Christmas Massacres Challenge Secular Explanations of Nigeria Conflict

Religious animosity mixed with farmer-herder tensions continue to plague Christians in beleaguered Middle Belt region.

At least 140 Nigerian Christians were killed over the Christmas holiday.

Attacks on 26 villages in Plateau State began December 23, led by suspected extremists among Fulani Muslim herdsman against Christian farming communities. Some media reports cite nearly 200 dead, with many missing as local residents fled from gunmen into the bush.

Grace Godwin was preparing Christmas Eve dinner when her husband burst in with news from the neighboring village, ordering her and the children into the fields. Rebecca Maska similarly took cover but was shot and bled for three hours until help arrived, while her son had his hand chopped off with a machete before escaping. Magit Macham dragged his wounded brother to safety and hid overnight until the attackers moved on.

“These attacks have been recurring,” Macham told Reuters, having returned home from the regional capital of Jos to celebrate Christmas. “They want to drive us out of our ancestral land.”

For years, violence has plagued the West African nation’s Middle Belt, where a predominantly Muslim north intersects with a predominantly Christian south. Land right issues are also contested, as semi-nomadic cattle herders press against settled agrarian hamlets in Africa’s most-populous nation.

The Christmas massacres were the worst attacks since 2018. A local publication tallied an additional 201 deaths in Plateau State in the first half of 2023. Across the Middle Belt, at least 2,600 people were killed in 2021, according to the most recent data by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project.

The Northern Governors’ Forum called the attacks “reprehensible and heinous.” It was further condemned by the national Muslim organization Jama’atu ...

Continue reading...

from Christianity Today Magazine https://ift.tt/KTM68an

The Global Church in 2023: CT’s Top 20 International Stories

Our most-read stories from around the world, from Brazil to Cambodia to Germany.

Read 20 of Christianity Today’s most popular international stories of 2023. For regions where the church suffered significant disaster or violence, we’ve added additional context from our wider coverage:

20.

19.

18.

17.

16.

As the war in Ukraine hit the one-year mark, only a tiny minority of Russian Christian leaders had voiced complaint publicly. The response from authorities has been uneven: Minor church figures were fined or jailed, while others continue to use their names on social media.

Others decided to flee after denouncing the conflict. In August, authorities filed charges against Yuri Sipko for publicly disseminating “knowingly false information” against the Russian military. They raided his home and temporarily detained his son. The 71-year-old former president of the Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists escaped to Germany the week after.

Above, read the story of Mikhail Manzurin, a mid-20-something pastor who broke from his longtime spiritual mentor over the war.

15.

14.

More than five dozen members of Shenzhen Holy Reformed Church made a permanent move to America earlier this year after failing to find long-term asylum in South Korea and Thailand, having collectively escaped from China in 2019. These “Mayflower” Christians arrived as thousands of migrants from the mainland are trying to enter the United States through various countries in Latin America, deeply disillusioned and dissatisfied with the political and economic realities of today’s China.

Continue reading...

from Christianity Today Magazine https://ift.tt/hu0GDTi

Christianity Today’s 10 Most-Read Stories of 2023

Here is the content readers were most engaged with this year.

Amid wars, political chaos, and church controversies, Christianity Today’s readers came to our site in 2023 for faithful reflections and trustworthy reporting.

In both its topic and reception, our most-read article of the year is a reminder of how God is still at work: Tom McCall’s report from the revival at Asbury University was translated into six additional languages and read by over 470,000 people. And beyond revival coverage, CT readers were particularly interested in church splits, Tim Keller’s legacy, and war in the Holy Land.

Our 10 most-read stories of the year are listed below in descending order. You can find these and other top CT stories of the year here, many of which are also offered in CT Global translations.

10.

9.

8.

7.

6.

5.

4.

3.

2.

1.

Check out the rest of our 2023 year-end lists here.

Continue reading...

from Christianity Today Magazine https://ift.tt/s31v6EZ

How Asian Artists Picture Jesus’ Birth From 1240 to Today

Through Nativity art, the Word takes on flesh across diverse Eastern cultures.

Jesus was born in Asia. He was Asian. Yet the preponderance of Christian art that shows him at home in Europe has meant that he is embedded deeply in the popular imagination as Western.

The artists in this photo essay bring him back to Asia—but not to ancient Israel. They make the birth a local event, translating the story into their own cultural contexts. And so we see Jesus wearing, for example, the bone necklace of an Igorot chief (the Indigenous people of northern Luzon, Philippines) or greeted by water buffalo at a roadside pavilion in Thailand.

Some may object to depicting Jesus as anything other than a brown male born into a Jewish family in Bethlehem of Judea in the first century, believing that doing so undermines his historicity. But Christian artists who tackle the subject of the Incarnation are often aiming not at historical realism but at theological meaning.

By representing Jesus as Japanese, Indonesian, or Indian, they convey a sense of God’s immanence, his “with-us–ness,” for their own communities—and for everyone else, the universality of Christ’s birth.

However, it should be noted that not all Asians prefer Asian-specific representations of Christ. In fact, Christians in Asia tend to prefer the traditional European-style art with which many were introduced to the faith; they consider it the most authentically Christian. Part of this preference has to do with how closely tied certain Asian art styles and forms are to other religions, which most Christian converts want to distance themselves from.

That means that the Asian Christian artist who feels called to depict biblical themes, and to do so in an indigenized way, often does not find widespread support in their own ...

Continue reading...

from Christianity Today Magazine https://ift.tt/MWRVOIU

IHOPKC Cuts Ties with Mike Bickle over ‘Inappropriate Behavior’

Founder of International House of Prayer admitted to “past misconduct” earlier this month.

Leaders of the International House of Prayer, an influential charismatic evangelical prayer and mission group based in Kansas City, announced Friday that they have cut ties with founder Mike Bickle.

In late October, a group of former IHOPKC leaders accused Bickle of a pattern of alleged clergy sexual misconduct. Earlier in December, Bickle admitted some past misconduct but said that many of the allegations against him were false.

“With a very heavy heart I want to express how deeply grieved I am that my past sins have led to so much pain, confusion, and division in the body of Christ in this hour,” Bickle said in an online statement. “I sadly admit that 20+ years ago, I sinned by engaging in inappropriate behavior—my moral failures were real.”

On Friday, IHOPKC announced that Bickle was no longer part of the group.

“Since taking over management of the crisis, the Executive Committee has received new information to now confirm a level of inappropriate behavior on the part of Mike Bickle that requires IHOPKC to immediately formally and permanently separate from him,” said spokesman and crisis management consultant Eric Volz in a video posted on YouTube.

Volz said that IHOPKC leaders did not have permission to share details about Bickle’s alleged misconduct, only saying an investigation into allegations against him is in process.

The spokesman also announced that Stuart Greaves, executive director of IHOPKC, had resigned, without giving any reason for why he had done so.

Bickle has long been an influential figure in charismatic Christian circles. An early leader in the Vineyard movement, he split with the group in the 1990s over theology and clashes with its founder, John Wimber, and ...

Continue reading...

from Christianity Today Magazine https://ift.tt/oiVZls6

Interview: Sharia Law Makes a Case for Christ

In new book, Jordanian pastor and academic says that if Muslims treat evidence for the Bible and Quran consistently, the gospel eyewitnesses authenticate Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection.

For 1,400 years, Christians have wrestled with how to defend their faith to Muslims. While Islam accepts Jesus as a prophet, it denies his divinity. And as for his sacrifice for sin on the cross, the Quran denies the crucifixion and by extension the resurrection, claiming instead that God took him directly to heaven.

