Renewdaily - Podcast Details

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RENEW.org Daily Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is Near…and It’s Here | Jim FrechClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/repent-for-the-kingdom-of-heaven-is-near/ This is an audio version of a written Article from RENEW.org Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ Have you ever looked for something all over your desk, kitchen counter, or workbench with no success only to see it magically appear right where you were looking one minute before? When your eyes are opened, it can be truly frightening. That’s kind of what the Kingdom of Heaven is like. Matthew 3:2 – John...

2026-02-2411 min

RENEW.org Daily What Does “God Fearing” Mean? | John WhittakerClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/god-fearing/ This is an audio version of a written Article from RENEW.org Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ What comes to mind when you hear the phrase “God fearing”? One of the first things I picture is an old movie. Maybe it’s even black and white. And one of the characters is described as a “God-fearing woman” or a “God-fearing man.” It could even be a John Wayne movie, such as the 1947 featur...

2026-02-2314 min

RENEW.org Daily Pastoral Burnout: Intentional Times of Reflection | Doug GambleClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/pastoral-burnout-intentional-times-of-reflection/ This is an audio version of a written Article from RENEW.org Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ Author’s note: This is my sixth and final article in a series dealing with pastoral burnout. Recent Barna research revealed that 33% of ministers had given serious thought to quitting. My own research for a graduate studies project showed 63% of those surveyed had given or were giving serious thought to quitting the ministry. Previous articles provide an ov...

2026-02-2208 min

RENEW.org Daily Sermon on the Mount: Building Your House | Jeremy BaconClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/sermon-on-the-mount-building-your-house/ This is an audio version of a written Article from RENEW.org Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who...

2026-02-2107 min

RENEW.org Daily Seven Habits of Highly Effective ChurchesClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/seven-habits-of-highly-effective-churches/ This an audio version of a written Article from RENEW.org Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ All of us have habits. Some good; some bad. In The Patient Ferment of the Early Church, Alan Kreider calls habits our embodied behaviors—our reflexes. Habits are not strategies; they are responses. James Clear says diet is not a strategy; it’s about our habits of food placement. Put fruit in a bowl on the counter. Put ic...

2026-02-2007 min

RENEW.org Daily How the Ordinary Becomes HolyClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/how-the-ordinary-becomes-holy/ This an audio version of a written Article from RENEW.org Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ We say Jesus began his ministry at thirty—but the Greek text never says that. Luke 3:23 reads, “Jesus, when he began, was about thirty years of age…” Most English translations fill in that beginning with the word “ministry.” You’ll find it in the NIV, the ESV, even the Reina Valera in Spanish. But here’s what most peopl...

2026-02-1918 min

RENEW.org Daily Costly Obedience and the Restoration MovementClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/articles/ This an audio version of a written Article from RENEW.org Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ The Restoration Movement emerged from a collective belief that Jesus’ prayer in John 17 called for obedience rather than admiration. Barton W. Stone and Alexander Campbell thought that Christian division was not only bad, but also morally wrong. Jesus asked God to make his followers one so that the world would believe, and they did. For them, unity was...

2026-02-1808 min

RENEW.org Daily Transfigured by Beholding JesusClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/transfigured-by-beholding-jesus/ This an audio version of a written Article from RENEW.org Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ When you think of God, what do you see? I know God is Spirit, but Jesus is God—and so when you think of Him, what does His face look like? Can you bring yourself to look up and lock eyes with Him? I remember one of my college professors talking about the two extremes the...

2026-02-1707 min

RENEW.org Daily Seven Churches of Revelation: The Church in PergamumClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/church-in-pergamum/ This an audio version of a written Article from RENEW.org Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ Going on the road north from Smyrna you would travel along the coast for 40 miles, then you’d go northeast up the valley. Ten miles east from the shore was the Roman capital of Asia, Pergamum. The city had a special relationship with Rome having been longtime allies, making it a natural pick to hold the throne of...

2026-02-1618 min

RENEW.org Daily Why Did God Hate Esau?Click here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/why-did-god-hate-esau/ This an audio version of a written Article from RENEW.org Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ Imagine to your delight that your teenage son begins to read the Bible regularly. You are thrilled. You have patiently and prayerfully sought to pass on the way of Jesus to your children, and nothing could make you happier that to see your teenage son’s faith growing to the place where he’d begin reading the Bible...

2026-02-1508 min

RENEW.org Daily Fighting ApathyClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/fighting-apathy/ This an audio version of a written Article from RENEW.org Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ Apathy means, “I don’t care.” Ignorance means, “I don’t know.” Complacency means, “I am satisfied with my current status.” Laziness means, “I don’t feel like doing anything.” There may be overlaps between these, but it would be wise for any Christian to single apathy out and crush it. Here are some thoughts...

2026-02-1404 min

RENEW.org Daily The Last Will Be First, and the First Will Be LastClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/the-last-will-be-first-and-the-first-will-be-last/ This an audio version of a written Article from RENEW.org Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ The week of Jesus’ crucifixion, beginning with his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, his parables and teaching grew increasingly sharp in his condemnation of the religious leaders. He also continued to reinforce the need for disciples of Jesus to guard against entitlement and pursue humility; after all, these are disciples of a king who would willingly lay down his...

2026-02-1307 min

RENEW.org Daily Eternal Life…Now?Click here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/eternal-life-now/ This an audio version of a written Article from RENEW.org Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ Heaven. When Christians think of eternal life in heaven, we may think of the imagery of heaven: gold streets, pearly gates, mansions, other believers, and the presence of God. We may also think of the intangible things eternal life in heaven brings: peace, joy, love, rest, and goodness. But one thing we often try to ignore concerning e...

