It’s hard to miss the responses to Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ performance of, “Unholy” at the 2023 Grammy’s. I watched the performance and thought, “Wow, that was a lot.”

But what I think is more, is the conservative Christian outrage over it.

The morning after the Grammy’s, I scrolled my social media feeds to the fury of Christians slamming the performance, The Grammy’s, and all of Hollywood.

“Hollywood is satanic.”
“The satanic worship at the Grammys, the local drag shows…it’s all just so much.”
“This is evil.”
“A pathetic last stich effort to claw their way back into the limelight.”
“Who cares about Sam Smith’s music career anyway?”
“Leftism is satanism.”
“Ah, yet another ‘entertainment’ industry self-congratulatory festival of debauchery. It’s no surprise they dial up the hedonism.”
“Turned it when the transgender agenda start the show. Jesus have mercy on our world!”

As a Christ-follower, I do not agree in my heart with what was portrayed Sunday night. And I don’t have to agree to remain relevant. But when we throw out our judgment, we place ourselves OVER them as a moral scrutinizer and authority, lauding our shaking, crooked finger, when those we accuse have not asked for our opinion.

Imagine an Islamic believer, for example, who

Dear White American Pastor,

I need your help. I’m doing a lot, though I know not enough, to use my position of power and influence as a white person, to speak against the injustices happening in our country. Specifically, Asian-American hate and the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Daunte Wright, and Adam Toledo. And I wondered if you’d consider doing the same?

On Sunday, when you address your congregation, there may be a splattering of people of color sitting before you. They will be listening, hoping, praying, that you will use your platform to speak up for them. I’m not suggesting you bash the police. We all know there are so many good policemen and women keeping us safe. We don’t hear their stories enough. But I am suggesting you grieve with people of color and stand against white supremacy.

I’m sure when you prepare your sermons, the thought goes through your head, “Were Jesus here in the flesh, what would He say this week?” And I strongly believe He would stand up this Sunday and grieve this week’s killings of Daunte and Adam.

Jesus’ church membership would be diverse, not because He has black and brown people on the

This past Sunday, my husband Markus, who is on staff at Woodcreek Church in Richardson, TX, went to the building, but because it was going to be a busy day, the boys and I stayed home and had our own church service.

We worshipped online with Woodcreek and then watched a “Kids Beach Club” episode that Solomon had filmed. “Kids Beach Club” is an after school program (currently virtual) for public schools, designed to connect kids to Jesus, and Solomon is one of the actors.

The KBC character word for the week was, “Obedience”. And the key verse was Luke 1:37, “For nothing is impossible with God.”

In the context of this verse, Gabriel has just told teenage Mary she would give birth to the Son of God. His name would be Jesus and though men’s kingdoms come and go, Jesus’ kingdom would never end. A logical woman, Mary asks how she can have a baby, even though she’s never slept with a man. Gabriel tells her, “God’s got this. His power will overshadow you and will make it happen. In fact, God finally answered the endless prayers of your elderly relatives, Zechariah and Elizabeth, to

When I received an email from a publisher that fellow author, Wendy Speake, who’d endorsed my book, sought reviewers for her latest release, I jumped on the chance to return the favor. And when I found out her book was titled, “The 40 Day Social Media Fast”, I was even more enthusiastic. Lately social media had become less of the joy I initially signed up for and more of a dark hole I had fallen into.

My 40 day fast, turned into a 65 day one—I think I needed longer than most people. Just about each day, I read one of Wendy’s short chapters, then opened my Bible to read in context, the Scripture she listed to begin each day’s reading.

The Upside

I deleted Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter off my phone. But something telling happened after I did so. Even though the tiles no longer existed, my fingers instinctively went to the “Social Media” block on my iPhone where they used to sit, which revealed to me how habitually I checked social media.

As a result of the fast, I had my phone in my hands less and talked with my kids more; I was happier

I found out I was pregnant when I was eighteen. A recent high school graduate, I was a Christian and a leader in my high school youth group. And I knew God was not in agreement with me as I considered abortion. But an unplanned pregnancy can cause someone who believes the Church will judge her for her sexual actions, to do anything to save face.

I stuffed any feelings of motherhood. I justified, I rationalized, and I made an appointment and terminated my pregnancy.