Christian responses have often been polemical, seeking to invalidate the message and morality of Muhammad. They have also been apologetic, sometimes employing legal arguments that Muslims view as manmade and changeable—thus lacking authority to adjudicate matters of eternal significance.

Baptist pastor Suheil Madanat seeks instead to ground the authenticity of the gospel account within Islam itself. In Evidence for the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ Examined through Islamic Law, the former president of the Jordan Baptist Convention (2016–2022) consults expert sharia compendiums and relevant scholarly works to learn sharia’s criteria for validating relevant evidence—including eyewitness testimony, confession, expert opinion, and circumstantial evidence—and examines the New Testament accounts against it.

Endorsed by scholars at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fuller Theological Seminary, and Jordan Evangelical Theological Seminary in Amman, the book is a new resource for Muslim apologetics and comparative religion. CT interviewed Madanat about liberal source criticism, the divergence in resurrection accounts, and his ultimate hope for Muslims who read his book.

How does traditional Islam look at the Bible?

In principle, they accept both the Old and New Testaments as the word of God, but they believe that they have been largely ...

Continue reading...

from Christianity Today Magazine https://ift.tt/THC78XL

Four Views on What American Christians Think About the Israel-Hamas War

Recent survey finds strong support for sometimes conflicting agendas, but also many believers who are still “not sure” what to advocate for.

In an age of polarization and strong opinions, a sizable share of American Christians are still “not sure” what they think about issues within the Israel-Hamas war.

A recent Lifeway Research survey, sponsored by the Philos Project, of self-identified believers did find significant convictions on some questions: Strong majorities support Israel’s right of self-defense (83%), but also the Palestinian right of self-determination (76%) and the goal of a two-state solution (81%).

But many questions revealed uncertainties about the complexity of the conflict:

• 15% are not sure about the optimal outcome.
• 17% are not sure if Gazans are responsible for Hamas’s attacks.
• 18% are not sure if armed Palestinian rebellion is a natural response to mistreatment.
• 24% are not sure if Israel’s blockade of Gaza has oppressed Palestinians.
• 24% are not sure if Israeli control of the West Bank and Gaza is illegal occupation.
• 26% are not sure if most Gazans support Hamas’s fight against Israel.
• 31% are not sure if Israeli settlements beyond agreed upon borders are illegal.

Furthermore, 41 percent hover between somewhat positive (25%) and somewhat negative (16%) in their overall perception of Israel, while 11 percent are not sure at all.

For each of these issues, of course, pluralities had an opinion on one side or another, as CT noted last week. To parse out the meaning of these diverse American Christian perspectives, CT asked four evangelical experts—two from peace-focused organizations in the US, and a Palestinian Christian and a Messianic Jewish leader from Israel—to describe what they found most surprising, concerning, and encouraging about the survey results:

Continue reading...

from Christianity Today Magazine https://ift.tt/fKk0SHD

The Baby Jesus Taught Us How to Scream

Christ in his humanity showed us how to cry out. In him, a not-so-silent night is a holy night all the same.

This piece was adapted from Russell Moore’s newsletter. Subscribe here.

Before I begin, let me tell you that I hate what I am about to do. That’s because few things exasperate me more than the people who Well, actually Christmas songs. True, there was no innkeeper in the gospel Nativity accounts. We don’t know how many wise men there were, but we know they weren’t there at the same time as the shepherds. But nobody wants to be under the mistletoe with the guy arguing about how much Mary knew.

You no doubt know that the idea of a “Silent Night” is Victorian sentimentalism more than biblical reality. “The little Lord Jesus, no crying he makes” assumes that a baby’s cry is a sin rather than part of the good human nature the Son of God assumed. We shouldn’t stop singing those songs, but at the same time, maybe we should ponder exactly why the screams from the manger really do matter for us.

The Gospels reveal that the Nativity scene was in the middle of a war zone. Joseph was trekking to the City of David with Mary to participate in the very thing—a census—for which God had repudiated David himself. And he was doing so at the command of a pagan Roman government occupying the throne of David, seeming to invalidate the promise God made to his people. The puppet bureaucrat warming that seat—King Herod—was so enraged by the Davidic prophecies that would threaten his position that he, like Pharaoh of old, ordered all the baby boys of the region to be killed.

This mass murder was, Matthew reveals, a fulfillment of the words of the prophet Jeremiah: “A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing ...

Continue reading...

from Christianity Today Magazine https://ift.tt/SlCnXPo

Pull Together Now

George Clooney’s “The Boys in the Boat” is a nostalgic true story for a divided America.

With The Boys in the Boat, in theaters for Christmas, director George Clooney has made a flawless sports movie, telling the true story of a humble college rowing team that united Americans across class divides and the expanse of a great but troubled nation. Boys is nostalgic and grounded in history, but it speaks directly—and deliberately—to our time.

Things are hard in 1930s Washington State. The Great Depression rages, work is scarce, and hope is even scarcer. Young Joe Rantz (Callum Turner) struggles to keep himself fed as he studies at the University of Washington, sleeping at night in a wrecked car in a shantytown. By day he studies and pulls a shift at a factory—if he can get the work. When he hears that a position on the university crew team comes with a bed and a stipend, he grabs an oar.

Joe is not the only rower having a hard time making ends meet, and the crew must compete against much better-funded teams, teams with full bellies and trust funds. Harvard is a powerhouse, Yale a serious contender, and Cal-Berkeley the local rival. But something clicks in the Washington team as they start winning races, something that will eventually take them to the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Along the way, they become a symbol of and for Americans: knocked down but ever rising again.

The movie is excellent, shot with loving attention to the sound of a blade slapping a wave, the heave of an oar, the poetry of a shell cutting through the water like a dagger. Turner plays Joe with quiet reserve, balanced by his lively love interest, Joyce (Hadley Robinson). Clooney, no stranger to vintage sports films after directing 2008’s Leatherheads, manages to make an austere and esoteric sport not just interesting but exciting. ...

Continue reading...

from Christianity Today Magazine https://ift.tt/CQy37jm

Waiting for the Light in Hitler’s Prison

A reminder of God’s faithfulness amid great darkness from Hanns Lilje, a Christian leader imprisoned in Nazi Germany.

The author of those words, Hanns Lilje, was a leader in the confessing church that boldly opposed Hitler. Imprisoned for his actions, he spent time in both the Dachau and Buchenwald concentration camps. On that memorable Christmas Eve of 1944, in a moment of “sentimental softness” the SS commandant removed the chains of a violinist awaiting execution and allowed him to play in the large vaulted hall of the prison.

Lilje paced back and forth in his cell, listening to the beautiful music so different from the usual prison sounds. He recalled the Christmas message he had given the previous year, before his arrest. Allied bombing raids were leveling Berlin, and many families, especially those with children, had left the city.

Speaking in his unheated church, he had addressed a congregation of mostly senior citizens who had nowhere else to go. He chose a passage from Isaiah 9: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light” (v. 2).

While preparing his sermon, Lilje had reminisced about childhood Christmases, when he would walk the streets with his playmates, excitedly peering into homes at the brightly lit Christmas trees inside. During wartime, however, all windows were darkened under strict blackout rules.

As a pastor, what light could he possibly offer in such dark and difficult times? And now, a year later, what light could he even imagine, waiting in a darkened cell for his own death sentence to be carried out?

As I read Hanns Lilje’s remembrance of a Christmas eight decades ago, my mind went to contemporaries who are walking in darkness. Ukrainians huddled around a kerosene lamp in a basement bomb shelter as Russian missiles fly overhead. Palestinian Christians in Gaza sharing a Christmas ...

Continue reading...

from Christianity Today Magazine https://ift.tt/sfBp3iH

My Top Books for Christians on Hinduism

Recommendations for gaining a more nuanced perspective of the faith of 1.2 billion.