2026-02-1213 min

RENEW.org Daily Bible Verses About Peace in the New TestamentClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/bible-verses-about-peace-in-the-new-testament/ This an audio version of a written Article from RENEW.org Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ Words Translated as Peace In the New Testament, many usages come from the Greek root eiréné (εἰρήνη), meaning “peace,” but other words include hésuchios (ἡσύχιος) and hésuchazó (ἡσυχάζω), both of which come from the root hedraios (ἑδραῖος), or “steadfast,” and mean “to hold peace” or “be quiet” or “still.” Similarly, sigaó (σιγάω), siópaó (σιωπάω), and phimoó (φιμόω) are also used, all of which mean “quiet” or “silent.” These are similar distinctions as in the Old T...

2026-02-1110 min

RENEW.org Daily Five Clues That the Christian Story Is TrueClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/five-clues-that-the-christian-story-is-true/ This an audio version of a written Article from RENEW.org Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ For the Bible’s grand story to be true, some important facts also need to be true. There needs to be a God in the first place. This needs to be the kind of God who can make decisions and intervene in history. He also needs to be a God who cares about what humans do—that is, h...

2026-02-1010 min

RENEW.org Daily Why Connect with People of a Different Worldview?Click here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/why-connect-with-people-of-a-different-worldview/ This an audio version of a written Article from RENEW.org Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ What does it mean for Christians to connect with people of a different worldview? Here’s what we mean: it’s cultivating relationships with and learning from people whose perspective differs significantly from yours, without losing Christian convictions about what is true and good. Let’s take a look at what happens when we don’t—and what happen...

2026-02-0908 min

RENEW.org Daily Reflecting on the St. Paul Church ProtestersClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/reflecting-on-the-st-paul-church-protestors/ This an audio version of a written Article from RENEW.org Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ Minnesota’s Twin Cities have erupted again. A large deployment of President Trump’s ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents in the area met with icy resistance. Protests escalated following the fatal shooting on January 7 of protester Renee Good when an agent believed she was running him over. Then on Sunday morning, January 18, prote...

2026-02-0809 min

RENEW.org Daily Costly Obedience and the Restoration MovementClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/costly-obedience-and-the-restoration-movement/ This an audio version of a written Article from RENEW.org Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ The Restoration Movement emerged from a collective belief that Jesus’ prayer in John 17 called for obedience rather than admiration. Barton W. Stone and Alexander Campbell thought that Christian division was not only bad, but also morally wrong. Jesus asked God to make his followers one so that the world would believe, and they did. For them, unity was...

2026-02-0708 min

RENEW.org Daily What Was Mary's Song?Click here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/marys-song/ This an audio version of a written Article from RENEW.org Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ When faced with an unbelievable situation, we often fall back on our upbringing, education, or experience to deal with it. Mary’s reaction to the announcement from the angel in Luke 1 shows her faith was based on historical events that she knew were true. Mary praised God in a song of praise, the Magnificat recorded in Lu...

2026-02-0605 min

RENEW.org Daily Politics Is Downstream from Culture? Exploring the Other Side of the CoinClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/politics-is-downstream-from-culture/ This an audio version of a written Article from RENEW.org Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ First, a hearty amen to Daniel and Bobby’s recent and excellent article, “The Birth of Our King and Our Country’s Political Focus.” They are exactly right: politics has a way of spoiling even the most wonderful time of the year. I was reminded of that last weekend when I took my family to the so-ca...

2026-02-0515 min

RENEW.org Daily N. T. Wright on the Gospel: Swinging the Pendulum Too Far?Click here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/n-t-wright-on-the-gospel-swinging-the-pendulum-too-far/ This an audio version of a written Article from RENEW.org Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ If there is any one subject that has been central to N. T. Wright’s teaching and writing ministry, it just might be the gospel. From academic books and articles to semi-academic and more popular works, explorations of themes related to the gospel fill the pages of Wright’s works. And after years of paragraphs and chapters expla...

2026-02-0411 min

RENEW.org Daily The Birth of Our King and Our Country’s Political FocusClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/the-birth-of-our-king-and-our-countrys-political-focus/ This an audio version of a written Article from RENEW.org Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.” —Isaiah 9:6a (NIV) Jesus was born into a politically charged world. Rome occupied the land. The Jewish people neither trusted nor welcomed their occupiers—and, truthfully, most Romans despised the Jews...

2026-02-0312 min

RENEW.org Daily N. T. Wright on the Atonement: New, but Not Improved?Click here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/n-t-wright-on-the-atonement-new-but-not-improved/ This an audio version of a written Article from RENEW.org Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ A subject about which N. T. Wright has produced a ton of material is the atonement and its benefits. His 1996 academic book Jesus and the Victory of God includes a good amount of Wright’s early research on the cross and Jesus’ death. Of course, his commentaries over the years have explored key passages about Jesus’ death. There hav...

2026-02-0214 min

RENEW.org Daily What Does the Bible Say About Demons: 10 PrinciplesClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/what-does-the-bible-say-about-demons/ This an audio version of a written Article from RENEW.org Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ This topic is an important one and not a topic to leave to speculation, especially today when spiritual and evil forces are often being discussed in significant ways by public figures, even high-profile ones like Jordan Peterson and Tucker Carlson. It is also a heavy topic that requires seriousness and concentration in what you are about to r...

2026-02-0135 min

RENEW.org Daily Amazing Baptism Numbers Seminar – Watch the RecordingsClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/amazing-baptism-numbers-seminar/ This an audio version of a written Article from RENEW.org Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ Dear RENEW.org Network Leaders, If you are a church leader or everyday Christian and you want to learn how to be more effective at leading people to Jesus through baptism, then we have free recordings that you will want to watch (see the link below). We believe that leaders learn best from likeminded leaders who...

