Far too soon. Last year my childhood best friend passed away. That's not a phrase I thought I'd be saying at thirty-one. Seventy? Maybe. But not thirty-one. After a year has passed, I've realized this grief won't. It isn't something that will pass with time. I will carry with me for the rest of my … Continue reading Far too long
Culture isn’t simply something we experience. It’s something we were created to do. In his book, Culture Making, Andy Crouch explores the very first command God gives humanity: to “rule and subdue the earth” (Genesis 1:28). But how do we practically do that? How do we effectively change the world? The truth is that change … Continue reading How do we change the world? Andy Crouch’s book explores what it means to fulfill the cultural mandate
Our friends at Protect Young Eyes have been sounding the alarms about sextortion and artificial intelligence for months, encouraging parents to talk to their students about these dangerous realities before it becomes a reality in their own life. They were right. This morning I woke up to a disheartening news article from CNN. Pornographic photos … Continue reading What is Real? AI Pornographic Images at a New Jersey High School and The Truth About Human Dignity
After 9 years of marriage, do I still like the one I vowed to love?
Some 2,000+ years ago, Jesus follower's could be found “holding their breath” and wrestling with deep issues of faith. They had just seen their Lord and promised deliverer be murdered, and they had not yet seen Him risen, and while Old Testament prophecies had spoken of this, given their previous expectations of what they thought fulfillment of the promises would look like, they were likely not all aware of what they could expect the next day. As far as they could tell with their physical eyes, He had failed them and left the world with unfulfilled promises to be their Savior.
I can still picture the scene unfolding in my imagination as I read the Chronicles of Narnia for the first time. Edmund had fallen for the White Witch’s trap, and now he owed her a great debt. The dark creatures sneered as they crowded around the stone table, demanding that the sacrifice be made. I was just a girl at the time, but I questioned the allegorical narrative. Was the White Witch [Satan] the one to whom Aslan [Jesus] owed His life in order to set us free?
At my church, we celebrate the Passover together during Holy Week, remembering Jesus' Last Supper. The Passover was a celebration of God’s faithfulness to the Israelites, and God’s faithful promises were ultimately fulfilled through Christ! The Last Supper is especially significant because, when celebrating the Passover with His disciples, Jesus used the elements of bread and wine to symbolize something greater: his body and blood. The Last Supper was the first communion!
On Wednesday, we remember how Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus. He negotiated with the Sanhedrin, the rabbinical court of ancient Israel, to turn Jesus over to them. How could one of Jesus's closest friends betray him? He had traveled with him, followed his footsteps, sat under his teachings, stayed up late talking in the night. Could he really turn his back on him like this?
Later in the day, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus gave the Olivet Discourse, a prophetic description of Jerusalem’s destruction and the end of the age. He doesn't hold any punches. This is some intense stuff. He reveals His Second Coming and the Final Judgment through a series of parables.
Monday dawns, and Jesus begins His week by entering the temple to heal and teach, but what He finds there is unsavory to say the least. People are buying and selling, money changers are collecting (and probably swindling…that’s an assumption, but probably a safe one). Bottom line the temple is being used to turn a quick profit rather than to turn hearts’ to worship.
