New Identity Magazine

A LIFE OF LESS. A HEART FOR MORE.

Lindsey A. Frederick — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 16:43:58 +0000

“What do you really want?” my mentor asked the first time we met. The question felt huge, and the answer almost too big for words. But it came as I listened to my heart bumping around my chest. It felt heavy and wrung out from old hurts and fears stashed in my emotional basement. “I want. . .freedom.” As I cleaned out that space, I began to feel lighter, more confident, more peaceful.

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DIRTY GIRLS MINISTRIES

Lisa Gagnon — Wed, 02 Nov 2016 22:21:45 +0000

Photo Credit: Drew Selby | Flickr (Creative Commons) Porn. We are only now beginning to realize the extent of its effects on the brain, relationships, and society at a time when sexually explicit content is just a click away. Christians have recognized pornography’s negative impact for decades, yet it is still often considered a “male” problem within the Church. This can leave women who…

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SOLD OUT

Ramon Mayo — Mon, 31 Oct 2016 15:10:43 +0000

Photo Credit: Corpuzzle | Flickr (Creative Commons) If I said you were a sell out you would probably be insulted. No one wants to be called a sell out but in the right context that could be the highest compliment. Usually when we talk about someone selling out, it’s a negative thing. It means they have given up their convictions and principles for some temporary reward or compensation.

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CONFRONTING DR. JEKYLL

Steven Butwell — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 16:00:56 +0000

Photo Credit: Carmelo Fabrizio Scordino | Flickr (Creative Commons) I squandered the life I cherished by courting Mrs. Hyde. But what I had to gain was my life. “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his…

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SACRIFICIAL LOVE

Crystal Alexander — Wed, 19 Oct 2016 16:01:23 +0000

Photo Credit: Steven Leonti | Flickr (Creative Commons) Sacrificial love in any relationship, be it with a parent, sibling, spouse, boyfriend/girlfriend, or or friend means loving the other person with good intentions, good actions, and with no regards to yourself. Sacrificial love can be restricted or restrained by what you are willing to sacrifice in that relationship. Being afraid to love…

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ON CHRISTIAN “HYPOCRISY”

Délice Williams — Mon, 10 Oct 2016 21:59:07 +0000

I once paid for gas with a counterfeit bill. At the time, I had no idea it was counterfeit. I thought the $20 I pulled from my purse was valid, perfectly real. Paying for gas with it was supposed to be a routine transaction. Only when the cashier used a bill detector and told me she couldn’t accept my money did I learn the truth. It was embarrassing, and I almost tripped over myself trying to…

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GOD OF THE EVERYDAY

Bethany Wagner — Mon, 03 Oct 2016 16:28:25 +0000

Photo Credit: Anais | Flickr (Creative Commons) This summer, I spent two months working for a Christian nonprofit on the coast of sunny South Florida. There, it was not hard to feel God’s presence. Every person I worked with had a close relationship with Jesus, setting strong examples of what it means to put God first. Every week we prayed for each other in the office, every other week we met…

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EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE?

Greg Whyte — Thu, 29 Sep 2016 17:31:15 +0000

Photo Credit: Brandon Warren | Flickr (Creative Commons) Since the autumn season is also one that means new beginnings to many of us – the fall semester is usually the first semester of most school years in North America; churches begin offering programs again as the regular volunteers return from their summer vacations; and for some of us, it may mean the beginning of a new career or job…

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HEALING AS THE KINGDOM COMES SLOW

Luke Geraty — Mon, 19 Sep 2016 17:50:57 +0000

Photo Credit: Carola Ferrero | Flickr (Creative Commons) A few years ago I was in Kenya, a beautiful country in eastern Africa. As a group of my friends, both Africans and Americans, were sharing the good news about Jesus, we approached two ladies with the hopes of building a friendship and sharing Jesus with them. As we began talking, we learned that due to multiple illnesses, one of the women…

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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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