Q: Would you drive 45+ minutes to attend an ideal church service each week or would you become a part of a church community with whom you differed on some points of doctrine and practice right in your own backyard? Though we’ve all been told that consumer Christianity is a bad thing, the truth is…

Friends in liturgical churches are honoring Jesus’ mother Mary (Miryam) today/tomorrow. Suffice it to say that the various traditions have a pretty wide range of opinion about the way she lived and died. I can gladly rest in the fact that this faithful Jewish teen said ‘yes’ to the Lord in ways that most of…

A campaign of terror waged by a church member furious at the changes a new pastor has brought to his little corner of the world ends in violence. The story would be unbelievable… …unless you’ve ever been in church leadership. Then, except for perhaps the degree, you’d recognize all the stock characters of the grim…

Writing isn’t for sissies. I have been journeying with a friend as she’s worked on her doctoral dissertation. A while ago, she’d asked me to do help her with some editing and offer some constructive criticism on her content. I reminded her that I do not possess even a bachelor’s degree*, but that I’d be…

I’m looking forward to speaking at a local congregation this weekend about the parable of the unmerciful servant, found here. I had an opportunity to re-read the chapter I wrote in my first book, Parablelife, meditating on this story both in its original time and place and in the here and now.  Sometimes allowing my…

I was working on a devotional piece for the Caspari Center newsletter this morning. I looked at a couple of the previous ones I’d written for them, and thought I’d share one of them here in this space today. One of the quiet ministries Caspari does in Israel is facilitating some gatherings where Jewish and…