Heart and Mind for Seminary
Danny Zacharias and Ben Forrest wrote Surviving and Thriving in Seminary to equip students with the skills to succeed—spiritually, relationally, and academically—while attending seminary. In this excerpt, they speak directly to new and prospective seminary students about the challenges they may face when they arrive on campus. Like many seminary students, you may have grown
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The Apostles’ Creed for a New Generation
Today’s guest post was written by James A. De Jong, retired president of Calvin Theological Seminary. He is widely published in the history of Reformed theology and history of missions. He has taught on the undergraduate and graduate levels and has lectured globally. Ben Myers’ new book The Apostles’ Creed: A Guide to the Ancient Catechism is
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Making a Difference When You’re Not the Leader
Jesus’ call is simple and clear: “Follow.” As fond as we are of declaring that “all Christians are leaders,” the core of our journey of faith is one of following. We are children of the Father, servants of the Master, sheep of the Shepherd. The challenge is that most of modern society, and even contemporary
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