READ: ROMANS 5:1-5; 12:15 BOOM! A clap of thunder shook the rounded windows of Habitation Enclosure 150 in the Tuuli province of the planet Terra. “That sounded awfully close,” said Lillah with a shiver. “I hate storms.” “I know,” said Phlox, Lillah’s roommate and the area botanist. “It feels safer when we don’t have to [...]

READ: JEREMIAH 42:1–43:7; EPHESIANS 2:1-10 “Rhode, tell us what to do. We will die here on the planet Yavorah! The Kuvil Regime took the rest of our people to their planet, and they won’t let us live here peacefully. It’s been years since Juro’s old dynasty held us in slavery— maybe if we go back, [...]

READ: 1 CHRONICLES 29:10-14; PSALM 62:5-8; EPHESIANS 2:4-10 Emil hadn’t dreamt about dinosaurs since he was eight. Yet here he was with a full-sized Tyrannosaurus rex, in a top hat no less, right in front of him. “If you’re going to eat me, do it quickly, I have other things I’d rather be dreaming about,” [...]

READ: PROVERBS 19:11; 1 CORINTHIANS 13:4-5; PHILIPPIANS 2:1-13 Frigid air made my eyes water as I pulled my cloak tighter around me. I watched my breath come out in little puffs of white, an ode to the snow that most certainly lingered on the horizon. Night would soon be upon me, and I needed to [...]

READ: ISAIAH 64:6; ROMANS 3:10, 23-24; PHILIPPIANS 3:3-11 Arlyn stood in a long line of travelers, each waiting for their turn at the weighing station. She watched the distance between her and the balance scale grow smaller. Her basket of jewels rattled as she tried to control her trembling. When she had gathered them in [...]

READ: ISAIAH 33:5-6; MATTHEW 6:19-34; 1 TIMOTHY 6:17-19 Kellen knew that asteroid mining was a risky business. There were hazardous pockets of gas and metals too tough for the drill. For Kellen, though, the money to be made was worth the work. The material in this asteroid alone would fuel his entire home planet for [...]

READ: JEREMIAH 18:1-6; EZEKIEL 36:26; 2 CORINTHIANS 3:18 Tamora’s orange eyes were wide with excitement. Today, Grandmother would teach her how to weave a sala basket, a rite of passage in her village on a planet in the Cloudina Galaxy. Tamora watched Grandmother’s wrinkled purple hands lift a bucket filled with water and colorful qasab [...]

READ: GENESIS 1:26-28; ROMANS 8:22-25; COLOSSIANS 1:15-23; 1 PETER 1:3-5 "Humans have made a mess of this world. It’s time for them not to be in charge.” I backed away after the android said this, clicking its long metal fingers together. A product of the recent technological singularity, this artificial intelligence was trying to take [...]

READ: LAMENTATIONS 3:19-26; JOHN 5:24; ROMANS 7:14–8:1 A vivid sunset reached over the aqua waters of my home on Zakynthos Island. I slid my hand down my pteranodon’s sleek, yet powerful neck as he lifted his wings, carrying me higher into the color-splashed sky. Apostolos had been my constant companion since the night he landed [...]

READ: LUKE 15; JOHN 15:13; ROMANS 5:5-11 Elle’s dragon, Thon, had run away many times. But never before had he been missing for more than one rotation of the two moons. Elle had hand fed him from his hatching, taught him to fly, nursed him through dragon pox. Loved him. Elle sat up on her [...]