Almost as soon as Church of Christ missionaries entered Ukraine after the breakup of the Soviet Union, Christian Chronicle reporters entered the country as well. For more than three decades now, The Christian Chronicle has covered how the Ukrainian people embraced with joy the gospel of Jesus Christ. Few parts of Europe can match Ukraine for how the Church of Christ took root, sprang up, grew and spread.

Russia's invasion and occupation of Ukrainian territory in 2014 and all-out war against its neighbor starting in 2022 has done great harm to the Church of Christ and its members in Ukraine. But not grave harm. In the face of death and destruction, Church of Christ congregations and members are rising up and showing how the love and power of God is greater than bombs and tanks. But recent events in the United States are leaving some Christians in Ukraine feeling betrayed by their brothers and sisters in Christ.

In this episode, Jeff Abrams (executive director of Rescue Ukraine and former minister with Tuscumbia Church of Christ in Tuscumbia, Alabama) and Marina Noyes (a pillar in the Vinograder Church of Christ in Kiev, Ukraine) talk about how the Church of Christ and its members are holding out after three years of war in Ukraine. They also talk about how the changing political situation in the United States is affecting the Church of Christ in Ukraine.

Link to Christian Chronicle CEO Erik Tryggestad's recent report on the Church of Christ in Ukraine at the third anniversary of Russia's second invasion

Link to a full archive of The Christian Chronicle's coverage of the Church of Christ in Ukraine

Link to Rescue Ukraine

Link to College Hill Church of Christ in Richland Hills, Texas, which provides support for Vinograder Church of Christ in Kiev, Ukraine 

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More Christians in more parts of the world may sing Chris Tomlin's worship music ('Our God,' 'How Great is Our God,' 'God of Angel Armies') than any other artist alive today. A Grammy Award winner and two-time Songwriter of the Year with more than 7 billion global streams, Tomlin is branching out into film. He is executive producer for the new major motion picture The Last Supper, written and directed by Mario Borrelli and starring Robert Knepper, James Faulkner, and Jamie Ward. 

In this episode, he talks about what it is like to be caught up in a global worship movement and why The Last Supper is the right film for right now.

Link to Chris Tomlin's website

Link to The Last Supper film 

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Marie Stroughter (Westside Church of Christ, Killeen, Texas) is an all-star "church mom" and "church wife," raising three kids (two adopted), supporting her elder/deacon husband, and volunteering in the life and programs of the church. And she does all of that while living with mental health challenges like obsessive-compulsive disorder and panic attacks.

As many as one in four Americans deals with mental illness on some level at some time. As Marie says in this episode, that means that in a congregation with 100 members, there could be 25 members who are going through some mental health struggle at any given time.

Living with mental illness gives Marie the compassion, empathy and understanding to come alongside other Christians who are living with mental illness challenges of their own. She started the MoMo ("Motivational Moments") 634 (as in Matthew 6:34) Podcast, a daily dose of affirmation and inspiration from Scripture for those who live with mental illness.

Link to MoMo634 Podcast

Link to 9-8-8 suicide crisis hotline

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52nd Annual Caribbean Lectureship in Barbados this July 13 - 16, 2025. Learn more and register at caribbeanlectureship.com.

Freed-Hardeman University graduate degrees in New Testament or Old Testament at fhu.edu/chronicle.

On March 7, 2025, eleven men from Gamma Sigma Phi (Abilene Christian University, Abilene, Texas) will push off on a cycling relay that will take them 1,400 miles across deserts, mountains, unpaved trails and Death Valley. Riding day and night, they plan to reach Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, in just five days. They're riding to raise money for Greater Than Three and the Pepperdine Strong Fund. In this episode, Gamma Sigma Phi Jackson Kulp and Carter Young explain why they're doing this and how.

Link to the Bike to Pepperdine website. Click here to learn about the relay team and route, how they're preparing for the ride and their progress once they push off. You can also donate to their cause here. www.bikeridetopepperdine.org

Link to Greater Than Three, one of the causes that the bike ride supports.

