The recent news that a child’s death has been blamed on the parents’ adherence to the extreme fundy teachings of Michael and Debi Pearl made me think about the bombastic, insistent voices claiming to offer the perfect formula for not only raising children, but living a godly life. (As if a holy life was a…

When I first came to faith in Christ, Bible study tools were like comprehension drills: “For God so ____ the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) Though they were the spiritual equivalent of busywork, like those SRA boxes…

My dear friend and long-time prayer partner Meg and I both kept expressing the same thought to one another: “I could really use a silent retreat.” The thought of an uninterrupted block of time to simply listen to the Lord, to rest, to soak in the Word, to rest, to unplug, to rest.. Well, you…

Julie Ferwerda, the author of One Million Arrows: Raising Your Children To Change The World (Winepress Publishing, 2009), wants to inspire you to hit the parenting bulls’ eye as you raise your children to be spiritual champions. Motivated by both the work and message of her mentor, M.A. Thomas, and her deep desire to see…

The Jewish holiday of Purim takes place this weekend. The holiday is a miraculous story of survival in the face of super-size, demonic anti-Semitism. The book of Esther never once mentions God’s Name, yet His unseen hand is visible in every moment of this drama: “The story is about the Jewish people in Persia during…

Yes, it’s a picture of shelves full of Tylenol and some of Tylenol’s pain reliever cousins.  Go ahead and ask the burning question: “Why do you have this picture on your blog, Michelle?”  To answer your burning question, I have to give a bit of backstory. A year ago, I had a job that required…