As spring rain drizzles outside, I’m thinking about Easter worship and the increasing numbers of Christians (and pastors) who are leaving church. The statistics have become a modern fact of life and aren’t as shocking as they once were. For…
What was I made for? Not to be pretty or skinny
Analysis of Google search data by online fitness resource Total Shape has revealed that searches for “Margot Robbie diet” have exploded by 1364% in the United States, following the release of the Barbie movie on July 21. The Barbie movie has…
Finding beauty in the superstore parking lot
On a sultry August morning, I backed out the convertible and headed to the grocery store to pick up some needed bakery items and a platter of watermelon slices. It seemed somehow appropriate, now that the “hottest month of the…
Learning from Alma Woodsey Thomas how to find beauty within, around and through life
Are you searching for new skills needed to navigate life these days? The familiar paths were linear and logical, and too often, they go nowhere. Many feel they’re walking a labyrinth in the shadows. Imagine that circular shape and come…
Lies we believe about ourselves and our bodies
“Who told you that you were naked?” God asked Adam and Eve in the Garden. It’s one of the first questions recorded in the Bible. From the very beginning, Evil has taught us that our bodies are bad. We’ve been…
Amid this catastrophic pandemic, beauty will save us – if we pay attention
The coronavirus pandemic unveils what is already present in our hearts, good and bad; it uncovers what is broken in our political and economic order just as surely as it shines a light on all that is beautiful about the human spirit.
Beauty for Life
Our youngest son Seth has gone deep into the world of The Hobbit. Seth reads stories from the shire with feverish energy. He sketches scenes from Middle Earth and regales us with talk of his beloved Dwarves. At every opportunity,…
Ornate sanctuaries no distraction from the Word, Baptist pastors say
By Jeff Brumley You can strip a sanctuary of symbols, remove all vestiges of beauty and deny any value the aesthetic may have in worship. But experts say those elements almost always creep back into the church — one way or…