I told myself to be grateful to have my “problem” over with. So I went ahead with my life that summer and pretended none of this had happened.

But a few months after my abortion, in the silence of my bedroom, the Holy Spirit grabbed hold of my heart. He showed me the sin I had ignored and often defended. Seeing my sin now through the eyes of Jesus, made it no longer bearable. I desperately wanted to be free of its chains. So one summer night, I walked away from the boyfriend, and asked God to show me how to live the new life I so desperately wanted to live but had been too

Dear Zoom Participant:

I don’t know for sure if you were a student or a hacker, but your private chat message to my sixth-grade son, “You’re the worst fucking nigger I’ve ever met”, has left a mark.

Unfortunately, your racist comment isn’t the first he has experienced.

Once last year, a student on the bus told him his nose was too big.

And twice, fellow middle schoolers have called him the n-word, saying an African-American kid gave them a “pass” to do so. Our son’s response both times, “No one, Black or White, can give you a pass to say that word. Don’t do it again.”

But then you came into our lives during the spring of 2020, in the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic, when online learning took over classroom learning. My husband and I sat on the front porch of our home one evening when our son came outside to tell us what had happened.

“Mom, Dad. I was on my Zoom call with my teacher and class and I got a private message, ‘You’re the worst f***ing n***er I’ve ever met’”.

We sat in stunned silence.

“What did you do?” my husband asked.

“I responded back, with ‘?’”.

“How did that make you feel?”

If I’ve learned one thing from the Coronavirus pandemic, it’s that I take a lot of things for granted.

Like toilet paper.

And fully stocked grocery stores.

And time in my house—ALONE—when my kids were at school.

And maybe like me, you miss these things too, among many others, like haircuts, or nail salons, even a regular routine.

But as this pandemic has unfolded, I’ve heard messages on social media and the news like, “These are truly hard times” and, “We’ll get through this”. And while I understand these times are different and harder than usual, I have to be careful I don’t give too much weight to how “hard” these times really are, at least for me.

I started watching the national nightly news a few years ago. And since I don’t struggle with anxiety—unlike many people I know who do and, understandably, can’t watch the news, especially the current coverage of the coronavirus—seeing these broadcasts keep me up to date with world events. The national and international crises that play out each evening on my screen are often sobering, but these stories expose me to people and situations I forget exist or don’t know are there.

As a result of watching the

The night he left.

It was like a piece of our family disappeared.

He is such a part of us, to imagine any time, no matter how brief, without him, would be like seeing a colorless rainbow, an ocean without a wave, or a beach without sand.

We knew he had to go. But knowing this was only a temporary separation, made it a bit easier.

Though our hearts filled with sorrow at the thought of time without him, this was nothing compared to the joy that replaced those thoughts, when we considered what he was leaving us to do.

You could see it in his eyes, the grief of goodbye, and yet the thrill of knowing where this goodbye would lead him.

And then, as fast as lightning rips through the sky, he was gone.

We were told to wait for his signal.

Then, 3…2…1…

The trumpet blew one long blast, and all of us, every single one, dropped into the night sky.

Above shepherds and their flocks, we hung suspended, lighting up the black night with the worship and magnificence of Heaven. We sang for hours about the glory of God. We called out at random the praises of His name. From one end of

As we prepare for Easter Sunday, our family read the story of the Triumphal Entry that occured on Palm Sunday many years ago, a week before Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. But we read it Monday night, not Sunday as me and my husband, Markus, had intended. You see on Sunday night, our kids requested to finish watching, “Avengers: Age of Ultron” as a family. Sometimes we push “Bible teaching time” aside for the sake of different kinds of family memories, knowing that God is in all that too. But I digress…

So Monday, we read the Triumphal Entry account in Luke 19. Jesus approached Jerusalem on a donkey’s colt, which meant He was ushering in peace. If He entered riding on a horse, like a typical King, He would’ve been declaring His desire to be a victorious war king against the oppressive Rome Israel sat under. The later is what the large crowd of gathered Jews in Jerusalem hoped He would do. But Jesus never tends to operate like we expect does He?

As Jesus rode into town, His faithful disciples, “…began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they