Month: April 2015

7 Things I Wish I Knew About Christianity Before Becoming A Christian

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Stephen Mattson

Christianity comes with a lot of expectations. Some are biblical. Some, we’ve grafted on.

Sometimes we have unrealistic expectations of what our lives will look like after accepting Christ into our lives. We think seasoned Christians have it all together, always feel close to God and never doubt.

But it doesn’t take long for those illusions to be shattered. We soon realize that following Christ doesn’t look exactly like we expected.

Here are 7 things I wish I knew about Christianity before becoming a Christian:

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5 (Stupid) Reasons Christians Reject Environmentalism

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Stephen Mattson

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good (Genesis. 1:31 NIV)

Imagine if Christians had been on the forefront of protecting our earth, if they actually viewed the world as God’s creation, and the animals as God’s animals, and the plants as God’s plants, and land as God’s land. What if the American Church spent millions of dollars fighting to preserve nature instead of investing in divisive culture wars and political lobbying campaigns? What if Christians were viewed as protectors of creation, shielding millions of acres of land, restoring polluted areas, and protecting animals from cruelty and exploitation?

Unfortunately, Earth Day is rarely celebrated within mainstream Christianity beyond a Sunday sermon, and environmentalism is often frowned upon by evangelical leaders instead of championed. Here are the main reasons Christians have rejected caring for our environment:

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Five Characteristics of Christians Who Faithfully Attend A Church

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People are leaving churches in droves! The end is near! Christianity is dying! The exodus of people who no longer attend churches is a serious problem that modern pastors, churches, theologians, and religious institutions are desperately trying to fix. Everything from post-modernism, shallow youth programs, technology, and apocalyptic immorality has been blamed for the decreasing attendance numbers of those who attend church—but can the trend be stopped?

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Finding Faith In The Margins (by Cindy Brandt)

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I became a Christian as a child. Children learn by imitating. From the moment we slip out of our mother’s body we are searching for cues on how to live in this world. Babies pick up linguistic sounds and intonations long before they utter their first words. Every step we take in those early years are carefully placed in the larger footprints of trusted adults before us.

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The Hardest Part Of Christian Parenting: Wanting Our Children to Actually Be Like Jesus

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Stephen Mattson

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son…” (John 3:16).

The Easter season annually inspires hundreds of sermons, homilies, small group discussions, bible studies, and conversations, but hardly any of them will center around the idea of parenthood. But in many ways the Easter story is about parenting: a father allowing his only son to be ridiculed, abused, hated, and violently crucified on a cross —for the sake of others.

God the Father had the power to save his Son, and Jesus even makes a comment during his arrest and betrayal that “Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matt. 26:53). Instead of a divine act of intervention, God allowed His Son to suffer for the benefit of humanity.

An arrest and execution was terribly unfair to…

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