Vijayesh Lal is the general secretary of the Evangelical Fellowship of India, the central network and service organization of evangelicals and Pentecostals in India, representing over 6,5000 churches across the nation. He is also a PhD scholar at SHUATS, Prayagraj.

Hinduism, a revered and intricate spiritual tradition deeply rooted in the Indian subcontinent, is largely accepted as one of the world’s oldest religions. The encounter between this faith and Christianity, which arrived in India in the first century, has been marked by cultural exchanges, theological discussions, and the ever-evolving dynamics of religious pluralism. Early interactions were “so cordial and dialogical that Saint Thomas Christians were considered Christian in religion, Hindu in culture, and Oriental in worship,” writes Anantanand Rambachan in Pathways to Hindu-Christian Dialogue.

However, in recent times, right-wing Hindu nationalism has begun promoting a specific interpretation of Hindu identity and values, often resulting in tensions with religious minorities, including Christians. Hinduism and Christianity now meet against a backdrop that includes not only the historical interplay of diverse beliefs but also contemporary issues of religious identity and freedom.

As Hindu communities spread across the world, there is a risk that contemporary political and cultural ideologies associated with Hindutva may accompany the diaspora, potentially shaping global perceptions of Hinduism. Hence, engaging with Hinduism is essential for nurturing genuine understanding and promoting harmonious relations. By exploring authentic teachings, philosophies, and cultural expressions of Hinduism, individuals and entire societies can move beyond stereotypes ...

Continue reading...

from Christianity Today Magazine https://ift.tt/ZzqUKOg

Bethlehem Cancels Christmas, But Local Pastors Still Expect a Holy Night

As war disrupts traditional festivities, Palestinian Christians see an opportunity to return to the Nativity story and share the gospel.

At Immanuel Evangelical Church in Bethlehem, instead of Christmas lights, senior pastor Nihad Salman rummaged out a banner from the church closet. The banner has a picture of a woman fleeing bomb-shelled buildings, and printed in Arabic are the words “Let us arise and worship God.”

The last time the church had the banner out was two years ago, during the May 2021 conflict between Israel and Hamas. That banner sums up Salman’s approach to Christmas during wartime this year. He sees an opportunity to preach the gospel to people who live under military occupation while grieving the deaths of their people in Gaza.

“People will be asking more questions,” he said. “We have seen that always after a crisis, people are seeking: What is the truth? Where is the truth? So we have lots of work to do.”

Church leaders in Bethlehem and across the Holy Land have decided to mute Christmas celebrations this year due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

Typically, Bethlehem—a Palestinian city of about 30,000 people in the Israeli-occupied West Bank—is jammed with more than 3 million visitors coming from all over the world to celebrate the birth of the Messiah.

Marching bands and carol singers and dancers and fireworks would fill the city with loud cheer and festive energy. Thousands would pack the Church of the Nativity, golden lights would twinkle across Star Street, and a giant tree with a ruby star would illuminate Manger Square.

Instead, the streets are dark and hushed.

It will be a silent night this Christmas—but it’ll still be a holy night, according to local Christian leaders. Stripping Christmas of all its extraneous decorations and Western traditions, they say, will help them focus ...

Continue reading...

from Christianity Today Magazine https://ift.tt/HIgFUps

Put ‘Mas’ Back in ‘Christmas’

The holidays are overwhelming. As a Christian and an introvert, I take refuge in church.

The day I look forward to most every holiday season is January 2. After the bustle and sensory overload of the holidays, the second day of the new year comes like a quiet snowfall, an invitation to rest in blessed solitude.

Appropriately, it’s also National Introvert Day. Up to half of the US population is introverted like me, and though the official designation may not be widely known, my sense of relief is no doubt widely shared. Many Americans report finding the holiday season stressful—but also lonely. Hectic, yet sad.

The pressure to socialize, consume, and celebrate can feel like too much. But if you scale down the celebrations and opt for a more restrained vision of the ideal holiday, you may be perceived as a killjoy. The holiday introvert in popular culture is the Grinch, friendly only with his pet dog. In church culture, introverted behavior can be seen as selfish or, perhaps, less useful for the gospel.

But in a season now marked by excess and decadence, there’s value in leaning in to a quieter, more intentional vision of the holidays. Like introverted hospitality, introverted feasting can benefit the whole church. Introverted or not, we can celebrate with more depth and intention if we follow the model of the early church and put “mas” back in “Christmas.”

Today when we hear feast or holiday, we think of decidedly extroverted enterprises: chattering with family and friends around a table, jostling elbows on shopping sprees, singing carols at strangers’ doors. But early Christians would have heard these words very differently.

Though early holidays included elements of what we think of as “feasting” today, the overall thrust was far ...

Continue reading...

from Christianity Today Magazine https://ift.tt/H7VBpXu

His Law Is Love and His Gospel Is Peace

A Palestinian Israeli Christian reflects on Christmas, justice, and war in Gaza.

Politicians and political activists are arguing about labels. Some are demonizing every Palestinian in Gaza and the West Bank: They are all terrorists or terrorist sympathizers. There are no innocents. They do not deserve to live. Others are dismissing Israeli grief after the indefensible October 7 attacks by Hamas: They are guilty of apartheid, ethnic cleansing, genocide. They got what they deserved. All are speaking of war as the path to tranquility and security: It is self-defense. It is resistance. It is our right.

In politics, the point of this debate is clear; the vocabulary we use shapes what is politically achievable. But it shapes our ethics too, and language like this traps us in an ethical vision that justifies war and bloody violence. It is not a Christian ethic, yet too many churches are caught up in applying these labels instead of providing a peaceful prophetic vision, a countercultural and distinctly Christlike stance.

Meanwhile, violence rules. People are suffering and being killed. Yet we want to celebrate Christmas. We want to look at the embodiment of perfect humanity, the baby Jesus. Can we also honor and serve him as our Prince of Peace?

Palestinians and Israelis need a call to peace to replace the drums of war. Almost 14 million people live between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. About half are Palestinians, including Palestinian Israeli citizens, and half are Jews.

War will not resolve our conflict. We have tried many wars, but the results are always the same: Peace is lost on both sides. No one truly wins. We are losing our young men and women, our children, our dignity, and even our humanity. Wars will not heal our land or our souls or our pain. Killing our neighbor ...

Continue reading...

from Christianity Today Magazine https://ift.tt/tjWaqL9

A Muted Christmas in Philippine City After ISIS Attack on Churchgoers

The small Catholic community in Marawi has weathered ongoing threats in the Islamic city.

Two weeks after ISIS-linked terrorists detonated an explosive during a Catholic Mass held at Mindanao State University (MSU) in the Philippines, killing four and wounding 45, the small Catholic community in the Muslim-majority city of Marawi is planning a scaled-down Christmas celebration.

They canceled the usual processions during the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8, instead calling Catholics to light candles on windowsills and pray the rosary at home. They also canceled the traditional Simbang Gabi, a nine-day series of dawn Masses leading up to Christmas Eve. For security, members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines stand guard at the university to ensure the safety of churchgoers, which totaled 72 when the attack happened.

Edwin Dela Peña, the bishop of Marawi, told CT that members of the MSU chaplaincy ministry are still processing the trauma of the attack. Some are asking, Lord, why did you allow this to happen to us? Dela Peña and other church leaders have used questions like this as “stepping stones to help [members] get ahold of themselves.” They acknowledge that confronting these questions about faith is essential in the process of overcoming trauma.

“The attack has caused disbelief, emotion, and great pain in everyone, Christians and Muslims,” De la Peña told Agenzia Fides. “They hit us right in the heart, during the Eucharist, the climax of our faith. There is much fear now, but faith accompanies us and gives us support. Even in this time of distress, we feel the presence of the Lord.”

