Pastors’ families are rated on appearance, behavior, personal relationship choices, report cards, salvation and sports performance. There are scorecards in every pew. So look alive, family! It’s Sunday and it’s game time.
Isn’t it a shame that Jesus never went on a marriage retreat?
Why couldn’t Jesus have said just one sentence about marriage that you could post on Facebook for Valentine’s Day?
To such as these
It was the last place I wanted to be that night. It had been a long day, and now I was crammed into a hot and crowded school auditorium for my son’s school music program. I gave him a thumbs…
How weighty are stories in congregational faith formation?
By Kenneth J. Meyers The culture generally addresses human dignity and justice issues before the church can get into gear. Such is the matter when in recent years Americans faced the LGBTQ life concerns with resolve. The cultural consideration recognized…
Unprofessional Christianity V: Doing
On the other side of getting paid to pray, I’ve found church has typically very little to do with how middle class white people desperately organize themselves in small groups to have stifled and awkward conversation about the Biblical text,…
‘The Revenant’ asks which is more powerful: love or revenge?
By Russ Dean What is the most powerful force within the human psyche? The Apostle Paul says there is only one force in the world for which people will move heaven and earth, a force which people will ultimately, and…
unprofessional christianity IV: promising
In a world enslaved to anxiety and fear and scarcity and wealth and power, a world willing to sacrifice anyone on the altar of it’s security, the most dangerously necessary people are those radically okay with who they are, where…
Praying the Psalms in time of grief
By Joe LaGuardia Like many who grieve the loss of a loved one over the holidays, this past Christmas was particularly difficult for me. I lost my father over two years ago as a result of a mass shooting in…
A lover’s quarrel with my country
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…