Desmond Mpilo Tutu was born in Klerksdorp, Transvaal, an area in northern South Africa, on October 7, 1931. At age 12, he moved with his family to Johannesburg. Although Tutu aspired to be a physician, his family could not afford to send him to medical school. God had a different plan for his life; his […]
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 […]
SURFING AND SERVING IN PANAMA
It all started with a revelation, a vision that exceeded the previous capacity of my heart. I sat on my board, waist high in water, facing the horizon as the sun descended into its perfect setting, as if to acknowledge my thoughts. I was seeking, perhaps convicted of my past habit of seeking inwardly instead […]
GOSPEL FOR ASIA
He was only a teenager when he answered God’s calling. Feeling an overwhelming, unconditional love for the physically and spiritually impoverished population of India, he stood on an elevated rock amongst a bustling Bangalore bus station. He was only 16 years old, skinny, too young to even be part of the mission teams that proselytized […]
GOD VALUES OUR HEALTH
I grew up going to church, listening to sermons and scriptures being spoken, but I really struggled when I tried to read the Bible myself. I actually felt condemned and a burden of expectation whenever I tried to read a passage. Five years ago, after a very difficult loss—the birth and death of our daughter […]
DANIEL LIRA
From the flowing prairie to the ebbing waves; this pastoral intern talks about his gifts and calling. What is your occupation? I am a Service Technician at California State University, Long Beach. Do you have any hobbies? In Illinois [my home state], it was fixing cars, and enjoying the pleasure of cars. In California, in […]
REPENTANCE
Have you ever been lost and realized the whole time that you were driving the wrong way? I remember getting up on the morning of my wedding day with my best man and hopping on the freeway. Little did I know that I was in for the most embarrassing driving moment I have ever experienced. […]
CHRISTIANS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Increased droughts, floods, and blizzards are just some of the phenomena making news around the world. It seems like these drastic weather changes are occurring more frequently in areas they previously did not. The cause of these changes in weather patterns is the subject of great debate. Scientists have shown that carbon emissions have a […]
ARE CHRISTIANS TOO FOCUSED ON GETTING CONVERTS?
In the last issue we covered the first perception mentioned in the book UnChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity: And Why It Matters by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons (2007), that details nonbelievers’ view of Christians. In the book, Kinnaman and Lyons, with research from the Barna group, highlight the ways Christians […]
DECIPHERING BIBLE TRANSLATIONS
There are numerous translations of the Bible out there, and finding the best choice for yourself can sometimes be overwhelming. We tried to sum up a few of the most popular versions out there to help you navigate a version to try, whether a more literal or a more interpretive translation. You should try to […]