I really can’t say Christmas better than this. “On one night of all nights Christ did it, coming down the stairs of heaven with a child in his arms.” –Paul Scherer, Love is a Spendthrift “Almighty God, who now in…
The clergy parent’s Christmas Eve survival guide
For clergy with small children, it’s kind of a sick joke: your longest work day of the year falls on the night before your children’s earliest morning. You can see it unfolding, but you’re powerless to stop it. You’ll get…
There’s something about Mary
Women have had a long, rich, and complex relationship with Mary the mother of Jesus since the beginning of Christianity. As we prepare to celebrate Christmas, this collection of reflections invites us to pause and ponder the young woman at…
Appropriate and Inappropriate Missionary Activity
Should missionaries ever seek to change social practices and work to make laws that would change what is thought unacceptable in the countries to which they go? Most Christians now would probably say No, although perhaps they would allow for…
One sentence that pastors and church staff hate to hear
The moment they hear it, they feel the “cringe factor” throughout their body. Even as the first few words are spoken, the recipient feels his or her emotions plummeting. It is the one sentence that is uniformly dreaded by pastors…
Kirk Cameron, Chuck Norris, and war on Christmas
It seems every year there is an outcry from Christians who bemoan culture’s lack of acceptance of Christmas displays and call it the War on Christmas. Kirk Cameron is the latest to defend Christians from a supposed secular atheist attack…
The Taliban in the self
Shots rang out. Blood was everywhere. Bodies hit the floor. Children screamed. The images and descriptions of the scene at a school in Pakistan are more than horrific. Over 130 children are dead over an extremist religious ideology. From terrorist…
36 things I know after 36 years of marriage
This week, my husband and I will celebrate our 36th anniversary. Some years we’ve gotten dressed-up and gone out to dinner. Other years we’ve simply marked the day with a kiss. Once, we were both sick with the flu and…
I get tired of writing laments
Driving in to work yesterday morning I heard the news that the school in Peshawar, Pakistan had been attacked by the Taliban. They killed more than 130 children. They burned a teacher in front of the students in a classroom….
What they don’t tell you about Advent
Rethinking the ‘stand and greet’ time
This past week I posted a short excerpt from a Thom Rainer article where he discussed the disdain that many people have for the “Stand and Greet” time that is a part of many Sunday morning worship services. He argues…
20 questions you should ask to see if your minister is any good
By Derek Penwell If you ask most churchgoers whether their minister does a good job or not, they will fall all over themselves to give you an opinion. Good or bad, they make judgments about the service their pastor renders…