You Don’t Have to Figure Faith Out Alone ~ OKECHUKWUVITUSS

Our Faith Grows Best When We Wrestle With It Together

by Miroslav Volf

"Solus Christianus, nullus Christianus." In clumsy English: "A solitary Christian is no Christian."

The Latin phrase was coined by Tertullian, an early church father. It makes a strong, exaggerated claim: alone you cannot be a Christian. Chalk it up to Tertullian's character or perhaps to the lawyer in him; he was a spiritual rigorist, a religious maximalist.

Solitude is important in the life of a Christian. And yet there is more than a grain of truth in Tertullian's phrase. Think of the Christian hope for fulfillment in the world to come. Its most potent image is that of a city — both the people and the built environment — located in the new creation.

Bible News

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January 9 — The 2026 Red List by Global Christian Relief names the top international persecutors of Christians from 2023-2025. Nigeria leads in killings, with 590 documented deaths, while Rwanda had the most violence against churches (7,700 cases). China leads in arrests and detentions (709 incidents), due to strict registration laws and surveillance. Mozambique saw the highest displacement, with over 13,000 Christians forced to flee, and Mexico recorded the most assaults and abductions (376 cases). (Baptist Press)

January 10 — Bible sales in the UK hit a record high in 2025, up 134% since 2019. Younger people are driving the surge, with many seeking spirituality and meaning in a rapidly changing world and social media influencers sparking interest in religious texts. Church attendance in England and Wales has grown, too, with numbers quadrupling since 2018. Experts suggest Christianity is becoming a "counter-cultural" force, appealing to a generation raised in secular environments. (The Guardian)

January 11 — China has intensified its crackdown on unregistered Christian groups, detaining leaders of the Early Rain Covenant Church, including Li Yingqiang and his wife, Zhang Xinyue, following arrests of members from other underground churches, such as Zion Church. The Chinese government views these groups as disobedient to Communist Party ideology. Early Rain, a prominent house church, has faced persecution since 2018, with its founder, Wang Yi, jailed for nine years. (The Guardian)

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From Death to Life: A Look at Paul's Argument in Ephesians 2:1-7

by N.T. Wright

Ephesians 2:1–7 actually form a single sentence in the Greek, with the opening phrase hanging in the air (you were dead in sins) until the main verb in verse 5 (God made us alive).

Now, of course, Paul can tell the story of sin and salvation in many different ways. We shouldn't press individual passages for a total theory. Here, he chooses to foreground, not the intricate meaning of Jesus' saving death, but the life-giving power of Jesus' resurrection. As throughout Ephesians, he is emphasizing who and what the church now is: in this case, a community of people brought from death to new life through the grace of God in the gospel.

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In Case You Missed It

The Least-Read Bible Verses of 2025 — and Why They Matter

It seems like everyone this time of year (us included) is talking about the most-read Bible verses on every Bible app — and for good reason.

Yet even so, faith is not a popularity contest. Every word of Scripture is God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16). They might not all have the zing of John 3:16 or Joshua 1:9, but they are in the Bible for a reason.

So as I read all these lists I started to wonder: What are the most overlooked Bible verses, and what are we missing by ignoring them?

Not Forsaken: The Upper and Lower Story of Matthew 27:46

Have you ever felt forsaken? Somebody you counted on turned their back on you? You were forgotten, left out, left alone, abandoned.

Jesus sure did. You may remember when he hung on the cross, he cried out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46).

It is one thing to be forsaken by a stranger, but your father … that is another thing altogether.

I was taught the moment Jesus took all our sins upon himself, the Father turned his face away from him. God, I was told, can't look upon sin.

This is how it appeared from the Lower Story.

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