2026-01-3104 min

RENEW.org Daily When Resistance Comes: 3 OptionsClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/when-resistance-comes-3-options/ This an audio version of a written Article from RENEW.org Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ The following is an excerpt from Josh Branham’s book What Are You Waiting For?: A Young Leader’s Guide to Changing the World, from his chapter on Fight. Everything fell apart at mile 20. I experienced all the typical side effects of running a marathon—heartbeat racing, accelerated breathing, legs on fire. You know, the fun...

2026-01-3007 min

RENEW.org Daily 6 Ways People Read the BibleClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/ways-people-read-the-bible/ This an audio version of a written Article from RENEW.org Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ People throughout history have done all sorts of things with Bibles. Some have bought them and left them on shelves. Others have burned them in book burnings. Bibles have been manipulated like sock puppets in the hands of people who want to make the Bible say what they want it to say. So what is the best w...

2026-01-2909 min

RENEW.org Daily Bible Verses About Peace in the Old TestamentClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/bible-verses-about-peace-in-the-old-testament/ This an audio version of a written Article from RENEW.org Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ Putting it lightly, the Bible has a lot to say about peace. In fact, in the King James translation, the English word “peace” appears about 470 times, making it one of the most used words in the entirety of the scriptures! Words Translated as Peace In the Old Testament, some of the usages of “peace” seem more triv...

2026-01-2809 min

RENEW.org Daily 10 Bible Verses About ForgivenessClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/10-bible-verses-about-forgiveness/ This an audio version of a written Article from RENEW.org Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ Forgiveness is one of the core elements of Christianity. There is no other religion or supposed deity that offers forgiveness as God does. Forgiveness is the “intentional act of ceasing to feel resentment toward someone who has caused harm, or to pardon.” As we will discover with the selected verses, God’s forgiveness goes even deeper than this de...

2026-01-2714 min

RENEW.org Daily When a Christian Leader Has a Moral FailureClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/when-a-christian-leader-has-a-moral-failure/ This an audio version of a written Article from RENEW.org Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ What do we do when we see moral failure in a Christian, especially a Christian leader? Maybe you have seen news come out recently about Philip Yancey, a Christian author and speaker who has influenced Christian thought and teaching through his writing that spans from 1982 to the last few years. Yancey recently confessed t...

2026-01-2609 min

RENEW.org Daily Learning to Fight Like DavidClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/learning-to-fight-like-david/ This an audio version of a written Article from RENEW.org Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ One of the best examples of fight comes from the famous story of David and Goliath. Even if you’ve never picked up a Bible in your life, you probably know the gist. The little guy beats the giant. But there’s more to it than that. The Philistines had come to wage war against the I...

2026-01-2510 min

RENEW.org Daily Can a Christian Join the Military? Some Arguments For and AgainstClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/can-a-christian-join-the-military/ This an audio version of a written Article from RENEW.org Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ Can a Christian join the military? Should Christians participate in war? What role should Jesus’ teachings on nonviolence play in all this? If we are encouraged to carry the light of Jesus into all areas of society, would that include the military? These questions take on special significance for me, as both a military veteran and...

2026-01-2415 min

2026-01-2307 min

RENEW.org Daily The Sound of Silence: Being Still and Knowing GodClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/the-sound-of-silence-being-still-and-knowing-god/ This an audio version of a written Article from RENEW.org Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” (1 Samuel 3:10, NIV) I am really bad at silence. Like, just awful at it. I grew up in a family that couldn’t stand silence. Music had to be on constantly, or a movie had t...

2026-01-2209 min

RENEW.org Daily What Does the Bible Say About Anxiety?Click here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/what-does-the-bible-say-about-anxiety/ This an audio version of a written Article from RENEW.org Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ What comes to your mind when you think of the word “anxiety”? It reminds me of my first year in high school. I was (and still am) a small, 5’1”, 90-lbs. girl. A simple misunderstanding led to a group of senior girls towering over me in the cafeteria, threatening to beat me up. Their height made me feel p...

2026-01-2121 min

RENEW.org Daily King Herod and King JesusClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/king-herod-and-king-jesus/ This an audio version of a written Article from RENEW.org Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ Herod and Jesus: They were both kings. They both died excruciatingly painful deaths. They both built kingdoms. They both had powerful, formidable enemies. Both significantly affected history. They both lived at the same time in history, and they both lived in the same part of the world. And they both left an empty to...

2026-01-2003 min

RENEW.org Daily Stolen JesusClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/stolen-jesus/ This an audio version of a written Article from RENEW.org Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ Stop me if you have heard this one before…. “Belgian authorities are mystified over a brazen theft over the weekend from a Christmas Nativity scene of an icon of infant Jesus Christ that had been widely scorned online. Snatched from his crib on the Grand Place in historic old Brussels between late Friday night or early...

2026-01-1905 min

RENEW.org Daily Os Guinness: Our Nation’s Survival and the Necessity of Revival?Click here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/os-guinness-our-nations-survival-and-the-necessity-of-revival/ This an audio version of a written Article from RENEW.org Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ Author’s Note: Os Guinness knows the history of revivals. He is an internationally respected author, social critic, and cultural analyst who has written or edited more than thirty books, including The Call, Time for Truth, and The Magna Carta of Humanity, and recently he released his latest book, America Agonistes: America’s 250th and the Restoration of a Nati...

2026-01-1821 min

RENEW.org Daily What Was Mary’s Song?Click here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/marys-song/ This an audio version of a written Article from RENEW.org Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ When faced with an unbelievable situation, we often fall back on our upbringing, education, or experience to deal with it. Mary’s reaction to the announcement from the angel in Luke 1 shows her faith was based on historical events that she knew were true. Mary praised God in a song of praise, the Magnificat recorded in Lu...

