Providing a chance for people to talk with, work alongside, and listen to people different from themselves can aid in spiritual, emotional, and cognitive change.
Life After Forced Live Streaming
It’s 2020 and I have to acknowledge that our credibility, along with how we tell our story as a church family in this digital age, hasn’t merited the attention it justly deserves.
I Am Tired
I am tired of trying to explain what “Black Lives Matter” means. I am tired of thinking positive and being a giver of hope and life. I am tired of sitting with my precious Black friends as they process their trauma born out of our racial disparities.
“Crabwalk” by Günter Grass
What does it mean to deal with a national sin? What does it mean to grapple with a past that is never just the past, that keeps intruding day by day and will do so for the foreseeable future? (Fiction)
Introducing the What We Really Think It Says Bible (Now in Imitation Leather)
Hello there. Have you ever tried to read the Bible and actually do what is says?
Pandemic and Protest: Musings on the Lord’s Prayer
What does it mean to pray the Lord’s Prayer in these days, as the pandemic now shares the stage with visible and often violent social unrest?
“How Dogs Love Us” by Gregory Berns
The question of all questions for dog owners is this: does my dog really love me, or is this just instinctive submission to the pack leader? (Nonfiction)
Free Will and Healing
The most painful thing we do is talk with husbands or wives whose marriages are not being healed.
Close but Distant
Everyone knows each other in rural towns, but I have come to know that there is a difference between knowing of someone and actually knowing them.
Reopening After COVID-19: Treating Our Worship Spaces as Workplaces Rather Than Theaters
I think it’s time to think creatively about how to reopen churches in a way that honors both God and neighbor.
“The Topeka School” by Ben Lerner
Every preacher must wrestle with the fragility of our families, the difficulty of defining healthy masculinity in our world, and the constant problem of how we can actually have meaningful conversations. (Fiction)
Back to Normal or Toward New Possibilities
Is going back to what used to be really possible? And – listen closely, church leaders – is going back to what used to be really desirable?
We Are Christians First
As we begin to come back together, let us do the hard work of making empathetic contact with those whose opinions differ from our own.
“Losing My Religion” by William Lobdell
You may be thinking that throwing over your faith because of some bad actors in the church is a really bad idea. But Lobdell raises such interesting questions that his book cannot be easily dismissed. (Nonfiction)
I Am
We’re in over our heads; light spreads at too slow a pace for one step, it seems. We’re waiting; are you here?
The Blessing of Giving Up
What would you be willing to lay aside for the good of someone else? Would you be willing to give up your seat? Your lunch? Your comfort? Your time? Your money?
“The Sympathizer” by Viet Thanh Nquyen
It is a brilliantly conceived and executed novel that turns the camera lens and compels us to see events from a different angle. (Fiction)
From Despair to Hope
The world often makes us feel hopeless. But God gives us a different message in the midst of despair: hope.
Teaching Disciples to Live Like Jesus
How exactly do you equip someone? A good place to start is to study how Jesus equipped his followers.
Art Books by Eco, Perry, Schjeldahl, and Nelson
Fine art is an imposing climb when you’re just getting started. So let me suggest four books that might get you started. (Nonfiction)