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Why Take Your Kids to Church?
Recently I had a conversation with a friend who is a grandmother and is concerned about the spiritual well-being of her young granddaughter. She raised her own daughter in church and of course, assumed her daughter would do the same. But other activities (primarily sports) had gradually replaced Sunday morning church in that family’s life. She was troubled by this, and after bringing it up at her Bible study, discovered that she wasn’t the only grandmother with this worry. She and several others were concerned that if their grandchildren did not get involved in church during their elementary school years, chances would be slim that they would want to attend…
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Radical Parenting, Just in Time for Father’s Day
This month, in the news, the Kansas City Cheifs kicker, Harrison Butker, delivered a commencement speech. As a Facebook user, I couldn’t escape the headlines featuring his name so of course I chased him down on google and got to know him and his speech. The chatter that I found myself scrolling through inspired the title of this blog and I believe it now more than ever. Butker stated, “As men, we set the tone of the culture, and when that is absent, disorder, dysfunction and chaos set in.” This statement created quite the reaction from the public. One commenter clearly stated that she felt like this was a sexist…
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Must a Wife Stand, Wear, and Do What Her Husband Tells Her to Do?
Where should we go on date night? What extracurricular activities should our child participate in? Which toilet paper brand is preferable? Who will pay the bills? Week in and week out, husbands and wives must make many decisions. When they disagree, who has the final say? In a recent sermon, megachurch pastor Josh Howerton instructed the women in his church that on a bride’s wedding night, she should “stand where he [husband] tells you to stand, wear what he tells you to wear, and do what he tells you to do.” What does the Bible say about the final say in marriage?
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Bottling Civility: Talking Tough Topics with Your Church Family
As iron sharpens iron,so a person sharpens his friend. Prov. 27:17 (NET) When I first posted this blog in 2017, I had no idea how much more polarization could impact our culture. So, I am posting an updated version in hopes that you and your church family can communicate in a God-honoring way. I have frequently found myself in conversations where I disagreed with members of my church family. To my surprise and theirs, even when presented with the same issue or topic, we have come to different conclusions. I believe the ingredients to talking respectfully with your church family are similar to the ones that foster civility in your…
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Tamar’s “Wrong” Makes It Right
Today I’m happy to host guest columnist Katherine Tucker. You can read her bio below. In honor of Women’s History Month, consider the hope of Easter through the story of a woman in the Bible. Her story is obscure, often misunderstood, and frequently passed over. Those familiar with it tend to cringe a little at her name. “Tamar.” It invokes ideas of prostitution, seduction, and revenge. What could this harlot have to do with our LORD, the incarnation, and the resurrection? As it turns out, literally everything. The truth is that we have Tamar “the prostitute” to thank for Jesus’s family tree. Tamar is one of three women named in…
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How Then Shall We Live? (Contextualization, Part III)
“Will you burn incense for your dad?” My mom looked at me expectantly as she asked. Within a month, we fly back to Taiwan to take my dad’s ashes home. My grandparents have already purchased a family lot, where we will lay his remains. Because they practice Buddhism, they will expect us to burn incense in honor of their deceased son. According to traditional Chinese belief, the smoke from burning incense carries one’s prayers to the heavens. A person can burn incense both to honor a deceased family member and to ask them for blessings. For example, one relative would ask her deceased husband to bless their grandchildren’s studies. Because…
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The Gospel in “American Born Chinese”: An Introduction to Contextualization
Today I’m happy to introduce you to my former student “Crystal,” a guest blogger, for a series on contextualizing the gospel. You can read her bio at the end. A Disney+ subscriber and a theologian walk into a coffee shop.The theologian asks: what does a nerd, a monkey, and a mythical scroll have to do with the gospel? The Disney+ subscriber answers: I watched that show. What Does the Gospel Have to Do with American Born Chinese? In May 2023, the American Born Chinese television series released on Disney+ to critical acclaim. In the series, Jin Wang, the son of Taiwanese immigrants, conceals his nerdy interests in an attempt to…
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God On Your Side
Sunday School Chronicles Me: Before we go back and do a full recap Joseph’s life, let’s start with a mini recap. Y’all ready! Class: Yeah! Let’s do it! Me: Who was Joseph? Kid 1: The favorite! Me: Why? Kid 2: Because he came from his dad’s favorite wife. Me: Were his sibs cool with this? Class: No! Me: So what happened? Kid 3: They sold him and then he got in a lot of trouble in Egypt! Me: Yes! And this brothers come crawling back but they don’t know it’s Joseph. So Joseph treats them. And do they pass? Class: Yes! Me: So after Joseph realizes his brothers aren’t the…
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Shopping for a Shepherd: A Female Shepherd Like Rachel
I noticed the aroma of spiced apples scenting the air as I stepped into the shop. My eyes lighted on the carved wooden figures grouped into Nativity sets and nestled on long shelves lining the walls. Our group of fourteen had spent the morning touring biblical sites in Jerusalem, followed by lunch and a visit to the Church of the Holy Nativity in Bethlehem, part of the Palestinian-administered area of Israel. To finish the day, we were driven nearby for a requisite gift shop stop. Sipping complimentary apple cider, my husband Lindsey and I began browsing the wares. We had purchased an olive wood nativity set during our first trip…
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A Historical Review: Black Women Who Won the Battle to Preach
Any review of women’s religious history is incomplete “without an adequate grasp of the groundbreaking work” of Black preaching women.[1] Historian Bettye Collier-Thomas in her book Daughters of Thunder: Black Women Preachers and Their Sermons, 1950–1979, explains that during the nineteenth century and the twentieth century, “in most black religious traditions, women won the battle to preach.”[2]
