I watch people talk to each other like other people watch a football game, and Shark Tank is one of my favorite shows for observation and learning.
A Family and the Family
The church family creates proximity to Jesus and a centralizing focus on him, until his identity becomes clear to all in the circle.
Book Review: “A Secular Age” by Charles Taylor
This book is about religion, to be sure, but it is more an act of history, sociology, philosophy, and cultural criticism. (Nonfiction)
Reflection Roundup: Reframing Our Questions
Looking bidirectionally within history, to what people, ideas, and entities can we allow our questions to be vulnerable so they may be changed?
Exiled: Four Principles to Embrace
Jeremiah says to settle in. Adapt, adjust, and find ways to make a meaningful life in a new environment.
A Time to Speak, Part 1: Guilt
Many of the necessary components in addressing guilt are implicit in Christian community. Acceptance, forgiveness, compassion, and perspective are all necessary companions for this topic.
Black Love … For America
Black love has had to exist within the context of racial trauma. From the streets of daily life to corporate, academic institutions, religious spaces, and political platforms, Black people have had to live and manage their inner rage.
Reflection Roundup: Crisis Prioritizes Care
How might we feel sorry in ways that reveal the flood-to-cross character of God, and reflect this to the world around us?
Book Review: “Believing Is Seeing” by Errol Morris
Seeing is believing, right? If you can’t trust a photograph, what can you trust? By the end of this book you’ll be rethinking that. (Nonfiction)
Faith Development and Women
Considering differences in learning and faith development between genders adds another layer of understanding that will hopefully lead to greater effectiveness in teaching and ministry.
Religious Services in the Age of COVID-19: Results From a Recent Survey (Part 2)
A follow-up piece reporting data and takeaways from an October 2020 survey of churchgoers about how the pandemic has impacted them and their congregations.
Reflection Roundup: We Really Are Better Together
We, the people of this common space of earth, were created by a communal God. Who do we think we are, so often going it alone?
Book Review: “GraceLand” by Chris Abani
The literary voices coming from all over Africa are incredibly diverse, and as more and more men and women share their stories, they turn out to be very compelling indeed. (Fiction)
A Lesson in Hermeneutics
Readers of Scripture are inherently also interpreters of Scripture, and if we are not careful with our interpretation, or if we are ignorant of how we interpret, then we can dangerously warp and misuse Scripture.
Three Things You Cannot Do When Your Church Splits
At some point your church will split. It may not be official, but it will happen. Leaders decide not to change certain things and people leave. Or you decide to change things and people leave.
Reflection Roundup: Where’s the Learning Here?
Do our biggest challenges lie in relation to one another? This week let us fasten our truth-belts and remember our “enemy is not flesh and blood” (Eph. 6:12).
Book Review: “These Truths” by Jill Lepore
In the media age where politics tend to be formed in the last 15 minutes, this book goes a long way toward giving us the context we need. (Nonfiction)
Own It
Speaking to an audience can be a conspicuous and vulnerable place, just like being a female minister.
Reflection Roundup: A New Offering From the Siburt Institute
This week’s offering represents a concerted effort to facilitate agility in taking on others’ perspectives as the current crises continue.
Book Review: “The Noise of Time” by Julian Barnes
The book makes you wonder how you would do in those moments when life itself might be at stake. How far would you be willing to compromise on your convictions to protect yourself and your family? (Fiction)