This is the second article of a nine-part series on empowering a faith community to impact the world. The “E” word has been stolen! This stolen term and its meaning generated aspirations for some churches and guilt for others in…
Sex and religious liberty: 2015 and 1645
By Bill Leonard In 1645, Anglican clergyman Daniel Featley wrote of the “Dippers” (Baptists) rampant in England: “They preach, and print, and practice their Heretical impieties openly; they hold their Conventicles weekly in our chief Cities, and Suburbs thereof, and…
When God changes His mind*
It wouldn’t be the first time, you know. If Fox News wants to see what “fair and balanced” looks like they should check out National Public Radio. You know the folks at the helm are left of center, but they…
Religious liberty, Easter, and fear
I’m no legal expert when it comes to religious liberty. Not like Brent Walker or Holly Hollman. Neither am I a political pundit or a talking head who takes an extreme view in order to satisfy the base. I write…
Resurrection hurts
By Amy Butler In what must have been a slow news week, I saw a story last week about those iconic Easter candy chicks, Peeps. It seems that about 5 million Peeps are made each day in the months leading…
More about what lay leaders say about their dying churches
Mildred is dying. Mildred’s church is also dying. She is 82 years old and has an illness that is killing her. She has attended her church for the 43 years her family has lived in the area. She is seen…
10 things Millennials DON’T say about church
By Aileen Lawrimore I have a lot of Millennials in my life: my own children and their friends, nieces and nephews, youth from churches where I’ve served, plus college students I’ve met through ministry. I Snapchat and text, Facebook and…
Congregations fix yesterday’s mistakes, hoping they will solve tomorrow’s challenges
No doubt the tragic death of 150 people involving Germanwings Flight 9525 on March 24 is of such extreme seriousness that no trite applications of what happened should be put forth. At the same time, the actions and lessons of…
‘It is finished’: The spiritual practice of daily examen
By Jayne Davis “When Jesus had received the drink, he said, ‘It is finished.’” — John 19:30 “It is finished.” Such powerful words. Jesus’ last words in his earthly life, the culmination of all that the Father had asked of him,…
Surprise!
In the 1970s the British comedy troupe Monty Python performed a sketch which turned a common expression of exasperation at an unwanted series of questions into a comic refrain. In the sketch a man and woman are having a conversation….
Feeling or flinging in basketball and an authentic Christian lifestyle
A personal game-within-a-game I play when watching basketball games is to guess in the split second between the time when a player shoots a jump shot and it comes down in or near the basket whether or not they felt…
Is love a mandate or an emotion?
By Molly T. Marshall I have often wondered why Peter was so resistant to Jesus’ offer of washing his feet. Lord knows they needed it! The grit would cling to his feet after a day of walking in dust. When…