New Identity Magazine

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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To Be God’s Child

Alyssa Rickert — Wed, 15 May 2019 19:55:28 +0000

Last night I was laying down with my two year old daughter as she fell asleep. Sometimes, this time of my evening tortuous. She’ll be fighting sleep, elbowing me in the face, begging for water, and I will want to pull all my hair out. But other times, like last night, true magic happens and I get to witness some of her most profound and adorable little thoughts as her brain fires out last attempts…

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Bookshelf Parables

Kevin C. Neece — Mon, 04 Mar 2019 18:33:03 +0000

As the father of a one and a half year-old boy, I read a lot of children’s books. I read so many, in fact, that I have four Dr. Seuss books memorized and I’m working on my fifth. Some dads may dread reading the same books over and over, annoyed by the simplistic, repetitive text of many a slender tome, but I love reading children’s literature. I always have, really, but I gained a new appreciation…

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MORE THAN POTS

Cesar Contreras — Wed, 04 Apr 2018 16:18:38 +0000

I’ve been living on my own for almost two years now, and one of the hardest yet rewarding things I’ve learned how to do is cook. That’s right, ladies and gentlemen, I’ve evolved from cereal artistry to legitimate home cooked meals. Honestly, the hardest thing to learn was understanding when to use certain herbs and spices for certain meals (although apparently you can’t go wrong with using cumin…

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IN THE BEGINNING…

Brandon Hurlbert — Thu, 08 Mar 2018 00:21:47 +0000

Reading prologues was never a habit of mine. I always figured that whatever the author really wanted to say would come out in the following chapters. When I got to college, I soon realized that these sections are crucial for understanding the rest of the story. They introduce the reader to key themes and characters and also lay out a framework for how to move forward in the story.

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BRIMSTONE AND BEDTIME STORIES

Brandon Hurlbert — Mon, 22 May 2017 18:41:07 +0000

Photo Credit: lauren rushing | Flickr (Creative Commons) Imagine a children’s storybook filled with images of chaotic carnage, of bodies strewn across the damp hills and burning cities crumbling under the weight of molten brimstone. Imagine tucking a child into bed after recounting these gruesome stories and then simply telling them that God loves them. With no further explanation than moral…

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KEEP THE FAITH

Lisa Gagnon — Mon, 06 Feb 2017 19:57:39 +0000

Photo Credit: Jens Vallsten | Flickr (Creative Commons) Hebrews 11:1 defines faith as “confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” In our everyday lives, we use “faith” to refer to any belief system and say “I have faith in you” when we believe someone is able to do something. When something bad happens in our lives, we might hear “just have faith” or “everything…

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GOD & POLITICS

Nicholas Sowell — Sun, 15 Jan 2017 19:41:23 +0000

Photo Credit: FFCU | Flickr (Creative Commons) The presidential race was nothing short of a disaster, not because of who won, but because I’ve never seen politics like this in my lifetime. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton both brought out the worst of anything they could dig up on the other. It was rarely, if at all, about policy or demeanor. There was little about how either candidate would…

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BLESSED TO BE A BLESSING

Crystal Alexander — Mon, 15 Feb 2016 16:12:54 +0000

Photo Credit: Felipe Câmara | Flickr (Creative Commons) Proverbs 22:6 says “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” As parents, we want our children to trust that we are doing our best to provide for them. They are to focus on school and enjoying their youth. We want them to know we have their best interest in mind. Some of us even tell our…

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GOOD IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH

Steven Butwell — Sat, 05 Sep 2015 17:41:38 +0000

Photo Credit: philhearing | Flickr (Creative Commons) Recently I had a conversation with two guests on the front patio of the restaurant where I work. You could say this conversation was by accident, or you could say God meant for me to be there at exactly that moment (often called a divine appointment). I delivered two dishes to the ladies and asked them if there was anything else I could do…

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