Christians should celebrate from Palm to Easter Sunday—and everything in between. As a child, my twin and I would often stage elaborate bake-offs during the school holidays. One year, I made an Easter cake with three chocolate crosses and a crown of thorns. I drowned these elements in large pools of jammy blood. Sure, it…
A seminary professor from Sierra Leone shares how African arrivals are changing the church in Belgium and the rest of the continent. Joseph Bosco Bangura is out to reshape how we think about migrant churches. For more than 25 years, he has been exploring how new Christian movements open up opportunities to engage with and…
Christian journalism has become even more important after the government passed a tough new national security law. Editor’s Note: Hong Kong officials unanimously passed its own version of a national security law Tuesday that could put people found guilty of political crimes, such as treason or external interference, in prison for life. Article 23 of…
Knott wrote rock operas, sang with honesty and conviction, called out hypocrites, and bucked the norms of the Christian music industry. Michael Knott, whose music and influence helped cultivate the Christian alternative music scene of the 1990s and 2000s, died Tuesday at the age of 61. He is survived by his daughter, Stormie Fraser. Knott…
Mary Magdalene was a recipient of grace with a story to proclaim. Save for Jesus Christ and his mother Mary, few biblical figures hold more prominence in the history of Christian art than Mary Magdalene. Paintings and sculptures favor depicting these two Marys not just because they appear frequently in the New Testament but because…
A Christian reconciliation group in Israel and Palestine warned that war would come. Now the war threatens their relevance. Just before sunrise on October 7, 2023, Salim Munayer’s wife, Kay, shook him awake at their apartment in Jerusalem. His cellphone was popping with alerts. “WhatsApp is going crazy,” she said. Munayer reached for his phone….
How groups like Hillsong learned to let go of the literal in favor of creative collaboration. The refrain “He is for you” doesn’t translate neatly into Spanish. In the English version of Elevation Worship’s song “The Blessing,” the phrase repeats and builds with each repetition. But in Spanish, the line is “Él te ama” or…
A new study finds white evangelicals are most eager to see their faith reflected more in the government, but very few say they support Christian nationalism. In a country where 80 percent of adults believe religion’s influence is in decline, white evangelicals stand out as the group most likely to want to see their faith…
I understand frustration with media negativity. But bad news may be God’s invitation to work alongside him. On a church mission trip in 2004, 65-year-old Ramon Billhimer looked out a bus window in Uganda and saw a little girl taking dirty, stagnant water from a muddy ditch. The water was for a garden, Ramon assumed,…
The latest influencer movement wants to “bring back” a narrow vision of biblical womanhood with pretty pictures, long dresses, and homemade bread. Let’s bring back beauty,” begins the caption of a viral reel on Instagram. The clip features Christian influencer Katie Calabrese in an airy long dress followed by a montage of images: flowers on…
