relationships

Where Church and Families Find Each Other

Rachel Chimits

God made people to operate best in families, whether we like it or not, but what happens when our families are not healthy?

Nicky Gumbel tells a story in one of his devotionals about a busy father who was looking after his daughter and trying to find a way to keep her entertained while he worked. He took a magazine page with a world map and cut it into pieces, creating a make-shift puzzle for his little girl.

Beauty Through Pain

Rachel Chimits

“The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater.” — J.R.R. Tolkien

You probably have thalassophobia, though you may not use that word to describe one of the world’s most common fears.

Relating to God’s People

Gary Wilkerson

“I thank my God in all my remembrance of you … because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now” (Philippians 1:3-5).

Paul thanks God for the fellowship of the saints; the koinonia — sharing together — that he and the Philippian church enjoyed as they walked together in faith. This fellowship in the gospel is like no other. It is powerful because it is born at the foot of the cross of Jesus Christ. Through him, men of many different quarters, tribes, and languages all come together as one body.

Making Relationships Good and Godly

Rachel Chimits

“Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” —Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

I dislike this opening line in one of my otherwise favorite books. In reality, dysfunctional human dynamics are far less unique and easier to acquire than happy, healthy ones.

All you need is sin and selfishness. Et voilà, a pain-riddled relationship.