For years, I could preach about freedom on Sunday morning and lie awake bound by something I couldn't break on Monday night. I have a seminary degree. I led worship every week. I taught Bible study every Wednesday. And still I quietly wondered, if Jesus came to set me free, why do I feel so stuck?
Maybe you know that feeling. You've confessed it. You've prayed about it. You've tried everything — yet the same struggle keeps resurfacing.
Here's what I've learned: real spiritual transformation is possible for you, too. But it rarely happens the way we expect. It's not a single dramatic moment. It's a process.
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This summer, more than 5 billion people will gather for the World Cup. Moments like this don’t just entertain, they open doors—for connection, for community, for conversations. Step into this moment with faith and confidence by hosting a fun, welcoming watch party for your neighbors. Download your free kit today!
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Bible News
The latest Bible-related and Bible-adjacent news
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New Study Shows Analytical Thinking Does Not Affect Religious Belief — July 8: A recent psychology study found that increasing analytic thinking did not meaningfully reduce religious belief. In a second study, a debiasing task successfully boosted cognitive reflection but had no significant effect on self-reported religiosity. The findings challenge the common assumption that faith mainly persists where critical thinking is weak and suggest that religious belief and analytical reasoning are not inherently opposed. (Religion Unplugged)
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Anti-Christian Incidents Nearly Double in Israel — July 7: The Religious Freedom Data Centre recorded 83 incidents of harassment against Christians in Israel from April to June, up from 44 the previous quarter. Spitting at Christians, clergy, and holy places accounted for 56% of incidents, with most occurring in Jerusalem. The spike is believed linked to Jerusalem Day and Shavuot celebrations in May. (Christian Today)
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Two Lost Sermons by Augustine Discovered in Poland — July 7: A 12th-century manuscript at a monastery in Pelplin, Poland has yielded two previously unknown sermons by Augustine of Hippo, authenticated unanimously by 20 Latin scholars in autumn 2025. Both sermons address the theologically thorny account of the Witch of Endor in 1 Samuel 28, exploring whether Samuel truly appeared to Saul or whether God permitted an illusion. A critical edition is expected by year’s end. (Aleteia)
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A strange thing keeps happening in the modern world. People who no longer believe in God still wander into churches.
Not for services and not because they have suddenly become religious. They simply walk in, sit on the hard wooden pews, and remain there for a while. When asked what they are doing there, the answer is usually something like, "I just come here to think." I have heard that explanation more than once, and it never seems to tell the whole story.
I suspect they are there because they are carrying something heavy and have not found anywhere else to set it down.
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Parables were one of Jesus' favorite ways to teach about the kingdom of heaven — he uses some 40 across the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke). Many, like the Prodigal Son and the mustard seed, are among the best-known images in Western culture.
Yet their familiarity belies how strange they are. A shepherd leaves ninety-nine sheep for one. An enemy becomes the example of neighbor-love. Workers hired at day's end earn the same wage as those who labored from morning. A father welcomes home a son who wasted everything, while the obedient older brother stands outside.
When we stop and think about them, these stories are just as shocking and countercultural now as when Jesus first told them.
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