The Secret to Strong Friendships
Kristen Wetherell:Personalities change because people do. Contexts change as people become interested in new hobbies and pursuits (and less interested in old ones). Proximity changes as people move, whether a town or state away, or across the ocean. But when all these factors change, we can still pray, trusting God to use the means he has given to strengthen our friendships with other Christians—and to change us.
How to (Not) Overburden People in Your Church Plant
Aaron Weiss:Church planting requires tenacity. Ask anyone who’s done it, and they’ll tell you the responsibility of planting and leading a church is a heavy load. A joyful one, to be sure, but weighty too. Because of this, church planters are prone to overburden their congregations. It’s easy to misjudge what level of involvement or responsibility members should have. With the sheer magnitude of things to be done, it’s hard to know how much to call members to do.
New Parents: Have Grace for One Another
Lauren Chandler:On The Gospel and Justice: It’s a Spectrum, Not Two Sides
Trevin Wax:Unfortunately, in the midst of the increasingly heated debates, a fundamental fact often goes unnoticed: We are not dealing with neatly defined sides, but rather a spectrum—a variety of views on the best way forward in integrating gospel fidelity with pressing social concerns. Evangelicals have never been united on the way forward, even during the days when there appeared to be unity on the surface. But evangelicals have never been totally divided either, as if there were only two poles of thought.
“Thank You I’m Not Like That Pharisee”
Michael Kelley:Now here’s the thing – we can look at this story and learn many things. We can learn, for example, that the fashion and nature of our prayers goes a great way in being a window to our hearts. We can see our true desires, our true belief in who God is and what He does, and our true assessment of ourselves by looking at our prayers. These are all virtuous things – they are the kinds of things that show we are moving forward with Jesus, being transformed into His likeness.