Rhonda Bell dreamt of a better financial future. She felt stuck working two jobs with irregular hours. “And I had to do both jobs even to have just enough. I remember one time when I out of work; I just dug around my house for change ended, and I up finding like, in change, $13.76. I was able to buy groceries; I had no food. I just really wanted a career. I wanted the Lord to bless me with something stable.” When friends encouraged Rhonda to go into healthcare, she prayed about it. She believed...

Chesapeake, VA Kyle says, “I knew that she was going to be great. She's very strong. She’s conquered a lot of things. She did great. So, very proud of her.”   Emily is a stay at home mom and homeschools all four kids. Managing the household on a sailor’s salary isn’t easy. In fact, the couple was often forced to buy food and other necessities on credit cards and personal loans. The monthly payments became too much to handle.  Emily says, “There's a lot of worry. A lot of how we're going to get...

Dear Dave, I have $11,000 in a mutual fund account that is not a retirement account. My wife has a retirement account through her job as a teacher, but I do not have one at all. We’re in Baby Step 2, so should we cash out the $11,000 in the investment account to help pay off debt? Chris Dear Chris, If this money is designated as non-retirement funds, I’d say go ahead and cash it out. Use the money to pay down debt, and continue to stay focused working the Baby Steps. Get that debt paid off,...

Visit CBNLEGACY.org, call 1-800-333-2373 or email PlannedGiving@CBN.org     Year-End Ideas - Optimizing Charitable Giving  There are three focus areas when deciding on optimizing charitable giving while maximizing tax deductions: Appreciated Investments  Cash  Retirement Plans  Appreciated Investments Gifts of Stock Select a highly appreciated stock held for 1-year+ in a brokerage account. Donate stock shares by DTC wire transfer. Benefits Receive an itemized charitable tax deduction at...

Work hard and play hard was the mantra that Eric Pavlack lived by. For 17 years, he traveled across the country laying railroad tracks which paid well but triggered a habit of reckless spending. “Because I was selfish, money was very important. and I’m making all this big money and I wasn’t used to it. I was spending it right and left. Guns, hunting trips, motorcycles, weightlifting stuff, trucks, cars.” In order to afford his lavish lifestyle, Eric worked extra hours. “I bought stuff on a whim...

When things don't go the way they're supposed to — viruses, star systems, presidents, even fish — we're often desperate to explain the chaos. In this episode, we search for order in the universe.

Original Air Date: August 08, 2020

Guests: 

Patrik Svensson — Lulu Miller — Alexander Boxer — Margaret Wertheim — S. James Gates Jr.

Interviews In This Hour: 

The Weird World Of Eels — We Call Them Fish. Evolution Says They're Something Else. — The Original Algorithm Was Written In The Stars — Seeing The World With A Mathematician's Eyes

Further Reading:

Nautilus: Eels Don’t Have Sex Until the Last Year of Their Life—NYAS: The Mystery of Our Mathematical Universe

We owe our past and future existence on Earth to fungi. Some can heal you, some can kill you, and some can change you forever. And the people who love them are convinced that mushrooms explain the world.

Original Air Date: June 08, 2019

Guests:

Lawrence Millman — Paul Stamets — Eugenia Bone — Michael Pollan — Dennis McKenna — Robin Carhart-Harris

Interviews In This Hour:

Humanity? It All Started With The Raven and Fungus Man — The Soil-Cleaning, Insect-Warding, Smallpox-Curing Power of Mushrooms — From Candy Caps To Morels: Notes From A Mushroom Hunter's Cookbook — John Cage, Vaclav Halek and the Marvels of Mushroom Music — Did Magic Mushrooms Shape Human Consciousness? — 'Fantastic Fungi' And How To Film Them

If you wrote a list of all the things you own in your house, how long would it be? We surround ourselves with possessions, but at what point do they start to possess us?

Original Air Date: September 05, 2020

Guests:

Angelo Bautista — Eula Biss — Adam Minter — Giles Slade — Clare Dolan

Interviews In This Hour:

The Magnum Opus Of Pointless Stuff — 'A $400K Container For A Washing Machine': An Author Grapples With The Inherent Ickiness Of Homeownership — The Global Garage Sale — Why Stuff Doesn't Last Anymore — A Museum Of The Mundane

Once upon a time, science and magic were two sides of the same coin. Today, we learn science in school and save magic for children’s books. What if it were different? What would it be like to see the world as an alchemist?

