rebelling against low expectations
I don’t often read or watch the daily news. But I’ve been paying close attention these past few days. I wish I didn’t feel the need to, but I can’t ignore what’s happening in Afghanistan. If you aren’t familiar with this current event, I encourage you to go look at the heartbreaking news on your own, but here’s a very brief summary: As the American...
Stop feeding us pizza. Okay, I admit that was a strange way to start an article with such an intense title – but it got your attention, didn’t it? Now, let’s talk about Generation Z and the future of the Church within America. Culture Shift in the Church There is no denying the shift in the culture, but it seems not many understand what that looks like for this generation of teenagers. Otherwise...
We’re coming up on a year. One year since the pandemic started, one year since stay-at-home orders were issued, one year since the beginning of the craziness. I think we can all agree that the past twelve months were anything but “typical.” If I’m going to be honest with you, I am not excited for the month of March. It’s just countless emotional reminders of what...
We know God calls us to do justice. In the last article, we discovered what justice is and why we need to respond. But still the question is: how? How do we do justice in an effective, biblical way? We need to recognize that there are both right and wrong responses to injustice. Let’s start with considering the wrong response. The Wrong Response In responding to injustice and trying to set...
Social media over the past months has brought the world to our doorstep. Among family reunion photos and cheeky memes, we may also come across news and pictures depicting abject human suffering. These things move our hearts and stir within us a desire to right wrongs and fight injustice. If you have a heart of compassion, causes large and small can make the internet an emotionally wearying place...
If I could recommend one book to read in 2021, it would be The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. I picked up a copy last summer when the library reopened, and even though the book was published in 2017, it felt like it was written yesterday. It felt like it was about now. About the Book The Hate U Give is about a 16-year-old girl named Starr Carter who, at the beginning of the book, is living in a...
The bus was just four yards away. They were so close! But between them and the vehicle stood a chain link fence topped with a coil of barbed wire. A Nazi soldier guarded the only gate. So close and yet still so far away! Havilah bit her lip until it bled. When she didn’t it quivered. Her hands trembled too, so she tucked one into her pocket and Martha squeezed the other tightly. “Take a deep...
To say 2020 was a curveball would be an understatement. There were so many new rules and regulations to follow, so many new inconveniences to face, and so many new routines to get used to. While I am still grateful for 2020, I couldn’t wait for 2021. 2021 also excited me because there is so much happening in it. I have several major exams. There are a lot of important decisions to make. And I’m...
“When you go out to war against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and an army larger than your own, you shall not be afraid of them, for the Lord your God is with you, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt” (Deuteronomy 20:1, ESV). The Israelites looked like they were surrounded. To their eyes, they were facing many more horses, chariots, and people than they had. But he who was...
I saw an advertisement recently claiming, “Unbiased News from a Christian Perspective.” In the comments, more than a few people pointed out the irony of that statement. We understand ourselves in the contexts of stories and narratives. This is how we make sense of the world. This “sense-making” takes place as we interpret our experiences in the context of the world around us. When we...
rebelling against low expectations
