Three issues into the redesigned Christianity Today, feedback on the magazine has been encouraging. “It looks substantial, and it reads as substantial,” wrote a pastor on the social platform Threads. Readers have praised the larger font size, thicker paper, revised logotype, curated art, and judicious use of white space. One subscriber told us, “I cannot put it down. Began reading two hours ago, taking a break now at page 92.” Even the reduction in ads drew praise: “I was just about ready to cancel my subscription,” wrote Anita Ramlo of Oakland, California. But instead, she reported, “I have thoroughly enjoyed reading and sharing from the July/August edition!”
Many people shared feedback on a personal essay by Sophia Lee, “Confessions of a Loner.” Some shared struggles finding Christian community as single people, returned missionaries, grieving parents, or older adults. Others expressed gratitude for their churches.
“My husband and I live away from family due to his job, and with four kids you NEED family nearby,” wrote one mom. “Our church has been that family.”
A recently divorced woman said, “In my church, fortunately, I have a vocal friend who told the deaconess I needed food. The deaconess said, ‘She’s one of our own’; people gave me food, veggies from the garden, took a collection; and the deacons paid a few bills.”
When Christian community fails, it’s devastating. But when the body of Christ serves each other as it should, its members can flourish together.
Kate Lucky
senior editor, culture and engagement
Why Print Still Matters
I spend much of each day with my eyes on screens. It is refreshing to spend some time in my comfortable chair with a hot cup of coffee and the print version of Christianity Today in my hands.
Warren A. Dick, Wooster, OH
I’m grateful our library has good magazines like CT. I’m on disability and can’t afford internet or print subscriptions. It is nice to be able to take them home to read with my morning coffee or before bed instead of having to spend every day at the library to read them. Please keep printing!
Donna Cooley, Vancouver, WA
What Hath Jerusalem to Do with Mar-a-Lago?
Russell Moore’s recent editorials reflect an unbecoming and unnecessary political bias. While the editorials have raised important alarms for us concerning the importance of Christian character to our culture and politics, he consistently buries the lead in moral judgments against one candidate, Donald Trump. [Moore] claims his personal views “are beside the point,” which then begs the question as to the purpose of including them. I have no desire to be the former president’s apologist or defender. I also have no desire to read Moore’s personal political views in CT.
Dave Smith, Gainesville, GA
The commentary expressed well my own sorrow at how our politics have been corrupted, but it seemed to express anger toward the former president. There was no encouragement to pray for him, only anger.
Owen Panner Jr. , Riddle, OR
It felt good to know that I’m not the only voice crying in the wilderness that something is far amiss in evangelical circles. As an Anabaptist myself, let me recommend our traditional belief of total separation of church and state, or put another way, the “two kingdom concept,” with the church not taking part in politics at all. It’s freeing!
Merle Yoder, Gladys, VA
Why Both Parties Want Hispanic Evangelicals in 2024
Hispanic Christians are not a monolith. Like the rest of the church and nation, we are politically all over the spectrum.
Rich Rodriguez (via Facebook)
He Told Richard Nixon to Confess
As a Navy chaplain, I was assigned as district chaplain for the Seventh Coast Guard District in Miami, Florida, from 1997 to 2001. I came to know during that time a senior Coast Guard officer—a captain—who had a fascinating tale to tell of his earlier life. Before joining the Coast Guard, he was a Secret Service agent regularly assigned to President Nixon’s detail. In this capacity, his duties took him several times to guard the president inside the Key Biscayne church’s sanctuary during the worship service. Over time, he began to listen to Huffman’s sermons and, due primarily to that input, came to receive Christ! He remained an active, faithful Christian throughout his life.
Mark A. Jumper, Virginia Beach, VA
Is Sexuality a Matter of First Importance?
Allberry’s point on the danger of focusing only on one sin reminds us we are all in need of God’s grace and forgiveness.
Rob Moorlach, Groton, SD
When assigning equal gravity to same-sex sin and greed, you question why the former receives more vehement condemnation than the latter in evangelical circles. Perhaps the pushback has to do with the fierceness with which the practitioners of same-sex attraction defend their sin. Another thing: The line where [same-sex] attraction deviates from heterosexual attraction is clear, immediate, and definable, whereas the moment when the normal desire to acquire crosses the line to greed seems more blurred.
Thomas Keogh, Highlands County, FL
Behind the Scenes
Our July/August article about Eric Liddell was sports historian Paul Emory Putz’s first appearance in a CT print magazine, though he writes often for the online edition. On Threads, he shared a reflection about it:
“I grew up in small-town Nebraska, a pastor’s kid. But not a typical PK. My dad was a full-time UPS truck driver, delivering packages while also starting and pastoring a church. He had no seminary degree or even a bachelor’s degree. But he was curious about the world. He was constantly reading Christian books and literature, and Christianity Today was one of those sources.
“In my own faith journey, having CT around the house was formative. It modeled a way of encountering the world that fed my desire to follow Jesus and my intellectual curiosity. It helped set me, a first-gen college grad, on a trajectory to my work as an educator, historian, and author.
“High school me never would have thought I’d get to contribute my own words to the pages of a magazine that has meant so much to my life.”
This article appeared in the November/December 2024 issue of Christianity Today as "Responses to Our July/August Issue".
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