Series: Bold

November 1, 2023

Megan Rawlings

The Best Next Step in a Crisis

The Best Next Step in a Crisis

By Megan Rawlings  When I was in my twenties, I experienced what I now refer to as my “quarter life crisis.” Looking back, I suspect that many of my friends who had recently graduated college or just started their lives as adults in the workforce were also going through this existential crisis. The pressure of knowing what I would do for the rest of my life was one of the heaviest pressures I have experienced to date.  MY ‘CALLING’  I started college with the “calling” to be a medical missionary. I was under the impression that my purpose in God’s

September 1, 2023

Megan Rawlings

There Is Hope, and His Name Is Jesus

There Is Hope, and His Name Is Jesus

By Megan Rawlings  The news makes me anxious. Stories that make it seem the world is ending far outnumber positive articles and reports. Wars, division, disaster—it’s too much to process on a daily basis. And social media only adds to my unease. To deal with this, I changed my phone setting to limit my social media intake to 30 minutes a day. Any longer than that and I find I am crippled by comparison, more bad news, and disappointment. I started to wonder why the news and media (social media included) seem mostly to bend toward evil. It turns out,

July 1, 2023

Megan Rawlings

Megan Rawlings

Death by Faith

By Megan Rawlings  It was frigid. The winter break had seemed to last forever. I had just arrived back at the Bible college campus in the rolling hills of Kentucky. My appetite for knowledge was growing. My classes that semester were mainly general education, but the Bible classes I took over those few months truly deepened my devotion to Jesus and his Word.  I entered one particular class and sat midway back, where I would appear neither as eager as the people in front of me nor as uninterested as those behind me.   The professor entered the room and asked,

May 1, 2023

Christian Standard

Divide and Conquer

By Megan Rawlings   I have a problem. My husband has confronted me about it numerous times. It is beginning to affect our everyday lives. Frankly, I am on the verge of addiction. I cannot resist the temptation when it appears. My toxic trait is that I cannot stop clicking on clickbait. There, I said it. The first step to fixing a problem is admitting it, right?  Clickbait is a nuisance that potentially infects your computer with viruses. But I find it tough to resist because it’s a portal through which I gain access to one of my favorite things on

March 1, 2023

Megan Rawlings

Reprioritize God's Word

Reprioritize God’s Word

By Megan Rawlings   Question: What is black and white and re(a)d all over? Answer: Not the Bible. This may seem like a trivial schoolyard joke, but I wanted to get your attention.   The American Bible Society (ABS) reported alarming statistics in its 2022 State of the Bible survey. Based on their findings, I fear Christians are moving away from the Bible in the hopes of finding something that makes them feel better. I have seen an influx of “do what’s best for you,” “what you put out into the world will come back to you,” and other well-intentioned pieces of

January 1, 2023

Christian Standard

The Story That Changes Lives

By Megan Rawlings   “I don’t feel like God can effectively use me because I don’t have an amazing testimony.”   I remember saying this like it was yesterday. I was in Bible college, and the number of stories people told of how they came to meet Jesus despite extenuating circumstances left me feeling “less than.”   I was born and raised in the church and, frankly, I felt my story was boring compared to others. Those who were freed from addiction were able to minister to addicts in a way I could not. Those born into situations without clean water or adequate

November 1, 2022

Tina Wilson

Roe v. Wade Overturned . . . What Now for the Church?

Roe v. Wade Overturned . . . What Now for the Church?

By Tina Wilson, Guest Columnist  The landmark Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision from 1973 was overturned in June. For many, this was an answer to decades of prayer. For some, this was a repeal of freedom. For Christians, this should be a call to action. Proper response, though, demands proper understanding of what happened.   Prior to 1973, abortion was a felony in most states, except in a few that had relaxed abortion restrictions in the years shortly preceding the ruling. “Jane Roe”—a pseudonym for Norma McCorvey—challenged Texas state law on abortion. To expedite the case’s hearing in the Supreme

September 1, 2022

Megan Rawlings

Megan Rawlings

Are Church Leaders Prepared for Quicksand and Lava?

By Megan Rawlings  When I was a child, probably around the age of 10, I perceived a few natural phenomena as threats to me on my journey to adulthood. For example, I spent hours researching and watching videos on how to escape quicksand and run away from volcanic lava. I didn’t realize, though, that neither of those was a threat to me in my southern Ohio hometown!   I have prepared for one natural disaster my whole life, knowing that living in southern Ohio it was possible (notice I did not say “probable”). I could experience a tornado. I knew that

July 1, 2022

Megan Rawlings

Bible Genealogies: More Than Just Lists of Names

Bible Genealogies: More Than Just Lists of Names

By Megan Rawlings In a new trend among Christian users of TikTok, videos show the faces of people reading genealogies from the Bible. The readers often appear to be trying to stay awake, or they skim through the lists pretending to be interested. There is a sense of, “Skip the names; it’s no big deal. What do they have to offer anyway?” And to an extent, I understand that. Reading or listening to a long list of unfamiliar, multisyllabic names of people you don’t know begetting more people you don’t know can be daunting. But we need to read those

May 1, 2022

Megan Rawlings

Megan Rawlings

You Can Get Young Adults Involved in Your Women’s Ministry!

