It’s no secret that anger and outrage are the fuel that this particular car needs to get it where it needs to go. The question then becomes, “What does such a trip do to our soul?”
Book Review: “The Secret Lives of Boys” by Malina Saval
Teenage boys can be both intimidating and exasperating, often at the same time. It is a tribute to Saval’s skill that I came away from the book caring about the boy in every chapter. (Nonfiction)
Be the Church: An Onsite and Online Congregational Initiative for COVID-19 and Beyond
We are asking everyone in our church family – whether onsite or online – to do three things each week: love, grow, and worship.
For Elders Who Are Facilitating Gender Inclusion, Check Out This Book for Your Church’s Study
In Women Serving God, Hicks outlines his own history of understanding, years of serious scholarship, and how he began to change his mind about the practice of female silence during worship.
Priest or Pawn?
As I’ve read these posts, tweets, and blogs, I have asked myself several questions about how I am speaking through social media.
Helping the Church Learn From Its Past: Restoration Day 2020
As a minister in Churches of Christ for 20 years, I often struggled with how to help the contemporary church appreciate its past.
Book Review: “Shroud” by John Banville
How about a novel built around the founder of deconstructive literary criticism? It’s hard to imagine a more exciting premise than that. (Fiction)
Church in the Time of COVID-19: Findings from a National Survey (Part 4)
This final article offers findings from a survey of seven individual Churches of Christ, including two open-ended questions.
Small Church Ministry During a Pandemic
Just like with so many other things, small churches enter into this pandemic with a unique set of strategies and difficulties.
Lay Your Head on a Stone
Finding rest from our work is a spiritual practice first introduced by God in the creation story. Even God models the ability to observe the sabbath period as an important part of our missional work in the world.
Book Review: “What If?” by Randall Munroe
Okay. I get it. We are all ready for something on the lighter side. How about a book that is constantly amusing, engaging, and at the same time will actually teach you something? (Nonfiction)
Church in the Time of COVID-19: Findings from a National Survey (Part 3)
There is a lot that we can learn from this data, particularly as it relates to who might be on the fringes and more likely to not come back to church.
Live Into Hope!
Let’s use this interruption as a time to re-imagine how we pursue God’s preferred future!
The Capacity to Laugh
What happens when we lose the capacity for an emotional expression? What happens when we lose laughter over a period of time as a pattern?
Book Review: “Jennifer Government” by Max Barry
What is the point of writing a novel when what is happening in the world is far more unbelievable than any act of the imagination could be? Is it even possible to write satire in a world where the news is already too kooky to be satirized? (Fiction)
Church in the Time of COVID-19: Findings From a National Survey (Part 2)
In this article, I’ll share what churches have been doing to continue ministering to their congregants.
COVID-19 and Controlling Our Responses
Our idea of control is an illusion. We have very little say in what happens around us or to us; we only have a say in how we react and respond to the challenges that we face.
When the Main Dish Is Delayed, the Party Must Go On
Have you ever been to a wedding reception and waited endlessly for the meal to be served? The bride and groom are off taking pictures. Meanwhile, stomachs are grumbling audibly.
“The Righteous Mind” by Jonathan Haidt
We may think we hold our moral decisions based on reasons, but more than likely the position came first and the reasons later. (Nonfiction)
Church in the Time of COVID-19: Findings From a National Survey (Part 1)
In this first article, we’ll focus on some of the basic demographics of who took the survey and their responses to 10 key questions about their feelings toward returning to church.