Many of us are familiar with the Christian calendar’s season of Advent, the weeks leading up to Christmas spent reflecting and worshipping God for the miracle that He sent His Son to save us. We even just had an Advent blog series in December here at Impact. But many young Christians aren’t aware that Advent is only one of many seasons of the traditional Christian liturgical calendar. While the liturgical church calendar is often associated with the Catholic church and other orthodox denominations, there are principles and practices to these various seasons that are helpful for all of us as we pursue Christ and seek to become more like Him

Do people have free will? This is a broad question that could be answered in several ways. It is also a complex question that has been debated, discussed, researched, and written about in great detail. Here I will point out some basics things to consider when determining if free will is real…

John is, for sure, a different sort of gospel: both in tone and content. You can tell from the first chapter (where John launches into a breathtaking, poetic prologue that starts before creation and previews the incarnation, rejection, mission, and triumph of Jesus) that this is going to be something distinctive…

Well, it depends on who you ask.

If you ask friends from school or your soccer team, you may get a variety of answers. Some will say people are born that way and have no control over it. Others may answer that everyone deserves to love whoever they choose.

What we know for sure is that words are not intrinsically evil. There are no combinations of sounds that are automatically sinful. Words are vehicles for information and attitudes, and you and I both know those can be sinful! The point is that there are a lot of gray areas when it comes to swearing, and you’re going to have to use discernment…

Based on my experiences working and living in secular environments over the past decade or so, here is a framework that I have found helpful!

It’s pretty obvious that gardens are a big deal to God. You can’t get very far in reading the Bible without coming across some kind of garden or a metaphor regarding trees, plants or seeds. In fact, the Bible begins and ends in a garden…

When talking with an unbeliever, it’s very important to maintain an attitude of kindness and grace. If the person gets angry, you potentially lose your opportunity to share the gospel. 

Since we learn best when we discover truth for ourselves, it is very important to have personal time in God’s word. So what are some practical tools to get started?