Original Air Date: September 19, 2020

Guests:

Sarah Durn — Pamela Smith — William Newman — Charles Monroe-Kane — Jason Pine

Interviews In This Hour:

Transmutation Of The Spirit — The Historical Lessons Embedded in Alchemical Recipes — Was Sir Isaac Newton 'The Last of the Magicians'? — The Buried Secrets of Czech Alchemy — Drug Store Alchemy in the Ozarks

Further Reading:

Maier: Atalanta Fugiens

Is there a better way to talk about death? And to grieve? So many people have died during the pandemic — 4.8 million and counting — that we're living through a period of global mourning. And some people — and certain cultures — seem to be better prepared to handle it than others.

Original Air Date: June 12, 2021

Guests:

Heather Swan — Gillian O'Brien — Charles Monroe-Kane — Gabe Joyner — Rafael Campo

Interviews In This Hour:

The Barred Owl Who Came To Visit — How The Irish Talk About Death — How To Remember A Beloved Brother? A Memorial Tattoo — A Physician-Poet Bears Witness to the Pandemic's Lost Voices

Africans are moving into cities in unprecedented numbers. Lagos, Nigeria, is growing by 77 people an hour — it's on track to become a city of 100 million. In 30 years, the continent is projected to have 14 mega-cities of more than 10 million people. It's perhaps the largest urban migration in history.

These cities are not like Dubai, or Singapore, or Los Angeles. They’re uniquely African cities, and they’re forcing all of us to reconsider what makes a city modern. And how and why cities thrive.

To find out what's going on, we go to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to talk with entrepreneurs, writers, scholars and artists. In this hour, produced in partnership with the Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes (CHCI) — a global consortium of 270 humanities centers and institutes — we learn how the continent where the human species was born is building the cities of the future.

Original Air Date: December 14, 2019

Guests:

Dagmawi Woubshet — Julie Mehretu — Emily Callaci — James Ogude — Ato Qyayson — Teju Cole — Meskerem Assegued

Interviews In This Hour:

Rediscovering the Indigenous City of Addis Ababa — 'People As Infrastructure' — A Tour Of The Networked City — 'I Am Because We Are': The African Philosophy of Ubuntu — How Pan-African Dreams Turned Dystopic — Decoding Global Capitalism on One African Street — Life in the Diaspora: How Teju Cole Pivots Between Cultures — Can Artists Create the City of the Future?

Further Reading:

CHCI

What does it take to win Olympic gold? To become "the world's fastest human"? This hour, Olympic fame, the politics of sports, and the science of running.

Original Air Date: July 31, 2021

Guests:

John Carlos — Gretchen Reynolds — Mark McClusky — Michael Powell

Interviews In This Hour:

The Fist and the 1968 Olympics — Walk, Run, Swim Or Bike — The Most Important Exercise Is Merely Movement — Faster, Higher, Stronger — The Magic of 'Rez Ball'

Using a complex network of chemical signals, trees talk to each other and form alliances with fellow trees, even other species. In fact, whole forests exist as a kind of superorganism. And some trees are incredibly old. Did you know a single bristlecone pine can live up to 6,000 years? And the root mass of aspens might live 100,000 years? We explore the science and history of trees and talk with Richard Powers about his epic novel "The Overstory."

Original Air Date: April 28, 2018

Guests: 

Mark Hirsch — Richard Powers — Suzanne Simard — Amos Clifford — Daegan Miller

Interviews In This Hour: 

A Year In The Life Of A Tree — Listening to the Mother Trees — Richard Powers on Writing the Inner Life of Trees — Bathing in the Beauty of the Trees — General Sherman, Karl Marx, and Other Aliases of Earth's Largest Tree

We’ve all been changed by the experience of living through a pandemic. We figured out how to sanitize groceries, mute ourselves on Zoom and keep from killing our roommates. But we’re also tackling bigger, existential questions — how can we, individually and collectively, find meaning in the experience of this pandemic?

Original Air Date: May 23, 2020

Guests: 

David Kessler — Tyrone Muhammad — Nikki Giovanni — John Kaag — Alice Kaplan

Interviews In This Hour: 

Grief Is A Natural Response To The Pandemic. Here’s Why You Should Let Yourself Feel It. — 'You Smell Death': Being A Mortician In A Community Ravaged By COVID-19 — Nikki Giovanni Reads a Poem of Remembrance — Does Philosophy Still Matter In The Age Of Coronavirus? — Why Camus' 'The Stranger' Is Still a Dangerous Novel

The women of Afghanistan are elected officials, school teachers, actors, TV contest winners, ancient rug weavers, and whisperers of forbidden poetry. The Taliban are starting to put down their thumb. But these women want you to know they are more than the timid victim under a burqa.

