“The world is spinning out of control.” “These are unprecedented times.” “I thought things were going to go back to normal.” Behind these common statements often lies an underlying fear and anxiety. Many of us see the chaos and unpredictability in today’s world and dread the future. We wonder, “will we face persecution, an economic […]
Wednesday, 08 December, 2021 by Elisabeth Bloechl
We accept as common knowledge that there is a growing sense of disunity, even division, among American Christians. Some groups feel ostracized, oppressed, orphaned. Others feel misrepresented and villainized. How are we to address this discontinuity and tension? How can we move toward healing a broken world? Sho Baraka seeks to answer these questions in […]
Wednesday, 13 October, 2021 by Elisabeth Bloechl
In a culture of contention, confusion, division, and demonizing, Christians need to hear a different message. Shai Linne brings us this message in his book The New Reformation: Finding Hope in the Fight for Ethnic Unity. Linne’s book is a hope-saturated, grace-filled alternative to many recent books on this topic laced with hate and animosity. […]
Wednesday, 04 August, 2021 by Elisabeth Bloechl
Stress and anxiety steal our joy and blind us to our purpose. In 2019, Rebekah Lyons offered a solution through her book Rhythms of Renewal: Trading Stress and Anxiety for a Life of Peace and Purpose. Recently, she came out with a companion journal and planner. As the book offers practical and measurable solutions to […]
Wednesday, 21 April, 2021 by Elisabeth Bloechl
Nonconformity is all the rage. Our culture applauds rebellion against social norms and encourage boldly standing apart. Sometimes this nonconformity is minor. It looks like fuchsia hair, living in a tiny house, eating only fruit and veggies. Other times nonconformity is something more extreme. The most immediate example is gender nonconformity. Biologically sexed males and […]
Friday, 19 February, 2021 by Elisabeth Bloechl
I wake up and spend some time reading the Bible and praying. I need it. Then I am jolted into the day. Family devotions, exercise, breakfast. I try to snatch several minutes of reading with my toddler before trundling her into the car. We go clean together. Rather, I clean while she plays and sleeps. […]
Monday, 14 December, 2020 by Elisabeth Bloechl
How do you love when you know it will break your heart? When my family started their 24-hour drive back to Wisconsin after dropping me off at college, my heart ached. I was in a foreign land. People didn’t dress the same. Their manner of doing business was different. The houses looked shabbier, and the […]
Monday, 19 October, 2020 by Elisabeth Bloechl
“Have you heard about what is going on in nursing homes? The residents are not allowed out of their rooms. Things keep happening and the staff take away more private property and putting it in storage. Now, the residents don’t even have their own clothes; they are wearing hospital gowns. They are supposed to exercise, […]
Wednesday, 19 August, 2020 by Elisabeth Bloechl
Imagine this. You finally arrive at church after one kid finds his missing shoes and another won’t sit still long enough to let you braid her hair. You and your husband fought all the way over about who is responsible for taking out the garbage that you left overflowing in the kitchen. Now you stand […]
Wednesday, 24 June, 2020 by Elisabeth Bloechl
In her book, Gay Girl, Good God: The Story of Who I Was and Who God Has Always Been, Jackie Hill Perry joins with other thoughtful, discerning Christians to offer a different perspective on sin and sexuality. Like Rosaria Butterfield, Sam Allberry, and others, she refuses to reduce who we are to our sexuality, bringing […]
Tuesday, 14 January, 2020 by Elisabeth Bloechl