While the Philippines is a largely Catholic country, Marawi, on the southern island of Mindanao, is 99.4 percent Muslim. Dela Peña believes the timing ...

Continue reading...

from Christianity Today Magazine https://ift.tt/xcNmqbw

My Top 5 Books for Christians on Sikhism

Must-reads for those eager to learn the origins, development, and tensions within a faith common to many Punjabis.

Manvir Vohra teaches world religions at seminaries in northern India and trains pastors and leaders in Punjab and other areas of North India. He also led the team that authored the first New Testament dictionary in the Punjabi language.

A History of the Sikhs, Volume 1 (1469-1839), by Khushwant Singh

In A History of Sikhs – Volume I, the firebrand writer, lawyer, diplomat, journalist, and politician Khushwant Singh presents a well-researched work about the origins and early history of the faith. Written in an easy-to-understand language, this book is of immense value for its non-hagiographic and pragmatic approach.

The book’s early chapters address the religious, cultural, and political environment of India and include a discussion of the 10 gurus who founded and developed the faith. Then Singh recounts the main developments of the religion, dedicating chapters to important characters in Sikh history like the warrior Banda Bahadur. Volume I investigates the early organization of the Sikhs into loosely organized armed units, their skirmishes with political powers and invaders of Punjab and North India, and the formation of the first Sikh empire under the leadership of Ranjit Singh.

This particular volume serves as a great introduction for readers who want to learn about the Sikh religion and its development. It recounts the initial period of the origins of the faith, its transformation from a purely devotional religion to one that also bears arms, and its ascendancy into a kingdom under an able leader.

A History of the Sikhs, Vol. 2 (1839-2004), by Khushwant Singh

Singh’s Volume II opens with the death of Ranjit Singh and the beginning of the Anglo-Sikh wars. It goes on to discuss the struggles faced by the community ...

Continue reading...

from Christianity Today Magazine https://ift.tt/iYKEHa2

Christmas Doesn’t Need Saving

Holiday specials remind us of a salvation we already have.

In our family, holiday movies and TV specials feature in our living room throughout the month of December. And after all these years, nestled on the couch with our four kids in front of the screen, we have observed a common theme: Christmas needs to be saved.

The “Christmas crisis” trope can take on many iterations, but its familiar pattern often begins with a crisis, sometimes dire enough to raise that most unthinkable of prospects: the cancellation of Christmas festivities.

Usually, the cause or condition of inevitable holiday disaster is some form of doubt, unbelief, or seasonal cynicism: Christmas skepticism is on the rise as the general populace is distracted and disillusioned! Belief in Santa has reached an alarming low, and his sleigh needs the Christmas spirit and holiday cheer for its propulsion!

With the joy of the season often in danger and under threat, the Christmas of holiday movies is a fragile, vulnerable thing: embattled, cancellable, and in need of rescue. The basic plot of these films and shows is born out of the fundamental conviction that Christmas needs a savior.

As a result, their main characters must rise to this very challenge. The job of saving Christmas is up to us. We can do it! And all this is done primarily through an exercise of faith. That is, a belief in magic and seasonal ideals like hope and kindness—as well as in Santa and the certainty that good ole’ St. Nick will arrive just on time and against all odds.

But equally threatening to the Christmas of holidays films and specials is self-doubt in our own abilities and personal resources. Protagonists must look within themselves and rediscover their inner strength and a renewed capacity for holiday joy and good cheer. We ...

Continue reading...

from Christianity Today Magazine https://ift.tt/lXCHLpc

Filthy Night, Fetid Night

I picture a clean, sweet Nativity scene. But Jesus chose to come to a dirty, broken world.

When I think about the night of Jesus’ birth, the first picture that comes to mind is straight from my childhood. It’s like I’m peering into a snow globe manger scene. Hallmark Channel perfect, it’s clean and serene. Everyone is in the correct place. Snow falls softly, blanketing the hillside in a carpet of quiet. All is calm. All is bright. Give it a good shake, and nothing falls out of place. The snow gently swirls, then settles over the pristine couple and silent baby once again.

But that image is quickly crowded by another. Nearly 15 years ago, my husband and I lived in a dusty Chinese village on the outskirts of Beijing. We volunteered for four years at New Day Foster Home, a private, Christian nonprofit organization that—in those days, before the Chinese government limited the work of NGOs across the country—helped fund surgeries and provided long-term foster care for medically fragile orphans. We lived in an apartment complex about a mile from the organization’s campus, and most mornings we walked behind a flock of sheep and their shepherd on our way to work.

I recently reread what I wrote in my journal at the time, a description of that shepherd’s stable. You could smell it before you saw it. Fetid and filthy, the sheep crowded in at the end of a day of foraging for food. In the summer, flies buzzed. In the winter, sludge froze solid. I didn’t want to go near; it was too dirty.

I would pass the sheep and their shepherd, pitying him a little, silently thankful that my own job didn’t require me to mess around in muck. Around Christmas, I pictured my Savior born amid fresh, sweet hay in an inexplicably warm and comforting stable. The ...

Continue reading...

from Christianity Today Magazine https://ift.tt/IAYk5BQ

‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ Evokes the Sacred Worth of Underdogs

Charles Schulz’s improbable holiday special echoed his own acquaintance with lowliness.

Tragedy plus time equals comedy.” It’s an oft-repeated, tongue-in-cheek axiom quipped by comedic figures like Steve Allen, Lenny Bruce, and Alan Alda (in Woody Allen’s film Crimes and Misdemeanors).

The inherent cynicism in this remark is both jarring and comical. But in the art of Charles M. Schulz, the cartoonist and creator of the Peanuts comic strip, there is some truth to it. In one portion of his fascinating new book, Charlie Brown’s Christmas Miracle: The Inspiring, Untold Story of the Making of a Holiday Classic, author Michael Keane narrates the sad story of Schulz’s failed relationship with Donna Johnson Wold, a young woman with “violent red hair.”

Donna was Charles’s first love, but she was torn in her devotions between Schulz and another man. In the end, as Keane explains, Donna left Charles and chose the other man, adding to a long string of childhood humiliations that he collected “the way other people might collect stamps or seashells.”

But this rejection bred creativity. As Keane observes, “The day his affections were spurned by the woman he loved was the day that forged the character of Charlie Brown.” The relatable, sad-sack little boy would always suffer unrequited love for a little red-haired girl, and this suffering fueled the kind of comedy that leads most viewers to laugh endearingly, perhaps even sharing what Keane calls a “wince of recognition.”

Humor in sadness

The most effective moments of Keane’s book come from the pervasive underdog stories of those closest to the making of A Charlie Brown Christmas, including producer Lee Mendelson, director Bill Melendez, musician Vince Guaraldi, and Schulz himself, the heart ...

Continue reading...

from Christianity Today Magazine https://ift.tt/8ZIuLUR

Have Yourself a (Less) Scary Little Christmas

The looming new year can be anxiety-inducing—but God has all the mercy, grace, and rest we need.

The glitz and glamour of the Christmas season are here, but you and I both know there’s a ball waiting to drop at midnight on December 31 that has us more uncomfortable than we care to admit. And that discomfort is the very thing I want to ask you to face: the impending fear of the new year.

If only we could be sure that the new year contained, well, new things for us. New as in good, of course. New as in hopeful, optimistic, exciting. If that were how new years worked, we wouldn’t be feeling so uptight. But lurking behind the new of the new year are all its unknowns and the fears they foster in our hearts.

