“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1) Any time we are in an abusive or controlling relationship, it takes effort to emerge from it, our independence and self-worth repaired and brought back to health and normalcy. Information that we have accepted as fact or truth, which has been gently twisted to mean other than it does, has to be…

“Jesus turned and saw her. ‘Take heart, daughter,’ he said, ‘your faith has healed you.'” (Matthew 9:18) How we define ourselves matters. All too frequently, we squeeze ourselves into little boxes, ones set before us by a corporate society that does not care for the individual but only his function as a unit to make…

“The man answered, ‘Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes.” (John 9:30) A well-meaning Christian once loaned me a book by a highly promoted Christian woman leader. (I make a point of gender identification here because, within Christian Evangelical circles, women are limited to teaching women, and…

“These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.” (Matthew 10:2) Do apostles exist…

More from Beliefnet and our partners
More from Beliefnet and our partners