Link to the Pepperdine Strong Fund, the other cause the bike ride supports.

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Learn more about the new book, Why Aren't Christians More Like Jesus by Michael Clemens at whyarentchristiansmorelikejesus.com

52nd Annual Caribbean Lectureship in Barbados this July 13 - 16, 2025. Learn more and register at caribbeanlectureship.com.

Freed-Hardeman University graduate degrees in New Testament or Old Testament at fhu.edu/chronicle.

The clips at the top of this episode are from (in order) the preaching of Andrew Hairston and James Maxwell, two "giants" who worked for decades to build for the kingdom of God. 

Andrew Hairston stood in the pulpit at Simpson Street Church of Christ in Atlanta, Georgia, for more than 50 years. Not only did he preach, he was a practicing attorney and judge and a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve. Hairston worked alongside Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in his peaceful campaign for equal rights for all Americans. Hairston went to his rest on January 14, 2025, at the age of 92.

James Maxwell was a preacher's preacher and professor's professor, who served for half a century in the administration and faculty at Southwestern Christian College, the only HBCU with roots and ties in the Church of Christ. While leading and teaching at Southwestern Christian, Maxwell stood in the pulpit every week in Church of Christ congregations in Kansas, Mississippi, Ohio and Texas. Maxwell also went to his rest on January 14, 2025, at the age of 86.

In this episode, their fellow minister and friend, Billy Curl (Crenshaw Church of Christ, Los Angeles, California) talks about why every Christian needs to know Hairston and Maxwell because their work contributed to building the Christian community and culture in which we live and minister today.

Link to Christian Chronicle coverage of Andrew Hairston's life, work and celebration of life

Link to Christian Chronicle coverage of James Maxwell's life, work and celebration of life  

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Lauren and Owen Mitchell drop in to talk about what they've learned about building a great marriage -- from being Marriage Dynamics Institute facilitators for more than 25 years and by practicing marriage together for more than 28 years. In this conversation, they focus on how the small things often make the biggest difference in how partners experience marriage. This one is full of practical pointers that even the busiest and most stressed-out couples can start using today.

Click here for a link of upcoming ReConnect Weekend marriage retreats (referenced in the interview)

Link to article about Owen Mitchell's recent national championship win on the senior pickleball circuit

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52nd Annual Caribbean Lectureship in Barbados this July 13 - 16, 2025. Learn more and register at caribbeanlectureship.com.

Freed-Hardeman University graduate degrees in New Testament or Old Testament at fhu.edu/chronicle.

Jonathan Skrmetti (Harpeth Hills Church of Christ), attorney general for the state of Tennessee, is the defendant in what the national media argue is the biggest case of the term for the United States Supreme Court: United States v. Skrmetti. 

In question is a 2023 Tennessee state law that prevents healthcare professionals from providing gender transition procedures to minors. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Biden administration brought suit against Tennessee for violating the 14th Amendment rights of three teens who seek gender transition procedures.

In this episode, Abilene Christian University professor (and practicing attorney) Dr. Kenneth Pybus asks Skrmetti to explain the "what," the "how," and the "why" of his defense of the Tennessee state law. 

Skrmetti also talks about how practicing the law is a ministry, the best way (and not best way) to go about that ministry and how he uses his office to protect the rights of ordinary citizens (such as when he takes big companies to court for making products that harm their users).

Skrmetti shares how he came to become a member of the Church of Christ and why he still prioritizes taking his entire family to Wednesday night Bible class every week.

