By Jamie Ketchum RYFO Network provides a great amount of assistance to the touring bands we love. Nick Greenwood, founder of RYFO was gracious enough to tell us a bit more about this inspired project. Tell us how RYFO got its start? Most of us are enamored by the tragedies and glories we see … Continue reading RYFO Network: An Interview with the Founder
By Brooke Luby Life is a complete mess. I don’t mean this in a hopeless, rip-your-hair-out way. It’s more sweet, like a toddler covered in chocolate pudding. As much as I think I am this free thinker, go-with-the-flow ,”let’s see where life takes me,” kind of person, I am still obsessed with control. I still … Continue reading Chocolate Pudding Spirituality: We Are All a Mess
By Harold Vance We go to school for a degree, Not an education. Why did I pay All that money For a simple piece of parchment? All that time For nothing gained But ways of the world, As our cares are turned toward money and material things, And … Continue reading Conversation With a Beast: A Poem
By Seth Barnes, Founder of Adventures in Missions Given the recent surge of interest and involvement in short-term missions, you’d think that it was a new phenomenon. Actually, it is a tradition as old as Christendom. In the sixth chapter of Mark we see that Jesus sent not a select few, but all of his … Continue reading Selecting a Short-Term Missions Experience
By Josh Casper I’m an advocate for creativity in any way especially when it comes to helping the most vulnerable of the world’s poor. A simple necessity such as shoes can add much dignity to a life spent wondering through harsh and unsanitary conditions. Organizations such as TOMS Shoes created a wonderful business creating a way … Continue reading Barefoot Media Week: Soles4Souls
By Derek Iannelli-Smith Is Jesus really just concerned with our receiving him into our hearts? Have evangelicals over-emphasized individual “decisions for Christ” and under-emphasized the redemptive elements of the Gospel in regards to social and cultural transformation? Is our gospel a “Me-first” Gospel? A couple of disclaimers: 1. I have learned that there are some … Continue reading The Me-First Gospel: Individualism and Christianity
By Cassandra Smith I glimpsed at a picture of Jesus. It is hard to describe, as I am sure all images of God are — yet the moment sticks with me. I see him walking through a city street. It was Nashville, maybe? Pittsburgh? Dallas? In a way, the city encompassed a hundred cities, but … Continue reading Anything You Are Afraid to Lose Owns You
By Sarah Fujimoto The fresh air hits my face as I trek down the street, the gravel below my shoes crunching with each step reminds me of my arriving destination, the elementary school. As I near, a familiar scene is unveiled. Laughing and smiling children running in the front of the school, uniforms amok with puddled … Continue reading After the Earthquake: Teaching Art in Costa Rica
By Kim Daniels and Matt Snyder When the girls working the bars as prostitutes in Thailand reach the point where they are looking for a way out, there is a place for them to go. It’s called “The Well”. It’s a home, a school, a workplace, and a family with a goal in mind: to … Continue reading Forced Prostitution: How Sex Trafficking Affects the Women in Thailand
By Wrecked for the Ordinary Something’s not right in the world. Something is truly broken, and you sense that you may have at least a piece of what’s required to bring about healing. In the process, you learn more about yourself, about what Jesus meant when he said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” In … Continue reading Christian Social Justice Writing Contest