A group is protesting Milligan University’s avowed biblical position on human sexuality by posting on a billboard near campus last month that “Trans is Holy,” “Drag is Holy,” “Queer is Holy,” and “You are Holy." . . .
May 1, 2023
By Jerry Harris Unity is central to the biblical message. Something special rises up when people from different circles get to know each other by learning, sharing, playing, and worshiping together. Sociologists call it “emergence.” It’s when a group becomes more than the sum of its parts. The Holy Spirit works in that unity, that oneness. We are called to be one. The church is the hope of the world, and we can do far more together than we can apart. God has repeatedly shown us how unity can empower us to accomplish things that seemingly are impossible for individuals.
March 1, 2023
By Rudy and Osharye Hagood There is something wonderful about a perfect gift. When God created vegetation, day and night, wild animals, crawling things, he declared each of those things to be “good.” Yet God outdid himself when he gave us a spouse. God even got an “amen” from Adam, who said, “Now this is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh” (Genesis 2:23). In his own image, male and female, God created them, giving them dominion (care and management of, concern for, and rule over the earth), and God declared it “very good.” Husbands and wives are
March 1, 2023
By Doug Crozier In his 2012 book titled Grace, Max Lucado wrote, “Grace is God’s best idea. His decision to ravage a people by love, to rescue passionately, and to restore justly—what rivals it? Of all his wondrous works, grace, in my estimation, is the magnum opus.” Our challenge as Christians in today’s world and culture is to live and breathe and exhibit God’s grace. We will do so by following the roadmap God gave us in the Old and New Testaments. The Bible is the inerrant Word of God! In my work with The Solomon Foundation, borrowers have a
January 9, 2023
The book of Ezra tells how a group of exiled Jews traveled back to Jerusalem to rebuild God’s temple, but it wasn’t a smooth and easy journey. Their story reveals some principles that can help us travel rough roads of our own.
January 1, 2023
By Ken Idleman The title of this article is one of the most difficult implicit commands in Scripture: “[S]peaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ” (Ephesians 4:15). It is difficult to obey because it links in a single imperative the three most difficult aspects of life for human beings to consistently control: speech, truth, and love. Our speech often betrays our secret thoughts and our untamable tongues. Jesus said, “The things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them” (Matthew
January 1, 2023
By Osharye Hagood When it comes to marriage, the truth is we are humans being. (Yes, you read that correctly.) And when we get married, we become “marriage beings.” While our marriages are intended to be divine expressions of God’s perfect love, and while we may at times feel the goosebumps of love and the perfection of our loving commitment—please hear me—all marriages are unions between human beings, and all humans sin. So, our mistakes and missteps should be seen as, well, expected. Blunders are as natural as breathing, and errors are as common as ears. Why? Because we are
November 16, 2022
We remember Ben Merold, who died this morning (Nov. 16), by reposting this appreciation written by his longtime friend Bob Russell, with whom he led monthly retreats for ministers for many years.
November 1, 2022
By Rudy Hagood Have you ever considered how unthinkable it is that we have intimacy with the Spirit of God within our marital unions? The prophet Malachi asked this simple rhetorical question: “Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union?” (Malachi 2:15, English Standard Version). Your marriage is not simply between two people, but three, since it includes the third person of the godhead. For this reason, I want to talk about the health of our marriages by talking about how we engage God. Since our marital unions consist of three people, knowing
July 1, 2022
By Rudy Hagood (with Osharye Hagood) Long before Jeff Bezos launched Amazon, God was sending precious gift packages from heaven all over the globe. God delivers sparks of life we call children. Kids are “divine gifts” of the breath of life delivered to the living. Psalm 127:3 says, “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward” (English Standard Version). Wow, what an unthinkable gift! In my gratitude, I want to be a blessing to God, the gift-giver, while also striving to give the best gift I possibly can to my kids. Yet, what
June 13, 2022
David Faust writes: What should you do when “locusts” threaten to consume your dreams and devour your joy? Joel suggested three ways to respond. . . .
May 25, 2022
After 55 years of marriage, pastor Andy Pryor reflects on what his late wife Louise taught him about life, ministry, and faithfulness.
By Chris Philbeck One of the “Core Four” strategies for living out the vision and mission of Mount Pleasant Christian Church, where I’ve been the senior pastor for the past 20 years, is “Serving others across the street and around the world.” A few years ago, that strategy gave birth to a unique multisite model focused on underserved and underresourced neighborhoods in and around Indianapolis. The Message paraphrase of John 1:14 says about Jesus, “The Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood.”We have followed that example by expanding the ministry and influence of our church by acquiring two
May 1, 2022
By Osharye Hagood In the January/February issue, Rudy told husbands about the importance of their wives. He wrote, “For, after Christ, she is your life’s work. She is God’s holy daughter entrusted to you in like manner as the church has been entrusted to Christ. Don’t exegete the text and forget to study your wife.” As a wife, I don’t believe anything is more important than being loved and understood, especially when it comes through the intentionality of investigation. Co-investigate Merriam-Webster defines investigation as “a systematic search for the truth or facts about something.” Have you ever heard someone say,
January 24, 2022
Faith that does not produce faithfulness is not worth a fig. The new right standing with God that has been created by the gospel has a practical side. Doctrine always shows up in duty. . . .
January 1, 2022
When I was being trained as a minister, one of the primary points of emphasis was expositional preaching. I remember the concept “context is king” being drilled into my head like it was yesterday. It went a little like this: “Rudy, we must know what it meant to them to know how it applies to us today. Rudy, what’s the historical distance? Exegete the text, Rudy! Think exegetically, Rudy! Preach expositional sermons, Rudy!” OK, OK, OK, I got it. When it comes to our marriages, however, we are not taught to seek to understand our spouses to the same degree.
September 13, 2021
The word "sacrifice" has been cheapened by overuse, David Faust writes. Is it really a sacrifice to skip dessert or give up gourmet coffee? What does sacrifice mean to us today? Here are three questions to consider . . .
September 1, 2021
On May 14, 1974, a spunky U.S. representative from New York named Bella Abzug introduced the first version of what we now know as the Equality Act. Even though the bill was co-sponsored by another New York representative and was referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary, the bill had little support and never saw the light of day. For the next 45 years, the Equality Act, in one form or another, found its way back in front of Congress. In 2019, the Equality Act passed the House for the first time. Even though it died in the Senate,
September 1, 2021
Before I went to theological college to train for the ministry, I worked in a Christian bookstore. My official role was to manage the music department. It was a fun job that allowed me to play the latest Christian music over the store’s sound system. This usually led to a tug-of-war between me and Hazel, the bookstore’s manager. Hazel liked the music soft; I liked the music loud. In fairness to Hazel, she liked to be able to converse with customers without having to yell. I thought turning the bookstore into a dance floor would stimulate more music sales. Of
April 1, 2021
By Trevor DeVage with Mark A. Taylor My buddy Aaron and I were at our friend Matt’s house. We were 17, Matt’s folks were out of town, and we were bored. Matt’s stepdad’s prize vehicle, a beautiful, brand-new, gold Buick LeSabre, sat in his driveway. “Don’t drive the car unless it’s an emergency” the stepdad had told Matt before he left. “And if it is an emergency, call me, and I’ll tell you where I’ve hidden the keys.” It took us about 10 minutes to find the keys and 5 minutes more to jump into two cars (Aaron was driving
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