January 5 I’m going to be honest. New Year’s resolutions are often a way I scramble for control— over my health, my schedule, my dreams, my relationships, my life. At the root can be a self-consumed motive to be better, do better, look better. God is unmasking that sin inside me and piloting me on … Continue reading The “Why” Behind Our Resolutions
Something stopped me from full-throttle resolution-writing this week. I realized the last 365 days have been some of the most pivotal in my life. I don’t want to leap into a new year—much less the next ten—without stopping, looking over my shoulder, and saying, “God, you’ve done lovely, mighty things.” Before we speed into January … Continue reading Look Back Before You Look Ahead: 6 Lessons from 2019
December 8 I’m a no-Christmas-music-before-Thanksgiving stickler. But this year, I broke my own rule in October because Andrew Peterson released his first recorded album of Behold the Lamb of God. Behold the Lamb is a collaborative Christmas production that’s been in the works for twenty years. Every December, Christian artists join at the Ryman Auditorium … Continue reading Behold the Lamb of God
Christmas is closing in and I’ve been thinking about Jesus’s grandfathers: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, David. These were men with staffs in their hands and wool in their beards. Centuries before sheep and herdsmen welcomed Jesus into the world, shepherding personified Israel. Then came the age of kings and “shepherd” took on a new, royal … Continue reading The Shepherd of all Shepherds
October 6 My friend asked a question last week that got me thinking: “Bethany, if you weren’t a Christian, where do you think you’d be today?” The more thought I gave it, the more sobering the question became. I started sensing just how much my faith infiltrates and informs me. I tried wrapping my mind … Continue reading A Serious Question
Two months ago, a friend emailed me for advice on finding a solid church. I wanted to respond that I was the wrong person to ask. I’ve never “church hopped” or “church shopped.” I’ve never had to hunt down a healthy congregation. My Dad became a pastor in 2001, the year I was born. Not … Continue reading 10 Things I Love About My Church
September 1 You and I are corruptible beings because our great-grandpa swallowed the poison of curse. We’re banished to the dust we came from (Gen. 3:19). Our days are like grass ripped by the wind. God knows we’re perishable, rotting (Ps. 103:14-15). And yet. Grace acted, history shifted, and the Father took the Son from … Continue reading “He Will Stand On the Dust”
August 4 I tend to take my salvation for granted. And when I do stop to thank Jesus for his profound love and sacrifice, I still underestimate the gospel. How? By forgetting I’m a Gentile. I shouldn’t belong in Jesus’s family. I shouldn’t have access into this incredible mystery of divine grace. But I do. … Continue reading Hope for the Gentile (Like Me)
This article was first published on the Rebelution blog, where you can read it in its entirety. When we’re caught up in Rebelutionary living and striving to do big, hard, risky things, it’s easy to forget the why. Why leave our comfort zones? Why live radically? Why do hard things? Because Jesus breathed life into … Continue reading 5 Hard Things to Do This Summer
Every day I’m assaulted by the world’s propaganda. I need effective tools in my spiritual toolbox. I need sharp weapons in my spiritual weaponry. I need worthy books causing me to set my mind on things above, where Christ is (Col. 3:2). You do too. Here are ten books to bolster your everyday mission of … Continue reading 10 Books for Every Christian Teen
bethanyjlincks.com 