We are so easily offended. Let’s say you are scrolling across social media and you see a post where someone shares a meme you do not agree with. What happens inside you? Is your first thought, “Well that person is…
The six most important words for healthy relationships
“What are the three most important words in a relationship?” In premarital counseling sessions, it’s usually the bride who answers — grinning coyly and speaking demurely as she answers. Sometimes both the bride and groom answer simultaneously. I once posed…
On radical acceptance and crap sandwiches
I am in the midst of an excruciating period of personal suffering. I am not at liberty to describe what is going on. Suffice it to say that it is a relational matter; it is awful; I have no idea…
Five ways to help your pastor this year
At the dawn of a new year, many churches are adopting new budgets and making plans for whatever will come in this third year of COVID-influenced ministry. There are lots of decisions to be made, and not always enough information…
Gen Z non-Christians pay most attention to those who live out their faith rather than preach it
Their curiosity about spirituality but disdain for overt proselytizing makes today’s teenagers a challenging group for Christians who want to share their faith with others, new research shows. “According to non-Christian Gen Z, the most appealing evangelism occurs when Christians…
What The Little Prince taught me about Christmas
It’s nearly Christmas, but after the ongoing chaos of the last two years, haven’t you wished you lived on another planet and could visit earth if you wanted? That experience is the setting for The Little Prince, written and illustrated…
Here’s help for addressing mental health in marriage
Achieving intimacy with family, friends or clergy can be daunting for those suffering from mental health challenges, but establishing and maintaining understanding with a spouse can be especially intimidating, said Sarah Griffith Lund, author and national minister for disabilities and…
What we’ve lost
The losses we’ve experienced due to coronavirus are both horribly easy to count — 465,000 dead in the United States alone — and yet invisibly painful. Especially for communities of faith, the relational losses often go unreported. Yet in conversation…
The ongoing epidemic of pornography in the church
My first experience with porn was vacuuming cars in my dad’s service station. I was about 10 at the time, and I found magazines under some of the customer’s company cars which had naked women on almost every page. My…