Questions hover like ornaments dangling from the tree boughs: What will the new year bring? Can I get on my feet financially? Will these health concerns resolve? Can I find some reconciliation for this broken relationship? Will this career opportunity I’ve been working for all these years finally come to fruition? Will I find love?

Yuletide carols with saccharine choruses can do only so much to keep these fears and questions tucked away. But what if we didn’t keep them tucked away? What if we tried three experiments this Advent and Christmas season?

I know what you’re thinking: Is Christmas really the time for experimentation?Don’t I have shopping to finish, gifts to wrap, parties to attend, and family to fight? You do, but wouldn’t you also like to enter the new year with less trembling hands and a more trusting heart?

Experiment 1: Pause

What would it look like for you to let some things go? Go with me here for a second. When Christmas comes around, none of our regular responsibilities end. We layer ribbons and bows on top of our already busy lives: more commitments, more consumption, ...

Continue reading...

from Christianity Today Magazine https://ift.tt/W7ATxt5

Can We Consume Character? How to Learn Justice by Feasting

Deuteronomy offers a surprising method for becoming just disciples.

In the Old Testament, Israel found herself surrounded by monarchies and empires with powerful rulers and highly stratified societies, and she eventually sought to emulate that kind of system. Such political economies were filled with bureaucrats, professional soldiers, priestly classes, and—down at the bottom of the social pyramid—peasants. The peasants, of course, were expected to provide food for everyone.

Yet Israel was called to become a countercultural community that embodied God’s character and participated in God’s missional purposes—through faithful obedience to God’s just and righteous law. But this would require the formation of a just community made up of just persons. Where do such just communities and individuals come from? How can people gain and grow in the virtue of justice?

To address this question, the Book of Deuteronomy offers a breathtaking vision of what it means to become just—particularly in class-segregated contexts like those that dominated the ancient world and many societies today. Yet its answer is a surprising one: just discipleship begins at a feast.

In Deuteronomy 14:22–27, we read God’s explicit instructions for tithing: Israelite households must bring the first fruits of their harvest and the firstborn of their livestock to the sanctuary. Why? So that they might feast on them together before the Lord.

The explicit goal of this feast was that the Israelites would “learn to fear Yahweh” always (Deut. 14:23, author’s translation). But how did the tithe feast teach the fear of God? The passage makes no mention of teaching, reading, or instruction. Instead, it entails a learning by doing —or to be more precise, a learning ...

Continue reading...

from Christianity Today Magazine https://ift.tt/y76bXvw

The Best Books for Understanding Islam and Connecting with Your Muslim Neighbors

Five scholars from around the world offer their best recommendations for learning about the global faith.

The world’s second-largest religion, Islam has long exercised the minds of Christians. Dating to A.D. 610, when Muhammad is said to have received his first revelations from God, the faith quickly conquered Christian lands in the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe, establishing the two faiths on an adversarial basis that has continued through eras of caliphates, crusades, and colonization.

Muhammad originally viewed his communications with God as a continuation of the message received through the biblical tradition, calling Jews and Christians “People of the Book.” But though the treatment of non-Muslims cycled through periods of peace and persecution, the teaching of the Quran ensured theological distinction. Islam esteems Jesus only as a human prophet and denies his crucifixion.

Yet there is much that unites Christians and Muslims. The five pillars of Islam espouse monotheism, prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and pilgrimage. Certain expressions desire mystical communion with God, while others pursue pietistic fidelity to his law. Both religions seek to spread the faith and care for society, anticipating the judgment to come. And while adherents to each faith debate the place of militancy, history clearly testifies to the blood shed in the name of God.

While Islam has not experienced the same levels of schism as Christianity, Muslims debate within—and divide asunder—what they call the umma, the worldwide community of Islam.

Muslim diversity is also cultural. Though Islam was birthed in present-day Saudi Arabia and is generally associated with the Arab Middle East, the most populous Muslim nation is Indonesia, and its greatest rate of growth is in Africa. Nearly 50 nations boast Muslim majorities, ...

Continue reading...

from Christianity Today Magazine https://ift.tt/jfhUcpy

Mary Told Us What She Knew—In Song

Christians have to look beyond the typical Christmas carol lineup for music that captures the deeper themes of the Magnificat.

Without question, the most popular contemporary Christian song about the figure of Mary is “Mary, Did You Know?”

Mark Lowry and Buddy Greene’s 1991 hit has come to occupy a singular position in the Christmas music canon. It seems like almost every popular vocalist with a holiday album has covered the song: Carrie Underwood, CeeLo Green, Mary J. Blige, Rascal Flatts, Jessica Simpson, Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton, Patti LaBelle.

The Advent ballad showcases a singer’s emotional and vocal range—from the quiet strains of the first verse to the climactic bridge that invites a passionately belted delivery. It has also been the subject of thoughtful criticism and silly send-ups in recent years.

Why is it that “Mary, Did You Know?” has become the musical avatar of Mary in popular imagination when musical settings of the words of her canticle (Luke 1:46–55), also known as the Magnificat, offer a glimpse of her inner life and courageous response to her singular, miraculous encounter with God?

Mary’s song begins in Luke 1:46–48, “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.” (Magnificat is the first word in the Latin translation, Magnificat anima mea Dominum, “my soul magnifies the Lord.”) The text reflects on God’s faithfulness, his scattering of the wicked and dethroning of the powerful.

“The Magnificat is all about power structures being upended,” said Amy Orr-Ewing, author of Mary’s Voice, a new book of Advent reflections. “The justice theme goes throughout the Magnificat.”

Mary’s experience and persona often serve to underscore ...

Continue reading...

from Christianity Today Magazine https://ift.tt/SLM7uOr

For Messianic Jews, Debate Over Hamas Gets Biblical

Netanyahu’s allusion to the Amalekites sparks discussion of how to responsibly apply Scripture stories to current events like Israel’s war in Gaza.

When Benjamin Netanyahu announced the launch of ground operations in Gaza on October 28, weeks after Hamas terrorists murdered 1,200 civilians and abducted 240 hostages on October 7, he summoned the memory of an ancient foe.

“Remember what Amalek did to you,” the Israeli prime minister stated. “We remember and we fight.”

It was a reference his audience would understand.

In the Exodus narrative, the Amalekites attack the Hebrew people in the wilderness and are defeated in a dramatic conflict where Moses raises his arms over the battlefield. Later, in Deuteronomy 25:17–19, Moses exhorts the Israelites to “remember what the Amalekites did to you” and, after they have come into possession of the Promised Land, to “blot out the name of Amalek under heaven.” Finally, in 1 Samuel 15, God ordered King Saul to “totally destroy” the Amalekites, including women, children, and infants. Saul defeats the enemy, but is condemned for sparing their king and cattle.

Rabbinic commentary came to identify Amalek as a kind of paradigm for any enemy of the Jews that seeks their total destruction. Netanyahu had previously hinted the “new Amalek” could be a nuclear-armed Iran, and one of his advisors explained the word is used as a stand-in for “existential threat.” It has been invoked in reference to the Romans, the Nazis, and the Soviets.

Christians made the biblical comparison with Hamas even before Netanyahu, however, prompting discussion of responsible biblical interpretation in the midst of war.

Shortly after October 7, the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) said the Hamas attack was “rooted in the demonic realm as a manifestation of the ...

Continue reading...

from Christianity Today Magazine https://ift.tt/Le9WqTP

This Christmas, Let’s Remember Jesus’ Maternal Lineage

The book of Ruth’s narrative reminds us that God’s salvation is not simply accomplished through “heroic” men, but that women, too, play a vital role.

