Want millennials back in the pews? Stop trying to make church "cool." When I left church at age 29, full of doubt and disillusionment, I wasn't looking for a better-produced Christianity. I was looking for a truer Christianity, a more authentic Christianity.
They said that if I questioned a 6,000-year-old earth, I would question whether other parts of Scripture should be read scientifically and historically. They were right. I did. They said that if I entertained the hope that those without access to the gospel might...
It seems that a whole lot of people, both Christians and non-Christians, are under the impression that you can’t be a Christian and vote for a Democrat, you can’t be a Christian and believe in evolution, you can’t be a Christian and be gay, you can’t be a Christian...
The folks you're shutting out of the church today will be leading it tomorrow. That's how the Spirit works. The future's in the margins.
Imagine if every church became a place where everyone is safe, but no one is comfortable. Imagine if every church became a place where we told one another the truth. We might just create sanctuary. from Searching for Sunday: Loving, Leaving, and Finding the Church
When medical bills are the biggest cause of bankruptcy in the United States, there are systemic injustices at work. When people working 40-hour weeks at minimum wage jobs still can’t earn enough to support their families, there are systemic injustices at work. When...
The church is not a group of people who believe all the same things; the church is a group of people caught up in the same story, with Jesus at the center. from Inspired
But the Gospel doesn’t need a coalition devoted to keeping the wrong people out. It needs a family of sinners, saved by grace, committed to tearing down the walls, throwing open the doors, and shouting, “Welcome! There’s bread and wine. Come eat with us and talk.”...
Faith isn’t about having everything figured out ahead of time; faith is about following the quiet voice of God without having everything figured out ahead of time.
I have come to regard with some suspicion those who claim that the Bible never troubles them. I can only assume this means they haven’t actually read it.