“I’m too tired! I don’t feel like it! I don’t want to!” How many times have you said these words? We know we have. Let’s admit it—we all have days when we just want to sit on the couch and do absolutely nothing. We surf through Netflix, binge our favorite shows, or fall into the black hole that is TikTok. That's fine for like a day here and there,

“You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” — Winnie The Pooh (A.A. Milne)Living life in this world, we can find a lot of things that cause us fear. Sometimes it takes bravery just to get out of bed and face another day. But God encourages us to be brave in the face of those dangers, temptations, and diffi

If you're reading this article, then you have probably heard something that refers to 1 Thessalonians 5:22. Depending on the translation, it instructs to us to abstain from the "appearance of evil" (KJV), "every kind of evil" (NIV and NLT), or "every form of evil" (NRSV, NKJV, and ESV). You may notice that we've got the difference between "appearan

Originally posted on Wandering Star I have always loved Christmas lights.There is something about them that consistently returns me to a state of child-like wonder, something that pushes me to the kind of innocent hope I usually don't even believe exists anymore. It has always been this way. Even as a teenager, I remember army crawling deep un

The Bible does not actually mention the precise date of Jesus' birth, so we can't know for sure what day Jesus was born. We DO get plenty of details in the Bible though, such as His birth city (Bethlehem), where He slept (a manger), and what He was wearing (swaddling blankets) (Luke 2:4,7,12). We can learn all about the circumstances surrounding Hi

Sometimes people describe “sin” like it’s just a mistake people make, a wrong choice, or a bad decision. But sin is a very serious issue and has real earthly and eternal consequences. In the New Testament, the word used for “sin” is the Greek hamartia, which literally means to “miss the mark” 1. To put it more literally, “sin” is also an archery te

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is the largest nonprofit animal rights organization in the world. PETA "opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview, and focuses its attention on the four areas in which the largest numbers of animals suffer the most intensely for the longest periods of time: in laboratories, in the food indu

People of all ages (and genders for that matter) are often seen with dyed hair and/or makeup. Are you one of them? Along with the dyed hair, there's sometimes lots of jewelry adornments, plus make-up with glitter, bright eye shadow, dark eyeliner, false lashes, and even elaborate nail polish. Is this something that Christians should be doing? What

Setting personal boundaries has become more accepted as society focuses on better mental health. But what defines a boundary? What does it look like practically? The “Boundaries” books by Henry Cloud and John Townsend describe boundaries as “the personal property lines that define who you are and who you are not, and influence all areas of your lif

We all have things we're good at or are worthy of compliments. Maybe you're a talented athlete or artist? A generous friend? A diligent worker? Whatever your talent, skill, or gifting is, eventually someone will want to give you a compliment. So how will you respond?Sometimes we're taught that receiving a compliment is the same as being self-center

Some people associate demons with fairy tales or horror movies. There are lots of stories about them, but are those fictional tales based on reality? How do we know that demons exist today? In order to get accurate information on demons, we must go to the source of truth: God's Word (Psalm 119:60). Throughout the Bible, demons are referred to as "

People have different reasons for why they may see God as an imposing, angry figure. They may have been told untruths about God in a spiritually abusive environment. They may misunderstand who God is or what His true character is. They may have an earthly father who is imposing or angry and have superimposed that idea onto their Heavenly Father. We

"The time is fulfilled, an the kingdom of God is at hand; repend and believe in the gospel." —Mark 1:15A lot people misunderstand what "repent" means. It's not just about stopping or "turning away" from your sin. Repentance is actually a change of mind and heart. When we had once been set on rejecting Jesus, we change to recognizing and having fait

Wanting the approval of others is not automatically sinful. Simply feeling confident about yourself, your appearance, or your circumstances is not sinful. We’re made for relationships, and encouragement from others can be a good motivator. But if our sense of self worth is solely dependent on what people think of us, that's a road to disappoi

Sola fide is the second in a group of theological terms called The Five Solas. These are Latin phrases that became the rallying cry of the Protestant Reformation in the early 1500s.The Five Solas:Sola scriptura: "Scripture alone"Sola fide: "Faith alone"Sola gratia: "Grace alone"Solo Christo: "Christ alone"Soli Deo gloria: "To the glory of God alone

The use of BC and AD or BCE and CE are all ways to identify years on the calendar. It is not taught in the Bible, but it's a normal system for recording dates that is used around the world. Neither of these systems use the year 0 because they indicate the year before and after a specific moment in our known timeline—ground zero of a pivotal event i

The apostle Paul describes what he calls the "Armor of God" in Ephesians 6:10-17, which is the Christ follower's protection in the spiritual battle against God's enemy, Satan. This is not a flesh and blood battle; it is against the "powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" (Ephesians 6:12 NIV). So i

Dating and courting could be viewed as basically the same thing—just with different terms. "Courtship" is generally viewed as pursuing a relationship with the full intention to marry the other person. "Dating" is viewed as more casual and usually wrapped up in a simple series of romantic encounters (both emotional and physical). Before we get into

"And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him." —Hebrews 11:6If you deeply desire a stronger faith in God, then you're already one step closer, friend. You've recognized the value of trusting and learning to depend on God, trust Him, and turn

The belt of truth is the first piece of protection listed in the apostle Paul's description of the armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-17). The belt of truth is a gift from God and acts as believers' first line of defense against whatever the world may throw. As I’m sure you're aware, living in this world can be hard. And sometimes it just feels like so m