By Megan Rawlings Women’s ministry has a nebulous reputation. Whenever I say those two words together, women’s ministry, I get different reactions depending on the audience. I despise overgeneralizations, but I will make one here. People in Generation Z (those born 1999–2015) and millennials (1981–1998) nearly gag when the mere idea of women’s ministry surfaces in conversation. Am I coming on too strong? Have a chat with a few women in those generations and see for yourself. I don’t think it needs to be this way. After studying the situation for the last few years, I have five suggestions that

March 1, 2022

Megan Rawlings

Megan Rawlings

The Quest for Authentic Identity

By Megan Rawlings “Tell me about yourself.” There was a long, long pause. “Well,” she finally said, “I’m a 2.” “A 2?” I asked. “Yeah, on the Enneagram. It’s this test that tells you who you are and so much about yourself . . .” This conversation and others like it spurred me on to contemplate the emotional and mental state of young adults in our country. Although I cannot speak for the masses, in my experience, millennials (those born 1981–1998) and Generation Z (born 1999–2015) are longing to find their identity and purpose. There appears to be a chasm

January 1, 2022

Megan Rawlings

Megan Rawlings

Delighting Dad

They were turning off the lights and beginning to lock the doors after worship at church this past Sunday. The crowd stuck around longer than usual because, well, I’m not really sure why, but I know it’s a sign of healthy and growing churches, so I was not upset. Anyway, my niece, Carter, knocked on the office door where I help count the offering so she could say goodbye before she made a trip with her parents to the next town over. “Bye, Mimi. I just really miss you,” she said. “Well, Bug, why don’t I come along so we

November 1, 2021

Megan Rawlings

Megan Rawlings

Hard Truths for Modern Times

By Megan Rawlings Our world is in chaos. It seems as if major bad news breaks every day! As this chaos occurs, society seems increasingly to be motivated by materialism and comfort. When the church was young, the people of Galatia turned away from God, and this did not escape Paul’s attention. In fact, he penned one of his harshest letters to the Christians there. While reading that letter, I realized Paul’s reprimand is applicable to us in modern times. I’ll borrow from his Epistle to the Galatians to state some hard truths surrounding our current status. I am astonished

September 1, 2021

Megan Rawlings

Megan Rawlings

5 Ministry Lessons (to Save You from Heartache)

All Christians are called to ministry, and the place of that ministry is not always behind a pulpit. For example, my sister’s ministry is to serve new brides by helping them pick their wedding dress. This might seem like a silly thing to call a ministry, but it involves much more than a dress. When she works with a bride, she listens to their desires and makes them feel comfortable. More than that—my sister is helping the brides feel beautiful in their own skin. She tells them of their worth because they are created in the image of God. This

April 1, 2021

Megan Rawlings

Megan Rawlings

The Most Important Aspect of Meeting Together

I visited many churches for various reasons during 2020. In quite a few houses of worship, I experienced roughly the same thing. As the doors opened, I could feel vibrations from the percussion and bass in my chest. The smell of coffee would drift toward my nose and awaken me. The welcoming team would greet me and ask about my week with genuine interest. “Don’t forget to check in on social media!” they would say. Sign-up sheets for “groups who do life together” and other activities to “get involved” were on strategically placed tables. Finally, I’d enter the sanctuary, grab

March 1, 2021

Megan Rawlings

Megan Rawlings

God Does Not Change

Trying to understand God is like swimming underwater to the deepest part of the ocean and back to the surface with one deep breath. “It is a subject so vast, that all our thoughts are lost in its immensity,” said Charles Spurgeon in The Immutability of God. “[It’s] so deep, that our pride is drowned in its infinity. But while the subject humbles the mind, it also expands it.” When talking about and studying God, I have found one of his characteristics more comforting than all of the others: God does not change. We call this attribute immutability. This means

February 1, 2021

Megan Rawlings

Megan Rawlings

In Love and Truth

If everyone is created equal in the eyes of God, why doesn’t it feel that way? The truth is, we do not look at our brothers and sisters the way God intended. We are corrupted by sin and too often care about the opinions of others more than God. We lean toward what’s popular instead of what’s right. Sadly, many Christians have stood on the wrong side of history. I found this to be true of one of the Restoration Movement’s founding fathers while reading The Stone-Campbell Movement by Leroy Garrett A couple of decades after the Restoration Movement took

January 1, 2021

Megan Rawlings

Megan Rawlings

How to Read Scripture Correctly: A New Challenge for a New Year

For years, I would commit to reading through the Bible in just 12 months. And every year, by mid-February, I would have to start playing catch-up. By the time March rolled around, my reading plan would be so thrown off I would resolve to double up on Scripture reading every day just to get back on track. Why did this happen again and again? I think there were two main reasons for my struggles in sticking with a Bible reading plan. In some ways, “life” would just get in the way, but the main reason was the Pentateuch—that is, the

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