EVERY SQUARE INCH

By Anna Lynne Frazier. Rachel Hollis is an impressive person. She’s overcome a dysfunctional family, her brother’s suicide, an eating disorder. She started a high-end event planning business in L.A. with only a high school education, then another business, Chic Media, that has grown to be a multi-million dollar company. 6 BASIC TRUTHS YOUR KIDS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GOD With that in mind, here are six basic, but really important truths to communicate and reinforce with your kids. 1. God is good. God never does evil. He always does the right thing. That means he always the hero in the story. In fact, the way we know whether something is good or bad is by finding out what God thinks about it.

ART THAT OFFENDS

Art That Offends. Wendell Berry writes in Sex, Economy, Freedom, and Community of playwright, Arthur Kopit, who said this of one of his plays: “I am immodestly proud that it is written in consistently bad taste. It’s about vile people who do vile things. They are totally

loathsome, and I

GETTING GRITTY IN PRAYER: STORIES OF ANSWERED PRAYER Getting Gritty in Prayer: Stories of Answered Prayer. Today’s sermon shared some answered prayers. Such stories help us get gritty for prayer: they tell us about God’s faithfulness in the past and thus encourage us to keep on trusting him in the future. There are all sorts of caveats and nuance to how to understand God answering our

prayers.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SELFISHNESS AND SELF-CENTEREDNESS This may be an exercise in splitting hairs, but humor me. I think there’s a difference between selfishness and self-centeredness. At least in the way I think of them. I view selfishness as essentially a conscious and intentional act. If I’m being selfish I’m presented with two options, and I essentially understand that I’ve got two

options.

THE BIGGEST THREAT TO CHRISTIANITY In both situations, the true culprit is self-righteousness. One group thinks its doing well, one poorly, but both are looking for a “self-propelled” salvation. And that is something that Jesus assures us is impossible (see, e.g., John 3:3; Mark 10:17-31). With this in mind, it’s easier to see why moralism poses such a threat to

Christianity.

WHAT ATTRACTS PEOPLE TO CHRISTIANITY? Stop the delusional comparisons of yourselves to our Founding Fathers. Hold the wine and cheesiness, and please pass the credibility. Americans have come to think that Christians are, well, goofballs. Our fellow Americans would rather elect a freshman radical than an evangelical sympathizer to GETTING ‘LOCKED AND LOADED’ FOR CHRISTIAN SERVICE Getting ‘Locked and Loaded’ for Christian Service. By Warren Mayer. It seems pretty likely that any American over the age of 12 has seen several of those “Let’s lock and load!” sequences so prevalent in action movies and TV shows, sometimes even spoofed in children’s programming. As entertainment consumers, by now we are

all

HELP! WHAT DO I DO WHEN I DON’T UNDERSTAND THE BIBLE? 5. Read in community and ask for help. This is yet another way in which reading the Bible is like a lot of other things that you do. We often get more out of reading books and articles if we do so in conversation with others, even if they share a similar amount of knowledge of the material going in. CHRISTIANITY VS. MORAL THERAPEUTIC DEISM 5. “Good people go to heaven when they die.”. The title “Moral Therapeutic Deism” captures the spirit of this new religion. It is moral because the new religion inculcates a moralistic approach to life. “It believes that central to living a good and happy life is being a good, moral person. That means being nice, kind, pleasant

EVERY SQUARE INCH

By Anna Lynne Frazier. Rachel Hollis is an impressive person. She’s overcome a dysfunctional family, her brother’s suicide, an eating disorder. She started a high-end event planning business in L.A. with only a high school education, then another business, Chic Media, that has grown to be a multi-million dollar company. 6 BASIC TRUTHS YOUR KIDS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GOD With that in mind, here are six basic, but really important truths to communicate and reinforce with your kids. 1. God is good. God never does evil. He always does the right thing. That means he always the hero in the story. In fact, the way we know whether something is good or bad is by finding out what God thinks about it.

ART THAT OFFENDS

Art That Offends. Wendell Berry writes in Sex, Economy, Freedom, and Community of playwright, Arthur Kopit, who said this of one of his plays: “I am immodestly proud that it is written in consistently bad taste. It’s about vile people who do vile things. They are totally

loathsome, and I

GETTING GRITTY IN PRAYER: STORIES OF ANSWERED PRAYER Getting Gritty in Prayer: Stories of Answered Prayer. Today’s sermon shared some answered prayers. Such stories help us get gritty for prayer: they tell us about God’s faithfulness in the past and thus encourage us to keep on trusting him in the future. There are all sorts of caveats and nuance to how to understand God answering our

prayers.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SELFISHNESS AND SELF-CENTEREDNESS This may be an exercise in splitting hairs, but humor me. I think there’s a difference between selfishness and self-centeredness. At least in the way I think of them. I view selfishness as essentially a conscious and intentional act. If I’m being selfish I’m presented with two options, and I essentially understand that I’ve got two

options.

THE BIGGEST THREAT TO CHRISTIANITY In both situations, the true culprit is self-righteousness. One group thinks its doing well, one poorly, but both are looking for a “self-propelled” salvation. And that is something that Jesus assures us is impossible (see, e.g., John 3:3; Mark 10:17-31). With this in mind, it’s easier to see why moralism poses such a threat to

Christianity.

