Project Arctos Podcast

Why is Community So Hard ? By Lilia Tse Finding community has been so hard for the Christian Millennial and Gen Z generations. These generations have moved around much more than Gen X or Boomers. Most Gen X and Boomers grew up, went to school, went to church, found their spouses and even had their jobs exactly in the same area or town. If they moved, it would be a single big relocation. Meanwhile...

Parents teach their children ideals for many different reasons. The main thing that parents want for their children is for them to live a healthy life. However, what parents want for their children can look different for everyone. Some believe that living a happy life can mean having a successful career where you have financial freedom to do anything you want. Some believe it’s getting married and...

In recent years, I’ve heard many Christians ex­press concern about the religious and moral fi­ber of America. Most of the time, America’s reli­gious fiber and moral fiber are treated as one and the same. The concerns that people express usually go something like this: The American public, and especially the younger generation, are increasingly areligious and anti-Christian. If this country turns a...

This past year, I learned just how insubstantial my past achievements really were. I have finally come to the understanding that after doing 15+ years of ministry in all sorts of capacities and roles, this part of my life is truly over. I am no longer a minister, no longer a pastor, no longer a spiritual leader in any sense. And I guess I’m okay with that. read more: https://www.projectarctos.com/...

A few months ago, the New York Times did a profile on a man named Les Knight. Les Knight is the founder of the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement. The organization, created in 1991, has an incredibly threadbare website, with webpages proudly displayed in Times New Roman and looking as if the site had never been updated since its first years of existence. But despite the lack of modern design sens...

My daughter Hanna was born in June 2023, and for the first time in my life, I became responsible for the life of another person. With this change came questions around my calling in Christ. What should come first, ministry or family life? Is my number one priority in life to raise my children or to go where God is calling me? How do we de­cide what comes first? read more: https://www.projectarctos...

In Ephesians 5:10, the Apostle Paul instructs believers to “find out what pleases the Lord.” There’s a very strong active sense to this instruction. Believers are called to take active responsibility with regard to searching out and, with great scrutiny, discerning how exactly they should live in order to please the Lord. Because the overall context of Ephesians 5 frames this “active search” by wa...

Project Arctos Ep 58 Our Great Divide By Abbey Robuck The Church is no stranger to challenges. In our long and rich history, we have experienced everything from persecution to adoration. However, in recent years, the American Church has had to face a new foe: irrelevance. The General Social Survey (GSS) found that the number of Americans who identify as non-religious (23.1%) is close to the number...

Alone by Brandon Morgan Belonging. When originally approached about this theme, I had topics in mind, some fun stories, perhaps a joke or two. But as I compose this article, none of these come to mind. All that pervades my consciousness is the loneliness and isolation I have experienced in terms of community. read more: https://www.projectarctos.com/archive/47/alone -------------------------------...

The Four Days in the Grave by Anonymous “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.” Now when He said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with...

Legacies, the Past and Looking Forward Author Hua Ou A little girl and her friends climbed the hill, jumping, skipping, panting, letting loose giggles like shiny bright bells jingling and echoing along the way… At the top of the hill, she gasped and let out a joyful shriek at the arresting scene that invaded her sight—a field of long stemmed flowers of stunning scarlet swaying freely and vibrantly...

I was standing in the church pews after I had just graduated from college with tears streaming down my face and my hands clasped together. I was looking for something, had been searching for years for resolve and contentment, and when I couldn’t find it, I was in emotional heartache. On that day, I had, finally, found purpose and fulfillment. My shoulders felt this immense release that I have neve...

If you’re like me, you may have grown up thinking white supremacy meant the KKK (Ku Klux Klan) and other extremist racist groups that took extreme action including acts of physical violence (e.g. lynchings) to ensure white people maintained power. While this is a subsection of white supremacy, it is an incomplete view of it. White supremacy is the idea that white people are superior to other peopl...

The Church’s problem with gender roles is a distillation of personal and cultural sin, spiritual forces at work (Ephesians 6:12), and an inadequate understanding of God’s purpose and power. I’ve seen and experienced all sorts of discrimination over the years. But when it comes to unfair gender expectations, there is perhaps no greater reflection of this problem than society’s expectations of pasto...

God’s Surprising Intimacy by Matt Reffie "...There are a handful of times in my life where God has surprised and ‘spoken’ to me even more overtly than I’d ever expected. At a time when I was feeling particularly discouraged with the re­turn on my efforts in life, I was grumbling internally (partly to God, but mostly to myself) as I walked the short distance from my mom’s house down the street to m...

Like, Share, Do Nothing: The Sad State of Christians and Politics by By Matt Reffie "If the past few years of American politics have taught us anything, it should be that neither extreme of the political spectrum is worthy of our time and attention. Unfortunately, the political dichotomy of Left (liberal) and Right (conservative) has so dominated American culture that even we “good Christians” hav...

Grieving, Struggling, and Healing by George Kuo "...On December 20, 2022, my wife, Linda, and I celebrated our 52 years of marriage. Throughout our marriage, she had enjoyed excel­lent health, getting only a minor cold once in a great while. Back in the summer of 2022, we had our an­nual blood tests. After our family doctor looked over her blood test results and some other tests, she said, “I coul...

Participation or Trophies - How Do You Measure Your Faith? by Matt Reffie "For many of us it is far too easy to fall into a pattern of what I call “collecting Christian trophies” rather than staying focused on daily participation with God. A “Christian trophy” is anything we point to in our walk to indicate a completed accomplishment even though it pertains to something that is intended to be ongo...

"Every now and again, as you’re reading your Bible, sitting in a church service, or participating in a Bible study, there is a verse that just strikes you… let’s say, oddly. As you’re listening to it, you’re saying ‘yeah, amen’ in your head, but also slowly realizing the heart of the verse doesn’t always quite jive with either your personal faith practices or the practices of your faith community....

Mental illness and mental health is a topic that has been considered taboo for a long time in general society. In order for professionals and personal supports to adequately walk alongside individuals with mental health challenges, it would be helpful to learn about what the Christian faith has to say about this topic. Mental health issues can include depression, anxiety, personality disorders, sc...

“What is time?” My friends and I have blurted out this question many, many times over the last fifteen months. From the early onset of quarantine when we couldn’t tell the difference between Tuesday and Saturday anymore to the shock of how long our small group has been meeting via Zoom, the way I interpret and measure time has been one of the biggest shifts throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The im...

Recently, I attended a retreat at a different church and had a unique experience that led me to some new reflections. The church I usually attend is a relatively diverse large church with various ministries, while the church I visited for the retreat is a small church focused on student ministry and consisting of a single ethnic group, which is similar to the on-campus Chinese fellowship that I us...

We drew near to our destination as I mentally flipped through the itinerary for the weekend. Dinner and fellowship with the youth group Friday. Then the “Understanding to Compassion” workshop on Saturday–the reason we were there. The workshop’s purpose: to help build bridges in communication between youth staff and youth as well as parents and children.read more: https://www.projectarctos.com/arch...