Research + News | Topic: Christianity

What If I Realized I Didn’t Have To Be Perfect In High School?

Paul, academic performance, anxiety, righteousness, and how the Gospel brings peace, freedom and comfort. Read the article here.

Parents, Take Note Of The Spiritual Practices Common To Kids Who Flourish As Adults

Research indicated that children who remained faithful as young adults (identifying as a Christian, sharing their faith, remaining in church, reading the Bible, and so on) grew up in homes where certain practices were present. Read the article here.

A New Normal: Kingdom Collaboration On Our Campuses Like Never Before

The EveryCampus coalition indicates we may be nearing a revival. Read the article here.

Members Only: Can an Atheist Join a Christian Campus Fellowship?

From an article in Salvo Magazine:

“If Christian groups are prevented from choosing their own members and leaders, or from ensuring that they practice what they preach, they will have a hard time remaining effectively Christian.”

Read the article here.

Duke University Freshmen Refuse To Read ‘Fun Home’ For Moral Reasons

Incoming freshmen at Duke University are reportedly refusing to read their summer novel, Fun Home – an LGBT graphic novel – due to their Christian and moral beliefs.

Read the article here.

How I Almost Lost the Bible

Had it not been for the first editor of Christianity Today, I likely would have gone the way of liberal scholar Bart Ehrman, says article author Gregory Alan Thornbury for Christianity Today. Read the full article here.

Church Membership ‘Back Home’ is Not Enough

What is the role of the local church in the life of a college student? The Gospel Coalition takes a look. Read more here.

How Do We Love a Broken World?

“Knowing what we know about the world, with all its wonder and wounds, what will we do? Do we see ourselves implicated, for love’s sake, in the way the world turns out?” This is a question that all college students should be asking before arriving on campus, while they are engaged in their academic pursuits while on campus, and for their entire lifetime after graduation. It’s also the question that’s at the heart of Steve Garber’s book, Visions of Vocation. Garber encourages readers – young and old alike – to always be asking, “If we know the world the way God knows it and if we love the world the way God loves it, then what, when we confront the brokenness, will we do?” The answer, Garber says, is found in our individual callings. It’s there, he says, that we see the world as it is. And it’s there — with the duties and responsibilities we each have — that we’re able to proactively and redemptively love the people and places around us.

In a recent interview with ByFaith Magazine, Garber says,

“We are called to be salt and light. As John Stott taught us, salt and light are affective commodities; they affect their environments. So we are never to curse rooms that are dark; rather we are to ask, ‘Why wasn’t the light turned on?’ In a culture of whatever, which is oppressive in every way that matters, we are called to enter in — with faith, hope, and love — in and through our vocations, offering visions of what might be, of what could be, of what someday will be.”

Read the rest of the interview here.

It’s OK to Call Yourself a Christian

In an article for Relevant Magazine, author and minister, Lillian Daniel, responds to Marcus Mumford’s (Mumford & Sons) comments about not liking the word “Christian.”

She writes, “In a culture of narcissism, the easiest way to follow Jesus is from a distance on a solo stroll to the beat of the same drummer you have listened to your whole life: your own personal preferences and already held beliefs. From a distance, you are safe from the assault of community. People will explain to me that without the Church, they are traveling light, without all that Christian baggage. But what exactly is this baggage? It’s people—who might actually be some of the best road companions there are.”

Read the full commentary here.