WHAT ATTRACTS PEOPLE TO CHRISTIANITY? Stop the delusional comparisons of yourselves to our Founding Fathers. Hold the wine and cheesiness, and please pass the credibility. Americans have come to think that Christians are, well, goofballs. Our fellow Americans would rather elect a freshman radical than an evangelical sympathizer to GETTING ‘LOCKED AND LOADED’ FOR CHRISTIAN SERVICE Getting ‘Locked and Loaded’ for Christian Service. By Warren Mayer. It seems pretty likely that any American over the age of 12 has seen several of those “Let’s lock and load!” sequences so prevalent in action movies and TV shows, sometimes even spoofed in children’s programming. As entertainment consumers, by now we are

all

HELP! WHAT DO I DO WHEN I DON’T UNDERSTAND THE BIBLE? 5. Read in community and ask for help. This is yet another way in which reading the Bible is like a lot of other things that you do. We often get more out of reading books and articles if we do so in conversation with others, even if they share a similar amount of knowledge of the material going in. CHRISTIANITY VS. MORAL THERAPEUTIC DEISM 5. “Good people go to heaven when they die.”. The title “Moral Therapeutic Deism” captures the spirit of this new religion. It is moral because the new religion inculcates a moralistic approach to life. “It believes that central to living a good and happy life is being a good, moral person. That means being nice, kind, pleasant WHAT WE HAVE LOVED, OTHERS WILL LOVE What We Have Loved, Others Will Love. By Emily Pilkington. “What we have loved. others will love. and we will teach them how.”. -William Wordsworth-. As a public school teacher, the words above became somewhat of a mantra. I hung them up as a reminder about what I wanted the students in my classroom to experience. WHAT ATTRACTS PEOPLE TO CHRISTIANITY? Stop the delusional comparisons of yourselves to our Founding Fathers. Hold the wine and cheesiness, and please pass the credibility. Americans have come to think that Christians are, well, goofballs. Our fellow Americans would rather elect a freshman radical than an evangelical sympathizer to 10 BIBLE VERSES: GOD’S PERSPECTIVE FOR PARENTS 10 Bible Verses That Shape A Parent’s Perspective. 1. “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18). Parenting is very difficult. No one has it figured out. Resist the temptation to project the image that you have all the answers. Be willing to ask for help. 2. HELP! WHAT DO I DO WHEN I DON’T UNDERSTAND THE BIBLE? 5. Read in community and ask for help. This is yet another way in which reading the Bible is like a lot of other things that you do. We often get more out of reading books and articles if we do so in conversation with others, even if they share a similar amount of knowledge of the material going in.

TRUTH VS. OPINIONS

Fact: Something that is true about a subject and can be tested or proven. Opinion: What someone thinks, feels, or believes. Note that these definitions apparently suggest that claims must either be a fact or an opinion. What’s the problem with that? EARLIEST FRAGMENT OF THE NEW TESTAMENT POSSIBLY DISCOVERED The oldest manuscript of the New Testament has been P52, a small fragment from John’s Gospel, dated to the first half of the second century. It was discovered in 1934. Not only this, but the first-century fragment is from Mark’s Gospel. Before the discovery of this fragment, the oldest manuscript that had Mark in it was P45,

from the early

GRACE IS HARD TO RECEIVE Grace is a hard concept to embrace, and sometimes actual grace given is even harder to receive. Like being offered an extravagant gift – something we couldn’t possibly earn on our own and certainly don’t deserve – it feels uncomfortable to receive “too much” grace. IS A BLIND LEAP OF FAITH BIBLICAL? Likewise, nowhere in the Bible will we find anything like a leap of faith. The truth is that the blind leap of faith is a modern invention. Yet, this is often how we think about faith. In this view, we have no rational reason to trust Jesus; nonetheless, God demands

that we

10 REASONS WHY I THINK KIDS TODAY ARE OVERPROTECTED 7. I think because kids have less freedom to be outside with their friends, they watch more television, use more social media, and play more xbox. 8. I think that over protection is a factor leading to increased childhood obesity. 9. TIM KELLER ON DETECTING AND REPLACING YOUR IDOLS Tim Keller on Detecting and Replacing Your Idols. At my last small group we listened to a lecture by Tim Keller on counterfeit gods. It provided an interesting and thought-provoking lesson and discussion. Toward the end of the lecture, Tim says some pretty helpful insights about detecting and replacing our idols that I’ll slightly

paraphrase

EVERY SQUARE INCH

Rachel Hollis is an impressive person. She’s overcome a dysfunctional family, her brother’s suicide, an eating disorder. She started a high-end event planning business in L.A. with only a high school education, then another business, Chic Media, that has grown to be a multi-million dollar company. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SELFISHNESS AND SELF-CENTEREDNESS This may be an exercise in splitting hairs, but humor me. I think there’s a difference between selfishness and self-centeredness. At least in the way I think of them. 6 BASIC TRUTHS YOUR KIDS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GOD It’s easy to feel overwhelmed as a parent of young children. I know this because parenthood turns what would otherwise be a low bar of expectation into the mark of notable accomplishment. THE BIGGEST THREAT TO CHRISTIANITY What’s the biggest threat facing Christianity today? That is, who or what is most likely to undermine the well-being and growth of the Christian faith and those who embrace it?

ART THAT OFFENDS

Wendell Berry writes in Sex, Economy, Freedom, and Community of playwright, Arthur Kopit, who said this of one of his plays: “I am immodestly proud that it is written in consistently bad taste. WHAT ATTRACTS PEOPLE TO CHRISTIANITY? Several of us on staff at The Crossing are reading an interesting book entitled unchristian. Others have posted on it and I’m sure that you will hear more about it in the future. HELP! WHAT DO I DO WHEN I DON’T UNDERSTAND THE BIBLE? Anybody who’s ever read the Bible for any length of time has experienced it. You’re reading along, understanding things well enough. But then, like Han Solo getting hit with a tractor beam aboard the Millennium Falcon, you come across a verse or passage that pulls you up short.“Wait, what did that say?” you ask yourself. GETTING GRITTY IN PRAYER: STORIES OF ANSWERED PRAYER Today’s sermon shared some answered prayers. Such stories help us get gritty for prayer: they tell us about God’s faithfulness in the

past and thus

GETTING ‘LOCKED AND LOADED’ FOR CHRISTIAN SERVICE It seems pretty likely that any American over the age of 12 has seen several of those “Let’s lock and load!” sequences so prevalent in action movies and TV shows, sometimes even spoofed in children’s

programming.