I grew up in Japan in a household where my mother was a follower of Jesus but my father was not a believer. My mother took my siblings and me to church each week and played a central role in my faith formation. Consequently, I recall her presence in most of my Christmas memories, such as attending Christmas Eve worship services, acting in Nativity plays, and sharing about Jesus and the “meaning” of Christmas with others. Within my family, my mother was the primary figure who modeled Christ, and she has played an indispensable role in fostering my faith.

Many Christians may resonate with my story, especially those who grew up in a family where the mother was the sole parent who followed Jesus. Indeed, a 2019 Barna study of Christian homes in the United States points to the prominent role of mothers in their children’s faith. Teens consistently identified mothers as the foremost figures who pray with them and talk with them about matters relating to the Bible and faith. “Over and over, this study speaks to the enduring impact of mothers—in conversation, companionship, discipline and, importantly, spiritual development,” researcher Alyce Youngblood concluded. For many believers, belief in Jesus would not have been a reality without the role and legacy of family matriarchs in their lives.

The Advent season provides an opportunity to meditate on Christ’s love, but it also gives us a chance to appreciate his maternal lineage, particularly of his great-ancestor Ruth. I propose that the story of Ruth serves as an Old Testament Advent story. For Christians, Advent carries a specific connotation of “the coming of Christ at the Incarnation.” But the term also broadly means “the ...

Continue reading...

from Christianity Today Magazine https://ift.tt/LdQgjIU

Creation Waits in Eager Expectation

… for American Christians to take climate change seriously. At the COP28 climate summit, fellow Christians wait too.

The 28th annual meeting of the United Nations Climate Change Conference—commonly called COP28—is winding down in Dubai. I’ve been here with the Christian Climate Observers Program (CCOP), which brings 30 emerging leaders from around the world to bear witness to conference events. COP28 includes both intense climate action negotiations with officials from 200 countries and something like a world’s fair, with pavilions from almost every country as well as many different interest groups.

One group that is noticeably underrepresented is the American church. There’s a faith pavilion here for the first time, and I’ve seen presentations from Muslims, Jews, and many Christians from other parts of the world. But aside from Americans involved via CCOP, I’ve not seen anyone representing Christians in the US.

Perhaps that’s not surprising. Christians are less likely than other Americans to think climate change is a serious problem, and evangelicals have the least concern about the environment of any American religious group. With fellow climate skeptics, they’re apt to argue that there are “bigger problems in the world,” and anyway, “God is in control of the climate.”

Those rationales for inaction may sound realistic, practical, even biblical. But they miss deeper scriptural themes of love, justice, and the responsibility for creation that God has shared with humanity on this side of eternity—and the next.

It’s true that many people have more immediate problems than climate change, but once you grasp the scale of the risk here, it’s hard to imagine a more significant threat to so many people’s way of life and livelihood, ...

Continue reading...

from Christianity Today Magazine https://ift.tt/2m3xhJH

Mike Bickle Confesses to Past ‘Moral Failures’ But Not Sexual Abuse

The International House of Prayer founder speaks out for the first time as the ministry launches a third-party inquiry.

International House of Prayer Kansas City (IHOPKC) founder Mike Bickle has admitted to “inappropriate behavior” and “moral failures” that took place more than 20 years ago—but he says the claims of sexual abuse that emerged against him this fall are false.

Bickle publicly addressed recent allegations of abuse for the first time Tuesday, saying he had repented for his “past sins,” apologizing for how the situation has affected his family and ministry, and asking followers not to come to his defense online.

“Some may wonder why I am just now making a public statement 20+ years later? It is because I was recently confronted about things that I said or did 20+ years ago—things I believed were dealt with and under the blood of Jesus,” he wrote. “Since this has now become public, I want to repent publicly.”

A group of former IHOPKC leaders released a statement in October saying Bickle had been accused of sexual misconduct “where the marriage covenant was not honored” and that they had heard corroborating testimony from “several victims.” In The Roys Report last week, a woman alleged that Bickle sexually abused her while she was an intern at IHOPKC 27 years ago.

Bickle has been on leave from the ministry since October 26 while IHOPKC leaders looked into the allegations. On Sunday, after weeks of back-and-forth, the church announced a third-party investigation. Bickle said he drafted a statement on October 28 but was advised by legal counsel to wait.

Bickle, 68, did not describe his past “inappropriate behavior” other than to say he wasn’t admitting to the “more intense sexual activities that some are suggesting.” ...

Continue reading...

from Christianity Today Magazine https://ift.tt/3BPyZGw

Beyond Narnia, Ramona, and Green Gables

A conversation with Christian authors, editors, and more about contemporary children’s literature and how to find the right books for your kids.

If you haven’t visited the children’s section of a bookstore recently, you may be surprised at the sheer floor space taken up by books for young readers. Tens of thousands of children’s book titles are published each year, joining the countless volumes already on the shelves. As of 2022, children’s literature accounted for nearly one third of all book sales in America.

But the reasons to pay attention to this category far exceed any financial impact. These texts have tremendous influence on each new generation. “Because children’s tales perform a variety of cultural functions, they are crammed with clues to changes, attitudes, and behavior,” notes Mitzi Myers, a leading authority on children’s literature. “Above all, these key agents of socialization diagram what cultures want of their young and expect of those who tend them.”

Unfortunately, as anyone perusing the stacks quickly discovers, quantity does not necessarily translate to quality in these lofty aims. In fact, the sheer volume of books only complicates the search for greatness. The bigger the haystack, the harder it is to find the proverbial needle.

One segment of children’s books in particularly high demand is classified as middle grade (or MG) literature. Kids between ages 9 and 13 are considered by many to be in the “golden age” of readers, voraciously consuming books as they first experience the joy of being transported to other worlds through the written word. My own memories of the impact books had on my life in fourth and fifth grade are what drew me to write The Inkwell Chronicles for that audience.

And there’s much to celebrate in the contemporary MG ...

Continue reading...

from Christianity Today Magazine https://ift.tt/FwbO8az

Hudson Taylor’s Wish for a ‘Thousand Lives’ for China’s Millions Has Become a Reality

The legacy of Hudson Taylor and his China Inland Mission is still inspiring new generations of Christians in China and beyond.

In the courtyard of the headquarters of Overseas Mission Fellowship (OMF), across the street from lush botanic gardens in the city-state of Singapore, there is a pavilion emblazed with words in both Chinese and English: “Have faith in God.”

This simple but overwhelming command is the spiritual core of the mission that OMF continues, the work of British missionary James Hudson Taylor (Dai Desheng 戴德生, 1832–1905), who founded OMF—then known as China Inland Mission (CIM)—in 1865. Taylor’s pioneering work in China’s inland was groundbreaking, and he is remembered for his missional drive, spiritual discipline, evangelistic strategy, contextualization to Chinese culture, and support for single women missionaries.

For Chinese Christians in China, Taiwan, and overseas, Taylor remains a peerless figure. He is loved and admired, and many Chinese Christians can still recite his best-known words: “If I had a thousand pounds, China should have it. If I had a thousand lives, China should have them. No! Not China, but Christ.”

Taylor’s descendants of four generations, each boasting at least one missionary dedicated to the Chinese church, are affectionately called an example of Dai Dai xiang chuan (戴戴相传), a “legacy of dedication from one generation to the next.” Indeed, the very existence of tens of millions of Chinese Christians and thousands of Chinese churches all over the world today is significantly the legacy of Taylor and CIM/OMF.

“History has proved that the fruit of the gospel produced by CIM has a strong foundation and can stand up to the winds and rains,” wrote mainland Chinese pastor Yan Yile. “Even though Western missionaries were forced to ...

Continue reading...

from Christianity Today Magazine https://ift.tt/nzXed87

Journalists Won’t Earn Back Trust by Claiming a Monopoly on Truth

Margaret Sullivan’s “reality-based” approach to journalism overlooks the reality of legitimate division in American society.

