Getting people to the “next level”

Read part 1 Is Salvational Transactional? Read part 2 Unpacking the Story No one is born with a fully-developed set of values. We’ve seen—through the story of Nicodemus—that as values develop, so does a depth of faith. We use a value development scale to delineate the 5-stage series an individual moves through as they strengthen […]

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Nicodemus : Unpacking the Story

Read part 1 Is Salvational Transactional? I’ve been scrutinizing my epistemology through the lens of Nicodemus and his question of, “what does it mean to be born again?” This is one of the best definitions of born again: When translator Des Oatridge, working in Papua New Guinea, came to the words “born again” in John’s […]

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Nicodemus: Is Salvation transactional?

John 3 is a very familiar passage, but recently it got me thinking about salvation through the character Nicodemus. Nicodemus is best known for being the first to brazenly ask Jesus, “What does it mean to be born again?” A question we ought to be asking ourselves anew today. The phrase born again has devolved […]

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4 ways to protect children from sexual abuse

It sickens me to read the headlines of at least a thousand children sexually abused by “safe” adults within the Catholic church in Pennsylvania. There are likely hundreds, even thousands more. Unfortunately, silence due to shame, fear, or lack of reporting prevent true numbers from being counted. UNICEF estimates that anywhere between 500 million and 1.5 […]

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Treasuring His Children: Bringing light to the dark places

The world recoiled at the repulsive news of French peacekeepers stationed in the war torn Central African Republic sexually abusing young boys in a refugee camp. One account reported that the soldiers raped starving children in exchange for giving them food. It is almost too difficult for most of us to fathom—this horrific evil perpetrated against the […]

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Child sex abuse in the CAR

I have a 5-year ache in my heart for the Central African Republic (CAR). And it only grew worse with the breaking news reports of sexual abuse of children in CAR. The reports of displaced children being sexually abused are beyond sickening. Not only because it was children who were victimized. What breaks my heart is […]

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