Original Air Date: October 02, 2021

Guests: 

Humaira Ghilzai — Eliza Griswold — Anna Badkhen — Rafia Zakaria

Interviews In This Hour: 

What's the future of culture in Afghanistan? — For Afghan weavers, the world is a carpet — Generations of Afghan women sharing the landay — How Afghanistan became America's 'first feminist war'

If you had to travel 500 miles across country, on foot, with no map, no GPS, without talking to anyone — to a destination you've never seen, could you do it? It sounds impossible, but millions of creatures spend their lives on the move, migrating from one part of the Earth to another with navigation skills we can only dream of. How do they do it — and what can we learn from them?

Original Air Date: July 25, 2020

Guests: 

Moses Augustino Kumburu — David Wilcove — Stan Temple — David Barrie — Sonia Shah

Interviews In This Hour: 

The Serengeti's Great Migration, Up Close — Why Do Animals Migrate? — Sandhill Cranes Make The Long Journey South — The Greatest Navigators on the Planet — The High Costs — And Potential Gains — Of Migration, Both Animal And Human

Rustling of leaves, sploshing of water, birds calling, bees buzzing. Wherever you live — city or country, East coast, West coast, or in between — we share common, contemplative experiences on our walks outside. In this hour, we assemble a sonic guide to finding solace in nature.

Original Air Date: May 09, 2020

Guests: 

William Helmreich — David Rothenberg — Laura Dassow Walls — Robert Moor — Nate Staniforth — Andreas Weber

Interviews In This Hour: 

The Great Urban Nature Explorer — Why The Walden Pond Experiment In Self-Reliance Is More Relevant Than Ever — The Wisdom of Trails — Lose Yourself In The Sky — Finding Love In The Ecosystem

There are old folktales and legends of people who can become animals. Animals who can become people. And there’s a lesson for our own time in those shapeshifting stories — a recognition that the membrane between what's human and more-than-human is razor thin.

Original Air Date: November 20, 2021

Guests: 

Sharon Blackie — David Abram — Chris Gosden — Stephen Graham Jones

Interviews In This Hour: 

Reclaiming the fierce women who are shapeshifters — How a man turned into a raven — Shapeshifters, shamans and the 'New Animism' — Horror author Stephen Graham Jones on what our monsters say about us

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Whether you know it or not, your closets are filled with personal information. About your identity, your values, your personality. And every day, you wear it all right out the door for the whole world to see.

Do you think about what are you saying with your clothes?

Original Air Date: March 16, 2019

Guests: 

Angelo Bautista — Avery Trufelman — Carolyn Smith — agnès b. — Jo Paoletti

Interviews In This Hour: 

Finding Yourself By Finding Your Style — From High Fashion to Heather Gray T-Shirts, Choosing Your Style Is A Privilege — A Year Of Wearing Clothing Only Made By Hand — How Blue Became 'Boy' And Pink Became 'Girl' — The Fashion Icon Who Despises Fashion

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Want to hear more from us, including extended interviews and favorites from the archive? Subscribe to our newsletter.

What if the most unselfish thing you could do was to pursue pleasure? To look for delight? To feel joy? We make the case for the transformative power of joy, pleasure and delight.

Original Air Date: October 12, 2019

Guests:

Ross Gay — Kathryn Bond Stockton — Laurie Santos — Lynne Segal

Interviews In This Hour:

365 Days Of Delight: A Poet's Guide To Finding Joy — A Queer Theorist On Ecstatic Kissing — Laboratory of Joy: A Psychologist On The Science of Feeling Good — The Revolution Will Be Joyful: Feminist Lynne Segal On Fighting Power With Pleasure — The People Power Of Happiness

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Want to hear more from us, including extended interviews and favorites from the archive? Subscribe to our newsletter.

When things don't go the way they're supposed to — viruses, star systems, presidents, even fish — we're often desperate to explain the chaos. In this episode, we search for order in the universe.

Original Air Date: August 08, 2020

Guests:

Patrik Svensson — Lulu Miller — Alexander Boxer — Margaret Wertheim — S. James Gates Jr.