2026-01-1705 min

RENEW.org Daily What Are Angels in the Bible?Click here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/what-are-angels-in-the-bible/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ What are angels in the Bible? Starting out, it’s helpful to clarify that the original words often translated as angel do not always refer to supernatural, angelic beings. The Hebrew (mal’āḵ) and Greek (angelos) words for angel appear 214 and 186 times, respectively, across the Old and New Testaments. These uses primarily serve to describe angelic messengers for God or manifestations of God’s will. Yet not all uses of these wor...

2026-01-1606 min

RENEW.org Daily Christmas & Faith for the Long GameClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/christmas-faith-for-the-long-game/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ It’s not a regular feature in your average Christmas play narrative, but it should be. His name was Simeon, and we can only find him in Luke’s gospel, chapter 2. History tells us that Simeon was righteous and devout, which basically means he took his faith seriously. The text also informs us that the Holy Spirit was upon him. In other words, he was a man who listen...

2026-01-1506 min

RENEW.org Daily What Is God Like?Click here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/what-is-god-like/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ How would you answer the question, “What is God like?” Here’s the answer we’ll explore in this article: “The God of the Bible is perfectly loving and good, knows all things, has unlimited power, and is the uncreated Creator of all things.” Let’s walk through this answer: “The God of the Bible . . .” When you say the word “God,” different people think of different things. One...

2026-01-1416 min

RENEW.org Daily N. T. Wright on the Gospel: Swinging the Pendulum Too Far?Click here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/n-t-wright-on-the-gospel-swinging-the-pendulum-too-far/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ If there is any one subject that has been central to N. T. Wright’s teaching and writing ministry, it just might be the gospel. From academic books and articles to semi-academic and more popular works, explorations of themes related to the gospel fill the pages of Wright’s works. And after years of paragraphs and chapters explaining the gospel, Wright published a full-length, popular-level book on the...

2026-01-1311 min

RENEW.org Daily Standup Sermons? What Preachers Can Learn About Communication from ComediansClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/standup-sermons-what-preachers-can-learn-about-communication-from-comedians/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ If you’re a preacher, you might have seen the title and assumed, “This guy is making a connection between comedy and the craft of preaching. He’s obviously just going to implore us to ‘be more funny’ in our sermons.” But no, that’s not my point. For what it’s worth, I am a fan of humor being integrated into the pulpit, but with one critical caveat: To integr...

2026-01-1215 min

RENEW.org Daily Battle-Ready DiscipleshipClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/battle-ready-discipleship/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ Why do so many Christians crumble under cultural pressure? Why do churches so often resemble spiritual daycare instead of boot camp? The Church cannot afford to raise spectators. We must raise soldiers. The devil prowls like a roaring lion (1 Peter 5:8). In the animal kingdom, a lion doesn’t roar merely to frighten its prey, but to isolate it from the herd. The enemy thrives on deception and distraction, eag...

2026-01-1108 min

RENEW.org Daily A Merry Christmas in a Divided WorldClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/a-merry-christmas-in-a-divided-world/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ Kids start learning long division in 4th-5th grade. This is also around the same time many of them will learn about even longer divisions that apply to our world. Maybe that’s when they realize that not all clothes are equally fashionable or that not all jobs pay equally well. Maybe that’s when they become aware of racial divisions, political divisions, even religious and denom...

2026-01-1006 min

RENEW.org Daily What Does the Bible Say about Mediums?Click here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/what-does-the-bible-say-about-mediums/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ When I was younger, I didn’t believe in things like ghosts, psychics, and witchcraft. I believed ghosts and monsters were in the same category: figments of imagination and folklore meant to whip listeners into shape. Psychics and witches were more like charlatans—good fact-gatherers with a knack for turning a dollar. But that automatic assumption changed when I was in high school. My science teacher, a God-fe...

2026-01-0916 min

RENEW.org Daily Politics Is Downwind from Culture? Exploring the Other Side of the CoinClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/politics-is-downwind-from-culture-exploring-the-other-side-of-the-coin/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ Amen to the Warning About Political Idolatry First, a hearty amen to Daniel and Bobby’s recent and excellent article, “The Birth of Our King and Our Country’s Political Focus.” They are exactly right: politics has a way of spoiling even the most wonderful time of the year. I was reminded of that last weekend when I took my family to the so-called “Holiday Market” in Washington...

2026-01-0815 min

RENEW.org Daily What are Seraphim in the Bible?Click here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/what-are-seraphim-in-the-bible/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ The Hebrew word śārāp̄ appears seven times in the Old Testament and is used to describe both a serpent and a class of supernatural beings (seraph/seraphim). References to a serpentine figure occur in Numbers 21, Deuteronomy 8, and Isaiah 14/30. In Numbers 21, the nation of Israel, evidently removed long enough from the miracle of the Exodus to start complaining about God’s provision, are beset by “fiery...

2026-01-0705 min

RENEW.org Daily Words of the WiseClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/words-of-the-wise/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ I wonder what percentage of the human population has been wiped out because of cancerous human words. I wonder what percentage of people’s souls have been crushed because of words—said by an impossible-to-please parent, a cruel upperclassman, an unkind teacher, an abusive relative, a back-stabbing so-called “friend.” It’s probably a lot of the human population—and a lot of the human soul. “Death . . . is in the power...

2026-01-0607 min

RENEW.org Daily A Journey from Secrecy and Control to Truth and Freedom in ChristClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/a-journey-from-secrecy-and-control-to-truth-and-freedom-in-christ/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ My name is Kirk Taylor, and I’m a grateful believer in Jesus Christ who has found freedom from gender dysphoria, codependency, and a lifelong struggle with trying to control how others saw me. I’ve had the privilege of leading our men’s recovery group for some time now. I don’t try to control it—I just try to facilitate what God’s doing. And honestly...

