Jun 17
Confidence or Arrogance?
Mark Schutzius

This morning in my personal quiet time I read through a few chapters in Proverbs. One verse caught my eye – Proverbs 16:5. The ESV reads, “Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord; be assured, he will not go unpunished.” Immediately after that, in verse 18 we read, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”

I have always felt a tension between confidence in my ability to do something while keeping myself removed from the pitfall of arrogance. Right now, I’m pursuing a Ph.D. in Old Testament/...

Jun 12
Dove Beauty and Your Daughters
Jenna DeWitt

I love what Dove is doing with their platform as a company selling beauty products. They seem to really “get” what women go through with body image. In one, an artist sketched women as they spoke, based solely on their descriptions of themselves. He also sketched the same women based on others’ descriptions. Dove then displayed the two sketches and invited the women in to see how much more radiant, beautiful and happy others had described them. Though the focus of the video was on self-perception, the catch to me was that these “others” were new...

Jun 10
What My Car Says About Jesus
Hannah Letson

I drive a 1996 Honda Accord. I bought it when I was 18 and it has (somewhat) faithfully served me these last five years. I wish I could tell you how many miles it had on it, but my odometer hasn't worked since March 2011. In fact, my car has lost many features. The air conditioning is broken – which isn't that uncommon – but when I roll down the windows to get some air flowing, sometimes they get stuck and won't go back up. My armrest broke off. I have to re-screw in the passenger door at least once a month.

The other day I had to turn on my hazard lights, and now my blinkers don't...

Jun 05
Sharing Our Banner
Jenna DeWitt

I ran across this music video recently, put together by some friends of friends to raise support for their mission trip to Mongolia. Besides the catchy tune, one thing that really struck me about the video was their portrayal of evangelism.

In the video, brightly colored paint and dancing represent the joy of those who have Christ’s love in their hearts. The ones without this “banner of love” stand still, eyes closed and oblivious to the life around them. Until someone shares the joy (i.e. splatters the messy paint) all over them. Then they...

Jun 03
Why I Love Big Churches
Heather Werle

Creative Director’s Note: Heather Werle currently serves at a “small” church in Atlanta, and she shares all the things she loves about that in the newest MORF magazine, which you can read here. Before being called to Christ Church of Atlanta, however, she had always attended and served in large churches… which she also loved.


Big churches are great. 

I...

May 20
Talking and Walking Discipleship - A Q&A with Roger Davis
Eric Geiger

Roger Davis serves as the president of Student Life. Also, if you’re still looking for a summer camp for the students at your church, Student Life has some spots still available for 2013.

  

Discipleship is such a broad term, often a junk-drawer term that has been used to describe many things. How do you define it?

I get people that often ask me about Student Life, “are you guys...

May 13
5 Tips on Lasting Long-Term in Ministry
Jeremy Steele

“I wish I had spent more time with my family.”  That was the common answer I got from the wise, successful pastors I started polling early in my career, asking what they wished they had done differently or known when they first started.  I have now been involved in professional ministry for 16 years and have had an incredible time without laying my sanity or family on the altar of work. It wasn’t easy, and in the spirit of 1 Corinthians 10:11-14, I want to share my experiences so you to learn from my mistakes.

1. Have the hard conversation:  How much...

May 10
Stuff MORF Likes - 5/10/13
Jenna DeWitt

Every day we gather articles and blogs from around the internet. Here are some we liked this week. 

 

5 Truths About Empowering People to Change the World

By Brandon Cox

“One of the values I remind myself of often is that people are not a means for getting ministry done. People are the ministry.”

...
May 06
Want To Write For MORF?
Jenna DeWitt

Hey there MORF readers! Thought you all might like some more info on contributing to our fun and free publication here.

Generally, MORF writers start as volunteer guest bloggers. We are ALWAYS looking for guest bloggers to donate their writing talents, even if it’s just reposting a blog that already appeared on your own site. Here's some questions I get a lot about blogging for MORF:

 

Q: How big of a commitment is this? Do I have to fill out forms or paperwork?

A: Not at all! Blog posts are written on a volunteer basis and can be...

Apr 29
Sin Grenade
Bryan Belknap

I was driving through a green light recently when a guy turned left in front of me. 

I know it was a guy because he made a point of looking me in the eye and flipping me off as I slammed on my brakes to avoid colliding with him.

Normally, I would only feel righteous indignation at such injustice. (He flipped ME off?! For driving straight through my green light?!?! I should be the flip-er here, not the flip-ee!) But this time, I felt horror wash over me instead because my 8 year old was in the car....