As a teenager with worse-than-average body issues, I scrupulously avoided the gym. I was devastated just by a stray glance in the mirror; I couldn’t bear the idea of seeing myself reflected among a thousand other bodies, preening sweatily and (I thought) self-righteously as they loped along on their […]
Author: Chelsea Batten
Cowboys and Angels
I recently spoke with Mr. Gibson, the associate director of Lake Avenue Community Foundation in Pasadena. He told me a story about cowboys. Mr. Gibson’s takes underprivileged kids and gathers them in the company of real life cowboys; he takes them from their disparate enclaves in southern California to a environment that disorients […]
The Value of Virginity
Suddenly, we’re farther than I’ve ever gone before. Beyond the mind-altering sensations that follow one upon the other like stock cars on their final lap, my ears are ringing with the impact of having met this unlikeliest of all people, to whom there’s no need to explain jokes or literary […]
Can Christians Cuss?
There’s a self-evident answer to the question “Can Christians cuss?” We’ve heard it from preachers of the Mark Driscoll/Tony Campolo stripe, whose strategic use of profanity was hailed by Patrol Magazine as “the new fire-and-brimstone.” We’ve heard it from those of gentler manners but equal passion, such as John Piper, […]
4 Ways Fear Disguises Itself as Responsibility
There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and anyone who fears has not been perfected in love. 1 John 4.18 The Western church has nearly always struggled with interpreting earthly safety and prosperity as a thumbs-up from God. I’d […]
Why I’m done complaining about being single
I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there are a lot of frustrated singles out there. And the Christian ones seem more frustrated than most. You see it in the open letters and thoughtful explanations offered by plaintive unmarrieds, asking the world at large, “Please stop asking me why I’m […]