2026-01-0520 min

RENEW.org Daily The Apocrypha and the Old Testament CanonClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/the-apocrypha-and-the-old-testament-canon/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ When the Hasmonian king Jonathan sent a letter to the Spartans seeking an alliance, he made a fascinating remark worth repeating. According to 1 Maccabees, King Jonathan says, “We have the holy scrolls as encouragement” (1 Maccabees 12:9). This statement indicates that Jonathan, or, more generally, the author of 1 Maccabees, recognized a canon of Scripture, likely the Hebrew canon we know today. But the quote also seems to indicate another thing: that...

2026-01-0418 min

RENEW.org Daily Dear Disciple, It’s Okay to Grieve What You’ve LostClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/dear-disciple-its-okay-to-grieve-what-youve-lost/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ Dear young disciple, You have come so far in your journey with Christ, and I am proud of you. I know it doesn’t feel like you’ve developed and grown much, but even the decisive step to join Jesus in this journey of life is a monumental step of growth and something worth celebrating. Yet, you don’t feel like celebrating sometimes, do you? Sometimes it feel...

2026-01-0309 min

RENEW.org Daily Questioning God: 5 Questions Asked of God in the Old TestamentClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/questioning-god/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ How well do you handle unresolved questions? When the answer is as pointed as a ball of spaghetti noodles—“Well, that’s a good question . . . various answers have been proposed . . . can’t say with any certainty”—do you feel more pacified or perturbed? A group known for making peace with unresolved questions are the “agnostics.” Two building blocks that make up the word “agnostic” are “a” (meaning “no”) and “gnosis...

2026-01-0214 min

RENEW.org Daily Worship Leaders and IdentityClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/worship-leaders-and-identity/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ For those of us that are musicians and worship leaders, where does our identity come from? Is it in our musical talents? Our artistic spirit? Our ability to lead a room? I spent much of my life carrying the identity of a musician. I played multiple instruments, sang to rooms filled with hundreds, and soaked in the applause. Yet behind the spotlight lived a s...

2026-01-0107 min

RENEW.org Daily You Can Evangelize.Click here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/you-can-evangelize/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ *This article was adapted from Dylan Kirkland, Starting Your Journey with Jesus: A 30-Day Devotional for New Christians. Evangelism is a spiritual rhythm that every disciple of Jesus can and should practice, but many don’t know where to begin. What is evangelism, and how do we start practicing it? The word evangelize comes from the same Greek root as the word for gospel; in othe...

2025-12-3108 min

RENEW.org Daily Do Animals Go to Heaven?Click here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/what-is-repentance-and-what-does-it-look-like/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ I’m a 90s kid, so I grew up with the 1989 classic Don Bluth movie All Dogs Go to Heaven about Charlie, a mobster-type dog who’s been murdered but is able to go back to his old stomping grounds to make some changes in his past life. And, yes, it’s a children’s cartoon movie, so there are obviously liberties. But this movie was such a cultural st...

2025-12-3012 min

RENEW.org Daily Who Were Naomi and Ruth in the Bible?Click here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/who-were-naomi-and-ruth-in-the-bible/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ Naomi and Ruth lived during the period of the Judges, probably during the time of Gideon, around 1200 B.C. Their story is told in the Book of Ruth in the Bible. Set among the Old Testament books of History and Prophets, we find a narrative that spotlights the real-life struggles of Israelite families at that time. The bitter trials Naomi and Ruth endured were tempered by God’s pro...

2025-12-2916 min

RENEW.org Daily What the Bible Says About the End Times: 5 EssentialsClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/what-the-bible-says-about-the-end-times/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ We at RENEW.org suggest a common approach for difficult theological questions like the ones we encounter when thinking about the end times. You might call the approach “bullseye theology.” We look at all teachings in God’s Word through a framework which prioritizes essential, “bullseye” beliefs and moves outward from there.[1] There are essential elements (beliefs and responses) in the Bible that are essential to your eternal des...

2025-12-2808 min

RENEW.org Daily Why Record-Breaking Moments Won’t Build Your Church—And What WillClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/why-record-breaking-moments-wont-build-your-church-and-what-will/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ Somewhere right now, a man is running across a desert without stopping. A teenager is holding his breath longer than most of us could survive. And a chef is stacking pancakes higher than anyone thought reasonable. Our culture is obsessed with record-breaking achievements. This love of record breaking shapes how we watch sports. It raises the stakes, creating heroes and elevating those heroes to l...

2025-12-2708 min

RENEW.org Daily Devoted ThomasClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/devoted-thomas/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ Thomas gets a bad rap. History has labeled him “Doubting Thomas” for one moment when he had the bad fortune of not being present when the resurrected Jesus appeared. When he returned, Jesus was already gone, and the rest of the apostles, who had the benefit of seeing Jesus with their own eyes, tried to convince Thomas that Jesus had risen from the dead. Just days befor...

2025-12-2606 min

RENEW.org Daily The Character of God: CompassionateClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/the-character-of-god-compassionate/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ If you ask someone, “What is God like?” you’ll get a variety of answers. I posed this question on Facebook last year. From dense theological explanations to quick two-word descriptions and a few poetic portrayals, the variety of answers was surprising. Some responses dealt with omnipresence or His all-knowing nature, while others focused on God as a loving Father. I strongly believe that the way we desc...

2025-12-2511 min

RENEW.org Daily Why I’m Excited About the Future of the Restoration MovementClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/what-is-repentance-and-what-does-it-look-like/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ Full disclosure: I’ve been a part of a “Restoration Movement” church since preschool. If I sound like a “Campbellite,” it could be due to being dyed in the wool as I was dunked under water. All my childhood faith-forming memories are Restoration Movement-based. I can still recall my first discussion about denominations in elementary school. We didn’t know the term “denomination” at that age, but when talking...