Link to Bobby Ross Jr.'s The Christian Chronicle article about United States v. Skrmetti (December 2024)

Link to Bostock v. Clayton County (2020) case referenced in the interview

Link to the Cass Review (2020) referenced in the interview

Link to news report on the United Kingdom's ban on puberty blockers for minors (referenced in the interview)

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The way Christians think about and use sex is changing. For example, a recent study by Barna Group and Pure Desire Ministries shows that Christian porn use is almost equal to porn use by the general public. And an increasing number of Christians believe that it is OK to look at porn. At the same time, fewer and fewer congregations are addressing the issue from the pulpit, in recovery groups or in small groups.

Meanwhile, Adventures in Missions (AIM), a popular missionary training program at Sunset International Bible Institute discovered that is missionaries-in-training needed to talk about sex. Not only because of how sex often becomes an issue on the mission field, but because too many future missionaries are themselves victims of sexual trauma.

In this episode, Holly and Steve Holladay of Ultimate Escape talk about why sexual dysfunction and sexual sin are so prevalent in the church today...and how churches can (and should) address this head-on (instead of avoiding it or pretending it's not there).

Link to Bobby Ross Jr.'s Christian Chronicle report on "sex education" at Adventures in Missions

Link to Barna Group / Pure Desire study on porn use among Christians

Link to Ultimate Escape

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Learn more about the new book, Why Aren't Christians More Like Jesus by Michael Clemens at whyarentchristiansmorelikejesus.com

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Freed-Hardeman University graduate degrees in New Testament or Old Testament at fhu.edu/chronicle.

The way Christians think about and use sex is changing. For example, a recent study by Barna Group and Pure Desire Ministries shows that Christian porn use is almost equal to porn use by the general public. And an increasing number of Christians believe that it is OK to look at porn. At the same time, fewer and fewer congregations are addressing the issue from the pulpit, in recovery groups or in small groups.

In this episode, Rodney Wright talks about the reasons that Christian attitudes about sex are changing, why the church seems to be retreating from the subject and what Christians and congregations can (and should) do.

Link to Barna Group / Pure Desire study on porn use among Christians

Link to Pure Desire Ministries

Link to How to Talk with Your Kids About Sex

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Send your comments, ideas, and suggestions to [email protected]

Learn more about the new book, Why Aren't Christians More Like Jesus by Michael Clemens at whyarentchristiansmorelikejesus.com

52nd Annual Caribbean Lectureship in Barbados this July 13 - 16, 2025. Learn more and register at caribbeanlectureship.com.

Freed-Hardeman University graduate degrees in New Testament or Old Testament at fhu.edu/chronicle.

The new film, Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin (Angel Studios) is drawing Christian audiences around the world, but does it get the depiction of its title character right?

Dr. Myles Werntz (professor of theology at Abilene Christian University) says it does not...and that Christians should view the movie with caution. In this interview, Werntz talks about the critical review he published about the film (perhaps the most widely read and quoted review out there).

He also talks about the real Dietrich Bonhoeffer and where Christians can look for the most accurate and insightful information about him.

Link to the Marc LiVecche film review (and critique of Werntz's review) from World Magazine (quoted in the interview)

Links to Bonhoeffer resources that Dr. Werntz recommends:

Dietrich Bonhoeffer: A Biography by Eberhard Bethge

From Isolation to Community: A Renewed Vision for Christian Life Together by Dr. Myles Werntz

The Bonhoeffer Phenomenon: Portraits of a Protestant Saint by Stephen R. Haynes

Strange Glory: A Life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer by Charles Marsh

Dietrich Bonhoeffer 1906 - 1945: Martyr, Thinker, Man of Resistance by Ferdinand Schlingensiepen

Dietrich Bonhoeffer: An Introduction to His Thought by Sabine Dramm and Thomas Rice

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Learn more about the new book, Why Aren't Christians More Like Jesus by Michael Clemens at whyarentchristiansmorelikejesus.com

52nd Annual Caribbean Lectureship in Barbados this July 13 - 16, 2025. Learn more and register at caribbeanlectureship.com.

Freed-Hardeman University graduate degrees in New Testament or Old Testament at fhu.edu/chronicle.