Veteran journalist Margaret Sullivan’s Newsroom Confidential: Lessons (and Worries) from an Ink-Stained Life first appeared in hardcover a year ago. It was released in paperback this month, generally the sign of a successful run and a reason for new critical attention, like this very review.

But if you want to get the gist of Newsroom Confidential’s core dispute with the mainstream press—what Sullivan dubs the “reality-based media,” a term to which I’ll return momentarily—you could skip the book and instead read a few dozen words from one of her November columns.

Reflecting on then-fresh poll results showing former president Donald Trump edging out current president Joe Biden in key battleground states, Sullivan says Trump is on the verge of “making the United States an authoritarian regime,” so the media must “do its job better. The press must get across to American citizens the crucial importance of this election and the dangers of a Trump win. They don’t need to surrender their journalistic independence to do so or be ‘in the tank’ for Biden or anyone else.”

The trouble here, as in Newsroom Confidential, is never Sullivan’s skill as a writer. She has a varied and impressive career, enough that the reader should grant her the impulse to toot her own horn.

It’s a big horn, after all. Few can boast of having served as the public editor of The New York Times. Sullivan has worked, too, as a media critic for The Washington Post, the newsroom leader at The Buffalo News, and now, a columnist at The Guardian. She’s well-positioned to pen this kind of memoir, and I was eager to learn from her experience while comparing CT, journalistically, ...

Continue reading...

from Christianity Today Magazine https://ift.tt/y6dbrXq

How 1 in 4 Countries Restrict Religious Conversion

New report by international religious freedom advocates compiles the text of 73 laws in 46 nations.

To share your faith—or change it to another—first check your citizenship.

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has released a new report on anti-conversion laws around the world. Providing the legal text for 73 separate laws, the compendium notes that 1 in 4 nations (46 total) restrict the right of its people to either adopt or propagate a religion.

“The right to convert from one religion or belief to another, or to no religion or belief at all, is central to [the] protection for religious freedom,” said Susie Gelman, a USCIRF commissioner. “And in countries with anti-conversion laws, religious minorities tend to be broadly targeted for harassment, assault, arrest, and imprisonment.”

Gelman, a three-term president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, cited the example of pastor Keshav Acharya, sentenced by Nepal to one year in prison for allegedly attempting to convert Hindus to Christianity. But he is not the only example.

Last week in India, 9 Christians were arrested for allegedly evangelizing the poor.

Last summer in Iran, 106 Christians were arrested for their religious beliefs.

Last spring in Libya, an American Christian was arrested for alleged missionary activity.

The USCIRF report grouped the laws into four categories. First, anti-proselytizing laws restrict witnessing of one’s faith in 29 nations, including in Indonesia, Israel, and Russia. In Morocco, for example, it is illegal to cause a Muslim to question his or her religion.

The second category of interfaith marriage is restricted in 25 nations, including in Jordan, the Philippines, and Singapore. In Qatar, for example, if a wife converts to Islam but the husband does not, a judge may annul ...

Continue reading...

from Christianity Today Magazine https://ift.tt/E89x06F

‘The Poor Will Always Be Among You’ Is a Call to Obedience

This verse can be misconstrued as a justification for systemic poverty. But what does it really mean?

In some Christian circles, whenever an argument is made in favor of eliminating poverty, someone is bound to retort, “Have you never read Matthew 26:11? The poor will always be among us!”

Thus saith the Lord—case closed.

When read in a certain light, this verse can be misinterpreted and even weaponized as a justification of wealth accumulation or apathy toward the plight of the poor. So, what did Jesus really mean when he said the poor would always be among us?

First, let’s consider the structure of the statement. Jewish teachers in first-century Judea would often quote just the first line of a text, and their studious disciples would immediately understand the reference.

Take, for instance, Jesus’ words on the cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” This is decidedly not a desperate cry of despair. Jesus is not saying that God has abandoned him, nor is he questioning his faith. In fact, he is doing the exact opposite. Jesus is quoting verbatim the first line of Psalm 22—a beautiful declaration of surrender, trust, and faith that God wins in the end. To the Roman guards, Christ’s words would have sounded like defeat. For the disciples, however, it was a cry of victory.

When Jesus says, “Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice’” in Matthew 9:13, he’s telling the Pharisees they’ve neglected the Old Testament teaching found in Hosea 6:6. When Jesus says, “From the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah” in Matthew 23:35, he’s referring to the entire Old Testament canon from start to finish.

Likewise, for Deuteronomy 6:4–5—one of the most famous and frequently recited Jewish ...

Continue reading...

from Christianity Today Magazine https://ift.tt/A7wuLFB

Don’t Miss These African Christmas Hits

Jam out this season to highlife, Afrobeats, jazz, a cappella, R & B, rap, dance, and hip-hop artists from Nigeria, South Africa, and more.

Having listened to hours of African Christmas music, I can safely say that these albums and songs will put your heart in a worshipful mood and set your feet tapping and your body grooving. While globally, African music may be best known for the highlife and Afrobeat genres, artists across the continent incorporate jazz, a cappella, R & B, rap, dance, and hip-hop into their music.

As a British Ghanaian now living in the United States who has sung in choirs and led worship, I count these among my favorite African Christmas gospel songs, largely from the Anglophone world, representing these wide-ranging music styles and showcasing collaborations with other world-class artists.

If we missed any of your favorites, send us an email at ctafrica@christianitytoday.com!

Florocka is a Nigerian gospel artist and producer who has been in the music and production industry for over 27 years and is a multiple award–winning singer and producer. He has collaborated with other well-known Nigerian artists, including Helen Yawson and Sammie Okposo.

Florocka’s 2021 album, Another Christmas According to Florocka, is a dance album (think J Moss–type songs, especially “Keresimesi”) featuring pop and hip-hop tracks alongside songs like “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” which somehow mashes up Middle Eastern music with rock and a rap bridge.

Jehovah Shalom Acapella is a six-member Ugandan band that released the five-track EP Joy to the World in 2020. The title track, an adaptation of Isaac Watts’s classic, begins in English before transitioning to Luganda, and the song “Enkya Ennungi Esembedde” (“I’m Telling the World about His Love”) is entirely in the Bantu language.

Last year, ...

Continue reading...

from Christianity Today Magazine https://ift.tt/yDhYPO1

When Grief like Sea Billows Roll Through Your Holidays

I learned how to mourn when my mom lost her mind, and then her life, to dementia.

When my mother passed away last winter, I discovered the gift of grief.

In the span of a single year, my mother went from a vibrant, constant presence in my life—through phone calls, texts, and when we could, in-person visits—to a swift decline in mental and physical health.

The first sign, for me, was an unexpected call at 5 a.m. one morning. Mom had many skills but being active at 5 a.m. was not one of them. Calls at 10 a.m., lunchtime, or late in the evening were much more likely. I immediately answered, thinking something had to be urgent.

“Mom, is everything okay?” I asked, pretending I had been up for hours while clearing the cobwebs from my mind and the frog from my throat.

“Oh, I’m just calling to see how you are doing,” she said, “but I hope I’m not interrupting dinner for you guys.”

Maybe she’s just confused. Maybe she had a bad night’s sleep, I thought. I didn’t want to believe this was what my sister, Laura, had been gently warning me about. My sister and her husband had recently moved back to Illinois to live near my parents. And in recent weeks, they had told me that Mom had forgotten how to write a check. Well, that’s not that crazy. Who writes checks anymore? I had rationalized at the time.

“Mom, you do know that it’s five o’clock in the morning, right?” I offered.

