If you’re in credit card debt, please raise your hand… I am right along there with you. When I look at my credit card spending report and see the things that I bought, I always regret making such purchases that have only added to my debt and not to the benefit of my life. Things […]
UN-HOOKING UP?
On waiting until marriage in a sex-saturated culture
Hearing stories from friends struggling in their marriages, one day I thought to myself, what’s the point of marriage? I enjoy coming and going as I please, not having to clean up after someone else, going to see any movie I want and not having to compromise. My life is rather uncomplicated. Then I started […]
TURNING CONFRONTATION INTO CLOSENESS
How to communicate and resolve conflict when someone refuses to talk
“You know what? Never mind!” Click. The silence was as swift and fresh as the wound it left. I sighed into the empty receiver. I called Norah back and got her voicemail. How do I communicate with someone who refuses to talk? I wondered, and hung up. I had known Norah my entire life. Our […]
PRAYER’S A TWO WAY STREET
Seeking God with questions and the confusion that comes when you get an answer.
Imagine for a moment that God is speaking to you… right now. But instead of hearing a profound morsel of wisdom, He simply tells you to leave everything you know and head in a direction that isn’t even particularly clear. You’re allowed to take your immediate family, as well as one of your brother’s sons, […]
CHURCH-LESS CHRISTIANITY
Why church is not about getting our needs met, but about loving God and loving others, and why you should be there
For many Christian “church” is an optional event that comes around every Sunday. Some say, “Well church isn’t for me, I haven’t found a church where I’m comfortable, I’ve been turned off from church because of cattiness in the ministries, they’re always asking for money, our beliefs don’t line up, after a long week I […]
DISASTER RELIEF
The best ways to help out those in need when nature erupts
Lately it feels like so much of the news has been filled with reports of natural disasters. In September 2009, there were ravaging typhoons, earthquakes, and tsunamis that hit parts of Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands, affecting countries like Samoa, American Samoa, Tonga, Burma, the Philippines, and Indonesia. Then early this year, a 7.0 […]
HOW PRAYING FOR OTHERS CAN DEEPEN YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD
Understanding intercessory prayer
Prayer is one of the most meaningful gifts given to us by God. Through prayer, we seek higher counsel in our time of trouble or confusion, and gather insight for a specific situation. Prayer reinforces faith and helps us to personally connect with God. As you pray, you will gradually learn more about different methods […]
PLUGGING INTO FAITH AND COMMUNITY ON YOUR COLLEGE CAMPUS
Why is it important to plug-in? Why should it matter that you join a community to nurture your faith?
It was Saturday morning and I awoke to an empty dorm room. My roommate had gone to meet her family for the big football game. Realizing that I was alone was absolutely terrifying. After completing the finishing touches on my room, I spent the rest of the day counting down the hours until my roommate […]
HOW TO SAVE A LIFE
Some practical ways you can help save lives around the world.
You don’t have to wear a lifeguard’s outfit or jump into a burning building to save someone’s life. In fact you don’t even have to leave the comfort of your armchair or part with much hard-earned cash. Here are our top ten: 1. Sponsor a LifeStraw® You’re meant to drink 8 glasses of water a […]
BREAKING BREAD AND BREAKING BARRIERS IN SOUTH AFRICA
My arrival in Durban, South Africa was a very particular brand of disorientation. Nothing seemed familiar. Rand. Paranoia. Koombis. Xhosa. The remnants of apartheid. Humidity. Food-stealing monkeys. All of it felt foreign. I decided to study abroad for one year in college to get some field research experience in another country. But underneath the academic […]