Guest Posts

(Here’s a guest post from Rachel Mueller. You can check out her blog here or follow her on Twitter @rachelmueller. If you want to write a guest post for SCL, here’s how!)

What to do when Sunday Morning becomes a Match.com Mingle.

I live in a fairly average size city with a high concentration of Christian people. In fact, my city was once known as the “Christian Ministry Headquarters.” But what there seems to be is an alarming lack of young single Christian men. I decided to turn to the internet to help my quest.

Being a good Christian girl, my go-to was eHarmony. What I got from that website was two stalkers. Literally. However, the inability to browse on eHarmony kept me relatively anonymous. I had no idea if GodsWarrior247 is the sweaty hand-shaker during the greeting, or MarkDriscollRox is my fellow youth leader. (“Though I walk through the pews of my Sunday morning, I will fear no awkward IRL encounter” should be their slogan).

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(Here’s a guest post from Jeff Goins. You can check out his blog here. If you want to write a guest post for SCL, here’s how!)

Every Wednesday night, I pull one of my fourteen Bibles off the shelf, get in the car, and drive to Bible study.

After two hours of intense discussion about important topics such as God’s timing and what kind of hair product our worship leader uses, I’m recharged until Sunday.

With peers, I share what God is teaching me and how I’m trying to be more intentional about community. I even feel like I’m starting to walk in the Spirit. Then I get in my car, taking the two-minute drive home, still high on spiritual serotonin, and that’s when the traffic light hits.

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(Here’s a guest post from Stephen Pepper. You can check out his blog here. If you want to write a guest post for SCL, here’s how!)

20 Conversations The Bible Left Out

Have you ever wondered what’s missing from the Bible? There are so many people whose lives are covered over the course of thousands of years in the Bible, millions of situations and conversations will have gone unrecorded.

To try to fill in some of that gap, here are 20 conversations the Bible left out.

Noah: Told you so.

Jonah: And I pray for travelling mercies…

Job: Relax – what’s the worst thing that could happen today?

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(It’s guest post Friday! Here’s one from Kristin Weber. You can find out more about Kristin on her website.  You can also follow her on Twitter. If you want to write a guest post for SCL, here’s how!)

Modesty Talks

I was taught from a very young age that modesty is an outward reflection of what Christ is doing inwardly. It’s figuring out exactly what that “outward reflection” should look like that causes some robust dialogue within church communities. (Shocking, since Christians rarely disagree on anything.)

I grew up in the conservative home school world, where the “chastity button” (top button) on blouses got fastened and swimsuits included oversized t-shirts and long gym shorts. When I was instructed as a kid to run away if anyone tried to touch me in my bathing suit area, I was like, “so basically if any one tries to touch me at all, run.” (To which my dad responded, “yes.”)

I attended my first official modesty talk around age 13, when we started getting our clothes from worldly places like Coldwater Creek and Eddie Bauer. Up to that point, my mom sewed most of our clothes. (Did anyone else’s mom make them a lady bug jumper complete with a lady bug blouse, lady bug buttons, and a lady bug headband special for their piano recital? Just mine? Thought so. That’s why my mom is better.)

Since then I’ve seen numerous approaches to the modesty “issue.” Here are three of the most memorable:

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(It’s guest post Friday! Here’s one from Stephen & Shae Pepper. You can check out their blog here. You can also follow them on Twitter @youthworkinit and like them on Facebook. If you want to write a guest post for SCL, here’s how!)

Extreme Makeover: Big, Big House Edition

Anyone who’s ever seen the show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition knows that it requires a lot of people with different skills to work together to build a house.

Anyone who’s ever read 1 Corinthians 12 knows that it requires a lot of people with different skills to work together to be the body of Christ.

So what would it look like if people from the Bible were to work together to build a house? Here’s our cast listing for Extreme Makeover: Big, Big House Edition:

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(It’s guest post Friday! Here’s one from Jennifer Faddis. You can check out her blog here. If you want to write a guest post for SCL, here’s how!)

50 Shades of Amish Romance

As Christians, we certainly can’t be seen clutching a book for our reading pleasure that is 40, 50 or even 60 shades of any kind of drab color. So, we quench our thirst for romance with the wholesome and seemingly prolific Amish romance novel genre. Who knew the plain folk had such intriguing love lives?

The “Real Housewives of Bird-In-Hand” feature tidy buns and sporty little kapps (that’s caps for you who don’t know your Amish speak). If the ladies are searching for a hearty bachelor to receive a rose, they need to look no further than the nearest fresh-faced fellow in black pants and suspenders! ‘Cause everybody knows the hot guys with the Methuselah beards are already off the market! What a rip-off for these hard-working chaps, by the way. At the wedding, instead of exchanging rings, the groom has to say “with these whiskers, I thee wed.” Instead of some new bling, he gets to pitch his razor. Makes sense.

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(It’s guest post Friday!  Here’s one from Scott Higa.  You can check out his blog here and follow him on Twitter.  If you want to write a guest post for SCL, here’s how!)

My 3 Excuses for not watching The Bible on the History Channel

I have a confession to make.

I didn’t watch The Bible on the History Channel.

There, I feel better. My load is definitely easier, and my burden is much lighter.

I’m not opposed to Christian programming. I endured The Passion of the Christ and shared how it made me feel with my small group. I have watched numerous Veggie Tales movies and have even sung “The Hairbrush Song” at the top of my lungs. I even sat through Psalty, the singing praise book, which scarred me more than Mel Gibson ever could.

I’m not opposed to watching The Bible, but here are some reasons why I couldn’t:

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(It’s guest post Friday!  Here’s one from Pam Lyon.  You can check out her blog here.  If you want to write a guest post for SCL, here’s how!)

Global Warming:

Are we doing it? Is God doing it?

At the end of the day, I think there is one thing we can all agree on:

I don’t want to drive a Prius to save the world because it is shaped like a suppository.

Also, if there is a rapture and I’m left behind, I don’t want to be in a smart car when that guy’s empty Hummer crashes into me.

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(It’s guest post Friday!  Here’s one from Kristin Cummings.  You can check out her blog here.  If you want to write a guest post for SCL, here’s how!)

Bragging about our lack of dating experience

When I was 22, I remember wondering if turning 30 and having ‘never been kissed’ was still considered cute.

I was seriously worried about it because, at least in my mind, I was well on my way there. Sweet 16 and kiss-less was cute. Maybe even being a college student and saving that smooch for someone special was still sweet. But I was a working college graduate and still a member of the exclusive ‘never been kissed’ club.

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(It’s guest post Friday!  Here’s one from Kate Hall.  You can check out her blog here and you can follow her on Twitter.  If you want to write a guest post for SCL, here’s how!)

The Up-Sell Guy at the Christian Bookstore

Have you ever run into the “Up-Sell Guy” at a Christian bookstore?

I ran in to my local Christian Bookstore the other day to buy a greeting card. Here’s how my time at the cash register went:

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