Thankful for this post from Matt Metevelis: I lead with my head. I am always more comfortable with things when I can analyze and argue about or with them. My wife is very leery of asking me questions that involve more than a simple answer. I’ve been interrupted and asked for the “Reader’s Digest Version” […]
God’s Little Puzzle Pieces
The reflection comes to us from Casey Wilson: We are puzzle pieces. A strange thing to say, but it is true. Ever wondered what your purpose is? Or struggled with your identity? Or wonder where your life fits into the bigger picture in relation to the people around you? I’ve had moments like these in […]
When Christians Sing of Hope: Glenn Packiam’s Worship and the World to Come
Among the positive effects of quarantine is a refocusing on what is temporal and what is eternal. Remember the Iowa Caucus? Remember the Oscars drama from last year? Neither do I. The unrelenting passage of time will always remind us that most of our concerns don’t matter in the grand scheme of things, but something […]
Church Shopping at the Apocalypse
This (timely!) article by CJ Green was originally featured in Issue 7 of The Mockingbird: The Church Issue. Don’t tell me you’re going to read Stephen King next, my mom said when I started high school, suspiciously eyeballing my more grown-up selection of books. At the time, I didn’t know who Stephen King was, but […]
When the Romans Got Infected
Grateful for this post by David Evans: Even though the media has called these months dominated by COVID-19 “unprecedented times,” historians have been quick to point out that epidemics and plagues are anything but unprecedented. Modern historians have reminded us of the Spanish Flu of 1918; medieval historians would ask us to consider the Bubonic […]
The Reproachful Lectures of a Father: People-Watching in Gilead
If mid-twentieth-century Gilead were a real place, I would certainly buy a bus ticket there. This fictional Iowa town of Marilynne Robinson’s soon-to-be four novels has captured my imagination from the beginning, with Gilead (2004), followed by Home (2008), and Lila (2014). I can’t wait for the release of Jack (2020), but in the meantime, […]
Overcoming Unbelief: John Updike on Feathers and Faith
Fusty Churches, Creaking Hymns, and Revived Faith
Why Richard Rodriguez and I Keep Taking Our “Inner Atheists” to Church
Belief and Disbelief in the Same Person
A Splendid Failure: A Preacher’s Guide to the Pulpit
Sermon after Sermon, the Message is this: Jesus Died for You
Pentecost Plans (near Minneapolis)
Breaking Down Barriers and Trusting the Spirit’s Presence with Us
