New Identity Magazine

Meaningful Friendship

Nicholas Sowell — Fri, 28 Oct 2022 19:10:21 +0000

We live in a more globally connected world than ever before, but despite that fact, friendships seem harder to come by. True and trustworthy friends seem to be more and more difficult to find. Why is this? What has made friendship rarer and more valuable in today’s day and age? In order to understand why friendship has become harder to find, or more difficult to build, we must first look at the…

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Why Do Bad Things Happen To Good People?

Christopher L. Scott — Tue, 19 Apr 2022 16:57:15 +0000

After getting married, life was great for Matthew and Ashley. They loved each other, and others well, and were active in their faith and community. But five months into their marriage things got difficult. There was no conflict between them, but troubles were happening to them. Matthew’s father had passed away unexpectedly. Grief led Matthew’s brother—who had been clean of addiction for…

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Walking Through Divorce

Nicholas Sowell — Wed, 15 Dec 2021 21:17:52 +0000

I almost didn’t write this article. Either because it felt too scary or vulnerable or messy and I wasn’t sure I was willing to put myself out there to that extent. At times my past or the failure of my marriage has felt like a glass house that people get to look into from the outside and draw assumptions of what must have happened. You add to that a Christian culture that is clearly against…

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Community and Age Diversity

Russell Almand — Wed, 15 Dec 2021 21:13:52 +0000

“You should come visit our community group! We are kind of old, though; you might not like it…” How often do we hear about Christian fellowship divided by age? Age often provides the boundaries for forming community. School divides by grade. Churches divide classes and small groups by age. Most friend groups form around similarly aged people. But what if we miss out on great opportunities for…

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Feedback

Nicholas Sowell — Tue, 03 Aug 2021 21:38:02 +0000

We’ve all experienced giving and receiving feedback in just about every way possible, from the mean and hurtful to the complimentary and life-giving. But despite the wide sweeping spectrum we’ve received feedback on in its many forms, part of our biggest means to find growth will lie in the importance and value we place on it. Let’s start with what scripture has to say: (Proverbs 15:31) “If you…

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The Multicolored Hall of Faith

Ramon Mayo — Tue, 23 Mar 2021 17:44:22 +0000

There’s a never-ending debate many folks have on who the greatest NBA player of all time is. Is it Jordan? Is it Lebron? Is it Kobe? There’s no doubt that if you’re an NBA fan, you land on a particular side of this debate, and you have your reasons. A lot of it boils down to where you’re from. Most folks in Chicago will swear up and down it’s Michael Jordan who deserves the title of GOAT.

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Cultivating Good Character

Christopher L. Scott — Tue, 23 Mar 2021 17:36:14 +0000

Judah was outraged when he heard Tamar, the widow of his deceased son, had become pregnant because of prostitution. He demanded, “Bring her out, and let her be burned!” (Gen. 38:24, NLT). What a shame to their family name! What an embarrassment for her! But this story exposes Judah’s poor character, not Tamar’s. Judah’s firstborn son was Er who married Tamar, but Er died. So Judah had his…

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Kindness: The Forgotten Fruit

Crystal Alexander — Thu, 19 Nov 2020 00:31:25 +0000

The Oxford Dictionary defines kindness as the quality of being friendly, generous and considerate. Other words to describe kindness include affection, gentleness, warmth, concern and care. These are all terms used to express the affection felt from a family member or a dearest friend. Sadly, kindness can also be perceived as being weak, and though you’ve likely heard the phrase…

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Muting The Noise of the World

Tom Koel — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 17:06:37 +0000

Some people like to do what they call a Prayer Hike. That is where one or more people go on a hike, or walk, and pray as they go. Now, many people, like myself, wind up on a prayer hike inadvertently when they find the trail much longer and steeper than anticipated. But here we are discussing hikes that are focused on prayer from the onset. This is a great thing to do, and is actually very…

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Kingdom Acceptance

Chitara Ellis — Wed, 12 Aug 2020 23:01:52 +0000

I was quite popular when I was a small kid growing up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In school I had a reputation for being smart and kind, yet shy and quiet. I remember my classmates fighting each other over who could work with me on group projects. Outside of school, I picked up friends easily at church or at the local park by just being my friendly self. This all began to change as I got older.

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