Influencers would have us declutter our lives. Maybe they have our relationship with our possessions all wrong. I’m surprised that people are surprised when I say that I’m not neat. Something about me must suggest that I’m spruce. It’s not that I eat food in my room. I clean up after myself. I just have stuff,…

It is impossible to serve God and mammon at the same time. One of the most dangerous and widespread errors in Christian circles today is the belief that everything religious comes from God. Christ and the apostles of the early church discerned otherwise and revealed abysses that most people who call themselves Christians have no inkling…

If you are really in love with Christ, no matter how small your work, it will be done better. What we need is to love without getting tired. How does a lamp burn? Through the continuous input of small drops of oil. What are these drops of oil in our lamps? They are the small things…

After the defeat of Japan in 1945, a tuberculosis patient searches for meaning. As an elementary teacher, Miura Ayako taught her students to submit to and even die for the emperor of Japan. When Japan suffered defeat in World War II, Ayako realized this blind faith was an error. She fell into nihilism and attempted…

Mocked by Copenhagen’s most notorious scandal sheet, Kierkegaard endured months of deeply personal attacks and the silence of friends and allies. The year was 1845. At the time, the country of Denmark was experiencing a cultural renaissance of sorts. This “golden age” swelled with nationalistic fervor, artistic innovation, and intense political debate. Among its many rising…

What do we lose when we smooth out the natural wrinkles in our faces and our writing? The Cotinus coggygria, otherwise known as the smoke bush, has become one of my favorite drought-tolerant plants. (I live in California, so it feels right to have one). I’ve spent the better part of my adult life navigating drought conditions…

Author and podcaster Kate Bowler talks to Plough about her latest book, Joyful, Anyway: Finding Delight in Impossible Times. Joy is both an academic interest and a deeply personal project for Kate Bowler. As a professor of history at Duke University, she has spent years researching the Prosperity Gospel and the American self-help industry – both of which she…

The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about him. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him. Jesus said, “I am with you for only a short time, and then I am going to the one who sent me. You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where…

Historical Records From Adam to Abraham To Noah’s Sons Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah. The sons of Noah: Shem, Ham and Japheth. The Japhethites The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshek and Tiras. The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath and Togarmah. The sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittites and the Rodanites. The Hamites The sons of…