CHRISTIANITY VS. MORAL THERAPEUTIC DEISM Are you a Christian or are you a member of the growing new American religion called Moralistic Therapeutic Deism? That’s an important question to ask based on new research by Christian Smith and others at the National Study of Youth and Religion at the University of North Carolina. After conducting 3000 interviews with teenagers, Smith and his team said that most teens’ religion can be

EVERY SQUARE INCH

Rachel Hollis is an impressive person. She’s overcome a dysfunctional family, her brother’s suicide, an eating disorder. She started a high-end event planning business in L.A. with only a high school education, then another business, Chic Media, that has grown to be a multi-million dollar company. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SELFISHNESS AND SELF-CENTEREDNESS This may be an exercise in splitting hairs, but humor me. I think there’s a difference between selfishness and self-centeredness. At least in the way I think of them. 6 BASIC TRUTHS YOUR KIDS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GOD It’s easy to feel overwhelmed as a parent of young children. I know this because parenthood turns what would otherwise be a low bar of expectation into the mark of notable accomplishment. THE BIGGEST THREAT TO CHRISTIANITY What’s the biggest threat facing Christianity today? That is, who or what is most likely to undermine the well-being and growth of the Christian faith and those who embrace it?

ART THAT OFFENDS

Wendell Berry writes in Sex, Economy, Freedom, and Community of playwright, Arthur Kopit, who said this of one of his plays: “I am immodestly proud that it is written in consistently bad taste. WHAT ATTRACTS PEOPLE TO CHRISTIANITY? Several of us on staff at The Crossing are reading an interesting book entitled unchristian. Others have posted on it and I’m sure that you will hear more about it in the future. HELP! WHAT DO I DO WHEN I DON’T UNDERSTAND THE BIBLE? Anybody who’s ever read the Bible for any length of time has experienced it. You’re reading along, understanding things well enough. But then, like Han Solo getting hit with a tractor beam aboard the Millennium Falcon, you come across a verse or passage that pulls you up short.“Wait, what did that say?” you ask yourself. GETTING GRITTY IN PRAYER: STORIES OF ANSWERED PRAYER Today’s sermon shared some answered prayers. Such stories help us get gritty for prayer: they tell us about God’s faithfulness in the

past and thus

GETTING ‘LOCKED AND LOADED’ FOR CHRISTIAN SERVICE It seems pretty likely that any American over the age of 12 has seen several of those “Let’s lock and load!” sequences so prevalent in action movies and TV shows, sometimes even spoofed in children’s

programming.

CHRISTIANITY VS. MORAL THERAPEUTIC DEISM Are you a Christian or are you a member of the growing new American religion called Moralistic Therapeutic Deism? That’s an important question to ask based on new research by Christian Smith and others at the National Study of Youth and Religion at the University of North Carolina. After conducting 3000 interviews with teenagers, Smith and his team said that most teens’ religion can be ABOUT - EVERY SQUARE INCH Every Square Inch is the blog of The Crossing, a church in Columbia, Missouri.. The name Every Square Inch comes from a memorable quote from Abraham Kuyper, a Dutch theologian, educator, journalist, and statesman: “There is not one square inch of the entire creation about which Jesus Christ does not HELP! WHAT DO I DO WHEN I DON’T UNDERSTAND THE BIBLE? Anybody who’s ever read the Bible for any length of time has experienced it. You’re reading along, understanding things well enough. But then, like Han Solo getting hit with a tractor beam aboard the Millennium Falcon, you come across a verse or passage that pulls you up short.“Wait, what did that say?” you ask yourself. WHAT ATTRACTS PEOPLE TO CHRISTIANITY? Several of us on staff at The Crossing are reading an interesting book entitled unchristian. Others have posted on it and I’m sure that you will hear more about it in the future. WHAT WE HAVE LOVED, OTHERS WILL LOVE “What we have loved others will love and we will teach them how.”-William Wordsworth-As a public school teacher, the words above became somewhat of a mantra. 10 REASONS WHY I THINK KIDS TODAY ARE OVERPROTECTED 1. I think that if I gave my kids the same freedoms that I (and all my friends) had as a kid growing up, someone would call the Division of

Family Services.

IS A BLIND LEAP OF FAITH BIBLICAL? If you’ve watched Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade then your heart probably skipped a beat during Indiana’s third Holy Grail Trial: the leap of faith. Jones comes to a wide, empty chasm, and reads that he must make an impossible leap to the distant opposite doorway. He does a double-take, and just before he turns back, he hears his dying father cry, “You must believe! 10 BIBLE VERSES: GOD’S PERSPECTIVE FOR PARENTS Jesus: “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” God didn’t design anyone to be sustained only by food. GRACE IS HARD TO RECEIVE Grace is a hard concept to embrace, and sometimes actual grace given is even harder to receive. Like being offered an extravagant gift – something we couldn’t possibly earn on our own and certainly don’t deserve – it feels uncomfortable to receive “too much” grace. EARLIEST FRAGMENT OF THE NEW TESTAMENT POSSIBLY DISCOVERED It might not get the press of, say, the opening of The Hunger Games in a couple of weeks. But if biblical scholar Daniel Wallace is correct, the world may soon get a good look at the oldest fragment of the New Testament yet discovered. TIM KELLER ON DETECTING AND REPLACING YOUR IDOLS 1. What are your daydreams? When you don’t have to think about anything in particular, what do you just like to think about? Someone has rightly said, “Your religion is what you do in your solitude,” which means that the way you find out what your true God/god is by answering—What does your mind dwell on the most when you’re free to dwell on anything you want?

