Meditation, Celebration, and a Good Friday Playlist

Two thousand years ago a sinless man set his face toward Jerusalem. He heaved a cross on his shoulders and climbed a hill outside the city gates. He let seething men drill nails through his veins. He hung against the wood, bleeding, gasping, dying, forsaken. He bore the foaming ocean of God’s wrath so we … Continue reading Meditation, Celebration, and a Good Friday Playlist

Living Intentionally as a Young Person: Gia Mesz

If her teen years were an ocean, then Gia felt “adrift.” Years before our paths met and God wove the strands of our lives together, my friend Gia wrestled hard against her sin. “Right as I was getting into my teen years was when I realized how depraved my sin nature actually was,” she said. … Continue reading Living Intentionally as a Young Person: Gia Mesz

Don’t Leave Your Christianity at Church

This article was first published on The Rebelution blog, where you can read it in its entirety. It’s usually easy to live as a set-apart Christian teen on Sunday morning. We’re quick to conquer the church checklist: Wake up. Read Scripture. Go to church. Read more Scripture. Listen to a sermon. Talk to Christian friends … Continue reading Don’t Leave Your Christianity at Church

From Dreadful to Dazzling: How Christ Changes Our View of a Holy God

Huddled around a table in Mr. and Mrs. Beaver’s stick-weaved home, the four Pevensie children first learned of a fearsomely wonderful beast named Aslan, King of Narnia. “I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion,” Susan Pevensie admitted. “That you will, dearie, and no mistake,” said Mrs. Beaver; “if there’s anyone who can appear … Continue reading From Dreadful to Dazzling: How Christ Changes Our View of a Holy God

What Black Friday Taught Me About Godliness and Contentment

For twenty-four hours, Thanksgiving Day arouses gratefulness and benevolence in Americans. Then Black Friday hits, and things take a radically different turn. On Thursday, we open our doors to welcome family and count our blessings. On Friday, we tear down doors to snatch the hottest items at satisfying prices. The twenty-four-hour paradox is almost funny. … Continue reading What Black Friday Taught Me About Godliness and Contentment