In the Bible, God gave Samson back his power, and Samson used that power to kill himself. Does this mean that sometimes it’s OK to commit suicide?
Big Questions
Our panel of contributors replies to questions from readers on topics like these: ethics, relationships, missional living, faith formation, vocation/calling, digital life, church/Bible/doctrine, and stewardship. Got a question you’d like answered?
Whom should I marry? Which job should I take? Even though I pray, I don’t know.
In terms children can understand, how do you explain what it means to bless someone in the name of God?
While it’s overly simplistic to quickly quip, “You were created a human being, not a human doing,” it’s also imperative that somehow that message gets conveyed.
One of the underlying principles of Reformed polity is mutual accountability—that church members and leaders are accountable to each other
When it comes to technology, why do people assume older folks like me don’t get it?
When you take leftovers home, they’re almost always given in Styrofoam containers that can’t be recycled. What’s the most stewardly option?
Moral virtue is at once something that God produces in us and at the same time something we need to work at. Moral character, in other words, is a work in progress.
My church no longer reads the Ten Commandments in worship. Isn’t hearing the Commandments an important part of our faith formation?
Is the opposite of fake news “authentic news?” Does that mean if people authentically believe something to be true, it is?
Discipleship is about learning to love, follow, obey, and become more and more like Jesus.
It’d be an overstatement to say it has changed my life, but it certainly has changed the focus of my life.
Can’t someone make commitments and keep promises to a church without being a member?
When we are broken and humbled, acts of kindness convey God’s care in ways that spark and refresh our sense of being called to serve God.
He tried to say at the end that creation, like salvation, is all about grace, but it seems to me that environmental sermons are a bit fluffy and sermons instead should be about the gospel of the saving grace of Jesus
There seem to be only three persons absolutely necessary to make a marriage a Christian marriage: the man, the woman, and God.
One of the reasons the “attractional church model” is being questioned today is the realization that it often produces consumers more than it makes disciples.
Reasons for busyness vary from family to family, but one reason is we don’t want to miss out on anything.
You cannot resolve the conflicts within your parents’ marriage that are highlighted by these political differences.
Experts can usually tell when something has been manipulated, but what about the rest of us?
Many of my students ask whether you can have a calling if you do not believe in God.
There’s a certain spirituality that adorned our council rooms in the past, and that’s what might be oozing away.
Is it smart to give money outright like this to young people with no directions?
A church denomination intent on family unity has a chance of finding a way to remain united.