Being More Like Mary Than Martha at Christmastime

In Luke 10:38-42, Jesus decides to visit the home of a woman named Martha. When he arrives, he finds Martha distracted by all the tasks that come with ...

Getting Ready for a Visit from Jesus

Author Doug Mendenhall shares a brief parable that should cause all of us to pause and reflect:

Jesus called the other day to say he was passing through ...

Missionary Has Sense of Gratitude Rekindled

Franklin and Phileda Nelson went to Burma as missionaries in the 1940s. They served there eight and a half years before the government closed the country ...

What Dog Owners Can't Live Without

Things dog owners can't live without:

• Significant other: 54 percent
• Computer: 50 percent
• Dog: 48 percent
• Coffee: 35 percent
• TV: 35 percent
• Car: 26 percent

What We're Thinking About as the Day Begins and Ends

The Ketchum Global Research Network asked 1,000 U.S. adults (ages 25–54) what they think about the most while they shower. Here were the top four ...

On Being Reactors, Not Actors

In our lives in the world, the temptation is always to go where the world takes us, to drift with whatever current happens to be running strongest. When ...

St. Francis's Extreme Embrace of Poverty

Among his many virtues, [St. Francis of Assisi] is known for his passionate embrace of poverty. Not only did he forbid his emerging Order to own property, ...

Cynicism: Frostbite of the Soul

In his book Please Don't Squeeze the Christian, Scott Sernau reflects on the danger of cynicism—especially in the life of believers who claim ...

The Importance of Intentionality

Alan Kraft writes in “Good News for Those Trying Harder”:

Not long ago, I read that a person my age should drink 16 glasses of water a day. ...

How the Internet Creates a "Permanent Puberty of the Mind"

Before Shane Hipps became a Mennonite pastor, he was a former strategic planner in advertising. In both vocations, he has learned a great deal about how ...