Series: Featured

April 1, 2021

Austin Gohn

Caiaphas and the Central Park Five

In the summer of 2019, between seasons of The Great British Baking Show, my wife and I binge-watched the dramatized miniseries When They See Us. It was a true binge because we started the show at 8:00 on a weeknight right after we put our son down to bed and finished it around 2:00 a.m. Directed by Ava DuVernay, When They See Us is a four-episode series depicting the events that unfolded surrounding the Central Park jogger case in New York City in 1989 when five Black and Hispanic teenagers were falsely charged with assault and rape of a White

April 1, 2021

Dan Hamel

Pilate’s Guide on How to Miss the Truth

Most of us think we are unbiased in our quest for truth. We like to think of ourselves as impartial evaluators of data who seek to arrive at the best decision. But the truth is, most of the time, we desire a specific conclusion, and we search the data in such a way that helps us end up there. We overlook red flags and yellow lights. We come up with excuses and unreasonable explanations. And we usually don’t even realize we are doing it. We think we are looking for the best answer, when in reality we are looking for

April 1, 2021

Chris Hankins

The Repentant Thief’s Story:
A Beautiful Reminder of God’s Amazing Grace

The repentant thief on the cross who put his faith in Jesus is one of my favorite people in the Easter narrative. Possibly more than any other Bible character, this man shows that no one is beyond the reach of God’s grace and it is truly never too late to trust in Jesus. The repentant thief shows us today can be the day of salvation! While this crucified criminal is mentioned in all four Gospels (Matthew 27:38; Mark 15:27, 32; Luke 23:32-33, 39-43; John 19:18, 31-33), it may seem we know little about him. But Matthew and Mark used the

April 1, 2021

Caleb Kaltenbach

We’re Still Choosing Between Barabbas and Jesus

In 2009, a young man named Hu Bin accidentally killed a bystander while drag racing through the streets of Hangzhou, China. To describe his trial as “shocking” would be an understatement. Though the judge handed out a measly sentence, a newspaper reported that people were more stupefied at who was standing trial. A few eyewitnesses of the accident and trial claimed someone resembling Hu Bin took his place in the courtroom. Some allege that Hu’s wealthy family hired a “stand-in” to serve his prison sentence. Flashing back more than 20 centuries, we see another case of a stand-in on full

April 1, 2021

Renee Little

Open

I had always assumed suicide rates were higher in the winter months. Cold winds, icy streets, gray skies, and more time alone indoors were all things I equated with sadness and depression. This most recent winter brought an even colder chill—a storm in the form of a pandemic that shut down activities, closed stores, and stopped people from gathering. And with this storm came the gusty wind of political tension. People bundled themselves up with fear, worry, and a deep sadness in what had been lost over the past 12 months. Save.org—a website operated by Suicide Awareness Voices of Education—shares

April 1, 2021

Ryan Rasmussen

What Judas Can Teach Us About Jesus

By Ryan Rasmussen You might be surprised that the name Judas means “let God be praised.” I find it incredibly ironic that the man who betrayed Jesus would carry a name of such reverence. Sometimes, though, things aren’t what they seem. For example, the fact that Judas Iscariot was a disciple at all must have baffled those who spent time with Jesus. While Jesus welcomed misfits and the marginalized into his friend group, Judas must have seemed “next level” in this regard. The Gospels documented that Judas, the band’s treasurer, would regularly skim money from the group’s funds (John 12:6).

March 1, 2021

Brent Bramer

The Dilemma of Social Media and the Church

I received an email from Jonathan, a person I’d never met, last June. He explained that he’d hit a point in his life where he had questions about life, faith, his purpose, and how to respond to everything that was happening in the world. We were in the midst of a pandemic; people were losing their jobs, and there was political turmoil and racial injustice. Jonathan said he didn’t know how to process all the chaos we all were witnessing. Jonathan had found our church through Google and Instagram. Unbeknownst to me, he had been listening to our sermons and

March 1, 2021

John Caldwell

What Is Truth?

We’re all familiar with Pilate’s question of Jesus, “What is truth?” He was responding to Jesus’ statement, “For this purpose I have been born . . . to testify to the truth” (John 18:37-38). In context, I believe Pilate was mostly being sarcastic, though with a shred of genuine curiosity. Pilate was raised in a pagan society that worshiped Caesar as God during a time of many opposing philosophies. In that day, people did not recognize absolute truth. In other words, it was in many regards much like today, a day when the notion of truth has become controversial. A

March 1, 2021

Ken Idleman

Trustworthy Church Leadership

“The greatest source of power available to a leader,” said Dr. James O’Toole, founding director of Neely Center for Ethical Leadership at the University of Southern California, “is the trust that derives from faithfully serving followers.” Three decades earlier, Howard Hendricks, longtime professor at Dallas Theological Seminary, told a Promise Keepers rally, “The greatest crisis in America is a crisis of leadership, and the greatest crisis of leadership is a crisis of character.” During the past several decades, a proliferation of books, journals, degree programs, podcasts, online conferences, and DVD series have addressed the issues of character and trust in leadership in virtually all arenas

March 1, 2021

Renee Little

Under the Protection of Truth

Truthfully, brothers and sisters, when did it become so easy to lie? “I am praying for you” (but have you been . . . really?). “I’m running late because there was traffic” (or maybe you just got a late start). “I am going to do that right away” (well . . . perhaps). I recently called our local butcher shop and ordered a 3-pound tomahawk steak for a family celebration dinner, but before I could pick it up, a friend who knew of the celebration plans called to tell me she picked up a standing rib roast for me. I

