Where Shame Says 'Keep Away,' God Comes Close
Feel rejected for something that was never sin? That isn’t God talking. Toni Kim’s test distinguishes conviction from condemnation. Given to Rapt readers.
Resident Aliens: Loving Babylon Without Ruling It
Should your faith change the culture or leave it alone? Timothy Keller's answer: serve your neighbors and city, and change comes as a by-product.
What a Dive Bar Taught a Pastor About Church
No one to call at 3 a.m.? Ian Simkins says the answer is a table and whoever shows up. Set for Rapt readers.
Darling One: You Were Loved Before You Were Good
Afraid to be known? What does God say when you look up? 'Come here,' for a start. Jennifer Camp wrote it down for Rapt.
Never Really Gone: Hope for What We Surrender
Lysa TerKeurst gave her Bible to a stranger on a plane. Twenty-four years later, it found her, filled with two more generations of notes.
Greatness, It Turns Out, Carries a Towel
The world counts how many serve us. Jesus counts how many we serve — and hands us the towel. Shared with Rapt readers.
Eye in the Sky: Grace in the ‘Film Room’
Opened to Rapt readers from his new book, Derwin Gray traces an NFL collapse into the hard truth that healing begins with honesty.
The Woods Calm You. The Church Keeps You.
In this excerpt opened to Rapt readers, Granger Smith explains why the local church offers something solitude can’t: accountability, encouragement and belonging.
Things Too Marvelous for Me: Shepherds, Sheep and the Voice Beneath the Noise
We were never meant to carry every tragedy, headline and opinion. Prayer helps us release what belongs to God and recover a quieter soul.
Payment God Won’t Twice Demand: Your Case, Already Closed
Because judgment has already fallen on Christ, guilty consciences can rest in forgiveness, acceptance and lasting peace with God.
Songs for the Season No One Prays For
When life feels dark and your way forward disappears, God has not left you alone. Joshua Giles learned to trust God in the unknown.
Communion with My Mother in My Father’s Gymnasium Church
Communion isn’t just a ritual — it’s a table where broken people discover they belong, where Jesus gently restores us, even in our deepest grief.
The Friendlier Enemy: What Persecution Couldn’t Take, Comfort Can
The greatest threat to your faith may not be hostility but comfort. Long after persecution fades, the quiet pull of approval, success and worldly admiration can still steal your heart. Discover why following Jesus has always meant swimming against the current — and how true freedom begins when the world's applause no longer defines your worth.
The Sweet, Poisonous Berry: How Idolatry Works and Dies
We all worship something. But can what holds our hearts hold us? Idols disguise themselves as good but quietly demand what only God deserves.
Look and Live: The Only Cure for the Poison Within
Some wounds cannot be healed by trying harder. The poison runs too deep, and only God can provide the cure. In the wilderness, a strange command revealed an eternal truth: those who simply looked in faith were given life. Discover how an ancient bronze serpent points beyond itself to the cross — and why the same invitation still stands today: look and live.
Last Link: Your Family’s Pain Can Stop With You
Jim Burns learned the hard truth early: if you don’t heal, you will repeat. How one honest person can change a family’s direction.
Friendly but Not Deep Enough
Many churches are getting friendlier, but friendliness is not the same thing as deep connection. We know each other’s names, exchange prayer requests and sit beside one another on Sundays, yet still carry private loneliness home in silence. Real discipleship requires more than warm greetings and occasional small talk. It asks for honesty, accountability, shared burdens and the courage to be known. The church doesn’t just need better hospitality; it needs relationships strong enough to help people become whole.
Half of Us Are Lonely and Church Isn’t Helping
We are more connected than ever and yet strangely unknown. Many churches offer smiles, handshakes and crowded lobbies, but still leave people carrying private ache into empty homes. Jesus envisioned something deeper than polite acquaintance — a people who bear burdens, share meals, tell the truth and stay when life gets hard. The loneliness epidemic may be one of the clearest opportunities the church has to recover what it was always meant to be: a family where no one disappears unnoticed.
A Pot Without Handles
Suffering has a way of exposing the places we most want to hide — our weakness, dependence, fear, shame. We begin to believe we are burdens instead of beloved. But God does not look at us with disgust or disappointment. He sees us clearly and stays near anyway. Even the parts of ourselves we struggle to accept are not beyond his tenderness, his patience, or his ability to shape into something beautiful.
Treasures Hidden in the Dark
Some of God’s deepest work happens where we would never willingly go — inside loss, limitation, interruption, darkness. Yet again and again, suffering becomes a strange kind of workshop where he reshapes us with patience and precision. The treasure is rarely what we expected. Often, it is a steadier faith, a quieter strength, or a deeper dependence on him that could not have been formed any other way.