We run our website the way we wished the whole internet worked: we provide high quality original content with no ads. We are funded solely by your direct support. Please consider supporting this project.

On Mental Illness and Jumping from a Burning Building

 seyed mostafa zamani via Compfight

Ann Voskamp wrote this piece in the wake of the suicide of Rick Warren’s son. It’s disheartening to hear so many thoughtless and cruel comments by other Christians when tragedies like this strike. But here is a voice of knowing and compassion. Here is love.

From Ann’s blog post:

I once heard a pastor tell the whole congregation that he had lived next to the loonie bin and I looked at the floor when everyone laughed and they didn’t know how I loved my mama. I looked to the floor when they laughed, when I wanted them to stand up and reach through the pain of the flames and say:

Our Bible says Jesus said, “It is not those who are healthy who need a doctor, but those who are sick.” Jesus came for the sick, not for the smug. Jesus came as doctor and He makes miracles happen through medicine and when the church isn’t for the suffering, then the Church isn’t for Christ.

Related Reading

What About the Harsh Words of Paul? A Response to Paul Copan (#4)

This post is my fourth response to a talk given by Paul Copan at the Evangelical Theological Society in November in which he raised a number of objections to Crucifixion of the Warrior God. A major part of Copan’s critique centered on my claim that the love of God that is revealed on the cross,…

Theo Graff Podcast: Featuring Jessica Kelley

We have a special treat for you today. T. C. Moore is a great friend of ReKnew and he’s recently started a “Jesus-centered, hip hop flavored, geeky, theological, kingdom exploration” called the THEO GRAFF PODCAST. He’s published four podcasts so far and you’ll want to listen to them all when you get a chance, but we wanted…

Lighten Up: Um…

Don’t hurt the people.

The Cruciform Center Part 2: How John’s Gospel Reveals a Cruciform God

In the previous post, we looked at how the Synoptics illustrate the centrality of the cross. While the Gospel of John varies in its structure and language from the Synoptics, the cross remains at the center. This centrality is expressed in a number of different ways. 1. The role that Jesus’ death plays in glorifying…

God’s Ways Are Higher Than Ours

A frequently quoted passage from the Old Testament comes from Isaiah 55. It reads: …my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways… As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts (vss. 8-9). I’ve often heard this passage…

Tribalism

Sandra Unger spoke for Greg while he was on vacation the week after the 4th. In this clip, Sandra explains whats tribes are and how that creates unintended separation between people. In the full sermon, she speaks about what it means to be part of the Jesus Tribe. She discusses the reasons people are prone to…