The first time I went skinny-dipping was at a church picnic. If I’m lying, I’m dying. As of this writing, brothers Ron and Steve Wilson are still alive — by some miracle — and can verify the bare facts of…
Better to have fasted and failed than never to have fasted at all
I tried fasting from coffee two consecutive years but never made it past the second or third week. Best fasts I ever did. I learned it was next to impossible for me to be productive without obscene amounts of caffeine….
Going public with Lent’s call to penitence
“Concealment makes the soul a swamp. Confession is how you drain it.” —Charles M. Blow They have treated the wound of my people carelessly. They acted shamefully, they committed abomination, yet they did not know how to blush. —Jeremiah 6:14-15…
Therapist guides clients through loneliness, trauma created by spiritual abuse
“They think they are horrible people because that’s tied to the theology. You’ll find that in churches that place super focus on language like ‘I’m a sinner’ and ‘I’m a wretch.’”
To my ‘future self’: instead of resolutions, recycle mistakes and regrets into something redemptive
I took up the New Year’s challenge of writing a letter to my future self. In the process, I discovered the importance of recycling today’s mistakes and regrets into tomorrow’s opportunities.
Eating burgers, sinning boldly
When Martin Luther wrote, “Love God and sin boldly,” he was not in a fast food restaurant, but he could have been. Luther was inviting us to recognize what is important and what is not. There are times when you should order the salad, but sinning a little without worrying about it too much may, on occasion, be good for your soul.
Minister ‘fought herself’ to accept generous church maternity leave policy
Carol McEntyre says she had to battle her own work ethic and guilt to take advantage of a generous parental leave policy at First Baptist Church in Columbia, Mo., where she is pastor. Many women clergy serve at churches where…
Guilty of guilting
Over the years I’ve learned that guilt can be an effective tool. I’ve been on both ends of it too; being guilted into certain things and guilting others. Sadly, most of my experiences with guilt were in the context of…