Aside

Changing the World is Overwhelming. Start Where You Are, and Smile More!

We’re on the second week of the study I’m facilitating on “Half the Church,” and I’m loving the discussions we’re been having. I’ve been so blessed by the insights the women in my community have, and the stories they share. However, this has been a crazy week for me with deadlines, workshops, and the crud taking over […]

Read full story · Comments { 4 }
Aside

Adoption, Women, and BFFs: More Jumbled Thoughts

Writing isn’t supposed to be therapy–at least not the kind that happens outside your journal. But sometimes it is. This was certainly the case with my recent post about adoption. I was always a little bit conflicted about it, aware that it didn’t express my whole heart on the matter and could easily be taken […]

Read full story · Comments { 16 }
Aside

Living in the Mess: The Problem With Outcome-Based Christianity

My post about the orphan crisis and world missions is up at Red Letter Christians today. I’ve always struggled a little with that post, feeling that it didn’t quite express what I wanted to get across, so imagine my delight when a commentor said something that clarified the issue for me. “I think something else […]

Read full story · Comments { 7 }
Aside

Natasha and Sophie’s Radical Challenge

If you’ve read this blog for long, you know how much I loved “Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream” by David Platt. Well, my friend Natasha loved it too, and blogged through the entire book. Now, she and her friend Sophie have decided to take on the Radical Challenge, and they’ve invited […]

Read full story · Comments { 2 }
Aside

Evangelicals and Eating Disorders

Yep, you read that right. “Evangelicals and Eating Disorders.” That’s what I’m writing about today. Rachel Stone just rocked my world with her post “How Patriarchy Gave Me an Eating Disorder.” I didn’t quite have the courage to share it on my Facebook wall without a little bit of context, but can I just say […]

Read full story · Comments { 23 }
Aside

Going There: Another Take on the Orphan Crisis

It’s been just over two years since a magnitude 7 earthquake hit Haiti, killing more than a quarter of a million people and leaving thousands of children orphaned, overwhelming a nation already in crisis. Kristen Howerton, who has adopted from Haiti and was in the country when the earthquake struck, wrote a great, heartbreaking post on “Rage […]

Read full story · Comments { 13 }
Aside

Pride and Prejudice: How We Sabotage Ourselves Into Silence, and Why

Can I make a generalization? Women sell themselves WAY short. To themselves, as well as others. I remember the first time I wanted to teach a Bible study (and I use this term loosely) for adults. I was petrified. I reasoned that surely someone else could do it better than me. (But nobody was offering […]

Read full story · Comments { 20 }
Aside

Toxic Christianity: When Our Public Face Poisons Faith

If there’s one thing that leaves me completely aghast, it’s Christians hurting one another and using religion to justify their behavior, or citing it as the reason that they didn’t step in to defend the hurting, vulnerable party. It’s the child who is abused on the mission field or in the church, but no one […]

Read full story · Comments { 10 }
Aside

Kim Jong Il, Horton the Elephant, and Human Nature

I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas! I had a wonderful time, and even realized that is possible–and rather relaxing–to go over a week without opening your computer (as long as you’re on vacation)!  The bad side of that is that you’re getting this very timely guest post from the wonderful Tim about a […]

Read full story · Comments { 15 }
Aside

Lamb Tongues and Watermelon Seeds: How Do Different Cultures Read the Bible?

My crazy schedule delayed me posting this, but here is the promised guest post by my fellow Redbud Vivian Mabuni. It ties in with my previous post on Christ and culture, and raises the question of how our cultural lenses impact the way we read and teach scripture. I love Vivian’s perspective! Lamb Tongues I […]

Read full story · Comments { 13 }
Aside

Christ and Culture: Can You Tell the Difference?

‘Tis the season for frantic busyness, so I’m recycling a post that I wrote about this time two years ago. Tomorrow, I will be featuring a related guest post from my fellow Redbud Vivian Mabuni. How much of our belief system is dictated by scripture, and how much is dictated by our culture? Can we […]

Read full story · Comments { 9 }
Aside

But He Never Hit Me: How Should the Church Respond to Emotional Abuse?

Emotional abuse is one of those sticky topics that Christians don’t like to talk about a lot. We prefer to stick to clear-cut, black-and-white issues, and emotional abuse doesn’t fit neatly into the categories most of us are familiar with. (Although I would contend that it does–check out Colossians 3:8, Matthew 20:25-28, Ephesians 4:29…The list […]

Read full story · Comments { 18 }
Aside

If I Wanted to Destroy A Woman…

Today’s guest post is from my fellow Redbud Connie Jakab, a writer, dancer and Culture Rebel from Calgary. I’ve loved her posts on bullying, and asked her to write something to share with you. THIS is amazing and insightful: If I wanted to destroy a woman…. I wouldn’t use physical pain. Women can get through […]

Read full story · Comments { 19 }
Aside

Junia Is Not Alone

Anabaptist or not, Scot McKnight comes out swinging in his bite-sized eBook defending women in ministry, “Junia is Not Alone.” I. Loved. It. Of course it contained the solid, thoughtful scholarship we’ve come to expect from McKnight. But what blessed me about this book was his passion. Women have not only been silenced, our heroines […]

Read full story · Comments { 16 }
Aside

Video About Domestic Abuse and the Church: What ABUSERS Need From Their Church

Melody Harrison Hanson wrote a beautiful, brave post on her blog today about her experience growing up with a father who “was in ministry and was a generous, gracious, loving, God-fearing man,” but who was also abusive. In fact, he wrote a book about it: “Strongest in the Broken Places: A Story of Spiritual Recovery.” […]

Read full story · Comments { 9 }