Like all Americans, I grew up looking at a flag with my hand over my heart as I pledged my life to it at schools, sports, and even church. It had the word “God” in it, so I figured I was on the right track, but as I grew up, I started to note too…
I didn’t know much about the prophets when I was a kid, but if it was possible to be one when I grew up, I wanted to be. They were the ones who saw miracles, healed people, raised the dead, had dreams and visions, met with angels, and talked with God. That was the kind…
There are many reasons people get hooked on porn. Over time, the Holy Spirit showed me an unexpected reason as to why I was trapped: I found worth in it. It taught me that my body had power—power to make another person feel really good and really special, which made me feel like I was…
I called up the youth pastor and told him a better way in which he could do things. My plan was simple, really: all he had to do was relinquish control and put me in charge of the youth band. Oh, I was sixteen and in the youth group, by the way. I learned my…
After telling some neighborhood kids the story of the woman caught in adultery, Shane Claiborne asked them what they thought Jesus wrote in the sand. “If this doesn’t work, run, woman!” one of the kids joked.1 While scholars might propose serious suggestions for what Jesus wrote, no one can know for sure. The Bible invites…
“…all good allegory exists not to hide, but to reveal; to make the inner world more palpable by giving it an (imagined) concrete embodiment.” -C.S. Lewis A beam of light pierced through a small hole in the tent onto the farmer’s tired face and warmed his cheek. It was one of those beams you almost thought…
I was taught by the church that removing demons is easy. If you find one, you just tell it to go. I was told by trained exorcists that it was a little more complicated than that. If you find one, you must counsel the person to get it out. But then I found one, and…
There is laughter all over Isaac’s story. It starts with Abraham laughing at the idea that he and Sarah might have a kid after he had hit triple digits. Sarah laughed too, getting an extra kick out of the thought that she might experience sexual pleasure at her age—though when God called her out for…
I’m a third generation Free Methodist pastor and I sometimes wonder where I’d be today if my grandpa hadn’t started that tradition long ago. Likewise, I wonder if the tradition might continue with my own kids. My son already has plans to be a pastor and video game developer when he grows up, and my…
Jamin Bradley 