To be faced with something we don’t know can feel quite shameful. For a lot of us, especially in some circles, not knowing can feel like a crime. Rather than risk it, we nod knowingly.

Most everything happens slowly, especially change in our lives and in our churches. God has God’s own time and schedule. My job is to do my job and let God be God.

We might go to church avoiding questions about our job (laid off) or our academic prospects (failed) or our spiritual health (doubtful). But the church began among hurting people.

Hate and haters are so easy to hate. We cannot fall for that. We are called to have the courage to choose love, alongside our rejection of hatred.

After Easter, the disciples gathered together often, trying to make sense of life without Jesus.

Paul knew that he and Silas had been treated unjustly, and he insisted that the city officials acknowledge their injustice. Is this a biblical precedent for reparations?

I bet there's somebody in your church whose way of pointing to God embarrasses you. You cringe when every time; you long for them to stop. But maybe God likes their way of praising.

I've learned that the passionate voice inside me (which can sometimes sound like an arrogant twerp) is rarely calling others to greater faithfulness. It's calling me.

Hear the many prayers of gratitude from those who look to church to keep from running aground in the fog or during a moonless night. Amen.

What if church growth was less about a plan or a program and more about an orientation, an attitude, a way of being? What if the most attractive feature of your church was peace?