By Russ Dean I only saw one of those year-in-reviews that the news shows always put together for the week after Christmas. One was enough. I was raised like most American kids to be proud of this great land I…
Thoughts on welcoming the stranger
By LeDayne McLeese Polaski I’ve been thinking a lot lately about strangers. I suppose we all have. Strangers — immigrants from Central America, refugees from Syria, Muslims crossing international borders, even people on the other side of town — are…
The charism of creativity
By Molly T. Marshall One of the first Hebrew words I learned in seminary was bara, the word used of God’s creative activity as recounted in Genesis. My Hebrew teacher carefully instructed the nascent scholars that this word could only…
The Incarnation matters all year long
By Doyle Sager Not very many weeks ago, many of us sang the words of Charles Wesley’s familiar Christmas carol, “Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see, Hail the incarnate deity ….” We likely also heard the powerful witness of John’s…
‘The Big Short’ will make you mad — and it should
By Michael Parnell “The little guy always gets screwed.” That was the comment the gentleman who sat next to me said after watching The Big Short. After seeing this movie I was mad. It was not because I was ill informed…
16 books I plan to read in 2016
By Barry Howard My love for reading was slow to develop. During my teenage years, I perceived reading to be a nuisance and necessary evil. At some point during my college years, however, I learned to enjoy reading, not just…
When you stop coming to church
By Mark Wingfield As a pastor, I try not to take it personally when you stop coming to church. Most of the time, I understand that it’s not about me and that it’s not even about the church. It’s about…
When it comes to congregational vision, good enough is never good enough
By George Bullard Surely you have heard the expression throughout your life that something is “good enough for government work.” Or, you have heard its cousin, “close enough for government work.” When the typical person hears these phrases they think…
Work in the new office — an opportunity for spiritual formation
By John Chandler The can’t-miss trend of 2016 will be that North American disciples pay strategic attention to what it means to be a follower of Jesus at work. “Faith@Work” is not a new topic, but it is and will…
Happy New Life!
By Starlette McNeill I need to see your hands. Put the pen down and slowly back away from the list. Before you begin your annual declaration of independence from unhealthy food and toxic people, before you purchase the gym membership…
It’s time to abandon reason
By Greg Jarrell On Monday, Dec. 28, Timothy McGinty, district attorney of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, announced what everyone suspected, and many hoped would not be true — that there will be no charges in the slaying of 12-year old Tamir…
Making our list, checking it twice
By Barry Howard At our house we make a lot of lists, especially in December — the grocery list, the Christmas card list, the gift list, the guest list, the holiday event list and the end-of-year giving list. During this…