Category: Top articles

Freedom in worship and faith

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JEFF TURNER

Some believers have been pressured to control how they practice their faith. They’re told when to fast or how to follow religious routines. It can also involve people trying to judge others based on their religious habits. In response to this kind of pressure, Colossians 2 gives us some direction.

Paul instructs believers not to let others decide for them about matters such as religious festivals, new moon observances, food choices, drink rules, or Sabbath practices. These instructions were meant to protect Christians from being controlled by outside judgment.

Some of the practices being discussed were part of the Jewish law. These rules once helped set the Jewish people apart, but they are not required in the same way for the church today. The ceremonial system has been set aside, and believers are no longer bound to follow those external requirements.

There is also no command in the New Testament that requires fasting as a regular rule for Christians. Even in the Old Testament, only one fast is clearly required. This shows that fasting and similar practices are not meant to be strict rules imposed on everyone.

Because of this change, the early church began meeting on the first day of the week, which is linked to the resurrection. Believers are also free to eat what is available to them. This idea is supported in the book of Acts, where a message is given that removes food restrictions and allows people to eat without those former limits.

The main shift is from external rules to inner faith. In the end, the focus is not on being controlled by outside rules, but on sincere worship that is honest and grounded in truth.

for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Romans 14:17

A quiet life with purpose

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JEFF TURNER

When people hear the word “aspire,” they often think about strong ambition, success, or gaining influence. It is not common to link that idea with a calm life or staying out of other people’s affairs. Yet in 1 Thessalonians 4, Paul gives a different view. He tells believers to aim for a peaceful life, to focus on their own responsibilities, and to work with their hands.

At first, this may seem like a call to step back or settle for less. However, this instruction is not about ministry work, sharing the gospel, or growing in holiness within the church. Instead, it speaks about daily life in the wider world. It is about how a person lives among others in ordinary situations.

In this setting, believers are called to bring peace rather than conflict. They should avoid creating problems and instead live in a way that supports order and respect. Believers should have clear goals that guide them toward obedience. These goals are not only for church life but also for everyday living. Following God’s instructions in daily actions is a meaningful and necessary aim.

Ambition itself is not wrong. It becomes a problem only when it is centred on self-interest.

In the end, a quiet and steady life, marked by responsibility and peace, is not a weak path. It is a chosen direction that reflects obedience and care in how one lives each day.

Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord and not for people,

Colossians 3:23

The weight of seeing and rejecting truth

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JEFF TURNER

When reading the Gospels, one might imagine what it would have been like to witness the works of Jesus Christ in person. Seeing His miracles with their own eyes may seem like it would make belief easier. Yet the words recorded in Gospel of John 15 give a different perspective. Jesus explained that those who saw His works and still rejected Him carried a deeper level of guilt.

This does not mean that people who had not seen those miracles were free from sin. Every person is born with a sinful nature and continues to commit sin in daily life. The point being made is more specific. Those who witnessed His works and still turned away became guilty of a greater offence, which is the direct rejection of Him.

This rejection is not a small matter. It is one of the most serious sins because it involves turning away from clear truth. When someone fully understands who Christ is and still refuses Him, the weight of that decision is very great.

The teaching found in Hebrews adds to this understanding. It explains that there is a stronger judgment for those who treat the message of Christ with contempt. To know the gospel, to understand it, and then to reject it brings a heavier outcome than ignorance alone.

In this sense, hearing the message carries responsibility. A person who has never heard is still accountable for sin, but the one who has heard clearly and refused faces a more serious judgment.

And that slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accordance with his will, will receive many blows, but the one who did not know it, and committed acts deserving of a beating, will receive only a few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.

Luke 12:47–48

Anthem Edition turns up the tempo with country-tinged gospel release

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TEXAS GOSPEL VOLUNTEER

Anthem Edition has released a new single that marks a noticeable shift in tone from the group’s previous work, trading reverence for momentum and leaning into country instrumentation to carry its message.

The track, “Something’s Going On ‘Round Here,” follows “In Christ Alone,” a more stately and reflective release. Where that song settled into solemnity, the new single opens with a guitar lick and builds through three verses, passing the vocal lead between members as the energy climbs.

The song is built around the figure of Jesus moving through Galilee, rendered not as a theological treatise but as word-of-mouth excitement, the kind of talk that spreads through a town before anyone fully understands what they are witnessing. Its chorus lands somewhere between storytelling and invitation: Something’s going, going on ’round here / Folks are gatherin’ in from far and near.

Much of the track’s texture comes from studio musician David Johnson, who plays both resonator guitar and fiddle. The instrumentation gives the song a country flavour that sets it apart from the smoother production often associated with Southern Gospel, and reportedly gives it a different kind of life in live performance. Tim Rackley, one of the group’s founding members, has said the song has already begun building energy at concerts where it has been tested.

The single was written by Kenna Turner West, Jason Cox, and Belinda Smith, three writers with established records in Gospel music. The song is available in Dolby Atmos spatial audio on Apple Music, Amazon Music, and TIDAL.

Anthem Edition has a longer history than its current name suggests. The group formed in 2003 as The Old Paths, founded by Rackley and Doug Roark. It operated as a trio before expanding to a quartet, eventually signing with Sonlite Records in 2012. That period produced two number-one hits and a Singing News Fan Award for Favourite New Quartet.

The group went on hiatus in 2015 and returned to touring in 2017. In late 2022, it rebranded as Anthem Edition and brought on Andrew Utech as bass vocalist. Tenor Cameron Edens joined in the fall of 2023, completing the current lineup.

Televangelist James Robison, founder of LIFE Outreach International, dies at 82

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Ronald Stone

James Robison, the Texas-born televangelist who spent more than five decades bringing his Christian message to stadiums, living rooms, and relief camps around the world, has died. He was 82.

LIFE Outreach International, the ministry Robison founded, announced his passing but did not release a cause of death.

Robison began his preaching career in 1968, and what followed was a ministry of remarkable reach. His organization says his message found its way to more than one billion people worldwide, delivered across more than 600 cities. For many of those years, he shared that platform with his wife Betty on the television program LIFE Today, a show the couple co-hosted together and that became a fixture in Christian broadcasting households.

Born in Pasadena, Texas, Robison channelled his faith into multiple ventures over the decades. He authored several Christian books and, in 2015, launched The Stream, a Christian news platform that added a digital dimension to a ministry already operating on multiple fronts. Together, he and Betty raised three children and were surrounded by 11 grandchildren.

In a statement posted to social media, the LIFE Outreach International board described a man defined by his sense of calling.

“James devoted his life to sharing the Gospel and bringing hope, help, and healing to those in need around the world,” the statement read, adding that the ministry he built “has touched countless lives and will continue impacting generations to come.”

The organization said it would carry on Robison’s core mission: delivering food, clean water, and what the ministry described as the hope of Christ to communities in need. It asked supporters to pray for Betty Robison and the broader ministry family in the days ahead.

The board closed its tribute with a verse from Matthew: “Well done, good and faithful servant.”