We have an opportunity to tell the sufferer and the struggler, “The result of walking with the Spirit will be goodness in your life, and goodness is good for you and for everyone else.” Yes, we will suffer. Yes, we will struggle. But how sweet it is of God to grow goodness in our lives through our relationship with him! It’s okay to be okay, and it’s more than okay to stay that way.
Read MoreOur defining moments may start with a quiet conversation with a friend, an unexpected test result, or in the case of Betsy Childs Howard’s latest Arlo and the Keep-Out Club, a run-of-the-mill trip to the playground with your dad.
Read MoreWhile the resurrection story is central to our faith, it’s a story most Christians are so familiar with that it becomes easy to breeze right by the empty tomb. We could use a fresh entry point to remind believers how massive this moment of sacrificial generosity and overwhelming grace actually is. Thankfully, Joshua Cooley offers a great hook to anchor us to the beauty of the resurrection in his latest kids book, EMPTY!
Read MoreWhether you’re a relatively new believer or a longtime follower of Jesus, we should never lose sight of the unending spiritual blessings that are ours through the resurrection. Jesus’s empty tomb is the greatest empty in the history of emptiness!
Read MoreIt might seem counterintuitive to teach our teenagers about the heretics throughout church history, but in order to guard them against the false teachers of today we would do well to educate them about the false teachers of yesterday.
Read MoreWear a cross and you signal you’re a Christian; bear the cross and you prove it. Believers today can feel surprised by trials or tempted to adopt a victim mentality when we encounter them. Luther, by contrast, believed that to know Christ, we must know him in his sufferings.
Read MoreIt’s easy to look for freedom in all the wrong places. In fact, when people today define “freedom,” it’s often a declaration of their individual autonomy—an announcement they’re not bound by legal, religious, or moral constraints. In John 8:31–32, Jesus had something different in mind: “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,” he said, “and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Read MoreWith the dawn of the Reformation, church leaders called for a return to family discipleship, instructing parents, and especially fathers, to take an active role in teaching their children the faith. Luther’s plan for reaching the next generation began with a focus on the family. He was passionate about parents teaching their children.
Read MoreKids are inquisitive by nature, and are usually certain that the hyper-specific bit of information they’re asking you about is vital to the next few moments of their life. “Did you ever break a bone? What would happen if sharks could fly? What’s for dinner?” While these interruptions are often silly, occasionally they end up being game changing moments of opportunity and growth. That’s exactly where Joshua Cooley starts his latest kids book, I Can’t Believe My Eyes.
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