In May, I wrote one of my most popular articles on this site – Do Christians Have to Be Nice? In it, I describe how Jesus was often not very nice or polite to people, and how we have redefined love to mean shallow platitudes of courtesy rather than extensions […]
Estimated reading time: 12 minutes
I hit rock bottom, the lowest point of my life, in December 2016. I was so depressed that I wished I was dead. I was so depressed that I didn’t eat or sleep. I spent my days often in a daze, sometimes just staring at the clock, wishing that each […]
Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
In 1971, Polish social psychologist Henri Tajfel conducted seminal research on group membership, preference, and prejudice. Tajfel concluded that when humans organize themselves into different groups, the propensity for in-group favouritism abounds. This is defined as “the tendency to respond more positively to people from our ingroups than we do […]
Estimated reading time: 13 minutes
The four words that drive me absolutely bonkers in the aftermath of a tragic death (usually of a black man at the hands of police or vigilantes) are ‘Just preach the gospel.’ This is usually said in response to Christian leaders who speak out against the sin of racism. Forget […]
Estimated reading time: 20 minutes
I have a confession to make — I don’t think that I am a very nice person. You may wonder how I can claim the name of Christ if I’m not caring or kind, but I didn’t say I wasn’t. I said I’m not nice. By this, I mean that […]
Estimated reading time: 31 minutes
Some of Jesus’ most famous words are recorded in Matthew 6:24. If you are drawing a blank, it’s the verse where He says, “You cannot serve both God and money.” Christians have heard this quoted countless times as a reminder to not give into consumerism and materialistic desires. What I […]
Estimated reading time: 28 minutes
Before I started my job as a teacher in a Christian elementary school, I was asked to sign a “lifestyle agreement” that stated I must adhere to certain standards of conduct or risk losing my position. One of these condition was that I always dress modestly in “business casual” attire. […]
Estimated reading time: 23 minutes
Yup, you read that correctly. There are probably only two reactions to this statement: “Amen!” “What is this girl thinking?” That latter, visceral reaction is why this post is so necessary. This is a topic I have been thinking about for a couple of years now, but this tweet and […]
Estimated reading time: 10 minutes
As a teenager and in my early twenties, I absolutely loved contemporary Christian music and rarely listened to any secular songs. In fact, I owed a lot of my spiritual maturity as a teen to many CCM groups and their youth-oriented ministry. The older I got, however, the more I […]
Estimated reading time: 20 minutes
What exactly is “the gospel”? You’d think most Christians would be able to answer such a “simple” question. After all, we are called to preach the gospel. But really, not many professing believers can give an adequate, biblically sound answer to this question. I’m not saying that to sound pompous […]
Estimated reading time: 10 minutes