Interviews In This Hour:

The Weird World Of Eels — We Call Them Fish. Evolution Says They're Something Else. — The Original Algorithm Was Written In The Stars — Seeing The World With A Mathematician's Eyes

Further Reading:

Nautilus: Eels Don’t Have Sex Until the Last Year of Their Life—NYAS: The Mystery of Our Mathematical Universe

Never want to miss an episode? Subscribe to the podcast.

Want to hear more from us, including extended interviews and favorites from the archive? Subscribe to our newsletter.

Is there a better way to talk about death? And to grieve? So many people have died during the pandemic — 4.8 million and counting — that we're living through a period of global mourning. And some people — and certain cultures — seem to be better prepared to handle it than others.

Original Air Date: June 19, 2021

Guests:

Heather Swan — Gillian O'Brien — Charles Monroe-Kane — Gabe Joyner — Rafael Campo

Interviews In This Hour:

The Barred Owl Who Came To Visit — How The Irish Talk About Death — How To Remember A Beloved Brother? A Memorial Tattoo — A Physician-Poet Bears Witness to the Pandemic's Lost Voices

Never want to miss an episode? Subscribe to the podcast.

Want to hear more from us, including extended interviews and favorites from the archive? Subscribe to our newsletter.

Jane Goodall has seen wild chimpanzees dance and bristle with excitement around roaring waterfalls — and she thinks it’s an experience of awe and wonder — and possibly a precursor to animistic religion. 

But can we ever know why our ancient human ancestors developed spiritual beliefs? Can evolutionary science uncover the roots of religion?  

At some point our ancestors went from admiring waterfalls to worshipping them - and all kinds of spirits and gods. They developed sacred rituals and turned stones into totems. And then came the Battle of the Gods. 

This was produced in partnership with the Center for Humans and Nature, an organization that brings together scholars from a diversity of disciplines to think creatively about our relationships with nature and each other. What do you think evolution can tell us about love and morality? Share your thoughts at humansandnature.org. This episode was made possible through the support of the John Templeton Foundation.

Original Air Date: May 14, 2017

Guests: 

Jane Goodall — Laura Kehoe — Frans de Waal — Barbara King — Ara Norenzayan — Jeff Schloss — Andrew Newberg

Interviews In This Hour: 

Do Chimpanzees Have Spiritual Experiences? — How 'Big Gods' Transformed Human History — An Evolutionary Biologist Searches for God — What Bliss Looks Like In Your Brain — Are Morals a Part of Our Evolution?

Further Reading:

Center for Humans and Nature

Never want to miss an episode? Subscribe to the podcast.

Want to hear more from us, including extended interviews and favorites from the archive? Subscribe to our newsletter.

“I have autoimmune diabetes, and my blood sugar was high and I couldn't get it down,” says Shanequa. On Sunday November 22, 2020, Shanequa Deas began having problems with comprehension. “I was sending texts to my medical director that I worked with and also a coworker that worked in Dallas asking, 'Why did I have to work on Sunday? And what presentation was I supposed to give?' And both of them were like, 'You don't work on Sunday and there's no presentation,'" said Shanequa. Mary, Shanequa’s...

It turns out mom was right! As I’ve matured, I’ve come to that realization repeatedly. How about you? As it turns out, it really does save time to do something right the first time. We absolutely should be kind to others. And... we can’t keep burning the candle at both ends—at least, not forever.   That last one is what popped into my mind as I was reading Numbers 29. Now, I’m the first to admit that I groan a little (forgive me, Lord) when anything from the book of Numbers is in my Bible...

It was early in the morning on July 15th, 2020 when Ailyn Tan was awakened by her husband, Jim, who was making strange noises. Ailyn recalls, “So, I nudged him, and I said, ‘Hey, you didn't wear your CPAP.’ And there was still no response.” That’s when Ailyn, a critical care nurse for 26 years, pulled open the curtains to check on him. She says, “He was mildly purple. His eyes were open, darted to the upper left-hand side, and he was foaming in the mouth. And so, I gave him a quick slap on his...

Monday, November 25th promised to be a fun evening for pastors Glen and Deborah Berteau. It was Deborah’s birthday and her prayer group had planned a party for her at church. She recalls, “I was happy my husband was with me. Lots of times he stays home because he's very tired after preaching three times on the weekend. But that night he came with me because of my birthday party.” Deborah had no idea it could be the last birthday they’d ever spend together. They had arrived early and were...

