By Pastor Stephen Hess – Back in 2010, one of the top movies of the year was a film called “Inception.” The story is about a thief who steals corporate secrets through the use of dream-sharing technology. Eventually he is given the daunting task of planting an idea into the mind of a CEO by […]
culture, gender, marriage, sermon series, sexualityBy Pastor Stephen Hess – When the Apostle Paul visited the city of Athens in Acts 17, he noticed that the city was full of idols. On one occasion he was given an opportunity to speak before the Areopagus, which was a group of leading philosophers in the city. He began his address by saying, […]
christianity, culture, religionBy Pastor Stephen Hess – One of the most fundamental questions that human beings have asked for centuries is a question about identity: “Who am I?” Although many people don’t realize it, underneath some of the hot-button conversations in our modern culture there are competing views about identity. For instance, debates about sexuality and gender […]
culture, identityBy Pastor Stephen Hess – Since the early part of this year, one of the stories that has been dominating the headlines has been the massive advancements in artificial intelligence technologies. New chatbots such as “Chat GPT” have shocked the world with their ability to generate information and engage in conversation with human-like abilities. Many […]
culture, technologyBy Pastor Stephen Hess – A couple of months ago, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg announced that his multi-billion-dollar company was changing its name to “Meta” and ushering in a new way of connecting to others through the internet. “The next platform will be even more immersive—an embodied internet where you’re in the experience, not just […]
culture, technology, the christian lifeBy Pastor Stephen Hess – I recently came across a headline about a large church in the Nashville area that was making waves on social media by promoting the idea that the Bible is not really the word of God. One of the church’s provocative statements said, “The Bible isn’t the Word of God, self-interpreting, […]
christianity, cultureBy Pastor Stephen Hess – As I write this article, we are just days away from yet another U.S. presidential election. One of the perennial questions Christians face when thinking about elections is: How should our faith shape the way we view politics? This is a complex question, and complex questions rarely have simple answers. […]
culture, politicsBy Pastor Stephen Hess – One of the things I remember learning in elementary school was the pledge of allegiance. Each morning we would start the school day by standing, placing our hands over our hearts, and reciting the pledge. Recently my son also learned the pledge of allegiance as he entered kindergarten, and this […]
america, cultureBy Pastor Stephen Hess – Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers made headlines recently when he was interviewed by his girlfriend Danica Patrick for her podcast. During the interview the conversation turned to the subject of religion and Rodgers shared that he was involved in the church and other Christian organizations as a young person, […]
apologetics, culture, current events, sports
By Pastor Stephen Hess – Last month I had the opportunity to travel to Wichita, Kansas and attend a Ligonier Ministries regional conference where hundreds of believers gathered to study the truth of God’s word. The theme of the conference was “Stand Firm”, and the speakers focused on how Christians can stand firm in their faith […]
culture, faith, pluralism