3 Things to Remember if you are Looked Down Upon for Being a Christian
Michael Kelley:
We are coming upon a day when historical evangelical beliefs are going to increasingly called into question. So how should a Christian respond to this reality? There are certainly right and wrong ways, and we in North America can learn much from our brothers and sisters across the world. At a minimum, though, there are at least three things we should remember if and when we are looked down upon for being a Christian.
The Last Generation of Unconnected Missionaries?
Trevin Wax:
What if we are the last generation of missionaries to have living memory of missions before Skype and FaceTime? Did missionaries ask similar questions when calling internationally via phone became available?
For All Have Sinned
Jamie Ivey:
As believers, we are so grateful to have the Holy Spirit living in us! He guides us, directs us, counsels us, and helps us to make choices that honor God. But we must all admit that we’re still broken people. I have no idea what choices this man at the restaurant made in his past, and I have no idea what he was trying to put back together in his broken life. But I do know this: we are no different than him.
A Rubbish Redeemed
Katie McCoy:
It’s nothing short of jaw-dropping. In the middle of a South American slum, there is music. In the impoverished community of Cateura, Paraguay, where families make a living by recycling trash and selling it, an old oil can or a meat tenderizer is recreated to make a concert-quality instrument. (Seriously, you’ve got to see this!) With great skill and vision, discarded junk becomes material of unforeseen purpose. The children of the community who play the trash-to-treasure instruments are known as, “The Landfill Harmonic Orchestra.” (Get it?…Philharmonic?…Landfill?) When you realize that you’re hearing a Beethoven melody from material that came from a garbage heap, the sound is all the more remarkable!
Preschool Theology, Bubble Machines, and Remembering What Matters
Jennifer Lyell:
My favorite class is the last one of the year. The kids get a bubble machine, and we get to hear them teach what they learned. Clamoring over one another to answer the questions, they explain creation, the fall, and its effect on our hearts and relationship with God. We go through the lives and lessons of Abraham, Joseph, and Moses, each demonstrating something about God, something about us, and something about God’s promises for his people. And then they get to Jesus. They tell about his birth, death, and resurrection, how he is the only possible Redeemer and the One who defeated death.
