Kate Chopin’s classic novel The Awakening caused an uproar when it was published in 1899. Edna Pontellier, the main character, shocked readers with her disdain for the traditional family life, preferring the pursuit of artistic endeavors and extramarital affairs. Today’s readers call it daring, even brave. You’ll find it on many a course syllabus, lauded…
Masturbation: A Christian Woman’s Perspective
Like men, women struggle with pornography and masturbation. But unlike men, women feel alone in confronting these sins. Sermons and statistics tend to focus on men in addressing the issue of pornography and masturbation. This article from Desiring God, though dated, explicitly states its intended audience is male. Not much has changed in the decades…
Deny, Deny, Deny
Peter’s threefold denial of Christ is one of the most well-known Biblical stories and rightly so. Peter’s actions remind us that even as Christians we can sin against God, even in grievous ways, and must be continually turning to Him in repentance. Even face to face with the Messiah, Peter’s faith was not infallible. Today…
“Where the Crawdads Sing”: Natural Does Not Equal Moral
"Where the Crawdads Sing" by wildlife scientist Delia Owens is marketed as an “ode to natural world,” but Owens takes the theme further than a simple celebration of nature and into the realm of morality. At the heart of the novel is this presupposition: what is natural is inherently moral. Owens’ story follows Kya Clark,…
Protecting the Gospel in Pro-Life Ministry
Pro-life organizations are notorious for their association with the Roman Catholic church. Look no further than the recent popularity of Unplanned, a movie about Abby Johnson’s experience as the former director of a Planned Parenthood clinic and her transition into pro-life ministry. Abby Johnson is not only the new darling of the pro-life movement; she…
A Universe Tuned for Worship
There’s a theory among some theologians that God sang the universe into existence. It’s a beautiful, albeit strange thought, but Biblical scholars weren’t the only ones to look up at the heavens and ponder a musical origin. Centuries ago, the Greek philosopher Pythagoras theorized a concept called “The Music of the Spheres”. Noticing the mathematical precision in…
Was Jesus Wearing a Brown Body?
Beth Moore has been binge-watching 3rd Rock from the Sun reruns. That’s the only gracious explanation I can come up with for why she thought it a good idea to tweet that our Savior “gave Himself on the cross…wearing a brown body”. For those of you who were toddling through the late ‘90s, 3rd Rock…
Bone of Bones 