Suffering, Featured, Family, Faith
Courtney Reissig
Sin is Like Cancer

One of the scariest things in the early days of my diagnosis is that the pathology was unclear. Best case scenario, the cancer was contained. Worst case scenario, it had spread beyond what they could imagine. This fear was heightened by the fact that all the normal tests that catch cervical cancer failed to detect mine. I was diagnosed long after they usually diagnose women. And that terrified every medical professional I saw.

Sin is Like Cancer

Missions Wednesday: Sweden

With the rise of secularism across much of Europe, it is no wonder that in a 100 year span the percentage of professing Christians in Sweden could go from 99% to a mere 48% believing in the existence of God. But it has happened. Since 2000 the Church of Sweden has ceased to be the official state church, leaving the country of Sweden with now complete religious freedom.
 

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The Way of the Wise: A Review of Girls Gone Wise in a World Gone Wild

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If we were asked to think of a “wild woman” a person or type of person would typically quickly come to mind. We can all think of her right? She is usually the girl we don’t hang out with, because of her bad reputation. She is the girl flirting with the boys in school, or the girl buying the bikini at the mall, or the girl at the clubs and bars every weekend night. But she certainly isn’t in our homes or churches. She couldn’t be, could she?

Missions Wednesday: Somalia

In college I had a professor tell my class that we were facing an unprecedented missionary opportunity among the Somali people simply because thousands of them have had to flee to places like America. Often, he said, American Christians will bemoan the fact that missionaries are unable to enter countries like Somalia (or any closed country), while ignoring the reality that many of those very people are living right in their neighborhoods. I think he is right in a lot of ways. And if this is true about the increasing numbers of people from the nations literally coming to our doorstep, then we should be informed about our new neighbors.

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Models for Marriage

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Daniel and I had the privilege of spending time a few weeks ago with a couple who has been married for many more years than we have. We always like the opportunity to be around people who have been at it longer than us because it gives us a chance to learn from them and pick up some helpful tips from their relationship. This time provided us with such an opportunity.

Missions Wednesday: Kyrgyzstan

Sadly, up until a few years ago I knew very little about the former Soviet country of Kyrgyzstan. But Kyrgyzstan has been in the news in recent days and many in the world are now looking at this nation as they deal with ethnic clashes and violence. Reports say that as many as 77 people have died in the fighting between the ethnic Uzbeks (natives of Uzbekistan) and Kyrgyz, this has forced many Uzbeks to flee to the border of Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. Due to the influx of people attempting to enter the country, those trying to flee have been stopped at the border because Uzbekistan simply cannot handle anymore people coming in—many of them are women and children.

Counseling and Job's Friends

The book of Job fascinates me. Between the interaction with Satan and God, God’s overarching control of everything, Job’s response in the midst of great sorrow, and the subsequent response of his friends, I have always finished Job with lots to ponder and process. We can learn a lot about counseling from the book of Job. And I found myself repeatedly praying throughout the entire book, asking God to protect me from the all too familiar tendency to counsel like Job’s friends.