On Monday, the Supreme Court vacated a decision regarding a 2013 case of a Christian couple in Oregon who owned a bakery and refused to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding.
The matter was taken to a state agency who fined the bakery owners $135,000. It was said that the owners illegally discriminated based on sexual orientation. An Oregon appeals court upheld the ruling. (more…)
In a testimony that has gone viral this week, comedian Jon Stewart blasted the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday for the absence of many members regarding a hearing for the continuation of a fund for 9/11 first responders.
In the testimony, Stewart points out that many 9/11 first responders (who are not ailing from 9/11 related illnesses) made the trip from New York to Washington. Stewart blades the committee for this show of disrespect for these 9/11 heroes. (more…)
It’s a better story than the Mighty Ducks.
The St. Louis Blues won their first Stanley Cup in franchise history Wednesday night. The story of how they got there is an inspiring one.
January 2 was an off day for the St. Louis Blues. It was also a significant day because it was on that day where they fell into last place in points in the NHL. It had already been a chaotic season. In November, the time fired head coach Mike Yeo. At that point, rising star goalie Jordan Binnington hadn’t even started an NHL game (and he wouldn’t get his first win until January 7).
The Blues had a winning record for the month of January. But as the month ended, they were still far behind in the playoff standings and posted the third worst record in the Western Conference.
In February, the Blues caught fire. From January 23-February 19, St. Louis won 11 straight games. They continued to rise in the standings and made their way into the playoffs, tied for the fourth most points in the Wester Conference.
Once they made it to the playoffs, it wasn’t an easy journey. All four of their playoff series went at least six games. In every round but the first round, the other team had the home ice advantage. But last night, the Blues came out in game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals and dominated Boston.
It’s a great story.
To think on January 2 that St. Louis would win the Stanley Cup. It would have been laughable. The playoffs seemed like a far off dream.
But there are some life lessons we can all learn from the Blues this season. It’s not where you start that matters. It’s how you respond and how you finish. Keep grinding, keep fighting, keep working hard and amazing things can happen.
Just because you start working to improve doesn’t mean that it becomes easy along the way. The Blues had to battle the whole way.
It’s always easy to settle for failure. It’s always easy to make excuses and justifications for why things can’t change or get better, of why YOU can’t change or get better. It’s always easy to think it’s too late, you’re too old, you didn’t have the right foundation, etc.
Don’t make excuses. Just grind.
Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear what you think, and don’t forget to subscribe!
Josh Benner has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He has served churches in Minnesota and Illinois. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in St. Louis.
Monday, the New York Times ran an article titled “Her evangelical megachurch was her world. Then her daughter said she was molested by a minister.”
The story talks about the Village Church, a megachurch in Dallas, Texas and the home church of Matt Chandler, one of the most popular and dynamic pastors in the contemporary Evangelical movement.
The story chronicles a former church member named Christi Bragg whose daughter was sexually assaulted at a church sponsored retreat in 2012. The New York Times piece gives accounts of how the Village Church responded to the allegations.
The article gives the impression that the church did very little to help the family and glossed over a crime while only carrying about protecting their own interests as a church. (more…)
“Atonement” is a theological word that gets mentioned. In short, atonement refers to the work that Christ has done for those who have faith in Him to earn their salvation.
I think people sometimes approach the gospel with skepticism. Jesus died for the sins of all who believe in him.
I know I used to ask was “why do we need this? Why do we have to believe in Jesus? Is sin such a big deal? Why is he the only way?” (more…)