2025-12-2415 min

RENEW.org Daily What Are Cherubim in the Bible?Click here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/what-are-cherubim-in-the-bible/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ Beyond the scope of angels/archangels are two other categories of beings that have rightly or wrongly been conflated with the descriptions of angels. Those categories/terms are cherubim and seraphim. Whether or not both or neither of these terms belong in the same category as mal’āḵ or angelos, we don’t know. The Bible’s first mention of one of these supernatural beings comes at the end of man...

2025-12-2305 min

RENEW.org Daily What Is Repentance and What Does It Look Like?Click here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/what-is-repentance-and-what-does-it-look-like/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ In the first-century Jewish world, large numbers of people were drawn to the simple message of repentance. Both John the Baptist and Jesus preached, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near” (Matthew 3:2; 4:17, NIV). Mark 1:4 tells us that John “preached a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” All three of these—baptism, repentance, and forgiveness—assume humans share the same predicament: we are sinful (Roman...

2025-12-2205 min

RENEW.org Daily 7 Reasons to Arrive Early to ChurchClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/7-reasons-to-arrive-early-to-church/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ If church is important enough to come to, it’s important enough to arrive early to. If you’re going to set an alarm, wake everyone out of bed, fix breakfast, get ready, get dressed, and battle the sibling spats on Sunday morning, you might as well get all you can get out of church. We’re not just going to give 7 reasons to arrive...

2025-12-2106 min

RENEW.org Daily Seven Churches of Revelation: The Church in SmyrnaClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/church-in-smyrna/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ The city of Smyrna is actually the only one of the cities of the Seven Churches of Revelation still around. It is modern-day Izmir, Turkey. Traveling from Ephesus, the first of the seven cities of Revelation, you would go about 35 miles north, next to the Aegean Sea. Smyrna had an important harbor and was a major location for exporting as well. It was like a modern c...

2025-12-2017 min

RENEW.org Daily Saying ‘No’ Can Sometimes Be the Right ‘Yes’Click here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/saying-no-can-sometimes-be-the-right-yes/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ It’s amazing how often Jesus stopped to respond to the needs of others. He made time for a blind beggar calling out from the roadside, welcomed mothers who wanted Him to bless their children, engaged in a late-night conversation with a searching Pharisee, and answered impromptu questions from the crowds. Jesus came not to be served but to serve, and even when interrupted, He often said “yes” to thos...

2025-12-1905 min

RENEW.org Daily What Did Jesus Look Like?Click here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/what-did-jesus-look-like/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ Legend says that when Leonardo da Vinci painted The Last Supper he used a young man’s face as a model for Jesus’s that radiated the Christ’s nobility, wisdom, and gentleness. Twenty years later, da Vinci also used a model for Judas, a man whose face was scarred with years of crime, pain, and drunkenness—meant to depict the darkness in Judas’s heart. While being painted, it i...

2025-12-1811 min

RENEW.org Daily Bible Verses About AnxietyClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/bible-verses-about-anxiety/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ To understand what the Bible says about anxiety—and to understand anxiety itself—it’s helpful to look at the words that are translated as anxiety through Scripture. In the Old Testament, what’s used for anxiety comes from the Hebrew verb דָּאַג, daag, or the noun דְּאָגָה , deagah, meaning care, fear, heaviness, or sorrow. The connotation is that the fear, dread, sorrow, and worry is a weight pulling the person down. In the New Testa...

2025-12-1714 min

RENEW.org Daily What is Spiritual Success?Click here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/what-is-spiritual-success/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ While most people are chasing the idea of being “successful,” what if we got the definition of success wrong? What if we don’t even know what success really is? Which would mean we’ve been seeking the wrong thing. I’ve been guilty of seeking the rewards of success more than real success. Problems arise when we get the two mixed up. The Rewards of Success

2025-12-1605 min

RENEW.org Daily The Hazard of Comparing Ourselves to OthersClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/the-hazard-of-comparing-ourselves-to-others/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ One of the more charming elements of the modern workplace is the conducive environment it provides for comparing yourself to others. Sometimes it feels like we are all in one big cage match, competing with one another for jobs, status, resources, and promotions. As a result, we feel compelled to continually check out one another’s progress. We need to know how much of the boss’s attention we’re...

2025-12-1514 min

RENEW.org Daily Bigger Than You Thought: How Colossians 1 Expands Our View of JesusClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/the-hazard-of-comparing-ourselves-to-others/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ Your view of Jesus is probably too small. Throughout Jesus’ life, we see people divided over Jesus. Some hated him, some loved him for the miracles he did, almost everybody misunderstood him, and a few (who understood him best) worshiped him. Same is true today. Everybody has their opinions about Jesus, many of which fall far short of who he really is. We...

2025-12-1410 min

RENEW.org Daily Is Smoking a Sin?Click here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/is-smoking-a-sin/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ It’s a question I’ve been asked more than once—especially since God moved our congregation into the heart of our city and we began walking closely with people experiencing homelessness, addiction, and mental illness. It’s a fair question, but it’s not the one I think we should lead with. Every week, I worship with people who were once unhoused, who are still u...

2025-12-1310 min

RENEW.org Daily Meekness: Strength Under Control?Click here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/the-hazard-of-comparing-ourselves-to-others/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ Once upon a time, so the legend goes, there was a man named Xenophon who loved horses. He loved horses so much that he wrote an entire treatise “On Horsemanship.” (This part is true. You could stop reading this and go buy it on Amazon, right now.) This little manual digs deep into the selection, training, and care of horses—including horses trained for war. Legend has it that, w...

2025-12-1208 min

RENEW.org Daily Review of 'The Greatest Story Ever Told: An Eyewitness Account,' by Bear GryllsClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/review-of-the-greatest-story-ever-told-bear-grylls/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ There’s a good chance when you hear the name Bear Grylls, the first thing that comes to mind is outdoor adventurist and survival expert, not “author of a book about the Bible.” Bear Grylls became somewhat of a household name for television shows like Man vs. Wild and various spin offs of the same kind. He’s written 100 books before this one, and those other books have been relate...

