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Although Lenten practices vary depending on denomination and congregation, it generally includes three primary areas of focus:

1. Prayer: Beginning with Ash Wednesday, Christians spend intentional time in prayer considering our desperate need for God’s mercy and forgiveness. We are sinful, broken, separated from God, and completely unable to save ourselves. Our condition is terminal, our need great.
2. Fasting: Traditionally, Lent involves fasting from all meat for forty days (fish is permitted). Others have modified the fasting observance to allow each individual to choose the item from which they will fast. For example, I have a friend who chose to fast from french fries during lent, one of her favorite foods. Regardless of the details of the fast, the purpose is to allow the hunger pangs of personal sacrifice to stoke our memory of Jesus’ sacrifice for us.
3. Giving: After admitting our deep need for rescue and acknowledging Jesus’ sacrifice to save us, we must respond to God’s mercy and grace by offering the same to others. That is why many use the season of Lent to do acts of charity or serve those in need. Mercy received becomes mercy given.

A Note From Shauna Just after I turned forty, life as I knew it changed in about a thousand ways. I faced a series of losses—we left our church, our ...

If we dared to be honest, we’d confess that the fear of being seen is not just a little girl’s struggle. It grows with us like a companion in every stage of life. Have you ever chosen to actively resist experiences, memories, or situations because you did not want to run the risk of being seen in your most vulnerable state? What if everyone around you knew about the depression? The addiction? Chronic stress? That troubled child? Heartbreak? What if you were truly seen?

We ask God for something, and seemingly nothing happens. We want Aunt Martha healed, but she remains sick or even dies. We want that promotion, but someone else gets it. Instead of getting the answer we want, we often get silence. We struggle like Job. “I cry out to you, God, but you do not answer; I stand up, but you merely look at me” (Job 30:20 NIV).

Special Note to the Reader: The purpose of the Gospel of John is explicitly stated at the end of the Gospel (20:30–31). Because that passage is so important to understand how this Gospel works, we begin with it. The purpose is to enhance faith in both believers and to promote faith among those who are not yet believers. If we keep this in mind as we read the Gospel, we will read the Gospel as John wants us to.

These five daily devotions are based on Randy Frazee and Phil Collins' Bible study, The Abide Bible Course. will walk you through five innovative practices that will take you beyond ...

As parents, grandparents, and mentors, we must strive to be giants among spiritual dwarfs relaying to the next generation the Baton of Truth that leads to personal faith in Jesus Christ.

It’s awkward and even terrifying for parents to discuss their child’s sexuality. Yikes! You may be afraid you’ll give them ideas. News flash: God created us as sexual beings, and they already have ideas (plenty, actually). I would much rather you give them ideas than let their peers fill that void. Sexting is a modern-day reality.

Social media is a reality of twenty-first-century parents. It’s a great way to connect and seek support. But as parents, we often don’t give posting much thought. It’s called “sharenting”: venting frustrations about teen drama, funny bath photos, relief over being “kid free” for the moment, asking advice on personal struggles, angst about teen dating or driving, posting awkward photos making gentle fun of your teen. Here’s the thing. You are the literal caretaker of your child’s digital footprint. One day they will look at everything you posted and see themselves through your eyes. What will they see?

Right now, we’re in a sort of global denial about the actual cost of these hard years (which are not over). We just want to get past it all, so we’re currently trying to comfort ourselves with some sense of recovery and relief. But folks, we haven’t yet paid the psychological bill for all we’ve been through. We would never tell a survivor of abuse that the trauma must be over now that the abuse has stopped. And yet that mentality is at play in our collective denial of the trauma we’ve been through.

You might be familiar with the story of “the feeding of the five thousand.” Jesus is up on a mountain top with his disciples and thousands and thousands of people who are watching as Jesus performs sign after sign. Healings. Miracles. And nobody (obviously) wants to leave! But, they needed to eat.

I grew up under the influence of the Asian-American honor shame mentality which runs deep in the fabric of our cultural values. The simple solution to avoid feeling shame is ...

When you come across a passage of Scripture that makes you uncertain, what do you do? Do you skip it, rush past it or just avoid asking questions?

That’s why the words of a meme I read recently stirred up some deep questions for me. It read, “The more certainty you can bring to the table, the greater your value.”(1)

The writer spoke with such authority. She seemed so… well, certain which made my misgivings feel wrong. But is that principle correct? Is our value really based on our level of certainty?

As I pondered certainty and human value, these words from an unknown author sprang to mind. They’re a reminder that certainty shouldn’t be our highest goal. This meme read, “Just because you’re certain doesn’t mean you’re right.” This thought has been shaping the way I’m approaching both interpersonal connections and my Bible study.

Certainty is an obstacle for both.

Jennie Allen unboxes her Find Your People Curriculum Kit and gives us a tour of what's inside!

I knew I had seen something I was not supposed to see. I felt a feeling I had never felt before. Guilt. I remember feeling like I was supposed to save somebody, but I didn’t. The early inner workings of guilt were planted within my heart. They continued to sprout like weeds. I signed up for as many community outreaches as possible, but our neighborhood’s needs never seemed to lessen. I tried to do more, save more, and save better, and instead, the disappointing results left me insecure and angry.

Saying So Long to People Pleasing Karen Ehman I found myself in a lawn chair at our fire pit on an early evening. The heaving of my chest slowly subsided as I began to calm down and finish up my spontaneous crying session. As I stared up at the...