EVERY SQUARE INCH

By Anna Lynne Frazier. Rachel Hollis is an impressive person. She’s overcome a dysfunctional family, her brother’s suicide, an eating disorder. She started a high-end event planning business in L.A. with only a high school education, then another business, Chic Media, that has grown to be a multi-million dollar company. 6 BASIC TRUTHS YOUR KIDS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GOD With that in mind, here are six basic, but really important truths to communicate and reinforce with your kids. 1. God is good. God never does evil. He always does the right thing. That means he always the hero in the story. In fact, the way we know whether something is good or bad is by finding out what God thinks about it.

ART THAT OFFENDS

Art That Offends. Wendell Berry writes in Sex, Economy, Freedom, and Community of playwright, Arthur Kopit, who said this of one of his plays: “I am immodestly proud that it is written in consistently bad taste. It’s about vile people who do vile things. They are totally

loathsome, and I

WHAT WE HAVE LOVED, OTHERS WILL LOVE What We Have Loved, Others Will Love. By Emily Pilkington. “What we have loved. others will love. and we will teach them how.”. -William Wordsworth-. As a public school teacher, the words above became somewhat of a mantra. I hung them up as a reminder about what I wanted the students in my classroom to experience. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SELFISHNESS AND SELF-CENTEREDNESS This may be an exercise in splitting hairs, but humor me. I think there’s a difference between selfishness and self-centeredness. At least in the way I think of them. I view selfishness as essentially a conscious and intentional act. If I’m being selfish I’m presented with two options, and I essentially understand that I’ve got two

options.

GETTING GRITTY IN PRAYER: STORIES OF ANSWERED PRAYER Getting Gritty in Prayer: Stories of Answered Prayer. Today’s sermon shared some answered prayers. Such stories help us get gritty for prayer: they tell us about God’s faithfulness in the past and thus encourage us to keep on trusting him in the future. There are all sorts of caveats and nuance to how to understand God answering our

prayers.

THE BIGGEST THREAT TO CHRISTIANITY In both situations, the true culprit is self-righteousness. One group thinks its doing well, one poorly, but both are looking for a “self-propelled” salvation. And that is something that Jesus assures us is impossible (see, e.g., John 3:3; Mark 10:17-31). With this in mind, it’s easier to see why moralism poses such a threat to

Christianity.

THE BRILLIANT THOUGHTS OF BLAISE PASCAL One of my favorite Christian thinkers is Blaise Pascal. Pascal was a French writer and philosopher who lived from 1623—1662. He was a brilliant mathematician (a computer language was eventually named after him) and left his mark in physics. HELP! WHAT DO I DO WHEN I DON’T UNDERSTAND THE BIBLE? 5. Read in community and ask for help. This is yet another way in which reading the Bible is like a lot of other things that you do. We often get more out of reading books and articles if we do so in conversation with others, even if they share a similar amount of knowledge of the material going in. GETTING ‘LOCKED AND LOADED’ FOR CHRISTIAN SERVICE Getting ‘Locked and Loaded’ for Christian Service. By Warren Mayer. It seems pretty likely that any American over the age of 12 has seen several of those “Let’s lock and load!” sequences so prevalent in action movies and TV shows, sometimes even spoofed in children’s programming. As entertainment consumers, by now we are

all

EVERY SQUARE INCH

By Anna Lynne Frazier. Rachel Hollis is an impressive person. She’s overcome a dysfunctional family, her brother’s suicide, an eating disorder. She started a high-end event planning business in L.A. with only a high school education, then another business, Chic Media, that has grown to be a multi-million dollar company. 6 BASIC TRUTHS YOUR KIDS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GOD With that in mind, here are six basic, but really important truths to communicate and reinforce with your kids. 1. God is good. God never does evil. He always does the right thing. That means he always the hero in the story. In fact, the way we know whether something is good or bad is by finding out what God thinks about it.

ART THAT OFFENDS

Art That Offends. Wendell Berry writes in Sex, Economy, Freedom, and Community of playwright, Arthur Kopit, who said this of one of his plays: “I am immodestly proud that it is written in consistently bad taste. It’s about vile people who do vile things. They are totally

loathsome, and I

WHAT WE HAVE LOVED, OTHERS WILL LOVE What We Have Loved, Others Will Love. By Emily Pilkington. “What we have loved. others will love. and we will teach them how.”. -William Wordsworth-. As a public school teacher, the words above became somewhat of a mantra. I hung them up as a reminder about what I wanted the students in my classroom to experience. GETTING GRITTY IN PRAYER: STORIES OF ANSWERED PRAYER Getting Gritty in Prayer: Stories of Answered Prayer. Today’s sermon shared some answered prayers. Such stories help us get gritty for prayer: they tell us about God’s faithfulness in the past and thus encourage us to keep on trusting him in the future. There are all sorts of caveats and nuance to how to understand God answering our

prayers.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SELFISHNESS AND SELF-CENTEREDNESS This may be an exercise in splitting hairs, but humor me. I think there’s a difference between selfishness and self-centeredness. At least in the way I think of them. I view selfishness as essentially a conscious and intentional act. If I’m being selfish I’m presented with two options, and I essentially understand that I’ve got two

options.

THE BIGGEST THREAT TO CHRISTIANITY In both situations, the true culprit is self-righteousness. One group thinks its doing well, one poorly, but both are looking for a “self-propelled” salvation. And that is something that Jesus assures us is impossible (see, e.g., John 3:3; Mark 10:17-31). With this in mind, it’s easier to see why moralism poses such a threat to

Christianity.

