Four days into open sea, the storm that hit Paul's ship hadn't let up. No sun, no stars, no way to navigate — just wind and water for so long that the crew stopped counting days. Somewhere in
Read MoreThe ship should never have left port. Paul was a prisoner being transported to Rome on a massive grain freighter — a working, run-of-the-mill Mediterranean cargo vessel, not some exotic vessel,
Read MoreA man is on trial for his life, standing in front of a king who could end the case with a single word. He doesn't beg. He doesn't try to win people over emotionally. He does something almost nobody facing execution does — he hands over evidence, and dares anyone listening to go
Read MoreMost people picture judgment as a scale. Everything they have done on one side. Everything they should have done on the other. And most people, if they are honest with themselves, have already done that math — and they don't like the answer. The life on the scale is too thin. Too few
Read MoreThere's a reason a lot of people keep faith at a safe distance. It's not that they don't believe in God. It's that they have tried to be better — really tried — and it didn't work or only lasted a short time. They know their record. They know the patterns that keep repeating, the things they meant
Read MoreMost people hear the word righteous and picture someone who doesn't have any fun. They think of rules and the miserable face of a prude. They think they have to give up everything good and become religious. So, they quietly back away — because who wants that? It's one of the most
Read MoreThere are some things you can hear, consider, and set down. You weigh the idea, file it somewhere reasonable, and move on. The resurrection of Jesus Christ has never worked that way. From the first time the disciples announced it in Jerusalem to our sharing the gospel today, the
Read MoreJames K.A. Smith is a teacher of practical theology — how people actually live what they believe. His central argument is that human beings are not primarily thinking creatures who happen to have bodies. We are embodied creatures whose formation happens through physical practice.
Read MoreIn 1975, a Kodak engineer named Steve Sasson built the first digital camera in a lab in Rochester, New York. It weighed eight pounds. When he showed it to his executives, they didn’t ask how it worked. They asked why anyone would want to take a picture that way — there was nothing
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