Sara Billups: Orphaned Believers

Orphaned Believers
Baker Books, 2023
By Sara Billups

WHO: Sara Billups, a Seattle-based writer and cultural commentator.

SHE SAYS: “No affliction can overcome the Spirit of God in us.”

THE BIG IDEA: This book explores how the experiences of Christians growing up in the 1980s and 1990s led to many of them leaving the faith, and what can draw them back. 

THE PROGRESSION: In three parts the author guides those who have left the church to see a new expression of faith that is motivated to make the world a better place.

“I stayed a Christian because I came to believe, and experience, that Jesus’s promise to not leave us as orphans holds true.”

Suffering From Spiritual Anemia

We need not starve our souls or allow our relationship with God through Christ to fade like the dying embers of an untended fire. We can seek the face of God.

Arthur C. Brooks: Real Happiness

A lot of Christians feel guilty about enjoying their life because they think that enjoyment and pleasure are the same thing, and they’re not.

Outreach 100 Churches on Creating a Flourishing Volunteer Culture

“Serving is not just about filling a need; it’s about inviting people into the bigger vision of following Jesus and serving in a way that allows them to use the gifts and abilities God has created them with to build his kingdom.” —Lori Newell, The Church of Eleven22