THE BRILLIANT THOUGHTS OF BLAISE PASCAL One of my favorite Christian thinkers is Blaise Pascal. Pascal was a French writer and philosopher who lived from 1623—1662. He was a brilliant mathematician (a computer language was eventually named after him) and left his mark in physics. GETTING ‘LOCKED AND LOADED’ FOR CHRISTIAN SERVICE Getting ‘Locked and Loaded’ for Christian Service. By Warren Mayer. It seems pretty likely that any American over the age of 12 has seen several of those “Let’s lock and load!” sequences so prevalent in action movies and TV shows, sometimes even spoofed in children’s programming. As entertainment consumers, by now we are

all

CHRISTIANITY VS. MORAL THERAPEUTIC DEISM 5. “Good people go to heaven when they die.”. The title “Moral Therapeutic Deism” captures the spirit of this new religion. It is moral because the new religion inculcates a moralistic approach to life. “It believes that central to living a good and happy life is being a good, moral person. That means being nice, kind, pleasant THE BIGGEST THREAT TO CHRISTIANITY In both situations, the true culprit is self-righteousness. One group thinks its doing well, one poorly, but both are looking for a “self-propelled” salvation. And that is something that Jesus assures us is impossible (see, e.g., John 3:3; Mark 10:17-31). With this in mind, it’s easier to see why moralism poses such a threat to

Christianity.

WHAT WE HAVE LOVED, OTHERS WILL LOVE What We Have Loved, Others Will Love. By Emily Pilkington. “What we have loved. others will love. and we will teach them how.”. -William Wordsworth-. As a public school teacher, the words above became somewhat of a mantra. I hung them up as a reminder about what I wanted the students in my classroom to experience. WHAT ATTRACTS PEOPLE TO CHRISTIANITY? Stop the delusional comparisons of yourselves to our Founding Fathers. Hold the wine and cheesiness, and please pass the credibility. Americans have come to think that Christians are, well, goofballs. Our fellow Americans would rather elect a freshman radical than an evangelical sympathizer to THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SELFISHNESS AND SELF-CENTEREDNESS This may be an exercise in splitting hairs, but humor me. I think there’s a difference between selfishness and self-centeredness. At least in the way I think of them. I view selfishness as essentially a conscious and intentional act. If I’m being selfish I’m presented with two options, and I essentially understand that I’ve got two

options.

HELP! WHAT DO I DO WHEN I DON’T UNDERSTAND THE BIBLE? 5. Read in community and ask for help. This is yet another way in which reading the Bible is like a lot of other things that you do. We often get more out of reading books and articles if we do so in conversation with others, even if they share a similar amount of knowledge of the material going in. 5 REASONS TO KEEP ON BEING HOSPITABLE Even in these circumstances – in spite of them – he commands the church to practice hospitality. Here are five reasons to keep on being hospitable: We are merely stewards. “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace,” (1 Peter 4:10). Everything that we think belongs to us

doesn’t

GRACE IS HARD TO RECEIVE Grace is a hard concept to embrace, and sometimes actual grace given is even harder to receive. Like being offered an extravagant gift – something we couldn’t possibly earn on our own and certainly don’t deserve – it feels uncomfortable to receive “too much” grace. IS A BLIND LEAP OF FAITH BIBLICAL? Likewise, nowhere in the Bible will we find anything like a leap of faith. The truth is that the blind leap of faith is a modern invention. Yet, this is often how we think about faith. In this view, we have no rational reason to trust Jesus; nonetheless, God demands

that we

6 IMPLICATIONS FROM JESUS WASHING FEET (AND A STORY!) 6 Implications From Jesus Washing Feet (and a story!) John 13:14: Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. When Jesus took the role of a servant, washed his disciples’ feet, and then told them (and us) to wash other people’s feet, he called us to a humble life of sacrificial

service.

TIM KELLER ON DETECTING AND REPLACING YOUR IDOLS Tim Keller on Detecting and Replacing Your Idols. At my last small group we listened to a lecture by Tim Keller on counterfeit gods. It provided an interesting and thought-provoking lesson and discussion. Toward the end of the lecture, Tim says some pretty helpful insights about detecting and replacing our idols that I’ll slightly

paraphrase

EVERY SQUARE INCH

By Anna Lynne Frazier. Rachel Hollis is an impressive person. She’s overcome a dysfunctional family, her brother’s suicide, an eating disorder. She started a high-end event planning business in L.A. with only a high school education, then another business, Chic Media, that has grown to be a multi-million dollar company. 6 BASIC TRUTHS YOUR KIDS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GOD10 THINGS ABOUT GODAMAZING THINGS ABOUT GODGREAT THINGS ABOUT GOD With that in mind, here are six basic, but really important truths to communicate and reinforce with your kids. 1. God is good. God never does evil. He always does the right thing. That means he always the hero in the story. In fact, the way we know whether something is good or bad is by finding out what God thinks about it.

ART THAT OFFENDS

Art That Offends. Wendell Berry writes in Sex, Economy, Freedom, and Community of playwright, Arthur Kopit, who said this of one of his plays: “I am immodestly proud that it is written in consistently bad taste. It’s about vile people who do vile things. They are totally

loathsome, and I

GETTING GRITTY IN PRAYER: STORIES OF ANSWERED PRAYERAMAZING STORIES OF ANSWERED PRAYERBIBLE STORIES OF ANSWERED PRAYERTRUE STORIES OF ANSWERED PRAYERINSPIRATIONAL STORIES OF ANSWERED PRAYERSSHORT STORIES ABOUT PRAYERSTORIES OF GOD ANSWERING PRAYERS Getting Gritty in Prayer: Stories of Answered Prayer. Today’s sermon shared some answered prayers. Such stories help us get gritty for prayer: they tell us about God’s faithfulness in the past and thus encourage us to keep on trusting him in the future. There are all sorts of caveats and nuance to how to understand God answering our

prayers.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SELFISHNESS AND SELF-CENTEREDNESS This may be an exercise in splitting hairs, but humor me. I think there’s a difference between selfishness and self-centeredness. At least in the way I think of them. I view selfishness as essentially a conscious and intentional act. If I’m being selfish I’m presented with two options, and I essentially understand that I’ve got two

options.

