For me, racial reconciliation is very personal. I grew up in St. Louis where the Ferguson riots were. My dad was an associate pastor near that area. Later, we moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the most segregated city in the nation. I have spent the last four years of my life sitting in the streets of the black neighborhoods hearing stories.
Read MoreI was in Southeast Asia when the Coronavirus was first beginning to spread in January. There was something apocalyptic to each day, as my friends and I put masks over our faces before we left the apartment in the morning. Our translator kept asking store owners for hand sanitizer and face masks, but most were out or selling them for outrageous prices.
Read MoreWhen I was in 10th grade God placed a dream in my heart to start a modest clothing store. Severn years later God brought that dream to life. On June 9, 2014 we launched Marqué Modest Apparel. My hope then was to encourage women in their identity in Christ and to rebrand modesty. Yet something in my heart even then told me that there was so much more to come, God just hadn't revealed that to me yet.
Read MoreAlycia goes back to the beginning of her journey that lead her to start a home for teenage pregnant women and new moms in Wisconsin.
Read MoreMy name is Alycia Marie. You may remember me. Once upon a time I was associate editor of Tirzah Magazine. One day, God told me to start a home for teenage mothers. Mind you, I was 26 years old and perfectly content on my career path to be an executive director of a pregnancy center one day. Then, I met a girl. She was young, African American, pregnant, running around the streets of Milwaukee with no one to care for her. There was nowhere stable for her. I had moved to Wisconsin from Kentucky, where I had worked for a home for teenage mothers. In the midst of this young girl’s crisis, I discovered a need. One God had given me a solution for. That was the moment I found one of the callings God placed on my life.
Read MoreAs Christians, we are continually trying to live by the way of the Lord and striving to share God’s love with others around us. Cultural anthropology is an important element to the Christian faith because it relates to people -- being able to better understand the diverse world around us means we are then better able to serve.
Read MoreIs the cup half empty or half full? Personally, I remember this question mystifying me as a kid. You look at the top of the cup and there’s nothing there, so obviously it’s half empty. I’m not sure when my perspective changed, but I do remember it being a light-bulb moment, “Oh, I guess there is water in the bottom half of the cup!”
Read MoreDo you remember the song ‘Where is the Love?’ by The Black Eyed Peas? It was circa 2003. Some of the lyrics include, “Can’t we all just get along?” and “Can you practice what you preachin’?” I wonder if the songwriters ever imagined we would ask the world ‘where is the love?’ louder today than they did fifteen years ago.
Read MoreIn August 2016, I had recently come home from a two-month mission trip to New York City. We all (overseas missionaries and domestic missionaries alike) had to return to the organization we went through before they would let us return home. The organization warned me of the reverse culture shock that I would experience when I returned home. I looked around me at all the people who had gone overseas for the summer and thought, “They can’t be talking about me, since I stayed in America this summer.”
Read MoreAs a teacher, I have become accustomed to artfully answering questions that do not have an obvious answer. Often, these thought-provoking questions encourage deep thinking or conversation. I consider these interactions to be great gifts of God, as they allow time for myself and my students to learn, teach, and grow with one another in His love.
Read MoreA peacemaker is someone who actively works to bring about spiritual peace in a world filled with division and hate. Here are some ways that we can work toward being peacemakers:
Read MoreThere is this tension of wanting to point more people to Jesus by providing content people will visually enjoy but also wanting them to not see you (or a pretty filtered version of you and your life), but to see the One whom you preach and serve. To be a transparent being who is the hands and feet and the voice of the Savior, without becoming a savior for the hungry, hurting souls searching for meaning, healing and nourishment.
Read MoreThe first time I heard a message like this was in my home church. A man from India traveled all the way to Northern Idaho and was talking about missionary work. He was the first person to ever help me see what a “missionary” is in the Biblical sense.
Read MoreAfter months of prayers and applications, I found myself feeling angry, disappointed, and without a response from God. It has been months and I’m still here. Didn’t Jesus call us to go? My hope was that maybe God would lead me to a completely new city or maybe He would call me to go on mission in a foreign country, away from all that was familiar. I prayed, “God, take me anywhere you want to go.”
Read MoreDid you ever have a dream but were too scared to attempt it? Did you think the idea was just too crazy or too big for God to handle? Well, you’re not alone.
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