Many of us have deep feelings of love for a beloved pet and form bonds with them as close as we would with any human being. Their loss is palpable and devastating, and the grief we feel doesn’t just go away because they happen to have scales or fur instead of skin.

The word “blessed” used in the New Testament comes from the Greek word makarios, which means bestowed with God’s favor, happy, or fortunate — not fortunate because of fortune or luck, but because of God’s providence and favor.

Some pastors lead a church, teaching and preaching before a body of Christian believers. Others have more specialized roles, focusing on congregational care, youth ministry, men’s or women’s ministry, homeless or another outreach ministry, working with the military, serving as a hospital chaplain, or a myriad other ways to serve the Lord.  

A breath prayer is a short prayer that is timed around a single breath, usually with a phrase for the inhale and a phrase for the exhale.

Humility starts within. First, understand God is the most important, the highest. God is our ruler and king, now and forever. We belong to him. Then, understand what that looks like in our relationship to him.

Music can be a powerful tool that enhances our worship of and connection with the Lord. Music, whether instrumental or vocal, is woven throughout Scripture, and it’s clear God appreciates it. The Bible tells us Jesus and the disciples sang a hymn at the Last Supper (Matthew 26:30), and the entirety of psalms is a songbook, filled with God-centered poetry all mean to be sung with musical accompaniment.

A number of musicians are mentioned throughout the Bible, from King David (who was Saul’s court musician before David became king) to Solomon and Asaph. We know that God’s people celebrated victories with music and expressed lament through songs of mourning. After God parted the Red Sea in Exodus, Moses and the people praised the Lord with song, and the Bible also tells us Moses’s sister Miriam, the prophetess, led the women in song while all followed with tambourines and dancing (Exodus 15:20-21).

The Bible specifically urges us to praise the Lord with music and song. In Colossians 3:16, the apostle Paul urges the early church, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”

And in Ephesians 5:18-19, he says, “Be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart.”

Hymns are religious songs or poems of praise to God. The word “hymn” comes from the Greek hymnos, which translates to “song of praise.” Hymns can be old or modern — that is, they do not need to be collected in a church hymn book or written in the 19th century to qualify as a hymn. Hymns are still written today, whether or not we also call them a “contemporary Christian worship song.”

Of course, not all hymns are theologically sound. Some glorify a nation, not God. Some praise Jesus but attribute actions to our savior that the Bible never says happened, which is inaccurate.

But some hymns are truly worshipful as well as theologically accurate. In fact, there some hymns with lyrics pulled straight from Scripture. Some have just a line or two from the psalms or other verses, while others quote sections verbatim.

Here, then, are five hymns with lyrics pulled straight from Scripture.

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Taking a look at details of the resurrection story in such a focused lens tells us important things about Jesus and his view about people — and about women.

Have you ever met an atheist? I don’t just mean someone who doesn’t go to church or a non-Christian, but someone who doesn’t believe in God at all.

I’ve met a few in my life. Some have been coworkers and others fellow students, and it can be challenging to navigate a relationship between two people with opposing belief systems. But I’ve learned there are ways to engage with an atheist friend that can be healthy and live-giving — and hopefully, ultimately point to Jesus.

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Omission means to exclude, leave out, or fail to do, such as something left undone or neglected. Think of the word omit; you might omit someone’s name from a list, or you might omit telling your boss you made a critical and costly mistake. When you commit a sin of omission, you are neglecting or failing to do the right thing.

Rumination doesn’t just occupy your mind or make you dwell on sad or upsetting thoughts. It can have serious negative effects, from sleeplessness or chronic fatigue to increased heart rate, digestive issues, or suicidal ideation. It can also build a wall between you and God, and as Christians, we know any barrier to the Lord and his work is a sin. 

When I first heard the term “spiritual attack,” I imagined it was like Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader going head-to-head with their lightsabers in the movie Star Wars. The enemy, Darth, was visible and obvious, and his red lightsaber and pitch-black cloak and helmet clearly identified him as the “evil one.”

In reality, a spiritual attack isn’t often this way. Usually, the attack isn’t obvious or visible, and it can be difficult to tell who the enemy is just by the color of their clothing or weapon. 

Sometimes it can be downright difficult to recognize when you are facing a spiritual attack. Perhaps you think it’s all in your head, or you attribute it to something else — illness, a bad mood, even what might be labeled as “bad luck” as challenging circumstances seem to come your way like a battering ram. Perhaps you think spiritual attacks are only fought in heavenly realms, or that they happen only to people directly involved in the ministry, such as pastors or mission workers. Maybe you think they occurred only in the days of the Bible, as with other things not talked about as much in modern days, such as demon possession. 

But make no mistake: Spiritual attacks are very real, and they can happen to any Christian at any stage in their life. 

A spiritual attack is when evil forces, whether physical or spiritual, wage battle against Christians. This could look like chronic exhaustion and fatigue; frequent and debilitating migraines; persistent fears, worries, or doubts; increased strife with other people in your world; an onslaught of repeated temptation; obstacles to your spiritual life, such as car troubles that prevent you from getting to church or Bible study, or Internet issues while you’re trying to post your testimony online; difficulty hearing or understanding God’s word; depression; feelings of shame and guilt; heightened feelings of loneliness; and much more.  

Here are eight things to do when you think you are facing a spiritual attack.

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Maybe we want to go to therapy, seeking counseling from a trained mental health counselor, but we worry. “If you pray hard enough, it’ll go away,” someone perhaps told us. Or possibly we’ve heard, “You don’t need a counselor. You only need Jesus.” But in your heart, you know you need help.

Clearly, divorce is not God’s preference or something he likes, but rather something he permitted as a way to provide for his people who were suffering.

You know that phrase, “You can take the girl out of the city, but you can’t take the city out of the girl?” That was me until the pandemic, when my husband and I finally got the nerve to try camping for the first time.  

I was raised in the city and suburbs and didn’t know the first thing about how to pitch a tent, let alone how to find a campsite. But we tried it and quickly discovered we liked it. I’ll admit if I’m forced to choose between a five-star hotel and a tent, I’ll pick the hotel most days. Camping is definitely outside my comfort zone, and I usually come back as exhausted from all the hard work as I do refreshed.

But every time I go camping, I find I learn and grow in ways I never expected. I’ve also learned many spiritual lessons that are helping me in my ongoing Christian journey to become a better and stronger disciple of Christ.

Here, I will share six faith lessons I am learning to embrace through camping.

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