WHAT ATTRACTS PEOPLE TO CHRISTIANITY? Stop the delusional comparisons of yourselves to our Founding Fathers. Hold the wine and cheesiness, and please pass the credibility. Americans have come to think that Christians are, well, goofballs. Our fellow Americans would rather elect a freshman radical than an evangelical sympathizer to THE BRILLIANT THOUGHTS OF BLAISE PASCAL One of my favorite Christian thinkers is Blaise Pascal. Pascal was a French writer and philosopher who lived from 1623—1662. He was a brilliant mathematician (a computer language was eventually named after him) and left his mark in physics. GETTING ‘LOCKED AND LOADED’ FOR CHRISTIAN SERVICEDEFINE LOCK AND LOADEDLOCK AND LOADED GUN SHOPLOCK AND LOADED GUN STORELOCKED AND LOADED ARMSLOCKED AND LOADED FACEBOOKLOCKED AND LOADED GUNS Getting ‘Locked and Loaded’ for Christian Service. By Warren Mayer. It seems pretty likely that any American over the age of 12 has seen several of those “Let’s lock and load!” sequences so prevalent in action movies and TV shows, sometimes even spoofed in children’s programming. As entertainment consumers, by now we are

all

CHRISTIANITY VS. MORAL THERAPEUTIC DEISM 5. “Good people go to heaven when they die.”. The title “Moral Therapeutic Deism” captures the spirit of this new religion. It is moral because the new religion inculcates a moralistic approach to life. “It believes that central to living a good and happy life is being a good, moral person. That means being nice, kind, pleasant 10 REASONS WHY I THINK KIDS TODAY ARE OVERPROTECTED 7. I think because kids have less freedom to be outside with their friends, they watch more television, use more social media, and play more xbox. 8. I think that over protection is a factor leading to increased childhood obesity. 9.

EVERY SQUARE INCH

By Anna Lynne Frazier. Rachel Hollis is an impressive person. She’s overcome a dysfunctional family, her brother’s suicide, an eating disorder. She started a high-end event planning business in L.A. with only a high school education, then another business, Chic Media, that has grown to be a multi-million dollar company. 6 BASIC TRUTHS YOUR KIDS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GOD10 THINGS ABOUT GODAMAZING THINGS ABOUT GODGREAT THINGS ABOUT GOD With that in mind, here are six basic, but really important truths to communicate and reinforce with your kids. 1. God is good. God never does evil. He always does the right thing. That means he always the hero in the story. In fact, the way we know whether something is good or bad is by finding out what God thinks about it.

ART THAT OFFENDS

Art That Offends. Wendell Berry writes in Sex, Economy, Freedom, and Community of playwright, Arthur Kopit, who said this of one of his plays: “I am immodestly proud that it is written in consistently bad taste. It’s about vile people who do vile things. They are totally

loathsome, and I

GETTING GRITTY IN PRAYER: STORIES OF ANSWERED PRAYERAMAZING STORIES OF ANSWERED PRAYERBIBLE STORIES OF ANSWERED PRAYERTRUE STORIES OF ANSWERED PRAYERINSPIRATIONAL STORIES OF ANSWERED PRAYERSSHORT STORIES ABOUT PRAYERSTORIES OF GOD ANSWERING PRAYERS Getting Gritty in Prayer: Stories of Answered Prayer. Today’s sermon shared some answered prayers. Such stories help us get gritty for prayer: they tell us about God’s faithfulness in the past and thus encourage us to keep on trusting him in the future. There are all sorts of caveats and nuance to how to understand God answering our

prayers.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SELFISHNESS AND SELF-CENTEREDNESS This may be an exercise in splitting hairs, but humor me. I think there’s a difference between selfishness and self-centeredness. At least in the way I think of them. I view selfishness as essentially a conscious and intentional act. If I’m being selfish I’m presented with two options, and I essentially understand that I’ve got two

options.

WHAT ATTRACTS PEOPLE TO CHRISTIANITY? Stop the delusional comparisons of yourselves to our Founding Fathers. Hold the wine and cheesiness, and please pass the credibility. Americans have come to think that Christians are, well, goofballs. Our fellow Americans would rather elect a freshman radical than an evangelical sympathizer to THE BRILLIANT THOUGHTS OF BLAISE PASCAL One of my favorite Christian thinkers is Blaise Pascal. Pascal was a French writer and philosopher who lived from 1623—1662. He was a brilliant mathematician (a computer language was eventually named after him) and left his mark in physics. GETTING ‘LOCKED AND LOADED’ FOR CHRISTIAN SERVICEDEFINE LOCK AND LOADEDLOCK AND LOADED GUN SHOPLOCK AND LOADED GUN STORELOCKED AND LOADED ARMSLOCKED AND LOADED FACEBOOKLOCKED AND LOADED GUNS Getting ‘Locked and Loaded’ for Christian Service. By Warren Mayer. It seems pretty likely that any American over the age of 12 has seen several of those “Let’s lock and load!” sequences so prevalent in action movies and TV shows, sometimes even spoofed in children’s programming. As entertainment consumers, by now we are

