Two major storylines have dominated news coverage of American religion in recent years. One is the decline of Christianity. Writers have often based this theme on Pew Research Center reports about the rise of the “Nones,” or people who say they adhere to no religion in particular. One Pew headline, for example, declared, “In U.S., […]

Little River I grew up in eastern North Carolina, “in the sticks.” As a teenager, my folks built a house in the middle of nowhere, and my stepdad set out to “tame” the land—chasing critters, chopping down trees, and cleaning up the river. Sometimes beavers dammed the river, flooding the woods and trapping trash. One […]

Knowing About God Sometimes the people who are supposed to know the most about God know Him the least. Perhaps this sounds counterintuitive, but this has consistently been the case throughout history. The past is littered with examples of men and women who have been raised to believe in God, who have been trained in […]

“To move to a place like this—that girl must be Xena: Warrior Princess.” I heard the compliment, if that’s what you’d call it, in echoes through the stairwell of our new home. We were planning to move in a few months and had come to visit our landing place—an apartment building that housed a tiny […]

Jonah 4 provides a striking picture. God appoints a plant to give Jonah shade, and Jonah greatly enjoys its comfort. But the next day, God appoints a worm to destroy the plant. Deprived of its shade, Jonah becomes furious and cries out, “It is better for me to die than to live” (Jon. 4:8). Jonah’s […]

My own moral failings, intrusive thoughts, and moments of doubt have sometimes left me feeling worthless and weak. In those moments, I can’t help but feel that God is ashamed of me or distant. And in my weakness, I ask myself, “How can I hold on to Him more earnestly?” The Bible teaches clearly that […]