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…Used in same-sex marriage Debate The Bible is the ultimate authority on every issue By: Leah Marieann Klett of  Gospel Herald  On Friday, the United States Supreme Court issued its controversial ruling in favor of same-sex marriage, declaring the practice constitutional and extending that right to all 50 states. In response, many Americans began actively searching what the Bible had to say about the issue, according to data from Google Trends, which showcased the analytics around the search term “same-sex marriage.” Thus, The Gospel Herald has compiled a list of Scripture verses that directly address the practice of homosexuality, the Biblical definition of marriage, and why God’s word–not the Supreme Court–is the ultimate authority....

…if we decide ‘Radical Left’ Policies Like ‘Green New Deal’ Trump Warns President Donald Trump President Donald Trump is warning that socialist ideas could destroy America like they’ve done to Venezuela. Speaking in Texas on the campaign trail Wednesday, the president said the policies of the “radical Left” would mean the death of American prosperity and devastate America’s energy industry. He points out that oil-rich Venezuela was once prosperous and successful, but now it’s an economic wreck, which could also happen to the US if we take the same path. The president singled out Rep. Ocasio-Cortez’s nearly $100 trillion Green New Deal and argued that Joe Biden’s plan to mandate “zero-carbon emissions from power p...

I wish someone had told me this sooner in life. Somehow I grew up with the idea Christians, specifically Christian women, should always say Yes when a request is made of them. Obviously, we’re supposed to say No to evil, but I didn’t understand it’s okay with God, and clearly communicated in His Word, that we don’t have to say Yes to every request made of us.  We don’t have to say Yes to every social or church event, every plea for money, every opportunity to serve, or to fulfill others’ dreams and wishes when we have dreams and wishes of our own. I’ve been a student of the Bible since I was a teenager, but didn’t learn the scriptural concept of boundaries until I was in my forties, when I read the Boundaries book by John Townsend and Henry Cloud. They explain how...

This is the place where He meets us. This home. Within walls and without walls. Where we suffer together and alone. With people and without. A sanctuary. A prison. A refuge. A catastrophe.  A place of connection. A place of isolation. A place of community. A place of loneliness. Nine years ago, my eldest son asked why our house is so small, why we don’t have a big yard. We had just spent the previous evening with our friends who live in the hills on a large piece of property outside of town. While the parents chatted, the six kids got to climb trees, race mountain bikes across the large back and front lawns while playing hide-and-go-seek, and plan spy missions in the huge oak tree over the vegetable garden, where the zip line was going to connect with the tree house to be built soon. ...

What was the rhythm of my days, in the Time Before? I can hardly recall. There was an alarm clock, I know—the same 1992 Sony Dream Machine that still sits, silent now, on my bedside table—and I used to set it for 6:15. There was blundering into the shower and wrapping a dish towel around the coffee grinder so I wouldn’t wake the rest of the house and sitting down to a predawn bowl of yogurt before rustling my kids out of bed. There was driving, lots of driving: to work, to school, to soccer and baseball and church and piano and the grocery store and the winter band concert and the zoo. There was food to be cooked and dishes to be washed and laundry to be folded, and I suppose there was a rhythm to it, but it didn’t feel like a rhythm. It felt like a rush. And then we entered Quarantine Tim...

Have you ever had to remind yourself of the same scripture over and over again? Most recently for me, it’s been Galatians 6:9. With all the uncertainties we’re facing, the ability to grow in the strength to keep going is always a good idea because although things have slowed down on some ways due to stay at home orders, companies encouraging their employees to work from home, and even kids moving to online learning in a lot of ways there’s still more work to do. On more than one occasion I’d had a friend tell me that in this season they are actually busier than ever and they are tired. We are in a season primed to grow weary and want to give up. This is why Galatians 6:9 has been on repeat on my heart and mind recently. It reads: “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season ...

Our moods are ones we tend to ignore. Or at least pay little attention to. We might nod to them briefly. Say a quick hello and back away, nervous about the power they have to claim the outcome of our day.  But to ignore them is to ignore the deeper places within us aching to speak. I imagine there is an emotion you have felt this day that is uncomfortable–a little unpleasing to you–a feeling you wish were a bit different, a feeling you wish would listen to reason, chill out for a while, be calm and relaxed in a corner of the room: be good; don’t cause a stir. Or maybe you wish it speak up, be brave enough to stand up and have its say. Whatever the emotion is that you’re feeling, don’t ignore it. Attend to it. Let it do what it needs to do. Feel it. Let it speak.  I invite yo...

www.courtnayerichard.com I have to tell you, just sitting down to write this post is refreshing. Personally, I had such a busy week last week (at the time of this post). I had my blog, coaching clients, a feature story interview, and an online women’s event. While I am forever grateful and elated to be able to pour out to others (as many of you reading this are as well), after all of our work is done, we also need to find time for sweet rest.  Can I get an Amen? Trust me. I know that we have to hustle and grind, do kingdom work (which I absolutely LOVE), engage with others, take care of those and things entrusted to us, but we also need to find sweet rest. In other words, we need to do the work and then cease from our labors. Genesis 2:2 reminds us, “On t...

Graduates of 2020 will never forget the unexpected circumstances that shifted their expectations for what finishing one chapter of life and beginning another would look like. For many, it became impossible to walk across the stage, shake hands, and receive the paper proof that they did indeed finish. Still, graduates around the world are stepping out into a world full of questions those of us who’ve walked the stage are familiar with. What is next? Who do I want to become? This road… or that? My life post-high school felt like it sent me through loops of exhilaration and anxiety and back again. The roller coaster of early adulthood can be filled with faith defining moments. Faced with decisions that set the course for the rest of their lives, each person must decide not only what they say ...