No doubt, Jesus does not want us in a toxic church situation. Your heart will tell you when to leave. Two weeks ago I shared some practical guidelines on how to leave a church gracefully. I wrote this because I hear so many stories about people storming out of churches because their feelings got hurt. But an astute reader also […]

You can instill an attitude of thankfulness in your children. (ECWA Archive)   As I'm writing this, it's a week before Thanksgiving, but I already have my turkey thawing in the refrigerator. My menu is simple: turkey, ham, potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, pie. The recipes are ones I've been making for 20 years—nothing fancy here. Our table will be […]

by Rebecca Barnes and Lindy Lowry, writer for churchleaders.com (Kelly Shattuck) 1. Less than 20% of Americans regularly attend church — half of what the pollsters report. While Gallup polls and other statisticians have turned in the same percentage — about 40% of the population — of average weekend church attendees for the past 70 years, a different sort of […]

Over time, I've heard from some of you readers who tell me you haven't been going to church for years, and in my heart this feels as though you're turning down Disneyland, outlet malls, and a sunny day on the beach all at once. (ECWA Archives) When generous people made a California trip possible for our family several years ago, […]

Jay Lowder, founder of Jay Lowder Harvest Ministries, shares the gospel with multitudes of people during a four-day evangelistic gathering at Sagemont Church in Houston, Texas. (Jay Lowder Ministries) "Mass evangelism doesn't work in today's culture." I have heard or read this statement countless times. It is the exact statement people were making decades ago as the then-unknown evangelist by […]

As if headlines of war, plane crashes and natural disasters are not enough, Rabbi Jonathan Cahn says the other sign of judgment in the last days is upon us.   Cahn then recites the prophecy of Isaiah: "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil."  At the same time America is "racing" into apostasy, Cahn says, the country is […]

Being a Christian in a public school can be quite a task. (Flickr) No matter if you are a student in high school or a junior in college, the pressure of being a Christian in a public school setting seems to be talked about pretty often. The reality is, you don't need to worry. There will be trials, but God […]

When we are in the middle of a desert trek, God’s hand seems absent and we are blinded by the glaring circumstances. (HDWallSource by AWLTER)

Desert times are fruitful times. Though they seem barren, lush fruit is being produced in our lives when we walk through the desert. “For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the works of your hands. He knows your wanderings through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing” (Deuteronomy 2:7).