When the World Shakes
When the world trembles and my courage hides, I light a candle and ask my heart if it’s ready. I hear: surrender. I remember: idols won’t hold. So I breathe, unclench and let Love lower my center. Do what’s before you, he says. Fill your heart till it spills. Be loved, be loved, be loved. Hope descends like a rope ladder; I climb, eyes up, into his steady light.
Endearments of Morning
I sit on my bed, thinking about light and how I can describe hope in words.
Another gift, how morning comes. The house still, birds chirping outside, swooping to drink and dunk their beaks in the water bowl. September air in northern California—crisp, with a hint of cold on my skin when I push out the windows.
The sun's light blankets one tree branch in the backyard, the other in shade from a taller tree’s branches overhead. Sunlight and shadow. Undulations of light in stillness. The light moves, and the earth rotates.
Season Two of ‘The Rings of Power’ finds light in unexpected places
In Season Two of "The Rings of Power," the battle between good and evil goes even deeper. As Sauron rises, we’re reminded that even in the darkest moments, hope is always in the mix. Payne and McKay don’t just amp up the action — they tap into those timeless themes of faith and light that hit home, especially when life feels heavy.
82 Percent Up
Are you feeling the weight of fear and uncertainty? Fear has shaped our national mood and has been hanging over us for years. We’ve been conditioned to worry, but what if that was changing? Imagine loosening your grip on worry and moving toward peace — toward trusting Jesus more than the chaos around you. Can you see yourself embracing a shift, one where fear gives way to a deeper sense of hope and calm in him?
Prison Drama ‘Sing Sing’ Captures Faith of the Formerly Incarcerated
Based on the real-life story of the maximum-security prison’s Rehabilitation Through the Arts program, founded in 1996, the film follows inmates who form a theater troupe while serving their sentences, processing their emotions through musical performances and acting.
Grappling With the Trouble
By learning to write our own psalms, we gain a new tool for our faith-life tool bags. Writing mine allowed me to notice and give voice to my fears, hopes and gratitude.
Marvin Olasky’s Books For August
One of the many things I learned from Tim Keller is that Jesus does not make a problem go away: He makes it not so important. For Christians who are dying, the anticipation of good things to come can overwhelm the bad thing that’s happening. Sometimes we pray for a physical healing and it miraculously happens, but we might also pray that hope exceeds hurt.
The End We Know
Life brings about chaos, and it's easy to get caught up in the overwhelm of it all. But there's a simple reassurance worth remembering: ‘You know this is all going to be okay, don’t you?’
Maybe It's Not False Assurance
The breeze is blowing, and I feel it against my skin. It doesn’t move through me but past me, around me. Then, the feeling of the air blowing my hair and the gentle push and pull on my limbs subsides. It’s leaving as quiet as it’s coming. Where does it go, and to where does it return?
The Ground Beneath is Holy
The birds are too quiet for me to hear, with the nearby rush of traffic ... But I feel their song, the declaration of all creation: I am here; we are all here; all that is here belongs.
What If God Was In Charge?
God doesn’t sort out the mess by pressing a button or pulling a lever upstairs. He comes down to the place of sorrow, shame, sickness and death and takes the worst of it upon himself.
Esau McCaulley Remembers His Past and Dreams
New York Times columnist, New Testament scholar and theologian in residence at Progressive Baptist Church in Chicago, McCaulley tells the story of growing up in a poor neighborhood in Huntsville, where he dreamed that football would offer him a way out.
What Was It About Tim Keller?
In a day when too many leaders build their own brand with narrow appeals to their base and pugnacious public critiques of others, Tim Keller couldn’t have been more different.