Written by Russ Masterson

The worship leader concluded the familiar praise song and strummed his guitar as he spoke about a new song, one he'd just written and wanted to sing with us. He told us about the moment when the words came to him, and the synergy he felt as his band created the melody. He said he felt God in the creation of this new song.

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Written by Laine Gebhardt

What’s the difference between a church member and a member of Alcoholics Anonymous? Church members value honesty. A.A. members are just plain honest. Tonight I went to my first AA meeting. I’m not an alcoholic, although I do enjoy Leineys Fireside Nut Brown, too much. I went with some friends because they asked me to. They had given my church a shot and so I gave theirs one.

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Written by Gina DeLapa

Ash Wednesday is nine days away, and for that I am both thankful and relieved. It means I have a head start in discerning how to observe the journey toward Easter known as Lent. And of course, the journey toward Easter also includes Good Friday—a fact which, if I really take it in, changes everything.

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Written by Wendy Harbottle

Recently, I spoke to a friend who told me she likes (really, really likes) a guy who is not a Christian. She told me that she wants to date him. She told me she doesn’t care he isn’t a Christian. Then she told me if he wants to sleep with her while they’re dating she will. I listened. She thanked me for not judging her. She told me she couldn’t speak to any other Christians about this because they make her feel like what she wants to do is wrong. She told me she feels so lonely and she just wants to feel loved. I listened. I filtered. I questioned.

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Written by Jason Boyett

This week, as we creep closer to the 25th of December, we’re running a daily excerpt from Jason Boyett’s article “Stealing Christmas” (which appeared in the Nov/Dec 2009 issue of RELEVANT). In it, Jason takes on some of the traditions we associate with the birth of our Savior and finds that some of them didn’t start out so “Christian.” So, since we live in a culture that often defines this time of year by a “War on Christmas” or a “War Defending Christmas,” we thought it would be fun (and informative) to look at where some of our most beloved traditions really come from. We've tackled the Christmas tree, mistletoe, gifts and the date. But in the end, what do our traditions really say? Can the "stolen" be redeemed?

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Written by Jason Boyett

This week, as we creep closer to the 25th of December, we’re running a daily excerpt from Jason Boyett’s article “Stealing Christmas” (which appeared in the Nov/Dec 2009 issue of RELEVANT). In it, Jason takes on some of the traditions we associate with the birth of our Savior and finds that some of them didn’t start out so “Christian.” So, since we live in a culture that often defines this time of year by a “War on Christmas” or a “War Defending Christmas,” we thought it would be fun (and informative) to look at where some of our most beloved traditions really come from. So far, we've tackled the Christmas tree, mistletoe, and gifts; check back each day to find out more ways we’ve “stolen Christmas.”

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Written by Jason Boyett

This week, as we creep closer to the 25th of December, we’re running a daily excerpt from Jason Boyett’s article “Stealing Christmas” (which appeared in the Nov/Dec 2009 issue of RELEVANT). In it, Jason takes on some of the traditions we associate with the birth of our Savior and finds that some of them didn’t start out so “Christian.” So, since we live in a culture that often defines this time of year by a “War on Christmas” or a “War Defending Christmas,” we thought it would be fun (and informative) to look at where some of our most beloved traditions really come from. So far, we've tackled the Christmas tree and mistletoe; check back each day to find out more ways we’ve “stolen Christmas.”

Read more...

Written by Jason Boyett

This week, as we creep closer to the 25th of December, we’re running a daily excerpt from Jason Boyett’s article “Stealing Christmas” (which appeared in the Nov/Dec 2009 issue of RELEVANT). In it, Jason takes on some of the traditions we associate with the birth of our Savior and finds that some of them didn’t start out so “Christian.” So, since we live in a culture often defined this time of year by a “War on Christmas” or a “War Defending Christmas,” we thought it would be fun (and informative) to look at where some of our most beloved traditions really come from. Yesterday we tackled the Christmas tree; check back each day to find out more ways that we’ve “stolen Christmas.”

Read more...