Spirituality

Dark Night of the Soul

Jordan Montgomery
When left unchallenged, our dialogue with God can become the way by which we measure our relationship with him, and often leads us to believe that God’s love and presence is limited to the functions of our behavior. In this week's article, Jordan Montgomery, senior practical ministries major at Southeastern University, highlights how painful deprivations press upon a believer's spirituality and how to overcome the darkness rooted from internalized suffering. ... Read More...
6 min read

Spring Cleaning: Skeletons in the Closet

Richard Harris
We often conceal our vulnerabilities beneath the surface of a smiling countenance, curated social media or distinguished job title. Should we demand justice as Christians when we see hate crimes materialize without attending to the deeper issue? In this week's article, Dr. Richard Harris, communication's professor at Southeastern University and former (renounced) Grand Dragon of the Indiana KKK, discusses a seven step process in addressing the infirmities within us. ... Read More...
5 min read

Two Common Myths about Spiritual Gifts

Andrew Gabriel
Spiritual gifts are all supernatural in the sense that the Spirit is involved. The Bible affirms, “All these are the work of one and the same Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:11). Join this week's discussion as author Andrew K. Gabriel, Ph.D., deconstructs common myths behind spiritual gifts and how a church's capacity multiplies when it chooses to invest in members' development. ... Read More...
6 min read

Illumination by Translation

Luke Marchesani
Language identifies common ground by allowing us to communicate with one another succinctly and with a standard. Many times we discover portions of reality that have yet to be created in modern language. This week, Luke Marchesani, a graduate student at Southeastern University, engages with creativity, as defined biblically, while providing a methodology for Christ-followers to embody as they interpret Scripture. ... Read More...
7 min read

Making Peace with the Warrior God

Chris Green
How are we to deal with certain brutalities found in the Old Testament? How do we know what is and isn’t worthy of God? The good news is that God means to put us in that difficult place. He means to save us not from interpretation but through it. Dr. Chris Green, professor at Southeastern University, provides four approaches on how Christians today should perceive and interpret God's seemingly violent Old Testament acts in a rather confounding context. ... Read More...
9 min read

When Not All is Well With Our Souls

Jim Vigil
Many believe that those who occupy pastoral roles should be all things to everyone; however, this type of believing is unbiblical and unhealthy. Escalated emotional exhaustion often goes unresolved, which leads to destructive outcomes for leadership. In this week’s article, Dr. Jim Vigil addresses three main characteristics of ministerial burnout and how to best defend against them.... Read More...
6 min read

Growing in God’s Silence

Daniel Castelo
The spiritual roller coaster that is the Christian walk is comprised of incredible highs and desperate lows. While we often think of God as working most clearly in the midst of those spiritual highs, such an understanding leaves us hopeless when experiencing tremendous loss or silence from God. Perhaps we need to rethink our understanding of how God affects spiritual growth in our lives.... Read More...
4 min read

The Church’s Discipleship Dilemma

Calib Turner
Disciple-making is a priority of the Christian faith originating in Jesus’ ministry, continuing on in the early church and into the present day. Over time, however, it seems that the art of disciple-making has been lost. The gap between our current understanding of disciple-making and that which is present in the Bible is growing, and today’s church leaders are recognizing this in their own ministries. How can we as church leaders move past this dilemma?... Read More...
4 min read

Spirit-Led Business

Lyle L. Bowlin
I believe we can think of our lives as an integration between physical and spiritual qualities. There is an all-important point to keep in mind in our discussion and that is that "God is a Spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." (John 4:24). However, in what ways can this understanding of God affect business decisions?... Read More...
4 min read

Money, Wealth, and Following Christ

Steven Fettke
We must learn to reexamine our wealth in light of the cost of discipleship. No one who wishes to be a disciple of Jesus can negotiate the terms of discipleship no matter what the challenge to faithfulness might be. As we analyze our spiritual priorities, it is always a good thing to ask ourselves again: just what do we treasure above all things?... Read More...
3 min read