2025-12-1108 min

RENEW.org Daily Fear and Faith: Understanding Islam with Courage and CompassionClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/fear-and-faith-understanding-islam-with-courage-and-compassion/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ As someone who teaches, speaks, and trains the church to share Christ with Muslims, I often encounter two vital questions: “Can we be concerned about Islamic ideology without fearing Muslims?” And the follow-up: “How should Gospel-centered Christians respond?” These fair and necessary questions sit at the crossroads of theology, culture, and compassion. The short answer to the first is yes, but when it comes to the “how...

2025-12-1017 min

RENEW.org Daily Pastors and Workplace Leaders: A Two-Way Street to Kingdom ImpactClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/pastors-and-workplace-leaders-a-two-way-street-to-kingdom-impact/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ In today’s cultural seismic shifts, the boundary between sacred and secular continues to blur—and that’s a positive development. As pastors, we have a unique opportunity to extend our influence beyond Sunday mornings by training our congregation’s leaders to become “pastors in the workplace,” while also sharpening our own leadership abilities. This mutual coaching relationship reflects Jesus’ model of servant leadership and expands our impact in ways we may...

2025-12-0908 min

RENEW.org Daily Pray for India’s Persecuted ChurchClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/pray-for-indias-persecuted-church/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ The early church “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (Acts 2:42, NIV). Prayer was their lifeline, their strength, and their source of courage as they faced persecution. Today, that same Spirit strengthens believers in India who are enduring severe hardship for the name of Jesus. Across India, persecution has increased dramatically. Churches are being burned...

2025-12-0804 min

RENEW.org Daily Do We Really Need to Be Saved?Click here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/do-we-really-need-to-be-saved/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ In his work The Republic, Plato relates a discussion between his brother Glaucon and his teacher Socrates. The discussion was about the question of human nature. Glaucon argues that, were it not for the painful consequences of bad behavior, we humans would live very bad lives. Glaucon tells a story to illustrate his point. There was a shepherd boy in the hills of Lydia wh...

2025-12-0731 min

RENEW.org Daily What to Appreciate About N. T. WrightClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/what-to-appreciate-about-n-t-wright/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ The following is an excerpt from John Whittaker’s N. T. Wright: A Theological Appraisal. For the full eBook, click HERE. Personally, I am grateful for the teaching of N. T. Wright and appreciative of his work. I first began reading Wright in the 1990s with his academic book The New Testament and the People of God. In the last three decades, I have read more N. T. Wr...

2025-12-0609 min

RENEW.org Daily The Vanity of Knowledge: Aiming for Wisdom in an Artificial WorldClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/the-vanity-of-knowledge/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ With what set of assumptions do you begin as you open the pages of Scripture? I find myself in agreement with James B. Jordan, Protestant theologian, with Matteiu Paggeau, the Greek Orthodox polymath, and even the insights of the Jewish mystical texts: To interpret Genesis 1–3 only as historical narrative may be correct on one level, but it misses the deeper meaning. The opening chapters of Scripture do...

2025-12-0526 min

RENEW.org Daily How to Extend Your Thanksgiving MealClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/how-to-extend-your-thanksgiving-meal/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ What’s the most encouraging note a teacher wrote on your report card? Maybe it was, “Great job this quarter!” Or “Fantastic job bringing your math grade up!” The earliest comment I remember receiving on my report card was this: “Laughs at inappropriate times.” There was nothing added, no smiley face or “lol.” Just “Laughs at inappropriate times.” Which is funny because, if I recall, the teacher did...

2025-12-0406 min

RENEW.org Daily Do You Still Believe in God?Click here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/do-you-still-believe-in-god/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ Today, during worship, my wife handed me her phone. She had received a text from an old friend from high school. Her friend was clearly exasperated, frustrated, and searching. “In light of everything going on…do you still believe in God?” What a question! Simple. Blunt. Receiving that question in church had the effect of throwing cold water on my, admittedly, rote and habitual worship. Do you still believe...

2025-12-0307 min

RENEW.org Daily Why Isn’t the Book of Enoch in the Bible?Click here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/why-isnt-the-book-of-enoch-in-the-bible/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ What do we know about 1 Enoch and the Bible? The first thing to say is that 1 Enoch is pseudepigraphal, that is, it was not written by Enoch. The book claims to contain dreams and revelations from Enoch, but this is impossible, since Enoch was taken to heaven millennia before 1 Enoch was written. Rather, the material was made up by writers from the Intertestamental period. Furthermore, it i...

2025-12-0208 min

RENEW.org Daily Finding Our Identity in Christ—Not Our PersonalitiesClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/finding-our-identity-in-christ-not-our-personalities/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ We are all created in God’s image, but we each have a unique role to fill in his kingdom. Our identity is equally secure and beloved in Christ, yet our personalities are vastly different from each other. And that’s a good thing! We ought to celebrate each other’s unique personalities, giftings, and perspectives. Yet we must not mistake our personality for our identity in Chri...

2025-12-0107 min

RENEW.org Daily Summary of the Book of Enoch: Five SectionsClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/summary-of-the-book-of-enoch-five-sections/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ 1 Enoch naturally divides into five sections: The Book of Watchers (1-36), The Book of Parables (37-71), The Astronomical Book (72-82), the Book of Dream Visions (83-90), and the Letter of Enoch (90-108). Even within these sections, however, there are breaks and subject changes. So let’s do a fairly detailed summary and interpretation of the book. Chapters 1-11 The Book of Enoch uses the brief verse in...

