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I had a DREAM job during my summers in college: door-to-door sales. Imagine waking up and getting punched in the face again and again and again — that’s what it was like. One rainy day, after a horrible encounter with a colony of fire ants and some particularly curmudgeon residents, I gave up. I wanted to move home and leave my collegiate goals behind. And then a friend told me this: “let go and let God.” At first I wasn’t sure something so basic could make a difference, but I decided to give it a try. I repeated that phrase to myself all summer: “Let...

Rachel Baker Faith and Friendship: the Bedrock of a Healthy Marriage When things were at their darkest in the first few years of our marriage, it was our faith in God and commitment to Christ-like living that kept us fighting for our marriage. When our relationship is at peace, it is the undertones of friendship—not passion—that sustains us. I truly believe that our foundation of faith and friendship draws us closer; it helps us understand each other better and aligns our hearts towards each other even in the tensest of moments. Just the other night, we had to have a pretty serious...

1. Speak Life Our words build a universe around our kids. We have the ability to shape, build, and describe who they are, so we need to speak life into our children. When we look in the Bible, we can see the power of words. In the very first chapter, God said, “Let there be light,” and the first dawn was created. Jesus brought the dead to life with his words and healed others. And it doesn't stop there, our lives revolve around the power of words too, for example, the words, “I do” join two people together for the rest of...

Diana LéGere 1. Quiet Your Mind Carve out a special prayer nook for yourself―a place where you will meet God every day. Before you can prepare your heart, it’s essential to step away from the noise and empty your mind of earthly cares. Block out any distractions that will keep you from focusing on God. Jesus taught us that the best time to start our day is in the morning before the world unfolds. “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” )Mark 1:35( As you enter...

Cally Logan The Desire to be Liked The desire to be well-liked and thought well of is almost always one we readily want, but this aspiration can sometimes grow into people-pleasing. People-pleasing is one where we seek to satisfy others to the point where it becomes unhealthy for us. At times, people-pleasing can truly become crippling, so how do we know how to be good to others without falling into this pit? Communication More often than not, people-pleasing becomes the result of poor communication. When your voice is silenced, or you choose not to speak up for your preference or what is a...

How Can Kids Be More Like Solomon? Sarah Humphrey Giving children opportunities to hear about good role models, Biblical characters, and other godly leaders is a great way to help them decipher the difference between what the world is teaching and what God says is actually true. Solomon is an example of such a person! Not only did Solomon do a lot of things right, but he also made mistakes and suffered for them. He’s an excellent example of a human being who was touched by the hand of God, If kids today want to chew on a few principles from Solomon’s life,...

I recently received an email question from a person who wrote: “I have studied quite a few different translations of the bible and have full faith in what it says. I also believe that Jesus is my savior, and do my best to live by what He taught. However, I am not a Christian according to many religious leaders, because I do not believe in the doctrine regarding the trinity. I have read nothing in the Word that supports this idea, in fact Jesus proclaims many time that He is less than the Father. My question is simply this,...

Amanda Idleman 1. Go to God in Prayer If intimacy is lacking in your relationship, it’s important that you talk to your spouse about prioritizing one another once again but that can be a tricky conversation to have. Before jumping into fixing this thing with your mate first go to God in prayer. Lay your marriage before His feet and cover whatever is left of your connection with prayer. His Spirit will go ahead and prepare the way for healing for your relationship! (Jeremiah 30:17) tells us that God heals our wounds. I believe that means both our physical and emotional wounds. Living in...

Historicity of Jesus The historicity of Jesus is the question of whether Jesus historically existed (as opposed to being a purely mythological figure). The question of historicity was generally settled in scholarship in the early 20th century. Today scholars agree that a Jewish man named Jesus of Nazareth did exist in the Herodian Kingdom of Judea and the subsequent Herodian tetrarchy in the 1st century AD, upon whose life and teachings Christianity was later constructed, but a distinction is made by scholars between 'the Jesus of history' and 'the Christ of faith'. There is no scholarly consensus concerning most elements of...

Dolores Smyth 1. Make Your House a Home When you’re first married, decorating your house so that it feels like a home can be daunting. When decorating, one thing to keep in mind is that your home should reflect the things that make both you and your partner happy. This may include specific colors and scents or certain furniture and styles. Agreeing on how to make your house a home may be a bit tricky if you and your other half have wildly different tastes and behaviors. This is where a compromise is in order. Something that many couples can agree on...