all

CHRISTIANITY VS. MORAL THERAPEUTIC DEISM 5. “Good people go to heaven when they die.”. The title “Moral Therapeutic Deism” captures the spirit of this new religion. It is moral because the new religion inculcates a moralistic approach to life. “It believes that central to living a good and happy life is being a good, moral person. That means being nice, kind, pleasant 10 REASONS WHY I THINK KIDS TODAY ARE OVERPROTECTED 7. I think because kids have less freedom to be outside with their friends, they watch more television, use more social media, and play more xbox. 8. I think that over protection is a factor leading to increased childhood obesity. 9. ABOUT - EVERY SQUARE INCH About. Every Square Inch is the blog of The Crossing, a church in Columbia, Missouri. The name Every Square Inch comes from a memorable quote from Abraham Kuyper, a Dutch theologian, educator, journalist, and statesman: “There is not one square inch of the entire creation about which Jesus Christ does not cry out, ‘This is mine. This WHAT ATTRACTS PEOPLE TO CHRISTIANITY? Stop the delusional comparisons of yourselves to our Founding Fathers. Hold the wine and cheesiness, and please pass the credibility. Americans have come to think that Christians are, well, goofballs. Our fellow Americans would rather elect a freshman radical than an evangelical sympathizer to THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SELFISHNESS AND SELF-CENTEREDNESS This may be an exercise in splitting hairs, but humor me. I think there’s a difference between selfishness and self-centeredness. At least in the way I think of them. I view selfishness as essentially a conscious and intentional act. If I’m being selfish I’m presented with two options, and I essentially understand that I’ve got two

options.

TRUTH VS. OPINIONS

Fact: Something that is true about a subject and can be tested or proven. Opinion: What someone thinks, feels, or believes. Note that these definitions apparently suggest that claims must either be a fact or an opinion. What’s the problem with that? GIVING BY THE NUMBERS UPDATE Giving By The Numbers Update. The Crossing has been giving to missions & ministry partners since our earliest days. Below is our history of giving in graphic form. It’s pretty amazing to see how our congregational generosity has grown: Our total yearly giving to missions & ministry partners topped $1 million for the first time in

2015. In

IS A BLIND LEAP OF FAITH BIBLICAL? Likewise, nowhere in the Bible will we find anything like a leap of faith. The truth is that the blind leap of faith is a modern invention. Yet, this is often how we think about faith. In this view, we have no rational reason to trust Jesus; nonetheless, God demands

that we

HELP! WHAT DO I DO WHEN I DON’T UNDERSTAND THE BIBLE? 5. Read in community and ask for help. This is yet another way in which reading the Bible is like a lot of other things that you do. We often get more out of reading books and articles if we do so in conversation with others, even if they share a similar amount of knowledge of the material going in. GRACE IS HARD TO RECEIVE Grace is a hard concept to embrace, and sometimes actual grace given is even harder to receive. Like being offered an extravagant gift – something we couldn’t possibly earn on our own and certainly don’t deserve – it feels uncomfortable to receive “too much” grace. SEX | EVERY SQUARE INCH Culture; Kelley Wamper; Sex; Theology; Is 50 Shades of Grey a Good Jumpstart for Our Sex Lives? This week’s guest post, the second occasioned by the popularity of

WE’VE MOVED!

We’ve Moved! By Anna Lynne Frazier. The Crossing has a new blog. Every Square Inch will stay activated to continue providing the valuable resources housed on this site, but we will no longer update this blog with new posts.

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January 18, 20200 Comments

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GIVING BY THE NUMBERS UPDATE

By Cam Wheeler

The Crossing has been giving to missions & ministry partners since our earliest days. Below is our history of giving in graphic form. It’s pretty amazing to see how our congregational generosity has grown: Our total yearly giving to missions & ministry partners topped $1 million for the first time in 2015. In 2017, our

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December 18, 20190 Comments

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THINGS TREASURED AND PONDERED

By Emily Pilkington

The last two years of my life have been a blur. Every moment feels spoken for. I often feel pulled in four literal directions as the wants and needs of my four young children are layered on top of each other. Our house is rarely quiet. Discretionary “me” time is at an

all time low.

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November 29, 20190 Comments

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ADVENT RESOURCES FOR FAMILIES

By Emily Pilkington

Like many parents, the end of Thanksgiving week has meant thinking about Christmas. I’ve lost track of the number of fellow moms I’ve talked to on the hunt for ways to help their children prepare for Christ’s birth by celebrating something called Advent. Advent comes from a Latin word that means “coming.” It’s an opportunity to

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September 27, 20192 Comments

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THE LIFE WE NEVER EXPECTED

By Emily Pilkington

I was wiping down high chairs for the millionth time when the call came through. The day felt normal, typical of the blur of other days that had gone before and would come after, but it wasn’t a normal day. The developmental psychologist my son Zeke had seen was on the

line. She wanted to

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September 27, 20191 Comment

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PAID IN FULL: WHY THE CROSSING ERASED $43 MILLION IN MISSOURI MEDICAL

DEBT

By Tim Worstell

Would you prefer to listen? Check out this  podcast conversation on Jubilee giving with The Crossing pastors, Keith Simon and Patrick Miller.  Within a short span of two weeks, The Crossing and their local community banded together to absolve $43 million in Missouri medical debt. Learn more about the motivation behind what the church

is calling a

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August 1, 20190 Comments

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LIVE A BIGGER LIFE: TOP 5 CURATED RESOURCES (AUGUST 2019)

By Rachel Tiemeyer

With all the resources at our fingertips to help us grow in and live the bigger life Jesus offers, it can sometimes be overwhelming to know where to start and what sources to trust. That’s why we’re curating five great resources each month for you–from books to podcasts to videos and more–that have been helpful

