Celebrity culture in the church
It’s so enticing, and so much a part of the US evangelical church culture. Yet the lure of celebrity can deceive us into agreeing with much that is not God.
The silencing of women and the snorts of God
“Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak.” The meaning of that quote from 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 is obvious, right? God silences women, and the inspired apostle Paul affirmed it. Or maybe, just maybe: The Lord and Paul both snort at the idea – and we have not known it.
Submit to such as these women
The greetings in Paul’s New Testament letters – the ones translators have altered and we often bypass – affirm women, as well as men, who minister as true servant leaders.
Where have all the women gone?
What has, for centuries, hidden the presence of women alongside men in the New Testament, and especially in Paul’s letters? Where have all the women gone?
Trauma and truth-seeking: Desperation, spirit, life
You pursue truth differently when you're desperate, when your life hinges on what you find – and your spirit is released to resonate with the Spirit of God.
Recovering and treasuring the forgotten prayer
Why is it vital that we recover and treasure a prayer Jesus told us to pray – but our minds can’t seem to grasp, and our emotions can’t seem to embrace?
12 signposts on the journey to rest
I’ve learned a lot about rest from people in Scripture. Seeing their lives with fresh eyes, I’ve seen things I had not realized: How blessed rest is. How different it looks from what we often think. How much in our lives can keep us from it. Here are 12 “signposts” pointing us to rest, signposts placed on the path by people who came before.
Tessa and the lion’s den
My finicky and beloved cat Tessa lived for 17 years. She inspired this post one night in 2004 – the year I first found myself in a den with lions that tear people apart.
To the exiles scattered by toxic church
Maybe the church has become bewildering to you. Leaders you trusted and people you respected are acting in ways that do not reflect who Jesus is, nor what they profess to believe. They have turned on anyone among them who appears to threaten the status quo. What is going on?
Nat Arnett / freeimages.com
Beware the illusion of refuge: Abuse in the church
Any number of motives can prompt leaders in our church systems to create an illusion that refuge for the abused exists, where it does not. “They say, ‘All is well, all is well,’ when it is not.” So how can we know?