March 1, 2021

Tyler McKenzie

Truth and Tone in an Age of Fake News

One of the disorienting realities of living in the United States today is not knowing where to go for truth. Think about it—who do you go to for truth? Politicians? The media? The church? Christian Twitter? Google? The irony is we have more access to content and commentary than ever, but who can we trust? Trust has completely eroded in our society. A 2018 research study conducted by the Pew Research Center cited these statistics: 75 percent of Americans say trust in the federal government is shrinking 64 percent say trust in other Americans is shrinking 61 percent say you

March 1, 2021

Chris Philbeck

How to Preach with Biblical Authority

I grew up in a small church on the west side of Tulsa, Oklahoma. My mother, who loved to sing,  was part of the church choir. This was during the days when there was a midweek service followed by choir practice. One Wednesday when I was about 10, I was in the sanctuary (there’s a word you don’t hear much anymore) waiting for choir practice to end so we could go home. While I was waiting, the preacher, Delmar Debault, came in and walked over to where I was standing. As he talked to me, he took my face into

March 1, 2021

Chad Ragsdale

The Understanding Distance

In January 1846, Alexander Campbell wrote an article on biblical interpretation for the Millennial Harbinger with a message that is as relevant now as it was then.  There is a distance which is properly called the speaking distance, or the hearing distance, beyond which the voice reaches not, and the ear hears not. To hear another, we must come within that circle which the voice audibly fills. Now, we may with propriety say that as it respects God there is an understanding distance, Campbell asserted. All within that distance can easily understand God in all matters of piety and morality,

March 1, 2021

Dale Reeves

What Breaks God’s Heart?

Last year, Trevor DeVage challenged our church to pray every day for a week, “God, break my heart with the things that break your heart!” That’s not a safe or easy prayer. It’s not consistent with the God-please-bless-me-and-take-care-of-my-needs-and-answer-my-prayers-the-way-I-want-you-to Christianity that many American believers have grown accustomed to. I can’t claim to know everything that breaks God’s heart, but I know one must be when I try to hide from him and go my own way—as Adam and Eve did in the garden. If I wrote about everything that breaks God’s heart, this would be a very long article! But I’d

March 1, 2021

Dave Stone

Truth + Love: The Balancing Act

My wife, Beth, and I had just met a young couple as we were leaving church. After visiting with these strangers for a few minutes, we invited them to go eat lunch with our family. We found ourselves laughing and devouring sandwiches and getting to know them. And that’s when it got awkward. After asking Matt what part of town he lived in, I innocently proceeded to ask the same question of Stacie. In between bites, in matter-of-fact fashion, she replied that they lived together. Two voices in my subconscious immediately began whispering to me. One unwavering, firm voice said,

February 1, 2021

Renee Little

Talk About It

At some point we stopped talking to one another. Communication has become a mesh of texting, social media posts, and emails—all of it one-way dialogue that doesn’t involve seeing a face or hearing a voice. Gone are the days of eating meals together and hanging around the table long after the food has disappeared from our plates. Faded are the memories of stopping by a friend’s house just to say hello, or of picking up the phone on Sunday afternoon to call home to update Mom on the events of the week. The forced isolation imposed by the coronavirus surely

February 1, 2021

Michael C. Mack

Love Conquers Racism

How Relationship Changed My Dad’s Hard Heart . . . and What All of Us Can Learn from It The picture still brings tears to the eyes of family members old enough to remember my dad. We had gathered as we often did in the backyard of my sister’s house; it was a special occasion—I can’t remember what—and someone snapped the picture of Dad holding his great-granddaughter. Such a picture wouldn’t ordinarily evoke such strong emotions; after all, I have many pictures of my dad cuddling with his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. But this picture is different. . . . Memories

February 1, 2021

Bronwyn Jones

Racism in the Bible: What Esther and Mordecai Can Teach Us

The book of Esther is an example of how to biblically respond to racism, especially in America today. Esther used her privileged position as queen to speak up against racism and genocidal laws, even though it was against the law for her to do so. Her relative Mordecai protested against racist laws, told the truth of what was happening to the Jews, and developed a plan to address it. Together, their actions saved the Jews from genocide. As Christians, the Bible is our guidebook for how to live our lives. Christians can follow Esther and Mordecai’s example, educate ourselves, and use our

February 1, 2021

Kim Harris

Interview with Kadi Cole: How to Develop Female Leaders in the Church

In her book Developing Female Leaders, author and speaker Kadi Cole provides tools, coaching, and strategies for incorporating the development of female leaders into the leadership pipelines in our churches. After reading her book, I had the privilege to spend some time with her. QUESTION: Why should church leaders invest in developing their female leaders? KADI COLE: Young people have grown up in an age where diversity is the norm for them, so to walk into a worship experience and have everybody be very homogeneous is actually a deterrent. Not because they don’t agree with our beliefs, but because they

February 1, 2021

Justin Horey

‘My Story Is for God’s Glory’

After living a life as a criminal and prisoner, David Green has experienced—and now makes known a message of—redemption and reconciliation. In the early morning hours of Easter 1978, just after midnight, a group of adolescent boys entered a 24-hour convenience store in New Orleans’ notorious Ninth Ward, intending to steal alcohol. During the attempted robbery, shots were fired and the clerk on duty behind the counter was mortally wounded. All of the boys managed to flee the scene except one, a 15-year-old known to his cohorts as “Red.” As he tried to escape, a paying customer tripped him and

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