Christian grief does not require pretending everything’s okay. It does not mean we cease to feel or to hurt or wonder if the void will never again be filled. It does not mean we’ll be healed, but it does mean that we face all the pain and loss with the presence of a loving and faithful God.Â
Dear Grieving Christian,
You think you have time to prepare. Sometimes you do. But all the preparation in the world can’t stop the way it overwhelms you. When that photo falls out from the album, or the world stops at the party where they should have been, the hollow carved by their absence cannot be ignored.
Since The Chosen – a TV series about the life of Jesus and His disciples – launched in 2020, I’ve received a plethora of questions about watching the show, what I think of it, how to interact with it, etc. Per the usual, I don’t plan to tell you what to think; I would rather teach you how to think through the show and get the most out of it. This led me to write a quick post outlining some tips for engaging with the show and including your kids or friends in the discussion of it.
This episode is an overview of the nature of the Trinity and why God as triune is a fundamental Christian doctrine! We look at the fights within the early church to defend Christ’s deity (including Athanasius’Â On the Incarnation)Â and how these fights were finalized in the Apostles and Nicene creeds. We then look at teachings like modalism, oneness and eternal subordination of the Son.
I did not know I was ill until my first daughter was born. A few days after her birth, my body broke out in a blistering rash. From the soles of my feet to chest, neck and hands, I was covered in hives and blisters. I laid on the couch in our duplex living room – it was 80 degrees in Lancaster County that September, and we had no air conditioning – soaking in sweat and too blistered to move. I struggled to care for my baby and deal with the itching. Desperate to distract myself, I took her for walks every day – not realizing that so much walking postpartum was unwise and unhealthy for a postpartum body.
Have you ever fasted? Maybe you’ve thought about fasting but weren’t sure where or how to start. Maybe you thought only “hyper spiritual” people fasted. But in Scripture, we see tangible examples of people fasting in all stages of life! Even Jesus – who had all the strength He needed for every task – fasted as an example for His disciples, and His statements about fasting were “when” not “if”!
I haven’t always lived this way, and I can’t honestly say I always live this way now. Daily I choose between the pressure of my ever-expanding lists and the quietness of the moment in front of me. I fully recognize I am one of many voices (most much more eloquent than I) talking about a slower, sweeter, Sabbath-based life. Indulge me being one more.
“Life is a series of seasons.” This phrase from Susan Yates, who I’ve had the privilege of befriending through an annual writing retreat remains in my mind each time I have to adjust the way we teach our kids. As homeschoolers we grasp the need for flexibility on an academic scale, but changing with the seasons applies to discipleship, too. Last fall we were about to welcome our third child into the family, were three months self employed, and were in the middle of the Covid pandemic. This fall is different and presents challenges of its own.
It’s that time again you, guys. Time for another Ask Anything theology episode! I low-key love these episodes so much… because I love anything that’s rapid fire and I can get through a lot at once! Which is probably saying a little bit about my personality – I feel you get more bang for your buck because you’re getting multiple topics in short, little snippets each episode. You feel me?Â
For the past five and a half years we’ve been actively teaching our kids (at the time of writing, ages almost 6, 4, and 1) to sit through church. When this is mentioned, I’m inevitably asked a series of questions:
“Do you not like Sunday school?”
“Don’t you want a break?”
“Why would you do that?”
“Aren’t you afraid of what people think about your kids staying in adult service?”