How to sound Christian for fun and profit (Cassandra Millis)

“Not mine, but thine.” I remember using this phrase in one of the most nervous conditions of my life. I was interviewing at my dream college and desperately wanted to make not only a good impression, but a godly impression. (Seeing as it was an Evangelical Liberal Arts school. That advice might not work everywhere else.) When asked what book I had read most recently I quipped, “Is it nerdy to sa…

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What to Give to the Person Who Already Has Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh (Cassandra Millis)

We’ve reached the time of year when you have to take a good hard look at yourself in the mirror… and practice your face of “How did you know that a sweater with kittens in mittens with real mittens sewn onto it so you can stick your hands awkwardly by your stomach is exactly what I wanted!” (That sweater is a true story, by the way.) It’s easy to give a bad gift. It’s easy to give a generic gift. (Leg…

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Tell us Mary, Exactly What Did You Know? (Cassandra Millis)

While we celebrate the third week of Advent, many of the students among us are in a far less joyous state: finals week. While we deck the halls with boughs of holly, they race the halls backs bowed, Heads in a book from one test to another. Tis the season to be stressed out. They have holly, jolly, crippling anxiety. Too many Christmas puns? While they face questions about molecular…

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King of Christmas (by Cassandra Millis)

Christian Americans celebrate Christmas in two spheres. On one hand, we have our religious traditions: lighting the advent wreath, setting up nativity scenes, singing our favorite seasonal hymns like “O Come All Ye Faithful” and “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.” On the other, we experience Christmas as the cultural phenomenon it has become: putting elves on shelves, writing letters to Santa, and singing…

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Our Kids Need Us (Jan Baumann)

It is important for children to learn to build relationships with other adults who see the good in them and believe in them. They should know other adults who will listen to them and care about them. There are opportunities for those kinds of rich connections at Westminster in all of our children’s and youth programs. After our vacation Bible school (Barefoot School) this past summer I spent time r…

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