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June 19, 20190 Comments

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GIRL, YOU’RE NOT ENOUGH (AND THAT’S THE POINT): RACHEL HOLLIS’S MESSAGE THROUGH THE LENS OF THE GOSPEL By Anna Lynne Frazier Rachel Hollis is an impressive person. She’s overcome a dysfunctional family, her brother’s suicide, an eating disorder. She started a high-end event planning business in L.A. with only a high school education, then another business, Chic Media, that has grown to be a multi-million dollar company. She’s given birth to three boys, was a foster parent for a while, and eventually adopted a little girl. She’s quick to share about her fantastic marriage and great sex life. She boxes, runs marathons, lost a lot of weight and has since kept it off. She drinks half her body weight in ounces of water every day and kicked her addiction to Diet Coke. She gets eight hours of sleep a night, wakes up at 5am, meditates, eats a healthy breakfast, and journals her goals and the things she’s thankful for… all before the kids get up. She has published five books and is a New York Times Bestselling author, she travels all over the country for speaking engagements and book promotions, she organizes (and is the keynote speaker of) a massive conference called Rise, and she has millions of followers on social media… That’s a lot. I’m worn out just writing about it, let alone doing it all. But that’s the gist of most of Rachel Hollis’s work: helping women see that they too can achieve all their dreams. Page one of _Girl, Wash Your Face_ says it loud and clear: “You, and only you, are ultimately responsible for who you become and how happy you

are.”

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June 19, 20190 Comments

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MAKE THIS SUMMER WITH YOUR KIDS COUNT

By Nathan Tiemeyer

Ah, _summer_. For many of us, the word is synonymous with any number of good things: long, sundrenched days, vacations, going to the pool, the smell of freshly cut grass, baseball, etc. But the summer months also offer a great chance for parents to help their kids grow and develop in an intentional manner. Toward that end, my wife Rachel—who does a great job thinking this through for our own three kids—weighs in with today’s guest post. As you read, keep in mind that each family’s goals will be different given all the variables, including the age of kids, work responsibilities, summer school, etc. And remember that reality sometimes falls short of even the best intentions. It’s a lesson we’re taught regularly at our

house!

………

I love the idea of using summertime with my kids in a way that makes a lasting impact. But when it comes to parenting, if we don’t have some goals in mind for our kids–whether long-term or short-term–it’s easy to lose sight of where we are going. It’s easy to waste the precious little time we have with these young souls in our charge. (I’m speaking from a “guilty as charged” place myself!) That’s why it’s helpful to think through some specific goals for our summer with our children. Here are a few things I’ve learned over the years about that process.

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June 1, 20190 Comments

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LIVE A BIGGER LIFE: TOP 5 CURATED RESOURCES (JUNE 2019)

By Rachel Tiemeyer

With all the resources at our fingertips to help us grow in and live the bigger life Jesus offers, it can sometimes be overwhelming to know where to start and what sources to trust. That’s why we’re curating five great resources each month for you–from books to podcasts to videos and more–that have been helpful

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May 1, 20190 Comments

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LIVE A BIGGER LIFE: TOP 5 CURATED RESOURCES (MAY 2019)

By Rachel Tiemeyer

With all the resources at our fingertips to help us grow in and live the bigger life Jesus offers, it can sometimes be overwhelming to know where to start and what sources to trust. That’s why we’re curating five great resources each month for you–from books to podcasts to videos and more–that have been helpful to our staff

team.

We hope this month’s edition of “Live a Bigger Life” inspires you to take one more step down the path of living in God’s bigger

and better story.

MAY 2019 CONTRIBUTIONS: CONTENT: The Porter’s Gate Worship Project

(music album)

DESCRIPTION: These worship songs have influenced me and my kids. We love to sing along, and the truths in the lyrics have encouraged me on

hard days.

CONTRIBUTOR: Molly Cover, Administrative Support ____________________________________________________________ CONTENT: Not By Sight

by Jon Bloom (book)

DESCRIPTION: This is a short and extremely easy-to-read book that will encourage your faith. The chapters are short (3-4 pages each) and each one is an imaginative retelling of a common biblical story with hypothetical backstories and possible emotions the characters are going through. Many of these stories will stick in your head as encouragements and over time it helps train you to read your Bible with more emotion and creativity. CONTRIBUTOR: Justin Garrett

, Crossing

Students Pastor

____________________________________________________________ CONTENT: Songs of Jesus by Tim Keller (devotional book) DESCRIPTION: Since January of last year, my quiet times have most often revolved around Tim Keller’s “Songs of Jesus”, which goes through the psalms and breaks them down into 365 readings. Many psalms involve multiple days’ readings, so I often read the entire psalm, then focus more on the verses that Keller focuses on that day, and journal a prayer around the truths found in those verses. It’s a great way to go deep in this book of the Bible that is full of all of life’s gritty experiences – fear, anxiety, joy, grief, anger, loneliness, doubt. I’ve found that this daily routine helps me to remember and cling to the truth that my walk of faith is more about my committed relationship with a Person than it is about following rules and doing the right things. CONTRIBUTOR: Shelly Mayer

, Small Groups

Team and Volunteer Director ____________________________________________________________ CONTENT: Be Still My Soul by Nancy Guthrie (devotional book) DESCRIPTION: It’s true that all of our lives will crash on the painful rocks of reality at some point. When life becomes difficult, as we face deep disappointment or agonizing loss, we set out on a search to find answers to significant questions: Why would God allow this to happen? What good could come out of this? I refer to this book when I need to remind myself of who God is when I face hardships, and it’s my go-to book that I offer to those wrestling with suffering

and loss.

__________________________________________________________ CONTENT: Persuasion with Erin Straza and Hannah Anderson

(podcast)

DESCRIPTION: Hannah and Erin’s discussions about what it means to follow Christ in our culture are thoughtful and stretching. I love their fun back-and-forth, and their practical insights have encouraged me to think more deeply about what’s going on in the world around

me.

CONTRIBUTOR: Anna Lynne Frazier, Crossing Twenties Team

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