Faithful Writers

Suddenly, it’s too much. Sobs wrack your body as you think, I can’t do this. Why is all of it so hard? Then you hear it — the still, small voice you’ve been ignoring all day. Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

I was discussing a prevalent view among the church and held by many Christians: the belief that a spouse can’t leave and divorce an unrepentant and abusive spouse. They got it all wrong, and I’m here to help.

Imagine taking the weight of all your sins and multiplying that by billions. Then willingly taking those upon yourself while being crucified?

So, how did we get from there to here? From house churches to $60 million sanctuaries. From martyrs in the arena to pastors with private jets. From “take up your cross” to “God wants you to be rich.”

But Juneteenth 2025 commemorates a special day for all Jewish people because it celebrates an event that Christians will never entirely understand. While most Christians dwell in the “New Testament,” we should read and fully appreciate the Book of Esther.

Doubt was treated like a disease. If you had doubts, you were either backsliding, disobedient, or not truly saved. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, it was the process of dealing with doubt that I discovered a richer relationship with Christ.

I studied both evolution and creationism in high school, and while I admit to not enjoying evolution, it has helped me defend my own beliefs to others better.

I ran into this new to me term from an article that blew my mind with what the person was saying about God and miracles. To each their own, but they used the word “christian” to describe themselves, and I do lower case that because this is not Christianity.

This isn’t the kind of life you can fake with a forced smile or spiritual performance. This is the kind of life that seeps out of your pores, even when you’re tired, even when you’re flawed, even when you’re unsure.

Recognition. Reward. At least a little celebration. But it didn’t come. Instead, I watched people walk away from the church, come back, and get welcomed like heroes. I clapped on the outside. But inside, I was thinking: Really? That’s it? Just throw them a party and move on?

The loving Jesus you follow, and cling to certain teachings of, said this about the Old Testament: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” Matthew 5:17

When the Disciples couldn’t cast out the demon, Mark 9:14–32, Jesus demonstrated that the way life is lived between prayer sessions is much more important than the eloquence of the prayers spoken — after all, He knows what you’re about to say before you do.

There was a combination of cultures already being biased, superstitions, a serious lack of critical thinking, misreading of Scripture, and a

Jesus loves the assembly line workers and the remote salespeople who only check in occasionally via Zoom. But he delights in the worker who knocks in person. Imagine his smile when you put a couple of donuts on his desk.

Wow! Why did I think the response would be a prequel to “The Terminator”? I looked for a drone circling overhead. But the sky was clear. And none of my bank accounts were frozen. No sixes appeared on my right hand or forehead.

The underlying theme of Genesis is about the overcoming of all odds to achieve ultimate victory through faith in God. Think about it. God chooses one childless and elderly couple way beyond their ability to bear children. And God says to the husband Abraham that not only is he going to have a child but He is going to make him into a great nation, bless him abundantly and grant his descendants the Land of Canaan.

Suddenly, we weren’t in buildings anymore.We weren’t being led by a stage team with fog machines and countdown timers. We weren’t sipping free coffee between services or navigating church apps to register for “authentic community.” And many of us didn’t miss it.

We can see throughout the book of Genesis that God’s interventions are at their most intense during the early stages of mankind’s history and gradually take a backseat as His creation matures.

That’s the tricky part, right? Because the Spirit doesn’t always show up the way we expect. We want a booming voice, a divine sign, maybe something with flashing lights and a deep Morgan Freeman-esque narration. But more often than not, the Spirit’s help looks like:

Here is something a lot of people don’t know. Jesus Himself quoted from the Septuagint. This translation was done in the third century B.C. by Jewish scribes who were experts in Hebrew and Greek.

So have you ever heard this argument? “How could God have created the universe in just six days?” “The Hebrews claim that by counting the generations we find the earth to be approximately six thousand years old.”

This idea that you can pick and choose what characteristics of God you want to believe and focus on is disastrous for your faith. You can’t select, elevate, and revere one above the others and expect a rich and abundant relationship with Him. 

There is a logical symmetry behind His actions clearly reflected in His creation. He is a God who draws up boundaries that are NOT to be broken. Let’s take a look at the creation story in Genesis Chapter One.

It doesn’t need a glow-up, a rebrand, or wrapped in skinny jeans or delivered by someone with a TikTok following and a smoke machine. What it needs is a person bold enough to live it out with honesty and imagination.