New Identity Magazine

Culture Clash

Nicholas Sowell — Tue, 19 Apr 2022 16:59:43 +0000

Before communication and connection exploded with the Internet and social media, most groups of people used to be more monocultural, where their beliefs and values were far more similar within their families, neighborhoods, and communities. Boy have times changed! What once seemed like a large world just several decades ago, now feels like the smallest in human history. Now we daily navigate…

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Running By Example

Tim VanDeWalker — Wed, 15 Dec 2021 21:21:30 +0000

The day Instagram found out I was a Christian was a very strange day for me. My feed suddenly went from posts of computer repairs, Star Trek facts, and memes to a mix of all those things interposed with what I can only call the Christian side of Instagram. It wasn’t uncommon to find myself staring at a post of Mr. Spock looking to the side at another post of Jesus on the Cross.

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Authentically You

Cheryl Weber — Thu, 28 Oct 2021 19:16:40 +0000

Do you know what it means to be authentically you, to live in a way that’s aligned with God’s purposes and the unique gifts and talents he’s given you? If you don’t, you’re not alone. People from all walks of life struggle to be true to themselves especially when they face real or perceived expectations. The pressure to bend your values and actions to please others is pervasive today.

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Music Christians Make

Christopher L. Scott — Tue, 03 Aug 2021 21:41:51 +0000

While living in California, my wife and I enjoyed attending the concert of my cousin Rachel who was a classical musical director at a church in Sacramento. On Christmas we sat in the audience of several hundred people and eagerly anticipated the evening. The musicians came out first and each sat in a designated seat with an instrument in hand and a musical score on a stand in front of them.

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How Anyone Can Study The Bible

Christopher L. Scott — Wed, 12 Aug 2020 23:19:18 +0000

“A Bible that’s falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn’t,” said the Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon. Navigating the Christian life requires you clasp your Bible and use it for guidance in relationships, work, and spiritual life. When you study God’s word, you obey God. He told his people, “Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to…

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Remarkably Dramatic

Sean Hughes — Wed, 08 May 2019 23:24:54 +0000

I have a confession. I have a favorite book of the Bible. I know they’re all inspired by God, and they all have authority over my life, but I just can’t help it. Something about the Book of Mark just grabs me in a way no other book does. But if you’re like me, or any Christian for that matter, you probably need some help knowing how to read it. With that said, here are my five tips and pointers on…

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ENGAGING WITH GOD

Nicholas Sowell — Tue, 13 Jun 2017 17:04:53 +0000

Photo Credit: lauren rushing | Flickr (Creative Commons) With our busy get-up-and-go lifestyles, it might seem more difficult than ever to find time for God or where we can fully make time for the essential aspects of the Christian life like prayer and Bible reading. Yes, like working out or eating healthy, it comes down to the priority and importance of those things in our lives and whether or…

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IN PURSUIT OF INTIMACY: CORPORATE WORSHIP

Hannah Helms — Mon, 03 Apr 2017 16:52:49 +0000

Photo Credit: Susan Lloyd | Flickr (Creative Commons) Prior to having children, I had not considered that participating in a faith community could be an act of spiritual discipline. I have learned over the past three years that the 10 minutes, and sometimes 3 hours, before church on any given Sunday tend to be the most unholy minutes or hours of the week. They are prime-time for marital discord…

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IN PURSUIT OF INTIMACY: SIMPLICITY

Hannah Helms — Mon, 02 Jan 2017 17:59:27 +0000

Photo Credit: Steven Leonti | Flickr (Creative Commons) The discipline of simplicity is, simply put, the practice of living with less. This practice is unique from the other spiritual disciplines that we have explored in this series, in that the need to be intentional about living with less applies specifically to those living in societies and situations that allow people to live with more than…

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IN PURSUIT OF INTIMACY: REST

Hannah Helms — Mon, 12 Sep 2016 15:49:55 +0000

Back in 2007, during my junior year of college, I was a resident assistant in the dorms, and I spent that entire year going to bed at 2:00 am then waking up each morning at 8:00 am. I felt tired most of the time, but not particularly exhausted. That six-hour stint of sleep each night was enough to keep me going and fuel my class schedule, dorm responsibilities, on campus job…

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