Rebecca Hagelin and Kristin Carey

REBECCA HAGELIN AND KRISTIN CAREY: Participating in God’s plan

It's easy to mistake the means for the ends and in doing so, to settle for less than we were intended for. For example, we all feel pressure to be productive and to use our time wisely, but if we're not careful, we will, as Peter Drucker says, manage for the sake of management instead of managing for the sake of results.

REBECCA HAGELIN & KRISTIN CAREY: Father’s Day love, blessings on earth or heaven

As Father's Day draws near, we jointly reflect on the blessings our fathers have been to us. Our "Papa Doc," now gone, was a loving reflection of the Great Physician. Even as a Johns Hopkins-educated pediatrician, he was humble enough to pray throughout the day for God to guide his hands and fill his mind with wisdom as he treated the youngest of patients. He was as honest as the day is long, and ever faithful to God and to his family.

REBECCA HAGELIN & KRISTIN CAREY: Become the church body to assist persecuted Christians

Every Western Christian knows it: the feeling that comes when eyes turn away from us, when quiet scoffing and silent anger sweep over us. We know that feeling when we turn down vices or bring up hopes, or steadily stick to "outdated" morals.

REBECCA HAGELIN & KRISTIN CAREY: Stories feed souls, fill spirits with words of life meaning

Why do great books and great movies enrapture us the way they do?

REBECCA HAGELIN, KRISTIN CAREY: Turning a house into a home

How do you turn a house into a home? We're not talking interior design, crafting parties or cooking lessons. We're talking about the essential differences between a space where people live and a space where people find life.

REBECCA HAGELIN & KRISTIN CAREY: Memorial Day duty for all Americans

More often than not, veterans' experiences are forgotten. It is our duty, not theirs, to collect and preserve their stories, and it is always right to recognize their sacrifices and thank them by working at home to restore and maintain an America of virtue.

REBECCA HAGELIN & KRISTIN CAREY: Marking Jesus’ Ascension to heaven

Thursday is Ascension Day, a little-known and little-celebrated holy day that marks Jesus' exit from this world. But the significance of Jesus' ascension is crucial for Christians.

REBECCA HAGELIN & KRISTIN CAREY: Prayer is solution to problems; complaint is not

With tax season still lingering in our minds and another election cycle on the horizon, it's easy to find ourselves annoyed with laws and politicians and discouraged about the direction of our country. But why is it that we are so quick to complain and so slow to pray?

REBECCA HAGELIN & KRISTIN CAREY: Family meals nourish body, spirit and relationships

The "center" of a home — the place with the most traffic — tends to be wherever food is found, which makes the kitchen or, more specifically, the table, the most important spot in every home. It's important for a simple reason: Everyone needs to eat. But its significance reaches far beyond the filling of stomachs. The table has the potential to be the place where schedules line up, where work and entertainment get put aside in favor of the conversation that nourishes relationships.

REBECCA HAGELIN & KRISTIN CAREY: Emancipation Day a good time to reflect on spiritual enslavement

This Thursday is Emancipation Day. It's the 153rd anniversary of the day President Abraham Lincoln signed the Compensated Emancipation Act, which freed the thousands of slaves who lived in Washington, D.C. Emancipation Day celebrates the beginning of the healing of our nation's greatest wound and weakness. And as important as it is to remember our nation's struggle against slavery in this lifetime, perhaps it's even more important to consider a kind of slavery that has eternal consequences.

REBECCA HAGELIN & KRISTIN CAREY: After the Easter celebration, the quest must go on

Churches were full last Sunday morning. People around the world, many hungry for the hope of new life, flocked into chapels to hear the Easter story. It is a good story. But everyone who hears the story must wonder at some point or another: "What next? How does this story change anything for me, really?"

REBECCA HAGELIN & KRISTIN CAREY: Good Friday made ‘good’ through God’s purpose

Good Friday is good only because we know the rest of the story. Even the darkest day can be called good when you see it from God's perspective. The power of God raised Jesus to life again, defeating the power of sin, defeating the power of death itself.

REBECCA HAGELIN: Holy Week meditation on Jesus’ Crucifixion suffering, sacrifice

The point of Holy Week is to help us remember, to help us dig into and dwell upon the richness of the Christian faith. The point is to marinate in it — in the story, in its meaning, in the person of Jesus Christ.

REBECCA HAGELIN & KRISTIN CAREY: Lent season to remember Jesus’ Last Supper metaphor on pruning

One of Jesus' most recognizable metaphors is one he shared with his disciples at the Last Supper, on the eve of his Crucifixion. His image of a gardener at work can be found in John 15. It begins, "I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener."

REBECCA HAGELIN & KRISTIN CAREY: Leadership over self-interest brings great rewards

Jesus knew his disciples' weaknesses all too well. But he didn't see their defects as roadblocks to success. Instead, he chose those men to be the ones to complete the work he came to accomplish. We too are called to be servant leaders in everything we do — in the home, in the workplace, at the market.

REBECCA HAGELIN & KRISTIN CAREY: Add God’s blessings to your collection of memories

If you were to take the time to look over and sort through old photographs, letters, videos, journals and keepsakes, you would remember things you may not have thought about for years. You would remember the person you used to be, and you would realize how much you have evolved with time. No doubt, you would see evidence of God's hand upon your life — perhaps even in times you thought he had abandoned you.

REBECCA HAGELIN & KRISTIN CAREY: Repentance: The first step to a deeper relationship with God

If you showed up at an Ash Wednesday service last week, chances are you heard the word "repentance" quite a few times. But something is missing from our understanding of repentance if we are not drawn to it. Something is missing if we are not eager to embrace the practice that first leads us to salvation and then continues to draw us into a deeper relationship with God.

REBECCA HAGELIN & KRISTIN CAREY: Lent sacrifice brings you closer to God

It's easy to see why 40 days of fasting would garner less attention and popularity than holidays that involve gifts. But the whole purpose of Lent, which we often forget, is to prepare Christians spiritually for the joy of Easter. The entire Christian faith rests upon the Easter story: that Jesus conquered death.

REBECCA HAGELIN & KRISTIN CAREY: This Valentine’s Day, focus on the unconditional love of Jesus

REBECCA HAGELIN & KRISTIN CAREY: Words, prayer have power to heal

When a friend loses a loved one and you want to comfort him but don't know where to begin; when you're truly sorry but know your words won't make the wrong "right"; when that emotion you feel is so powerful but the four letters in "love" seem so small. When your words are needed most, you begin to fear their inadequacy. Sometimes, you're so afraid of having your words fall short that you shrink back and don't speak at all.