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To Hold the Ropes
We are about to transition from our busy spring schedules of graduations and end-of-year activities to an equally busy summer season. Mission trips are a big part of church and ministries’ summer schedule. In preparation for that, I suggest we prepare to “hold the ropes” for those who are venturing on mission adventures, church camps or even just helping in VBS. One of Christianity’s most compelling mission stories is of William Carey, called “the father of the modern missionary movement.” In 1792, William Carey, a poor English shoemaker, felt God’s call to take the gospel to the unreached in India. The mission society of his church appointed him to go,…
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Teaching Toddlers
Deuteronomy 6:6-7 “These words I am commanding you today must be kept in mind, and you must teach them to your children and speak of them as you sit in your house, as you walk along the road, as you lie down, and as you get up.” Seriously! Teach toddlers about God!
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Parenting inclusive kids in a cancel culture
I distinctly remember a birthday party in elementary school that I didn’t get invited to. I’m sure there were many I wasn’t invited to, this just happened to be one I knew about. It was one of the cool ones that involved a limo, in elementary school! And, we lived in the country. So, the limo was extra impressive. It was one of those moments in life where the event was special so the guest list was particularly slim. It was a small school, and I’m pretty sure my personality made me believe I was friends with everyone. At the time, some of my closest friends got to ride in…
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End Game
My husband and I are huge fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). We love the intergalactic battles raging across time and space, and the artfully crafted storylines that pull you in. One Marvel film, in particular, had us on the edge of our seats cheering on the culmination of decades of strife-The End Game. In this film, good and evil drew a line in the sand, as all of creation hinged on the precipice of eternal change. It’s no wonder audiences all over the world stood to their feet as the final scene played out in all of its glory. Even if you are over the superhero genre, there…
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Ezekiel 3:16-19- Are you a Modern Day Watchman?
I am convinced that we have lost the urgency of spreading the good news of Jesus Christ. As Christians, we are sitting on the greatest news of all time, yet too often we remain silent. It’s tempting to think that maybe evangelizing is just not your thing. This was my thought process. Until a slick-talking salesman at the Texas State Fair showed me that I would shout anything from the rooftops if I had enough buy-in. I stumbled upon the row of booths lined with product giveaways. After a rehearsed speech they tried to sell me the amazing, “balance band.” Through some mix of magic, science, and marketing it was…
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The Power of a Penny
Jesus often used simple earthly objects to explain a spiritual concept. His listeners were asked to focus on something physical so that He could teach them something spiritual. Understanding that God is outside of time, space, and matter is difficult for His creation to comprehend. Finite sinful creatures just cannot comprehend the infinite and holy God. Jesus understood His creation and our need for hooks in our brain on which we could hang new concepts. He often taught with parables and object lessons. God, in both the Old and New Testament used parables and object lessons to help us understand our own sinfulness, His holiness, our helplessness, and His grace,…
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We Were All Foreigners
Lady Liberty looked on as the immigration officer stamped my great-grandfather’s passport at Ellis Island. He had sailed across the Atlantic Ocean from the Netherlands to New York. He ultimately settled in central Iowa. Other ancestors had immigrated before him and their reasons varied. Many simply wanted a better place to raise families. Others fled Europe to escape the atrocities of the Great World War. The Dutch immigrants built homes, planted crops, started bakeries, and established churches. Frugal, yet tidy, their gardens bloomed with tulips from their European homeland. But their lives were not without struggle or prejudice. Not everyone welcomed them. During the First World War (when the Allied…
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Many Beautiful Things Movie: A world-class artist chooses between celebrity “success” and a hidden life of missions service
“This film is a miniature masterpiece.”–Os Guinness…“The whole world should see this movie.”–Michelle Dockery…One of the most lovely and personally inspiring films ever–Lael A new movie, Many Beautiful Things, introduces us to a true-life young beauty of means in Victorian England. An extraordinarily gifted artist, she is mentored and celebrated by John Ruskin, the leading art critic of the era, an Oxford professor and founder of its drawing school. He hailed her as one of the most potentially celebrated artists of her time. Ruskin’s challenge: “to give herself up to art.” If she would dedicate herself to this great gift she would take her place among the cultural elite…
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The Tapeworm Gallery: Wounds from a Friend
Bible.org's Women's Leadership Team welcomes Salma Gundi as a regular Engage blogger with part 2 of a series begun when Sandra Glahn published part 1 of Salma's essay as a guest blogger here: The Tapeworm Gallery: Dense Fog Advisory. OK, I stepped out of line. Never meant to offend you. The Boss-Dragon spat fire upon me for picking on Bible-Belters. (The breath on that creature—reminds me of weeks-old curry in a baby's diaper.) I get you. You came from a good Christian home. Your daddy even served as deacon. Women at church respect you. You inhabit the epicenter of goodness. And that's all that matters. I get desperate. You don't exactly give me…
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Live the Jesus Lifestyle – Make Disciples
Leadership is Broken Because Leaders Are Unbroken The most disobeyed directive Jesus ever gave is the last directive Jesus ever gave: make disciples. Nothing could be plainer than Jesus’ final marching orders: make disciples! That’s what He said, that’s what He meant. Yet all over the world we find pastors, churches, deacons, elders and church members who are radically disobedient. Some are ignorant, others are willful, but many are disobedient nonetheless. Pastors give in to tradition and the demands of their people and choose to disobey Jesus’ final command. Many seem to think that ministry is about making them successful or keeping their job secure, which they confuse—often unconsciously and…
