Ready for Real Relationship? A Review of Jim Putman’s ‘RelationShift’
*Editor’s Note: Jim Putman will lead an in-depth class at the 2023 Renew Gathering on April 26th on his new book, RelationShift: Five Shifts for Disciple Makers to Live and Lead from Relationship. It is easy for church leaders today to state that they believe in relational disciple making. In the ten years since Jim...
Bobby Harrington
What Are People Looking for in You?
I remember when I was a student pastor (we called them youth pastors in 2006) and I was taking my students to a district youth rally in a small rural town called Unionville in middle Tennessee. I was quite the hotshot in the denomination I was saved in and had a pretty large group, especially...
Corey Trimble
Theology of the Body: What the Bible Teaches About the Importance of Bodies
What is a theology of the body? It is easy for us to see our bodies as disconnected from our spirituality. Yet the Bible teaches us much about the purposefulness, value, and even sacredness of our bodies. Developing a biblical theology of our bodies provides crucial context for how we treat each other and how...
Jonathan Storment
Some Reflections on Foreign Accents
Isn’t it interesting that you don’t have an accent? Doesn’t it feel like you talk normal, while other people from other places are the ones who have accents? One of the unfortunate facts of a fallen world is that we can tend to judge and make assumptions of people by how different they sound from us. The word barbarian,...
Daniel McCoy
It’s About the Children: Reflections on the Why behind the Exodus
The Bible passage I’m reflecting on here is from the portion of the Torah that starts with the word “Bo” (“Come to Pharaoh”). The biblical narrative in this portion of the Torah is probably one of the more dramatic and more influential of the whole biblical narrative—including all the way to the book of Revelation....
Joseph Shulam
Spiritual Warfare: Getting Clear on Our Real Enemy
What is spiritual warfare? Spiritual warfare is what the apostle Paul calls “our struggle…against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm” (Eph. 6:12). When we say spiritual, Americans often merely mean emotional. When the Bible uses the term, however, it refers to the personal, real beings who are beyond physics but who interact...
David Young
A Lament for Memphis: Reflections from a Memphis Minister
*Editor’s Note: On January 7, 2023, 29-year-old Tyre Nichols was pulled over by Memphis police for reckless driving and was tased and pepper-sprayed. He attempted to flee and was then beaten by police officers so mercilessly that he died three days later of his injuries. Bob Turner is the senior minister of the White Station...
Bob Turner
5 Learnings from Participating in Deliverance Ministry
The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you....
William Butt
Is Change Good? Reflecting on Why God Placed Us in Time
Is change good or bad? As we look back over our lives, we can spot changes that were obviously good as well as ones which felt very harmful. But as we take a step back and look at change itself, how should we feel about it? What good reason might God have for positioning us...
Daniel McCoy
Sermon on the Mount: Narrow Gate
In Luke, someone straight-up asks Jesus, “Are only a few people going to be saved?” (Luke 13:23). In his answer, echoed in Matthew, Jesus clearly says, “Yes”: “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the...
Jeremy Bacon
Family Worship: 6 Ways Connecting with God Together Will Bless Your Family
Family worship, at its most basic level, is the regular gathering of the family to worship God and receive instruction in the Christian faith. Parents have been given a responsibility to disciple their children, and one of the best ways is through regular times of the family gathering to worship God together and learn more...
Darren Williamson
What’s the Meaning of Ecclesiastes?
What is the meaning of Ecclesiastes? This book in the Hebrew Bible tends to puzzle us with its pessimistic tone and philosophical orientation. What we find as we explore the message and meaning of Ecclesiastes, however, is an honest exploration of the best life has to offer—out from under God’s authority—from a person who was...
Tina Wilson
The Remarkable Power of Preferred Pronouns
I told myself I wouldn’t brag about this publicly. For years, it’s been a bit of a Clark Kent-Superman dilemma: should I tell people about my secret power? Should I keep it under wraps? At the risk of sounding vain, I’m going to go ahead and tell you. I know a lot about pronouns. Like,...
Daniel McCoy
Losing My Faith in Progressive Christianity: The Tough Questions (Part 7)
This is Part 7 in a series on leaving progressive Christianity by Dave Stovall, worship leader and former lead singer of Wavorly and band member of Audio Adrenaline. He describes how his journey into progressive Christianity left him dissatisfied and how he found the road to a more sustainable, faithful faith. Here’s Part 1 and Part 2 and Part 3 and Part...
Dave Stovall
What We Learn from Job’s Three Friends
The story of Job, from the Old Testament, is well known. He is the man who lost everything—family, wealth, health—and yet did not lose his faith in God. While in the midst of Job’s suffering, Job’s three friends came to pay him a visit. Their names were Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar...
Ron Bay, Jr.
Jesus Turns Water into Wine…And Turns Worry to Faith
The Gospel of John narrates how, to save a wedding feast which has run out of wine, Jesus turns water into wine. As Jesus’ first public miracle, the Gospel of John describes it as “the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory” (John 2:11, NIV). What do we learn about Jesus from...
Daniel McCoy