Christian Life & Theology Archives - Page 24 of 52

The Day I Stopped Chasing Proverbs 31

Feb 6, 2017 | Christian Life & Theology, Singleness

Excellent.

It’s who I wanted to be. Excellence – my goal in work, home, marriage, motherhood, friendship – in every circle of life I would be at the top. I would not just do good; I would be good. I would be good at everything.

I sought new tasks and worked willingly: typing, scrubbing, cooking, writing.

I found the best deals and the cheapest groceries and cooked the healthiest meals.

I got up at 5 AM, planned my day, made the list, did the things.

I became a business. I worked out regularly. I dressed myself with as much style and class as I knew how.

Because I had to be excellent.

Passively Pro-Choice: How Sin Kills the Pro-Life Mission

Jan 31, 2017 | Christian Life & Theology, Christian Womanhood

Christians talk a lot about sexual purity. We talk a lot about being pro-life. Yet we’ve ignored the chasm of understanding between these two issues – issues that are integrally connected not just in reality, but in our spiritual lives. We brandish our “pro-life” monikers as if it’s a given – we’re Christians, after all! – yet fail to understand what sanctity of life looks like day-to-day.

The truth is this: “Pro-life” is not just a political viewpoint. It is a lifestyle.

Lingerie, Jesus, and the Girls Who Love Both

Jan 26, 2017 | Christian Life & Theology, Dating & Marriage, Sexuality

I invited Jesus to my lingerie shower.

He attended, no questions asked.

In the jokes and the gifts and the lace, His presence was real. He didn’t look like Himself, of course – His face was the face of my friends, the women who love Him and love me. But Jesus was there, right in the middle of our raucous laughter and our innuendoes about marital sex. He saw the joy, the anticipation, and the love of the women around me – women celebrating the sexuality He designed.

You Are the Change Your Church Needs

Jan 24, 2017 | Christian Life & Theology

A pang strikes my heart every time I write about the church. It’s the same discomfort I get when confronting a friend about a sin issue; a necessary pain. I wouldn’t want to take joy in correcting a flawed ideology, but neither should I ignore anything that hinders the gospel’s advance.

But in writing about the church – from women’s ministry to the millennial message – I have a weighty responsibility. The church is not a building, after all. The church is people. The church is me.

To the Girl Who Never Left Home (From the Girl Who Did)

Jan 23, 2017 | Christian Life & Theology, Dating & Marriage

The world needs us, you and I.

It needed me when I left, and it needs you for staying. You wouldn’t know it from what the magazines say… the Instagram posts about wanderlust and adventure, about moving out and moving on. The world makes it seem like I’m bigger, bolder, for leaving.

And you – the girl who never left home? You’re the one who “settled”.

The Millennial Gospel: Jesus, Tell Me More About Me

Jan 16, 2017 | Christian Life & Theology

A change of emphasis has taken place. The words, the affirmations, the identities and monikers – many of them are biblical and true. The problem lies – once again – not in whether or not the message is true but whether our overt focus on it has handicapped our spiritual maturity.

I believe it has. It is the millennial gospel – good feelings, good music, real people, and “rawness”. The not-so-good news? It’s incomplete.

Tattooed Pharisees: How the New Legalism is Wrecking the Church

Jan 10, 2017 | Christian Life & Theology, Christian Womanhood

There was a time when legalists were easy to identify.

They were the ones more interested in “Sunday best” than repentant hearts; more concerned about music and movies than an inner transformation. They judged by outward appearance and were, in turn, judged lacking in both truth and grace.

Gen-Xers and millennials know them well. We grew up hearing about them, and watched the church shift and buckle under the weight of change. It was a good change, for the most part. It exposed things. It revealed how church had become more about doing and being “good” than about God being good in us.

Jesus, Humble Me (But Not That Much)

Jan 9, 2017 | Christian Life & Theology

That morning in my quiet time, I prayed for humility. I asked God to saturate my life and ministry with it; to protect me from the dangers of pride. Six hours later more steam was coming out my ears than off the onions, and I was convinced it was all Josh’s fault.

We all know we need humility. Christ Himself exemplified it and provided a model for us to follow. So we pray for it periodically, asking God to “make us humble” without really grasping what it is we ask.

Dear Women’s Ministry, Stop Telling Me I’m Beautiful

Jan 2, 2017 | Christian Life & Theology, Singleness

I shifted in my seat at the women’s conference as the speaker said it again.

“You are a beautiful, chosen, special woman of God. There is no one in the world like you!”

It’s the same message I’d heard dozens of times on the radio, in books, at conferences – even emblazoned on coffee mugs and shirts at every LifeWay Store in America. It’s the same message preached to Christian women in every corner of western culture. And it’s a message that – while well-intentioned – is completely deficient.

The Goal of Goal Setting + My Word of the Year

Dec 31, 2016 | Christian Life & Theology, Productivity

I write this on the cusp of my favorite day of the year: January first. The thought of closing one book and opening another – a blank page soon to be filled – thrills me with anticipation! I spent a few hours last week going through my Powersheets, deciding where to direct my energy in 2017. To be honest, I’m leaving 2016 with one word in my head: tired.

I’m tired. But there’s a twinge of satisfaction in that admission, because our word for 2017 was “push”. We challenged ourselves to push through difficulty, to push back against laziness, to push for a good marriage, and I can testify to those achievements. I know this next year holds more opportunity to push through hard things, but I’m ready for a change.

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