“Oh, I’m so sorry. You know, I keep getting my times mixed up, with daylight savings and all,” she replied, though we were nowhere near a time change. After talking a bit more, we ended the call. When I told my sister about it, she said these sorts of incidents were becoming more common.

A few days later, I got another call from ...

Continue reading...

from Christianity Today Magazine https://ift.tt/7ygKjih

The ‘Soul of India’ Now Lives in Its Cities. Is the Local Church Ready?

How Christian outreach has come to look like the YMCA, call center ministries, and the “Christward” movement model.

India’s swift urbanization is reshaping the nation’s identity, with over one-third of the population now in major cities. For many missiologists, this new demographic reality calls for a recalibration of the church’s approach, one that moves beyond traditional rural missions to address the complexities of urban life.

In recognition of this shift, in 2014 the Evangelical Fellowship of India created the National Centre for Urban Transformation (NCUT) to educate and train Christian leaders to reach migrants, professionals, the poor, women, and students in urban environments. NCUT develops urban ministry courses for Bible colleges and seminaries, conducts research, and is working in 32 of the country’s cities with populations ranging between 500,000 to 9 million residents.

This September, the organization released Rethinking Urban Mission and Ministry in India, edited by urban missiologists Atul Aghamkar, who is also NCUT’s national director, and James Patole.

CT spoke to Aghamkar about India’s shift from village to city life, how Christians are reaching call center employees and other professionals, and why the rest of the world should pay attention to “Christward” movement models.

How have Christians historically engaged cities?

Christian missions historically began in cities, evident with the arrival of the first Protestant missionaries in Tharangambadi (a coastal city in southeastern India) and William Carey’s leadership in Kolkata (the capital of West Bengal State). Recognizing the strategic importance of cities, missionaries established their bases there, initially focused on reaching the upper castes, especially Brahmins. When this strategy struggled to take hold, they ...

Continue reading...

from Christianity Today Magazine https://ift.tt/tN3VmH4

From Buddhist Monk to Thai Gangster, God’s Grace Broke Me

God showed me that if he could change me, he could also change a broken border town.

Surrounded by lush jungle mountains drenched in tropical fog, the Thai town of Mae Sot near the Thailand-Myanmar border is famous for its trade in precious gems and teak. Yet beneath its picturesque façade, the town is the center of illicit cross-border trade, drugs, and human trafficking. Myanmar’s decades-long civil war is felt in Mae Sot: Residents hear gunfire, experience an occasional mortar shell dropping in the streets, and see thousands of refugees fleeing across the border into their town.

In the midst of the chaos, Thai pastor Somphon Sriwichai is seeking to create order. His church operates a school for migrant children from Myanmar and safe houses for children at risk of sex trafficking, and they also provide shelter for refugees and relief for disasters. Sriwichai’s life story—from a Buddhist monk to a gangster to a missionary and pastor—demonstrates the power of Christ to change lives, communities, and even places like Mae Sot.

Here is Sriwichai’s story, as told to Kelly Hilderbrand, his friend and colleague for the past 27 years.

Dedicated to the temple

I was born in 1959 in the village of Nong Bua in the Chiang Mai district, a mountainous region of northern Thailand. My mother died in childbirth. As a baby I became very sick, but my family didn’t have the money to take me to a hospital.

Instead, they invited a Thai traditional healer and a shaman to heal me. They prepared herbal medicine, conducted rituals, and sacrificed a chicken, but nothing worked. With no other option, my father took me to the local temple and made a vow to the Buddha idol that if I was healed, I would become a monk. From that moment, I began to recover.

At eight years old, I went to live in the temple ...

Continue reading...

from Christianity Today Magazine https://ift.tt/HUjirQx

Deconstructed Home for the Holidays

Faith is dividing families. What does lament look like in our relationships to God and our loved ones?

Traditionally, the phrase “home for the holidays” has conjured up feelings of warmth and welcome. So much so that advertisers give us an annual slate of commercials linking their particular product to our shared longing for family connection and tenderness.

But increasingly, the holiday table is marked by frustration as families live out the demographic realities of an increasingly divided society. The holidays can be especially fraught for those questioning their religious upbringings—the very upbringings that the people sitting across from them were key to creating.

At first glance, religious deconstruction appears to be a question of changing one’s beliefs. Because evangelicals tend to center the experience of conversion, de-conversion also takes center stage. As scholar Karen Swallow Prior observes in her new book, The Evangelical Imagination, “what experience gives, experience can take away.” But faith is a complex matrix of believing, doing, and belonging. Yes, we confess certain things as true, but we also act in ways that accord with them and live in relationship with like-minded people who bolster our confession. As a result, are not simply dealing with changing beliefs—they also face shifts in community, with family relationships often taking a direct hit. As an elder millennial leading a multi-generational congregation, pastor Ben Marsh finds himself in the unique position of walking with families through this process. “I just sat in a room with several of my older members who shared the pain of separation from their children who have cut them off,” he recently posted on X, the site formerly known as Twitter. “,” he continued, “the relationship ...

Continue reading...

from Christianity Today Magazine https://ift.tt/qts9mgA

God Thwarted the Tower of Babel. But Its Spirit Lives On.

From the builders of Genesis 11 to the architects of the modern world, we've forgotten who makes our name great.

An excerpt from CT’s Book of the Year. Learn about CT’s 2024 Book Awards here.)

The tale of the Tower of Babel is a story of judgment and a story of autonomy. The events are presented in two acts: the people’s provocation and God’s response.

The curtain lifts for the first act on the scene of a communal building project:

Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.” (Gen. 11:1–4)

So what is the problem here? Is it not sensible to live together in cities, with all the benefits of security and the division of labor that urban life brings? Yet there are clues that the main intention is something other than establishing a stable society.

The first humans were commanded by God in Genesis 1:28 to “fill the earth,” but the builders of Babel want to construct a single city, lest they are “scattered over the face of the whole earth.” They want to assert their own autonomous identity, captured in the language of “so that we may make a name for ourselves.” In biblical thinking, to name something is to have authority over it. In Genesis 1, God systematically names the elements of creation as he makes them. To seek to make a name for oneself is to assert one’s independence, ignoring the one who gives you “life and breath ...

Continue reading...

from Christianity Today Magazine https://ift.tt/HbdAGxW

The Suspense of Mary’s Yes

How a courageous response echoes through eternity

In Luke chapter 1, we are presented with a beautiful account of how the angel came to Mary, how she heard him, and how she responded in courage: “I am the Lord’s servant. May your word to me be fulfilled.” The words contained here should fill every faithful reader with awe and wonder, but above all with gratitude. These few verses in Luke are one of the great hinges—or momentous turning points—of the whole Bible. They are an answer to that early tragic turning point in Genesis: the moment of Eve’s disobedience.

Eve’s choice had terrible consequences for all of us. Her yes to the serpent foreclosed and diminished our true humanity—though of course, the serpent had promised just the opposite! But if Eve turned her back on God, and turned all of us with her, then Mary turns to face him willingly, and her courageous yes to God welcomes Jesus into the world. In Jesus every person may now choose, if they wish, to receive God’s welcome. His welcome extends both to the fullness of life here on earth, even with all its limitations, and into eternal life with him.

Our God is the God of freedom and love, and he will not force himself on anyone. Instead, he waits courteously for our assent, for our yes to his love. As we read these verses, we almost hold our breaths and reenter the drama of that moment: God offers to come into the world as our savior, and Mary, at this moment, speaks for all of us. What will she say? Will she offer her whole life to be made new, to be changed forever? Or will she shy away from the burden?

We should sense an awesome hush, an agony of suspense, between verses 37 and 38, and then as we hear Mary’s response, we should feel great relief and rejoicing. ...

Continue reading...

from Christianity Today Magazine https://ift.tt/lM7hA2C