Category Archive

If sunscreen filters out the sun’s harmful rays, meditation upon the Scriptures ought to filter out our proclivity to misuse words.  The book of Proverbs, in a sense, amplifies what we hear from Jesus in … Read More

by Kelly Soifer My life changed dramatically in May 2003. What happened, you ask?  As a church that year, we pursued a study on stewardship titled Keeping the House in Order: Studies in Biblical … Read More

Tepid, halfhearted, indifferent, unenthusiastic, apathetic, moderate, lackadaisical…  How would you like it if Jesus used these adjectives to describe Santa Barbara Community Church?  Perhaps he will one day, and that’s because successful churches have a … Read More

by Kristine Severson This year our family will again go to the church retreat.  We first began going to church retreats ten years ago.  Our first retreat as young newlyweds was a little disorienting as … Read More

Naked and ashamed—that’s what they were.  Eve bit into the proverbial apple, and Adam followed suit.  Their eyes were opened, and the view was not entirely pleasant.  In a pinch, they used fig leaves, not … Read More

Did you hear it?  A very loud silence thundered across America last week.  On January 22nd we observed the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that essentially abolished abortion law in … Read More

by Kenon Neal The holidays have a way of bringing to the surface our dreams and hopes, and often a more acute realization of our current state of happiness and fulfillment, longing, loss or suffering. … Read More

by Kelly Soifer I subscribe to The New Yorker magazine. As a former English major, I luxuriate in its long, usually well-written and creative articles whose observations on the world are quite astute. While … Read More

Pessimism sells.  Something in us likes to hear about how bad things are and how much worse they will become.  We are attracted to the notion that the apocalypse is just around the corner.  Books … Read More

by David Jacobsen David Jacobsen has written a book called Rookie Dad: Thoughts on First-Time Fatherhood (Zondervan) about pregnancy, birth, and the first year of his son’s life. It’s not an instruction book–it’s collection … Read More