Trials, Comparison and the Danger of Instagram
Matt Chandler:Theological Minutia Matters
Trevin Wax:In theology, the minutia involved in debate—the small, seemingly insignificant details—really matter. At one point in Christian history, the thread of orthodoxy hung on the presence of one vowel in a word describing God the Father and God the Son. Is it homoousious or homoiousious? Of one substance or of like substance? Minutia, you say? Well, it’s small, and it’s a tiny detail. But it mattered. It was the difference between Arius and Athanasius, between the Trinity and heresy, between a godlike Son or the Son as God. It still matters today.
Jesus is Not Plan B, but He’s Also Not Plan A
Michael Kelley:This is good news for us; very good news indeed. Because if Jesus was a “Plan B” then it would have massive implications about the character of God. Consider, for a moment, why we as human beings move from Plan A to Plan B. We might do it because we are presented with new information about something. There is something we didn’t know about a circumstance or a person or an issue, and based on this new information, we are compelled to change the way we think about it. But God knows every circumstance down to the molecular level. There is never a moment when He’s caught off guard or surprise; never an instance when He is shocked or dismayed.
4 ingredients of a good apology
Lore Ferguson Wilbert:Any squabble in a preschool classroom will show us the main ingredient in moving on is a well placed, “I’m sorry.” But whether it’s to placate the offended party, bring just a moment of peace, or truly intended to help the offender see their wrong, an “I’m sorry” is still just one part of an apology. When I was a young teen the recipe for an apology changed in our household. Where my parents previously just made us say those two little words (I’m sorry.), they began to implement a new way of making peace. These four parts of an apology have stayed with me through adulthood and I utilize them every time I’ve had to eat a piece of humble pie.
3 “gospels” that are pressuring young women
Erin Davis:Teen angst may be normalized, but we are wise to ask ourselves, should it be? Was it really God’s plan that the hormones that are an inevitable part of growing up result in depression, anxiety, and hostility? Should we continue to downplay young women’s (and men’s) collective struggles as “just a phase”? Or, instead, can we take up arms against the enemy who is coming at the Body of Christ by picking on our youngest members?
