Blog

It’s been said that all people understand and interpret the world and the life they lead through the lens of a story. Our stories give meaning to who we are and where we come from. They include things like our interests and personality, our career choice, where we live and work and make our community,Read more

On the morning of the third day following the death of his greatest friend, one of the disciples woke up and anxious fear gripped his thoughts.   ​I had a dream last night that Jesus died. I had the same one the night before. Each morning I wake up with this awful feeling that the dream I had beenRead more

What might it have been like for the eleven remaining disciples on the Sabbath day following the death of Jesus?  Close your eyes and imagine you are one of the eleven. You’re attempting to put the pieces together as you try to understand why Jesus had to die. Take a deep breath.  Now open them.Read more

Suffering well It’s not easy to suffer well. To get through a painful experience or a season of painful experiences. The ones who do are often people who used their time of suffering to serve and help others who were suffering in similar ways or had experienced some other kind of suffering. If we allowRead more

Did Jesus just call that woman a dog? Yes. But there’s more to the story. If you’re curious, read on. (Blog based on The Gospel of Matthew 15:21-28 & The Gospel of Mark 7:24-30).    The woman with the demonized daughter Like many of the stories of Jesus, what seemed like a chance meeting turnedRead more

Change Most churches, at least on the surface, teach that being a Christian involves an ongoing process of change. Changes like character development. Changes like growing productive daily habits. Changes like healthy behavioral patterns. Changes like meaningful church involvement. All good changes, right? But what about theological/spiritual beliefs? Should these ever change or evolve? That depends aRead more

Relationships develop and thrive on trust. At the same time, trust is developed as we practice honesty with others and others practice honesty with us. I have found this played out in my life over the years. But what happens when our trust is broken? We can’t just magically pretend it didn’t happen or thatRead more

It’s been said, “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” This statement was first penned by nineteenth century British historian Lord John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton in a letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton. The fuller written statement was this: “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when theyRead more

“Tell me a good story you’ve read or a good movie you’ve seen that doesn’t include conflict. It simply won’t happen. Some of the best stories you and I can think of have tremendous amounts of pain, conflict, and problems.” from chapter one ,”Pretending to be Human” in Authentic Christianity: Why it matters for followers ofRead more

In today’s world, many of us are more connected than at any time in history, but still lonelier than ever. The irony is that for many individuals and business owners, our network has grown exponentially.  Global markets and governments also are more connected in ways that are unprecedented in comparison to other times and placesRead more