I’m a super busy husband and father of three. Sometimes I feel piled under with all the things on my plate. Praise God he’s given my bride as a helpmate; my wife is a superstar! She helps in so many ways, yet, too often I either take it for granted, or – with the weight of everything else – I overlook shepherding and loving her well. This article is not just an admonition to other husbands; it’s a reminder for me to prevent love amnesia towards my bride. Husbands, don’t let everything else crowd out love for your wife. Love her well in these three ways. 1. Love Her by Leading Her When I say lead her, I’m talking about leading like Christ leads the Church. Christ came into the world, making disciples, teaching them everything he knew, and unleashing them to do his work. He fed them the Word...

“Unless we get on our high horse and think this is unique to some other place,remember that during the Crusades and the Inquisition, people committedterrible deeds in the name of Christ…”   —President Barack Obama, February 5, 2015 National Prayer Breakfast The Crusades may have happened 1000 years ago, but they’re headline news once again. President Obama’s statement above compared the Crusades with the recent actions of Islamic terrorists, drawing a collective gasp from Christians everywhere. Ravi Zacharias summarizes it well: President Obama basically lectured Christians not to get on a moral high horse in their castigation of the ISIS atrocities by reminding them that the Crusades and slavery were also justified in the name of Christ. Citing the Crusades, he used the s...

President Barack Obama’s address at the National Prayer Breakfast on February 5, 2015 has reverberated through the corridors of the world and provoked shock and dismay in numerous quarters. Even a professor at the University of London commented on his shallow understanding of the Crusades. I hesitated to write anything on the subject because it would drag me into politics or into a sobering critique of Islam. I am not sure that at a time like this either distraction would be wise, so let me keep it to the minimum. For those who did not hear the talk, it is sufficient to say that it was the most ill-advised and poorly chosen reprimand ever given at a National Prayer Breakfast. I have been to several and have never, ever heard such absence of wisdom in a setting such as this. ...

The words. Those words.  I’m sure you’ve heard…the ones that have ignited such debate…from President Obama at the National Prayer Breakfast. I’m sure he had no idea the scrutiny his speech would soon muster. And did someone write these words for him to say or did he think of them himself?  Seemingly careless words for such troubled times we live under. “Unless we get on our high horse and think this is unique to some other place, remember that during the Crusades and the Inquisition, people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ…” Dear Mr. President, With all due respect, call it a “high horse,” or just passion for our God, many of us would like to express our thoughts as well. Because many from this country that you ha...

A little while ago Veronica Partridge wrote a piece about why she has decided to no longer wear yoga pants. It was not a prescriptive piece. She was simply sharing her thoughts on modesty and her decision to no longer wear spandex in public. I highly doubt that Ms. Partridge wrote her post on leggings thinking it would go viral or that her and her husband would end up on Good Morning America. I also do not think that she expected her article to be the inspiration of other blog posts on the topic. On the other hand, Ashley Dickens tells us that there are far more important topics to get riled up over than whether or not we should show ourselves in public in active wear. Instead we ought to focus on the suffering of fellow brothers and sisters around the word, on the many orphans who need ho...

Years ago, I stared into the empty eyes of my mom—a woman who had never stopped praying for her four wayward sons—and saw no recognition, no love, no anything. Mental illness temporarily took her life from her and made her forget she had a youngest child. To her, I was a lie. So, you could say that when it comes to Christians dealing with the ravages of mental disorders, I have a vested interest. Depression, bipolar episodes, and anxiety attacks have dogged my family for generations—even those who followed Jesus. It’s ugly. It’s painful. But often, it’s the issue we just don’t want to discuss. In a trending article on the RELEVANT magazine website, Brandon W. Peach hopes to change that. He realizes that this elephant hiding in the closet won’t be addressed by a single article, but there ar...

There is a great misunderstanding in churches of the purpose of music in Christian worship. Churches routinely advertise their “life-changing” or “dynamic” worship that will “bring you closer to God” or “change your life.” Certain worship CD’s promise that the music will “enable you to enter the presence of God.” Even a flyer for a recent conference for worship leaders boasted: “Join us for dynamic teaching to set you on the right path, and inspiring worship where you can meet God and receive the energy and love you need to be a mover and shaker in today’s world…Alongside our teaching program are worship events which put you in touch with the power and love of God.” The problem with the flyer and with many church ads is that these kinds of promises reveal a significant theologi...

“Islam is a religion of peace. Islam does not tolerate wanton murder,” said Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in a recent interview on Meet the Press. With all due respect to Mr. Abdul-Jabbar, he was a far better basketball player than he is an apologist. To be fair, Abdul-Jabbar is far from alone in his defense of Islam. After every attack in the name of Allah, many people hasten to disavow the connection between the Islamic faith of the terrorists and their murderous actions. Whether it’s 9/11, the London bombings, or the ISIS beheadings—it’s always the same refrain: Attacks carried out by radical Muslims have nothing to do with the religion of Islam. But the sad truth is that the so-called “religion of peace” is responsible for more deaths and violence than any other religion in the world. Shockingly...

Few films have stormed the box office – and surprised the pundits in the process of doing so – more than Clint Eastwood’s “American Sniper.” The movie is based on the autobiography of Chris Kyle, a Navy Seal who did four tours in Iraq. He is credited for being the most lethal sniper in American history with 255 kills, of which 160 were documented (witnessed). At the time of this writing, it has topped the box office for two straight weekends, bringing in $247 million worldwide. This is the largest opening for any movie in January on record, with the largest second-weekend take that wasn’t a comic book or sequel in movie history. It is already the second-highest grossing war film in North American history. If you’ve seen it, you know it’s not an easy movie to watch. The violence is, well, w...

Whose side is God on for Superbowl XLIX? The San Francisco 49ers, of course. At least that’s the team I had hoped would win this year, and yet they ended up lightyears from it. But should my team’s disappointing season make me question God’s power and His goodness to me, or change the way that I worship Him? Absolutely not, and neither should the outcome of the Superbowl for you Patriots and Seahawks fans. Religion and sports have historically made an awkward and oftentimes hazardous pair. Thankfully, we’ve come a long way since the Roman Colosseum and Mayan ball courts of Chichén Itzá, where they sacrificed the losers to appease the deities. Nonetheless, many today still blend matters of faith with sports in unhealthy ways. For example, a poll during the 2011–12 season asked, “Does ...

I’ve always considered myself to be a one-season girl. I only enjoyed summer with its hot sun, warm breezes, and cold popsicles. Summer is for swimming and vacationing, it’s for listening to the cicadas, sipping ice teas, and smelling the blossoms of the lilac trees. What is not to love about summer? Summer is when praising God for the weather is easy and heartfelt, at least for me. But then come the other seasons; spring and fall with their rains and winds, and winter, where everything is cold, hard, and seemingly dead. Sure, winter in the Alps is breathtaking, but winter in the Midwest is brutal. It gets so cold here that even the weatherman tells you, on bad days, to just stay inside. This is when praising God for the weather stops and complaining abounds. But I need change my thinking ...