2025-11-2909 min

RENEW.org Daily Have You Developed a Theology of Leadership?Click here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/theology-of-leadership/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ Everybody who leads has a philosophy of leadership. Every leader from Michael Scott to Genghis Khan has absorbed principles and values that guide them. If you are a Christian leader, have you considered what it might look like to develop a theology of leadership? Is your leadership grounded in and guided by biblical truth—or are you just leading from gut instincts and popular trends? In this article, I wan...

2025-11-2812 min

RENEW.org Daily When You Have Eaten and Are Satisfied: On Wealth and Forgetting GodClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/when-you-have-eaten-and-are-satisfied/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ Now that you have wealth, you’ve crossed over into the financial promised land. Or have you? From the days of Adam, God cursed man with the burden of painful toil in order to produce food (Genesis 3:17). Throughout most of human history, it was necessary to store up provisions in order to survive. Wealth building is a natural human instinct that gives us security, comfort, pleasure and...

2025-11-2714 min

RENEW.org Daily 5 Things to Expect from a MissionaryClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/5-things-to-expect-from-a-missionary/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ People sometimes place unfair expectations on missionaries that they support. They might expect the missionary to convert an entire nation to Christ before their first furlough. They might expect the missionary to become their child’s foreign language tutor. They might expect that someone living on missionary support would never buy their child ice cream because it is not essential to the mission. I think we can all und...

2025-11-2609 min

RENEW.org Daily Leadership Without Vision?Click here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/leadership-without-vision/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ When we talk about leadership we talk about vision. But is vision what truly makes leaders successful? The answer might surprise us. I recently did a deep dive into three of the men who made New York City: John D. Rockefeller (1839–1937), Robert Moses (1888–1981), and Lorne Michaels (1944– ). Rockefeller amassed his fortune in oil, rail, and real estate. Moses was an influential city planner and lan...

2025-11-2508 min

RENEW.org Daily Facing Cultural Hostility with Cultural ApologeticsClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/facing-cultural-hostility-with-cultural-apologetics/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ The murder of Charlie Kirk on September 10, 2025, raised an important question with which most churches are wrestling: should your minister, pastor, or church be discussing Kirk, or politics, or even, for that matter, culture in general? However your church handled the Kirk assassination, the short answer to the bigger question is this: the church absolutely must discuss culture, government, and politics. After all, these things have a...

2025-11-2426 min

RENEW.org Daily 10 Bible Verses About MarriageClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/bible-verses-about-marriage/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ Get the eBook -- Family Discipleship Blueprint: A Year-by-Year Guide to Family Discipleship: https://renew.org/product/family-discipleship-blueprint-a-year-by-year-guide-to-family-discipleship/ I was asked to write this article well over a year ago. There are several reasons as to why it took me so long, and some of them are legitimate. However, I think one of the main reasons that I procrastinated is that even though I have been ma...

2025-11-2311 min

RENEW.org Daily Must Every Disciple Be a Disciple Maker?Click here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/must-every-disciple-be-a-disciple-maker/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ At the end of his earthly ministry, Jesus instructed the disciples he had made to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20, NIV). Jesus’...

2025-11-2312 min

RENEW.org Daily 30 Days of Prayer for Your ChildrenClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/30-days-of-prayer-for-your-children/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ Get the eBook -- Family Discipleship Blueprint: A Year-by-Year Guide to Family Discipleship: https://renew.org/product/family-discipleship-blueprint-a-year-by-year-guide-to-family-discipleship/ Prayer, as a spiritual discipline, requires time, effort, and consistency. The same goes for praying for your children. This 30-day prayer guide I’ve put together can help you cultivate the daily habit of praying specifically and intentionally for the children in your life. Throughout my own...

2025-11-2116 min

RENEW.org Daily The Deceitfulness of Wealth?Click here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/the-deceitfulness-of-wealth/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ Wealth, like sex, drugs, and fame, has an unusually strong effect on people. Everyone knows sex, drugs, and fame will seriously influence us, but for some reason, we resist the idea that wealth will affect us. We don’t want to believe we could be “that person,” who is changed by wealth. Ironically, failing to recognize wealth’s power over us will only amplify its effect. Its effects...

2025-11-2008 min

RENEW.org Daily Summary of the Book of Enoch: Background and PurposeClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/summary-of-the-book-of-enoch-background-and-purpose/ Excerpted from Jonathan Young and David Young, The Apocrypha and the Book of Enoch: What They Are and Why They Don’t Belong in the Bible. Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ So how does 1 Enoch develop its story? 1 Enoch uses the brief narrative in Genesis 6:1-5 about the “sons of God” having sexual relations with the “daughters of men” as an allegory to describe the apostasy of the Jews who were selling out t...

2025-11-1908 min

RENEW.org Daily David Rohl’s New Egyptian Chronology: A Solution to Biblical Difficulties or a Misguided Enterprise?Click here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/david-rohls-new-egyptian-chronology/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ David Rohl proposes a radically revised Egyptian chronology that shifts key dynasties by hundreds of years, creating new alignments between Egyptian history and the Bible. His model appeals to some because it seems to offer stronger archaeological support for events like Israel’s time in Egypt and the Exodus. However, most scholars reject his approach because it disrupts well-established historical anchors—especially Assyrian and Hittite chronologies tied to fixed...

2025-11-1817 min

RENEW.org Daily Values and Practices of High-Functioning Elder TeamsClick here to read the full article at RENEW.org: https://renew.org/values-and-practices-of-high-functioning-elder-teams/ Check out other great articles on RENEW.org here: https://renew.org/articles/ Plural church leadership is rooted in the relational nature of the triune God and reflects His pattern of working through community. Elders are not meant to lead alone but to shepherd the church together through collective discernment, shared vision, and Spirit-led decision-making. Effective elder teams embrace values that foster unity and fruitfulness: prioritizing teamwork over individual agendas, building trust through integrity and accountability, leading with humility and a s...

2025-11-1705 min