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…
Contending with texts
By Bill Leonard In a 2006 New Yorker story on writer Gertrude Stein, Janet Malcom wrote: “The instability of human knowledge is one of our few certainties. Almost everything we know we know incompletely at best. And almost nothing we are…
What are excellent vs. mediocre congregational visions?
By George Bullard Vision is not business as usual. It is not about average thinking. It does not involve doing a little better next year than you did last year. It is not about mediocrity. Vision is about excellence in…
When miracles fly thick
By Amy Butler There’s a short story written by Phillip Gulley, well-known Christian writer and Quaker pastor from Indiana. Here’s how it goes: I was born deep in the winter. Each birthday my father phones to recount the events surrounding…