“I was terrified, the thought of her dying in an hour's time, it is something to be concerned about,” said Kay Gwinn.   Her husband Dwayne, their daughter Tonya, and her husband Paul Morrison, have been attending church together for years. That Sunday, their pastor had an unusual and ominous message for Tonya. Pastor Walter George recalls, “Suddenly the Spirit gave me Tonya's name and said to Tonya, 'The Lord was holding her in the palm of His hand. She was going to face some problems in her...

LONGER LIFE EXPECTANCY  People are living far longer than they did in decades past. Dr. Roizen says life expectancy in the U.S. has increased 2.5 years every decade for the last 170 years. For example, a woman who was expected to live to age 42 in 1850 is now likely to see age 80. One reason for this, he points out, is better sanitation, public health measures, and vaccines which produced an increase in the survival and health of the young in the first half of the 20th century. In later years,...

THE GAME CHANGER Kim grew up dreaming of being on magazine covers. She plastered her bedroom walls with covers of Glamour and Sports Illustrated. The models were taller and thinner; Kim was shorter and thicker. By the time she was 13, Kim had an unhealthy self-image and dieting became a regular part of her life. Growing up in a dysfunctional home and her battle of losing weight and keeping it off led her to dark places. Then after her father, 47, had a stroke, Kim, 30, committed to get fit. ...

PROBLEM-SOLVING Dr. Don Colbert is known for helping people live healthy lifestyles. As a medical doctor who has treated over 50,000 patients, he says the answers to people's ailments are almost always linked to what they eat. Growing up, Colbert’s father began showing signs of dementia in his mid 50s. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in his 60s and it progressed into severe Alzheimer’s. He lived in a nursing home for over 10 years before he died at 80.  His mother, who worked in a bank full-...

MASTERCHEF  “My dear friend Maryann sent me a flyer one morning telling me to apply to be on Fox’s TV competition MasterChef,” Lexy explains. “I loved to cook, and loved the show, but I never ever thought my two minutes of spontaneous boldness would lead to all of this. My time on that show was challenging. I was six weeks pregnant with my third child upon arriving in Los Angeles and morning sickness took full effect as soon as I stepped into that amazing kitchen. I was stressed every day,...

WHAT IS METABOLIC FLEXIBILITY? While most people have heard the term metabolism, the majority of them likely can’t explain what it means, Dr. Ian says. “Your metabolism is the collective effort of billions of cells in your body that are carrying out chemical processes (work) every second of your life – even when you’re sleeping -- that allow you to live and function and be who you are.”   Dr. Ian says metabolism basically involves the breakdown of food into small, simple nutrients, and the...

BURNED OUT  Burnout can occur for many reasons, and is common in certain professions, including the military, clergy, and healthcare. As a busy physician with young children, Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith was a prime candidate. She remembers the day her chaotic life simply stopped her in her tracks: “So I did what any burned-out human would do after picking up the kids from day care. I set them in front of the TV with a snack, and I lay on the floor.” She remained there for quite a while. “The smile...

I love food—all kinds of food, and I especially enjoy an array of colors on my plate. I was born and raised in Mexico, and I'm not alone in believing that Mexico has some of the world’s best cuisine. So, yes, food is important to me.  In the past, I never paid much attention to what food really did to my health. Instead, I just enjoyed the amazing satisfaction of trying new flavors and eating whatever I wanted—things like chocolate. I joke sometimes claiming myself to be a chocoholic. I love...

AGING NATURALLY AND GRACEFULLY  Now in her 60’s, Kim is determined to age as naturally and healthfully as possible, and to help others to do likewise. Through personal research, she’s learned a lot about what’s beneficial to put in and on our bodies, and what’s not. For example, she’s decided not to color her hair, use fillers (e.g. Botox), or have plastic surgery. Kim believes we can all age more naturally through daily choices about food, avoiding toxins, exercising, and educating ourselves...

Haley Erickson had long lived by the motto: “eat clean, train mean,” but it eventually took over her life. “I was mentally enslaved at that point,” she recalled. Haley had never been happy with her body, or her weight, something she picked up from her mom. “I saw my mom always dieting and talking about what her body looked like and needing to change her body. So as a young girl that really looked up to my mom, I thought that I needed to look a certain way to also be loved and accepted by others...

