Most parents want the same things for their families: health, closeness, joy, and security. Those are good gifts from God. But somewhere along the way, it’s easy to start building a family around comfort and a beautiful family experience instead of asking how God wants to use that family for
Why Unhealthy Churches Sometimes Look Like They’re Growing (4 Warning Signs) Why do some unhealthy churches appear to be thriving while healthy churches struggle to grow? In this episode of the Church Revitalization Podcast, Scott Ball and AJ Mathieu reveal 4 key reasons why unhealthy churches sometimes experience rapid growth
St. Augustine, one of the most influential philosophers and theologians in Catholic history, writes in his autobiographical book The Confessions about three losses that were transformational in his life: the death of an unnamed friend; the death of his mother Monica; and the death of his son Adeodatus. In reading
Early in the Confessions, Augustine regretfully recalls how he dismissed his mother’s pleas for chastity as mere woman’s talk, instead opting for a promiscuous path of torturous suffering. Watching this, Monica stood by helpless and unheeded. And yet, as the Confessions unfolds, we are presented with a conversion narrative that
http://latterdaysaintmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/OTI_Dispatch05_TheEndOfTheRoad.mp3 Honestly, the Oregon Coast this last week has been more than expected. More beauty. More awe. More moments that feel divinely arranged. And more rain. Case in point. Cape Lookout. If you have never been there, the trail feels less like a hike to a viewpoint and more
Made Perfect in Love: A Theological Understanding of Sanctification By Jason Vickers This article is the third in a four-week series on sanctification drawn from the webinar sponsored by the John Wesley Institute, exploring the biblical and Wesleyan vision of a life made holy by the power of God.
In this episode of the Sermon Notes Podcast, Jay Strother and Brian Ball continue their walk through Ecclesiastes in the series Chasing the Wind: Finding What Lasts in a World That Doesn’t. They land on Ecclesiastes 11, and the well-known phrase cast your bread upon the waters, tracing it from
Despite the Secularization Trend, Jesus Still Saves While society moves toward secularization, Jesus can still save people disengaged from Christianity and transform those barely hanging on. Many Americans are moving away from congregations, but not necessarily from religion – movies, plays, art and social media fill the gap To understand