The only source of water for Idealis was a river in their remote village in Indonesia.  But the path there can be dangerous.  Idealis explained, “When we went to the river to collect water, we often found snakes along the way. It took an hour to get water.”  Idealis lives with his mom, who is a widow.   His mother said, “The river water is contaminated because people put poison in it to kill fish. It makes the water smell bad and makes us sick when we drink it.”    Idealis explained, “When I...

A day after a mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, authorities are trying to figure out why a couple would embark on a deadly killing spree.

How many times have we heard that confession is good for the soul? One of the first scriptures that we are taught as new Christians is the Apostle John's admonition to confess our sin.

By the time I got to the chorus, my voice was completely gone. Suddenly, I was painfully aware of the lights, and the countless faces staring up at me. And how the song kept going even though when I opened my mouth to sing—barely a whisper came out.  I panicked. I’m not ashamed to admit it. On a team of people, and in front of the entire church, I felt completely alone. Isolated in my embarrassment. Drowning in my confusion. Almost as if a wave had exploded through the front doors of the...

What comes to mind when you hear the word stump? It’s likely you do not think that a tree stump has a future—much less a promising one. But I believe that the Lord saw something entirely different when He pruned the nation of Israel. In Isaiah 6:13 (NKJV), God is referring to Israel when He says, “As a terebinth tree or as an oak, whose stump remains when it is cut down. So the holy seed shall be its stump.” While living in northern California, I worked and resided on a ministry property...

One of the most beautiful images in Scripture that illustrates the transformation of the universe with the second coming of Jesus is described in Isaiah 65:25 (NLT) where the wolf and the lamb will feed together. The lion will eat hay like a cow. As I was reflecting on this passage, it struck me that this is also a wonderful metaphor for our own transformation as Christians. As God sanctifies us through the renewing of our mind (Ephesians 4:20-24), promotes our dying to the self (Romans 8:13),...

Years ago, I asked for prayer from trusted people who supported me in ministry as I embarked on a pilgrimage and academic journey to Israel. Although I was a leader in various capacities, I knew prayer from other believers was vital. Sometimes we believe if we are leaders in our homes, communities, workplaces, churches, and businesses, we should show strength and not rely on others for prayer. Has that ever been the case for you? Paul gives us a great example of a leader requesting prayer...

I find responding with praise and worship relatively easy when things are going well. But sometimes, I still err on the side of needing to be in control of things when things aren’t going well—praying to the Lord during hardships isn’t my natural bent.  James 5:13 says, “Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises.” I can do the praise thing, though. When things are going well, “Thank you, Father!” is quick to come from my lips. It’s...

My dog ran away last summer. My husband decided to go for a run and I decided to paint our front door. I grabbed the paint and the tarp and propped open the door. Then, when my husband went running down the road, Dodger took off out the propped-open door after him. Dodger was gone from my sight for about two minutes before I rounded the corner to find him being carried home by my husband. But during that time, I was absolutely sick to my stomach. I was praying for his safety, that he wouldn’t...

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. (Ezekiel 36:26 NIV) I think we all know that life on this earth is filled with hurts and sorrows. There’s no way to escape them, but we can choose how we will face them. As various hurts, wounds, and offenses enter our lives, I’ve noticed a few common ways of dealing with them:  We become a victim, live in constant pain, and grow ineffective. We build walls that...

Defense is a familiar concept for sports fans. Many of the most popular sports require defensive strategies to be successful. Teams even have defensive coordinators dedicated to developing their defensive game plan. However, there are still rules and guidelines that a team’s defense must adhere to. If they don’t, there will be consequences for the team! If a defensive football player makes a dangerous hit on an offensive player, an official throws a flag and penalizes the defensive team. In...

There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God;  for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works,  just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience. (Hebrews 4:9-11 NIV) As a lover of naps and refreshment, Sabbath and rest are very close to my heart. They sometimes seem counterintuitive in our American culture, which is so focused on the grind or the hustle of working...

Years ago, when I was learning to recognize and trust the leading of the Holy Spirit, I frequently crossed paths with the homeless population where I lived. To be honest, I was uncomfortable seeing them on the streets. My heart broke for them, but I didn’t believe there was anything I could do that would make a difference. I struggled to afford groceries for myself, and I couldn’t afford a place of my own. Every dollar I had needed to stretch far to cover my expenses. Sometimes, I didn’t have...